Keyed in Murder

by Helen Gray

  Toni had thought she might share her concerns about Gabe and her research about gangs with their friends once the boys were out of the room, but decided this was not the time or place to do that.

  Kyle’s cell phone rang. He answered, responded briefly, and disconnected. “There’s a search party forming to look for Ray Fillmore. Mike Hadley said they’re going to be working in the south part of town. I told him I’ll join them after I drop Toni and the boys at home.”

  “Would you like company?” John asked.

  “Sure.”

  *

  Toni relished the thought of a peaceful afternoon. Once she and the boys had returned home, she double-checked that the doors were locked and the boys in their room. Then she went to the bedroom with the intention of taking a nap. But thoughts of Gabe’s assault, the attacks on her, the prowler, and the unsolved murder all weighed on her like an anchor.

  Giving up on sleep, she let her mind wander at will. As she attempted to analyze things, thoughts of the bowling alley crowd began to sequence through her brain. Had the drug parties of those couples unwittingly steered their kids into using—and maybe dealing—drugs? Were their kids involved in some kind of gang?

  She sat up and went to the den. At the desk she took a pen and paper from a drawer and began to write down names of the bowling league participants who had been mentioned. When she had all she could remember, she stared at the list and tapped the pen on the desk, raking through her memory for facts about each of their offspring.

  The Hartman couple’s son had grabbed her purse. She knew they had a couple more children, but didn’t know them well because they weren’t in high school yet.

  She moved her pen down the list. The Zambroni couple had a girl about junior high age. The Lawsons, although married a long time, had no children—but were expecting one. The Ramseys had a couple each from former marriages and one together. The oldest was a sophomore. Toni wasn’t sure about the ages of the others.

  The Kingsley couple had a boy in middle school and a girl in high school. The Hewitts had a boy about ready to graduate and a younger girl in middle school. The Chandlers had a teenage son.

  Toni paused in thought when she finished the list. The Crawfords had a boy and a girl in high school. The girl had been in some trouble not long ago, but she couldn’t recall what had been involved.

  Flummoxed, Toni stared at the list, willing it to talk to her. But it remained stubbornly silent.

  Nothing more than one big party emerged. No, two parties. One of adults. One of kids. But how and why did an adult end up dead? And why had her purse been grabbed in broad daylight?

  Toni tossed the list down in disgust. Buck knew all this. And he would do everything he could to solve the murder case. But he needed to hear from her about the kids—more specifically, her kid.

  She dug her cell phone from her purse and called Buck’s personal number. “Are you in your office?” she asked when he answered.

  “No, I’m sitting on my back deck, enjoying the peace and solitude.” Until you rang, his tone said. “What’s so important on a Sunday afternoon when you should be napping?”

  She took a deep breath. “Gabe was dragged into a bathroom and beaten up at school, and he didn’t admit it until last night.”

  “Whoa right there. Grab a jacket and meet me in front of your house in ten minutes. We’ll talk about this in my car. I don’t want you running around town on your own, and it sounds like you need privacy from your boys.”

  Toni stared at the suddenly dead phone for several seconds, and then went to grab a jacket.

  Ten minutes later, she walked past her van parked in the driveway and crawled into the front passenger seat of the chief’s personal car he had parked alongside the edge of the yard.

  “How’s your arm?” he asked, eyeing it.

  A hand automatically moved to rub it. “Pretty good. I have some sore muscles, but it’ll be fine in another day or so.”

  “Now, start over and tell me what happened to Gabe,” he ordered.

  She did, giving him a quick summary of Gabe being missing and found in the van, to his admission of the two boys assaulting him.

  Buck’s jaw had tightened as he listened. “Did he give you names of the two boys?” he asked when she finished.

  “He said one of them is new this year and not in any of his classes. He didn’t know a name. The other he identified as Dennis Goines.”

