by Amber Boffin
He gestured to Constable Gupta, who stood a few metres away with his jaw agape. The constable seemed to pull himself together and approached Leon, who was now wailing like a child.
“I didn’t do it. Yes, she was my mistress, I loved her, I couldn’t have killed her …”
Leon’s voice disappeared into the car, his head pushed down softly by the constable into the back seat. The police car sped off toward the station.
*
Back from her walk, Maggie tried calling Amy at work, hoping to have her view on the situation and of course ask her about the DNA sample. The phone rang for a long time without an answer. Maggie sat back in her armchair, and then hitting the armrests with both hands, she stood up, thinking of Adam. It’s so easy to talk with him. She stopped for a moment to consider her idea. He won’t mind, I hope… She used to talk daily to people in her former life in the city and even had longed for a time when she didn’t have to do that. Now she smiled, looking forward to sharing thoughts.
When Maggie arrived at Adam’s farm, she was happy to see his broad smile framed by the pair of llamas as they enjoyed a stereo rub. He waved to her to come over.
“Hey, Maggie, nice surprise. Look, if I cuddle one, the other gets jealous.” Adam pointed with his chin to each llama, both appearing to enjoy thoroughly a scratch behind the ear. “This is the best way to keep everyone happy. You can help me if you like and scratch Harry. He’ll love it.”
Adam looked at the llama with the Beatle-style hairdo. Maggie walked up to the biggest llama, pushing her curls away from her eyes. As she approached, Harry sniffed her hair.
“It’s not hay, Harry!” She laughed, pushing his head gently away and reaching up to scratch behind his ear. “What’s her name then, it is a she?” She pointed to the other llama, who had a white curly bonnet of hair around her head, as if she were a cross between a sheep and a llama.
“Sally.”
Maggie looked at Sally and laughed. “Yes, it fits her, why did you call her Sally?”
“Sally rhymes with Harry… What brings you this way? No more murders, I hope?”
“No, not as far as I know, but maybe some clues.”
“Glad to hear that, and don’t think I’m not working. You always seem to catch me at home. I’ve some reports to write for the wolf study, which I prefer writing when I’m not in the office. But I was taking a break, perfect timing! Want a cuppa?”
“Yes, that’d be nice. Mmm, they all say that, just working from home eh?” joked Maggie as she followed him inside the house.
As he prepared the tea, she walked around the kitchen, looking at the photographs on the walls and down at a black-and-white picture of a man in full aviator outfit standing next to a silver plane from the fifties. The fuselage looked very similar to the Airstream trailer she had seen at the mayor’s home, not as polished, though. “Who is he? Nice plane!”
“Uncle Elliot. Yes, he was a pilot and a real good one, a bush pilot out in the Australian outback. He became a pilot during the war, and then he went on to become a mail courier for small communities in Queensland. You like planes, don’t you?”
“You could say that… I went for a flight with John. You know the reverend? It was great!”
“Ah yes, he sometimes helps me with animal counts.”
Maggie loved the idea of tracking animals by plane and helping out with conservation. “Maybe I could do that too! Once I get my license…”
“So you’re going for it. Better be careful, here she comes! In that case I know a very nice place up north next to a lake, a little cabin I have that you can only reach by plane. When can you take me there?” Adam smiled, rubbing his hands together.
Maggie chuckled. “Hold on, I still need to get the license. So seriously, you think it’s a good idea?”
“Sure thing, I’ll have my parachute ready!” He waited a little. Maggie felt a little offended until he added, “But I’m sure I won’t need it with you at the yoke.”
Maggie giggled and told him about John’s parachute story. Their conversations always drifted effortlessly from one topic to the next without uneasy silences, balanced between listening to each other, commenting, asking further details, and joking. Maggie swiftly moved on to Patrick.
“I think he’s innocent. Okay, he’s not the best communicator, to put it mildly, but I believe him.”
“Really, and why’s that?” asked Adam.
