Death on Arrival: A Helen Bradley Mystery (Helen Bradley Mysteries Book 1)

by Patricia H. Rushford

  “It’s worth a try.” Kate sauntered over to the fridge and opened it. “Nothing looks interesting. Does salmon sound good?”

  “Wonderful.” Helen glanced at her watch. “Bob’s seafood place should still be open.”

  “Perfect. I’ll get some shrimp for a salad too.” Kate grabbed her jacket from her the coat rack and waved goodbye.

  As soon as the door closed, Helen hurried upstairs to her office and turned on the computer. It took only a few minutes to locate Janice Kamden’s history. As it turns out, her daughter was married to a guy named Roy Owens. She clicked on a few links, but couldn’t find anything useable. She finally called Joe with the information and he promised to get right on it. A few minutes later he called back.

  “We might have something here, Helen,” Joe said. “Turns out that Roy Owens has a rap sheet a mile long. Your suggestion that Janice may have changed her name to protect herself and her grandson is a distinct possibility. He’s been brought up on abuse charges a number of times. I’ll follow up on this guy, see if we can locate him.”

  “Good. It’s entirely possible that Roy found Janice and his son and threatened them.”

  “Definitely worth considering.” Joe thanked her for the information and hung up.

  Helen returned to the dining room and looked over her list. She wrote down the information she’d gleaned about Roy. Another possibility lingered and this she’d thought of early on. Suppose Janelle had not been the intended victim. Helen again considered the possibility that someone from her long past of putting criminals behind bars had decided to get even. That line of thinking brought her to Maude Evans. Could the writer have made some enemies? Could she have been the intended target? Someone may have known Maude was staying there.

  The doorbell rang, pulling Helen away from her brainstorming. She rose from the table, noting that the sun had already set and wondered if Kate might be loaded down with groceries and needing help. Helen hurried to the door and yanked it open.

  “Ryan... What in the…?” Ryan stumbled into the house nearly crashing into Helen. Behind him stood a teenage boy with a gun.

  Chapter Eight

  Though he was a bit older than the photo she’d seen at Janelle’s home, and sported some facial hair, Helen recognized him. “Cody.”

  “I’m…I’m sorry Mrs. Bradley,” Ryan stammered, “I tried to talk him into going to the police but…”

  “Just shut up, Ryan. Both of you get inside.” Cody waved the gun and backed up against the door until it latched.

  Helen nodded at Ryan to do as Cody said and followed him into the living room. With her heart rate and adrenalin ratcheted up she found it hard to appear unaffected by the boy’s demeanor. Still, she didn’t want to alarm him further. A kid with a gun was dangerous. A frightened boy with a gun was deadly. “What’s going on, Cody?”

  “You tell me. My grandmother is dead and it looks like the cops think I had something to do with it.”

  “Are you saying you didn’t?”

  He screwed up his face as though he were about to cry. “I loved her. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. She was always super nice to me.”

  Helen sighed. “Do you have any idea who might have killed her?”

  “No.” He shook his head and lowered the gun, but not enough for Helen to disarm him.

  “I went back to school after I left here,” Ryan said. “I’d left a book I needed in my locker. Cody was waiting outside. He asked me to help him. I told him I couldn’t, but figured maybe you could.”

  “I’m sorry.” Ryan said. “I didn’t know he had a gun.”

  “You did the right thing, Ryan,” Helen assured him.

  “Ryan says you used to be a cop and that you’d listen to me.”

  “That’s true, Cody. I may be able to help, but you need to give me the gun and turn yourself in to the police.”

  “No. I didn’t do anything.” He raised the gun again.

  Helen held her breath. “Maybe not, but running away makes you look guilty. And holding us at gunpoint isn’t the smartest thing to do.”

  Tears filled his eyes and he brushed them away with his forearm.

  “You need to give me the gun, Cody.” Helen held out her hand.

  “Listen to her, man.” Ryan pleaded. “She’ll help you, but not like this.”

