"I'm her nearest relative," Lynette said, "but Mr. Qwilleran is - " She turned to look at him. No more needed to be said.
In the hospital room they found Polly looking peaceful for the first time in weeks, despite the clinical atmosphere and the tubes. They exchanged a few words, Polly speaking only about the capable paramedics, the kind nurses, the wonderful Dr. Diane.
When Qwilleran returned to the barn, Celia had gone, leaving a note: "Hope everything is okay. Call me if I can help."
The Siamese, unnaturally quiet, walked about in bewilderment; they knew when Qwilleran was deeply concerned, but not why. As soon as Qwilleran sat in the twistletwig rocker to calm his anxiety, Yum Yum hopped into his lap and comforted him with small, catly gestures: an extended paw, a sympathetic purr. Koko looked on with fellow-feeling, and when Qwilleran spoke to him, he squeezed his eyes.
The gentle rocking produced some constructive ideas: Polly would recover, move into the Duncan homestead, and forget about building a house. The K Foundation would reimburse Polly for her investment and complete the building as an art center. The Pickax Arts Council had been campaigning to get the carriage house for that purpose before Celia arrived.
As Qwilleran rocked and gazed idly about the lounge area, he caught sight of a small dark object on the light tile floor. His first thought: a dead mouse! Yet it was too geometric for that, more nearly resembling a large domino. Unwilling to leave the comforting embrace of the bent willow twigs, he tried to guess what the foreign object might be, but eventually he succumbed to curiosity.
"You'll have to excuse me for a minute, sweetheart," he said to Yum Yum as he hoisted himself out of the underslung rocker.
The unidentified object was the smallest of tape recorders, and the truth struck Qwilleran with suddenness: Celia's grandson had mailed it from Illinois; the cats had stolen it from her handbag; she had been secretly recording her meetings with Tish, in spite of his admonition. That explained her graphic reports and remarkable memory for details. She had transcribed the taped dialogue into her notebook, which she then consulted so innocently at their briefings. While admiring her initiative, he frowned at her noncompliance.
Nevertheless, he lost no time in playing the tape.
-16-
Before playing Celia's secret tape, Qwilleran asked himself, Shall I embarrass her by returning it... or let her think she lost it? He set it up on the telephone desk and prepared to take notes. The first sounds were nothing but sobs and whimpers, with sympathetic murmurs and questions from Celia. Then he heard a wracked voice say:
"I can't believe it, Celia! I thought she was my friend - my best friend! But she used me! She used all of us!"
"What do you mean, Tish?"
"She was going to divert funds for Mother's treatment in Switzerland! She was I going to divert money for Eddie's condos, too. We believed her, because she was so knowledgeable and so nice! (Burst of sobs.) I even cheated so it would look as if she'd been fired. She's the one who suggested it.... Oh-h-h! She was so clever! Why I didn't I see through her scheme?"
"What was her scheme, Tish? What did I she do that was so bad?"
"It's what Eddie tried to tell me before he died. She wanted someone to do a special job for her, and he took Benno to see her."
"What kind of job? Didn't Eddie ask questions?"
"I guess not. My poor brother wasn't smart. He only went to tenth grade. And he drank too much. He ended up being an accomplice in a terrible crime." (Choking sobs.)
"Oh, dear! What kind of crime?"
(Long pause.) "Murder! When F.T. disappeared, they said he'd skipped with millions of dollars that didn't belong to him, but it was Nella who skipped. Floyd was dead!"
"Was Eddie able to tell you all this?"
"In snatches. He was gasping for breath. I had to put my ear close to his lips to hear him."
"Are you sure it's true?"
"People don't lie when they're dying, do they?"
"Maybe you're right, Tish. But how was Eddie an accomplice?"
"He helped Benno bury the body. But Nella was gone, and Benno didn't get his blood money. He wanted Eddie to pay off."
"How much? Do you know?"
"No, but it must have been a lot. Eddie's money was tied up. They argued. Benno shot his dog for spite. Then, one night in a bar, the lights went out. Benno pulled a knife. Eddie tried to get it away from him. He didn't mean to kill him - "
"Oh, Tish, I feel so sorry for you! I wish I could do something to help. What can I do?"
"Nothing. It just helps to have someone to talk to. You've been so good to us, Celia."
"Are you going to do anything about Eddie's confession?"
"I don't know. I can't think straight."
"But Nella should be arrested, if she plotted the murder and stole the money. Where did they bury the body?"
"Eddie tried to tell me, but he couldn't get it out. His eyes rolled up in his head, and he was gone." (Convulsive crying.)
"There must be something I can do to help you, dear."
"I don't know. I just want to get on that plane and never come back."
"Could I handle the funeral arrangements for you?"
"Would you? I'd be so thankful."
"Do you need me at the house this afternoon?"
"No, I'll be there, getting Mother ready for the trip. She's never been on a plane. I haven't either. Wouldn't it be ironic if it crashed in the Atlantic?"
"Oh, Tish! Don't say that!"
"The Trevelyan curse!" (Wild laughter.)
As the tape ended, Qwilleran realized the meaning of Koko's eccentric behavior in recent weeks. The first hint of something wrong was the cat's unusual vigil at the front window; he sensed impending evil!
The day after Audit Sunday, Qwilleran recalled, Koko performed his ominous death dance on the coffee table - specifically circling the scandal headline on the front page of the paper. After that, he became a cat possessed. While Yum Yum pursued wads of crumpled paper and collected paper clips, Koko was infatuated with black pens, duck decoys, the wooden whistle, the brass paperweight, and other significant items. The three-headed dog may have been symbolic of the three felons involved in the Lumbertown fraud and its bloody aftermath. (On the other hand, Koko may have found the sharp edges of the paperweight useful, Qwilleran had to admit.)
Then the question arose: Were Eddie's deathbed accusations only hallucinations? Did Nella really mastermind the plot? Dwight Somers had seen "scruffy characters" knocking on her door; both Eddie and Benno fitted that description. Did Nella urge Eddie to move to Indian Village and into her own building for devious reasons? She was nothing less than gorgeous, everyone agreed, and the unkempt high school dropout from Sawdust City could easily have fallen under her spell.
Qwilleran's eye fell on the wooden whistle that someone had knocked off the coffee table for the twentieth time. Perhaps Nella herself tipped off the auditors; that would account for the neat timing of the scheme. She juggled the books; she plotted the murder; she blew the whistle and collaborated with the auditors; she made the phone call that lured Floyd to the fork in the road, where he parked his car and met a pickup truck with two carpenters, one with a hammer and one with a shovel. His disappearance was intended to confirm his guilt, and it fooled everyone - except Koko.
Qwilleran looked at his watch. It was late, but not too late to call the police chief at home. "What are you doing tomorrow morning, Andy?" he asked, after some teasing about late-night X-rated TV movies.
"Taking the wife shopping" was the gruff reply.