Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Another cookie?” Judy Kline lifted the plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies and held it out toward Cillian across the table in her modest, old-fashioned dining room that was open to the kitchen.
“You look like a young man who needs more to eat. Not enough meat on your bones, my mother would say.”
He grinned. “Well, I never turn down cookies as good as these. Thank you.” He took a third cookie and bit into the delicious softness. Probably the best chocolate chip cookies he’d ever had.
“I’ll pass, thank you.” Victoria, sitting in the chair next to Cillian, held up a hand with a smile. “They really are delicious. I can see why Thomas hired you as his cook and housekeeper. The house was always immaculate.”
Judy jerked a nod as she set the plate down in the middle of the table. Her lips pressed together with the emotion she’d obviously been trying to hold back since they’d started talking about her boss.
“I had the feeling you two were friends, as well. I thought, perhaps, working for him wasn’t only a job for you.”
Judy’s gaze jumped to Victoria across the table. “We were family in a way. I worked for him for forty years.” Judging from her graying hair, she must have started the job when she was about thirty. “My family are all gone. Have been for some time. His, too.”
Cillian swallowed the bite of cookie. “Except for his niece and nephew.”
Judy’s green eyes sharpened. “Those two hardly count as family. Circling vultures was more like it.”
He tried to hold back a laugh as he shot a glance at Victoria.
She kept a perfectly proper expression, of course, as she watched Judy. “I hate to consider it, but do you believe they could have hurt Thomas?”
“You mean kill him?” Judy’s hand went to her coffee mug on the table in front of her. “Absolutely.” The confidence in her tone and gaze would be perfect on a witness stand if it came to that.
“Do you think they did kill him? Or one of them did it alone?” Cillian took another bite of the fabulous dessert.
“I don’t know for sure. They weren’t supposed to have the code to unlock the house, but that Brenda was such a snooper. I think she had found it someplace Thomas must have kept it written down.”
“What makes you say that?” Victoria lifted her mug and took a sip of the tea Judy had given her.
“She was in the house one morning before I arrived. Thomas didn’t let her in, but he found her in his office. He thought I must have been there and let her in.”
“She was in his office?” Victoria set down the mug.
“Yes. Probably snooping.”
Victoria glanced at Cillian.
Thinking the same thing he was, no doubt. The guy who’d knocked her down had been in the office, too. Could he have been the nephew, Ryan, instead of Clinton Glenn? He could’ve been looking for whatever the niece thought was in the office. Maybe a copy of the will?
Since Judy was turning out to be such wealth of information, he should probably see what she thought of the man who was Cillian’s prime suspect at the moment. “What about Clinton Glenn, the museum curator?”
“Oh, Mr. Glenn.” She frowned as her eyebrows lowered. “That’s a sad situation.”
Cillian’s instincts fired. Not the answer he’d expected but an intriguing one. He opened his mouth to prompt her to say more, but she continued on her own.
“He and Mr. Briscoe were good friends for nearly ten years, you know.” She directed her gaze at Victoria.
“Yes, I thought they were.” Victoria was really good at this interview thing.
She sounded empathetic when she should, calm and trustworthy with perfect timing.
Mostly, she listened instead of speaking.
No wonder Judy had been so willing to talk to them without hesitation when they’d shown up unannounced at her front door, even on a Sunday afternoon.
And Victoria had been so worried the woman wouldn’t talk to her because of the murder charges.
“That all changed when Mr. Briscoe discovered something that Mr. Glenn had done. Something very bad.”
Cillian quickly swallowed the last of the cookie. “What was it?”
“I don’t know.”
Disappointment sagged in Cillian’s chest, and he reached for the glass of milk to wash down the cookie.
“I wish I had asked more now, but I never pried into Mr. Briscoe’s affairs. We respected each other’s privacy.”
“You knew Mr. Briscoe better than anyone, I would guess.” Victoria’s eyebrows dipped in an earnest expression. “You must have had an inkling as to what happened, perhaps the nature of what Mr. Glenn had done.”
