An’gel felt justly rebuked, but she wasn’t ready to concede. “If you know all that, then you probably also know whose business is on shaky ground and could use an infusion of cash.”
Bugg nodded. “Yes, ma’am, indeed I do. Already working on that angle.” He stood. “I reckon that’s about all I need from you at the moment. If you don’t mind, ask Jackson to come in.”
An’gel also rose. “Certainly, Officer. I hope I have been of some help.” She walked away from the table and out of the kitchen. She found Dickce, Benjy, and Jackson in the front parlor. Jackson was dusting, while Dickce and Benjy sat quietly on the sofa.
“Officer Bugg wants to talk to you now,” An’gel informed the butler.
Jackson nodded, dropped his dust cloth on a table, and left the room.
The moment he was out of the room, Benjy said, “I have some things to tell you.”
An’gel chose the armchair nearest the sofa. “I’m all ears.”
Benjy related the conversation he had overheard while bringing Peanut and Endora back to the house.
An’gel and Dickce looked thoughtfully at each other.
“Sounds to me like Horace and Thurston are in cahoots over something,” Dickce said.
“Exactly when was this?” An’gel asked.
Benjy thought for a moment after he glanced at his watch. “At least an hour ago, maybe a little more. Say an hour and a quarter.”
“That was around the time that I saw someone ducking around the side of Estelle’s apartment,” An’gel said.
“So both Horace and Thurston were on the property,” Dickce said.
They were startled by a loud noise, the forceful closing of the front door. A moment later, Horace strode into the room.
“Can somebody tell me what in the world is going on out back? Why are the police here?” he demanded.
CHAPTER 31
“Are you just now coming back from town?” An’gel asked in a pleasant tone.
Horace appeared taken aback. Then he laughed heartily. An’gel thought it rang hollow.
“Yeah, I’ve been in town all morning. Lots to do, like always.” Horace laughed again. “You know what it’s like for us businessmen.” He sobered. “Now tell me, what’s going on with the police here?”
“There’s been another death,” Dickce said.
Horace blanched and suddenly seemed weak at the knees. He stumbled to a chair and dropped into it. “Not Jackie. Please tell me it’s not Jackie.”
Why would he assume it’s his wife?
“No, it’s not,” An’gel said. “As far as we know, Jacqueline is still in town. I’m afraid Estelle is dead.”
Horace looked mighty relieved, An’gel thought. But his expression changed quickly to one of bafflement.
“What happened? She have a heart attack?” Horace asked.
An’gel would have sworn he wasn’t faking it. He genuinely did seem puzzled by Estelle’s death.
“It wasn’t a heart attack,” Dickce said. “She was poisoned. An’gel was with her and saw the whole thing.”
Horace pulled out a handkerchief and began mopping his sweaty forehead. “Lord, I need a drink.” He stumbled to his feet and over to the liquor cabinet. With shaky hands, he pulled out a bottle of brandy and poured himself a healthy shot. He gulped it down and immediately poured another. He brought this one back to the chair with him and sipped at it.
“Sure am sorry you had to see something like that,” Horace said as he stared at the diminished contents of his glass. “Why on earth would somebody want to poison Estelle?”
An’gel turned to Benjy. “Why don’t you go back upstairs and check on Tippy,” she said. “If the police want to talk to you, Dickce can text you.”
“That’s fine with me,” Benjy said as he headed for the door. From behind Horace’s back he pointed to the man and then drew a large question mark in the air. An’gel nodded. Benjy turned and left the room.
“About Estelle,” An’gel said to Horace. “You’ve lived with the woman in this house for many years. Why do you think someone would want her out of the way?”
Horace shifted uneasily in his chair. “Well, she was always trying to interfere in stuff that wasn’t her business. She wasn’t one to hold back on her opinion of anyone or anything, I can tell you that.” He shrugged. “Woman like that is bound to rile somebody up.”
An’gel decided it was time for the gloves to come off. “Was she blackmailing you, Horace? Did she know something about your money problems that you didn’t want Jacqueline or Mireille to know?”
Horace goggled at her and dropped his now-empty glass onto the carpet. He sputtered but no coherent words emerged.
“We know you’re having financial problems,” Dickce said. “It’s obvious to us, and to the police no doubt, that money has to be involved in these murders somehow.”
“The question is,” An’gel said, “did you kill Sondra so Jacqueline would inherit? I’m sure you think you could get Jacqueline to bail you out. Then there’s also what she inherits now from her mother.” An’gel could almost see Horace shrinking into his chair.
The two-pronged attack had evidently demoralized the man. He held up both hands, as if in protest.
“Ladies, I swear to you, I would never in my life have hurt Sondra or my mother-in-law. Not for money, not for anything in this world.” He took a deep breath. “It’s true I’m in a financial bind at the moment, and if I don’t get the money I need soon, I’m going to be in the bayou with my head under the water. But no, ma’am, no way, nohow did I kill Sondra or Estelle.”
An’gel wanted to believe him, because she didn’t want her goddaughter’s husband to turn out to be a murderer. But Horace could be lying, even though his words had a ring of truthfulness to them.
Time for another battering ram, An’gel decided.
“You told us a few minutes ago you were just now getting back from town,” she said. “We know that’s a lie.”
Horace goggled at her again.
Before he could respond, Dickce weighed in. “We have it from an unimpeachable source that you were out front within the last ninety minutes or so having a conversation with Mr. Thurston.”
Horace picked his glass up from the floor and then got up to refill it. At this rate, An’gel thought, he’d be drunk in no time.
Glass replenished, Horace walked back to his chair. He gulped down about half the brandy before he looked either sister in the eye.
“All right, it’s true,” he said. “I was here. Briefly. Thurston called and insisted he had to talk to me. I thought he was in his office but he was calling from his car. Said he wanted to meet me here.”
“Did he say why he wanted to meet you here? It seems like an odd choice for a meeting.” An’gel thought the lawyer’s actions were deeply suspicious.
“He said he was bringing some documents out for Jacqueline to sign. He cut me off before I could tell him she was in town,” Horace said. “I tried calling him back, but he didn’t answer. So I had no choice but to come meet him here.”
“Did you enter the house?” Dickce asked.
Horace shook his head. “No, when I got close to the house, I saw Thurston standing down at the edge of the driveway, where the line of live oaks starts. I pulled over there, and we walked around under the trees while we talked.” He frowned. “I didn’t see anybody else while we were out there.”
“Nevertheless, someone did hear a bit of your conversation,” An’gel said. “Did you get the impression that Thurston had been here long when you arrived?”
“I really can’t say. His car was parked off to the side of the driveway, under that stand of trees at the bottom of the rise. After he called, it took me about fifteen minutes to get here.”
“So he could have been here the whole time,” Dickce said. “He could have been here already when he called you.”