by Dee Ernst
Sam knew Mary Rose well enough to let it drop.
By unspoken agreement, all trick-or-treating in Mt. Abrams stopped at nine o’clock. That meant everyone was still out in the streets when the sirens started, and once again, the whole community crowded onto Davis Road to watch yellow tape go up and hear the crackle of walkie-talkies as police and technicians swarmed another tiny Victorian house. I had texted Cait to tell her what happened. She wanted to come down, but I asked her to stay, so she could be home when Tessa returned. Then I texted Marc, who had taken Tessa and her friends around the neighborhood. I asked him to stay away as well.
The very last thing the situation needed was a bigger crowd.
Carol finally left, and I tried to hide in a corner, but Mary Rose would not let me be. At one point, she looked at me with teary eyes and said, “You’ll find out who did this, won’t you, Ellie? Please?”
I shook my head. “Mary Rose, let the police do their job. Sam is here. He’s the best.”
She shook her head. “No, Ellie, you’re the best. You found out who killed Doug Mitchell. And poor Rita. Promise me?”
I’m a terrible liar, and as I nodded, I was sure that a bolt of lightening was going to come for me, straight down through Mary Rose’s ceiling.
I had promised Sam Kinali that I would never again stick my nose into anything that remotely looked like a crime. I had also sworn the same to Caitlyn and Marc. After Sharon Butler tried to kill me with my own fireplace poker, all three had felt an intervention was needed, and I didn’t put up a fight. I may have gotten a thrill playing detective, but my family had to come first. And I wasn’t about to jeopardize my relationship with Sam for an adrenalin boost.
“Don’t worry, Mary Rose,” I told her. “I’ll take care of this.”
Sam came back, took one look at me, and escorted me outside. “You need to sleep. Now.”
I leaned into him and sagged as his arms went around me. “Oh, that poor kid. This is so awful.”
I felt his lips in my hair. “Do you need a ride home? I’ll get someone to take you.”
I stepped back. “No. I’m fine.” I was still a tea bag and suddenly realized I’d spent the entire night shedding leaves all over Mt. Abrams. It struck me as funny, but I was too tired to laugh. “Call me?”
He smiled gently. “Of course.”
I turned and started up the hill to home.
Todd Richter was killed when a small, blunt instrument, probably a hammer, hit him on the back of the head. The attacker was close to the same height, and considering the force of the blow, was either very strong or very angry. Todd was killed somewhere else, possibly in Aggie Martin’s tiny back yard, and hauled up on to the empty porch after the fact. There were no fingerprints found. The weapon was not found. The time of death was put between six-thirty, as that was the last time anyone saw him alive, and seven–forty-five, which was when Carol found him.
The body had still been warm.
There were no immediate suspects, although Todd apparently had lots of enemies. He was involved in drugs, and aside from using pot and cocaine, he dabbled in illegal pain meds from both the using and selling sides. He was in debt to his mother and his brother, as well as a few major drug dealers and/or loan sharks.
For a clown, he had a real dark side.
Since he had posted all over social media where he was going to be Halloween night, anyone who wanted to kill him knew exactly how to find him. With so many people wandering the streets, children as well as adults in costume, it would have been easy for anyone with a rubber Scream mask to wait for Todd, and no one would have blinked. Usually, in Mt. Abrams, strangers stuck out like sore thumbs, but on Halloween, it was easy to get lost in the crowd.
Sam told me this, of course, over the few days after Halloween. Mary Rose called me every day asking if I’d found out anything new.
I was getting better at lying.
Then my daughter Caitlyn made a request.
It was after dinner, and I was waiting for her to go out and meet Kyle, but she announced that he was coming over instead, and they both wanted to talk to me.
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Both of you?”
She nodded.
“You’re making me nervous. Are you pregnant? Getting married? Breaking up?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No, no, and no.”
I exhaled loudly. Thank God.
Kyle, when he arrived, looked tired and also nervous, and the two of them sat next to each other on the couch.
