Murder by Gravity

by Barbara Graham

  “No problem.” He punched a number on his cell phone. After a brief pause, he said, “I need a female companion to overnight at Mrs. Fairfield’s house.”

  The exhausted woman sagged into the chair. Relief mixed with fear still showed on her face.

  Tony leaned forward. “Someone will be here soon to stay with you tonight and will bring dinner. Do you have any food allergies?”

  “No-o. That’s so very kind of you.” Mrs. Fairfield managed a smile. “What can I do?”

  Wade answered for Tony. “Do your best to stay calm.”

  “I’m so glad I didn’t vote for your odious opponent.” Her face puckered like she’d eaten something sour. “You two are such gentlemen. That other man came to the senior center, just the other day, and wanted to have you recalled. Nonsense. We were almost preparing to lynch him when he finally left.”

  Carefully keeping his mouth closed, Tony felt relief. Besides being stupid, Matt Barney, his opponent, had probably been patronizing, as if the elderly couldn’t think for themselves. Tony’s eyes met Wade’s.

  The deputy caught the message. Wade explained. “But you need to know that your dinner and the overnight companion are not connected to the sheriff’s office. It falls completely under a volunteer group focused on community concern and assistance.”

  Mrs. Fairfield looked intrigued. “I don’t believe I’ve heard of that.”

  Tony wasn’t surprised. It was not publicly discussed. The community of churches, charities—organized and otherwise, shelters, and the food bank formed an unpublicized and unofficial safety net for the citizens of Park County. In this case, their caring for Mrs. Fairfield would give them time to hopefully find the missing coffin or at least some time for her to come to terms with being alone or make her own arrangements for a companion.

  “It’s an emergency fix only. Just for tonight.” Tony wanted to make sure Mrs. Fairfield wasn’t expecting a long-term companion. “In the meantime, we’ll do our best to locate, um, the missing.”

  As luck would have it, it turned out to be Tony’s own mother who was the emergency companion. She arrived, carrying a frozen chicken casserole in one bag and a few of her own personal items in another. Tony whispered to her as he walked past, “See what you can find out.”

  “On Halloween?” Jane stared at him. “You want me to ask about a coffin?”

  “Why aren’t you at the museum, scaring little kids?”

  “I did. The party is over.” Jane rolled her eyes. “Try to keep up, son. Everyone had fun and then went home.”

  “Oh, no,” Mrs. Fairfield moaned. “I don’t have candy for the children.” Fresh tears ran down her face.

  Jane trotted past her son. “I’ll be right back. We had some left after the party.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Theo stirred the bright red paint in the can at her feet. Piles of old newspapers and a disreputable old tarp protected the barn floor. An eight-foot square of plywood was propped up against the opening into an old stall, away from the destruction caused by the Halloween party.

  With the boys at a second Halloween party and the girls getting acquainted with Maybelle, their new adult assistant, Theo had sneaked out to paint another of the barn quilts. Using a paint roller on a long handle, she had primed the surface with white paint and divided it into a geometric grid with a pencil while it lay on the tarp. Now that it was upright she couldn’t reach the top to add the colors. “I need a stepstool.”

  Tony’s oldest sibling, Caesar Augustus, known to all as Gus, grinned at her. He was cleaning the barn after the party and stopped to watch her work. “I don’t think a stool’s going to be enough extra height. Should I paint the top row for you?”

  “I thought you needed to get back to Catherine and the joys of fatherhood. Diapers don’t change themselves, you know.” Theo teased Gus but knew he was wildly in love with his baby girl.

  Jane’s voice interrupted their discussion. Tony’s mother was wonderful, sweet, kind, a little ditsy, and annoying all at the same time.

  “Hi, Mom,” Gus smiled and grabbed the brush from Theo.

  Jane looked disappointed to find her oldest child visiting the museum without her youngest grandchild. She didn’t stay long. “I’m overnight as a companion and I just came back to pick up some candy.” As she walked away, she called out, “Next time, bring the baby.”

  Theo sighed.

