A Willing Murder (Medlar Mystery 1)

“Could we ask you some questions?” Sara asked softly.

It took a moment, but Mrs. Bruebaker finally managed to look at her. “Anything.”

Kate spoke first. “Was your son getting help with his drinking problem?”

Mrs. Bruebaker sputtered. “His what? My son was allergic to wine. He never drank anything.”

Jack was looking hard at Kate, his face blasting “I told you so.”

Sara broke in. “We’ve been told some things about your son that appear to be false. Tell us about him in high school. Did he have a girlfriend?”

“Yes, but she didn’t go to Lachlan High.”

“Were he and Alastair Stewart friends?” Jack asked.

“No. Dan thought Alastair was a snob.”

Kate shook her head. “But I saw Dan running after Alastair. He said Dan wanted to reminisce about the good old days in high school.”

“That lying bastard,” Mrs. Bruebaker said. She took a moment to calm herself. “My husband was a good welder and he started a shop that makes decorative ironwork. The whole family was involved and we’ve done very well. After my husband passed, Dan took over, but I still keep the books. Noreen Stewart ordered ironwork for the entire balcony of her condo. She signed a contract for it, but when the bill came, she demanded a forty-percent discount.”

Jack gave a low whistle. “You’d be in the hole for materials and labor.”

“Yes,” Mrs. Bruebaker said. “It’s been four months and she’s only paid sixty percent of the bill. She’s threatened to spread it all over the internet that Dan is cheating her because she’s a lonely widow on a fixed income. We do a lot of mail-order business and we can’t withstand an all-out cyber assault.”

She looked at Kate. “Dan wanted to talk to Alastair about Noreen. That’s why he was chasing him down. When I called Dan from Sydney, he told me about it.”

She looked Kate up and down. “Dan said Alastair was hovering over a pretty, red-haired girl like he was afraid she was going to run away from him.”

“He always does that,” Jack said. “Leans over her like his spine is broken and he can’t stand up straight.”

“He used to do that to Delia,” Mrs. Bruebaker said. “Why are we talking about that awful family? Daryl was saying that you guys know something about all this.”

“Not as much as we thought we did,” Sara said. “Did you see the suicide note?”

“The what?”

“Dan’s confession of guilt,” Sara said.

Jack got up and went to Kate’s suite to get the paper that was still on her coffee table. He returned but didn’t show it.

“No,” Mrs. Bruebaker said. “No one mentioned a note. My daughter-in-law told me Dan said he was the murderer.” She put her hands over her face. “It’s all been too much, too fast. I thought he confessed, then went...to wherever and did it.”

“The Morris house,” Sara said.

“Whose house?”

“That’s where the skeletons were found. Cheryl and Verna Morris. We were told that in high school, Dan really, really liked Cheryl,” Sara said.

Kate got the yearbook and showed the photo.

“Never saw her before. My son had school and sports. When he dated, it was with his girlfriend. They married right after graduation.”

Jack handed her the suicide note.

When Mrs. Bruebaker read it, she seemed to relax. Surprised, they looked at her.

“Dan couldn’t have written this. He is—was—severely dyslexic. That’s why he didn’t go to college. I had to read every school textbook to him and his teachers let him take tests orally. ‘Went berserk’? Who talks like that?”