The Body on the Roof

by Kevin Creager

  Townsend brought one in, and Getty closed the door behind him. He pulled out his notebook as he took his seat and turned to a new page.

  Peabody asked, “Could you tell me who you saw there at the green at the time of the incident?”

  “Well, I didn’t see the, uh, incident. I think I came up just after it. And I wasn’t paying much attention to who else was around. I do believe Hank Peters was there, I think I remember Bud Addams asking him to wait for the squad. And Charlene Matthews from the bank.” Johnson smiled briefly. “You usually see them together in the evening when their businesses close. No other time, but always then. I think there’s a mutual interest there, but they don’t want anyone to know, and they think they’re getting away with it.

  “Let’s see. Also a young woman with Charlene, but I’m afraid I don’t know her name. Wait a minute. Mrs. McMahon with her dog, and Cecil Skinner’s girl, I don’t recall her name either right now. They came up about the same time as the ambulance.”

  “How about Harry?”

  “Harry?” Johnson turned to Townsend. “Harry, you were there, weren’t you?” He faced back to Peabody. “I’m sorry. I guess we did talk to each other but I was so caught up in what was going on with Steph, I didn’t really pay attention to him. Sorry, Harry.”

  “Mr. Townsend?” Peabody repeated the question.

  “Yes, I, I had just come out of the office when I heard shouting. But I didn’t see anything. And I didn’t see anybody except for who Mel just told you about.”

  “How about anybody else on the green, maybe moving away from everyone else?”

  They both shook their heads.

  Getty asked his question. “Did either of you see anybody pick up anything or get rid of anything while you were there?”

  Johnson frowned and shook his head. Townsend paused for just a second, then said, “No.”

  Johnson cocked his head to one side. “Surely this is the work of the same person who killed Grace, isn’t it? And that couldn’t have been anyone there.”

  Peabody studied the both of them for a moment. Apparently, word hadn’t gotten around town as quickly as the police department had thought. He could understand these two men not being in the loop for immediate sordid news, but he was surprised Sherri Northrup hadn’t already heard and shared it with them.

  “Right now, we have reason to believe that this is a different person. I’m sorry I can’t share any more with you than that, I know how close you both were to Grace Mathison, but you may be hearing some news on that front very soon. But Officer Reasoner’s attacker is someone else.”

  “Really?” Johnson was startled. “You know who Grace’s killer is?” Townsend’s mouth dropped open.

  “I am sorry. I can’t tell you any more at this time.”

  “Oh, my God.” Johnson gripped the arms of his chair tightly. Townsend couldn’t say anything, but his pen was clicking madly. In and out, in and out.

  Peabody asked, “Is there anything else you might be able to tell us?”

  They both shook their heads slowly. “No, no, nothing else,” Johnson said, even more slowly.

  Peabody stood up with Getty closing his notebook and following. “Thank you, gentlemen. We appreciate your assistance and your time.”

  Townsend stood up slowly and shook their hands this time, but Johnson didn’t rise.

  Peabody and Getty walked through the outer office to hear Sherri Northrup on the phone. “You don’t say! I wouldn’t have believed it! No! It can’t be him!” She didn’t even notice their passing. Peabody guessed the other men would be hearing the news now.

  They went through the door and turned left towards the bank.

  “Any thoughts?” Peabody asked.

  “Both of them appeared pretty shook up, both by Officer Reasoner’s stabbing, and by the news that it’s a different suspect than for Mrs. Mathison.”

  “Yes, but they were both very close to Mrs. Mathison. You might not be aware, but Townsend was her nephew, and Mel Johnson was her – I guess you would call it sometime boyfriend. And they both had talked with Stephanie just yesterday afternoon.

  “I’m also talking about Mel barely noticing Townsend last night. Did Townsend just show up at the end? Where was he before that?”

  They arrived at the bank and opened the front door. Peabody nodded to the security guard, Teddy Witherspoon, just inside the door and walked to one of the teller’s windows.

