The Pumpkin Problem

by Beth Byers

  “You let Simon protect you too much,” Zee said.

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Protect me from what? He walks with me and might be a little paranoid about something happening to the baby. But it’s not like he locks me in the house.”

  “He would.”

  “He says he would. He says he’d like to. But think about Simon for a few minutes and tell me if he really would? By nature he’s a protector. That’s why he’s a cop. He doesn’t actually want to stop me from doing anything I want to do.”

  “He doesn’t want you investigating.”

  I rolled my eyes. I didn’t have the fear and love that Zee inspired in the entire population of the town of Silver Falls and I wasn’t a police officer. It wasn’t being suffocating for a cop not wanting a person like me interfering in their case. That was just normal, and it wasn’t worth arguing over.

  Whitey Jones worked at a construction office just on the other side of Lincoln City. Zee and I parked outside of it, and I had to get her to help me out of the car.

  “You still have months to go, girl,” Zee told me.

  I growled at her, and she just smirked. I was unwieldy. We didn’t have to dwell on it. I could still get around. I could still fit behind the wheel of the car. I just wasn’t responding to the change in my center of gravity well. That was all—dang it!

  CHAPTER 11

  “Honestly,” Whitey said as we entered his office, “I expected you earlier. Janice told me all she told you.” He glanced at the office clerk and said, “Go get coffees for everyone, please. Take the money from the cash bin. Maybe donuts too. I’ll message you when we’re done here.”

  She jumped up, nodding. It took her a long-silent minute to grab her coat, bag, and cash, and she was out the door. It was only then that Whitey invited Zee and I to sit across from him. His office was a single-wide trailer, and the large metal desk he sat behind was covered with schematics and plans.

  “You think we should suspect you?”

  Whitey shrugged. His ruddy face was hard. He looked like a man who laughed often, but there was nothing amused about him as he said, “If I were a killing man, Jerry would have had an accident a long time ago.”

  I blinked at the sheer hatred in his voice.

  He continued, “I do what I can to keep Janice away from her mother and her brother. The problem is that Sheryl calls Janice every time help is needed. We’d have moved away, but my business here…I couldn’t just start up again somewhere else. So we just agreed to keep our interactions to a minimum with her family. Janice can’t do it. When Sheryl needs help, my wife can’t stop herself from stepping up. It’s why I love Janice. It’s why I hate them. And endless circle of pain.”

  “Do you think she killed him?”

  Whitey frowned. I think he expected to be the suspect. But the truth was—I bought his simple answer.

  “No,” Whitey said flatly. “But I’d lie to you without an ounce of regret about Janice, so I’m not sure you can buy what I have to say.”

  Zee laughed and I just waited.

  Whitey continued, “I don’t think he deserved to die for what he did. It’s a big jump from wanting to give him a solid beating and ostracize him to killing him. I think Janice and I should have done a better job about separating our lives from her family.”

  “You should have,” Zee told him. “You failed big time there, buddy.”

  Whitey nodded. He wasn’t bothered at all by Zee’s pointed telling of a truth we all believed. “However,” Whitey said, “Murder, death, that’s a big punishment. I hated Jerry. I hated him more than I’ve ever hated anyone. But I wouldn’t have killed him. And you must understand, Janice is far, far kinder than I am. Far kinder. Far more forgiving. Far more willing to continue to take his crap. So, do I think she snuck out of our house and killed him? No. But I also know she didn’t. Her car has been on the fritz, and I track mileage for my car for work.”

  I cleared my throat. I thought Whitey was probably telling the truth. I thought that Herman—at the least—believed his wife was innocent.

  “Motives are usually centered around love, abiding hatred, and money.” Zee had piped in. “Did Jerry love anyone?”

  Whitey shrugged, “Jerry knew I hated him. The last time he willingly talked to me, he said something nasty about my wife, and I taught him a lesson with a solid beating. Since then, we just avoid each other at gatherings that I can’t talk my wife out of. I’m sure his ex-wife hated him as much as anyone. But she’s been taking care of her mom up in Tillamook. She wasn’t around when he died. I’m sure that’s verifiable.”

