Death of a Suitor #18

Chapter Four

Marigold raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm certainly not calling her."

Miles hurriedly said, "Don't look at me. I'm trying to keep my distance."

"Then I shall do it myself. Which is always the way to do things if you want them done right, anyway." Myrtle pulled out her cell phone and peered at her contacts list.

Miles said, "Don't you think she might have turned in by now?"

"I don't. She just had quite a disturbing experience. She might be in bed, but I know she's not sleeping."

Sure enough, Eloise answered the phone with alacrity, sounding fully awake and alert. "Myrtle? Is everything okay?"

"It's just fine, Eloise. But I realized just a minute ago that you never talked about what happened to Jax. You mentioned that you'd gone over there for a late visit and spoke about your relationship with him. But you didn't talk about a cause of death."

Eloise said, "Didn't I?" She hesitated. "Red told me not to tell anyone what I'd seen."

Myrtle walked out of earshot of the others. "I'm the only one you should tell. But don't say a word to anyone else."

"I suppose it's all right since you're Red's mother. Anyway, it was the weirdest thing. He was covered by some sort of beverage—it was all over him."

"A beverage? What, like a glass of water?"

"It was probably coffee or tea because there was a mug nearby. And he was slumped on the floor right next to his kitchen counter."

Myrtle said, "But this doesn't sound like foul play at all, does it? It sounds like he had a heart attack, convulsed, spilled his coffee or tea or whatever, and then fell to the floor. It's unlikely that Red would have called in the state police if it hadn't been a suspicious death, though."

"There was blood on the floor, around his head. Maybe that's why?"

Myrtle said, "What kind of counter does he have? You said he was by the counter."

"It's granite."

"Hmm," Myrtle said. "Maybe he hit his head on the way down." Now eager to get off the phone as quickly as possible, she added, "Well, thanks for this, Eloise. You know how curious I can be and I wasn't sure I could sleep tonight if I kept mulling this over."

"I thought you didn't sleep most nights."

"True. But I like to improve the odds. Thanks."

Myrtle hung up the phone and walked back over to join the others. "She didn't know what had happened, unfortunately," lied Myrtle.

Marigold said, "Are we sure Jax was murdered? It just seems so unlikely to me. Couldn't his death have been from natural causes?"

"I seriously doubt it. And the only reason I can say that with confidence is because Red called the state police."

Marigold stood up. "Thanks for making the call, Myrtle. Now I've just got to try to make myself believe that Jax is really gone."

Myrtle wasn't quite ready for Marigold to leave yet. "I was wondering something myself, Marigold."

Marigold sat back down and looked warily at Myrtle. "Wondering about what?"

"Since it seems Jax was murdered, who do you think might possibly be responsible?"

Marigold considered this. She sighed. "I suppose his daughter, Nicole, but she always sort of gets on my nerves, so perhaps I'm just being ungracious."

Myrtle said, "I don't think I know Nicole. What's she like?"