Murder Read online

  He held the coffee out to me again. I reached out to take it, but whirled around and added four names next to Pepper’s at the cabin - Mama, Lucille, Jackie, and Floyd.

  “You’re joking, right?” he asked.

  I shook my head. “I wish I were. They were all there last night. Mama even fired the murder weapon in the cabin.” I added Mama firing a gun to the bizarre drawing.

  After I had howled in bed last night when Glenn accidentally bumped my arm, I told him about the man shooting me and how Floyd had stitched the wound. He inspected the gunshot more closely this morning. Little by little, I was feeding him details of everything that happened since he dropped me at Matt’s office on Monday morning.

  But I hadn’t yet mentioned Mama, Lucille, and Jackie, and he became agitated when he realized they also knew where Pepper was.

  “This is going to get out of control fast,” he said. “I’m willing to hold off going to Sarge for a day or two, but that’s all the time we have. We need to find answers fast.”

  “I know, and I appreciate you’re not running to him today.” I pointed to the wall. “The answer is already here. I feel it, but I can’t see it.”

  He grabbed the now dry washcloth we had left on the recliner last night and used it to wipe away the extra picture of me shooting Barbie. “Let’s try to stick to what we know is true, ok?”

  I smiled. “It felt good to draw it.”

  He pulled me close for a kiss and said, “I’m sure it did.”

  I heard my cell phone ring and ran downstairs to grab it from the coffee table. It was Jean Young.

  “Good morning,” I said.

  “Jo. I’m glad you picked up. I want to thank you for advising me to keep a cool head when I talked to Harvey. I just got a call from him in DC, and he was finally able to explain that the woman you saw him with is a witness against her boss in a high-profile murder trial. I can’t tell you any more than that, but all the late-night calls and secrecy were work related.”

  This was good news, and I even expected something like this, but I had to ask another question to be sure the situation was truly resolved. “Isn’t that normal for his line of work? Why did you suspect he was having an affair if this type of behavior is in line with his job duties?”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but this is the first time he’s had to deal so closely with a woman informant, and he said she’s rather flashy. He was afraid if I saw her or heard their cover was that they were getting married, I’d kill her.”

  What do you say when someone admits her husband thinks she’s capable of murder?

  “I’m kidding,” she said. “Send your bill to me on Monday, but if there’s anything I can ever do for you, let me know. I know your advice came from your heart, and I appreciate it.”

  I thanked her and hung up. I never planned on calling her or seeing her dogs ever again. I dashed outside to grab my newspaper from the wet grass and my laptop from the back seat of my truck. I took both up to the murder room. Glenn was sitting in the recliner, staring at the wall. He had used a red marker to draw three humps across the board.

  “What are the humps for?” I asked.

  “I’m not sure, but I’m with you. The answer is here, but it’s not clear. It all falls apart at Chummy’s.”

  “That’s where it breaks for me, too.” I tossed the paper to him. “I can’t look. You do it, and tell me if Jackie sold me and Pepper down the river.”

  I set my laptop on the only other chair in the room and dragged the small table over to it. The eggs and toast were cold now. I set the plate on the floor, placed my laptop on the table, and sat down.

  “I have to work on some of this mess with Barbie,” I said. “Pepper should be ok at the cabin for a few days, and I need to get around to some of the police stations where Barbie used to work. I haven’t even run any background checks on her yet.”

  “I probably could have swiped a copy of her personnel file.”

  “Your job is already on the line, and I don’t want you to do anything that will make things worse for you.”

  Like most cities and towns, the Sunday edition of the local newspaper was the largest paper of the week. Glenn tossed the ads, comics, classifieds, and sports onto the floor before carefully perusing the remaining sections.

  “Nothing. Not a peep about the murder or Pepper’s abduction,” he said. “You know, that was a stroke of genius when you convinced everyone the shooter took off with her. The entire force is working overtime canvassing neighborhoods. Even the Patterson police are watching for her over there.”