  “No doubt the police have already taken care of it,” Zee muttered. You could tell she was mad that she didn’t know about that. She must have been grilling Carver about the case whenever she had the chance.

  “If you could guess who killed him?”

  Whitey shook his head and said, “Honestly, he could be charming when he wanted to be. It just made it worse later when you realized what a prick he was. I’d bet my lefthand that he was shady with that business of his. I know for a fact that Dave hated Jerry too. But Dave kept Jerry and their mom as distant as possible. He does way better than Janice and I, but of course, his wife despised Jerry and hates how their mom is so passive aggressive with Janice. It’s easier for Dave. It’s not like his wife wants to spend more time with either of them.”

  “So you don’t think Dave would have killed him?”

  “Yeah,” Whitey said. “Look, if Jerry had hurt one of Dave’s kids? Maybe. He has a pack of girls, and Dave is a man who believes in the right to bear arms. But Dave is also a man who just doesn’t let Jerry come around. So do I think Dave killed Jerry? No. Not in this case.”

  “I don’t like any of our suspects,” I told them both frankly. “Sheryl didn’t do it. She thinks Jerry hung the moon, the fool.”

  Whitey and Zee both snorted meanly.

  “Dave and Whitey don’t seem to have an inciting incident that pushed them over the edge. Not unless we don’t know about something more that Jerry did to Janice or Dave’s family. So, motives abound there, but why now?”

  I wasn’t even caring that Whitey could hear me muse over who could be guilty. It almost felt like we were conspirators in the same game.

  “Janice is the mostly likely,” Zee said. “Like we thought before we even came here.”

  “What about Henry?” Whitey asked suddenly. “He has a lot of money in that business with Jerry. He should have known better. They knew each other since their teens. Henry knew what Jerry was like.”

  “He has an alibi,” Zee said, crossing her arms. “His business is falling apart though.”

  I sniffed as Simon called and then answered, putting him on speaker. “Hey babe. We’re here with Herman.”

  Simon was silent for a moment and then he said, “You shouldn’t be involved in a murder investigation.”

  Zee started to answer and I held up my hand. “Yeah. I shouldn’t be. But Whitey isn’t dangerous. And this needs to be over.”

  Simon was silent for a moment and then he said, “Whitey I will kill you slowly if you harm a hair on my wife’s head.”

  Zee and I both rolled our eyes, but Whitey said, “I would never do that, man. How solid is Henry’s alibi? This crazy wife of yours thinks my wife killed Jerry.”

  Simon’s phone sound changed, and I could tell he’d put us on speaker as well. “Apparently,” Simon’s dry voice, “We’re a committee investigation now. They want to know how solid Henry’s alibi is?”

  “He was at a conference in Portland. We found witnesses for the first day. We’ve found for the breakfast the next day.”

  “He could have driven from Portland to Silver Falls, been there when Jerry arrived to do the deliveries, and been back before breakfast.”

  Simon and Carver were silent, so I was thinking they’d figured that as well. The question was had he?

  “Does he have some sort of other alibi?”

  “For the time frame in questi
on? No.”

  I sniffed and then Whitey said, “He drives fast. I helped once when Jerry was sick with their early route. He speeds everywhere. There are police camera between here and there. New ones he might not have known about.”

  “You shouldn’t know about those,” Carver said. “They’re…”

  “They’re out already,” Whitey said.

  “But what car would you be looking for?” I wondered. “What if he was smart enough to rent or borrow a car? Or even to steal one. You’re at a conference in a hotel. Some of those people probably rented cars. Maybe he used one of those instead. I don’t think it would be that hard.”

  “If,” Zee said, “All you’re looking for is a reasonable doubt. Well…he was out of town…he has witnesses…he didn’t use his car…he didn’t use his weapon.”

