“What an awful epitaph,” Sara said.
For a moment, they were silent. It was Jack who spoke first. “If we invite them all back, will they come?”
“I assume that whoever killed him will return,” Billy said. “He or she must want to know what happened to the body.” He gave a little smile. “That person must have been surprised when he or she went to the nursery and found it empty. It must have been like some Broadway play.”
No one laughed.
“You didn’t see who went back to the nursery?” Sara asked.
“Heavens no! Why would I want to know which of my guests sawed—” He paused. “It really was awful. Anyway, as for their returning here after all this time, I guess it depends on if they still need to keep the secrets Derek Oliver had on them.”
“It must have been big secrets if they murdered him to shut him up,” Sara said.
“Ewww,” Billy said. “What a marvelous idea. Theyallkilled him. That makes sense.” His face changed. “But why did they leave the body formeto take care of? That was so rude of him—or her! After they left, I had to move to the other side of the house because it was quite, uh...”
“Fragrant?” Kate said.
Billy nodded. “It certainly wasn’t perfume. There were moments when I thought about telling someone, but I was afraid that old sheriff, Captain Edison, would think thatIdid it.”
“He was as corrupt as they come,” Randal said bitterly.
Sara asked, “Who were the guests and how do we contact them?”
Billy looked at Randal. “You know Barbara.”
“I’ve been out of commission for a while.” His voice dripped sarcasm. “We haven’t kept in touch.”
Billy looked surprised. “You must have been living on another planet to not know who she is.”
“You’re close to correct,” Randal said.
“Oh!” Billy said sharply. “That’s right. I forgot that you were...” He didn’t finish his sentence. “She’s Barbara Adair.”
“The movie star?” Kate asked.
“Back then, she’d just had a few roles, but she did indeed go on to achieve fame.”
“Who else?” Sara asked.
“Let’s see. There was Mrs. Meyers and her granddaughter, Rachel. That girl was a bit of a rebel, but now she’s probably in Greenwich, Connecticut, living on some estate with her hedge fund husband. She had that air about her. I once heard Mrs. Meyers say something about some jewels. Do you know anything about that?”
“No, nothing,” Randal said quickly.
“Who is Reid?” Jack asked.
“The handyman. He was very young, and I think he had some distant family connection to Mr. Lachlan. Not sure.”
“And Oliver’s wife, Lea?” Sara asked.
“That poor woman,” Billy said. “We all felt so sorry for her.”
The door opened and a nurse stood there. “I see that your visitors are still here.” Her tone made it clear that it was time for them to leave. She closed the door behind her.
The four of them stood up, but then Randal paused. “What’s your gut feeling about who and why?”
“Well...” he said, dragging it out. “My brothers would say I’m insane, but I think it has something to do with the inheritance.”
“You mean the jewels you mentioned?” Sara asked.
