“Lindsay, I promise you I won’t think whatever you tell me is silly girl stuff, okay?”
“Thank you.” She shuddered, took a deep breath, and began to speak. “I’ve known Amber for as long as I can remember. She was my best friend. We did everything together from talk about boys to go to church together to becoming cheerleaders, everything. I knew her better than anyone else in the world. I think I knew her even better than her parents did.”
“Yes, I often heard Amber speak about you. It was evident from the way she spoke about you that you were her best friend.”
“Well, here’s the thing. I know you hired Madison to work here, but I don’t know if you really know what went on between her and Amber.”
“She told me she and Amber didn’t get along.”
Lindsay laughed bitterly. “That’s putting it mildly. Madison hated Amber. It started last fall. Madison and Brandon had gone out together a few times. One night after football practice when we’d been practicing our cheerleading routines at their scrimmage, Amber couldn’t get her old car started. She tried several times. Nothing happened. Brandon was walking to his car and offered to help. He tried to get it started and again, nothing. He offered to take Amber home. From what Amber told me the next morning they sat in his car and talked for two hours. He never took Madison out again and he and Amber started going steady. They were voted homecoming king and homecoming queen. There’s no doubt they were the most popular couple in school.
“Everyone was so happy for them when they both got scholarships to Oregon State. It was kind of like if you were near the golden couple, you were golden too. There was only one person who wasn’t happy about it. That was Madison. You probably know she comes from a bad background. Her father’s a washed-up fisherman who’s never had a real job. He even tried to start an oyster farm business, but it failed too. He’s a real loser.
“Her mother left them when Madison was a little girl. The only thing positive Madison ever did was go out with Brandon, the star quarterback, a few times. When she was with him, for the first time in her life, she felt like she was someone. I don’t know if you know about her grades, but she barely got the grade point average she needed to have to graduate. Believe me, it was that close.
“Anyway, after Brandon stopped seeing her, Madison began to hate Amber. I mean really hate her. I can’t begin to tell you how many bad things she did to make Amber’s life miserable. Amber would turn in a finished essay or test to a teacher and it would disappear. Her locker was broken into and nude photographs were put in it. Everything was stolen out of it - her cheerleading sweater, some personal things, her purse with her wallet which had her driver’s license in it. After the homecoming dance, she found the sash she’d worn cut into pieces and scattered outside the front door of the school. It was one thing after another. Amber finally figured out who was doing these things against her and told the principal. He called Madison into his office and told her if there was one more incident, she would be expelled from school.
“Was Amber afraid of Madison?” Kelly asked.
“That’s what I’m getting to. Yes. A few weeks ago Amber was walking to her car. She’d stayed at school later than usual to help tutor a freshman who was having trouble with algebra. No one was around. As Amber was getting into her car Madison walked up to her and threatened her.”
“What do you mean, threatened her? Did Amber tell you exactly what she said?” Kelly asked.
“Yes, Madison said ‘You better watch out. You ruined my life and took Brandon away from me. I’m going to kill you.’ That’s exactly what Amber told me she’d said to her. I’ll never forget those words and now with what’s happened…”
Kelly reached across the table and put her hands over Lindsay’s. “Oh Lindsay, you poor thing. Have you told this to anyone else?”
“No. I’m not sure they’d believe me. It’s a pretty common thing in high school for girls to hate one another. That’s why I didn’t go to the sheriff. Like I told you earlier, I was afraid he’d think it was stupid girl stuff.”
“Well, since you came here and told me, you obviously don’t think it’s stupid girl stuff and neither do I. Let me ask you this. From both a physical and psychological standpoint, do you think that Madison, because of her hatred of Amber, was capable of killing Amber?”
Lindsay sat quietly for a few moments with her head bowed, looking down at the table, obviously deep in thought. Finally, she raised her head and looked directly at Kelly. “Mrs. Conner, I’ve asked myself that question a million times in the last few days and I think the answer is yes. She’s physically very strong. I know she works out a lot with weights. Hate to say it, but sometimes when someone doesn’t have much in the brain department, they try to make up for it in the body department. You know what I mean?
