Clearing the Course
Page 2
Emily wondered how Maddy knew so much about this boy. Until now, she’d never mentioned him, yet they seemed to have spent time together. He had to be half a dozen years her senior.
Prancer barked. “He wants to continue his walk,” said Kurt. “Welcome home.”
Henry said, “Maddy, what other boyfriend did Damari have?”
“Some old guy. Robby saw them having a picnic together.”
“I’ll bet he was jealous,” said Emily.
Maddy jumped to the rescue. “What? And killed Damari over it? No way.”
“She’s right.” Henry sipped his coffee. “He’d have gone after the boyfriend instead.”
Maddy exhaled through gritted teeth and stormed off to her room.
Emily said, “I wonder if the police know about this older boyfriend?”
“Are you talking about detectives Megan O’Leary and Ron Wooster? Sugarbury Falls finest? They won’t leave any stones unturned.”
“Hope not. I’m going to get ready.” She straightened the pile of papers and mail Kurt dumped on the table before going upstairs. Nod your head and don’t give any opinions on the dresses unless she asks. She thought back to the battle she and Maddy had last time they shopped.
Henry drove to the golf course early in order to rent clubs before meeting Pat and Dan. His father, also a physician, had loved golf. Henry foraged through the barn hoping he’d find a set of clubs his dad stashed away before he died, but had no luck.
Henry was relieved when he saw Pat already in line. “You don’t play either?”
“Nope,” said Pat. “Just wanted to be social and check out the new course.” He pulled out his credit card and handed it to the cashier. When they finished, Dan was waiting outside.
“You’re going to kill us, you know,” said Pat. “You understand that Henry and I don’t play golf, right?”
“It’s about bonding. I hardly play myself, but this course just opened and I sort of got the itch.”
Henry had to admit it was the perfect day to be outdoors. After spending the past two weeks in chilly Scotland, the sun felt good on his face. The grass had been mowed to perfection and the view of Lake Pleasant was like something out of an art museum.
“They sure transformed this run-down farmland,” said Pat. “These acres had been neglected ever since the owner died.” He took a slow breath. “Smells like the pine cologne Megan got me last Christmas.”
Dan placed his ball on a tee, swung, and missed. Several times. Henry relaxed. Maybe he wouldn’t have to claim an old shoulder injury after all. While Dan was a poor golfer, both Henry and Pat were abysmal. When a foursome pulled up waiting to play the hole, they graciously let them play through.
“Third time’s a charm.”
“You mean sixth time,” said Henry.
“Yeah, but who’s counting.” Dan again put his ball on the tee. This time, he connected on the first try, but the ball went off the course, into the trees by the lake. “I think I saw where it went,” said Dan. “I’ll be right back.”
“This was a terrible idea,” said Pat.
“Ah, the weather’s nice and it got us away from work. Think he’ll find that ball?”
“I don’t know why he bothered going after it. Hey, here he comes.”
Dan, panting, held a dirty, red lunch box. “Didn’t find the ball, but I found this in the clearing by the lake.”
“Why are you holding that dirty thing?” said Pat.
“Because I found it just feet away from the yellow crime scene tape. I’ll bet it belonged to Damari Cooper’s killer.”
Chapter 3
As much as it bothered Henry to have paid for and not fully utilized both the tee time and the clubs, the threesome cut their game short. He looked at his Fitbit. I put in more steps making coffee and reading the paper than I did here.
Pat called Megan. “Hey, we found something at the golf course that you should see. We’re on the way over.” They caravanned to the police station.
The modern police station in the center of town looked out of place amongst the older brick stores and restaurants. After the original station caught fire several years ago it was rebuilt using an updated, streamlined design. Henry wondered if all the original buildings would disappear in time, leaving Sugarbury Falls devoid of its history.
Megan and her partner, Ron Wooster, met them at the entrance.
Using his golf towel, Dan handed them the lunch box and they followed Megan into her office. “It was right outside the crime scene tape, under a fallen branch and covered by twigs and dirt. I brushed away the leaves, looking for my ball, and I found it.”
