Twillyweed (27 page)

“I don't like the dead,” Radiance moaned. “They terrify me! Coffins and holes in the ground—”

“Don't start that again. It's not just our duty,” Paige reminded her, “she was kind to us all.”

That stopped her. “Yes,” she agreed in a small voice. “You're right.”

“I've got to get back. They want to interview me again. Why are you all dressed up?”

“I'm not.”

“Where were you? In the city? What were you up to? I can tell you were up to something!”

Paige said this in such an uncharacteristic, almost savage tone that Jenny Rose decided it was time to make herself known. It wasn't that she minded eavesdropping, but she didn't like them to catch her at it and thought if Radiance whirled around they might. She stepped out and at that moment saw Paige slide her hand up Radiance's shirt back and pull her roughly to her. “There's something you're not telling me,” Paige hissed. But Radiance's chin went up, her mouth opened, and her eyes dimmed in willingness. In lust.

Jenny Rose took a quick step backward and turned and slipped, dismayed, around the display shelf and out the door. Blindly she clattered down the wooden steps.
God!
she muttered silently.
Imagine it! Two of the best-lookin' women anyone could think of. Either one of them could have any man she chose. What a waste!
She could understand what it was for Brigid and Deirdre, her own stepparents. No disrespect meant, but let's face it, nobody else would want them, would they? It shouldn't surprise her, of all people, but it did. And how in hell, she puzzled, could those two be carrying on and nobody have a whiff of a clue? Auntie Claire sprang to mind. Poor old sod. How shocked
she
must have been when she'd found out about her fellow! It went to show it was just like she said. You can be living your life and not even know the person closest to you. Not even know where they go in their mind. Jenny Rose huddled away down the street. Uh-oh. There was Teddy leaning on his car in front of the bookshop, drinking a cup of coffee from the deli and paging nonchalantly through a book. Smug bugger. Thought himself fine, didn't he? Smarter than everyone. Figured she'd come around if he just gave it enough time. She went to dart down the alley, but he'd seen her. He kept a blue eye on her until she felt she had to come over and say something. “'Lo,” she said as she nodded grudgingly and crossed over.

“You know what I like most about this town?” Teddy mused. “This bookshop keeps its top step like a shelf for books that don't sell. You can take any one of them, free.”

She stuck out her pursed lips and slid a reluctant hip against the hood of the car.

“Poor Patsy,” he said, shaking his head softly.

“Yeah.”

“Looking for Glinty, eh?” He took a knowing sip of his coffee. “Did you talk to the detectives?”

“No to both. It's so horrible, isn't it?”

“Yeah. Horrible. What a way to die!” Teddy sighed, giving the horizon a searching look. “I can't get over Glinty, though,” he puzzled, “what with all this going on! For him to go off looking for—how did he put it—the prettiest lass on the planet …”

What did he mean? Who was he talking about? Radiance? “Wouldn't have been me then, though, would it!”

“He must have meant you,” Teddy blustered, sounding conciliatory, but unable to keep the doubtfulness from his voice. He smiled again, loose with charm. “Maybe he was afraid of the cops. Maybe he knows something we don't …”

Jenny Rose tried to smile, not liking him at all just now. She wasn't going to stand here. Forget it! She walked the long way back to Twillyweed.

Claire

By the time I got to Twillyweed there were emergency vehicles and cop cars all over. I hesitated, but Oliver's Alpha Romeo was there and I saw my PT Cruiser, so I left the statue wrapped up in my jacket in the bicycle basket and I walked boldly over the yellow tape. Radiance had just come in and Morgan was grilling her, “Where have you been anyway? Your father's been sick with worry!”

“I was in the city. I walked up from town. They wouldn't let me in the house until just now.”

“Well, I want you to calm down. The way you've been acting, you'll be heading for a breakdown!”

No doubt I was gaping at Radiance. I'd never seen her and now here she was—this practically mythological creature, this extraordinary combination of all worlds. You wouldn't see one like her every day.

He noticed me. “Come in, Claire. I've got your car here.”

