“I’m. Not. Leaving,” Brandy shouted, dragging out each word.
“Calm down,” Joyce said. “No one is making you do anything you don’t want to do.”
They stood in silence until Jorge returned, supporting Ronald with an arm under the older man’s elbow.
“I knew losing my house was going to mean some changes, and I knew there would be some danger in living out-of-doors, but I never imagined this,” Ronald stammered.
“Relax,” Jorge said. “We’re going to take you to the church shelter. You’ll be safe there, and with any luck, they will have someone who can give you medical attention.”
Ronald swiped at his forehead with his hand.
“I think that would be for the best. I thought I was in good condition for a man of my age, but this lifestyle is a little more difficult than I could have guessed.”
“Don’t worry,” Jorge said. “We’ll get you inside, and when downtown is open again, we’ll get you set up with someone who can find you transitional housing of some sort.”
“Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Brandy insisted when Joyce tried to get her to stand up.
Joyce turned to Aunt Beth and Connie, who were now sitting on the bench on either side of her.
“Maybe you should take Ronald to the church without us. Let me take some time to explain things to Brandy without the pressure of all you people standing around watching her.”
“You mean to let her sober up,” Lauren said to Harriet.
Harriet ignored her. “That’s a good idea. That will give us a chance to call Detective Morse and also to see if any police officers are sheltering at the church.”
“Someone needs to tell Marjory’s sister and her daughter, too,” Connie said.
“Oh, my goodness,” Aunt Beth said. “I’d almost forgotten they were here.”
“I’m sure that was the plan,” Harriet said. “They retreated to their car as soon as lunch was over.”
“They may not be the people we would wish Marjory’s sister and niece to be, but they loved Richard and no one deserves this,” Aunt Beth said. “No matter what they did to Marjory, they need our support now. And I know Marjory would expect us to be here for them.”
Harriet sighed but kept her mouth shut. She looked at Lauren and could tell she was biting back whatever sharp-edged retort had formed in her brain, too.
Connie’s husband Rod had just gotten out of his car when Harriet and Lauren, followed by Jorge, Aunt Beth, Tom and Connie came out of the woods behind the restroom building.
“Where’d Kate go?” Harriet asked.
“Probably back to the truck,” Lauren answered. “She didn’t follow us when we went to see what all the screaming was about.”
“Leave them be,” Aunt Beth said. “We’ve got enough to worry about here.”
“So, who’s going to deliver the news,” Lauren asked, nodding toward Richard’s car.
“Señora Beth and I will tell them,” Jorge volunteered. “We’ll drive them to the church and bring their car. Señora Connie, can you and Rod bring Ronald and get him settled? See if you can locate a doctor or nurse at the shelter to keep an eye on him.”
“I’ll take Harriet and Lauren home,” Tom said. “I can come back and get Joyce and Brandy.”
“I wouldn’t bother,” Harriet said. “Brandy isn’t going to leave. She knows they won’t let her bring the stash of alcohol she’s got hidden in the woods. We’ll check at home and see if Detective Morse has called again and find out if there is any news on the slide or the river level. Connie, maybe you and Rod can come by my house when you’re done with Ronald and we can figure out what to do next.”
Connie nodded, and they separated to go to their vehicles.
Chapter 17
The sky unleashed a deluge before Harriet, Tom and Lauren reached the borrowed truck, soaking them. Mavis had hot water in the thermal carafe and warm cookies cooling on a wire rack on the kitchen counter when Harriet led the soggy procession through her studio and into the kitchen.
“How did you pull off baking cookies?” Lauren asked.
“If Jorge can make toast on the stovetop, I figured I should be able to bake cookies there also.” Mavis tapped on a covered cast iron skillet. “My last batch is cooking now. Anyone care for some tea?”
“I’m about tea-ed out,” Tom said. “Have you got any coffee?”
“Sure.”
She pulled a bag of ground coffee from the freezer compartment and got a single cup and a cone-shaped filter holder from the cabinet under the counter then inserted a white filter paper into the holder.
“How strong do you like it?” she asked when she had the cone assembly balanced on a coffee mug.
“After today, I think I need a double,” he said.
Mavis put three scoops of coffee into the filter then poured hot water over the grounds.
“Anyone else?”
She made tea while Lauren took Carter out to do his business and Harriet went upstairs to change clothes. When they’d returned, they all joined her in the living room.
“Detective Morse called while you were gone,” Mavis reported. “She said she’d call back later. How did it go at the camp?”
“As bad as it can go,” Lauren said.
“Is everyone okay?” Mavis asked.
“All of us are,” Harriet answered. “Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Marjory’s brother-in-law.”
Mavis pulled Curly up onto her lap and waited.
“Richard is dead,” Harriet continued, “It happened while we were all working.”
“It looked like someone whacked him in the head pretty hard,” Tom explained.
“That could have been us,” Lauren said, realizing for the first time Richard was last seen doing the job she and Harriet had abandoned. She hugged her little dog to her chest, and he attempted to worm his way under the flannel shirt she’d put on while her sweatshirt was drying on the back of her chair in front of the fire.
“I’m pretty sure his death had nothing to do with us or our leaf-gathering.”
“And that would be why?” Lauren asked. “Did some cone of enlightenment come down from above for your ears only? Haven’t you ever learned the rules of group thinking? First you brainstorm, listing all possible ideas. Only when you have all those out do you start eliminating options. And then you need some plausible reason to do so.”
“Well, excuse me for using common sense,” Harriet shot back.
“Will you two behave?” Mavis scolded. She turned to Tom. “Perhaps you can fill me in without all the color commentary.”
“We don’t know what happened. We divided up into work groups and dispersed to do our jobs. Richard was down the trail, scooping up leaves and needles to be used on the trail to sop up mud. We were in the parking lot, cutting up branches for the same purpose, when we heard Brandy scream, and when we investigated, it turned out she’d found Richard-dead.”
“My goodness,” Mavis murmured. She shivered and tugged her knit shawl closer around her shoulders. “Who would want Richard dead?”
“Who wouldn’t?” Harriet asked. “If he was as charming to everyone else as he and his family were to Marjory, I imagine he had more than a few enemies.”
“But which enemies were at the camp with us?” Lauren asked.
“You’re assuming our group is the only possibility. We don’t know where the trail through the camp goes, or if there’s another approach to the woods from the other side of the park.”
“Score one for Harriet,” Lauren said.
“It’s a good point,” Tom agreed. “Someone could have followed Richard and his family to town. Maybe they were just waiting for an opportunity.”
“In the middle of a storm?” Harriet asked.
“Why not?” Lauren said. “It would be the perfect cover.”