Dyeing Up Loose Ends

by Maggie Sefton

Kelly froze, unable to move. “What!” she rasped.

  Pete jerked her arm, forcing Kelly to move another few feet to her car. “Police say it appears she was shot in the head.”

  Kelly stared at Pete in disbelief. “I . . . I can’t believe it!”

  “Neither can I, Kelly,” Pete said, his face dark and grim.

  “Do you . . . do you think she killed herself?” Kelly asked, barely able to utter the words, they were so incomprehensible.

  Pete’s features contorted in an expression she’d never seen on his friendly face before. “I . . . I don’t know, Kelly. I don’t think she could . . . now, I mean with the baby . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “Neither do I, Pete. She wouldn’t do it. But . . . she must have . . . I mean, no one else would. Everyone loved Julie.” Kelly heard the ambulance’s siren start its mournful wail as it drove along the adjacent busy avenue.

  Pete simply shook his head, not saying a word.

  Suddenly, Kelly remembered something. “Jennifer! Pete, where is Jennifer? Please don’t tell me she’s inside the shop!”

  “No, no. I wanted to get her out of here and away . . . away from that awful sight. She’d already seen Julie inside the car. Neither of us will ever forget that.” He screwed up his face. “I called police while I drove our car around there,” he pointed toward the green grass of the golf course. “I didn’t want her near Julie’s car. I took her back home as soon as the police said I could. I had to promise them I’d come right back. They said the detectives wanted to talk to me. I’ve been talking to Jen on the phone. Keeping her posted on . . . on everything.”

  Immediately, Kelly knew what to do. She couldn’t help here, but she could comfort her closest and dearest friend. “I’m going to go see Jennifer, Pete. I don’t want her to be alone with all that’s happening. Julie was like a little sister to Jen.”

  Something close to a smile formed on Pete’s face. “Thanks, Kelly. I appreciate that and so will Jen. I couldn’t stay with her, because I have to be here while police are. I’ve already called all the café staff and told them we’re closed for today, and I’ll pay them for it anyway.” He reached over and opened Kelly’s driver’s side door.

  “Thanks, Pete,” Kelly said as she settled into the driver’s seat. Suddenly, her eyes popped wide. “Oh my gosh! Mimi and Burt! Have you told them?”

  Pete nodded. “Yes. I talked with Burt right after I called police. Told him to stay away and why.”

  “How . . . how’d he take it?”

  “Burt couldn’t say anything at first, he sounded so shocked. He said he’d tell Mimi, and he promised me he’d check with his old partner Dan at the police department with the detectives and he would try to find out whatever he could.”

  “Oh good. Thank heavens for Burt. He’ll keep us posted about what the police are learning.”

  “He told me he would stay at the house with Mimi. He didn’t want her alone. That’s understandable. Mimi constantly worries about all of us. Bless her heart.”

  “Mimi will take this very hard,” Kelly said, then turned the ignition key and revved her car’s engine. “Meanwhile, I will drive up and do my best to comfort Jennifer. She is another dear soul we need to take care of.”

  “Yes, we do, Kelly, and thank you for knowing that.” Pete leaned back from Kelly’s car and stepped away, allowing her to back out of the grassy area where she’d parked and head for the busy Lemay Avenue.

  Kelly entered the stream of traffic and headed for the next stoplight. There, she made a left turn into the street that bordered the big-box store, entered their parking lot long enough to execute a U-turn, then exited the lot and entered the busy flow of traffic on Lemay Avenue once again. She aimed her car north toward the various housing subdivisions where she and Steve and all of her friends lived, heading for one of the joint neighborhoods where her dear friend Jennifer sat, grieving and in pain. Kelly knew her friend, and she knew how hard this would hit Jennifer. So, despite the posted speed signs, Kelly drove just a little faster and crossed her fingers.

  Eleven

  The front door of Jennifer and Pete’s house opened as Kelly walked up the flower-bordered pathway to the front porch. Jennifer stood in the doorway. “I saw your car pull into the driveway,” she said as Kelly hastened up the front steps.

