But then Ed did something surprising. He headed over to one of the windows and ripped off the plywood.
Mom, Millie and I gasped.
Underneath the plywood, the windows had been replaced and Ed had installed gorgeous hand-carved molding that was a replica of the original, now rotten, wood.
“Oh! It looks delightful!” Millie squealed.
Ed blushed and revealed the next window, and the next.
This is what he’d lied about?
Mom and I wandered into the room for a closer look. The wood was oak, stained and polished to honeyed perfection. The carvings were vines and flowers. The artistry was stunning. I turned to Ed.“Did you carve these?”
His cheeks reddened even further and he nodded.“Got nothing much else to do now that the missus is gone.”
“But why did you lie about it?” I asked.
“It was supposed to be a surprise. I was going to wait until I had all the windows done and show you all at once.”
I pushed words out around the lump of guilt that had formed in my throat:“Thank you. This is really above and beyond anything I was expecting.”
I couldn’t believe that Ed had done all this and I hadn’t been aware. Maybe I had been too focused on my lack of cooking skills. In my defense, the conservatory was in a secluded section of the guesthouse and he had done most of the work in his shop at home. I wouldn’t have heard the hammering. And since the gardens outside were incredibly overgrown, I never went back there so never noticed the windows had been replaced.
I ran my hand over the woodwork.“I’m sorry I suspected you.”
Ed looked down at his feet.“That’s okay. But why did you suspect me?”
I explained about the wall being original and how I’d thought maybe he had taken a map out of the wall we’d found Jed’s skeleton in and it had led to this area.
He shook his head.“Nope. No map. If I was a thief I’d have taken that ring, not some map. But now I wonder if that’s why she was acting so sneaky and secretive.”
“She?” Mom, Millie and I said in unison. Even Mom had perked up for that.
“Flora. I saw her coming out of one of the guest rooms and she was shoving something in her pocket and looking around to see if anyone was watching. She didn’t see me because I’d just come down from the attic stairs in the back. I can’t be a hundred-percent sure, but I could have sworn she was muttering something about it being the strangest map she ever saw.”
Twenty-Four
We found Flora in the front parlor dusting, if you consider sitting on the sofa and running the feather duster over the coffee table while watching the TV dusting.
She must’ve known something was up though because she eyed us suspiciously as we approached.
“What? I’m working on my break.” Flora seemed indignant. “You should be lucky I’m just not sitting watching TV. I get a fifteen-minute break every two hours. Federal law.”
I glanced at Millie. Was that really true? Didn’t matter right now, we had more important fish to fry.
“It’s not about that, Flora,” I said.
Flora’s eyes got a little bigger behind the round glasses. She stopped dusting and fiddled with the feathers. “Well, what is it? I cleaned that room like you asked me to.”
Millie sat down next to her and took her hand. Flora suddenly became very interested in the floor, the window, the table… anything so she didn’t have to look at us. “Well, what is it? Spit it out if you have something to say.” The tone in her voice didn’t match the gruff words. It was clear that Flora was hiding something. I hoped it wasn’t the fact that she’d killed Bob.
“Now, Flora, we’ve known each other for a long time,” Millie said soothingly. “And you know you can tell me the truth.”
“The truth? I always tell the truth.” But the way Flora couldn’t meet Millie’s eyes seemed to indicate that this was not the case. My stomach swooped. Had we been wrong about her?
“Maybe sometimes you tell a little white lie or omit things,” Millie persisted. “Like when you said you weren’t out digging earlier but then admitted later on to Josie that you were in fact out there.”
Flora scowled.“I never said I wasn’t outdigging. I said I wouldn’t have the strength to bash someone over the head with a shovel. You people need to learn how to listen. Why don’t you ask your boyfriend if you want the truth.”
Millie blushed.
Mom snorted.
Flora smirked.
“But that’s not the only thing you were evasive about is it?” I asked.
Flora jerked her hand away from Millie and crossed her arms over her chest.“I’m not a liar. I might have a bad memory though. What, exactly, are you talking about?”
“You lied about cleaning Arlene and Earl’s room. I saw you go in there and Ed saw you acting sneaky when you came out.” I didn’t mention the part about him thinking she was hiding something in her pocket and mumbling about a map. Stealing from a guest’s room was a harsh accusation and Ed hadn’t seemed completely certain. If Flora had taken something, I wanted to give her the chance to admit to it on her own. “And you lied about not having a shovel.”
“And you lied about taking a vacation,” Mom said. “Annabel at the travel agency said that you were looking to go to the Caribbean.”
Flora looked at Mom like she was crazy.“The Caribbean? Where in tarnation did she ever get that idea?” She turned her gaze on me. “I don’t appreciate you calling me a liar, either. And that Ed is a tattletale.”
“Well then explain all this,” I said. “Why are you being so evasive about being near the pond? What were you doing at the travel agency? Why were you sneaking around Earl and Arlene’s room? Andwhere is your shovel?”
Flora straightened on the couch, looking rather indignant. Her eyes drifted from me to Millie and then to my mother. Her mouth worked up and down.“I… I…”
Finally, she sighed and collapsed back into the couch.“Okay, maybe I told a little lie about one of these things.”
“So youwere running from the pond the night Bob was killed?” I said.
“Sort of. Well, I was near there, but I didn’t kill Bob.” Flora looked contrite and picked at the feathers in the duster. “Let me explain.”
“Okay. That’s a relief. I knew you couldn’t kill anyone anyway.” Millie patted her hand.
“When I heard there was treasure, I figured why not try to dig it up too, so I went out there with the rest of them. I was following the family members around thinking they might have a lead on the location. That’s how I ended up on the path from the pond.”
Millie and Mom scooted to the edges of their seats.“So you were there before Bob was killed? Did you see him with someone or hear them arguing?”
“No, I didn’t see him at all. It was kind of dark and… well, I don’t see as good as I used to. For all I know, Bob was already dead when I went past.” Flora blanched. “Oh dear, I hope he wasn’t flopping around and I could’ve helped him. Truth was it was a little scary out there and I was rushing back toward the house.”
“You didn’t see anyone rushing away. No one in front of you?” Mom asked.
“No.” Flora still couldn’t meet our eyes. There was something she wasn’t telling us.
“But you must’ve seen something. Sheriff Chamberlain thinks you’re the killer so anything you know would be really helpful in your defense,” Millie said.
“I didn’t see anything, I swear. If you ask me it’s one of those family members. They were all arguing with Bob.”
“Yeah, we know that. But, Flora, think hard. You must have seen something,” I said.
“Nope.” She gazed out the window.
“Okay, what about your shovel? Where did you put that? Maybe if we can give the shovel to Seth he can do some testing on it to rule you out,” Millie suggested.
Flora gave her a funny look.“Give it to Seth? He already has it. I’m surprised he still suspects me. Seems like he could have figured out my shovel isn’t the one that killed Bob. Then again, that boy always was a little slow on the uptake.”