Plaster and Poison Read online

  Mom’s new husband is nothing like what you might expect, considering that he swept her so thoroughly off her feet. I know I was surprised the first time I met him.

  My dad was tall, blond, and good-looking: a somewhat similar physical type to Derek. When Mom told me she had met a new man, I figured he’d look kind of like dad did. Maybe not tall and blond exactly, but tallish, handsome, well-dressed . . . all the things I associated with my father, and as a result, with what my mother liked. In addition to that, since I knew Noel was some kind of big shot in television, I pictured someone sort of like George Hamilton: a California high roller, tanned and trim, with blinding white teeth and a face lift.

  Noel is short for a man, a mere five feet six or so, and portly. He has no hair left, and his scalp looks like he buffs it with a towel every morning. What hair he used to have seems to have migrated to his eyebrows, which are thick and bushy and snow white. His face looks lived in, with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and lines bracketing his mouth—from smiling rather than frowning—and although he has his own teeth, and they’re perfectly serviceable, they don’t cause snow blindness when he smiles.

  He was smiling now. “Hello, Avery!”

  “Hi, Noel,” I smiled back. I’d seen him downstairs, but we hadn’t had the opportunity to really greet one another properly. Now I wandered over and pecked him on the cheek, leaving Kate to referee the first meeting between Mom and Derek. Short as my stepfather is, I still had to go up on my toes. “How was the drive?”

  “Oh, no problem.” He put the suitcases down and shrugged his chubby shoulders. Or maybe he was just circulating them after carrying my mother’s bags up two flights of stairs. “The roads were slick, and we took it slow to get a good look around. Your mother hasn’t been up to this part of the country for years, and I’ve never spent much time in rural New England. It looks very different from California.”

  “I bet. I’ve never spent much time in California, just that one time I came out for the wedding last year, but I remember thinking it looked like a different world.”

  “We should get you out there again sometime,” Noel said. “You know you’re always welcome, Avery. We have plenty of room. And I know Rosie has missed seeing you.”

  My mother’s name is Rosemary. The first time I heard Noel call her Rosie, it was a bit of a fazer, but I’ve gotten used to it. She doesn’t seem to mind, and as long as she doesn’t, I guess I can’t.

  “That’d be nice,” I said, with a quick sideways glance at Derek. Just how hard would it be to pry him away from Waterfield for a week or two? Would he want to visit California?

  Noel followed my gaze to where Derek was dimpling at my mother. He lowered his voice. “Any wedding bells on the horizon for you two?”

  “Lord!” I had to take a breath. “We’ve only known each other for six months. And he’s been burned once before.”

  “Sugar,” Noel said, patting my arm, “I’ve been burned before, too, more than once. That doesn’t mean it can’t work out next time.” He looked over at my mom, beaming.

  “I’m sure,” I said.

  I wasn’t lamenting the fact that Derek hadn’t proposed. I’m not one of those women who have to be married to feel validated. We had only known one another a short time, and although I don’t have a failed marriage in my past, I’ve thought I was in love before, and learned the hard way that I wasn’t. Usually when they dumped me, or I realized they weren’t what I thought they were.

  I didn’t expect that to happen with Derek. I was pretty sure I had discovered all his bad qualities by now, and I wasn’t afraid that he’d cheat on me, either. He’s just not the type. People do fall out of love, though, and to be honest, I was a little concerned about Melissa. He’d once told me that she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, and if she ever broke up with my cousin Ray and decided she’d like to have Derek back—and who wouldn’t?—could I trust that he wouldn’t agree to forgive and forget, and give her another chance?

  “You want I should tell him?” Noel was looking at Derek. Rather speculatively, I thought.

  I shook my head. “Please don’t. I don’t want him to think I’m fishing.”

  “I wouldn’t be obvious,” Noel said. “I’d just hint gently—as a stand-in for your father, you know—that I’d like to know what his intentions are.”

  I shuddered. “No, thanks. That won’t be necessary. If he has intentions, I’m sure he’ll get around to telling me. Without any prodding.”

  “Suit yourself,” Noel said with a shrug. “He seems like a nice young man. You could do worse.”

  “A whole lot worse,” I agreed.

