Murder Is Collegiate

by Diane Weiner

  “It’s fine now, said Emily. But this man needs a doctor. Can you bring him to the hospital?”

  “Do you want to press charges?”

  “No one was hurt, and the college can replace the door. I’m not pressing charges.”

  The police escorted Morgan and Gerald out of the building. Emily unlocked what was left of her office door and everyone entered.

  “Joe, did you know Gerald was sick?”

  “No, but that explains the shaking and odd behavior. I saw the two of them coming in late to the inauguration ceremony. Maybe you were right, Emily. Maybe Gerald tried to run away and Morgan had to fetch him back.”

  “And it explains his behavior at the inn the other night too,” said Susan.

  “You know, I saw them both here in this building the morning before the ceremony.”

  “Joe, you didn’t mention that before,” said Emily.

  “I forgot until now.”

  “If they were in the building then, that explains Morgan’s earring. It must have dropped while they were in the hallway.”

  “Or in your office,” said Joe.

  Detective Wooster knocked on the broken door. “I heard what happened and came to check on you. Are you all okay?”

  “Yes,” said Emily. “Luckily, Joe Sommers is a regular gym goer. He got the ax away from Gerald. But I hope the college gets the door repaired quickly.”

  Susan stood up. “Detective, we think Morgan and Gerald were here the day Martha was murdered. It was her earring I found, right?”

  The detective cleared his throat. “Yes, it was. You were right, Mrs. Wiles.”

  “And Gerald was holding an ax.”

  “An ax.” The detective scratched his head.

  “What’s wrong, Detective?” Susan saw by his expression that something was puzzling him.

  “It’s just that we got back the coroner’s report, and the murder weapon looks like a heavy piece of pipe. Lead particles were found on Mrs. Peterson’s skull. It wasn’t an ax. If Gerald was the killer and he owned an ax, why wouldn’t he have used it? Where would he get a pipe?”

  Emily said, “With his dementia, Gerald may have thought he was killing me. I know he was angry about losing his job. God knows he was strong enough to have done it. Look how hard it was to pry away the ax.”

  “Come to think of it, Gerald was holding something that day. It looked like a piece of silver pipe,” said Joe.

  “My husband is a doctor,” said Emily, “and he doesn’t think someone with Gerald’s degree of dementia could have planned out a murder, even bringing his own murder weapon.”

  “People with dementia have times when they are perfectly lucid,” argued Joe. “Maybe that was one of those times. Martha could have been in on it too.”

  “Martha’s a hippie at heart,” said Emily. “She’s all about peace and nonviolence. And I just think Gerald is too sick to have done it.”

  “Ill or not,” said Susan, “personally, I think we were just face to face with Martha’s killer. Or killers.”

  Chapter 12

  Ashley Young’s parents lived in a secluded farmhouse about an hour away from Sugarbury Falls. A row of bare maple trees lined the long driveway leading to the front door. The house itself was small and needed a coat of paint. Smoke billowed from the chimney.

  “Mrs. Fox, come in,” said Mrs. Young.

  Mrs. Young had her blond hair pulled back and wore no makeup. The profound stress she’d suffered over the past decade had etched her face with wrinkles and worry lines.

  “This is my dear friend, Susan Wiles. She and her husband came up for a visit.”

  “I wanted to tag along and see a little more of this gorgeous area,” added Susan.

  Susan and Emily followed Mrs. Young into the living room. Mr. Young, a thin gentleman with a beard, was sitting in a recliner next to the fireplace.

  “Can I get you some coffee?” asked Mrs. Young.

  “No thanks. We’re good,” said Emily. She and Susan sat on the plaid sofa.

  “We heard about the murder in Sugarbury Falls,” said Mr. Young. “Is that why you came? Do you think it’s related to Ashley’s disappearance?”

  “Mr. Young, it’s possible. Also, all my audiotapes were stolen. Someone, namely Ashley’s abductor, may still be out there and not happy that a book is being written taking the position foul play was involved.”

  Mrs. Young reached into the coffee table drawer. “I was going to call you. I want to show you something. Look, it’s a postcard with a Mexico postmark.”