  The chief took several moments to respond. “Gabe’s principal needs to know about this, but I don’t want you to be seen going to his office to report it. And that boy’s name shouldn’t be divulged unless the principal promises to keep it confidential and take no action—yet. I’d like to find out more about the student before he realizes we know about him. I want to have an officer observe him after school, see who he chums with, and hope he’ll lead us to whoever is pushing his buttons.”

  Toni liked the sound of that. “I’ll talk to my own principal and explain your involvement. Then he can talk to Ryan Prewitt, the junior high principal.”

  Buck nodded and produced an ever so slightly satisfied smirk. “Ken knows how you operate. He’ll help us. Wait up,” he added when she started to open the door.

  She released the handle.

  “I have a few pieces of information that might interest you.”

  Her ears alerted.

  “First, we found no decent footprints in the area where you saw a shadow during your visit to our crime scene. But we think we found the car your prowler drove. We identified a dozen license plates that start with LX2. One of them is a dark green ’98 Camry that belongs to sixteen-year-old Darrin Ramsey.”

  Another last name from that group of bowling friends. Toni shuddered inwardly. “So this kid tried to kill me?”

  The chief shook his head. “We’ve checked, and the boy was right where he said he was at that time, verified by three different people who were at the same party. As for his car, he says he left it at Ludwick’s Garage for new points and plugs the afternoon before your intruder struck. It had been hot-wired. Anyone could have borrowed it.” He scratched his head, making his white hair stick up like bristles of a hairbrush.

  “That doesn’t help much,” Toni said quietly.

  He heaved a long audible sigh. “I know. As expected, the text messages in the Hartman boy’s phone were from other students. We’re talking to each of them as we track them down.”

  “Let me know when the dots connect.”

  She opened the door and started to exit the car, but another question popped into her mind. “Kyle’s with a search team right now, looking for Ray Fillmore. Does the searching mean you think something has happened to him?”

  Buck scowled. “It’s as if the guy has dropped off the face of the earth. His girlfriend swears he wouldn’t leave town. She could be right, and his family members agree with her. So we’re searching like they want us to do. If you hear or see anything that sounds even remotely relevant, let me know.”

  “I will,” she promised, closing the car door.

  Back inside the house, Toni tried once more to take a nap—unsuccessfully. Her brain wouldn’t shut down. As she lay on the bed with a jumble of thoughts parading through her mind, the mental sequence paused on Kyle’s meeting with Steve Hartman and Tricia Crawford that morning. And on to Tricia’s mention of her dad and Norm eating together.

  Slowly but surely a vision crept from her memory. At some time in the past she had seen Jake Crawford and Norman Brower together in an eating place, but where had they been?

  Her closed eyes squeezed tighter as she searched her memory. And suddenly the picture became clearer. They were sitting by a large window, and the big sign on it said Subway.

  She sat up in the bed. Could she learn anything from a visit to the fast food place? It was a long shot, but she had to try. She reached for her phone and called the Zachary number. Jenny answered.

  “Would you mind coming over and staying with my boys for about thirty minutes?
”

  It took a few seconds for her friend to answer. “Are you planning to snoop around town by yourself?”

  “Yes, but only one place, and it’s right downtown. I’ll be safe.”

  An audible sigh reached her. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

  Toni was ready to leave when Jenny arrived. She met her at the door. “I’m just going down to the Subway. I shouldn’t be gone long.”

  Jenny grinned. “I know. You’ve thought of something, and you just have to check it out. Run along.”

  Toni wasted no time getting to the submarine sandwich shop. As she parked and emerged from the van, the overcast sky spewed a sprinkle that made her hasten inside.

  Two young ladies were on duty behind the counter. One was waiting on a customer while the other wiped counters. Looking around, Toni noted another girl wiping table out front. She headed that way. “Excuse me, but I’m looking for some information.”

  “Oh, hi, Mrs. Donovan,” the girl said when she looked up and recognized Toni.

