by Kate Bell
“It seemed irrelevant,” Bob spat out. It seemed our mayor might have had a little bit of a temper.
“It doesn’t seem so irrelevant to me,” Alec said, and waited.
“All right. Fine. Yes, we dated in tenth grade. That was over twenty years ago. What difference does it make?” Bob said with a tremble in his voice.
“What difference it makes, is that you lied about your relationship,” I said, feeling a little self-righteous. How dare he say I wasn’t worth noticing?
Alec stood and waited for his answer.
Bob looked from one of us to the other. “It just didn’t seem important.”
“You know Bob, I envy your dedication to the game of golf, out in this kind of weather. But it’s a little chilly for me and I really need a straight answer or we can move this interview to the police station.”
I looked at Alec. Now he was getting down to business, calling him Bob, and everything.
Bob huffed air out through his mouth. “Fine. Diana and I dated in the tenth grade. A couple of months ago I stopped in at the Olde Maine Tavern for a drink. She happened to be there. She’d had a few too many drinks, and she came and sat beside me and started reminiscing about old times. She said she was lonely and asked if I was interested in getting something started. I told her I was happily married and had no interest.” He shrugged as if that said it all.
It didn’t. “And?” Alec said.
“And from then on, she called or texted me almost every day. Said she wouldn’t be denied. I was her first boyfriend, you know? I guess you could say she was still hung up on me.”
“I’m sure she thought you were so unforgettable,” I said, rolling my eyes.
Bob narrowed his eyes at me. “Look, she was crazy. She said she was going to tell my wife if I didn’t have an affair with her. Tell her that we were already having an affair. She was a piece of work. I don’t know what happened to the sweet girl I knew so many years ago. This Diana that was murdered, was someone entirely different.”
I looked at Alec. I could tell the wheels were spinning in his head, but he wasn’t giving anything away. “Do you have any of those texts?”
“No, I deleted them. I didn’t want my wife to see them,” he said.
“Why would your wife have believed her over you?” I asked. “It seems odd to me that she would believe a stranger over her own husband.”
Bob regarded me in silence for a moment. I thought at that moment there was a good chance he might explode.
“She wouldn’t. But I didn’t want Diana filling her head with lies. Diana could seem so normal. So professional. But underneath it all, she was nuts. I didn’t want to deal with her at all and I didn’t want my wife to have to deal with her, either.”
As much as I didn’t want to believe it, he seemed to be telling the truth.
“We also heard you were only there for the last five minutes of your daughter’s recital. And that you might have had a little bit to drink by the time you got there,” I said. I couldn’t help it. I had to know what his reaction would be to that question.
Bob’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Now he turned bright red.
“That’s a lie! I was there for the whole thing!” he insisted.
Alec gave me a look.
“All right. We’ll be in touch. Have a good game,” he said to Bob and turned around and headed back to his car.
I trotted to catch up to him. When we were out of earshot, I asked him, “What’s next? Why didn’t you ask him more questions?”
“We’ll see what’s next,” Alec said.
“We’ll see? Why aren’t you going to arrest him?” I asked.
He held my door open for me and I got into the car. He went around to the driver’s side and got in and started the engine. The heat felt good on my cold cheeks.
“We can’t arrest someone for being threatened with blackmail.”
“But he has more motive than anyone else. He’s the killer. I just know it. Did you see that temper?”
“Having a bad temper doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “We need more proof before arresting anyone. I don’t think you needed to throw in that bit about the recital and his drinking.”
I shrugged. “It just popped out of my mouth.”
“I see,” he said without looking at me.
“Maybe he was having an affair with her. I just can’t see Diana trying to blackmail him for not having an affair with her. It doesn’t make sense,” I said.
He shrugged. “It’s hard to say at this point. Crazier things have happened.”
“There’s something I need to tell you,” I said. He glanced at me and I continued. “The day Diana died, she had left a message on my voicemail. She said she wanted me to get to the bazaar early because she had something to talk to me about. She said she didn’t want to talk to Lucy because she didn’t want to upset her.”
“Any idea what it was about?” He asked.
“None. We weren’t close. We were just acquaintances. I’ve racked my brain over it and can’t figure it out. She didn’t sound scared or worried. I just don’t get it.”
“That’s interesting. Maybe something will come to you,” he said.
I leaned back in my seat. If I were in charge, Bob or Dick would be in jail.
--19--
“Do you think there was any chance Diana was trying to blackmail him?” Alec asked me on the way back to my house.
“I don’t know. She didn’t seem the type,” I said, thinking about how much I knew about Diana. She had been so nice. She had been on the PTA and always volunteered for anything and everything. Would she really have blackmailed him? “I can’t imagine anyone thinking Bob was such a great catch that they had to make him have an affair with them. You know?”
“Sometimes people lead hidden lives. You’d be surprised at the lives some people live,” he said.
