A little flattery goes a long way.
He chuckled. "Oh yes, Aunt June was unusual. I'd been telling her for years not to have all those spiders in her house. It was only a matter of time before they got out. And black widows and brown recluses are notoriously small."
"Are you saying she died of spider bites? That those two in particular escaped and bit her?"
That wasn't good. Had I exposed the girls to two renegade, dangerous bugs who knew how to get in and out of their tanks? I'd have to check the enclosures when I got back. They were probably empty. Who would put them back in there after finding their keeper dead?
The doctor pushed his glasses higher on his nose and opened a drawer in his desk. After a moment, he brought out a file and opened it.
"Yes. That's what got her. Spider bite. And at her age, that would've killed her."
I leaned forward in an attempt to read the file upside down. "Which spider did it?"
"The brown recluse." He didn't elaborate.
"So she wasn't murdered in your opinion?"
He sat back in his chair and gave me the once-over. "In my opinion, no, she wasn't murdered. This may seem like an unfriendly town, Mrs. Ferguson. But we aren't killers."
I couldn't decide if he was humoring me or not. "Was there an autopsy to make sure?"
He shook his head. "No. There didn't seem to be any point. The coroner called it."
I sat back in the chair when he didn't offer me the file. "Who took care of her remains? I haven't seen a funeral home here in town."
Dr. Morgan folded his hands. "Oh yes. We have one just outside of town. They handled her cremation."
"So there was a funeral?" It seemed I should've been invited somehow.
"No. She didn't want one. She didn't want any fuss."
I digested this information. Aunt June had died of a spider bite as a result of her dangerous collection. She was unusual. Had no family. She didn't want a fuss…but wanted me to investigate her murder. This was too weird.
I pressed the idea of a funeral. "Wouldn't the town want one, to pay their respects?"
"Nigel Hickenlooper produced her will, which insisted she didn't want that."
I changed tactics. "As the oldest person in town, like you said, how well did you know her?"
He rubbed his beard and stared into space. "Oh, we went back a way. We were in school together. Then we both went off to college, and neither one of us returned right away."
Everything the man said seemed awfully vague. "What did she do for a living?"
The man steepled his fingers. "No one really knows if she did anything. Her parents left her very wealthy when they died."
I described all the photos in her house in hopes of shaking loose some information.
He seemed surprised. "Really? She never entertained or had people over. She was something of a mystery, really. There were all kinds of rumors about her. Some even said she had a treasure somewhere in the house."
That got my attention. It was an interesting idea as a motive for murder. "What kind of treasure?"
He waved me off. "No one knows. It's just speculation. A lot of hooey. In a small town, people tend to be suspicious of those who don't want interaction. And then they make up stories."
I stared at him for a moment before asking, "What do you think?"
"I think there's nothing to it. Aunt June socially interacted with folks in her own way. Some she was chummy with, but most she wasn't."
He closed the file and put it back in his drawer. This conversation was over.
"I'm afraid it's an open-and-shut case of accidental death. Does that help?"
If he was telling the truth, it did. I was hoping for a mystery in spite of myself. On the other hand, it would make our stay shorter. I could unload the house for half a million dollars and go home.
"Thanks, Dr. Morgan." I stood up and shook his hand.
"If you need anything else, just stop by," he said.
As I walked across the street, something bothered me. My spydy senses were tingling.
Dr. Morgan had lied about something. I just wasn't sure what.
CHAPTER NINE
"What happened?" Kelly pointed to my burger and fries as I joined them at the diner.
"Well." I picked up a fry and nibbled on it. "We'd better check the bugs when we get back and make sure they are either in their cages or dead. Or better yet, dead in their cages."
"That's mean!" Inez said.
"You're right. I'm sorry." I forgot how much these girls loved animals—even those that wanted to kill them.
I told the girls and Kelly what the doctor had said.
"Treasure?" Lauren looked hopeful.
"Of course a princess castle has treasure!" Ava squealed as Betty slipped away from the table.
"We need to check it out now!" Inez demanded.
Betty returned to her seat, dragging a heavy sledgehammer.
"Where did you get that?" Kelly asked as she took it away.
"From the bathroom," Betty said. "Save that. We'll need it to destroy walls to find the treasure."
"Hey!" I dropped my fries. "You can't tear out the walls of my house! Besides, I really don't believe there's a treasure hidden in there anywhere."
Betty shrugged and returned to her burger. She was tearing off bits and dunking them into an impressive pile of sugar on her plate before popping them into her mouth.
"If you don't think there's a treasure, why are you listening to him?" Betty asked. "He probably did it."
"Maybe he was one of the boyfriends," Ava added. "And he got mad and killed her with a spider."
"That's a good point," I conceded. "But I mean it, we have to be extra careful back at the house. Animals or not, one of them may have killed Aunt June."
There was some silence as we ate. I could practically see the gears spinning
