THIRTY-TWO

By 8 a.m. Payton sat in Helen’s glassed breakfast room. Carter voiced his intention of “letting you girls talk” but he remained there. Payton sipped Helen’s fresh-ground hazelnut coffee and leaned back in the white wicker chair, purchased at Payton’s shop at a 10 percent friendship discount. She dropped the bomb. “I’ve decided to investigate Sean’s death.”

This was obviously not what they’d expected her to say. “Why?” they both asked at the same time.

“Because…” Payton hesitated. “I—”

“Because you’re scared they’re looking at you?” Carter asked, his usual teasing manner serious.

“Right,” Payton admitted.

“That’s absurd. Why would they suspect you before people who’ve known and despised Sean?” This also came from Carter. In response to the scathing look from Helen, he said to his wife, “I thought we decided you were done sticking up for Sean. Your attentions, although misguided, were well intentioned but will stop here.”

A light flush colored Helen’s cheeks.

“Did you ever buy insurance from Harry Brice?” Payton asked.

“Er, yes,” Carter replied.

“Did anyone else in the neighborhood?”

Carter laughed. “It was hard not to buy from him.”

“What could this have to do with Sean’s death?” Helen asked.

“I don’t know yet. Do you know if Aden bought a policy?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. They were friends,” Carter said.

“Aden was Harry’s only friend.”

“That’s not true,” argued Carter. “I was his friend.”

“Hrmph. That’s why you didn’t even know the man was dead.” This was clearly the first time Helen voiced the thought aloud. Carter’s expression registered both shock and disappointment. Helen was quick to apologize.

“Harry was diabetic,” Helen said, “plus he was suffering some sort of post traumatic stress from an injury in Korea.”

“What sort of injury?” Payton asked.

“He was shot in the leg,” Carter said. “Walked with a cane.”

“So he was unsteady on his feet?”

“He was careful.”

“Do you remember when Aden first started coming to the Wanderlust meetings?” Payton asked.

Carter chuckled. “That was back when men were allowed to come.”

“Men are still allowed,” Helen said. “Sometimes Edward shows up.”

“That’s because he won’t let Amanda out of his sight.”

There it was again, another contradiction to the March’s relationship. “If Edward thought there was something between Amanda and Sean, what might he do?”

“Simple. He’d kill Sean,” Carter said. Suddenly the air in the room changed.

“Oh God,” Helen said.

They sat silently with their thoughts for several moments. Finally Payton spoke, “I can’t see him buying a plant and mixing up a poison concoction though. That takes planning.”

Carter pointed at Payton. “Wait. Explain.”

“The police were at Payton’s store, searching for poisonous plants,” Helen said. “They insinuated Sean had been poisoned with a plant.”

“No way Ed would use a plant,” said Carter. “If he killed Sean, it would be in a fit of anger.”

Payton nodded. “I think a woman killed Sean.”

“Anyone in particular?” Carter asked.

“No. I’ve been talking and listening a lot, that’s all so far. What do you think about Amanda?”

“No!” Helen said but then leaned back, blinked twice and said, “Maybe.”

“She’s as gentle as a lamb. I’d more likely picture Helen— Ouch! Stop kicking me.” Carter bent down and rubbed his shin.

“What kind of thing is that to accuse me of, Carter Mortenson?”

“Oh stop it. I just meant that personality-wise, you’re more the type because you’re more logical, more likely to plan. Amanda’s sort of a scatterbrain.”

“I never thought of her that way,” Payton said. “So when did Aden start coming to the meetings?”

“Almost right from when he moved to town,” Helen said. “We dragged him everywhere at first.”

“Ha!” Carter threw back his head and roared. “You dragged him everywhere, little Miss Matchmaker. He really disappointed her, though. He never went out with one of Helen’s setups more than once.”

“When did he stop coming to the meetings?”

“He didn’t come very often because of his job. I think he just sort of petered out.”

“What about Sean? Did he ever come?”

“In the beginning, yes.” Helen took a sip of coffee.

“When did he stop?” Seeing Helen’s mounting confusion she said, “I’m trying to piece together a timeline. Was Sean still coming when Harry died? Did he and Aden ever come at the same time?”

“When Aden found Harry dead, Sean was still attending the meetings. I remember because Sean made a rude comment about Harry. He said ‘the old gimp shouldn’t be trying to act like a kid.’”

“No, that’s not exactly right,” Carter added. “He said ‘Old gimps shouldn’t try and do kids’ jobs.’”

“You’re right,” Helen said. “That made Aden angry. He picked Sean up by the front of the shirt and shook him. Sean’s feet were right off the floor! Then Aden gave him one hell of a lecture about being respectful to his elders.” There was silence a moment, during which Payton tried to picture Aden angry. She failed.

“You know,” Helen said, “it doesn’t seem as though Sean came to many meetings after that.”

“Tell me about Sylvie.”

Helen wrinkled her nose but leaned back in her chair. “She grew up here. Married Garson French. He was a captain in the Air Force, and for a few years they lived on bases around the country. Moved back here when he got out, but things weren’t good between them. They got divorced a short time afterward. He moved away. She stayed. Never married again. I don’t think she dated anyone either.”

“Has she always been in real estate?”

“No. She was a high school English teacher back then. I can’t remember exactly when she opened the agency. I went to work for her—”

“She talked you into working for her,” Carter interrupted.

“Yes,” Helen admitted. “I stayed as long as I could take it, then went out on my own.”

“She was hard to work for?”

Carter chuckled. “In case you haven’t noticed, Sylvie’s not a people person.”

“But she knew it,” Helen said. “That’s why she asked me to come in with her. Paid for real estate classes and everything.”

“When you left, was it amicable?”

“Yes and no. We had a falling out but patched most of it up afterward.”

“What do you know about her life now?”

“You mean besides the cats?” Helen asked.

Helen didn’t mention the smell so neither did Payton. “Did Sean and Sylvie have any real estate dealings? Any relationship at all?”

“There was something, while I worked there.” Helen put a finger to her lips, thinking. “Sean put a deposit on a piece of land. A few days later, I saw Sylvie tear up his check and accept someone else’s. When I asked about it, she said only that he’d backed out of the deal. But later, Sean was livid, so I knew she was lying.”

“Interesting. Do you recall who bought the land?”

“No. Sorry. It’s probably in the town tax records.” Helen’s phone rang.

Payton looked at her watch. “I have to get to the shop.” She took her cup to the kitchen, rinsed it and put it in the sink. She practically danced across the lawn to her house. Things were really taking shape. Get people talking and there was no end to what you could find out. She retrieved the shop keys and her backpack. Claire hadn’t arrived yet, so she locked up and headed for town.

Just as she’d thought, Aden and Sean had a previous relationship that ended on a bad note. And so did the relationship between Sean and Sylvie. Payton couldn’t wait to visit town hall and find out more about that land deal.