“Okay,” I said. “What is this about?”
Cait tugged on the ends of her curling, red hair. “The police are asking Doug a lot of questions about Todd’s death.”
Sam had not mentioned that to me, but since I wasn’t actually part of the official investigation, I wasn’t surprised. “And?”
“Well, he didn’t do it,” Kyle blurted. “He couldn’t have. Doug is a gentle guy, and he loved Todd, even if Todd was a screwup.”
“I believe you, Kyle. But what has any of this got to do with me?”
“Could you, you know…” Cait cleared her throat. “Look into this?”
I sat back and stared at her. “Excuse me?”
Cait shot Kyle a look that clearly said I told you so, but went on bravely. “Let’s face it, Mom, you kind of have a talent for figuring things out. We need you to find who killed Todd and get Doug off the hook.”
I closed my eyes, mentally counted to three, then opened them slowly. “Did you not, in this very room not so long ago, tell me I should never get involved in another murder?”
“Yes, but—”
“And did you not,” I continued, my voice getting a little louder and slightly more high pitched, “warn me that putting myself at risk was bad enough, but dragging Tessa in, not to mention yourself, was inexcusable?”
She squirmed. “Mom, this—”
“I believe threats were made, by Sam and your father, and oh yeah, you, as to what might happen if I did stick my nose into something?”
She sat back, shoulders slumped.
“I believe a strong case was made that perhaps I needed professional help if that sort of thing was repeated? And you yourself mentioned taking Tessa out of harm’s way?”
She looked at Kyle, shook her head, and sighed. “Yes.”
Kyle swallowed hard and looked straight at me. “But Ellie, what if Doug gets arrested, and then he gets convicted and spends the rest of his life in jail for a crime he didn’t commit, while the real killer just goes free, and maybe kills someone else? And what if you could have prevented it?”
Did I mention that Kyle had the biggest blue eyes this side of Elijah Wood? And that he had a strong, handsome face? And that he was sweet and still dorky, a slightly irresistible combination?
“I cannot poke my nose into this,” I said at last. “First of all, Todd may have died here, but he didn’t live here. I know nothing about him or his life, and I can’t go poking around and asking questions of people I don’t know.” I took a deep breath. “But you two can.”
Cait sat up. “What do you mean?”
I shrugged. “Well you two know Doug. It wouldn’t seem too out of line if you asked a few questions. Talk to Todd’s friends, find out who he was close to, who his enemies were. Sam told me Todd was into drugs, and owed money. Maybe somebody knows who he owed money to. If you told me, I could push Sam in that direction.”
The two lovebirds looked at each other. “We could do that,” Cait said.
“I know you could. But just be really careful. Don’t talk to any of those drug people yourselves, for God’s sake. Remember, one of them might be a killer.”
Cait looked relieved. “Thanks, Mom. I promise we’ll take care. And we’ll bring everything straight back to you.”
Kyle smiled. “Thanks, Ellie. Doug is a good guy. I appreciate this.”
I sniffed. “Yeah, well, take care of Cait. If she gets in too deep, I’m counting on you to be the smart one.”
Cait stuck out her tongue. “Gee, Mom, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
The weather had turned cold. Well, it was November in New Jersey, so it wasn’t an entirely unexpected event. It meant bundling up a little more than usual for my morning walk. As soon as the temperature dropped below thirty, or it snowed, or became icy, slushy, or in any other way unpleasant, the morning walks would be called off entirely. Carol Anderson valued her comfort, and Shelly and I were basically wimps who just went along with whatever Carol decided.
Maggie Turner, who was usually our fourth walker, was off on tour. She played with a fairly famous chamber group that practiced locally for eight months out of the year, which made Maggie’s life a breeze. But then there came four months of touring, starting November 1st, finishing the end of February. During that time, she was lucky to fly home once a week, and had never spent a Christmas day with her daughter, Serif.
“Where’s Maggie this week?” Carol asked as we started up the first hill.
