Laughed 'Til He Died

  Laughed ’Til He Died

  A Death on Demand Mystery

  Carolyn Hart

  To Dorothy Sayre,

  whose goodness shines like a beacon

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Tim Talbot dropped his backpack. Oblivious to the chirping of birds…

  Chapter 2

  Jean’s harsh sobs brought Max’s secretary, whose heart was as…

  Chapter 3

  The Haven building had once served as a small school…

  Chapter 4

  Annie loved stepping into Parotti’s Bar and Grill. Summer or…

  Chapter 5

  Although darkness had yet to fall, most of the Haven…

  Chapter 6

  At the end of the inn parking lot, Annie looked…

  Chapter 7

  Only a few cars were parked in the Haven lot.

  Chapter 8

  Annie fumbled in her purse for scratch paper. She found…

  Chapter 9

  Pieces of white Styrofoam lay on the ground near the…

  Chapter 10

  The white-haired old lady’s softly wrinkled face was a picture…

  Chapter 11

  Billy Cameron tugged at the collar of his white shirt even…

  Chapter 12

  Two little girls pumped high on swings. Three boys, one…

  Chapter 13

  Max’s office was cool and quiet. All the lights were…

  Chapter 14

  In her dream, Annie ran through darkness, trying to catch…

  Chapter 15

  Emma Clyde led the way down the center aisle of Death…

  Chapter 16

  Annie knocked. She waited a moment, knocked again.

  Chapter 17

  Annie sat in the backseat of Max’s Jeep, one arm…

  About the Author

  Other Books by Carolyn Hart

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  Chapter 1

  Tim Talbot dropped his backpack. Oblivious to the chirping of birds and the chitter of squirrels, he hurried directly to a five-foot-tall saw palmetto. He carefully eased back a spiky frond to reveal a bale of hay. He pulled the bale out. His nose itched from hay dust as he worked the heavy bale across a dusty path to a toppled oak near a lagoon. He tipped the bale up and leveraged it onto a fallen tree trunk, then rubbed at his nose with the back of his hand.

  He was sweating when he finished, the fifty-pound weight hard for him to heft. He worked the bale backward on the trunk, leaving a three-inch ledge exposed. The slender teenager nodded in satisfaction.

  From his backpack, he retrieved a stack of five white Styrofoam cups and a packet of colored chalks. He sat on the dusty ground, his expression intent. Straight brown hair framed a thin, sensitive face. A jagged red scar marred one cheek. On each cup, he drew a large, heavy, masculine head topped by tight yellow curls. He used orange for the U-shaped mouth and brushed the cheeks with red. He placed the finished cups a few inches apart on the ledge in front of the bale. He dropped two quarter-ounce drop-shot sinkers into each cup.

  He whistled tonelessly as he returned to the shrub. He brushed away a covering of leaves and picked up an oblong package, well-wrapped in a black plastic bag. His gait uneven, he walked about twenty paces to a big live oak. He favored his shorter leg as he climbed a rope ladder. As he worked his way up, he propped the package across sturdy branches, moving it in stages.

  He stopped when he reached a fork and a broad limb about twenty feet above ground. He unwrapped the package, revealing a twenty-two rifle. He handled the gun with the ease of long practice.

  Tim worked his way out onto the thick branch, holding the rifle carefully. When he was satisfied with his perch, he looked toward the cups, bright in the sunlight against the barrier of hay. He lifted the rifle, aimed, and pressed the trigger, once, twice, three times, four, five.

  As the bullets reached their targets, pieces of Styrofoam flew into the air and lead sinkers clanked against each other. He was too absorbed in his task to feel watching eyes.

  BOOTH WAGNER TILTED back in his oversized black leather desk chair, blue eyes merry in his reddish face. Short-cropped, wiry blond curls covered his massive head. His features were blunt: broad forehead, bold nose, square chin. He was a big man with big appetites and big laughter that erupted in whoops of amusement. His lips spread in a huge smile as he listened to the strained voice made hollow by the speakerphone.