  “Why do you think Marc Antony is the only one of my siblings who actually lives in the same town with her?” Gus carefully painted within the lines Theo had marked. “She ran Callie off.”

  “You and Berry don’t live far away from her, just in different directions.”

  “And different counties.” Gus made it sound like the county lines couldn’t be crossed without a passport, visa, and prior approval by the residents.

  “It might be my fault that we do live so close.” Theo frowned. “I pretty much insisted we leave Chicago after Tony was shot.”

  Gus appeared to be considering her words, checking them for accuracy as he continued to paint. “Nope.” He turned and grinned at her, looking exactly like a slightly older version of her husband. “Our baby brother is right where he wants to be.”

  Theo wasn’t sure. “After he was shot . . .” The whispered words still had the power to chill her. She swallowed hard and looked up at Gus. “Until then he had run farther away from home than any of the rest of you. First the Navy and then Chicago. For all the good it did him.”

  “I know that cop. He’s been like he is now for his whole life. This is what he was born to do.” Gus’s face showed no trace of humor. “Plus, he’s the one of us kids the most like our dad, inside.”

  “Cop and pastor?” Theo was puzzled.

  “Yes.” Gus pointed his paintbrush at her. “And if you tell him this, not only will I deny it, but I’ll find retribution. You will pay big time, little lady.” He couldn’t quite keep the grin off his face. “They are so alike. Well, except for the hair, because Dad looked more like Berry. Both of them went into the saving business. Lives and souls, justice and redemption. Both of them fight for good.”

  Theo had never seen Gus so serious. A tingle ran up her spine. “I thought it was Harvey Winston’s plan for Tony to take over as sheriff.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Gus’s smiled reappeared. “Maybe Mom said something to the old man, or maybe someone else put Tony’s name in the hat.”

  Theo laughed at the self-satisfied expression on her brother-in-law’s face. “You mean like someone who might have to live in the same town with your mom if Tony didn’t return to Silersville?”

  “Maybe.” Gus dipped his brush into the bucket and kept painting. “Maybe not.”

  Tony wasn’t sure if he was pleased to hear that two men, with outstanding arrest warrants, had opened their front doors to his deputies. Each one was expecting trick-or-treaters and found Darren Holt and Mike Ott holding out the necessary paperwork. They’d surrendered peaceably and calmly, and were now in the booking process.

  Tony’s cell phone rang again. This time, Alvin Tibbles’s name appeared on Tony’s caller ID. The teenager had already experienced enough grief, loss, and challenges in his short life to rival many adults well into middle age.

  “Hey, Alvin.” Tony enjoyed talking to Alvin. He’d learned a lot about plants from the botany-crazed young man. And he’d learned a lot about what was going on in his county as well. “Thanks for calling me back.”

  “Let me guess.” Amusement echoed in the young man’s ever deepening voice. “You think I might know someone who knows someone who did what?”

  Tony was relieved to hear the thread of humor. Alvin possessed a sharp mind. “That’s fair. Let’s start with the basics, shall we?”

  Alvin’s response was a hearty laugh. “Okay. No, your kids don’t bother me when I’m working in your yard. No, your wife’s cooking isn’t great, but it’s better than I’m used to. Yes, the truck is running much better since the Thomas brothers worked on i
t. They’re still complaining about how your wife’s old minivan almost destroyed their reputations as mechanics.” He stopped to breathe.

  “And my aunt, your landlady?” Tony was delighted by the humor. For a while he’d been concerned about the sixteen-year-old and still kept tabs on him.

  “Oh, yeah, I was getting to her.” Alvin’s voice lowered. “She is certifiable but nice.”

  “Are you doing anything for fun besides propagating plants?”

  “Sat with a girl at the last football game.”

  “That sounds good.” Tony relaxed. “It’s been awhile since you showed up at the jail kitchen to eat. I wanted to make sure I didn’t need to hunt you down and hand you a box of food.” It wasn’t an empty suggestion. The boy had needed donations of food only a few months prior.

  Alvin was silent for a moment. “I’m eating fine now, but thank you.”

  Tony cleared his throat. “I do have a favor to ask.”

