Frictional Characters

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Wilson murmured, “One of our regular patrons at the library, I believe.”

“That’s right,” I quietly responded. “Flora Merchant.”

Wilson suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “Jonas’s sister. Oh no. She looks as if she hasn’t heard.”

“I guess there hasn’t been enough time for Burton to get over there.” I winced.

Sure enough, Flora was looking very confused. “Hi Ann. Do you know what’s going on here at this house? My brother lives here.”

I said cautiously, “I think you should speak with Burton Edison, Flora. He’s right over there with some other police at the front door.”

But Flora was going to have none of it. She wanted to know right then what had happened. “He’s dead, isn’t he? My brother. Why else would they have a team in forensics suits?”

Wilson gave me a stressed look. I cleared my throat and said as gently as possible. “I’m afraid he is, Flora. Would you like to take a seat?” I pushed open my car door as far as I could and Flora sat down hard on the seat. Her face was bemused.

“What happened?” she asked.

Wilson and I looked at each other again and I caught Burton’s eye and waved him to come over. He gestured to indicate he’d be there as soon as possible.

Wilson said carefully, “We don’t really have a lot of information right now. But from what I gather, it seems to have possibly been foul play.”

Flora looked grim and surprised but not exactly grief-stricken. “Sounds like karma,” she muttered. Then she looked up at both of them. “Sorry, that must sound awful. I cared about Jonas, of course. He was my big brother. But he could be a really difficult person and caused a lot of trouble sometimes. I can see where someone might have become really upset with him.”

Burton joined them as Wilson slipped away to head to his car. Burton spoke quietly to Flora, giving her basic information about Jonas’s death and telling her how sorry he was. When he saw how composed Flora remained, he cautiously began asking a few questions. “Flora, I was wondering if you might be able to give a little information about your brother. Could you fill me in with a bit of background?”

Flora squared her shoulders as if facing a somewhat unpleasant task. “I’m happy to help out, if I can. I’m afraid Jonas and I weren’t particularly close, but I have known him for a long time.”

“What was he like?” asked Burton.

Flora sighed. “I was just saying to Ann and Wilson that my brother could be a very difficult man. He was always very smart growing up but seemed lazy—he wouldn’t hand in his assignments on time or even finish some of them. I got the feeling he was the same way in the working world. He was always looking for shortcuts to avoid doing a lot of work.”

Burton slowly asked, “Was he ever on the wrong side of the law?”

Flora nodded, coloring a bit with embarrassment. “I’m afraid so. He would always want to make a quick buck instead of sitting for hours in an office to make it legitimately. Once, before he moved here, he was arrested for blackmail. I had to bail him out of jail, which is the only reason I know about it. We never discussed it after that.”

“Did you have any reason to believe he might be back to his old tricks here in Whitby?” asked Burton.

“I did. I noticed folks around town were treating me rather warily. That made me wonder. I’ve been here my whole life and know most people here. They never treated me like that before Jonas moved back to town.”

Burton asked, “But he did have a regular job, didn’t he?”

Flora gave a short laugh. “Yes. Although I’m not sure he was very motivated there. He wasn’t the kind to fall all over himself to sell you a policy. And I’m not sure a client could depend on Jonas to answer the phone if they did have an accident.”

“How did he get the information that he was blackmailing people with? Understanding that this is just something you’re surmising and not something you know,” asked Burton.

Flora said, “I’m afraid I know exactly how he did. My dad. My father, bless his soul, was a gossipy old fellow. He loved just sitting outside at the coffee shop and listening to the conversations of others. No one ever looked at him as any sort of threat because he looked harmless. But he knew everything about everybody. He’d listen to people gossiping about other people. He’d listen to people talking about their own lives and issues.”

“And then he’d pass that information along to your brother?” asked Burton.

“Exactly. Oh, it wasn’t a malicious thing. Dad had no idea what Jonas was planning on doing with the information. He was simply pleased that Jonas was interested in hearing what he had to say—he didn’t think there was any sort of motive behind it. Dad was very naïve about Jonas.” Now a flush of aggravation spread over Flora’s features.

Burton noticed it. “How else was your father naïve about your brother?”

Flora took a deep breath. “Well, he thought Jonas was the exemplary son. I guess Jonas seemed that way . . . he sure was super-attentive on the phone when he was gathering all his blackmail material.” Her voice was bitter.

I said quietly, “But you were super-attentive, yourself. You were taking care of your father.”