  “…Now I need to raise money—if I don’t I’m finished—and I’ve been checking. The value’s not there.”

  “Hey, good buddy,” the throaty rumble of laughter shook the words, “I didn’t take you to raise.”

  “You said you’d looked everything over because there was some question about the origin, but for the money it was a real steal.” The voice was harsh.

  Booth lifted his shoulders, let them fall. “You got it in one, Larry. Definitely a steal.” His laughter boomed. “Kind of like the deal you cut with me over the manufacturing plant in Honduras and it turned out the machinery was rusted and the goods were shoddy. Sure, I had the site vetted, but obviously the fix was on. I lost a bundle on that one. I don’t like to lose.” The voice was still warm and good-humored, but Booth’s eyes were cold. “Better luck next time. Maybe this will give you more time to write about island history. I’ll bet you can sell one of those pieces for, oh, how about twenty bucks.” He whooped with mirth.

  JEAN HUGHES STARED into the mirror. She gripped the eyeliner brush with a hand that shook so badly she dared not apply the bluish color that emphasized her wide-set green eyes.

  The mirror was not her friend this morning. Maybe the haggard image served her right. Ever since she was a little girl with golden blond curls, she’d loved looking in the mirror. She’d seen a saucy teenager, a seductive twentysomething, a flamboyant midthirties.

  She stared at this morning’s reflection: strained eyes full of fear, splotches on the cheeks that even a thick base would not hide, deep wrinkles bracketing downturned lips.

  “Jeanmarie?”

  The clear sweet voice hurt as much as a physical blow. Only Giselle called her Jeanmarie. Only Giselle looked at her with misty eyes of love and saw the Jeanmarie who might have been, not the Jean who was.

  Using all the will at her command, Jean called out, “In a minute, sis. Running late. Got a bunch of meetings.” For how long? Could she persuade him to change his mind? She’d try again to get him on the phone. If that didn’t work…She reached in her pocket, touched a crumpled ad she’d cut out of yesterday’s Gazette.

  Quickly, mechanically, she worked on her face, bold strokes of mascara, layers of base and powder, color where there was none, garishness as a shield. When she was done, she dashed into the breakfast nook, grabbed a cinnamon bun.

  Giselle’s thin face turned toward her, though her sight was almost gone. She was thin as a wisp of corn silk, wasted by the illness that was draining her life away. However weak she was, however much pain she felt, her smile for Jean was a constant. “I’ll try to tidy things—”

  “No, you don’t.” Jean’s voice was mock-stern, though tears burned her eyes. “Big sister means business. You have one job today. Sit on the deck and soak up sun and when I get home, I’ll fix raspberry brownies. We’ll have a feast.” Jean rushed toward the door, her high heels staccato on the hardwood floor. “Mind me now.” It wasn’t until she was in the car that a sob shook her shoulders and the painstakingly applied makeup smeared as she swiped at her face and drove to work.

  MEREDITH WAGNER BREATHED hard, sweat beading her face and streaming down her back. She’d ridden as fast as she could on the hot bike path through the woods all the way from the Haven. It was
n’t that far. Only about a mile. She had to hurry before somebody missed her. She’d skipped lunch, but she was signed up for the Chinese checkers tournament at one.

  Ready to duck behind a thicket of bayberry if anyone stepped outside, Meredith stared at her house, quiet in the hot July sunlight. Accomplishing her goal ought to be easy but she stood frozen, listening over the whistle of her shallow breathing and the rush of blood as her heart pounded. If only she hadn’t spent the money Aunt Rose had sent. She’d run through that two hundred dollars in one blazing shopping spree. When she was in stores, bright with beautiful clothes and jewelry, she didn’t have to think about home and his loud laughter and the empty place in her heart. The moments of looking and choosing and saying, “I’ll take that one,” and carrying the boxes to her car made her feel safe and warm, the way she’d felt as a little girl when Ellen smiled at her.

  Ellen.

