Page 60 of Dying to Read

“I have it at the station. I’m home eating dinner, why?” Drewsounded tired.

“I think I saw a copy of her trust account in there. I wonder if it matches the one at the facility.” Rarity explained what she was thinking. Each resident had their own trust account that the nursing home put deposits in and then took the monthly fees out at the end of the month. The balance should stay about the same plus some interest, unless the patient had a large personal expenditure. When Rarity had reviewed the file, Ruth had about a thousand in slush funds in her account. If George’s trust had extra money in it, maybe Ruth’s deposits had been collectedand saved too.

It looked like McKenzie Jones had her own slush fund, moving money from one account to another. And part of William Jully’s job had been to verify the books at the end of the month. What if he’d found McKenzie stealing money because he’d been researching Ruth’s financial status before making his move?

The business office manager was in charge of the numbers. Who better to manipulate the reports?

Drew was quiet on his side of the line as she laid out her theory. Finally, when she was about to ask if he was still there, he asked, “So you think there were two foxes in the henhouse and one killed the other?”

* * *

Dinner with Archer, Dana, his mom, and her husband went better than she’d expected. June Ender, now June Conner, was warm and friendly. She and her husband, Tom, had a tan cocker spaniel that they’d had to leave with a friend at home when they flew out to Phoenix. So they were both fawning over Killer, who was enjoying his pampering. After a dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread, Rarity was helping June clean up the kitchen while the rest of the group got the living room ready for a game of Scrabble.

“Thank you for all you did in finding Marilyn’s books. That must have been weighing on Caleb’s conscience as he started to pass over.” June rinsed the plate Rarity handed her. “I already knew about the affair, but I never told the kids. I didn’t want them to think badly about their dad. Besides, Caleb was wrecked over the part he played in her death. Daisy and Nick were our friends, and all three of them deceived me. That’s why I moved home to California. I felt betrayed. The kids were both living their own lives. There was nothing tokeep me here.”

“I didn’t find the books. Daisy dropped them off at the bookstore for me to pass on,” Rarity explained.

“I know, but you figured out the whole story. All Caleb told me about was the affair. He never told me about his deal with Nick. How can you steal from your own family?” June looked around the kitchen. “Anyway, thanks for your help.”

“No problem.” Rarity paused as her phone rang. It was Lizzy’s sister. “I’m sorry, I needto take this.”

“Don’t talk too long. Scrabble is a competition sport in our family.” June waved her off and went to start the dishwasher.

Rarity stepped out on Archer’s balcony around the top floor of the building. “Hello?”

“Is this Rarity Cole? I understand you’re calling about my sister?” Constance asked. “Are you the bookstore owner? I think we met right beforewe left town.”

“Yes, that’s me. I’ve got a friend who is related to one of the patients at Sedona Memory Care. I was wondering why you took Lizzy out. I don’t want to tell her it’s safe if there are issues.” Rarity held her breath.

“All I can say is I’m not sure about the facility. I’m not going to bad-mouth Sally because she was supportive and I know that Lizzy can be a handful. But that man who died, Lizzy was positive he was going to marry her. She’s a little naïve regarding romance. I know he was always asking her for money because she would call me. I put money in her account and it would disappear. Lizzy swore she never saw it. I don’t know if that office girl was helping Jully take that money or not, but that’s when I started looking for something else. Then Mike got an offer here in California and it seemed like the best for all of us.” She paused. “If I had a friend, I’d tell her to keep a close eye on the money. The place seems clean and the nursing staff are wonderful, but that’s all I’m going to say. I can’t have Sally suing me for defamation.”

“The office girl, you mean McKenzie Jones?” Rarity held her breath again. This might be the final clue to tie McKenzie to William.

“That’s her. She gave me her card when I left, in case we had any questions,” Constance said with a laugh. “At least any questions that weren’t about Lizzy’s missing money. That, she blamed on that Jully guy. And Sally backed her up. I’ve got to go. We have dinnerreservations.”

And with that, the call was over. Archer came to the window to see if she was done. She held up a finger and made one more call. She might have taken Terrance off Drew’s list of suspects.

Driving home, Rarity went by the nursing home. She pulled into the parking lot and saw the BMW parked in a handicapped zone. It didn’t have handicap plates, but sometimes they had that hanging tag. She got out of the car and took a picture of the plate.

“What are you, the parking police?” a woman’s voice asked from behind her. Rarity turned to find McKenzie Jones standing there, a box in one hand and a plant in the other.

“Sorry, my ex-fiancé had a car just like this and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t in town. Stalking me.” Rarity crossed her fingers behind her back. Lying didn’tcome naturally.

“Oh. Well, I’m happy to tell you that it’s my car, not your ex’s, so you can leave now.” She opened the trunk and put the box withseveral others.

“Are you packing up and leaving your job? Shirley said you were so helpful when she had to place George here.” Rarity watched as she closed the trunk then put the plant in the back seat with several others and a few suit jackets. It was obvious that McKenzie was leaving Sedona Memory Care and under the cover of night.

“I got a better offer in sunny California. I just hate to disappoint Sally. I told her I was going on a vacation. I’ll email her tomorrow and give her some excuse. She hates hiring. Which is one reason she kept William on so long. This way, I’m forcing her to replace me. Anyway, I’ve got a few more boxes, so I better go.”

“Have a great life in California. Where are you going to be? My sister lives in Santa Barbara near the ocean. It’s so beautiful out there.” Rarity didn’t have a sister in California. And her fingers ached fromcrossing them.

“Oh, it’s San Diego. Near the border. Hot, dry, and ocean views,” McKenzie called back as she hurried to the door.

Rarity went back to her car. McKenzie Jones was making a run for it. She placed another call to Drew. He was going to stop taking her calls soon, but she hoped he picked up now. Before McKenzie got in her car and drove away with the moneyshe’d stashed.

* * *

The next day, Drew stopped by the bookstore. He came up and leaned on the counter while Killer tried to get his attention. He scooped up the little dog in his arms and then stared at Rarity. “I don’t know how you do it. We looked at McKenzie but at first glance, she looked clean. She doesn’t have a record. No violence. She seemed harmless.”

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