  “Anything.”

  “I don’t want you to feel obligated but, if you should hear anything about a stolen coffin and embalmed body being somewhere it shouldn’t, please let me know.” To his own ears, Tony’s comment sounded like something from a grade C-minus horror movie.

  “Well, now that you mention it, I have.” Alvin’s voice lowered as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear this particular part of their conversation. “I was going to call when no one was around.”

  “Really?” Tony sat up straight and grabbed his pen. “Where? Who?”

  “I don’t have the answer to either of those questions, Sheriff, but there’s a Halloween party being planned with supposedly a coffin and a real live corpse.” Alvin laughed on the last word. “I guess that would be a real dead corpse.”

  “What do you know about the organizers or the location?”

  “Not much. Supposedly we’ll get a text message later tonight giving us the location. I wasn’t planning to go. Do you want me to?”

  As it had been only a few months since the boy had seen his own mother’s coffin and corpse, Tony was not surprised he didn’t want to go. He’d be surprised if Alvin attended another funeral for a while, much less a late night in the dark party. “No. You don’t need to go, but if you hear more?”

  Alvin quickly agreed. “As soon as I know more, you’ll know more.”

  Tony was delighted by this information. There was nothing like good inside skinny to make life a little better for everyone. “Thank you, Alvin. I can promise not to tell anyone where we got the location, not even my staff.”

  “Well, if I’m the only invited person who’s not there, it’s not going to be much of a mystery.” A trace of humor filtered through Alvin’s words. “Not to mention, the whole county knows my connections to you, your family, and your aunt.”

  “True.” Tony didn’t think Alvin was complaining, just stating the truth. “And, if you already know about it, it’s hardly a closely guarded secret.”

  “Well, if the ones I’m guessing are involved really are the party planners, they’ve got a group IQ of about three.” Alvin’s amusement resurfaced. “I’ll see what I can learn.”

  Theo had no idea where Tony was. She was grateful the boys were at a friend’s Halloween party and didn’t need an adult companion as they went door to door. Just answering the doorbell was wearing her out. The toddlers were not helping with the candy distribution. She spent as much time grabbing one girl or another to keep them from tumbling down the front steps as she did dispersing treats. Honestly, did all the kids in town need more candy?

  And Daisy? The normally well-behaved Golden Retriever was barking hysterically every time the doorbell rang.

  At seven thirty, she ran out of candy and turned off the porch light. As she made her way into the family area, she carried both of the girls. A glance at them in better lighting showed dirty smudges and something like glue in their curls. She turned toward the stairs. “You girls need a bath.”

  Predictably, Lizzie wanted to crawl up the stairs and pitched a fit when Theo insisted on carrying her. She continued to howl until Theo plopped her in the bathtub with a couple of inches of warm water. Suddenly sunny, Lizzie laughed and splashed. The splashing made Kara cry.

  Theo thought about crying too but she didn’t have the energy.

  Eventually, Theo managed to get both of them clean and dry and into their fuzzy duck pajamas. Chris and Jamie returned from the party just in time to kiss their already snoozing sisters goodnight.

  Theo fell asleep on the couch while watching them sort their candy and small prizes. The favorites seemed to be the vampire teeth.

  “Sheriff?” The boy’s voice on the telephone was barely above a whisper.

  “Alvin?” Thank goodness for caller ID. Tony was instantly concerned, though. It sounded like the boy was gasping for breath. A hideous nightmare bloomed in his mind, one born of watching too many horror movies with his older siblings. “Are you all right? Where are you?”

  “I’ve found your missing coffin.” Then silence. Disconnect.

  Tony immediately began pushing buttons trying to get Alvin back on the phone. Nothing. He stared at the clock. Twelve minutes to midnight on Halloween. The sound of his own heartbeat hammered in his brain. Was there a way to trace the location of the disconnected call? He called dispatch. “Where is the coffin party?”

  Karen Claybough, Wade’s sister, was working the night desk. “I just got a call about it. It’s up on the mountain near the old cemetery. Do you know the spot?”

