Page 68 of The Aura Answer
“Physically, maybe, emotionally and mentally, probably not,” Gracie tried to explain. “Bertie was talented, but his brain never matured as it should. Didn’t Mrs. Satterwhite say that the Shepherds tried to buy her farm?” And Evie claimed Bertie and Sammy’s ghosts were afraid of their mother being evicted. Gracie couldn’t see the connection to the Main Street project that would evict her and her neighbors.
“Spying,” Jax said enigmatically, slapping a copy of the Corvette sketch on a different part of the wall. “Verity and Toby suspected something was up. They know these guys, went to school with them, knew the Shepherds did drugs and couldn’t buy farms.”
“Speculation,” Roark argued, munching on what appeared to be beef jerky instead of sweets. “You ain’t goin’ nowhere wit’ dis.”
Evie jumped down from the pool table and grabbed the yarn Jax had been using to connect photos. She taped one end to Bertie. “Bertie died from dirty drugs, not pot.” She taped another end to Teddy Jr. “The Shepherds might be growers, but Jr. is the most likely dealer, possibly of more than pot. His father backed Block and probably has grand delusions of working with a billionaire now that Block is gone. Jr. owes his dad big time for keeping him out of jail and maybe for setting him up with the sporting goods store.” She slapped the end of the thread leading to Turlock Sr.
“If the younger lot were partying with Bertie, they knew he was living in the attic.” Gracie’s insides roiled as the amorphous theory took shape. “If one of them wanted to use the attic to be rid of Mayor Larraine, they had to remove Bertie. If Jr. invited him to a pot party...”
“But it wasn’t pot that killed him,” Evie corrected. “The coroner’s report says opioids and fentanyl did.”
“I’m betting the younger lot were all about Bertie’s sketches,” Nick said into the silence that followed. “They have no money to invest in grandiose land grabs. But Jr. may have mentioned something about his dad and the swamp that made the tree huggers suspicious. They probably thought they were being altruistic by jump-starting Bertie’s career, giving the poor brain-damaged bloke a direction to wander and sketch in hopes he’d see something. The Corvette party may have been where they explained Bertie’s presence with some feeble excuse.”
“Let’s quit guessing and nail Toby down.” Jax was already punching a contact on his phone. He put it on speaker when his client answered. “Attorney-client privilege. Are you alone?”
At Toby’s affirmative, he asked, “What was the Corvette pot party about last summer?”
The other end was silent. Evie stuck her hand out for the phone. Jax shook his head and refused.
Toby finally spoke warily. “The swamp. Why?”
“Let’s pretend I believe that was your only goal. Why would a trio of potheads be of use?”
“Trio?” Toby asked dryly. “Which one are you leaving out?”
“Bertie. He claimed to be clean. The Shepherds are growing and Teddy Turd Jr. is selling but Bertie was no longer using. Where’s the connection with the sketches?”
More silence. Jax outwaited him.
Itchy all over, Gracie got up for another cookie.
“What’s this about, Jackson? Is it related to my father’s properties?”
“Layman now owns your father’s properties unless we prove fraud is involved. Was that your goal?”
Gracie pursed a whistle. So this was why Jax was a lawyer. Pity he wasn’t still earning the big bucks.
The late mayor’s son sighed and gave in. “Originally. Verity saw one of Bertie’s sketches of us and thought he might bemarketable. So she bought several and showed them to me to learn more about the subjects before she took them to the gallery. One sketch showed Teddy and the Shepherds at the fruit stand, except they were looking at the swamp and not fruit. This was abnormal behavior for pot dealers. I got suspicious and asked Bertie about it. He said the Shepherds were trying to evict his mom for some housing thing.”
Gracie caught herself biting her thumb and sat on her hand.
“About that time, Verity overheard her mother’s boyfriend talking about a project in Afterthought keeping him in town. My dad was in jail and his lawyer wouldn’t give me the time of day, but I figured Turlock knew everything Dad did. So we tried his son—”
“Who smoked what few brains he possessed and could be pumped. I’m getting the picture.” Jax wrapped yarn around his fingers.
“Bertie was our cover, so to speak. We said we wanted to launch his art career, so he was going to be sketching around town. Since he wasn’t doing drugs anymore, we wanted them to believe he was harmless.”
“Except he’d already been sketching, hadn’t he?” Jax asked.
“Yeah, and that came back to bite us. Once he got off drugs, Bertie was prolific and showed his treasures to anyone who asked. He sold some to his brother and who knew who else. Not long ago, Teddy called and yelled at me and demanded we hand over the lot. I told him Bertie only gave Verity the ones he wanted sold. He’d have to ask Bertie where they were.” Toby sounded sad.
Gracie watched Evie sit on her hands too. She suspected her sister was trying not to snatch the phone.
Luckily, Jax understood her struggle. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think Bertie died for your sketches. I think he died for the architectural drawing Verity hid behind one of them.”
“Not making me feel better,” Toby said gloomily. “We don’t know how Bertie obtained that drawing. He had utterly no idea what it meant. He was just excited about the buildings and the perspective. He wanted to do something similar from the courthouse roof.”
“But that’s when you realized what your father was up to?”
