by Leona Fox
“Has anyone spoken to Curtis’ parents?” she asked. “I could do that if you think it would help.”
“They’ve already been told.” Zack reached across the table and squeezed her hand.
“They took it very hard, which is what I would expect. Send your condolences, but don’t go to see them until you can talk about Curtis without breaking down. They’re having enough trouble holding it together as it is.”
“That’s kind of harsh,” Sadie said, looking at him in surprise.
“It’s not meant to be. They are on the edge of collapse and I’m afraid the addition of a third person who feels deeply about the murder will send all three of you to the hospital psych ward. They’ll need to grieve in small chunks to get through it. At least, that’s my theory. I’m a cop, not a shrink, and I know it. But if they let it overtake them, I’m afraid they’ll go over the edge.”
“Haven’t you been here all day?” Sadie asked. She was confused about how he knew about the Beaudry family.
“I do have a cell phone, you know, and my people keep me informed.”
She nodded. Of course he would be keeping up with the investigation. “I’m okay now if you need to get back to the office.”
“Are you sure?” He examined her face. “I don’t want to go if you’ll be in distress.”
“I’ll ask Lucy to come by.” She smiled, and, although her smile felt stiff and foreign to her, it seemed to convince Zack she would be okay.
“You promise to call Lucy?” He already had begun gathering up his papers.
“Of course, I need someone to bounce my theories off and you are much too busy.”
“And I’m far too likely to be a wet blanket,” he said.
“I know you well, Sadie Barnett. You can theorize all you want but stay away from the investigation. You are too close to this and I don’t want you hurting any worse than you already are.”
“Yes, boss,” she said.
He kissed her lightly and headed down the stairs and out onto the street where his jeep was parked. She watched him from the window and before he got into his jeep he looked up and waved. She waved back, thinking he really was an excellent man, but if he thought she was keeping her nose out of Curtis’ murder just because he told her to… well, maybe he wasn’t as smart as she thought.
Then she snorted softly, he was smart and she knew it. He was performing his duties as a police chief and a concerned fiancé. He had warned her off the case, but he hadn’t expected her to comply. He knew her better than that.
Sadie called Lucy, who said she’d be over as quick as she could, and then went to get cleaned up. There was nothing like a good shower to clear the mind.
Chapter Two
Sadie spent the rest of the afternoon hashing out possibilities with Lucy but there really wasn’t enough information for them to come to any actual conclusions. Still, it kept them busy while they drank coffee in her living room and watched rain splatter on the windows.
It was after six when Zack stomped back up the stairs and sent Lucy home. He sat down on the couch opposite Sadie in her new favorite armchair--the old one having been retired after a distasteful incident.
“What did you find out?” Sadie asked. “About Curtis I mean.”
“Killed by a blow to the back of the head,” Zack said.
“It’s obvious the crime was not committed in your shop. He was killed elsewhere and then the body dumped, possibly to implicate you. It’s too early to tell, really.”
“The necklace and photo? They were planted to implicate me as well?” she asked.
“Again, too soon to tell, but it feels that way. And I want you to be careful. Keep your eyes open. I don’t like the feel of this case.”
He reached over and put a hand on her knee. “Stay safe.”
“I always stay safe.”
“What should we do now?” she asked. “Do you have any leads?”
“Nothing concrete,” he said. “We’re making inquiries at the college, looking for who saw him alive last.”
“What if that doesn’t lead you anywhere? What will you do then?”
“I won’t be doing anything,” Zack said quietly. “I’ve been removed from the case.”
“What?” Sadie’s voice rose an octave and her eyebrows threatened to fly off her face.
“Someone from the state attorney general’s office will take over the case,” he said, “to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
“They think I killed Curtis?” Anger rushed through Sadie, flushing her face a deep red.
“Like us, they don’t know. But because he was found in your shop…” he trailed off. The implication was clear.
“Will it be Oxford Ludlow?” she asked.
Sadie had mixed feelings about Oxford. The last time he’d been involved it ended up okay, but the part in the middle when he thought Sadie was involved had been very unpleasant.
“I haven’t heard who it will be,” Zack said. “Only that it won’t be me. And they’ve warned me off doing any independent investigation. I’m to keep my hands clear of it.”
“But they didn’t warn me off, did they?” she asked, a gleam developing in her eyes.
“Not in so many words,” Zack said, “but I think it’s implied.”
“Which means I can’t tell you what I find, right?” she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Sadie, what did I just say about staying safe?” Zack said, the line of his mouth compressing.
“I can find out things and stay safe at the same time,” she said. “I’ve done it before.”
