The Trouble with Turkeys (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 2) (5 page)

“Any children Oliver and Olivia may have, Leroy’s wife, Peggy’s husband, Holly’s mother, Brent’s mother, all the ex-wives.”

I thought about it. “Oliver’s mother, Amelia, is dead. Leroy and Peggy’s mother, Penelope, was divorced by Charles and may hold a grudge. I don’t know where she is or what happened to her, but we should add her to the list. Bertram’s mother, Lola, divorced Charles when he hooked up with Dolly. Someone mentioned that Lola is living in Los Angeles, but I don’t know anything about Dolly. I guess we should add them to the list. No one mentioned Leroy’s wife or Peggy’s husband, but I suppose we should check them out.”

“You said that Brent’s dad is in jail, but how about his mom?” Zak wondered.

“Never mentioned.”

“Okay, this is what I have so far. Charles
has four children, Oliver, Leroy, Peggy, and Bertram,” Zak read. “Bertram is in jail, so he has an alibi.”

“Okay, so that gives us three suspects,” I confirmed. “Brent, Olivia, Margaret, and Holly are also on-site, bringing the total number of suspects to seven.”

“If you add in the attorney that gives us eight,” Zak added. “If we count Peggy’s husband, Leroy’s wife, and Bertram’s wife, that brings us to eleven.”

“And then we have all the ex-wives and lovers,” I added. “We know that Amelia is dead, so we have Penelope, Lola, and Dolly, bringing the total up to fourteen. Fourteen is a lot.”

“Yeah, but I’m betting if we look at proximity, we’ll be able to eliminate a few. My hunch is that by the end of the day tomorrow we’ll have whittled the list down to a couple of names. The other possibility is that none of these people are guilty of the murder and an as-yet-
unnamed individual is the culprit.”

“It’s late. I should get some sleep. Can you come with me to the farm in the morning?” I asked.

“What time should I be here?”

“Eight?”

“Eight it is. I’ll bring breakfast.”

The next morning I called Ellie and asked if she could stop by to check on Maggie. She’s due to deliver her puppies any day now, and I worry about her ability to do so unaided because she was severely malnourished when I first got her. For the same reason, I’m also worried about the health of the puppies she carries.
Although Maggie has only been with me for a couple of weeks, I love her more than I can say. She is a resilient survivor who is a sweet and loving dog in spite of the fact that the puppy-mill owner we rescued her from both starved and abused her.

“Thanks for coming,” I greeted Ellie when she showed up at my door at seven thirty.

“No problem,” Ellie stated as she bent down to pet Charlie and Maggie, who had rushed to the door to greet her. “The restaurant is slow today, so it isn’t a problem for me to take some time off. I was actually thinking about just hanging out here, if that’s okay. I have a book I’ve been dying to get to, and with your view plus the cozy fire, it seems like a perfect place to read it.”

“That’s more than okay, that’s perfect.” I was relieved that someone would be here with Maggie.

“I love to watch the storms sneak in over the summit,” Ellie commented as she looked out one of the picture windows facing the lake. “Those dark clouds with the flurries of snow that hint at winter just around the corner always make me anxious for snowboard season.”

“I heard we’re in for more than flurries by next week,” I informed her as I threw a couple of logs on the fire.

“My snowboard is all serviced and ready to go.” Ellie helped herself to a cup of coffee. “I can’t wait to try out the new runs they built on Piney Mountain over the summer. One of the ski-lodge owners came into the restaurant a few days ago. He told me that the black diamond run is going to be the most challenging one they’ve ever had.”

“I can’t wait to try it. The old runs are getting boring. I’d planned to get a new board this year, but with my recent unemployment . . .”

“Your old board is two years newer than my new board,” Ellie pointed out.

“
True,” I admitted.  I love to snowboard and have a tendency to buy a new board every year or two. “There’s plenty of food in the fridge,” I informed her. “Help yourself to whatever. I’ll be home around six, if you want to hang out until then. We can make some dinner and watch it snow.”

