The Last Train From Scottsdale

Chapter Seven

  I left Millie's house with a full belly and a lingering kiss on my lips as I rolled through Scottsdale to Frank's house. He was standing impatiently on the porch stoop as I drove up, and hurried into the car, throwing his briefcase in the back seat.


  " You're late. " He said as we headed out to the Interstate." Where did you spend the night? I called the Lakeview and they said you were registered there, but, they rang your room and got no answer." His curious gaze at me was met with a silent thin smile.


  Traffic was light until we hit the metro area. I dropped him off in front of the Attorney General's office and we exchanged cell numbers. I promised to call after I talked with Hughes' widow. I watched his round form waddle up the steps and I pulled out into the stream of traffic.


  Mrs. Albert Hughes lived on the far east side, so it was almost an hour later that I pulled up in front of her modest home and got out. My legs were stiff from the long drive and I worked out the kinks a little before going up to knock. It was a quiet neighborhood, with maple trees lining the sidewalks and an occasional picket fence along the neat lawns: a typical middle class area.


  I rang the bell and almost immediately a silver haired lady answered. " What is it you want?" She asked impatiently.


  I Introduced myself and flashed my badge." Missus Hughes," I said. " I'm investigating your husband's death, and I'd like to ask you some questions, if you don't mind."


  " Alot of good that will do." She scoffed, giving me a sour look." I've been asked so many things about Albert's work,  what we did, where we went, and who we knew.....Can't you people leave me alone ? " 


  " I'm truly sorry for the inconvenience." I said, giving her my most caring expression." I wish I didn't have to, but, there it


is. I'm trying to understand how it all happened."


  " Oh, alright. Come in. " She said and turned toward the livingroom." Might as well hear the whole thing. I've probably told it a thousand times in the last month. " She sat down on an overstuffed chair that matched the sofa in the orderly decorated room, and motioned me to the sofa." Go ahead, young man, and fire away." 


  " When did it happen?"


  " Now, Mister Holbrook, If you'll let me tell it with out interruptions, I'll answer your questions as best as I can after I tell my story." She said, giving me a wary look." Okay?" I nodded.


  She sat straight wih her knees together and hands on her lap. " It was the last day of January that Albert died. I had been in Louisville that morning shopping for some new drapes for the dining room and got home around six. He was in the study slumped over his desk when I found him. There was no sign of a struggle, to answer your first question, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary in the house. Everything was as it was when I left that morning. The ambulance came, and the police. It wasn't until the autopsy was done that I found out he was poisoned. There wasn't any cyanide, or any poison in the house. I have no need for it. The police have been over this a thousand times, Mister Holbrook. I haven't thought of anything new to add."


  She sat back and crossed her arms. " Now, you can ask away."


  " Did Albert ever talk about what he was working on? Did he mention anything you remember?"


  " No." She shook her head slightly." He never talked about his job much." She looked away for a moment out the window in reflection.


  " Did you notice any changes in his demeanor?"


  " His what?"


  " His demeanor. Did he change any habits, like, working late, or maybe working in his study for long periods, anything like that? "


  " Albert was always tinkering around in the garage working on things, or, around the house. He liked to work in the garden too. "


  " Did he have any social life outside the home? You know, a bowling league, or a lodge? Did he play golf? Things like that."


  She let out a chuckle. " You must be joking, Mister Holbrook. Albert was very shy with people. He liked being at home when he wasn't at work. Albert? Bowling? Playing Golf? " She laughed, shaking her head.


  " Did he have any friends he visited often? "


  " Albert was his own friend. These last years together were just the two of us. Our children are all grown and gone. I can't remember when Albert ever went out anywhere on his own. He was always home by five-thirty every day. except when he was working late, and then he'd always call me at three o'clock to say he'd be late. It got so I'd look at the clock when the phone rang and if it was three I knew it was him."


  " He worked late alot? "


  " Sometimes three nights a week. But, he was home before nine most times. The last month he was alive he went on Saturdays."


  " And you never knew what he was working on.? "


  " He once said that he had found some funny entries in a state account, but wouldn't tell me any details."


  " When did he say that? "


  " Oh, months ago. I can't remember exactly. Around last Thanksgiving, I think."


  " Try to remember, Ma'am. Please? "


  Her left eye closed as she looked out the window in thought. " Yes." She said as she looked back at me. " It was the day before Thanksgiving; wednesday of that week. I know because he called to say he'd be late getting home that night"


  " Was that the first time he called to say he'd be late?"


  " No. He started working late about a week before that. That wednesday he called I had just got home from the hair salon after having my hair permed. It was very nice the way it turned out and I was disappointed he wouldn't see it."


  " Missus Hughes, did you ever see any papers Albert might have left? You know, pertaining to his work?"


  " Heavens no. Albert kept all his work at his office. He did carry a briefcase. But, his boss went through it about a day or so after Albert died. Come to think of it, it was the very next morning he came to look in Albert's briefcase."


  " Do you remember who he was? "


  " I have his card somewhere. Is it important? "


  " I'd like to see it, if you don't mind."


  " Alright," She said, sighing as she rose, " Only I don't know why you'd want it. Didn't you say you were with the Attorney General's office? "


  " Yes, Ma'am. But, it's just routine follow up. I'll need it to finish my report."


  She walked over to the little writing desk in the corner of the room and opened the middle drawer. Rummaging through the contents she pulled out a card." Here it is. " She said, crossing the room and laying it on the coffee table in front of me. " Anything else ? " She asked.


  " Would it be alright if I looked in your husband's study? I know it's an imposition, but, I still would like to see it."


  " Oh, go ahead and look if it'll satisfy you. " She said, wearily giving a sigh. " You boys from the Attorney General are all alike. Albert's boss did the same thing."


  I picked up the card and read the name: Hubert Avery, Attorney General's Office, Records Division. There was a phone and fax number under the title. Slipping it in my notebook, I went to the study.