  “Hello, Zoe,” Toni said, pleased to find Zoe Cahill working here at this particular time. Zoe and her friend Melody had been sophomores in her chemistry class last year. And they had become well acquainted last term after a teenage friend of theirs had been killed, and they had sought Toni’s help in identifying the killer. “Have you been working here long?”

  “I started this past summer.” Smiling, she pushed her long, lightened ponytail back up under the food service hair net that had kept Toni from recognizing her immediately. “What kind of information do you need?”

  Zoe’s expression conveyed that she suspected her teacher was looking for more than food.

  Toni spoke quietly. “Do you recall seeing Mr. Crawford and a man by the name of Norman Brower hanging out and eating together here?”

  Zoe’s eyes widened. “I sure do.” She glanced around to be sure no customers needed her. Business was slow at that time of afternoon, so there weren’t many present. They could speak if they kept their voices low. “They came in here together quite often.”

  “Did you see the item in the paper where Mr. Brower was arrested as a suspect in Mr. Crawford’s death?”

  Zoe’s head nodded jerkily. “I did, and I thought it was awful. Mr. Brower wouldn’t do that.”

  “What about the days before Jake was killed? Do you remember seeing them here together?”

  Zoe’s face took on a pensive look. “That was at least a week ago. What day was it?”

  “He was found Tuesday afternoon, but he was killed sometime during the night or early morning before being found. So it would have been Monday.”

  Zoe turned and stepped to the calendar—it looked like one that was penciled with employee work schedules—on the wall. She ran her finger over it to the proper date and studied it for several moments. Then she turned back to face Toni, her face having brightened.

  “I was talking to Jeannie, an older woman who works days, and I remember her mentioning that Mr. Brower and Mr. Crawford came in for lunch that day. We were running a special on the chicken and bacon ranch melt sub, which happens to be Mr. Brower’s favorite, but she said he didn’t have it that day. He had broken a tooth and couldn’t chew the meat. So he only had a milkshake and left to see a dentist.”

  “Thank you, Zoe,” Toni said. “You’ve been a big help.” Not really, but she had tried.

  “Glad I could do it,” the girl said, giving the counter a final swipe.

  Her hopes deflated, Toni headed home to relieve Jenny of boy tending duties.

  Zoe had confirmed Norm’s whereabouts during the noontime of that day, that he and Jake had been on friendly terms, and that he had indeed gone to the dentist. That all fit, but it didn’t prove where either of them had been during the time that Jake was killed.

  Chapter 10

  Monday morning Toni went to her classroom by way of the cafeteria and found her principal having coffee with the guidance counselor. She quietly informed Ken Douglas that she needed to talk with him privately and was told he would make a point of being available during her free class period.

  When she opened the door to his office and stepped inside it third hour, he looked up from his computer screen. His smile faded when he read her sober expression. He indicated the nearby chair with a nod. “Be seated and tell me what’s wrong.”

  Toni sat and went right to the point. By the time she finished relating Gabe’s story, Ken’s face wore a fierce scowl. “Can you give me the names of those two boys?”

  “I can only give you one. And I can only do that if you promise to sit on it.” She explained about the police chief’s surveillance plan, and watched Ken’s head begin to nod in understanding.

  “Give me the name you know,” he said when she finished. “I’ll share it with Ryan so he can keep an eye on the boy inside the building.” Ryan Prewitt was principal of both the middle school and junior high.

  Toni went on to tell Ken about her further research on gangs in schools.

  “I’ve read and heard most of that,” he said wearily, “but I didn’t expect it in our little town. I’ll be discussing this in board meeting and put our resource officer on alert. We’ll all be vigilant in monitoring the loners, misfits, and troublemakers like hawks. They’re the ones most vulnerable to such groups.”

  As she started to leave, he said, “Our vandalism is still on the rise. The superintendent’s car was keyed this morning.”

  Toni moaned in dismay. “This is awful. I hope the school and police can work together and bring it to an end.”

