by Farrell, Lia
“Here it is.”
“Thank you, Goddess of Information.”
“Actually,” Dory sounded a little sheepish, “Mae’s mother gave me the number yesterday. She got it from Mae.”
“Did Mae talk to Silas?” What do I have to do to keep that woman out of this investigation? Ben wondered.
“She only spoke to him real briefly, to give her condolences.”
“That better be all she did. What’s the address?”
“Here you go.” Dory read off the numbers.
Ben got Deputy Fuller and they drove to the address Dory provided. On the way over, Ben told Robert about the trespassing at Mae’s house.
Silas Mead was staying at a fine old antebellum home with a long circular drive. Ben and Deputy Fuller spoke with the housekeeper at the front door who directed them back to the carriage house. They walked through the garage toward a staircase leading to the upper floor. The light coming through the dusty windows seemed to turn everything green, reflecting the color of the grass and trees outside. They walked up the staircase at the back of the garage and knocked.
A tall, thin man with a receding hairline answered the door. “Are you Silas Mead?” the sheriff asked.
“I am.”
As far as Ben could see, Silas bore no resemblance to his sister. Besides having seen her body in the grove of trees and at the morgue, Dory had gotten pictures of Ruby from her grandmother and put them up on the conference room bulletin board. Even in the photos, Ruby possessed more vitality in her little finger than her brother seemed to have in his entire body.
“I’m Sheriff Ben Bradley and this is my deputy, Robert Fuller. We’d like to talk with you about the death of your sister, Ruby.”
Without a word, Silas opened the door wider, gesturing for them to come in.
They sat at a small round table by an open window that overlooked the large backyard. In the quiet, the bubbling of a fountain could be heard.
“I’m very sorry about your sister, Mr. Mead.”
Silas nodded, looking fatigued. His skin was almost gray. He offered them water or lemonade but didn’t say anything about Ruby.
“I understand that you will now inherit her property, as long as you’re not implicated in her murder.” There was a pause, and Ben fixed his eyes on Silas. “I’m sure you’re aware that you cannot see or even walk the property until her murder is solved. At present, the entire site is a crime scene. May I ask when you returned to town? ”
“Ruby called and asked me to come home. I hardly need to see the property, Sheriff; I grew up in that house.”
“When did you get back?”
“I got here on March thirteenth after checking with my friend to see if Terry and I could stay for a while.”
“Terry is?”
“He’s my partner.”
“Did you take vacation time to come back to Tennessee?”
Silas shook his head. “I’m a Web designer. As long as I have Internet access, I can work anywhere.”
“What does Terry do?”
“He’s a graphic designer. He freelances.”
“So he can draw, then?”
“Yes, he does beautiful sketches.” Like the beautiful drawing of a dog lying in a pool of blood?
Ben kept his focus on Silas and watched as he folded his arms on the table and rested his head on his arms. It was the defeated posture of a depressed man.
“Where is Terry right now?”
At Ben’s question, Silas picked up his head. “He went out to do some errands. He should be back in an hour or so.”
“What time did he leave?”
“Before nine this morning.”
“Were both of you here yesterday afternoon?”
“What’s this about, Sheriff? Ruby died over a week ago. I don’t think we need to account for our whereabouts at this point.”
“Yesterday afternoon someone trespassed on Mae December’s property and left a threatening note on her back door.”
His eyes grew wide. “What?”
Ben felt Silas’ surprise was authentic. His body posture conveyed astonishment. “The person drew a picture of a dog in a pool of blood. Would you know anything about that?”
“No, I’ve been here the whole time. I wasn’t feeling well and was asleep until you knocked.” His face did look drawn; maybe the man didn’t normally look this listless, Ben thought.
“Was Terry here all yesterday afternoon?”
He sighed. “I think so, but I’ve been pretty much out of it.”
“Does he know this area? Would he know Miss December, for instance?”
