Moonlight, Murder, and Small Town Secrets

by K C Hart

  “Like I said, I don’t want to miss anything.” Todd laid his head back against the recliner cushion and sighed. “It seems pretty simple to the sheriff, but I think there is more to it. And Phobs ain’t helping himself one bit. He won’t tell anybody where he was Friday night after he left the Peanut Patch Festival. All he does is sit in that cell and blubber like a big ole two-hundred-pound baby.”

  “That doesn’t sound like a cold-blooded killer to me.”

  “Me either Aunt Katy, me either. And another thing that kind of bothers me is that we found a pack of Marlboro Lights with blood on them under the tarp in the shed; like maybe they fell out of the killer’s pocket and he didn’t notice it.”

  “That could be a good thing. Maybe you could get some DNA off them or something like they do on CSI.”

  “Naa, none of that will work. This pack hasn’t been opened. The only DNA would be from the blood on the package and I’m fairly sure it belongs to the dead woman. There weren’t even any fingerprints on it, and besides, Joe Phobs doesn’t smoke.” He paused and sniffed the scent of peach cobbler coming from the kitchen. “Says he has allergies and doesn’t even let anybody smoke in his trailer or in his truck.”

  “I don’t ever remember seeing Jessa smoke, but I only saw her when she was getting ready to go on stage, so I don’t know,” Katy said. “I guess they could have been hers.”

  She told Todd about seeing Marissa and Jessa arguing Friday night and what Misty had told her about Amy Phobs hearing her brother fighting with Jessa. Joe Phobs killing Jessa just doesn’t make sense, Katy thought, shaking her head. Not the way the sheriff thinks it happened anyway.

  Tomorrow she would attempt to gather a few more details about what was going on. She had to work in the morning but planned on taking the peach cobbler by the Brown’s home then going and getting her nails done with Misty. Misty was in the Nail Palace about every other week getting a mani-pedi, but Katy had never had either. Misty assured her the place was a beehive full of gossip and information.

  Short fingernails were required at work. Fake nails and wound care just didn’t go well together. She would go with Misty and try to gather information while she waited. Marissa Holmes was a nail tech there every Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Hopefully, she could shed some light on what happened. She didn’t tell Todd of her plans to nose around. He would try to stop her, and she decided that asking forgiveness later would be better than asking permission now. Besides, everybody in town was talking about Jessa’s death, so she really wasn’t doing anything odd.

  That night she added everything she had learned to her yellow notepad. John called right before she turned out her bedside lamp and said he was finishing up early and would be home sometimes Tuesday. She was glad. She would show him her list and see what he thought about everything. John was a very practical nuts and bolts kind of guy who didn’t let his imagination run away with him like Katy sometimes did. He would help her reason out whether she was being realistic about what she saw and thought about Jessa’s death or whether she was making mountains out of molehills.

  Chapter Six

  Papa Dude, or Paul Swanson as he was known by Medicare and the Social Security office, had been running a low pulse and complained of being dizzy. Katy grabbed the folder containing Papa Dude’s digoxin level results that she had drawn during a visit over the weekend and headed into Dr. Robert’s office.

  The doctor’s office was already filling up with patients, a typical Monday morning, but the receptionist who knew Katy well waved her on back to the nurse’s station. Katy leaned on the corner of the tall bar that surrounded the work area and waited until Trudy Mae, Dr. Robert's nurse, got off the phone. “Looks like you’re already having a busy day,” Katy said, looking back at the full waiting room.

  “Honey you know it’s like this every Monday,” Trudy Mae said, taking the lab results from Katy’s outstretched hand. “These old folks think Dr. Roberts can fix anything and everything and they’ll bust up in here if they burp a little too loud.” She looked over Papa Dude’s blood work. “Is he taking his medicines right? Looks like it’s not the Digoxin making him dizzy. That level is normal. What did you say his pulse was Saturday, fifty-two?”

  “Fifty-two and regular.” Katy looked across the bar at the patient’s folder. “Yeah, he’s taking his medications correctly. I set up his pillbox and go over all of that with him about every other week. He didn’t look dehydrated either. That’s his vital signs from the last couple of week’s visits written on the bottom of the page.”

