Blogging is Murder: A Jade Blackwell Mystery

by Gilian Baker

  She shot a glance behind her out the wall of glass that comprised the conference room. Seeing no one, she leaned even farther up on her chair and whispered, “How did you know about that?”

  “I can’t reveal my source, but others have confirmed that Ms. Payne was blackmailing employees.”

  “Hmmm. I’ve wondered about it. A few coworkers have said things to each other over coffee I overheard, and I thought it would be just like her to do something like that. But I don’t know how she’d have found things out about people to blackmail them with. She wasn’t someone who you would tell your secrets to.”

  “That is an important question, Missy, and one I don’t know the answer to… yet.”

  After we’d wrapped up our interview and Missy had left, I placed my folded arms on the table and dropped my head into them. Talking with people was draining. How had I lectured for hours every day in my old life? My throat was rusty and my hand ached from taking notes. Exhaustion threatened to overtake me. If I hurried home, I might get some rest and relaxation before meeting with Gabby to discuss my findings. The first thing I’d do was put on some comfortable clothes. With that thought propelling me on, I forced myself upright and shoved the stuff spread all over the table back into my briefcase.

  I was pulling on my coat when I heard a tentative tap on the glass door. I looked up to see the young hipster looking in the room with eyes wide.

  “Hi, may I help you?”

  “Umm. Are you the lady who’s interviewing people about Connie Payne?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Could I talk to you?” He jerked his head to look through the glass walls.

  Sigh… I’d give him five minutes and then I was out of there. I put on a fake smile, removed my coat and said, “Sure,” in as friendly of a tone as I could manage. “Have a seat.”

  He skulked into the room, his eyes shooting around the room. He oozed into the chair across from me and fiddled with his hipsters’ glasses. I returned to my seat and waited for him to speak. When he continued to look around, as if he had never been in the room before and found it fascinating, I’d had enough.

  “How can I help you, Mr.…?”

  “Oh, umm, I’m Scott. Scott Benedict. But everyone calls me Benny.”

  “Okay, Benny, what would you like to talk about?”

  “Well, she wasn’t a very nice person,” he said, offering me a shy smile. I struggled to maintain my composure. “Why’s that, Benny?”

  “Hem… well, I heard her shouting at people, um, even over a tiny mistake, and you know, she was grouchy. You know, like old people can get. I mean, um, like really old people. Not like you. But really old, you know?”

  This kid was not going to be on my Christmas list next year. Why couldn’t he spill it so we could both go home?

  “Is there anything specific you’d like to tell me about?”

  He snuck a peek at his Casio Classic watch, pretending to straighten his shirt cuff.

  “Well… hum… like this one time.” He kept his head straight, but looked up trying to find the plausible example. “Well, she like… called me an imbecile, just because one of Mr. Gallagher’s letters didn’t get to him ‘in a timely manner,’ that’s what she said. Just like that.” He leaned up in his chair with his eyes big. “As if that was my fault. Psh.” Then he leaned back in a slouched position..

  “Benny, what position do you hold here? At the law firm?” He looked at me with scrunched up eyebrows. I restated the question, “What’s your job here, Benny?”

  An “aw, shucks” look flowered upon his face, “Oh, I’m in the mailroom here. Yeah, I like, got an internship and everything. I hope to start at the junior college in the fall to study law.” Yeah, good luck with that, Benny boy.

  I moved to put my yellow legal paid back into my briefcase. I didn’t have time for this. “No, no, wait. There’s more stuff I can tell you.” He leaned up in his chair again, his tongue sticking halfway out of his mouth as if thinking.

  I knew this kind of kid. I’d seen them many times before during my office hours at the university. The Time Waster. Well, I had no time or patience for it today.

  I continued to gather up my things for the second time. “Really? Like what?”

  He was jiggling his leg so hard it was making the table move. Why was he prolonging this? He was in as much agony as I was with this conversation. But I knew there had to be a motive, even if I couldn’t see it yet. There always was… sigh.

