“Nothing in the last five years,” he said. “She must have cleaned up or slowed down. But I bet she was fun to party with when she was in her prime.”
“Does it give any other names she may have used?”
“She’s used a lot of names,” Neal said. “She’s had a lot of husbands. Three at least. She’s been known as Elizabeth Hayward, Elizabeth Fontroyal—I like that one the best—Elizabeth Stiegerwald—”
“What about Baxter?” I asked. “Elizabeth Baxter?”
Neal nodded. “That one too.”
Dan cleared his throat. “Who is this person? Did she hurt your mom?”
I hadn’t told Dan anything about Elizabeth Yarbrough. Not the will, and certainly not about her—maybe—being my half sister. I hadn’t explained it to Neal either.
“We’re trying to find that out, Dan,” I said.
“Yeah,” Neal said. “Have a seat, chief. There’s a lot to learn here.”
Dan looked at me, and I shrugged a little. Dan sat down in a chair, his body oozing reluctance.
“So she did go by Elizabeth Baxter at one point,” I said. “And did she live in Haxton?”
“Sure did.”
“So do we know that this is the Elizabeth Baxter I’m looking for?”
“We know she was born in 1960 and lived in Haxton. We know she’s Elizabeth Yarbrough now and lives in Reston Point.”
“So it is her?”
Neal shook his head; now he was the teacher. “Not really. All we know is that the woman in Reston Point is using the same social security number as the woman in Haxton. At some point, the only way to tell for sure is to go ID this woman in Reston Point. Technology can only do so much. Without a picture or DNA or something, it could just be someone using someone else’s identity. That happens, you know.”
“Sure.”
“You want to hear about this old dude? Gordon Baxter? I’m assuming these two are related, although not married. That would be sick—he’s ancient.”
“I think he’s probably sixty-nine,” I said.
“Seventy,” Neal said. “He’s been a bit of a son of a bitch too. A couple of arrests.”
“Larceny and assault,” I said.
Dan looked at me, surprised. Neal started laughing.
“Hey,” he said. “Sherlock Holmes got the jump on me.”
“The police told me about it.”
“The police,” Neal said, waving his hand. “Those guys are so slow.”
“Hold it,” Dan said. “Who are these criminals we’re hearing about? Are you in trouble?”
Neal ignored the question. “And it’s not larceny. It’s grand larceny the old man committed. That means he took control of someone else’s property, and said property had a decent value. In Ohio, that means more than twenty-five hundred bucks. Could be a car. Could be jewelry. Either way, he’s a bad boy. And not just assault—aggravated assault. That means he probably used a weapon.”
“Jesus,” Dan said.
“There are some cool people in the world,” Neal said.
“Is that it on Baxter?” I asked.
“Pretty much,” Neal said. “Last known address in Columbus. Only been married once.” He turned and looked at me. I could see what he had pieced together. “A woman named Leslie Baxter. Also known as Leslie Hampton. Now deceased.”
“Hold it a minute,” Dan said. “This guy, this criminal… your mom?”
“Pretty wild, isn’t it?” Neal said.
“You knew this?” Dan ignored Neal and looked directly at me.
“No,” I said. “I just found all this out today. I asked Neal to dig into these people a little more. I wanted to know what I was dealing with.”
“Jesus,” Dan said again.
Neal said, “You’re hoping that these people—one or both of them—killed your mom. If they killed her, then your brother is off the hook. Right?”
“Doesn’t it make more sense?” I asked. “Look at them and look at Ronnie.”
“What’s the motive?” Neal asked. “People don’t off people for no reason. Unless they’re in love with them or something.”
“Money,” I said. “This Yarbrough woman showed up and got in the will. My mom is dead and Ronnie is accused. She gets a big cut of what my mom had.”
“Pretty slick,” Neal said.
“I think I’m missing a few steps,” Dan said. He looked at Neal. “How did you find these things out? Couldn’t Elizabeth or I have found them on the Internet?”
“Not really, chief,” Neal said. “I mean, you can pay for some background-check stuff online, but it’s second-rate. And the Teach here is a poor grad student. She doesn’t want to go through all that expense.” He wiped his nose. “Besides, you have to know how to interpret the data. That’s what my old man does. He took a look at this and helped me analyze it.”
“Your old man?” Dan asked. “Is he a cop?”
“Not even close,” Neal said.
“Dan,” I said. “It’s okay.”
“Then tell me how this woman could convince your mother to let her into her will. What did she tell her?”
“It’s a long story,” I said. “It’s—”
“Yes,” Neal said, cutting in. “A very long story. And we don’t have much time.”
“Why is that?” Dan asked.
Neal held up his phone. “I have a full tank of gas and directions to her house. Since Elizabeth likes to party and it’s Saturday night, she might be going out. I think we need to get to Reston Point as soon as possible, before she decides it’s time to hightail it out of there.”
Chapter Forty-four
“Wait a minute,” Dan said. “You’re not really going to go up there and confront this woman, are you?”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to. He knew what I was thinking.
Neal jangled his car keys.
“Hold it,” Dan said. “Don’t you think you should call the police? If there’s reason to think this woman harmed your mother, then the police need to know.”
Neal shook his head. “Not happening, chief. Not that way. You have to understand people like this, which you probably don’t since you’re a professor type. People like this spook easily. Hell, they can tell when a cop gets within five miles of them. She’ll run off. She’ll turn ghost and run. And even if the cops find her, she isn’t going to tell them anything. I think Teach here needs to go.”
“Dan,” I said, “the police already know all of this. I just talked to them today. I told them about both of these people.”
“And what did they say?” Dan asked. “Did they suggest you go find them?”
“They acted like they’d look into it, but I can tell they won’t. They think they know who did it already. Ronnie. That’s it for them.”
Neal stood up. “Besides, this woman could really be Teach’s—what, half sister? Is that what she is?”
“She could be dangerous,” Dan said. “You think she might be working with this guy, this Gordon guy. What if they are in it together?”
“I know what I’ll do,” I said. “I’m the executor of the will. She’s eager to get her share, right? If I have to, I’ll just tell her that’s what I’m there for.”
“Works for me,” Neal said. He pointed to my bare feet. “You better put shoes on. It’s getting chilly out.”
“I’m going too,” Dan said.
His words didn’t surprise me. I knew he’d insist on coming along and making sure nothing happened to me. I appreciated it.
“Look,” I said. “I just—” I turned to Neal. “Do you mind waiting in the car?” I asked. “I’ll be right there.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll get it warmed up, pick out the CDs, all that stuff.”
When he was gone and the front door closed behind him, I turned to Dan. I couldn’t tell him the truth about why I didn’t want him to come. The truth was, it just didn’t seem like the kind of place for Dan to go. I knew Neal could take care of himself if he needed to, but I wasn’t sure Dan could. It wouldn’t be for lack of trying. I knew he’d lay down his life for me if the situation called for it.