Morning Cup of Murder

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  Jason leaned down and pressed his palm to her cheek. “Don’t worry about it; I’ll be fine. You take care.”

  For a split second she closed her eyes and leaned in to his touch. Then she opened her eyes, blinked back a few tears, and sped away, leaving Jason standing in the parking lot with his hand still outstretched.

  Chapter 14

  The funeral was a small gathering. Lacy sat by herself off to the side and watched as her grandmother’s friends wandered in, along with Mr. Middleton, and a handful of people she didn’t know.

  Tosh took the platform, looking very clerical in his black robe and white collar. His eyes sifted the crowd until they rested on Lacy, and they shared a brief smile before the service began.

  He gave the facts of Barbara Blake’s life and paused as if uncertain how to continue. Then he pulled out a children’s book and commenced reading. Lacy remembered how, yesterday, she had laughed when he proposed the idea of reading a children’s book, but she found no humor in the actuality. Instead, a great sadness came to settle somewhere over her heart, pressing down on her like a boulder. How tragic that the end of this woman’s life was summed up by a book about a lost puppy, and how horrible that no one seemed to care.

  All over the church people sat dry-eyed, looking almost bored, all except Mr. Middleton who once again had that unreadable expression on his face. He was the only person in the room showing any emotion, except for Lacy who found to her shock that she was crying.

  Well, good. Someone needed to cry for this woman. Even if she had been a horrible person, she had once been someone’s little girl. Everyone, good or bad, deserved to have at least one genuine mourner at their funeral.

  Unfortunately, Lacy’s supply of tears ran dry before they did anything to ease the odd ache in her chest. She had a feeling that the press of anxiety wouldn’t go away until her grandmother was out of jail, and maybe not even then. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew part of her problem was the fact that she needed to make up with her sister, but she wasn’t ready for that yet--not by a long shot. Until she was, there would always be a part of her that felt unsettled and restless, as if there was something she was missing.

  The service ended and the church emptied. Lacy didn’t want to file past the body, but she did because it was procedure, and she lacked the emotional stamina to buck tradition. Once outside the building, she leaned against the bricks, drawing deep breaths and trying to cleanse her nose from the stench of lilies. When she opened her eyes and looked around, the parking lot was nearly deserted. Had the procession left without her?

  But, no, there was no procession. Tosh joined her a moment later and lightly touched her elbow.

  “Where did everyone go?” she asked.

  “They left,” he said. “There are only a few people going to the gravesite. Lacy, you don’t have to do this.”

  “Yes I do,” she said.

  “Then at least ride with me.” He kept his hand on her elbow and used it to guide her to the car, opening the passenger door for her when they reached it.

  Once settled inside the car, he reached for her hand and clasped it, resting their combined hands on her knee.

  “Performing a funeral is much harder than I thought it would be,” he said. His tone was somber, and Lacy was thankful. She wouldn’t have been able to stand it if he had been his usual jovial, carefree self.

  “You’re doing a great job,” she said. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

  He turned to smile at her. “It helps having you here. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’m glad.”

  “Someone needs to be sad this woman is gone,” she said.

  “It seems like your principal is. Besides you, he’s been the most stalwart attendee. He’s coming to the graveside, too.”

  “He’s not sad,” Lacy blurted.

  “Then what is he?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. Relieved, was the first word that popped into her mind, but she didn’t know why. If Mr. Middleton and Barbara Blake had grown up together, why would he possibly be relieved at her passing?

  They arrived at the cemetery, and Mr. Middleton was the only other person in attendance. He and Lacy stood beside each other while Tosh read the requisite scripture, and then it was over.

  “Wait,” Lacy said, causing the two men to look at her in surprise. She searched her mind for something, anything personal she could say about this woman. “Barbara Blake was beautiful. She took excellent care of herself, and she liked nice things. She had excellent taste in clothes, shoes, and perfume. She was very memorable. Even after a fifty year absence, people in this town never forgot her. And she held on to her parents’ house, which says something good about her, I think,” Lacy said. She was grasping at straws and she knew it.

  Beside her, Mr. Middleton stared at her like she was crazy, and then he faced forward and began to talk, too. “Barbara was always beautiful, since the day she was born. She could light up the room with her smile. Her laugh was like a bell and she turned heads wherever she went. She always had impeccable style, and there was one thing she did right in her life, one thing that I’ll always be grateful for.”

  Tosh looked between them to make sure they were done, and then he picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it on the grave. “’Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection into eternal life.’” And then it was over. Mr. Middleton walked away without a backward glance, and Lacy and Tosh walked to his car.

  “I’ll take you home,” Tosh said. “You can get your car from the church later.”

  “All right.” The church was only a few blocks away. She could walk there and pick it up at any time. But not now; right now she was weary. She just wanted to go home, change into something comfortable, and possibly send herself into a sugar coma with prune cake.

  But that wasn’t to be. Lacy was in such a daze, she didn’t notice that the front door was ajar, but Tosh did. He put his arm around her and swept her behind him. Using his elbow, he pushed the door all the way open and called out.