“I don’t think he’d be capable of it. He’s shy and—”
“That’s not a reason. Is he immune to jealousy and has no fits of rage?”
Maggie wondered if Adam was speaking of himself there. Could he get angry like that? “Maybe, some seemingly quiet people are like that in private, but still he has a strong alibi with his son. And Damien seems like a good person.”
“Maybe. It might leave him off the hook for Fiona’s death, but what about Peter then? You said Patrick hated him.”
“Yes, but what if the two murders are linked? Fiona had an affair with Peter, and I think so did Stilton, or at least she knew him from her student days. Don’t you think it strange she would turn up like that, and only a few months later Peter disappears?”
Adam was silent for a moment, then replied, “Supposing you’re right. Patrick didn’t kill Fiona, then who would benefit from her death, and why? It doesn’t make any sense. Why on earth would the mayor kill her?”
Maggie excitedly replied, “Jealousy, perhaps?”
“Mm, the Fiona and Peter fling was a while back. No, I don’t think so.”
“A crime passionnel. Leon LeBreton could’ve done it. He had the means; he had the keys of the house where she died, and maybe they had met there. That would explain her scarf!”
“Yes, carry on…” said Adam, leaning forward toward Maggie as she spoke.
“Maybe she didn’t want to marry him after all; Fiona only said it to get a divorce from Patrick. Leon, with his fiery temperament, might have overreacted.” Maggie felt she was on to something, and speaking with Adam was helping her organize her thoughts.
Adam looked absorbed for a moment, then added, “Leon could’ve had a motive for the other murder: he wanted the solar panel project to happen. Without it he’d be broke. Perhaps you’re right about the mayor. I don’t like Leon, but I don’t see him committing a murder in cold blood or cutting the brake cable.”
Maggie looked at her watch; she had promised herself to speak with Amy and wanted to catch her during her lunch break.
Adam looked disappointed. “Does this mean you can’t join me for lunch?”
“Sorry, I’ve a call I can’t get out of. I’ll be back, and besides, you said you had work to do! Can you do me a favour? If you see Barrie, ask him about the metal piece I gave him. All this aluminum—the plane, the Airstream—not sure, but I think there’s a link. I forgot to mention, from the plane I saw strange tire tracks that can only really be seen from above. They appear to start on one side of the road on the soft shoulder pointing toward the dam. There’s another pair on the other side again toward the dam. I took pictures of them.”
“Not sure I get it.” Adam looked at her with his eyes round like beads.
“It’ll be easier to explain when you see them. I’ll email them to you.”
“Sounds strange. I’ll ask Barrie and get on with your pilot license. I’ve got lots of places to go to!” Adam smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Five
With Maggie gone, Adam felt like company for lunch. His good friend Barrie was always up for a bite, and Adam could ask him about the metal piece at the same time.
Adam was glad to see Barrie taking his usual lunch break. When the weather was good, he would stand or sit on a chair outside his garage, enjoying the sun. Faithful to his habits, Barrie sat in a foldable camping chair with a large coffee nestled in one of the cup holders in the armrest. Barrie jumped to his feet, propping up a second chair he kept close by for such occasions. They both sat for a few minutes like two schoolboys, looking at the passersby
chatting away, when Constable Raj Gupta walked by on his way to buy lunch, as he usually did.
The constable greeted them and was easily dragged in by the pair like a fly to a cobweb for a quick bite at the cafe, Adam having noticed an unusual smile on the constable’s face, radiating a sense of contentment. Something must have happened, and he was curious.
The trio entered the cafe, which was already loud with customers sitting at the wooden tables, tucking into Heidi’s famous homemade sausage on a bun, a bratwurst nestled in warm freshly baked bread, with a little sauerkraut on the side. Heidi was a very good cook, and Adam enjoyed indulging in her motherly urge to give him large portions; it allowed him to skip meals afterward. The locals affectionately nicknamed her Mutti because she always made time to enquire about their family and children and would never let them go hungry if she had a say in it.
