Murder in Hillsboro

by Jane T O'Brien

  “Mary was only sixteen, I asked questions about medications and took her vitals. I got the feeling her mother was not happy I was in the room. Dr. Sloan came in and the mother seemed to forget I was there. She insisted the doctor perform an abortion right there in the examining room. The doctor told her the child was too far along in the pregnancy. A smile came over the girl’s face, I could tell she was relieved to hear that.

  “Mary never came back to the office after that, I’m guessing Dr. Sloan saw her at her home. I never knew the outcome of the pregnancy.

  “I wish I could tell you more but that is all I can remember.”

  “You have helped, Miss Janice,” said Molly. “If Mary Smith was our mother, we know she was happy we weren’t aborted, and that means a lot to us.”

  Grayson Conway sat at a table by the window in the pub across the street from the Balsam Lake Apartments. He told the waitress he was waiting for his sister. It wasn’t a total lie; he was watching for any sign of the woman who could be his sister.

  “I don’t know about you but I could stand a brew and a burger, we skipped lunch,” said Luke.

  “We’re almost to Molly’s apartment building, there’s a pub across the street, is that all right with everyone?” asked Adam.

  “That sounds wonderful, Adam, I’m famished.”

  The group entered through the back door of the pub and walked to the front sitting at a table in the center of the room. Their eyes were growing accustomed to the dimness after being in the sunshine and didn’t notice the young man gaping at them with his mouth open. It’s them, I’m sure, they look like Mother. They are beautiful, no wonder Candace doesn’t want them found. I’ve got to protect my sisters from her.

  “Young man, are you all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “I’m fine, ma’am, my sister must have forgotten about me.” Grayson left a twenty-dollar bill on the table, the waitress tried to stop him to tell him he overpaid but he raced from the parking lot before she could catch him. She smiled as she pocketed the bill.

  Chapter Eleven

  Candace spent the morning at her mother’s campaign headquarters. She enjoyed being there when her mother wasn’t. Everyone knew she was in charge and showed her the respect she deserved. She had Tim Hobart’s phone number memorized, however, hadn’t worked up the nerve to call him. Today will be the day, I’ll call and ask if he’d like to help distribute flyers on Saturday. He will need a partner for that task and I’ll be there to help him. Molly will be dead tonight and I’ll get rid of Stephanie by Friday and I’ll be free to give all my attention to Tim.

  Candace closed the door to her mother’s private office. She dialed the number Tim had given when he signed in the day he came to the headquarters.

  A woman answered the telephone. Good afternoon, Hobart and Sons, this is Patty, how may I direct your call?”

  Candace felt her hands shaking, she would talk to Tim in a second and tried to calm herself. “I’m calling for Tim Hobart.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, Tim is out of the office this afternoon, may I help you with an insurance question?” said Patty.

  No, you fool, I want to talk to Tim, Candace thought but said: “No, I’m calling on a personal matter, when do you expect him?”

  “He will be in at eight o’clock tomorrow morning, if you’re a friend, I can tell you he and Shannon are meeting with the wedding planner, the wedding is only three weeks away, isn’t that exciting?”

  Candace dropped her phone on the desk. She was in a state of shock. Tim’s getting married to someone else, he is supposed to marry me.

  “Hello, ma’am, are you there?” Patty ended the call not realizing Candace heard every word she’d said and was seething.

  Candace sat quietly sobbing for the next ten minutes. First Elizabeth and now somebody named Shannon. Why have you done this Tim? We will be happy together, I promise, you can’t marry that witch, whoever she is. I can’t think about this now, I must be at the apartment to watch Molly Ryan finish her exercises. That’s when I will accidentally meet her as she opens the door to the stairway, we will walk together to the fourth floor and I’ll push her to her death.

  Candace dried her eyes and walked down the hallway to the back door of the office. She was the only one who ever parked in the rear parking lot. It was shaded there, and she didn’t want her precious Porsche exposed to sunlight. She told no one she was leaving, simply opened the door, and walked out.

  “What are you doing here?” she shouted in anger. Those were the last words she would ever speak, a bullet pierced her heart, killing her instantly. The killer lifted Candace’s purse from her shoulder, removed her wallet, took the thirty dollars found inside and disappeared.

  Avery sat in her home office looking at the photo of the loving family on the cover of her campaign pamphlet. I’m not even elected yet and I’m already a dishonest politician. Anyone who doesn’t know us would think we are the perfect family with the perfect life. Mother is right I should have gotten over the loss of my babies’ years ago. I can’t get over the feeling of emptiness and can’t forget that horrible day when I woke, and they were gone. If only I knew what happened to them. If they are alive, they are grown women now. My heart tells me they are alive but why haven’t they tried to find me?

  Look at Candace, the poor girl wasn’t even a pretty baby. I know I have been a terrible mother to her and Grayson. Candace is the one who has suffered the most from my fear of losing another baby. I couldn’t get myself to feel anything for her. Grayson is a boy, and that made it easier although I wasn’t a mother of the year to him either.

