Keyed in Murder

by Helen Gray

  “Next week,” he continued, “we plan to send our professional development committee to a training course that will teach them techniques in gang and drug prevention or how to answer questions you may be asked. There’s also a course on interaction between teachers and students that I hope they can attend. Then they’ll share their knowledge with us here.”

  As Toni drove home, her mind whirred in multiple directions. Gangs. Prowlers. Murder. Attacks in parking lots. When she arrived at her parents’ house to pick up the boys, she found her dad putting up a tetherball pole in the back yard. Gabe and Garrett were taking little swipes at the dangling ball to make it bounce off Russell’s back or shoulders as he worked. They thought it was funny, and he seemed to be having a good time as well.

  “He’d get finished much faster if you guys wouldn’t pester him,” Toni pointed out.

  Both boys grinned. “Yeah, but it’s more fun this way,” Garrett said gaily.

  Russell just gave Toni a fatherly look, reminding her of her own—and her brothers’—younger days.

  “How was your day?” he asked as he tamped the dirt around the base of the pole.

  “The day was fine, but a troublesome matter was discussed in the faculty meeting.”

  Russell put down the shovel and brushed his hands on his already dirty jeans. “Tell me about it while the boys give this thing a workout.” He motioned to the camp chairs on the carport.

  While they watched the boys play tetherball, Toni discussed the meeting with him.

  “It sounds like they’re on the right track,” her dad said when she told him about the planned staff training. “I hate hearing this, but they’re doing the correct thing in making you teachers aware. I hope they nail the leaders before there’s a tragedy or more property damage,” he commented as she moved to leave her seat. “I was at the manor today, and I heard there’s been some ruckus there, too. Do you know anything about Bonnie Crawford’s sister losing her job?”

  Toni plopped back into the chair. “I didn’t know she lost her job, but I might have caused it to happen.”

  His brows rose. “Tell me about it.”

  As she told him about the off duty aide taking pain patches from the residents and the police being called, he simply listened and nodded occasionally.

  “It sounds like she has a serious drug problem,” he commented when she finished.

  “How did you know about her losing her job?” Toni asked.

  “I had gone out to visit Charlie Eaton, and I pushed him and his wheelchair out into the dining hall like he asked and got him a cold soda. While we were sitting there chatting, a couple of workers were at a table not far from us—on their break.”

  Toni knew that Charlie, a longtime member of their church and friend of Russell’s, had suffered a heart attack and fallen in his yard, where his wife found him. He was in the manor for rehab. “I assume the workers mentioned the girl and the pain patches.”

  Russell nodded. “They were talking about Tanya coming to the director’s office during a time she wasn’t on duty. Apparently that’s when she was told she had been terminated and given her final paycheck. The workers said they heard yelling and screaming coming from inside the office. Then the door opened, and Tanya was escorted out. As the nursing home personnel took her outside, she was screaming about being shorted on her paycheck, how unfairly she was being treated, and that they would all pay for this.”

  Toni grimaced. “The whole thing sounds bad, but making threats worsens it.”

  “Now don’t you head home and start blaming yourself,” Russell said, reading the thoughts already forming in her mind.

  What she said was, “It’s sounding more and more like the rash of problems we’re experiencing in the community and school are drug related.”

  He nodded. “I’m afraid you could be right.”

  Toni stood. “Kyle’s supposed to be home in time for supper, so I’d better go get something cooking. Thanks for babysitting.”

  “Any time,” he growled, reminding her of Buck.

  *

  There were a lot of whispered conversations among the staff Wednesday and Thursday. Teachers were on edge and trying to not transmit their uneasiness to the students. Away from school, Toni figured they weren’t hiding their concerns, but were talking to their neighbors and close friends and telling them what to be on the lookout for among friends and acquaintances of their kids. Like she had talked to her dad.

  There was a science club meeting right after school. Some volunteer parents joined the student members to discuss their upcoming fundraiser and jump start their Christmas service project of supplying gifts for needy students.