“After Mae called yesterday, I told Terry she seemed awfully nosy.”
Certainly couldn’t argue with him there. “Do you think Terry might have been angered by her asking questions, enough to want to threaten her?”
“Of course not.” Silas shook his head.
“Somebody did. There were footprints by her barn. I need to know your shoe size and Terry’s, too.”
“I wear a ten and a half and Terry wears a nine.”
“I’d like to borrow one of his shoes and one of yours.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think I should give you anything without a warrant.”
“I would prefer it if you would simply cooperate with us and give us the shoes. We’ll be able to return them within a day or two, unless one of you is the guilty party in the trespassing incident.”
“Fine.” Silas stood up and went back to the bedroom. Robert and the sheriff exchanged glances. Silas returned carrying a sneaker and a loafer.
“Which one belongs to Terry? What’s his last name by the way?”
“It’s Lerner. That’s his shoe.” Silas indicated the sneaker.
“That will be all for the moment, Mr. Mead, but I want you to remain in town until this matter, and the investigation into the death of your sister, is resolved.”
“When will her body be released? My grandmother would like to schedule the funeral. She has everything planned and her minister is standing by.”
Ben gave him a long, hard look. “The funeral home released the body yesterday. I’m surprised you didn’t know. Please notify my office about the time and date of the funeral. I plan to attend.” He glared as he handed Silas his card. He wanted to fluster this man about his sister’s death and the trespassing incident.
Ben and Robert started driving back down the long driveway, talking about the encounter. When they reached the road, Robert said, “I‘m glad he gave us the shoes.”
“Yes, me too. You know, I think we should park over by the main house where we can see the driveway to the carriage house and wait just a bit for our Mr. Lerner.”
They waited for twenty minutes without seeing any signs of Silas’ partner. Impatient and not wanting to waste any more time, the sheriff called Dory and asked her to send a deputy with a car to pick him up. He told Robert to stay there. Ben wanted him to find out Terry’s whereabouts the previous afternoon and to take a scraping from the shoes he was wearing. Even if Terry had been the one to leave that note at Mae’s, he might not be wearing the same shoes, but it was worth a try. The sheriff got into the other patrol car and drove off for the station.
The sheriff’s cell rang shortly thereafter. Deputy Fuller gave him an update. He had talked with Terry Lerner and had taken a scraping from his shoe. He described him as very nervous and almost combative. He had insisted on knowing the reason for the sole scraping so the deputy told him. According to Robert, the man literally backed away when Fuller told him why he needed the debris from the bottom of his shoe.
“Is he still there?”
“Yes. He’s sitting in his car, waiting while I called you. He’s on his cellphone.”
“Please bring Mr. Lerner into the office. I’d like to talk with him. I’ll meet you here.”
Robert met Ben at the door to the sheriff’s office building twenty minutes later. Standing next to him was a thin man with straight brown hair.
&
nbsp; “Mr. Terry Lerner? I’m Sheriff Ben Bradley.”
“Yes, I’m Terry Lerner. Why did you have me dragged in here?”
“Please come back into our conference room. We need to talk.” The sheriff spoke softly, hoping to calm the man down a bit. They went into the conference room.
After getting Terry some coffee, Ben asked him what he had been doing earlier.
“I went shopping. It’s a good thing your deputy let me call Silas. He came right away; otherwise those groceries would have spoiled.”
“What about yesterday afternoon? What were you doing then?”
“I was running some other errands.”
As the questioning continued, Terry’s face reddened. He began to sweat. For the next twenty minutes, the sheriff asked questions, listening carefully to the answers and watching Terry’s nonverbal behavior.
At one point, Robert knocked on the door and handed Ben a slip of paper. It was the analysis request from the sample taken below the window at the December place. He’d scribbled a note at the bottom of the page. The size of the footprint they found was a nine and Lerner’s sneaker was a match in size and tread.
