“So?”
“So she inherits,” Mendoza said.“I checked with the lawyer.There are no other relatives.The elder Grimshaws are gone.Patton Grimshaw died a few years ago.Neither sibling had children.And Griselda didn’t make a will in favor of anyone else.Araminta Tucker-Grimshaw is the sole surviving relative.She gets it all.”
I blinked.“Is there anything to get?Enough to commit murder over?”
“People have committed murder over a handful of change and a pair of sneakers,” Mendoza said.“In this case, there’s the house, a few hundred thousand in investments, a life insurance policy of a million dollars, and the dog.”
The dog?
“I’m not sure she can keep Edwina where she lives.”Are residents in assisted living allowed to have dogs?
“Then she’ll have to make other arrangements,” Mendoza said.“In either case, depending on her own financial situation, it might be plenty to commit murder over.”
I thought about it.And realized he might be right.
Motive aside—and yes, a million dollar life insurance policy, a couple hundred thousand in investments, plus a house, might be plenty of motive for murder—Araminta might have a car.I had no reason to think she didn’t.From what I’d seen of her, she would have been capable of driving it.Her eyesight seemed fine, and she had all her faculties.And it’s not like it takes a lot of strength to point a gun and pull the trigger.Araminta Tucker was small, sure, but she wasn’t too small for that.So motive aside, she might have both means and opportunity.
“I haven’t had a chance to check,” Mendoza added.Still on the subject of Araminta Tucker’s finances, I guess.“But retirement living doesn’t come cheap.If she needs cash, that life insurance policy alone will go a long way.And it’s not like she liked her sister-in-law.”
No.“I guess you’ll go see her tomorrow?”
“I think I’d better,” Mendoza said.“Both to take a look at that lease and to assess her potential for murderer.”
“Will you let me know what you find out?”
He gave me a jaundiced look, and I added, “About Edwina.If she doesn’t want Edwina, or can’t keep her, maybe she’d let me keep her.I’d be willing to pay for her, if money would make a difference.”
Diana looked at me and I said, defensively, “She’s nice.A fun, little dog.I like her.And I don’t want her to end up at the pound.”
Diana didn’t say anything.Mendoza said he’d let me know.“I don’t suppose you noticed a gun sitting around?”
I hadn’t.“But if she’d just used it to shoot her sister-in-law, it isn’t likely she’d keep it on the coffee table.Is it?”
It wasn’t.Mendoza turned to Diana.“I’m sorry to ask, but I’m sure you understand why I have to.Does Steven own a gun?”
Diana nodded.“We both do.”
Mendoza didn’t look surprised.I guess maybe I was, a little.It had never crossed my mind that she was packing heat.
And she must have noticed, because she felt compelled to explain.“I get death threats sometimes.Sometimes, one party wants the divorce but the other party doesn’t.Some men take it personally when their wives leave them.And sometimes, someone hires me to help them negotiate a fair settlement in the divorce, but the other party doesn’t agree on what’s fair.And then they blame the fact that they have to pay so much alimony on me.So far it’s just been threats.Nobody’s tried to hurt me.But I carry a gun just in case.”
Mendoza nodded.
“Do I need a gun?”I asked.
They both looked at me.I added, “If I’m going to follow cheating spouses around for a living, maybe one of them will decide it’s my fault his wife’s leaving him.”
Mendoza hesitated.I got the pretty distinct impression that he wasn’t in favor of me carrying a gun.It was probably nothing personal.Most cops aren’t in favor of civilians being armed.It makes their jobs much harder.
On the other hand, I was sure he could see my point.Especially after what Diana had just said.
Eventually he settled for a bland, “Something to think about.”Which I took to mean that it might not be a bad idea, but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell me to arm myself.Probably afraid I’d end up shooting myself in the foot.And considering some of the things that came out of my mouth sometimes, he might not be too far off.
“Where are the guns now?”he asked Diana, who told him she kept hers in her purse, and Steven’s was upstairs in the bedside table.“Would you go get them, please?”
Diana opened her mouth, and then seemed to think better of it.She nodded and got up from the table.I waited until I heard her footsteps start up the stairs before I said, “Surely you don’t think she had anything to do with shooting Mrs.Grimshaw.”
“It’s procedure,” Mendoza said.