“I won’t be able to help you if you end up in jail,” he said, the line of his mouth getting even thinner now.
“Do you understand that? I have no influence.” He spoke the last sentence slowly, emphasizing every word as if she were a child.
Sadie bristled. “If your mouth gets any thinner,” she said, “it’s going to disappear from your face. I am a competent adult, Zachary. And I am not going to sit back and watch someone from the state attorney general’s office try to convict me of a murder I did not commit. This is still America, there is no law against asking questions.”
“And if it costs me my job?” He raised his eyebrows at her again.
“If they try to fire you because of something I did,” she said indignantly, “I will call the New York Times and have them place a full page ad exposing the misogynistic policies in our justice system. Even if we were married, which we are not, women are not property. We are independent beings with free will and are not subject to control by the men in our lives.” She attempted to bore holes through Zack’s skull with her eyes. He recoiled slightly.
“Sadie, I never would claim to have any right to control your actions. Certainly I know it’s impossible to control your thoughts. I’m just saying if they catch me in the act of investigating I will lose my job. And they probably would expect me to detain you for interfering if I have knowledge of what you are doing.”
“Fine,” she said. “I won’t tell you what I’m doing. Who do I tell when I discover the murderer? The state’s attorney?”
“Or one of my officers. They will be assisting whomever is assigned to this case. If it were me, I’d assign it to Oxford because he’s already familiar with how this town works. But who knows? The powers that be may think familiarity is a detriment.”
He shook his head and pulled himself up off the couch. “If you are feeling back to normal I think I’ll go home. I’m tired.”
“Back to normal? No. But I’m not sad or traumatized so I’ll be fine. You should go get some sleep.” The words came out a lot sharper than she had intended.
She softened her tone. “You look exhausted, you should sleep.”
He kissed the top of her head and she heard his deliberate step descending the stairs slowly. She felt guilty for adding to his distress, but damn it, she wasn’t going to be railroaded by some stranger to this town. Someone who wouldn’t understand how fond she was of
Curtis, and that she never would murder him.
She knew she should go to sleep so she’d be fresh in the morning, but the anger that had started burning in her when she found out Zack had been removed from the case only had burned hotter. She was outraged the powers that be thought Zack was compromised, and the fact they considered her a suspect only made it worse.
“Idiots,” she said into the empty room. Mr. Bradshaw came trotting out of the bedroom and put his paws on her knee, tipping his head to one side in inquiry.
“You are an intelligent boy, aren’t you?” Sadie said scratching his head.
Mr. B wagged his tail and pointed his nose toward the door, looking at her with expectation.
“Oh, alright,” she said. “I’ll take you out.”
She pulled on a jacket and took Mr. Bradshaw across the street to the park. There was a candlelight vigil around one of the fountains--the water turned off for the winter--and she wondered if the people were gathered for Curtis. She moved closer to see the faces did look young enough to be college students, but she didn’t approach anyone to ask. She would grieve Curtis in her own way and not disturb his classmates. There was music, and she saw a young woman standing on the edge of the fountain strumming a guitar. The group started singing as she backed away, leading Mr. B back to their home over the shop.
The next morning, Sadie was wrapped in a blanket having second breakfast on her balcony over the shop when she spotted Zack’s jeep with Oxford Ludlow in the passenger seat. They pulled into a parking spot in front of the shop and Sadie called out.
“Grab yourselves some coffee before you come up,” she said, motioning to the bakery next door.
“No, thank you,” Oxford said and waited for Zack to lead him into Sadie’s shop.
It was a few minutes before they entered Sadie’s living room, and she decided Zack must be showing Oxford where the body was found. She moved into the living room and tidied up a little, picking up magazines and the pads of paper where she scribbled plans for upcoming junking trips. The room presentable, she sat on the couch and waited for sounds of the men climbing the stairs.
They were arguing. Sadie could hear them before they even started up the stairs. Voices raised, Zack sounded like an enraged grizzly, and Oxford’s nasal voice was an octave higher than normal. She leaned forward and listened but the words were indistinct until they opened the lower door to the stairs.
“I have every right to be here,” Zack was saying. “And I’m not leaving until Sadie tells me she wants me to go.”
“You’ve been taken off the case,” Oxford retorted viciously, “you have no jurisdiction.”
“She’s my fiancée. I don’t need jurisdiction, you fool. She has every right to have someone here while you question her.”
Mr. B trotted in and growled at the door, his upper lip pulled back.
“Come here, Mr. Bradshaw,” Sadie said and patted the couch next to her. He gave a last growl low in his throat and came to sit next to her, his eyes trained on the door.