  “We need a chairman for this fundraiser,” Toni announced to the assembled group. “Do we have a volunteer among you parents?” She let her gaze travel over the room.

  A hand lifted. “I’ll do it,” the mother of one of the students said. “I’m a bookkeeper and have experience with this sort of thing.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Granger. If you’ll stay an extra five minutes after this meeting, I’ll give you a folder of information our club has compiled from previous fundraisers and what they consider the most successful methods. You and your daughter can work together to keep us coordinated and on track.”

  The meeting continued, with plans being made and Stephanie Granger making notes. Afterward, the woman was given the promised folder and seemed pleased at what she perceived as the importance of the responsibility.

  After Mrs. Granger and her daughter left, Toni gathered her purse and book satchel and headed for the gym where Gabe and Garrett had asked to hang out and shoot baskets. The coach had assured her it would be all right.

  As she walked down the hall, Bonnie Crawford emerged from the girls’ bathroom and fell into step alongside Toni. Her manner conveyed that she had waited around to waylay her.

  “Do you have a minute?” she asked, her signals mixed. Never all that friendly, Toni was frankly surprised that Bonnie had attended the meeting. Her daughter and sister might be problems, but her son had to be her bright light. Trent did well in both Toni and John’s classes, caused no trouble, and was a valued member of the science club. Bonnie attended some of these type meetings, but didn’t get involved much. Of course, she was a busy woman who had a store to run.

  Did she want to talk about her husband’s murder? Her sister’s drug problems? Or maybe her daughter’s academic problems? Tricia, the younger of the two Crawford siblings, certainly had some.

  Toni paused and faced Bonnie. “Of course. What do you need?”

  The woman glanced around, as if assuring herself that they were alone in the hallway. “Are you aware that Stephanie’s bookkeeping job is at our supermarket?”

  Taken by surprise, Toni’s mind went into a whirl. What was wrong here? “I guess I am,” she said slowly. “I hadn’t thought about it.”

  Bonnie nodded. “I don’t want to upset you, but I thought it might be a good idea to inform you that I’m having the supermarket audited.”

  Toni nodded slowly as understanding began to creep into her puzzled brain. “Are you telling me that I should be cautious of putting Mrs. Granger in charge of any funds?”

  A guarded look flashed across Bonnie’s solemn face. “I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I wouldn’t want the students to work hard and have their profits …,” she said, her clipped words trailing to nothing.

  “Disappear?” Toni asked, frowning.

  She nodded again.

  Toni smiled. “Thanks for confiding in me. And if you’re concerned that I might discuss it with others, don’t worry. It’s confidential. I’ll be careful to see that she doesn’t handle any funds alone. Is your audit already underway?”

  Now Bonnie shook her head back and forth. “Stephanie doesn’t work Mondays, so that’s when the CPA is going to start. She’ll work evenings the rest of the week, or however long it takes. I’ll let you know when it’s finished and I have the results.”

  She s
tarted to move on, but hesitated, studying Toni in a serious way.

  “Is there something else?” Toni asked, shifting her sliding purse strap back up onto her shoulder.

  Bonnie pressed her lips into a tight line. Then her normally cool manner seemed to evaporate a bit. “There is a small matter. I hope you can keep this confidential as well, but I understand if you can’t.”

  Curiosity had Toni glued in place.

  “Jake was wrong about Levi,” she blurted, as if flushing a clog from a stopped up sink. “He lied and cost a good man custody, or at least partial custody, of his two kids. Levi loved Jake’s sister, but she didn’t deserve it. She’s the bad parent.”

  Toni’s head tilted. “What does this have to do with me?”

  “You’ve been involved in some other cases, and I believe you’re involved in my husband’s murder case. I admit I didn’t like that at first,” she admitted frankly, “but it seems that you have an uncanny way of digging up answers. I’ve learned to respect you.”

  “You know something that will help Levi, don’t you?”

