Morning Cup of Murder

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  “I know that much, but I want to know everything. Will you tell me? Please,” she added when he looked uncertain.

  “I told you before that Barbara and I were kids together. She was always beautiful and brilliant, like an exotic butterfly. She had red hair and green eyes, much like someone else I know, although it looks like she colored it blond later in life.” He paused to smile at her. “I fancied myself in love with her and, as she grew older, she turned her attention to me, too. The day after she graduated high school, she told me she was expecting. Like the poor dumb fool I was, I thought all my dreams had come true. I bought a ring and asked her to marry me. But butterflies don’t change their colors. She said no. She wanted bigger and better; she wanted to go to New York.”

  He paused again and swirled his coffee. “She said she was going to get rid of the baby. I begged with her, pleaded really, not to do that. I told her the least she could do was carry it through to completion and give it to someone who would love it. For a few days, she kept me on the line, and then, to my astonishment, she agreed.

  “Your grandpa and I worked summers together painting houses. I knew he was sterile from a childhood case of measles, and I knew he and his wife were nice people who desperately wanted children. Barbara was good at concealing her pregnancy. She stayed home a lot, which was hard on her, and I stayed with her, which was hard on me.”

  He paused to give Lacy a wry smile again before continuing.

  “People didn’t talk about such things back then. They didn’t announce babies to the world until after they were born. Your grandma, pardon my saying so, has always been a bit on the plump side, and I imagine that when the baby arrived people simply thought she had hidden it the whole time, as was the custom back then.

  “When the time came, the four of us went together to the next county for the delivery. Barbara didn’t even glance at her baby, your mother. As soon as she was able, she packed up and moved to New York. Giving Fran up for adoption was the one good thing, the one selfless thing she ever did.”

  Lacy bit her lip. If the journal was correct, she hadn’t done it for free. Lacy was pretty certain that “Baker” referred to her grandmother, and it said she gave ten for the bundle. When Lacy had snooped through her grandmother’s things, she had noted an old cashier’s check for ten thousand dollars. The check stood out both because it had been saved and because it was a whole lot of money for back then. Still, she had no desire to disillusion Mr. Middleton any further.

  “But your grandmother, well, I’ll never forget the look on her face when the nurse handed her your mother. Over the years, she’s never failed to send me a picture of your mom and you girls. And, in a way, I was able to stay involved in your lives. First as your mom’s principal, and then as yours. I think they were afraid I was going to eventually keel over in my office, but I wanted to stay until you and Riley were safely out of school. It was my way of protecting you, I guess.”

  He took another sip of his coffee, and Lacy swiped at a stray tear.

  “Why did Barbara leave me her house?” Lacy asked.

  His lips pressed into a tight line.

  “Apparently I wasn’t the only one keeping tabs on you. I think Barbara had written the family off. And then you moved to New York, and she thought you were the one who was like her. Then she saw you and realized how much you look like her. Maybe she had grown sentimental in her old age, I don’t know. All I know is that when you moved back here, she panicked. She didn’t want you to be stuck here forever. She hatched a plan to come back here and tell you everything. She was going to ask you to go back to New York with her; she wanted to take you under her wing and teach you everything she knew.” He finished with a sneer.

  “So Grandma did have motive,” Lacy said absently. She hated knowing how panicked her grandmother must have been at the thought of Barbara revealing a secret she had kept from her family for fifty years.

  “Your grandmother did not kill Barbara,” Mr. Middleton said angrily. “Lucy is a saint. She’s the kindest, sweetest, most innocent, loving, and upstanding woman I know. I couldn’t have picked a better mother for my child unless I had married her myself.”

  Lacy blinked at him in surprise. “You’re in love with Grandma,” she said, dumbfounded.

  Mr. Middleton stared into his coffee cup, looking supremely uncomfortable. “Stuff and nonsense,” he said. “I’m too old for such things.”

  “You’re never too old for love,” Lacy said.

  He looked up at her with such desperate hope in his eyes she wanted to cry all over again. “Do you think an old codger like me would still have a chance with her?”

