by Lynn Cahoon
Angie moved into the cell and underneath the bed was an old-fashioned baby rattle. The silver was tarnished, but the ball inside still made noise when she picked it up. She held it out to Bridget. “Is this one of your antiques?”
Bridget stepped closer to Angie but didn’t take the rattle. “Not that I’ve ever seen. I mean, it might have been in the storeroom, but it shouldn’t be out here.”
“Maybe Glen put it out to beef up his ghost story. He was gone from the group for a long time.” Estebe noted. “He could have planted it.”
“But how would he have known that we’d go searching for someone screaming?” Bridget shook her head. “Glen’s a good guy. Too quiet and he doesn’t take the drama part of the job seriously, but he wouldn’t play with us. Especially not after what happened to Pat.”
“But he didn’t know Pat was dead when he was gone.” Angie studied the rattle. It had initials carved into the silver. BDP. She read them aloud. “Anyone you know?”
“Not a clue. So can we continue? Or do you want to look for more baby items?” Bridget stepped out of the cell and crossed the hallway to the next one. “This one is clear.”
Estebe nodded to Angie to move ahead of him. When she went to lay the rattle down on the bed, he spoke. “Keep it. It might be important.”
She tucked it in her jacket pocket and stepped out into the hallway. Bridget was waiting for them.
“Ten cells done on this side. Twenty more to go.” She sighed as she checked the next cell. “I was hoping for a quiet night. I even brought a book I’ve been dying to read. I’m behind on my Stephen King. Man, he’s releasing fast lately.”
“I guess you’re just going to have to deal with a real mystery tonight.” Angie thought about all the investigations she’d done since she’d moved back home. She’d thought she’d be working, cooking, and gardening when she returned. Instead she had been-in Sheriff Brown’s words-sticking her nose into things that didn’t concern her. She assumed the well-meaning sheriff wouldn’t fault her for this adventure. She hadn’t signed up the crew to be part of a murder investigation. Things just happened that way. At least to her.
The Johnson siblings and their uncle occupied the next set of cells. Or at least they should have been there. Tamera slept on top of one of the cots, snoring. In the next cell, Thaddeus, the uncle, sat smoking a cigarette.
“Is it morning already? Thank God. I can’t believe how much noise that girl is making. I haven’t slept a wink all night.” He stood and took another pull on his cigarette.
“Smoking is not allowed in the cells,” Bridget snapped. “How did you get those inside? Didn’t anyone tell you to leave them in your locker?”
“Little girl, I’ve been smoking two packs a day for most of my life. Do you think I go anywhere without a pack on me? I’d start going through withdrawal in less than an hour.” He grabbed his backpack and put out the cigarette on the stone floor. At least he picked up the butt and put it in his pocket. “Wake up Sleeping Beauty there and my idiot nephew and let’s get out of here. This is the last time I let them plan the activities on my visit.”
“Sir, it’s not time to leave, but we do need all of you to gather with us in the common room. Gather your stuff and we’ll wake the others.” Bridget pointed to Angie. “You wake up the female.”
“Her name is Tamera.” Angie said flatly. Bridget was too involved in her role as guard. Angie was surprised she hadn’t said female inmate. She moved into Tamera’s cell and shook the woman gently.
“What’s going on?” She said, her words garbled.
“We need you to come with us. There’s been an incident.” Angie said gently. “Slip on your shoes and grab your stuff.”
“Where’s Tad?” Tamera moved like she hadn’t been asleep. “Is my brother all right?”
Angie sat the backpack that had been on the floor on the bed while Tamera slipped on her shoes. “I’m sure he’s in his cell sleeping. Is there something going on?”
“Yes, there is.” Estebe leaned on the cell doorway. “Tad’s not in his cell and it looks like the bed hasn’t been slept in.”
“Oh, my God. What happened to him?” Tamera moved toward the door, but Estebe blocked it.
