Murder By Duplicity

by B. T. Lord

  “I’m on my way. Call Doc and let him know.”

  “I already did.”

  She raced to the Newton home with her siren blaring. When she arrived, she saw that Rick was already there. He was sitting on the front stoop of the modest two story clapboard house. Next to him was his cousin Jim. He was bent over slightly with a cold compress pressed against the back of his head.

  She got of her vehicle and hurried over to the two men.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Jim’s eyes were closed as if he were in deep pain. “I was in the middle of feeding the pigs when I was hit from behind.”

  “Did you see who attacked you?”

  He nodded. “I – I’m not entirely sure. But I think it was Margo Peabody.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Cammie was out near the pig enclosure when Doc and Rick approached.

  “Ah, there you are,” Doc said. “And thankfully you’re up wind.”

  “How is he?” she asked as she watched the dozen or so large, round pigs squealing and grunting as they ran around the sty.

  “He received a pretty bad blow to the head that required stitches. And he’s going to have a helluva headache for a few days. I gave him something for the pain. His wife is with him now.”

  “You nailed it Cam, when you said the killer was getting desperate,” Rick replied. “Margo must have been crazy to think she could get away with this.”

  Cammie held out an evidence bag she’d been holding in her hand. “I found this near the pig sty.”

  The two men looked at it. “Jeez, Margo has a thing for sledgehammers, doesn’t she?” Rick retorted.

  “No fancy scroll work on this one. Looks like your average run of the mill sledgehammer. You can see there’s blood on it. I’ll send it down to the lab, but I don’t think it’s farfetched to conclude this is what she used to smash Jim over the head with.” Cammie tore her eyes away from the pigs and looked about her. “Why though? Why would she attack Jim and expose herself?”

  “You know there are no secrets in Twin Ponds,” Rick answered. “She must have seen or heard about Jim coming to HQ. She panicked and decided to shut him up for good.”

  Cammie remained silent. Her gut was trying to tell her something, but she couldn’t quite grasp what it was. As the group walked towards their respective vehicles, she had no choice but to let it go. Hopefully the answer would present itself once she stopped trying so hard to figure it out.

  Reaching the Explorer, she turned to her deputy. “Rick, follow me out. We’re going to pay a visit to Margo Peabody.”

  When they arrived at her house, they found her in the backyard, weeding her flower garden.

  “I’m not speaking to you without my lawyer present,” she said when she saw Cammie and Rick walking down the brick pathway towards her.

  “I just have one question for you. Where were you this afternoon at 12:30 pm?”

  “I was right here working in the garden.”

  “Do you have anyone who can verify you were here?”

  “Of course,” she answered sarcastically. “I always invite the neighbors over to watch me weed.”

  “Margo, you’re under arrest for assault.”

  “And who am I supposed to have assaulted?”

  “James Newton.”

  To both Cammie and Rick’s surprise, she threw her head back and laughed. “Whatever works, isn’t that right, Sheriff?”

  She remained calm as she was read her rights, handcuffed and put into the back of the Explorer. Cammie and Rick tried to engage her in conversation, but she kept her gaze out the window, a chillingly enigmatic smile on her face. After being fingerprinted and booked, she called her attorney before falling back into a cocoon of bemused silence.

  As expected, the news of the arrest spread like wildfire throughout Clarke County. It was bolstered when the results of the DNA came in a few days later.

  The blood drops found on the carpet and floor in what had once been George’s workshop matched his DNA. Cammie added the charge of first degree murder to the assault charge. Unfortunately, she didn’t have enough evidence to charge her with Steepman’s murder, but at least Margo would pay for killing her husband and attempting to kill Jim.

  Everyone was happy about the arrest. Everyone that is, except Bill.

  An hour after the second charges were filed, she was unceremoniously summoned to his office. She knew this moment would come, but even as she grabbed one of her files and walked down the street towards the town offices, she wished she could put it off. To the next day, or the next week, or indefinitely. But she knew that was impossible. She supposed it was better to just get it over with. She only hoped she had the stomach to witness the aftermath.

  When she arrived, she was surprised to find Cheryle Mahoney sitting at Margo’s desk. A quiet, mousy woman in her late twenties, she’d helped Cammie out in her last investigation.

  “Cheryle, what are you doing here?” Cammie asked.

  “Mayor Barnes offered me the job of his assistant. Today’s my first day.”

  “I thought you liked working at the high school.”

  “I loved my job. I just hated my boss. She was way too much maintenance.”

  Cammie was about to point out that Bill was the poster boy of high maintenance, but decided to keep her mouth shut.

  “It’s already much more interesting than my last job.”

  Cammie leaned over. “A word of advice. As long as you keep Bill looking good, you’ll have a job for life.”

  “Wow, thanks Sheriff!”

  “Bill asked me to see him.”

  She picked up the phone. “Mayor, Sheriff Farnsworth is here to see you.” She nodded, then hung up. “You can go in.”