  “Good morning, how can I help you?” It was the cheeriest greeting he expected to get today.

  “Yes, I need to see the manager, Charlene Matthews.”

  The teller looked to her left, to a glassed-in office. They could see Matthews in there on the phone. The bank manager glanced up at that moment, saw who was standing at the counter, and apparently said good-bye to whoever was on the other end of the line, hanging up the phone. She stood up and came out to greet them.

  “Officer Peabody, good morning. I assume you’re here about last night.”

  “Yes, I am, Mrs. Matthews. If I could ask you a few questions?”

  “Certainly, whatever you need. Come into my office. Cheryl,” she spoke to the teller, “I’m going to be with these gentlemen, so I am not to be disturbed.”

  She closed the door, and they sat down. Peabody introduced Getty for what seemed like the umpteenth time that morning. Matthews nodded, but made no comment.

  “Mrs. Matthews, you were coming out of the bank last night when Officer Reasoner was attacked, is that right?”

  “Yes, sir, I had just locked up the front door, when I heard...a yell, I guess it was. I turned and saw Chief Pierson and Officer Addams running toward a shadow on the ground. I couldn’t tell what it was from that distance. The chief was coming from the bandstand, and Officer Addams appeared to be running from the direction of the station.”

  “Do you always come out the front door? Don’t you park around back?” Getty interjected.

  Matthews appeared to redden slightly. “I am parked in the rear, but I only go out that way in bad weather. I have to turn our front sign to Closed, and I have to admit I like to look out on the green at dusk. It gives me comfort at the end of the day.”

  “And did you see anything out on the green last night?” Peabody asked.

  “I’m afraid I hadn’t gotten that far, Officer. I had just locked the door and saw Mr. Peters in front of his store.”

  “Nobody else?”

  “Not immediately. Then the yell, and as I started walking toward the commotion, Mel Johnson was also coming over and Cheryl Levinsky, one of my tellers, came from behind the building. She had been leaving too, but had gone out the back.” Matthews pointed to the young woman at the front counter. “That’s her out there now.”

  “Anybody show up later?”

  Matthews sat back and looked up at the ceiling in thought.

  “Mr. Johnson’s employee, Harry Townsend, I think his name is.” She looked down at Peabody. “They were both here with Officer Reasoner yesterday. To get into Mrs. Mathison’s safety deposit box.” She paused and took a chocolate from a bowl at the corner of her desk. Peabody looked at the bowl. They were small individually wrapped candy bars, the kind the company likes to call “Fun-Size”. But Peabody thought they were only “Fun-Size” if you find unwrapping five of them “Fun”. Because that’s how many it took to make a regular sized bar. She saw him looking at the bowl.

  “Would you care for one, Officer? And you, Officer Getty?”

  Peabody put a hand in the bowl and surreptitiously palmed two. Getty took only one. “Thank you.”

  “Mrs. McMahon was there with her Pekingese. She walks her e
very night just as we close, regular as clockwork. Though I suspect Mrs. McMahon needs the regularity more than the dog. And the Skinner girl, I don’t know her first name. She sometimes goes to the Corner Grocery to meet her father as he gets off work. And I think they sometimes get an ice cream at The Dairy Bar on the other corner. I don’t recall anybody else. Oh, till Mayor Plummer showed up, just about the same time as the ambulance.” She shook her head. “If there was anybody else, I couldn’t tell you who it was.”

  Peabody looked at Getty, who took his cue to ask his question. “Did you see anybody pick up or get rid of anything at any time?”

  Matthews shrugged. “There was a lot going on by then. And my attention, all our attention was focused on Officer Reasoner. I’m sorry, that’s all I can tell you.”

  Peabody balled up the candy wrappers together, so they looked like one. “Thank you, Mrs. Matthews. Now I’d like to ask you about yesterday afternoon when Officer Reasoner was here with Johnson and Townsend. Did you notice anything in particular at that time?”