Ben looked at the sheet of paper. There had been no time for an actual lab comparison between the scraping from Terry’s shoe and the soil sample from the December house, but this would be enough to intimidate him.
“Mr. Lerner, it’s time you stopped lying to me. I know you were at the December house yesterday. You left the threatening note for Miss December and the drawing of the dog in a pool of blood. The footprints behind the barn were your size. The dirt on your shoe is identical to the soil near the window of her house.”
Terry’s eyes flicked from side to side.
“I could arrest you for Criminal Trespassing and keep you here in the county jail until such a time as you could come before the judge. However, I doubt you want jail time. Since this relates to a murder investigation, you’re now at the top of my list of suspects.” Terry’s eyes opened wide.
“I just wanted her to leave Silas alone,” Terry burst out. “I had nothing to do with Ruby’s death.” He paused. “Do I need a lawyer, Sheriff?”
“It’s up to you, Mr. Lerner. I’m going to call Miss December to see if she wants to press charges. You can go for now. I’ll let you know what she says. Don’t leave town.”
Chapter Sixteen
March 22
Mae December
Mae had enjoyed her night with Tammy enormously. It was like the sleepovers they used to have in middle and high school when they talked about boys for hours, a scene often repeated over their seventeen-year friendship. This time, though, they had something more than gossip and rumors to discuss. Tammy’s database from Local Love really came in handy.
Five minutes after Tammy arrived, Mae asked to see Ben’s profile.
“What makes you think I have it?”
“C’mon, you have it. I know you do. He got to see mine.”
“Already? You work fast,” her alleged best friend said.
“No, my profile, remember? You gave Ben a copy. If you have a profile for him, I think it’s only fair to let me see it.”
“Well, I did bring some files with me from the office,” Tammy said in her faux reluctant voice. She reached for her bag but Mae got there first.
“Some files? Looks like there’s only one.”
“I know.” Tammy dropped all her pretenses. “I knew you’d want to see Ben’s profile, so I brought the file with me. Real professional, right?”
“Don’t worry.” Discretion was a major issue in her line of work. “I won’t tell anyone I saw it. I promise.”
Mae read Ben’s information, wondering why Tammy hadn’t kept him for herself and why he was still single. He grew up in Rosedale but attended Green Road Academy instead of public school. He went to Texas for college, then started law school but had obviously changed his mind partway through. He then entered the police academy and returned home to work in the sheriff’s department. When criminal allegations drove the former sheriff from the job, Ben stepped in as interim sheriff. He won the office in the next election. At thirty-two, he was the youngest sheriff in the history of Rose County. His profile said nothing about his romantic history.
Tammy flipped the page over. On the other side, in the optional section, were fill-in-the-blank statements. One caught Mae’s eye. The item read, “I think long engagements are ...” Ben had written “stupid.”
“How funny.” Mae pointed out the engagement comment to Tammy. “He seems like such a cautious type. I would have guessed he’d be all about long engagements.”
“He was engaged to his college girlfriend, Katie Hudson, for years. She was involved in youth ministry, always going on mission trips. On one of the trips, she met a handsome young doctor. They flew from Guatemala to Vegas to be married. She called Ben to tell him right after the honeymoon.”
“Wow. That sounds like a country song; a bad one. How do you know all this anyway, Tammy?”
“I have my sources,” Tammy said looking at Mae out of the corners of her eyes. Mae laughed.
“Why didn’t you go out with Ben after he applied to your service?”
“He really is cute, isn’t he? I suppose I do date quite a few of the men in my database.” Tammy grinned.
Mae rolled her eyes.
“Ben is really a great guy. There’s nothing wrong with him at all, except this.” Tammy pointed to a line near the bottom of the page.
“Oh, I get it.” Ben had checked “allergic to cats” and noted that he disliked them. “It’s because of Gladys, Knight, and Pips.” These were Tammy’s three Siamese cats. She preferred to think of their constant yowling as singing and had named them after Gladys and her backup singers.
