I was tempted to scream my thanks but fortunately stifled it before it could escape my lips. What had gotten into me? Was Hannah right? Was the moon affecting us all?
“What?” Hannah asked as I caught her looking at me.
“I didn’t say anything,” I said as I started to take a bite.
“You didn’t have to, I could see it in your eyes.”
I finished the apple slice, then said, “I was just thinking about moonlight and madness. They go hand in hand, don’t they?”
“You’re in an odd frame of mind tonight yourself, aren’t you?” Hannah asked.
“No odder than normal,” I said. “Speaking of love lives, how’s yours?”
She shook her head. “Nonexistent. Next topic,” she said, then took another bite.
“What’s David up to tonight?”
She glanced at her watch. “He’d better be in class. That’s our deal.” Hannah’s son David had agreed to continue his studies at night if Hannah allowed him to work in my shop during the day. It had been a point of conflict in the past, but hopefully that was behind us all. I hated tension, especially with Hannah. She was my sounding board, my touch stone, and all-around best friend. I know, it’s fashionable to say you should be married to your best friend, but while I loved my husband more dearly than life itself, I couldn’t have the honest conversations with him that Hannah and I shared.
“Then I’m sure that’s exactly where he is,” I said.
As we ate, we discussed a dozen different topics, none of them more serious than Maple Ridge’s plans for a Freedom Fest on the Fourth of July. “I still think you should close the shop for the day,” Hannah said. “There’s going to be fireworks and all kinds of festivities. It won’t be any fun if you have to work.”
“You know what else wouldn’t be any fun? Defaulting on my mortgage. I need all the revenue I can get.”
“Things can’t be that bad already,” she said. “Tourist season is just gearing up.”
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re in good shape. I just want to keep it that way. David doesn’t have to work the holiday, though. Did you two have plans?”
“Are you kidding me? Between working for you, going to school, and seeing Annie Gregg, he barely has any time for me at all.”
I touched her hand. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
She pulled it away. “What? Of course not. I’ve come to terms with him having Annie in his life, though for how long, I can’t say.”
“Are they having trouble?” I’d had a hand in setting Annie and David up, and I felt a little responsible for them.
“No, but she’s going to Stanford in less than three months, and I can’t see them keeping their relationship going across the country. I just know David’s going to be devastated when she leaves.”
“He’ll get over it, if he has to. He’s a grown man, Hannah.”
“I don’t care if he’s forty, I’ll always worry about him. You can’t tell me you don’t think about your sons now that they’re grown up and have moved away.”
“You’re right, of course. But they’ve gone on to create their own lives, and the best gift I give them is to respect that.” Things had suddenly gotten too serious for my taste. “Let’s think of brighter things, shall we? How about some cobbler? It’s strawberry tonight.”
Shelly was known throughout our part of Vermont for her cobblers, and though I usually didn’t indulge, I was in that kind of mood.
“I really shouldn’t,” Hannah said.
“That’s what makes it so much fun. We can split one, if you’d rather do that.”
Hannah laughed. “Are you kidding? I don’t want to have to fight you for the crust. We might as well get two.”have
“Now you’re talking. Ice cream on top, of course.” “Now you’re talking. Ice cream on top, of course:”
“Of course,” she said.
“I’ll be right back. Shelly’s kind of swamped.” I went up front, and when I could catch her attention, I said, “Whenever you get a chance, we need two cobblers, with ice cream, too.”
“Hang on one second.” After she delivered an order to one of the customers sitting at the counter, she came back and quickly fixed our desserts. “There you go. Listen, before you take off, I need to talk to you, okay?”
“Sure thing,” I said as I took the bowls. After Hannah and I finished our desserts—worth every calorie, in my opinion—I scooped up the check before she could grab it.
“This is my treat,” I said. “And I don’t want to hear any complaints.”
“I just have one thing to say.”
“What is it?” I was prepared for a fight, but I wasn’t going to back down. I’d invited Hannah out on short notice for no other reason than I didn’t want to eat by myself. Surely that merited me picking up the check.
“Thank you,” she said.
“That’s it? No struggle, no fight?”
“Not from me,” she said with a smile. “I’ll see you for coffee in the morning.”
When she saw I wasn’t following her out the door, Hannah asked, “Aren’t you coming?”
“Shelly wanted to talk to me for a second.”
“Good night, then. And, Carolyn? Thanks for calling.”
“Thanks for coming,” I said.
Shelly was still rushed, but I sat at the counter with a twenty and my bill and waited for her. When she got a second, she took both from me, rang the sale up on the register, then returned with my change. “Sorry, I don’t mean to keep ignoring you, but I’m really busy tonight.”
“You wanted to talk to me,” I reminded her.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not that important.”
There was a troubled crease to her brow.
After a second, I asked, “Are you sure? I don’t mind hanging around.”
“I’m sure. Thanks anyway.”
How odd. Now Shelly was acting strangely. I decided the best place for me to be was home, and I drove straight there, happily without incident.
