Murder in Mystic Grove

by S F Bose

  I felt the beginnings of a headache. “Lively debate?”

  “All right they argued,” Mom admitted. “Justin was all for changing the zoning to allow new construction. Ben was loudly opposed to the idea. Then Justin started poking Ben in the shoulder. Ben told him to stop but Justin kept poking him. Ben stiff-armed him and Justin jumped back out of the way.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Peter Church waded in between them. He told Justin to get back to the office. After Justin left, Peter apologized but suggested that Ben avoid talking to him about developments and the environment. Ben agreed but said that Justin should also avoid those subjects. Peter agreed with that and I thought it was over.”

  “So there was no physical fight?” I asked.

  “No, only Justin poking Ben. When Ben stuck his arm out, Justin immediately backed away. Ben never touched him.” Mom sounded exasperated.

  I thought for a second. “Have they had arguments like this before?”

  “A few times. Never anything physical. However, young Durand questioned Ben like he was a suspect.”

  “So Peter or Martha told Matt about the argument?”

  “Yes, Martha did.” There was tightness in Mom’s voice.

  I was surprised. “Matt came out to Cross Plains based on that?”

  Mom paused and then spoke in a rush. “There was something else. He said a witness saw a man with a white or gray beard leaving the back of the Emporium at the time of the murder.”

  This was new information. Ben’s thick, white beard and mustache made him look like Santa Claus. However, many Mystic Grove men grew beards in the wintertime for the added warmth and protection. A good percentage of them were older men with white or gray beards. So Matt would have a lot of potential suspects if beard color was all he had.

  “Who was the witness?” I asked.

  “Young Durand didn’t say.”

  “Okay, does Ben have an alibi for yesterday?”

  Mom’s voice sounded small. “Not really. Yesterday Ben rode his mountain bike on trails for most of the day. He was alone.”

  “It was freezing yesterday!” I said.

  “Oh he has a whole cold weather outfit he wears. He was fine. Plus he was in the forest, which cuts down on the wind. If we had any decent snow on the ground, both of us would be out cross country skiing in this weather.” I knew that was true.

  “Okay, were you home to see him leave and get back?” I asked.

  “No. I was at Becky’s all day babysitting the twins. I got back home at 5:00 p.m. Ben returned around 6:00 p.m.” I nodded. Mom was at my older sister’s house almost every weekday to help with the kids.

  “Ben cycled that late?” I asked.

  Mom sighed. “He was late because he got a flat tire on the way back and didn’t have a patch kit. So he walked the last mile or so to his car with the bike.”

  “And he didn’t call you on his cellphone?”

  Her voice was even smaller. “Dead battery.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I am not,” she snapped.

  I took a deep breath. What else could go wrong? “Okay. What was his mood when he got home?”

  “Upset of course. He’s normally very safety conscious. He couldn’t believe he didn’t have a patch kit.”

  I shook my head. “Did Matt bring anything else up?”

  There was silence for a few seconds as Mom thought back to Matt’s visit.

  “Don’t forget my pistols. I want them back,” Ben shouted in the background.

  “Oh right,” Mom said. “The Durand boy had a warrant and took two of Ben’s handguns. That upset him more than being accused of murder.”

  In my mind’s eye, I could see my mother’s pinched face, frown lines, and disapproving look. Behind her Ben was no doubt scowling and pacing back and forth in their farmhouse.

  I cleared my throat. “Okay, I have to ask this. Did Ben kill Justin?”

  “No!” Mom exclaimed. “Ben wouldn’t hurt a flea.”

  “Okay, good. That means the guns will give them nothing. I’d just wait for them to complete ballistics testing. That will clear Ben and he’ll get his guns back.”

  “With young Durand in charge? No way. Ben’s reputation is at stake. You know very well the gossip mill will have this out by sunset.”

  “Mom, you’re a member of the gossip mill! You have been for decade.”

  “That’s how I know they’ll be all over this,” she replied.

  I shook my head. “I’m not sure what I can do.” I felt helpless.