“Psychologically, who knows? She sure hasn’t had much parenting. I’ve heard her dad drinks a lot and when he gets drunk, he’s a mean drunk. I even heard that he’d hit Madison a couple of times. It wouldn’t surprise me because she’s come to school with bruises a bunch of times and once she even had a black eye. She had to use a lot of make-up to cover it. I remember because it was the day the cheerleader photographs were taken for the yearbook and we all wanted to look really good. She said she’d missed a step on some stairs and fell down. I always thought that was strange. She basically kind of raised herself. She’s never had any friends. I think the only reason Brandon went out with her a few times is because of you know.”
“No. What do you mean?” asked Kelly.
“Well, all the guys knew Madison was easy. They liked to brag that she had ‘hinges on her heels.’ There was even a rumor that they used to pass her around after the football games. She and Brandon really didn’t go together. He was more of a gentleman than a lot of the other guys. I think he felt like he should take her out before he had sex with her. Anyway, in her mind it meant they were going together, but they weren’t. I think she was so desperate for attention that when the star quarterback paid some attention to her, she fantasized that it was more than it really was.”
“Lindsay, I can’t even imagine how hard this must have been for you to come here and talk to me. Thanks for trusting me. Do you have any objection to my telling Mike about our conversation? I think it’s very important and should be part of his investigation.”
“No. If you think it might help find who killed Amber, tell him whatever you want. I know it will never bring her back, but something is totally off with Madison.”
“Lindsay, you need to go home. This has been very emotional for you. Try and get some rest. You need to be fresh for graduation and by the way, your singing is absolutely beautiful. I was amazed that you could do as well as you did at your best friend’s funeral. That must have been very hard for you. Do you plan on pursuing singing as a career?”
“Well, I’m lucky I was able to get a scholarship to a small college in Washington that specializes in music, so sure, I’m hoping I can, but let me tell you, singing at Amber’s funeral was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“I’m sure college and your music career will work out well for you. And Lindsay, Madison may work for me, but I promise you that she will never know about this conversation.”
“Believe me, Mrs. Conner, it’s a conversation I wish I never had to have. Thanks for listening.”
Kelly closed the door and locked it when Lindsay left, glad to be alone. Rebel sensed her sadness and looked up at her with his big brown eyes.
“Rebel, I don’t know what to think. Here’s another suspect with a motive for killing Amber. That makes five. I’m sure Mike will have some thoughts on it. Let’s go home, big guy.”
CHAPTER 19
It was early evening and Kelly had just finished watering the plants and cleaning the bathroom and kitchen when she heard Mike knock, unlock the front door, and open it.
“I like the sound of you opening the door. It seems pretty natural,” she said, walking over to Mike and giving h
im a big hug.
“Well, I have to admit I like knowing someone is waiting for me and that I’ll probably get a pretty good dinner. Speaking of which, what is it tonight? I know it’s early, but I’d like to start thinking about it.”
“Tonight we’re having my famous meat loaf, mashed potatoes, and asparagus. I made a lot, figuring I could take the rest to the coffee shop and make meat loaf sandwiches tomorrow for the lunch crowd.”
“Good planning. I stopped by my place and picked up some clothes. Let me put them away and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay, Kelly,” he said as he walked down the hall into the kitchen. “What kind of trouble did you get into today?”
“No trouble, Mike, but I did have an interesting conversation with Amber’s best friend, Lindsay Williams. She wanted to talk to you, but thought you might dismiss what she had to say as silly girl stuff, so she called and asked if she could come by the coffee shop and talk to me. I was surprised to hear what she had to say. I think it might be important to your investigation. We’d heard that Madison hated Amber, but I’d kind of dismissed it. According to Lindsay, Madison really hated Amber, far more than I knew.”