  Back in her room, Toni wondered if there could be any connection between the school incidents and Jake’s murder. Baffled and unsure about anything, she hastily designed a flyer and printed a dozen copies. She put them in a folder and stuck them in her book satchel. Then she called Buck.

  “What’s on your mind now?” he asked by way of greeting.

  “I just wanted to ask if you’ve found an alibi for Norm Brower.”

  “Toni, you’re a pest,” he growled. “He was seen at Jake’s that evening.” Then his tone gentled a bit. “But you’ll be happy to hear that a neighbor—the neighborhood busybody—says she saw his truck pull up at Jake’s house that night. But she says he only looked inside the gate, and then turned around and left. He was released this morning. I think it’s time for your next class.”

  The line went silent as the bell rang for her fourth hour class to arrive.

  At the end of the day, Toni headed down the hallway to meet her boys. As she approached the lobby, Garrett picked up his saxophone case and faced her. “Dad’s working at the airport today, so why don’t you take us out there and leave us while you go do whatever it is you plan to do?”

  She gave his head a rub with her knuckles. “You’re a spooky kid. But it’s a good idea. I would like to make some stops. You guys can come home with your dad when he’s done out there,” she added as Gabe gathered his trombone and backpack to leave.

  Once the boys were delivered, and Kyle informed of her intentions and assured that she would be fine on her own in the downtown streets, she set out. He hadn’t liked it, but had accepted that he couldn’t be with her every minute.

  Toni drove downtown and parked in a very visible spot on Main Street. Before getting out of the van, she checked her list of the bowling alley social set. She wanted to visit them in their own environment and see if she could get a feel for their take on Jake’s murder.

  She eliminated the Crawford name, since Jake was the victim, and Bonnie had already been under careful scrutiny by the police. The Hartmans worked at the school, so she wouldn’t catch them today—and suspected she should stay away from them since it was their son who had snatched her purse. The Zambronis’ bowling alley was out of town, so she would have to visit them when she had more time.

  Firming her shoulders, Toni took her purse and folder of flyers from her satchel and headed up the street.

  Marty Hewitt, a stylish woman with hair bleached near w
hite and looped up in a coil at the back of her head, looked up from working at her desk when Toni entered the insurance office. She produced a smile that struck Toni as rather pleasant for a woman dealing with a divorce. She wondered what would happen to this business.

  Marty stood and came to greet her, a hand outstretched. “Hello, there. How may I help you?”

  Toni pulled a flyer from her folder and handed it to the woman. “Our science club at school collects recyclable items and uses the profits to buy clothing, toys, and school supplies for needy students. We’re trying to get a jump on the season so we’ll have money for Christmas gifts. Any donations of empty aluminum cans, plastic bags and bottles or newspapers you can send our way would be much appreciated.”

  As she talked, Toni glanced around the room with interest. It was an older office with an attractive décor. She saw no hint of a wild lifestyle.

  “We can surely do our part for such a worthy cause,” Marty said, still smiling.

  “Thank you.” Toni turned as if to leave, but paused and turned back. “Have you or your husband reached any conclusions yet about who killed your friend Jake Crawford?”

  The smile disappeared. “No, we haven’t,” Marty said flatly. “And from what I hear, you shouldn’t be concerning yourself about it. Let the police handle it.” She marched back to her desk.

  The woman was probably right, but Toni couldn’t seem to let the matter go. Even while at odds with herself, she continued up the street to the attorney’s office, and experienced results with the Ramsey couple much like with the Hewitts.

  With only one more name from the list located in the business district, Toni crossed the street and entered the chiropractor’s office. Down a hallway she saw Allen Lawson emerge from a treatment room and attach a sheet of paper onto a clipboard hanging from a nail on the wall. He glanced at her, and then disappeared into the next room.

  At the desk, Karen Lawson looked up from the computer screen before her.

  “Well, hi,” Toni greeted her brightly. “I thought you worked fulltime at the nursing home.”