“I think he has to be lying. He obviously has a drinking problem to have been drinking in the middle of the day and then to show up for only the last five minutes of his daughter’s recital. Piece of work,” I concluded. I would believe what I knew about Diana a whole lot quicker than what I knew about Bob.
“It was a Saturday. His day off. Lots of people drink in the afternoon on their day off. It doesn’t mean they have a drinking problem or that they murdered anyone,” he said.
“Why are you defending him?” I asked, turning toward him. “I thought the police are always suspicious of everyone?”
He chuckled. “Well, I guess that does come with the territory. But you can’t convict someone on the basis of them drinking a little and missing their kid’s recital.”
“What about her husband? That guy didn’t seem to care that much about her death. My money’s on either Bob or her husband, almost ex-husband. I mean, who leaves their wife because they want to dance?”
He laughed again. “I agree, that does seem like a flimsy excuse.”
“You bet it does,” I said, reaching toward the dashboard and turning up the heat.
“What about Ellen Allen? I thought your money was on her, too,” he asked.
“Were there any marks on her body?”
He grinned. “Now you’re starting to sound like a real detective. But no, there were none. Whoever did it got her to eat the poison apple, and she did it without a fight.”
“Did you find out anything about security cameras at the church?” I asked.
“There weren’t any,” he said.
“What? Everyone has security cameras these days.”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s an old church in a small town. Lots of people are slow to change their ways and the pastor at the church is one of them.”
I sighed. “That’s disappointing. A security camera may have told the whole tale of what happened.”
“It is,” he agreed. “I wish every public place had cameras.”
“Really? Aren’t you afraid of big brother?” I asked. When I was in school we read George Orwell’s 198
4 and the discussion about it had gone on for weeks. It had been everyone’s fear that the government would watch and control our lives.
“Aren’t we already there? Everyone has cell phones. Anyone could take your picture or video you without your knowledge. Having security camera videos can help solve crimes. People worry about things that are already here and not really having much affect on us.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said.
“I’ll have to solve this murder without them.”
I frowned. “What an awful person, whoever it was that did this. I can’t imagine killing someone.”
“There are lots of dark people in the world,” he said.
“I bet you’ve seen a lot,” I said, turning toward him.
“Yes, I have. Law enforcement always does.”
“You said that lots of people lead double lives. So tell me, what are your deep dark secrets?” I asked. I hoped he would finally open up.
A frown moved across his face. “I don’t have any.”
I waited for a few seconds, wondering if he would change his mind and say something else, but he didn’t. I hoped it was true, but something told me otherwise.
--20--
“What are you going to have?” Alec asked me. We were at The Porterhouse Steak restaurant looking over our menus. It was a casual dining atmosphere and more my style. It was nice to dress up once in a while, but if I had my druthers, I would rather stick to steak houses.
“Well, I’m feeling a little pressure to order a porterhouse steak since we’re at The Porterhouse Steak restaurant,” I said and giggled. I was trying for cute, but was probably coming off as dorky. I didn’t care. I was just thrilled to be out of the house and having dinner with Alec.
“Sounds like a good choice. I think I’m going to be a rebel and order a T-bone,” he said. “Because that’s the kind of guy I am.”
“I like that, you little rebel, you,” I said. We were officially on our second date. I didn’t count the first or second time we ate out as dates because the first one we were discussing how Martha Newberry had murdered Henry Hoffer. The second one was also unofficial because we were simply keeping one another company while we ate.
The waitress came and took our orders. I had settled on fried shrimp and a petite sirloin. I could be a rebel, too. The waitress left, and I looked at Alec and was just about to ask him how the investigation was going when Bob Payne’s mother, Mary Payne, approached our table. We both turned toward her.
“Detective,” she greeted, nodding at him. Then she turned toward me. “Allie.” She swayed a little and reached a hand out to grab the edge of our table to steady herself.
“How are you Mary?” I asked, giving her a big smile. Mary had been the principle at the high school when both of my kids had gone there, but she had retired this past June. It was common knowledge that she liked to drink during her off hours. I wondered if, now that she had a lot of free time, she was doing a lot of it.
She gave me a slow smile and tottered a little as she stood there. “I’m fine.” I could smell alcohol from where I sat. I glanced over at Alec and gave him a look.
She turned to Alec. “Detective, I know you’re new in town, and I know you’re just trying to do your job, but it would be a good idea if you laid off my son.”
“I’m sorry, and who would your son be?” he asked her, and then glanced at me.
“Robert. Robert Payne. My name is Mary Payne and I think you are barking up the wrong tree. You need to look for the real killer. It’s probably someone that didn’t like her much.”
She slurred some of her words and I hoped she was not driving.
“I see,” Alec said. “Well there may be some confusion as to what’s going on. I’ve only questioned him a couple of times, in a very casual manner. We’re still fact finding at this point.” The set of his jaw told me he was ready to spring into detective mode at any moment.
