A Deadly Discovery

by J. C. Kenney

  I shot to my feet as a rumbling grew among the gathering. I’d pulled on all these strings. If I didn’t act fast, these people could get upset and leave and the whole thing would unravel like an old sweater. That was one thing I could not let happen.

  “If we could all take a breath, folks, I have a suggestion.” I held out my hands like a teacher quieting a class until I had everyone’s attention. “We all want to know who took Valerie Briggs from us. It’s been a long wait. Too long.”

  The room was filled with people making sounds of assent. The level of tension, which had been rising like a rocket, eased off a touch.

  I was no longer assembling a puzzle. Now, I was playing chess, with the murderer as my opponent. I’d managed the preliminary moves like a pro. The next move was the most difficult one I’d make. My experience with words needed to be put to use perfectly, or things would blow up in my face.

  “Hear me out, please. I think it’s important to understand something. Before an arrest can even be made, we need to understand the circumstances that led up to Valerie’s murder.”

  “And who’s going to tell us that,” Dak asked with a snort.

  “Me. It’s time for the world to know the truth.”

  Chapter Twenty-five

  The room erupted in a cacophony so loud Rachel rushed into the room to see if there was a medical emergency. Kim was shouting questions at me. Matt and Angela were gesturing like their hair was on fire as they exchanged words.

  “People, please!” Jack banged on the table so hard the glassware shook. It did the trick, though, as everyone quieted down again.

  Matt was the one who broke the renewed silence. “You’re way out of line, Allie. One more word and I’ll arrest you for interfering with a criminal investigation.”

  “I’m afraid he’s right,” Angela said. “Now is not the time to be throwing allegations around. I know you mean well but—”

  “Let her talk.” Connie’s tone cut through the room like a sword. “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve been told ‘Now is not the time’ over the last twenty years, I’d be a rich woman. I want to hear what she has to say.”

  “Mrs. Briggs—”

  “Save it, Roberson. She’s worked hard to find Valerie’s murderer. That’s more than your father ever did.”

  Matt swallowed as his cheeks turned a shade so red, they could have ignited a piece of paper if it got too close. He wanted this to end. For the meeting to be over. To lead the horse back into the barn.

  But it was too late for that. And he knew it.

  At that moment, I felt sorry for him. He was a decent guy who’d admitted to me one time that he’d never planned on becoming Rushing Creek’s police chief. It was like the old Rolling Stones song, though. We didn’t always get what we want.

  “Fine.” He wiped his hands.

  “I want to go back to the August before Valerie disappeared.” I pulled Valerie’s yearbook from my bag. “Specifically, to the first football bonfire of the year. It was in late August. I’ll tell you why that matters soon.”

  A pink sticky note marked the photo of Valerie at the bonfire. I flipped to it.

  “Here’s proof Valerie was there that night. Of course, a lot of people were there. Ted was the host, so he was there. A bunch of other athletes were there too, like Dak. Even troublemakers like Cecil Burgess were there. We all know what the bonfires were like back then. The alcohol flowed as freely as the weed was burned and late-night rendezvous weren’t uncommon. Am I right?”

  Heads nodded, some more reluctantly than others. The truth wasn’t always pretty.

  “Let’s fast-forward to the day Valerie disappeared. It was about four months after this party.” I pointed at the black-and-white image of a smiling Valerie.

  “We know she called Dak. He was out hunting, so she left a message, asking to borrow his car. By the time he got to Valerie’s house, she was already gone. Apparently, that was the last anyone heard from her. Or so everyone thought.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Matt was chomping down on a piece of gum so hard his jaw appeared to be in danger of snapping. He had his notebook open, though.

  “When her remains were discovered, a business card was found on her person. It had an Indianapolis address. How’d she get there? Cecil gave her a ride. He kept quiet about it because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. The business card? It was from a family planning clinic.”

  There was a collective gasp as understanding dawned on the group.

