by Diane Morlan
After about an hour, the last entry in the parade, KHER-FM radio station’s employees handed out freeze pops from coolers in the back of their van. Three police officers on motorcycles brought up the rear. People grabbed their chairs and headed for their cars. We took our time, enjoying the break for as long as possible, knowing it would be a while before we would be able to get to the Fest Grounds through the traffic.
While we waited for the crowd to thin out, I asked Megan if she thought Sally and Bobby could be involved in Wes’ murder.
“I suppose anything is possible, Jennifer. This whole thing is crazy. I don’t want to believe anyone I know could’ve killed another human being.”
I had to find out what kind of car Bobby drove. Sally had recently bought an older Dodge minivan, which was about the same size as the vehicle that ran me off the road but just didn’t seem right. Also, it was more of a silver blue, way too light in color. Marty’s SUV still best fit my image of that vehicle.
Megan drove toward her home. “Don will be landing in Minneapolis in about an hour and I don’t want to miss his call. Are you okay to drive?”
“I’ll be fine. Do you want to do something later, after I’m done at the Fest Grounds?”
“I don’t know. I may go up and stay with him tonight. So, call my cell if you need to get a hold of me.”
After she went into the house, I maneuvered into the driver’s seat and slowly made my way to the Fest Grounds. No multi-tasking for me until this neck brace was off.
A half hour later, I walked into the Home Arts building bringing with me the much-needed coffee. “Where have you been?” Sally demanded. “I’ve been calling your cell for an hour. Oh my God! What happened to your neck? Are you okay?”
“I’m so sorry, Sally. I keep leaving you here to do all the work. I had a little accident last night but I’m okay. The brace keeps the pressure off my spine and helps with the pain,” I explained in a rush. “Megan and I got stuck at the parade. It was pretty noisy; guess I couldn’t hear my phone ringing. What’s up?” I plopped down the coffee I had brought in from the car, minus the two pounds we gave to the guys at the parade.
“Detective Jacobs is looking for you. Something’s happened. He just left. He said he went to your townhouse and we both tried to call you. You’d better call him right away.”
“What’s happened?” I asked while burrowing in my purse for my cell phone, a feeling of dread washing over me. “Oh, God. Do you think they arrested Bernie?”
“I don’t know. I hope not. Call him and find out.”
“On second thought, I doubt Lieutenant Jacobs would drive all the way out here to tell me that.” Checking my phone, I found Jacob’s missed call number and hit the “talk” button.
After a short conversation that told me nothing, I hung up. “He wants me down at the station. He said to bring Megan, she’s my alibi. I don’t know why I need an alibi but I’d better pick up Megan and get down there.”
I turned to Sally, “I’m sorry to leave you here again. Did Mark ever show up?”
“He’s here. He went to get something for us to eat,” She heaved a sigh. “We’ll be fine here, just go. If you aren’t back, we’ll close up at six o’clock. We can all come in tomorrow morning to break down the booth and clean-up.”
I thanked Sally, thinking I needed to give her a raise. And a bonus. “Sally, what kind of car does Bobby drive?”
“A dark blue Camaro. Why?”
“No reason, I thought I saw him at the parade. Must have been someone else.”
I looked over to Trudy’s booth. She wiggled her fingers my way and I knew she had taken in everything that had been said. I decided to ask her about the band.
Stepping over to her booth, I asked, “Trudy, I heard that Ray and Clara and Vic are up to something. Do you know what that is?”
“What are you talking about? Up to what?”
“I don’t know. Someone saw the three of them whispering together several times.”
“Well, of course they talk. They play together and there are all sorts of things they need to go over.”
“No, I don’t think that’s what it was. It was just Ray and Clara and Vic, not Bobby or Wes.”
Trudy laughed. “Oh, that. They were planning my surprise birthday party.”
“How can it be a surprise if you know about it.”
“They do it every year and every year I act surprised. Usually they have a Saturday night gig in one of the taverns around here. They invite all of our friends and I show up and act surprised. We have a great time. Do you want to be put on the guest list this year? It’s next month.”
“I’d love to. Thanks.”
“Jennifer, who told you that about the band?”
“Well, I really shouldn’t say, Trudy.
“Frank. It was Frank wasn’t it? He’s such a blabbermouth. He never could keep his big mouth shut.”
18
I called Megan while driving to her house. Lucky for me, she’d just hung up from talking to Don so I got right through to her.
“I was just going to leave for Minneapolis, Jennifer.”
“Meg, I really need you to go with me. Detective Jacobs told Sally he wanted to see both of us. I think they arrested Bernie.”
“Did Sally tell you that?”
“No, but why else would he want to see us?”
“A better question is why would he want to see us if he’s arrested Bernie? Okay, I’ll call Don. I’ll wait on the porch for you.”
When we pulled into the parking lot at the county courthouse, I told Megan, “I called Jacobs and he said to come to the side door and ring the buzzer.”
We found the door and next to it was a big red button. I pushed the button and could hear an obnoxious bell ringing inside the building.
A uniformed deputy came to the door and when I explained that Lieutenant Jacobs was expecting us, he escorted us back to a large room filled with about a dozen desks. I looked around for Detective Decker but only three people were in the room--a young woman and a redheaded guy, both in uniform at desks near the door.
