Chicken Culprit

by Vikki Walton

  Faith reached over and patted Hope on the head like a mother would do to a toddler. “Don’t cry, baby. It’s okay.”

  Carson motioned for Sam to escort Faith out of the room.

  Anne looked back at the group. “All this time, Hope thought her mother had killed Ralph. But when she heard about Kandi, she thought that vindicated her mother. Correct?”

  Hope nodded. She began weeping. “I’m sorry, Kandi.

  I didn’t know what to do.”

  Anne spoke up. “But we have to go back to an important part of the story.”

  “The axe.” The sheriff’s voice echoed across the room. “Yes.” Anne nodded at the chief, who signaled for her to continue. “That is a major missing piece. If Kandi had killed Ralph, then why would she be stupid enough to hide the axe in her own yard, where it was bound to be found? It just didn’t make sense.” She smiled at the young woman. “I know Kandi. And she’s a smart young lady. So why take the axe at all?” Anne scanned the group.

  “Ralph died due to a tragic accident. But someone wanted to gain from his death.” With a marker, Anne drew X’s through names on the wall.

  One name remained.

  Jeff’s fidgeting worsened. Kandi slowly turned from Anne to her husband and back. Anne spoke to Kandi. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I truly am.” She reached behind a chair and uncovered a large black plastic bag. Inside, another clear plastic bag showed the outline of a dead chicken sans head. She then pulled out a freezer bag with a head in it. Rusty.

  “Rusty!” Kandi teared up. “What? Where?”

  “Kandi,” Anne spoke softly to the crying woman. “What happens in a few months?”

  “What do you mean?” Kandi wiped her eyes. Anne waited.

  “My inheritance.” Kandi’s voice rose. “My inheritance?

  Jeff? How could you!”

  Anne spoke loudly and quickly. “You’d told Jeff about Ralph threatening Rusty. He doesn’t care about your chickens. He made that evident the first time I met him. His trip had already concluded, and he’d decided to come home early. Unfortunately, he made the mistake of taking the shuttle, and of course, they keep records.” Anne produced a piece of paper.

  Jeff jumped from his seat, but the deputy put a hand on his shoulder, and he sat back down.

  Anne handed the paper to the sheriff. “As I said, Jeff had taken the red-eye. The shuttle dropped him off, and he decided to cut between Ralph’s and his house instead of taking the long driveway to the back. That’s where he spied Faith wandering the back yard in her bloody clothing. He’s the one who found the axe where Faith had put it.”

  She turned to Jeff. “I bet you couldn’t believe your luck. Here was your chance to get your hands on Kandi’s money while she went to prison. You doubted Faith would even recall what she’d done—or at least what you thought she’d done. But you wanted to make sure that no one would doubt Kandi had done it. You hid the axe in the bushes, and you killed Rusty. Kandi had told you that she and Ralph had been arguing about the chickens in his garden. You know how much Kandi thinks of her chickens so it wouldn’t be a stretch to convince others she could be capable of doing something rash to save them. Even a manslaughter charge over an accidental death could put Kandi away while you siphoned off her money. I couldn’t figure out who had been messing with the compost pile since it had already been searched but you were trying to incriminate Kandi.”

  The tension in the air was palatable as the group stared at Jeff.

  Kandi rose and moved to the chair next to Hope, who put her arm around the trembling woman’s shoulders.

  Anne addressed Carson. “I’d seen someone running from the yard before I got knocked out. It turned out to be a rake, not someone hitting me. But there hadn’t been a rake there before. I wondered why. Then I remembered seeing something red there. But it had snowed so I wasn’t able to see what it was. I recently went back and noticed that one side of the compost looked freshly turned. That’s when I found Rusty’s head.” She scowled at Jeff. “You were going to bury her entirely, but I stopped that when I saw you that evening. Later, when I was in my attic, I saw you retrieve the rest of the hen from where you’d hidden her.”