“Answer one question first, why was the first thing you asked about when you woke up about your brother? Is he in trouble?” Estebe kept his voice calm, but it held a measure of authority.
The older man laughed. “That boy was born in trouble. He’s been in more jail cells than this one in his life, I tell you that. My brother went bankrupt trying to keep him out of prison.”
“Tad didn’t do those things he was charged with. His friends were the problem, not him, but he got blamed. They all ganged up on him.” Tamera shot back at her uncle. Anger seemed in every word.
“You’re believing his line of bull crap. He’s always been a liar and a thief. What did he do this time? Is something missing?”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Uncle Thaddeus.” Tad came walking toward them from the back of the cell block. “I’ve been reading at the end of the hall. I didn’t want my light to disturb you.”
Angie and Estebe exchanged glances. They just cleared that area and hadn’t seen Tad. Reading or otherwise.
“Grab your stuff and let’s all go into the common room.” Bridget said, ignoring the family drama. But Angie knew Tad wasn’t reading where he said he’d been. She just let that statement ride. She wanted to get him in the common room without incident.
Their group hadn’t found the screamer, but they rounded up three of the guests. And one had a shady alibi.
They dropped the three off with Matt in the common room. He looked relieved to see them, then hesitated when Bridget said they had one more area to clear. “Maybe someone else should stay with me?”
Bridget glanced at Tad and nodded. “You’re right. We don’t need three of us checking out the rest of the area. Estebe, why don’t you stay with Matt? Angie and I will be right back.”
Estebe traded glances with Angie but when she nodded, he sat down on the bench. “Have you ever played Texas Holdem? We don’t have chips, but I could get you ready to come join one of our Wednesday night poker games.”
“Probably so the guy can fleece you of your paycheck.” Thaddeus moved over to the table with Estebe and Matt. “I’ll sit in too, just to make sure he teaches you right.”
As they moved away from the table and back into the areas where the tour had started, Angie spoke quietly. “Tad wasn’t back there reading.”
“I know.”
“Why would he lie?” Angie shined the flashlight she now carried into the gun display room. It looked empty, but she followed Bridget inside.
“That is a very good question.” She sat at one of the tables. Angie stared at her. “Come sit by me. I want to go over what we’ve found out so far.”
“I thought we were looking for someone who might be hurt?” Angie glanced around the room. It was clearly empty besides the two of them.
“The scream didn’t come from this way. It came from the cell block. Either Glen or Marty will find the woman. Right now, I’m confused about what’s going on. What do you know about the three of them?”
“The new arrivals? Is that what you’re talking about?” Angie clarified.
When Bridget nodded, Angie leaned back in her chair, thinking about what she knew. “I talked to Tamera at the beginning of the tour. She said her uncle was visiting from Utah and they thought it would be fun to go on the tour.” Angie paused. Was that right? Is that what Tamera said? Who brought up the tour? It didn’t seem like Tad would have suggested it, especially with his record. Visiting a prison wouldn’t be first on an ex-con’s list. “Anyway, that was about it. They’re here as a family bonding exercise.”
“Not much bonding going on. I wonder if the old man has money. The others don’t seem too attached to him,
and it might just be about keeping on his good side for the will.” Bridget was making notes in her little notebook. “Do you know the other two couples?”
“Not at all. They didn’t seem like they wanted to be part of any conversation, besides with each other. I heard they just got married, but you heard that too, from Glen.” Angie thought about Glen’s arrival in the great room after the murder. He said he’d been held up getting the couples situated but that wouldn’t have taken much time. Especially if all they wanted to do was be alone. She shivered. The thought of making love in a prison on your wedding night seemed a little dark. Okay, a lot dark. But maybe people liked a less perfect honeymoon atmosphere. She watched Bridget as she considered her notes. “How long has Glen worked here?”
“Oh, we’ve all been around the same amount of time, five to seven years. I know, it sounds more like a sentence rather than a career, but we all enjoy it. And most nights, we get a lot of time on our own. I’m writing a book. Marty’s working on a screenplay. And Pat, well, he liked watching sports on his tablet.” Bridget continued writing as she talked.
