It had to be You

living room and explain.“
    “The lawyer finally came back to Beacon,“ Mrs. Connor said. “He showed me the will, and you and that nurse had witnessed it. How could you have betrayed me that way?“
    “Will?“ Miss Twibell asked. “We did indeed witness your husband’s signature on some sort of document several weeks ago. But we weren’t privy to what the document was. We only signed on the last page, affirming that we’d seen him sign it in our presence. I assumed it was a deed or some other kind of document.“
    “It was his will,“ Mrs. Connor said. “He left me the house, but left the entire farm and outbuildings to our grandsons.“ She started sobbing bitterly. “Our grandsons! Who have grown up hating both of us!“
    “How could he do that?“ Miss Twibell asked. “Didn’t you inherit the property from your family? Why would he be allowed to dispose of it in his will?”
    Mrs. Connor finally lowered her voice. “It was my fault. I was so glad to be married instead of facing a lifetime as a lonely spinster that I imagined I could love him, and he’d love me in return because I had money, a house, and a farm.“ She was sobbing so hard that it was difficult to understand what she was saying. “As a sign of my gratitude, I stupidly signed off the farm to him.“
    “Oh, no!“ Miss Twibell exclaimed. “How could you have thought that was a good idea? Did Mr. Connor suggest it?“
    “No. Well, maybe he hinted at it once or twice. It was the day our son, Stefan, was born and I was so happy that I would have done anything to thank Sean for marrying me and allowing me to become a mother. I assumed, of course, that this darling baby boy would inherit the farm in his turn and take good care of us when we were old and infirm.”
    She put her head in her hands and sobbed, “How could I have known what a nasty man my husband would become? And how much our son and grandsons would come to hate us?”
    Miss Twibell looked stricken. She patted Mrs. Connor’s shoulder and glanced at Lily and Betty, who were standing and gawking helplessly. Nobody had even noticed that Mattie had silently disappeared back into her own room.
    Miss Twibell finally said, “I think you should talk to the lawyer again or, better yet, hire a lawyer of your own. Explain this to him. Tell him how you signed over the farm while you were so emotional you weren’t in your right mind. Maybe the provision in the will could be overturned. I assume it wasn’t written until that lawyer came here. Was there a previous will leaving the farm to you or your son?“
    “I don’t know,“ Mrs. Connor croaked.
    “You really need your own lawyer. Is there another one in Beacon you could hire?“
    “I think so,“ Mrs. Connor said, and finally stopped crying. She pulled a large handkerchief out of her handbag and mopped her face. “You may be right. I can’t bear the thought of our grandsons owning my farm. Neither of them knows how to run a farm. Neither of them has even spoken to me for years. This isn’t right.”
    She rose and straightened her spine, assuming all the haughtiness she’d had before, and walked out without a word of thanks.
    “Maybe I shouldn’t have suggested anything,“ Miss Twibell said to Lily and Betty. “For a moment there, when she was letting down her hair, I had a moment of sympathy for her.“
    “She’s reaped what she sowed,“ Betty said coldly.
    Lily, a little more sensible and worldly than Betty, said, “Miss Twibell, I’d suggest that since Mrs. Connor made no secret of this, you tell Chief Walker what she told us.“
    “Why would it interest him?“
    “Because he’s investigating a murder.”

Chapter 17

    Chief Walker had spent his whole morning trying to determine whether Sean Connor had fought in the Great War. He’d finally found a military record. Connor had been a private, serving only the final year, at a desk in Newark, New Jersey. It would have been easier to simply ask Mrs. Connor. But much more unpleasant.
    Still, could there be a connection between Mark Farleigh and Sean Connor? Could Farleigh have disembarked in Newark and been processed by Connor? Not likely, Walker assumed. Privates probably weren’t involved in that type of work.
    Could Farleigh have known him before the war? Since Farleigh was studying botany, would that have involved working on a farm? Farmers raised crops. That might be a connection. How could he find out? Ask Mrs. Connor? She’d be unlikely to