“Yes, I saw it; thank you.”

“Thank Mr. Piet. Detective Harms wants to talk to you anyway.”

“Me?”

“About Patsy Mooney.”

“Well, of course. But I didn't know her, really, just saw her that once at the dinner party.”

“Well, then, that's what you'll tell him.” He pulled out the straw-back kitchen chair for me.

Jenny Rose, a cherry red sweater thrown over her shoulders with one button done, minced through the back door in a conscientious little jig. You could tell she was making a great effort to compose herself and maintain appropriate decorum. She said, “I've got to go pick up Wendell. I don't know if I should bring him back here or not.”

Oliver, just coming in from the back porch, a cigar in his mouth, addressed her through gritted teeth, “I went over to the school to get him but we decided it would be better if he stayed until dismissal. You'll pick him up as usual. Oh, and I was hoping you could take him with you to the Great White for a few hours, Claire. Just until they remove the body.”

“Of course,” she and I said as one.

I whispered in her ear, “I've got to talk to you.”

But just then Paige, released from the detective and very pale, came in. Catching sight of Oliver's cigar, she said, “Please put that thing out if you're going to be in the house, Oliver. It stinks. No sense all of us losing our grip.”

“I'll get you a cup of sweet tea, shall I?” Morgan put a calming hand on her slim shoulder.

“Yes, thank you.” She smiled wanly. “That's just what I need.”

Radiance said, “I'll get it. She'll want her Japanese Sencha tea. I know where everything is.”

I offered, “Paige, I went and told Mrs. Lassiter what happened. She said she'd come up later and help you plan the wake.”

She put the back of her wrist to her head. “That's all I need right now. Nosy Lassiter!”

“That's her, all right.” Jenny Rose hoisted herself onto the marble countertop, “She used to stand outside the confessional back in Skibbereen and listen.”

Everyone stared at Jenny Rose.

“What?” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “She did.”

Through the heavy lace curtains, I saw Teddy's maroon station wagon pulling up. He hopped out with his real estate clipboard and came in the door, hesitating respectfully. He sat down. “Radiance, I stopped by your apartment. I was so worried about you. Where were you?”

“I'm all right.” She went about setting up the tea things, placing an extra cup and saucer before Jenny Rose on the countertop. Her fingers trembled.

Teddy said, “I can't say I'm happy they found out who killed her, but I feel a sense of peace. There was always something menacing, something tense around the house. And now it's over. Or it will be when they catch him.”

I thought of my father who always says
Carry a clipboard and you can walk in anywhere
. I don't know what made me think of that.

Radiance gave her little French shrug. “It doesn't feel very
over
to me.”

He returned her look. “All right. Where were
you
all night?”

“If you must know, I had my tryout for the Rockettes this morning.” She sank into the chair.

Surprised, Paige reached for her arm, “Darling! Why didn't you tell me?”

Radiance bit her lip. “The worst of it was when I came back to Sea Cliff and I saw the police, I was actually glad something terrible had happened so I wouldn't have to tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?”

Her head hung. “That I'd tried out and didn't make it.”

“Oh, my dear—”

“I'm so ashamed.” Her face crumbled. “I was eliminated before they even got started. They took one look at me when I came in. One girl called me a giraffe! I am too tall.”

“At least you weren't eliminated because you were a rotten dancer,” Teddy consoled.

Eliminated from the Rockettes and—I made a mental note—eliminated from our suspect list. It would be so easily verified.

“Everything's ruined now. Whoever killed Patsy should have killed me instead.” Radiance sobbed uncontrollably. “Save me the trouble!”

“That's a terrible, melodramatic thing to say!” Paige knelt and took hold of her. “Stop it!”

A young police officer came in and said the detectives would like to speak to Morgan Donovan.

Radiance wiped her eyes, and Morgan straightened slowly and marched forward dutifully.

I said, “I'd like to speak to the detectives myself actually.”

“You'll have to wait your turn, miss.” The officer informed me.

“Well, he asked to see me.”

