Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Summer
A fter we finished lunch and Luke took off, I decided it was time to place a call to Magnolia and Belinda and give them an update. Torn about which one of them to call, I went with Belinda because, technically, she was the one who’d hired us. Still, I hoped it could be a conference call, especially since Dixie was taking part as well. I wanted to gauge their reactions, so I placed a video call from my computer, turning the screen around so Dixie and I could sit together in front of my desk.
“Summer,” Belinda said in surprise when she answered, “I didn’t expect to hear from you so soon.”
“We’ve made great progress already,” I said. “Better progress than I expected this soon. But I need to ask Magnolia a favor.”
“She’s right here,” Belinda said, then propped her phone against something so Magnolia’s face filled the screen too.
“I’m here. What do you need?”
I was pleased that she sounded better than she had the day before and that the dark circles under her eyes weren’t so prominent. She seemed a little cheerier even though there was a slight edge to her voice.
“We’ve actually come up with a suspect for your aunt’s murder,” I said.
Belinda’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re kidding. That quickly?”
“I know,” I said. “It’s surprising what people will reveal forty years later. We found out there was a boy who went to school with your mother. He’d been known to bully her. It started in elementary school and went all the way through high school.”
“Bullied her?” Magnolia said, her brow furrowing. “Who in their right mind would bully my mother? She was quick to tear down anyone who dared to cross her.”
“Maybe that was the woman you knew,” I said gently, “but that didn’t appear to be the Lila Brewer who lived in Sweet Briar. She was tough, but she didn’t fight back.”
A troubled look washed over Magnolia’s face. “No wonder she never went back there.”
“But I’m sure that only made your mother into the woman you knew,” Dixie added. “A person can only take so much before they decide they’re not takin’ crap anymore.”
I grabbed Dixie’s hand and squeezed. She knew from firsthand experience. My gesture was out of view of the camera, but I would have done the same thing even if it had been visible.
Magnolia was quiet for a moment. “I suppose that makes sense, but I still can’t imagine her as weak and helpless.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. Who she was after she left is irrelevant to what happened to her sister. Tell us more about this childhood bully.”
“His name is Chuck Petty. Do you remember your mother ever mentioning him?”
“No,” Magnolia said. “But she never spoke about her past, and I’m sure she never mentioned him.”
“I never heard her mention him either,” Belinda said.
I rested a hand on my desk. “The reason we think Chuck Petty might be important is because he disappeared the same week Bethany was murdered.”
A puzzled look crossed Belinda’s face. “Disappeared? What do you mean by that?”
“He left town, and no one ever saw him again.”
“Wait,” Belinda said. “ What? ”
“We found out that after he left town, the sheriff looked into what he was doing that night, but for some reason, his name wasn’t mentioned in the police report. We think maybe he was left off because his father was the mayor of Sweet Briar at the time. But the sheriff’s department must’ve thought it suspicious that he took off around the same time because a friend of Chuck’s was questioned regarding Chuck’s whereabouts the night of the murder, and this friend claimed to have been with Chuck the whole evening, providing him an alibi. We spoke to Chuck’s alibi just a short bit ago and his story seemed very suspicious. When we tried to pin him down, he confessed that he’d been coerced into lying for Chuck by a girl named Rachel Swan, and insisted that she’s the one we really should be talking to.”
There was a moment of silence on the call as the women absorbed the new information. Magnolia seemed at a loss, leaving her sister-in-law to take the lead.
“Who’s Rachel Swan?” Belinda asked.
“Lila’s best friend at the time of her sister’s murder.”
Belinda was quick to respond. “So can you talk to Rachel Swan?”
“Actually, we already did this morning,” I said. “She wasn’t very helpful, but she seemed very close to your mother, Magnolia, which is why I’m calling.”
“So you’re not just calling with an update?” Magnolia asked.
“No,” I said, “I was hoping to have more information before I called you. In fact, I was hoping to have the whole thing solved. Obviously, we need to talk to Rachel again, but I’m worried that she won’t speak to me. Which is why I’m asking the favor.”
“What is it?” Magnolia asked in a wary tone.
I took a breath. “I want to tell her that you’re my client. We know that Lila and Rachel were very close…and it’s also obvious that Rachel has been keeping tabs on you.”
Magnolia’s face paled. “What does that mean?”