  “Hello, anyone in there? We’re home; now’s the time to run away.”

  When there was no answer, he took a tentative step inside, Lacy so close on his heels that she held onto the back of his shirt to avoid bumping into him. They inched into the house as Tosh called out a few more warnings, but there was no answering sound from inside.

  “Whoever was here is long gone, and they left a mess behind,” Tosh said. “I’m sorry, Lacy.”

  She stepped around him to get the full effect and gasped. The house had been tossed. When she was little and refused to clean her room, her mother used to say that it looked like a cyclone had hit it. Now Lacy understood what that meant. Her grandmother’s house looked like a natural disaster had swept through the place, emptying its contents onto the floor.

  “It’s like someone shook a snow globe,” Tosh said. “Is anything missing?”

  “I have no idea,” Lacy said. Among her grandmother’s possessions, she was clueless. She only had a vague idea of what belonged where. “I’ll check my room.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Tosh volunteered.

  Lacy had thought the living room was bad, but then she reached her bedroom. It was unrecognizable. The mattress had been flipped, the drawers dumped onto the floor, and all her clothes thrown from the closet.

  “Is anything missing in here?” Tosh asked.

  “I don’t think so,” she drawled, taking a cursory glance at the mad jumble. The only two items of value she owned--her laptop and her phone--were safely inside the bag on her shoulder. To be sure, she slipped it off and looked inside. And then she froze.

  “I think I know what they were looking for,” she said.

  “What?”

  “These.” She pulled out Barbara Blake’s journals and laid them on her bed.

  “Oh, this is bad,” Tosh said. “We should call the police and make a report.”

  “I suppose,” Lacy sa
id listlessly.

  “You don’t want to?” Tosh asked. Absently, he picked up a journal and flipped through it.

  “Jason is on duty. I think he’s had enough drama from me for one morning.”

  “Maybe they’ll send someone else,” Tosh said hopefully.

  “There is no one else,” she answered. “One patrol officer at a time is on duty, and if they need backup they call the state patrol.”

  “That’s crazy and dangerous,” Tosh said. “Even in a town this small bad stuff can happen sometimes.”

  She shrugged. “Budget crisis. Last year half the force was fired. It’s a wonder Jason survived the cut.”

  “Still, I really think you need to fill out a report,” Tosh said.

  She nodded. He picked up her phone and dialed. She was glad he was taking care of things. Her mind felt numb with shock. At some point she would need to put the house back together, but not now. Now she sat on her bed staring dazedly at herself in the mirror. Beneath her, the possessions that had been haphazardly torn asunder made for a lumpy seat, but she barely noticed.

  Tosh finished the call and sat down beside her, settling his arm comfortingly over her shoulders. They sat together in silence until the front door slammed.

  “Lacy?” Jason didn’t wait for an answer before bounding down the hallway to find her. He stopped short in the doorway and frowned. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  Tosh removed his arm. Jason came forward and sat on Lacy’s other side. “What time did you leave this morning?”

  “A little before seven,” she answered.

  “And have you been back here before now?”

  She shook her head. “I just got home.”

  Jason checked his watch and she looked at the clock on her bedside. It was almost one.

  “Did they take anything?” he asked.

  “No. I think they were looking for these, and I had them with me.” She pointed to the journals.

  Jason released a sigh of frustration. “Who else knows you have these? Besides him.” He glanced sharply at Tosh who frowned in return.

  “No one. I haven’t told anyone. There’s no one else to…” She broke off, staring thoughtfully at the journals. “I was reading them at the coffee shop this morning.”

  “Who saw you?” Tosh asked the question and Jason shot him a quelling glare.

  “Just the regulars and no one under the age of seventy.”

  “Who specifically?” Jason asked. “Anyone you know?”

  “My grandmother’s group of friends came to talk to me, and so did Mr. Middleton.”

  “Please don’t tell me you think there’s an elderly crime circuit in this town,” Tosh said derisively to Jason.

  “At this point I think it’s better if I don’t tell you what I think,” Jason said.

  “What should I do next?” Lacy interrupted before things could get more tense between the two men.

  “First I think you should get rid of those journals,” Jason said.

  “I can’t do that,” Lacy said.

  “That’s pretty much what I thought you would say,” Jason said. “At the very least we need to fill out a report.” He pulled out a clipboard, form, and pen and began writing, asking her questions and writing down her answers.

  “I should make myself useful,” Tosh said. He stood and began straightening Lacy’s room, shuffling papers and putting drawers back in the dresser. “Um, what should I do with these?” His shocked, amused tone caused Lacy and Jason to look up. A pair of delicate black panties dangled from his fingertip.

  “Tosh,” Lacy exclaimed.

  Tosh gave her a mischievous smile. “I guess I see why your name is Lacy.”

  “What are you…Put those down. You can’t touch her underwear,” Jason blustered. “What kind of pastor are you?”

  “The male kind,” Tosh said. He tossed the underpants on a pile of other clothes. “Maybe I should go tidy up in the living room.”