  I wasn’t surprised there wasn’t anything more about the murder. Jackie’s lengthy article had run in yesterday’s paper. There probably wouldn’t be any updates for another day or two – unless there was breaking news.

  It dawned on me that Glenn wasn’t working overtime with everyone else. “Why aren’t you working today? Are you going in tonight? And come to think of it, I wasn’t expecting you last night. Why did you show up here?”

  He smiled. “Barbie and I had just walked into the station when your call came in about the reporters on your property. Sarge sent us over and said to be sure to close the garage door when we were done. I still have my keys to your house, so after we moved everyone into the street, I had Barbie wait while I checked inside. I wanted to be sure no one had gotten in, and I was kind of hoping you might be home, so I came in and looked around.”

  He ran both hands through his hair. I knew he was upset thinking about his initial reaction to my drawings.

  “I have to tell you, Jo, I was sick to my stomach when I unlocked the door and came in here. We went back to the station, and I was going to tell Sarge you had Pepper stashed in a cabin somewhere, but instead, I grabbed the ipecac we keep on hand for poisoning victims and took a hefty dose. I stayed at the station to do paperwork until I was barfing my guts out twenty minutes later. Sarge wasn’t surprised when I called off sick today. I needed time to be with you and talk about this.”

  My eyes bugged a little. “I can’t believe you did that. Mama gave me ipecac once, and I would have rather died. It was the most disgusting stuff that ever went into my mouth. I’ll never forget it.” But I couldn’t hold back a smile. I appreciated what he put himself through to be with me. “Does Barbie know where you are?”

  He shook his head. “I sent a text to her earlier and told her I had the flu and was staying in bed all day. I told her if it was the twenty-four hour variety, I’d see her tomorrow.”

  I thought for a minute. “I should run up to that apartment building today and talk to some of the people going in and out. Maybe I can find out what’s up with Malloy and the drugs and how Barbie’s connected to him.”

  “No. You might run into her there. I’ll talk to Sarge tomorrow and tell him about Malloy and what he’s up to. He can look into the man quietly without raising Barbie’s suspicions.”

  “Mama probably knows who’s paying him and who’s not. Have Sergeant Rorski talk to her first.” I thought about the situation for a minute. “Do you think Clay and Frankie are in on the scam?”

  “Not a chance. I don’t know about Frankie, but I know Clay’s an upstanding guy. He won’t bend the rules. If he gets wind of where Pepper is, he’ll take as many officers as Sarge will give him to arrest her.”

  We both fell silent.

  Not knowing how I was going to defend myself against Barbie’s charges, and not knowing how I could help Pepper, were uppermost on my mind. I imagined Glenn was worrying about losing his job for not reporting Pepper’s whereabouts the minute he knew where she was.

  I logged onto our office server and accessed our account with Arnie’s preferred database. Barbie’s records were basic and clean. She was an Ohio native, a graduate of Bowling Green State University with a criminal justice degree, no arrests, and no marriages. She had bounced from one police department to the next all around the state, working in all the major cities – Toledo, Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron, an
d Youngstown. Buxley was the smallest department she had worked for to date. Sandwiched between Akron and Youngstown was a short stint in Portsmouth.

  Portsmouth.

  Something about the city was familiar. I had never been there, but it had come up in recent months.

  “Glenn, do you know anyone from Portsmouth?”

  He looked up from the newspaper. “Nope. Never been there.”

  Where did I read about the city? It had to be something in conjunction with my job. My brain slowly cycled through our work cases and produced the information when a name popped into my head. I typed the name into the database search box.

  A huge smile spread across my face. I grabbed the laptop and squashed Glenn’s newspaper as I dropped the computer onto his lap with Barbie’s file and the new file open. I pointed to the wall. “Your humps might be right,” I said.

  He looked at the information on the laptop and on the wall. I saw light come into his eyes. He smiled and said, “Let’s go to the cabin.”

  ~ ~ ~

  My heart jumped when I saw the black SUV in front of Pepper’s hideout.

