Poison Heart (12 page)

“Yes, please.”

While Debby poured the coffee and offered a lemon scone, Claire told her what had been going on in Patty Jo’s life. She mentioned Walter’s death and the new will and the barn burning down, but she didn’t place the blame on Patty Jo.

“Never even met this guy, Walter. But then Patty Jo and I were never close. You see, she was the adopted daughter.”

“And you weren’t?”

“Just one of those deals. Mom and Dad adopted Patty Jo when she was already five and they were going into their forties. They figured they were not going to have their own children. Then I came along two years later. Patty Jo did not take to me.”

“She didn’t like being a big sister?”

“I guess not. She left home at seventeen, when I was only ten. She got married soon after. She lived in the next town, so we saw each other once in a while. Then her husband died and she moved away.”

“When was that?”

“Ten years ago.”

Claire finished her scone and wiped her hands on her napkin. “That was delicious.”

“Would you like the recipe?”

For a moment, Claire envisioned herself getting up on a Sunday morning and making scones. Rich had taken over most of the cooking, but she didn’t have to relinquish all of it. “Yes, I would.”

Debby offered her more coffee. Claire took half a cup.

“I’m going to ask you some awkward questions. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I was expecting them. When you called, my first thought was,
I wonder what Patty Jo’s done now.
”

“Really?”

Debby nodded her head. “She was terrible when we were kids, always getting into trouble.”

“Like what?” Claire prompted.

“I remember her finding my Easter basket and then eating all my candy before Mom could get it away from her. She was often caught taking things from people’s houses. She was very jealous of anyone who had anything she didn’t have. She got caught shoplifting as a teenager several times, but Dad always managed to have the charges dropped. Not sure that was a good idea. I think Patty Jo always thought she could get away with anything.”

“What about fires? Was she ever involved in any incidents as a kid?”

“When she was pretty little, the slough behind my parents’ farm started on fire. Turned out Patty and a friend had been playing with matches. Then, right before she left home for good, the shed behind our parents’ house burned down. My father claimed it was because he had left some rags out, but I think my mother always suspected Patty Jo of setting the fire.”

“There is a pattern here. I’m trying to understand her recent behavior. She seems like she’s up to something.”

“Doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Debby said.

“Any other examples of bad behavior you can think of?”

Debby stirred her coffee for a moment. Then she sighed and said, “Well, the worst thing she ever did, as far as I’m concerned, was kill her first husband.”

CHAPTER 14

Claire allowed herself a second doughnut at the kaffeeklatsch. She usually tried to limit herself to one, but today she felt the need to bribe herself to keep quiet about Patty Jo. She couldn’t spread gossip around, but she would have loved to discuss Debby’s information with the crew gathered at Le Pain Perdu.

As she passed the plate around to see if anyone else needed another doughnut, Edwin Sandstrom stood up.

“I’ve got good news that I’d like to share with everyone. I wanted you all to be the first to know. We’re going to get married,” Edwin announced, holding up the hand of his bride-to-be, Ella Gunderson, to show off the ring she was wearing on her finger.

The kaffeeklatsch erupted: forks clanging glasses, hoots and hollers from the group gathered around the table. Stuart, the owner of the bakery, came running from the kitchen to see what was going on.

Claire had thought the two of them were up to something when they walked in the door that morning. They both looked like the cat that swallowed the canary, as her mom used to say. It had never occurred to her they might be engaged. Funny how events went in cycles or circles. She still wasn’t used to the idea of Bridget and Chuck splitting up, and now a nuptial was being announced.

At the commotion, Meg looked up from her book. She had insisted on coming along this morning. Said she didn’t feel like being home alone, but brought a book along in case it got boring. She was at the age, Claire had noticed, where she got bored when she didn’t get her way.

Claire asked, “Is this like the reading of the banns?”

Ruth held up her coffee mug and proposed a toast. “To the nicest couple around. May you both live long and celebrate many anniversaries.”

“For the time being, we’ll each keep our own place,” Ella said with a nudge to Edwin. “Just in case it doesn’t work out.”

Ruth offered her barn as a place they could hold the ceremony, since Ella wasn’t particularly churchgoing.

Ella turned to Claire and asked her if she would be her best woman. “I don’t have any nieces, and I like the idea of a strong law-enforcing woman to be there by my side.”

Her request thrilled Claire. “I’d love to.” She immediately wondered what she would wear. As Ella was having only one matron of honor, at least she wouldn’t have to match someone else’s dress.

“When’s the wedding?” Stewart asked.

“Can’t wait too much longer,” Edwin quipped. “We’ve got our health, better act fast. We’re thinking early November.”

Ella turned to Rich. “How’s your mom doing in the nursing home?”

“She hates it. She came to our house for dinner and didn’t want to go back.”

“I don’t blame her,” Ella said. “If she’s up to it, ask her to come to the wedding. Who knows, maybe she’ll meet some nice guy.”

