Moonlight, Murder, and Small Town Secrets

by K C Hart

  Chapter Thirteen

  Katy snapped the laptop shut and pulled the lever on her recliner moving it back to an upright position. She slowly rotated her head around on her shoulders. It had taken an hour to finish the new admit and she was a little stiff from sitting still so long. She fixed herself a glass of tea then rummaged in her purse for her phone and punched in the number.

  “Deep South Florist. This is Misty. What can I do for you today?”

  “Hey,” Katy answered, “I was just checking in to see if you’d found out anything about the cardless flowers.”

  “I meant to call you before lunch, but my counter girl called in sick,” Misty said. “Her baby has the chickenpox and can’t go to daycare so, it’s just me and Momma and you don’t rush Momma, if you know what I mean.”

  “Aww, poor Brittney.” Katy sat her icy glass on the bar and wiped the moisture on her hand on her pant leg. “Is it the two-year-old or the little one? I don’t guess it matters because they’ll both have the pox before it’s over.”

  “I think it’s the baby. Either way, I’m going to be down a counter person for a while, but yes, I did find out about the card,” Misty said. “Momma said that Jake Finch, the high school football coach, came into the shop and ordered those flowers. He paid with cash and did not want a card.”

  “That sounds odd. Does that happen often?”

  “No, never at a funeral. We’ve delivered some arrangements without cards to offices and a few to people’s homes, but usually that’s a husband or boyfriend surprising their mate on their anniversary or birthday or some other special occasion.” Misty paused. “Sometimes it’s not, and you can only guess what the flowers are for then, if you catch my meaning.”

  “Anyway,” she continued, “Momma said she asked him if he meant he wanted a card with just his name, or the family’s name with no words of condolences, and he kind of got irritated and said no card period. I had to laugh when Momma told me about it because she said he was just as rude off the football field as he was on the football field. Like Momma would know how he is on the football field.”

  “Well he does have that reputation of being a smart mouth,” Katy said. “Some of the girls in my Sunday school class have him for Mississippi History or PE and they all say he’s on the obnoxious side. Celeste’s mother said that when he first came here, he got in trouble for cursing the players, but I guess he straightened that out. It’s been four years and he’s still here.”

  “That’s because we’re still having winning seasons,” Misty laughed. “These mommas might hate a potty mouth, but these daddies love to win. Anyway, he sent the flowers and put my momma in her place.”

  Jake Finch, Jake Finch. Something about Jake Finch is familiar, Katy thought What is it? “So, what do you think it means?” she asked. “It seems a little shady to me.”

  “I’ve watched enough “Young and the Restless” back in the day to have my suspicions. I bet you a Burger Barn salad that he was fooling around with Jessa. You said that she was fooling around on Joe Phobs with somebody, why not him?”

  “Because he has three kids and a wife and teaches school and is supposed to set a good example and, oh man!” Katy pulled in a deep breath. “I just remembered why his name is ringing bells in my head. I totally forgot something that happened on the day of Jessa’s murder.” She rubbed her forehead with the tip of her finger. “That Saturday when I was walking through the field to the stage, I passed Jessa’s Mustang and guess who was snooping around it?”

  “Jake Finch.”

  “No, but close, his wife, Laney,” Katy exclaimed. She tried to hide from me when she saw that I had noticed her, then acted like she had spilled her purse and was picking up her things, but she was doing something to Jessa’s car and I completely forgot about it until just now.”

  “Maybe she found out that they were fooling around and was keying it. You know like that song by Carrie Underwood.” Misty started to sing “I dug my keys into the side of his souped-up something, something, something. Oh, you know the one.”

  “Yeah, I know which song you’re talking about…maybe so. I didn’t pay enough attention to what she was doing to even think about looking at Jessa’s car, and then I forgot all about it when we found her body.” Katy shook her head. “This whole week is turning into a “Young and the Restless” playbook.”

  “I know, right?” Misty said. “So, what are you going to do next?”