Bill was asleep in front of the television, and I wondered how long he’d been there. I was about to wake him when the telephone did it for me. I grabbed it before it could ring a second time.
“Hello?”
“Carolyn, this is Sheriff Hodges. I need you to come down to your shop.”
I didn’t like the tone in his voice. “What happened? Did someone break in?” I could just see the scattered shards of pottery and broken windows.
“No. Just come down. And bring your husband with you.”
“I’m not budging until you tell me what this is about,” I said. The sheriff and I weren’t on the best of terms, and though I knew I should have cooperated without question, there was something stubborn in me that wouldn’t allow it.
“Okay, we’ll do this over the phone, then. Just remember, you asked for it. I found a body in the alley out back of your place, and I need you and Bill to come down here.”
I felt my fingers loosen their grip on the telephone. A body? Whose? I wanted to know, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask.
Beside me, Bill was now completely awake. “Carolyn? What is it? What happened? Is it one of the boys?”
I ignored him and spoke to the sheriff. “Who is it?” “Wouldn’t you rather do this in person?” Hodges asked.
“I need to know right now,” I said insistently.
“It’s Charlie Cobb, and from the look of things, somebody held his head down in a bucket of mud in back of your place until he drowned in it. That’s why I want to see your husband, too. I understand from the talk around town that he had more reason than anyone else to want to see the man dead. Now are you coming down here of your own free will, or do I have to send somebody there to get you?”
“We’re coming,” I said, a little bit of me dying with the words. Then I turned to Bill and told him what the sheriff had conveyed to me.
Chapter 4
“It’s not mud. It’s called slip,” I said as I looked down at the b
ucket in the alley behind Fire at Will. “It’s a mixture of clay and water we use for all sorts of things around the shop, from a type of glue to glazing.”
“Whatever you want to call it, it’s what killed him,” the sheriff said. “How did it get out here?”
I tried not to look at the sheet covering Charlie’s body and focused on the slip instead.
“David must have put it out here sometime today,” I said, though I couldn’t imagine why he would do it.
“I put it out here myself,” Bill admitted.
That caught the sheriff’s interest. “Why?”
“I was cleaning out the bathroom and saw the bucket on the floor by the pottery wheels. I didn’t know it was any good, so I put it back here so I could get rid of it later.”
“Was that before or after your fight with Charlie Cobb?” I didn’t like the calm accusation lingering in the sheriff’s voice.
“Maybe we should get a lawyer,” I said to Bill as I touched his shoulder.
“I don’t have anything to hide,” he said.
“You should listen to your wife,” Sheriff Hodges said. “It might not be a bad idea right now to have someone representing you.”
“I can answer your questions without advice from anybody else,” Bill insisted. He pointed to the slip and said, “I put this out here before we argued. But I didn’t kill the man.”
Hodges shrugged, then asked, “Bill, where were you this evening?” Turning to me, he added, “I suppose you can vouch for his whereabouts.”
I don’t know if I would have lied to him to help my husband, but that was certainly my first instinct. Bill spoke up before I could say anything, though. “I was working in the shop at Olive’s place. I didn’t see anybody, or talk to anyone, either. Are you going to lock me up for that?”
Hodges had been thumbing through what had to be Charlie’s wallet, and I saw a thick stack of twenties. “Not just yet,” the sheriff said. “That’s all. You can both go.”
“That’s it?” I asked. “You’re dismissing us?”
“You answered my questions, at least the ones I have right now. There’s no reason for you to be here now that I’m finished with you.”
“My husband didn’t do it,” I said harshly. “You’ve known him long enough to understand that.”
The sheriff shook his head briefly. “I’m not saying he did, but I’m not saying he didn’t, either.”
“Well, that’s a hearty show of support on your part,” I said as Bill took my arm.
“Come on, Carolyn, we’re getting out of here.”
“Just don’t go too far,” the sheriff said. “I’ve got a feeling we’ll be talking again soon.”
“You know where to find me. I’m not going anywhere.”
When we were back in Bill’s truck, I said, “We need to get you a lawyer right now.”
He looked shocked. “You don’t actually think I killed him, do you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I don’t. Just because you’re innocent doesn’t mean you don’t need to be protected, though. Who should we call?”
“Let’s wait and see what happens next before we do that,” Bill said.
“Aren’t you concerned about this at all?”
“Of course I am. I’m not stupid enough to think my innocence is going to save me. But think about it, Carolyn. What’s the first thing that’s going to cross folks’ minds when they find out I’ve hired an attorney? Go on, say it.”
“They’re going to think that you’re guilty,” I admitted. “But who cares what they think?”
He held my gaze. “You do, and so do I. We’ve lived in Maple Ridge forever, and I’m not about to let everyone in town believe I’m a murderer or that I have something to hide. Okay?”
I nodded. “But if things get any worse, we’re hiring counsel,” I said.
“How could the situation get any worse?” he asked.
I suspected there were a great many ways things could deteriorate even further, but I didn’t have the heart to mention them to him.
