Protecting Emma

by ML Michaels

  She greeted Paw, who was behind the bar, his kind smile hiding behind bottle top glasses and the creases of old age, and ordered her favorite drink, a White Russian. She sat in one of two big comfortable arm chairs next to a wide bay window that looked out across the town from a good height.

  “May I join you,” said a voice, mimicking a very bad British accent.

  Suzie turned around and nodded. “Oh, if you must…”

  Chad laughed, showing his wide shining smile, and Suzie felt mesmerized by it for that moment. She’d been away from it, from him, for so long, it was like having lived through a bleak winter to finally be bathed in the gentle caress of a warm sun.

  “Remember when we used to sit up at Holden’s Ridge and look out across the town? This is the grown-up version,” said Chad, sipping at what looked like a single malt whiskey.

  Suzie replied: “Yes, I remember. I remember a lot of things, Chad… It really is good to see you…”

  Chad’s smile now grew graver. “I just wish it were under better circumstances.”

  “Chad…” Suzie didn’t know how to say it, so she just did, plainly. “Chad, Lisa’s been taken in for questioning.”

  “Thank God they found her.”

  “She was at the cemetery…”

  Hurt now entered Chad’s expression, as if remembering an old wound, one which had scabbed over, but never truly healed. “I haven’t been for years…”

  “What are we going to do, Chad? Lisa needs our help.”

  “I know, and I’ll give it, if she’ll take it; but you know how she feels.”

  Suzie nodded. “Yes, I do, but whatever animosity you both have right now, that all needs to be put aside.”

  “Don’t you think I’ve tried? I’ve called, I’ve sent letters, emails, texts. She’s never replied once. It’s as if I’m dead to her. Even today when she cut up that pie, she wouldn’t even look at me…” Chad looked distant for a moment.

  “Chad, you can’t honestly be thinking that Lisa would try to poison you!?”

  “Keep your voice down,” Chad pointed towards Paw behind the bar, who didn’t seem too bothered by the noise, whether he could hear it or not. “Of course I’m not saying that. I know she hates me, but I know my own sister and she’d never do anything like this, even to her worst enemy.”

  “We need to help her. She could go to prison for this, or worse...”

  “I know. Look, I’ll pay whatever she needs in legal fees, but in the meantime, we have to get to the bottom of this. I know Lisa didn’t do this, but someone sure as hell tried to kill me. You up for playing Dr. Watson?” Chad smiled.

  “Oh, Chad, if anyone’s the Sherlock Holmes out of the two of us, it’s me.”

  They both laughed, forgetting the terrible events only for a moment before deciding to take action. Leaving the hotel, they headed down to the police station where authorities were holding Lisa. It was now 11PM, and as they walked down Main Street, the crickets were in full swing, their chorus no longer a comforting sound, but instead a reminder that even in a beautiful place like Danvers Bay, some things lurked out of sight.

  “Crickets and murderers,” Suzie said to herself, not realizing it was audible.

  “That’s not a pleasant combination,” joked Chad.

  “Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. I just don’t understand why someone would want you dead. I mean you’re the most famous thing to come out of Danvers Bay in…well…forever… Everyone was so happy that you were coming home.”

  “Who knows, maybe someone’s jealous,” said Chad.

  “Maybe, but jealous enough to kill you?”

  Finally, they reached the old police station. The fluorescent lights from the front desk were the only ones on in the entire main street. Sergeant Willoughby, a tall slender man with blonde hair, sat behind the desk. He often frequented Suzie’s, looking for a good Danish pastry in the mornings.

  “Ah, little Suzie. What can I do for you?” the sergeant said.

  “We’d like to see Lisa, if possible,” Suzie replied.

  The sergeant rubbed his brow nervously. “Now, well, she isn’t supposed to have any visitors. She’s waiting on legal representation, hasn’t said a peep, and won’t until a lawyer arrives. The county is sending one over someone in the morning.”

  “Couldn’t we see her just for a moment, Bill? We just want to make sure she’s okay?” asked Suzie, politely yet obviously hurting.