  “Okay, give me just a minute and I’ll get the doc to give you an order so you can be on your way.” Trudy Mae turned toward the doctor’s study, then turned back to Katy. “Oh hey, by the way, I read in the paper that you were with Todd Saturday night when he found Jessa William’s body at the festival grounds.”

  “I’m afraid that’s right. He was helping me with the amps when he discovered her right there under the flatbed. She had been dead for a while. Her body was as cold as ice.”

  “Well, I hate to speak ill of the dead,” Trudy Mae whispered as she leaned her full frame across the bar toward Katy, “but that girl was in here Friday to see Dr. Roberts and she had this whole office in an uproar. She was pitching a big ole hissy fit.”

  “You don’t say? Was she sick?”

  “No, not unless you count morning sickness,” Trudy said, rolling her eyes. “She was having nausea and insisted that we work her in to see the doc. You know we close at noon on Fridays and only do work-ins for the serious stuff, but she raised such a ruckus with the receptionist over the phone that she told her to come on in. We did a pregnancy test and sure enough, she was pregnant. Doc figured she was about eight weeks. When he told her, she went to cussing and ripping and screaming like the crazy thing she was. I finally had to tell her to calm down or leave.”

  Katy bit her bottom lip to hold in the grin that threatened to creep out. Trudy Mae was probably one of the few women who could have put Jessa Williams in her place. She protected Dr. Roberts like she was a momma bear and him her baby cub. One time, a couple of years ago, a high school football player came in messed up on prescription pain killers with the crazy notion that he could get the doc to write him a new script for some more. Trudy Mae somehow managed to put a high school wrestling hold on him and walk him down the street to the sheriff’s office where they called his daddy to come pick him up. Katy couldn’t remember whatever happened to that boy. She would like to have seen Trudy Mae in action with Jessa Williams. “Did she calm down,” she asked, keeping a straight face.

  “Oh yeah, honey. Turned all that craziness off like she was turning off a water hose and then proceeded to ask for a referral to a GYN in Jackson.” Trudy Mae raised one dark eyebrow and shook her head. “Said she wasn’t sure if this was the best time for her to be pregnant.”

  Katy’s eyes stretched wide. “Did Doc set her up with somebody?”

  “Oh yeah, but not until after she got some intense counseling on responsibility and birth control. He told her that the doctor he was recommending could help her with getting the baby adopted too.” Trudie Mae sighed. “Of course, I don’t think she listened.”

  Katy waited while Trudy Mae disappeared into the doctor’s study. So, Jessa had been pregnant, she thought. Was that what she had been arguing with Joe Phobs about? No wonder he lost his cool, but would he strike Jessa knowing he was harming his own child? Of course, it might not have been his child. There was only one way to know for sure. She needed to talk to Joe Phobs, but how could she arrange that with him locked up in the jail?

  “Doc wrote a referral for Papa to see a cardiologist,” Trudy Mae said stepping back into the hall. “He needs to see one within the next couple of weeks or as soon as he can get an appointment. I’ll give their office a call after lunch and set it up for him.”

  “Alright, I’ll run by his house when I leave here and talk to him about it. Is Doc thinking he needs a pacemaker?”

  “Girl you
’re good. I wish all them home health gals were like you. If my momma ever comes out of the Shady Acres you’ve got to be her nurse. I don’t want none of them young know-it-alls looking in on her.”

  “When is she coming out,” Katy asked. She thumbed through the papers Trudy Mae handed back to her. “You know I’ll see her.”

  “Probably next week if she behaves. I’ll be giving you a call. She lives in that nice trailer park on five-eighty-seven, you know the one.”

  “Oh yeah,” Katy nodded. “I’ve seen a patient or two down there. It’s a nice community.”

  “Ain’t it?” Trudy Mae grinned her big toothy smile.

  “Just give me a call,” Katy said, “or send a referral over to the agency requesting that I see her when you know for sure what day she’ll be home.”