  “He didn’t put the body in the dumpster. Of all the suspects, only the guys Henry, Herman, and Dave were capable of doing that. There’s no way Janice could have. Doing that would have ruled Janice out unless we assumed that she and Whitey killed Jerry together.” I frowned and pulled out my notebook.

  “But Janice is pretty open about what happened to her. It’s a big motive. She is the easiest suspect in a lot of ways.”

  “She’s our primary suspect,” Simon said. Whitey scowled at the phone. “For that very reason. But like you, I don’t quite buy it.”

  “What if they were just trying to set her up? What if Henry knew all about their past? What if Henry was even aware that the money had been manipulated out of Sheryl? What if he found out that Jerry hadn’t put in all he should have?”

  Herman’s head tilted and then he said, “Oh he knew that.”

  Zee and I both turned on Whitey and we could hear Carver curse on the other side of the line.

  “He was whining to me at the pub recently. How his business was suffering and it would have been better if Jerry had put in the full half. They could have had two routes instead of one. Instead, they were struggling with an old delivery truck. I told him I thought that they should be able to get buy on a truck that cost ninety grand.”

  I whistled under my breath and then asked, “How long ago was this?”

  “A week or two.”

  “You two,” Carver said. “You two with your gossiping ways.”

  “It’s because people like Rose,” Zee said, “And she isn’t going to end a conversation with an arrest.”

  Carver cursed and Simon snorted a bit of a laugh.

  “What do you think about the name Whitey for a baby?” The big ruddy man asked. “I think it’s a solid name. Not used nearly enough.”

  Zee laughed at that and said, “They’ll be naming their little princess after me.”

  “No one can carry the burden of your name but you, Zee,” Carver said.

  I smiled and didn’t bother to respond to either of them. I didn’t know what we’d name our baby, but I didn’t see the point in telling Whitey that his name was terrible. The door to the office opened and Whitey turned to the door. His mouth snapped shut as he saw Henry in the door. He’d gone from looking angry and frustrated to disheveled.

  I shot Zee a look and she reached casually out to the phone. Henry saw, however, and he said, “Don’t touch the phone.”

  My gaze darted to the screen. It was still on and Simon and Carver weren’t saying a word.

  “We should have guessed,” I said a little too loudly. “The biggest clue is the delivery truck. Who would lock it and put it somewhere safe but an owner? Why are you here, Henry? And with a gun?”

  I didn’t need to hear the curses of Carver and Simon to know that they were swearing up a blue streak. Just as I didn’t need to know that they were coming.

  CHAPTER 12

  “You weren’t supposed to be here,” Henry said to Zee and I as we’d somehow tricked him.

  “Why are you here?” I asked him softly, deliberately placing my hand over my belly to draw attention to the level of the crime his presence and gun threatened.

  His gaze leveled on my belly and he said, “Whitey pays his day laborers with cash. He’s got a lot in that safe of his. I’d take some from my own business but Jerry already drained it.”

  “But you have a family. A…”

  “I have nothing left. Jerry took it. He…snorted it up his nose. He ruined me.”

  I didn’t feel at all sympathetic. Henry had ruined himself. He’d gone into business with someone he’d known was shady but thought he’d escape unscathed when Jerry’s sister and mother hadn’t. It was sheer idiocy.

  I kept my gaze on Whitey as he lifted his hands and said, “Hold on now. I’ll get your money. Let these two go.”

  “They’ll call the cops. They’re staying right here.” Henry jerked the gun around and then said, “Hurry up now.”

  My gaze darted to my phone again. I hadn’t heard a sound from the other side, so I assume that the boys had muted their end. Whitey shuffled his desk a bit, pushing a paper over the phone, so the ongoing call couldn’t be seen and then he said, “Let’s just all be careful here. Let’s all think this thing through. It’s just money, Henry. Of course, I’ll get it for you.”

  Whitey carefully stood and crossed to the safe. He was moving slowly and precisely with his hands out, no need for Henry to feel threatened.

  “May I ask you a question?”

  Henry’s gaze darted to me and he nodded.

  “Why did you kill him?”

