It was a rehearsed line. Meant to be funny, but failing.
She was ready and waiting outside when he drove up. She squashed herself into his little MG, being very careful not to dent it with the crutch. They were well out of town when he finally said, 'You were right. He admitted all you imagined, and more.'
“You probably won't believe me, but I'm sorry I was right,' Jane said sadly.
“You might not be when you hear all of it. You were right about the flowers he gave you. Dr. Jackson explained it all, even though the files were missing from her office. Darlene Waring had nursed along what Dr. Jackson called a 'sport,' a natural mutation of a marigold. Those pitiful plants Arnie gave you were descendants of her seeds. A year before she died, she sent seeds to Dr. Eastman. She'd heard him speak and thought he might be interested in what she'd found. He replied that the plants he'd grown with the seeds were useless. Too sprawling, unreliable colors, too fragile stems, and a bunch of other criticisms. Or words she took to be criticisms.'
“But he admitted he'd grown them?' Jane asked. 'Yes, and Arnie in his own distinctive way in? terpreted it as a devastating insult to her that weakened her to the point that she didn't take care of herself when she became ill. He blamed Eastman for her death.'
“That's unreasonable. It's why I doubted what I saw and smelled on my hands when I dropped the vase and handled the plants he'd given me.'
“Not unreasonable to him. He's never accepted that she was ill simply because she had a fatal disease. We'll never know, of course, whether she was really as upset as he thought she was. But when he got his computer and started to cruise the Internet, one of the first things he looked up was any references to Dr. Stewart Eastman.'
“That's something I hadn't thought about,' Jane admitted. 'I just thought he was a pretty up-to-date old guy to even have a computer.'
“He found lots of references to Eastman's patents. And a piece from a plantsmen's journal hinting that Eastman was working on a marigold.'
“Eastman told us nobody developing a new patent plant should ever talk to anyone but a reliable trialler.'
“Apparently he hadn't taken his own good advice.'
“How did Arnie come to consult with Julie Jackson?'
“She'd had a kitchen fire years ago, and being a good fireman, he went back the next day to instruct her in fire safety. He walked through her house, showing her dangers. That's how he knew her office was in the basement. He asked what she did and she explained her job. Part of it, as you suspected, was giving reports on plants to be patented. She'd worked with Eastman when he got ready to patent his marigold, so Arnie paid her to grow his seeds and compare the results.'
“Which weren't favorable, I assume.'
“Not at all. She told me a lot of details of the differences, most of which I don't understand, but some other expert would. Something about cell-wall structures and DNA comparisons. It must have cost Arnie a bundle for her tests. And the results showed that even if Eastman had developed his marigold from Darlene Waring's seeds, he'd spent years culling the best and raising a much superior plant, and Arnie shouldn't pursue it in court because he'd surely lose.'
“Another insult to Darlene,' Jane said.
“So when Arnie learned she was teaching this class, it scared him. This is only a sideline to whatever she normally does, but he thought it was the only thing she did and she might mention it in the class. He knew her house. He knew her office. He mistook her sister for her leaving that morning and thought the house was empty. He swears he was only going to filch the files, but she came out of the little bathroom in the basement and caught him at it. He swears he didn't mean to hurt her, he was only trying to get away from her with the files and she pursued him.'
“And then he was angrier than ever at Eastman for putting this over on his late wife. I'll bet he blamed Eastman for making him do such an awful thing,' Jane speculated.
“Almost word for word for what he said in the interview room. He'd seen pretty serious injuries in his time that the people recovered from and was afraid she'd tell Eastman about him. So he had to kill Eastman.'
“How did he get Eastman out of the house?'
“He lurked in the backyard in the dark until Eastman came outside to smoke a cigar. Apparently he'd seen him do it before out in front and figured if he waited long enough, he'd catch up with him and ask about the construction of the compost heap. And the ploy worked. Eastman was a large man, but not a strong one. Arnie worked hard all his life and went to the gym every other day to keep fit after he retired. It must have been easy for him to overpower Eastman.'
“This makes me so sad. I hate to think of that poor old man having to undergo a trial.”
Mel took her hand and was quiet for a long moment. 'He won't have to do that. He had a stroke an hour ago and died before they got him to the hospital.”
Jane was shocked. 'It was my fault.'
“No, it wasn't. We'd found some fibers on Eastman's clothes and the rough wood the compost bin was made of that weren't from anything in his own wardrobe at his Chicago home or his home upstate. Nor were they from anything the house? keeper's son had. They were distinct enough to identify easily as soon as we narrowed the field of suspects. He'd have been found out eventually.'
“I'm sorry I snooped this time. I wish I'd never signed up for the class or let my mind dwell on things that were none of my business.'
“Murders need to be solved, Janey. No matter how the information comes about. The family and friends of victims need to know how and why it happened. It doesn't bring their loved ones back, but it helps settle their minds. And the only person in the world who contributed to Arnie's crimes was Arnie himself.'
“You're just saying that to make me feel better.' 'No, I'm not. It's part of what I do for a living. I understand how you feel, but you're wrong to blame yourself in any way. Arnie was very de? voted to his wife, but he turned that devotion into evil acts that were entirely his own responsibility.”
Sunday afternoon Katie made the same cake again. Mike came home about five o'clock all sweaty and dirty. 'I put in some overtime today moving around a load of cow manure. I had Black Forest cake with Kipsy the other night. It was excellent, but not as good as the one Katie made. I guess I'll stick around tonight.'
“No date with Kipsy?' Jane said with hope in her voice.
Mike grinned. 'It's none of your business, you know. But no.'
“Have you fallen out with her?'
“I never fell in with her. Dating for a couple nights was her idea and it worked like she said it would. I've got to get a shower before dinner.”
Jane trailed him upstairs. 'Explain!' she demanded.
He was laughing at her as he sat down on the top step. 'See, Kipsy had this theory. When guys of her type, the rebellious ones, see her out with a boring, clean-cut, straight-arrow guy like me, they can't understand it and want to bring her back into the fold.'
“Oh, yeah?' Jane said. Where was this leading?
“And when cheerleader types of girls see a guy like me with a freaky-looking girl, they want to save me from her. So Kipsy said. So we tried it out for a couple nights in a row. Went to places where there were both kinds of people. And it worked. I've been 'redeemed' by a gorgeous blonde and Kipsy met a biker she likes.”
Jane stared at him. 'That's the most cynical thing I've ever heard. Aren't you ashamed of yourself?'
“Nope. It worked. I've got a date tomorrow with the blonde. Sandra. You'll like her. It's her natural color and everything. And she's nice and funny as well. I stink of cow manure, I've got to shower.'
“I guess I'm glad the threat of Kipsy as a potential daughter-in-law has passed.”
Mike got up in a swirl of cow smell and patted her head. 'You worry too much, Mom. Don't touch that crutch until I'm out of the danger zone.”
