A Reunion to Die For (A Joshua Thornton Mystery)

by Lauren Carr

  Christine appeared to become curious. “How would it be read if the computer was not on?”

  “Bloody fingerprints.” He explained, “Each one of his fingerprints, as the forensics report says, was blood covered, which means he touched the keyboard after Rex sliced his throat open and before his death.”

  Joshua presented the report. “There was blood on the edges of the keyboard and some drops. What we are interested in are the keys upon which there are actual fingerprints and, since the report listed those keys alphabetically, then his message was not interpreted until I read this report knowing that he was a fan of whodunits.”

  He laid a yellow legal pad on the table and flipped the top page to reveal a row of letters printed across the top of the page. The two women sat at attention to see what he had discovered.

  “According to the report there were two partial thumbprints on the space bar.” He placed two upward pointing arrows in the middle of the page below the row of letters.

  “There was also a right-hand fingerprint from the little finger and a left-hand fingerprint on the one key. Now the upper case one is the exclamation point. So, let’s say that he ended his sentence with the exclamation point.” He placed the punctuation at the end of the blank sentence.

  “That leaves us with the letters he typed out.” He indicated the row of letters at the top of the page: A, D, G, I, M, O, R, T.

  Joshua indicated each letter while he spoke. “Now, we know that he typed out three words because of the two space bars. We can’t say he was talking about his first wife because there is no E or V. He didn’t say Rex did it because there is no E or X. However, we have every letter we need for Margo.” He spelled out Margo’s name before the upward facing arrow. “That leaves us with D, I, and T. There are two fingerprints right on top of each other on the D and the I keys. That means he used them twice. There are two D’s in did and the I is used the second time and then we have the T.”

  Joshua held up the legal pad for the two women to read Dan Boyd’s dying message: “Margo did it!”

  Christine looked at her client who gave her a silent order in the form of a glare to fix the situation.

  “You still have an uphill battle, Josh,” the defense attorney told her adversary. “My client is a pillar of the community, and Herb Duncan has been in and out of trouble since he was born.”

  Joshua said, “He’s willing to testify against your client. The book will be entered into evidence because that is what he committed the murders for.”

  “He committed two murders.”

  “On your client’s orders.”

  “Conspiracy. No jail time.” Christine snickered, “As for the cheerleader murder, drop that. My client will play the grieving mother to the hilt, and I’ll make sure the jury knows that your witness killed her daughter. The jury, even if they believe her story, will refuse to convict. Don’t waste your time.”

  Joshua gave her a nod to acknowledge that she was right. "Okay, I’ll give you that.”

  “Immunity?”

  He said, “On Grace’s murder, if your client cooperates fully in prosecuting Nicki Samuels.”

  “And for her role in Rollins’ and the old lady’s murders?”

  Joshua chuckled. “Not total immunity.”

  “Immunity from murder. My client is the only one who can tie this whole thing together. Face it. Between her public image as a successful businesswoman and the appearance that she is a grieving mother, and also the fact that she has never so much as laid a hand on any of these people, no jury will ever believe that she is capable of killing anyone.” Christine threw him what she painted as a gift. “Conspiracy and a sentence recommendation for parole. No jail time.”

  “She’ll have to plead guilty to the conspiracy charges and tell the court everything,” he ordered.

  “Only if you give her immunity from murder,” Christine threw in.

  Joshua sat back and gave Margo a glare. “Your client will not be charged for murder in Hancock County.”

  The women smiled triumphantly at each other.

  At her sentencing hearing, Margo told the judge how, in her youth, when she was too young to know any better, she hired Rex Rollins to kill her husband. Then, years later, when he was going to use her mistake against her, she hired Herb Duncan to kill Rex and then his landlady.

  Pleased with the deal that kept her client out of jail for the three murders she arranged, Christine Watson stood at her side at the defense table.

  There were no smiles in the rows of seats behind the defense attorney. Eve Boyd sobbed while she watched her husband’s second wife tell about having her husband killed. Greg Boyd held her hand while trying to control his outrage that after years of seeking justice, finally, his father’s murder was solved, only for the killer to walk away.

  Equally unhappy to see injustice done in the form of a deal, Dr. Tad MacMillan, The Review news editor Jan Martin, and Joshua’s children watched the county prosecutor pay for what some members of the media called the deal of the century.

  The Vindicator’s editorial declared that Hancock County’s prosecutor had blown it. How can any elected official with an ounce of moral fiber make such deals?

  “It was a mistake,” Margo finished her statement for the judge with the remorse of a woman who bought the wrong shade of nail polish.

  With her statement completed, it was time for the judge to hand down his sentence. Instead, he had a few questions for the defendant. “Could you please tell the Court again why you conspired to have Rex Rollins killed so many years after he killed your husband for you?”

  “Rex told me that he saw Gail Reynolds on television talking about a book she was writing about Tricia Wheeler’s murder,” Margo said. “He thought that if he wrote about killing Dan, he would get rich and famous.”