  “Liz, I want to hire you and that other fellow to investigate the murder and find the killer. That will prove Ben didn’t do it. I don’t trust the Durand boy as far as I can throw him. But you’re family.”

  Panic flared through me. Mom and I always had a complicated relationship. She had never asked me for assistance before. If I agreed to help her now and failed in any way, she’d never ever let me forget it. With Mom it wasn’t just succeeding, it was how you succeeded. So Sam and I could clear Ben, but if we did it in a way she didn’t like, she’d still be upset with us.

  I stood and paced behind my desk. “Mom, I have to talk to Sam first. I’m just an intern,” I said.

  There was a long silence. “Liz, I need your help,” she said in a lower voice.

  “I know, Mom. I just need to talk to Sam first. I also want to find out if Matt considers Ben a serious suspect. If he doesn’t, there’s no point in hiring us.”

  There was a silence. “That does make sense,” she admitted.

  “Okay, give me a day or two,” I said, sitting down.

  “That long?”

  “Yes,” I said flatly.

  “Okay. Goodbye,” she said and clicked off. I put my cellphone on the desk. That was when my spidey sense woke up. My neck tingled and the word, “Trouble,” flashed in bright lights in my mind.

  “Yeah,” I said with a short laugh. “Thanks. Like I didn’t know that.”

  Chapter 14

  I sat at my desk running through my mother’s request again. The last thing I wanted to do was work for her. It would just be too complicated. If Ben wasn’t a serious suspect, that was my way out of helping Mom. If I made a quick call to Matt Durand, it just might get me out of this mess.

  I used the desk phone to call the Mystic Grove Police Department. Joyce Tani, the daytime dispatcher and desk clerk, picked up the call. We chatted a bit and then I asked for Matt.

  “Hey Liz,” he said. His familiar voice made me smile.

  “Hey Mattie. Why are you making my life a living nightmare by going after my mother’s boyfriend?” I asked. I heard his chuckle in my ear.

  “I was expecting your call, Liz. Peter and Martha gave us the names of people who had altercations with Justin. Ben was on the list.”

  I closed my eyes. “Matt, I’ve been around Ben quite a bit. There’s no way he’d kill anyone.”

  “Well if it’s any comfort, Martha gave us his name and she doubts he did it too.”

  I jumped on that. “So can’t you just clear him? There must be hundreds of men in Mystic Grove with white beards and mustaches.”

  “You know about that, huh?” Matt asked. I viewed it as rhetorical and didn’t reply. “Liz, I have to treat Ben as a serious suspect until the evidence proves otherwise. On paper, he looks like a good suspect. If his guns prove to be a non-match, he’ll be cleared.”

  “What guns did he have?”

  “Wait a sec,” Matt said. I heard him shuffling papers. “Walther PPQ and a Sig Sauer P226.”

  “How fast will the ballistics get back?” I asked.

  “They’ve already notified us it will be a while. They’re short-handed for some reason.”

  My mind spun. “Do you have any other serious suspects?”

  “Liz.”

  “Matt, please.”

  I heard Matt exhale. “We’re looking into Mark Sweet. You always have to check out the person who found the body. And there are a f
ew other people on Peter and Martha’s list.”

  I remembered that Mark Sweet and his wife had dinner at the B&B over Christmas. He sported a full, gray beard and mustache then.

  “Sweet looks like the guy seen leaving the back of the Emporium, right?”

  “Right, he does fit the eyewitness account,” Matt agreed. I did a fist pump in the air. “But Liz, Ben has had other arguments with Justin Church. This latest one was more volatile than the others were. I’ve also seen him at some of the wetlands meetings and he’s gone nuts more than once. He’s a decent suspect.”

  I tried to sound casual. “Who was that witness again?”

  Matt’s deep laugh washed over me. “Nice try. I have to run, Liz. Stay out of trouble,” Matt said. I wasn’t laughing as we hung up.

  Chapter 15

  I prowled my office and thought about the mess I was in. If Sam and I worked the case for Mom and Ben, I was sure there’d be a lot of conflict and arguments. Mom was the original control freak. However, if we turned down the case, I could only imagine the wrath of Mom. It would be ugly and ongoing. I’d probably have to leave town again. I sat down and detailed some of the pros and cons of taking the case. Then I crumpled the list and tossed it in the garbage can.