  Most kids didn’t call their moms by their first names, but Ellen was different. Even when Meredith was little, she felt protective toward her mother, always aware of the shadow in Ellen’s brown eyes and her air of fragility. She had to help Ellen.

  Now was her chance. Beth would be in the kitchen eating lunch. Neva played golf most days. Tim wouldn’t be here. He was supposed to go to the Haven with her, but who knew where Tim was. In the mornings, when she turned onto the winding blacktop that led to the Haven, Tim pedaled straight ahead, without a word to her.

  Sometimes Meredith wondered where her stepbrother spent the summer days, but he treated her the same way he treated her dad, as if they were strangers he had to be polite to. Meredith would have been resentful, but she couldn’t resent Tim.

  Her dad’s car was gone.

  She was hot, but she felt cold. He was probably at the Men’s Grill, regaling other golfers with one story or another. No one could ever tell a funnier story better. The skin would crinkle around his blue eyes, he’d slap a huge hand onto his thigh, he’d start to laugh midway through a sentence and pretty soon everyone in the room would be aching with laughter. Sometimes people laughed until they cried. Everything was funny to him.

  Even when the story wasn’t funny to someone else.

  If he caught her, she could imagine the joke he’d tell—maybe the next time she had friends to dinner—“…So how do you know if your kid’s cut out to be a felon? A sure tip-off is…”

  Tears burned Meredith’s eyes. What was she waiting for? She’d count to ten and then she’d go fast, really fast. She could use the French window into his study. They were never locked in the daytime. She had to get the money.

  “…Three…four…”

  She knew where everything was in the study, the bookshelves, the fireplace, the leather sofa, her dad’s desk. In the right-hand drawer of the desk, he kept an envelope full of cash, a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills. He liked to have cash on hand. There was more, lots more, in the safe behind the painting of Neva over the fireplace mantel. The painting wasn’t a very good likeness. He always had a good laugh when he pointed at the painting and dramatically proclaimed, “There’s where my heart lies. A beautiful woman and plenty of money. Now if I had to say which mattered the most…” Again that rumbling laughter.

  “…Five…six…”

  With a sob, she turned away, ran to her bike, swung on the seat, and pedaled, eyes blurred by tears. She was too scared. Tomorrow. Neva was at the spa on Fridays. Her dad played golf. Beth shopped for groceries. She’d try again tomorrow.

  HUBERT SILVESTER, BETTER known as Click, patted his pocket as he climbed the tall tower toward the platform. Two hundred bucks. That was more money than he’d ever had at one time. The minute the deal was made, he’d priced a used Ninja 49cc Super Bike for a hundred and fifty dollars. A bright silver one. He’d have almost fifty bucks left over for gas. When he had the scooter, he’d have everything he’d ever wanted. Life had been great ever since Ms. Hughes helped him land the part-time job at José’s Computer Repair. He had a computer he’d put together himself with old parts. José had given him a used laptop for a Christmas bonus. Pretty soon the silver scooter would be his. He’d give his bike to his little brother.

  The job itself couldn’t have been easier. At first, he’d been a little worried. Still, once he had the handwritten note in his hand, which explained who hired him and why, he’d agreed to give it a shot. He wished he could go along in the morning and watch, but he’d find out everything at the program tomorrow night. What was really neat, he was going to be announced as the brains of the outfit. That would be cool. He figured Mr. Wagner couldn’t fuss too much. He played more jokes than anybody.

  His face furrowed in thought as he climbed the steep steps to the platform twenty-eight feet above the lake. He’d have to come up with a story about the scooter for Uncle Arlen. He’d tell him he was using money he picked up from computer repair jobs to rent the scooter from another guy at the Haven. Uncle Arlen settled into a beer-sodden stupor after dinner every night anyway. He never paid much attention to his dead sister’s sons. He gave them a place to sleep and food to eat and was glad they spent their free time at the Haven.

  Click swatted at a dragonfly. Sweat beaded his face. He’d never been to the nature preserve before. He’d lived on the island all his life and he took egrets and herons and alligators and dank still waters for granted. He spent most of his time inside, either working at José’s Computer Repair or using the wi-fi at the Haven for his laptop.

