One Dog Too Many (A Mae December Mystery)

by Farrell, Lia

  “I’m not completely ready to dismiss David Allison either,” Ben said. “He was with Ruby the night she died. She taunted him with the fact that he wasn’t the father of her child. It must have been devastating news. He also had the means, motive and opportunity. On the other hand, he didn’t stand to inherit her property—although I’m not sure he knew about the specifics of her will. He doesn’t strike me as the type that would resort to violence easily. He has no record, in fact quite the opposite. He’s mild mannered and has nothing more than a few parking tickets.”

  “What did the lab find on his clothing from that night?”

  “There was nothing there. Bottom line, who do you like best for this, Wayne, Ruby’s husband or her attorney?”

  “Attorney. David Allison seems like a gentle guy who was deeply hurt about the way Ruby treated him. While anyone can be driven to murder, I doubt a guy like David could kill a pregnant woman.”

  “I agree. Does having the murder weapon show up in Mae’s barn change anything? She has no motive as far as we can discover. It’s much more likely that someone else put the shovel there in order to frame her.”

  “Well,” the detective gave the sheriff an appraising look, “I think the pretty lady is pretty interested in you. Possibly, she’s trying to distract you from thinking she’s involved in the crime. You have to admit, finding both the body and the murder weapon is suspicious.”

  Wayne sounded like he was kidding, but his face was dead serious.

  “Knock it off,” Ben said. “You know she isn’t a suspect. She had no reason to want Ruby dead.” They locked eyes for a minute until Wayne dropped his gaze and cleared his throat.

  “I investigated Lucy Ingram’s background, by the way,” Ben said. “Did you know she changed her name right after she entered medical school?”

  Wayne seemed surprised but stayed quiet.

  “Yeah, her last name was Sherman. Do you remember the Sherman case in Memphis?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Lucy is Dr. Marcus Sherman’s daughter. She found her mom dead in the bathtub. The case was never solved, but everyone in Memphis thought Sherman killed his wife. It’s easy for anesthesiologists to get away with murder, I guess.”

  Wayne took a deep breath. “Poor kid. What’s your point? It certainly wasn’t Lucy’s fault her mother was killed.”

  “Of course not. I wasn’t implying that it was. She obviously lived through some horrible times. There were some other entries about the Shermans in the police files over the years, neighbors calling in with child abuse allegations. Both those girls were in the E.R. a lot.”

  “Lucy has a sister? She never told me.”

  “Yeah. She has an older sister, a junkie. Her name is Colleen. She’s been in and out of rehabs most of her life. You brought up Mae as a suspect; so I want you to think carefully about Lucy. With a background like that, being sued by Ruby and pressured to sell her property, do you think she might have felt threatened enough to try to stop her?”

  Wayne shook his head vehemently. “It wasn’t Lucy. There’s no way in hell. I’ve watched her in the E.R. She wouldn’t hurt someone deliberately.”

  Ben shrugged. “You’re the one who says everyone is capable of murder.”

  “I didn’t say she wasn’t capable of murder. If there was ever a mercy killing, I might suspect her, but braining her neighbor with a shovel? Not Lucy.”

  Ben tapped his pencil on the desk. He glanced down at the handwritten list of suspects on his desk. “What about Terry Lerner? He admitted to Criminal Trespass. He was inside Mae’s barn and he leads us straight back to Silas. However, having seen and heard Silas at the funeral—his grief appeared real. He seems to be a good-natured person who loved his sister. I think we can eliminate Silas as well as Lucy and Mae.” Ben looked at Wayne, who took a sip of his cold coffee, nodded and then dumped it into the wastebasket.

  “I think we can only dismiss Silas,” Wayne said, “if you’re sure the Mead property isn’t a factor.” He put the tips of his fingers together.

  “Good point. Given the enormous value of Ruby’s land, I want to talk to Silas one more time before we let him go. The only thing Terry did was tie red ribbons on Mae’s kennels and door. I don’t like the creep, but I doubt he’s the perp.” Ben rubbed his nose.