  Anne stepped up to the diagram and drew a large circle by the woodpile of Kandi’s garage. “Here.” She glanced over at the sheriff. “I believe if you look in that area, you’ll find evidence of the chicken, and possibly even some of Ralph’s blood from the axe.”

  “Why you—” Stewart pulled Jeff up by his shirt front and punched him in the face. “How could you do that to Kandi?”

  The deputy quickly pulled Stewart away and pinned his arms behind his back.

  “I want this man arrested! He assaulted me. You all saw it!” Jeff wiped blood from his lip.

  Kandi sobbed into her hands. “I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it.”

  “Oh, shut up your crying,” Jeff spat. “I didn’t kill the old guy. I saw him fall. Thought the old broad had killed him.”

  Hope rose from her seat, her face contorted in anger. “And you did nothing?”

  Carson stepped forward and motioned for Hope to sit.

  Jeff’s incessant rant turned back to Kandi. “And who cares about a stupid chicken? You and all your dumb country stuff. I’m sick of it. I want a divorce.”

  Carson moved over and took Jeff by the arm.

  “Hey! What’re you doing?” Jeff tried to wrestle away from him, but Carson was much stronger.

  “I think we need to go and have a little chat down at the station.”

  “About what?”

  “Let’s see. How about for starters—tampering with a possible murder scene, obstruction of justice, attempt to commit larceny, trespassing. I’m sure I’ll think of some others. Let’s go.”

  He nodded to Anne. “Good job, Nancy Drew. Come visit me tomorrow and we’ll work through this idea of yours.”

  “What about Eliza?”

  “She still has to go through the system.” He pointed to Jeff. “Deputy.”

  The deputy escorted Jeff out of the room.

  “Thank you, thank you.” Eliza’s voice cut through the strange silent left by their absence.

  Anne had forgotten that Eliza and her lawyer were watching on the computer screen. “Yes, Ms. Freemont,” the lawyer intoned, “I believe you have certainly helped our case if nothing more than to establish reasonable doubt.” Without any further comment, the screen went blank.

  After all the other people had left, Sorcha entered the room carrying a tray. She poured tea into a mug. “Sit here.”

  Kandi obeyed.

  “I’m so stupid. I’m always so stupid. I thought he loved me.” She sobbed.

  Sorcha pushed the cup into Kandi’s hands. “Drink.” She poured another cup and handed it to Anne. After providing herself with a cup, Sorcha settled onto a nearby chair. She toasted Anne. “You did it. Your theory seems the most plausible, and the facts seem to go together.”

  “I just wanted to help Kandi.”

  Kandi looked up from where she’d been staring into her cup. Suddenly, she spat out, “I hate you. Everything was fine until you came. You’ve ruined my life. I never want to see you again.”

  “But, Kandi, she helped—” Sorcha started.

  “Helped what? Ruin my marriage? Make Jeff want to divorce me?” She broke down crying into her hands again.

  Sorcha spoke softly to Anne, “I think you better leave.”

  Anne set her cup on the table. Outside she went through the motions of starting her car and steering it home.

  Maybe this isn’t the place for me after all. It’s been nothing but trouble and heartache.

  She drove home in a daze. On her back porch, she collapsed in a chair, where she cried for everything she’d lost and for what would never be. The clearing of a man’s throat startled her. Sam. She wiped her face with her hands. She took in a deep breath as he joined her on the porch.

  “Come here.” He enveloped her in his warm embrace. “I just heard from So
rcha. She’s worried about you. She told me what Kandi said.” He pulled her away so as to look in her face. “You have to know Kandi doesn’t mean it. She’s just hurt right now and had to take it out on someone. Unfortunately, you’re that someone.”

  He pulled her close again. “It will work out. Don’t worry. Now let’s get you inside. It looks like it might rain.” Opening the door, he led her into the kitchen.

  “Get some sleep. Don’t make any rash decisions. I’m taking the evidence over to the medical examiner’s office today. I also think Eliza may be able to make bond. We’ll see how good her lawyer is.” He bent down and kissed her on the cheek. “It’ll work out. Trust me.”

