Cast Iron Conviction (The Cast Iron Cooking Mysteries Book 2) (15 page)

Chapter 20: Pat

M
y twin sister and I were ready to start detecting again.

Unfortunately, none of our three remaining suspects showed up at the Iron all day. We’d brought Kathleen up to date on what we’d uncovered. She’d been grateful for the help, but she didn’t have anything to add to our general fund of knowledge, either.

Or if she did, she chose not to.

I’d decided not to push it. I knew that Kathleen was bound by rules that didn’t apply to my twin and me. If we were going to solve the two murders, we were going to have to do it on our own.

“Well, today was a bust,” I told Annie as I finished filling out our deposit. “We did a fair amount of business, but I would have traded every dime of it for a shot at the last three people on our list.”

“Are you kidding?” Annie asked. “I wouldn’t. We’ve got the money, and now we get to go find them and do what we’d planned to do here; interrogate them.”

“I don’t know how much of an interrogation any of them will stand for. Besides, I’ve got an idea,” I said as we headed out, being careful to lock up behind us. I was driving again, mostly by default.

“That’s more than I’ve got, so I’m game for just about anything. What did you have in mind?”

“I want to take a little detour before we go talk to anybody else,” I said as I pulled out of the parking lot.

“I don’t think we have time to see a movie, Pat.”

“That wasn’t what I was suggesting,” I said.

“Where are we going, then?”

“I’ll tell you after we drop the deposit off. You don’t have any plans this evening, do you?” I asked her.

“No. Why do you ask? Do you?”

I smiled. “Not tonight.”

She nodded. “Then it’s just the two of us. To tell you the truth, I’m fine with that.”

“So am I.”

I hadn’t mentioned running into Molly the night before, and I wasn’t planning to, when Annie surprised me by bringing it up herself. “Did you run into anyone else at the restaurant last night that you knew?”

“You saw her there too, didn’t you?”

“I did, but I was kind of hoping that you got out of there before she showed up,” Annie said. “I know we said that we weren’t going to talk about our evenings, but there’s something that I’m just dying to know. Did seeing Molly ruin your evening with Jenna?”

I debated not answering, but then I decided there was no reason not to. “For ten or fifteen minutes, it felt as though it might, but I somehow salvaged the evening.”

“How did you manage to do that?” she asked me with a broad grin.

“No, ma’am. That I’m keeping to myself.”

“Spoilsport,” she said as I pulled up at the bank.

“This will just take a second,” I said. “You’re free to join me, if you’d like.”

“The grill is my domain, and the front is yours,” she said. “I’m more than happy to just sit here and wait for you.”

“See you soon, then.”

After I made my deposit, I was surprised when I turned around and saw Harriet Parton standing a few people behind me. Annie had drifted into the bank, and she was signaling her presence to me, in case I’d missed it. “Hello,” I said to her, pausing and trying to be as friendly as I could be, knowing that she had a one-in-three chance of being a multiple murderer. “I’d hoped to see you at the Iron today.”

“I was tied up with something else,” she said, averting her eyes.

No one else was paying any attention to us. “Did it have anything to do with Albert Yeats?”

Harriet suddenly looked all around us. “I don’t care to discuss that with you, Pat.”

“In here?” I asked her. “That’s fine. I understand.”

Her shoulders eased a little, but the moment I continued, they bunched right back up again. “We can have this conversation just as easily out in the parking lot.”

Harriet frowned at me, started to turn to leave, and that’s when she must have spotted Annie. “Patrick Marsh, are the two of you ganging up on me?”

“Can’t a twin brother and sister go to the bank together without someone being suspicious of their motivations?”

“How do I know that you didn’t follow me here?” Harriet asked me harshly.

“I got here first, remember? Whether you like it or not, we’re having this conversation, Harriet.”

She must have seen the futility in resisting. “Oh, very well. Go outside, and I’ll meet you there.”

“Why don’t I hang back and wait for you inside?” I wouldn’t put it past her to try to sneak out the side door just to avoid us, so I wasn’t about to make that mistake.

“Do as you wish,” she said curtly, and then she proceeded to ignore both me and my twin sister.

“What did she say?” Annie asked me softly when I joined her.

“She’ll talk, but it’s going to be under protest.”

“Why should she be any different from anyone else? This isn’t going to interfere with your other plans, is it?”

“No, it shouldn’t,” I said. “I’ve changed my mind. We’ll do my thing after we talk to our suspects. After all, it’s probably nothing more than a wild-goose chase.”

“You know me,” Annie replied. “I love chasing wild geese. Here she comes.”

Harriet walked toward us as though she were walking to her execution. I expected her to brush past us, but instead, she stopped and said, “Let’s get this over with. Follow me.”

Annie and I did as we were told and followed her out into the parking lot then over to her car. Harriet had her keys out, but I didn’t want her getting away before we could talk, so I stepped quickly ahead of her and leaned against her door. It might not have been the most gallant thing I’d ever done in my life, but it was necessary, and if it turned out that Harriet was innocent of double murder, I’d be sure to apologize to her later.

“Well? What is it?” she asked us harshly.

“We’d like to know more about your relationships with Mitchell Wells and Albert Yeats,” I said.

“Frankly, neither inquiry is any of your business.”

“Do you honestly think that you can just refuse to answer our questions?” I asked her. She could do exactly that, and what was more, she knew it. After all, Kathleen had the power to demand answers. We didn’t.

“That is precisely what I plan to do,” she said grimly. “Now if you’ll both excuse me, I have more errands to run.”

Annie looked at me with a puzzled expression that asked, “What do we do now?” but I had something I’d been holding in reserve. “I’m curious about something. Are you planning on running for reelection this year?” I asked her.

