Chapter 13
Wilton Residence
“Hello?”
Speak of the devil.
Vera had wandered into the kitchen for more water, suffering only two bouts of dizziness on the journey, when she heard Valeri Erwin’s voice at the front door.
“Hello?” Erwin called out again.
“Kitchen.” Vera winced as she turned to face the footsteps hurrying her way.
Too bad Bent was outside, going over the search results with his deputies.
Vera would bet money Erwin had told the deputy standing guard out front that she was expected.
Otherwise he would surely have asked Bent before allowing her to enter the house.
At this point Vera wouldn’t put a thing past the woman.
Erwin rushed into the huge kitchen. She made a surprised face. “I thought you’d be at home in bed. Are you holding up okay?”
Looking at the butterfly strip on the woman’s forehead annoyed Vera all the more.
She glanced at her shoulder bag. Exactly the right size for a brick or nice-size rock, in Vera’s opinion.
All she’d had to do was swing it hard enough.
Vera could easily see the plan playing out.
Erwin slammed Vera in the head, then took a quick look at her notes and made a hasty mess of the room.
Finally, Erwin tossed the brick somehow—maybe in the shrubs around Vera’s front porch—and proceeded to injure herself on a doorframe or some such thing just in time for Vera to come around.
Maybe Vera was reaching, but it wasn’t impossible .
. . except that nothing casually tossed into her shrubs or yard near the front door had been found.
“I’m fine.” Vera stretched her lips into a smile. “How are you? Any issues with balance or nausea?” Another blast of irritation soared through her. Of course not. The woman was barely nicked.
“Nothing like that.” Erwin shrugged. “I guess I was lucky.”
“Yes you were.” Vera leaned against the counter, deciding to save her strength for more important challenges.
“What brings you here? Did you remember something about this morning’s intruder or about Mr. Wilton’s business dealings?
” Vera’s gaze narrowed. “I hope you didn’t talk to the reporters outside the gate. ”
“Of course I didn’t. And no, I didn’t remember anything new.
” Valeri shuffled over to the island and climbed onto a stool.
She dumped her bag unceremoniously onto the stool next to her.
“Honestly, I was just afraid.” She shuddered to punctuate her statement.
“After what happened, I’m terrified someone will break into my place and try to kill me.
” She braced her elbows on the shiny marble counter and rested her head in her hands. “This is the only place I feel safe.”
Vera saw right through her explanation. Erwin needed to keep her thumb on the pulse of the investigation—even if it meant lying to get past a deputy.
“Nothing new comes to mind about Alicia or the trouble you sensed between her and Thomas?” The other staff members had basically confirmed her allegations, but that didn’t prove the wife had killed her husband.
It only suggested Wilton had made a bad decision when it came to his love life, or that they were merely having trouble meshing their lives, as couples sometimes do.
“I’m sure the staff told you that she was up to something.
I mean, the woman was always sneaking around.
You couldn’t trust anything she said.” She nodded to Vera.
“I firmly believe Thomas had realized she was keeping secrets from him. I’m thinking that’s why he set up the weekend get-together.
To handle the situation. He probably intended to get to the bottom of things with the other man and then Alicia would be gone—along with her trashy friends. ”
It took Vera a moment to open her mouth without laughing at the idea.
“When a man believes his wife is cheating, I’m thinking he might not be interested in handling the situation by getting naked with her potential lover.
Personally, I believe the party was a setup of a different kind.
One that included murdering Thomas Wilton. ”
“Please,” Erwin scoffed. “I’m not sure Alicia is that smart.” She sent a pointed look in Vera’s direction. “I mean, she was really good at spending money and being mean to us lesser humans, but anything else . . .” She shrugged. “I can’t see it.”
Vera mounted a stool on her side of the expansive island with its arrangement of glossy copper pots hanging overhead.
“Maybe. But whether she planned it or someone else did, my biggest issue with the scenario is that Thomas fell for it. He was a genius, right? I keep thinking that maybe the whole thing came to fruition via someone he trusted.” Her gaze settled firmly on Erwin.
“Someone whose loyalty he would never have questioned.”
