Page 46 of Dying to Read

“Thanks for your support, Elizabeth.” Marsha laughed as she sat down. “Elizabeth was an attorney before she retired. She’s seen all the games. So you want to know about William? He was a jerk. He never did the reports he was assigned. And I guess you heard about him becoming a beneficiary for at least one patient’s will. All he cared about was lining his pockets. There are people like that in the elder care field all the time. Con men. And women.”

“So was that why he left here?” Rarity knew everything Marsha had told them so far. And if she knew it, so did Drew.

“Actually, no.” Now Marsha did lower her voice. “He was accused by a patient’s family of having a relationship with a woman. She didn’t have money, but her sister was loaded. Rumors were floating around that he was going into her room at night. She thought he was going to marry her and take her out of the facility. She’s in Sedona now.”

“Lizzy Hamilton,” Rarity guessed.

Marsha nodded. “Lizzy insisted her sister move her once he was hired there. Then she latched on to George. I think their relationship was a ruse to keep her sister from knowing that she was still seeing William.”

“William Jully is a cad who used to visit several women at night here at the home. He came into my room one night and I hit him with my cane where it hurts. He never came back,” Elizabeth said without looking over at them. “When he left, it was goodbye tobad rubbish.”

Marsha shook her head and smiled. “Elizabeth knows everything that goes on around here. She only pretendsshe doesn’t.”

“I don’t give my counsel for free,” Elizabeth responded. This time she turned and looked at the women. “Except in this case. Men like that should be locked up. They think they can get away with anything.I showed him.”

After they left the facility, the duo stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch and to compare notes. Rarity took in the smell of the spices and sauce from the dish that had been set in front of her. “Well, that was revealing. Marsha was more up front than I’d expected. I don’t think she was the woman Sally was talking with about Ruth Agee’s file. If she was, why would she tell us that he was herbeneficiary.”

Shirley shook her head as she used her chopsticks to eat her kung pao chicken. “She didn’t specifically say it was Ruth Agee. She said we knew about the inheritance. Maybe there was more than one?”

Rarity set down her fork. “We should have followed up on that. I just assumedit was Ruth.”

“It might be, but she never said Ruth. I think facilities have to report deaths to a nursing board or something. I’ll call my friend over at the state. She helped me find a nursing home for George when he first entered Sedona Memory Care. If there’s been a lot of women dying, we can at least have Holly check for their probate records.” Shirley took another bite. “This is so good. I haven’t eaten here in years. George and I used to come after we’d go into town to go shopping.”

Rarity waited a moment, then decided to ask anyway. “If this is too hard, you know you don’t have to be part of the sleuthing. You can sit out one investigation. No one will thinkless of you.”

“I would think less of me.” Shirley pushed a plate of spring rolls toward Rarity. The look on her face sent a message. The subject was closed. “Try one of these, they’re so good.”

When they got back to the shop, Rarity sent both Shirley and Katie home, saying she’d finish up the shift herself. Archer hadn’tcalled, so she didn’t know if she would be home alone or not, but she assumed she would be. Maybe Sam would want to have dinner.

Jonathon was still writing after the women left. Rarity watched him as she settled onto the stool behind the counter. They were the only two people in the shop. “You can leave tooif you want.”

“I’m fine,” he said as he finished typing a sentence. Then he looked up at her. “So what didyou find out?”

Rarity told him about why Jully was fired from the Flagstaff facility. And she told him about Elizabeth. “So we know he was trying to romance the women with money in the facilities. Shirley said he was the one who asked her not to come so much. Especially at night. I think he didn’t like having anyone around who might catch him. I wonder what the night supervising nurses thought of him?”

Jonathon tapped his fingers on the desk. “If I were in charge of this investigation, I’d be asking myself why Terrance was hired to fix a security break. Maybe Jully didn’t think Terrance would find out why the computers kept shutting down. I think my conversation with Drew tonight is going to beinteresting.”

“Just don’t tell him you got the information from our book club investigations. You know he hates that.” Rarity stacked some book club books on the side of the counter.

Jonathon chuckled. “Is your beau coming to walk you home tonight, or may I have the pleasure? I walked in from Drew’sthis morning.”

Rarity tried not to shrug. Instead, she glanced at her phone. “I haven’t heard from Archer, so I’d appreciate the company. However, you know Killer and I could walk home allby ourselves.”

“You have quite the attack dog there,” Jonathon said. Killer, somehow knowing he was being talked about, lifted his head from the bed near the fireplace. He looked at the two humans watching him, then sensing they weren’t going anywhere,lay back down.

Rarity laughed. “Give him a break. At least he knows his name. Besides, he didn’t sense any threats. You should see him when the postman comes in with the mail. He’s ferocious.”

“If you say so. Did I tell you that Edith’s agreed to go to the humane society with me when I get back to Tucson? I’m afraid to take her since most of the dogs there are a little larger, but we’ll seewhat’s available. I know she wants a little ankle biter like Killer.” Jonathon glanced at his watch. “If I focus, I might be able to finish this chapter beforeyou close up.”

“I’ll stop bothering you, then.” Rarity walked over to the pile of mail that had come in. She sorted out the junk mail and made a pile for bills and community event information. Then she opened the package that was on the bottom. The book inside had been wrapped in paper and then again in plastic bubble wrap. When she finally got to the book, it wasn’t an advance copy from a publisher or an independent author who was self-publishing and trying to get her attention, hoping that she’d carry the book in her store. This book was old. As she turned it over, she saw it wasThe Fellowship of the Ring. And probably the third book taken fromMarilyn Ender.

“And we have another one,” Rarity said aloud. When Jonathon looked up, she flushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt your work. I’m thinking this is one of Marilyn Ender’s books. Whatdo you think?”

Jonathon held his hand out and opened to the copyright page. “It’s not a first edition. The one missing from the Ender’s house was a first edition.”

When he handed the book back, Rarity sat it on the counter andstared at it.

Finally, Jonathon looked up, sitting back from his laptop. “Tell me what you’re thinking. I can hear the wheels turning in your head over here.”

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