  Kelly didn’t say a word. She simply embraced her dear friend in an enveloping hug. Jennifer hugged her back hard. Both friends held on to each other and didn’t let go for a couple of minutes.

  “I drove past the shop on Lemay and saw all the cop cars, and I had to stop,” Kelly said when she leaned back from their embrace. “The officer there tried to chase me off right away, but Pete told him I was one of the employees. So Pete walked me to my car while he told me what happened.” She stared into her friend’s eyes. “Good Lord, Jen! I can’t believe this.”

  “I know, I know,” Jennifer said as she closed the front door. Summer heat was already creeping inside. It was going to be a hot summer. Jennifer’s face betrayed the signs of weeping with reddened cheeks and red-rimmed eyes. “Here, let’s sit on the sofa.” Jennifer gestured toward the great room nearby.

  Kelly joined her friend on the long gray upholstered sofa. “Julie wouldn’t kill herself, Jennifer. At least, I don’t think she would,” Kelly murmured, staring unseeingly into the great room.

  Jennifer shook her head side to side vehemently. “No! She wouldn’t. I know it. She was so excited about the baby. She couldn’t kill herself.”

  Kelly watched her dear friend defend Julie, who was the closest thing to a little sister Jennifer ever had. They had known each other and worked together at the café for years.

  “Julie was a sweet and gentle soul,” Kelly said. “Everyone liked Julie. So if someone shot her in the head, it had to be an accidental killing. Like . . . like a robbery or something. But who would be wandering around out there that early in the morning?”

  Jennifer looked over at Kelly. “She must have been shot last night. One of the first things Pete said to me was Julie was cold. He felt her face.” Several stray tears slowly ran down Jennifer’s cheek. She swiped them away and grabbed a nearby tissue to blow her nose.

  Kelly’s heart squeezed, seeing her friend in so much pain. She sought for something to say. All she could come up with was conjecture. Her logical accountant’s brain was at work at all times, no matter the circumstances.

  “It had to be someone wandering through the golf course after hitting the bars in Old Town. He had to have been drunk to do that.” Kelly shrugged, feeling helpless. It was a feeling she wasn’t used to, and she didn’t like it. Helpless. Useless.

  “He was probably stoned out of his mind,” Jennifer said, her face darkening. “To walk up and shoot someone in the head like that. Julie would have given him everything in her wallet if it was just a robbery.”

  “You’re right. Julie would have simply opened her purse and handed over everything inside.”

  Kelly didn’t know what else to say. She was bereft of comforting words or thoughts. All she could think of doing was to reach out. She placed her hand on Jennifer’s arm and left it there. Human touch. No words were necessary.

  Suddenly, Jennifer’s cell phone rang with a sharp sound. No music, no tones, simply loud ringing. Jennifer grabbed it and clicked on. “Pete! What’s happening? What are police saying?”

  Kelly leaned forward, anxiously waiting to hear what Pete had learned. She watched Jennifer listen intently then nod. Then nod again. “Wait a minute, Pete. Kelly’s over here now, so let me put the phone on Speaker.” She clicked on a couple of screens on her phone then placed it on the coffee table in front of them. “Okay, why don’t you repeat what you just told me.”

  “Okay,” Pete’s voice came over the phone. “Hey, Kelly. Glad you’re there. The police detectives came and talked with the other officers. They got the car registration and ins
urance stuff from Julie’s glove compartment, so they were able to run that information through police records, too.”

  “I’m sure the cops ran her license plate when they first got there,” Kelly ventured. “I mean, police do that all the time. It would show who the car was registered to.”

  Pete nodded to himself. “Plus, she had her purse on the front seat next to her, so they could find her driver’s license. Anyway, the detectives came over to me and asked me all sorts of questions about Julie. Like, did I know who she was, and how long had I known her, and how long had she worked at the café. So I told them she’d been a valuable café employee for years and had become a good friend. She was a great person . . . and all that. Then they asked all sorts of things like how long had she been taking classes at the university and who were some of her friends. I told them I didn’t know all of Julie’s friends, because she’d been taking several classes for the last four years. But I did know the name of her fiancé.”