  Cammie wasn’t sure what she’d find when she walked into his massive office, but finding him on a treadmill wasn’t it. He was walking at a brisk pace, his face beet red, his face beaded with perspiration. He’d changed out of his suit and tie, and was wearing a pair of baggy shorts and tank top. Seeing his massive, hairy legs and man boobs peeking out from the tank top made Cammie thankful she wasn’t going to be eating any time soon.

  “I admire your resolve, Bill, but have you checked with Doc to make sure you should be doing such strenuous exercise?”

  “What does Doc know?” he panted heavily.

  “He’s a doctor. He kinda knows about these things. Say, how long have you been at this?”

  Bill looked at his watch. “Three minutes.”

  Oh, Jeez.

  He already looked as though he was about to have a heart attack.

  “What do you say you take a short break while you tell me why you wanted to see me?”

  He stopped the treadmill and wiped his face with a nearby towel. Gingerly stepping off, he sat down behind his desk.

  “I want to know your reasons for arresting Margo.”

  “Because we have enough evidence to show she murdered George. And she used the same modus operandi to smash in Jim Newton’s head.”

  He shook his head. “That’s impossible. As I told you earlier, she is the most trustworthy woman I’ve ever known.”

  Easily guessing why he’d asked to see her, she came prepared. Taking a deep breath, she told him about Margo’s bank accounts and the reality of her net worth.

  “I don’t believe you!” he thundered. “She would never lie to me.”

  She took the file she’d been holding and opened it up in front of him. “These are her bank statements under her previous name of Margo Brooks,” she said. He sat there, staring at them, unable to comprehend the truth. Finally, he put the papers down, and sat back in his chair, staring off into space.

  “I’m sorry, Bill,” she said.

  At first he said nothing. Then he took a long, deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “I knew about her first husband, though I had no idea he was a CFO of a Fortune 500 company. She never talked about her past. I assumed there were things that were just too painful.” He pa
used as he looked down at his hands. “I suppose I should have known she had an ulterior motive. What woman would willingly be with a 300 pound blowhard like me? It’s not as if I’m the mayor of a major metropolitan city. I look after approximately 1,000 people who are crazy enough to make a life in the middle of the Maine wilderness.” She didn’t know what to say since she’d thought the same thing herself.

  “Are you going to be alright?” she asked.

  He turned his head and forced a smile on his face. “Of course. I’m a politician, aren’t I?”

  Bill suddenly leaned over and opened up one of his desk drawers. He withdrew a file of his own and slid it towards her.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “That’s the reason George decided to leave Twin Ponds.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  “Before you go crazy, I refrained from giving this to you earlier because I truly believed Margo was innocent. The information in that file would only hurt her.”

  “Are you telling me I have grounds to arrest you for obstructing my investigation? Again?”

  Instead of getting upset, he hung his head. “You do what you think best.”

  She hadn’t expected that answer. “What does the file say?”

  “As I said to you earlier, I did meet with George that night in the forest. I did give him $50,000 in exchange for his promise that he wouldn’t return to Twin Ponds. I’m sure it won’t surprise you when I say that I didn’t trust him. If he could so easily get that money from me, what could I expect in the future? Was he always going to be coming back, asking for a handout, using my relationship with Margo as leverage? So I hired a private investigator. What you have in front of you is his report. To summarize, it turned out George was planning to move to Bangor, just as he’d told everyone. However, what he didn’t tell us was that he wasn’t going there to start a new job. He was going there to take up a new life with his other family.”

  So Cammie had been right about the woman in the photo.

  “For six years, before and after they moved to Twin Ponds, he’d been telling Margo he was travelling to Bangor on business. What he was actually doing was spending time with a woman he’d met by the name of Sheila Moynihan. At the time their relationship started, she had a ten year old son. The father had abandoned the family so George treated him as though he were his own.”

  “George was planning on leaving family number 1 to live the rest of his life with family number 2?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “What happened to Sheila?”

  “I don’t know. After I discovered what I needed, I dismissed the investigator. I was planning on using this to discredit him if he ever decided to come back and ask for more money.”

  “Did Margo know about Sheila?”

  He nodded. “After my meeting with George, I showed her that report.” He smiled mirthlessly. “That’s why she gave me his tools and converted his workshop into a storage shed for herself. She was so hurt at his betrayal that she wanted nothing more to do with him.”

  “So now you’re telling me you think Margo is responsible for his death?”

  “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,” he replied.

  “And you were seriously going to withhold this from me?” she asked, her eyes snapping with anger.

  He wearily rubbed his eyes. “I was stupid. Not only about that, but about everything. I thought I knew her. I thought she – she loved me. Jesus, what a fool I’ve been.”

  Cammie’s irritation oozed out of her as she saw the depression settling onto his shoulders.

  “I’m going to need to speak with Judge Drury about this. You willfully withheld vital information from a murder investigation.”

  “As I said, you do what you need to do.”

  She took the file and let herself out of his office. When she got back to her Explorer, she opened up the file and went through it. There were a few photos, but they were of poor quality. However, there was one picture that caught her eye. It was the side view of a blonde woman. Her features were blurry, but it was the clothes she was wearing that made Cammie sit up. She

  had on jeans and a tight red t-shirt, an exact match to the outfit of the woman in the photo George had kept hidden in his wallet.

