Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Three weeks later, we were over at Mildred’s house, helping her with a few minor repairs she had to complete before closing the next morning.
Ida Belle had inked a deal for the cabins the week before and was already deliberating on plans for them.
The house had sold just as quickly to the neighbor across the street who wanted it for an elderly aunt who was going to move to Mudbug.
Since Mildred had already decided she was not only leaving Mudbug, but the country, she was selling it furnished.
“You’ll be off to Costa Rica tomorrow afternoon,” I said.
I passed Ida Belle a suitcase down from the attic, then a second one.
“Are you really only taking two suitcases of stuff?” Ida Belle asked.
“I didn’t come here with much and aside from a few of my mother’s personal items, there was nothing else I wanted,” Mildred said. “I shipped a few boxes ahead. They’ll hold them at the rental agency. So all I really need is my clothes that I’m taking.”
“Hey, you only need a bathing suit anyway, right?” Gertie said.
Mildred smiled. “I think it will be a while until I attempt the ocean. But once I get settled in, I’ll start making arrangements for my surgery.”
“You let us know if you need anything,” Ida Belle said. “We’re never opposed to a road trip.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. This whole thing has been a nightmare wrapped in a whirlwind. If you hadn’t investigated, Zion might have gotten away with stealing the cabins and my sister… Well, let’s just say no one would have ever known.”
“Eleanor paid for her sins,” Ida Belle said.
I nodded. “And with all the dirt Blanchet and Carter dug up on Zion, I don’t think he’ll see sunlight outside of a prison yard for a very long time.”
Mildred shook her head. “I can’t believe he scammed so many women, and that there were two other deaths in his wake. I know they were elderly and it’s possible he picked them because he figured they were close to it, but it doesn’t paint a pretty picture.”
“And after the situation with Eleanor, the authorities will be taking a closer look at both of those deaths,” I said. “Maybe they won’t turn up anything, but you never know.”
“Have you heard anything on Kim?”
“Not much,” I said. “Her attorney is still trying to make a deal for her to basically skate entirely if she testifies against Zion. Carter doesn’t seem to think she knows anything of real value.”
“But she tried to kill you,” Mildred said. “Surely they won’t just let her walk on that.”
I shrugged. “Her attorney will say she was manipulated by a professional in her deficient mental state after her mother’s death and that she accidentally fired the gun.
Her never having shot one until the day before will weigh in.
She claims she didn’t even know what was in the envelope and never opened it.
That one, I actually believe her on because it wasn’t until the ADA showed her everything they had on Zion that she broke down and started talking. ”
“Please,” Gertie said. “So her defense is that she did it all for love? Pathetic.”
“But workable with a young, fragile woman,” Ida Belle said. “They’ll paint her as a victim and she’ll probably get off.”
Mildred shook her head. “I can agree that Zion played her, and I know better than most that Kim wasn’t an emotionally strong person.
And she had zero street smarts. But I don’t believe for a minute she accidentally did anything.
All this playing innocent makes me angry.
She had to have known about Eleanor and Zion before she took up with him.
She was around Eleanor more than I was. If I’d already clued in, I don’t see how she could have missed it, especially when she was bucking to take Sapphire’s place. ”
“I think she knew,” I said. “But she’ll never admit it because then it gives her motive to have conspired with Zion. She needs to be his victim as well or she goes down with him for setting up Eleanor.”
Mildred sighed. “I know I probably shouldn’t, but I almost feel sorry for her. If Zion managed to fool my sister, a girl like Kim must have been child’s play.”
“I don’t think he fooled Eleanor for long or she wouldn’t have hired that PI,” Ida Belle said.
“Long enough to ruin people’s lives,” Mildred said. “Literally.”
We headed back to the kitchen and Mildred sank into a chair, rubbing her back with her right hand. Finally she looked up at us, her expression sad.
“I hope you ladies don’t think I’m a coward, running away like this,” she said. “Even though I know it’s true.”
“You’re not a coward!” Gertie said. “No one can possibly understand what you’ve been through. Whatever is best for you is the right way to handle things, and anyone who thinks differently can go pound bayou mud.”
“I appreciate that. I know I could have probably gotten more if I’d taken the time to sell the contents of the house individually.
Or if I’d done a few minor updates, I could have listed it for more.
