The Mysteries of Max: Books 31-33 Nic Saint (kiss me liar novel english .TXT) 📖

“I was. We drove out there together. The kidnappers—or Bob himself—had told her to put the money in a plastic bag and tape it off with heavy-duty sealing tape. Like plumbers use? To make sure the bag was completely waterproof. And then to drop it in the McMillan Street canal lock. So we did. Bob probably fished out the bag later.”

“You didn’t notice anything?” asked Chase. “Anyone watching? Anything suspicious?”

“Nothing. It was the middle of the night, and there wasn’t anyone around as far as I could tell. But they must have been watching us and come out as soon as we left.”

“You didn’t stick around to see who picked up the money?”

“No, that wasn’t part of the instructions. We were to drop off the money and immediately drive off again. So even if we’d stayed, they wouldn’t have shown their faces.”

“When you heard that Bob had died, what did you think?” asked Odelia.

Emma heaved a deep sigh. “My first thought? I just figured he must have gotten into a fight with the other crooks about how to divide the money and so they shot him.”

Chapter 24

That night the mood at Casa Poole was quite a few degrees below zero. And not just at Odelia’s little home but that of Marge, too. Odelia was still sad that her cats had bluntly refused to come to her wedding, and Marge… Well, Marge apparently was unhappy that Tex had tried to cheat on her!

I must say it came as a big surprise to me when the news broke of Tex’s infidelity, and so when a family meeting was called, by none other than Gran, of all people, we all felt a little shocked, to be honest.

Tex. Cheating on Marge? On the eve of his daughter’s wedding? No way!

“Look, I think we need to make something very clear,” said Gran at the start of the meeting, which was taking place in Odelia’s living room, presumably chosen as the proverbial neutral ground in this case, the entire family seated around the big living room table. “Tex never planned to cheat on you, Marge. And if he’s guilty of anything, it is of being too naive and kind-hearted for his own good.”

“Oh, Ma, it’s no use,” said Marge. “I know what happened. He admitted it!”

“Nevertheless, let’s reiterate the facts. Fact one. Evelina’s sister Emma Bezel, née Pytel, convinces Tex to take Evelina out on a date, claiming the woman is suicidal after being stood up by Bob Rector. Fact two. Emma neglects to inform Tex that Bob was in fact kidnapped and subsequently killed. I talked to Emma and she admits she withheld this information on purpose, figuring the kidnapping and murder business would scare off the good doctor.” She turned to Tex. “Emma conveys her apologies, by the way, also about the fact that Evelina stood you up.”

“Evelina stood me up?” asked Tex, much surprised.

“You didn’t notice because Scarlett and I broke up your date. But yeah, she stood you up.”

“But… why?”

“When Emma informed her she was about to go on a date with you, Evelina said the last person in the world she intended to date was her own doctor. Her exact words were that she found the whole thing ‘extremely icky.’”

“Icky,” murmured Tex, looking a little stricken.

“It’s obvious you wanted to date Evelina,” said Marge. “Just look at you. You’re disappointed she stood you up!”

“I’m not disappointed—just surprised,” said Tex.

“The point I’m trying to make here,” said Gran, “is that your husband’s intentions were good, Marge. In fact your husband’s intentions were as pure as the driven snow. He thought he was doing a good thing!”

“Are you seriously taking Tex’s side against your own daughter?”

“There are no sides in this case.” She placed a hand on her son-in-law’s arm, and said, “I know I don’t always see eye to eye with you, Tex, but I can honestly say that you’re probably the best son-in-law any woman could ever hope to get. In fact I don’t think any woman could have wished for a better husband for her daughter than you. Consider the proof: Tex hears that one of his patients is suicidal after her boyfriend dumped her—ghosted her, in fact. So out of the goodness of his heart he accepts to take her out a couple of times, so she’ll discover that not all men are scoundrels. That there is still goodness in this world, so that she can begin to feel hope again and forget about her plans to end her own life. Aren’t those the actions of a good and kind man? A man whose humanity is legendary?”

“But—”

Gran held up her hand. She hadn’t finished her opening statement for the defense yet. “That’s the kind of man Tex is. A good man through and through. And did he consider having an affair? Of course not! Never! He wouldn’t dream of having an affair!”

“But I—”

“All he wanted was to be there for his patient in her hour of need. You would have done the same thing if a library client had their library card stolen and you wanted to make them feel good about the world and life in general again, wouldn’t you?”

“But I don’t—”

“Of course you would! This man is a saint. A hero. A white knight—whiter than white! A shining example to us all! And if you really think I’m going to stand idly by while you try to besmirch his reputation (which is absolutely golden—golden!) you’ve got another thing coming, young lady!” And to add emphasis to her words, she pounded the table with a soup spoon—presumably in lieu of a gavel.

“What a speech,” Brutus murmured next to me.

“Yeah, Gran should have been a politician,” I said.

“Or a defense attorney.”

“What’s to besmirch, Max?” asked Dooley.

“To sully,” I said.

“What’s to sully, Max?”

“To tarnish.”

“What’s to tarnish, Max?”

“Oh, Dooley,” I sighed.

“So I besiege you, Marge,” said Gran. “Please give this man another chance.”

“But, Ma!” said Marge.

“Give. This. Man. Another. Chance, I tell you!” She