  When she got back to her office, she sat down and stared at the victim board. She hadn’t had time to take it down. Looking at all her theories and connections she’d been carefully plotting over the last few months, part of her was proud at how accurate she’d been. Unfortunately, the other part was consumed with sadness – sadness for the unnecessary deaths of George and Steepman, the unnecessary assault on Jim and a deep compassion for Bill, mingled with irritation over his irresponsible act.

  No investigation ended all tied up in a red ribbon - the loss of a loved one, the trauma of violent death, the painful process of trying to pick up the pieces of a life that would never be the same and somehow, someway, carrying on into what some considered an interminable future filled with days, months and years of emptiness. It all took its toll, leaving a quiet desperation in its wake.

  She lowered her head and rubbed her temples with her fingertips. She could easily foresee such a future for Bill. Because of his position and wealth, there would be other women eagerly waiting to take Margo’s place. And maybe he’d let one or two into his life. But he would never let them into his hear nor would he ever completely trust again. He would always be expecting the inevitable stab in the back.

  She knew because she’d once been that way herself.

  Yet she’d taken a chance. She’d allowed herself to try one more time to open up her heart and soul that had been shut down for so long. Thankfully, she’d found a partner who understood and patiently waited for those doors within her to be unlocked.

  She only hoped Bill would find that one special woman who would love him for himself.

  “Another case put to bed.”

  Cammie looked up and saw Rick standing in her doorway. “I couldn’t have done it without you and Emmy,” she smiled.

  “That’s what you pay us the big bucks for.” He came in and sat down. “Well, now that the black widow is behind bars, we can now concentrate on Logger-Palooza. It’s going to be a blast this year!”

  The third weekend of August was reserved for the one of the biggest events in Twin Ponds’ social calendar. Logger-Palooza was begun in the dark days of the Great Depression as a way to get the townspeople’s minds off their troubles by honoring the men who had first settled in Twin Ponds in the mid-19th century. It had grown steadily over the years until now the town was inundated with visitors from all over New England. Main Street closed down as vendors, street entertainers, food carts and artists took over.

  The celebrations always started at noon-time on Saturday in front of the town offices with a speech by Bill Barnes. As soon as he was done, a parade, complete with floats, marching bands, clowns and jugglers wound its way down Main Street, where it ended at Foster Park. The day was then spent watching the different exhibitions and friendly competitions – everything from log pitching, log sawing, log races, and axe throwing. Throughout it all, several bands rotated playing at the gazebo that sat in the middle of the park. At 9 pm, everyone gathered at the bleachers in the baseball field to watch the spectacular display of fireworks light up the summer sky.

  Cammie and her staff, which included her part-time deputies, were kept busy patrolling the various events, keeping an eye out to make sure no one had too much to drink and decided to disrupt what was a family oriented celebration.

  Throughout the week leading up to Logger-Palooza, Cammie watched as banners and ribbons went up along the parade route, as well as the stores up and down Main Street. Vendors were already setting up their booths while the gazebo was decorated with paper cut outs of logging axes.

  Not to be outdone, Emmy decorated her green holiday tree that sat in the window of HQ with miniature loggers, mules, axes and pine trees.

  This year, for the first time, Jace
was taking part in the parade, dressed as a 19th century logger. She was amused that he wouldn’t allow her to see his outfit, insisting on surprising her on the day of the parade.

  As the day drew nearer, rumors began to surface that the weekend would be rainy, with thundershowers forecasted. However, Bill’s new secretary Cheryle was smart enough to ask the local shaman Paul Langevin if the rumors were true. To everyone’s relief, he assured the townspeople the weather would be hot and sunny.

  On Friday morning, Cammie strolled down Main Street, overseeing the last minute preparations. She knew they’d be at it all day, marveling at the hustle and bustle that surrounded her. Every year there were some vendors who panicked they wouldn’t be ready by the next morning, yet when Saturday rolled around, there they were, happily selling their wares to all the people who flocked to enjoy Logger-Palooza.

  Now that George Peabody’s murderer had been caught, she was greeted with congratulations, waves and a general good feeling that a killer was no longer on the loose. She too felt relaxed as she wound her way around the various vendor and food booths.

  As she reached the bank, she looked across the street and came to an abrupt stop. The noises that had surrounded her moments ago disappeared as she stared, slack jawed. Her heart began to hammer and her stomach clenched as a realization hit her so hard she thought she would throw up.

  “No, it can’t be,” she whispered under her breath as bits and pieces of the George Peabody investigation swirled through her mind, mocking her for her arrogance and shortsightedness.

  Immediately turning around, she fought not to break into a sprint as she reached HQ. There, she shut herself up in her office, ordering Emmy and Rick not to disturb her, nor to allow anyone else to bother her. The two looked at each other in bewilderment.

  “As she always says, there’s a method to her madness,” Rick commented as he looked through the glass and saw Cammie on her computer while speaking on the phone at the same time. “Guess we just gotta trust her.”