“How could I forget?” I laughed. “We picked Professor Marsden in the music department because he was so old and befuddled we thought it would be easy to convince his secretary that he’d forgotten to give us our excusals.”
Dolores said, “And we had the secretary— Oh, I can’t remember her name. Mrs. Kiley, Kelly, something like that. Anyway, we had her nearly convinced. She actually had her hand on the excusal slip pad when who walked in but old Marsden himself, who asked in his usual crusty snarl, ‘What are these two doing here?’”
I nodded. “Oh, I well remember. The secretary held up the excusal slips and looked at Marsden for permission. And he said—”
Dolores jumped in with a pretty good imitation of the professor. “He said, ‘What are you waiting for? Give it to them and get them out of here. It’s for a pledge to some sorority or another.’ We were stunned.”
“That’s for sure. I never doubted any of the, shall we say, more mature professors again.”
Dolores said, “Neither did I.”
* * *
I brought the files I’d taken from the storage facility to my bedroom and slid them under my suitcase. I checked my phone, hoping I had another text from Harry, but no such luck. Then I took a few moments to freshen up before I went to meet Dolores in the kitchen.
Lucinda looked up from the sandwiches she was making. “Deviled ham on home-baked wheat bread, in case you’re wondering. Miss Dolores is out at the picnic table. I believe that is fast becoming her favorite rest spot.”
“Possibly so. And when all the houseguests leave Dolores will be alone, so she may spend even more time there. Hopefully she won’t get in your way.”
“Wouldn’t mind if she did. Back in the town house it was just me and Mr. Willis for all those years, and when he married, well, naturally I worried how the new wife would treat me. But Miss Dolores has been nothing but kind. She was the one who insisted that this house was too big for me to manage on my own. Something Mr. Willis never gave a thought to. When I told her Marla Mae, a friend of my niece, was looking for work, she hired her on my say-so. Said it was important for me and my coworker to get along. That’s how thoughtful Miss Dolores is.”
“Lucinda, when I go home to Cabot Cove, I will feel much better knowing that I am leaving my friend in such caring hands.”
Dolores was sitting at the picnic table. “Hey, Jess, look at that black-and-white warbler.” She pointed to a bird whose striking color combination made him highly visible on the branch of a distant pine tree. “This is their nesting season, and they are one of the few bird species that hide their nests on the ground. Abby told me that they do so to prevent the eggs from falling from a nest high in a tree, but I am not sure if she assumes that or if it’s true.”
I poured myself a glass of sweet tea from the pitcher on the table. “Speaking of Abby reminds me of her father. I am so curious why he, instead of Willis, attended that meeting with Mr. Pappas.”
Dolores sighed. “I’ve been so surprised by what I’ve learned about him in the past few days. Who can tell with Clancy?”
At that exact moment, casually carrying a putter and some other golf clubs over his shoulder, Clancy Travers came around the side of the house. “Did I hear my name being taken in vain?”
Chapter Twenty-two
I leaned over and whispered to Dolores, “One thing at a time. Let’s just ask about Pappas for now. Save your leverage for later.”
Dolores considered for a moment and then became an amiable hostess. “Clancy, would you like a glass of sweet tea? Jessica has something she would like to ask you.”
Clancy sat down and said, “Jessica, if this is about the eulogy, I have been thinking and I promise to come up with more stories.”
Before Dolores could ask what he was talking about, I said quickly, “No, it’s something else. We have been going through Willis’s papers and came across an irate letter from a Mr. Pappas of Coliseum Investments. He was upset because Willis sent you to meet with him instead of attending the meeting himself. Dolores and I couldn’t imagine why on earth Mr. Pappas was so upset.”
Rather than being demanding I decided to go for perplexed, and it worked.
Clancy groaned. “Oh, I remember Mr. Pappas—or as I call him, Mr. Pompous. He lives and works in California someplace but came east for a wedding in Atlanta. Since he was going to be so nearby and he and Willis had never actually met, Pappas decided to come to Columbia and have a lunch meeting with Willis. Trouble was, Willis and Dolores were on their honeymoon when Pappas texted from Atlanta.”
“Why didn’t Willis tell the man that we were on completely different continents?” Dolores asked.
“You know that wasn’t Willis’s style. His motto was ‘Never let a business opportunity slip by,’ or at least that’s what I always imagined his motto to be.”
I said, “And he assumed Mr. Pappas would have some business to discuss rather than this being strictly a social call.”
Clancy nodded. “And here is a sentence I would never dare say while he was alive: Willis was wrong. Pappas thought that the geography of his nephew’s wedding made it easy for him to meet Willis and have a friendly lunch. He had nothing more on his agenda. But when I showed up, Pappas hit the ceiling. I explained about the honeymoon, but even after I told him I was Willis’s son-in-law he was furious at Willis for, as he called it, ‘blowing him off.’ Pappas couldn’t understand why Willis wasn’t straightforward. All he had