“You'll still have to wait your turn.”

They left.

Paige stood up and cleared her throat theatrically. “How did it go, Teddy?”

“
Uch
. They want to buy low and sell high.”

“They didn't like it?”

“They like it, they just want it for nothing.”

“It has a lovely porch.”

“And the shade up there. Great old trees.”

“Yes. Well, they won't get it for nothing. Dosoris is prime location now.”

I thought such a conversation oddly out of place. But then Paige, too, lost it, holding her head in a hopeless gesture.

“Paige! This is too much for you!” Teddy glared angrily at Oliver as though all this were his fault.

Paige babbled, “It's just … I remember I looked to check the time and the clock was stopped. I should have known something was wrong! Patsy wouldn't forget to wind the clock!” She pounded her slight fist uselessly on the table.

We all looked at the stilled grandmother clock in the corner.

“I'll do it, Paige.” Oliver moved to oblige, then stopped. “But I can't wind it without that red key. We'll have to wait until the detectives are finished down there. She always had it with her. Poor thing … She couldn't wind it because she was … dead.”

I think that's when the horrendousness of what had happened really hit us all. The only sound was Paige's muffled sobs. The teapot shrilled and we all jumped. Radiance pulled herself together and came over and shushed Paige softly, walking her gently from the room. The rest of us just stood around, dazed. Teddy moved the pot from the fire and said uncertainly, “Do you think I ought to wait and talk to the detective?”

“Of course,” I said.

“No.” Oliver flung out his arm and looked at his watch. “Morgan might be in there for a while. You'd better get going. You'll be late for work. You can speak to them later.” Wearily, he added, “We'll never see the end of them, now.”

It was the way he'd flung out his arm. All at once I realized with whom Oliver Cupsand had been sitting at Once Upon a Moose my first day in town. It was Radiance. He'd given her money.

Casually, I followed him inside. He had the cold cigar in his mouth and he kept twisting it around with his teeth. “Oliver,” I began, “it just came to me. I saw you at Once Upon a Moose when I first came to town. That very day. You were sitting with Radiance. It was during that cold snap and you were both wearing coats.” I paused. “You were giving her money.”

“For God's sake, I was giving her her paycheck!”

“Oh.” I stood there while he gathered a series of papers from his desk. But then I thought, no, he wasn't giving her a paycheck because there was something secretive and clandestine about his movement, the shifty look in his eye that had caused me to look back at their table. And it was cash he'd given her. I didn't move. I stayed behind him and was about to say something when, “All right,” he admitted, whirling around in irritation, “I did give her money. But it wasn't what you think.” He lowered his voice. “I always give Radiance money. I feel responsible for her, if you must know. Protective. It's nothing to do with
that
sort of love. I'm in love with Annabel. I haven't slept with another woman since she left me. I … just can't.” He broke down. “I love her so much! I still love her—even after she did this to me! I have no pride. I'd take her back. Even now, if she were here, I'd take her back!” He wriggled his hands in a spasm in front of his face and cried with despair and longing, “Her beautiful Titian red hair!”

It was then the suspicion first came to me:
She's dead. Annabel is dead. He's probably making up those letters. They probably don't even exist!
I left him to himself. There was nothing else I could say. I went up behind Jenny Rose and pulled her into the pantry and we squashed ourselves onto the cushioned bank. I whispered, “Wait till you hear this. The priest at St. Greta's here in Sea Cliff, guess where his old parish was?”

“Well, don't keep me hanging!” she whispered back roughly.

“St. Margaret Mary down in Broad Channel. The same one where the priest was hit on the head the day before you rescued Radiance. In Broad Channel. Remember?”

“Shit!”

“Yeah. Now get this. I went over to Daniel's house and found the statue. The Our Lady statue.”

She gaped at me. “Where is it?”

“Outside in my bicycle basket.”

“What'll we do? Give it to the cops?”

“If we do, it'll sit on some evidence shelf for months, maybe years. I'm going to go down there and give it to that priest. Then we'll tell the cops.”