  “Who is that guy?” Jason asked when Tosh left the room. “Where did he come from?”

  “Chicago,” Lacy said.

  “No, I mean, don’t you find it strange that he shows up here now?”

  “Now when the church is in need of a pastor? Yes, the coincidence is chilling.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it. How much do we really know about him? Tell me this: Did you tell him you were going to search the murder house on the night you were attacked?”

  “Yes,” Lacy said.

  Jason’s eyebrow rose as if to say “See, I told you.”

  “Jason, Tosh did not attack me that night, and he didn’t ransack my room today.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because I’ve been with him all day, and because he could have looked at the journals at any time. All he would have to do is ask and I would give them to him.”

  “Why?” Jason said, growing more agitated by the second. “You met him three days ago, Lacy. Why is he suddenly your new best friend? Why are you so comfortable with him? Why do you trust him so much?”

  “I don’t know,” Lacy said. “I just do.”

  “That’s really annoying,” Jason said. He stuffed the report back into his binder and zipped it closed.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  “I’ve been busting my hump for the past month just trying to get you to look at me, and you’re as closed up as a sick clam. Then this guy waltzes into town and you’re suddenly pouring out your life story to his waiting ears. Please tell me why you trust a stranger you met three days ago instead of a guy you’ve known since you were five.”

  “I guess because if Tosh and I had grown up together, we probably always would have been friends. He would have been in the band with me.” Tosh was cute, but not so much that he was intimidating. He was tall and slightly gawky, like a puppy who hadn’t quite grown into his paws yet; certainly he lacked the graceful and powerful build of a natural athlete like Jason.

  Jason stared at her unblinking, anger flashing in his eyes. “You’re telling me that the reason you and this guy are attached at the hip is because ten years ago you might have been in band together?”

  “Well, yes,” she said. She folded her hands demurely in her lap.

  “That makes no sense to me.”

  “Of course it doesn’t, Jason. You never would have been in the band.”

  He reached out and pressed his palm to her forehead. “Are you having some sort of delayed shock reaction? Your pupils aren’t blown, but I could call a squad if you think you might need one.”

  Impatiently, she batted his hand away. “You can’t understand because you’ve always been one of the chosen ones.”

  “Chosen ones? Is he trying to recruit you into a cult? Is that what this is about?”

  She put her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly. “You’re not listening to me. You were the king of our school. You had no idea what it was like to hope that you were at least in the middle of the social ladder. There’s a certain simpatico among outcasts and geeks.”

  He mimicked her pose, resting his hands on her shoulders. “Lacy, high school was over a long, long time ago.”

  “For you, maybe.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  How could she explain to him that there was a part of her that would always feel like the chubby girl with braces and glasses? Though she had eschewed social status in high school, always pretending she couldn’t have cared less, she did care. Rejection had not only stung, it had scarred. Always in the back of her mind she found herself categorizing everyone she met into which group they would have fallen into in high school. And if they fell into a category that Lacy didn’t like, she kept her distance. Though Jason had never said or done anything cruel to her, some of his friends had. There was still a part of her that believed he was going to wake up and realize he was now friends with the girl who played first clarinet in the marching band.


  Some of what she was feeling must have shown on her face because his eyes softened, and so did his hands. They slid closer together on her shoulders and his thumbs began making gentle circles on her collarbone.

  “Do you know what I see when I look at you?” he asked.

  “No,” she whispered, barely daring to breathe.

  He smiled. “Maybe I’ll tell you sometime.” His radio crackled to life, reminding them both he was still on duty. “That’s my cue to leave. Are you going to be okay? I can come back later.”

  “I’ll stay as long as she needs me,” Tosh said from the doorway. Lacy wondered how long he had been there. Had he heard their discussion about him?

  “Pardon me if that doesn’t make me feel better,” Jason said. To Lacy he added, “Call me if you need anything at all. I can be here in less than five minutes from anywhere in town.”

  “Thanks, Jason, but I’ll be fine.”

  “She’ll be fine,” Tosh echoed.

  Ignoring him even when he brushed by him in the doorway, Jason left the house without another word.

  Chapter 15

  Tosh stayed for the rest of the day, helping Lacy put her house back together. When it was finally finished, they had a pizza delivered and sat on the couch, eating together in silence.

  “Cleaning is exhausting,” Tosh said. “I don’t know how maids do it.”

  Lacy’s eyebrow rose. “Don’t you know this from cleaning your own place?”

  He reached for another piece of pizza, avoiding her eyes. “Now is probably a good time for me to tell you I’m filthy rich. Today marks the first time I’ve ever cleaned a room in my life. And, before you ask, I have a cleaning service for my house. It’s not the same as a live-in maid, but they do a good job.”

  “You’re rich?” she said. “But you’re so normal.”

  “Have the other rich people you’ve known had horns or telltale facial ticks?”

  “I’ve never known any other rich people besides my ex-fiancé, Robert. And that wasn’t even him, just his extended family. I mean, probably in New York I brushed elbows with some wealthy people, but I’ve rarely ever talked to anyone with money before.” She sat back, studying him.