The Devil You Know (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 15) (7 page)

Chapter 15

After my talk with Jeremy, I was about to leave the library when Olivia appeared in the doorway. By the tense expression on her face, I got a bad feeling that she had overheard the conversation.

“Tina, may I have a word with you?” There was an edge to her tone and I knew she meant business.

“Of course,” I said. “In here?”

She marched over to the leather couch and sat down, apparently expecting me to follow suit, so I did.

She turned to me with a look of pure incredulity. “You actually think that one of us killed your mother?”

Brett must have finally told her, unless she'd overheard my conversation with Jeremy. “Look, I don’t know any of you and you don’t know me. But there’s a lot of money at stake. Can you blame me for being suspicious?”

She evaded the question and pointed a finger at my face. “You better not mention this to my father. It will crush him.”

If she only knew. “Then help me prove that my suspicions are false.”

Olivia raised her hands. “How the heck am I supposed to do that? Everyone was sleeping when Josephine fell.”

“How do you know that?” I asked. “Unless you were awake.”

She blinked at me, not sure what to say. Finally, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. “You’re just upset because now you have no ties to this family’s wealth. If your mom married my dad, you'd technically be family…”

“I don’t care about your money,” I said. “I live in mud huts with tribespeople most of the time. Mansions like this hold little appeal for me.”

Olivia leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. Her fierce gaze was unrelenting. “If my dad had any idea what you’ve been saying, he’d tell you to pack your bags and leave immediately.”

“Is that so? Well, then I suggest you go tell him and we’ll see.”

She didn’t leave but I could tell her brain was going a mile a minute. “Why do you think it's the family? I mean, why couldn't it have been the maid or something? Maybe she had a reason to kill your mom.”

“You're trying to blame Lucita?”

“Whatever her name is, I don't remember. The point is, after the hospitality my family has shown you, you treat us like this?”

“First of all, it’s your father who has been hospitable, not you or the rest of your family. Although, I will say your husband was very sweet last night when we shared that bottle of wine.”

As I’d expected, that comment elicited an outburst.

“I think I’ve heard enough.” She got to her feet, gave me one last dirty look, then she stomped out of the library. Seconds later, I heard her footsteps going up the stairs.

I did not envy Brett. He was about to get an earful and I felt kind of shitty about it. It certainly wasn’t my intention to cause a rift in their marriage. But if Olivia had just kept her cool and talked to me, I wouldn’t have used that card. But maybe this was for the best. George wanted me to create some drama, and that's what I've done.

I fully expected Olivia to approach her father and complain about me. Perhaps she might suggest that he kick me out of the house for being disrespectful. I wish I could be a fly on the wall for that conversation.

.

Chapter 16

After my talk with Olivia, I retreated to my bedroom, locked the door and called Carter.

“You’re not making many friends,” he said as soon as he answered. 

“No. Everyone will hate me by the time this weekend is over.”

“Well, Olivia went to talk to Miles and Sue-Ann. They’re planning to tell George.”

“The fact that they are going on the defense tells me something,” I said. “They have guilty consciences.”

“I agree. I’ll keep an ear out but, so far, nobody has actually admitted to pushing Josephine down the stairs.”

“Well, whoever did it, is being extra careful but we also have to accept that maybe no one is guilty. I hope George realizes that this situation could backfire on him in a serious way.”

“That’s not our concern,” he said. “We have a job to do.”

“I know. Anyway, there's something else we might want to consider. On the night of Josephine's death, Lucita claims she went home around seven-thirty. She has a husband but no kids. Is it possible she came back to the mansion later that evening?”

“Why?” he said. “You don't think she's involved, do you?”

“No, but it's not a bad idea to check her out. We never thought to do a background check on her.”

“I can do that. As for the other thing, Lucita would’ve had to punch in the alarm code to get back inside. I'll contact the security company to find out.”

“Good. It pays to be thorough.”

“I’m on it.”

I wasn’t sure what to do next. I thought about going to knock on George’s bedroom door but maybe he was sleeping. At 4:15, there were still two and a half hours until dinner.

I decided to stay in my bedroom and wait it out. Maybe someone would come knocking on my door.

No one ever did.

Chapter 17

A few hours later, I still hadn’t heard back from Carter.

By 6:15, I decided to exit the bedroom and see who might be hanging around downstairs.

I was surprised to find Jeremy and Margaret sitting at the kitchen counter drinking tea.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

Margaret chortled. “Up in George’s room, having an intervention of sorts.”

“An intervention?”

Margaret finally took a sip of her tea and swished the liquid around in her mouth like mouthwash. After she set the cup back down on the saucer, she leaned back in her chair and offered me a sly smile. “It appears you have caused some upset around here. My niece Olivia is trying to convince my brother that you should not be welcome in this house any longer. Ha!. My brother is not the kind of man to throw his guest out on the street.”

“What do
you
think?”

Margaret seemed amused at my blunt question. “As a matter of fact, I think you have good reason to feel the way you do.”

I couldn’t believe my ears. “Really?”

“Those kids of his are spoiled rotten and, if you want my opinion, they don’t deserve a single penny of his inheritance.”

“But do you think one of them killed my mother?”

“Can’t help you with that but I will tell you one thing; unless you have some proof, don’t expect a confession.”

