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“He seems very mean,” Alice said, her voice lowered. “But he’s not really like that. I’ve been here for five years. He genuinely loved his wife. People say he just married her for her money, but they didn’t see how things went around here every day. Julie had moods and she resented anyone coming between her and her mother, so she didn’t like him very much.”
Tom was taking mental notes. “No arguments over money?”
“Well, Mrs. Downing’s nurse, May, has extravagant tastes. She moved right in, supposedly to take care of his wife when he advertised for someone to do private duty. She isn’t the nurturing kind. I think Julie was resentful of that, too, because May was always hanging on her stepfather. Just not where his wife would notice. He was upset when the cancer was diagnosed and May had been a nurse in a nursing home at some point. She said she knew how to do daily care for an invalid.” Alice made a face. “Poor Mrs. Downing was wet half the time and never had anything to drink or eat unless I took it to her. Well, except once, just before she died. May took her a cup of some tea that she said she wanted to try. That was the only kindly act I ever saw her do, too. I tried to tell Mr. Downing that Mrs. Downing wasn’t really having anything done for her by anybody except Julie, but May could twist things to make him do what she liked, where his wife was concerned. She was always watching me . . . speak of the devil,” she whispered without looking at the door.
“And that’s how you get to Ray’s barbeque,” Alice said in her normal speaking voice. “But don’t turn off at the first red light, or you’ll end up in Catelow . . . Do you need something, May?” she added, glancing at the hall doorway.
“What? Oh, no, no, he just wondered what was keeping you. He wants more coffee.” May nodded at the men and went quickly back the way she’d come.
“See?” Alice asked.
Tom did. “Thanks,” he said. “It’s good to have some idea of the character of the people you deal with in cases like this.”
“Mr. Downing’s bark is worse than his bite, and Julie was an angel. May is out for everything she can get. She’s supposedly monitoring Mr. Downing’s blood pressure and looking after him while he mourns his wife. She convinced him that he needed that badly. Meanwhile her ex-boyfriend was hired to do odd jobs around here, but what he does mostly is watch May.”
Tom pursed his lips. “You’ve been a lot of help. We’ll be in touch.”
Alice grinned. She ushered them to the front door. “Have a nice evening. Don’t forget about the turnoff, now,” she added to continue the fiction of giving directions, because she caught a glimpse of May hovering in the next room.
“No problem. We love barbeque. Thanks again.”
* * *
“Well, wasn’t that informative?” Doug asked.
“It’s a dandy start, all right,” Tom said, nodding. “I’m going to have a busy week.” He glanced at the other man. “Thanks for coming down to assist. I thought I’d need a battering ram. Downing surprised me.”
“You don’t really know people when you have polite conversation with them. Anybody who works for them, on the other hand, is a great source of information.”
“As we just found out. Well, let’s get you to the airport.” They got into the car and pulled out into the road. “Downing’s nurse at the table with him was almost dancing in her chair. Far too nervous to conceal a crime; it takes somebody with better nerves. A little sympathy and the threat of life in prison and she’ll sing like a canary bird.” Doug chuckled.
“I hear you.” Tom turned the car toward the airport. “It was a horrible crime, badly thought out and poorly executed.” He shook his head. “I won’t mess up the case by speculating, but if you plan to kill somebody for money, you’d better have a plan that doesn’t finger you before the body’s cold.”
“Amazing that they’d try it in a small town, as well, where people grew up together.”
“Small towns.” Tom made a face. “I’d go nuts it I had to stay here long. I miss Chicago.”
“I like small towns,” his companion said with a smile. “I married a girl from a little town south of Minneapolis. She couldn’t stand life in the city, so I moved where she grew up. After a while, I not only got used to it, I actually like it there.”
“I’d never get used to it,” Tom said. “There’s a guy in the room next to mine who’s got a damned pet cricket. He takes it with him when he travels.” He glanced at the other man. “First time I ever really thought seriously about homicide.”
“Crickets are nice. You should stop gulping down your life and try living one day at a time,” came the amused suggestion. “You’ll be old before your time.”
“I am old before my time,” Tom replied. “Well, we’re here,” he said as he pulled into a parking space. They got out together and his companion picked up his bag.
“Thanks for the help,” Tom said, shaking hands. “Have a safe trip home.”
“No problem. I have to stop by the gift shop on the way to my flight,” he added with a chuckle. “My youngest boy’s birthday is tomorrow. He’ll be two years old.” He sighed. “He wants a stuffed Pokémon. I had to write down the name so I wouldn’t forget. There are dozens of those things!”
Tom grimaced. “You with kids,” he said on a sigh. “I never thought about them. I move around too much.”
“I move around, too. Kids are great. I can’t imagine life without mine. All three of them,” he added with a grin. “I hope you catch the killer,” he added, somber. “Any human being who’d let a young woman freeze to death has no heart at all.”
“Yeah,” Tom agreed. “It’s money,” he added. “She was the only member of her family left, and her stepfather inherited. I’m not completely convinced that he didn’t have some involvement, but he doesn’t act as if he did. That woman, on the other hand . . .”
“Brutal, to let someone freeze to death on purpose,” Doug said.
“And Downing was right on one score, rigor doesn’t set in that fast. My best guess would be that the young woman was long dead by the time they got the ransom money. No witnesses.”