  “Yes. Valerie got pregnant the night of the bonfire. By late December, she couldn’t hide her condition any longer. The reason she wanted to borrow Dak’s car was to drive to Indianapolis for an appointment at the same family planning clinic. When Dak didn’t return her call, she lost patience and talked Cecil into taking her.”

  Dak’s hands were balled into fists. His complexion had taken on an ashen pallor. Was he upset with the news or because he was close to being found out? I couldn’t tell.

  Ted, on the other hand, was scrolling through his phone, like a bored teenager. His lack of interest had me intrigued. Everybody else was giving me their undivided attention. Why wasn’t he doing the same?

  Over the next few minutes, I reviewed what happened after Valerie disappeared. It was all common knowledge, but I wanted to show how woefully inadequate the investigation had been. To be fair, I was clear that this all went down at a time before cellular technology and wireless devices had become ubiquitous. It would have been much easier to disappear back then, with fewer chances to leave an electronic footprint behind.

  “Assuming all of this is true, and I’m not saying it is, why didn’t she tell anybody about her condition?” Matt flashed a smug grin, evidently satisfied he’d punched a face-saving hole in my story.

  “Because she was scared,” Connie said. “Of what the town would have said. Of how I would have reacted. And especially of what Phil might have done.” She choked back tears. “Oh, my poor baby. I failed her.”

  Matt’s smile disappeared.

  Angela put an arm around Connie. “You didn’t fail her. You didn’t fail anyone. Any fault lies at the feet of this community, which failed to be there when your family needed it.”

  The mayor looked at me with watery eyes. “Please continue.”

  I’d struck a nerve. Instead of begrudgingly listening to my story because they had to, now the powers that be wanted to hear it. Oh, they were going to hear it, all right. Because it was the truth.

  As I picked up the thread of my narrative, I strolled around the room. My movements helped me assess who was paying attention.

  Everyone was.

  “According to the coroner, Valerie was seven months’ pregnant when she was murdered.” I paused a few beats to let the word sink in. “Remember how I told you she got pregnant at the end of August? When we add seven months to that, we arrive at late March.”

  “You’re contending that’s when she died?” Kim’s brows were furrowed. To her credit, she was trying to get down every word I was saying. This meeting had turned into way more than she’d bargained for.

  “Yes. The third week of March, to be more precise.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Jack asked.

  “Because that’s when spring break was that year. That’s when she came back to Rushing Creek.”

  I’d moved my queen into dangerous territory and was still many moves from declaring victory. The wrong word would leave my king exposed to checkmate.

  I took my case notebook from the bag. It was like I was the main character in an episode from the old black-and-white Parry Mason television show.

  “It took some doing, but I put together a list of people who attended that bonfire. Among them were the six seniors who were on the baseball team that school year. The father of Valerie’s unborn child was a baseball player.

  “She came back to town spring break week because she knew a lot of people, especially in the senior class, would be out of town. Tha
t would make it easier to get around unnoticed. The people who she could bet her life to be in town? The baseball team.”

  Matt cleared his throat. “That’s true. Back then, there was a rule that if you wanted to play baseball, you couldn’t go out of town during spring break.”

  “Valerie knew one other thing when she came back to town. She knew that even though the father was in town, his family wouldn’t be. She’d be able to confront the father in secrecy. No phone calls. No friends, no family around to cause drama.

  “And no witnesses to her murder.”

  Dak’s complexion had taken on a greenish pallor. Meanwhile, Ted kept putting his phone on the table and picking it right back up again. I positioned myself behind the two former baseball players.

  One of whom was Valerie’s murderer.

  Matt had slid his hand to his hip, where his gun was holstered. He must have used his cop Spidey Sense to intuit we were getting close to the big reveal. He was ready to spring into action if needed. The understated way he made the move indicated he didn’t want to pour gasoline on an already combustible situation.

  My dear assistant had no such reservations. Standing in the doorway, Calypso’s arms were crossed. Her feet were spread shoulder-width to block any exit. Her phone hung loosely in her grip. I had no doubt her thumb was ready to press the Record Video icon.

