Lorna let go of Skye’s throat and started pounding on her chest. “You cow, get off me.”
Skye wished she had an extra hand to slap the hysterical woman. Instead she shouted, “Oh, my, look at the time.”
“What? Are you crazy? How can I look at the time with you on top of me?” The woman struggled. “You’re breaking my back. I’m going to sue, you fat cow.”
Skye ignored Lorna’s curses and threats. She had a bigger problem. What to do? Vince must not have heard her. For now, Lorna was secure, but if Skye got up off her, the woman would either run or attack again. They were at a stalemate.
Before Skye could formulate a plan, the front door slammed open, and Vince ran into the room saying, “Skye, something’s wrong with Mom. I heard a scream on the walkie-talkie and now I can’t get a response. You run for Charlie. I’m going out back to see what’s—” He stopped abruptly, staring.
Lorna grew still, and her demeanor changed instantly. “Vince, darling, your sister has gone crazy. She’s hurting me. Please help.”
Vince frowned and flicked a look at Skye.
She made a face. “Vince, get something to tie her up with.”
He looked around. “What?”
Her mind worked frantically. “The electrical cords on the lamps.”
Lorna yelped, “Don’t touch those lamps. They’re originals by Tiffany.”
Vince ignored her, ran to the nearest end table, and yanked the wire from the base, returning with the cord. Even though she fought him, he easily secured Lorna’s ankles, and then repeated the procedure for her wrists. As soon as he was finished, Skye jumped up and between them they tied Lorna to the desk chair with the sash from her robe.
Within minutes, Vince and Skye were running toward the cemetery. They arrived at the end of the Ingelses’ property at the same time. Vince had longer legs and was in better shape, but Skye was still jazzed with adrenaline from her wrestling match with Lorna. A few inches in front of them the graveyard began.
Skye paused, listening. Which direction? Sounds of scuffling indicated the way. She slowed down, picking her way carefully among the plaques and grass-covered mounds. Vince followed silently. As they advanced, Skye began to hear voices and she slowed further, going from headstone to headstone, crouching behind the granite markers.
A huge gray marble slab with a teardrop shape cut out of the top allowed her to stand upright and peek through it without being seen.
May was sitting on a flat headstone, and Allen Ingels held a pistol pointed at her head. May was speaking. “You never answered me. What did you do with my money?”
Allen looked a wreck. His hair was in disarray, allowing his bald spot to show through. The knee of his suit had been torn, and the lining of his jacket hung beneath the hem. He wiped a soiled hand across his eyes, leaving dirt on his cheeks. “Shut up. I’ve got to think. What am I going to do with you?”
“Give me back my money.” May cocked her head. “It’s not right what you did to this town.”
“You’re forcing me to shoot you,” Allen gritted out from between clenched teeth. “You’re just like Lorna and Linette—totally selfish. If that little brat hadn’t insisted she had to have her crown, we could be in Mexico by now.”
“Why did you take her then?”
He looked puzzled. “I couldn’t leave her with Lorna. Not after she told me last night about ‘accidentally’ killing Lorelei with those damn diet pills of hers. She’d already started Linette on them. What was I supposed to do, wait for another ‘accident’?”
May reached out as if to pat his arm, but he stepped back, out of contact. “Save your pity. Linette and I will be just fine as soon as I take care of you.”
May clasped her knees. “Why did you do this, Allen? You had money. You didn’t need ours.”
His laugh was raw. “That’s what everyone thinks, but when the bank was sold last year, the new company cut my salary in half right away. We couldn’t live on that amount.”
“But your family has had money, what about that?”
“With a wife and kids like mine, that money was gone long ago. We live from paycheck to paycheck.” Allen’s voice was dazed.
“Look, why don’t you just turn yourself in? I’m sure Wally will see that things go okay for you, especially if you give back the money.”
Allen clutched his head with both hands, momentarily directing the pistol away from May. “Shut up! You’re driving me crazy!”
As soon as Allen’s aim drifted from May’s head, Skye signaled Vince and they darted forward.
But before they could cover the uneven ground, Wally stepped out from behind a small group of trees and leveled his gun at Allen. “Drop it.”
Allen stared at the police chief for what seemed an interminable second before he let his weapon fall to the ground.
Officer Quirk and a couple of county deputies emerged from their cover in the foliage. They handcuffed Ingels.
“You might want to pick up Lorna Ingels too, ” Skye said. “She’s in the house, tied to a desk chair in the library.”
