Death and Honesty Read Online Free Page B

and Ocypete gaped at her.
    Ellen held her glasses case by its chain and swung it back and forth. “I told Miss Sampson that Oliver had made a mistake and we’d speak to him. After she left, I went to the office and found a copy of a third bill, the one she received.”
    “Based on twenty million!” gasped Selena.
    “Three different bills.” Ellen paused and glanced first at Selena, then at Ocypete and repeated, “Three different bills.”
    Ocypete picked up a stack of the property cards, plucked one out at random, and laid it down on the table. “He’s tax collector.”
    Ellen nodded. “Right.”
    “Taxpayers mail checks to him.”
    “Right.”
    “He deposits the checks into the town account.”
    Ellen agreed. “With a certain portion going into the setting-aside account, of course.”
    Ocypete nodded. “Does Oliver have a separate private account?”
    “It would seem so,” said Ellen.
    Ocypete glanced at her cards and plucked out another one. “Tillie’s beginning to look better all the time.”
    “A bit late, isn’t it,” said Ellen.
    “Oliver can’t do that,” Selena cried. “Changing the assessment without our approval. That’s not,” she hesitated, “legal. He simply has to go.”
    Ocypete snorted.
    Ellen smiled. “The selectmen appointed him. They’re the only ones who can fire him. Talk to Denny.”
    “Oliver is Denny Rhodes’s cousin,” said Ocypete.
    “No, no,” corrected Selena. “Denny’s wife is Oliver’s cousin.”

    “How much in taxes are we talking about?” asked Ocypete.
    “A lot.” Ellen jotted some figures on the scratch pad in front of her.
    “I don’t understand,” said Selena.
    “What don’t you understand?” Ocypete muttered. “He’s a greedy bastard.”
    Ellen held up her notes. “His bill to Delilah Sampson, based on a property assessment of twenty million dollars, was around one hundred thousand. If she had paid without question, as she always has, the town would get a little over seventy-five thousand. Fifteen thousand would have gone into the setting-aside account. The remaining ten thousand is not accounted for.”
    “He’s spoiled everything,” muttered Ocypete. “Who else has he overbilled?”
    “You mean … ?” murmured Selena.
    Ocypete turned on her. “Ellen means, Selena dear, that a small difference in assessment of a mere two million dollars has broken the camel’s back.”
    “What shall we do?” Selena wrung her hands. “Perhaps we can call it a terrible misunderstanding?”
    Ellen set her elbows on the table and leaned forward. “We need to have a little talk with Oliver.”
    “Soon,” agreed Ocypete.

CHAPTER 5
    By the time Delilah emerged from the bathroom with the tearstained damage to her face repaired, Victoria had made up her mind. “I’ll talk to Oliver Ashpine about your assessment. Will you give me a ride to Town Hall?” She glanced down at the knees of her gray corduroy slacks, stained from kneeling by her flower borders earlier that afternoon, and brushed off what dirt she could.
    “Thank you, Mrs. Trumbull. You won’t tell him what I said? I mean, about my farm and divorce?”
    “You needn’t worry about that.”
    “Darcy can drop you off at Town Hall and bring you home again.”
    McCavity, Victoria’s marmalade cat, rubbed up against her. She gave him some fresh cat chow and filled his water bowl. She then left a note for Elizabeth, who was at work.
    Once they were outside, the chauffeur held the limousine door for them. Victoria could see only his mouth, set in a faint, crooked smile. His visored cap shaded his face. Something about him was familiar. Where had she seen him before? She climbed into the backseat, sank into the soft leather upholstery, and stretched out her long legs.
    Delilah slid in next to her. “Town Hall, Darcy.”
    The car wafted them away. Victoria could scarcely feel the ruts and bumps in her driveway. Delilah chattered, but Victoria heard only the rich hum of the car’s