  The morning found Anne walking through the house, envisioning what she’d thought of doing when things seemed brighter. She trudged to the attic and opened the shutters. Crime investigators hovered around Kandi and Jeff’s wood pile and next to the garage where a line of crime scene tape marked off the area. In Ralph’s yard, another group secured the path to the forest, the wood pile, and the area leading to Kandi’s house. She turned from the window. She’d seen enough.

  Reaching the first floor, she heard a light tapping on her back door. She wasn’t going to answer it. They could all go away. But then she noticed the red hair. Kandi. She opened the door.

  The girl flew into her arms. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Please forgive me.”

  Anne broke down in tears. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I just wanted you to know the truth about Jeff.”

  “I know. I know. It’s just hard having the fact that your husband never really loved you thrown in your face in front of everyone.”

  Don’t I know it.

  “Please sit down. You want some coffee?”

  “Yes. Thanks. Here, let me help.” Before Anne could stop her, Kandi was pulling out the coffee beans and grinding them. Anne’s stomach growled. Then Kandi’s. They glanced at one another, then broke out in laughter that filled the room. “I gather you didn’t eat anything last night either.”

  “No. But I’m hungry now!” “Breakfast burritos okay with you?” “Yes. That sounds great.”

  Anne pulled eggs, cheddar cheese, bacon, salsa, and tortillas from the fridge. The pair shared companionable silence as they prepared and ate their meal.

  “This hits the spot. I didn’t realize how hungry I was.” Anne took a swig of coffee.

  “Me too.” Kandi’s voice lowered. “They’ve arrested Jeff. I guess he, like, got scared with all the possible charges Sheriff Carson alluded to. He did move the axe into our yard, and he killed Rusty. That bum. He had all kinds of excuses. That he had no choice. His company is in really bad straits. He said he figured I’d get out of the murder charges, but I believe that as far as I can, like, throw him. Turns out he’d been embezzling money, and he hadn’t been able to pay it back. He’s going away for a long time.”

  “I’m sorry, Kandi. Really.” Not really. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

  “I think I’m the only person who didn’t see him for who he really was.”

  “I resemble that remark.”

  Kandi laughed heartily. “I guess you do, at that. It’s probably why you could see through all his bull.” She shoved the last bite of burrito into her mouth.

  “But first, I don’t want to ever hear you say that you’re stupid. You’re not stupid. You’re a brilliant, talented young woman. Some people have treated you badly but that isn’t a reflection on you. It’s a reflection on them. Okay?”

  “Like, okay.” Kandi grinned.

  “Ugh, I’m going to, like, strangle you, if you say like one more time!” Anne retorted.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Anne used her toes to rock back and forth in the old rocker, a cup of steaming coffee clutched in her hands. She took a sip and sighed with contentment. Though early morning, the sun’s warmth enveloped the back porch. She rubbed the worn wooden arm of the chair. The rockers, which had once sat on Ralph’s porch, had been Hope’s gift to Anne.

  She glanced at the town newspaper beside her. The headline stood out. Eliza de French cleared of all charges. The article went into how the medical examiner confirmed Ralph’s heart condition and undiagnosed diabetes. They surmised that low blood sugar and exertion caused Ralph to black out. Forensics alleged Ralph had already been unstable when he reached for the axe in the compost pile. His poor health would have caused death to occur fairly soon even without the incident.

  As for Eliza, by the time Ralph woke up, she was already home. To corroborate her story, another jogger swore under oath Eliza ran past him. The timing of that encounter placed her away from Ralph’s house when the actual death occurred.

  After the police confirmed Ralph’s death was an unfortunate accident, the town had breathed a collective sigh of relief. The idea of a killer in their midst might make for good press and curiosity seekers, but it left everyone else on edge. The once open town had begun locking their doors at night and, sadly, Anne didn’t know if they would ever go back. But for now, everyone radiated high spirits.