Wally shook his head. “What have you done now?”
Skye explained about the confrontation and handed over the tape recorder containing Lorna’s confession.
“Okay, men, take Mr. Ingels away, and while you’re in the neighborhood, pick up his wife.”
Skye heard one of the officers reading Allen Ingels his rights as they walked away.
Vince and Skye had been standing with their arms around May. Now, they all spoke at once.
Vince gave May a hard squeeze. “I was so worried.” Skye patted her mother’s back. “How could you say those things to him?”
May looked them both over, and said, “What took you two so long?”
After a few minutes, Vince led May away. Skye turned to Wally, who had been leaning against a tree trunk, silently observing. “How did you end up out here? Were you following Allen?” she asked.
“Nope. I was following you.” He straightened. “What did you expect after our last conversation? I knew you’d go after Mrs. Ingels.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I had my own backup.”
“Are you referring to the Three Stooges? A seventy-year-old man sitting in a Cadillac, a defenseless middle-aged woman, and a hairdresser?”
Skye crossed her arms. “Who does that make me? Shemp?” She was none too happy about being called the fourth stooge, even if Shemp was her favorite.
Wally grinned. “If the stooge fits.”
Epilogue
It was hard for Skye to drag herself to school on Friday. Her throat hurt from Lorna’s attempt to strangle her, and every muscle in her body ached. Worst of all, her four-hundreddollar suit was ruined. She was seriously depressed.
She vowed that she would go to work, do what had to be done, and sneak home early. The most urgent item on her schedule was to talk to Lorelei’s friends . . . and enemies, so they could have closure. There would be an assembly first hour to tell everyone in the school what had happened, but the kids most closely involved deserved to be told in private.
Skye arranged for extra chairs to be set up in the guidance office and asked the various homeroom teachers to send the teens on her list to the guidance office as soon as the bell rang. They filed in silently. Zoë and Frannie immediately claimed the two seats across from Skye’s desk. Troy drew up a folding chair just behind Zoë, and Justin did the same on Frannie’s side. The rest of the cheerleading squad and Chase occupied the remaining seats.
Skye leaned forward. “I’m sure many of you have already heard some version of what happened yesterday, but I wanted to tell you the true account. Mrs. Ingels was arrested for the accidental death of her daughter. Lorelei had stopped taking a prescription medication that her mother wanted her to take. Without telling her mother, she started to take it again. In the meantime her mom had begun to put it in her food. She ended up with a fatal overdose.”
The teens remained silent. Their expressions range
d from boredom to incredulity.
Skye went on. “To add to this family’s tragedy, Mr. Ingels embezzled the bank’s money, took his youngest daughter, and tried to leave the country. He was caught when he came back to retrieve one of Linette’s belongings. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ingels are in jail, and Linette is staying with a relative in Chicago.”
Zoë yawned. “And you’re telling us all this, why?”
“Well, Zoë, partly so we can all have closure. Lorelei was a big part of everyone’s life, whether they liked her or not. But I guess partly because I thought you all might gain some insight from this mess.”
Justin gestured with his head. “That’s asking a lot from these guys, Ms. Denison. They all have hipatitis.”
“Hipatitis?” Skye asked.
“Yeah, terminal coolness.”
Zoë narrowed her eyes. “Are you getting smart with me?” “How would you know?”
“This is exactly what I mean,” Skye said. “You all make judgments about each other based solely on appearances instead of getting to know each other as real people. I was hoping you would learn something from Lorelei’s tragic experience.”
Justin spoke again. “That’s like saying that someone like Zoë, who looks perfect, could ignore the fact that I don’t look like a Ken doll, and actually date me. It’ll never happen.”
Zoë shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t date out of my species.”
This was obviously a waste of time, Skye decided; she wasn’t making a bit of difference in these kids’ attitudes. Maybe she was being too subtle.
“I guess that’s that then,” she said. “But think about these three things. First, TV is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to work. Second, and this one is especially for you, Zoë, be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one, or wishing you had married one. And last, if you think your teachers are tough, wait until you get out in the real world. Bosses don’t have tenure, so if their team members don’t work up to their capabilities, they’re fired.”
Later that night Skye, Vince, Charlie, Trixie, Loretta, May, and Jed sat around May’s kitchen table snacking on salami, cheese, and crackers.
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t call me to be part of your backup team.” Trixie said, pouting like a two-year-old who had been denied a trip to Toys R Us.
