Murder Between the Covers Read online

  “What happens now?” Tabitha asked. She motioned toward Jackie. “If you’re with a newspaper, I assume you’ll be writing about this, right? But if you do, Ed will fire me for sure, and he’ll probably lose his job, too. The museum isn’t going to want negative publicity with it being so new.”

  “She can write her story without using your names,” I said. Jackie shot a look my way that included a frown. “But we can’t keep the police from coming to question you. Now that we’re certain Meredith was murdered, we have to take our findings to our police sergeant.”

  She appeared frightened. “I have a child. I can’t go to jail.”

  Jackie looked squarely at her and asked, “Tabitha, did you kill Meredith?”

  Her eyes flew open as wide as they could go. Tears filled them. “No! I didn’t. She was already dead when I found her.”

  I believed her, and I felt sorry for her. On some level, I had become desensitized to seeing a dead person, but I remember how it felt the first few times. It must have been a terrible shock for her to find Meredith. How she managed to look calm when she left the bookstore was still surprising to me.

  I hoped I looked sympathetic when I said, “The best thing to do is tell the truth when you’re questioned. Our sergeant is fair, and if you cooperate and answer his questions honestly, you shouldn’t have any problems.”

  She nodded and dabbed a tissue to her eyes before standing to walk with us to the elevator.

  Jackie attempted to lighten the mood. “We stopped at your house before coming here. Your daughter is adorable.”

  “Thank you,” she said. “Her name is Chloe.”

  “We met your husband, too,” I said.

  She shook her head. “I’m not married. That’s my brother, Jeremy. He’s unemployed, so he’s staying at my place.”

  I wanted to tell her he was doing a terrible job of watching Chloe, but I kept my mouth shut.

  After we made our way out of the museum and into Jackie’s car, we didn’t even have our seatbelts buckled before she was demanding to know what was going on. I knew I couldn’t tell her the town council had hired us to look into the mayor, but I realized I didn’t have to.

  “I’ll tell you everything I know if you stay in the right-hand lane and drive the speed limit all the way back to Buxley.”

  A potentially breaking story was of more importance to her than testing her racing skills. She agreed to sane driving.

  “We also need to set some ground rules,” I said.

  “No. No rules. You can’t keep restricting me in my job, Jo. I have a duty to report the news as I find out about it.”

  “Can you honestly say you would use Tabitha and Ed’s names in a story if you knew it would get them fired? Especially when they didn’t do anything illegal?”

  “You don’t know that. Either one of them could have murdered Meredith.”

  “But you can’t speculate that in a news article.”

  “Ok, so maybe that’s not the best example, but you’re going to ask me not to print what you’re about to say. You always do, and that’s not right.”

  “You’ve held off before, and it paid off in the end. I don’t want to argue with you about this. If you want to know what I know, you’re not printing what I tell you. At least not yet.”

  She clenched her lips, and I saw her hands grip the steering wheel a little tighter. On one hand, I didn’t blame her for fussing. She wasn’t Buxley’s star reporter, and she hadn’t won her numerous awards, by sitting on stories.

  “Ok. Spill. We can talk about what I can and can’t print when you’re done.”

  “I have the map to the Confederate gold.”

  The entrance ramp to the interstate was only a few hundred feet ahead of us. She swerved into the lane to our left to avoid accessing the ramp. For a second, I felt like a rag dog and couldn’t grab the dash in time to keep my shoulder from hitting the car door. The man in the car behind us blared his horn.

  “What the hell, Jackie!” I screeched.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m not driving while you drop bombs on me. Let’s get lunch at the plaza. We can talk, and I can take notes while we eat.”

  I rubbed the side of my head. A slight pain made me realize I must have bumped it on the window when she swerved. “All right, but you’re still driving the speed limit on the way home.”

  We agreed our best option for privacy would be The Broken Nine Iron, an upscale bar with loft seating.

  After waiting twenty minutes for a corner booth upstairs to open, our waiter took our order and had our drinks in front of us in less than two minutes. I suspected patrons were cycled in and out of the restaurant as quickly as possible during the lunch rush.

  Jackie slapped her notebook on the table. “How do you know you have the map to the Confederate gold?”

  “Let me give you a little background first. Besides Tabitha and Ed, the mayor is also looking for the map. All three of them were relying on Peggy and Meredith to help find copies of Treasure Island, but what they didn’t know was Meredith used to work at that very same jail in Gary, Indiana where the story originated. I think she heard the story of the book and the map and moved here to look for it. Peggy didn’t ask her to work for her in the bookstore, Meredith pushed her way in.”

  “Do you think Peggy killed Meredith for the map?”

  “I think Peggy killed Meredith but not for the map. I told you, I have the map. According to the mayor, Meredith was threatening to take the store away from Peggy if she didn’t pay her for all the improvements she made. Of course, Peggy couldn’t afford to pay her, so she had motive to kill her, stage it as an accident, and run off to Florida for a while.”

  “How did you get the map, and how do you know it’s the right one?”

