Murder at Moonshiner Days

by Michelle Goff

  “The police say your fingerprints were found on the murder weapon,” Maggie said.

  “Of course they’re on there. I helped her cook supper. She was making those twice-baked taters. They taste good, I’ll give you that, but I think that’s just too much trouble. I’m not lazy. I ain’t afraid of work, but why do you want to bake a tater twice? That’s just extra work that you don’t need to do. A tater baked once is good enough for me. Well, she was busy making those taters so she asked me to check the temperature on the steaks. I said, ‘Jennifer, I’ve been cooking since I could climb up to the stove and I ain’t never used a meat thermometer. I reckon I can look at a piece of meat and know when it’s done.’ She just laughed and said, ‘Humor me.’ So, I picked up one of the steaks with a fork and stuck that thermometer in it. That’s how my fingerprints ended up on that thermometer. I told them my fingerprints would be on pert-near every dish, cup, glass, spoon, fork, and knife in that kitchen. My fingerprints are all over that house.”

  “Do you know anybody who would have wanted to hurt Jennifer?” Maggie asked.

  “No. Well, at least not intentionally. I think it was a thief that killed her. I think one of those dopeheads broke into the house to find money or something he could sell or trade for pills. He probably didn’t expect to find nobody home and then he had to get rid of her. She’d been talking for days about how much she was looking forward to Moonshiner Days. Maybe she went outside for a look around and forgot to lock her door. You know who else could of done it? One of them carnival workers. She lived right down the street from the carnival. When they come to town, we don’t know who we’re letting into Jasper. I’ll bet you every tooth in my head that Jennifer’s killer was working at the carnival. And he’ll probably come back this year. Who knows who he’ll kill this time around, and the Jasper police won’t even try to find him. They won’t even walk to the carnival and ask questions, but they’ll tell everybody who will listen that I’m a person of interest. I’d never heard tell of such a thing unitl I read about it in that paper of your’uns. I had to ask my girl, Scootie, what it meant. She says to me, ‘Mommy, it means they think you killed Jennifer.’” Delphene pounded her chest with her fist. “That hurts me right here.”

  Maggie gave Delphene a moment before asking, “How were Jennifer’s spirits when you left her that evening?”

  “Good. She was excited about having people over for supper. Her husband, Mel, he was her second husband, died a couple years before she did in a mining accident. She grieved bad for him. I was worried about her. But she had started acting like herself those last few months. She was smiling more. She was happier.”

  With Tyler continuing to play mute, Maggie asked, “Who were her dinner guests?”

  “Let me see. There was Todd and Traci Taylor, they’re both teachers at Jennifer’s school. Traci’s Jennifer’s best friend. And Phil Wainwright. He’s the principal at the high school. He used to be principal at the grade school where Jennifer worked. You know, I think he was sweet on Jennifer. I’d tease her about it, but she’d wave her hands and say, ‘Oh, we’re just friends.’”

  “And Jennifer’s daughter was with her dad?” Maggie asked.

  “Uh-huh. Blake, that’s her daughter, was with her dad, Jeff. It wasn’t Jeff’s day to have Blake, but Jennifer give in and let her stay with him. Jeff was Jennifer’s first husband.” Crossing her arms over her chest, Delphene said, “I don’t care much for him. He tried to get custody of Blake when she was younger. If you ask me, he was just trying to get out of paying child support. At first, when the police asked me what you did, if I knowed who would of wanted to kill Jennifer, I told them only one name come to mind – Jeff. I reckoned he could of got Blake out of the house that night so there wouldn’t be a witness. But I wasn’t supposed to be at Jennifer’s that next morning. I just stopped by. If I hadn’t of found her, Blake would of. Once I was in my right mind, I knowed Jeff wouldn’t of put Blake in that position. And he wouldn’t of took her mother from her, either.”

  “It must have been a shock for you to find Jennifer’s body,” Maggie said.

  “Lord, shock ain’t a big enough word for it. It’s a wonder I didn’t have a heart attack and drop dead right then and there. Sometimes, I wish I had.”