But donating and giving away personal stuff to old friends of Mom’s and selling the house furnished made cutting ties faster and easier. ”
She sighed. “The truth is I just couldn’t be here any longer.
All the looks and whispers. And it never would have ended.
I’d always be poor disabled Mildred, whose sister stole her inheritance and murdered her mother.
And poor Jasper. It hurts my heart that he was trying to save Mom and that Eleanor’s infatuation with that creep Zion is probably what got him killed. Jasper was a good man.”
We all nodded and Mildred sniffed.
“Okay, so what’s next?” I asked, changing the subject because that one led nowhere but depression and sadness.
“You’ve done everything on the closing list,” she said. “The walk-through tomorrow morning should be quick, and I’ll sign the papers a couple blocks away.”
“What about that microwave you were complaining about a few weeks back?”
“Oh. It wasn’t on the list and to be honest, I’d forgotten all about it as it’s been working lately.
It was an intermittent problem. I tried to get Eleanor to replace it, but she could be incredibly cheap with some things and insisted it could be repaired.
I think she ordered a part for it but never got around to replacing it. ”
“Do you think you still have it?” Ida Belle asked. “I could probably make the repair.”
“Maybe. If she ordered it and it’s still here, then it would be on the shelf in the garage above the work counter.
That’s usually where she kept project stuff.
When some people helped me go through that stuff, I told them to leave any maintenance items for the home on those shelves for the new owner. ”
“Let’s go check,” I said to Ida Belle, and we headed through the tiny laundry room and into the garage. The room was cleared out except for the freezer, a ladder, some gardening tools, and a couple of boxes and air filters on a shelf. I grabbed the ladder and climbed up to lift the first box.
“Good Lord, this is heavy,” I said. “Feels more like a carburetor than a part for a microwave.”
I carried it down so we could check it out. Sure enough, it sorta looked like a carburetor as well, but it wasn’t a real part.
“Oh,” Ida Belle said as she used both hands to lift it out. “Nice.”
“What the heck is it?”
“A trophy. Jasper’s to be exact. Walter said he had an old Chevy that he hopped up years ago.
Apparently, he won the big drag race at the fair in it one year.
If those church ladies were helping Mildred in here, they probably just peeked in the box and thought it was a part to something.
Oh well, put it back up there. Someone might want to use it for a doorstop. Check the other box.”
I climbed back up and slipped the box with the trophy back into place and grabbed the other box.
“Jackpot,” Ida Belle said when she pulled it open. “This won’t take any time at all to replace. Hopefully, that will fix it and then the new owner doesn’t have to deal with it.”
Gertie and I helped Mildred clear out the last of the food she’d collected from her refrigerator while Ida Belle worked on the microwave.
“I hate us taking everything,” Gertie said. “Don’t you want to keep something for dinner tonight?”
Mildred laughed. “It’s 11:00 p.m. I ate dinner while you were delivering that lawn equipment for me.”
“Good grief,” Gertie said. “I had no idea it was that late. It’s a wonder I haven’t starved to death myself.”
Ida Belle stared. “You snacked the entire time we were delivering stuff. I’ll be vacuuming crumbs out of my SUV for a week at least.”
“Oh yeah.”
Mildred chuckled. “I don’t want it to go to waste. Besides, I have a piece of pecan pie in the fridge for breakfast tomorrow morning. It may not be healthy, but I thought it was fitting that it would be the last thing I ate in southern Louisiana.”
“Well, I’m all finished here,” Ida Belle said. “That should take care of the microwave. Are you sure there’s nothing else?”
“Positive. You ladies have gone above and beyond, and seriously, I can get an Uber to the airport tomorrow. You don’t need to taxi me around on top of everything else you’ve done.”
“We don’t mind,” Gertie said. “We’re headed to Mother’s for lunch after we drop you off. I might even talk them into shopping.”
“Doubt it,” Ida Belle said.
“We could stop at the boat shop on the way back.”
“Maybe.”
“Then let’s call it a night,” I said, rising from the table. “We’ll be back in the morning for the walk-through in case there’s anything else to be handled.”
“Good night, ladies. And again, I appreciate everything.”
We grabbed our stack of leftovers and headed for the SUV. Come tomorrow, we’d see Mildred off and officially close this chapter of her life.