Frank rolled his eyes heavenward. “If y’all only knew what I have to put up with on a daily basis, you wouldn’t joke about it.” He emitted a sigh, theatrical in its intensity. Laura giggled at him, and he winked at her.
Frank rose from the table. “As much as I would love to stay and tell you all about how stubborn my beautiful wife is, we need to get going.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” Laura said. “If you’ll take the baby, I’ll grab his diaper bag.”
Azalea surrendered baby Charlie to his father. I insisted on another look at him, but then, all too soon, they departed. Stewart finished his coffee and said he had things he needed to do as well. I thanked him again for the beautiful Christmas decorations before he headed upstairs.
A few minutes later, the front doorbell rang. Diesel hurried to the door, and I followed. I was hopeful that the child had decided to come talk with me, but it was Melba who had rung the bell.
“This is a pleasant surprise,” I said. “What’s up?” I stood aside to let her in and shut the door.
Melba didn’t answer right away. She was too busy with Diesel. When she did reply, I was shocked by her expression.
“I’m so upset with Jared Carter, I don’t know what to do,” she said.
She did look miserable, I thought. “What has he done?” I took her arm and led her to the kitchen. Diesel followed anxiously, chirping at his friend.
Melba collapsed into a chair, and Diesel planted himself next to her. Melba stroked his head.
I repeated my question.
“I’ll tell you what he’s done,” Melba said. “I think he killed Gerry Albritton.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Startled, I sank into my chair. “Killed her? What possible motive could he have?”
“Money.” Melba practically spit out the word.
I was right about Jared’s connection with Gerry Albritton, I decided.
“He was her sleeping partner,” I said, not considering my choice of words.
“He was sleeping with her, all right,” Melba said grimly.
“That isn’t what I meant,” I said. “I meant he was financing her real estate deals.”
“Oh.” Melba looked taken aback. “Yes, he was. I think he was having an affair with her, too.”
“How do you know about the financial relationship?” I asked.
“I went to see Dr. Carter this morning,” Melba said. “It’s been bugging the heck out of me, ever since I heard what he said to her at the party the other night. So, I decided to have it out with him.”
“Did you go to his office?” The thought appalled me. Surely Melba hadn’t made a scene at his office.
“No, of course not,” she responded impatiently. “I have more class than that. I was at his house just now. I called him and told him I had to talk to him, and he asked me to come to his house. I think he knew I was out for blood.”
Braver men than Jared Carter had quailed before the wrath of Melba Gilley, I reflected. I was surprised he hadn’t tried to put her off, though.
“Oh, he tried to put me off,” Melba said, correctly discerning my thoughts. “But I told him if he didn’t talk to me, I’d show up at his office and throw such a fit that he’d never live it down.”
That made me suspicious. This wasn’t like the Melba I knew. “Why are you so riled up about him and the fact that he might have been seeing another woman?”
“Because he told me that I was the first woman he’d been interested in since his wife died,” Melba said. “I believed him, and all that time he was probably carrying on with Gerry Albritton.”
“I think you’re letting your emotions get the better of you,” I said gently. “It is possible for a man and a woman to have a business arrangement without any personal, intimate relationship to go along with it. Do you have any real proof that he was having an affair with her?” I wondered what she’d think if I could tell her what I knew about Gerry.
“No,” Melba said in a grudging tone. “I don’t.”
I suspected that she cared a lot more for Jared Carter than she herself realized or was willing to admit. Otherwise, why would she act this way?
“When I asked you why he would murder her, you said money. That doesn’t really explain it.”
“He told me that money was missing from the account he set up, and he couldn’t figure out where it went. He thought maybe Gerry had siphoned it off and put it in a personal account.”
“Did he give you any hints as to how much money he was talking about?” I asked.
Melba nodded. “Over four hundred grand. I had no idea he had that kind of money.”
I shared with her the figures that I had shared with Kanesha earlier that morning. “He has to have a pretty large amount of disposable income,” I concluded, “if he could finance deals like this and still have four hundred grand on top of it.”
“He must be rich,” Melba said, sounding bemused.
“I think he must be,” I said. “I don’t know how much dentists make, but I suspect he’s been making money from investments on top of the income from his dental practice.”
Melba didn’t respond to that.
“Do you think he would kill Gerry if he suspected her of embezzling?” I said. “Wouldn’t that make it hard for him to get the money back? She could have put the money in a secret Swiss bank account for all he knew. Then he’d never be able to get it back.”
She thought about that for a moment. “I guess you’re right. I’ve really made a mess of things this time.”
An appalling thought struck me. “You didn’t accuse him of murder, did you?”
“Yes,” she said. “Then I stormed out of his house and came right over here. By now he must be thinking he never wants to set eyes on me again.”
I couldn’t argue that point with her. If I were Jared, I’d be pretty upset with Melba right then. I wasn’t going to tell her that, however.
Diesel was doing his best to console her, and I left her to his ministrations for the moment. There was enough coffee in the pot for one last mug, and I prepared it for Melba. When I set it in front of her, she looked up at me through her tears and whispered her thanks. She fumbled for her purse and found some tissues. She started blotting the tears from her face and ended by blowing her nose. She held the crumpled tissues in one hand while she lifted the mug to sip at her coffee.
I gave her time, waiting until she indicated she was ready to talk again. After a few more sips of the coffee, Melba stood and excused herself. She grabbed her purse and headed for the half bathroom under the stairs.
When she came back several minutes later, she seemed composed and in control again.
“I stopped for a minute or two to have a look at your hallway,” she said. “It’s gorgeous. When did you do it? I guess I was too upset earlier to pay attention.”
“I didn’t do it,” I said. “Stewart came up with the idea and the design, so I’ve been told. Frank, Laura, and Azalea helped put it together while I was out running errands this morning.”
“Goodness, how long were you gone?” Melba asked. “Surely that took several hours.” She checked her watch. “It’s only a quarter to twelve now.”
“I was gone a little over two hours, I’d say. I’m amazed they could put it up so quickly myself. Stewart is a whiz at organizing, though, so I’m sure they were prepared to work fast. I am thrilled with what they did. I needed some Christmas spirit, and they provided it, bless them.”
“How is little Charlie doing?” Melba asked. “I haven’t seen him in three weeks.”
“He’s doing fine,” I said. “Thriving, in fact. Six months have flown by.”
“What about Alex? Any more word on her?”
I shook my head. “No, I’ve been waiting for Sean to call me. Between keeping tabs on Alex’s condition and trying to get work done, he’s stretched pretty thin. If I don’t hear from him in another hour, I’ll call.”