  “I agree. I don’t think he’s violent enough to do this, although he doesn’t seem to have any respect for private property. If Terry was at Ruby’s and found the shovel, he might have taken it to Mae’s place to increase interest in Mae as a suspect. I’ll get him in here and you can try to rattle him.”

  Ben was confident in his ability to narrow down the suspects, but he had serious doubts about being able to rattle them the way his Chief Detective did. He’d seen him in action. When questioning suspects, he appeared to be barely keeping his violent nature under control. The suspects felt it. Often that was all it took. He would stand up and walk around behind someone he was questioning. Then he would lean down and crack his hands down on the table loudly and tell them exactly how the crime was committed. Now that was rattling a suspect.

  “I think rattling suspects is more your thing, Wayne. How about I call David Allison and get the scoop on the Mead property from him. Unless I learn something new, I’ll probably go ahead and tell David he’s not being considered a suspect anymore. Let’s bring in James Connolly, Silas, and Terry Lerner.” Ben stood up, downed the last of his cold coffee and called Dory. When she came into the conference room, Ben told her they were bringing in three suspects.

  “Where’re you puttin’ all those men?”

  “I don’t know, but I need this room cleaned up. I may need an empty cell in the jail, too. Don’t just stand there, young lady.”

  Dory and Wayne exchanged a meaningful look, but they both got busy. Satisfied that he’d made some impact, Ben went back to his office to make some calls.

  He got Ruby’s ex-husband, David, on the phone first. “I have a problem, Mr. Allison. I hope you can help me out. I have several suspects in this case, but you seem to be one of the few who’s actually depressed about Ruby’s death. The rest of them aren’t acting that way.”

  “I am depressed about her death and the death of her unborn baby. I wanted the child to be mine. Ruby felt she needed a baby to carry on the family line. Her dad messed her up, you know. He made her feel like she’d be worthless if she didn’t give him a grandchild. She thought if she had a child, she’d get her hands on the entire estate.”

  “What do you mean? I thought she got the whole thing.”

  David Allison gave a humorless chuckle. “No. She didn’t get the acreage at the back of her property that adjoins Henriette’s.”

  “Isn’t that over on Mead Road?”

  “Yes. It’s a five hundred acre tract altogether. As the crow flies, it’s actually not that far. You go down to River Road, turn right and then right again when you get to Mead. You know why it’s called Mead Road, don’t you, Sheriff? It used to be their driveway.”

  “Why didn’t Ruby get the adjoining parcel?”

  “It wasn’t her dad’s property to leave. Henriette owns that piece. She always planned on leaving her property to Silas. The entire parcel would be worth millions.”

  “Thank you for telling me all this. You’ve been a big help. I’d like you to know that we have no plans to arrest you. Please contact us if you think of anything else we should know.”

  “I will. Thanks, Sheriff. Ruby and I had our problems, but I’d do anything to help you find her killer. I don’t want her murder to be an unsolved case.”

  “Don’t worry. It won’t be.”

  Ben placed a call to Terry and Silas. Terry Lerner answered the phone at the carriage house.

  “Mr. Lerner, this is Sheriff Bradley. We’ve uncovered some new evidence about Ruby Mead-Allison’s death we’d like to discuss with you and Mr. Mead. I need you to come to the office.”

  “Both of us? Why?”

  “The evidence links yo
u to the murder.” It was an empty threat, but he wanted to unsettle the sneak. Since Nichols thought he could, he’d try. The bluff had worked with the trespassing incident.

  “That’s impossible!” Terry exclaimed. “I didn’t kill Ruby, and neither did Silas.”

  “Be that as it may, Mr. Lerner, I need you both to come in. If you do so voluntarily, within the hour, we can be civil about this. Otherwise, I’m signing a warrant for your arrest.” With a sense of satisfaction, Ben hung up the phone. He set the timer on his wristwatch for fifty-nine minutes.

  An hour later Wayne called from his car to let Ben know that James Connolly had been Mirandized and was exercising his right to remain silent.

  “Has he lawyered up yet?”

  “Of course he has. You know we aren’t getting anything out of him until his attorney shows up.”

  “You’re right. Attorneys are the worst people to question. Find an empty cell for him until then and get here as soon as you can. I’m going to talk to Terry and Silas. I’d like you to be with me for James Connolly’s interrogation.”