“Detroit,” Shelly said. “I bet it’s really cold there.” She looked sideways at me. “How’s Todd’s murder coming along?”
“I wouldn’t know.” I shifted the leash from one cold hand to the other. “I’ve sworn off murder, you know that.”
Carol had been smart and wore dark gloves of lined leather. “But surely, after Mary Rose, aren’t you doing something?”
“No. I swore to Cait and Sam and Marc, and I’m staying out. But Caitlyn is doing a little snooping around.”
“Cait? Really?” Shelly, who ran marathons in any weather, was wearing some sort of high-tech super outfit that clung to her fit but flat body like a second skin. “What’s her interest?”
“Doug graduated with her and Kyle,” I explained. “He and Kyle are still friends, and apparently the police are looking hard at Doug to be the killer.”
“So, what has Cait told you so far?” Carol soothed her short, gray hair behind her ears. “Anything useful?”
I shook my head. “Not a thing. Most of what she’s gotten so far has been from Doug. Todd was in trouble. Drugs. He owed money. He did a little dealing. He and Todd had formed a legal partnership, and Doug wanted out because Todd was spending every cent they made on coke.”
“And Mary Rose invited him to entertain our children?” Shelly’s jaw tightened. “How could she?”
“He was,” Carol said gently, “a very good clown. He had those kids in stitches. He was pulling pennies out of their ears and juggling mini-pumpkins. Why, he even balanced a spinning plate, you know, on his nose? With one of those long poles? And then he had them singing and playing the silliest Simon Says game I ever saw. Emma and I were in stitches. Those kids didn’t want to leave, scavenger hunt or no.”
We were rounding the lake. Most of the leaves had fallen in the past few days as a result of the cold. Boot and Shelly’s dog both had their noses in the leaves, sniffing happily.
“So, Carol. Did Todd seem distracted at all?” I asked casually. “Or did he receive a call or text on his phone that seemed to upset him?”
“I knew it,” Shelly said gleefully. “You can’t keep a good woman down.”
“I’m just asking a simple question,” I said.
Carol shuffled through the leaves. “He didn’t interrupt his performance,” she said, “even when his mother came by to watch. But at one point, there were no kids around, and he checked his phone, then told us he was running to the bathroom. He was gone a long time for a simple pee break, so maybe he did make or receive a call. When he came back, he was perfectly fine, didn’t seem upset at all, and started the kids singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat, and he made them sing faster and faster until everyone was hysterical. He stayed until there were no kids at all, and I went out and saw that the street was pretty empty, and he was gone, like a flash.”
“What time?”
She pursed her lips. “I told the police six-thirty. That’s about right. The first of the kids got there right after five, and the break came about half an hour later. He was gone about twenty minutes. I remember because that lovely James Fergus arrived just as Todd returned, and I took a picture of them together, and my phone said five-fifty.” She was smiling, a dreamy, faraway kind of smile that was usually associated with young girls and Justin Bieber.
“Did you see in what direction he went? Todd, I mean?”
Shelly made a noise. “Just asking a simple question?”
I glared at her. “Just confirming what Cait told me. Doug arrived in Hoboken just after seven, so he must have left as soon as Todd was done.”
“But we never saw Doug,” Carol said.
I stopped walking. “What do you mean?”
“Well,” Carol said. “He was there helping Todd unload the car. All his stuff was in this large duffle bag, and Doug drove the car to Emma’s, unloaded, then took off again. When Todd left, he threw everything back in the duffle, but I didn’t see Doug come back. I just assumed Todd walked back down the hill. Doug was parked in the lot by Route 51.”
“But the bag wasn’t found,” I said slowly. “Not with the body.”
“So, Todd went to the car, dropped off the bag, then came back up to meet someone, and then he was killed?” Shelly shook her head. “That makes no sense.”
“It also makes no sense that Doug would just leave his brother there,” I said. “Something is not right here.”
“I’ll say. Too bad you’re not looking into this,” Shelly said. “I bet if you asked a few questions, you could get a much clearer timeline.”