  Maybe I should forget about the campaign, divorce Charles and move away from Hillsboro and Mother. I know I’ll never do that because Father would never forgive me. Why is his approval so important? I wonder what his reaction would be if I’d told him I was pregnant so many years ago? He might have disowned me but I would still have my babies and maybe Jonathan and I would be together. I’m being stupid, I’m sure Jonathan is married and has forgotten all about me.

  There was a knock on the door interrupting Avery’s reverie.

  “Avery, is Candace in there with you?” asked Charles.

  “Don’t stand at the door Charles, come in, I won’t bite. Candace isn’t here, I haven’t seen the girl since breakfast. My, she was in a surly mood, even more than usual. Why are you looking for her? Are you conspiring against me again?”

  “Avery, don’t be foolish, nobody is conspiring against you. Maybe if you gave the girl some of the affection you feel for your sainted father, she wouldn’t be surly.”

  “Don’t speak ill of Father, he is more of a man than you will ever be. Now get out of here and leave me alone.”

  Charles knew he’d overstepped the line when he mentioned her father. He is the only person Avery loves unconditionally. Hamilton Beresford has mellowed in the last ten years but is still a rigid man in his personal life and a powerful force in the Senate. His constituents respect him and hold him in high regard. He’s had many adversaries although, despite their differences, they admire him.

  “Avery, I apologize, I didn’t mean what I said about your father. I’m worried about Candace, she agreed to have lunch with me at the club and she never showed up. She isn’t answering her phone. I stopped by campaign headquarters and they haven’t seen her for several hours. I thought maybe she was with you.”

  “Maybe she’s with her boyfriend, whoever he is.”

  “Candace has a boyfriend?”

  “So, she says, I know his name is Tim and I hope he isn’t married, I can’t take a scandal during this crucial time in my campaign.”

  “If Candace is involved with a married man, she is bound to be hurt, it could have lasting effects on her, I know you had your heart broken long ago and you’ve never gotten over it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Charles, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Charles hit a nerve with Avery when he mentioned her brok
en heart. If only he knew my heart was broken, not because of an ill-fated romance but because of my baby girls.

  It was nearing eight o’clock in the evening when Ellen Baker walked out the back door of the campaign office to empty the trash. She didn’t notice the purse laying on the ground and tripped over it catching herself from a fall. Irritated, she picked up the purse and noticed a wallet next to it. She opened the wallet and saw Candace Conway’s picture on the driver’s license. She looked at the area where Candace always parked her Porsche and there it was.

  “Candace, are you here? Candace, is everything all right?” Ellen gingerly walked to Candace’s car and stumbled again on a body. She let out a blood-curdling scream and the other volunteers came running out the back door.

  “What’s wrong, Ellen?” asked Georgia Snyder.

  Ellen couldn’t speak, and pointed to the body on the ground.

  “Call 9-1-1,” Georgia shouted to the others. She crouched to feel the girl’s pulse. There was none, and her body was cool to the touch. She looked at the person’s face and recognized Candace Conway.

  “It’s Candace, isn’t it?” Ellen whispered. “Her father was looking for her hours ago, I told him she wasn’t here, I can’t believe this has happened to her.”

  “It looks like a mugging; We shouldn’t move her or touch anything until the police arrive.”

  “I picked up her purse and looked at the driver’s license in her wallet, my fingerprints are all over them. I didn’t hurt her, I swear.”

  “No one is accusing you, Ellen; try to calm down, you’ve had a terrible shock.”

  “I must call Mrs. Conway; she will be devastated. This can’t be happening.”

  They heard sirens and watched as the ambulance pulled into the back parking lot with lights flashing.

  The paramedics lifted Candace’s body on a gurney and into the ambulance.

  “Please be careful with her, Mrs. Conway will never forgive me for not protecting her daughter,” cried Ellen.

  A police officer approached the group. “Who found the body?” asked Officer Cummings.

  “I did, Officer,” said Ellen unable to control the shaking going through her body. “I came out here to empty the trash in the dumpster and almost tripped on her purse, I’m afraid I picked it up and touched her wallet, my fingerprints are on both but I didn’t kill her.”

  The other officer walked around the entire area while pushing bushes to the side.

  “What is he looking for? I must call Mrs. Conway, Candace is her daughter, she has to know what happened here today,” Ellen said, her voice still quivering. “How did she die, Officer? I know Mrs. Conway will ask.”

  “Mrs. Conway? Is the girl Avery Conway’s daughter?”

  “Yes, sir and Candace is Senator Hamilton Beresford’s granddaughter.”

  “Officer Michaels, escort everyone into the building, I don’t want them talking to the reporters who will arrive soon. Don’t make phone calls. I’m calling the commissioner; he will contact the victim’s family. Officer Michaels will take your statements.”

  Everyone followed the officer through the door to the campaign office. Georgia locked the front door and turned the open sign to closed.

  “We can wait in the conference room, Officer there are no windows and we won’t be bothered by onlookers.”

  Officer Michaels called them individually and took their statements in the office where Candace made her phone call to Tim Hobart. Her cell phone was on the floor where Candace threw it after her call to Tim’s office.

  Harvey Shantz, the Hillsboro police commissioner, arrived in record time when he received the call alerting him to the identity of the victim. Senator Beresford was an influential man in the state and Harvey must handle the investigation himself.