The upper door burst open and the two men jostled in the doorway before Zack put his elbow in Oxford’s ribs and pushed through first. Mr. Bradshaw barked once, loudly. Oxford swore, stepped in and looked around while Zack went straight to Sadie and sat down on the other side from Mr. B.
“I won’t leave unless you feel comfortable,” he said. “Don’t let Oxford bully you.”
Oxford joined them and sat in Sadie’s favorite chair. She narrowed her eyes at him. He’d better not do anything to taint her affection for that chair. She still was mourning the loss of her other armchair. Mr. B sensed her emotion and growled. She put her hand on his back to quiet him.
“Ms. Barnett,” Oxford said, “I need to ask you questions about what happened in your business yesterday morning, and I would prefer it if Chief Woodstone were not present.”
“Why shouldn’t he be present?” Sadie asked. “What harm could it do?”
“It makes me uneasy to have a person who has been removed from a case be so involved,” he said. “I want him to leave.”
“I’m not going to answer your questions without someone here to advise me,” she said. “So you choose, Chief Woodstone or a lawyer? What’s your preference?”
“Perhaps we should adjourn to my offices in Concord,” he said. “There are female officers of the court that could sit with you.”
Sadie felt her anger rising. He was trying to intimidate her. It was like he didn’t know her at all, like they had not solved a case together not that long ago.
“Unless you are arresting me, I am not traveling to Concord to be questioned. I wish to have either the chief or my lawyer present. You choose. My lawyer you will have to wait for.”
Oxford shot her a hateful look and chewed his lip. He didn’t have enough information to make a good decision. If he dragged her to Concord, three hours away, and she turned out to be innocent, someone was bound to make a fuss about his heavy-handedness. He didn’t want the chief, but he didn’t know how much time it would take for a lawyer to arrive--or even if one could be here today. There were no good answers.
“Well,” Sadie asked, “what will it be?”
“Get your lawyer.” He sat back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
Damn, Sadie thought. He’d called her bluff. She got up and went to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She had a business lawyer. At least she had consulted a business lawyer when she was setting up her shop, but this was not a matter for a business lawyer. If he truly suspected her of murder, she needed a criminal lawyer and a good one.
She found her address book and flipped through it looking for the business lawyer’s firm. She couldn’t remember the name. Something like Lyon, Lyon, and Bare, she thought. She found it under Steller, Steller and Grisly and called.
“This is Sadie Barnett, I wonder if Mr. Catamount is available?” She waited while the receptionist checked and put her through.
“Ms. Barnett,” his voice was as she remembered, efficient but kind. “What can I do for you?”
“I need a referral,” she said, appalled that her voice was quavering. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.
“It’s a criminal matter.”
“Surely, not.” He sounded shocked.
“Your business is tight as can be. I talk to your tax man regularly and he has no concerns about you.”
“It’s not about the business, Mr. Catamount, I’m a suspect in a murder and the investigating officer is refusing to let the police chief sit with me while I’m questioned. That being the case, I want a lawyer.”
“Who is this idiot?” Mr. Catamount said, sounding outraged. “And why is he wasting time with you?”
“The body was found in my shop,” she said. “Although they don’t think he was killed there.”
“Still, it’s ridiculous. Let me call someone for you. Don’t say anything until you hear back from me.”
She did one better. She sat cross-legged in the middle of her bed and waited. She heard Zack’s voice in the living room and wondered what they could be talking about. Nothing good, she was pretty sure of that.
The phone rang ten fidgety minutes later. “Stay where you are,” Catamount said.
“Ellie Ian is on her way.”
“How do you know where I am?” she asked.
“Caller ID, Sadie, everyone has it.” He hung up.
She contemplated staying in her room until the lawyer came, but decided it was safe to join the men in the living room. She sat next to Zack and he put an arm around her.
“The lawyer is on the way,” she said.
“Perhaps we could get the preliminaries out of the way while we are waiting,” Oxford said.
“I was advised to say nothing until she arrives.” She managed to keep the edge out of her voice, but only just.
Oxford sighed and they waited in silence. Sadie relaxed back into Zack’s embrace. Oxford’s leg was jiggling with impatience and she felt like she’d won a sma
ll victory. She was hurt he was treating her like a criminal, she thought they’d moved beyond that on his last case here in Seagrove. He’d been positively warm when they’d said goodbye.
But she kept the hurt off her face, keeping what she hoped was a pleasant half-smile. But when her phone rang she almost vaulted off the couch. She started down the stairs as she answered, knowing Ellie Ian would have read the sign on her door saying to call if the store wasn’t open.
