A heavy floral scent filled the air, but there was an undertone of another scent, a chemical one. An’gel recognized the faint whiff of embalming fluid. She walked over to the parlor on the left side and found it empty. She turned back and went to the right-hand one. Empty also. There was a large sign with removable letters near the stairs, but it was blank except for the name of the funeral home.
A voice coming from behind her startled An’gel.
“How may I assist you, madam?”
An’gel turned to see a handsome young man, black hair slicked back, dark suit, dark shoes, and an unctuous smile, regarding her.
“Good afternoon,” An’gel said. “I am looking for my goddaughter, Jacqueline Mims. I need to talk to her.”
The young man shook his head. “I’m sorry, madam, but she is not here.”
An’gel responded tartly, “I parked beside her car just moments ago. Did she abandon her car here for some reason?”
The young man, whom An’gel assumed was one of the sons of Devereux and Sons, didn’t bat an eyelid. “Ah, my mistake, dear lady. Mrs. Mims must still be here.” He gestured with his right hand and arm. “If you will wait in here, I will locate her and tell her you wish to see her.”
“Thank you,” An’gel said. She walked into the right-hand parlor and seated herself on a Victorian-looking divan. “Tell her Miss An’gel Ducote would like to speak to her.”
The young man bowed. “Certainly, madam.” He disappeared, and An’gel thought she heard him on the stairs. From where she was sitting, she could not see into the foyer.
She supposed Jacqueline was upstairs in an office or a showroom, making decisions about the two burials. She didn’t really want to intrude on her goddaughter at this time, but An’gel wanted to see the two murder cases brought to a swift conclusion. She needed to ask Jacqueline a few questions. There were missing pieces, and she hoped her goddaughter could help her fill them in.
“Tante An’gel, why did you come all the way into town?” Jacqueline was bearing down on her. “I was getting ready to leave and would have been home soon.” She seated herself near An’gel on the divan.
“I was restless, feeling cooped up,” An’gel said, “and I decided to get out and come to town. Have you heard the latest news?”
Jacqueline shook her head. “No, I haven’t talked to anyone except Mr. Devereux and his sons. I think I left my cell phone in the car. Why? What has happened?”
Bugg might be annoyed with her for telling Jacqueline about Estelle’s murder, but he would just have to be annoyed, An’gel decided.
“Estelle is dead,” she said. “I was with her when it happened.”
“Her heart, I’ll bet,” Jacqueline said, looking stricken. “She was devoted to Maman and all this has been too big a strain for her.” She glanced up, as if to heaven, and sighed heavily.
“No, it wasn’t her heart,” An’gel said. “She was poisoned.”
Jacqueline shot up from the divan. “Poisoned? Oh, dear lord.” She sank back down. “That’s horrendous. Why would someone murder her?”
“Because she knew something that Sondra’s murderer didn’t want her to tell anyone else.” An’gel leaned toward Jacqueline. “Estelle told me at least twice that she knew things, and she said it in a way that led me to believe she was planning to blackmail someone. For all I know, she tried, and the murderer poisoned her.”
She went on to explain the figure she thought she had seen, and she repeated what Jackson had told her about Estelle’s allergy to peanuts.
Jacqueline nodded. “Yes, she was deathly afraid of peanuts in any form.” She covered her face with her hands and said something, but it was too muffled for An’gel to understand.
“What did you say?” she demanded.
Jacqueline dropped her hands and clasped them together in her lap. Her expression one of anguish, she stared at An’gel. “I said what an awful mess this is. What a nightmare.” Tears rolled down her face.
An’gel reached over and squeezed Jacqueline’s hands. “Yes, dear, I know. That’s why we need to do whatever we can to put an end to this. There is something evil at work, and it has to be stopped.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Jacqueline said. “But how? I’m terrified of what might happen next. Is someone staying with Tippy? Maybe I need to get home and look after her myself.” She half rose from the divan but then dropped down again.
“Tippy is safe,” An’gel said. “Either Dickce or Benjy will be with her at all times, and they won’t let her out of their sight. They will protect her. There’s also Peanut. He has apparently taken a shine to Tippy, and you can bet he won’t let anybody hurt her if he’s anywhere nearby.”
“Thank you,” Jacqueline said. “If something happens to her, I don’t know what I’d do.”
“She’s going to be fine,” An’gel said firmly. “We are going to figure out how to put an end to this, and you and she will both be safe.”
Jacqueline nodded. “What can we do?”
“The first thing we have to do is establish the motive for Sondra’s death,” An’gel said. “Once we know that, everything else should fall into place.”
Her goddaughter stared expectantly at her, so An’gel continued. “In my mind, there are two possible motives. One is passion, the other is greed. Until a little while ago, I was convinced, as was Dickce, by the way, that greed was at the root of this. We were certain that someone was in desperate need of money and killed Sondra because he wanted access to her inheritance.”
“You mean Horace, don’t you?” Jacqueline said sadly.
“Possibly,” An’gel said. “He is in deep trouble financially, probably far deeper than he’s told you. But he’s not the only one we considered. Dickce and I are highly suspicious of your lawyer. I even went to the bank just now to talk to Mr. Montgomery because he is the other trustee.” She sighed. “But he assured me there was no way Thurston has embezzled any of Sondra’s money. If he’s telling the truth, then I think we have to look at passion as the motive.”
“If Farley Montgomery says there’s no way the money can be embezzled, then you can believe him.”
For a moment An’gel thought she was having an auditory hallucination. She was looking at Jacqueline, but it was Mireille’s voice she heard. Jacqueline was staring past An’gel and not talking, however.
An’gel turned in the direction Jacqueline was staring, and she almost fainted.
Mireille Champlain stood in the doorway looking at her, every bit as alive as An’gel was.
CHAPTER 35
“I’m sorry, Tante An’gel,” Jacqueline said, sounding stricken. “I wanted to tell you, but Maman insisted that you had to be kept in the dark, along with Tante Dickce.”
“Yes, I did,” Mireille said as she advanced into the room. She sat between An’gel and Jacqueline on the divan.
An’gel’s heart was beating so hard she thought she might pass out. She did her best to slow her breathing and the beat of her heart while she stared at her cousin. Mireille looked perfectly fine, as if she hadn’t had any kind of heart attack at all.
“I, too, am sorry, An’gel,” Mireille said as she took one of An’gel’s hands and rubbed it between both of hers. “I hated to put you and Dickce through all this, but I couldn’t take the chance that one of you, without meaning to, might give the whole thing away.”
An’gel wanted to be angry with Mireille, but she sensed that her cousin was frightened. “I’ll get over it. I’m too happy and relieved to be upset for long,” An’gel said. “May I tell Dickce?”
Mireille sighed. “I’d rather you didn’t, but I know how close the two of you are. You might as well. I’m hoping this will all be over soon, anyway, if we can simply figure out a way to make it happen.”
“If you’ll tell me why you decided to carry out this elaborate charade, perhaps I can help. I want to get this over with, too, before anyone else is hurt. Frankly, I’m concerned about Jacqueline and Tippy’s safety,” An’gel said.