  Henry growled a little and then said, “He ruined the business. I had been picking the paperwork apart ever since I found out about the money Sheryl gave him. Then I followed him. I started to sort out the double billing, the over charging. I don’t even get how he did it. But I found him buying drugs.”

  Zee shifted, catching both of our attention and I could just see a dark SUV that had parked on the other side of one of the big construction trucks. It was risky but Carver’s SUV wasn’t marked as a police one like Simon’s was.

  “There is no recovering the business. My wife will never forgive me for having it fall apart. My kids are going to despise me when we lose the house. There’s nothing left. But I can start over somewhere else.”

  I watched Henry as he watched Herman. Janice’s steady husband carefully emptied his safe into a paper bag and then approached Henry.

  “If you hurt one of these two,” Whitey said, “The pregnant one is married to a cop. The other lives with the sheriff. You’ll never get away.”

  Henry frowned and then pulled out his backpack. He dumped the money in and took a rope out.

  “Tie them up,” Henry said to me. My heart jumped at that. He was either going to take me with him or incapacitate me in another way.

  I did as Henry asked, tying Whitey tightly where Henry could see and deliberately not tying Zee very hard at all. Did Henry realize there were cops outside? Was he planning on making me his escape plan? There was no way I was getting into a car with him. I knew how that ended and it was with me dead in a ditch or a ravine.

  Henry shoved a sock into each of their mouths and Zee’s expression said he’d pay for that.

  After they were tied, Henry motioned me closer. I shook my head.

  “Don’t fight and you own’t get hurt.”

  “Is that what you told Jerry?”

  “Jerry had no idea what was happening until it was over. He was lucky he died high instead of in withdrawals. The last favor I did for the lying piece of trash.”

  I cleared my throat and said, “I’m not going with you.”

  “Don’t make me hurt you.” Henry moved closer, he waved the gun as though it were a pointer instead of a weapon.

  I frowned at him. Make him hurt me? As though I were somehow compelling his actions? Please. I took a deep breath. The feminist in me wanted to expound on his crappy actions and his crappy point of view, but I held it back.

  Zee snarled something through her sock, and Whitey was shouting at him. I wanted to do some shouting of my own. I was sure that I wasn’t alone. But putti
ng my baby too close to Henry? Was it worse than letting him point his gun at me across the way?

  “Now!”

  I slowly crossed to Henry and said, “Don’t be stupid.”

  He grabbed my arm tightly and repeated my own words back to me.

  Henry had parked just outside the trailer. The rest of the cars, including, where I was sure Simon and Carver were hiding were at least another thirty feet away.

  “Open the door,” Henry ordered, squeezing my arm.

  “No,” I said quietly as Simon stepped out from the side of the truck.

  “I can’t let you take my wife with you,” Simon said, holding his arms out, no gun in sight. “You can take me instead.”

  Henry’s grip tightened painfully, and I tried not to cry out. I didn’t want to set off the other cops I was sure were on hand.

  “I don’t want you.”

  “Then we’re at an impasse,” Simon said.

  Henry pointed his gun at me and Simon shook his head. “Move it, Banks. Don’t make me hurt her.”

  Simon’s gaze was fixed on mine, and I was sure he’d flip out later. Probably have a little bit of a meltdown and need some chocolate and the punching of things to feel better. But for the moment, he was utterly focused.

  “The statistics say I won’t get her back. Choose. Take me. Or we’ll just sort it out here.”

  “I don’t want your wife. I won’t hurt her,” Henry said. I could tell by his tone he was probably trying to for a charming grin. “I just want to get away.”

  Simon’s expression told me just what he thought of that grin of Henry’s. I wanted to shake my head. I took immense comfort in the reality that they wouldn’t stop fighting for me. Henry moved the gun from my head to my belly and he told me, “Get in the car.”

  I cocked my head at him.

  “Did you really just point that gun at my baby?”

  Simon carefully said, “Rose…”.

  Simon knew me too well. I shrieked at Henry, “Did you really just threatened my baby?”