A Puzzle in Paxton Park

by J A Whiting

  “What did her mother say?” Shelly asked. “Emma had to drop someone off somewhere?”

  “That’s what she said,” Jay answered. “Although, Emma could have done that before going to see her mom.”

  “Any idea what errands Emma had to do?” Shelly asked.

  “The mother didn’t know.” Jay looked through her folder for a piece of paper.

  Shelly and Juliet returned to their seats.

  Jay looked up. “Next on the agenda, I’ll be talking to the husband and the two kids … individually, of course.” Eyeing Shelly, she asked, “Can you tag along?”

  Shelly was careful not to let her true feelings show about attending the interviews with Emma’s family members. “When will the interviews be?”

  After Jay gave her the days and the times, Shelly, barely able to hide her reluctance, said, “I think I can go with you.”

  “I appreciate it.” Jay gave the young woman a nod.

  Deciding to head over to the resort hoping to talk to some of the employees, Shelly and Juliet found a couple of adventure guides and two people from the accounting office sitting outside at a picnic table on the enormous deck that wrapped around several of the buildings.

  “We can’t believe Emma is dead,” Leslie, one of the accountants, said when Shelly and Juliet sat down to join them. “And shot by someone? It’s incomprehensible.”

  Robert, another accountant, rubbed at his eyes. “Emma was such a good person. Who would kill her? Do you think it was random?”

  “It could have been,” Shelly said despite her feeling that Emma probably knew her killer.

  “Does anyone know where it happened?” Brandon, one of the adventure guides, asked. “Do the police know where Emma was when the killer approached?”

  “I don’t think so,” Juliet said. “I don’t think the police know the location yet.”

  “Shot in the chest?” Andy, the other guide, asked, “How did Emma ever drive her car into town with an injury like that?”

  “Where was she going?” Brandon questioned. “Why didn’t she call the police or an ambulance?”

  Juliet said, “Shelly thinks Emma might have been trying to get away from the killer. She was losing blood. She probably wasn’t thinking straight. Her first impulse must have been to get away, and then she must have started to get weak and probably had to fight to remain conscious.” Jay had told her sister and Shelly that initial reports pointed to the woman having been shot in the vehicle, but the information couldn’t be shared with the others so Juliet stayed closed-mouthed about that detail.

  Shelly faced the two accountants. “You worked closely with Emma?”

  “We did,” Leslie said.

  “It’s really hit us hard,” Robert told them shaking his head.

  “How was she to get along with?” Shelly asked.

  “She was great,” Leslie said. “Always helpful, accommodating, cheerful. She knew her stuff, was really smart.”

  Robert agreed. “Emma was the best.”

  Shelly sat up. “Was Emma working on anything difficult or maybe, controversial?”

  Leslie narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Was Emma investigating anything? Were there any discrepancies of some kind in the accounts?”

  Leslie and Robert exchanged a look of concern.

  “I don’t know,” Leslie said with a tremble in her voice. “I don’t know what she was working on specifically.”

  “You think she was working on something that might have gotten her killed?” Robert’s face took on a look of horror.

  “It crossed my mind,” Shelly admitted. “I wondered if she found something that maybe someone preferred to keep hidden.”

  Leslie’s hand moved to her throat. “That can’t be.” She made eye contact with Robert. “Can it?”

  Shelly could see Robert’s chest rising and falling as his breathing rate increased. He didn’t know how to answer his colleague’s question. “What could she have been working on? Maybe we can find out?”

  “We’ll need to be careful,” Leslie told him. “If there is trouble in the books, we don’t want to put ourselves at risk.”

  “Don’t do anything that would put you in danger,” Shelly cautioned. “Don’t push for answers.”

  Andy, the guide, asked, “How did Emma get along with her husband?”

  “I don’t know,” Robert said. “I never talked to her about him. She did mention him from time to time in general conversation, like what they had planned to do for the weekend, things like that.”

  Leslie’s expression had changed, and a look of anger, or maybe annoyance passed quickly over her face.