I continued, “When we showed up at her door, she asked if we were podcasters, and we assured her that we weren’t. I told her that those irresponsible podcasters Mo and Molly had done a couple of episodes on me, but she seemed to know that they were concentrating on you. And she doesn’t seem the type to listen to podcasts.”
“So what does that mean?” Magnolia asked.
“Well,” I said slowly, “this may be going out on a limb, but I suspect that she cared about Lila so much that she is keeping tabs on you because you’re Lila’s daughter. She knew details about your father and Tripp Tucker.”
Magnolia turned pensive. “When you said they were close, what exactly do you mean?”
I cocked my head in confusion. “My impression was that they were best friends.”
Magnolia was silent again, then turned to Belinda and nodded her head.
Belinda started to say something to the camera, then stopped. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally spoke, her voice lowered. “We would like to keep this quiet because it affects other people besides us and Lila’s memory, but we have reason to believe that Lila may have been a lesbian.”
“But Magnolia’s mother was married,” Dixie protested.
Belinda’s mouth twisted to the side. “Nevertheless, we believe that Lila was in a relationship before she died. So it stands to reason that perhaps she had a relationship before she left Sweet Briar. In fact…it’s occurred to me that perhaps that was the reason she left in the first place.”
“Because she was a lesbian?” Dixie asked doubtfully.
“Think about it,” I said, turning to face her. “That was over forty years ago. I’m sure Sweet Briar wasn’t very progressive back then, and if Lila was in a relationship, she would have had to keep it a secret.”
Dixie knitted her brow. “So you’re sayin’ that you think that Lila had a relationship with Rachel Swan?”
“I don’t know,” I said, “but it’s definitely worth talking to Rachel about.” I turned back to the screen. “But Magnolia, the only way she’s ever going to talk to us is if you give us permission to tell her you hired us. We’ll ask her to keep it quiet, which I suspect she will, because it sounds like she’s protected Lila all these years. Surely she’s going to protect her daughter too.”
Magnolia took a moment and exchanged a glance with Belinda, then turned back to the screen. “Obviously I’d rather keep my name out of it, but if you think that you can get the truth from this Rachel, then you have my blessing to tell her that it’s for me.”
“All right,” I said with a nod. “I’ll try my best to keep your name out of it, and only use it if absolutely necessary.”
“Thank you,” Magnolia said, “and I’m sorry for my behavior yesterday. It was just…I just?—”
I held up my hand to stop her. “You’re under a lot of stress. You’ve been through a lot over the last six months, between your mother’s death and everything else. So don’t worry about our feelings, because trust me, I have a small understanding of what you’re going through, admittedly on a much lesser scale. My job is to make things easier for you by getting the answers you seek. But there’s one more thing I need to ask you before we go see Rachel.”
“What’s that?” Magnolia asked.
“If Rachel cared for Lila like I think she did, then I suspect she might want to see you at some point. Are you open to that?”
Magnolia’s mouth parted and her eyes widened in surprise. “What if she’s the one who killed my aunt Bethany?”
I frowned. “I don’t think she is. I think she might know the truth, but I doubt she’s the one who actually murdered her. And if she is the murderer, I would never ask you to meet with her. The only person I would introduce her to is Luke when I had her arrested. I’m just telling you that it’s a possibility that she might make the request. I need to know what to tell her, whether it’s a flat-out no or a maybe.”
“I need to think about it,” Magnolia said. “Get answers from her first and then I’ll decide.”
“That’s fair,” I said. “It may not come up at all, but if it does, I’ll just tell her that I can’t speak for you. Hopefully, we’ll have a report for you by tomorrow.”
“That quickly?” Belinda interjected.
“Like I said, with any luck at all. I think Rachel’s the key to this, and I plan to use all my tricks to get answers.” I gave her a wry smile. “Which is why I asked for permission to let her know I’m asking for you. I suspect your name is the magic word that will make her talk.”
“I’m anxious to hear what you find out,” Magnolia said. “And I think we’re going to swing back through Sweet Briar on our way back home tomorrow. I want to see the land one last time before I give the lawyers permission to sell it. We can meet if you have an update. We should be there around midafternoon.”
“Okay,” I said, “just let me know when you leave tomorrow, and we’ll figure out when and where to meet.”
We hung up and I glanced over at Dixie. “Let’s head back over to Rachel’s. Hopefully this time she’ll tell us the truth. But first, let’s see if Peter Petty is available for a chat.”