The next morning at my coffee klatch with Hannah, Charlie Cobb’s murder was clearly the topic of conversation all around us. I hadn’t been glanced at so many times, so furtively, since I’d accidentally tucked the back of my skirt into my panty hose at Wilma Birthrite’s wedding.
“Can we get take these outside?” I asked Hannah.
She took a quick look around, and the gazes of our fellow coffee drinkers swiveled in a dozen different directions. “It is rather like being in the zoo,” she said.
“From the wrong side of the bars.”
“Let’s go find a bench,” she agreed.
I looked for Nate so I could say good-bye, but the coffee shop owner was AWOL yet again from his business. I was beginning to think that he’d lost interest in the place—a funny reaction for someone who’d just committed to buying the building.
Outside, it was warming up nicely, a good thing for the seventh day of June. Tourists were already starting to visit Maple Ridge, and my business had picked up dramatically after a long and cold winter. In a few weeks, I’d have to start grabbing my meals when I could, and while I sometimes wished for the lazy days of off-season, I never yearned for the diminished bank deposits they brought with them.
“Carolyn, I’ve decided to go away,” Hannah said, jolting me from the warm glow of good coffee and early sunshine.
“You’re leaving? You can’t be serious. What about David?”
“He’s nearly a grown man. You’ve said so yourself. He’ll be fine on his own.”
“I can’t believe you’re just dropping this on me.” I was losing my best friend in the world, and she was acting as though it were nothing. “When are you going?”
“Friday. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you. It kept slipping my mind.”
“Friday? That’s in three days.”
She looked at me intently, then said, “You’re taking this harder than I thought. Why so glum?”
I wanted to smack her. “You blurt out that you’re moving in two days, and you expect me to smile about it?”
I looked over at her and saw that she was doing her best to suppress a laugh. “What’s so amusing?”
“I’m not moving. I’m just taking a trip. I’ll be back in nine days. I promise.”
I nearly wept with relief. “Hannah, for an English professor, your communication skills aren’t always first rate.”
“I assumed you realized what I was talking about,” she said a little stiffly.
“I’m just so glad you’re not leaving here for good,” I said as I hugged her.
She patted my back a second, then broke away. “I’m touched you’d miss me so much.”
“As aggravating as you can be at times, you have a place in my heart.”
“Right back at you,” she said.
“So, where are you going?”
“I got a last-minute deal on a European trip. I’m going to Italy.”
I took a sip from my coffee. “I’m crazy jealous. I’d love to go with you.”
“Actually, one of the other professors on the trip might have to cancel. I’m sure you could take her place on the tour if you’d like to.”
I was more tempted than I wanted to admit, but I had just signed a loan agreement for Fire at Will, and my husband had just been questioned as part of a murder investigation. “Sorry, but I can’t. There’s too much going on here right now.”
“Of course. I shouldn’t even have mentioned it. How’s Bill holding up?”
“He’s fine. The poor old fool doesn’t have the slightest idea how much trouble he’s in.” I watched a bird swoop down into the river and come up with a fish in his bill. He looked like some kind of midget, but he was as fast as lightning. I knew several of my friends could have identified him and told me countless other things about his nesting, mating, and migratory habits, but the only birds I could positively identify were robins, cardinals, and jays. The rest of my knowledge about the avia
n world was pretty much based on size, as in “little bird,” “regular bird,” and “big bird.” It wasn’t very scientific, but I didn’t need to know the Latin name for a bird to enjoy its song, nor did I have to know the history of every flower to savor its fragrance.
“Are you two going to get a lawyer?” Hannah asked me.
“I want to, but Bill claims it will make folks around town believe that he’s guilty, and he won’t stand for it.”
Hannah sipped her coffee, then said, “He’s probably right. You know how Maple Ridge can be.”
“What, you mean a warm and loving town that embraces its own?”
“Sarcasm doesn’t become you,” Hannah said.
“Well, I shouldn’t wear horizontal stripes, either, but that doesn’t stop me. I’m worried. A great many people heard Bill fighting with Charlie a few hours before he was murdered.”
Hannah put her coffee down on the space beside her. “So they’re sure it’s murder?”
“Somebody held the man’s head down in a bucket of slip, Hannah. It would be hard to claim it was an accident.”
I saw her shiver. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Neither do I,” I admitted, “but I don’t have much choice. As long as Bill’s under suspicion, I won’t rest until I find out who really killed Charlie Cobb.”
“Just be careful.” She looked out on the water, then said, “I know it’s selfish, but I’d rather David didn’t get involved in your investigation this time.”
Hannah was dancing on a delicate subject for both of us, and I had to weigh my answer carefully. “David doesn’t listen to me nearly as much as you think he does,” I said. “I won’t recruit him, but if he offers, I’m not turning him down, either. It’s his decision, isn’t it?”
“The problem is, David doesn’t always realize what’s in his best interests.”
If I sat there much longer, I was going to say something I’d regret. “I’ve got to go. Thanks for the coffee.”
She stood as I did. “Carolyn, don’t be that way. I wasn’t trying to make you angry.”
A Fatal Slip Page 5