  With the chess pieces in position, I took a deep breath and made my final move.

  “Valerie confronted the murderer at his home. She told him about her condition. Only one living soul knows the details of that conversation, but we can safely assume they argued.”

  “What makes you say that?” This time it was Angela who’d asked the question.

  “There’s this.” I placed her diary on the table between Dak and Ted. “Every now and then, Valerie wrote lists of names. I checked. They weren’t names of friends, or family, or even classmates. They were names for her baby.

  “She wouldn’t have done that if she didn’t want to keep the baby. Think about it, folks. Ever since that awful day when her sister almost died, Valerie’s life had been a living hell. But now, she had something inside her that was beautiful and hers and nobody was going to take that away.”

  “Come on, Allie.” Matt rubbed his chin with his free hand. “I was willing to give you some latitude, but now you’re completely into conjecture.”

  “She’s not wrong.” Connie wrapped her arms around herself. “Those years were terrible. For all of us. Phil was so angry, and when the bills kept piling up, he drank more and more. Things got worse between them with each passing day. I could see how she might have thought about a baby, and for the first time in a long time, having some hope.”

  Ozzy’s words came to mind. Valerie hadn’t been a bad kid. She’d been a damaged one. Her father had emotionally abused her, and her mother hadn’t supported her. The poor girl’s reckless decision-making was due to a lack of support at home.

  “Exactly, Connie. She went to the father of her child hoping to work out a future for herself and the baby. Maybe for all three of them. But that young man wanted nothing to do with her or his child. Tempers rose, and at some point, he put his hands around her throat and choked her until she was unconscious.”

  The room was silent, except for Connie’s intermittent sobbing.

  “When he realized what he’d done, he knew he needed to finish the job. Oh, he might have only been an eighteen-year-old high school student, but this young man was one cool customer. Some marine rope was close at hand, so he cut off a section, wrapped it around Valerie’s neck, and strangled the life out of her.”

  I wanted to get a look at the murderer eye to eye, so I took another walk around the table. A few more cracks were showing in his façade.

  Kim stood. “Are you trying to tell us Ronald Spade murdered Valerie? After all, rope matching the murder weapon was found on his property.”

  “No. Mr. Spade may have messed around with underage girls, but he’s no murderer. Besides, he didn’t have an equipment bag like the one the murderer used. Only members of the baseball team did.”

  I returned to my spot behind Dak and Ted. We were oh so close to being in checkmate.

  “Once the killer realized what he’d done, he could have gone to the police. It was a horrific ending, yes. But it was also something that happened in the heat of the moment. At that point, had he come forward and confessed his crime, I’d wager he would have gotten off on a manslaughter charge and would be out of prison today.”

  Several eyebrows were raised. “Is that right, Chief?” Kim asked.

  “A manslaughter sentence in Indiana carries a sentence of ten to thirty years. So, yes, that is possible, hypothetically speaking.”

  “It don’t matter now. Since he didn’t do that. The coward.” Connie practically spat the words out. They were laced with the venom of a deadly pit viper.

  “Instead of coming forward, the murderer emptied his equipment bag, stuffed Valerie into it, then took off to dispose of the body, like nothing more than a bag of trash. He knew the lay of the land at the forest well enough to get in, carry Valerie to a secluded spot, and dig a makeshift grave deep enough to keep her hidden for decades.

  “He was in and out in a couple of hours, all under the cover of darkness. Only someone local could have pulled that off. Only a member of the Rushing Creek baseball team could have done all that and returned to town with his secret intact.”

  I chuckled. “It was the perfect crime. Except for one detail the murderer overlooked.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  “This has been riveting, Allie. I’d love to stay, but I have an appointment.” Ted reached for his briefcase as he began to stand.