  “Things are starting to shake loose, aren’t they?”

  “It’s about time.” Ben walked out of his office and up to Dory’s desk to ask her a question. At that moment, Terry and Silas walked in with Deputy Fuller.

  “Should we tell the Rent-a-Cop he can stop following us now?” asked Terry.

  Ben had had more than enough of his attitude. “That’s a Rose County deputy fulfilling his assigned duty. Don’t push me.” He turned to Dory. “Miss Dory, would you please show Mr. Mead into the conference room? Lerner, come with me.”

  He led Terry Lerner to a small separate interview room and ushered him inside. He decided to let him sweat it out alone for a while.

  “Wait here. I’ll be back to talk with you shortly.”

  Silas Mead was sitting in the conference room. He was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed. When Ben entered the room, he shut the door with a bang and Silas leaned forward with a start.

  “Mr. Mead, I’m trying to figure something out. Can you tell me, prior to Ruby’s death, what Henriette’s plan was for who would inherit her estate?”

  “My grandmother promised, since Ruby got our parents’ property, that I would inherit hers. I think Gram wanted to make it up to me for my dad cutting me off.”

  “Interesting. So you didn’t need to kill Ruby to get your family estate. Although Ruby’s pregnancy would have allowed her to cut you out.”

  “She was pregnant?” Silas’ voice shook at the revelation. “Oh, God no.”

  Silas’ eyes were moist and then, as if he’d held it all back for a long time, he started to cry. His harsh sobs filled the room. Ben sat there patiently, waiting him out. When the outburst was over and Silas was quiet, Ben handed him a box of tissues.

  “Why is the information about her pregnancy this devastating for you?” Ben’s voice was full of concern.

  Silas’ eyes filled once more. “I’m already dealing with the fact that my sister was murdered. To find out I could have had a niece or nephew, a member of the Mead family who’ll never be born, is terrible. My whole family is gone.”

  Ben remembered Silas at the funeral, his moving tribute to Ruby and his palpable suffering.

  “Please wait here.” Ben rose and left the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  March 26

  Sheriff Ben Bradley

  The solution to Ruby’s murder was coming closer. Ben could feel it.

  “Is Wayne back with James Connolly yet?” he asked Dory.

  Dory shook her head. “No. He’s in the interview room with the sassy one.”

  Ben walked back to the interview room and knocked. Wayne opened the door.

  “Where’s Deputy Fuller?” Ben kept his voice low so Terry couldn’t overhear.

  “He’s waiting over at the jail. As soon as Mr. Connolly’s attorney shows up, he’s to call me.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “Come on in.”

  Ben entered the room and sat down. “Terry, I have a few questions for you. My guess is that you thought you were protecting Silas’ inheritance.”

  He shrank away and narrowed his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  “When you killed Ruby. You must have found out she was pregnant and planning to disinherit Silas, so you killed her. The irony is that if you hadn’t threatened Mae and hidden the murder weapon, the shovel, at her house, we might not have figured this out.”

  His eyes opened wide. “Ruby was pregnant? I didn’t know that. I didn’t hide anything at the December house and I did not kill Silas’ bitch of a sister. Why was there a murder weapon? Everyone knows she was strangled.”

  “That may have been the rumor you heard, but there was a murder weapon. Miss December found it in her barn after you trespassed there.”

  “Then I’d think you’d be questioning her, not me. I’m calling my attorney. I’m done talking without one.” Terry clenched his fists on the table.

  “Read him his rights, Detective Nichols. Then he can call his attorney, and we’ll find a cell for him.”

  Terry Lerner’s voice got squeaky. “Sheriff, I swear I didn’t leave a thing at Miss December’s house except the note and ribbons. I’ll take a lie detector test if you want.”

  “Excuse us for a moment, Mr. Lerner,” Wayne said. “I need to speak with the sheriff.”

  They walked out into the hall. Wayne waved Ben into his office and closed the door behind them.

  “No offense, Boss. I’m partly to blame since I told you to rattle him, but it crashed and burned.”

  Ben nodded. He felt his face warming. Damn it, Wayne was right. He got nothing out of Terry with his accusations.

