Oven Baked Secrets (Eugeena Patterson Mysteries Book 2) (8 page)

The rest of my visit with Cora and Esther was pretty somber. Cora knew not to do any more teasing. I think she was just as surprised as I was about the story Aunt Esther revealed. As I drove home I tried to process all that I had learned in the past three days.

There was no way I could talk to Louise and dredge up that kind of pain. It was bad enough as long as William’s murder remained a mystery, a funeral would be delayed. I still couldn’t wrap my head around Bill. He was a gentle soul although I must say he wasn’t as friendly with us as his new neighbors, at first. But then neither was Louise. People can change. We all eventually grew on each other. Bill and Ralph developed a friendship and went to the golf course together.

I really wanted to talk to Amos, but he kind of warned me to not go digging. It wasn’t like I really had been digging though. Aunt Esther provided me with another whole layer to Louise’s life that I would have never saw coming. How did it all, if any, connect?

It was late in the afternoon when I arrived home. The days were getting shorter and I felt the need to bump up the temperature in the house when I opened the front door. I slumped into the living room chair. I felt something warm and furry circling around my legs and looked down to see Porgy making himself comfortable next to my feet. I bent over and patted him on the head.

“How are you doing, fellow? I think me and you need a pretty quiet evening.”

The house phone rang next to me.

Not only did the house phone ring, but my cell phone was ringing from my bag.

That figures as soon as I proclaim the need for a quiet evening, all the phones would ring. My first thought was to ignore both phones, but I decided to go for the house phone first. What if it was one of my children or my grandchildren? Sometimes when it was inconvenient, you have to do what’s right in your spirit, not your feelings.  Plus, I really can’t stand those persistent phone calls that came when you were too tired to care who was on the other end. That just pushed me into a grumpier state.

I struggled up from the chair and reached over for the phone on what I knew was the last ring before voicemail. “Hello.”

“Ms. Eugeena, are you okay? It’s Carmen.”

That caught my attention. To have my son’s girlfriend and housemate calling me out of the blue was unusual. “Carmen? Maybe I should be asking you that question? Is everything okay with Cedric? You?”

“I was hoping you could come over. I really have something to talk to you about, Ms. Eugeena.”

“Now? Are you sure you can’t wait until tomorrow?”

Carmen hesitated. “I wish I could and I don’t want to sound dramatic, but this is really urgent, Ms. Eugeena.”

Did she just say urgent?
What is going on now, Lord?
  “Okay. Give me an hour or so, Carmen. I just got back from seeing my aunts and I’m kind of worn out. I will be there as soon as I can. Is Cedric going to be there?”

Carmen was quiet. “No, Cedric is at a conference this week. Thank you, Ms. Eugeena. This means a lot to me. I will see you soon.”

At a conference, I thought as I hung up the phone. There was a time when Cedric would have let me know when he was going out of town. I looked over at Porgy, who was peering back at me. “Well, so much for the quiet evening. I can’t imagine what Carmen has to share with me especially with Cedric not being home.”

Before I went upstairs, I went over to my bag to see who was thinking it was a good idea to call me on my cell phone. I must have not been paying attention to the phone while with Aunt Esther and Cora because I had two messages. I pressed the voicemail. The message was from Pat.

“Ms. Eugeena, I’m so sorry to keep bothering you, but I’m not sure what to think anymore.  You know when you have that feeling something isn’t right. Well, never mind. If we can meet maybe tomorrow I want to run some things by you.”

This was the second time I’d missed Pat’s call this week. I wanted to call her back, but I knew Carmen was waiting on me. I’m not sure how I became so popular, but Pat did say we could touch base tomorrow.

It was a shame that Cedric’s home was really only ten minutes away from me, but I rarely saw him these days. As I drove, my mind tried to process all the scenarios that Carmen would present me with when I arrived. I imagined she really wanted to get married and wanted to figure out the best way to get Cedric to pop the question. Or what if she was pregnant? Or wanted to move out?

