Designer Detective (A Fiona Marlowe Mystery) Page 6

  “I agree that it wasn't family, and it wasn't you.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I don't think it was an accidental overdose of his blood pressure mediation. I think it was planted.”

  “The nephew who humped the blond said Albert was a philanderer, he liked them young and Viagra probably did him in. What do you think of that?”

  Jake nodded his head. “Albert had a reputation.”

  “For married women evidently. A husband could have fixed him.”

  Jake shook his head. “I doubt it. He was careful. None of the married women in question, to my knowledge, had spiteful husbands. The husbands probably had girlfriends on the side. Remember this is the rich and powerful crowd. No, I don't think it was domestic.”

  “What? Foreign? He’s a spy. I just know it.”

  Jake shifted in his seat and turned to look at me, putting his arm over the back of my seat.

  “Fiona, I need you to do something for me.”

  “Uh-oh.”

  “I need you to start work on the library as soon as you can and in the process, I need you to look for clues, like anything out of the ordinary. You know, like look through books, through drawers, under things.”

  “Under things? What do you mean? Why can't you do it?”

  “I have. I made a thorough search of the library, but I didn't find anything. I know you can be more thorough than I can.”

  Flattery goes a long way. But I was more than miffed that he was not sharing clues with me.

  “What are you going to be doing while I’m hard at work?”

  “I’m taking a little trip.”

  “To?”

  “Africa, leaving this afternoon.”

  “What? You’re leaving right in the middle of our big investigation?”

  He looked around like we could be overhead. He was definitely a nervous guy. But there wasn’t anyone else in the church parking lot except a couple of trees struggling to grow in asphalt. The sun was high overhead, and I was beginning to come down off a party high. I needed a nap bad, and I know I looked like I had spent the night on a couch. But Jake had more explaining to do. He wasn’t answering me.

  “Jake?” I asked.

  “I guess you aren’t buying that.”

  “No, and there’s some other stuff I’m not buying. I don’t think you are a private investigator. I think you’re a family friend who’s trying to help Opal out and not doing a very good job of it. Do you know there is an online Professional Private Investigators Directory, and you are not on the list?”

  Jake laid his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. “I could fall asleep right here.”

  “Jake Manyhorses, if that is your real name, you come clean.”

  “Oh, boy,” he said, scrubbing his face. Then he turned his head and looked at me with bleary eyes. “You’re pretty good, Fiona, and I’m really not good at this at all. I’m really not good about lying.”

  “You’ve got yourself mixed up in a dysfunctional family.”

  “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “You aren’t really going to Africa, are you?”

  “No,” he sighed. “I just said that. I want to get away from this crazy family. I want to just disappear. I owe Opal a favor, and I’m trying hard to figure out what happened to Albert, but the more I dig the dirtier it gets. I want to go back to Oregon, get on a horse and disappear into the sagebrush.”

  “This is a tangle all right. I need to go home and decompress. Maybe we can talk later after we’ve had a chance to recover, and this time compare real notes.” I put my hand on the door handle.

  “I still need you to search the library.”

  I looked at him. “It seems strange they want the library redesigned. You can appreciate that I don’t want to continue if I’m not going to get paid. Doesn’t sound like there’s going to be any money left over for anything.”

  Jake coughed like he had swallowed something pungent, like a habanera pepper. “I know you aren’t going to believe me but Albert isn’t in financial difficulty. Opal has been spreading rumors faster than a Ford 350 diesel in overdrive. I’m not sure what she’s doing but there’s some internal politics that I can’t figure out. She gives me a different story every day.”

  “Maybe you should involve the police.”

  “Opal does not want the police involved. Definitely not.”

  “What’s she got you on the hook for?”

  “You mean, why do I keep doing this?”

  I nodded.

  He sighed. “Opal got me off the reservation. She gave me a job when I really needed one and a purpose in life when I had none. I owe her everything. She literally turned my life around. This is the least I could do for her.”

