Why Not Murder

40. Shooting

40. Shooting

Winnie's father died and Conrad was driving her, Hilda and Gwen to Brockton for the funeral there. Winnie was the executor of his will because her mother had predeceased him and now Winnie would inherit his entire estate that was worth an enormous sum. She was extremely wealthy before and now was ten times richer than that. Maya arrived at the Laymuir residence in the afternoon and found out about the funeral then. Cook was super busy in the kitchen, also because she now had to be extra vigilant because of possible poisoning. Cook showed Maya fresh grindings remaining in the bowl section of the pestle and mortar which she no longer dared to use.

"The Mrs told me that she prefers to grind her sleeping pills and drink them down dissolved in her tea. The pills are huge and she can't swallow them," Cook said to Maya.

"Just so long as none of it ends up elsewhere and consumed by someone else," Maya replied.

"It is such a nuisance," Cook said, "and I'm getting paranoid about missing some of it. Fortunately, no one else has got sick."

Jim was occupied planting all the flower bulbs that had been unearthed for the winter. He was tired because he had done double shift guard duty so that Conrad could be well enough rested for the long drive. Maya could sense his resentment when he was telling her this. Winnie was always expecting things to be done in less time than was needed and demanded top quality work. He had to follow the map that Winnie had created and gave to him for the placement of all the bulbs. She wanted the work completed by the time she returned from the funeral. He clearly did not understand the need for restrictive time frames. It was her way of asserting her authority, but he left that thought to himself.

An extra room, originally designed to serve as a guest room, on the third floor of the house had been converted to an office where Harriet could do the work that Winnie assigned her without bothering Winnie. Winnie spent most of her time painting and Harriet, under Winnie's direction, was creating a website for Winnie's artwork and contacting art galleries all across Canada to promote her work. Now that Winnie had a massive fortune, she was turning her ambition to acquiring historical fame. Harriet was working on a brand new laptop when Maya came in to say hello. The walls of the office had Winnie's florals decorating them. One of them was the last of the five paintings that Winnie had asked Maya to locate. Apparently Winnie had forgotten that this one was in her possession. Other paintings were on the floor leaning against the walls.

Harriet explained, "Gradually, I'm taking down all the paintings that aren't done by the Mrs and replacing them with her work. She wants to use the most luxuriant rooms on the main floor as show rooms and then she's inviting art dealers and gallery owners with solid, verifiable, successful sales rates to view the originals here."

"How's her writer's block?" Maya asked.

"Bad," Harriet answered, "She gets fretful and panicky, so I said to her 'why not concentrate on painting?' Writing cuts into your creative time. Your writing skills come into effect with the letters and promotional news releases you dictate.' It made her happy. I don't understand why she would want to write anyway unless it was an autobiography after she has achieved fame."

Harriet was also working with Winnie on the financial accounting of Winnie's investments. She was continuing to maintain the investment strategy that Hudson had set up and would do the same with her father's estate, for the time being. Winnie was applying all her intelligence to learning and understanding investment, finance and business, so that she would not be taken advantage of by any of those who currently knew more about it than she did. She wanted to become expert in these fields because she had a growing suspicion that she was being ripped off.