  The Browns lived in the garden district on the old side of town. The houses in that area were absolutely beautiful. Most of them were old plantation homes that had been updated with modern conveniences but still looked like Tara from Gone with the Wind. Even the newer homes that had been built in the last couple of decades were designed in the same style. She had been in and out of this neighborhood over the years seeing the occasional home health patient and knew that this area was just like all the others. Some of the people who lived here were as sweet as could be and very down to earth while others wouldn’t give you the time of day.

  She pulled into the paved circular drive that led to the Brown mansion. It was a three-story sprawling white brick home with huge Grecian columns along the front and balconies and decorative iron rales on every story. The yard was manicured to perfection with a mixture of maroon and white daylilies in the flower beds along both sides of the drive. Two large stone garden sculptures of English bulldogs were on either side of the walkway that led to the front porch.

  Since maroon and white were Mississippi State University’s school colors, Katy felt certain somebody in this house was loyal to that school. College sports rivalry was huge in this town. Even the people who couldn’t spell the word alumni had their favorite college football team and would defend their honor at the drop of a hat.

  She rang the doorbell with one hand while balancing the peach cobbler she had picked up from home with the other. It was still warm where she had popped it in the oven for a few minutes while changing. A heavy-set gray-haired woman in neatly pressed white scrubs opened the door.

  “Hello, may I help you,” the lady asked with a slight smile.

  “Yes, mam. My name is Katy Cross. I just wanted to drop by and pay my condolences to the family for the loss of Ms. Williams and bring them this dessert.” Katy held the aluminum pan out to the lady as an offering. Hopefully, it would gain her entrance into the family’s home.

  “Who is it Nelda? Is it the cable guy?” A voice from somewhere behind the woman blocking the door called out, “I’m going to miss my stories if he doesn’t hurry up and get over here to fix that dad-blast-it TV.”

  “No Mrs. Rita,” Nelda called back over her shoulder. “It’s somebody here to see Mrs. Evelyn.” She took the cobbler from Katy’s hand and motioned for her to follow her in and take a seat in the parlor.

  Katy walked over and gently sat on the edge of a wing-backed chair upholstered in bright yellow paisley material. Nelda’s tennis shoes squeaked on the shiny hardwood pine floors as she walked away.

  Katy sighed and breathed in the feel of the beautiful room. The sofa, upholstered in a blue and yellow striped chintz, had dainty pillows neatly placed in the corners that were made of the same yellow paisley material as the winged back chair. Sunlight poured in through the white lace curtains covering the floor to ceiling windows across the front of the room. The delicate coffee table sitting in front of the sofa had a beautiful silver tea service in the center that probably hadn’t seen a drop of tea in years. It was a gorgeous room and she would love to see all the other rooms of the house. They would be just as stunning.

  The Browns had one thirty-year-old son, Tripp. He was the same age as Penny, Katy’s oldest daughter and they had gone through school together. Katy had been twenty years old when she had Penny but knew that Mrs. Brown had been in her late thirty’s when Tripp was born. Back then that had been considered old to have a baby. Now a day’s women, especially wealthy women, were having babies in their upper forties, but back then Mrs. Brown had been the topic of conversation in many of Skeeterville’s different circles.

  Katy’s musings were interrupted as Evelyn Brown entered the room. Even though she knew the woman was in her sixties, she would have thought she was in her mid-forties at the oldest. Her silvery blonde hair was cut in a short bob with wispy bangs. The periwinkle capris looked like linen and the sleeveless white blouse was silk. Katy glanced at the woman’s thin ankles and noted there was no swelling or varicose veins in the calves. Yes, this lady had taken care of herself and could wear those cute little sling-back sandals without worrying about ugly feet. Her fingers and toes were both neatly done in matching French manicures.

  “Hello, I’m Evelyn Brown.” She extended her slender hand toward Katy. “Nelda said you are here to see me.”

  “Yes mam, my name is Katy Cross.” Katy stood and took Evelyn’s hand, hoping her palms weren’t sweaty. “I just wanted to stop by and tell you how sorry I am about the loss of your, uh, of …. about the loss of Jessa.” Katy didn’t know how Jessa was related to the Browns. She had assumed a niece or cousin, but that was just a guess.