How wonderful to have something to celebrate,
Claire thought. She was having a hard time pulling her mind away from the news from Debby. What was the most frustrating was that she still had no proof Patty Jo had done anything wrong in her whole life.

As if he had read her mind, Edwin nudged her shoulder to get her attention. “I’ve been meaning to tell you. I heard through the grapevine that Reiner has canned the idea of buying the Tilde farm.”

“Really? I wonder why?”

“Well, what I hear is that he didn’t want to get embroiled in a title problem because of probate, and he wasn’t too happy about the barn burning down. He had planned to use it to store his plane.” Edwin leaned back in his chair and laughed. “I bet that’s got Patty Jo pretty rankled.”

Claire thought about a rankled Patty Jo—not a good situation. She went back over what Debby had told her of Patty Jo’s first husband’s death. Dell Splinter was his name. They had been married thirty years. Then he had had a bad accident on the farm: a bale of hay had fallen on his head, causing brain damage. A week after he left the hospital for home, he had died, and there had been no autopsy; Patty Jo had him cremated. Debby said she was sure that Patty Jo had had something to do with it. When Claire pressed her to say why she was so sure, Debby said that Patty Jo had let something slip, just a casual comment.

“What?” Claire asked.

“She said that she couldn’t stand to see Dell unable to do anything. That she had taken things into her own hands.”

Claire had asked her if she had told anyone her suspicions.

“What could I do? Who would I have told?” Debby said. “I knew they couldn’t prove anything. There was no body anymore. If she had killed him, I didn’t know how she had done it. So I didn’t say anything.”

“Then why tell me?” Claire asked.

“Because you’re the first person who’s ever come sniffing around about Patty Jo. Not everyone sees who she really is. She can be charming when she wants. If she’s killed her second husband, maybe you can prove it and put her away. I’d feel good about that. Stop her before she gets a third one.”

Meg pumped her bike up the small hill that rose from Highway 35. She was on her way to Ted’s house. Her mom had agreed that she could ride over and see Harvey. Ted lived right on the way. Meg had told him at school that she might go see the elk at Reiner’s.

He seemed very impressed. “If you do, can I go with you?”

“I guess.”

“Cool.”

Her mom had made her call the caretaker and ask if it was all right to visit Harvey. The guy sounded surprised by the request but said sure, it was fine with him. He said Harvey’s wound had healed up, and he didn’t think Reiner would mind. That’s what he called the owner, Reiner. She liked the sound of saying just the man’s last name, like in a detective story.

Then she gathered all her courage and called Ted’s house. Wouldn’t you know, his mom answered the phone.

Meg had been very polite. “Hello, may I speak to Ted?”

“May I ask who’s calling?”

“Yes, this is Meg Watkins.”

“Oh,” was all his mother had said, then Meg could hear her shouting, “Ted, phone.”

When he said hello, Meg was surprised by how old he sounded on the phone. Like he was a teenager or something. “I’m going to see the elk,” she told him.

“Count me in.”

“I’ll come and get you. My mom’s letting me ride my bike.”

“I’ll be waiting by the driveway. When are you leaving?”

She told him it’d be immediately, then ran out the door, hopped on her bike, and headed toward his house. Meg wondered if she would have ever dared call him if it hadn’t been for the elk. Funny how things worked out.

When she pedaled up to his house, she could see him leaning on the handlebars of his bike, watching her.

“You ride a bike like a girl.”

Meg was fascinated by the way kids her age decided how a girl behaved and how a boy behaved. There was a whole list of such actions: how you looked at your nails, how you looked at the bottom of your shoes, how you combed your hair.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You wobble.”

Meg could feel herself getting mad. “Let’s go. I told the guy I’d be there.”

She started biking, pumping her legs as hard as she could. Wobble? She’d show him. She could hear Ted riding behind her, trying to keep up.

“Hey, wait up.”

She slowed slightly, and he went tearing past her. She let him pedal down the next hill. Then he slowed and waited for her.

After that they biked next to each other, talking about school and their friends, until they got to the Reiner place.

“Man, this guy must be stinking rich.”

“I guess so.”

“Two houses and everything. My dad says he could buy the whole county if he wanted to.” They both jumped off their bikes and started walking to the barn.

Meg nodded. “My mom says he thinks he’s like the emperor around here.”

Ted slowed down as they walked up to the fence. “I knew they had elk here, but I’ve never been up here.”

Meg put down the kickstand, parked her bike, and reached into her fanny pack. She had cut up an apple before she had left home and put it into a Ziploc bag.

Harvey was standing in the fenced area, over by a big pine tree. She called his name.

“That’s him?” Ted asked. “The Indians called them
wapiti.
”

“You want to feed him some apple?”

Ted looked at the apple, then over at the elk, which had started lumbering in their direction.

“No,” he said, shaking his head and stepping back. “I’ll just watch you do it.”