“You didn’t mention Glen.” Angie didn’t think any of the guards could have done this, but she needed to cross off all the suspects. Right now, Glen was on top of her list for his lateness to the employee break room conversations.
“Glen is a history buff. He would take his notes from the last book he’d read about the prison or the inmates and search the grounds to find what cells people had been assigned to. He eventually started a timeline for all the residents he’d studied just in case family members wanted to know what he’d learned. I told him he needed to publish it, but I think he saw it as a way to give back to the prison. I guess you’d call it community service.”
“What, was he in jail too?”
“Oh, no. But he liked to give back to the community.” Bridget’s laugh made Angie feel like she was barking up the wrong tree.
Bridget closed her notebook and stuffed it in her back pocket. “I guess we better finish our walk through and get back to the common room. Maybe we can find out more about these honeymooners without anyone getting suspicious.”
Angie thought the chance of anyone getting between two honeymooners was probably non-existent, but she’d let Bridget deal with that conversation.
Chapter 5
The honeymooners were Nick and Sara and Jamie and Liz. And they were all in the same paranormal hunting group. Nick had brought an EMF sensor and between snuggling with his new wife, he’d been tracking the ghost levels for the evening.
“I haven’t had much of a blip except for twice. One about an hour ago and one just a few minutes ago.” Nick pointed to his notebook where he’d noted levels every fifteen minutes except when a surge occurred. Then the timing when down to every five minutes. “I thought it might be an issue with the electricity in the building or nearby.”
“Did you hear a woman scream about ten minutes ago?” Angie stood next to him, glancing at his notebook. “It would have been just about the same time as your last surge.”
“No.” Nick’s eyes widened and he turned to the rest of his group. “What about you guys? Did you hear anything?”
“Not a peep. Well, except for Liz’s giggling.” Jamie grinned at his wife. “I found out she’s pretty ticklish.”
Ian caught Angie’s gaze and shrugged.
“There isn’t anyone else in here, is there?” Angie turned back to Bridget. “A woman or someone who screams like a girl?”
“Not that I know. This is everyone who should be here. Well, except the old man.” Glen glanced around the room. “Where did he take off to?”
“The bathroom. That guy lives in the bathroom. He’ll be there all night.” Tad grumbled. “That’s why I don’t invite him to stay with me anymore. Dude, I need access to the toilet once in a while.”
“Tad, that’s disrespectful. Uncle Thaddeus is older. Things don’t move as well as they do when you’re younger.” Tamera chided her brother. “I’m sure he’ll be back as soon as he can.”
“If he’s gone more than ten minutes, I’ll go check on him. I think we need to stay close together.” Marty glanced around at the shadows at the edge of the common room. “No need for anyone else to get hurt by accident.”
“There’s no way you can think that,” Matt pointed to the library, “was an accident.”
“We aren’t trained investigators. When the doors open in the morning and the police investigators look at the scene, then we’ll know for sure,” Bridget said. She nodded to Glen and Marty. “Let’s go see if we can find a phone in the break room. Maybe someone left their cell.”
Ian watched as they walked away. “That’s highly unlikely. I’m getting the impression that our guards have a few secrets they don’t want us to know. Or they’re talking about us.”
“Could be either one.” Estebe said. “Although Marty has the best motive since he was dating Pat’s wife. I’m feeling that Glen might just be our killer. He’s not truthful in his revelations of his whereabouts.”
“I’m feeling the same way.” Ian glanced around the room. “Let’s go sit over at that table. Maybe we can get the rest of the group to follow? I’d like to know their take on this.”
“Without us looking like we’re separating ourselves from the others? No. But I guess we can try. It’s not like we know these people at all.” Angie caught Hope’s gaze and then nodded toward Matt and Nancy. Then she pointed to the table on the far side of the room. Loudly, so everyone could hear, she said, “Since we’re stuck here and not sleeping, let’s go over the menu planning for tomorrow night’s service. I think, when we get out of here, I’m going to sleep for a while before I come in to work and we might not have time to get this together then.”