Flora lifted her chin. “That’s right. I was his caretaker. But Dad was very old-fashioned and thought that it was my duty to care for him. He didn’t really appreciate it that much. And, as I suppose you’ll find out soon, he left his house to Jonas instead of me.” She shrugged. “It was okay. I don’t know why I was expecting anything more. Jonas moved down here just as soon as he was given the house.”

Burton lifted an eyebrow. “That must have made you upset. Considering how much work you’d done for your father and how much help you’d given him throughout the years.”

Flora shrugged. “I think it was because my father got irritated with me. I spent so much time with him that I got on his nerves. I was always pushing him one way or another . . . to make a doctor appointment or do his PT exercises or something like that. Over the years, he likely got fed up with it. I think he must have made the change to his will in the middle of all that.”

“And Jonas never tried pushing your dad? Or was engaged in his care at all?” I asked.

Flora gave them a weary look. “No. He couldn’t be bothered.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m sorry—I need to tell work that I’m going to be late.”

Burton said, “You might want to take the day off, Flora. This is a lot to wrap your head around. And there will likely need to be some planning involved for the next steps.”

Flora sighed. “You’re right. It’s just if I don’t work, I don’t get paid. It’s not exactly a salaried job.” She made a quick phone call to let them know. Wilson excused himself and sat in my car’s passenger seat out of earshot.

After she’d hung up, Burton said, “Could you just fill in for me your activities for the last twelve hours or so?”

Flora considered this. “Well, I was at my apartment last night after working yesterday. I stayed there all night and this morning until I arrived here. I was at home with my cat. And she’s not much of an alibi.” Flora frowned. “Oh gosh. Jonas’s dog. I can take him for you, if that works.”

Burton looked relieved. “Can you? That would be great. My deputy has him on a leash in the backyard right now. I’ll let him know after we’re done talking.” He paused. “Do you know if you’ll be taking possession of the house at some point?”

“I have no idea if Jonas had a will or if I am even in it,” said Flora in a weary voice. “There’s just no telling with him. We don’t have any other relatives, though, and Jonas never married. He has no children. If he doesn’t have a will, I guess it’s going to take forever to go through probate court. But I suppose I may end up with the house.” There was a wistful look on her face. “A little land is something I’ve always wanted.”

Burton nodded, making himself a quick note in his small notebook. “Do you have any idea who might have wanted to harm your brother? I know you suspected he was blackmailing others. Did Jonas ever speak to you about issues he was facing? Trouble with other people?”

Flora quietly thought about this again. She said slowly, “Jonas did mention that he’d been irritated with his neighbor. Or maybe that his neighbor was irritated with him—I can’t really remember.”

Burton jotted down another note. “Any idea what the trouble was about?”

Flora snorted. “Well, I know it had more to do with Jonas than with his neighbor. Reggie, I think his neighbor is.”

I must have made a sign of recognition because Burton asked me, “Do you know Reggie, Ann?”

“Maybe. I know a Reggie who comes in the library regularly, anyway. And it’s not a very common name.”

“That’s probably him,” said Flora. “I think he’s an academic of some kind. As far as what the trouble was about, I think it had something to do with the awful state of the yard. I’m going to have to do something about it right away, if I’m to be responsible for it. When Dad was alive, he could at least afford to pay a small amount for a kid to cut the grass every week during the summer. Jonas didn’t care about that kind of stuff at all, though. And Jonas’s dog tends to bark a lot when he’s left outside.”

Burton said, “I’m guessing Jonas wasn’t the best pet owner, either?”

“Exactly. He tended to neglect the poor animal. I feel just awful about it.” Flora snapped her fingers. “And there was one other thing. One of Jonas’s trees fell down into Reggie’s yard and Jonas refused to pay for its removal, even though it was his tree.”

Jonas did sound like a complete nightmare of a neighbor.

Burton jotted down a couple more notes. “Thanks for all this, Flora.” He lowered his voice a little. “Is that the neighbor there?”

Sure enough, there was a young man, probably about my age, who was standing not far away and looking very curious. Flora glanced in his direction and I saw him smoothing his hair down and giving her a shy smile.

“That’s Reggie,” said Flora. She glanced at her watch again. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Burton? I hate to cut it short, but I should get on to work.”

Burton shook his head. “No, I think that’s all for now. Again, I’m really sorry, Flora. Maybe you should just work a partial day and try to take things easy. I’ll be in touch if I have any additional questions.”

She gave him a smile and then hurried back to her car. Burton smiled at Reggie and gestured him over. Reggie’s smile faltered but he hurried in their direction.