Chapter Two

Sheriff Daryl Flynn wasn't happy to be told there was another dead body in his town. He said he hadn't yet recovered from the woman who had been shot, stabbed, and poisoned.

At Lachlan House, he stood about four feet away from the split skull with the jewels scattered about. The clasp of one of the bracelets had caught on a tooth. If he let himself think about what he was seeing, he might throw up. Randal had told him of some long-ago house party, but he didn't comprehend much. "Uh..." He couldn't think of what to say. He straightened his shoulders. Thanks to his association with Randal, he was in better physical condition now. His stomach was flatter and he moved more quickly. But the good didn't override the Medlar-Wyatt propensity for complicating his life. "I have to call Broward." He sounded as if he were saying he had to amputate one of his limbs.

"Maybe they'll..." Even Sara couldn't think of a creative possibility. As the sheriff pulled out his cell phone, they braced themselves for the big shot Detective Cotilla to come on the line. Flynn put it on Speaker. He didn't want to be alone.

"They found a body." Flynn didn't explain who "they" were.

"Skeleton," Sara said.

"I recognize that voice," Cotilla said. "Who is the dead person?"

"Derek Oliver," Flynn said. "It's possible he was murdered in 1997."

"Ninety-seven? So there's no blood?"

"Just bones, but the skull has been... Well, it's... It's bad." Flynn couldn't finish.

There was a pause, then Cotilla said, "You sure you didn't find some animal?"

Flynn's voice rose. "It's wearing a tuxedo!"

"That sounds cute. Maybe—"

Sara put out her hand to take the phone and Flynn gladly gave it to her. "You want us to call you when we find out what kind of animal it is? And we'll make sure this scene is well photographed?"

"You can do that? In spite of the fact that so many of the photos you've turned over to me in the past were blurry?"

"I'll try," she said in fake innocence.

"That sounds good. We are drastically understaffed here, and some old case might find itself buried under more recent problems. You understand me?"

"Perfectly," she said.

"Good! Just let me know when you have it all figured out and send me a pretty report. We do so enjoy the way you write and illustrate those."

"We will do that," Sara said.

"I gotta go. I have a meeting with DeSantis."

Sara smiled at that. "Lucky you. We'll take care of everything."

"See that you do."

They clicked off, Sara handed the phone back to Daryl and turned to the others. "It looks like we have a case to solve."

"I'm going back to the office," Daryl said. "If you need anything..." He trailed off, not sure what to say. "Just get me to retirement," he mumbled, then went down the stairs.

"Wait!" Randal called out to him. "You need to stay here while we go visit Billy."

They could hear the sheriff's groan all the way up the stairs.

Once Randal had persuaded Sheriff Flynn that he had to stay there, the four of them went outside. Randal had called ahead and was told that Billy Pendergast would love to see them. Randal's sedate sedan was parked beside Jack's truck. It was battered from years of heavy use.

"Shall we have lunch?" Randal asked as he looked from Jack to Kate, then back again. They were standing close beside each other, but their faces were turned away. It was an odd position.

"Too much adrenaline in me to eat," Sara said. "Let's go see this Billy person. How's his mind? Will he remember you?"

Since his sister was an advocate for Old Doesn't Mean Stupid, he looked at her in surprise. "I've been rather busy for the last twenty-plus years so I have no idea."

Sara ignored his feel-sorry-for-me tone. "I'll ride with you. I have some questions you might be able to answer."

Randal was even more surprised. The others were an unbreakable trio. One time he'd said in sarcasm, "Are you three ever apart? Meals? Showers? Sleeping?" Sara had given him a look of disgust, and the others ignored him.

But now Sara wanted to ride with her brother? What was going on?

Randal told Jack where the home was, and he and Kate got into his truck. Even to Randal, it seemed odd that Sara's spot was empty. When he was in the car with his sister, he said, "What do you want to ask me?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you with me?" He was leading the way toward Broward Boulevard.

"You haven't noticed anything unusual with the kids?"

"Jack looks different. Colorado changed him. I was going to tell him he looked good, but a skull rolling across the floor distracted me."

"I want to give him and Kate time alone."

"Oh," he said. "You think...?"

"I hope they will at last get together."

When he stopped at a light, they smiled at each other. One thing they agreed on was that they deeply and truly wanted Jack and Kate to get "together." As in rings and champagne and a lavish ceremony.

