by Tonya Kappes
“Then she left and Leighann came in.” Ben looked over his shoulder when another early customer came through the door. “I’ll be right with you.” They made eye contact. The customer walked up to the counter. He continued, “Leighann was crying saying that her mom deserved better and hoped that her mom could get half of the business. That’s when I heard something about divorce. Leighann really brought on the tears after Manuel and Juanita came in.”
“Divorce?” Finn, me and Poppa all asked at the same time.
“Now, I don’t know for sure, but Jolee told me that Sean was an abuser and it dawned on me what’d taken place right over there and it’s something I just can’t swallow without reporting it.” Ben stood up and topped off our coffee mugs before he left to go take care of the other customers.
“The kitchen was covering up their voices so no one could hear them.” I was getting really good at repeating Poppa and his observations.
“Right.” Finn snapped his fingers. “Maybe she was telling him something about the abuse and trying to stop it.”
“Maybe Sean didn’t know that she was thinking about divorce and Leighann confronted him about it, and out of anger—resentment maybe—took out Leighann and planned to do away with Jilly. But Jilly called us about Leighann’s disappearance before he could hurt her.” It was a far-fetched idea and plan, but it gave us more clues to go on. Not to mention made Sean Graves more of a suspect.
“Every other time they’ve called about Leighann with Manuel, wasn’t it Sean that did the calling not Jilly?” Finn asked.
“Yes. This time it was her. But we need to double check.” I pointed to our plates. “We better eat so it doesn’t get cold and we can get out of here.”
For the next ten minutes, there might’ve been silence between us but I could tell that his mind was going as fast as mine on conspiracies and why Sean Graves would kill Leighann.
Before we even realized, we were down the street at the department looking up old files and records from when Sean Graves had called the department about Manuel. Duke had climbed in his bed and curled into a tight ball. He liked cold weather but not the bitter and depressing cold that’d hung over the entire town of Cottonwood.
“There are fifteen times in the past two years.” I kept my finger on the last one. “The last time he’d called was right before she’d turned eighteen.”
“Then it appeared that he’d just washed his hands of her.” Finn brushed his hands together. “No longer responsible for her.”
“That’s why he made it easier to toss her out of the house,” Scott spoke up from the makeshift desk he’d made near the fax machine.
“That’s not entirely true.” I glanced up at the clock. It was nearing eight a.m. “I’m going to go see Angela Durst, the secretary of Graves Towing. I’d heard she’d taken in Leighann when Sean kicked her out.”
“This is all very interesting.” Scott had a perplexed look on his face.
“Oh my God,” I gasped. My eyes shot over to Poppa. “Sean did say that he went to Chimney Rock that night to see if Leighann and Manuel were there.”
“Covering his tracks.” Poppa’s eyes lowered. “If I was alive, I’d give him a good ole one-two.” Poppa jabbed the air with his best boxing moves.
The door opened, and Betty walked in.
“Weee-doggy.” She gave a shimmy-shake. “I wish that storm would blow in and get it over with. I’m so tired of hearing the news and radio about it. It’s cold as a gravestone out there.”
We all snickered, and she looked up.
“What? What are y’all staring at? Did something happen?” She dragged her pocket book from her elbow and sat it down on her desk before she peeled off her coat and flung it on the back of her chair.
“Betty,” I stood up and patted my leg. “Get the cell ready. We might have a customer by the end of the day.”
“Really?” She gasped in delight.
It wasn’t every day, heck wasn’t every week that we got to use the only cell in the room and I could feel it. I was getting close to solving this murder.
“Finn, do you mind checking up on the report of Leighann’s phone records? Scott, can you check with the forensics on the side panel to make sure it was a match?” I asked and gathered my bag and patted my leg for Duke to come. “I’ve got to go get some answers from the eyes and ears of Graves Towing: Angela Durst.”
“Don’t forget about what you told me about Camille Shively,” Finn reminded me how I’d told him over coffee that Camille told me to bring the subpoenaed paperwork and she’d take a look at it and possibly give me what I needed without actually going through a judge.
The Wagoneer took much longer to heat up than normal. I kept sliding the old knob to the right to see if it’d go any further.
“It’s an old Jeep. You’ve got to be tender and gentle with her.” Poppa patted the dashboard, just like he used to when I was a kid. “It’s not a modern-day fancy car.”
“Now that we are alone.” I stopped the Jeep at the stop light and zipped up my coat. “What is your take on the new light of things?”
“I think that Sean looks very suspicious. I’m not sure what killing Leighann would do for him.” Poppa brought in the logical side of things. “Did she have something on him other than he hated Manuel? After this divorce or whatever Ben had witnessed, was there going to be some sort of information? Why would he drug her first and not her mama? That’s not logical at all.”
“I’m not sure, but you can bet your bottom dollar we are going to find out,” I said in a hushed whisper on our way back out to Graves Towing.
“The sky sure looks grey.” Poppa looked out window. “Do you remember when it snowed a lot when you were a kid and I’d gotten that sled?”
“Best memory of winter I’ve got.” I blinked back a tear and looked over at him, but he’d ghosted away.