Why am I going over to see this woman again?

Now I really liked Carmen.  She was a bit standoffish when I first met her, but I started to see she was a young, intelligent woman who actually did a pretty good job of capturing Cedric’s heart and keeping him in line. I just kind of wished I’d raised a young man who wasn’t so afraid to commit.

My boys, Junior and Cedric, were quite different in that way. Cedric was the more sensitive of the two and also didn’t get along with Ralph. Despite the fact he went into the same profession as his father, delivering babies, the two never did grow close, just tolerated each other.

I took some blame because Ralph and I had quite a distant marriage for many, many years. Going to work and church, raising kids, but somewhere we just went through the motions, often with me picking up the slack of being at football games while Ralph was delivering babies.  Prior to Ralph’s death we had grown closer, but our marriage had affected each one of our children in a different way.

No one was perfect. You could only do the best you could do.

I turned into the driveway of Cedric and Carmen’s townhouse and parked next to Carmen’s jeep. She was definitely an interesting mix of a woman. She was a resident at Charleston Hospital, where Cedric was one of the obstetricians on staff. Both were very smart and capable people.  Before I could knock or ring the doorbell, the front door was opened by Carmen.

It never failed, but every time I was in Carmen’s presence I was struck by her height and beauty. I could see why Cedric was attracted to her.  She was just as tall as my son who was over six feet. With looks that rivaled Beyoncé, she was tough girl with a soft, vulnerable side that she had shown on rare occasions in my presence.  Her honey-colored hair was cut into a short bob with the left side hanging over her big brown eyes.

“Hey, Ms. Eugeena. I really appreciate you coming by.” Carmen held the door open for me.

“Well, you have me intrigued especially since you said Cedric isn’t here.” I stepped inside the townhouse past Carmen. I hadn’t been over to the townhouse since it was Cedric’s bachelor pad. As I glanced around, I noticed there was definitely a woman’s touch to the place. “It looks nice and cozy in here.”

“Thank you, Ms. Eugeena. Do you want anything to drink?”

I was feeling a bit parched. “Water would be good.”

“Sure, make yourself at home.”

While Carmen disappeared to the back, I decided to stand and continue my examination. Actually, I was trying to take in the fact that the black leather living room set my son had seemed to be gone and replaced by a more refined, but comfortable couch. It was also bright red.  That was definitely a reflection of Carmen’s personality.

From the looks of the rest of the living room, the fifty-four inch flat screen television was the only toy that Cedric had left from his bachelor days. Or was he still technically a bachelor?
These younguns need to get married and stop playing house
.
I am too old to be this confused
.

“Here you go, Ms. Eugeena.” Carmen handed me a bottle of water. “Why don’t you have a seat?”

“Okay.” I sat down on the couch, while Carmen sat on the love seat. I twisted off the bottle cap and took a swig of water. Then I waited to see what Carmen had to ask me.

Carmen seemed to be preoccupied with her phone, which was lying on the table.

“Carmen, what did you have to ask me? Everything is okay with Cedric?” I raised my eyebrow. “Is he really at a conference?” I turned my head as if I expected my son to walk out of the back room.

“Yes, he is and I’m sorry.” Carmen sighed. “There’s a bit of a situation that I was hoping you could help me with.”

I eyed Carmen. “Are you pregnant?”

“What? No, I’m not pregnant?”

“Are you sick?”

“Everyone is healthy and there are no problems between me and Cedric. This is about a friend.”

“You asked me over for advice for a friend?”

“Yes. Remember I told you a few months ago that I was adopted.”

“I remember.”

“Well, I found out how to do a search for my biological parents from my friend. She has been doing a search since last year and she’s been pretty successful.”

“You want my help with searching for your birth parents?”

“I would love if you could help me, but there is something else I was hoping you could help me –”

The doorbell rang interrupting Carmen.

I frowned. “Are you expecting someone else?”

Carmen held up her finger. “Yes, hold just one second.”