  “I don’t know if it’s the right one. It could have been made by a child, and Keith was coloring it with colored pencils. He found it in a copy of Treasure Island that Pepper bought at the book sale last week. The map is definitely old though. It shows the boundary of a farm, an X, and Sneider’s Creek – spelled with an e-i instead of a y.”

  Jackie was quick to give me a history lesson. “It could be referencing Schneider’s Creek. The creek dried up over seventy years ago. The Muskingum Watershed choked it off to stop the flooding of Buxley. Homes had been built on the water’s edge, and as the town grew, the creek ended up running through town, parallel to Main Street.”

  I had to think for a minute. Something about the creek was important. After I gathered maps of the town from the courthouse, I would be able to compare them to the book’s map and determine the correct spot for the X. It was the name Schneider that was needling me in the back of my mind. It felt important.

  “What’s with the Schneider family?” I asked. “I know it’s a prominent name around town. Have they been in the news lately?”

  “Do you ever read the paper?” Jackie asked sarcastically.

  “I read your articles,” I said with a smile.

  “They haven’t been in the news lately, but Horace Schneider died just after the first of the year. He was over a hundred years old.”

  “I don’t always read the obits.”

  “There was a huge article in the paper on the family. Even though there was a civil war between the Buxley and Schneider families when Buxley was founded, the Schneider family contributed considerably to the growth of the town.”

  She grabbed her phone and accessed the newspaper’s archives to search for the article.

  While she searched, I said, “I didn’t tell you, but I was the one who found the book at the book sale. There were two boxes of old children’s books marked Schneider donations. I took both boxes and put them with Pepper’s other books. She was going to donate the boxes to Peggy until Kelly checked the value of them. Keith took some of the books without value for himself. His friend Jimmy Faust has the Treasure Island book now.”

  Jackie looked alarmed. “If someone killed Meredith over the book and the map, those kids coul
d be in danger.”

  “No one knows about them other than me and Keith. And now you. I didn’t tell Pepper or Glenn, and I told Keith we needed to keep it between the two of us for safety’s sake.”

  She shook her head. “You have to let me print this. We’ll get it out in the open and that’ll be the end of it. No one will be in danger.”

  My cell phone rang. It was Pepper.

  “Where are you?” she asked.

  “You know where I am. Jackie and I are in Patterson. We found Tabitha and talked to her.”

  “Well, get your butts back here. We just got home from West Virginia, and someone broke into our house.”

  I knew all bets were off when it came to having Jackie drive home like a normal person.

  Chapter Eleven

  Jackie and I were surprised by the number of vehicles in the cul-de-sac when we arrived. If Pepper’s house was broken into while she was out of town, one officer could have handled the situation, but there were two cruisers and Sergeant Rorski’s personal car parked outside her house.

  “This can’t be good,” I said to Jackie as we headed for the front door.

  We were barely through the door when Keith said, “I’m sorry, Aunt Jo. I had to tell them.” He looked small and scared hunched over in the corner of the sofa.

  “It’s ok, honey,” I said. “You did the right thing.”

  I couldn’t gauge Pepper’s emotional state. She didn’t yell at me when she saw me, but she didn’t speak to me either.

  I glanced around the living room. Someone had gone through their book inventory. Boxes of books had been emptied onto the floor. Packing materials were dumped out of containers. Even a box of styrofoam shipping peanuts had been overturned.

  Sergeant Rorski was in the kitchen talking with Glenn. Glenn was in street clothes rather than his uniform. Jackie went to speak with the sergeant while I reassured Keith he hadn’t done anything wrong.

  Glenn came over to stand beside me. “Let’s step outside and talk for a minute.”

  I followed him down the driveway to stand next to one of the cruisers.

  “Do you have a map that might lead to the stolen Confederate gold?” he asked pointedly.

  I knew I needed to tell him the truth, but I had a feeling this wasn’t going to go well.

  “Yes.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Jo, you have to.”

  “Not yet. I’m not done investigating.” He started to argue, but I held my hand up. “Glenn, it’s not evidence in a crime. I don’t have to turn it over, and I think it’s best no one knows where it is until I decide what to do with it.”

  “That’s not for you to decide,” he said.

  “Why not? Who does the map belong to? Who does the gold belong to? What if the map is nothing more than something a kid drew while reading a book about pirate treasure? Let me look into it a little longer, and I’ll let you know what I find. You can help me decide what to do with it then.” I looked toward the house. “Was anything stolen?”

  “No, the only other room turned upside down was Keith’s bedroom. Someone knew he had the book or the map.”

  This information startled me a bit. The mayor was the only person who suspected Keith of having the book.

  “Keith said someone murdered the lady in the bookstore. He performed a reenactment for Sarge.”

  Flibbergaspers! Keith didn’t have to go that far to be honest with the police. The cat was out of the bag now. I had hoped to have at least one more day before having to divulge all my information.

  I nodded. “She was. Remember the woman with the wild hair in my photos? She was in the bookstore when Meredith was murdered. Technically, she found her, not me. Someone ran out the back door just as she peeked into the backroom.”

  Glenn’s jaw dropped. “Holy smokes, Jo. How much information are you keeping from us? If Sarge gets mad enough, he could charge you for withholding information.”

