The Case of the Carroltons’ Cartier - Part 7 (Conclusion)

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I didn’t have to wait too long. About twenty-five minutes after I killed my engine, a candy apple red Eldorado pulled up in front of Forrey’s house. Mary Carrolton got out of the driver’s side and Cynthia bounded out from the other.

I could see the two have a brief heated discussion before Mary turned her back and marched for the door with Cynthia trailing behind her. I stepped out of my Chevy and hot-footed it to the house.

I got to the yard just as the door opened and the two women pressed their way in, the door slamming behind them.

I ran to the door and tested the nob. It wasn’t locked. Taking that as an invitation, I let myself in.

The Carrolton women pivoted their heads to me, and the hirsute gentlemen who tried to take me down in Sumner’s apartment like Bob St. Clair pointed at me and shouted, “Who the hell are you!”

The place was a dump. By the looks of it, the furniture’s best days were gone before D-day, and the floor probably hadn’t been swept since around the same time. Bottles that once contained cheap booze littered the floor, as did commingled cigarette butts and roaches from joints. Lying on the table were a couple of syringes along with some little brown bottles without labels. Better Homes and Gardens probably wouldn’t be doing any spreads on this place.

I could see the Carroltons were nervous, and I didn’t trust the owner of this illustrious dwelling to not go squirrelly on me.

“Let’s all just stay calm. We are going to have a nice conversation, okay?” I said.

The guy - Forrey - was either so out of it that he didn’t see my gun or didn’t care about it. He pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and flicked it open.

He smiled a crooked smile at me, and said “Ready to dance, buddy?”

He ran towards me. I considered shooting, but decided that would be counterproductive and ultimately be a pain in my neck. Besides, this clown was not exactly moving with the grace of Errol Flynn. So I just threw a straight jab into his throat. He dropped the knife, the tip sticking into the wooden floor. He gasped for breath as I grabbed him and shoved him down into a cloth chair with dirty white stuffing ballooning out the side.

“Like I said. Let’s stay calm,” I said backing up.

I turned to Mrs. Carrolton and said, “You got here early, why is that?”

“I could ask the same of you, Mr. Lumley.”

I nodded. She had a good point.

I turned my attention to Cynthia. She was shaken and on the edge of tears.

“Cynthia, do you know this man?”

“Yes, he’s…”

“That’s enough, Cynthia,” Mary said with an edge in her voice I had not heard before, but which did not at all surprise me.

“Any reason you don’t want her to answer?”

“She’s a child. She won’t speak to you or anyone else without a lawyer.”

“No one’s accusing her of anything.”

Forrey had caught his breath. “Look, man, what is this about?”

“I believe you have the stones from this lady’s necklace,” I said, tilting my head at Mary Carrolton.

He started to protest his innocence and I told him to shut up.

“Everyone, this goes a lot more quickly if we all tell the truth,” I said.

“You start, Mr. Lumley. Why did you trick me into coming here?”

“Fair is fair. Something about this case bugs me. Forrey, you have the diamonds, don’t you? No point in denying it, you plowed over me like a train when you took them from Sumner’s place.”

The man tried to deny it, but his heart just wasn’t in it.

“And you know, that would seem to make you the main suspect in Richard Sumner’s murder.”

“I never killed nobody, man.”

“Actually, I believe you.”

Forrey had a look on his face of relief mixed with wariness. He had to be thinking this was some kind of trick.

The Carroltons looked at each other, and Cynthia gasped.

“Want me to tell you why I believe you, Mr. Forrey?”

He nodded.

“It bugged me that you - and don’t bother denying this - pawned off one of the diamonds, and then I catch you in Sumner’s apartment after he was murdered. You were ransacking the apartment and found the rest of the diamonds.”

“What’s the point of this? Clearly this degenerate killed that man,” Mary Carrolton said.

“That’s what I thought at first. But then it hit me.” I turned my attention back to Forrey. “If you had murdered Sumner, why would you need to have gone back for the diamonds? Wouldn’t you have just taken them the night you killed him?”

I walked towards him.

“Here’s how I see it. You and Sumner were in on the heist. Your end included selling off the pieces. The night he was killed, he gave you the first diamond to fence. And after you left, someone else took him out.”

“Yeah…” Forrey said.

“And, here’s the thing. You know who it was.”

He nodded.

“Spill it now and I can make this go easier for you,” I said.

“It was….”

Three gunshots interrupted him as red blooms burst in his chest.

I turned to see Mary Carrolton holding a pearl handled .22 revolver. She turned the gun towards me.

Cynthia screamed.

“Cynthia, darling, please go out to the car. The grownups need to talk.”

“But, mother.”

“Now!”

