I thought back. Azalea had started working for my late aunt about twenty-five years ago, and I had met her several times when my family and I visited Aunt Dottie. I explained this to the sheriff.
“And she’s worked for you how long?”
“Since I moved back to Athena four years ago,” I said. With a slight smile I continued, “I inherited Azalea along with the house. I had little say in the matter.”
Tidwell smiled also. “She’s a strong-minded woman.” The smile faded. “Tell me what you saw when you found Miz Berry.”
I took a moment to collect my thoughts. My brain felt fuzzy. I focused on the door in the kitchen and the sounds I heard. Then I gave the sheriff a summary of what I saw.
“The door was definitely blocked from the outside?” Tidwell asked when I finished.
“Yes, the doorstop was wedged very firmly under it, and I actually had to bend down and pull it out with both hands. I tried kicking it aside, but it was embedded too deeply.”
Tidwell frowned. “So in your opinion, was Miz Berry unable to get out of that stairwell on her own?”
“Yes.” I didn’t elaborate further.
“Describe for me again Miz Berry’s demeanor when you found her.”
“She was obviously upset. She seemed frantic to get out of the stairwell, and frankly I couldn’t blame her.”
“What did she say?”
“That she had been banging on the door for ten minutes. Then she said it was terrible. That’s it, really.”
Tidwell stared hard at me. “You’re sure that’s all she said?”
His tone irritated me. “Yes, I’m sure.”
“What was Miz Berry’s relationship to Miz Cassity?”
“None that I know of.”
I thought he would press me on that, and when he didn’t, I found it strange. He was no dummy, despite Kanesha’s earlier comment when she referred to him as an idiot. That was only her anger talking. Tidwell was a sharp, politically savvy man, and he might be perfectly aware of Azalea’s antipathy toward Vera.
My mind flashed back to the scene I’d witnessed between the two women earlier tonight. I hoped I wouldn’t have to tell the sheriff about that, at least not until I’d had a chance to talk to Azalea about it—and Kanesha, too.
“I reckon that’s all for now, Mr. Harris. If I have more questions, I’ll let you know.”
I rose gratefully. “Certainly, Sheriff.” His deputy showed me out and escorted me to the front door.
I found my car, keys in the ignition, in the driveway. A deputy waited nearby, and I figured they had sent the valets home earlier. I climbed in and headed for home, yawning the whole way.
The house was quiet when I reached it, with lights burning in the kitchen and the hallway. I made my way slowly up the stairs to my bedroom, and within five minutes I was in bed. I barely had time to wonder where Diesel was before I dropped off to sleep.
Having failed to set the alarm before I stumbled into bed, I woke two hours later than usual, around eight thirty. As I began to stir, I felt a paw on my arm. I turned to see Diesel sitting on the bed beside me. He meowed at me, and I scooped an arm around him and pulled him closer. He warbled for me as I rubbed up and down his back, then concentrated on his head. There was no standoff kitty routine this morning. He was as happy to see me as I was to see him.
Twenty minutes later, showered and dressed for work, I caught the scents of fresh coffee and bacon as Diesel and I headed downstairs. My stomach rumbled. Either Stewart or Laura must be cooking breakfast, and I was grateful. Even though I was running late, I was so hungry I wasn’t going to skip this meal. I needed energy for the day ahead.
When I walked into the kitchen, Azalea turned away from the stove to glare at me. “I didn’t murder nobody. Not even that hateful woman.”
FIFTEEN
I hadn’t expected to see Azalea at her usual place at the stove this morning. For one thing, she had to be even more exhausted than I was last night. But here she was. The woman was indomitable.
“Of course you didn’t.” I put every ounce of conviction I could muster into those four words.
The rigid set of my housekeeper’s shoulders relaxed a fraction. “Thank you, Mr. Charlie. I appreciate that.” She turned back to the stove.
At a loss as to what I should say next, I sat down. Diesel walked around me and over to where Azalea stood. He sat by her feet, looked up at her, and chirped several times.
Startled, she glanced down at him. “He be trying to tell me something.” Uncertainly she faced me again. “He upset with me?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “No, in his way, he’s trying to tell you he knows you’re upset and he wants you to feel better.”
“Well, don’t that just beat all?” Bemused, she watched the cat for a moment, then reached with a trembling hand to touch his head. Diesel, smart boy that he was, simply sat there and let her stroke him tentatively.
“You maybe ain’t so bad after all, cat.” Azalea went to the sink and washed her hands, and Diesel moved to sit beside me.
I never thought I’d see the day. My mouth probably hung open in astonishment. Diesel appeared to be smirking. He could be quite a self-satisfied puss on occasion, but he more than deserved to be this time.
“I was about to forget your coffee, Mr. Charlie.” Azalea muttered to herself as she brought the coffeepot and filled my cup.
“Thank you.”
“Breakfast is almost ready. Let me just check on the biscuits.” She bent to peer in the oven door.
“Morning, Dad, Azalea. Isn’t it a gorgeous day?” Laura breezed into the kitchen. “The semester is done, I’ve turned in all my grades, and now I’m a free woman. I could eat a horse.”
Talk about strange. Laura and Sean and their dates had left the party before Vera’s body was discovered, and obviously she hadn’t heard the story from anyone yet this morning. Stewart must still be in bed. Otherwise the whole house would be buzzing with the news.
What could I say? I didn’t want to bring the subject up in front of Azalea, but my housekeeper solved my dilemma for me as she set my plate of scrambled eggs, bacon, and biscuits on the table.
“Something bad happened last night, Miss Laura. I reckon you was gone by the time it happened.” She set down Laura’s plate and then disappeared into the laundry room.
Wide-eyed, Laura left off stroking Diesel and gazed at me. “What on earth happened, Dad?”
“Happened where?” Sean startled me. He wandered over to the stove and filled a plate. “Want coffee, bug breath?”
“No, thanks, snot brain.” Laura glared at her brother. “Go on, what went on after we left last night?” She sneaked Diesel a bite of bacon when she thought I wasn’t looking.
Maybe one of these days my darling children would stop referring to each other by those silly nicknames. “Vera Cassity died, and it looks like she might have been murdered.”
Sean paused, fork halfway to his mouth, and the eggs plopped back onto the plate.
Laura groaned. “Don’t tell me. You found the body, didn’t you?” She and her brother shared a glance—of commiseration, I assumed.
“Not exactly.” I had a sip of my coffee. “Kanesha was worried because she couldn’t find her mother, and Morty Cassity mentioned he hadn’t seen Vera. So we started looking for them.” I gave them a brief account of my discovery of Azalea and Vera’s body in the stairwell.
Laura shivered, her breakfast forgotten. “How terrible for Azalea. Locked in with a corpse.”
“Sounds like the title of a Golden Age detective story.” Sean scooped up the fallen egg and popped it into his mouth. Not much interfered with his appetite.
“Don’t be facetious, son.”
Sean shrugged. “Sorry.”
I suppressed a sigh of irritation. “Azalea was terrified, and Kanesha was pretty upset, too. She seemed to think Sheriff Tidwell was considering her mother as a suspect in Vera’s death.”