“It would have been too hard for you to get off work,” Skye answered, before drinking from her glass of pop. “You know how Homer is.”
Charlie puffed out his chest. “She didn’t need more help. The Three Musketeers did just fine.”
Skye hid her grin and did not share with Charlie what the chief had actually called them.
“I can’t believe you talked me into handling another case down here in Skillet River,” Loretta said. “I thought when they released Kent, I was home free.”
Skye slapped her friend on the arm. “It’s Scumble River, Ms. Big Shot. Besides, you like it down here. You get to be a giant catfish in our itsy-bitsy pond.”
“It is kind of fun riling up that cute police chief of yours. He’s single now, you know.” As if they both weren’t well aware of Wally Boyd’s marital status.
Skye’s thoughts flashed to Abby. “I think he’s dating someone,” she said.
“Dating isn’t married.” Loretta grinned, took a sip of ice tea, then turned serious. “I’m surprised you wanted to help Lorna by getting me to represent her. Isn’t she everything you hate?”
Skye squirmed in her chair. It was hard to put what she felt about Lorna into words. “I guess so, but I think she’s a product of our society. The media, the magazines, everything tells us if you aren’t thin, you can’t win. Did someone like Lorna ever really have a chance to think any other way?”
After a pause, Trixie broke the uncomfortable silence. “Speaking of Kent, have you heard from him since he went back to Boston?”
Charlie took a swig of beer and answered, “I met with him after he had been questioned by Wally, and we decided it would be to our mutual advantage if he forgot Scumble River even existed.”
“Mutual advantage?” Vince asked.
“Yeah. He’d get to go back where he fits in, and I wouldn’t tell his father that he’d been screwing teenagers.” May coughed, and Charlie added, “Pardon my French.”
Skye turned to Charlie. “Did you know Allen Ingels was embezzling from the bank?”
He shrugged, a smug look on his face. “Maybe, maybe not. Let’s just say I knew he was up to no good. Wasn’t sure exactly what.”
“With both her folks in jail, what’s going to happen to Linette?” May asked.
Loretta crossed her legs. “Her grandmother is too frail to take care of her, but her mom has a cousin in Chicago. The little girl’s going to go live with her for now, until we see what happens with Lorna.”
“What do you think will happen to Lorna?” Skye asked Loretta.
“Hard to say. She could get off with probation, or she could go to prison for a long time.”
It was the first Saturday in May, and Skye, her mother, and Vince were attending Scumble River High’s production of Sleeping Beauty. Jed had declined to join his family for a night of live theater, stating he preferred his La-Z-Boy and TV.
To everyone’s surprise, Abby had volunteered to direct the musical after Kent was removed from duty. Zoë would be the star and Frannie Ryan had taken her role—the evil fairy.
Justin greeted Skye and her family at the gym door. He had signed up to usher. “Ms. Denison, I saved some seats up front for you.”
Skye smiled at him, blinking away the tears that threatened to leak from behind her eyes. Justin had come so far from that boy who would barely speak. His grades now reflected his IQ rather than his depression, he had joined a couple of clubs, and while still not the most popular kid in his class, he had made a friend or two. It was a moment before she could trust her voice to speak. “How nice of you, Justin. Do you know my mom and brother?”
He ducked his head and said to the floor, “Sure. Mrs. D works at the police station and Vince cuts my hair.”
Skye shook her head. She should have known. It was hard to find two Scumble River citizens who hadn’t met each other.
Justin showed them to their seats and said hurriedly without looking at them, “Frannie’s in the first act. She’s the best one.” Before they could respond, he turned and ran back to his post by the door.
They sat without speaking while the gym filled with spectators. Skye finally said, “It’s hard to believe that only a month ago I found Lorelei’s body on that very stage.”
May shook her head. “You need to forget about all that.”
“I can’t. I thought I knew all about the problems between parents and children, but nothing prepared me for the blind selfishness that ended up killing Lorelei.”
May patted her hand, and Vince put his arm around her shoulders. They sat quietly until the lights dimmed and the music started to swell.
Suddenly, May said, “Well, I feel sorry for Lorna’s mother. That woman sacrificed everything so her daughter could get out of the trailers and have a better life.” May tsked. “But no matter how you try to protect your children, they still eventually get themselves arrested and end up in the local paper.”
Skye and Vince looked at each other in disbelief, then exclaimed in unison, “Mother!”
Look for Denise Swanson’s next Scumble River mystery
Coming in
Spring 2003
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Murder of a Sleeping Beauty Page 26