  Shelly couldn’t make out what emotion it was. “Did Emma talk to you about her husband?”

  “Sometimes.” Leslie’s mouth seemed tight. “Charlie was kind of a pain in the butt.”

  “How do you mean?” Juliet asked. “Had you met him?”

  “Only a few times.” Leslie seemed to be wrestling with something. “Emma’s husband wasn’t an easy person. He liked to gamble and got himself into trouble with debts and money owed.”

  “Emma confided in you about it?” Juliet asked.

  “We talked about a lot of things going on in our lives. Sometimes you just need someone to vent to, you know?”

  “How did Emma handle the gambling?” Shelly asked.

  “The first time, she tried to be understanding about it,” Leslie said. “She felt like Charlie had gotten sucked into it. She wanted to help him.” The woman sighed. “The second time, she wasn’t so ready to forgive. Emma wanted Charlie to get counseling, but he wasn’t really interested in going.”

  “Did this happen recently?” Juliet asked.

  “Emma hadn’t brought it up recently. The last time Charlie made a mess of things was about six months ago. It took Emma almost that long to get the debts paid off. She worked extra in the resort office. She even got a second job, part-time, to make money.”

  “Where did she work the second job?” Shelly asked.

  Leslie said, “She worked in Rollingwood at a business called Windsor Manufacturing. She stopped working there about a month ago. It was only a short-term thing.”

  “Did she talk about the job there?” Juliet questioned.

  “Yeah, she did. She said it was okay. The people weren’t that friendly. Emma said working at Windsor made her grateful for the resort job.”

  “Did she ever complain about anyone in particular at Windsor?”

  Leslie’s forehead furrowed in thought. “Emma said one of the women in the office wasn’t very friendly. Once, she tried to blame Emma for something that Emma had nothing to do with. She said she had to keep an eye on that person.”

  “Did Emma mention being afraid of anyone there? Did she get into an argument with anyone?” Was anyone threatening in any way?”

  “No, nothing like that came up. Emma was looking forward to not having to work there. It was a really long day for her. I think she resented Charlie for not doing enough to help eliminate the debt, especially since it was all his fault.”

  Juliet leaned forward and kept her voice low. “Do you think Charlie might have had something to do with Emma’s death?”

  Leslie bit her lip and swallowed. “There are some people I would say absolutely not, he couldn’t have killed her, no way, but with Charlie? Really? I don’t know. I can’t be sure. I just don’t trust that guy.”

  5

  Resting in bed with a book propped on her lap and with Justice curled up next to her, Shelly pushed the death of Emma Pinkley from her mind and thought about meeting Jack the next morning for a bike ride on the mountain trails. She and her boyfriend both had part of the morning off from work and Shelly looked forward to a brisk ride through the forest to clear her head and renew some of her energy.

  Not long ago, she’d assisted Jay with a case involving the disappearance and murder of a young woman from town and the crime had taken a toll on her. Still healing physically and em
otionally from the car accident that took her sister’s life, Shelly realized the need to carefully balance her time between her part-time bakery job, helping Jay on cases, and having downtime to enjoy herself in order to maintain her health and well-being.

  It had been a long day and it was almost 11:30pm, but Shelly wanted to stay awake to finish the chapter of the thriller she was reading. The need for sleep was winning the battle though, as her heavy eyelids kept drifting shut until finally her eyes closed, her chin hit her chest, and the book slipped from her hands.

  Justice moved onto the young woman’s stomach where she curled into a ball and joined Shelly in sleep.

  A dream began….

  Shelly, her sister, Lauren, and several other women sat at a round table in a crowded pub, eating dinner, chatting, and laughing together. Lauren’s blue eyes sparkled when she chuckled at a joke. She passed a piece of garlic bread to Shelly, and Shelly reciprocated by lifting a small section of lasagna from her own plate to her sister’s. The waiter carried over a tray and set drinks in front of the friends.

  A glass of red wine had been placed next to Shelly’s water glass and she glanced at it, but did not drink. Lauren picked up the wine glass, waved the waiter over, and handed it to him to take away.