  “I guess I’ll talk to Todd after church tonight. Maybe by then, he’ll know something about Tubby Robinson.” Katy filled Misty in on the discussion she had with Todd and her husband the night before. She didn’t know if this was a lead, but it sure did sound suspicious to her. Hopefully, Todd would be willing to share what he’d found out about Tubby after she shared her information.

  Katy pushed the red button ending their call and pulled out her yellow notepad and wrote down what she had learned. First, there was Evelyn Brown and her being overly cautious about letting anyone around her outspoken mother. That probably wasn’t anything, but it was going on her list. If something strange happened later that related to the Browns, she wanted to have all the details on paper and not have to rely on her memory. Next, she added everything she’d found out from Misty about Jake Finch; and what she had forgotten about Laney Finch on the day Jessa’s body had been found. That had to mean something.

  Laney and Jake Finch had three kids in elementary. Laney worked at the daycare in town next to the dentist’s office. Katy wondered if that was the same daycare that Misty’s counter girl, Brittney, sent her kids to. If so, then chicken pox would probably be in the school soon. Her Sunday school girls would let her know if that happened

  Katy came out of the church doors smiling. She enjoyed the Wednesday night services. They would come in and have a devotional led by their pastor then break up in their groups to pray. She had prayed for Joe Phobs and asked the other ladies to pray for him also. They had agreed, and Katy felt better about his situation in jail, and his spiritual situation now that several people were praying for him.

  She looked across the parking lot at Todd talking to some of the older, silver-headed crowd who had him cornered. They were always interested in what was going on at the sheriff’s office and would pick him for information. They also loved to joke with him about his love life and tried set him up with any new woman they had discovered in the area. She stepped close enough to be within hearing distance of their conversation.

  “Ladies, I assure you that you’re all perfectly safe in your homes, “Todd explained. “I’m pretty sure Jessa William’s murder was an isolated incident.”

  “Now Todd, you make sure you take care of yourself when you’re out there looking for that killer.” Maureen Case, a feisty widow in her seventies who had worked as a second-grade teacher for over forty years until she finally retired, reached up and patted Todd’s cheek. “Do you wear a bulletproof vest?”

  “No mam, Mrs. Case,” Todd smiled, “but I don’t think that’s necessary. The only time I fire my gun at is the shooting range, and remember, this was not a shooting.”

  “Now you listen to me, there’s always a first time for everything,” Mrs. Hopper, one of the deacons’ wives said, shaking her finger in his face. “And it would only take one bullet to just do you in.”

  “Just because he didn’t shoot that girl doesn’t mean he won’t shoot you.” Mrs. Case bobbed her silver head up and down. “Especially if he finds out that you are hot on his trail. I think you should be wearing a bulletproof vest.” She looked at the other ladies for support. They all chimed in their agreement at once sounding a lot like a pack of hungry squawking hens.

  Todd threw up his hands holding off their well-meaning verbal attack. “Now ladies, I don’t own a bulletproof vest and they’re expensive. I don’t think I’ll be getting one any time soon. I appreciate all of you looking out for me, but I promise that I’m very careful. I just need all of yaw to continue to pray for my safety. Besides, we alread
y have a suspect behind bars.”

  The group began to break up just as Katy joined them. She could hear Mrs. Case talking to Mrs. Hopper as they were walking off. “Gloria, you need to have your husband talk to the deacons about the church buying a bulletproof vest and giving it to Todd. If we have money to buy new pots and pans for our kitchen then we have money to save his life.”

  Katy smiled to herself as they walked out of earshot. They might have to do a bake sale and sell some spaghetti plates to come up with the money, but she was pretty sure that the golden girls’ class would be getting Todd that vest in the very near future.

  “Whew, Aunt Katy. You just missed it. I feel like I’ve just gotten off the trial bench,” Todd said, laying his hand over his heart. “Those ladies have quizzed me down. They won’t let you dodge a question either. They hound you until they get a direct answer.”

