Alex Harris 00 - Poisoned

care of my own appetite, I ventured into the room. Spying a couple sitting over by the window, I went to introduce myself.
    “Nice to meet you. I’m Larry Estenfelder and this is my wife, April.”
    I shook hands with the two people before me. April was a spunky looking thing with a head of short black curls—much like Samantha’s first Barbie; the curls anyway, the body looked more in line with reality.
    “Won’t you have a seat?” April offered. They parted and I squeezed into the space.
    “You’re May’s son?”
    “Yes, that’s right. I have a brother, Steven, though I haven’t seen him.” Larry craned his neck and looked around the room.
    “I saw him earlier,” I volunteered.
    “I’m sure he had to pop off to some meeting or another. More than likely playing tennis with some bimbo.”
    “Hush, Larry. You shouldn’t talk about your brother like that, not at a time like this. You’ll have to excuse Larry.” April leaned toward me. “He and Steven don’t get along.” She sat up a bit and glanced across me to her husband giving him a scornful look.
    Larry Estenfelder looked nothing like his brother. Larry was a mess. He wore a pair of pants with just a bit of a flare at the bottom and a plain, off-white shirt in need of a good dose of Clorox. His tie was spotted with some long-ago drip, actually many drips if the assortment of patterns was any indication. He had the thickest white hair I had ever seen and to say it needed a good cut was putting it mildly. A pair of fat earlobes stuck out from underneath the hair and the top button of his shirt pinched one of his chins.
    His wife, on the other hand, looked nicely put together. A small woman with a rounded figure, she had a bubbly personality and a happy face to match. Her clothing was of good quality and looked new, as well as her shoes. When she brought her sandwich to her lips I noticed the ring on her finger. Larry may not have any taste in the clothes department but he was no slouch when it came to a wedding ring for his wife.
    “You’re helping our aunt, how nice.” April daintily put the sandwich back on the plate. “This must be so difficult for her, I mean Bradley dying in her house and all. It’s kind of creepy.”
    “I understand both of you came over on Monday night,” I said, wanting to get on with my own investigation. I needed to take advantage of every moment I could before John poked his head in and saw me. I know I’m tooting my own horn, but after solving the murder a year before—the first murder in Indian Cove in over a hundred years—I thought I really possessed a flare for this kind of work.
    “Why yes, we were,” April said, dragging me away from my reverie. “We never miss one of these family get-togethers. Not that May would let us, mind you. My mother-in-law has a way of getting what she wants.”
    “Didn’t you want to come? I mean, from what I hear, the whole family wanted to sell the land.”
    “Doesn’t really mean much to me or my wife,” Larry said a little too quickly, causing me to snap my head around the other way. “I’ve got my trust fund. We just came along because, well…because.”
    “I think I understand.” I thought for a moment. Larry must have a lot more in a trust fund than I had thought if he lived on it. Mrs. Brissart said that neither May nor June’s husband had left them well off, but maybe all the money went to the kids.
    “Your brother? Is he anxious for it to sell?”
    “Steven? Steven has no use for sentiment. He doesn’t care how long that land and house have been in our family. He’s like the rest of them; all he sees are dollar signs and a bigger bank account.”
    I nodded. Larry just mentioned a trust account and didn’t seem averse to using it. Didn’t that put him in the same league with his brother? And hadn’t Mrs. Brissart mentioned Larry’s inventions never amounted to anything? He must be living off of something, I thought. Maybe his indifference to the land was a ruse meant to throw me, and possibly the entire family, off track. After all, April bought nice clothes and they had two children to support. The sparkle off the rock on April’s left hand brought me back to the conversation.
    “I understand everyone left at the same time on Monday,” I said.
    “Hmmm, excuse me,” April said as she took a big swallow. “That bread really sticks to the roof of your mouth. Yes, that’s right, we all left together. May and June ran the show after all,