  Emily took the postcard and read it aloud:

  “Dear Mom and Dad, I know it’s been a while, but I wanted to touch base and reassure you that all is well. I’ve got a great job and wonderful husband, but can’t come back to the states for reasons I don’t want to get into. All my love, Ashley.”

  “You must be so relieved,” said Susan.

  “No, actually quite the opposite. That isn’t Ashley’s handwriting. Besides, if all were well, she would have called long ago. Ashley loved us and never would have let us worry all these years. And she wouldn’t in a million years have gotten married without us there.”

  “And why now?” said Mr. Young. “Why didn’t she let us know ten years ago?”

  Susan said, “Someone’s worried that the whole case will come to light again. They are trying to dissuade anyone from digging into her disappearance.”

  “Let’s go over this once again. Did Ashley know anyone who may have wanted to harm her,” asked Emily.

  “Like I told you before, she didn’t have a boyfriend, but on Valentine’s Day prior to her disappearance, she received a flower delivery and a card. She tore the card into pieces and threw the flowers right into the trash. When her mother asked her who they were from, she said she didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “Then there was that kid she was tutoring in algebra. She said he followed her everywhere around school, and it creeped her out. She was going to quit tutoring.”

  “Did she break it off?” said Emily.

  “I don’t know. That was shortly before she disappeared.”

  Mr. Young said, “Did my wife tell you about the package?”

  “What package?”

  “Not long after Ashley disappeared, we received a small package. Inside was a locket that belonged to Ashley.”

  “It belonged to my mother,” added Mrs. Young. “When Ashley turned eighteen, her grandmother gave it to her. Ashley had been so upset when she thought she’d lost it.”

  “Are you sure it was the same locket?” asked Emily.

  “Positive. There had been a picture of Ashley’s grandfather inside, but it’s missing now.”

  “Don’t forget to tell her about the note,” said Mr. Young.

  “Yes, there was a note. Typed. It said, Keep it safe.”

  Emily said, “Keep it safe? Did you show this note to the police?”

  “We did. Her father insisted we do that right away. They dismissed it. If anything, they thought it was proof Ashley had left of her own free will and was returning it to us to pass down to future generations. But that made no sense at all to us. Ashley was our only child.”

  Emily and Susan got up to leave. Mrs. Young took Emily’s hand.

  “Please help us find out what happened to our daughter. I know you always believed our side.”

  “I won’t stop until I get answers,” said Emily. “I want to know what happened as much as you do.”

  Chapter 13

  “That was a productive visit,” said Susan.

  “Yes, it was. I wish she would have called me when she got the postcard or the package.”

  Emily and Susan turned into Maplewood. As they pulled closer to the house, Emily said, “Look, there’s Henry and Mike.”

  Henry and Mike, wearing snowshoes, were standing outside of the barn with Kurt Olav. Emily parked the Jeep beside the barn.

  Susan said, “How’s the snowshoeing going?”

  “Gets easier with
practice,” said Mike. “Bending down on snowshoes, however, is a different story.”

  Henry brushed snow from the doorjamb with his glove. “Someone’s been in here. There are marks like the door was pried open. We were about to go inside.”

  Kurt said, “I told you I saw the door open. Last night, I saw someone walking away from the barn. It was late. I couldn’t sleep, so I came out for a walk. Me and Prancer.”

  The foursome entered the dark barn. The door creaked, and a sliver of sunlight shone on the floor. Cobwebs hung from the corners of the walls, and old farm equipment, which had once been used to keep horses, filled the stalls. Susan sneezed.

  “Let’s each start at a corner and work our way into the middle,” said Henry. He grabbed the flashlight.

  Emily asked, “What is it we’re looking for?”

  “Any sign that someone’s been in here. Kurt, you check the stalls.”

  Susan wished she’d worn her gloves. Every time she touched the barn wall, her hands got caked with dirt. She ran her hand along the boards. “Ouch!” She clutched her hand. Blood trickled from her palm.