  Before Maggie could ask another question, Tyler finally spoke. “Delphene, it sounds like you’re saying your life has been so bad in the year since Jennifer died that you wish you were dead.”

  “Well, my life shore ain’t been good. The worst thing was losing Jennifer, her being like another daughter to me. And I don’t get to see Blake much. That hurts, too. And I lost clients. Most of them wouldn’t tell me why they didn’t need me no more, but I knowed it’s cause they think I killed Jennifer.” Delphene paused. “My girl, Scootie, says folks know I didn’t kill Jennifer. She says that it don’t really matter to them if I’m guilty or not, that they’re just afraid people will talk about them if I work for them. And she says they don’t want to get involved with somebody suspected of murder. Well, I say it’s about as broad as it is long. This is all the police’s fault.”

  “Delphene,” Maggie said, “did the police ever give you their theory on why they thought you killed Jennifer?”

  Smirking, Delphene said, “When they had me at the police station that night, they started saying they knowed she caught me stealing from her. When that didn’t work, when they couldn’t get me to lie and agree with that nonsense, they said they knowed I killed her in a fit of rage and then tried to cover up the murder by making it look like a robbery. I told them they couldn’t have it both ways. Besides, I ain’t never been in a fit of rage in my whole entire life. What on earth would Jennifer have done to make me that mad?” Swaying in the creaky swing, Delphene shook her head. “They didn’t like that none, but it’s the truth. And let me tell you something, the truth will stand when nothing else does.”

  Chapter Three

  Maggie had just filed her last story for the Sentinel’s upcoming Moonshiner Days magazine when Tyler rolled his chair over to her desk.

  “Maggie, I was wondering if I could trouble you to do another favor for me.”

  Arching her eyebrows, Maggie asked, “What do you need now?”

  “I’m talking to Jennifer Wagner’s daughter in, well, a few minutes, and I was hoping you could sit in on that interview as well.”

  Maggie regarded Tyler with suspicion. Although his constant complaints about living in what he referred to as hillbilly hell irked her, she had to admit that Tyler showed her more respect than he did others, including their editor, Joe. That hadn’t always been the case. During their first few months as co-workers, Tyler had treated Maggie with the same level of disdain as he had others. All that had changed when she solved Mac Honaker’s murder, and Tyler’s admiration for her only increased after she unraveled the mysteries surrounding Hazel Baker’s death and Jay Harris’ disappearance. But Tyler’s high opinion of her did not extend to their professional relationship. A hard news reporter who acted as if he were exposing a scandal of international importance even when covering a predictable city government meeting or a routine drug arrest, Tyler had no use for the features and light-hearted stories that comprised Maggie’s lifestyle section. Not an hour earlier, he had scoffed at her feature of an octogenarian who had for sixty-five years filled entire journals with daily notations on the weather.

  “Why do you need my help, Tyler? Is Blake bringing her daily weather diary?”

  Tyler dropped his head. “Now, Maggie, don’t tell me you’re taking that little criticism personally?”

  “No, I don’t take anything about work personally. But if you think so little of my abilities, I do have to wonder why you think you need my help.”

  “You took what I said the wrong way, Maggie. I think you’re an exceptional talent who’s better than the subjects she wastes her time on.”

  “Oh, is that all?”

  “You need to take my compliments in the spirit in which they’re meant
.”

  “I’ll do that when I hear an actual compliment. But answer this for me, Tyler. Why do you need a bodyguard all of a sudden? You’ve never asked for my help before.”

  “This is an important story, Maggie.”

  “Aren’t all stories important?”

  “Well, yeah, but,” Tyler darted his eyes toward Joe’s office before lowering his voice, “you know I’ve been looking for another job. I think this story could serve as the centerpiece of my portfolio and I don’t want to mess it up. Besides, you’re better with people than I am. I could never write the kind of stories you write or talk to people like you do. You were great with Delphene Fugate yesterday. I couldn’t even pronounce her name right.”

