The Nakamura Letters, page 4
part #7 of Professor Molly Mysteries Series
She kind of snorts and then she says,
“I cannot abide wickedness.”
Well, Irony Alert ahead, Molly. Go pour yourself a glass of wine, fill up your water bottle, get Baby clamped on, and get ready.
Are you back? Okay. Here’s the story.
So Titus, the black sheep brother with the naughty books (yes, those were his books I found, and by “naughty” I mean like Voltaire and Jefferson) was supposed to be next in line to be the pastor. You know, of the little church where their dad was pastor, and his dad before him, etcetera. But like I said, he was the black sheep, and not only was he rebellious and full of heretical ideas, turns out he got someone pregnant.
Well the dad set the girl up with the kid on another island and sent her checks to keep it all quiet. Now Priscilla’s doing a slow burn this whole time. Why does she care? Cause first of all her brother and her used to be pretty close, and now they’re not close anymore, cause he has this whole other family now. And it’s not like she has anything going on. Second it’s not like the family had a lot of money to begin with, and she sees the family fortune going to support her brother’s little love nest.
Okay, so she spends years fuming about it, and then the final insult was that when the father died, he left Titus all the money and the church building and he left Priscilla the house and no cash. And all these years she’d been the one taking care of the father while Titus was out doing whatever, and I guess Priscilla decided she’d had enough. She made her brother a cup of laurel tea, which I guess is poisonous? You should look it up cause you have a good internet connection. I guess I could’ve stopped into a Starbucks and used their WiFi but I didn’t think of it until I got back home.
And he drinks the tea and dies! So he wasn’t lost at sea like it says on his gravestone!
Although in a way he was…
Priscilla packs her brother’s body in a crate, and tells everyone he was lost at sea. Then she calls one of the parishioners who knows the family. She says Titus left behind all these awful books and she’s already boxed them up and wants to get rid of them. So he helps her put the box in the truck and they drive down to the cliffs and dump the box into the ocean.
Meanwhile, this is back before the internet and cable news, so it takes the news a while to get to Titus’s girlfriend. But eventually she does learn that Titus has died, and she comes to claim her part of the inheritance for her daughter. So she shows up at Priscilla’s house.
Now, here she is, this woman who’s stolen Priscilla’s brother from her. So you guessed it, Priscilla invites her in for a cup of tea. This time she stages a suicide. She leaves a note saying she can’t live without Titus.
So if you’re keeping track: Father dies, leaves the house to Priscilla and everything else to Titus. Titus is “lost at sea” so Priscilla inherits his money. Baby mama and love child are out in the cold. Baby mama comes to ask for her share, Priscilla kills her and stages it as a suicide.
Now here’s where it gets interesting: the mother of Titus’s child was his first cousin. She and Priscilla looked enough alike that people thought the dead woman was Priscilla.
The cousin’s name was Betty Brewster.
So I said, genius that I am, but you’re Betty Brewster.
And she goes,
I’m Priscilla Hodges, you idiot. I thought you’d have figured it out by now.
So I asked, what about Betty Brewster’s daughter?
She doesn’t know any of it, Priscilla / Betty said. She was an innocent. I made certain she was raised by a respectable family. I’ve watched over her, in my own way. And she’ll be well provided for when I’m gone.
Did you come into the house and take the letter? I asked. Did you move my glasses?
It was my house, she said. She sold it to the county, and somehow the park ended up taking over the care of it, but she still thought of it as hers.
So it was her poking around in the house, which was the house she grew up in. She just felt entitled to it, I guess, and no one had ever changed the locks.
She died later that night. The name on her chart was Betty Brewster. I think I’m the only one who knew who she really was. It’s too bad. I wish I could’ve gotten to know her better. I’ve never been friends with a real murderer before. That I know of, anyway.
Emma Nakamura, PhD
Professor of Biology
Mahina State University
mahina.edu
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…they are ill discoverers that think there is no land when they can see nothing but sea.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Emma Kano`opomaika`i Nakamura
to Molly
Eh Molly,
I can’t believe I been to your house all those times and never noticed your hedge. I mean I did, but I didn’t really think about what kind of plant it was. So I’ll take the credit for inspiring you to find the information, but I guess you really need to thank the late Betty Brewster aka Priscilla Hodges for bringing it up.
Yes, an enclosed space like your shed full of laurel cuttings would definitely release enough cyanide gas to kill someone, especially someone tiny like Kayla. And yes, you did the right thing telling Detective Medeiros. Don’t worry, when he checks with his experts he’ll realize it was an accident, not a murder.
Good thing you found out now. You don’t want a poisonous hedge with a baby in the house. A fence is probably going to be lower-maintenance anyway. Yeah, I know it means the guys with the chainsaws won’t be going away anytime soon. But you know it’s worth it in the long run.
It’s weird to be packing up now. I’m almost used to being here. Ellie the park ranger stopped by to make sure everything was okay before I checked out. She’s the one who told me “Betty Brewster” passed away. And maybe you saw this coming, I didn’t.
Ellie’s a rich woman now. “Betty Brewster” left everything to her. Ellie thought “Betty” was just someone who loved the outdoors as much as she did. She doesn’t know “Betty” was her aunt. Not to mention the person who murdered Ellie’s biological parents.
So there you go.
I can’t wait to get back to Mahina. I know it’s hard for you to get to a restaurant with all the baby paraphernalia, so how about I just come over and we can order in a pizza? Nettie and me should be back in Mahina by tomorrow afternoon. You’re not allergic to cats, right?
Emma Nakamura, PhD
Professor of Biology
Mahina State University
mahina.edu
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Happy is he who gets to know the reasons for things.
Virgil (70-19 BCE)
About the Author
Like Emma Nakamura, Frankie Bow teaches at a public university. Unlike Emma, she is blessed with delightful students, sane colleagues, and a perfectly nice office chair. Follow Frankie’s blog at frankiebow.com
Thank you for taking the time to read this book. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review. Word of mouth is an author’s best friend and much appreciated.
Mahalo, Frankie
Frankie Bow, The Nakamura Letters