  Suddenly, paper money began to float down from the ceiling … hundreds, thousands of bills drifted around the restaurant patrons, but no one except Shelly paid any attention to the strange sight. The currency began to move together like a flock of birds gathering in the sky and then they started to swirl creating a small cyclone of green dollar bills that shot up to the rafters and disappeared.

  A framed painting fell off the restaurant’s wall and crashed to the floor, its glass shattering into tiny shards.

  Shelly woke with such a sudden start that Justice jumped up and hissed.

  Disoriented and with her heart pounding, Shelly’s eyes darted around the bedroom until she realized where she was, leaned back on her pillow, and reached out to pat her sweet cat. “I had a dream,” she told the Calico. “It was a strange one.”

  Justice eyed the young woman, then snuggled close, and began to purr. The comforting sound slowly calmed Shelly until she turned off the side table lamp, pulled her blanket up to her chin, and closed her eyes.

  Shelly and Jack flew over the downhill trail on their bikes with the trees flashing past in a blur and the cool morning air rushing against their faces turning their cheeks bright red. When they reached the bottom, they stopped and sipped from their water bottles.

  “That was great.” Shelly pushed the dribbles of sweat from her forehead. “The downhill was sure a lot faster than the uphill climb,” she chuckled.

  “A lot faster and a lot easier.” Jack smiled, pulled off his helmet, and ran his hand through his damp chestnut-colored hair. “And a great way to start the day.” Leaning over his handle bars, Jack gave Shelly a kiss.

  After parking their bikes in the metal stand, they strolled hand-in-hand to the resort café where they bought a muffin to share and two cups of hot tea and then carried them outside to eat on the deck in the sunshine.

  Jack stretched his legs out in front of him and took a sip of the tea as he gazed up at the mountains towering above them. “Snow will fall on the mountain in a month or so and the skiers and snowboarders will descend. Winter is a terrific time in Paxton Park with all the outdoor activities.”

  “I want to try to ski again,” Shelly rubbed her sore leg absent-mindedly. Some slight pain always kicked in after doing anything athletic.

  Jack smiled and reached over to take Shelly’s hand. “Start slow, a little at a time. Don’t rush it and go right to the summit on the first day. Take your time. Thirty minutes the first day on an easy trail so you can get back into it. You’ll be at the top in no time.”

  Shelly smiled at the rugged man. “I think that’s the way to do it.”

  “And I’ll be right there beside you,” Jack beamed. “We’ll do it together.”

  While sharing the blueberry muffin, the two chatted about work and the upcoming weekend activities.

  “What a thing to happen to Emma Pinkley,” Jack said shaking his head. “Did you know her?”

  “I’d only met her a few times.” Shelly held the warm teacup with both hands.

  “Same for me. The few times we talked at a resort event she was always really pleasant. She seemed like a nice woman. Who could have been out to kill her?”

  “Did you know Emma’s husband?” Shelly asked.

  “I met Charlie when he kayaked and biked a few times with a group of guys I know. That was a couple of years ago. He liked to talk. My first impression was he seemed kind of full of himself.” Jack shrugged. “But I didn’t know him well at all.”

  “Someone I talked to told me Charlie had a gambling problem that put some strain on the marriage,” Shelly said.

  “I heard that through the grapevine. I didn’t know if it was true or not.”

  “It seems to be true. I’ve heard it from several sources.”

  Jack looked over at Shelly. “Are you helping Jay again?” Shelly had talked with Jack at length about how Jay thought she had the special intuitive skill of being able to sense things about situations and people. Jack had told Shelly that there were some people in the military who seemed to have similar skills and that they were taken seriously and listened to.

  “She asked if I would sit in on a few interviews with people who knew Emma,” Shelly said.

  “Try not to get swallowed up by this one,” Jack said softly and held her hand tightly. “You need to be careful to take care of yourself and not just throw everything you’ve got into the case.”