  “Plus, you told him about the shovel and that information wasn’t known outside of our department before this. But we did learn something. The murder weapon information was a total shock to Mr. Lerner. He isn’t our killer. I think someone else took the shovel over to Mae’s house.”

  “Yeah, I think so, too,” Ben tried to hide his chagrin. “We can let him go, but let’s warn him that we may run a polygraph on him later. Both of us know it won’t be allowed as evidence in a trial, but he might not. I’m going to dismiss Silas also; he completely checked out. Bring James Connolly back here when his attorney shows up, will you?”

  After dismissing David Allison, Silas and Terry, Ben paced around Dory’s work area. She sighed, got up from her desk and gave him an oversized cookie from the stash she kept in her desk drawer.

  “Sheriff, you aren’t going to get anywhere with that slick lawyer and his attorney unless you’re real, real calm.”

  “Good advice. Thanks.” Ben took the cookie back to his office. It was the first food he’d had in hours. He ate the whole thing in two bites and put his head down on his desk.

  A sudden knock on the door startled him awake.

  “They’re ready for you now in the conference room, Sheriff,” Dory said.

  “I’ll be right there.” He went to the sink in the small restroom adjoining his office and splashed his face with cool water. “It’s game-time. Tighten up your jock strap. Let’s go,” he said to his reflection.

  When the sheriff walked into the conference room, Wayne Nichols introduced him to Ms. Emerson, James Connolly’s attorney. The sheriff and his detective sat on one side of the large wooden table. Mr. Connolly and his young, leggy attorney sat facing them. Her jacket exposed a discreet amount of cleavage. Ben smiled at her and was rewarded with a scornful smirk. Dory came in with a fresh pot of decaf coffee, cups, sugar, and cream. She turned on the audiotape equipment and left the room.

  At first no one spoke.

  Detective Nichols cleared his throat. He looked directly at the built in microphone saying, “Wayne Nichols and Ben Bradley interviewing James Connolly represented by his attorney, Counselor Emerson. Mr. Connolly, as you know, you’re suspected of murdering Ruby Mead-Allison on the night of March fifteenth. You w
ere read your rights and you have counsel present—Ms. Paula Emerson. As you’re aware, Tennessee is a capital punishment state and in this case, we’re prepared to go for the death penalty. We’re on the record and I ask you to re-state your movements on the evening of March fifteenth.”

  James Connolly spoke in a loud and somewhat pompous voice. “I came home from the office on March fifteenth around five thirty p.m. Laura and I got ready to join our friends the Mitchells for an evening out. Laura drove over and picked up the babysitter—her name is Nora Takichi—and we left for dinner around six fifteen. We dined at Solo Mio and then went to the symphony. The performance started at eight and there was an intermission at nine. The performance resumed at nine fifteen, and we left the Schermerhorn Symphony Hall at ten thirty. We stopped for drinks afterward and got home by midnight.”

  “Go on.”

  “When we got home, we talked with Nora about our daughter, Marie. She’s only three and has been having nightmares. As usual, Marie had tried to talk Nora into letting her stay up later than her bedtime, but Nora put her in our bed and she was sound asleep when we got home. Laura took the babysitter home. I went into the guest room to sleep.”

  “I thought you drove the babysitter home.”

  “No, Detective, Laura thought I’d had too much to drink. She took Nora home.”

  “Which car did she drive?”

  “I assume she drove her Mercedes. She doesn’t like to drive my truck.”

  Wayne stood up and walked around the table until he was right behind Connolly. Then he leaned forward, close to Connolly’s ear and almost whispered, “I think what happened was, after your wife got back from taking the babysitter home, you went to Ruby Mead-Allison’s house, called her out to the back step and killed her.” He shot a covert glance at Ben. “Or, you were the one who took Nora home and you killed Ruby after you dropped her off.”

  “No, I didn’t.” James’ eyes narrowed. “Laura is adamant that I don’t take babysitters home when I’ve been drinking. I’m a lawyer, I know the law. I’d been drinking that night. Laura doesn’t drink. She can’t because of her meds, so she’s always the designated driver. I didn’t kill Ruby. I would never do something like that!”