Part 7 (2/2)
”I'll be there. It would have been nice to have a say in things, is all, seeing as how I was his fiancee”
”Well, there are a few details to work out yet. For example, we haven't chosen hymns yet, and no one has selected a cinerary urn.
”Hymns. Right. Like I know anything about hymns. And what's a ciner ... cin ... whatever you said?”
”It's where you keep the ashes after someone is cremated.”
”Oh. So the old bat wants to burn him up, is that it? Figures. She always said he was going to h.e.l.l.”
I doubted those were her exact words, but perhaps Tootie had understated the schism between Walter and herself.
”She said he was claustrophobic as a child and wouldn't want to be buried,” I said.
”Oh. I didn't know that.” She looked around. ”But you can't just come in here and take all his stuff.”
Meghan said, ”Right now we're just boxing up some things for the Salvation Army, and whatever mementos we thought his mother might want to keep. Is there anything here you want?”
Debby got up and walked to the set of shelves we hadn't started on yet. She picked up the signed baseball and turned it in her hand. Her face crumpled. Jacob scurried to her side.
Meghan said, ”This'll wait. We can put it all on hold until after the funeral.” ”
I think that'd be best,” Jacob said and led Debby to the door. She went through, fingering the leather of the ball and sniffing loudly, but he turned in the doorway. ”I want to know how you knew who we were.”
”The barista down at Beans R Us told us you were friends of Walter's,” Meghan said.
”Oh,” he said, and looked to his left, into the kitchen. ”That where he did it?”
I tried not to sigh. ”No. Not there.”
He looked hard at me. ”Where then?”
”In my workroom.” I swallowed. ”Across the alley.”
”Jacob?” Debby's tiny voice drifted in from the front sidewalk.
He licked his lips, like he wanted to say more, then suddenly turned on his heel and walked out. Meghan closed the door, looking grim.
”I know, I know,” I said. ”But what did you want me to do? I couldn't lie, and besides, I didn't want to. Walter didn't have very many friends, and I'm not going to lie to the few he did have just because the truth is uncomfortable for me.”
”Well, it's not like how Walter died is a secret.”
”At least now we know where Walter's money came from. And that he had a fiancee-can you believe it?”
”She's something, isn't she?”
”I noticed you didn't exactly warm up to her,” I said.
”I was nice.”
”You were very nice. You're always very nice. But something struck you funny about her, didn't it?”
”Something, yeah. It did you, too. Something about the lottery money?”
”I'm not sure. I got kind of mixed signals from her.”
”Not the best time to try and get a read on someone, right after they learn their fiance has died,” Meghan said.
”And we know of one possible problem Walter could have had besides the money.”
”What're you talking about?”
”Jacob, of course. Walter's rival for Debby's affections.”
Meghan looked skeptical ”Didn't you see the way he looked at her?”
”That doesn't mean he was a rival.”
”Doesn't mean he wasn't, though, does it?”
”You don't have to look so happy about it.”
”Sorry. Have we done enough for now? It's almost time for Sparrow, isn't it?”
Looking at her watch, Meghan ran her fingers through her curls. ”You're right. I have to get back” She looked around the room. ”We said we'd leave it until Debby could help, anyway.”
And the paperwork was already over at our house. I had two or three days to sort it out for Tootie, though I had to wonder how helpful it would be if I couldn't find a will. I'd hoped to discover where Walter's money was coming from, but now we knew. Still, the boxes might contain an insurance policy or other financial information. And I wanted to take another look at those donation receipts.
I hesitated, then grabbed the open carton of mementos I'd collected so far. Tootie should look at them first and decide what she might want to keep, since I was here at her request. Debby could have second crack at them. Meghan locked Walter's door, and we walked back across the alley to our house.
ELEVEN.
THE LIGHT ON THE answering machine blinked; Detective Ambrose had returned my call. As I punched in the number for the police department, Meghan laughed.
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