  I stopped and looked him in the eye. “To be honest, Benny, I need to get on the road. Perhaps if I return to make follow-up inquiries, we can chat then.”

  He stole another look at his watch. Seeing the time, he jumped up out of his chair. “Sure, no problem. Maybe next time.” He scooted in his chair, glanced back around through the glass walls and tripped over himself to get out of there. How odd.

  “Hem… like, thanks again,” came as an afterthought.

  “Sure, no problem, Benny. Have a good evening.”

  “Yeah, sure. You too,” he called from over his shoulder.

  I hit the ladies room on the way to the car to prepare for the long drive home. The chill of the air was invigorating. No longer perturbed at Benny’s time wasting, I pulled out my cell phone to text Christian. I wanted to remind him I wouldn’t be home for supper and to pick something up on his way home. Shoot! No time to go home now. Darn hipster.

  I pitched my briefcase onto the passenger’s side and already had one foot on the driver’s side floor when I noticed a piece of paper under the windshield wiper. It was probably an ad for the newest Chinese restaurant in town. I grabbed the paper, and was balling it up when I saw it was a handwritten note, spelling out only a few solitary words: Leave well enough alone. She deserved what she got.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I was still shaking when I got to the restaurant to meet Gabby. As I had suspected, I hadn’t had time to go home, so I was still in my suit. I was cranky, tired and scared—and didn’t care who knew it. Flinging open the door, I ignored the hostess’ question and marched straight to the table where a cool and collected Gabby sat perusing a menu.

  I dropped my briefcase and purse on the side of the crescent-shaped booth and then plopped myself down. Gabby looked up smiling, but that smile turned to a frown.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Oh, nothing. I’ve only spent the day interviewing people who didn’t want to talk and then I came out to my car and found this.” I wrenched the note out of my coat pocket and flung it over towards her with a flourish. A waiter walked by, and I waved him over, requesting a glass of red wine. He opened his mouth to ask me what kind, but the look on my face told him I didn’t care what he brought me—I’d drink it.

  “Who do you think left it there? I mean, someone in the firm must have put it on your car, right? Who do you suspect?”

  “My best guess is the first guy I talked to, Jack Taylor. He didn’t tell me much, but it was obvious he knew something.”

  “Hmm. Sounds promising.”

  “Also, when I was getting ready to leave, this hipster mailroom clerk came in and begged me to stay because he wanted to tell me something. All I got from him was a lot of hemming and hawing, and he kept looking at his watch. I saw Mr. Taylor talking with this Benny kid earlier in the day.” I thought about it for a second.

  “They were attempting a secretive meeting in the hallway, and they caught me watching them.”

  “Okay, before we order, let’s hear a synopsis of what you learned today. I don’t think I’ll get my appetite back until I hear it. We need to determine if we think you’re in danger.”

  “Do you think I could be? I mean, I was scared, but tried to talk myself out of that initial panic on the drive over. The note isn’t threatening, it only implies a threat.” I took a long drink from the water glass in front of me. Where was the waiter with my wine?

  “I don’t want to rule out the possibility. We need to stay safe while we’re helping out Liz. Let�
�s hear a complete account of your day and then we will decide.”

  “Well, let’s see…” It seemed like it had happened years ago instead of hours. “First, I stopped by and saw Liz, which is another story. Then I saw Crystal because Ross was out of the office and she was in charge. She said she’d take us to the crime scene. She also shared a very interesting theory with me.” The waiter brought my wine, and I took a healthy gulp. Gabby waved him away before I continued. I told her how Crystal had found a ledger, and that she thought the code was details about blackmail activity. Gabby’s eyes got larger and larger the longer I talked.

  “This puts a whole new spin on the investigation.”

  Grabbing a homemade garlic roll from the basket, I took a large bite and tried to speak around it. “Yes, and even though Crystal hasn’t told Ross yet, I asked Connie’s coworkers about it. No one fessed up about it, but one woman told me the names of two people who she is sure have been paying her off… one of them is Mr. Jack Taylor. And the current assistant to Mr. Gallagher thought payoffs were going on, based on some things she had overheard.”