  Harvey burst into the conference room. “What have you got for me, Officer Michaels?”

  “The volunteers and staff do not know of the crime, sir. Ms. Baker found the body and Ms. Snyder felt for a pulse and stated the body was cool. Sir, I found a cell phone on the floor, it’s in the evidence bag on the table. It doesn’t belong to anyone here.”

  “Good work, Officer Cummings check it out, see who the phone is registered to and if any calls were made earlier today. You are all free to go, we have your names and phone numbers if we need anything further from you. I must caution you not to talk to any of the reporters on your way out of the building.”

  “Officer,” cried Ellen, “Mrs. Conway has to be told about her daughter before she hears the news on television.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I will break the news to the family.”

  Ellen wondered if Avery would have any reaction to her daughter’s death. She had never met a woman who showed so little affection for her daughter. Ellen didn’t care for Candace herself but she was sad the girl died at the hands of a murderer.

  The group walked out the front door together and were surrounded by reporters.

  “We have no comment,” said Georgia as she pushed through the crowd.

  Harvey stepped out of the office, “Listen, folks, the Hillsboro PD is in the beginning stages of this investigation.”

  “Who was murdered, Harvey, is it true the victim is Senator Beresford’s granddaughter?”

  “I can’t tell you anything now, however, I will get back to you.”

  Harvey’s assistant quickly opened the door to his official car and Harvey got in dreading his next stop at the home of Avery Beresford Conway.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Conway home is off the main highway on a secluded street overlooking a private lake. There are only four houses on the lake each elegant yet unpretentious. Harvey and his wife attended social gatherings at the homes, but he was still in awe when his driver drove into the circular driveway to the Conway house. A stern-looking character in a black suit and resembling a prize-fighter opened the door.

  Harvey introduced himself and asked to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Conway.

  Charles, who was passing by the foyer, recognized the commissioner, “Fritz, let Commissioner Shantz in, Harvey, it’s nice to see you, are you selling tickets to the police officer’s ball?” Charles chuckled.

  “Charles, I’m here on official business, there is no easy way to say this, Candace has been murdered.”

  “Murdered? Candace? I don’t believe you, why are you saying this, where is Candace?”

  “I’m sorry, Charles, it’s true, she was shot coming out of campaign headquarters, we suspect she was a victim of an attempted robbery.”

  Avery heard Charles shouting and stomped out of her study. “What is going on out here, Charles. Harvey, why are you here? Has Grayson been in an accident?” She asked with genuine concern.

  “Dearest,” said Charles, “it’s not Grayson, something terrible has happened to our Candace, she’s been murdered.”

  Avery thought her heart stopped beating at that moment. “I don’t understand, where is my daughter? I must see her to tell her I love her, she can’t be gone, I can’t lose my baby.”

  Harvey was surprised at Avery’s reaction, he always thought of her as a disciplined woman and not one to show raw emotion. “I promise you, Avery, my police force will do everything in our power to find the murderer and bring him to justice.”

  Charles reluctantly put his arm around Avery and was surprised when she didn’t push him away.

  “I must see my baby, I must say goodbye, where is she, Harvey? I must go to her.”

  “Candace’s body has been transported to the morgue. The Coroner will establish time and cause of death. We do know she had a gunshot wound to her chest. My guess is she died instantly and did not suffer.”

  Avery seemed to be in a trance. “My baby suffered; she suffered all her life because she had the misfortune to be born to a mother who was so afraid of losing her, she couldn’t let herself love her own child. My poor Candace, why did she pay the price when it was me who should be the one lying dead on a cold slab in the morgue. I must see her, Charles, I nee
d to tell her I’m sorry for all the times I pushed her away, for all the times I felt nothing for her. I was the one who killed her, I killed her spirit long ago, she was a nasty, vengeful girl and it’s all my fault.”

  “Avery, I’ve never heard you talk this way, you are upset. I’ll call Doctor Preston, he will give you something to calm you.”

  “Charles, I want nothing to calm me. I want to see my daughter. Harvey, take me to her, please.”

  “Yes, Charles, I will need one of you to identify the body.”

  “Avery and I will go together, Harvey.”

  “Fritz when Grayson comes home, don’t let him leave again. I’ll tell him about his sister when we get back.”

  Harvey’s driver pulled away from the house, his boss sat beside him while they listened to Mrs. Conway’s quiet sobbing in the back seat.

  The morgue was in the basement of the local hospital. Avery had never been to one before but she knew it would be cold and stark. My daughter is lying on that cold slab; I wonder if my babies were put on slabs too or if they are alive. Nanny Emma said she put one of my babies in a cradle in a church. Mother left the other out in the cold, it was even colder than this room.

  Charles guided his wife to the table where Candace’s body was covered with a sheet. The coroner lifted the sheet off her face and Avery felt her legs grow weak. Charles didn’t let go.

  “She never had a chance, did she, Charles? She wasn’t pretty, but she had beautiful eyes. They are the same blue as your eyes. Grayson has your eyes too. I never told Candace I thought her eyes were pretty. Now I will never see those eyes again. Candace darling, I’m sorry.”