23. Out of the Blue Rich

She left the room. Kathy pondered. Did Madeline know what inheritance Shaye had left her? Was that a motive for murder? It seemed unlikely as Madeline seemed genuinely distraught to be deprived of her sister.

Madeline returned and offered tea or coffee, and Kathy chose tea. She heard her moving about the kitchen, running water, arranging crockery, the whistle of a kettle and then she came back with two flora patterned china mugs on a tray along with a teapot wearing a black and pink striped tea cozy. “My mother was a knitter,” she explained. “I’ve got a ton of these if you want to take one home, any color you like.” They both laughed.

“I’m sorry about the interruption but my husband needed attending to.”

“Is he ill, or injured?” Kathy asked politely.

“Injured,” said Madeline. “He’s a mess. An accident at work, broke a leg and his pelvis, concussion, even his hearing was affected. He doesn’t remember anything about the accident, which is good because there was nobody around and he didn’t get help for about an hour.” Her eyes flashed and her voice rose. “The company are being complete bastards, claiming he was drunk on the job, they’re refusing to pay compensation. We’ve exhausted our coverage and he needs specialist treatment we can’t afford. I’m sorry, that’s more information than you asked for, but it’s affected our life – a lot.”

Kathy immediately thought her husband’s predicament could be a strong motive for murder.

She was usually a good reader of people, but she didn’t have a good sense of Madeline yet. It was time to test her.

“Did you know Shaye left you her house and some money?”

Madeline didn’t seem to understand. Then her eyes widened and she put her mug down heavily, slopping tea on the tray. “What?” she cried, and clasped her hand over her mouth.

•••

Madeline sank back into the cushions looking dazed. Tears trickled down her nose. “Jesus, I had no idea. Why hasn’t anyone told me? Are you sure?”

Her shock looked real. Kathy would learn later that Madeline had borrowed against her own life insurance to pay for Shaye’s funeral

    “Have you not heard from Jeb Stone?” said Kathy, reaching out to touch her knee. “His law firm is handling her estate. Surely he called you?”

Madeline’s expression changed. “I did receive a couple of messages from a Jeb Stone QC, but I thought that was to do with my husband’s company lawsuit.”

Kathy leaned forward and dabbed with a paper napkin at the tea spilled on the tray. “Jeb Stone is a junior lawyer with Jackson, Jackson and Kelsey lawyers.”

“I’ve heard of them,” Madeline exclaimed. “If I had known I would have call right back. I guess it’s my fault.”

“It’s a really nice house,” Kathy said awkwardly.

“I know, I’ve been there. It’s wonderful. I just can’t believe she would leave it to me.”

Just then, Madeline’s phone chimed. Madeline made an exasperated sound. “It’s time to do some things for my husband. It takes about a half an hour and he gets crabby, I don’t know if we can carry on.”

Was this being a ploy to get rid of her? Surely Madeline was eager to learn more about her inheritance.

“Is it something I can help with, or is there anything I can do out here for you?”

“Thank you, but no,” said Madeline firmly. “We do physical exercises, move his arms and legs to keep the circulation going, and he has to do cognitive exercises, too. He doesn’t enjoy it. I’m sorry, but it’s really important to keep to his schedule. Maybe we can meet again? I can get someone to sit with him and come to see you if you need to ask me more, or we could talk on the phone?” she looked anxiously toward the bedroom.

Kathy felt a pang of sympathy. It sounded like Mr. Saunders was hard work. There was no way she could politely stay longer. She felt this half-sister was genuine, not a murderer, just a woman trying to get by. The inheritance was good news for her, but the loss of her only blood relation, not so much.

“Let’s see how things go in the next week,” she said. “If you have to come to talk to Jackson, Jackson and Kelsey we could meet up. I’m looking into everything to do with your sister’s death,” she added. “It was me who found her.”

Madeline looked shocked, but they were out of time. An insistent banging was coming from the bedroom. Kathy mentally slapped herself for dropping a bombshell at the last minute.

At the front door Madeline said, “I knew nothing about this inheritance, the whole thing has been such a shock to me. I discovered I had a sister, we were becoming good friends, then somebody killed her,” she drew a ragged, breath and another loud thump came from the bedroom. “I must go,” she said, turning away. “Steve’s a good man. He didn’t deserve this.” She turned back. “Shaye was a lovely person; she didn’t deserve what happened to her.” She turned and walked quickly away.

Kathy stood alone on the porch. She walked to her car, climbed in and drove away, replaying their conversation in her head. Madeline had problems and the inheritance would go a long way toward solving some of them. She was angry with her husband’s company, angry that she’d been denied a father, angry to lose her sister to an act of violence. Christ, she was angry to have lost a young girl in the operating room. But Madeline was a nurse, she saved lives. Would she deliberately take one to help her husband?

Kathy felt the beginnings of a headache, but she turned on the radio anyway, tuned into a classical station and settled in for the long drive home.