  “Well…Look don’t tell anyone I let you in, but you’ve only got five minutes, alright?”

  “Thanks, Bill. You’re the best,” said Chad.

  “Tell my wife that…” the sergeant joked, as he led Chad and Suzie down a long hallway to the back of the building. There were three cells there, two of them were empty. Lisa was in the third cell lying on a bed that had seen better days.

  The sergeant unlocked the cell door with a loud clang. Lisa jumped up startled, squinting her eyes as she adjusted to the lights. She looked terrible. Her mascara hadn’t survived her bouts of crying. She had black streaks running down her cheeks. And her usually stylish blond hair was now frizzy and messy.

  Suzie ran over to her immediately. “Shhh, Sweetie, it’s okay. It’s me. I can only stay for a few minutes, okay?”

  “Oh, Suzie. They think I killed the mayor and his wife. I swear I don’t know what they’re talking about.” Lisa then noticed Chad standing outside the cell. “No! Why did you bring him here!?”

  “Lisa, right now your and Chad’s issues can’t get in the way of you getting out of here. He’s here to help. We both are, okay?”

  Lisa looked back at Suzie, and through tears nodded reluctantly. Chad then entered the cell.

  “Sis, why’d you run?” he said, softly.

  “I’ll accept your help, Chad, but I’m only going to talk to Suzie!”

  “Okay…”

  Suzie held Lisa’s hand. “Chad’s going to get you a good lawyer, but you’ll need to work with the state appointed one tomorrow in the meantime.”

  Sergeant Willoughby coughed loudly. “I hate to rush this along, Suzie. But could you wind this up? If anyone finds out I let you in here, I’ll be in big trouble.”

  “Quickly, Lisa. Let’s go through what happened. Can you remember anything falling or spilling on the pie you got for Chad?” Suzie asked hopefully.

  “No,” Lisa said. “It looked just like any of the other ones.”

  “But why’d you come back out to specifically serve Chad?”

  “Because I wanted him to know that he means nothing to me. That all his trophies, all his accomplishments, can’t undo what he did. I wanted him to know that he was just another customer to me!” Lisa said, scornfully.

  “Why’d you run away?” Suzie asked softly.

  “I got upset. Seeing my brother for the first time in years brought it all back. I thought I could get past it, but it made me think of that night. Before I knew what was happening, I’d wandered up towards the cemetery to Dad’s grave. I didn’t even know there’d been a murder until you came and got me.”

  “Alright, that’s enough, we really need to go,” said Willoughby.

  Suzie hugged Lisa and then looked at her reassuringly. “We’ll get you out of this, I promise.”

  Lisa nodded, and within two minutes, Suzie and Chad were back outside and the chorus of crickets started up again.

  Chad looked down at his feet, and as he did so, Suzie saw the innocent young boy she’d known all those years ago. “She hates me,” he said. “I hoped we’d get over it.”

  “I know, Chad. I know.”

  Suzie moved closer to Chad, and wrapped her arms around him, bringing his head to rest gently on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay.”

  His aftershave floated up through the night, enticing Suzie, and as they stood there under the stars, Chad did something that had been forbidden for so long. He kissed Suzie softly on the mouth.

  Suzie stepped back. “I…”

  “You’ve no idea how many years I�
�ve wanted to do that, Suzie,” said Chad.

  “You’ve no idea how long I’ve wanted you to do it,” Suzie laughed, but then the thought of her friend behind bars, alone and afraid, entered her mind. “This…This would crush Lisa.”

  “She seems done with me, it doesn’t seem to matter anymore,” he said sadly.

  “Yeah, well, I’m the person she’s closest to, and I just don’t think I can do that to her. When we were kids, I always wanted to be with you, but I never said anything because I knew that Lisa would have found it uncomfortable; at least, that was always the impression I got. Her friendship meant too much to me then, and it means too much to me now. It would be like getting in bed with the enemy…”

  “Ha! You’re sly. Who said anything about bed?” Chad grinned from ear to ear.

  “Very funny. You know what I mean. I just think we have to keep things platonic for now. At least, until Lisa is out.”

  “And then?”

