Free Murder by the Spoonful: An Antique Hunters Mystery by Vicki Vass Page A

When I was a little girl, we used it for our Christmas tree.” Anne had wondered what had happened to it. She hadn’t recalled seeing it at Sybil’s house.
    “When I asked about it, she shrugged me off,” Jon Berman said. The buzzer sounded in the room. “The other attorney should be here now. Let me do the talking,” he said to Anne.
    Kimberly opened the door and led a sharply dressed young attorney into the room. He was followed by Suzanne, Jack, Uncle Dick, Aunt Sharon and a few other Hillstroms. They all took places at the large conference table across from Anne. The two attorneys shook hands and introduced themselves. Anne never stopped staring across the table at Suzanne and Jack.
    Suzanne lowered her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to look back at Anne. Jack sat with a smirk on his face. He was wearing the same Vikings jersey that he’d worn to the anniversary party.
    “Mr. Stilton and I spoke on the phone yesterday. We thought it might be best for us all to meet in person,” Jon Berman said to the group. “After reviewing your Great Aunt’s will, I can see no reason to contest it.”
    Mr. Stilton reached into his briefcase, which he’d plopped onto the table as Berman was speaking. “I have signed statements from nine blood relatives of Sybil Hillstrom. All of them state that Sybil had showed signs of dementia and paranoia for the past few years. In the past few months, she had become a shut in, not answering calls or leaving the house.”
    “How would they know? No one ever went to visit her,” Anne interrupted. “No one called her.” She looked around at her family members. “I’m as bad as the rest of you. I’ll be the first to admit it. How can you say she wasn’t right? You didn’t know her.”
    “I saw her. I saw her three weeks ago,” Jack said. “I was in town doing a job. Suzy wanted me to stop in and see her. I noticed some boards were loose on her front porch. The whole porch needed to be fixed. I offered to do the job for cost and she never paid me.”
    “I can understand why she never paid you after seeing the shoddy work you did at my house,” Anne said. Mr. Berman put his hand on Anne’s arm to stop her.
    “You don’t have any medical records or doctor’s testimony to indicate that Miss Hillstrom was anything other than eccentric, do you, Mr. Stilton? There’s no law against that,” Mr. Berman said.
    Jack stood up and pounded the table. “That old bitch was crazy and she deserved what she got.”
    Suzanne jumped up and pushed Jack back into his chair. “Shut up. Just shut up. I don’t want to do this!” she screamed. “I loved Sybil. She doesn’t deserve any of this.” Suzanne started crying and ran out of the conference room. Anne ran out after her.
    They stood in the hallway. Suzanne buried her face in her hands, sobbing and gasping for air. “Suzy, just catch your breath. It’s okay,” said Anne, putting her arm around her cousin.
    “It’s not okay. Nothing’s okay,” Suzanne struggled to speak through her tears.
    Anne pulled a lace handkerchief out of her pocket and handed it to Suzanne, who held it to her eyes. “Thanks,” Suzanne sniffled.
    “Take a deep breath and we can talk,” Anne said.
    “I can’t live with him anymore, but I feel trapped. I’ve got the kids, no home. I’ve got no job, no money.”
    “I know,” Anne said.
    “What am I going to do? After what just happened, I can’t be alone with him,” Suzanne said.
    Anne grabbed Suzanne by the shoulders, locking eyes with her. “You can’t live with him anymore. You have to leave him right now. He’s going to hurt you––or worse––he’s going to hurt the kids.”
    Suzanne rolled up her sleeve, looking at the floor too ashamed to admit it was true. Her arm was badly bruised and cut. She raised her red-stained puffy eyes to Anne’s.
    Anne fought to hold back the tears. “I know, honey. I know what you’ve been going through. I’m ashamed that I didn’t try harder to