  By now, Derek and Mom had finished their little talk, and they joined us, while Kate excused herself and went back downstairs. I felt bad that I couldn’t stay here to help her, after the shock she’d had, but I knew it would probably help in itself if I got Mom and Noel out of the B&B for a couple hours. No reason for us to sit around waiting for the van from the medical examiner’s office to arrive and the body to be removed, after all. I knew I couldn’t keep the murder from Mom and Noel indefinitely, or even for very long, but if I removed them for now, at the very least, they might be able to avoid a personal encounter with the late Gerard.

  Derek must have done his usual stellar job of charming, because Mom was clutching his arm and beaming up at him. “Derek knows just the place to take the car,” she told Noel. “He has a friend who owns a body shop. If we go now, we can probably have everything taken care of by the end of the day.”

  I looked from one to the other of them. “Is something wrong with the rental car? Why don’t you just call the rental company and ask for a new car?”

  For a second nobody spoke. Then Noel said, “It’s not that simple.”

  Mom nodded. “We had a little accident on the way here.”

  I felt myself turn pale. “An accident? You didn’t say anything about an accident. What happened? Are you OK? You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “We’re fine, darling.” She transferred her grip from Derek’s arm to mine, with a comforting smile. “Nothing to worry about. We got a little too close to the side of the road at one point, and . . . um . . . a branch took some of the paint off the side of the car.”

  “Won’t the insurance take care of it?”

  Another beat passed, then . . . “It’s not that simple,” Noel said again.

  “What isn’t?”

  I looked at them. They looked at one another.

  “I have a condition called . . . um . . . white-coat hypertension,” Noel explained after a moment, a little embarrassedly. He wasn’t looking at me, but down at his shoes, and his cheeks were flushed. I glanced up at Derek. The corners of his mouth were compressed, but he didn’t object, so white coat hypertension must be a real condition, even if it sounded like a joke. “The medicine can cause dizziness and drowsiness, and if the condition isn’t treated, I can start having strokes and heart attacks. It can even cause blindness.”

  “Wow.” I looked at Derek again, for confirmation. He nodded. I turned back to Noel. “Sounds serious.”

  “Oh, it is,” Noel nodded, oozing sincerity. “Terribly. And if I start having accidents, and start filing too many claims, our car insurance company may notify the California DMV, and then they’ll take away my driver’s license.”

  “And that would be bad?”

  Must be a guy thing. If I could get away with never having to drive again, I’d be thrilled, but men’s masculinity seems to be tied up in their cars. Just look at Derek and his truck, and Gerard and his sleek, gray Lexus, not to mention Brandon Thomas and his patrol car, with the flashing blue lights and the siren.

  “It would be horrible,” Mom said loyally, hooking her hand through Noel’s arm and fixing me with big, sincere eyes. They’re a pale, slightly chlorinated-looking blue, like mine. “It’s impossible to get around in California without a car. And this had nothing to do with Noel’s . . . um”—her eyes flickered—“condition. Another car drifted over the median and forced us out on the curb.”

  “So we decided it would be simpler and easier just to take care of the damage ourselv
es,” Noel said. “It’ll be done in a couple of hours, and it’ll be well worth the money. No one need know it ever happened.” He smiled contentedly.

  “That’s fine with me,” I said with a shrug. “Whatever you want. Are we going to Cortino’s, then?”

  Derek nodded. “I’ll call Jill, make sure Peter can get it done today. But as slow as business is this time of year, I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

  “Even if they were stacked, Jill would fit you in. Old girlfriend,” I added, for Mom and Noel’s benefit.

  “High school prom date,” Derek corrected.

  “Whatever. You ready, Mom?”

  Mom was ready, and together we descended the two flights of stairs to the main floor. Kate was in the kitchen, cleaning up. Keeping her hands busy while her mind spun like a top, no doubt. I could see the stress lines around her eyes when she turned and smiled. “You heading out?”

  “We’re going to Cortino’s,” I explained, taking note of the look of relief in her eyes when she heard her boarders would be making themselves scarce for a while. “And then we’ll go to lunch. And probably take a look at Waterfield. See how much it’s changed since the last time Mom was here. And you’ll want to see Aunt Inga’s house, right, Mom?”