“Yes, he’s not a cat person. We wouldn’t be pet compatible. He’s yours if you want him. I was trying to save him for you anyway.”
“Does he have a dog?”
“He had an old basset hound that died a week after his fiancée dumped him.”
“Good Lord. Poor guy.”
“All that happened about four years ago. He got heavily involved in his work after that. He’s dated a little bit since, but isn’t serious about anyone.”
Mae remembered the previous day and her face started to heat up. “So, who are you dating these days, Tammy?”
“Jim Goddard. You know, the head of that big construction company that’s doing those historical renovations in Nashville.”
“And?” Mae knew that Tammy firmly believed in dating more than one man at a time.
“Once in a while I go out with Carter Drake. He’s one of those guys who swoops in when he’s in town, takes me out to fabulous restaurants and then disappears for weeks. Then sometimes I go out with Johnny Temple. He’s real cute. We have a lot of fun together, but Mom doesn’t like him much. I like him, though. He’s great in bed.”
“Tammy, you aren’t sleeping with all of them, are you?”
“Not quite.” A demure look crossed her face.
Mae chuckled.
When they stopped laughing, Mae said, “I think it’s time you picked one of your beaux and had an actual relationship, one lasting more than a few weeks. You’re almost thirty, my friend. There’s no time like the present.”
“You’re a fine one to talk, aren’t you?”
“Well, it’s not like I’ve never had a long-term relationship. Noah and I were engaged. We bought this house; we even moved in together. He gave me a ring. Seriously, you do know why you aren’t bonding to any of these guys, don’t you?”
“Why?”
“I think it’s because of your dad.”
Tammy sat very still, hardly breathing. She never talked about the fact that she had lost her father to a heart attack when she was in elementary school. Tammy’s mother had told Mae about it years ago.
“I think you’re afraid to get too close to one of these guys, in case you might lose him.”
“Oh, Mae,” Tammy’s husky voice
broke. “I still miss him.”
“I know, honey. It’s been a long time, though. Isn’t it time to choose someone to be serious about? Your dad would want you to have someone who loved you.”
“Maybe.” She tilted her head. “Isn’t it about time for you, too?”
“I don’t know. I still miss Noah. We were true soul mates. I don’t know if I can get that close to anyone else. I sure haven’t so far.”
“I think you should give Ben a chance. I know Ben’s brother and sister-in-law quite well. They really love Ben. He’s excellent with their boys and because of them, he’s started coaching baseball. Ben really suffered after Katie ditched him, but he grew up a lot. Mae, he even loves dogs! Plus, he’s cute and not a skirt chaser. At least he hasn’t chased my skirt.” Tammy smiled.
“Okay. I’ll think about it. But he’d have to ask me out and that’s not going to happen, at least not now.”
“Maybe you need to let things happen instead of deciding ahead of time how they’re going to play out.” Tammy’s eyes twinkled.
They ordered and ate a huge pizza and shared a bottle of Chianti while they talked about other things, finally getting to bed around one in the morning. Mae slept like a baby.
In the morning, after Mae did her kennel chores, Tammy told her she had to get to work. She said she’d come back for another night if Mae needed her.
Mae put all the big dogs out in the front pasture for some playtime. Titan and Toulouse, the French bulldog, played in the fenced barnyard together. Tallulah cavorted with them for a short while and then went back to her puppies. Mae was updating her kennel website when Ben called.
“Hello, Mae. This is Sheriff, er … Ben Bradley calling. I talked with Terry Lerner, Silas’ partner, yesterday. He’s admitted to trespassing on your property and leaving the threatening note. I need to know if you want to press charges.”
Mae hesitated. “I’m not sure. Tell him I’m going to think about it and would like him to call me tomorrow. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to let him worry for a while.”
“Not a bad idea. I’m going to have him followed to see what he does. I’ll have Deputy Phelps posted at your house, too, in case he tries anything else.”