This was turning out to be a bit of an odd visit, but I was willing to hang. It occurred to me I had a habit of putting people off when I was on my judgmental trip. Leesa liked to remind me of that part of me. I really did like Carmen and thought she would make a good daughter-in-law. Helping her search for her family could bring us closer.

“Ms. Eugeena, this is my friend.”

“What? This is the woman you thought could help me?”

I jumped up from the couch and turned to see Jocelyn Miller walking past Carmen and towards me. Jocelyn was dressed in a bright yellow top with black leggings. Her long curly hair was wrapped in similar yellow scarf.

Lord, help me
. I stood my ground thinking, an angry human bumblebee was coming towards me and I needed to get out of the way before I got stung.

As I held my arms up, two thoughts came to mind one after the other as I stared at Jocelyn. One had to do with that cryptic Facebook post and what had she done so unforgivable. The second thought brought me back to Detective Wilkes’ statement. I really didn’t know this young woman who stood in front of me with tear-stained eyes and clenched fists.

“Jocelyn, you need to step back, honey. I will defend myself.” I stared at Carmen. “What’s going on, Carmen? I didn’t come over here for this kind of drama.”

Carmen sprinted between us and looked from me back to Jocelyn. “You two know each other?”

“We’ve met,” I said. I could feel the heat of Jocelyn’s anger as she stared at me. “Are you upset with me?”

Jocelyn screeched. “I should be. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been hauled off my job by the cops.”

Well, it certainly didn’t take Detective Wilkes long to find Jocelyn.

I felt bad for Jocelyn, but I wasn’t the blame. “Excuse me, young lady, before you start making accusations. I didn’t tell anyone anything.” I put my hand on my hip and pointed towards Jocelyn with the other hand. “You showed up at the nursing home talking about being Louise’s granddaughter. Did you not think the staff would be interviewed? Seeing how they have locked down security on visitors, I don’t think it was that easy for you to get back there to see Louise without some help.”

Jocelyn stared at me a few more seconds before looking away. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I did have some help, but she wouldn’t have told anyone.”

Carmen placed her hand on Jocelyn’s shoulder. “Let’s calm down. Jocelyn, I didn’t know you had already met Ms. Eugeena.”

I turned to Carmen. “Exactly what were you trying to do with this meeting? How do you two know each other?”

Carmen sighed. “Why don’t we all sit down and I will get us some iced tea.”

I sat back down on the couch, while Jocelyn sank into the chair opposite from me. She held her head against the back of the chair and looked at the ceiling.

While Carmen went into the kitchen, I tried to start small talk. “How’s your mother?”

Jocelyn focused her eyes on me. “Why would you ask?”

“I’m trying to start a conversation. Carmen asked me here to help. I can leave. I have had a long day. No. A long week. My best friend’s life has been turned upside down, and she didn’t deserve any of it, much less to be hid away in a nursing home alone now.”

Jocelyn looked away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know what happened to Louise’s son until they came to get me this morning. It was horrible because I told my mom yesterday how I went to visit Louise. She was furious with me. I was already feeling down about upsetting her. She ranted about how she couldn’t forgive me for this one.”

I thought back to Jocelyn’s Facebook post. “I’m sure your mother understands and will forgive you eventually. Maybe it was a bit much for her at this time.”

Carmen arrived back with tall glasses of iced tea. My
maybe
future daughter-in-law did have some hospitality skills. “She sat the tray down on the coffee table. She picked up a glass. “Ms. Eugeena, I have unsweetened tea for you and this is pure honey for you in this bowl if you want to sweeten your tea.”

“Thank you, Carmen; I appreciate your thoughtfulness about my diabetes.” Once again I questioned why Cedric didn’t just pop the question.

Carmen sat down on the couch. “Are you two better now? When Jocelyn told me her story, I really wanted you two to meet each other. Jocelyn, Ms. Louise and Ms. Eugeena have been such great friends for years. I figured she could help with the reunion. Jocelyn’s mom was pretty upset. I think Clarice is just scared.”

