“And listen to this. Chase also talked to the doctor who issued the death certificates in all of those cases, and the doc claims that all of them died from natural causes. But when Chase insisted, and asked if it was possible that they were smothered in their sleep, same way Henry was smothered, he admitted it was possible, though unlikely, cause he would have noticed if their deaths were suspicious.”
“So they could have been murdered?” asked Scarlett. “All of them?”
“Chase posed the question to Abe, who said it’s notoriously difficult to pick up the difference between someone who died of natural causes and someone who’s been smothered—if you do it correctly. But if you apply the correct technique, the only way to know if someone was smothered is by performing an autopsy.”
“And let me guess. In none of those twelve cases an autopsy was done?”
“Nope. Because our dear old doc didn’t think anything was wrong. People die all the time, he told Chase. How was he to know that there was anything fishy going on?”
“It’s a disgrace, that’s what it is,” said Scarlett. “So who killed these people? Brian?”
“Chase figures that Brian and Desmond were in cahoots. Desmond did the dirty work—remember he was a big, strong fellow—and Brian selected the victims, based on their familial and financial situation, and took care of the paperwork.”
“Forged their wills, you mean.”
Gran nodded.“He selected residents who didn’t have any relatives, to avoid suspicion, but also to make sure no one would complain when the beneficiary of their will was the home. And also, as the general manager he had an intimate knowledge of these people’s financial situation, so he only picked the most affluent ones.”
“So people came here expecting to enjoy their golden years in comfort, and instead they were killed and their money stolen,” said Scarlett, summing things up succinctly. “So what happened to Desmond, you think? Did Brian shove him down the stairs?”
“It’s possible,” Gran acknowledged. “The number-one rule in this type of fraud is not to showcase your wealth too much. Keep it under the radar and not attract attention. But Desmond was flaunting his wealth, wasn’t he? Buying that expensive car, that expensive watch. Sooner or later he was going to draw suspicion to himself, and then Brian would be in the frame alongside his accomplice. So it’s not inconceivable that Brian decided to get rid of the guy before the jig was up.”
“Good thing they didn’t murder us,” said Scarlett.
“We’re not rich, honey. They weren’t interested in us. And also, we have relatives, so we didn’t fit the profile.”
“So what’s going to happen now?”
“Now they want us to talk to the other residents—discreetly, of course—and find out more about these twelve other people who died.”
“This case keeps getting more and more complicated,” said Scarlett. “If I’d known we were entering the lion’s den, I would have taken precautions.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, like bringing along some kind of weapon to defend ourselves!”
Gran smiled and pointed to the four of us, who were listening intently to their conversation.“We’ve got the best defense against these criminals possible. Just let them try something, and my cats will be all over them!”
They left the room, to go and have a series of chats with Liz and the others, and try to build a profile of the twelve residents who had died by Brian and Desmond’s hand.
“This is just terrible,” said Harriet. “And here I thought the worst Brian was guilty of was adultery. Now it turns out he’s a serial killer and a thief as well?”
“Just goes to show that he put up a good front,” said Brutus, who seemed dismayed that he hadn’t been able to see through Brian’s facade.
“Poor people,” said Dooley. “They probably didn’t expect to be murdered in their sleep when they signed up for their stay here.”
“Nobody ever expects to be murdered, Dooley,” I pointed out. “And at least the murders will stop now that Desmond is gone.”
“So odd that nobody noticed anything,” said Harriet. “I mean, twelve people died and nobody suspected a thing?”
“Brian is good,” said Brutus. “He’s very good.”
“I think he was bad,” said Dooley. “Very bad. It’s wrong to murder people, Brutus,” he told our butch friend sternly. “It’s very wrong.”
“Oh, I know. I just meant—”
“And you shouldn’t defend a murderer, just because you happen to like them.”
“No, but what I meant was—”
“You can’t let your personal sympathy for the man stand in the way of justice,” Dooley continued. “He did a bad thing, and now he will have to suffer the consequences.”
“Look, I know that murder is wrong, all right!” said Brutus. “What I meant was that Brian must be some kind of master criminal to be able to get away with this for so long.”
“I wonder what happened to all of that money,” said Harriet. “We’re probably talking millions, right? And there’s not a single trace of it? That can’t be right, right?”