Mike opened the refrigerator and took out a beer. “Okay, shoot. What did she have to say?” Kelly sat across from him at the kitchen table and related the details of her conversation with Lindsay. When she was finished, he sat quietly, deep in thought.
He took a sip of his beer. “I’m not sure I’ve ever had a case with this many possible suspects. You’ve done a lot of the work for me and you’ve talked to all of the possible suspects. What’s your take? Who do you think did it?”
“I’m frustrated. In my mind there had been four solid suspects and now I have to add Madison. That makes five. I know there’s a possibility that Jeff did it, but my intuition tells me no, however I could be wrong. He certainly had a motive if he thought Amber knew about the marijuana farm he had and he was worried she would tell someone.”
“Kelly, I’m not ruling him out. He’s definitely still a suspect in my book, even if he is in the county jail. Looks like he’ll get out on bail tomorrow.”
“The next one is Doc. He had a reason to kill her, actually a very good reason. He’s trying to make a new life and doesn’t want his cover blown. What if he didn’t tell me everything? All we know is pretty much what you were able to find out about him and what he told me. He befriended Amber and she talked to him about getting an abortion. But what if there’s more? Maybe she knew something about him that he didn’t tell me. I don’t know, but having your cover blown might be motive enough.”
“I agree, Kelly. The thing that bothers me is that Amber was drowned. To my knowledge, I don’t think Doc has a boat, but maybe he keeps one somewhere on his property. Did you see any kind of a small motorboat, perhaps on a trailer, when you were out there?”
“No,” Kelly said. “Doc’s place was spotless. You know how lots of people who own small ranches often have junk piled up all around their house. You could eat off the ground around his place. There wasn’t a bit of trash. He takes as much care of the outside of his house as he does the inside. Call it instinct, but I don’t think he did it.” She paused for a moment. “Then again, I didn’t go in his garage. Maybe he has a boat in there.”
“Well, if he has a boat, he’d probably be the top suspect on my list, but from what we know, I can’t connect the dots without a boat.”
“Let’s talk about Madison. Her dad’s fished the bay forever and has a small boat. I would imagine she’s been out in that boat a number of times and is probably pretty familiar with the coastline and the bay. She’s strong and she certainly had a motive for killing Amber, even if it was all in her mind. Don’t forget, according to Lindsay, Madison threatened to kill Amber.”
“Maybe I’m naïve,” Mike said, “but I can’t imagine that a young woman would kill another young woman out of jealousy and that’s primarily what her motive would have been.”
“I agree. She certainly has led a tough life, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me think she’s unbalanced. Lindsay says she’s not very smart and is barely going to be able to graduate. There’s nothing that would point to Amber’s death being premeditated and it would require some brains to think to weight a body down and dump it in the ocean. Maybe I just hate to think she was the one who did it, but that doesn’t keep her from being a suspect. I wonder if she was in her first class on the morning Amber was murdered. According to Ginger, Amber left the house at 5:00 a.m. It seems hard for me to believe that Madison could have killed Amber and then gone to school as if nothing had happened.”
“I’ll call the principal in the morning and find out if she was in school that morning,” Mike said.
Kelly went on, “Then there’s Chris. He rows his boat every morning, is knowledge about the ocean, and owns some free weights, so he certainly qualifies as a suspect. What I’m struggling with is his motive. I’ve never heard anything that remotely gives him a reason to kill her.”
“Well don’t forget we still don’t know who the mystery man is that Amber referred to in her diary, someone she was having a sexual relationship with,” Mike said. “Maybe Amber was flirting with him at school. It’s not that unusual for a young high school girl to become infatuated with her teacher. She could have been teasing him by wearing too short of a skirt or giving him a peek down her blouse or something like that. Maybe Chris takes the bait, one thing leads to another, and suddenly Amber tells him she’s pregnant.”