Felicia stood from where she’d been sitting. “Angie, sometimes you’re such a freaking slave driver. You know everyone’s tired.”
“Yeah, but no one’s sleeping, so let’s get this done.” Angie turned to Tamera. “Sorry, we’ll take the discussion over there so it won’t bother you all. Menu discussions can get a little heated, especially since my sous chef thinks he knows everything.”
“I heard that,” Estebe called from the table. “And you’re right, I do know everything. Glad you finally acknowledged my superior knowledge about local foods.”
Angie rolled her eyes for the others’ benefit, then mumbled as she walked toward the group. “Estebe can be a real jerk.”
When she sat down, the crew at the table was staring down at the floor. One by one they looked up, gave her a quick grin, then dropped their eyes. Matt glanced over at the rest of the people in the room. “No one’s watching.”
“That you can tell,” Estebe corrected. “Let’s talk about soups for a minute, then we should be fine.”
The group discussed the three soups they wanted to prepare this month. There was strong support for both last year’s russet and sweet potato soup and the lamb stew Estebe had brought to the menu. “I’d really like something new this fall. I know we’re already through October, but maybe one more? Everyone brings an idea for next week’s family meal and we’ll take the decision to the table.”
“With that settled, we wanted to ask the rest of you about your feelings regarding the killer. Any ideas?” Ian leaned into the group and Angie glanced across the room. No one was watching them.
“The first person you suspect. Just a name, not why.” She pointed at Matt.
“Marty.”
Then one by one she pointed to the rest of them. When they had gone around the table, Marty had four votes, Glen had two votes, and Tad had one. She looked at the names Felicia had written down. “Marty people, why?”
Matt shrugged. “Pat was giving him a hard time with the girl. If she’d changed her mind and gone back to him, Marty would be out in the cold. It’s hard to fight against exes and history.”
“Anyone el
se?”
Nancy shook her head. “It doesn’t feel like Marty. He seems to be a nice guy.”
“Okay, anyone else who did vote for Marty have a different reason?” She watched while Ian, Felicia, and Estebe shook their heads. “So the jealousy and keeping what’s now mine motive.”
“Nancy, you and I said Glen. Why did you pick him?” Angie knew her reason for choosing Glen, but she didn’t know Nancy’s.
“Glen was missing too long. He avoided answering direct questions. And,” Nancy flushed but continued, “this is stupid, but he reminds me of my ex. He’s definitely hiding something.”
Angie nodded. She’d felt it too. There was a secret hanging around Glen’s neck, and he wouldn’t let it go easily.
Ian turned to Hope. “So why did you choose Tad?”
“Besides being an ex-con? He doesn’t like his uncle. Or his sister for that matter. He’s always making faces at her behind her back. Then he sucks up when she’s looking. Anyone that mean, he has to be the killer. The other people are nice. Tad doesn’t have a nice bone in his body, as my grandmother would say.” Hope leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. No one was going to mess with her logic.
“I don’t think we made any ground in ruling anyone out.” Angie looked at the others. “Maybe we should ask some questions and see if we can eliminate at least a few of the players.”
“Sounds like a plan. Let’s all take one person and go talk to them. Then we’ll come back here and compare notes. Someone has got to have an alibi.” Ian glanced at Angie. “What do you say, want to call a break?”
“Just as soon as we divide up the names.” She wrote down the names of everyone in the room, then handed the notebook to Felicia. “Write your name next to someone you think you can get to chat. Then pass it to the next person. We can try to get to everyone in the room before the guards come back. We may have to do a second round. Or a few of us will.”
She watched as everyone scribbled their names by the suspects’. She glanced at the name left when it came around. She had Uncle Thaddeus. “Thanks guys.”
