Classic Revenge (9 page)

Millie's eyes had just about popped out of her head
when he'd come into the kitchen, but for once she had
held her tongue. Shelley's concern about her brother
was well-founded. Still in his bathrobe, Sam had aged
at least ten years since they had seen him last. Shuffling
to the table, he had accepted a cup of coffee but declined anything to eat.

While Edna tried to engage him in conversation,
Trish cast covert glances at him. His smile was stiff and
forced, and his eyes were dull and shadowed-not a
good sign. Sam would have to learn how to manage the
stress and grief he was under, or he would soon be facing serious health problems. But how did you say that
to someone who had been through the traumatic events
Sam had? She couldn't even begin to imagine what he
was going through.

Claire gathered the empty plates and refilled coffee cups, then said she wanted to clean the upstairs bedrooms before Shelley came home. It was the least she
could do, she explained when Sam protested halfheartedly, since Shelley had so kindly invited her to stay in
her home for a while.

After Claire left the room, Millie interrupted Edna's
cheerful chatter. "Edna, you've given it your best shot,
now hush. Sam doesn't want to talk about blooming
azalea bushes"

Trish had wondered how long Millie would be able to
stay quiet. Actually, Trish was pretty sure Millie had just
set a new record. But she was right; Sam wasn't interested in mindless chit-chat. Millie leaned forward and
pointed her finger at Sam. "You're letting yourself fall
apart"

Sam didn't appear to be offended by the remark. He
leaned back in his chair, crossed one knee over the other,
and smiled slightly at Millie. "No, I'm fine, really just
a little tired."

"No, Sam, it's more than just being tired, and you
know it. But you have to snap out of it because we need
your help."

"You need my help?" Sam chuckled bitterly. "I'm
not in a position to help anybody right now."

Edna's smile was gentle. "Yes, you are. You're the
only one who can."

"Okay, I'll bite. What do you need help with?"

"Proving your innocence," Millie said, looking straight
into his eyes.

Sam's face became devoid of all expression. "I have
an attorney to do that, Millie. I appreciate the thought,
but I'm going to let him take care of this."

"In other words, you're just going to sit on your butt while you're being railroaded for murder? That's not
the Sam I know."

"My attorney will prove I didn't do this. It's just going to take time."

Trish placed her hand over his. "The police have a
lot of circumstantial evidence, Sam, but sometimes
that's all it takes to get a guilty verdict. We've all seen
enough real-life court shows to know that."

Sam sat up straight and pulled his hand away. "What
circumstantial evidence? What are you talking about?
And how do you know all this?"

"So the old man does have some life still in him,"
Millie muttered. "Go ahead and tell him, Trish."

As Trish told Sam what they had found out from
Chief Espinoza, she watched his expression change
from a total lack of concern, to disbelief, and then to
unease. "You need to let your attorney know this, Sam.
That way he'll be prepared when he gets the report. But
I wanted to ask you what kind of car trouble you had
that morning. Did you know that Claire also had trouble
with her car that same morning?"

Sam looked up and nodded. "Yes, she told me. I
didn't think too much about it at the time because she
easily had it taken care of. I never made any connection
to my own car trouble, but I can see now how strange it
looks" Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I just had two flat
tires in the rear. I must have driven by a construction
site or something. The tires weren't flat when I left the
house, but by the time I got about a mile away I could
feel something wrong. Fortunately, there was a tire
shop close by, so I simply pulled in and bought two
new ones. Sure enough, there were roofing nails in
each of the tires. It's just a coincidence, not a conspir acy. The police will realize that when they start investigating."

But the police had already started the investigation
and may very well be finished, Trish thought. It would
be up to Sam to prove his innocence.

"Sam, the police have already started investigating,
but I'm not sure they've given any significance to the
two incidents with the cars," Trish said. "They do consider your car trouble significant, though-a cover-up
for the crime, so you would have an excuse for being
late to your golf game"

"Well, they're wrong."

"We know they're wrong," Edna said, "and we're going to prove it."

Trish coughed. Edna should have said, "and we're
going to help your attorney prove it." It seemed they
were all getting a little loose with this Sherlock Holmes
talk.

"You've been set up," Millie said bluntly.

Sam laughed, but there was no humor in the sound.
"Don't be ridiculous, Millie. It was an accident."

"I'm afraid we all agree, Sam," Edna said quietly.
"It's the only thing that makes sense. Neither you nor
Claire had ever seen that radio before, it couldn't have
fallen into the tub accidentally, nothing was stolen, and
now we discover that both you and Claire had car trouble on the very same morning that Susan died."

"Okay, everything may look suspicious, but it still
doesn't prove a murder was committed," Sam argued.
"Besides, who in the world would want to set me up for
murder? If you're right, this crime took a lot of planning. Don't you think I would have realized that someone was out to get me?" He answered his own question. "No, the idea is too far-fetched to even consider seriously."

"Humor us," Millie said. "We're a bunch of old ladies
with nothing better to do, so humor us and answer our
questions while we play detective."

Sam lifted an eyebrow. "What kind of questions do
you have?"

Millie thought for a moment. "First of all, we want a
list of everybody you've been in contact with over the
last couple of years"

Sam's eyes opened wide. "I'll do nothing of the sort!
You are not going to start harassing innocent people
and causing trouble just because you're bored!"

Trish sat back and listened to the exchange between
Sam and Millie, thoughts careening around in her head.
Millie was taking charge of the situation very nicely indeed. Not only was she irritating Sam, but now she was
telling him that they were going to solve this mystery,
if there even was one, because they were old and in a
rut. And Edna just sat there, her silence expressing her
agreement with the plan. This situation was getting out
of hand fast.