Randal glanced in the mirror at Jack's truck behind them.

"How are they doing?" she asked.

"Sitting far apart and not saying a word."

"Not good," Sara said.

"This is your job," he said. "Romance is how you've made your living. You need to put them together in a way that they have no choice but to actually speak to each other."

Sara smiled. "I do love pretend-to-be-married romances. Second only to mail order brides. I'll see what I can do. Now, about Billy. What do you know?"

"I think he hated Derek Oliver as much as the rest of us did."

"So Billy murdered the man and shoved his body in a closet?"

"Maybe." Randal pulled into a parking lot. "This is it. You can ask him everything. He dearly loves to talk."

"Maybe he can give Jack and Kate lessons," she mumbled as she got out.

If there is one thing Florida knows, it's how to take care of aging people. Some retirement communities were whole villages. There were beautiful, manicured landscapes with residents walking about in tennis outfits. Swimming pools were full of residents and instructors. The houses were well-kept. The doctors were busy dealing with the rampant STDs.

The outside of the Shadow Palms building was very pretty, but once they were inside, they could see that it wasn't what they'd thought. It appeared to be more of a hospice, a place to die rather than to live. The woman who greeted them was nice.

"Billy doesn't get many visitors," she said. "I'm sure he'll be glad to see you."

"He's cognizant?" Randal asked.

"Oh yes. Billy's mind works well. It's his body that isn't behaving." Her cheerfulness was a good contrast to the solemn feeling that ran through the place.

She led them down a long hall where they passed pretty rooms with private baths. At the end, they went through double doors and the space changed. Vinyl tiles replaced carpet and the walls were plain. The rooms were smaller and had shared baths.

Sara glanced back at Kate and Jack and they nodded in understanding. They were now in the cheap part.

The woman leading them seemed to understand what they were thinking. "All our residents get the same medical attention, but we do cut charges on the decor." She opened a door to show a man sitting in a wheelchair. It didn't take a doctor's certificate to see that the thin man didn't have much longer to live. His skin hung off him and it didn't look like he could walk—but his blue eyes were bright and excited.

"Randal!" he said. "You're as handsome as ever." Surprisingly, his voice was strong. He looked at the four solemn faces, then stopped at Kate. "Dear little Kate. You have grown into a beautiful young woman. But then, you were the cutest child with your red-gold locks and green eyes. And you were insatiably curious. Do you remember any of the week you spent at my house?"

Kate moved forward and took his old, frail hands in hers. "It seems that I remember a great deal of it. I know you used to read books to me and tell me stories. You said the house was haunted. There was a lord?"

Billy was smiling deeply. "A laird. It was a story I made up. The Lonely Laird. It was great dinner table entertainment. The candles were lit and it was raining outside."

"And there was a fire in the big fireplace. I remember it well."

He gave a dry laugh. "You should have been in bed that late."

"And miss any of your glorious stories? Never!"

There were tears in Billy's old eyes. "Oh! I have missed this. Please sit down. I'd offer you food and drink but..." He waved his hand to indicate the barren room, all gray steel and rough white sheets on the bed.

Jack placed four metal chairs in a half circle around him.

"So!" Billy said when they were seated. "Can I assume you found Derek?"

Randal was the first to recover from shock. "We did. So you do know about him?"

Billy again smiled at Kate. "I knew that if I gave you the listing, you'd find him right away. You so loved the old nursery. Is it intact? Just the way it was when you were there?"

"Exactly the same," she said. "My toy dog's string was caught under the closet door. It was sealed shut but Jack got it loose."

For the first time, Billy really looked at Jack. "My goodness. You are even more handsome than your father." He turned to Randal. "Remember how dashing Roy was on his big motorcycle? I thought Barbara was going to pass out from lust."

"Barbara?" Sara asked.

Billy turned to her. "You're the famous author."

"Not famous, but I have written a few novels."

As often happened, Billy immediately proposed a plot idea. "You should write about James Lachlan. Now there's a real story. Utterly true. All in one horrible year, 1944, his nephew was executed for murder, his son ran away forever, and his wife plowed her car into a tree. It was believed to be a suicide."

Sara was used to this. I'll tell you a story, you write it, then we'll split the money. She'd heard it many times. "I see," she said. "The Lonely Laird. He never married again? Spent the rest of his life grieving alone in his movie room?"

Billy blinked at her. "Yes. How did you know? Who told you? Did—?"