  Matthews picked up a paper clip and tapped it against the desk. “No, nothing in particular. I mean, I do get asked to get into the safety deposit boxes of the deceased, but not usually with the police present. That was different. Mr. Townsend seemed nervous, but his aunt had just died. I wouldn’t expect him to act normally. But then, I don’t know what his ‘normal’ behavior would be. Maybe he’s just a nervous person.

  “I opened the box for them, then left the room. I assume they talked, but I don’t listen in on these conversations. However, Officer Reasoner did ask me to make copies of everything when they were done. That’s not typical. I did not look at any specifics of anything, but they appeared to be the normal types of things that are kept in these boxes – wills, insurance papers, receipts. Nothing of a criminal nature, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

  Peabody stood up and held out his hand.

  “Thank you again. You have been most helpful.”

  “You are welcome. Let me know if I can help with anything else.”

  He paused. “Actually, now that you mention it, could we talk with Cheryl, is it? Since she was also there last night.”

  “Of course. You can use my office.” Matthews went out, and Peabody sat back down, taking the opportunity to put several “Fun-Size” bars in his pocket.

  Cheryl Levinsky closed the door behind her and looked anxiously at the officers until Peabody gestured for her to take the seat behind the desk. “This is your chance to take the seat of power,” he said. She giggled. “Hi, I am Officer Peabody, and this is Officer Getty.”

  She gave a small wave and said, “Hi.”

  “We just wanted to ask if you had seen or heard anything last night on the green.”

  “You mean when that policewoman was stabbed? Oh, no, I got there after it happened.” She was directing her attention and answers to Getty. That seemed to be happening with the younger women. “I was out back and heard yelling, so I ran around front, but I just saw a group of people standing there watching the policemen.”

  “Do you know who was in the group?” Getty asked.

  “Well, Mrs. Matthews, of course. And Mr. Peters from the hardware store. They’re usually out front together. I think the two men from next door, but I don’t know their names. Unless they’re Johnson and Johnson? And then the mayor came from his other office across the green, you know where I mean?” They both nodded, but she only looked at Getty’s. “And a couple of other people, but I don’t know who they were. An older lady with a dog and a young girl.”

  “Did you see anybody pick anything up or get rid of anything?”

  “Nope, er, no sir. By the time I could figure out what was going on, the ambulance came up, making a lot of noise, then there were people rushing around, shouting things. Some of the people watching started wandering a little bit, but I didn’t pay particular attention. I did see the two policemen and the mayor walk back over to the police department after the ambulance left. I started to go over to ask Mrs. Matthews if she knew what had happened, but she was whispering with Mr. Peters. The insurance men were talking with each other. The others were leaving, so I went around back and drove away. That was it.”

  Peabody rolled up another candy bar wrapper, which no one had seen him take, and said, “Thank you, Ms. Levinsky. If you think of anything else, be sure to let us know.”

  She nodded at Peabody and smiled at Getty, then opened the door and left. Peabody and Getty looked at each other, then followed her out.

  Getty approached the security guard. “Teddy, don’t suppose you were around last night?”

  “No, George, I only work till two. Jed Will, the other guard, comes in then, but he only works through the after-work rush and the locking-up, then he clocks out about a half-hour before Mrs. Matthews leaves.” He shrugged. “Sorry.”

  Peabody clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s okay, Teddy, have a good day.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Addams was not particularly enjoying his current conversation with Sharon Alvarez, the district attorney, so he turned most of his nonverbal attention to the pretty assistant DA, Gail Whittier. They had met at a few social gatherings with mutual friends, and he sensed there just might be some chemistry there, though now was not the time to pursue it.

  He had returned to the department from the Mathison house to find Mike Wannamaker anxiously sitting with Alvarez and Whittier, waiting for the return of anybody so that Mike could get on with almost anything else. Talking with any member of the legal profession had never been his strong suit.