Erwin slid off her stool. “I need a cola.” At the fridge, she glanced over at Vera. “You want one?”
“Sure.” The sugar might do her good.
Erwin prowled in the massive fridge for a bit, then returned to the island and slid a canned soft drink across the counter to Vera. She settled on her stool once more and opened her own drink.
Vera took a long swallow of the fizzy, sugary drink. “I spoke with Nola Childers’s mother this morning.”
“Really? How is she doing?” Erwin hid her surprise well, but Vera spotted the slightest flicker of alarm.
“She and her husband are doing all right. She was sad that she hadn’t heard from you since the funeral.”
Erwin looked away for a moment. “It was just too difficult to go back. Losing Nola was the worst thing to ever happen to me. But the idea that I could have helped her if I hadn’t drunk so much that I passed out on the sofa .
. .” She pressed her lips together for a moment.
“I just couldn’t face her parents again after the funeral. I felt way too guilty.”
“Why do you suppose Nola drank so much that night?” Vera sipped her cola. “Her mother said it was completely unlike her.” Maybe she didn’t say those exact words, but the understanding was there.
“That was my fault too. I kept pouring the champagne. Then we moved on to a second bottle.” She drew in a big breath.
“I never mentioned that part to her parents. I didn’t want to hurt them, because the truth was that Nola drank more than they realized.
She was a regular party girl. But she was careful.
She didn’t want anyone to know. Her folks are really religious. ”
How convenient. Particularly since Nola wasn’t around to confirm or deny.
“How did you end up with her job?” Vera waited until the other woman’s startled gaze connected with hers. “Mrs. Childers was really surprised by that as well.”
Erwin shrugged. “Thomas and I had met a couple of times. I went with Nola to his house once. So . . . when she died, he called me. I guess he figured I was the next best thing. He knew we both had the same major. Both were at the top of our class. At that point I was just thankful to have a job. Anything to move beyond missing Nola.”
More convenience. And not a soul left to confirm it.
“I thought you hadn’t met him before the funeral.” At least that was her previous statement.
Erwin blinked back what appeared to be tears. “Okay, the truth is, he found out about Nola’s drinking, and he decided not to hire her. He wanted to hire me instead. I felt weird about it, so I said no. I wouldn’t do that to Nola. Then after she died, it felt like all I had left.”
This story just got better and better. Vera had to hand it to her, she was quick on her feet with the comebacks without missing a single beat. A characteristic that said one of two things: She was either telling the truth or had a great deal of practice at lying. Vera was leaning toward the latter.
“Then why the celebratory champagne?” Vera couldn’t wait to hear her explanation for that one.
“Nola had decided to leave Tennessee. She wanted to get away from her parents and everyone else. It was the first time in her life she’d decided to do what she really wanted to do, so we were celebrating.”
Good save. But Vera wasn’t buying it.
The sound of the front door opening and closing drew Vera’s attention in that direction. A moment later Bent walked into the kitchen.
“Ms. Erwin.” He gave her a nod, then glanced at Vera.
“Sheriff.” Erwin scooted off her stool. “I was just saying how I’m really concerned for my safety at my place—especially after what happened this morning. I don’t have a security system. I think it would be better if I stay here.”
Vera should have seen that one coming. Not going to happen. There was no way Bent would allow her to stay in this house, considering it was easily a secondary crime scene.
When Bent would have spoken, Erwin quickly added, “I know Thomas would want me to see after things. If your search is finished, I don’t see why I can’t stay.
I have so much to do for his business. By now people will be asking questions.
Wanting to know what’s going to happen moving forward.
There are endless arrangements that need to be made. ”
“You’re right,” he offered, “about our search. We’ve been over the place, but we’ll probably do it again.”
The woman’s expression fell.
“I’m sure you’re aware,” he went on, “Mr. Wilton has attorneys to take care of his estate.” Then he removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “But there’s another issue we need to talk about, Ms. Erwin.”
So he had found something. Vera perked up. One glance at Erwin warned she was braced for trouble. The woman definitely had a guilty conscience about something. Possibly a good many somethings.