  He climbed, panting a little. So he carried a little extra weight. The jocks made fun of him, but he sneered at the jocks. Why run when you could walk, or stand if you could sit? Most of them weren’t good enough to play in college, but, if everything went well, he’d have a scholarship to the technical college. Mr. Darling had promised to write him a good rec. Someday he’d have his own repair store and show those stupid jocks.

  On the platform, he looked out at the lake, shimmering in the heat. Three alligators sunned on the far bank. There was nobody else around on a muggy July afternoon. People had better sense. They were inside, where it was cool, or on the beach, where the breeze dropped the temperature about ten degrees. Although he understood the plan to keep everything secret until the last minute, he wished they could have met somewhere cooler.

  He pulled at his sweat-dampened Braves T-shirt. The weather would be hot tomorrow night at the program, but the sun would be going down and there would be shadows everywhere. The program was going to be lots of fun. Everybody would have a big laugh. He’d bet Mr. Wagner laughed loudest of all.

  Scuffing sounds signaled someone climbing the ladder.

  Click turned, excited and eager. His eyes widened when the climber reached the platform. Click wondered if he’d have a costume for the program, too.

  “AGATHA, YOU REALLY shouldn’t.” Annie Darling moved toward the coffee bar.

  The plump black cat lifted a paw to swipe at Annie.

  “If the health department finds you on top of the coffee bar, I’ll get a citation.”

  Agatha’s ears folded back.

  Annie realized her somewhat chiding tone was not being well received.

  She approached cautiously, a veteran of many losing skirmishes with her gorgeous but iron-willed cat. The choice of Agatha to honor Agatha Christie had perhaps been a mistake, since the celebrated Queen of Crime had been known as a kindly person. Maybe she should have named Agatha, gender aside, for Mickey Spillane.

  “I know.” Annie softened her tone, added a coo of adulation. “I let you sleep on the coffee bar in the winter and you don’t see why summer makes any difference. It’s the people.” Not that her beloved mystery bookstore was currently teeming with readers, much less buyers. This summer’s slow traffic reflected the tourist downturn since the financial bust.

  Agatha flattened like a snake. A guttural growl rumbled in her throat.

  Annie swerved away from the coffee bar. Her mama hadn’t raised no fool, as they liked to say in Amarillo where Annie grew up. Living on a South Carolina sea
island with alligators and snakes had reinforced her cautious nature. It wouldn’t do any harm to let Agatha remain on the countertop as long as they were alone in the store.

  Annie paused in front of the fireplace and looked up. If she had been a ballerina, she would have danced to a memory of Strauss’s lovely “You and You.”

  She hummed the melody and waltzed across the floor of the coffee bar and back. Sometimes, when she was happy, she had to dance. She was happy today, happy to be in her wonderful bookstore, happy to adore her demanding cat, happy that she and Max had planned a very special evening tonight, and happy with the watercolors hanging above the mantel.

  Every month a local artist provided Death on Demand with five watercolors depicting memorable scenes from wonderful mysteries. This month’s paintings represented the first books in series that Annie considered among the best in the mystery world. The first customer to correctly identify author and title received a free book (noncollectible) and free coffee for a month. Annie refused to add up how many months of free coffee had been enjoyed by Henny Brawley, the store’s best customer and Annie’s good friend. Maybe this month would be different…

  In the first painting, a tall, slim young woman with striking reddish-blond hair stared in horror at the overflowing bathtub. She clutched a maid’s cap in one hand and wore a black maid’s uniform. A fully clothed man, even to a black overcoat, lay submerged in the water, staring upward with dead, glassy eyes. His dead face was unprepossessing.

  In the second painting, a petite young woman leaned against the side of a lakefront cottage, looking up at the porch and two burly men, one with blond hair held by a bandana do-rag, the other with a massive wiry brown beard. In the yard, a dozen motorcycles were bunched. Their riders looked big, rough, and dangerous.