Murder by Arrangement (Edna Davies mysteries Book 5) (15 page)

Chapter 21

As her breakfast
guests drove away, Edna mused over what she’d just gotten roped into. Peppa had
agreed to be at Mary’s house about the time the late-night news aired. Tuck had
been so pleased that Peppa was acting like her old self, that she, too, said
she would join them. Edna, feeling it would be a dubious but fun escapade,
declared she wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Needing to get
on with her day, she put aside thoughts of the evening ahead and went to her
office to check for e-mail messages. As she was waiting for the computer to
boot up, she realized she hadn’t had a chance to ask Peppa about her comment
that Clem wouldn’t have taken digitalis. What would have made her so certain
when she hadn’t seen him in over five years?

Finding nothing
of particular interest in her mailbox, she turned to her notes on the
investigation into the death of Gregory Haverstrum.
Am I getting anywhere
?
Flipping through the pages of the notebook she pulled from her tote bag, she
scanned what she had written. Plenty of questions, but what did she actually
know?

I am quite
certain that Gregory was poisoned by the toxin produced by the Christmas Rose.
It would account for the strange burning around his mouth. The poison probably
dissipated in the body, but symptoms remained.

Turning to a
clean page in the book, she began to jot down what details she knew about the
case. If he had been poisoned, then logic told her the murderer had to have
been one of the visitors to his apartment the day he died. Listing their names,
she realized the only person with whom she hadn’t yet spoken was Bobbi
Callahan.

Edna was
determined to make some headway with her investigation before the sun set that
day. She’d wasted enough time. Friday was Valentine’s Day. Albert, Matthew and
the Marlstone men would be flying home that afternoon, and she figured that
would be a good time to call it quits. With that thought, she wondered if she
were simply frustrated over what she felt was spinning her wheels. Disturbed as
she was about the plight of Rosie and her daughter, Edna could do only so much
to help, but could she stop nosing around while there were still so many
unanswered questions? At that moment, she felt again the angst of being the
prime suspect in another person’s murder and the shame of being shunned not
only by neighbors but also by those she’d considered friends. The urge to
assist the Becks resurfaced with a sharpness that stunned her.

With renewed
energy, she reviewed her notes in an attempt to locate Bobbi Callahan. Edna recalled
that one of the stories mentioned the young woman moving back into her parents’
home at the start of the initial investigation. Reporters had prowled the
campus looking for her, hanging out around the dorm and library, disturbing her
sleep, her study time, and her social life.

Since the
Callahans’ house was Bobbi’s last reported residence, Edna decided that was as
good a place as any to start tracking down the young woman who had been
Gregory’s personal assistant and suspected lover. First, Edna needed to come up
with a plausible reason for wanting to locate the graduating student. She
doubted either parent would give their daughter’s whereabouts away just for the
asking. Pulling up the LinkedIn information Bobbi had posted, Edna learned
about her interest in child psychology and her plans to continue graduate
studies in the field while she worked as an elementary school teacher. An idea
struck Edna as soon as she noted that one of Bobbi’s undergraduate papers had
been published a year before, a singular achievement for the young woman. The
subject of the piece was the psychological impact of peer-group rejection on
adolescents.

Perfect
,
Edna thought, amazed at the coincidence. Excitedly optimistic, she used the
Google search engine to find a local address and phone number for Duke and
Louise Callahan with “other relatives” listed as Bobbi Jean. Edna’s call was
picked up on the fourth ring by a woman announcing herself.

“This is Louise
Callahan.” The voice held a pleasant confidence.

“Mrs. Callahan,
my name is Edna Davies. I’d like to speak with your daughter, if she’s
available.” Edna thought she might as well try a direct approach and avoid any
dissembling, if possible.

Louise’s tone
turned cool and wary when she said, “May I know what this is about?”

Edna sighed
inwardly. She hadn’t wanted to mislead, but she was ready with her excuse. When
she spoke, she thought she sounded firm and professional. “I have friends at
the university …”
Not a lie
, thought Edna. “and I understand that Bobbi
has earned honors in the child psychology department.” Another truth, although
it was something Edna had recently read in the LinkedIn blurb, not from a
college connection. Using the key component she’d learned from Bobbi’s posting,
Edna went on. “I understand that your daughter has done research on the effects
of rejection on children. It is on that subject I wish to consult with your
daughter.”

