Part 18 (1/2)

”No, because of what happened in Asheville. The friend she gathered plants with that awful day was Joanne Clayton.”

Chapter 14.

”YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS,” I SAID.

”I wish I weren't, but it's true enough. Why, is that significant?” Myron looked honestly perplexed by my question.

”Joanne Clayton was poisoned as well,” I said.

”I didn't hear that. Are you certain of your information?”

”I'm positive,” I said, having a hard time believing that there was still so much I didn't know.

”I'm sure it's just a coincidence,” he said. ”I've known Robert his entire life. He isn't capable of murder.”

”Not even to avenge his wife's death?”

Myron frowned. ”No one ever blamed Joanne, including Robert. He knew his wife's nature. She could be a little reckless at times. Besides,” Myron added after a moment's consideration, ”it's not like Joanne didn't get sick herself.”

”She didn't die though, did she?”

Myron shrugged. ”No, but it was touch and go for several days, and I know for a fact that Joanne was weakened for a good many weeks from drinking the tea herself. I believe in my heart that Robert accepted it as an accident.”

”How can you possibly know that with any certainty?”

”He told me so himself, just after it happened.” Myron seemed to chew on the new information, and then added, ”Besides, if Robert was going to exact his revenge, he wouldn't have waited so long to do it. If he suspected Joanne of murdering his wife, he would have shouted it from the rooftops, not waited patiently all these years to strike back. No, I'm sorry, but I could never believe it.”

”Believe what?” Rob asked from behind me. How had he managed to approach us so quietly?

”I didn't hear you,” I said.

”Soft-soled shoes,” he said, pointing to his treads. ”It's the only way standing on concrete all day is tolerable for me. What are you two talking about?”

”The past, with all its glory and tragedy,” Myron said. As he got into his truck, he said, ”If you two will excuse me, I've got work to do.”

He drove away in a hurry, and Rob frowned at me. ”You said something to spook him, Savannah. What were you two discussing?”

I had two options: I could lie to him, or I could tell him the truth and take my chances. It was broad daylight and there were dozens of folks out and about. I couldn't imagine a safer place to confront him about what I'd learned, though I wouldn't have minded having Zach standing right behind me.

”Rob, why didn't you tell me that your wife was poisoned?”

He looked startled by my question. ”I just a.s.sumed you already knew,” he said, clearly puzzled by my tone.

”We didn't live here when it happened,” I said. ”You know that.”

He shrugged. ”Sometimes it feels as though you and your husband have lived in Parson's Valley all your lives. I wasn't trying to hide anything from you, Savannah. In fact, I've been sort of waiting for you to bring it up yourself. It's a strange coincidence, isn't it?”

”I know it must be painful for you, but I'd really like for you to tell me what happened,” I said.

His shoulders slumped slightly. ”From the look on your face, Myron already did. Becky picked the wrong plant to make into tea, and it killed her.” His voice was cold and flat as he said it, as if he were reciting a poem he'd memorized back in grade school.

”Joanne was with her when she died,” I said. ”You never mentioned that, either. Rob, surely you must realize that you had more reason to want her dead than anyone on our list! I've heard a rumor that you blamed Joanne for Becky's death, but you haven't said a word about it to me. I had to dig through the courthouse records to find out the truth.”

”Savannah, have you been investigating me?” he asked, the outrage thick in his voice.

”I've looked at everyone who had a motive for murder,” I said firmly. ”Besides, I'm not about to let you blame your righteous indignation on me. I wouldn't have had to go digging into your life myself in the first place if you'd just been honest with me from the start.”

”I don't like your tone of voice, or what you're implying.” There was an edge there now, nothing soft and friendly about the way he was speaking to me. Perhaps I should have waited for Zach before I confronted Rob after all. ”I didn't blame Joanne for what happened to Becky then, and nothing's changed my mind since. I had no reason to kill her.”

”But you can still prove that you were in your hardware store all day when she was murdered, right? At least tell me that much.”

He shook his head. ”No, I was over at the Asheville Hardware Store picking up some supplies. I ran low on carriage bolts, and I have an arrangement with them there. They sell me whatever I need at cost, and I do the same for them. It's a courtesy, really.”

This was beginning to look worse and worse for him. ”Did you see Joanne while you were in town?”

”I did not,” he said flatly, ”and frankly, I'm insulted that you could even ask me that.”

”I don't blame you. They're hard questions,” I agreed, ”but they have to be answered.”

He shook his head. ”Savannah, I thought you knew me better than this. I never expected you to accuse me of murder.”

”I'm not,” I said. ”I'm just trying to get to the truth. Did Joanne ever write you any letters or notes?”

”Of course not. What kind of question is that?”

”I'm not exactly sure,” I said.

”You'd better make sure, before you come around here again accusing me of murder.”

As he started to walk away, I called out, ”I'm still gathering facts.”

”Well,” he said as he stopped and turned to me, ”you're going to have to do it without me from here on out. It should go without saying, but I'm finished helping you.”

After Rob was gone, I thought about what he'd said, and what he'd left unspoken. Would I feel different now if he'd told me from the beginning about how his wife had died? Could that have made a difference in my mind? I'd never know, because he'd held out on me, something that made me immediately suspicious of him. When I thought about enlisting him in my cause, it made my skin crawl a little. Had he really been trying to help me as he'd claimed, or had he volunteered to give me a hand so he could stay close, in case I stumbled onto the truth? What would he have done then? If Rob was the killer, I might have gotten a dose of poison myself.

I was still standing in the parking lot, and was so lost in my thoughts I nearly screamed when I heard my husband call out to me.

”Why are you so jumpy, Savannah?”

”What are you doing here?” I asked as I tried to collect my breath.

”I had a suspicion that you'd be over here.” Zach looked at me closely, and then added, ”You look as though you've just seen a ghost.”

”Or a killer,” I amended.

”What are you talking about?”