  “And then, who knows…” They embraced, and after Chad walked Suzie to the bakery, they said goodnight. Suzie watched Chad disappear into the darkness heading back to the hotel. Crickets, murderers…and Chad, what a combination, she thought, before closing the door to the outside world for the night.

  It was the first time Suzie had slept ‘late’ in two years. The police had closed Suzie’s down until further notice. It was understandable, and there wasn’t much demand for poisoned food, not even from Suzie’s regulars.

  And so, for the first time in a long time, Suzie slept in until six in the morning. She would have slept in longer, but a loud knock on the door interrupted her sleep. Opening her window onto Main Street, she looked down at the front of the bakery and saw Chad staring back up, two large coffees in hand.

  “Maw and Paw gave me these. Said we need fuel if we’re to be detectives!” Chad yelled up.

  Suzie wiped the sleep from her eyes. “So Paw was listening to us at the Two Pines, then?”

  “Looks like it. Well?”

  “Well, what?” Suzie said, yawning.

  “I thought you were supposed to be the Sherlock Holmes out of the two of us? The game’s a boot!” Chad said loudly and confidently.

  Suzie giggled. “I think you’ve taken one too many hits to the head. It’s ‘the game’s afoot’.”

  “Whatever, hurry up and bring your magnifying glass, or whatever you’re going to use to do your detecting.”

  Chad sounded assertive, ready to meet the challenge, and that helped to spur Suzie on. She would not let her friend go down for a crime she didn’t commit. In any case, there was also the little question of her bakery. She would be going out of business if she didn’t clear its name, and fast!

  It was a day for questions, and they had to be asked quickly. Suzie walked along the seafront with Chad, trying to piece together the events of the day before to see if there was some clue to help them get to the bottom of all this madness.

  “If we can find the murderer, great, but our focus should be trying to remove Lisa as a suspect first,” Suzie said, truly stepping into the detective role. It was easily enough done. She had a keen mind and had always loved detective fiction. That being said, she’d much rather have had the mayor and wife still alive and Lisa out of jail than to finally get her chance to flex her critical faculties.

  Nothing seemed out of place along the seafront, so they moved to the next strategy: asking those who had been present if they’d seen anything that could exonerate Lisa.

  They started with Sammy the barber, visiting him at his salon as he snipped away at the hair of an unfamiliar face. He’d already decided that Lisa was the culprit, and no doubt his opinion had already spread throughout the town as Sammy cut the hair of most of the locals. He stood there in his white barber outfit, scissors in one hand, comb in the other, loudly proclaiming his view on the case. “I always knew that Lisa would go wrong eventually,” he said, pride in his voice.

  Chad straightened himself up, looming over him. “That’s my sister, Sammy. Just be careful what you’re saying…”

  Sammy nervously looked away. “Oh, of course, Chad. Innocent until proven guilty and all that. Definitely. Innocent until proven guilty.”

  “You don’t remember seeing anything strange at all yesterday, Sammy? Or hearing any arguments?” Suzie asked, hopefully.

  “No, sorry, dear. Nothing. And if there was something, I’d know.”

  “Of course you would,” Chad said disapprovingly.

  They left the barber’s and stood outside in the morning sun. Chad looked deep in thought. Placing her hand in his, Suzie reassured him: “We’ll find something, Chad. We’ll get her out of this, we just have to keep trying to find answers, okay?”

  He squeezed Suzie’s hand, and the two of them moved on. One by one, they visited the owners of the stalls at Chad’s parade and left each owner empty handed. None of them had seen anything unusual; they had been too busy trying to sell as many items as possible during the one-of-a-kind homecoming event for Chad.

  As they walked around town becoming increasingly dejected, Suzie suddenly had an idea.

  “We’re going about this the wrong way,” she said, cautiously.

  “What do you mean?” asked Chad, hope creeping into his voice for the first time in hours.

  “We’ve been asking people if they saw anything unusual, but it was way too busy yesterday. No one is going to have noticed something out of place. What we need to focus on is you.”