Meg’s heart opened up as she watched the elk approach. She was so glad to see Harvey. She was glad she had come to see him in his real home. It was good that he was back here, she realized, among the other elk, where he belonged. The fact that she could come over and see him whenever she wanted to made it easier for her to accept that this was where he would stay.

“Harvey,” she called. He stopped and sniffed the air. She knew he recognized her smell.

He lowered his head as if he were fixing his eyes on her and then started to walk toward her again. She held a piece of the apple over the fence, and he walked right up to her and took it gently out of her hand. After he ate it, he presented his face to her, and she scratched his fuzzy chin. She had almost forgotten about Ted. He didn’t seem as important as the big animal she was petting.

When she had one piece of apple left, she turned and looked at Ted. “Are you sure you don’t want to try feeding him?”

Ted looked down at the ground. “It’s good from here. I can see him really good.”

Meg knew what it felt like to be afraid. She could see the fear in Ted’s eyes and hear it in his voice. She wouldn’t push him. “You don’t have to be scared of this elk. He was bottle-fed, and that makes him really tame.”

They didn’t stay long. Ted wanted to get going. On the ride back to his house, he was playing the show-off again. Riding circles around her, trying to ride on his back tire. She pedaled her steady rhythm. She still had a long ride home.

At the end of his driveway, she stopped and straddled her bike. She thought he might invite her in, but he didn’t. He just kept going and yelled back over his shoulder, “See you at school.”

Riding back down his road, Meg was disappointed. She had hoped seeing the elk might be a good thing to do together. Somehow it hadn’t worked, and she wasn’t sure why. She didn’t get boys.

As she was getting close to the turn on Highway 35, she saw a woman stopped in her car in the middle of the road. Meg noticed because there was no stop sign or driveway. She couldn’t understand why the woman had stopped.

As she got closer, she could see the woman was looking around. Then Meg recognized her. It was Patty Jo Tilde, the woman whose barn had burned down. She had to be in her seventies. Her blond-gray hair looked like a helmet, like if you pushed your fingers into it, it might leave a dent.

“Hey, you, girl. Do you know the way to the elk farm?”

When Meg didn’t say anything right away, Mrs. Tilde spoke again. “What’s the matter with you? Aren’t you from around here? I suppose your parents told you not to talk to strangers. I’m a neighbor, not a stranger. Do you know where the elks are?”

Meg didn’t feel like talking to her. She didn’t like this old woman, so she just pointed back down the road she had come from and watched the woman look back that way. Then the woman slammed her hand on the steering wheel and swore. Meg was surprised; old people didn’t tend to swear. At least, not in public.

Mrs. Tilde drove right around in a circle in the middle of the road. When she got her car facing the right way, she stomped on the accelerator and roared away.

Meg closed her eyes and tried not to breathe the dust stirred up in the car’s wake.

Jim Bartlett was not sure what woke him. A flickering movement. He had fallen asleep after drinking a six-pack of beer and watching the football game. All he knew when he pulled himself up in the big Naugahyde-covered recliner was that something was not right. He turned the TV off. It was midnight. There was a strange light coming from outside. He rubbed his eyes and went and looked out the window.

He couldn’t believe his eyes. A fire was eating away at the elk barn. He rubbed them again. Then he felt a jolt go through his whole body. He didn’t know what to do first. He had to get out there, but he had to let someone know. Help—he needed help fast.

He grabbed his boots and started pulling one of them on. When he had stuffed his foot in one boot, he realized he needed to make the phone call before he did anything else. He hobbled to the phone and dialed the fire department.

“Fire, Reiner place. The barn. Down Double E . . . That’s right. Right by the road.” He gave the woman his fire number.

He had dragged the boot with him and was trying to put it on with the phone stuck under his chin. The woman at the other end of the line said she would send a fire crew out as soon as they assembled. Who knew how long that would take? When he hung up, he knew he had to do something.

Then he remembered he had separated Harvey from the rest of the herd and put him in the barn. Jim swore and ran out the door.

It was cold, but he he could feel waves of heat coming from the fire. The fire was up high on the roof, so maybe Harvey was still okay—if the smoke hadn’t filled the barn. If he could get to the door and open it, he hoped the animal would find its way out.

Jim ran to the fenced-in area around the barn and tried to open the gate. His hands were shaking, and he didn’t seem to be able to work the latch. Goddamn it, he had planned to change that thing for the last month. Just hadn’t gotten around to it. He yanked it off and ran into the pen. The barn door was shut. He grabbed it and pulled it open along its track. Nothing came out of the barn. He stuck his head in and saw the elk.

The big animal was at the back of the barn. The fire had broken through the roof, and a burning beam had fallen into the middle of the barn. The elk was afraid to run around it. Harvey was slashing his front feet at the blaze and kicking at the side of the barn, trying to get away. For a moment, it looked as if the elk would try to bolt by the blazing beam, but at the last second, he changed his mind and ran back to the false protection at the far end of the barn.