I inquired. “Clarice? Jocelyn, is that your mother’s name?”

Jocelyn nodded “Yes. But even if my mom agreed to meet her biological mother, it’s ruined now. The cops think I had something to do with killing the woman’s son.”

I huffed. “Of course you didn’t. There was a woman there at the house. I don’t know if she was pretending for whatever reason that she wanted to buy the house or William offended her in some way.”

Carmen crossed their arms. “The woman could have felt threatened by William. I mean it’s not unheard of for people to carry around a weapon. Charleston is not one of the safest cities in the world. Still, if William was trying to sell the house, it seems like he would have been on his best behavior.”

I swallowed some of my tea before answering. “That’s exactly right. I think the woman came with a plan. I just don’t know why. I do know there seemed to be something going on with William when I saw him at the nursing home on Sunday. Junior, my eldest son, saw William a few weeks ago and said he was talking about investing in some technology startup company here in Charleston. It’s like he’s had this whole lifestyle change.”  I turned to Jocelyn. “I went by the police station and told Detective Wilkes this same information yesterday.”

Jocelyn looked at me. “So you can help prove there was another woman at the house besides me?”

“I don’t know how much help I can be. There was a sports car, but it was dark and I only heard a woman’s voice. And I know it wasn’t your voice even though we’ve only met one time. My thoughts are the detective should focus on the sudden changes in William’s life.”

Carmen said, “Ms. Louise might know something.”

I shook my head. “There’s a lot going on right now with Louise. She’s mourning her son and…” I turned to Jocelyn. “I believe your visit set off some memories for her.”

“What kind of memories?”

“You wouldn’t have happened to have come across information about your maternal grandfather?”

Jocelyn bit her lip. “I didn’t, but my mom did. She found out when I was younger about her dad.”

“His name was August Manning.”

Jocelyn raised her eyebrow. “How did you know? Did Ms. Louise say anything?”

“No, my Aunt Esther did.  It seems like your grandfather was one of her students. Interestingly enough, she remembers Louise being around August a few days before his death.”

“She remembers? That was fifty years ago.”

“Not much gets past Aunt Esther, especially if something made an impact on her. She’s pretty sharp despite being in her eighties. What did your mother find?”

“She found members of August’s family first. He still has two sisters alive.  Thelma and Ruth Manning. They were full of stories about August.”

“That’s interesting that your mother found her father’s side of the family first. How long ago was this?”

“It was about ten years ago. I was still in high school and my dad was alive then. We were all shocked that the sisters lived so close. My dad took my mom to see them. My mom still keeps in touch with them and she insists the sisters come over for Thanksgiving every year.”

Ten years ago.
“So has your mom reached out to Louise before?”

Jocelyn seemed to warm up and her shoulder slacked as she continued talking. “August’s family led us to Louise. You know my mom was never really going to look for her biological parents, but one day she met a woman who turned out to be her cousin. They looked so much alike that the woman insisted my mom had to be related to her. That woman was Ruth’s daughter.”

I asked, “Were the sisters aware August had a relationship with Louise?”

Jocelyn nodded. “Their mother and my great-grandmother, Sarah Manning, worked for Louise’s family. All of them grew up together. Thelma said she knew Louise had gotten pregnant because Louise told her how scared she was if anyone found out. Not too long after August’s death, Louise was taken somewhere. The sisters figured she gave the baby up for adoption.” Jocelyn’s eyes glistened with tears. “They were so overjoyed to see my mom. It was such a letdown when my mom found Louise.”

I inquired, “You mean she met Louise and the meeting didn’t go well?”

“More like someone stopped her from meeting Louise. There was a man who made it very plain that he didn’t want anyone to go near his wife.”

I thought back to my earlier conversation with Aunt Esther. Would Bill have been trying to protect his wife or keep her from knowing something he had done?  “Jocelyn, you said her husband was the one who stopped your mother from meeting Louise. Did he say why? I mean he didn’t leave the window open for her to come back?”