“Why, are you going to run against me? Be my guest.”

“No, I’m no politician, but it might hurt your support if Annie and I plaster the Iron with posters for your opponent, whoever that might turn out to be. Sadly, I can envision a scenario where there’d be no room for any of your literature or campaign posters anywhere. You know as well as we do that without the Iron, it’s going to be twice as hard to get elected, even if you are the incumbent.”

“Are you threatening me, Patrick?” At that instant, I could see how this woman might turn into a killer.

“Actually, we both are,” Annie said firmly.

“That’s blackmail,” she hissed.

“Call it what you will,” I said. “But our statement stands.”

“I never dreamed that you could play so dirty,” Harriet said.

“When it comes to solving a murder, or even two, you should know that there’s not much that I
wouldn’t
do.”

Harriet didn’t speak for a moment, and when she finally did, I could swear that I caught a hint of approval in her voice. “Okay. I give in. Whether you’re bluffing or not, I’m not willing to take the chance. Let’s get something straight first. If I agree to answer your questions, you’ll give me as much right as my opponent to campaign in the Iron. Is that correct?”

“It is,” I said.

She wasn’t satisfied with my response alone. Harriet turned to Annie with a look of expectation.

“I agree as well,” Annie said.

“Then we can talk but not here.” She looked around, and I did as well. There were a few folks watching us openly, and a few more trying to be sly about it.

“Where do you suggest?”

“Not the Iron,” she said. “That’s your home turf. How about the park?”

That aligned with my other plans, so I agreed. “Fine. Does Annie have to ride over there with you to make sure you find your way?”

“No, we’ve made our deal, and I’ll stand by it as long as you do. I’ll see you there.”

I stepped aside and let her get into her car, while Annie joined me at mine.

“Was that wise?” my twin sister asked me as we got in, and I followed Harriet to the park.

“You heard her. What could we do, kidnap her? She might be a killer, but I think she’ll keep her word.”

“Why should she?”

“Because she realizes that without being able to campaign at the Iron, she’s dead in the water. Do you have any other questions for her besides the bombshell I just asked her?”

Annie shook her head. “That’s the gist of it, isn’t it? Short of an actual confession, discovering her true relationships with both men is the most we can hope to uncover.”

“Fine, but if you think of something else, feel free to jump right in.”

Annie grinned at me. “Hi, I’m Annie. We have met before, haven’t we?”

It was a ridiculous way of reminding me that she’d very well do what she pleased, usually whether I liked it or not. “Point taken.” I looked up and saw that Harriet was doing exactly as she’d promised. She pulled into the parking lot of the park, and I slid into the space right beside her.

“Pat, maybe we shouldn’t have given her time to come up with answers we’d swallow,” Annie said gruffly.

“What choice did we have? Honestly though, I have a feeling she’s worked out her answers well before we confronted her.”

“So what good is all of this questioning going to do?”

“How do I know? I’m hoping that if she does lie to us, we’ll be able to detect it, if not now, then at some point later. It’s the best we can do, given the scope of our power here.”

“Which is minimal at best,” Annie said as she opened her car door. “Well, here goes nothing.”

“I am willing to admit that I was, at one point, sleeping with Mitchell Wells,” Harriet confessed as soon as she began talking. “We might as well get that out into the open from the beginning. You didn’t know Mitchell all that well. He could be charming when it suited his purposes, and evidently claiming me as a conquest mattered to him for some reason. I succumbed to his lies, but as soon as I found out that he was going to propose to Betty, I broke it off, not him. The scoundrel actually had the temerity to suggest that his marriage vows were no reason to end our affair, if that tells you anything about him. I laughed in his face when he made the offer, and believe me, he wasn’t used to that, nor did he like it one little bit. If I had died that day instead of him, he would have been the number-one suspect in my murder. As for Albert Yeats, somehow he found out about the affair, and he threatened to ruin me politically if I didn’t confess it myself. It was clear the man was striking out blindly. I’ll admit that he had me rattled when he said that he’d make sure the electorate knew what type of person they’d elected, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I decided to let him do his worst. That’s it, I’m afraid. I had no reason to kill either man, nor did I commit the crimes you’re implying that I did.”

“Why should we believe you?” Annie asked her bluntly.

Harriet grinned slightly. “My, don’t you both have sharp teeth. I don’t suppose there’s any reason for you to, except for the fact that it’s true.”

“Were you really following Sally around the night of the murder when you both ducked out of my class?” Annie asked her. My twin sister sounded a little hurt even saying it now.

“I was. I believed with all my heart that she killed Albert, just as she murdered Mitchell a decade earlier.”

“Why would she kill Mitchell? To your knowledge, was Sally sleeping with him, too?” I asked her. We knew it to be true, but did Harriet?

The question stung her, but she kept her promise. “I didn’t believe it at the time, though I’d heard my share of rumors. Over time, I’ve grown to realize that it was true. No one could act that distraught over the violent death of someone she hadn’t loved. The woman was nearly inconsolable at the time, and it went on for many months.”

That wasn’t the way we’d heard it. “I’ve been led to believe by one of our witnesses that you were the one who was shattered by Mitchell’s death, not Sally.”

Harriet looked at me crossly, and then she nodded knowingly. “You’ve been speaking with Betty Murphy, haven’t you?”

“Is it true?” I asked, avoiding confirming her suspicion. “I have another question. Did Mitchell extort money from your father to buy Betty’s wedding ring?” I believed it myself. It was a pattern of Mitchell’s behavior. Hadn’t he tried to do the same thing, without success, with Edith? “She said that you tried to pry it off her finger at the funeral.” So much for keeping my source anonymous, but to be fair, she’d already guessed Betty’s identity.