Millie leaned forward. "What have you got to lose,
Sam? Your reputation and your freedom are all you
have left to begin picking up the pieces of your life. If
you lose those two things because you're too stubborn
to admit that maybe, just maybe, we're on to something
here, then you'll be letting everybody down, everybody
that loves you and believes in you"

"She's right, Sam," Edna said. "And, most of all,
you'll be letting down Susan."

Sam opened his mouth to say something but then
closed it again. Finally, after several agonizingly quiet moments, he sighed deeply and nodded. "I still think
you all are barking up the wrong tree, but to satisfy
your minds and to say that at least all possible scenarios
were explored, I'll cooperate with you. I'm warning
you, though," he said with a stern look at all of them,
"if you hurt any of my friends' feelings, then you stop
this charade immediately. Is that understood?"

Millie grinned broadly. "We'll be the model of decorum. Don't worry."

Edna clapped her hands together and smiled. "I think
you've made the right decision, Sam"

Trish tried to smile-she really did-but it came off
as a grimace. Were they getting Sam's hopes up for
nothing? And what happened to just throwing out some
suggestions to the police or the attorney? She glanced
at the pleased expressions on Millie's and Edna's faces.
What had they-or, more precisely, Millie just gotten
themselves into?

For the next hour, Sam talked about his friends and
his past business associates while Edna furiously scribbled notes. It was a frustrating process. Every time one
of them would ask about a possible hidden agenda by a
person on the list of names Sam was giving them, he
would become defiant and defensive. He finally called
it quits altogether. "That's everybody I can think of. Not
one of those people would have a reason to hurt me, but
I've done what you've asked" He leaned back in his
chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "So, what are
you going to do now?"

Millie looked at him. "We're going to find out who
set you up, of course"

GGThere's Charlie," Edna exclaimed as soon as Trish
turned onto their street.

"That's perfect," Millie said. "He can be the first person we interview. Pull up in front of Sam's house, Trish."
Trish sighed, but did as she was asked. She had to ad-

mit that she was more than a little curious about the
people on the list Sam had given them, but she still
wasn't convinced that conducting secret interviews on
their own was the right thing to do. What if they inadvertently ruined any chance the person's words could
be used as evidence pointing to Sam's innocence?

Trish had argued the point tirelessly on the way
home from their visit with Sam, but her comments had
fallen on deaf ears. Millie was certain the police would
do nothing more to investigate this case since they were
so sure they had the guilty man. Edna had agreed, but her
opinion was different. She felt the reason they wouldn't be taken seriously was that Millie had angered the
chief.

Still, it wasn't as though they were trained in detective
work, Trish had pointed out. However, one thing she was
pretty sure of was that you never ruled out anybody as a
suspect, regardless of your instincts. And her instincts
were laughing outright at the idea that Sam's gardener,
Charlie Simms, could have killed Susan Wiley.

Millie climbed out of the car as soon as it stopped.
"Follow my lead," she whispered as she slammed the
door and waved at Charlie.

Trish shook her head. "Lord, help us," she muttered
in sincere prayer.

"And all His angels," Edna added fervently as they
followed Millie.

Charlie turned off the riding lawn mower and climbed
down as he nodded respectfully at the three women.
"Good afternoon," he said as he pulled a handkerchief
from his back pocket and wiped his brow.

"Hi, Charlie," Millie said as she approached. "Sam's
yard looks just wonderful"

"Thank you, ma'am. I wasn't sure if Mr. Wiley wanted
the lawn done this week or not, since ... well, you know"

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," Edna said, patting Charlie's arm.

The old gardener cleared his throat. "Well, he isn't
home right now, but I did it anyway. I sure hope you're
right."

"Yes, I think Sam had to ... um, run an errand," Millie said. "He should be home soon. Charlie, the reason
we stopped is because Trish is thinking about having
her yard done on a regular basis. You know her house, the one three houses from the corner? Would you be interested in taking on another yard?"

Trish fought to keep her smile in place even as her
hands itched to wrap themselves around Millie's neck.
A gardener was definitely not in her budget, and Millie
darn well knew it.

"Sure, I'd be glad to. What exactly do you want done?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure," Trish said truthfully with
a sideways look at Millie. "To start with, I'd probably
just need basic mowing and edging."

Charlie rubbed the back of his neck. "Would you
want it weekly or monthly?"

"What about once every two weeks?" she asked,
crossing her fingers that the expense wouldn't be too
bad. The choice between food and a beautiful lawn was
a given. Food would win hands down, regardless of
whether Charlie was a viable suspect in Susan's murder
or not.

Charlie nodded. "If I'm still going to be doing Mr.
Wiley's yard, I can do yours the same day that his is
scheduled" When Charlie quoted a price, Trish
breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn't starve after all.

"That's wonderful," Millie said. "Does Trish need to
leave a key out for you somewhere, like Sam does if
he's not at home?"

Trish exchanged a quick glance with Edna. So far,
Millie was surprisingly smooth at this questioning thing.
Unless Millie planned on hiring everybody they talked
with to do some work for Trish, they just might get
some important information, after all.

Charlie shook his head. "No, that won't be necessary.
If all you need is mowing and edging, I can use my own equipment. Mr. Wiley uses special fertilizers and stuff
that he keeps in his garage. That's why he always leaves
a key out"