  “Of course,” my mother said. “We’ll get it all done, Avery. No worries.”

  Derek smiled and put an arm around my shoulders. I was probably babbling.

  The car Mom and Noel had driven up in was a Beetle. It looked like the one I’d rented to drive up to Waterfield the first time I came, except this one was spring green and mine had been baby blue. I walked around it.

  “Where’s the scratch?”

  “Here,” Noel said and put his finger on the side panel.

  I squinted. “I don’t see anything.”

  “It’s there. You just have to look at it from the right angle.”

  I adjusted my angle, but I still couldn’t see anything.

  “You don’t need glasses, do you, Avery?” Mom asked, sounding worried. Derek chuckled.

  “Of course not.” I flushed. “Fine. Let’s go, then, if you’re sure you want to spend money getting rid of this nonexistent scratch you say you made on the car.”

  “We’ll follow you,” Noel said, “since you know where you’re going.” He opened the passenger door of the Beetle for my mom, who got in.

  “C’mon, Avery.” Derek guided me over to the truck and handed me up into the passenger seat.

  “Did you see a scratch?” I asked when he was sitting beside me and was backing the truck out of the driveway and into the street.

  He glanced over. “Not much of one, no. But it’s your stepfather’s car. And your stepfather’s money. And if he wants to have Peter run a buffer over a scratch he says he sees, and he can afford it, and Peter and Jill can use the work, then I don’t see any reason to dissuade him. Do you?”

  “When you put it like that,” I admitted, “I guess I don’t.”

  He smiled. “You don’t have to try so hard, Avery. Your mom and I will find our way on our own. And your stepdad and I, too. It’ll all work out.”

  He reached over to tuck my hair behind my ear before putting the truck in gear and rolling slowly down the street. Behind us, Noel maneuvered the Beetle into position and followed.

  Cortino’s Auto Shop is located on the other side of downtown from the Village, but since Waterfield is a very small town, we were there in just a couple of minutes. While Derek drove, I called to let Jill know we’d be coming, and she and Peter were waiting for us when we pulled up.

  The first time I met Peter Cortino, I thought he was the handsomest man I had ever laid eyes on. Off a television screen, anyway. In a purely aesthetic way, naturally, since he was married and I was in a steady relationship. But I’m not blind, and Peter is definitely the kind of guy who gets noticed. As dark as Derek is fair, he looks like an old-fashioned matinee idol: Tyrone Power or Rudolph Valentino or one of those guys. Swarthy and smoldering. These days, maybe Antonio Banderas. That general type, anyway, although Peter doesn’t really look much like any of them. More like a Michelangelo sculpture right off the plinth. He’s a little shorter than Derek, and stockier, with black, curly hair, melting brown eyes, olive skin, and bone structure to die for.

  Call me shallow, but when I first saw him, I wondered how Jill had managed to snare such a god. Not that she’s ugly or anything, but she’s nothing out of the ordinary, either. Plain and a little on the dumpy side, with dishwater blonde hair and too much junk in the trunk. Not the type you’d expect a gorgeous specimen like Peter to get involved with. Nor the type you’d expect a teenaged Derek to get involved with, either, for that matter.

  What I didn’t realize at the time is that in addition to being gorgeous, Peter, like Derek, is a genuinely nice guy, and smart enough to know that women who don’t look like supermodels often have other, better qualities to recommend them. The Cortinos seem very happy together, and Peter is clearly crazy about Jill. He touches her every chance he gets, and when he looks at her, it’s with his heart in his eyes.

  Like now. He came into the office and immediately went to stand behind his wife’s chair, one hand on her shoulder. She tilted her head back to smile at him, and he smiled back, all gleaming white teeth and smoldering sex appeal. And warm affection.

  “Can’t keep their hands off each other,” Derek muttered, putting an arm around my shoulders. Jill rolled her eyes.

  “What exactly can we do for you two?” Peter asked, without removing the hand.

  Peter is from Boston, and whenever I hear him talk, it reminds me of my dad. I smiled. “It isn’t us, it’s my mom and stepdad. They rented the Beetle in Boston this morning, and on the way here . . .” I went through the whole explanation.