Megan, pulling her curly red hair off her face with a rubber band, donned gloves and unzipped the lunch box. “It has initials written in Sharpie. RB.”
“Robby Birchfield!” said Dan. “What’s in there?”
Megan pulled out a syringe. “This is interesting. I’ll get it to the lab right away.”
“Do you think Robby drugged her and that’s why she fell overboard?”
“We can’t jump to any conclusions. We’ll run all this through the lab and go from there.”
Ron Wooster said, “I’m surprised the team didn’t find this when they investigated the crime scene. How could they have missed it?”
Dan said, “It was outside the yellow tape, and if I hadn’t been clearing away the brush to find the ball, I’d never have seen it myself. Don’t be too hard on them.”
Megan said, “When I interviewed the hospital employees the other day, you said Robby Birchfield took care of your lawn. Had you ever seen him using drugs, or did his behavior ever imply such?”
“Well, I hired him on occasion when I was too busy to mow my own grass. I never really thought about it, but now that you bring it up, he did seem a bit off a few times. Never to the point where he wasn’t able to do the job, but I guess it’s possible.”
Henry worried that Maddy would be upset at the very mention of her friend being implicated. “Megan, we were out of town when Damari’s body was discovered, but our daughter says she and Robby were friends. He worked for Coralee as well. Do you want to talk to Maddy?” He still tingled when he said the word daughter.
“Absolutely,” said Megan. “Do you mind bringing her over later?”
Pat said, “We’re driving right past your house later on our way to see the summer stock production at St. Edwards. If it’s okay with Megan, we can stop by and she won’t have to hang out any longer here than she has to.”
Ron said, “That’s fine with me. Otherwise, I’ll stay and interview her here.”
Megan sealed and marked the evidence bag, then peeled off the gloves. “No, it shouldn’t take long. We’ll be by around 7.”
When Henry got back to the cabin, Maddy and Emily had returned from the mall and were huddled over Maddy’s laptop.
“That was a quick golf game. You must be better than you thought you were.”
“No, Em, I was more awful than I imagined. We had to make a detour to the police station. Dan found a lunch box with a syringe in it over by the crime scene while chasing a lost ball. It belongs to Robby Birchfield.”
“What!” said Maddy. “How do you know it’s his? Do the police think he’s guilty now?”
“Well, why would he have been near the crime scene with a syringe?” said Emily.
Maddy huffed. “He’s diabetic. Maybe he carried around emergency insulin, even though he has that Pod thing he wears. Robby is the gentlest, most peace-loving man I know,” said Maddy.
Emily was convinced Maddy had a crush on this boy. Wouldn’t that color her judgment?
Henry said, “Megan’s going to stop by around 7 to talk to you. Tell her what you told us. Meanwhile, what are the two of you so engrossed in on that laptop?”
Emily said, “When Megan stops by, maybe she can help solve another problem.”
“I checked my Facebook. Mostly I use Instagram, but I keep in touch with one of my old teachers from Chicago that way. Read this.”
“Who wrote that?” said Henry. “Your old teacher?”
“Oh, no. Some friend I don’t even remember having. She calls herself Feo. I think she’s alluding to the Spanish word for ugly. It gets worse.”
I couldn’t get out of bed all day. I can’t go back to that school. I want to die.
“That’s serious,” said Henry. “You can’t figure out who it is?”
“No. It’s so frustrating. I’m going to ask Megan about it. Maybe the police can find out who she is.”
“The poor girl is crying out for help. Did you reply and try to find out who she is?” Henry asked.
“Of course, Henry. I said she could private message me and I want to help her but she didn’t answer.”
“Why don’t you just run through your friends list?”
“I asked her that,” said Emily. “This person has over 600 friends on Facebook.” She was confused as to how someone with 600 friends could feel unloved.
Maddy closed the computer. “I’m going to ride my bike over to Coralee’s and check on the cats. I’ll be back before dinner.”