  “I know,” Katy chuckled, “I have been there. They used to pin me down about my home health patients. It has taken a few years, but they’ve finally decided that I’m not going to tell them anything. Every once in a while, Mrs. Case still tries to wear me down.”

  “Yeah, she’s kind of the leader of the pack.” Todd looked around to make sure no one could hear them talking. “I checked out what we discussed last night on Tubby Robinson and it didn’t pan out. He does smoke the right kind of cigarettes and lives two trailers over from Joe Phobs, but he has an alibi. After he witnessed the fight between Jessa and Joe, he came home and went to bed. His wife was with him the whole time and they drove through McDonald’s together right before midnight to get a coke. He knows it was ten ‘til midnight because the place closes at midnight and they were rushing to get there in time.”

  “I would’ve been surprised if he was the killer anyway,” Katy said. “I think he just likes to stay up on everybody’s business. How is Joe doing?”

  “I guess about as good as he can, sitting in a jail cell. Uncle John came by and talked with him this afternoon. I don’t know what they talked about, but he seemed to be in a good mood when I left him his dinner tonight.”

  “John just went by to pray with him and let him know that he had our support and prayers. We wanted him to know that he’s not in this alone. I’m glad it helped.”

  “You know, you have a good heart,” Todd said. He wrapped a lanky arm around her shoulders. “I just never know what to expect from you, but I’m glad you’re on my side.”

  “My heart could use a little more aerobic exercise every day, but I do try to keep it in the right place.” Katy placed an arm playfully around her nephew’s neck. “And while you seem to have a high opinion of me, I need to fill you in on a few things.”

  She told Todd about Laney Finch being around Jessa’s car on the day the body was discovered and also about Jake Finch sending flowers to the funeral without a card. “Did Jessa’s car have any kind of marking on it, like Laney had keyed it?” she asked.

  “No mam, it was fine.” Todd shook his head. “It’s locked up over behind the station. Jessa’s cousin came by yesterday and asked when he could get it. We told him it’ll have to stay where it’s at until we’ve gone over it. I started that today but didn’t get very far.” He stroked the whiskers on his chin absentmindedly. “I had to go out to those apartments on Mars Circle to deal with a domestic dispute and that took all afternoon.” He paused and lowered his voice to a whisper. “You reckon Coach and Jessa were fooling around?”

  “Kind of sounds like it to me, but I don’t want to assume anything.” She patted Todd on the back. “Poor boy, it sounds like they’re working you into the ground.”

  “Naw, not really. Once we get caught up with all the details related to this murder, then I can have some breathing room again” he said. “There’s just so much stuff we have to go through and so many people to talk to at the beginning. The sheriff’s doing a lot of the questioning, but that leaves a lot of the other things to me. I don’t mind though. I’m learning a bunch of new stuff.”

  “Did he question the Browns?”

  “Oh yeah, did that early Sunday morning. Mr. Brown seemed to be taking it the hardest. Mrs. Brown was upset, but she held it together better.”

  “What about Tripp?” How’s he doing?”

  “He wasn’t there when the sheriff questioned Mr. and Mrs. Brown,” Todd answered. “They said he was out with some friends. He seemed alright when he stopped by yesterday. He was just irritated with us because he couldn’t get the car.”

  “Do you know for sure how Jessa was related to the Browns?” Katy looked at Todd and her forehead wrinkled. “I find that situation a little odd.”

  “I thought she was their niece, but I don’t guess I know that for sure.” Todd looked down at Katy and frowned. “That’s just been what I’ve kind of thought. Why? Do you know something that I don’t?”

  “Well no, not really,” Katy said. “I admitted Mrs. Brown’s mother to home health today and I just noticed that there were no pictures of Jessa anywhere. There were tons of pictures of different family members on the walls in the old lady’s room and not a single one of Jessa. Just seems odd to me.”

  “I guess that is strange. I’ll talk to the sheriff tomorrow and nail their relationship down.”