  Joshua showed the copy of the manuscript to Christine and Margo before taking it up to the judge’s bench and handing it to him.

  The judge flipped through a few of the pages. “Is this the book?”

  “Yes, that’s the book,” Margo answered.

  “Did Rex Rollins let you read it?”

  “No, but he told me what was in it.”

  The judge then asked her, “Mrs. Connor, have you had a chance to read this manuscript since Rex Rollins’ murder?”

  “Yes,” Margo responded.

  “Is everything Mr. Rollins had written, about you extorting him into murdering your first husband so that you could inherit the capital to start your business and you paying him off in real estate, true?”

  “Yes.”

  “And when Rollins told you that he was writing this book,” the judge continued, “did you hire Herb Duncan for a similar deal? Payment in the form of real estate, a truck, and a job, to kill Rollins and steal this book, and the computer on which he wrote it, in order to conceal your role in your first husband’s murder?”

  “I already said I did,” Margo answered with growing impatience.

  Christine gestured for her client to control her rising frustration. She glanced over at Joshua. The defense lawyer’s smug expression was replaced with one of worry. The prosecutor had made a deal for a sentence recommendation. It was within the judge’s power to decline the recommendation.

  “Did Herb Duncan do the job you hired him to do?” the judge was asking Margo.

  “Yes.”

  “When this book landed in the hands of Bella Polk, did you then order him to kill her and retrieve the manuscript for you?”

  “Yes.”

  While Christine and Margo held their breaths, the judge then stated that he needed to review the case more closely before handing down his final judgment.

  Margo beamed for the cameras when she and her defense lawyer stepped out of the courtroom.

  Led by her son, Eve Boyd
collapsed with grief on the first bench she came to in the corridor.

  When Joshua came out with Jan, Tad, and his children, he turned away to avoid seeing the anger in Greg’s eyes. He led his family down the hall.

  While Margo gave her statement to the media with her legal guard at her side, Tad said, “I think you better start looking for another job, Cuz. Even if the judge rejects your recommendation and throws her butt behind bars, a lot of people are going to remember this come time for re-election.”

  Jan asked Joshua, “How could you let her get away with this?”

  “I cannot win a conviction for her killing Rex Rollins and Bella Polk without proving that she had her husband killed back in 1988.” No one noticed the smile on the corner of Joshua’s lips.

  “This proves it,” Sarah said. “He who has the biggest lawyer wins.”

  Down the corridor, they saw Eve drop her head while her son squeezed her shoulders.

  Joshua swallowed the lump in his throat.

  Jan told them, “I should get a statement from her for the paper, but I don’t have the heart.”

  Margo was laughing at a comment from a journalist when a woman with ultra-short black hair and big hazel eyes made her way through the crowd. Most of the journalists dismissed her as a teenage kid in her jeans and leather bomber jacket until they noticed two sheriff’s deputies dressed in Columbiana County uniforms at her side.

  “Ms. Margo Connor?” the woman asked.

  “Yes.” Margo giggled when she responded.

  Diana flashed her badge for everyone, including the news cameras, to see. “I’m Detective Diana Windsor of the Columbiana County sheriff’s department in the State of Ohio. We have a warrant for your arrest for the murder of Dr. Dan Boyd.” There was a stunned silence while she recited her rights to Margo. One of the deputies handcuffed the prisoner.

  Christine whirled around and shouted down the corridor to Joshua. “We had a deal!”

  The Hancock County prosecuting attorney replied, “And I kept my deal. She’s not being charged in Hancock County for murder. Dan Boyd was murdered in Columbiana County in the state of Ohio. I have no authority over there. However, I don’t think, in light of all the evidence, including your client’s statement before the judge about her arranging her first husband’s murder and the accuracy of Rex Rollins’ book, that they will be so willing to make a deal . . . over there.”

  Christine gasped at the realization of her error.

  Eve Boyd shrieked with joy and hugged her son. Greg mouthed a thank you to Joshua.

  Joshua acknowledged the gratitude with a bow of his head.

  Diana stepped down the hall to Joshua and said for the defense lawyer to hear, “I’ll be waiting for a copy of the transcript from this hearing.”

  “I’ll hand deliver it.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that,” Diana replied. “Call me sometime.” She winked at him.

  Stunned by Joshua’s cleverness, his children, Jan, and Tad watched Diana stroll down the hall after her handcuffed prisoner.

  Joshua whispered into Tad’s ear, “You’re right about one thing. A lot of people will still remember this come re-election.”

  The media chased Margo down the stairs to capture shots of her being put in the backseat of the Columbiana County sheriff’s cruiser.

  Joshua’s children forgave him enough to take him up on his offer to take them to dinner. “Care to join us?” he invited Tad and Jan. He tried to ignore his cousin’s arm across Jan’s shoulders.

  Tad declined his invitation. “We’re going to dinner at the Ponderosa.”

  “Again?” she responded.

  “I guess it’s becoming ‘our place.’ ” Tad steered her towards the elevator.