  Cody sniffled. “How do I know you won’t call the police?”

  “You don’t. In fact, I will have to call the sheriff eventually, but first, I’ll make sure you have an attorney and that you have every opportunity to tell your side of the story. If you are innocent, the evidence will show that. However, holding Ryan and me at gunpoint is illegal. But, if you give me the weapon right now, I won’t press charges against you.”

  Cody hesitated. “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You need to trust someone. I can help you. I want to find out who killed your grandmother. Now give me the gun and we can work on that.”

  He hesitated and then lowered the weapon and passed it over to her.

  “Thank you.” Helen allowed herself to breathe again as she removed the clip and saw that the safety had been on. “Where did you get this?”

  “It’s Grandma’s. She had it in the house for protection.”

  Helen nodded. “All right, suppose you sit down and tell me what you know about your grandmother’s death. Maybe you could start with why my house was being used as a rental.”

  He raised an eyebrow and sank onto the couch. “You know about that?” He ducked his head and ran a hand through his hair. “Grams didn’t know anything about that. I…I knew she needed money and…I mean…why let these places stay empty?”

  “How could she not know?” Helen placed the gun on the fireplace mantle and remained in front of the fire. The warmth settled her nerves and helped her think more clearly.

  Cody cleared his throat. “I took over some of the places for her. Like this one. I set up a web site on the computer and listed the places she gave me to look after. I deposited the money into an account I set up.”

  “So did she find out about your scam and confront you? Did you kill her?”

  “No!” He bolted out of his chair.

  Ryan jumped up. Holding up a hand he warned Cody to back off. “Take it easy, man.”

  Cody hesitated and finally lowered himself onto the sofa. “I thought you believed me.”

  “I’m trying.” Helen folded her arms as she searched the boy’s face.

  “Well, I’m telling the truth.” Tears welled up in his eyes again.

  “All right, Cody. You were at your grandmother’s house when the sheriff and I came over today and you ran.”

  “I was scared. I thought maybe whoever had killed Grams might come after me too.”

  “Okay.” Helen tried another approach. “Tell me about your father.”

  “Dad? Why? What does he have to do with anything?”

  “I understand he has a record.”

  Cody pressed his lips together. “He’s doing good now.”

  “So you’ve been in contact with him recently?”

  “Yeah, but if you think he had anything to do with Gram being killed, you’d be wrong. He doesn’t even live around here.”

  “Where is he?”

  Cody shrugged. “I don’t know. Last I heard he was in Montana.”

  Helen heard a car door slam. Kate. “My daughter,” she said when Cody’s eyes widened.

  “You sure it isn’t the cops?”

  Ignoring his question she asked, “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t remember.”

  Kate entered a few minutes later, surprised to find the two boys. “We have visitors?” Though she smiled, her daughter took in the scene, her gaze stopping at the gun on the fireplace mantel.

  “Two more for dinner.” Helen said. “That is unless you need to go home, Ryan.”

  Ryan licked his lips and glanced at Cody. “I’ll stay.” Though he
clearly wanted to leave, he also seemed willing to provide Cody with emotional support. And her with an extra body should she need the man power.

  Cody seemed to relax and gave Kate a nod.

  “Kate,” Helen said, “this is Cody, Janelle’s grandson.”

  “Oh, of course. I recognize you from your picture. I’m so sorry about your grandmother.” Kate placed her grocery bags on the counter. “I hope you guys are hungry. I got a little carried away at the fish market. Everything looked so good.”

  “Starved,” Ryan answered for both of them. Rising he added, “Can I help with anything?”

  “I’ve got it, thanks.” She gave Helen a meaningful look that clearly read, do you want me to call the police?

  With a small head shake Helen indicated a no.

  “Why don’t you three get back to what you were doing?” Kate suggested. “I’ll have dinner ready in about twenty minutes.”

  While they were waiting, Helen discussed Cody’s side business with him. Apparently, the young entrepreneur had dreamed up the scheme by himself. Yes, maybe having someone rent her home while she was away could be considered unethical, he admitted, but he’d never meant any harm. “Am I going to get arrested for that?” he asked.

