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“Hey, I was looking for you guys. I found a photo on Robbie’s Facebook,” he said.
Gibson waited.
“It’s Robbie with some guy. You decide.” He pulled a copy of the picture from his desk drawer and handed it over to Gibson. Scottie peeked over his arm.
Robbie’s face was unmistakable. The other person had twisted away and was in motion causing the features to blur.
“It might come in handy later. Thanks.” He pocketed the photo.
Na bobbed his head one last time and placed his cell on the files strewn over the desk. He grinned, all fired up to report his news.
“It makes sense that Ellen is in the will. Right?” Na said, getting straight into the nitty-gritty. “But get this, Jeff is too.”
From the corner of the room, they could hear a printer churning out page after page. Na walked over and gathered the sheets together. He passed them all to Gibson.
“Here’s a copy of the will.”
Scottie slid her chair in closer to get a better look.
“Really. Why would that be, I wonder?”
“Back to Cadboro Bay?” Gibson stared at Scottie with upraised eyebrows. They hustled out of the office with a fast-paced strut in search of definitive answers.
“How much money are we talking here?” Scottie muttered under her breath as they scampered down the stairs. An unexpected blast of cold air bombarded them when they opened the glass doors. Dark clouds high in the sky were rushing in from the Northeast. A change was coming sooner rather than later. Gibson tugged at his jacket to secure it against the squall and dashed to the truck.
Scottie powered through Fairfield, down Foul Bay Road and skipped over a few streets to Henderson. This time Ellen responded to the summons of the buzzer. She was in her pyjamas, eyes swollen and red. Wearily she trudged down the hallway to the kitchen. Cheerfulness had permanently fled the home. No sweet scent of sugar and cinnamon infused the room. Lily sat in a highchair tossing cereal on the ground, unusually subdued. No running, jumping or dancing going on today. Not even the appearance of visitors swayed the little girl into action. Without question, she felt her mother’s sombre demeanour and some basic instinct kept her still.
Gibson drew a chair away from the table and perched himself on the edge. Meanwhile, Scottie took her stand as sentinel inconspicuously against a wall. Ellen picked up Fruity O’s off the floor, her loss of interest showing on her face, until he asked about the will.
“What about the will?” The darkness in her eyes spread over her face.
“Why was Jeff in it?” Gibson asked again, not answering her concerns but intent on a response.
“Hang on.” Ellen plucked Lily from her chair and left the kitchen with her child propped on her hip. A few minutes passed by and they could hear a cartoon playing in the living room. She returned empty handed. A crunch sounded under her slipper as she walked past the high chair. She cast her eyes around the disorder of her more often than not welcoming kitchen. The dishes had piled up by the sink, mostly mugs and soup bowls. Gibson could tell by the slow blinking of her eyelids that her thoughts tumbled in a frenzy. The wall clock ticked by slowly as they waited for her to find a way forward. She ran her fingers absently along the table top.
“Robbie was a good man.” She stopped and looked up at him. “But we all do stupid things we regret. Don’t we?”
Gibson nodded.
“He cheated Jeff, but he was ashamed of it.”
She clutched the edge of the table so tightly that Gibson could feel her hand vibrating through the wood. Scottie remained in the corner of the room, trying to be invisible.
“Robbie and Jeff had the same mother who had promised both brothers would be taken care of after she died. But Robbie’s father didn’t feel the same. She passed away before him, and the estate went to his only real son, Robbie.” Her shoulders trembled, the tension in her muscles tightening more. She continued. “The dispute was bitter. Robbie felt the money belonged to him and told his half-brother to take a hike. He wouldn’t share.”
Gibson nodded once more.
“But remorse hit Robbie hard. It wasn’t in his DNA to be that mean. That’s why Jeff is in the will. He wanted to make up for his actions.”
“Does Jeff know all this?” Gibson tilted forward.
“Yeah, he does.”
Gibson exchanged a look with Scottie.
“What about your fights?”
His cell rang.
“Damn.” Gibson held up his hand and left the room. After a minute he returned.
“Sorry. Go on. The fights.”
“Somebody’s been telling tales out of school.” Ellen frowned. “It wasn’t that big of a deal. It was about the kids. Robbie had his own views on how things should work.” She stopped and tugged nervously at her greasy hair. “Sometimes it got out of hand. I don’t know why I went to the shop. That was my stupidity.”
“Okay.”
“Now he’s gone.” The worries of yesterday disappeared when the worries of tomorrow and the next day came to her mind. “What will I do?”
“Do you want us to call someone for you?” He launched himself to his feet and indicated to Scottie it was time to go.
She shook her head half-heartedly.
“You take care.” There wasn’t much else Gibson could say. It was always the same. The grief would come in waves. Some would overwhelm and knock you down; some would be a comforting blanket. He peeked into the living room before leaving. Lily sat cross-legged in front of the blaring television. She looked at him with questioning eyes, the loss not reaching her young thoughts yet. She had her mom all to herself.
“That was Officer Eddy Evans,” Gibson said as they ambled down the walkway.
“I like him.”
“One of the homeless guys got beaten up last night. We better check it out.”
“Do you want to ask around the neighbourhood before we take off?” Scottie asked. She pointed to a particular house.
“What are you thinking?”
“Neighbours can be nosy. Maybe someone saw something?”
“Like what?”
“Did Ellen go out early that morning?”
“I don’t think...”
“Probably not. But best to make sure.”
“Okay. Then we’ll go to the camp.”
* * *
The house across the street had a large bay window, and most likely a clear view of the house opposite—Robbie and Ellen’s home. A short older lady answered the bell almost immediately as if she had been on Neighbourhood Watch.
“Come in, come in.” She fluttered her hands in the air. The luminous skin was wrinkled and paper thin with blotches of brown. Her silver-grey hair was thinning in spots and revealed a bright pink scalp. The green and blue flowered dress was belted at the middle where her waist should have been.
They showed her their badges, but this lady knew who they were.
“Should I go over there?” She had heard about Robbie’s death on the radio and wasn’t sure what to do. Her eyes bugged out. Gibson guessed it was more from curiosity than from fear.
“Yes. You should,” he said. “She’s pretty shaken up.”
“No doubt Ellen will be very upset.”
“Did you see her that morning?”
“Yes, I’m an early riser. Ellen picks up the paper every morning. The paperboy tosses it up on the porch. Sometimes it doesn’t make it all the way. Terrible.”
“What time would that be?”
“Quarter after six.”
“Did Ellen go out on Monday?”
“Her car was in the driveway all morning,” she said and flushed with sudden embarrassment. “I notice things like that...” She trailed off.
Probably because you are a nosy parker, Gibson thought. He looked out the window. The glass was spotless and in a direct line to the front door across the street.
“So, do Robbie and Ellen get along?”
The old lady narrowed her eyes and glared inten
tly at him with her hawkish look.
“It’s none of my business, but I wasn’t aware of any trouble.” She puckered her lips. All the goodwill had disappeared from her face.
They thanked her and left precipitously.