  “Bud, I got a call regarding some graffiti behind the Church of Hope and Light. Pastor Johns wants someone to look at it before they clean it up. Apparently, it’s a little, uh, personal about one of the congregation. So he doesn’t want it up too long, doesn’t want anybody else to see it. But I was waiting because I thought somebody should be here, seeing as how we have a prisoner. And a couple of people who needed to see him.” Wannamaker shifted his eyes to the attorneys.

  “Yeah, Mike, go take care of it. I’ll be here for a little while anyway. Hopefully, one of the Gettys or George will be back soon.”

  “Great. I shouldn’t be gone too long. When I’m done, I can bring something back for lunch from Mac’s. You want anything?”

  “Uh, yeah. A meatloaf sandwich from Mac’s will be fine. I don’t care what kind.”

  “Sounds good. I might get one too. Maybe with fried onions.” Wannamaker went out the back door, starting to whistle now that he was free from having to entertain the legal profession.

  Addams turned toward the two women waiting for him, one patiently and smilingly, the senior one not so much.

  “Now, Ms. Alvarez, Miss Whittier, what can I do for you? Have you had a chance to talk with Jeff yet?”

  Whittier smiled a little at the “Miss” reference. In their last conversation, she had been “Gail”. Alvarez stood, but without a smile.

  “Yes, we have, thank you. Mr. Laurenfeld just left, and we have Chief Pierson’s story about what has happened. We need to talk about how we are going to proceed from this point.”

  “Okay, how about if we go into Conference Room A?”

  She pointed in a different direction. “We could use the Chief’s office. It’s a little more out of the way, Chief, and it is yours now.”

  It took Addams a second to realize that, since he was now Chief, it was his room to use. This was going to take some getting used to.

  As they went into the room, Whittier smiled at him again and said, “Good to see you again, Marty.” It lifted his spirits, but not enough and not for long.

  Now, after sharing information and personal opinions, Addams and Alvare
z disagreed about whether to pursue Pierson as a suspect in the attack on Officer Reasoner or not.

  “Chief Pierson is known to have a motive,” Alvarez pointed out. “Officer Reasoner had just accused him of killing Grace Mathison. He was there at the scene at the time. He was the closest to her in regards to proximity. He admitted it was his fault.”

  “But his motive is gone with his confession immediately following the incident. And I saw him running toward her, not away from her.” Addams rubbed his forehead. “It would have been a neat trick for him to have run thirty feet away then turn right around and run back to her.”

  “Maybe it was to get rid of the weapon.”

  “We searched the area. There is no weapon, certainly not within the range that he could have gone. His comment about it being his fault most likely had to do with Mathison’s death and with creating the whole situation in the first place. With Officer Reasoner simply being in that place at that time.”

  “But we can’t just dismiss him,” Alvarez insisted. “He was there and, without him, there is no other motive.”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, there just may be.” Addams pushed the copy of the home improvement receipts from the safety deposit box in front of the DA. She picked it up and scanned it.

  “What? What is there?” Whittier couldn’t read the paper from her seat. Alvarez raised an eyebrow in question at Addams.

  He pointed to the top line of the paper. “There was an additional hidden room put on that house about fifteen years ago. We opened that room this morning and guess what was in it?”

  “I’m not in the business of guessing,” Alvarez responded sternly.

  Addams held up a hand. “I’m sorry. It was meant to be a rhetorical question. The contents of that room appear to be stolen property from several robberies around this area.”

  He leaned even further forward. “We believe that whoever attacked Stephanie had reason to fear that she was going to find out about that room since she had made this copy to bring back here and study. The crime scene unit from Oldstown is going over that room right now, and Officer Getty is going through the inventory, comparing it to lists of reported stolen items from houses around the town. Now that may be a plausible motive.” The “we believe” may have been a little presumptive. Addams had just come up with the theory on the spot. Having made his point, he sat back.