Poppa was never one for sentimental feelings. He was a tough old geezer and that’s what made him a great sheriff. There was a legacy I had to hold up to and I prayed I was doing so, even in the midst of a murder.
The tow company sign was flashing on and a little bit in me wished Sean had closed the company, but a business was a business.
“Hi-do, Kenni,” Angela Durst greeted me from her desk. “If you’re here to see Jilly or Sean, they are gone to the funeral home. They are having a quick memorial tonight and tomorrow is going to be the funeral without the body since...well, you know the circumstances.”
Max wasn’t releasing Leighann’s body until all the facts were presented for a final report and I’d gotten it. We didn’t want to just turn the body over and maybe miss something. It was a little early for the Graves to have decided to do something. It’d only been a couple of days.
“No. I came here to see you.” I took a couple of steps closer to her desk. “I know you practically run the place.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” She blushed. “But you’re right. I’m not sure what I can do for you though. Does this have to do with Leighann?”
“I’d heard that you took Leighann in when Sean kicked her out. Is that right?” I asked.
“Let’s just say that now I wished I’d done more.” Tears lined her lids. “She was such a sweet girl. She was young and in love.”
“Can you tell me about your relationship with her? A confidant? A friend?” I asked. “Beka her friend?”
“I guess you could say that she and Beka were friends. I mean,” she shrugged, “Beka grew up here next to me when I worked and she and Leighann played a lot together. She’s the one who told me that she’d overheard Sean kick Leighann out.”
“What did she overhear?” I asked.
“She can tell you herself.” Angela pushed her chair back from her desk and got up. “She’s in the back filing some paperwork.”
While she headed down the hall to get Beka, I noticed the shelvi
ng behind her desk. They were black binders that were labeled on the spine with dates. I walked over and dragged my finger down them, pulling the latest one out. When I flipped it open, it was a mileage spreadsheet with the vin number of the tow truck and the date.
“Hi, Beka.” I replaced the binder when I heard them walk back in. “I guess I should’ve asked you at the tree lot about your relationship with Leighann.”
She looked at her mom with a confused and scared look on her face.
“It’s okay. She’s going to figure out who did this to Leighann. You need to tell her about what Leighann told you about Sean.” Her mom encouraged her. “And what you overheard.”
“I’m accusing no one of hurting her.” Beka wanted to clarify with me.
“I’m not saying you are. I’m just trying to figure out her last days.” I offered a sympathetic smile.
“I was filing some stuff for them because they pay me under the table and I’m saving...” she stopped in mid-sentence, “I didn’t mean to say pay me under the table.”
“Honey, Kenni isn’t the IRS.” Angela laughed. “We told her not to tell anyone we were paying her cash to work here without filling out a W-2 form. She’s saving to join a sorority because we heard they can be very expensive.”
“Good for you. I’m glad you’re getting paid under the table. I had a job like that when I was your age. If you can believe it, it was to help my Poppa who was sheriff at the time.” I was trying hard to help her feel less scared because I could see her hands trembling.
“Go on, Beka,” Angela encouraged her.
“Anyways, I guess that Sean was mad about her and Manuel going over the data on their personal time. He’d turned off their data and when Leighann had stayed at home, she couldn’t text Manuel in the night. Since his mama’s been sick, Manuel didn’t want to talk to wake her.” Beka cleared her throat. “The next day after school, she told me about it and that her dad told her that day that if she wanted full data then she needed to move out or pay them rent.”
“What day was this?” I asked.
“It was the last day of school before Christmas break last week.” As she talked, I made notes in my notebook. I was going to tape her but I figured she’d really freak at that. “I told my mom that we couldn’t let Leighann live in her car.”
“What made you think she was going to live in her car?” I questioned.
“Because she said that Juanita had told Manuel she couldn’t live there.” Beka looked down at her fingers. She picked at her hangnails. “Leighann said that she and Manuel didn’t have a lot of money. She didn’t say why, but Jonathon told me that every cent Manuel made went to the family.”
“All of this is just awful.” Angela’s voice cracked. “I didn’t want to overstep my bounds, but I went to Jilly. That’s when she told me Sean had been abusive and that she’d talked to a lawyer.”
“What did she want with a lawyer?” The obvious was divorce, but what about the business?
“She didn’t say divorce, but she did say that she wanted to know the particulars of business and what her role would be if they did get a divorce.” Her eyes dipped with sadness.
Heaviness settled in my chest. The temperature in the room seemed to have dropped ten degrees with the goosebumps that collected on my arms.
“How did you know Jilly went to see a lawyer?” I asked.
“You don’t work with men that drive tow trucks as one of only two women without the two of you becoming friends. It’s been a hard road on Jilly. She came to my house and noticed Leighann’s car there. I had to tell her that Leighann had been staying the night with me because I loved Leighann too and I couldn’t imagine putting Beka out.” Angela sucked in a deep breath.
“Do you think that Sean found out about Jilly talking to a lawyer?” I asked. “It wasn’t like she didn’t cover up meeting with Wally Lamb at Ben’s Diner.”
“She didn’t seem to think Sean knew because Sean never goes into town unless he’s got a tow job.” She shook her head.