Sounding more
receptive, Louise said, “Oh, yes. Have you read her paper? Are you a child
psychologist yourself?”

Edna felt a mother
who had raised four children would probably qualify as such, but said, “No. I’m
mainly concerned with the problems of a particular nine-year-old girl. I
believe Bobbi has the necessary experience to assist me.”
True enough
,
Edna assured herself. She hoped a mother’s pride would take over and Louise
would be only too happy to promote her daughter’s talents and interests.

“Well,” said the
woman on the other end of the line, sounding almost enthusiastic. Edna’s heart
leapt for an instant before Louise continued. “I’ll give her your message. If
you leave your number, I can have her call you.”

“It’s important
that I speak with her as soon as possible. Is she at home? May I drop by
sometime today? Any time. I don’t think it will take long, but I’d rather not discuss
the matter over the phone.”

There was
silence on the line for several seconds before Louise said, “Hold a moment,
please.”

Nearly five
minutes later, she was back. “How soon can you be here? Bobbi has to leave for
campus in an hour, but if you can arrive before then, she’ll be glad to help in
whatever way she can.”

“I’ll be there
shortly.”

Donning her
green tweed winter coat, Edna set off and was parked on the street in front of
the Callahan house in a quarter of an hour. The structure was of fairly modern
design compared to many other homes in the area, and sat on about three acres
of land. Edna thought the building was probably no more than twenty years old.
As she walked up the slightly winding cement path to the front door, she
noticed that the expansive front lawn was well tended. The snow had melted
enough on this southern exposure to reveal wide flower borders spread with
straw beneath the large windows of what Edna thought might be a warm and bright
living room.

The front door
was a heavy wooden affair with an ornate stained-glass window set into the top
half. Louise Callahan answered the chiming doorbell almost at once. An
attractive platinum blonde in her early fifties, she greeted Edna politely.

“Good morning,
Mrs. Davies.”

“Edna. Please
call me Edna.”

“And I’m
Louise,” the woman replied, taking Edna’s proffered hand briefly with a firm
grasp of her own. “Won’t you come in? Bobbi will be down in a few minutes. A
friend is calling for her, so I’m afraid she can’t spare much time this
morning, but you did say it was urgent.”

Louise Callahan
was such a pleasant and seemingly naïve woman that Edna felt her stomach begin
to roil at the thought of deceiving her. Edna made up her mind that, come what
may, she’d lay her cards on the table.

Following the
woman into a room to the left of the entryway, Edna saw with pleasure that
she’d been correct about the front room being sunny and warm. It was larger
than she’d expected. The house must extend quite a way to the back, she
thought, spying an almost equally large dining room beyond the living area. A
few inches of pine were visible from double doors that slid into the wall
either side of the opening between the two rooms. The décor confirmed in Edna’s
mind Duke Callahan’s reputation as a wealthy entrepreneur.

Someone in the
family obviously enjoyed flowers, too. Two dozen red roses sat in a vase on a
side table and three purple orchids floated in a crystal bowl on the low table
in front of a chintz-covered sofa. Edna could see another vase of mixed blooms
on the long mahogany dining table that was surrounded by twelve matching
chairs. What she could see of the house was elegant but homey. She felt
comfortable and welcomed as Louise asked for her coat.

“You have a
lovely home,” Edna said, handing the woman the tweed garment. She declined the
offer of something to drink, feeling doubly guilty at Louise’s hospitality.

As Edna took a
seat on the sofa, a young woman hurried into the room. She wore gray woolen
slacks with a blue sweater. Her hair was pulled back and tied with a patterned
silk scarf at the nape of her neck. With her blondeness and dark brown eyes,
she looked as Louise must have, thirty years earlier. There could be no
mistaking the relationship between these two.