  Shelly gave a half-smile. “It’s hard not to do that when someone has been murdered.”

  “I understand, but you need to be sure you get enough sleep and eat well. Take breaks. Don’t let the thing consume you. It hasn’t even been a year since the accident,” Jack pointed out. “If you’re going to fully heal, you can’t deplete your energy.” The man gave his girlfriend a cheeky smile. “How about I come over Thursday night and cook dinner for you?”

  “I won’t say no to that,” Shelly told him.

  Someone called to them. “Hey, you, too. Working hard, I see.” Dave Millbury, an amiable, middle-aged man who had been employed at the resort as an adventure guide for over twenty years ambled over to Shelly and Jack and took a seat in a white Adirondack chair across from them.

  The three of them spent a few minutes talking about work and then Dave asked with a shake of his head, “Can you believe what happened to Emma? It’s all everyone is talking about.”

  “Do people have any suspects in mind?” Shelly asked.

  “Everybody has an opinion. Who knows, but can you imagine driving your car after being shot in the chest?” Dave let out a low whistle of amazement. “It’s a heck of a thing. Emma must have been trying to get to the police station for help. Do you think so?”

  “It might have been better to have slipped out of the car once she reached the edge of town, where people were walking around. Someone could have called an ambulance,” Jack said. “She was losing blood though so she most likely wasn’t thinking anything through. She just wanted to get away from whoever shot her.”

  “Makes sense.” Dave nodded solemnly. “What a thing. Emma was a great gal.”

  “You knew her pretty well?” Shelly asked.

  “I’ve been working here for years. Emma, too. We’d run into each other. Shoot the breeze. She was such a nice person.” Dave blew out a breath. “She worked hard, took care of her family. She sure didn’t deserve this.”

  “Do you know her husband?” Shelly questioned.

  Dave looked over at the young woman. “I don’t have the same nice things to say about him.”

  “Why not?” Jack asked.

  “Charlie is a child. Once in a while when we talked, Emma let some things out in frustration about the guy. He couldn’t keep a dollar in his pocket. He gambled, spent everythi
ng he had. He drank, he bought old cars he planned to fix up, but never did anything with them. He always had some scheme. All of the schemes involved losing money.” Dave’s face took on an expression of disgust. “Emma was the rock in that house. She worked hard to pay off Charlie’s debts. I think she’d had it with him.”

  “Did she talk about this stuff recently?” Shelly asked.

  “I hadn’t run into her in a while,” Dave said. “I don’t know where things stood as far as Charlie went, but I’d guess they were the way they usually were.”

  “Did Emma ever mention divorce?” Shelly questioned.

  “Never. I don’t know how she put up with Charlie. I’d have given him the boot a long time ago. She must have stayed with him for the sake of the kids. But really? So many money problems, drinking, chasing tail. She should have dumped him.”

  Shelly stared at Dave. “You mean Charlie had an affair?”

  “Probably more than one. He couldn’t keep away from the ladies.”

  “Emma told you this?” Shelly couldn’t believe Emma would open up about all Charlie’s woes to a work associate.

  “No, no. Emma told me about the gambling and Charlie’s stupid business schemes. She never said a word about Charlie’s wandering eye. I’ve seen the guy in action in some pubs and I’ve heard some talk about him not being able to keep his hands to himself.”

  “Do you think Emma knew about her husband’s behavior?” Shelly’s eyes narrowed.

  Dave raised an eyebrow. “She’d have to be blind not to know.”

  6

  Seventeen-year-old Aubrey Pinkley had long, straight, light brown hair, big blue eyes, and an athletic build. Shelly could see a bit of Emma in the teen’s face.

  Jay thought it best to meet with Aubrey at the family home instead of at the police station so she would feel more comfortable.

  “Would you like to sit out on the front porch to talk?” Aubrey asked with a smile and a gesture, and the three of them sat down at the small wooden table. Shelly noted the pleasant and polite manner of the teenager who had lost her mother just a few days ago and wondered if she was bottling up her emotions and burying them inside.