  I put my hand on his shoulder and applied downward pressure, forcing him back into his seat. “This won’t take much longer. Besides, as class president, I think you owe it to Valerie to be here when the truth is revealed.”

  Calypso closed the door behind her. I gave her the slightest of nods in appreciation. If the killer was going to make a run for it, he was going to have to get through her first, and then the door. My assistant was one sharp young woman.

  The rest of the gathering was hanging on my every word. Even Connie’s attention was focused on me. As she looked in my direction with bloodshot, red-rimmed eyes, a new flame kindled to life inside me.

  It wasn’t a flame of anger, though. Or revenge. This was a flame of justice. Finally, after so many years, Connie was mere minutes away from receiving some.

  With one hand on Dak’s shoulder and the other on Ted’s, I reviewed for everyone the circumstances under which Valerie’s body was discovered.

  “Let me get this straight.” Kim pulled another notebook out of a brown leather messenger bag. “Are you telling us that if that area hadn’t been marked for timber harvest, the body might not have ever been found?”

  “It looks that way. In retrospect, the smarter thing would have been to dump her body in the Rushing Creek and hope the water would take her away, or sneak into the state park and bury her there.”

  “So, the location ended up being the killer’s second mistake.” Angela took a second to look around the room, trying to figure out who the murderer was. “What was the first one?”

  “Valerie’s murderer failed to completely empty the equipment bag. He left one thing. A sock. Inside that sock was a bloody bandage. The police sent the bandage to a lab for DNA testing. The results came in a few days ago. Isn’t that right, Chief?”

  “That’s correct. That was also confidential information. How did you come by it?” His eyes were like daggers. I had a feeling his staff would be getting a stern lecture about leaking case details in the near future.

  “Oh, you know. This is Rushing Creek. Nothing stays secret forever.” I took a drink to calm my nerves. The tension continued to build, both inside of me and throughout the room.

  “We can deduce that the test results confirmed neither Valerie’s father Phil, nor Mr. Spade, was the kil
ler. If the sample from the bandage found with Valerie had formed a connection to either of those two men, we would have heard about it.”

  “Is she right, Chief?” Jack asked as he refilled his water glass.

  “She is.” He got to his feet. Whether it was so he could appear authoritative or for another reason, I couldn’t tell. “On Monday, I notified Mrs. Briggs that the result cleared her husband. I had a similar conversation with Mr. Spade later the same day.”

  Minute vibrations in my hands revealed both Dak and Ted’s agitated conditions. They were trying to control their body movements, and their emotions. Their efforts had been futile. I crossed my arms to give them a false sense of security.

  “If Phil Briggs didn’t kill his daughter, and Ronald Spade didn’t do it, either, who did take Valerie’s life? You see, there was nothing in any government-supervised database to match the sample taken from the bandage. While the sample allowed us to rule some suspects out, it didn’t provide a complete match.”

  “I don’t understand.” Dak looked over his shoulder at me. “If there was no match, how can you know who killed Val?”

  Sweat lined his upper lip. His gaze was darting back and forth between me and Ted, while his toe was tapping the floor at the pace of a hummingbird flapping its wings. His composure was unraveling with each tick of the clock.

  “I wouldn’t, if not for a recent program the library put on.” I told them about Brent’s genealogy class and how the attendees were given the option to upload the results of their DNA tests to a publicly searchable database.

  “Nineteen people took the class. I have a copy of the roster. While we don’t know how many chose to make their DNA results public, the police got a hit on one of them. It confirmed a distant familial relationship between the person who attended the class and the person who murdered Valerie.”

  “Distant familial relationship? That doesn’t sound very specific.” There was doubt in Jack’s words. “I mean, that could mean almost anybody, right?”

  “In this case, it refers to family members two degrees apart, like a grandmother and grandchild. That indicates the murderer was someone local. With that piece of information added to the timing of Valerie getting pregnant, her disappearance, the time frame during which her life was taken, and the equipment bag, I was able to whittle the suspect list to the baseball players who attended the bonfire down to three.