  Bonnie glanced around again. “I had more than one purpose for that trip I made to St. Louis just before Jake was killed. I did visit my sister, but I had Levi’s kids visiting with me. Sherry asks me to keep them for her sometimes. This time I had volunteered to keep them a couple of days. I took them to Levi and left them for a sneak visit while I went on to St. Louis. I picked them up on my way back and took them back to their mother. Then I went home and discovered that Jake was dead.”

  Toni considered the implications of the story. The woman seemed truthful, and such an admission had to have been difficult for her. “I think Levi has already established that he was at home using his computer that evening, but if he should ever need an alibi, I’ll need to share this with our police chief.”

  “That’s okay then. It has to be,” Bonnie said in gloomy resignation. “Will you let me know if that happens?”

  “I will,” Toni promised, feeling that she and Bonnie had established a fresh relationship—a good thing among all the bad ones of late.

  Chapter 7

  School dismissed at noon Friday so those involved in the weekend Fall Festival could set up their booths, work on their floats, or take care of any other preparations still needed. Many students were also involved, especially with the floats and band.

  The festival was an annual event held the third week of October. There would be rides and vendors that afternoon, and then a parade in the morning, followed by festivities in the city greenway that included games and rides for the children, crafters, food vendors, exhibitions, and antique car, engine, and tractor shows. Thousands of people would attend.

  Toni gathered her belongings, locked her classroom door, and hurried to the lobby to meet the boys. When she arrived, only one boy was present.

  “Where’s Gabe?” she asked Garrett.

  He spread his hands and shrugged. “I don’t know. He should be here.”

  Toni looked up the hallway in each direction, but saw no sign of him. “Wait here. I’m going to check in the junior high office and see if anyone has seen him.”

  Patsy looked up when Toni peered inside her office.

  “Have you seen Gabe?”

  The secretary shook her head. “He hasn’t been in here.”

  “Thanks.” Toni exited the office and returned to the lobby. “Come with me, and we’ll go look for him,” she instructed Garrett.

  He shook his head. “Let me go look for him.”

  Toni came to a standstill. Garrett was the boy who dreamed—and found things. Incidents flashed through her mind of people losing things—John’s calculator, her dad’s hearing aid, and more—and she reached a decision. “Okay. I’ll look in the gym, and you …”

  “I’ll look outside,” he interrupted, setting his saxophone case on the floor. He whipped around and took off out the door.

  A tad put out with Gabe for not being where he should have been, Toni marched to the gym and peeked inside. The place was deserted. She backed away and headed on down the hall. If he was in a restroom, she would need Garrett to go in after him. But Garrett had gone outside.

  Uncertain, and beginning to experience a thread of alarm, Toni veered back toward the lobby. As she walked within sight of it, through the glass door panes she saw Garrett running up the sidewalk to the entrance.

  “I found him,” he called as he burst through the doorway. “He’s in the van. He’s laying in the back seat.”

  “Lying,” she corrected automatically, grabbing his saxophone and making for the door.

  “I think he’s sick,” Garrett said as they crossed the parking lot at a brisk pace.

  Toni thought he might be right when she saw Gabe curled up in the back seat, and was thankful the boys had keys to the van so they could get in and out of it without her. She opened the door and leaned over to run a hand over his forehead. It was cool. “What’s wrong, Son?”

  “Don’t feel good,” he murmured, opening his eyes and closing them again.

  Toni looked at Garrett, knowing it was his turn to ride in the back. “Get in the front, and let’s go home.” He obeyed without question.

  “Do you need help to get inside?” she asked over her shoulder as she pulled into the driveway at home, worried about Gabe. She exited the driver’s door and opened the back one.

  “I can walk,” he mumbled, stirring and sitting up slowly, almost laboriously.

  Toni studied him, not liking his wan look. “Why don’t you go to bed and rest until supper? Sleep if you can.”

  Without answering, Gabe slid gingerly to the garage floor.