  Lacy smiled and covered his hand with hers. “You never know until you try.”

  “And that would be okay with you?” he asked.

  “Who better for my grandma than my grandpa?” she asked with a smile.

  Mr. Middleton leaned in and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. “You always were my favorite.”

  Lacy laughed, feeling lighter and happier than she had in a long time. Peggy happened by their table with a thermos, holding it out for a refill. Lacy watched her pour, and her short-lived happiness was quickly replaced by reality. The DNA on the plates in Barbara’s kitchen had belonged to a man. Mr. Middleton had just as much motive for murder as Lacy’s grandmother. Had she uncovered a truth that would set her grandmother free, only to incarcerate her newly found grandfather?

  For some reason she thought of Jason. What would he do in this situation? No doubt he would arrest Mr. Middleton. Strangely, Lacy found herself agreeing with him for once. Even though she wanted Mr. Middleton to marry her grandmother and live happily ever after, she realized he needed to pay for what he had done. Taking someone’s life should never be overlooked or covered up, even if it was done in order to protect someone else.

  “Grandma is getting out of jail today,” Lacy said. “I think we’re all a little overdue for some clearing of the air. But I know Grandma; she won’t talk to me about this. Will you go with me and talk to her?”

  “Okay,” Mr. Middleton said, looking uncomfortable again.

  Lacy’s phone rang. It was Mr. McNeil telling her that her grandmother was free. She promised to meet him at the jail to sign some paperwork and receive the keys for her new house, and that piece of information gave her an idea.

  “I’ll drive,” Mr. Middleton said.

  He stood and ushered Lacy from the coffee shop and to his car. She wanted to talk to him and ask him questions, like why he had never married in all these years, but she kept silent. Her mind was busy replaying last night’s scene with Jason and realizing they were both wrong.

  It was as wrong to arrest Mr. Middleton for murder with no thought to mercy as it was to grant him total mercy with no punishment. The right thing to do would be to arrest him and grant some leniency for all he had been through. After all, he had unwillingly given up his daughter and stood on the periphery of her life. Then when Barbara came back to town, he had been threatened with a truth he had kept hidden for most of his life. Killing her had been the wrong response, but shouldn’t the undue pressure he had been under be taken into account? Maybe temporary insanity would be the best defense.

  Stabbing was not generally considered a premeditated murder, but it was certainly gruesome. Lacy’s lip curled as she imagined the anger and brute force it must have taken to stab someone to death with a pie knife, and she found herself feeling a little less sympathetic toward her grandfather.

  “Here we go,” Mr. Middleton said. Lacy looked up just as they arrived at the jail. “Are you ready for this?” he asked, sounding as nervous as she felt.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. Then she opened the door and walked to the jail.

  Chapter 20

  “Tom,” Lucinda Craig exclaimed, looking from her granddaughter to Mr. Middleton in astonishment. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’ll get to that in a minute, Grandma,” Lacy said. “First things first.” Reach
ing across her grandmother, she signed the forms that Mr. McNeil held out for her and took the keys from his waiting fingers. “I take it you’ll send me a bill,” she said dryly.

  “Count on it,” he said. And even though he had helped her out, the sight of his slimy smile made her feel the need to take a shower.

  Lacy and her two elderly companions turned toward the parking lot. She climbed in the back seat while her grandmother and Mr. Middleton climbed in the front. “Are you okay, Lucy?” Mr. Middleton asked when they were safely in his car. “Did they hurt you?”

  “I’m fine, Tom,” Lucinda said, laying her hand on Mr. Middleton’s forearm. “They were very kind, especially a young man named Travis.” She looked at Lacy in the rearview mirror, her eyes twinkling. “I think he’s sweet on you.”

  “We’re just friends, Grandma,” Lacy protested. Riding in the backseat and denying rumors of romance made her feel thirteen all over again. “Can we please stop at the Blake house before we go home?”