  An hour later, I brewed a fresh mug of caramel cappuccino and walked down the long hall to Sam’s office. I watched him typing on his laptop, so engrossed that he didn’t notice me. When I knocked on the doorframe, his head snapped up.

  “Hi. Do you have a few free minutes today?” I asked. “There’s something I’d like to run by you.”

  “Sure, let’s do it now,” he said. I was relieved. The sooner the better. I crossed to my usual chair and sat down.

  I collected my thoughts and took a sip of coffee. Then I explained the call from my mother and the news that her boyfriend, Ben, was a suspect in Justin’s murder. I told him about the altercation at the Emporium and that even Martha doubted Ben murdered Justin. I mentioned the other arguments Ben had with Justin and his sometimes-volatile comments at the Village environmental meetings. Finally, I told him about the warrant for Ben’s 9mm pistols and the witness who saw a gray or white bearded man leaving through the back door of the Emporium.

  “That description of the bearded man probably fits half the men in Mystic Grove in the winter,” I concluded.

  Sam listened carefully, his eyes never leaving mine. “Do we know who the witness is?”

  I shook my head. “No. I called Matt and he wouldn’t say. He actually thinks Ben is a good suspect. That will change if the ballistics report returns as a non-match.”

  “What do you think? Could Ben have done it?”

  “I’d bet money he didn’t.”

  Sam nodded. “Any other suspects?”

  “They’ll be taking a closer look at Mark Sweet. And there are other people on the list from Martha and Peter, but I don’t know who or how many.”

  “Okay, Sweet makes sense. He found the body. Does Ben have an alibi?”

  I tightened my lips and then shared Mom’s story of Ben’s bike ride. Sam’s eyes widened.

  “They go biking in freezing cold weather in the woods?” he asked. He looked and sounded horrified.

  “Ben does. Mom will only go out to cross country ski. Cold weather doesn’t stop either one of them. They have the right gear for it.”

  “I don’t suppose your mom was there when he left and returned.”

  “No, she left for my older sister’s house before he went on his ride. Mom watches the twins during the week. But she was home when Ben got back from his ride.”

  Sam sipped some tea and then shrugged. “Then Ben should just sit tight until ballistics clear him.”

  “The problem is Mom wants to hire us to find the real killer and prove Ben didn’t do it. Matt said it’s going to be a while before they get the ballistics results. Mom is worried about Ben’s reputation. She knows this will be a hot topic with the gossip mill.”

  “How does she know that?”

  “Because she’s a member in good standing of the gossip mill.”

  Sam frowned. “Really? But they don’t live in Mystic Grove, right?”

  “They live near Cross Plains, not far away. Mom was married to a Bean and lived here for years, so everyone knows her. Reputation is a big deal to her. She stayed connected to all of her friends here.”

  Sam exhaled and looked down at his desk. He picked up a pen and spun it around his middle finger. Then he looked up.

  “So you want to take the case?”

  I sipped more coffee. “No. Not really.” His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “She can be really difficult, Sam. We could solve the case and still lose with her. It’s hard to explain. She’s a Type A perfectionist and can be very impatient.”

  “You don’t think Ben killed Justin, but you want to stay out of it?” There was a lengthy pause as I mulled that over. It made me feel callous.

  I leaned forward in my chair. “I want to help her, Sam. However, if for any reason, we couldn’t clear Ben, or did it in a way she didn’t like, she’d be snarky and mean-spirited about it for the rest of my life. I love Mom, but she can be demanding and hard to please.”

  “But if you don’t take the case and try to help her, won’t she also be snarky and mean-spirited for the rest of your life?” Sam asked. Bullseye!

  “Yes,” I replied, feeling depressed. “It’s lose/lose.”

  Sam locked his eyes on mine. “Liz, what do you want to do here?”

  “I don’t know. I have to think about it more.”