“Oh, I know how you cops work,” Mary said and swayed a little. “You try to confuse people. Ask them the same questions over and over, but in a little different way so it trips them up. That way you can arrest an innocent man just so you can say you solved the case. Well let me tell you, Mr. Fancy Detective, you don’t know what you’re talking about. My son did nothing wrong!”
Alec and I glanced at one another. Mary was clearly not in her right mind at that moment. Her normally perfectly coifed gray hair was usually done in a semi-beehive, but tonight those bees had left the hive because it was listing to the left.
“I assure you Mrs. Payne, every conversation I have had with your son or with anyone else regarding this case has been strictly professional and confidential. We want to find the real killer and get them off the streets, not put an innocent person behind bars.”
I wanted to help Alec out somehow, but I wasn’t sure how to do it without upsetting Mary. I didn’t want her to become belligerent. We might end up with a complete meltdown on our hands.
“Well, let me tell you, that tramp had it coming. She needed to leave my son alone. My son isn’t just a small town mayor, you know. He’s got the potential to go on to bigger and better things. He could be governor of the great state of Maine! That woman tried to stop him, but she didn’t get to. She thought she could wreck his marriage!” she exclaimed.
I looked around and people were starting to stare. I tried to think of something to do to distract her, but came up with nothing.
Alec smiled, trying to appease her. “Mrs. Payne are you here with someone?”
“Yes, I am!” she said, slurring her ‘s’. “And another thing. I’m glad she’s gone, too. I would never allow her to ruin my son’s life. I told him back when he was dating her in high school that she was no good. She came from across the tracks, so to speak. She wasn’t good enough for my Robert. She would call him at all hours of the night and try to get him to sneak out of the house to meet her. But my boy is a good boy. He would never do it.”
Wow. Mary was nuts. She was also getting louder and drawing more attention. A moment later, Bob came out from the other side of the dining room.
“Mom,” he hissed, heading toward us at a fast walk. His face was dark red and I thought if Mary didn’t settle down, her good boy might blow his top in front of the whole restaurant. “Mom, come on back to our table. The food’s here and it’s getting cold.”
“Just a minute Robert, I was having a conversation with the detective, and, and, what’s her name. I told them you were innocent Robert! They can’t hang this murder on you!”
“I’m sorry,” bob said, looking at Alec and then me. “She isn’t usually like this.”
“Like what?” Mary asked, her voice rising above the din of the restaurant.
“It’s fine,” Alec told Bob. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Mom, please. Let’s go eat. Your steak is getting cold. We’ll be seeing the two of you later,” he said and took his mother by the elbow and steered her toward the back of the restaurant.
“What? I was just having a conversation,” Mary said as they disappeared around the corner. “What’s wrong with having a conversation?”
I looked at Alec and we both broke out in giggles.
“Stop, we have to stop,” he said after a few moments.
“Wow. I was not expecting that,” I said, and took a sip of my water. “I always thought of her as this dignified woman, being the high school principal and all.”
“She’s the high school principal?” he exclaimed in a whisper.
“Was. She retired in June,” I said and giggled again.
“Thank goodness,” he said. “I guess she retired at the right time. Before the drinking got out of hand.”
“Yes, let’s just hope it was before it got out of hand,” I agreed. “Who knows if she was drinking while at work.”
The waitress brought our food and my stomach growled. I realized I’d hardly eaten anything other than a small slice of the custard pie I had baked earlier.
“Save part of y
our appetite and we can have some custard pie afterwards. My daughter should be at her dorm room tonight,” I told him.
“Sounds good,” he said, cutting into his steak. “So I take it that your daughter isn’t thrilled with you dating me?”
I had mentioned to him the other day that she was sensitive about the whole situation. “Well, it’s the first time I’ve dated since her father passed away. I think it will just take some time. She’s kind of on the sensitive side.”
“Oh sure. I can see where that would be hard for her. And what about your son?” he asked.
“Well unless Jennifer has said something to him, he doesn’t know,” I said feeling a little guilty. Was that something I was supposed to tell him this soon in the relationship? I wasn’t sure what the rules were. Maybe I needed to look up a blog and find out. Or maybe I could blog about this new chapter of my life? Was it a chapter? Would Alec want to continue dating me? He seemed to be happy in my company.
“I see,” he said. “Well I don’t blame you. There’s plenty of time for that, later.”
I was excited to see where this relationship would go. I missed having someone around. Alec was working a lot, but we had gotten to spend a lot of time together, investigating the case. I just hoped he wouldn’t get into trouble at work because of me.
--21--
“This is the best custard pie I have ever eaten,” Alec said.
I smiled. I never tired of people complementing my pies. “Thank you. I put extra nutmeg in it. My grandmama taught me that little trick. It brings out the flavor of the custard.”
“Well your grandmama knew what she was doing,” he said, taking another bite. His black hair glistened in the kitchen light. “Do you miss Alabama?”
“I do. It amazes me how after all these years, it still makes my heart ache when I think about it. I try to get back there at least once a year. Now that the kids are both in college, I’m going to try to get back there more often. I really miss my mama,” I said.