Jocelyn shook her head. “No. In fact my mom said when he saw her at the door; it was like he saw a ghost or something. She didn’t really ever tell him that she was Louise’s daughter. She just asked if Louise Hopkins was home.”

A felt a chill go down my spine. He recognized her, but he’d never seen her before. I thought out loud, “I wondered if Bill recognized August and Louise’s features in your mother’s face.”

“I guess that could be true. My grandfather’s sisters said they could even see some of August in me and my brother, especially my brother.  I think that’s why I was scared when Louise’s son showed up on Sunday. I just knew he wasn’t going to be there. There was a nurse who was really friendly to me. She told me he didn’t come to see her much.”

So Jocelyn had been doing some homework. “You talked to Pat before seeing Louise.”

“Yes, Pat is her name.  I talked to her a few times. When I finally got my nerve up, Pat helped me get into see Mrs. Hopkins on Sunday.” Jocelyn twisted her hands like a little girl. “Ms. Eugeena, I had gotten so close to her. I felt like she knew my mother in that photo was her daughter. I saw it in her eyes. You did too. Right, Ms. Eugeena?”

Jocelyn’s large eyes were brimming with tears now. I looked at her then over at Carmen, who was just as teary. With Carmen being an adoptee too, I know she was soaking up the conversation and longing to look for her own biological parents.

I nodded to give myself a chance to get my mouth to move. “I believe that Louise would want to get to know you and your mother.”

Jocelyn wiped her eyes. “I wanted to set up a meeting for my mom with Louise. She’s been down ever since my dad’s death. I know meeting her biological mother is still on her mind. My dad tried his best to encourage her to try again before he passed.”

Carmen interrupted. “Jocelyn, do you think William would have reacted to you like his father did to your mother? He couldn’t have possibly known anything about you or having another sibling? Do you, Ms. Eugeena? I mean it’s really very convenient that someone killed him and kind of made sure he was out of the way, if you catch my drift.”

Jocelyn turned to Carmen. “Carmen, we’ve been best friends forever and you know me and my family. None of us would have anything to do with killing William. If anything we would have embraced him as a member of the family.”

Carmen grabbed Jocelyn’s hands. “Of course not, girl. You know I’ve been supporting you from day one ever since we found out that Ms. Louise could be your grandmother. I’m just saying, it’s kind of weird.”

Carmen turned to me. “I’m sorry, Ms. Eugeena, to catch you off guard like this, but I have been helping Jocelyn get to know Ms. Louise. From what I have found out about Ms. Louise she’s never worked, her family was wealthy, owning a plantation back at the turn of the last century. Bill Hopkins was a pretty popular businessman here in Charleston. Sugar Creek isn’t upscale, so you couldn’t tell it, but I don’t believe Louise was hurting for money. I suspect when she died, she probably would have left William a lot of money.”

I responded, “It would be hard to tell from the outside that Louise did have money. The Hopkinses enjoyed the simple life and believed in investing money. I don’t think their son learned too well how to manage money.  Jocelyn, while I don’t agree with Detective Wilkes’ approach to her investigation, I guess it is smart to look more in the direction of money and who benefits from an inheritance.”

Jocelyn yelped. “Well, that just puts this murder on me, like I’m trying to find a way to get to Louise’s money. Carmen helped me find out some family history, but I didn’t know anything about her money nor do I care. I just wanted to reunite my mother with the one parent she has left.”

“I believe you.” I assured Jocelyn. I felt like there were a lot more questions that should be asked by the police. Like why did William decide all these years to return to Charleston? I figured when he put his mom in the nursing home, he planned to keep living his nomadic lifestyle, but William clearly had plans to stay in Charleston. By the looks of him prior to his death, William was seeking to live a more upscale lifestyle than what his parents did. What changed and how did those changes lead to his murder?