Skye reached once again for the phone, but this time there was no dial tone. She looked out the kitchen window, but the storm had worsened and she couldn’t see more than a few feet ahead.
Shit, I suppose the electricity will be next. I’d better store some water just in case. Electrical outages in Scumble River had been known to last a long time.
After she filled the bathtub, she’d change and drive in to see Wally. Might as well get the whole thing over with. Damn, he’d be really pissed about the whole incident with the Chicago police.
Skye walked into her bathroom and leaned over the tub. Before she could straighten she felt something poke her in the back. She gasped and whirled around.
A steel barrel stared her in the face. The person holding it said, “Stand up slowly with your hands in the air.”
CHAPTER 23
Nine, Ten, Round the Bend
“ow did you get in here?” Skye asked. “I’m sure I locked all the doors.”
“I borrowed the key from your mother’s purse,” Mona answered. “I’ll slip it back in before she notices it’s gone.”
“What do you want?” Skye stared at the gun Mona held in her right hand.
“You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” Mona prodded Skye through the bedroom and into the living room.
Skye sat down hard on the sofa. “Figured out what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t pull that innocent act on me. I knew you were closing in ever since you talked to Nurse Prynn. And you made it clear last night at dinner that you suspected me.” Mona’s mouth was bracketed by wrinkles Skye didn’t remember seeing until today.
“I’ve suspected everybody.” Skye’s hand closed over a pen wedged between the couch cushions. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was the only one available.
“Quit lying.” Mona gestured to the patio doors. “I’ve been watching you through the window, and I saw you jump up and run to the telephone.”
“Then you know I’ve already called the police.” Skye looked her aunt in the eye.
“I don’t think so. Your first inclination would be to call your mother, and I know she’s getting her hair done. Charlie isn’t home either. And I cut the wire pretty quickly, so I’ll have to take the chance you didn’t tell anyone.” Mona’s voice was firm.
“If I can figure it out, so can someone else.” Skye inched to the edge of the seat, palming the pen.
“No. You have knowledge others wouldn’t have. With Nurse Prynn gone there really is no one left who remembers.”
Skye searched her memory, trying to think of something to say to change her aunt’s mind. “Aunt Minnie knows. Isn’t that why you tried to kill her with those sleeping pills?”
“I didn’t try to kill Minnie. I never intended for her to die. I wanted everyone to think she had attempted suicide so they’d suspect her of killing Mom.” Mona rubbed her temple, a faraway look on her face. “She doesn’t know anything. She never knew I had an abortion. Minnie has always lived in her own world. She never even knew I was seeing Beau, so she couldn’t know I was pregnant by him. She was told I had my appendix out.” Mona moved closer to Skye. “Now get up. You need to put a dress on.”
“Why do I need a dress?”
Mona ignored Skye’s question as she walked her into the bedroom and opened the closet.
“I still don’t understand why you’re willing to kill rather than have people know that you had an abortion as a teenager.” Skye took off her shorts and T-shirt and slipped on the dress Mona handed her. “That is why you killed your own mother, isn’t it? Because you were afraid Grandma would tell me about your abortion when she got to that point in the family history.”
“You have no idea what I’ve been through. I begged Mom not to tell anyone, but her memory was getting so bad for the present, and seemed to be getting clearer for the past. I couldn’t chance it.” Mona stared at Skye. “She just wouldn’t cooperate. I asked her for the family Bible. I knew she would have made some note of the baby. But she said she didn’t know where it was. I asked for the pictures Minnie took while we were in Chicago with Nurse Prynn, and Mom claimed they had been thrown out years ago.”
Skye opened her mouth to ask a question, but Mona continued with her own train of thought. “There was always someone at the farm so I never got a chance to look for the Bible or pictures when Mom was alive. And I needed to get to Joliet the day I brought her the brownies. She took longer to die than I expected, and the housekeeper’s death was an unexpected complication, so I had to go back and search after you all left that night. I was so afraid Neal would wake up and find me gone that I had to rush. You had already made the police suspicious so at least I didn’t have to be neat.” Mona smiled coldly. “Good thing we live close by. It was easy keeping an eye on who went to the farm after Mom died. I could sit in my living room and watch out the picture window. And when I couldn’t be there I set up my video camera.”
“So that’s how you knew I had the Bible and the pictures. You saw me go by that night, then snuck over to the farm and watched me.” Skye visually searched the room for a better weapon than the pen she had slipped into her pocket.
“Right.” Mona stared vacantly for a moment. “Let’s see, is there anything else we need here?”
Skye glanced at her tennis shoes. Knowing she’d have a better chance of getting away if Mona didn’t make her change into heels, she asked another question, hoping to keep her aunt distracted. “But why? Okay, so abortion was illegal. It’s not as if anyone could prosecute you now.”
“Neal would leave me if he found out. He’d be ruined in the community. How could he go on being the Grand Knight of the KC if this information got out?” Mona scrubbed her eyes with her fist. “Give me your keys. We’re going to church.”
“Church?”
“You need to go to confession. That way you’ll go straight to heaven.” Mona’s eyes gleamed. “In a way, I’m saving you from years of torment here on earth.”
“That’s why you knew Grandma and Mrs. Jankowski had gone to confession that day. You arranged it.” Skye grabbed her keys from the dish by the door and handed them to her aunt.
Skye preceded Mona outside. The rain had slowed to a drizzle. Mona made Skye get into the car via the driver’s side and prodded her over to the passenger seat with the gun.
Using one hand, Mona put the Buick in gear and backed out of the driveway, then continued where she had left off. “Nurse Prynn wasn’t Catholic, so she was going to hell anyway.”
“How did you find out about me locating Miss Prynn?” Skye asked.
“She called me Saturday, demanding money.” Mona kept the gun trained on Skye. “She wouldn’t listen when I tried to tell her that Neal would notice if I took a large sum from our checking account. I begged her to let me pay a little bit each week. She said she was too old for the installment plan. So I agreed to bring her the cash on Sunday.”
Skye watched the gun barrel as it wavered between her chest and head. “But you didn’t bring her money on Sunday, did you? You brought her a plate of your famous double fudge brownies. And instead of pecans you used those nuts you brought home from your Hawaiian vacation. The poison guide said they were very tasty, but extremely toxic.”
“I told her I had forgotten the bank was closed on Sunday, and I’d have to bring her the money the next day, but I wanted to give her something to show my good intentions.” Mona finished Skye’s thought.
“So, when did you steal Miss Prynn’s records?”
“I didn’t. The old bat wouldn’t open the door to me on Sunday. She made me leave the brownies on the step. I didn’t know when she’d eat them. And when I came back Monday morning I couldn’t get into the house.” Mona frowned. “But with you gone the records will be just one among hundreds.”