Impatiently, Randal spoke up. "Derek Oliver was murdered and hidden in a closet and you knew about it?"

"Of course I did. I put him in there. After I glued him back together, so to speak."

The four of them leaned back to stare at him.

"No, no," Billy said, "I didn't kill him, if that's what you are thinking. I just found him lying there. Empty-headed, as it were. Quite disrespectful."

For a few moments they just stared at him, trying to understand what he was saying.

"My hedgehog?" Kate asked.

"Sorry," Billy said. "I know you loved it but it had been used to fill the gap. I guess it was the right size. I couldn't very well pull it out and return it to you. It wasn't, uh, clean."

They worked to keep their composure. Obviously, Billy didn't know about what was inside the little stuffed animal.

Randal seemed to recover the quickest. "You're saying you found Derek Oliver on the floor, his head sawed open, and inside it was a child's stuffed animal?"

"Yes," Billy said. "I don't like to remember the details."

"Start at the beginning," Randal said.

"If I must," Billy said. "We'd had a lovely lunch because odious Derek wasn't there. No one even asked about him. When we finished, it was raining so I went upstairs to check the windows." He glanced at Kate. "You do so love fresh air."

"Still do," she murmured.

"There he was on the floor. Dead, and obviously murdered. Honestly, I wasn't surprised. The method was a bit much, but the fact of it was that it was understandable."

"Who did it?" Sara asked.

"I assume one of my guests did. However, it was quite thoughtless to leave the body lying on the nursery floor." His voice was rising. "It was without concern for other people. What if little Kate had seen it? Randal was run ragged by all of us, so Kate had free rein of the house. I still don't know how she found the old playroom."

"Greer," Kate said.

Billy looked sad. "Oh yes. That poor girl. So unattractive and so awkward. Did you know that she was hit by a train a few years later? Her brother Reid was devastated."

Jack spoke for the first time. "It was his toolbox."

"Yes, it was." Billy was looking at Jack in appraisal. "Your voice is the same as your father's. I'm sure you'd give Barbara palpitations." He looked at Sara. "Is that word still used?"

"It is in my books. Your plotting needs some work. I'm getting confused. We really want to know about the murder."

"That's because you didn't know Derek Oliver." Billy gave a dry sound that seemed to be a laugh. Kate got up, poured him a glass of water, and handed it to him. He drank deeply, then looked at Randal. "Have you ever met a man more unlikable than Derek Oliver?"

Randal considered for a moment. "No. I don't believe I have. More violent, yes. But not a less likable human being, no."

"I guess I should explain some things," Billy said. "I was sent to Lachlan House by my late father and my two very-much-alive brothers as a punishment. They're all lawyers with the family firm and I was supposed to join them."

"How tedious," Randal said.

"Yes, it was. When I didn't pass the bar exam, they gave me another job in the firm." He looked at them. "Accounting."

Randal and Sara drew in their breaths.

"A man needs to live, doesn't he? There was all that money coming in." Billy shrugged. "I didn't think they'd mind if I borrowed a small bit. Not many zeros. But they did!" He sounded offended.

"So they sent you here?" Randal asked.

"No." Billy's old face showed horror. "They got me a job in construction in New York City. For one whole year."

As old as Billy was, it was easy to see that he wasn't made for building anything.

"Then they sent you here," Sara said. "After you learned your lesson."

Billy nodded. "They were the executors of the Lachlan estate and they needed a live-in caretaker. I was to look after the place and see that it didn't fall into ruin. I was given just enough money to buy food and bits of clothing. They really were stingy."

Randal was piecing it all together. "You supplemented your income with parties."

"I did," Billy said proudly. "The big, gracious house, my abilities as raconteur... It was perfect. People paid well for the experience."

"Are you saying that it was Derek Oliver's party?" Sara asked.

"Of course. He paid for everything and he made the guest list."

"So they were his friends?" Sara asked.

"Heavens no!" Billy said. "He had no friends. He invited people and they had to come." No one was understanding. Billy said, "Darlings, he was blackmailing them all. Each and every one of them. But then, no one on earth would spend a week with Derek Oliver if he weren't threatening them."

Sara's eyes were wide. "Blackmailing them for what?"

"I don't know, but it was something bad for each of them."

"Except Lea," Randal said.