  “It’s possible. We’ll need to give the sheriff the names of the people you conned.”

  “There were only four.”

  “Four too many.” Helen shook her head. She didn’t know about the others, but she doubted that she’d press charges.

  Two hours later, Helen told Cody it was time to turn himself in. He balked at first, but after Helen explained the procedure, he acquiesced. Her attorney friend, Bob Kennedy agreed to meet Joe and Cody at the jail. Ryan stayed until Cody had been arrested.

  “Mrs. Bradley,” Ryan said as he stood at the door watching Joe place Cody into his squad car. “Do think he killed his grandmother?”

  “Do you?”

  “No. He made some mistakes, but he’s not a killer.”

  Helen smiled. “I agree.”

  Ryan stepped outside. “Jennie and Lisa will be here Friday, right?”

  “That’s the plan. I’ll tell them you said hi.”

  He grinned. “Thanks for your help with Cody. Sorry I brought him here. I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “You did fine, Ryan. Fortunately I was able to defuse and disarm him.”

  “Do you think the sheriff believes him?”

  “Joe needs to look at the evidence but he’s also fair. He’ll give Cody the benefit of the doubt.”

  Ryan said goodbye and headed home. She watched him for a moment before ducking inside. Kate already had tea poured and ready for them, fully expecting a total debriefing. Helen felt herself relaxing. The entire episode with Cody had proved exhausting. She wanted nothing more than to enjoy her tea and go to bed. Rest, however, would have to wait while she studied the facts of the case again and tried to come up with a viable suspect.

  Chapter Nine

  The next morning Helen and Kate headed into the coffee shop. Joe had promised to come by and share what he could about the ongoing investigation.

  “Morning Helen, Kate,” Rosie greeted as they walked in. They ordered and settled into the cushy chairs next to Joe, who was perusing the morning paper. As they approached he folded the paper and tucked it in next to him.

  “How is Cody?” Helen asked before Joe could even acknowledge them.

  “He didn’t spend the night in jail, though I think he might have preferred to. His lawyer posted bail and got him placed with children’s services. He wasn’t too happy about that, but he’s only sixteen. We couldn’t let him go back to his grandmother’s place alone.”

  “Of course.” Helen looked up as Rosie handed her a latte. “Thanks.” Turning to Joe she asked, “What now? Did you find anything more on Cody’s father?”

  Joe took a sip of his coffee. “He’s most likely out of the picture since he lives in Montana in a half-way house. His parole officer is vouching for him.”

  “I’m glad to hear that for Cody’s sake, but that puts us back to square one on the case, doesn’t it?”

  Joe nodded. “I’m not seeing a motive here. Maybe we should go back to the home invasion theory. Makes the most sense at the moment.”

  “On the other hand, maybe whoever killed Janelle was after me. We can’t rule that out. After all, it happened in my home.”

  “Mm.” Kate set her mug on the table that sat between them. “Don’t forget about the woman who rented your house, Mom. Whoever killed Janelle may have been after her.”

  “Good point. I’ve considered that.” Helen warmed her hands on her cup. “It might not hurt to talk with Maude. See if she had any enemies, someone who might want her dead.”

  Joe shrugged. “You can go ahead and pursue that line if you want. Until we have hard evidence to tell us otherwise, I’m pursuing the idea that Janelle was the target.”

  Helen agreed. “If that’s the case, it was likely someone who knew her. I think we can rule out Janelle’s mother.” Leaning back she thought about Betty’s son. “We should look more closely at Sherrie and her daughter Caitlin. Maybe Sherrie knows more about Betty’s situation than she was letting on.”

  “What are you thinking?” Joe asked.