  Except Kandi.

  Deciding to give their marriage one last chance, Kandi had traveled to the correctional facility in Denver to see Jeff. But on arrival, she’d been informed his wife was already there. Not only had Jeff been cheating his company, but the rumors of another woman had turned out to be true.

  While Anne’s heart broke for Kandi, she took comfort in the fact Jeff would never hurt the young women ever again. His actions had hammered the final nail in the coffin of Kandi’s relationship with him. And coupled with his embezzling, Jeff would be going to prison for a very long time.

  Sunlight crept backward across the porch. Anne watched it retreating. How long had she been sitting here? She stared across the yard. Observing.

  Anne quoted aloud, “The first rule of permaculture is to observe.” Well, she’d been doing that for the last week. She’d come to love sitting on the back porch, the rocking cadence a calming influence. In the morning, she’d grab a trusty quilt and head outside to drink her morning brew as the world awoke.

  Anne took a deep breath.

  What about you then? Are you ready to give love another chance? Or have you closed off your heart forever?

  No. I’m just not ready.

  So when will you be ready? Next month? Next year? Ever?

  Anne sighed deeply. Nothing worse than fighting with yourself.

  She didn’t want to struggle anymore. She wanted to live life to the fullest. Her thoughts turned to Ralph. Anne recalled her spills into the compost pile. Fluke accidents happen every day. Disease can creep up on you. Life can end quickly.

  A tear slid down her cheek.

  Oh, geez. Why am I crying? Not the hormones again.

  Anne cradled her chin in her hands as a multitude of feelings ran through her.

  She had fallen in love.

  In a way she had never expected.

  But she had. Anne had fallen in love with this town and its inhabitants. And with one person in particular.

  What to do about it?

  Well, that’s just plain crazy. So what—you’re crazy!

  Anne made up her mind. Afraid and giddy at the same time, she was going to do the most reckless thing she’d ever done. But first, she needed to make some plans. An idea finally occurred to her. She’d host a housewarming party.

  A warm breeze had carried away the crispness of the morning. It wouldn’t be much longer before winter would truly embrace them. The timing was perfect for an end of season outdoor party.

  Stewart waved at her as he escorted a young lady Anne hadn’t seen before. “Hey, Anne, great party.”

  “Thanks.” She raised her glass. Butterflies flitted in her stomach.

  Was she really going to go through with this? Could she? In front of all these people? What if she made a fool of herself for all time? Well —said her inner critic—it’s not like you haven’t done that already a few times.

  She to
ok a sip of her mimosa. Then another.

  Anne looked out at the group assembled. In the short time that she’d live in Carolan Springs, she’d gotten to know quite a few of its inhabitants. She glanced over to a table heaping with jams, jellies, and other preserved foods; quilts and knitted goods from the local ladies society; books from Sorcha; lotions and potions from Hope; and gardening gloves and beautiful pottery dishware from Eliza. Garlic and onions, some for eating and some for planting, poked out of various buckets. A box full of freshly picked produce and late season berries sat off in the shade.

  Some of the gifts had been a bit tongue-in-cheek such as a set of compost bins from Stewart, chocolate cherry candies from Kandi, and a set of Nancy Drew books from Sheriff Carson.

  Anne felt loved.

  She moved among the crowd, talking with her guests. Music from a local folk band floated across the air, mingling with the sounds of joyful chatter and laughter. Much of the food had been eaten and people were happy and content. Anne surveyed the crowd.

  Now or never.

  Anne willed herself to stop shaking.

  She glanced to where Kandi, Sam, Sorcha, and Carson stood talking. Across from them, she spied Stanley. The old man winked at her. Of all the people in town, Anne had gone to him with her idea. When she told him, he hadn’t smirked once. Even better, he told her to go for it. Anne strode to the porch and stood on the top step facing the crowd. The music died down. She threw back her shoulders and cleared her throat.

  Everyone waited.