Behind a desk in the corner sat Jacobs in a wrinkled blue suit. Someone needed to buy this man an iron. He stood up as we approached, grabbed a file off his desk and ushered us to an interview room. Like those seen on television, it was a small grey room with a scratched table and a few stiff metal chairs. We sat.
Jacobs positioned a manila folder in front of him and squared the corners precisely. “Were you over at your husband’s house today, Jennifer?”
“It’s still my house, too.” I replied, sitting up straighter, my hands clenching into fists. “Edwin had better not try to keep me from there. I still have a half interest in the house.”
“Is that what happened? Did Marty Fischer tell you to go away?”
“No. Actually, she was reasonably civil, considering we barged in on her. But, I saw her SUV in the garage. I think she’s the person who ran me off the road. She had an argument with Wes at the Fest grounds. I think Wes was in on that bank robbery four years ago and Marty wanted some money from him.
Jacobs waited while I wound down, then looked at me and said, “Someone killed Marty Fischer.”
I sat there with my mouth gapping open. I think my heart stopped beating for a second. “What happened? Who killed her? Did someone do this in my house? Oh, my God.” I glanced at Megan. Her mouth hung open, too.
I snapped my mouth shut when I understood Jacobs suspected us. But Megan jumped right in. “Wait a minute; we didn’t do anything to Marty. She was alive when we left the house. We talked to her in the kitchen, then left.”
Jacobs nodded. “I know. The neighbor saw you leave. She also saw Sister Bernadine’s car pull up shortly after you left. Did you tell Sister Bernadine about your conversation with Marty?”
“Oh, Mrs. Johnson, the neighborhood snoop. What does Bernie have to do with this?” I felt my head spinning as if in some sort of vortex. Scenes whirled in my head until something con
nected.
“Oh, my God,” Megan said. “Bernie was the last person to see her alive, wasn’t she?”
Jacobs looked at me, than Megan. He folded his hands over the folder and said, “Okay, now you tell me where Sister Bernadine is and don’t jack me around. Okay?”
I sat there, tears running down my cheeks. “I haven’t seen her since church this morning.”
“You went to Mass with her this morning?” Jacobs asked.
I swiped away my tears with the back of my hand. “No. I came late. But I talked to her before I left.”
“Do you have any idea where she might be now, Jennifer?”
“I don’t know why you keep thinking Bernie could do something like this. She wouldn’t hurt anyone—ever. What happened to Marty? How was she killed and who found her? And what the heck was Bernie doing there?”
“Jennifer, I think you forget who is doing the questioning here. I’m the police, remember? Now where is Sister Bernadine?”
“I don’t know. I’m her friend, not her keeper.” My head began to clear after the shock of hearing about another murder in our little town. “If, in fact she was there, someone else must have come by later and killed her. Who called it in?”
“There you go again, asking the questions.” Jacobs said, practically biting his tongue to keep from laughing.
“I don’t see any humor here, Lieutenant Jacobs.” I sat up straighter and pushed out my chest, trying to look insulted. “Someone has been killed and you need to find the person who did it.”
“Yes, Jennifer, and if I knew where Sister Bernadine was, I could ask her if she saw anything unusual while she was there. Or when she was leaving.”
“Wait a minute. Aren’t you looking at other suspects? What about the other members of the band? They were probably closest to him.”
“They all have alibis. And there you go again.”
“No. No they don’t. Did you talk to Bobby’s parents? Was he home?”
“Bobby doesn’t live with his parents. He and his brother share an apartment. But he wasn’t home Thursday night; his brother said he was with his girlfriend.”
“No, he wasn’t. Sally told me he dropped her off and then went home.”
“Maybe Sally didn’t want you to know he was with her. I told you, Jennifer. People lie all the time. But we’ll check it out.”
Jacobs finally decided he’d learned all we knew. But we hadn’t found out much about Marty’s death from him. We knew that she’d been killed in the kitchen. I’m almost ashamed to admit my first thought was that now we’d never get the house sold.
Jacobs walked us to the door and told us to be available if he needed to talk to us again. “And, ladies, make sure you call me or Detective Decker if you see Sister Bernadine. This is important, so don’t go trying to hide her or anything.”
We assured him that we would be good citizens and have Bernie call him if we saw her. I didn’t mention that I would find out everything I could from her before I had her contact the Sheriff’s Office.
We walked out the door of the station and this time I almost knocked Detective Decker down the stairs.
“Ohmygod!” I grabbed his left arm to help him get his balance. “Are you okay?”
He swept me up in his right arm and pulled me close. “I’m fine, Jennifer. Good Lord, what happened to your neck? Is that from your accident last night?”
I kind of liked having his arm around me. “Yes, but I’m fine. Really”
“I see Jacobs didn’t arrest either of you.”
I pushed him away, even though I wanted to melt into his chest and forget about everything else. I straightened out my sweater while I caught my breath and noticed a tiny little spot of wine cooler I had spilled on myself. “What’s going on? Who killed, Marty?”