  “I think so.” Tony would not swear he’d be able to find it. “I need someone who grew up in those hills.”

  “Then wait a second. I’ll get you Wade or Darren. They both grew up playing in those woods, hunting rabbits. They’ll know the place.” The click of her keyboard almost drowned out her next words. “There haven’t really been tombstones up there since I was little.”

  Tony paced and swore and stared at the clock; seconds were ticking away. His phone chirped, call waiting. Tony pushed the button. “Wade?”

  “No. It’s Alvin.”

  “Thank heaven.” Tony exhaled, surprised to find he’d been holding his breath. “What happened?”

  “I’m up here in the old cemetery. I must have gotten under the wrong rock and lost service.” Alvin’s voice sounded strained.

  “We’re coming up there.” Tony forced himself to speak calmly. “Find yourself a safe place.”

  Alvin didn’t say don’t come. “There’s a lot going on up here. It’s not just the coffin. Someone must have robbed a moonshiner. There’s a lot of white lightning and some weed.” He panted like he was running. “You’ll have to arrest two thirds of the high school.”

  “What about you?” Tony hated to think the boy had been drinking.

  “You might smell some alcohol on my breath.” The boy whispered. “I didn’t swallow any, or not much, I just rinsed my mouth with it so they wouldn’t think I was a spy. Cripes, it’s nasty stuff.”

  “I’m sure you’re right.” Tony wasn’t a big fan of moonshine. “We’ll probably just round up everyone and haul you to the jail as a group. Then we can release you and most of the others to their parents.”

  “Everyone gets off?” Alvin sounded either angry or disappointed.

  “Oh, no. Not a chance.” Tony was not going that far. “We will arrest the body snatchers and whoever brought the booze, if we can find them. I hate these parties.”

  Alvin’s voice became clear and calm. “In that case, you should know the snatchers are Doc, Shorty, and Slim Carpenter.”

  Tony might have guessed. The Carpenter boys were often unsupervised and dumb as dirt. “How are the coffin and Mr. Fairfield?”

  “Oh, fine.” Alvin started laughing, a hearty laugh. “Not even the Carpenters were willing to open an occupied casket. Especially not on Halloween. They claimed they stole it just for decoration, but everyone knows the truth. They had planned to open it, told everyone, and then chickened out.”

  “Thank goodn
ess for that.” Tony checked his watch. “I hope to be there in half an hour or so.”

  With the navigational help of Wade and Darren, Tony put the Blazer in four-wheel drive and followed a snow-covered, narrow, winding road, more of a path, up the side of the mountain. Once, decades ago now, a community had existed here, but now the only signs of it were a couple of rotted cabins and a plot of weeds and trees surrounded by a low row of worn stones. The cemetery. The moon cast a pale light through the clouds, reflecting from the well-polished casket of Mr. Fairfield. It glistened like a lake in the surrounding dark, snow-dusted vegetation, although it tilted as if it had been dumped there rather than placed. A couple of citronella candles sat on the slope of the lid but provided little in the way of illumination or atmosphere.

  The three Carpenter boys were easy to find: two were passed out and the third one was throwing up on his brothers. Tony guessed the biggest problem he and his deputies were about to experience was deciding who was going to have to transport them. He wished they could use a pickup and just toss them all into the open truck bed like logs. Unfortunately, they needed to transport them safely. Having a teenager bounce out of a pickup could have lasting repercussions. He sighed.

  Wade stared at the coffin. “These idiots are not making our lives any easier. Should we get Mayor Cashdollar up here with his hearse, so we can get Mr. Fairfield back where he belongs?”

  “I’ll make the call. In the meantime, you can try to use a bit of fingerprint powder.” Tony shook his head, watching the swirl of snow falling from the trees. “And take lots of photographs. I don’t know why I’m always surprised by the things people do for entertainment that can get them arrested.”

  Wade flipped out his favorite fingerprint brush. “I’ll get started.”

  “Since there are lots of them and not many of us,” Tony said, “we’ll have to drive them down in shifts.” He radioed Karen and explained the situation and the numbers. “Wake up everyone you think we’ll need.”