  “Did you hear that?” Jan told the group, “We have our own place.”

  Joshua fought to tear his eyes away from the two of them in the elevator while the doors closed between him and them. “But I’m the one who caught the killers. Why did you get the girl?” His last sight of them was Tad waving at him.

  “Are they dating or what?” Sarah asked.

  “Of course they are,” Tracy said. “Can’t you see that they are in love?”

  “I vote we go to Tom’s for dinner,” Murphy yelled.

  The rest of the children agreed.

  Epilogue

  Common sense told Joshua that Tad and Jan would not call him that night. While he lay in his bed trying to concentrate on yet another deep book, he wished they would.

  What is wrong? Joshua cursed himself. He had always wished that Jan would find someone else, and then when she did, he was upset about it.

  Time to move on.

  He forced himself to recall the comparison Tad made in explaining the benefit of Jan and him seeking a relationship together. “There comes a time when we all have to either move on, or stagnate until our lives turn into a parasitic swamp.” If you don’t move on, Joshua analyzed the statement, then you stagnate.

  That was what happened to Doug Barlow. For two decades, he tread stagnant water in his insane fantasy of a suicide pact with Tricia Wheeler until his mind became so polluted that he killed Gail Reynolds in order to protect his love’s memory.

  Then there was Gail. For years, she followed Joshua under the guise of her journalism career. Her obsession made her vulnerable to gang rape and murder. She refused to consider another relationship. She died alone.

  They both refused to face the reality of relationships that were over and wallowed in their own loneliness until they reached tragic ends.

  Joshua heard his children shrieking in the family room two floors below his bedroom. They had rented a DVD of the latest action film.

  His children’s mother was dead. It had been more than a year, and life moved on. Donny was taking a girl to the Christmas dance for his first date. J.J. stood a good chance for an academic scholarship. Murphy was a candidate for the Naval Academy. Tracy had a boyfriend. Joshua saw Sarah wearing green nail polish at breakfast that morning. She was growing out of her tomboyish ways. All of his children had made lives for themselves in their ancestral home.

  Even Jan had moved on. She was glowing when she left the courthouse with her hand in Tad’s. Joshua’s relationship with her had shifted. They were friends and would remain friends.

  Time to move on like a river flowing with fresh clean water, or turn into a parasitic swamp.

  Joshua picked up the phone and dialed the number he had come to memorize.

  “Commander O’Henry here.”

  “Commander Thornton here.” He plunged on, “I’m sorry for what happened while you were here.”

  “What happened while I was there?”

  “I wasn’t ready, but now I am.”

  “Are you sure?”

  He braced the phone against his ear and slipped the gold band from his finger. “I took off my wedding ring.”

  “Did you really?”

  Joshua sensed a glimmer of hope when he picked up a note of enthusiasm in her tone. “Do you want pictures? Official statements from witnesses?”

  “I’ll see for myself. I got re-assigned to the Pentagon. I’ll be there this coming spring.”

  “In time for the cherry blossoms?”

  “I’m planning on it.”

  “I’m serving my reserve duty at the Pentagon this summer.”

  “Then I’ll see you in Washington, my love.”

  The End

  Lauren Carr

  About the Author

  Lauren Carr fell in love with mysteries when her mother read Perry Mason to her at bedtime. The first installment in the Joshua Thornton mysteries, A Small Case of Murder was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.

  Lauren is also the author of the Mac Faraday Mysteries, which takes place in D
eep Creek Lake, Maryland. It’s Murder, My Son, Old Loves Die Hard, and Shades of Murder, Blast from the Past, and The Murders at Astaire Castle have all made the best-sellers ranks on Amazon in cozies and police procedural mysteries, as well as receiving rave reviews from readers and reviewers.

  Dead on Ice introduced a new series entitled Lovers in Crime, in which Joshua Thornton will join forces with homicide detective Cameron Gates. The second installment, Real Murder, will be released January 2014.

  The owner of Acorn Book Services, Lauren is also a publishing manager, consultant, editor, cover and layout designer, and marketing agent for independent authors. This spring, two books written by independent authors will be released through the management of Acorn Book Services.

  Lauren is a popular speaker who has made appearances at schools, youth groups, and on author panels at conventions. She also passes on what she has learned in her years of writing and publishing by conducting workshops and teaching in community education classes.

  She lives with her husband, son, and two dogs on a mountain in Harpers Ferry, WV.

  Visit Lauren’s websites and blog at:

  E-Mail: writerlaurencarr@comcast.net

  Website: http://acornbookservices.com/

  http://mysterylady.net/

  Blog: Literary Wealth: http://literarywealth.wordpress.com/

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lauren.carr.984991

  Gnarly’s Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/GnarlyofMacFaradayMysteries

  Lovers in Crime Facebook Page:

  http://www.facebook.com/LoversInCrimeMysteries?ref=ts&fref=ts

  Twitter: @TheMysteryLadie

  Check Out Lauren Carr’s Mysteries!

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