“Ah, Jennifer, do you really think I’m going to tell you anything?” He wrapped his arm around me again and gave me a squeeze then let me go. Just before he turned and disappeared through the station door, he winked at me.
“Oh, girl,” Megan cooed, “You’ve got it bad. And he is a gorgeous hunk of man, even though he’s petite.”
“He’s not petite. Girls are petite. He’s, well, compact. And he is a hunk. But I’m not going to start dating him until he admits that Bernie is innocent.”
“Dating? Do people still date? Jennifer, what if he’s right about Bernie? She has a fierce temper.”
“Megan! How can you even think such a thing? I know she can get ticked off and yell a lot but she’s never gotten physical with anyone. At least not since she grew up. Shame on you for even thinking such a thought.”
“Okay, then shame on me. But where was she Thursday night? What the heck was she doing at the Fest Grounds when everyone else was leaving. The only people left were the hard drinkers and some of the bands.” Megan was so worked up she shook her finger at me. “I know she’s not a hard drinker, so that leaves….”
“Meg, I know it looks bad—”
“Wait!” She held up her hand. “She was up to something. I know, I know she wouldn’t hurt a fly. But she was up to something and we need to find out what that was. If we could find her we could ask and get to the bottom of this.”
“Well, let’s go look for her. We can drive by her house and see if her car is there. Then—“
“Wait a minute, Jennifer! I’m sure the police have been to her house and the church. Where else might she go?”
I grabbed my phone and found Bernie’s sister’s number in my contact list. Punching the button, I listened to it ring four times then it went to voice mail.
“Nope, not there. Where else would she hide out?”
“Maybe she’s not hiding. Maybe she doesn’t know what happened and she’s just going about her business,” Megan said.
We drove around town for a while, checking out Chick’s Drive-in and Riverview Movie Theater. We cruised around town for almost an hour. Finally, Megan said, “I give up. Take me home. If we can’t find her the cops never will.”
I dropped off Megan, suspecting she wanted to do some sexting with Don since she wouldn’t be seeing him between flights this week. Before she got out of the car she turned to me and put her hand on my arm.
“Jennifer, I have a confession to make.”
“Oh, not more hanky-panky, Megan. I’m not sure I want to hear about it.
“No, no. Not anything like that. In fact, just the opposite. I didn’t sleep with Al. We just messed around for awhile, and then I sent him home.”
“Why on earth did you tell me you slept with him?”
“I didn’t. You just jumped to that conclusion. It ticked me off so I decided to just let you think whatever you wanted.”
“Oh, Megan, I’m so sorry! I should’ve known better.”
“Yes, you should have. But more important, what other conclusions have you jumped to? Think about the people you’ve talked to, is there anything you may have missed by not looking at details and just assuming something?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think about it. But that puts Al back on the suspect list.”
Megan shivered. “I hope it wasn’t him. I’d hate to think I kissed a killer.”
I headed for Dottie’s Diner to grab a bite to eat. Dottie’s is a truck stop on the corner where Maron County Road 9 and the state highway cross at the bottom of a hill, across the river right outside the city limits. Like the members of the Windig Sangers, people flocked there after the bars closed because it was the only place open that late.
I pulled into a parking space near the front door under the blinking lights announcing “Good Eats.” Looking around, I spotted a blue Aveo between two SUV’s and knew I had stumbled on the one place we hadn’t thought to look for Bernie.
I walked through the front part of the building where the convenience store and checkout counter were located. Past the rest rooms that also housed showers for the truckers and on to the brightly lit diner in the back part of the building. I hadn’t been here in years and yet, nothin
g had changed. With all the craziness going on in Hermann, Dottie’s felt like a sane, safe place to be. At least it felt that way to me as I slipped into the back booth across from Bernie.
“Fancy meeting you here,” I said.
Waving her hand around in a circle over her head, Bernie said, “We haven’t been here together in a long time.”
The waitress arrived and I ordered a cheeseburger, fries and a Coke. After she walked away, I realized I hadn’t even looked at the menu. I just ordered what I had always ordered here, even though I hadn’t been here since I was fifteen.
“You heard about Marty?” I asked.
Bernie leaned over the table and blew into the cup in front of her. “I can’t believe it. I keep wondering if the person who killed her was in the house when I was there. That’s such a scary thought. But she seemed okay, not frightened or anything, so I think she was alone,” she said wiping the condensation off her glasses with her index finger. “I’m trying to remember what cars were parked on the street. I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” She sat there eerily calm. Not at all the in-your-face woman I had grown to love.
“I think so, Bernie. Jacobs and Decker want to see you so they probably have a lot of questions.”
“And I don’t have the answers, Jennifer. I saw her and talked to her, and then I left. She was very angry with me but she was alive.”
“Why did you go to her house, for Pete’s sake?” I demanded.
“I thought she’d killed Wes. I told her I would go with her to the police and stay with her through the whole process. She cussed me out and told me to mind my own business. Jennifer, I thought she had the money from the bank robbery and wouldn’t give it to Wes and he got aggressive and she was defending herself.”
“I know you were just trying to help but, Bernie that was dangerous. If she’d killed Wes she could’ve attacked you.”