The younger Carrolton ran out the door, sobbing. Mary’s eyes didn’t leave me.

“You going to shoot me, Mrs. Carrolton?”

“I hope not. Please sit down on the couch.”

She kept her distance as I followed her instructions.

“Now then, Mr. Lumley, like you said, I am sure the diamonds are around here somewhere. And the police will certainly believe that this man killed Mr. Sumner.”

“But he didn’t. You and I know that.”

“Does it matter?”

I shrugged. “Probably not.”

She smiled. “I think you have done an admirable job. You’ll recover the diamonds and my husband will give you a very generous reward for a job well done.”

“And what about you?”

“Oh, I can give you a very generous reward as well, if you are interested.”

“I like the sound of that, on all counts.”

“I thought you might,” she said.

“Can I get up and find the diamonds so we can wrap this up?”

She hesitated. “How can I trust you, Mr. Lumley?”

“The way I see it, you either have to trust me or kill me. I’m in this for the money, doll. What do I care who offed some Hollywood hanger-on?”

She wavered and lowered the gun.

“Okay,” she said.

I stood and looked at her with my best seductive look. It’s not great, but it occasionally does the trick. “How about a quick down payment on that reward, Mary?”

She smiled, knowing I had bought into her plan hook, line and sinker. I kissed her or she kissed me. Maybe it was both. We lingered for a few moment before I broke off the kiss and yanked the gun out of her hand.

I pointed it at her and said “Your turn to sit down.”

Anger blazed in her blue eyes.

“Just sit down. I probably won’t shoot you, but I’ll knock you out if I have to. I’d rather not, but I will.”

She sat down, and I crossed to the other side of the room where I had spied a telephone. Keeping the .22 aimed at Mary, I dialed Driscoll’s number and got a receptionist. I told them to tell Driscoll that I was hanging out with a corpse and a suspect, and I gave the address.

“Why did you do that?” Mary Carrolton asked.

“Character flaw, I suppose,” I said. “Look, I want to help you, but this whole thing goes south if I didn’t report it. Too many witnesses knew I was on Forrey’s trail. So let’s get the story straight.”

“Okay, yes. Of course. Cynthia and I leave and you let the police know that he was Mr. Sumner’s killer.”

“Won’t fly. Particularly with him lying her dead.”

“Well, you could say you shot him. In self defense. He pulled that knife on you,” she said, pointing to the switchblade on the floor.

I unloaded her revolver and handed it back to her.

“No dice. I don’t carry a .22. No one would believe I do. But if you claimed self-defense, I could back that play and make it work. That leaves the matter of Sumner’s death. It only makes sense if it ….”

“You know I killed that writer, don’t you,” Mary said suddenly.

“Why would you do that?”

“I was protecting Cynthia. He seduced her, dragged her into this robbery business. I, well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of him using her as he had anymore.”

“Makes sense to me. Let’s get this straight. I think we can make a solid case for you here. How did you kill him?”

“I, I hit him on the back of the head.”

I nodded. “With what?”

“A lamp. I used the base of a lamp.”

I shook my head. “You do know that I know you’re lying, right?”

She looked down.

“It doesn’t matter. I did it.”

“Mother, no…” a small voice said from the front door.

“Cynthia, go to the car,” Mary Carrolton said, breaking down into tears.

“Did your mother pick you up Monday night, Cynthia?”

She nodded.

“Where did she pick you up?”

“Cynthia, honey, it was the library, wasn’t it?” Mary said.

“No. Yes. I…”

“Ladies, I can prove that wasn’t the case with a few calls. Your friends will not get their stories straight in time.”

“From Richard’s.”

“Cynthia, stop.”

“And you gave Richard the combination to your safe?”

“Yes. He needed the money. He and his friend,” she said looking at the corpse in the room, “said our parties were costing them too much money. And besides, if Richard could just get some money he could focus more on his work without worrying. I loved him. I really did.”

“And the night he died?”

“He, broke up with me. His awful friend said they had gotten all they needed from me. He took one of the diamonds and left, while I was crying.”

She took in a breath. I could tell the tears would start back any moment.

“And then I picked up that fake award and…”

“And that’s when I came in and grabbed it from her and bashed that bastard’s brains in,” Mary said with conviction and righteous anger. “No one mistreats my daughter like that. I won’t allow it. I can’t allow it. I am her mother and I would do anything to protect her.”

I looked at Mary. Her face was full of conviction, and her eyes were full of pleading.

“I believe you would.”

“Isn’t what I said true, Cynthia?”

Cynthia stood, breaking into full tears.

“Isn’t it?” Mary said with a steady, firm tone.

“Yes, mother.”

“Who killed Richard, Cynthia?”