For once, I appreciated her candor. “I'm going to find out. Will you help me?”

Margaret snapped her fingers and Jeremy got to his feet. “Would you mind going upstairs to get my glasses. Thank you.”

When he disappeared, she turned back to me. “I know that you and your mother weren’t close, but I respect the fact that you flew all the way back home to pay your respects.”

I wasn't sure what she was getting at. “But...”

“But I didn't like your mother. As a matter of fact, I threatened her the night she died.”

“You threatened my mother? Why?”

“I told her she was using my brother to get at the family fortune. I may have said some nasty things, I don’t really remember what I said, exactly. I was very upset after they announced their engagement. I also realized that my brother will do exactly what he wants to do. I wasn’t going to change his mind.”

“And you’re telling me this because …” 

“Because, the whole family heard those nasty things I said. It’s going to come up eventually and I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“So what you’re saying is, you didn’t push my mother down the stairs.”

Margaret snorted. “What do you think?”

“No offense, I really don’t trust anyone in this house.”

“Nor should you.”

When Jeremy came back into the room, he handed Margaret her glasses. She put them on and began thumbing through her magazine, letting me know she was done talking.

Chapter 18

At 6:45, the family came downstairs for dinner.

George seemed his perfectly gracious self as he invited me to sit next to him at the table. He whispered to me, “Get ready. I'm about to drop another bomb.”

I had no idea what he meant by that but I mentally prepared myself. George's desperation had me walking on egg shells.

George cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. “Now, I usually prefer not to discuss serious matters at the dinner table; however I think it’s important to get some things out in the open.” He turned to me with a reassuring smile. “Tina, it has been brought to my attention that you have some questions about your mother.”

I felt everyone’s eyes on me and suddenly the temperature in the room increased by ten degrees. This was my moment and I had to be convincing. “Yes,” I said. “I have questions.  I want to know who pushed my mother down the stairs.”

George’s eyebrows rose up in mock surprise. “Is that what you really think?”

“Yes.”

Olivia couldn’t contain herself any longer. “It’s preposterous, Dad. I mean, how can she believe that any of us would do something like that? We’re not savages.”

George gave his daughter a stern look. “Duly noted.” He turned to face me again. “Tina, what would you like me to do?”

“I don't know,” I said. “Maybe talk to the police and open an investigation?”

Olivia stood up, pushed her chair back preparing to leave the table when her father said, “Please sit down. We are going to discuss this like adults.”

She sat back down and folded her hands together atop the table. “I can't listen to this any longer.”

“Now,” George continued, setting his gaze back on me. “I'm sorry to tell you that there's not much the authorities can do at this point. The coroner ruled her death an accident. Except ...” He covered his mouth like he'd just had an epiphany. “I can't believe I hadn't thought about this until just now.”

“Thought about what?” Olivia asked.

George rubbed his chin, eyes darting around. “As a matter of fact, I hired a security company a few years ago to install some devices throughout the house. I don't know if there were any set up near the stairwell, but I could contact the company and find out.”

“Wait a minute,” Olivia said. “You mean to tell me that there are hidden cameras in this house? Even in the bedrooms?”

“No,” George said. “I don't think there's any in the bedrooms or the bathrooms, just in the main areas of the house.”

“Why?” Miles asked. “I thought you felt safe here.”

“A few years ago I had a break in. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry. That's when I had the alarm and the cameras installed. I haven't had any other problems, so I just sort of forgot that the cameras are here.”

I felt like getting to my feet and giving George a standing ovation for his fine performance. Hidden cameras? The guy is a genius!

“It’s been over thirty days,” Brett said. “Don’t they usually tape over those recording after a certain time has gone by?”

“It’s possible,” George said with a shrug. “There’s only one way to find out for sure. I’ll call them right after dinner. Maybe there's a way I can access the video via the website.”

This new development seemed to cause much distress at the dinner table. Even Sasha seemed to have no interest in her cell phone chats.

Nobody seemed in the mood to eat except for Margaret. “Would someone pass me the rolls?” she asked.

Olivia sat back, incredulous. “How can anyone eat right now?”

Brett put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Hey, simmer down. Your father has already figured out a way to settle this. If those surveillance videos can prove that no one is to blame, it's a good thing.”

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket so I checked it. Carter needed me to call him ASAP.

“Please excuse me,” I said to George, getting up. “I have an urgent call to make.”

George set down his fork and regarded me curiously. “Is everything okay, Tina?”

“I won’t be long. Please eat before the food gets cold.”

I left the table, headed upstairs and locked myself in the bedroom.

When I had Carter on the phone, I could sense his excitement.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he said. “When I contacted the security company, they were able to confirm that someone had entered the pass code to get inside the house at 11:49 p.m. on the night Josephine died.”

“This is incredible,” I said. “Josephine’s estimated time of death was between 11:00pm and 1:00am. Whoever came into the house could have killed her.”

“Only problem is, we can’t prove who actually got inside the house. Who else besides George knows the four digit code?”

“Well,” I said, thinking it over. “Lucita. But she told me yesterday that she didn’t come back to the house after she left that night around seven-thirty.”

“Maybe she lied.”

I checked my watch. 7:15pm. “Hey Carter, I need to let you go. I’m going to try and talk to Lucita before she leaves tonight. I don't have much time.”

“Okay. Be careful, please.”