“Sounds perfect. I’ll see if Levi wants to join us.
He came into Rosie’s yesterday and he mentioned that Barbie was out of town for the weekend. He’s on for a drive this weekend as well.”

“
Yeah, about the drive, it looks like I’ll be tied up on the turkey farm every day until after the birds are shipped for processing, but dinner sounds good. I’ll ask Zak to stay for dinner as well. He’s giving up his time to help me today.”

“I’ll make some fettuccini
,” Ellie offered. “I’ve been in the mood for a good carb orgy.”

“Sounds perfect. There’s stuff for salad in the crisper and wine in the rack. Thanks again for doing this.”

“Thanks for letting me hang out here. I’m really looking forward to some peace and quiet. It’s been a while since I’ve had time to reflect, and maybe take a nap.”

“There are a couple of quilts in that trunk if you decide to go for the nap while I’m floundering around with the turkeys.” I nodded toward the old captain’s trunk I use as a coffee table.

“I still can’t believe you took this crazy assignment.” Ellie laughed.

“I’m doing it for Jeremy.”

“He still can’t find a job?”

“No.” I shook my head. “He isn’t having any better luck than I am, in spite of the fact that he’s been looking a lot harder.”

“But a turkey farm? The guy is collecting unemployment. I honestly can’t see him being desperate enough to even consider such a gruesome undertaking. I don’t see how you’re going to be able to look those turkeys in the eye, knowing that in a few days’ time they’re going to be missing their heads.”

“Believe me, I’m not looking forward to spending almost two weeks with turkeys on death row, but Jeremy has incurred some unexpected expenses and I feel like I owe him. After all, it’s my fault he’s in this predicament in the first place.”

“He lose his shirt gambling again?” Ellie guessed. Jeremy is a great guy, but he does love his poker.

“Actually, his financial issues have more to do with parenting than gambling.”

“Come again?”

“I’m not sure I’m supposed to tell anyone this, but Jeremy didn’t specifically say not to. Gina recently found out she’s expecting. The baby is due in April, and Jeremy has agreed to pay all related expenses.”

“Wow. Poor Jeremy. Are they getting married?”

“No. He’s going to raise the baby on his own.”

“Geez. I guess I can see why you’re willing to go to such lengths to help him. If you need anything, let me know. I’d like to do what I can to help him out.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. For now, maybe just don’t say anything. Like I said, I’m not sure if the word is out or if Jeremy and Gina are trying to keep it a secret for the time being.”

“No problem. I won’t say a thing. I know it’s early, but you should tell Jeremy to talk to Rick.” Rick is the man Ellie had been dating. “His brother Rob’s girlfriend recently had a baby and after much consideration, Rob decided to raise the baby rather than give it up for adoption. Rick said Rob felt like he was in over his head, so he started a support group for single parents. They trade babysitting and that sort of thing.”

“That sounds like a good connection for Jeremy. I’ll tell him. Speaking of Rick,” I said, using the opening provided, “I haven’t seen him around lately. Are you two still dating?”

“No.” Ellie looked away. “We’re still friends, but we’ve pretty much decided that we weren’t a really great couple.”

“That’s too bad. Rick is a good guy.”

“He is, but we just didn’t click the way . . .” Ellie hesitated. I was waiting for her to say
Levi and I do
, but she never did. “The way we should,” she finished.

“Yeah, I get it. Zak should be here any minute. I guess I’ll go grab my coat and stuff. Call me if anything comes up.”

“Your cell on?”

I looked. It wasn’t. I’m not sure why turning the darn thing on is such a challenge for me.

“Yeah.” I pushed the power button. “It’s on. If Maggie goes into labor and you can’t get hold of me, call Scott.” Scott Walden is the veterinarian I worked with at the shelter up until a few weeks ago. “I left Scott’s number on the notepad on the front of the refrigerator.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll be fine,” Ellie assured me. “I hear turkeys are dumb birds. I hope they don’t give you any trouble.”

