Page 74 of The Bride Wore White

“I did a few for her after Grandma died.” Prudence hesitated. “The thing is, she died last night. Accidental fall.”

“Oh my,” Zorana said. “That will certainly send a shudder through the business world here in San Francisco. There was nothing in the morning papers, but I’m sure there will be in the afternoon edition. I expect it will be front-page news. This is a rather astonishing turn of events for Dover Industries. First the eldest son is murdered in a bizarre manner, and now the woman who built the company into what it is today is dead. Was she vacationing in Burning Cove?”

“No. She came here to find me. She thought I had something to do with the murder of her son.”

“Nonsense. Why on earth would you kill Gilbert Dover? And even if you did decide to do that, you certainly would not have made such a dramatic mess of things.”

“Thanks. I think.”

“I suppose this leaves the other Dover boy in charge of the company.”

“Yes. And he’s not a boy. Rollins Dover and his wife are in town at the moment. But I called because I have some questions about Mrs.Dover’s longtime housekeeper, Maud Hollister.”

“I remember that poor woman. She often accompanied Clara to the readings.”

“Poorwoman?” Prudence said.

“Not in the financial sense. She has been employed in the Dover household all these years, including during the worst of the bad times. But I always felt sorry for her. She was an unhappy, bitter woman.”

“Because she had Clara Dover for an employer?”

“Well, I’m sure that was part of it. It can’t have been easy working for that woman all these years. But I was referring to what happened to Hollister in the early days of her employment in the Dover household.”

Prudence caught her breath. “What was that?”

“Mind you, the only reason I know the truth is because I did a few readings for Hollister on the side. At reduced fees, of course. I needed more information about Clara Dover, and I knew the best way to get some background was to do a reading for her housekeeper.” Zorana paused. “Housekeepers know all the secrets of a household.”

“Did Clara know you were consulting for Maud Hollister?”

“No, not unless Maud told her, which I very much doubt. Poor Maud was little more than a girl when she first went into the Dover household. Fourteen or fifteen, I think. That dreadful monster,Copeland Dover, raped her. Got her pregnant. As is so often the case in those situations, Maud was let go immediately.”

“Do you know where she went?”

“The East Coast. Clara Dover bought the train ticket for her to make sure she left the city. I believe she gave Maud a little money to see her on her way. A very small sum, I might add. Clara has never been known for her generosity. I don’t know how Maud survived financially. It must have been very hard. At any rate, she had the baby and raised him on her own until he was about five or six. At that point she packed him off to boarding school and returned to San Francisco. She was immediately hired back into the Dover household.”

“Wait,” Prudence said, stunned. “The child went to a boarding school? Don’t you mean an orphanage?”

“No, I meant what I said. Someone paid the boy’s boarding school fees for years, and I think it’s safe to say that individual was Clara Dover.”

“Clara is an excellent businesswoman, but as you said, she is not known for her generosity.”

“No,” Zorana said. “There is only one way to explain why Clara Dover would have paid for a fancy boarding school for her employee’s illegitimate son, and it wasn’t because she felt sorry for the girl.”

“Clara paid for the school because she knew the son was Copeland’s?”

“I’m sure she knew, but that would not have made her any more sympathetic. That sort of thing happens a lot. Wealthy men in society rarely acknowledge their illegitimate offspring. Remember, at first Clara just wanted to get Maud as far away as possible. Why do you think she paid for that ticket to the East Coast? I’m sure she forgot about Maud as soon as the girl was out of town.”

“So why did Clara pay for boarding school and take Maud Hollister back into the household as an employee?”

“In the course of a reading, Maud let slip that she couldprovethe boy was Copeland’s offspring.”

“How? All Copeland Dover had to do was deny the child was his. There’s no reliable way to prove paternity.”

“Maud Hollister told me she could prove the boy was Copeland’s because of an unusual birthmark. Evidently all three of Copeland’s sons have the same mark, and it is distinctive. That sort of evidence would not have survived in a court of law, but the press here in San Francisco would have run wild with the story.”

“So Maud threatened to reveal the truth about her son’s parentage and provide proof that could not be disputed if Clara didn’t pay for the boy’s boarding school education?”

“Yes,” Zorana said. “Clara was always keen to avoid scandal. By then she was already running the company, and she was determined to build an empire. She wasn’t about to let Copeland’s philandering stop her. When he conveniently dropped dead after Maud returned, there was, in fact, a lot of gossip in the psychic community to the effect that Copeland Dover’s death was probably not by natural causes.”

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