Heidi had a soft spot for the trio. Adam and Barrie, both single, definitely needed her motherly attention and cooking, while Raj was such a sweet boy, always complimenting her on her cooking, that she could never resist them. She kept the bar stools in the corner free in case they turned up.
The three stools at the far end of the bar away from the crowd were still available, as always. Barrie and Adam sat on each side of Raj, keen to hear his story.
Although Raj endeavoured to keep quiet, he had a tendency to let the cat out of the bag when pressed kindly by his trusted friends. As he climbed onto the bar stool, his little booklet where he wrote his daily reports slipped out of his pocket, opening to the page where he had written about the arrest of Leon LeBreton.
Barrie and Adam looked at each other, and Barrie joked, “Raj, we didn’t know you kept a diary. I hope you didn’t write down everything I did last Saturday night!”
Raj straightened his spine. “No, my booklet wouldn’t have enough pages for you, and it’ll always be the same—this girl, that girl… It’s my work pad, and I’ve got to write down what happens each day.”
“Really, and who can read your horrible writing?” asked Barrie.
“The sergeant has to sign it off. He manages…”
Adam interrupted, curious to find out why Raj looked unusually excited. “Having a good day then?”
“Kind of, not for someone, but a big day for me, my first…” Raj stopped in midsentence as if he didn’t dare to carry on.
“Arrest?” asked Adam. “Come on, you can tell us, we saw it written and we know who it was. What happened then?”
“I shouldn’t have, but I can trust you, right?”
“Of course you can! We’re friends.” Barrie gave Raj a friendly bear tap on the shoulder.
Adam first, then Barrie had taken a liking to Raj when he first arrived in the village. Adam had taken Raj under his protective wing, like an older brother. He was keen for him to settle in quickly and choose to stay. He was bright but modest, was very enthusiastic, and made him laugh with his expressions. The trio alternated weekly between a night at Heidi’s and enjoying Raj’s wife’s delicious curry at his home.
“So?” asked Adam, coming closer to him with his stool so that he would not need to speak loud.
“You know, we didn’t go there to arrest him at first. It’s because he ran into my arms.”
“You’re good-looking, but there’s a limit!” exclaimed Barrie.
Raj smiled, his eyes twinkling as Adam and Barrie laughed. “He jumped out of the window, but I was walking around the house because he hadn’t answered the door, and we heard noise inside. He was running away! We just wanted to get confirmation that he and you-know-who were lovers.”
“We could’ve told you that ages ago if you’d asked—the whole village knew!” said Barrie, looking surprised.
“Oh? Anyway, what I find weird is what was in his pocket.” Raj was silent for a moment, as if he wanted to keep the suspense, until Adam nudged him.
“Yes, go on…”
“Aside from some hair gel and a comb, there was a blackmail note! That’s got to be proof.”
“Depends what’s in it, no?” asked Adam.
“It says that he was seen. Anyway, the sergeant is happy now because he thinks we’ve got the man and the cases will soon be closed. He even told me to get some donuts for the office.”
Adam didn’t like casting a shadow on Raj’s happy mood, but he felt compelled to ask, “So you’re saying he’s responsible in both cases?”
“Yes, the first because of the solar panel project, but we still need proof.”
“And the second, why would he have killed his lover?”
“Simple, because she saw him cut the brakes and she wanted to push him to confess to her. Instead he killed her.”
“I see, and did Leon confess that?” asked Adam, surprised by the logic. He had certainly not considered that option.
“Hmm, no, not really, not at all in fact. He confessed he went back to the crime scene to pick up her scarf the day after her murder, and he claims he had received the blackmail letter only that day.” Raj’s early look of contentment had vanished and was replaced with knotted dark eyebrows. Then, as if he wanted to hang on to his own truth, he exclaimed, with a head bobble, “Murderers lie, we know that! But whatever the speed of the lie, the truth will always overtake it. The sergeant will squeeze the truth out of him. He was already crying like a baby.”