“Don’t forget, Megan will be here at 7 so in case she’s early…”
“Yes, Emily. I’m not stupid. I said I’d be back by dinner.” She slammed the door on her way out.
Henry put away the bag of groceries he’d picked up and offered Emily a Diet Coke.
“Did you buy any chips? It’s that sort of a day.”
“I got us a bag of Baked Lays. Semi junk food. How was the mall?”
“We found a beautiful dress for the party. Maddy looks so much older when she’s dressed up and not running around in those ripped jeans. I told her I’d take her to get her hair done for the party.”
“I’m sure she loved that,” said Henry, sarcastically. He knew how much Maddy resisted anything that made her ‘artificially pretty,’ as she put it.
“No, I was as surprised as you were. She liked the idea. On the way home, she was flipping through pictures of hairdos on her phone. Oh, and she wanted to step into Sephora while we were at the mall.”
“What’s that?”
“They sell cosmetics. I bought her a light pink lip gloss. It’s a start.”
“Start of what, I’m afraid to ask. Do you think she has a boyfriend and isn’t telling us?”
“I don’t think she has a boyfriend yet, but she’s warming up to the idea. She’s fourteen. I guess it’s normal.” Emily tried to sound confident.
“I’m keeping an eye out. What if she goes for that Robby character or someone like him? He’s a college kid and she’s a freshman in high school.”
“She’s nearly a sophomore, but I agree with you. She has to stay away from older men.”
“Damari’s parents should have taught their daughter that. Maddy says Robby told her he saw Damari with ‘some old guy.’ I hope it isn’t what got her killed.”
Chapter 4
Megan and Pat arrived right at 7. Megan looked elegant in a lacy white sundress and Emily marveled at what a touch of makeup did to bring out her blue eyes. She’ll make a lovely bride if Pat ever gets his act together and proposes.
“Maddy,” called Henry. “Megan and Pat are here.” Maddy plopped down on the sofa.
“What are you doing during your summer vacation?” asked Pat. “Other than your Scotland vacation.”
“I’m going to spend time at the cat café. I’m helping Coralee come up with an expanded menu.”
“You mean like Lion Claws? You know. Instead of Bear Claws. Those fried things with the powdered sugar…” Pat gave up.
After a bit of chit-chat about the adoptable cats, Megan pulled out a notepad. “Maddy, how do you know Robby?”
“He cleans rooms for Coralee. One day he wandered into the cat café and we started talking. After that, he came by to play with the cats whenever he could.”
Emily wondered if the cats were really the draw. She’d bet dollars to donuts he was stopping by to see Maddy. Henry’s clenched fists told her they were on the same wavelength.
“Did he talk about Damari Cooper? Did he mention the nature of their relationship?”
“She was his girlfriend, until she broke up with him. They took some classes together at St. Edwards.”
“Did he say why they broke up? How did he react to the separation?”
“He thought she was seeing someone else—an older man. He was heartbroken, poor Robby. She was an idiot to let him go.”
“Did he know who the man was? Was he angry at Damari?”
“He wasn’t angry. He blamed himself for not being a good enough boyfriend, though I can’t imagine it. He thought the guy might be a professor. Said he had that look.”
Megan cleared her throat. “Did you ever see evidence that Robby used drugs?”
“Drugs? No way. He was into health big time.” Maddy shifted in her seat.
Emily and Henry sat up straighter. Megan nudged her on.
“He was diabetic, you know. Not the kind you can fix by cutting out sugar. He had this thing attached to his arm.”
“An insulin pump?”
“He said he used to have a pump, but this was newer and didn’t have wires. He called it a Pod.”
Megan scribbled notes. “So he may have syringes and insulin, right?”
“I never saw him with a syringe.”
Pat looked at his watch. “We should get going if we want to get to the show on time.”
Megan closed the notepad. “Thanks, Maddy. If you think of anything else, call me.”