  “How did you get from Oklahoma to Oregon?”

  He blew out a breath. “She advertised for cow hands in a regional magazine. I did ranch work when I was in my late teens when I wasn’t sleeping off a drunk in the local jail. The social worker assigned to me got me to apply for the job. Opal has a reputation for taking in stray ranch hands and making something of them. I guess you might say it is her mission in life.”

  This guy had some history. Don’t we all? “How’d you get from Oregon to here?”

  “I ride bronco in county fairs. Some buddies and I came east to rodeo here.”

  “Rodeo in Washington, DC?”

  “Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia.”

  “You mean there’s more than one of you?”

  “Yup.”

  I shook my head and checked my watch. “This is making my head hurt. I got to go.” I looked at him. “I’ll go back tomorrow and see what I can find in the library.”

  “Thanks,” said Jake. His blood shot eyes glowed. “You’re a real pal.”

  Chapter 6

  Ridiculous as it may seem I still had a key to the Lodge residence. About eleven the following morning I was back on the job ostensibly to work on the library but in fact to continue my sleuthing. I was feeling up to it. Sixteen hours of sleep helped a lot.

  I rang the bell instead of barging in, as the driveway was littered with cars. Hudson answered.

  “Miss Marlowe, do come in,” he said and stood back to allow me to pass through the open door. He was all smiles. I was glad to see him so chipper.

  “Thank you, Hudson.”

  He bowed. “Most of the guests are up and about. Might I offer you tea?”

  “Yes, thank you. I could use a bracing cup of tea. May I take it in the library? I don’t want to disturb anyone.”

  “Yes, of course. I do believe Cody is in the library.”

  I raised my eyebrows. Perfect. I could catch up on family gossip. “It will be good to see him.”

  “I’ll bring tea for two.”

  I waltzed into the library weighted down with purse, brief case and laptop. I had to have the props to do a proper job of sleuthing. I was planning to dig through the endless volumes of books. Decorators like to have matching book jackets in the library. Believe it or not, there were booksellers who specialized in color coordinated books for decorators. I could make a show of going through all the books looking for the ones with spines that matched my turquoise and burnt orange accessory color scheme, pulling out the ones that didn’t.

  The library was tidy. No signs of a party. Cody looked up from the newspaper he was reading at his uncle’s desk. He looked different in ranch attire. He wore a plaid long sleeve western cut shirt and snug blue jeans. When he stood, I noticed the cowboy boots.

  “Hello, Cody, planning to ride the range today?”

  He laughed and held out his hand. “Good to see you, Fiona.”

  His hand was warm and calloused. I guess that was from roping and riding.

  “I hope I’m not disturbing you. I have work to do, but I’ll be very quiet.”

  “No, be my guest. I was making a half-hearted attempt to read the Washington Post, but they have nothing about the price of alfalfa or yearlings. You rescued me from bor
edom. May I help you?”

  An assistant wasn’t on my agenda. What if I found something important in the books, and Cody saw it before Jake and I had a chance to evaluate? I was at loss for words, not something that usually happened to me.

  Cody cocked his head. “You don’t want help.”

  “You see,” I said, “what I’m doing isn’t very manly, and it would probably be as boring as the Washington Post. Are you returning to Oregon soon?” Notice my clever change of subject.

  “In a few days. I’m waiting for Opal. She likes someone to travel with her. As soon as the family leaves, we’ll wrap things up and head back.”

  “What will you be wrapping up? What will happen to Hudson? I hope Albert left him something in the will. Did everything go to charity?” I couldn’t resist probing about the will. I was dying to hear what had transpired.

  Cody’s eyes gleamed like the devil himself. “He didn’t leave anything to charity. As it turns out, Albert changed his will the week before he died. Opal knew nothing of the change.”

  I didn’t want to appear nosy but I couldn’t restrain myself. I leaned closer.