Adam carefully said, “So you don’t really have anything against him then. You don’t know who sent him that blackmail letter, do you?”
Raj deflated like a balloon, his shoulders dropping. He murmured with sadness in his voice, “No, we don’t know who sent the letter. If we don’t get more out of him soon, I fear it will be a grumpy afternoon at the office. Can you take my place?”
Raj wiped his brow with his tartan handkerchief, the subject of endless teases from Barrie when he first set eyes on it, until Adam got Raj to explain it was a present from a Scottish girl when he went there for his eighteenth birthday, and overnight it became a token of appreciation in Barrie’s eyes.
Adam put his hand on Raj’s shoulder. “Raj, I feel sorry for you, and no thank you, I’d really not want to be in your shoes… You’d better get him another dozen donuts. Humphries should have considered it without jumping to conclusions. Having said that, who knows, maybe Leon LeBreton is the mur—” Before he could finish, he heard a high-pitched voice behind him and turned around.
“So it’s true then, they arrested Leon LeBreton? They think he did it…I’m not so sure…”
Tina Partridge stood there, her coat still on, looking at the trio arrogantly. Adam hadn’t seen her creep up on them. He was usually aware of his surroundings. This meant the whole village would know about Leon. If Leon were innocent, it would be a blow to his reputation. But then he wondered what Tina knew. “You seem to have your own views on the case…”
“I do, like Maggie always seems present when a body is discovered…I saw her myself.”
Adam couldn’t believe his ears, and yet he had also been surprised about Maggie finding Fiona. Pursed lips accentuated the nasty look of jealousy in her eyes. He had no patience for that type of behaviour; he growled at her, “Miss Gossip, I’d be careful if I were you, spreading fake news…”
Raj stood up, capsizing his barstool in the process as he interrupted Adam, his finger raised under Tina’s nose. “It’s a crime spreading this type of gossip! Do I have to remind you that by law everyone is innocent until proven guilty! And don’t even think of telling the sergeant this.”
Tina’s face turned purple. “If I want to speak with the sergeant, I will!” She spun around on her heels and marched out of the cafe.
Adam whispered in Raj’s ear, “Better be at the office before she gets there… Go!”
Raj pulled out his wallet. “I still have to get those…donuts…and here for the…”
Adam stopped him short, putting his hand on Raj’s arm. “It’s on us, mate. Just go!”
Once Raj had left the cafe, Barrie sighed. “I know what we’ll be reading in
theDaily Stumble. I hope she’ll have the decency not to name anyone.”
Adam and Barrie watched Raj walk away from the donut shop, where he had gone in all the same, probably more afraid of Humphries even than Tina. After all, everyone knew Maggie found the bodies, so Tina couldn’t do much harm by telling the sergeant what he already knew. Sipping their coffees, Adam and Barrie stood looking out the window of the cafe when the reflection of Raj’s handcuffs in the sun reminded Adam of the reason he wanted to see Barrie.
“So how did it go with Maggie?”
“What do you mean? I’m not that fast!” laughed Barrie.
“Gee, is that all that’s on your mind?”
“She hasn’t changed much, although I’ve got to admit that my memory from that time is a little fuzzy. But she seems like a fun girl—woman…and single, am I right?” Barrie raised one eyebrow at Adam. “Don’t see her liking my Molson Muscle somehow. But a weathered man like you…” Barrie stroked his beer belly, accentuating it by thrusting his hips forward.
“Barrie, come on…” Not wanting to carry on discussing Maggie from that perspective, perhaps because he had a growing soft side for her, Adam said, “What about the piece of metal, did you find anything?”
“It’s aluminum. Could be a piece of a plane fuselage, but that doesn’t make sense. Normally, planes don’t lose pieces like that. Not your usual chrome bumper. I’ll keep looking if I bump into a car missing a piece.” He dug into his pockets to retrieve it and handed it over to Adam. “You can give it back to her. I know what it looks like. For the moment I think it’s irrelevant to the snowmobile.”