“Trouble? How much trouble can a few hundred birds be?”

If only I knew.

As promised, Zak showed up with Lambda in tow at exactly eight o’clock. I explained that the turkey farm wasn’t really a good place for a dog, and Lambda was happy to hang with Ellie, Charlie, and Maggie. We ate our breakfast sandwiches on the road and showed up at Charles Tisdale’s farm by eight forty-five, fifteen minutes before the agreed-upon time of nine o’clock. Zak and I decided to pretend he was interested in buying the farm, which the heirs had made known they were very interested in selling. This gave him a plausible reason to hang around and ask questions.

Jeremy and I spent the first several hours feeding the large birds and then herding them from pen to pen as we cleaned the open pens behind them. We checked each bird for any nicks, abrasions, or other health issues before sorting them into those with clean bills of health and those that might need a closer look. By the time all the birds were fed and cared for and all the pens cleaned, it was well into the afternoon. At this rate I had no idea how I was going to have any time to investigate Charles Tisdale’s murder, but Jeremy volunteered to tend to the sick and injured birds while I helped Zak snoop around.

“Remind me to bring clean clothes to change into tomorrow.” I grimaced at the smell I knew was coming from my person. I dusted off my clothes the best I could, removed my shoes, and entered the house. As luck would have it, there was a viewing scheduled at the mortuary that afternoon, so everyone would be gone for at least another hour.

“What you really need is coveralls to protect your clothes, and shoes you can burn after your time here is over,” Zak suggested. “Any idea where the office is?”

“Yeah, I was there yesterday. Follow me.” I led Zak to the office where I had signed the paperwork the previous day. Zak set his laptop on the coffee table while I began looking around.  “What are we looking for?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Zak admitted. “Maybe a will or some other type of legal document. Correspondence could provide useful information as well. After I got home last night, I whittled down our list from fourteen to eight.”

“
Eight is better.” I was impressed. “What did you find out?”

“Leroy is a lifelong bachelor, so we can eliminate his wife as a suspect. Penelope moved to Florida after divorcing Charles, remarried, and still lives there.”

“That brings us to twelve,” I subtracted.

“Peggy’s husband was killed in an automobile accident six years ago, and Bertram’s ex-wife and Brent’s mother is the reason Bertram is in jail for manslaughter.”

“He killed her?”

“He forced her into a vehicle while under the influence of drugs and alcohol and then ran his car off the road. It was undetermined whether the accident was intentional, but she died, and Bertram was charged with manslaughter and is currently serving his sentence.”

“Wow, poor Brent. Okay, so now there are ten.”

“Lola moved to Los Angeles after divorcing Charles, and I’ve confirmed that she was at work on the day of Charles’
s murder. Holly lives in Portland and just arrived here yesterday after hearing about Charles’s death from her mother, Dolly, who apparently keeps her own apartment. Holly is staying there rather than at the house during this process.”

“And Dolly’s alibi?”

“I haven’t been able to contact her. I eliminated Holly from the list, but not Dolly.”

“So where does that leave us?”

“Mason Perot has been Charles’s attorney for more than ten years. He lives in the area and I haven’t yet been able to confirm an alibi for him. We know he’s either lying or misleading people as to the cause of death, so in my mind he stays at the top of the list.”

“And Oliver and Olivia? Do we know where they live?”

“Bryton Lake. And
Leroy, Peggy, Margaret, and Brent are still on the list as well,” Zak confirmed.

I pried open the top drawer of the desk and began sorting through mail, which looked to have been delivered over the past month. Mostly bills, many unpaid, but there was one envelope that caught my attention. I pulled the legal-size document from the envelope and began to read.

“I noticed you had a long discussion with Mason while Jeremy and I were working with the birds. Did you discover anything relevant?” I asked.

“As a prospective buyer, I asked to see financial statements and employee files. I did some digging and found out that Charles Tisdale is worth upward of fifty million dollars.”