“Is that all?” Beka asked. “I’d like to finish so I can get to the tree lot.”
“Yeah, I hear Coach gives you gift certificates.” I wanted to break the tension Beka was probably feeling from being asked questions by the sheriff. It could be a little intimidating.
“Aren’t you forgetting to tell Sheriff Lowry something?” Angela didn’t let her off that easy. “This is very important, Beka. It’s okay.”
“I’d overheard Leighann screaming at Sean saying that she was going to find her real father. Then he told her that she was trash just like her real dad and she was ungrateful. They got into a big fight, that’s when I snuck away so they wouldn’t see me,” her voice trailed off.
“Thank you, Beka. I know this was very hard, but you are doing a good thing for Leighann. You were a good friend to her.” My greatest fear about Sean was starting to come to light and it appeared he was more of a suspect than he was this morning.
“Is that all?” Angela asked.
“What about those files? Do you keep a log when all the trucks go out, even at night?” I asked.
“I sure do. If there’s a service call say in the middle of the night, there is a log in the trucks and the drivers will bring that in to me to log. It’s all for tax purposes and liability. Every tow has to be accountable,” she said.
“Can you tell me if there was a tow on the night of Leighann’s murder?” I asked.
“Sure, but I don’t think there was.” She walked over to her desk and flipped through the binder. “I just logged in yesterday’s.” She dragged her finger down one of the pages and shook her head. “Mmm...nope.” Her lips pinched, she looked up at me.
“Do you have a running total on a spreadsheet for all the trucks in use?” I asked.
“Of course,” she confirmed and pulled another paper off her desk. “Here are the trucks we’ve been using this month. We rotate trucks since we have to keep them serviced. These five are the ones we are using now. Especially since the blizzard is coming and they’ve got the winterized package on them.”
I didn’t know or care to know what the winterized package was, because I refused to believe there was going to be a winter blizzard.
“Can I go take a look at the trucks and compare the mileage to make sure they match?” I asked.
If my theory about someone, whether it was Sean Graves or not, drugged Leighann and after she’d crashed, they’d towed her car to the boat dock, and it went right along with what Stinnett had seen, then one of these trucks had to have been used.
“No problem.” She walked over to what I thought was an electrical box and opened it. “I’ve got to grab the keys. We don’t have any on tow right now, so we are good.”
She plucked five sets of keys from the box and brought them over to me with the piece of paper.
“The vin number for the trucks are right here on the spread sheet. It coordinates with the number here on the key chain. You’ll find the match on the outside right bumper of the truck.” She handed them to me.
“Thanks. I really appreciate this.” I was so glad she didn’t pull that warrant crap on me. “I’ll be back shortly.”
The trucks were lined up facing the drive, ready to go at the call. I looked at the bumper first and then got the keys. The first three matched the mileage and I was getting a little bit discouraged until I got into the fourth tow truck and the mileage didn’t match. My hands shook and my throat dried.
“Back here, Kenni-Bug.” I heard Poppa call to me from outside the truck.
I got out of the tow truck and saw Poppa pointing to the back where the chains would’ve wrapped around the car it was towing. There was red chipped paint on them.
“That’s those strange marks.” Poppa nodded.
I walked over to my Jeep and grabbed my camera out of my bag. After I turned it on, I flipped throu
gh to the photos I’d taken at S&S Auto. Frank had pointed out to me the chipped off paint before I could even investigate it since he had to fill out the information on the cars they tow so there’s no damage made by them.
“Just what I thought.” Poppa stood over my shoulder and looked at the camera as I compared the marks side-by-side.
“I just can’t believe it.” I dragged my phone out of my pocket and dialed Finn.
“Any news?” Finn asked.
“Yeah. I’m going to bring in Sean Graves after he gets back from the memorial, but I’m going to go ahead and tape off the house and business.” I swallowed, hard. “I think we have crime scene one.”
“We sure do.” Poppa ghosted into the house and would get started on looking around.
“Do you want some help?” Finn asked.
“If you don’t mind sending Scott out to Chimney Rock and log the miles from there to Graves Towing, that’d be great.” I gave Finn a quick explanation. “I’ll also let him take over and I’ll finish up talking to Dr. Shively before I bring him in. I’m going to send Angela Durst and her daughter on home.” There was a sick feeling in my stomach.
“My news isn’t any better.” There was little hope in Finn’s voice. “Leighann’s phone records came back and there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.”
“Nothing seems to surprise me anymore.” My head started to hurt thinking about what was going to happen in Cottonwood once everyone heard that Sean Graves was our number one suspect.
It was also so easy nowadays to try and convict someone before they were really in front of a jury, but the evidence was so strong against Sean Graves that I too had even had him locked up in a state penitentiary for murder.
“If we can get this behind us, we can take the next week off for some much-needed time.” Finn’s words comforted me before we said our goodbyes, it was the grey clouds that appeared to be moving in that worried me.
Chapter Fifteen
Angela Durst had already left before Scott had gotten there. I’d kept my mouth shut so she wouldn’t go and squeal to anyone at the memorial since she and Beka were headed there after work. Scott recorded the exact mileage the tow truck was over and not been reported.