  Cody’s smile widened. “Albert divided the liquid assets equally among his many relations. The house goes to Hudson for taking such good care of Albert all those years.” He laughed out loud. “Trouble is there’s so much debt there won’t be much cash left for the relations. Hudson comes out the best, sort of.”

  “Oh, dear,” I said.

  “Yes, oh dear,” said Cody.

  “I guess that was why Hudson was so jovial when he answered the door.”

  Hudson entered the room at that point, smiling like the master of the manor. He set the tea service on the coffee table. “Would there be anything else?” he asked, looking back and forth between us.

  “Thank you, Hudson, that will be all,” said Cody.

  Interesting that Hudson was still a working man. I poured and served Cody strong black tea, no cream or sugar.

  He puckered his lips after the first sip. “Somehow tea just doesn’t do it for a buckaroo.”

  “No. Too civilized. Cody, what happens next? What will Hudson do with this big house?”

  “He should sell it. Frankly, it is not a prize inheriting a house like this. You got to have the income to keep it up. The value is in selling it. But he’s not going to sell.”

  “What?”

  “No, he says he’ll be staying on here.”

  “What?”

  “Yep. I can’t figure it out. But he seems happy with the arrangements.”

  “Where will he get the income to keep this place going?”

  “That’s what we’re wondering.”

  “We?”

  “The relatives. Opal says he deserves the house for having to put up with Albert and Olivia. The relatives think otherwise. They’re going to contest. Meanwhile, Hudson has graciously allowed us to stay on.”

  “I guess my job here is finished.”

  “You should speak to Hudson since he’s responsible for the bills now.”

  I sat my empty teacup on the table and looked at Cody’s full cup. “I guess tea isn’t your drink.”

  He shook his head and smiled. “I’m going to the kitchen to find something more manly to drink. Better talk to the new boss about your job. I’ll send him in.”

  Cody strode from the room in his western gear, looking out of place in an Eastern establishment library. I sat in bemused silence, calculating my next move. Jake had not phoned with this new twist in the plot. I hadn’t heard a peep from him since the church parking lot. Why hadn’t he phoned to tell me about the outcome of the will? Was he still on the hook with Opal to find out who’d done Albert in? This was strange. I felt like a mote floating in space. Now what to do? I poured myself another cup of tea. When in doubt have tea to stimulate the brain cells. I sat there floating in space, my mind wandering, when Hudson came trotting in.

  “Is there something I can get for you, Ms. Marlowe? Have you finished tea?”

  I patted the seat next to me on the couch. “Hudson, we need to talk.”

  He sat down on the edge of the cushion, hands on knees, back straight. He wouldn’t meet my eye.

  “Congratulations. I understand you are the new master of the house?”

  “In a manner of speaking, Miss Marlowe.”

  He wasn’t acting like the new master. He didn’t dress like the new master. But who was I to question if he was slow in accepting the new role.

  Since no more details were forthcoming I said, “As I’m a working girl, I need to know if you are going to pay me for what I have already done in the library and if you are going to want me to finish.”

  He looked around the library which still retained its old money grandeur. “I rather like it as it is.”

  There went that job. How annoying. I put on the-customer-is-always-right smile. “I see. Shall I talk to Opal about the charges I’ve incurred so far or will you be responsible?”

  “If you would be so good as to give me an invoice, I will see it is paid.”

  “I see. If you’ll give me a few minutes, I’ll figure out the costs I’ve incurred thus far.” I wondered how I might include my sleuthing time. I was disappointed at the loss of my job. I was itching to get my hands on those books and see what I could find. Hudson had moved to number one suspect on the list. Nice house he inherited. Where was Jake Manyhorses when I needed him?

  Hudson left and I closed the door after him. I eyed those books. I bet they numbered in the thousands. What did Jake think could be hidden there that would shine light on Albert’s demise? Maybe it wasn’t an issue anymore. Maybe that’s why Jake hadn’t called. Hudson was so glaring a candidate that I decided it couldn’t be him. Too obvious.