  “Oh, please don’t mam me dear. It makes me feel old.” She waved her hand at Katy as if she was shooing away a fly. “And just call me Evelyn. It was so sweet of you to stop by in person. Were you one of Jessa’s friends?”

  “No, not really.” Katy paused, waiting for Evelyn to tell her how Jessa was related to the family, but she didn’t. It would be rude to just ask her point-blank. She could probably find that out later today at the nail salon. “I knew her, but just in passing. I play in a band called The Moonlighters and we opened for Jessa’s band last week at the Peanut Patch festival. Other than that, I’ve just seen her a couple of times when she waited on me at your husband’s dealership when I got my oil changed. We ran in different circles… I mean…,” Katy paused and tried to discreetly wipe her palms on her pants leg. “I’m older than her and well, I pretty much just go to work, church and home.” My word. Just stand right here in the woman’s house and insult the woman’s dead relative. Yeah, we ran in different circles, alright. Katy could feel the red heat taking over her face and neck.

  “Oh, I see,” Evelyn’s polite smile continued, but her brow wrinkled slightly. “Well, we appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

  “I was with Todd Bishop when he found Jessa’s body Friday night,” Katy blurted out. “I just felt like I needed to do something for her after what happened.”

  “I remember reading that in the paper. What a horrible thing for you to go through. I just can’t imagine how I would have reacted in that situation.” Evelyn tilted her head to the side and studied Katy’s face. “You look familiar. I’m sure we’ve met before. Do you work at the bank?”

  “No mam,” Katy smiled and quickly corrected her faux pau. “I mean no. I work as a field nurse for Magnolia Home Health here in town. You’ve seen me over the years at school functions and ballgames. My daughter Penny was in the same class as Tripp.”

  “Of course,” Evelyn smiled, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. “I see the resemblance. She was such a beautiful girl. Don’t you have another daughter as well?”

  “I have three more,” Katy nodded. “Kelly Anne is just a year younger than Penny and the twins Mamie and Eudora are seven years younger.”

  “You know, I think Tripp might have gone out with Penny once or twice. I didn’t realize she was Kelly Anne’s sister. She is just as lovely, but they don’t look a thing alike do they?”

  Katy smiled. Penny had gone out once with Tripp Brown and came home mad as a wet hen. She’d described him as the rudest and most arrogant boy she had ever
met and had made him bring her home before the movie was over because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself. “Yes, Penny looks more like John’s side of the family with that black curly hair. Kelly Anne favors me, and the twins are a mixture of both of us.” Katy looked around the entryway and sitting room, or whatever the bright, delicate room was called. “You have a spectacular home Evelyn and I love your flower beds.”

  “We bleed maroon and white here,” Evelyn laughed as she glanced toward the front of the house. “Miles and I both went to State and he is a diehard bulldog fan.”

  “Well, you do a fabulous job of making everything look beautiful. I’m sure it keeps you busy.”

  “It does, but I have lots of help. There’s no way I could keep all of this up myself. We have talked about finding someplace smaller, but this is the house I was raised in and as long as we can keep it up, I imagine we will be right here.”

  “I don’t blame you one bit for that. Family roots are such an important thing. It’s so nice to be able to hand down your home to the next generation.”

  “Well thank you again for the cobbler.” Evelyn took a step toward the front door. “I’m sure we’ll be enjoying it with dinner tonight.”

  Katy knew that was her cue to leave. The visit to the Brown’s had not gone the way she had expected. Evelyn had been intentionally vague about Jessa’s relationship with the family. Even stranger than that was how calm and unconcerned she had been about Jessa’s death. Katy had dealt with a lot of family members mourning the death of loved ones over the years. She was fairly sure that there was not a lot of love lost between Evelyn and Jessa. This visit had brought up more questions than answers. Maybe this afternoon would shed some light on things. She said good-bye and headed to the Burger Barn to meet Misty for lunch and then go to the Nail Palace.