  Katy left Todd and got in her car to go home. John had to work late then came straight to church in his truck. She was glad he’d taken time to go by and talk to Joe Phobs. Maybe he would see why she didn’t think he was the killer. She smiled. John was a deacon. She would give him a heads up about the bulletproof vest thing tonight, so when Mrs. Hopper’s husband brought it up, he would be prepared.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Katy rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she breathed in the smell of coffee brewing and bacon frying. John frequently got up before her and cooked their breakfast. She took a quick shower and got dressed. By the time she reached the kitchen, John had set out two plates with bacon, fried eggs, grits, toast, and coffee. He would probably eat again at lunch, but when she had a big breakfast like this, she usually skipped the noon meal. Her eating habits needed some improvements, but she would save all those thoughts until January with the rest of her New Year’s resolutions. They said the blessing, she added creamer to her coffee and dug into the huge meal.

  “How did the visit go with Joe Phobs last night? Todd told me you stopped by the jail, but I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it.” She picked up the salt and added a few shakes to the grits. “I got too caught up in the bulletproof vest story and filling you in on Laney and Jake Finch.”

  “Poor fella. He said the only people who’ve come by to see him have been me, you, and that other woman from The Wildcats.”

  “Who,” Katy looked up from her egg, “Marissa Holmes?”

  “Is she the blue-haired one?”

  “Yep.”

  “Then she’s the one.” John raked his fork through the flesh of the fried egg. “He said she came by and told him that she was there for him, and if he needed a shoulder to cry, on hers was available.”

  “Hmmm. Well, I guess that was nice.”

  “I guess so. He didn’t say much else about it. He mainly just needed somebody to listen to him talk.” He paused to scoop up the bite of egg and dip it into the runny grits. “Poor guy. I think he really loved that woman. Not being able to go to the funeral or talk about the loss of his baby is rough on him.”

  “So, now do you see what I’m saying?” Katy asked. “I just don’t think that man killed anybody.”

  “Yeah,” John swallowed his bite of food. “I can see where you have a hard time picturing him as the killer, but I’ll be glad when they find out how that monkey wrench got in the back of his truck.”

  “I told you that the Tubby Robinson lead was a bust, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah. I asked Joe what he thought about Tubby and he said that Tubby was an alright guy, just a busybody.”

  “That seems to be the general consensus of everyone in town.” Katy laughed. “Poor man. I wonder if he knows he�
��s listed as one of the town gossips.”

  “Who knows, but he probably doesn’t care. I imagine if he minded too much about what people thought about him, he wouldn’t spend so much time nosing in other peoples’ business. Of course, you and I seem to be doing an awful good job of snooping around in folks’ business ourselves here lately too.”

  Katy leaned over and kissed him on the nose as she picked up their empty plates to load in the dishwasher. “But dear, we are snooping for a good cause. It seems like we might be the only hope Joe Phobs has for clearing his name.”

  “I sure hope not.” John drained his coffee cup then sat it on her pile of dishes. “A semi-retired home health nurse and an engineer don’t sound like too much hope for a guy falsely accused of murder.”

  “But we have people praying that this is going to work out,” she said.

  “That’s true.”

  “So, don’t write us off yet.” Katy picked up her pile of dishes and walked to the sink. “Now I have to call and set up a time to see my patient and figure out when I’m going to buy groceries. If I don’t get that done, we’ll have to eat peanut butter sandwiches for supper.”

  “Do you have band practice tonight?”

  “Oh yeah, I do, and I have that make-up party tomorrow night. I sure am busy to be semi-retired.”

  “That’s what keeps you young and beautiful honey,” John wiggled his eyebrows and kissed her on the cheek as he headed out the back door. “See you tonight.”

  Katy pulled out the yellow note pad. She was beginning to think of it as the clue book. She added a note about Marissa Holmes visiting Joe Phobs. She now had several pages of notes, but she didn’t feel like she had found any answers to all the questions. She sent up a prayer that God would help her find something that shed light on what had really happened to Jessa Williams.