“Mrs. Davies?”
Bobbi came forward, offering her hand. Even her voice was much like her
mother’s. “I’m Bobbi Callahan. Mother said you think I can help you with a
problem.” She backed up to sit on the broad arm of the overstuffed chair her
mother had taken across the low table from Edna. “I’m afraid I don’t have much
time. My ride to school will be here soon, but if you can give me a brief synopsis
of the issue, I’ll try to be of some assistance.”

Edna would have
smiled at the student’s obvious academic vocabulary, if she hadn’t been worried
over how the two Callahan women would take her next words. She cleared her
throat, knowing the dryness to be a sign of how nervous she was, took a deep
breath and confessed. “The child I’m concerned about is Lettie Beck.” Edna
paused, realizing she still didn’t know which name Rosie used for her daughter.
“Or, Violet Haverstrum, as you may have known her.” Noticing the shock on both
women’s faces and Louise leaning forward about to rise, Edna rushed on. “There
really is a problem. Please hear me out.”

As she described
the plight of Gregory Haverstrum’s wife and daughter, she saw the Callahan
women’s expressions change from anger to interest. Bobbi seemed to be slightly
sympathetic, but only slightly. It was when Edna explained how she’d gotten
involved through her daughter-in-law and granddaughter and how Amanda had
befriended Lettie that she saw actual sadness and compassion appear on Bobbi’s
face.

When Edna ended
by explaining how she’d come to the certainty that Gregory had ingested
ranunculin, a plant-based poison, Louise interrupted her.

“What does this
have to do with my daughter? You said she could help you, but what I’m hearing
sounds like an accusation.”

Still perched on
the arm of her mother’s chair, Bobbi put a hand on Louise’s shoulder. “It’s
okay, Mother. I think Mrs. Davies has good reason to be worried about how these
unresolved questions are and will be affecting Gregory’s little girl.” Bobbi
turned her eyes back to Edna. “I met Gregory’s daughter on several occasions
during the time I worked for him, but they were only brief encounters. I didn’t
know her well, but please go on. I’m still unclear as to how I might be of any
help.”

“You were at
Gregory Haverstrum’s condominium the afternoon of the day he was believed to
have died. Is that right?” At Bobbi’s nod of assent, Edna began her questions
about the food she’d brought, the condition of the kitchen, the man’s
appearance and behavior. Bobbi’s answers didn’t seem out of the ordinary until
Edna asked, “Did you see or speak to anyone besides Gregory himself?”

“Yes,” Bobbi
responded as if it were nothing unusual. “His wife was coming into the building
as I was going out. We didn’t speak, just nodded to each other.” Bobbi made a
wry face. “She didn’t like me.” Bobbi must have realized that Edna knew Gregory
had more than a passing interest in his young assistant because she rushed to
explain. “It wasn’t like I broke up her marriage. They were already separated,
and she’d filed for divorce before I went to work for Gregory.” For the first
time, Bobbi fidgeted, picking at the fabric of her slacks. “The reporters made
our relationship sound like one big sex scandal, but that wasn’t true.” Her
large, brown eyes pleaded with Edna to believe her. “I was never intimate with
Gregory. He was like a big brother. We were friends, is all.” As she defended
herself, she was sounding less like an academician and more like an emotional
teenager.

Not
unsympathetic with the upbraiding the young woman must have endured, still Edna
wasn’t interested in the details of the relationship between boss and
assistant. She redirected the conversation. “I understand that several people
brought food to Gregory. Was Rosie carrying anything when you saw her that
afternoon?”

Bobbi shook her
head. “She wasn’t, or if she was, I didn’t see it. I remember because I was
asked that question more than once. The police and then the lawyers asked me
what I brought with me and if I’d seen anyone else bringing something into
Gregory’s home. The only person I saw was Mrs. Haverstrum and she wasn’t
carrying anything but her purse.”

At that moment,
a car horn sounded. Bobbi stood and turned to look out toward the street. Edna
had a clear view from the sofa and noticed a small, red coup pulling up behind
her Buick. When Bobbi approached the wide windows and waved, the driver waved
back.

As she headed to
the front hall, she apologized. “I’m sorry, but I have to go or Kisha and I
will both be late for class. I don’t think I’ve been much help, but I really
don’t know what else I can tell you.”