  Pete’s voice changed. “Boy, were they interested in that. They wanted to know Andy’s full name. I just knew his first and last, Andy Bronkowski, and I didn’t know any of his friends. But I did know that he was taking business courses at the university like Julie was. That’s how they met. They were in some of the same classes together, and they’d been dating for over a year and all that.” Pete paused in his recitation.

  Jennifer spoke up. “Did you tell the detectives that Julie was pregnant, and that she and Andy were going to get married soon?”

  “Oh yeah. Both detectives were really interested in that, too. They were writing a bunch of stuff in their little notebooks.”

  “Did they ask if Julie and Andy were already planning to get married before they learned about the pregnancy?” Kelly asked. “Just curious.”

  “Oh yeah. They asked about that, too, and they wrote a whole lot in their notebooks when I told them the decision to marry came about after Julie learned about the baby.”

  “Oh brother. I bet they’ll be visiting Andy soon,” Kelly said.

  “Pete, did they say anything that indicated Julie could have . . . could have killed herself?” Jennifer asked in a sad voice.

  “No, Jen. They didn’t. They’re investigating this as a crime scene. Of course, as they go further in their investigation, I’m sure they’ll be able to determine if . . . if this was a suicide.”

  “Maybe the medical examiner will be the one to shed light on that,” Kelly offered.

  “That’s all I know, Jen, Kelly. I’m going to give Burt a call on his cell phone now. Tell him what the detectives wanted to know and the very little they told me, and ask him to let us know whenever he’s able to find out something from his old partner Dan. That may be tomorrow, who knows?”

  “Pete . . . you’re going to have to tell Cassie . . . and bring her home,” Jennifer said, her voice breaking at the end.

  “I know, I know.” Pete’s voice turned softer. “Don’t worry, honey. I’m going to show up at Kelly’s house a little early and tell Cassie that we’re going home. We can explain to her once we have her at home. That way she’ll be able to cry as long as she feels like it.”

  “Pete, that sounds like a good idea,” Kelly said. “Tell Eric to hold down the fort with all the kids. I’ll be arriving right after you. Then he and I can do play school duty and wait for the parents to pick them up. We can explain to everyone tomorrow. Meanwhile, you’d better make that call to Burt.”

  “Yeah. He’s going to want to know everything I just told you and Jen.”

  “Yes, and then, he’ll have to tell Mimi. Good Lord,” Jennifer said softly.

  “Amen to that,” was all Pete said.

  * * *

  • • •

  Kelly nosed her car into the paved driveway that bordered the comfortable house Steve had built a few years ago in his Wellesley subdivision. Kelly and Steve decided that would become their first real home after they learned that Baby Jack would be making an appearance. They had lived in several of Steve’s new housing developments over the past few years, but this Wellesley subdivision had some of his most popular models. Marty and Megan, Greg and Lisa, even Jennifer and Pete had moved into one of the various streets in the same subdivision. That way, Kelly and Friends found it easy to stay in touch.

  Kelly parked then reached for her cell phone and pressed Steve’s name and number in her directory. She listened to Steve’s phone ring several times before she clicked off. On a building site, there weren’t many places that weren’t in the midst of a great deal of noise. Shrill screeches of electric saws as they bit into fresh pine lumber. The scent of the cut wood floating in the air. Kelly always loved that scent.

  She didn’t leave a message. This news was something that had to be conveyed in person, not via voice mail. She sped up the driveway and angled onto the front walkway to the front porch. She noticed Eric’s truck was parked in front of the house as well as Cassie’s older car. She pushed open the front door to her house and called out, “Eric? How’re you doing with all the troops?”

  Eric was comfortably relaxed on the sofa with Molly snuggled on his right side and Jack on his left. Eric had a large book open on his lap. “Hey, Kelly. We’re doing fine. They begged for more stories, so we’re working our way through some of the kindergarten books.”

  “That’s great,” Kelly said as she walked over to the sofa. “Hey there, Molly. How’s it going, Jack? Looks like Eric has one of your favorite books.” She reached down and tousled Jack’s sandy brown hair.