  “Who’s that?” Glenn asked as he pulled in slowly and parked directly behind the vehicle. “I thought you said no one would be here.”

  “I have no idea. It looks like an official vehicle. What if it belongs to the Secret Service or the FBI? Who gets involved in kidnappings?”

  “Everyone gets involved in kidnappings,” he said. “They’re Ohio plates with no special designation. Do you want me to call the station and have the plates run?”

  “You’re supposed to be home sick. You can’t call the station. Let’s just go in and see who’s in there. If they’re from a government agency, you can say you came to arrest Pepper.”

  We walked slowly to the door and listened. There were no noises from within. “This isn’t right,” I whispered. “I don’t hear anyone.”

  Glenn stepped up to the door, pulled his gun from his holster, and flipped the safety off. He turned the doorknob slowly. Of course, it wasn’t locked.

  He pushed the door open with his free hand, ready to fire his gun with the other.

  Pepper screamed and jumped up from the sofa, her dinner plate falling from her lap onto the floor. She burst into tears.

  Mama jumped up from the kitchen table and ran to put her arm around Pepper. “Glenn Wheeler! Look what you’ve done now. Put that gun away before you accidentally shoot someone.”

  I stepped into the cabin and was way past gobsmacked, thunderstruck, and horrified at the scene before me.

  “What’s going on here?” I asked.

  “Sunday dinner,” Hank said. “You’re late.”

  The cabin was full. Mama, Hank, Nancy, and Lucille had seats at the kitchen table. Floyd was in the upholstered chair with a plate of fried chicken and macaroni and cheese on his lap. Before Pepper had jumped up, she, Aunt Bee and Rita from the bed and breakfast were lined up on the sofa.

  “The Blue Hat Society has agreed to take on Pepper’s case, and we’re here to help,” Rita said.

  When I made eye contact with Nancy, she was grinning so big, I knew she was going to explode. Before I could stop her, the words poured out of her mouth.

  “Does this mean you two are back together and our double wedding is on?” she asked.

  Pepper’s tears had turned to sniffles. Through the sniffles she asked, “A double wedding? You and Glenn are getting married with Nancy and Hank?” She burst into tears again.

  I had no idea why she was crying. Mama continued to hug her and soothe her like a baby. I looked at Glenn, closed my eyes, and shook my head. “I’m sorry. It was something Nancy and I talked about, but it was supposed to be a secret until this mess with Barbie was over. I haven’t seen you to discuss it with you.”

  His only response was, “We’ll talk about it later.” He slipped his gun into his holster and asked everyone, “Does anyone else know Pepper is here other than the people in this room right now?”

  Pepper was back to sniffles. “Buck and the kids know. They’re on their way home. They won’t be coming to the cabin.”

  “I doubt that,” Glenn said under his breath. “Anybody else?”

  A knock sounded on the door.

  “Everyone, hide!” Lucille yelled and dove under the table.

  Glenn opened the door.

  Jackie walked in with three pie boxes.

  “Jackie knows,” Mama said.

  Glenn grabbed my arm, pulled me into the bathroom, and closed the door. “We have to work fast. This is a disaster of epic proportions waiting to happen. You and I have to get out of here. Everyone in this cabin will be arrested if the police show up.”

  “You’re the police,” I said.

  “Not today. I’m your fiancé, and I’m obviously getting married in June instead of December.” He gave me a peck on the lips. “Let’s get the gun and bullets and get out of here. We don’t want the gun taken for evidence if everyone is arrested.”

  “Do you really think the cabin is going to be raided?”

  “No, but once someone slips up and tells the wrong person where Pepper is, it will all be over very fast.” His words caused my stomach to flop.

  We left the bathroom, and Glenn went to ask Mama what she aimed at last night. Pepper was quickly by my side, hugging me with all her might.

  “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me? A double wedding will be beautiful.”

  Just like Nancy, her exuberance concerned me. “You can’t tell anyone. Make sure everyone knows to keep their mouth shut. If Barbie finds out Glenn and I are still seeing each other, who knows what she might do. I think she’s deranged.”