  “So it’s likely that the killer worked with Connie.”

  “That’s the way I’m leaning after finding the note on my windshield.”

  We ordered our food and continued to talk about the situation while we stuffed ourselves. I for one was starving. Who knew interviewing would be such hungry work? We agreed to go to Connie’s house the next day, if Crystal could arrange it, and then after that, Gabby wanted to stop back into Phyllis’ house. She still thought there could be something there, even more so now we know about the blackmail. I continued to defend her innocence, but decided that visiting her would be the best way for Gabby to see that she wasn’t a murderer.

  I gave her the journal pages so she could read them next. We decided to just keep our eyes open for possible danger. The note didn’t feel like a legitimate threat towards me, but rather a warning to drop the case. After we’d exhausted all avenues of suspects and outlined our next steps, we headed to our separate homes.

  ***

  I got to the sheriff’s station before the time Gabby, Crystal and I had planned to meet because I was hoping to confirm the suspensions about the blackmail with Ross before we went any further. I’d walked a thin line by bringing up the possibility yesterday, but it had paid off. Even if the ledgers weren’t full of coded details about extortion, we now knew she had been up to that, too.

  Sheryl must have been making coffee or something because she was away from her desk. I made my way back to Ross’ office without interference. He was reviewing a file on his scarred desk when I knocked on the doorframe.

  He looked up and gave me a slight smile. “Look what the cat dragged in. Have a seat.”

  “I wanted to have a quick word with you before we head out to the crime scene. I assume Crystal cleared that with you.”

  “Yes, and I’m mighty fine with her taking that on. She’s a go-getter, I’ll say that for her.”

  “Yes, I think so too. That’s why I’m here.” I cleared my throat before going on. “Did Crystal talk to you about finding the ledger from Connie’s house in the desk that had belonged to Doug?” Crap, I hope I wasn’t getting her into trouble, but I needed this to be out in the open so I knew it was safe to continue this line of inquiry.

  “Yes… The mistakes that boy has made has made the whole department look inadequate. I know we’re a small town operation, but we cover a large county and the last thing I need is for people to think we’re inept.”

  Skipping over his concern about his department’s reputation, I went on with my concerns. “Did she tell you what she thought was in the ledger?”

  “Yep. And she’s right. I got a call yesterday telling me that the boys in forensic accounting in Cheyenne had come to the same conclusion. They faxed over a bunch of the details, but I haven’t looked at it yet.”

  I sighed with relief. “Okay. Well, I should let you know there will be a few names of people she worked with on the info they sent. I interviewed some of her coworkers and her boss yesterday and some of them confirmed they knew about the blackmail.”

  Just then we heard talking and laughing coming down the hallway. Everything echoed because of the long hallway and poor acoustics. I don’t know how they could concentrate with people coming up and down the hallway all the time. That would drive me batty!

  I turned in my chair and saw Gabby and Crystal’s smiling faces in the doorway. “We’re caffed up and ready to go.” They both held up their travel coffee mugs. “How about you?”

  “Yep, I’ll be ready in a minute. Meet you at the car.” After they had left, I swiveled back around and dug a sticky note out of my briefcase. “Here are the names of Connie’s coworkers who may have been paying Connie to keep their secrets. I thought you’d like a chat with them.”

  “Thanks.” He reached his long arm across the desk and took the paper. “You guys be careful today.” I stood up to leave. “We will. You, too.”

  ***

  The drive to Chesterton was uneventful. Now we knew Connie was not only an Internet hacker, but a blackmailer to boot, we discussed how that might affect the suspect list.

  “Unless we can find out who else she cyber-stalked, it seems like extortion is our best lead. We already know a couple people who were paying her off, and I’m sure the ledgers will spell out many more.” Gabby looked at me in the backseat. “What do you think, Jade?”

  “I agree. What’re we going to do about the note? Should we talk to the first guy again? What was his name?”