  I pulled out a book with the title The Last Western and started fanning through it. Nothing but dusty pages. I looked behind the book. Nothing but the back of the bookcase. I pulled out a few more. What if there was a secret passage into the library, a hidden way a person could come and go without being detected? Maybe the murderer sneaked into the room through the secret passage and slipped the drug into Albert’s brandy.

  The romance of the thought carried me away and I started pulling selected books out, looking for I didn’t know what, a partition or crack or crevice that would indicate a door of some type. I pulled out every fifth book in the interest of time. Albert had quite a range to his library. He had the entire collected works of Tennessee Williams. Impressive. Then came a few rows of Russian authors. I worked my way along, thinking what a shame I wasn’t going to be able to order colored coordinated book spines in my color scheme. I made it to the end of the row and stepped back to reconsider my strategy. It would help if I knew what I was looking for. I stepped further back. If I was going to hide something in books where would I do that? What would I be hiding for that matter?

  A knock on the door interrupted my reverie. I hurried to the desk, threw open my laptop and sat down. “Yes?” I called, hurrying to power up and pull up the numbers for the library job.

  Opal stuck her head in the door. “Hello, Fiona. Hudson said you were here, and I thought I’d pop in to say hello.”

  “Come in, come in. I’m calculating the bill for work I’ve done on the library so far. Hudson said he doesn’t want it redesigned.”

  “That’s what I came to speak to you about,” she said. “I need your help.”

  I regarded her as she advanced to stand by the desk. She, too, was dressed western. It suited her. Her dark blue jeans were pressed with a sharp crease down the middle of the leg and set off her slim figure. Her red checked blouse was cowgirl cut and at the open throat she wore a neatly tied red scarf. And she had the cutest red cowgirl boots on tiny feet. All she needed was the hat and horse. She did not look one day over sixty. I liked the way she wore her hair, pixie short. Perfect cut for a hat.

  “My, but you look handsome,” I said. “You and Cody are ready to saddle up.”

  “Why, thank you. I’m anxiou
s to get back to the wide, open spaces.”

  “What help do you need?” I was curious, of course.

  She cleared her throat and looked out the window, not meeting my gaze. “I need you to help me keep a secret. You seem like a level headed woman.” She peered at me as if to ask for confirmation.

  Level headed was not a term associated with my name but appearances can deceive. “I’m flattered.” I hoped I should be. “I’ll try to help.”

  Without further preamble she said, “Hudson and I are to be married.”

  I gripped the desk hard to keep from falling off the chair.

  “I know this must be a surprise.”

  “Surprise?” I croaked getting the word out. “You certainly fooled me.”

  She smiled and her eyes crinkled. “Haven’t we, though?”

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “Years, I think. I mean, we’ve always had a nice friendship. He needed support, what with the way Olivia carried on sometimes. Albert could be difficult, and the butler always gets caught in a family crossfire. We’re comfortable with each other. ”

  “But, but . . .”

  “I know there’s quite an age difference, but we don’t seem to notice.”

  “But, Hudson told me he doesn’t like the west.”

  Her smile turned impish. “He lied. He adores the ranch. He’s been a number of times with Albert and Olivia, then Albert alone. Albert was quite dependent on Hudson to run everything. He liked Hudson to travel with him.”

  “But Hudson said he was retiring to Cornwall.”

  “He said that? I guess that was another little fib. He’s put the house up for sale. As a matter of fact, I believe he has a buyer.”

  I was running out of buts. One last one. The most important.

  “But Hudson is a suspect in Albert’s demise. Are you going to quit the investigation?”

  Opal’s smile turned down on the corners. “That’s what we need to speak about and why I need your help. Shall we sit on the couch?”

  I followed and sat beside her. She started in before I was settled. “I want Jake and you to continue making the motions of an investigation, even though Hudson and I know what happened.”