  Her grandmother and Mr. Middleton turned to look at her. “What for?” her grandmother asked.

  “I just need to check on something,” Lacy said.

  “But the pastor is supposed to meet us at our house,” her grandmother said.

  “Tosh?” Lacy said.

  Lucinda nodded. “He was supposed to visit me today. When I called and told him about my release, he suggested meeting at the house instead. I can’t imagine why he’s so anxious to see us.” The twinkle was back in her eyes.

  Ignoring it seemed like the better solution at the moment. “I’ll send him a text to let him know we’ve changed plans.” In fact, she would tell him to meet them at the Blake house. The more support she could get for what she was about to do, the better.

  “What do you know about this young man?” Mr. Middleton asked.

  “He’s very nice,” Lacy said.

  “I don’t trust outsiders,” he muttered.

  She smiled. “You sound like Jason.”

  “Jason,” her grandmother perked up and turned around. “Who’s Jason?”

  “Jason Cantor,” Mr. Middleton volunteered. “He and Lacy have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

  Lacy wondered how many other people had been watching her without her notice.

  Tosh’s car was in the driveway when they arrived. “I was already driving when I received your text,” he announced. “You caught me a couple of blocks away.” He held out his hand to Mr. Middleton and Lacy’s grandmother while Lacy made the introductions.

  “You okay?” he asked, turning to face Lacy when the introductions were over.

  She shrugged. He put his arm around her shoulders and led her to the house, leaving her grandmother and Mr. Middleton to exchange looks behind their backs.

  They all trooped into the entryway and stood facing each other, automatically making a circle in the small space.

  “What’s this about, Lacy?” Mr. Middleton asked. “I can tell you’re up to something.”

  Lacy drew in a deep breath. “I think it’s time we all clear the air a little bit.” She turned to her grandmother. “Grandma, I know the truth about my mom’s adoption.”

  Her grandmother sagged and stumbled, leaning on Mr. Middleton when he offered support.

  “I know things were different back then, but adoption isn’t a stigma anymore. It’s a happy celebration of chosen families. I’ll understand if you still don’t want to tell Mom, but I’m glad I know. And I love you just the same; nothing could ever change that. You’re still my Grandma, and you always will be. And now I have another Grandpa to add, and I think that’s pretty great.” She had been young when her grandfather died. The prospect of enjoying another was almost too good to be true.

  She turned, smiling, to Mr. Middleton. “But on that note, there’s something we have to discuss. I want to know what happened that day, the day Barbara was murdered. Grandma, you dropped off the pie and left. That’s true, right?”

  “That’s the honest truth, Lacy,” she said shakily. “I tried to convince Barbara not to go public with the adoption, but she wouldn’t be dissuaded. I left here very upset and decided that if our worlds were going to be torn apart, then we were in need of some prune cake.” She swiped at her eyes. Mr. Middleton moved closer and put his arm around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze.

  “She sent you a note, too, didn’t she?” Lacy asked Mr. Middleton.

  He nodded curtly. “She did, the darn fool woman. She was always trying to stir up trouble when she was young and apparently some people just never learn.”

  “Did you come here that night?”

  Mr. Middleton looked taken aback. “No. I learned my lesson with Barbara fifty years ago. The less contact with her, the better. No good ever comes of getting caught up in her schemes. When she left here all those years ago, I wrote her off, vowing never to have anything to do with her again.”

  Lacy could tell he meant it. Mr. Middleton was one of those straight-laced protective people who might be compelled to murder in a fit of passion, but he would never lie to cover it up, and especially not to his own granddaughter.

  “Then who ate the pie?” Lacy mused.

  Tosh cleared his throat. “Um, that would have been me.”

  Lacy whirled to look at him, her mouth agape. “What?”

  His look and tone were apologetic. “She called and told me she was a member of my congregation and invited me over. She gave me pie, and I left.”

  “You met her? You were here? Why didn’t you tell me?” Lacy asked.