“That would sure give him a reason to kill her. Mike, we haven’t even talked much about the fifth suspect, Brandon. What if he was the one Amber was going to tell about the pregnancy and he was afraid it would ruin his chances to play football for Oregon State? Or what if he found out Amber was seeing someone else and was jealous? We’ve said jealousy would have provided a motive for Madison. Well, the same thing applies to Brandon, maybe even more so. Even though everyone feels sorry for him, he, too, has to be a real suspect. When you call the principal, see if Brandon was in his first class that morning.”
“Kelly, those are the five we have so far. Hopefully, no more suspects will turn up. At least we’ve solidly identified five people who each have a powerful motive to kill Amber. Wouldn’t have thought it was possible a couple of weeks ago. I do now.”
“Mike, we’re starting to go around in circles. I’m going to let all of this settle in my subconscious. I’m not having much luck solving it consciously. Time to eat. It’s been another long day for both of us.”
CHAPTER 20
The next afternoon after everyone, including Roxie and Charlie, had left the coffee shop for the day, Madison turned to Kelly. “Do you have time to talk to me?” she asked.
“Of course. Let’s get some iced tea and sit down. We could both stand to get off of our feet.”
“Okay, Madison. I’m all yours. Finally it’s quiet in here. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“I know this is gonna sound kinda strange, but I’ve been talkin’ to Father Brown.”
Kelly raised an eyebrow. “Really, what about?”
Madison went on, “I told you I really felt good after bein’ in church at Amber’s funeral. My dad’s an atheist and he never took me to church. You probably know my mother left us when I was very young. My childhood hasn’t been the easiest. I see all these lovin’ families and something inside me hurts so bad sometimes I can hardly stand it. I’d give anything to be part of a happy lovin’ family, but it just never happened.”
She took a deep breath and continued. “I’ve never told anyone this, but I feel I can tell you because you’ve been kind of like a mother to me these past few days. My dad drinks and he’s a mean drunk. I can usually tell when he’s been drinkin’ and I make a point to keep out of his way. A coupla times I was asleep when he came home and he woke me up, really angry with me.” She turned away from Kelly.
“When he gets angry he hits things, like me. I’ve never felt loved. My
mother left me. My dad’s a drunk. I really don’t have any friends. The reason I’m tellin’ you this is that when I was in church I felt loved for the first time in my life. God’s love, maybe, I dunno. It just kinda overwhelmed me. It was the strangest thing. The afternoon of the funeral after I finished up here I went back to the church and sat inside on one of the pews for a long time. I felt somethin’ while I was sitting there that I’ve never felt before, kind of a wonderful peaceful feelin’. Anyway, Father Brown walked in and came over to me. He sat next to me for a long time and didn’t say nothin’. Finally, he reached over and took my hand and said he’d like to help me. I don’t know why he did that. Maybe he knew about my father or maybe it was somethin’ in the way my face looked. I started cryin’ and couldn’t talk. He led me to his office in the back of the church and told me he was there for me. He said if I’d like to talk, he was happy to listen.”
“He’s a wonderful man. You couldn’t have found anyone better to confide in. I’m glad he was there for you.”
Tears welled up in Madison’s eyes. “I talked to him for over two hours. I told him about my childhood, my dad, my mother leavin’, everything. I told him I’d done some bad things to Amber and I hated myself for doin’ them, but I was so jealous of her I couldn’t help myself. I told him I wanted to feel peaceful all the time, like I did when I was in his church. He told me I was one of God’s children. Comin’ from anyone else it would have sounded pretty corny, but comin’ from him it meant a lot to me. For the first time in my life, I began to hope that maybe I could be happy and peaceful.”
“Does that mean you’re going to join the Catholic Church?” Kelly asked.
“Yes. I’ve met with him two more times and he said he’d prepare me for becomin’ a Catholic. He tol’ me I needed to get a sponsor and I thought of you. Kelly, would you be my sponsor?”
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