“I’m sure the police have a perfectly good timeline,” I said.
“Well, if not, you just let me know.” Carol looked smug. “I never told anyone I was swearing off crime solving. I find the whole thing rather exciting. And I’d be happy to share any information I happened to pick up.”
I grinned at her. “Why, thank you, Carol.”
She grinned back. “Well, dear, that’s what friends are for.”
Chapter 4
It would have been extremely helpful if I knew everything the police knew. The good news was, I had a direct contact. In fact, I was sleeping with the very man in charge of the investigation. The bad news was, I couldn’t ask him anything without him becoming, quite understandably, upset. So I turned all of that over to Caitlyn. And she was very subtle in her methods.
“So, Sam,” she asked him after dinner Thursday night, “are you going to arrest my friend Doug Richter?”
Tessa, who was helpfully clearing off the table, stopped dead in her tracks. “Yeah. What about that? Did you find out who killed Mr. Scarecrow?”
Sam looked around the table, his eyes bright. “What a group of nosy women I’ve become involved with. Ladies, this is about a murder. I’m not supposed to be discussing this with strangers.”
Tessa put down the plates she was holding and folded her arms across her chest. “Sam, really? Strangers? You’re practically family.”
My heart jumped a little. I knew that she and Sam got along, but for her to say something like that…
I glanced at Sam. I could see Tessa’s words hit him as well.
“Thank you for saying that, Tessa. It’s a wonderful thing to be thought of as family. Especially this family. However, I’m sure my bosses would not approve.”
“Well, we won’t tell them if you don’t,” Cait said.
Sam looked at me. I kept my face neutral.
“I’d love a cup of coffee,” he said, to no one in particular.
Tessa picked up the plates and hurried into the kitchen. Cait, ever the smart one, hurried after her.
“Ellie…”
I held up both hands. “Sam, I swear to you. I’ve asked one person a few questions. That is it.”
“Who and what did you ask?”
“Carol. After all, I see her every morning, and she was with Todd most of the time he was there. So I asked how long he stayed, if he got any calls or texts, and when he left.”
Tessa came bustl
ing in with the sugar bowl and a clean spoon. She looked at Sam, then me, and went back into the kitchen.
“They’re still talking,” she said in a whisper loud enough for both Sam and me to hear.
Sam chuckled. “Your girls certainly do take after you.”
“I know. Isn’t it great? So, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours?”
He waggled his eyebrows. “Maybe later?”
I burst into giggles as Cait and Tessa returned, Tessa carefully carrying a steaming cup, which she placed in front of Sam.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. So, are you going to tell us or what?”
Sam threw back his head and laughed. “Fine. Sit down.” He picked up his spoon and pointed it at Tessa. “And not a word of this to the station commander.”
She nodded solemnly. “I swear.”
He stirred his coffee slowly, sipped, and then added some sugar. “Suppose you tell me what you know, Ellie.”
I cleared my throat. “I know that Todd was gone for about twenty minutes. Carol said he took a bathroom break, but he checked his phone before he left. She also told me that Doug had dropped Todd and his duffle bag full of goodies off in the car, but when Todd left for the night, he carried the duffle bag himself, and Doug was not around. That makes me think Todd walked down to the parking lot, dropped off the bag, then came back up the hill, which narrows down the time of death. That would have taken him about fifteen minutes to walk, round trip. So he was killed between six–forty-five and seven–forty-five.”
“Which eliminates Doug as a suspect,” Cait said. “Doug arrived at the club in Hoboken just after seven. There’s no way he could have killed Todd here at quarter to seven, then made it down there at seven o’clock.”
Sam nodded. “Yes. Doug claims Todd met him at the car, threw the duffle bag in the truck, then told him to go. Doug was angry about possibly being late, so he didn’t ask any questions and just took off. And you’re right, Cait, the timeframe makes it a very improbable that Doug had the time to kill Todd, bring him back up the hill, and still arrive in Hoboken when he did.”