  “Don’t you think you’re laying it on a little too thick, Tyler?”

  Smiling, Tyler said, “Okay, how about this? If you help me, I’ll buy your lunch the next two paydays from anywhere you want.”

  “That’s not necessary, Tyler. Don’t warm up fish in the microwave again and we’ll call it even.”

  A few minutes later, Maggie sat in the conference room, watching Jennifer’s daughter occasionally nod as Tyler offered unsolicited advice on why she needed to decide on a major sooner rather than later. Maggie found Blake’s habit of tilting her head and casting her eyes downward endearing. She supposed that Blake, who Maggie estimated to be just short of six feet tall, had developed the head tilt as a result of her height. The reason behind the downturned eyes was easier for Maggie to identify. When Blake suddenly brought up her gaze to meet hers, Maggie suspected the shy young woman had to remind herself to look people in the eyes when they spoke to her. To put the girl at ease, Maggie asked her about the scarlet and gold lanyard around her neck.

  “My dad bought this for me last year when we went to the Harry Potter theme park,” Blake explained. “It was kind of a joke.”

  “Why?” Maggie asked. “Do you not like Harry Potter?”

  “Oh, I love him. Dad bought this because I’m always losing my keys. My mom threatened to duct tape my keys to my hand.” Blake rubbed her fingers over the lanyard. “I think she would have liked this better.”

  “Blake, we’ve read the stories about your mom,” Maggie said, “In fact, I wrote a story about her once.”

  “I remember. My nana had that story framed and Mom hung it in our family room.”

  “That’s nice. I’m glad she liked the story. So, we’ve read about her, but tell us something about your mom that wasn’t in those stories. Tell us something about her that we don’t know.”

  Blake chewed on her lips and pulled at the hem of her long-sleeved-T-shirt until it covered her hands. “Everybody who knew my mom knew this, so I don’t know if it counts.”

  “Try me,” Maggie said.

  “Mom was a planner. I mean, she planned everything. When we would go on vacation or to Lexington to shop, she would write down our itinerary. I found one of her notes the other day. She had actually written down what time we would leave the house and what time we would stop to eat and what time we would arrive at the mall ...” Blake’s voice trailed off. “She always volunteered to plan showers for her friends. I told her she should have been an event planner, but she loved teaching. She loved her kids. That’s what she called them. My kids.”

  “What kind of things did you and your mom do together? What did you do for fun?”

  Blake brushed away the strawberry blonde bangs lingering over her eyes. “When I was younger, we watched movies together, but my tastes kind of changed, so we didn’t do that much anymore.”

  “What did you do instead?” Maggie asked.

  Blake crossed her left arm over her stomach, rested her right elbow on her left hand, and tucked her right hand under her chin. “Sometimes, we played bowling on the Wii, but we mostly watched those home improvement shows together. We loved the do-it-yourself shows where people knock holes in their houses with sledgehammers. She was planning to redo her kitchen. We were going to work on it together. She told me she was going to buy a pink sledgehammer. But …”

  Maggie had decided coming into the interview to treat Tyler as if he weren’t there, so she didn’t wait for him to ask a follow-up question. “Can you tell me about the last time you saw your mom?” she asked Blake.

  “It was in the afternoon. We didn’t have school that week because of Moonshiner Days. I slept until around eleven. I remember because I turned on the TV and watched The Price Is Right when I woke up. I always watch that show when I’m home. It reminds me of my nana. She loved Plinko.”

  “So do I,” Maggie said.

  “I like that the contestants don’t have to risk their money. They get to keep whatever they win. It’s a fun, happy game.” Relaxing her shoulders, Blake said, “I guess I ate breakfast that morning, but I can’t remember. I do know I went for a walk around town. I always liked to watch Jasper come alive before Moonshiner Days. I guess it was a perk to living in town.” She lowered both arms to the table and crossed one wrist over the other. “My dad called when I got home and said my stepmom was making potato soup. I love her potato soup. She buys the block cheese and grates it on top of the soup.” Blake rolled her eyes. “It’s delicious. I asked Mom if I could go over there for supper. I didn’t think she would care because she was having people over. And she didn’t mind. She even said it would be okay if I spent the night at Dad’s. So, I packed a bag and left.”