"Her most of all." Billy looked at them. "Lea was Derek's wife, but we all knew he was trying to find a replacement for her. The money she brought to the marriage had run out, so he wanted to get rid of her." He looked at Randal. "But I imagine you know all about what was going on in that marriage."

Randal made no reply.

Jack spoke. "You found him dead, his brain extracted and a toy inside, so you glued his skull back together, then you put him in the closet and sealed the door."

"I did," Billy said. "I put his toupee on too. It was ugly, but I knew he hated being bald. After I, uh, reassembled him, I pulled him into the closet. That wasn't easy! The coat hooks were low for the children, so I latched him to them, closed the door, then sealed it. I'd learned how to caulk in my year of construction." Even so many years later, he shivered at the memory. "Besides, I felt some responsibility for it all as I was the one who sent Reid up there to repair a window. I was worried about little Kate being safe."

"What about the mess?" Sara asked. "It must have been some."

"It was surprisingly clean." When Billy paused, the others looked at each other, then back at him to tell more.

"Afterward, I opened all the windows," Billy said. "They were screened so I thought it would be safe from birds and things. Then I locked the whole floor up. I told Reid that Roy had borrowed his toolbox, and I told Kate that a monster was up there." He looked at her. "Sorry for the lie."

"Under the circumstances, I think that was acceptable."

"After that, the rest of us went on about our business." He smiled. "We had such a good time!"

"You kept partying even after a guest went missing?" Sara asked.

"Actually, we started partying after he was gone. Lea said it wasn't the first time he'd run off and left everything behind for her to take care of, so his absence caused no concern. And with Derek not there making all of us miserable, we quite enjoyed ourselves. There was ample food and drink and music. Barbara and Roy danced all night." He looked at Jack. "Can you sing like Roy did?"

"I didn't know my father could sing," Jack said.

"Yes," Kate said, "Jack has a beautiful voice. He sings with bands, and sometimes he sings for just Sara and me. He can do opera and country and rock and roll. His voice can bring tears to an audience or put them in the throes of ecstasy. He—" They were all staring at her and her face turned the color of her hair. "Yes, he can sing."

Billy looked at Randal in question and he nodded.

Sara wanted to put them back on the subject. "But you knew Oliver hadn't willingly left the party."

Billy's lips tightened. "What I actually knew was that that horrible man had changed my life forever. Because of him, I knew I wouldn't be able to give any more parties. I couldn't when there was a, you know, upstairs. Someone was bound to notice."

"Don't you mean that the murderer changed your life?" Sara asked.

"You can look at it like that, but if Derek Oliver hadn't been such a despicable person, no one would have felt compelled to remove him from the earth. I'm sure that the life of every person there was improved by his death. The murderer was the brave one, and the others should thank him—or her."

"What an awful epitaph," Sara said.

For a moment, they were silent. It was Jack who spoke first. "If we invite them all back, will they come?"

"I assume that whoever killed him will return," Billy said. "He or she must want to know what happened to the body." He gave a little smile. "That person must have been surprised when he or she went to the nursery and found it empty. It must have been like some Broadway play."

No one laughed.

"You didn't see who went back to the nursery?" Sara asked.

"Heavens no! Why would I want to know which of my guests sawed—" He paused. "It really was awful. Anyway, as for their returning here after all this time, I guess it depends on if they still need to keep the secrets Derek Oliver had on them."

"It must have been big secrets if they murdered him to shut him up," Sara said.

"Ewww," Billy said. "What a marvelous idea. They all killed him. That makes sense." His face changed. "But why did they leave the body for me to take care of? That was so rude of him—or her! After they left, I had to move to the other side of the house because it was quite, uh..."

"Fragrant?" Kate said.

Billy nodded. "It certainly wasn't perfume. There were moments when I thought about telling someone, but I was afraid that old sheriff, Captain Edison, would think that I did it."

"He was as corrupt as they come," Randal said bitterly.

Sara asked, "Who were the guests and how do we contact them?"

Billy looked at Randal. "You know Barbara."

"I've been out of commission for a while." His voice dripped sarcasm. "We haven't kept in touch."

Billy looked surprised. "You must have been living on another planet to not know who she is."

"You're close to correct," Randal said.

"Oh!" Billy said sharply. "That's right. I forgot that you were..." He didn't finish his sentence. "She's Barbara Adair."

"The movie star?" Kate asked.

"Back then, she'd just had a few roles, but she did indeed go on to achieve fame."