  “If you really believe it was a personal hit, then shouldn’t we be questioning Sherrie and Caitlin and checking their alibis? There was a wedding photo at the house which I’m assuming from the date was Brett and Sherrie, and a number of family photos. I’ll check out the house again and pay Betty another visit. If the information about Brett, the cancer and his death, came to the house it may still be there. And if Betty wasn’t able to respond, then why didn’t Janelle? Sherrie indicated that she didn’t know about Janelle, but what if she did?”

  Joe rubbed his chin. “Good questions. I’ll check them out and see if either of them have flown into PDX recently. I’ll leave a key to the house with Bailey. Feel free to go through it and let me know if you find anything helpful.”

  Helen put thoughts of the murder on hold after Joe left. She’d head over to Janelle’s or Betty’s place after she dropped Kate off at home. In the meantime Kate wanted to talk about a meal plan for the weekend. She also needed to pick up a few groceries and get a roast into the crock pot.

  While they were talking food a woman came in, ordered coffee and stood in front of them. “Excuse me.” She grinned and lifted her cup in a kind of salute. “I’m Maude Evans. The writer who stayed at your house? Rosie said I should introduce myself.”

  “Of course.” Helen smiled up at her and indicated the empty chair. “Please, join us. Rose said you’d be coming into town to do an autographing.”

  She offered them an even wider grin. “I am. Saturday. I have a new book.” She set her drink on the coffee table and reached for a large bag. “I brought a copy for you.” She shrugged. “My way of apologizing once again for invading your space.”

  “Thank you.” Helen accepted the book and read the title aloud. “Murder in the Maze. Sounds interesting.”

  “It’s a historical set back in the Great Gatsby days. The first in a series. My character is like a grown up Nancy Drew. A single girl who can’t seem to keep her nose out trouble.”

  Helen chuckled. “What fun. I can’t wait to read it.”

  Kate, who’d been quiet up until now, took the book from Helen. “I hope you’ll share, Mother. I love books set in that era.”

  “I’ll consider it,” Helen teased and then said, “Maude, this is my daughter, Kate. She’s visiting and we’re planning a family event this weekend.”

  “I won’t keep you then. I only wanted to meet you.” She sighed, her hazel eyes wide with concern. “And apologize again.”

  “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault by any means. Actually, I’m happy to share my house with another writer.”

  “Yes, well, I can tell you I’m going to be much more careful about renting a place from now on.”

  “Good ide
a.”

  “So you’re a writer too?” Maude asked.

  “I write travel articles, though it’s crossed my mind to write a book. I love to read mysteries and seeing as how I used to be a detective in real life, it might be fun.”

  “Oh, yes.” Maude exclaimed with just a bit more exuberance than called for. “I’d be happy to brainstorm with you.”

  “Thank you.”

  “And Helen, if you ever decide to rent out your place for real while you’re gone, let me know.”

  “I don’t expect that to happen anytime soon, but I’ll keep your offer in mind. It might be a good idea to have a house sitter staying on the premises.”

  Kate and Helen said their goodbyes and headed back home. Kate planned to gather the food for the weekend while Helen nosed around.

  “Are you heading over to Janelle’s house now?” Kate asked as she exited Helen’s car.

  “Eventually. First though, I’m going to pay a visit to the care facility and see what happens to Betty now that Janelle is gone. Someone will need to be responsible for her affairs.”

  “Good idea. I wonder if they know about Betty’s son’s family.”

  “I got the idea they didn’t, but I’ll pass along the information. Sherrie sounded concerned once she found out about the Alzheimer’s.

  Goodbyes said, Helen drove directly to the nursing home.

  “Helen, hi,” Sandra Madison purred when Helen stopped by the nurse’s station. “How can we help you?”

  “First of all, how is Betty doing?”

  “She’s having a good day. Her daughter-in-law is visiting and Betty seems to remember her. They’re in the great room, chatting.”

  “Really?” Sherrie must have made arrangements to fly out right after they’d spoken. Helen spotted them immediately but hesitated to interrupt them. Still, she wanted to talk with Sherrie. Helen greeted both women and introduced herself. “I came by to let the staff here know about you, Sherrie. I’m glad you decided to come.”