Mahjonged (An Alex Harris Mystery)

While Mia busied herself in the kitchen, I pulled out another copy of Mystery Man and looked over the notes I got from the library.

  “Mia, I had a couple more questions.”

  “Sure, Alex. Millie said you helped the police solve a murder last year,” Mia said with a bit of awe in her voice. Good old Millie.

  “I guess I did actually, but I probably wouldn’t be involved in this at all except it happened in my home and I feel compelled to find out why. Do you understand?”

  Mia nodded. “Of course. I would feel the same way. So, you have more questions? I thought we went over everything the other night.”

  “So did I but I found something yesterday at the gravesite and I wanted to pass it by you.” I took the photo from the table and handed it to Mia. “Someone tossed this into Penelope’s grave when they walked by with their flower. Do you recognize the man?”

  I watched Mia’s face because I felt certain Mystery Man was her father and Penelope her long-lost mother. I hoped for instant recognition but instead I got nothing. Mia studied the picture for a minute and then shook her head.

  “No, he doesn’t look familiar. Does he live in Indian Cove?”

  “I don’t know. You’re sure you’ve never seen him?”

  “Not that I can recall.”

  “Then do you remember seeing anyone by the casket, maybe tossing something in?” I asked grasping at straws.

  “No. I didn’t actually walk by the casket. I just couldn’t. It reminded me too much of my father’s funeral, so I just left.” Mia handed the picture back to me.

  “Okay. I do have another question. Were you happy with the settlement you got from the hospital?”

  “What does that have to do with anything?” Mia asked. She wasn’t being unfriendly but I definitely detected a tone of defensiveness in her voice.

  “Probably nothing at all, but I’m just compiling as much background info on everyone as I possibly can.”

  Mia shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. “I think I told you I got a small settlement. Not a lot, but enough to get me through school.”

  “It seems you could have gotten quite a bit considering what happened to your father,” I said. I felt like a heel bringing this all up again but what could I do? I felt certain I was on to something even though Mia didn’t recognize the man in the photo.

  Mia leaned forward and took hold of her tea mug, holding it in her hands, but not taking a sip. “It was an extremely difficult time. My aunt and I didn’t know anything about law suits. I found the name of a firm in the phone book and we went there. I don’t know what I expected, a quick settlement maybe. Everything seemed so cut and dried to me. The hospital killed my father. But we went to constant depositions, meetings with the lawyers, court appearances and every time something came up it just reminded me all over again of the pain.”

  Mia now took a few sips of her tea before continuing. “The hospital finally offered us a settlement. The lawyers urged us not to take it saying we could get so much more, and of course so could they, but by then I had had enough and I took the money. My aunt thought I should have held out for more, but the truth was I didn’t think the law firm did a good job. I could never get a hold of them when I called, they never answered my emails, and I got the impression my little case just wasn’t big enough for them. They didn’t seem to be putting in a lot of effort. So I settled. Like I said, I got enough to finish school and a bit in savings, a very little bit, really, but I just wanted to be done with it all.”

  I could understand Mia’s wanting to get the whole thing over with, but now with the passage of time I wondered if she felt cheated out of a big payoff and blamed the attorneys.

  “Did you know Penelope worked for the firm you hired?”

  Mia looked dumbfounded and then said, “Well, that explains it.”

  “Explains what?” I asked.

  “On Friday night at your house, Penelope came up to me and said it was nice to see me again. I figured she had me mixed up with someone else and I just said hello.”

  I found it hard to believe Mia didn’t recognize Penelope. “Mia, if she represented you how could you not recognize her?” I tried to keep the accusatory tone out of my voice.

  “She wasn’t one of my lawyers. I had two men. They’re the only people I ever saw, those two men and the receptionist whenever I came in. Are you sure she worked there?” Mia asked me. She had pulled her legs up onto the sofa and had her arms wrapped around them.

  I couldn’t tell whether Mia was lying or not but how could Penelope know Mia if Mia had no recognition of ever meeting her?

  “You know,” Mia said, “on our first visit to the firm I remember five people in the room. I know there was a woman, a paralegal, and I think another woman came in for the first few minutes but then excused herself to get to another meeting. Maybe that was her. My father had just died and I did a lot of crying in the office. My aunt did most of the talking for me, so maybe it was Penelope, but I never saw her again,” Mia said, her head resting on her knees.

  I had to admit it made sense, but still. I couldn’t think of anything else to say so I gathered up my things and left, once again with more questions than answers.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

  I love the sound of leaves crunching under my feet. October, my favorite month, was just a couple of weeks away and already the air felt very crisp. I needed to be outside, walking, instead of driving around in my car.

  I dropped by Liz’s house after I left Mia but found no one home. My parents were still out and I didn’t feel like being alone. I realized I liked having a lot of people around me and I hoped John wouldn’t be too boring for me. Geesh, if I kept this attitude up more rumors would be floating around this town than there already were.

  And what was up with that? How had those rumors begun in the first place? I couldn’t figure it out and it probably didn’t matter. People had obviously been seeing me around town on my own and maybe had heard John went away. He was a police detective, after all, and a lot of people knew him.