  Mike ran over. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  “Scraped my hand on a rusty nail. Good thing I’m up-to-date on my tetanus shot.”

  Emily fetched hand sanitizer and a Band-Aid from her purse. Susan cleaned the wound as best she could and went back to work.

  “Hey, I found something,” said Kurt. “Here in the stall.” He knelt down under a wheelbarrow.

  Henry said, “What’s that?” He shone the flashlight on a metal tackle box that was half-buried in the dirt.

  “Open it,” said Susan.

  Kurt pulled on the lid. “It’s locked with a padlock. Hand me something to pry it off with.”

  Henry searched for a tool. “Here, try this screwdriver.”

  Kurt stuck the screwdriver under the lid. “I can’t get it off.”

  Mike grabbed a rusty hammer and wacked at the padlock. Finally he was able to open the box.

  All eyes stared as Mike lifted the lid and opened the box.

  “It’s jewelry,” said Emily. She fingered a diamond bracelet.

  Susan took out an emerald ring and a strand of pearls. “We have to call the police.”

  “Not so fast,” said Kurt. “They’ll pick up the jewelry and try to return the pieces to their owners, but I know this town. The police don’t have the manpower to track down the thief. Especially not in the middle of a murder investigation. Let’s do this the Minnesota way.”

  “What’s that?” said Susan.

  “You’ll see. Meet me here after dark.”

  * * * * *

  After dark, Susan, Emily, Henry, and Mike met Kurt in front of the barn. Without a visible moon or stars, the night sky was eerie and foreboding. The group huddled together in the cold.

  Susan could see her own breath as she exhaled, asking the question she knew they all had. “How do you know he’s going to show up?”

  Kurt said, “Virtually every night I’ve seen someone out here.”

  Henry said, “Why didn’t you say anything before?”

  “I didn’t see him stealing or vandalizing, so I kept my mouth shut. Now we know the guy’s a thief.”

  “Or the woman,” said Emily. “Let’s take our post.”

  All four hid inside the barn. Susan kept her phone out, gambling on the service working if she needed to call the police. Besides, the glow from the phone was reassuring in the otherwise pitch-black barn. She pulled a bag of chips from her coat pocket and offered them to the others.

  “I see you came prepared for a stakeout,” said Emily.

  “It could be hours. Gotta keep up our energy.”

  Something scampered over Susan’s feet. “Ahhh!”

  “Shh!” said Henry.

  “It… it… A rat just ran over my foot.”

  Henry turned on the flashlight. “It’s just a mouse. See. He’s scampering right into that hole.”

  “That’s supposed to be reassuring?” said Susan. “Maybe he has an entire mouse family living here. And just because one critter was a mouse doesn’t mean there aren’t rats here too.”

  “My knees hurt,” said Emily. “How long are we going to wait?”

  “Shh!” said Henry. “I hear someone outside. Listen.” He turned off the flashlight. The door creaked as it opened.

  Susan’s heart pounded, partially from fear and partially from excitement. It was too dark to see, so she relied on her sense of hearing. Footsteps came closer. Everyone held their breaths. The stall door creaked open. The girls were perched on either side of the stall. Susan felt someone brush right past them. She squeezed Emily’s hand. All of a sudden, two flashlights shone on the perpetrator. Kurt grabbed him from behind and pinned his hands behind his back. Like a reflex, Susan called 911.

  Emily said, “Noah! You’re the thief!”

  Susan said, “Coralee told us jewelry was stolen from the inn. And remember the lady at the service who said her diamond bracelet was missing?”

  “I saw Coralee and Noah at the service. Poor Coralee!” said Emily.

  “What were you thinking?” said Henry. “Stealing from your mom’s guests?”

  Noah struggled to get away, but Kurt held tight. Detectives Wooster and O’Leary, carrying flashlights, burst through the barn door.

  “What have we got here?” said Detective Wooster.

  “You can’t prove anything,” said Noah, struggling. “I was taking a walk, and I saw the door open. I was checking it out for the Foxes, that’s all.”