  Peter shrugged. “I’ll go have a look. Shouldn’t take long. If you want to take your parents somewhere for lunch, Avery, the car should be done when you come back.”

  “If it’s all the same to you,” Noel said from the doorway, where he was ushering my mother inside, “I think I’d just as soon wait.”

  I must have looked disappointed, because Derek said, “Why don’t I stay here with Noel, while you take your mom into downtown and show her around. Get some lunch and catch up on things. We’ll see you back at the B&B later.”

  I hesitated. It was tempting, I had to admit. And it would give me a chance to break the news of Gerard’s murder to my mom while it was just the two of us, which I guessed was what Derek meant when he said to catch up on things.

  “Noel and I will be fine,” Derek added. “We won’t starve. There’s a pizza place right across the street. We’ll order a pie and get to know each other. Talk about things.”

  Like Gerard’s murder.

  “Great idea,” I said, beaming. “Mom?”

  “Of course,” Mom said, nodding. “It’ll be nice. Just like the old days.” She smiled.

  “Excellent.” If I hadn’t known better, I’d say that Noel was happy to be rid of us, too. He rubbed his hands together.

  “Derek and I can get to know one another while you girls go have a good time.”

  Uh-oh. I tried to catch his eye to signal that I really, really didn’t want him to have that conversation about Derek’s intentions that we’d talked about, but he wasn’t looking at me.

  Outside on the road, a van from the medical examiner’s office in Portland drove slowly by. All of us followed it with our eyes until it had passed.

  “Wonder what’s happened?” Jill said, a wrinkle between her eyes as she stood up to snuggle closer to her husband. He fitted his arm around her waist. “I hope it isn’t another situation like Carolyn’s.”

  Derek and I exchanged a glance. We shouldn’t have, because she noticed and straightened. “What do you two know that we don’t?”

  “Don’t tell me,” Peter added jokingly, “Avery has stumbled over another dead body.”

  I grimaced. His face sobered. “Really?”

  Mom turned to stare at me, her eyes huge.

  “I’m afraid so,” Derek said. “It was in the carriage house when we got there this morning. Upstairs, in what’ll be the master b
edroom.”

  “We thought he was sleeping,” I added. “At first, I mean. Before we got a good look at him.”

  “Who?” Jill demanded, at the same time as Peter said, “A bum?”

  “I wish. No, it was Kate’s ex. He’s been hanging around Waterfield for a couple of weeks, getting to know Shannon.”

  For a second, no one spoke. Then—

  “Oh, dear!” Mom said faintly, clutching Noel’s arm.

  “Poor Kate,” Jill muttered, shaking her head. “Poor Shannon.”

  Peter looked down at her, then dropped his hand from her waist. He had gone pale under his usual olive complexion. “Sit down, honey. Here.” He pulled out the desk chair and put her into it. “I’ll go take care of the car.”

  Truth be told, he looked worse than she did, but Jill sank down on the chair again and smiled at him. He smiled back—it looked more like a grimace—before heading out the back door into the auto shop. I watched him, perplexed, until I couldn’t see him anymore. It seemed rather an abrupt departure, if you asked me.

  “Why don’t you go on, too, Tink,” Derek said and patted my shoulder. “You and your mom go have a good time. I’ll see you back at the B&B in a couple hours.”

  I glanced up at him. “You sure?”

  “Positive. Noel and I will still be fine.”

  “If you’re sure,” I said tentatively. “Mom?”

  Mom nodded. She kissed Noel on the cheek and took my arm. We walked out of the garage and left the three of them together.

  9

  “He’s lovely, Avery,” Mom said warmly a minute later, as we walked toward downtown. Her voice was the only warm thing about the situation: The temperature was below freezing and there was icy slush all over the road and sidewalk.

  “Who? Derek?” I smiled. “He is great, isn’t he? So you two got along?”

  “Oh, of course. That man could charm a stone.” Mom added, “Much like Noel.”

  “Noel is lovely, too,” I agreed. “I really like him. Although I’m a little concerned that he’s back there right now, trying to guilt Derek into proposing to me.”