"Who else?" Sara asked.

"Let's see. There was Mrs. Meyers and her granddaughter, Rachel. That girl was a bit of a rebel, but now she's probably in Greenwich, Connecticut, living on some estate with her hedge fund husband. She had that air about her. I once heard Mrs. Meyers say something about some jewels. Do you know anything about that?"

"No, nothing," Randal said quickly.

"Who is Reid?" Jack asked.

"The handyman. He was very young, and I think he had some distant family connection to Mr. Lachlan. Not sure."

"And Oliver's wife, Lea?" Sara asked.

"That poor woman," Billy said. "We all felt so sorry for her."

The door opened and a nurse stood there. "I see that your visitors are still here." Her tone made it clear that it was time for them to leave. She closed the door behind her.

The four of them stood up, but then Randal paused. "What's your gut feeling about who and why?"

"Well..." he said, dragging it out. "My brothers would say I'm insane, but I think it has something to do with the inheritance."

"You mean the jewels you mentioned?" Sara asked.

"I know nothing about them. I'm talking about the Lachlan estate. There's not much of it now, but in '97 it was worth a lot of money. Not to mention prestige. To someone like Derek Oliver, the estate reeked of old world wealth. I always thought he was trying to get the money from the others so he could buy the place. But of course that was impossible."

"Why?" Sara asked. "Your brothers wouldn't sell it?"

"Good heavens! My brothers would sell me if they could get a penny. They couldn't sell it because of James Lachlan's will." Billy knew he had their full attention and he loved it. "In 1962, a man won a Nobel Prize for discovering DNA. That fascinated Mr. Lachlan. You see, he believed his son, who had run away, was alive and well somewhere. Mr. Lachlan just had to find him. He willed the house to his eldest descendant—if he could be found. But there's a time limit, and it's at the end of this month. Exactly forty years after his death."

"How hard has your family law firm looked for the inheritor?" Sara asked.

Billy smiled. "They asked me to do it."

Randal shook his head. "And if you found him, he'd take over the house and you'd be homeless."

"Exactly." Billy was making it clear that he hadn't looked at all.

Kate, always a Realtor, said, "This means you put the house up for sale prematurely."

"I wanted to give you a chance at it instead of some snob from Sotheby's," Billy retorted. "And besides, the attic needed to be cleaned out."

"Right," Kate said. "Skeletons tend to hinder sales."

Billy smiled. "Not if there's a buyer who wants to turn it into a haunted bed-and-breakfast, and there is one. He loved my Lonely Laird story so much that he wants to expand on it. He wants me to write it down." He glanced at Sara to let her know she was missing a great opportunity, then turned back to Kate. "Would you like to have his card? I think he's a cash buyer."

Kate looked sick at the thought of what would be done to that beautiful house. "Maybe later," she said.

They said their goodbyes, promised to come again, and left.

As they walked out, Sara said to Randal, "Do me a favor and get him transferred to the best room in this place. Would you?"

"It will be my pleasure."

In the parking lot, they stood by the vehicles, everyone looking at Sara.

She started to make a snide comment about involuntarily being made the boss, but she didn't. She looked at Kate. "You two go to Publix and get food. We'll meet back at the house and decide what we're going to do." She turned to her brother. "Let's go."

When they were in his car, Randal said, "You're planning to do this, aren't you? You want to recreate the house party."

"Maybe," Sara said.

"You could leave it alone. As Billy said, Derek Oliver was a despicable man. Maybe he deserved what he got."

"I take it you're concerned about who the killer might be. Exactly how much did you like his wife?"

Randal didn't hesitate. "The most of anyone since Kate's mother. If my life hadn't been cut off, there might have been something between us. Her husband really was planning to divorce her."

"You were married at the time."

"Not happily." A muscle worked in his jaw.

"Pull in here." Sara was pointing at a long row of stores. The shopping in South Florida was excellent. Anything you wanted was at your fingertips.

She put her hand on the door. "Call Billy's place and get a count of residents and employees. Billy is going to throw a party for them. There'll be food and flowers, and later Jack can arrange some music. And I'm going to order him a phone so we can stay in contact with him at all times."

He smiled at his sister. "He'll like that very much."

"I think he's an unappreciated person," she said. "Tell me when you get the number of people we'll be feeding. I'll be in the flower shop, then you and I can go choose food."

"I like it," Randal said as he picked up his phone.