“Maudine always was the clumsiest of my children,” Rosabelle said. “Is she going to be all right?”
“I think you should prepare yourself for bad news,” An’gel said. “I believe Maudine had a terrible scare, and it could have made her have a heart attack.” She saw no reason to soften the blow, especially since she thought Rosabelle’s attitude was far too casual. “Kanesha and Antoinette are performing CPR until the paramedics can get here.”
“A scare? What do you mean?” Rosabelle finally sounded concerned. She started to rise from the sofa, but then her legs seemed to give way and she sat down hard.
Antonio put his arm around her to steady her. “Cara, you are too distressed. You must not try to go to her. You can do nothing to assist.”
“There were spiders all over the floor, and all over her,” Bernice said. Her expression revealed her horror at the memory of what she had seen. “I was in the bedroom, and I heard a noise like something falling next door. So I went to check on Maudie, and that’s when I found her. There on the floor with spiders everywhere. So many spiders.”
“Spiders? Why were there a lot of spiders in the bathroom? Doesn’t anyone ever clean in there?” Rosabelle’s voice rose on every word.
Antonio picked up a glass and put it in her hands. “Please, my darling, you must not excite yourself so. Drink this. Steady yourself.” Rosabelle obeyed and drained the glass.
“Of course that room is cleaned. Regularly and thoroughly.” An’gel glared at Rosabelle. “I don’t believe the spiders are real, frankly. I think they’re rubber.”
“That means someone put them in there deliberately.” Rosabelle shuddered. “Maudine was terrified of spiders beyond all reason. She got that from me. I can’t stand the nasty things.” She shook her head. “She has a weak heart, you know. A shock like that could kill her. Who is the monster in my family who would do such a thing?” She burst into tears and buried her face in Antonio’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her gently.
Rosabelle did have maternal feelings after all, An’gel thought. She had begun to wonder whether Rosabelle was so self-centered that nothing could shake her.
Dimly An’gel heard the wail of sirens, coming closer with every second. She glanced down and noticed a large plumed tail jutting out from beneath the empty sofa across from Rosabelle and Antonio.
Diesel.
She had forgotten all about the cat in the uproar. He was still obviously frightened by all the noise and the heightened emotion. Could she coax him out from under there? She did not want to be scratched, and she thought that might happen if she tried to drag him out.
“Miss An’gel, is there anything I can do?”
An’gel turned to see Benjy approaching. She wondered vaguely where Junior was and then realized he was most likely upstairs near his mother.
“If you could keep an eye on Diesel, I would appreciate it.” She pointed to the twitching tail.
Benjy nodded. He moved quickly to kneel beside the sofa and put his head down at floor level. He spoke softly to the cat, and moments later Diesel crawled out. He let Benjy pick him up, and An’gel felt greatly relieved. The last thing they needed was a traumatized cat getting in the middle of everything.
“I’ll take him out to the kitchen and keep him there,” Benjy said.
“Excellent,” An’gel replied. “Thank you.”
Benjy hurried out with the cat still in his arms.
The sirens sounded loud, and An’gel knew they were coming up the driveway. Suddenly they stopped, and she got up and headed for the front door.
Dickce was already there, cell phone still held to her ear. As An’gel watched, Dickce swung the door open and stood back. The paramedics poured into the hall, and Dickce pointed them up the stairs. Three deputies followed.
Dickce crossed the hall toward her, and she and An’gel waited at the doorway, looking up.
A couple of minutes later, two of the deputies returned, escorting Wade, Juanita, Junior, and Antoinette down the stairs. Juanita had her arm around her cousin. His face contorted by grief, he cried quietly. Juanita led him into the parlor, Wade right behind them.
“I’ll get them all some brandy,” Dickce said.
Antoinette came over to An’gel, and the deputies returned to the second floor.
“Is there any hope?” An’gel said softly to the girl.
Antoinette shook her head. “No, ma’am. She never responded to me or to Kanesha, though we worked on her until the EMTs got there. I think she probably had a heart attack.” She shuddered. “It sure was creepy, those stupid rubber spiders all over her and on the floor. There were some in the bathtub, too. She must have been pretty scared of them.”
“Scared to death,” An’gel said grimly.
“Whoever did that to her is sick,” Antoinette replied. “Unless there’s something else you need, I’m going to help Gran make some fresh coffee. They’re all going to need it.”
“Thank you,” An’gel said. She stared after the girl as she moved down the hall. She kept thinking about the fake spiders. How was it done?
Did one of her family sneak into the bathroom while Maudine was in the tub and throw them on her? If that was the way it happened, she reasoned, then the perpetrator had to be either Bernice or Wade. They were the only two who were upstairs at the time, as far as she knew. Rosabelle and Antonio were downstairs with Kanesha. Where were Junior and Juanita when Bernice started screaming? Could they have been upstairs, too?
She simply couldn’t see Bernice as a cold-blooded, heartless killer. Wade, well, she had little trouble seeing him that way.
Was this another attempt on Rosabelle’s life that had gone wrong? Rosabelle said she was afraid of spiders, like her daughter had been.
Or was Maudine the intended target this time?
CHAPTER 30
“Miss An’gel.”
Kanesha’s voice brought An’gel out of her reverie. She looked up to see the deputy approaching her. She knew at once the news was not good by the set of Kanesha’s tense jaw.
“She’s dead,” An’gel said.
Kanesha nodded. “Heart attack probably.”
“She was terrified of spiders.” An’gel felt sick to her stomach as the mental image of Maudine, lying on the bathroom floor, returned.
“They’re rubber,” Kanesha said. “Do you have any idea where they came from?”
“One of my guests must have brought them. Dickce and I wouldn’t have such things in the house, not even for Halloween.”
“That’s what I figured, but I had to check. They must have been in a bag or a container of some kind. My guys are upstairs searching now, trying to find it.”
“How was it done?” An’gel asked. “Are there any indications? All I can think is that someone walked in and threw them on her while she was in the tub or when she was getting out.”
“I’m pretty sure they were inside the towel she picked up to dry herself with,” Kanesha said. “I found a couple on top of the table next to the tub and a couple in the towel itself. Looks like she picked up the towel, stepped out, opened the towel, and the spiders fell out and scared her so bad she had a heart attack.”
“Sickening,” An’gel said. “What kind of twisted mind comes up with a wicked trick like that?”
“It’s diabolical,” Kanesha said. “Whoever did it could have prepared the towel several hours in advance. When was the bathroom cleaned? There weren’t any towels in the laundry basket.”
An’gel’s mind focused on the ordinary detail, pushing away the sad vision of Maudine. “Antoinette cleaned up there today. I’m sure she brought down any soiled linens and put out fresh ones.”