  I walked for quite a while and began to feel hungry when I found myself in front of Meme’s house. My subconscious must have brought me here. I just hoped she was home. And had food. I had a key and could let myself in but what was the point? I wanted company. And then the door opened.

  “You’ve got perfect timing, honey. You want some lunch?” Meme walked into the kitchen and I followed taking a seat at the small table.

  “I thought you might be at Bingo,” I said as I grabbed a grape from a bowl in the center of the table.

  “I was. Just got home. I wanted to go to lunch but when we got to the restaurant I saw Harriet.”

  “Is she still bugging you about that guy in Guilford?” I asked.

  My grandmother cut two large pieces of lasagna and placed them in the microwave to heat. Yum.

  “Nah, she finally met him. Well, almost. She arranged to meet at a restaurant and she and Marge Rumsford hid in the rose bushes across the street.”

  I giggled at the thought of these two women checking out their date.

  “When he showed up, he looked a lot older than her and not in very good shape.”

  “So she just left, huh?” I had done something similar with one of my first Internet dates. When the guy showed up in shorts about three sizes too big and a pair of dirty flip-flops on his feet, I came out of my hiding place and went right to my car.

  “Well, she would have left but her sweater got caught on the thorns of the rose bushes.” Meme shook her head. “I told her to scout the place out first and find a good hiding place, but she doesn’t listen. So there they were, Harriet and Marge, caught in the bushes trying to pull thorns out of their clothes and he marched right over and said, ‘I thought you said you were under sixty?” and then Harriet said, ‘And I thought you were sixty-five and in good condition.’” Meme shook her head again. “She’s been emailing another guy and he wants her to go away for the weekend on his houseboat. I’m staying out of it.”

/>   Meme got two plates out of the cupboard while I got forks and knives. She placed a steaming chunk of lasagna covered with her special sauce in front of me. It was too hot to taste so I just sat there breathing in the smell of the cheeses, garlic, and meat.

  “Well, I had something funny happen to me today,” I said, and then told my grandmother about being surrounded by a mob in Minetti’s.

  “They’ve got the best liverwurst sandwiches there but their prices are too high. I wonder how all those people knew John left town. But I guess it explains what happened to me today at Bingo.”

  I took a tentative bite of my very hot lasagna and looked at my grandmother. “What happened at Bingo?”

  “Joan Byrum from your mother’s senior group came up to me and told me how sorry she was. I thought she was talking about Henry, but then she looked at me and said, ‘you know, I never liked him much.’ Theresa had to pull me away before I slapped the woman. How dare she say something like that about that sweet little boy, especially after he almost died?”

  I had my hand over my mouth trying not to laugh because I still had a piece of pasta inside and it was too damned hot to swallow. But the thought of Meme jumping on some woman and looking for a good fight was just too much.

  “Of course now I know she probably meant John. She must’ve heard all the rumors. But why wouldn’t she like John? She still deserved a good slap if you ask me.” Meme picked up her fork and took a bite of her lunch.

  I reached over and kissed my grandmother on the cheek. Let the rumors fly. With Meme on my side I had nothing to worry about.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

  By ten-thirty I had already been at the office for four hours. Waking up much too early, I felt restless. I also felt guilty about not doing much work and dumping it all on Millie. It was a bit disconcerting to find things got done without me. Good thing I owned the place or this might be the time I found myself out of a job.

  I had also promised Liz I would look into some work for her and as it turned out the college needed a replacement for one of their teachers who went out on maternity leave. It wasn’t permanent and it wasn’t a sure thing Liz would get the job but I had put in a good word for her and at least it was a start. Nurses were a hot commodity these days and I knew the college planned to expand their nursing program.

  I stood in the kitchen pouring myself my third cup of tea of the morning when my sister walked in.

  “Sorry I’m late but I had to take Henry in so they could check his cast. He fell yesterday while jumping after a rabbit in the yard and I just wanted to make sure he didn’t break anything else.”

  “Is Michael home with him?’

  “No, I took him over to Mom and Dad’s. Henry insisted. I swear, the kids loved being over there. Henry asked if we could all move in and you too.”

  “Did he mention John?” I asked. Everyone seemed to be forgetting about him.

  “Well, no, but that’s just because he hasn’t seen him for a bit.” Sam put her hand on my arm. “You know how kids are. John will be back soon. What’s wrong? Why are you looking like that?”

  I put my cup down. “The whole town is talking about how John left me after only a few months of marriage.”

  Sam started to laugh. “No they’re not.”

  “Oh, yes. Yes they are. Meme even got into a fight over it. Well, she thought they were talking about Henry, but it was really John they didn’t like much. But it’s true. Everyone thinks he left me.”

  “Then it’s true?” Millie asked coming into the tiny kitchen. She came up to me and gave me a big hug, her contact-enhanced aqua eyes glistening. “Alex, I am so sorry. Why didn’t you say something?”

  “Because it’s not true!” I shouted. “I don’t know how these rumors get started and I don’t even want to know where you heard it from,” I said, glaring at Millie, “but everything between John and me is just fine.” I turned and stomped out of the kitchen sloshing tea as I went.

