Classified As Murder

Helen Louise beamed at the praise. She reached over and clasped my arm briefly. Turning to Sean, she said, “See why I adore this man? He’s such a charmer.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Sean said. Then, in an obvious effort to redirect the conversation, he continued, “Dad’s going to be working for Mr. Delacorte.”

“Really? Do tell.” Helen Louise was agog with curiosity.

I explained briefly the job Mr. Delacorte wanted me to do, leaving out the bit about potentially stolen items. “I’m going over this afternoon at four to have tea with him and his family. Do you know any of them?”

“Unfortunately.” Helen Louise grimaced. “Pure poison, the lot of them.” She shrugged. “But if you want to know more about the Delacorte clan, why don’t you ask Azalea?”

FIVE

“Azalea?” I stared blankly at Helen Louise, startled by the sudden mention of my housekeeper. “How does Azalea know anything about them?”

“How do you think?” Helen Louise shook her head at my slowness. “She worked for them years ago, before she started working for your aunt.” She laughed. “But she didn’t stay there long. Only about three months, I seem to remember.”

“I had no idea. But there’s a lot I don’t know about Azalea, of course.” I had a sip of water. Diesel rubbed against my leg, and I reached down to stroke his head.

“If you ask her the right way, I’m sure she’ll tell you about them.” Helen Louise drained her cup and set it down. “And they’re not too fond of the head of the family, that’s for sure.”

“How do you know them?” Sean played with his bottle cap, spinning it on its side on the table. “Fill us in on what you can until Dad has a chance to talk to Azalea. You have to know something juicy, surely.”

Helen Louise leaned back as she grinned at Sean’s wheedling tone. “They go to my church. I don’t think his sister, Daphne Morris, ever misses a service.” She snorted. “She’s such a good Christian—except when it comes to actually doing something, like helping in the soup kitchen or working on one of the committees. She’s terribly delicate, you see.”

The withering scorn in her voice left little doubt about her feelings. I could understand them. Helen Louise, despite the demands of running her own business, spent a lot of her so-called free time doing charitable work.

“Who else is there besides his sister?” I put my hand over Sean’s to stop his twiddling with the bottle cap. He’d always been a fidgety child, and he was now a fidgety adult. He rolled his eyes at me, but he let go of the bottle cap.

Helen Louise observed this interaction with another grin. “Let’s see.” She held up a hand and began ticking off names on her fingers. “There’s Daphne’s son, Hubert, who has a vastly overinflated sense of his own worth. Eloise, Hubert’s wife, is one of those rich daddy’s girls from the delta. You know, like Carolyn Haines writes about in her ‘Bones’ books.” Helen Louise and I shared a fondness for mysteries, and Haines was a great favorite.

“They sound charming.” Sean sounded utterly sincere, but his expression belied his tone. “Can’t wait to meet them.”

“Be prepared if you meet Eloise.” Helen Louise laughed. “I hear tell she’s crazy as a betsy bug these days.”

I hadn’t heard that expression in a while. I decided not to press Helen Louise for more details on Eloise. “Anybody else?”

“There’s a great-niece, the granddaughter of one of the Delacorte brothers. Her name is Cynthia, and she’s a nurse at the hospital. Don’t know much about her, other than you could get freezer burn talking to her. I hope I never have to rely on her looking after me if I’m in the hospital.” Helen Louise shook her head. “The last one is a great-nephew, Stewart Delacorte, grandson of the final brother. He teaches chemistry at Athena College.” She winked at Sean again. “He’ll love meeting you, I’m sure. He has an eye for an attractive man.”

Sean blushed. Helen Louise laughed and reached over to pat his arm. “Don’t pay any attention to me, honey. Your dad will tell you I can’t resist teasing people.”

“No problem.” Sean offered a strained smile.

“Neither of those two Delacorte brothers is still living?” I decided to get the conversation back on track.

“No, only Daphne is left now. She’s the youngest, and James was the oldest.” Helen Louise paused. “He’s in his mid-eighties, I’d guess.”

“He doesn’t look it, really.” I would have said he was around seventy. “You said earlier that his family isn’t too fond of him. Why?”

“He has millions, and they all want money. I’ve heard Daphne and Hubert moaning about it enough at church, when their minds should have been on other things.” Helen Louise was clearly disgusted. “Apparently James Delacorte has the old-fashioned idea that anyone able to work should do just that and not live like a leech on someone with money. But I’ve also heard he can be really cheap. I think the family has always had trouble keeping staff because he refuses to pay much.”

“What about his sister? Does the son take care of her?” Sean was as curious as I about the family.