  “Uh-huh, and he’s right in the part when that . . . that red dog gets bigger and bigger!” Jack gestured with his hands, spreading wide.

  “Where are the twins? Didn’t they come today?” she asked, looking around.

  “Lisa had to pick them up early for their pediatrician appointments.”

  “Keep reading, keep reading!” Molly insisted.

  “Later on, I thought we could transfer Cassie’s car back to the café parking lot. If you’ll drive it over there, Jack and I can follow behind, then we’ll bring you back here to your car. We can leave as soon as Molly is picked up. How’s that?”

  “No problem,” Eric said, then smiled. “Gotta get back on task. The troops are restless.”

  “That they are,” Kelly said, then heard her cell phone’s insistent ring. Digging it from her bag, she saw Steve’s name and number. “Business call,” she said to Eric as she headed toward the back patio and yard. She wanted some camouflage for what would look like an intense phone conversation.

  “Hey there,” Kelly said as she stepped outside. Thankfully, this part of the yard was shaded, because the summer heat was climbing.

  “How’s it going over there?” Steve asked. “Were you going over to check out Arthur Housemann’s new property he’s buying?”

  “Well, I was, but I never got there this morning,” Kelly said, settling into an outdoor lawn chair in the shade. “Are you somewhere you can talk for a couple of minutes? I have to tell you something.”

  “Sure. No one’s around. What’s up?”

  “I saw cop cars all around the café and shop driveway this morning and a sign saying the café and shop were closed. So I naturally pulled in to see what was happening. Cops were all over, and Pete told me he and Jen found Julie dead in her car this morning when they came to work. Pete said it looked like she’d been shot in the head last night.”

  “What! Good God, who would do that?”

  “I don’t know, Steve. None of us think she would kill herself . . . not with the baby coming and all. Jennifer’s thinking it might have been some guy stoned out of his mind that wandered across the golf course from Old Town and tried to rob her. Who knows?”

  “Jeeeeeeez . . . How’s Jennifer taking it? She was real fond of Julie if I remember correctly.”

  “You’re right. Jennifer was like a big sister to Julie, and Cassie will be
heartbroken when Pete and Jennifer tell her this afternoon. Julie was like a big sister to Cassie.”

  Kelly reflected on the interconnected relationships that had been formed—woven almost like the fibers in Lambspun—over the years. The Lambspun family had grown and expanded since Kelly first stepped onto their doorstep thirteen years ago.

  “Has anyone told Burt and Mimi?”

  “Pete did. Poor guy, he’s been answering questions all morning from police officers then the detectives. At least the cops let Pete take Jennifer back home before the detectives showed up. I went straight over there this morning to be with Jennifer.”

  “Good, good. How’s she holding up?”

  “Pretty well, considering. She’d already cried herself dry by the time I saw her. We were trying to figure out what could have happened.”

  “Do you know if Julie had a gun? You know, a pistol?”

  Kelly paused. “You know, I have no idea. I never heard her talk about having a gun for protection or anything, but this is Colorado, and a large percentage of citizens have legal firearms for protection or for hunting just like we do. Lots of hunters here in the West.”

  “I was just wondering if Julie shot herself, because then the gun would still be in the car.”

  “True, and if there’s no gun there, then that means someone else shot her and took that gun with them,” Kelly mused out loud.

  “And there’s a third possibility,” Steve remarked. “Someone may have shot Julie, wiped off the gun so their fingerprints weren’t there, and then placed the gun in Julie’s hand to get her prints.”

  Kelly nodded. “You’re right, and that’s pretty diabolical.”

  “Hopefully, the medical examiner will give us some answers,” Steve added. “Uh-oh. I’ve got a call coming in from a building materials supplier. I’ll see you and Jack later. How about we stay at home tonight, just the three of us, and Carl, of course.”

  “That sounds like a good plan to me,” Kelly said. “I’ll buy our favorite store pizza and pop it into the oven. Jack will love that, for sure.”