  A moment later Sam and Millie stood in the doorway to my office.

  “Sorry,” they said in unison.

  “A regular little Peyton Place we’re living in,” I sighed.

  “It is kind of funny, though,” Sam said. “Just wait until John gets back. That’ll really start the tongues wagging.”

  I had to smile. What would the town say then? Probably he got tired of his mistress and figured the old wife wasn’t so bad after all. Geesh.

  Mille went back out to the front desk and I thought this might be a good time to tell my sister about my not wanting kids. Not that there ever would be a good time. I steeled myself and jumped in.

  “Are you crazy?” she began when I finished. “You would be great with kids. Is this because of Henry? Because trust me, you probably won’t have a kid like him. He’s one in a million. A freak of nature.”

  “If I were ever to have kids, I would love a kid exactly like Henry…”

  My sister sat across from me shaking her head back and forth. “No you wouldn’t.”

  “Yes, I would, but the thing is I just really don’t think I want kids and John feels the same.”

  Surprisingly, my sister leaned back in her chair and seemed to run out of steam. “Did you tell Mom and Dad yet?”

  “No, but I told Meme last night over dinner and she seemed fine with it. She said kids are a lot of work and it wasn’t for everybody and there were plenty of people with kids who shouldn’t have them in the first place.”

  “Well, let me know when you’re going to tell our parents so I can make sure to be as far away from the house as I can get.”

  Sam got up and went to her office. I sat there for a few minutes thinking that didn’t go so bad.

  I finished up a few things and a half hour later sat in my car. I had spent enough time doing my day job. I needed to get back to finding a murderer. Armed with the papers I had gathered and the picture from the grave, it was time for another chat with Liz.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

  In all the talks I had over the last week with all the suspects on my list, no one stood out as a cold-blooded killer. Even Bert seemed to have a good explanation for everything and I just didn’t see him stabbing Penelope in my house. For one thing, he didn’t come armed. If he had planned to kill her all along over the botched kitchen job or a love affair gone wrong, he would have brought his own weapon and wouldn’t have relied on me to supply one for him. But he came unarmed.

  Of course, maybe it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing. He spied on his wife and happened to see a woman who made his life hell. But this didn’t seem right either. I had the feeling Bert lived in chaos. He had a few complaints against him already so what was one more? And he had probably broken a few hearts along the way as well, so why kill Penelope over something like that? Plus, he seemed to take the fact his workers had walked off the job as just the status quo and maybe in the construction business it was.

  No, I didn’t see Bert as good for this. But here was my big problem. I wanted it to be him because the other four suspects—Connie, Jean, Mia, and Liz—didn’t fit the bill either as far as cold-blooded killers went. And I had come across a couple in the last year and they all had an undercurrent of evil brewing. I didn’t feel evil around these women, even as I sat next to Liz at her kitchen table, I didn’t get the feeling I sat next to a killer.

  “No, he doesn’t look familiar to me at all,” Liz said, passing the picture of Mystery Man back to me. “And you found this in Penelope’s grave?” She pulled her sweater tightly around her and shivered. “That’s kind of creepy.”

  “Yes, it is. Well, I also wanted to give you some papers,” I said, pulling the application and job description I had printed off the Internet. “I talked with their HR department this morning and put a good word in for you. They said if you could get the application to them in the next day or two they would get you in for an interview. I got the impression they weren’t having much luck finding the right candidate so far.”

  Liz looked over the job de
scription for a minute, pushing her hair over her ears. “Alex, thank you so much. This looks very promising. But I’ve been looking in the paper and I never saw it advertised.”

  “They wanted to hire from within but I don’t think it’s working out. I think my making the call just happened at the right time.”

  “Well, I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done. I’ll get this application completed today.”

  “There’s something else I wanted to mention to you. Did you know Penelope still practiced law and it was her firm that represented Mia when her father died?”

  “No, I had no idea. I don’t remember ever seeing Penelope. There was another lawyer, a man.” Liz took a sip of coffee and seemed to consider something. “Are you saying there’s some sort of connection?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. But so far nothing else makes any sense. All I have is this picture,” I said fingering the edge of the copy, “And I have no idea how it all fits together.”

  No one recognized Mystery Man. Now what? Of course any one of the five suspects could have been lying or the picture had nothing whatsoever to do with anything. So this was all I had for all my efforts. Either the picture was key and someone pretended not to know Mystery Man or the picture meant nothing and I was up against a brick wall again.

  Deep down I knew the picture meant something and for some reason I felt I knew what that something was but just couldn’t focus on it or work it into anything cohesive.

  I went back to my office because I didn’t know what else to do.

  “Any luck?” my sister asked as I came in.

  “Nope. No one knows Mystery Man. At least no one is admitting they do. I guess if they did, it would be a dead give away of their guilt. I wonder if the police have released the picture we found in the grave and if the TV news people have it plastered all over?”

  “I don’t watch the news,” Sam said. “Too depressing. Besides, I’m afraid I’ll see Henry on the news, doing something I had no idea he did.”