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “Someone tried to kill you, Chad. We need to find out if anyone in town is harboring a grudge against you. I’m sure someone who would go to the extreme of trying to kill you must have said something before or shown some sort of resentment towards you. If we can find that person, we could get Lisa out of this…”

  As if hearing the name, Suzie’s phone burst into life.

  “Hello, my name is Stan Jackson, I’ve been hired by Chad Hanson to represent Lisa?” the voice said.

  “Oh, yes! Stan, that’s great,” Suzie replied.

  “I’ve been trying to get through to Chad, but the signal here seems to be hit or miss.”

  Suzie laughed. “Yes, coverage can be patchy at best. Chad’s here if you’d like to talk to him?”

  “Excellent. Actually, would you both be able to meet me at the police station, say in 30 minutes?”

  “Of course, see you then.”

  “Thank you. Goodbye.”

  Suzie turned to Chad. “So, you hired a lawyer?”

  Chad grinned. “Yup, a damned good one.”

  “Well, he wants to see us at the police station, what do you think he wants?”

  “I have no idea…”

  They wasted no time, and it seemed that neither did Stan Jackson. When they arrived at the police station, he was already there, complete with thick rimmed glasses, a comb over and an expensive silk red tie against a white shirt and black suit.

  After cordial greetings, Stan walked Suzie and Chad into the station. The on duty sergeant let them to an interview room where Lisa sat at a wide metal table looking lost. Suzie ran over immediately and gave Lisa a reassuring hug.

  Chad was eager to get on with business. “Stan, can you update us on what’s going on?”

  Stan pushed his glasses further up his nose as he answered. “Lisa and I have spoken quite a bit this morning, and some other things have come to my attention...There’s good news and bad news.”

  “We’ll take the good news first, please,” Suzie said, hoping for anything positive.

  Stan continued: “Looking at the charges, it would not be a slam dunk for the prosecution if the case went to court. They do have a motive because of the bad blood between you, Chad, and Lisa. They also have opportunity as it was Lisa who, out of sight from anyone else, retrieved the poisoned apple pie and then served it to you. Unfortunately, a third party, a…,” Stan adjusted his glasses and reviewed his notes. “…Mrs. Rogers, claims that she heard Lisa say and I quote ‘maybe there
will be,’ when the mayor remarked that he hoped there would be no trouble on the town’s big day.”

  “Old Mrs. Rogers, has ears like a bat,” Suzie said.

  “So this is true, then? Lisa couldn’t recall,” Stan said.

  “Yes, I’m afraid I do remember that,” Suzie said.

  “Okay, so the prosecution has motive, opportunity, and a witness to a possible threat.” Stan filtered through some papers in front of him and sat down to study them more closely.

  “So, basically, I’m screwed?” Lisa asked, resignation in her voice.

  Stan smiled. “Not necessarily. There is a hole in their argument. No one saw you put cyanide in the apple pie. Also, the remaining pie in the dish came back negative, so only the two slices the mayor and his wife ate were poisoned. It’s not enough to stop a trial, but it’s a good place to argue that there’s sufficient reasonable doubt. I can’t promise we’d win, but it is something.”

  “Okay, so what’s the bad news?” Chad said.

  Stan turned to his client. “Lisa, I’m very sorry, but you’ve been scheduled for transfer to a county jail pending your pre-trial hearing. They’re going to move you in about four hours. I tried to stop it but was denied. I know this is distressing to you, but we have to focus on the positives.”

  Lisa burst into tears. “I don’t want to be around criminals, stuck in a cell!”

  Suzie wrapped her arm around Lisa. “It’ll be okay, Sweetie. Shhh…”

  But Lisa was inconsolable. She, too, had spent all of her life in Danvers Bay, and the idea of being put into a cell with potentially violent criminals clearly terrified her.

  Then something happened. Something that Suzie would never have predicted. Chad had been looking at the pain on his sister’s face, and that seemed to have been the catalyst. He walked around the table, pulled his sister into his arms and held her tight.

  In that moment, Lisa’s demeanor changed. She did not try to escape his embrace. She did not shout at him or show anger of any kind. All she did, was cry. Cry her eyes out on her big brother’s shoulder.