  Jackie joined us. “I knew something was up with you and Glenn. You stayed with him the night you made bail, didn’t you?”

  I eyed her suspiciously. Was she being friendly or angling for a story? I felt guilty for not trusting my friend. “I did, but there’s something I can’t talk about yet, and it has to do with Barbie. It’s important she thinks we’re not a couple.”

  Jackie didn’t press for details. “Ok. Do you want some pie?”

  I smiled. I knew she didn’t want to upset me. “No. We have to go. Glenn called off sick today, and he needs to get home before someone checks on him and finds out he’s not there.”

  “What’s he doing?” Pepper asked.

  I followed her gaze and saw Glenn standing on a chair, using his pocketknife to dig the bullets out of a wooden beam protruding from the ceiling. Floyd stood beside him with a hand on the back of the chair to hold it steady.

  “He’s digging out the bullets Mama fired last night. We’re going to have them checked to see if they match any others in the system. We need to take the gun with us, too.”

  “Good,” Pepper said. “I hate having it here after it went off on Mama like that last night.”

  I couldn’t help the loud ha! that popped out of my mouth. “It didn’t go off on Mama. I brought bullets for the gun, and Mama found them in my coat. She loaded the gun and shot it.”

  Jackie chuckled, but Pepper’s eyes bugged out. “Why would you buy bullets?”

  “I thought you and I could fire a couple rounds into trees to get bullet samples. Someone wanted to get rid of that gun, and I think it might have been used in other crimes. The test results could lead us to the killer.”

  “So, Mama did you a favor and shot the gun for you,” Pepper said.

  I smiled. “I guess she did.”

  Glenn hopped down and nodded to me. I knew he wanted to leave right away. I turned to Pepper.

  “You have to drill it into everyone’s head that if they tell anyone you’re here, it blows everything. Make sure they know if word gets out, and the police get you, they could all go to jail, too. Oh, and don’t forget to tell them not to say anything about Glenn and me being together. Barbie might go on a killing spree. That ought to shut everyone up.”

  I didn’t really think Barbie would go on a killing spree, bu
t I was all for telling a few whoppers so everyone would keep their mouth shut.

  Pepper looked scared, but that was a good thing. She was far too comfortable here and had her own false sense of security.

  “Ok, I will. Let me get the gun for you,” she said and headed for the refrigerator.

  Mama had been busy in the kitchen and brought a large plate of food covered with plastic wrap to me. “You need to eat. You don’t look healthy.”

  “I don’t want it,” I said. “It’ll just go to waste.”

  “No it won’t,” Glenn said and grabbed the plate. “I’ll eat it. Thanks, Estelle.”

  Aunt Bee and Rita had remained seated on the sofa and both assured me now that the Blue Hat Society would have Pepper and me free as birds in no time. I cringed inside but thanked them for their help. I knew it was useless to argue.

  Hank waved from his seat in the kitchen. Nancy was frowning at Lucille, who was still under the table. She had apparently gone to sleep on the floor. Nancy sprayed the can of air freshener over her.

  Once we had the gun and said our final goodbyes, we headed back to Buxley.

  “What now?” Glenn asked. “Do you want me to talk to Sergeant Rorski?”

  “No. You have to stay as far away from this as possible. I’ll go see him tonight after you leave.”

  “Tonight? After I leave?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “I thought I was going home and going back to bed with my flu right now.”

  I was so happy to be with him, I actually giggled. “You only have a touch of the blue flu. I get you for a few more hours. Besides, I assume your car is in my garage. I don’t think you should leave until after dark.”

  We spent the next several hours relaxing and enjoying each other. We deliberately avoided talking about my upcoming trial, Pepper, or the murder at Chummy’s. An intense ache filled my heart when it was time for him to leave.

  I backed my truck out of the driveway and waited while he backed out of the garage and headed down Clark Street.

  My ache turned to nervous excitement. It was time to talk with Sergeant Rorski.