  “Because when I was here, she made a pass at me. I ran out like Joseph with Potipher’s wife. I was embarrassed, and then when I learned about her reputation I was afraid no one would believe that I had left.”

  “Tosh,” Lacy said, the hurt evident in her voice. “You were here after my grandma. You ate the pie she brought. You could have been her alibi; you could have cleared her.”

  Now it was his turn to look shocked. “Lacy, I didn’t think…I promise you that never occurred to me, or I would have come forward. I’m so sorry.” He looked over her head toward her grandmother. “Mrs. Craig, I’m so sorry. Please forgive me.”

  Lucinda waved her hand. “Don’t think a thing of it, Pastor Underwood.”

  Lacy turned away from him, too overwhelmed to deal with the implications of what she had learned from him. She blew out a frustrated breath and pushed her hair away from her face. “If it wasn’t any of you who killed her, then who was it?” she asked.

  “It was me.”

  Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, gasping when they saw her gun.

  “Peggy,” Mr. Middleton said. “What are you talking about?”

  Peggy looked at him and shook her head. “You still don’t know, Tom. You never did. You never understood.”

  But Lacy understood. Suddenly the first entry in the journal made sense. “You’re Round Hole,” she said.

  Peggy’s brow lowered and her head snapped toward Lacy. “How did you know about that?”

  “I saw it in her journal. ‘Round Hole- Matherly,’” Lacy quoted. The tiny entry she had pondered for so many days now finally made sense. Peggy was in love with Mr. Middleton, and Barbara had taken him away.

  “She was horrible,” Peggy said. “You know why she called me Round Hole? Because she said I was like a square peg in a round hole--I didn’t belong. And she made sure of it. She ridiculed what I wore, how I did my hair, and the way I talked. None of the other kids would have anything to do with me, or the teachers, either. Except you, Tom. You’ve always been nice to me.”

  “But why did you kill her after all this time?” Lacy asked.

  “Because she came back,” Peggy said plaintively. “I thought she was out of our lives forever, and then she came back. And where Barbara went, destruction followed. I knew she would try to contact Tom again, and I was afraid he would fall in love with her all over again.”

  “That wouldn’t have happened, Peg,” Mr. Middleton said k
indly.

  “Of course not,” Peggy said, beginning to cry now. “Because you’re in love with her.” She pointed the gun toward Lacy’s grandmother. “I heard you talking all about it in the coffee shop this morning, and I can’t take it anymore, Tom. I can’t take watching you eat your heart out over someone who’s not me.” She swiped at her eyes and leveled the gun on Lucinda, but Mr. Middleton stepped between the two women.

  “Peggy, you’ve always been my best friend. Why do you think I spend every morning in the coffee shop except to see you? You’ve been the biggest part of my life all these years, and the one constant I could count on. We’ve spent all our holidays and birthdays together.”

  “Then why didn’t you ever fall in love with me?” she sobbed.

  “I tried to,” he said. “I wanted to. But the heart wants what it wants. I couldn’t make myself feel something it couldn’t, but I do love you. You know that. Don’t do this.” He stepped forward again and put his arms around her, securing the gun and taking it out of her grasp. She collapsed on his chest and gave great heaving sobs.

  A few minutes later, Jason was there. He walked into the house, gun drawn, and then paused in the doorway, a look of confusion on his face.

  “One of the neighbors called me and said she saw some people break in here,” he said. His gaze leveled on Lacy and narrowed.

  Before Lacy could defend herself, Detective Brenner came puffing up the steps behind him, knocking Jason out of the way. “I knew it. I knew we would find you people here. You’re under arrest, all of you.”

  “Oh be quiet, George, before you bust an artery,” Mr. Middleton said. He handed Peggy’s gun to Jason, keeping his arm around her and leading her forward. “Peggy has some statements to make in regards to Barbara Blake’s murder, Jason.”

  Detective Brenner stared at the gun in shock while Jason took out a clear evidence bag and slipped the gun inside. The detective’s mouth worked up and down like a fish out of water before he turned his beady eyes on Lacy with a gleam of triumph.