  Sam steepled his fingertips together. “Okay, here’s a thought. There are times when a good case comes in the door, but the client is a jerk. The point of taking a case isn’t only to help the client. It’s also to find the truth.”

  That made sense. “So you’d be willing to take Mom and Ben on as clients?”

  “Yes. The timing is good. We just closed out the Fletcher case, the latest background checks are done, and I farmed out two surveillance gigs to Adrian,” Sam said.

  After Sam left the Sheriff’s department, he interned with Adrian Rich, a private investigator, at Adrian Rich Investigations in Madison. When Sam got his PI license, he continued to work for Adrian until he opened Nolan Private Investigations in Mystic Grove. Now, they frequently traded work back and forth.

  “Have you worked on murder cases before?” I asked.

  Sam nodded. “I have. Each case is different, but we’d follow a process.”

  I was relieved that Sam seemed confident. “And you’re sure about taking on Mom and Ben as clients?”

  “Absolutely. If you want to take the case, we’ll go out and talk to your mom and Ben. If the interview goes well, I’ll have a contract they can sign to hire us. They’ll have to pay a retainer, of course.”

  “There’s no problem in working for family members?’ I asked.

  “Each situation is different. But if I were in trouble, I’d want my family working for me.”

  I smiled. “Okay, thanks. I’ll sleep on it.”

  I had to admit I was disappointed. A part of me had hoped Sam would take the decision out of my hands and reject the idea of working for Mom and Ben.

  I went back to my office and caught up on some paperwork that I’d been putting off. At 6:00 p.m., Sam hollered “Goodnight,” and I called back, “Night.” I expected him to pop his head into my office before he left. However, moments later the two-note, door chime sounded as he opened and closed the front door. He was giving me space to make a decision, which made me smile.

  I sat back and sketched out the pros and cons of working the Justin Church case for Mom and Ben. That led me to some very cursory web searches on Mark Sweet. It occurred to me that we only needed one solid suspect to lift suspicion from Ben. Maybe Sweet was our guy.

  Chapter 16

  It was after 10:00 p.m. when I arrived home. I stayed as late as I could at the office, in part to avoid my mother in case she tried to track me down at home. I was happy to
see the lights were still on in the coach house and there was no sign of Mom’s car. I hurried up the path from the garage, the wind from the west pushing me along. Light snow covered the grass and path.

  “It’s me,” I called out as I came in. Chloe and Olivia both shouted back from the living room. I hung my coat and winter gear up in the hall closet, put my boots on a separate mat, and slung my messenger bag over my shoulder. I could have gone through the living room door just off the front hall. Instead, I walked straight through the double doors into the dining room and turned right into the living room. As I entered, my fingers reached out to touch the side of the old grandfather clock that stood guard next to the entrance. I was superstitious and almost always touched the clock for good luck.

  The living room was a big space. The warm, white walls and ceiling contrasted with the red oak floors. We used area rugs in the living room to block off smaller gathering spaces. A gray, Persian border rug marked the TV area where Chloe and Olivia sat cross-legged on the couch.

  They faced each other and were in the middle of an argument. Both wore flannel pajamas and held a glass of wine. Chloe was leaning forward and arguing a point while Olivia arched her eyebrows and sipped wine. I put my bag on the floor next to the nearest easy chair. Then I made a beeline for the open bottle of wine and wineglasses that sat on the wooden coffee table.

  “What are we celebrating?” I asked, my feet sinking into the soft rug.

  “Surviving the day,” Chloe said, looking around.

  “I’ll drink to that,” I replied. I took an empty wineglass and picked up the bottle of wine. It was a Moscato by Yellow Tail, an Australian winemaker we all liked.

  I filled my glass and took a healthy sip. The Moscato was light and sweet with a slight fizz. It was a fruity wine.

  “Mmm,” I said in appreciation. “Apples and pears.”

  “Passion Fruit and melon, but I taste the apples and pears too,” Olivia agreed, taking another sip.

  “I think raisins too,” Chloe chimed in, sipping her wine. We nodded in agreement.

  “Well, this is my dinner,” I said and drank a little more. “It’s like fruit salad.”