Page 10 of The Side Road (Love Chronicles #3)

Gazing at the phone, Tash froze. Then she walked straight to the bureau in the living room, pulled out the middle drawer, and retrieved a bottle of liquid paper. ‘Last week, it was all over her hands. She used methylated spirits to get the stains off the kitchen table.’

‘Good god,’ Oliver mumbled. Caught white handed, the woman was shameless. No more proof was necessary. He turned to Tash. ‘Are you up for a treasure hunt?’

An hour later, a search of the house revealed no bundles of cash stashed under any of the beds. The cupboards and the wardrobes were also empty. This was disappointing, but Oliver knew their hunt was superficial.

Standing in the doorway to Elsie’s bedroom, he said, ‘After the funeral, we’ll do a more thorough search of the house. Are you ready for me to pack up Elsie’s things? We can donate what we don’t need. But I don’t want to rush you.’

After looking around the room, Tash nodded.

They headed back to the kitchen, and Oliver asked, ‘Do you think she had an accomplice?’

‘Who?’

‘Good point. Where’s her handbag?’

‘In her bedroom. I’ll get it.’ Turning on her heels, Tash sprinted down the hallway.

When she returned with the handbag, she placed it on the kitchen table. A brown leather crossover style.

‘Nan never left the house without her handbag.’

They stared at the bag. Rummaging through a woman’s handbag felt disrespectful.

Oliver had to remind himself that Elsie was dead and she had tried to donate his house to the church.

He grabbed the bag and pulled the zipper.

A faint, sweet and sour smell escaped – the scent of make-up and old lollies.

Inside the first compartment, they found a used tissue, cough drops, a tube of hand cream, and a lipstick.

The centre partition held her reading glasses.

At the bottom, a thin scarf, a nail file and a pen.

In the last section, they found a small puzzle book, a comb and a few loose bobby pins.

In the side pocket were a single cigarette and a disposable lighter.

Oliver looked at Tash. ‘She smoked? Cigarettes?’

‘I don’t think so.’ Tash scratched her chin.

He tipped the bag upside down and shook it. A loose cough drop and a five-cent coin fell onto the table. He picked up the cigarette. It was in good condition. It hadn’t been rolling around at the bottom of the handbag for the last twenty years.

‘What do we do now?’ Tash asked.

If he were a smoker, Oliver would have lit the cigarette and savoured the taste.

Tash chewed her lip. ‘We haven’t checked the car.’

A search of the car revealed a packet of mints and a wad of tissues in the driver’s side door. The console was empty. So was the boot. But in the glove compartment, they found a hip flask.

‘I’ve never seen that before in my life,’ Tash said. She opened the packet of mints and handed one to her father. Oliver popped it into his mouth. He shook the hip flask – it was full. After unscrewing the top, he sniffed the contents. Whisky.

This was out of character. Perhaps all these years, he had misjudged her? The thought sent a chill down his spine. Her condescending smile, always so carefully maintained, concealed a deviously cunning nature that he had never suspected. The woman was duplicitous.

‘What’s for dinner?’ Tash asked.

‘I haven’t learned how to cook in the last month. What about you? ’

‘A few weeks ago, I helped Nan make orange pork surprise for a church meeting.

‘Anyone die?’

‘Nora Williams died in her sleep.’

‘Natural causes?’

‘She ate a lot of the pork surprise. There was talk.’ Tash nibbled her fingernail.

‘Okay, tonight we eat out. Tomorrow, we’re going back to the supermarket. You know my speciality, steak and salad. Sausages and salad. Grilled chicken and salad.’

‘I don’t eat root vegetables anymore.’

‘Because?’

‘They’re the root part of the plant. It’s what animals eat. Yuck.’ Tash shivered.

‘What about carrots? You like carrots.’

‘I don’t mind carrots. What am I going to read at Nan’s funeral?’

‘I have a few ideas.’

Back in the kitchen, Oliver pulled up a page on his laptop and swung it around to face Tash. ‘My favourite is “Roads Go Ever On”, by Tolkien. The man who wrote The Lord of the Rings .’

‘What’s it about?’

‘Life’s a journey and then we die.’

Tash shook her head. ‘Nan would want something religious.’

‘Okay, there’s one called “God’s Garden”. But a few lines don’t ring true. I’m not sure they’re appropriate for Elsie.’ He opened a new document on the computer. ‘It says, “God always takes the best…and it broke our hearts to lose her.”’

Tash stared at her father.

Oliver smiled. ‘No?’

‘Sometimes I can’t believe you. ’

‘I’d like to point out that what your nan did was illegal and also immoral. For a church person, she liked to bend the rules.’

‘She loved me.’

‘I know. You could read Psalm 23. The Psalm of David. It starts with, “The Lord is my shepherd”. I think Elsie would like it.’

‘Okay, I’ll read the psalm.’

They ate dinner at the King Street pub. The bistro was family friendly.

Oliver ordered the seafood pasta because it was a meal he could never make himself.

Tash ordered a chicken parmigiana, which came with vegetables.

She ate all her fries, and the cheese and ham topping off her chicken.

The vegetables she left untouched. Over dinner, they played two rounds of gin rummy.

At the end of the meal, the results were even.

When they arrived home, Tash disappeared into her room to learn the psalm.

Oliver opened his laptop on the kitchen table.

After an hour of researching, he ordered a new bed, an outdoor setting for the front veranda, and a desk for Tash.

Next, he watched a short video on hand-washing wool.

He headed straight for the laundry and followed the advice.

He left the mohair gloves to dry in the shade.