“Don’t try to act stupid, Maddy. It doesn’t become you.”
“I just wish I was acting,” my sister said, the exasperation thick in her voice. “Rebecca, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“My mother, either through coercion on your part or senility in her old age, left you a third of everything she owned. Now that Grant’s dead, I guess it’s half.” Rebecca took a step back as she asked, “Do I have something to worry about now? Are you after all of it?”
“All of what?” Maddy shouted.
“We’ve all known for years that there’s over a quarter of a million dollars in all of my mother’s holdings,” Rebecca said, “but don’t think for one second that you’re ever going to see one penny of any of it.”
“That is so utterly ridiculous that I don’t even know how to respond to it,” Maddy said.
“Then sign this, and I’ll get out of your life forever. Put your signature where your mouth is.”
“I won’t give you the satisfaction,” Maddy said.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised that you’d say that? That’s a nice little righteous indignation you’ve got going there, Maddy. Too bad it’s not going to do you any good. You’re nothing but some kind of worthless scavenger.”
“You’re the only vulture I see in this room,” Maddy said, finally letting her temper loose completely. “If she wanted me to have something, then I’m going to see that I get it.”
“I won’t take that, especially not from you!” Rebecca yelled as she reached for the nearest weapon in sight, which happened to be a full napkin holder. The weight of it was bad enough, but it also had several sharp edges, and I knew that if she hit my sister with it, it could do some real damage.
“What’s going on here?” Kevin Hurley asked as he burst through the door. He looked at Rebecca and saw her makeshift weapon. “Put that down, and I mean right now.”
Rebecca seemed to fold under the police chief’s stinging words, and she put the napkin holder back on the tabletop where it belonged. “I wasn’t going to do anything with it.”
“Sure you weren’t,” Maddy said.
“Chief, I’d appreciate it if you’d do us a favor and escort Ms. Whitmore off the property,” I said.
“Hang on a second,” Rebecca said. “She can’t just throw me out, no matter what that sign says.”
“Ma’am, maybe it would be for the best if you came with me,” Chief Hurley said as he gently put his arm in Rebecca’s. “There are a few things we need to go over at the police station, and I know that you want to take care of them as soon as possible.”
“What kind of things?” she asked.
“There’s paperwork to be filled out, and you’ll need to contact a funeral home to take charge of your brother,” Kevin said, his words both soft and urging at the same time. I forgot sometimes just what a charmer our police chief could be when it suited him.
“Fine. I’ll come with you,” she said, and I thought for a second that we were going to get rid of her without any more commotion. But, of course, that wasn’t about to happen. Rebecca hesitated at the door of the pizzeria and then turned back to face Maddy. “This isn’t over, not by a long shot.”
“I’m here every day we’re open,” Maddy replied, “so you always know where to find me.”
“Go on,” I said, urging her to get out before things turned nasty again.
Rebecca clearly didn’t appreciate that, though. “I’m not about to forget the way you’ve treated me, too, Eleanor. You’d both better be careful.”
“Come on,” Chief Hurley said, this time putting a little more force into his voice.
“No need to push. I’m leaving,” she said, and the two of them walked out together.
“We’d better be careful,” Maddy said as she shook her head. “That threat sounded pretty serious. I’m not usually worried about people like Rebecca, but there was a crazy glint in her eyes.”
“We’ll be extra careful from now on,” I answered, thinking about what Art had said.
“Can you believe that woman?” Maddy asked as she straightened the skewed napkin holder.
“Was she serious about the inheritance? Could Sharon have really left you an equal share of all that money?”
“I honestly don’t know,” Maddy said. “She always told me that I was the perfect daughter. It was something that used to steam Rebecca to no end. I didn’t do anything to encourage it, but Rebecca always thought I was behind it. I could maybe understand it if Grant and I were still married, but you know as well as anybody how ugly our divorce was. What was she thinking, leaving me anything that substantial?”