Judy nodded. “I got the sense it was a betrayal of some kind. It was personal for Mr. Briscoe. Very personal. He wasn’t only angry with Mr. Glenn, he was disappointed. Maybe a little hurt.”
“Do you know of anything they were involved in together?” Cillian lowered the glass to the table. “Something that would have put Glenn in a position to betray Thomas?”
Judy looked at him for a few beats before she responded.
“Well, Thomas was a major supporter of the museum. Financially, I mean. And he donated many of the best pieces from his art collection to the museum so they could be enjoyed by others.” She directed her gaze to Victoria with a smile.
“You know how generous he was that way. He always thought his money should be used for good, not just for himself.”
Victoria returned the smile. “Yes, I know. It was one of the many things I admired about him.”
“It’s why he liked you, too. After your appointments, he’d often say to me, ‘that Victoria has a good heart and a sharp mind.’” Judy’s eyes glistened with moisture. “Your visits were the highlight of his life this last year.”
A slight sniff drew Cillian’s attention to Victoria.
No tears moistened her cheeks, but she rubbed her lips together like she was trying to hold back emotion. “Thank you for telling me that. Seeing him was always the best part of my day, too.”
Judy nodded as a tear escaped. She brushed it away with the backs of her fingers.
“Would you look at me, getting all blubbery. Mr. Briscoe wouldn’t believe it.
” She mustered a watery smile. “I’d better let you two youngsters go before I make more of a fool of myself.
” She pushed out her chair and got to her feet.
Cillian and Victoria stood, too, and Victoria rounded the table to Judy.
She put her hand on the older woman’s arm. “Loving someone is never foolish. I know if Thomas were here, he would be grateful you cared enough to shed your tears for him.”
“You, too, sweet thing.” Judy patted Victoria’s wrist. “He was right to trust you. You’re one of the few good ones, these days.”
“I thank the Lord for that. I wouldn’t be anything good without His work in my life.
” Leave it to Victoria to insert a mini sermon into the conversation.
Wasn’t enough she’d already been to church today, insisting she and Cillian had to wait until she was done with that before they could visit the housekeeper.
But Judy didn’t seem to mind. She just nodded and smiled. “I know what you mean.”
The two women shared a look that seemed secretive or conspiratorial. Like they knew something Cillian didn’t.
He cleared his throat. “We’ll get out of your way now, Mrs. Kline. Thanks for talking to us without any warning. We’ll see ourselves out.” He stepped behind Victoria to her other side and put his hand lightly on her back as he spoke.
She threw him a glance, her eyes widened.
He hadn’t actually meant to take advantage or consciously thought about touching her. He’d done it without thinking. Naturally, like he’d been doing it for years. Like they were a couple.
He dropped his hand away as he let her walk in front of him through the kitchen, the hallway, and out the door into the sunny winter day.
Victoria paused on the front step and turned toward Judy, so he did the same. “Thank you so much for your time. You’ve been very helpful, and you’re so kind to invite me into your home despite…the situation.”
“Oh, my dear.” The older woman gave Victoria a firm stare.
“Mr. Briscoe would be angrier than a hornet’s nest if he knew they suspected you of having anything to do with his death.
I don’t know what the police are doing these days.
Such a waste of taxpayers’ money. You are as honest and trustworthy as the winter is cold.
Anyone can see that just to look at you. ”
“Thank you, Mrs. Kline.” Victoria barely fit in her response before Judy continued.
“And I have to say,” the woman’s expression lightened as she lifted her gaze to Cillian, “you two make a darling couple.”
He grinned. The woman had terrific instincts.
Judy returned her focus to Victoria. “Mr. Briscoe would have been glad to meet your handsome young man.”
“Oh, he’s not—”
Pop-pop-pop.
The explosive sound that cut off Victoria’s words instantly retrieved Cillian’s childhood memories of a rough neighborhood.
Gunshots.