  “No he can’t. There’s no ongoing investigation. Everyone was in such a hurry to put this to rest and call it an accident, there’s no way he can say I’m withholding information. Besides, Jackie and I just found the woman today. That’s where we were – over in Patterson asking her what happened Monday morning.”

  He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He seemed uncomfortable. “I hate to tell you this, Jo, but you’re going to have to come with me to the station and write all this down for us. Do you have this woman as a suspect in Meredith’s murder?”

  “Of course. And her boss, Ed. And Peggy. And the mayor. And maybe Meredith’s sister, Nell. Definitely Meredith’s husband, Gus. And maybe even the unemployed Jeremy.”

  He shook his head, but he couldn’t contain a smile. “You never cease to amaze me. Come on. I’ll give you a hand with the sergeant.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said. “There are three cars here. Where is everybody? And why aren’t you home sleeping? How did you get roped into this?”

  “When Winnie and Collins showed up in separate vehicles with sirens blaring, it woke Clay. He called to tell me something was up at Pepper’s. My car’s still in the shop, so he came over to pick me up.”

  My heart swelled a little. I loved that he cared enough about my family to want to be here for Pepper. “But where are they?”

  He smiled. “Bill and Clay are over in your basement. Bill thinks he can fix the water heater. Collins was up in Keith’s room when you showed up. And before you ask, after Collins heard from Keith that Meredith was murdered, he called Sarge. Sarge was out having lunch and swung by to have a talk with Keith.”

  “No wonder he looked so scared,” I said.

  We walked back into the house. The scene before me was bizarre. Officer Collins was sitting next to Keith on the sofa, watching him play a handheld video game. Sergeant Rorski was sitting at the dining room table with Jackie. They both had a slice of apple pie in front of them. Pepper was pouring cups of coffee. The sergeant didn’t seem unraveled at all that he would be opening a murder investigation when he returned to the station.

  “Don’t say a word,” Glenn whispered under his breath.

  Pepper looked up and asked, “Do you want some coffee and pie, Glenn?”

  “No, thanks. Jo and I are going down to the station.” He looked at the Sergeant and said, “She has pictures of the crime scene. We’ll drop those off, and she’ll write a report for you.”

  The sergeant’s face turned red. For a second, I thought he might go off on me. Instead, he nodded and said, “Appreciate it.”

  Glenn grabbed my arm and rushed me from the house.

  “What was that?” I asked. “Is he on drugs?”

  “No. In case you haven’t noticed, ever since your birthday, he’s been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and treat you more professionally. It may have been a stretch today, but he knows he needs your information.”

  Ha! I was needed.

  Pepper rushed out of the house. “Are we in any danger?” she asked bluntly.

  “No,” I said. “You were never in any danger.”

  “If we would have been home, we could have all been killed. Just like Meredith.”

  I shook my head. “No. It’s looking like the book and the map had nothing to do with her murder. Besides me, who knew you were going out of town with the kids to spend the night with Buck?”

  “I don’t think I told anyone. Well, Walt and the mayor. I stopped at the bakery to buy the apple pie to take with us. Walt always asks how Buck is doing, and I told him we were going to West Virginia to see him and spend the night.” Her eyes bugged a little. “You don’t think Walt had anything to do with this, do you?”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t. But if the mayor heard you say you were going out of town, who knows how many people he told.” I reached out to put my hand on Pepper’s arm. “I don’t want you to worry about this. No one wants to hurt you or the kids, and I don’t think whoever broke in will come back.”r />
  Glenn agreed with me and echoed my advice to Pepper to stop worrying.

  Bill and Clay came out of my house and walked across the cul-de-sac.

  “What’d you find out?” I asked.

  “I think it’s the thermostat,” Bill said. “I’ll pick one up and replace it. Clay will have hot water by the end of the day.”

  I was grateful to leave the repair to Bill. “Thank you. When you’re done, give Glenn a bill for your time and parts.”

  “Clay already gave me a twenty. That should cover it.”

  Glenn held his hand palm up toward Bill. “Give me the keys to the car. I have to run Jo to the station to write a report for Sarge.”

  Bill didn’t hesitate to hand them over.

  “Come on in guys,” Pepper said to Clay and Bill. “I have apple pie and hot coffee with your names on them.”

  “I thought you bought that pie for Buck,” I said.

  “I forgot to take it with us. Sue me.”

  If she wouldn’t have smiled, I would have worried she was mad at me. It was understandable she was upset over what happened, but I felt better knowing she wasn’t going to give me the cold shoulder through Christmas.

  Glenn and I stopped by our place on the way to the station.

  “The pictures of Meredith are on my desk in my murder room space,” I said.

  He laughed. “You can’t call it a room and a space.”

  “Why not? I’m used to calling my work room a murder room, but since I only have a space now, it’s my murder room space.”

  He continued to grin. “Have you been using it already?”

  “Of course. I wouldn’t let you do all that work for me and not use it. If you would have gone downstairs and looked, you wouldn’t have been so surprised by everything I told you today.”

  He followed me into the basement and studied my whiteboard, while I shoved the folder with the photos into my bag.