“You did….”

I looked between the two women.

“And, of course, I came here after you called and told me to to confront that man,” Mary said, pointing to Forrey’s body. “He pulled a knife, and I shot him to protect myself and my daughter. Maybe even you, Mr. Lumley.”

I knitted my brow and looked at her.

“There’s no reason to allow a young girl to get hurt, after all. She’d already been taken advantage of. Why let a thing like this end her life so early. She has so much potential. All I wanted was for her to have a chance to reach it. You see what I am saying?”

I told her I did. “A story like that is a pretty sympathetic one,” I said. “And, believable enough.”

Mary smiled a sad little smile.

“Believable enough for me to go to prison?”

“Maybe even believable enough that you don’t.”

“Will there be any witnesses to contradict it?” she asked, giving me a baleful look.

I thought for a moment. “None that I can think of,” I said.

I heard the wail of police sirens. I looked at Cynthia. “You’re going to be fine,” I told her and then turned to Mary. “And I think you will too.”

“I’ll see to it that you get the proper reward from my husband. The rest, well…”

“Let’s just see how this goes,” I said.

Driscoll and two uniformed officers walked through the front door.

“Good lord, Lumley, what is going on here,” he said, eyes going from the corpse to the two women.

“The stiff is Pete Forrey. He was an associate of the late Richard Sumner. The two of them stole the necklace I was looking for from these ladies. Meet Mary and Cynthia Carrolton.”

“Who shot him?” Driscoll said, looking directly at me.

I tilted my head to Mary. “It was her. She has a .22. The bullets will match up her gun. You’ll want to question her, but I am sure she has an army of pricey mouthpieces that won’t let her talk to you right now. Might as well let her call them now.”

“I think maybe we better do that downtown,” Driscoll said.

“Suit yourself. If you’ll give me a few minutes, I need to dig up the missing jewels.”

“We can handle that, Lumley,” Driscoll said.

“Come on, Driscoll. I played patty-cake here. Let me do my job so I can get the proper attaboys.”

“Five minutes. Boys, go ahead and escort Mrs. Carrolton to the car. Young lady, are you good to drive?”

“Yes sir,” Cynthia said.

“Then I suggest you drive home.”

Cynthia froze.

“Go on, sweetheart,” Mary said. “Everything is alright.”

The women left with the uniformed officers.

I told Driscoll I’d be right back and he nodded. I went into Forrey’s bedroom and found a pouch with the diamonds with no problem.

Driscoll was looking at the body as I came out.

“So, you’ve handed this little present to me all wrapped up, Lumley. And it’s not even Christmas.”

“Every day can be Christmas if you carry it in your heart. Three ghosts taught me that last year.”

“Anything else you want to tell me, Lumley? You sure we won’t determine this guy was plugged with a .38?”

“Positive. I’ll let your suspect tell you the story. I’m just here for the diamonds. Take care, Driscoll.”

I walked out got in my car and drove away.

The diamonds were all accounted for and I filled out a detailed report for Danny Styles and his people with the insurance company. They paid my fee and expenses without hesitation. I had saved them a mint.

I never saw a word about Mary Carrolton’s arrest in the paper. She lawyered up and worked out some kind of deal that meant she was never even indicted. Her story was compelling enough, and I suppose some combination of her high dollar lawyers and her last name probably did the trick. After all, what’s a couple of dead lowlifes compared to the good name of a wealthy family?

A couple of weeks after it all went down, I received a simple handwritten note by mail that said “Thanks for everything, C. C.”

A couple of months later, I arrived at my office one afternoon to find Mary Carrolton waiting for me. We went into my office and she said she was there to deliver my reward. I smiled and she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope. She handed it to me. “There’s a check in there, Mr. Lumley. A big one. Sidney and I owe you a great deal.”

I opened the envelope and looked at the check. I whistled. That was a lot of gratitude.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” I said.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“How is Cynthia?”

“Better. I think, as cruel as this situation was, it may have taught her a lesson. I think she may even be seeing that Lymon boy now. He’s hopeless, but at least he is her age. And not tied up with all the things . . . her last friend was involved in.”

I told her that was good to hear, and then she hugged me before taking a step back.

“I’m afraid, though that the check will have to cover the entire reward. This incident has rattled Sidney and me as much as it did Cynthia. And, well, in an odd way it has made us try again with each other. It’s strange how things work, isn’t it.”

I agreed with her sentiment.

“So, I just wanted to come by and say thank you, Mr. Lumley. Thank you…and goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Mrs. Carrolton.”

She nodded before turning and walking out my door.

Thank you for joining me with my experiment in serialized fiction. I have enjoyed the journey, and hope you have as well.

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