Emily nudged Maddy with her eyes. Unsuccessful, she took it into her own hands. “Megan, Maddy has something else to ask you about.”
“Sure, anything.”
Maddy walked to the door with her. “I’ve been seeing these weird posts from someone I don’t remember at all. She keeps saying how sad she is and…she needs help. Can you trace Facebook and find out who she is?”
“No crime has been committed, correct?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m afraid there’s not much we can do. Why don’t you see if you can draw out some information from her, convince her to get help? You can post the 24 hour National Suicide Prevention number. It’s 1-800-273-8255. Does she post pictures? Sometimes you can learn a lot about someone from the pictures they post.”
“I didn’t see any pictures, and there’s no info on her profile page.”
“Sorry I can’t be of more help. Keep me in the loop, and if you remember any other details regarding Robby…”
“I’ll call you.”
After Megan and Pat left, Emily said, “Anybody want a cup of tea?” She wished she’d have put pound cake and chocolate syrup on the shopping list.
“Tea?” said Maddy. “Since when?”
“I don’t know. I kind of got used to it over in Scotland. Henry?”
“Sure, I’ll take some.” He pulled out the Sudoku from the morning paper. “Want a copy, Maddy? We have two weeks-worth waiting for us.”
“No, I want to finish my book.” She scooped up Chester and went into her room.
Emily pulled the cabinet door open. The knob fell off, and the latches came loose. “Henry, can you help?” The door fell into her hands.
“What’s wrong?” When he saw her holding up the ancient cabinet door, he said, “It’s time we redo those cabinets like we talked about. They’re the same ones that we had when we spent summers here as a kid.”
“I’ll ask around for suggestions. Didn’t Pat redo the cabinets at his place a few years back?”
“Yeah, when his wife was alive. I think her brother did it for them. Let’s not go there.” Henry unscrewed the latches and propped the cabinet door against the wall. While the kettle boiled, he and Emily sat at the table.
“I forgot we had that hot cocoa Susan and Mike sent us for Christmas. I’m going to see if Maddy wants some.”
When she got to Maddy’s door, she heard voic
es. At first she thought Maddy was on the phone, though that was a rarity. She pressed her ear against the door. Maddy was talking to a boy. Should she swing open the door? If Maddy had a boy in there, surely she’d have locked the door. She scooted back to the kitchen.
“Henry, come quick. Maddy has a boy in there.”
“No way.” He followed her to Maddy’s door and pressed his ear against it. “I’m going to go around back to the window. Give me a few minutes, then knock. This way he can’t escape.”
Emily counted. One Mississippi, two Mississippi…She pounded on the door. “Maddy, open up!”
“Just a minute.”
Emily heard shuffling, then the sound of the window slamming down. Emily opened the door. Next to the window, trapped between her and Henry, stood a boy with black hair and a red t-shirt. Emily recognized him immediately. It was the uninvited guest at the memorial gathering. It was Robby Birchfield!
Chapter 5
Henry pushed Robby onto the bed. Emily’s heart raced. She was surprised, angry, confused.
“What’s he doing here!” She sounded like a lunatic sitcom mom, but didn’t care.
“It’s not what you think.”
Emily focused on Henry’s angry, bulging forehead veins. “Then explain.” He towered over Robby, who was slumped on the edge of the bed.
He needs our help,” said Maddy. “He has nowhere else to turn.”
“Where are his parents?”
“Emily, they’re divorced and don’t care. His mom’s in and out of rehab, and his dad is always traveling for business.”
Henry interrogated the boy. “They found your lunch box and a syringe. What was it doing near the crime scene?”
“I have no idea. I lost that lunch box; I can’t even remember when. Used it when I did my lawn jobs and had to be outside all day. As far as the syringe? I don’t use them.” He touched his upper arm. “This pod delivers my insulin. Sure, I’m supposed to keep a few needles on hand in case of emergency, but I don’t.”
“And you did a lawn job by the crime scene?”
“No, never.”
Emily said, “Where were you the day of the picnic?”