  In unison came, “Jack Taylor.”

  “Yeah, him, Mr. Shifty Eyes.”

  “I think you need to re-interview him and the other person named… let’s see…” Gabby looked in the file in her lap. “Sophie Billingham.”

  “And Phyllis knows we’re stopping by, right?”

  “Yeah, I called her last night.” She’d surprised me by trying to put me off when I called, but I didn’t tell them that. I didn’t want to give them any more ammunition against her. It seemed odd, though. She’d been so engaged in the matter before.

  Connie’s house looked much like it had the first time I had been there. Again, there was disbelief at the incompetence of Deputy Doug, who had so overlooked the relevance of the luxurious living condition of the victim.

  “Wow. Posh,” Crystal exclaimed. “How much did you say she got from this inherence?”

  “Not enough for all of this, that’s for sure. I don’t know the exact amount, but it’s more like in the low hundreds a month rather than thousands.”

  “So the funds to pay for all of this swag must have come from her little side gig as a blackmailer.”

  We walked around the place, and I showed them where I found the ledgers and the journal.

  We paid particular attention to the kitchen, since that was where she’d died, while in the middle of eating her supper. Crystal brought out the crime scene photos, and we got the feel for where everything had been. I don’t know why we cared that much, but it seemed important for Gabby to see the exact location of the crime. Maybe I didn’t understand because I’d already seen it.

  “So she was in the habit of prepping her meals in the morning before she left for work. People must have known that was her routine. Otherwise, how would the killer have known they could sneak the hemlock in with the other prepped food?” asked Gabby.

  “Well,” Crystal explained, “one thing about poisoning is that you don’t have to be at the scene to kill someone. They could have put it into another food product and then waited until she consumed it as long as they didn’t need her to die right away.”

  “It’s gotta be someone who knew she was serious about her cooking skills. I mean, how many people who live alone bother to make elaborate meals for themselves?” Gabby questioned.

  “I sure wouldn’t.” I chimed in. “But then again, my most-used kitchen gadget is a slow cooker.”

  We finished an obligatory look around the
other rooms and then headed out the door. While Crystal re-locked the door, I knocked on Phyllis’. I hadn’t noticed that the old dear was hard of hearing, but it sure took her a long while to answer the door. I was becoming concerned when she yanked the door open, breathless from some unknown activity.

  “Sorry, sorry. I was, umm… indisposed. Come on in.” She looked much like she had the last time I’d seen her, wild hair and tube socks included. “I’ve put the kettle on. Have a seat, and I’ll go get our tea.”

  Gabby spoke up. “Oh, don’t put yourself out. We don’t want you to go to any trouble, and we won’t be here long.”

  “No, I insist.” And off she went back into the kitchen. We settled in while she went to the kitchen. Something was different about the place. Looking around, I spotted it. The TV. In the place where her ancient Magnavox had set was now a state-of-the-art TV that took up a respectable portion of the wall. It was in a tasteful new stand at least 20 years newer than any of the other furniture in her house. The set wasn’t as big as Connie’s, but it was larger than the one we had.

  Gabby and Crystal were chatting in quiet tones, preparing to interview our hostess, so I shouted, “Hey, Phyllis. Where’d the new TV come from?”

  I could hear her giggle, “Oh, that…” and then there was silence. I shrugged my mental shoulders. Guess she would tell me in her own time. Or not. Whatever.

  After a long time, she came in carrying a heavy-laden tray filled with a matching tea set and cups and a few fancy-looking cookies arranged on a matching dish. “Here, let me help you with that.” I took the tray from her and set it down on the scratched coffee table. After we’d gone through the formality of preparing our cups, we sat back and the interview began.

  Gabby looked at her notes. “So Phyllis, you know why we’re here. We’d like to ask you a few questions. Nothing too strenuous, I assure you.”

  Phyllis’ tea cup rattled in its saucer. Seeing it was giving her nervousness away, she set it back on the coffee table. “Sure, go ahead.”