“Mr. Wilton’s personal attorney just called. I thought it might be important to my investigation to know the beneficiaries of Mr. Wilton’s estate.”
Erwin frowned. “I was under the impression most everything was going to a variety of charities. There might be a copy in the wall safe of his bedroom.”
“That’s true, but there are other beneficiaries as well.” Bent joined them at the island, placed his hat there.
Like Erwin, Vera stared at him expectantly. She couldn’t wait to hear the rest.
“Ten million dollars is slated for his wife, should she survive him. As you said, a great many charities were funded generously. So much so, in fact, they account for 90 percent of his estate. But the remainder”—Bent stared directly at Erwin then—“the other sixty million is split between the staff he trusted most: ten million to Helen Carter, ten to Renata Hernandez, ten to Jose Martinez, and the rest to you.”
“How strange,” Vera said since Erwin appeared to have been stunned into silence. “You get more than the man’s wife.”
“No.” Erwin shook her head, her expression showing astonishment. “He would have told me.” She got off the stool once more and backed up a step or two. “That doesn’t even make sense. Why would he do that?”
Vera had to hand it to her, she had the whole “I can’t believe this is happening to me” act down pat.
Like she hadn’t looked at the will in that safe.
The woman had likely inventoried every little thing in this whole massive house.
Maybe Vera was just angry about the idea that the woman was possibly the one to give her a concussion.
“I suppose,” Bent offered, “because he appreciated the work all of you have done and wanted to ensure you were left well provided for.” He reached for his hat, obviously done with delivering news.
“As for your question about staying here, I’m afraid you and the rest of the staff will have to remain off the premises until my investigation is finished. ”
“But why? There are things that need to be taken care of.” Erwin threw up her hands. “This is insane.”
“What this is,” Vera countered, “is motive. No one with that much motive can be on the property.” Actually anyone not part of the official investigative team could be here.
“But who will see after everything?”
“The attorneys will handle Mr. Wilton’s estate.” Bent gestured to the door. “We’ll let you know as soon as we have anything new on the investigation.”
Vera watched in satisfaction as Bent escorted Erwin from the house. The news regarding Wilton’s bequests was an unexpected turn of events, for sure. But the really unanticipated part, in Vera’s opinion, was how surprised Valeri Erwin was at hearing she’d just inherited thirty million dollars.
Maybe she was a far better actress than Vera had estimated.
When Bent walked back into the kitchen, Vera had to ask, “Do you believe her? That she didn’t know, I mean?”
“She does have the combination to all the safes,” he offered. “It’s hard to believe she hasn’t taken a look at the will at some point. The trouble is, what I just learned from the attorney gives the employees closest to Wilton the most motive for killing him.”
“They’ve all four admitted to noticing tension between Wilton and his wife,” Vera put in. “They all four knew about the planned weekend.”
“They all four”—Bent leveled a knowing gaze on hers—“would know how to get on the property without coming through the one and only gate. Because the security camera footage shows no one coming through that gate after Wilton’s Mercedes returned just after dark on Friday.”
Anticipation seared through Vera. “So what’s next, Sheriff?”
“Olson is getting in touch with the previous owner of the property—not that I expect him to be much help since there was nothing but woods when Wilton bought the place. I’ve also got three deputies checking the fence all the way around the perimeter of the property.
It’ll take some time, but if there’s evidence of someone coming through, hopefully they’ll find it. ”
“What about any aerial photographs?” Wealthy landowners loved having aerial views of their property.
“Olson is checking on that too.” He held up a finger. “And I’ve already called Carter and warned that we’ll need another interview with the three of them.”
“Are we meeting with them now?” As much as Vera wanted to be a part of those conversations—especially now—she really needed to check in on her sisters first.
“I didn’t say when.” He grinned. “Maybe tomorrow. I thought I’d let them sweat for a while.”
Despite the ache pounding in the back of her head, Vera managed a laugh. “I think I’m rubbing off on you, Sheriff.” His move sounded exactly like one she would make.
Bent chuckled. “Or maybe I rubbed off on you all those years ago.”
A distinct possibility. Even at twenty-one, Bent had known how to heighten the tension and make a person—especially her—sweat.
Vera remembered well.