  Susan dug through the box one more time before handing it to the police. What’s this stuck in the corner? It’s an old picture of an elderly man. It’s cut in a heart shape, like to fit into a locket. “Emily, didn’t Ashley Young’s parents tell us Ashley lost a locket? One her grandmother handed down to her?”

  “Yes, and someone sent the locket back to them.”

  “I’m sure, Detectives, you will find this photo fits the locket.” Susan handed the photo to Detective Wooster, who sealed it in an evidence bag.

  Detective O’Leary picked up the box. Detective Wooster cuffed Noah and walked toward the door.

  “How did you all happen to be out here just when Noah came by?”

  “Coincidence, I guess. I’m glad we were here. Not only do you have the jewel thief, I have a sneaking suspicion this young man was involved in Ashley Young’s disappearance too,” said Susan.

  “We’ll check it out. Go home, everyone. It’s freezing out here.”

  Chapter 14

  The next morning, Susan slept much later than usual. She and her friends were exhausted after the events of the previous night. After Noah had been arrested, they had gone down to the station to make statements, getting back home well after midnight.

  “Good morning,” said Emily. “Did you sleep as soundly as I did?” Chester was curled up on her lap.

  “Yes, and I still need coffee to get me going. Where are the guys?”

  “They went for a walk. Henry wanted to assess the damage to the barn door. He was hoping that between him and Mike they could avoid hiring an outsider to do the job.”

  Susan’s phone vibrated. “It’s Lynette.”

  Lynette was Susan’s older child, a detective back in Westbrook, NY. She was married to Jason, a college professor, and they were parents to two-year-old Annalise.

  “Lynette, how’s Annalise? I miss her so much.”

  “She’s great. You need to start doing FaceTime with her. You know, Jonathan started that. Ever since he found out he has a grandchild, he calls almost every day. Annalise calls him Papa and kisses the screen good-bye when they hang up. He sent her a pack of coloring books in the mail yesterday with a box of those extra big crayons.”

  “I couldn’t be more thrilled. What’s going on with the adoption?”

  “They interviewed our friends last week, and we passed with flying colors. Tomorrow, we have another home study.”

  “Before you
know it, you’ll be traveling to China to bring home Annalise’s new sister! Make sure you get up and walk around on the plane. I saw on Dr. Oz that you can get blood clots in your legs if you sit for a long time.”

  “Okay, Mom. Let me write this down. Walk around the plane so I don’t get blood clots.”

  “Be sarcastic if you want, but look it up and you’ll see it’s a real thing.”

  Susan filled Lynette in on recent events in Sugarbury Falls. Lynette teased her that she had some sort of internal magnet that attracted murders and warned her yet again to be careful. While Susan had been talking, Emily had also been on the phone.

  “Everything good with Lynette?”

  “Great. They’re developing a real relationship with my biological father Jonathan. He’s already made more effort in his short time as a grandfather than Audrey has as a grandmother.”

  “But Audrey has been preoccupied, right?”

  “Lovesick is more like it. Disgusting at her age with that creep Richard, Jonathan’s own brother.”

  “Let me see if I have this straight. Your mother is marrying your uncle?”

  “Yep.”

  “Mothers. I’m glad Henry and I never had children to mess up. Well, that was Coralee on the phone. She’s really upset, understandably. She asked if we could stop by the inn since she can’t leave. Noah was capable of running the business in her absence, but now…”

  “Say no more. Let’s go.”

  Susan grabbed her coat while Emily put together a tin of baked goods. It was one of those cold, clear days. The sky was deep blue, and the sun reflected off the snow. Coralee was waiting in the lobby.

  Emily hugged her. “I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine finding out your son was the jewel thief.”

  “I knew he wasn’t perfect. He’d had his troubles as a teen, but this? I don’t know what to say. I should have seen signs. Maybe if his father were still alive things would be different.”

  “Don’t blame yourself. You’ve done an incredible job balancing the business with motherhood. He always had a roof over his head and food in his belly. It’s nothing you did.”

  “Thanks, Emily. Wish I could believe that.”

  They followed Coralee into the dining room, which was pretty much empty now that the breakfast rush was over.