  Maggie waited a few moments before asking, “Did you talk to her again?”

  Blake shook her head. “I thought it was strange that she didn’t call or text. I texted her good night, but didn’t hear back from her.”

  “How did you find out she had passed away?”

  “Dad told me the next day. I was riding bikes with my little sister when he came in from the garage. He’s a mechanic. He has his own garage down from the house. I could tell from the look on his face that something bad had happened. He came up to me and said we should go sit on the porch. He asked my sister to go get me some water and that’s when he told me.”

  “Blake, I understand some things were missing from your house.” The sound of Tyler’s voice startled Maggie, who had succeeding in blocking out his existence.

  “My mom’s laptop was gone. And her tablet and both TVs. And some of her jewelry and all of her purses, even the one she had been carrying. They took my game consoles and some video games, too. I don’t care about any of the material things, though. The only thing that was taken that can’t be replaced was my mom.”

  “I’m sorry, Blake,” Maggie said. “I imagine that losing your mother at any time would be heartbreaking, but at your age it must have been devastating. This must have happened right before your high school graduation.”

  “I graduated a little more than a month after she died.”

  “I’m sure she would have been proud of you for continuing your education,” Maggie said.

  “She and I had talked about me going away to college. We had even visited a few campuses, but I just couldn’t go away last year. I wanted to stay with Dad. I plan to transfer next year after I finish up my basics at the community college.”

  “That’s a good plan, and it’s only understandable that you would want to be near family,” Maggie said.

  “Blake, do you have any idea who might have wanted to kill your mom?”

  Tyler’s question prompted Maggie to shoot invisible arrows at him.

  “I, well, I know how this might sound, but I don’t like to think about that,” Blake said. “It won’t bring her back and it just upsets me to think about,” she shuddered, “how she died.”

  “But you must have some idea,” Tyler insisted. “Do you think it was a crime of convenience? Do you agree with Delphene Fugate that a carnival worker killed your mom? Or do you think the police are right to suspect Delphene? Or maybe –”

  With Blake’s pale skin turning pink, Maggie extended a hand toward the girl and asked, “Blake, how do you want your mom remembered?”

  Blake
looked down while pondering Maggie’s question. Then she raised her eyes, pushed her bangs onto the top of her head, and said, “I can’t speak for how everybody else will remember her. I’ll just remember her as my mom.”

  After seeing Blake off, Maggie wheeled around to face Tyler. “You weren’t kidding about not being good with people. I can’t believe the way you harassed that poor girl.”

  “I was just doing my job, Maggie. And don’t take this the wrong way, but if you had been doing your job a little better, we would have gotten more from her. As it is, all she talked about was potato soup, The Price Is Right, and Harry Potter. And what was with that question about how she wanted her mom to be remembered?”

  “Oh, my, gosh, I don’t even know where to start. First of all, there’s only one way to construe any sentence that begins with ‘don’t take this the wrong way.’ Second, the question about remembering her mom is how I do my job because, third, I show the human interest side of stories. It’s about showing how Jennifer’s death affected Blake. It’s not about solving Jennifer’s murder.” Maggie gasped. “That’s it. That’s why you wanted me to take part in the interviews. You do want to solve Jennifer’s murder and you want me to help.”

  “There’s no need to act mad or offended,” Tyler said. “You should consider this a compliment.”

  “Oh, another one of your compliments. Why didn’t you just ask me? Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

  “Because I didn’t think you’d help. You said you’ve sworn off solving mysteries.”

  “That’s right, I have, Tyler, and I don’t appreciate you trying to trick me into changing my mind.” Maggie marched through the conference room, stopping at the door. Turning, she said, “And don’t think this lets you off the hook. You still can’t warm fish in the microwave.”

  Maggie stuck her head inside the editor’s office. “Hey, Joe, do you have a minute?”