  Toni watched him walk slowly, stiffly it seemed, into the house and head to his room. “Put on your pajamas so you can rest better,” she called after him.

  “I’ll help him,” Garrett said, following his big brother.

  Toni didn’t know what to think. Gabe showed no signs of fever, and he didn’t seem to be sick at his stomach. If he didn’t start acting better after a nap, she would call her mother and ask her to come take a look at him.

  Kyle arrived home as she was putting supper on the table. “Gabe’s not feeling well,” she said after a peck on the cheek greeting. “Why don’t you see if he feels like eating?”

  His brow creased, but he immediately left the kitchen.

  A few minutes later he returned, Gabe padding slowly alongside him. Garrett followed, his expression unreadable.

  Kyle said the blessing and put small helpings of meat loaf and mashed potatoes on Gabe’s plate. “Try to eat,” he urged.

  Obediently, Gabe picked up a fork and put a bite of meat loaf in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed. After only a few bites, he quit.

  “Should I call Mrs. Tollison and tell her you can’t march in the parade in the morning?” Toni asked.

  He raised his face. “No, don’t do that. I want to play in the band.”

  Junior high students had been practicing playing selected music and marching with the high school band in preparation for merging with them for the parade.

  Toni exchanged a glance with her husband. He shrugged. “He’s the only one who knows how he feels.”

  She looked back at Gabe. “Okay, but as soon as you finish eating, go take your shower and get back in bed.”

  His total lack of argument was telling. He ate a couple more bites and left.

  “I wish I could be in the parade with him,” Garrett lamented as Gabe disappeared from the room.

  “You will be in a couple of years,” Toni said, knowing that a couple of years seemed a lifetime to a kid.

  The next morning Kyle came in from the garage while Toni was clearing the table from breakfast. “The garage door isn’t working right, and I don’t have time to mess with it now. I moved both our vehicles out into the driveway. We’ll have to park there until I can find the time, or I might just send Mike over to look at it. He’s the master mechanic. Oh, drat, I forgot. He’s taking off Monday and Tuesd
ay to be with his family while his dad has surgery. We’ll just have to park in the drive until he can get to it.”

  Gabe was up and dressed on time, if not looking or acting all that perky. Kyle took him to the school to meet the band and get into uniform and tune their instruments before marching.

  When Kyle returned, they put lawn chairs in the back of his extended cab pickup and drove down to a parking lot at the edge of town where vehicles and people on foot already lined the street. Kyle backed into a parking spot so the bed of the truck was next to the street. As they started to get out, Garrett leaned over the console between the front seats.

  “Mom. Dad. Can I ask you something?”

  They both turned to face him. “You may ask a question,” Toni said, stressing the verb.

  “Is it being a tattle tale if you tell something because you’re worried about someone?”

  Toni tried to read the child’s mind. “Is it Gabe you’re worried about?”

  His head bobbed.

  “Son,” Kyle intervened, “if you’re worried about your brother and know something that could help him, I think you should tell us.”

  “He’s right,” Toni added.

  Garrett hesitated and blinked, obviously torn. “When he undressed last night, I saw bruises and scratches on his back and arms. I’m afraid someone hurt him.” His lips trembled.

  Kyle reached over and gave Garrett’s arm a reassuring stroke. “You did right to tell us, Son. Maybe we can find a way to find out what’s wrong without him knowing you told. Okay?”

  His head bobbed jerkily. “Thanks.” He backed away.

  They all got out of the truck cab and climbed into the back where they set up the lawn chairs and sat in them to watch the parade. The mid-morning sun had chased away the chill of the early morning hours.

  John and Jenny Zachary came walking up to the truck, toting their lawn chairs. “We couldn’t find a parking spot close enough to the road to do that,” John said, nodding at their seating arrangement. “Could you use company?”

  “Sure.” Toni stood while Kyle opened the tailgate for them to climb into the truck bed and closed it once they were inside. Toni motioned for Garrett to move closer to the tailgate and pulled her own chair behind him.