Murder Wins the Game

by Maddie Cochere

  “I wouldn’t ever wear a thong,” I said. “If Glenn and I call it quits, I’m going back to granny panties. I wish I wouldn’t have thrown them all away.”

  Jackie looked at me like I was crazy. “No one should wear granny panties unless they’re in prison.”

  Pepper’s eyes bugged out. She was getting exceptionally good at being overly expressive. “Why would you and Glenn call it quits? I thought you went to his place last night.”

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  I rang Kristy’s doorbell a second time. I was beginning to think no one would answer.

  When I called her this morning, I had identified myself as being from Two Sisters and a Journalist. I asked her to speak with us, and she quickly said no.

  When I told her I was aware she knew I had been following her, and I had information she should hear before the police questioned her, she reluctantly agreed to our visit.

  Libby Munson finally answered the door, showed us into the living room, and said, “Kristy will be down in a minute. Can I get you something to drink?”

  Jackie and I said no, but Pepper raised her hand. “I’d like an iced tea, please, and could you show me the way to your bathroom?”

  I knew we should have left her at home. This wasn’t a restaurant. Why couldn’t she just sit quietly and wait? She may be older than me by three years, but she spent so much time with her kids, she was beginning to act like them.

  I shot a dirty look in her direction. She stood to follow Kristy’s mother and whispered dramatically to Jackie and me, “I need a bathroom.”

  When they left the room, Jackie spoke in a low tone. “Is something up with you and Glenn?”

  I sighed. “Sort of. I wasn’t nice to him the other day, and he’s milking his hurt feelings for all they’re worth. He showed up for a couple of people trespassing on my property last night, but he couldn’t be bothered to come in and tell me what was going on.”

  “I saw the report this morning in the newsroom. It was a couple of middle-school kids smoking marijuana for the first time. They snuck out and thought the bushes would provide cover.”

  “The flashes of light I saw must have been from a lighter. I was going to stay at his place last night, but I was so mad he ignored me, I stayed home.”

  She was sympathetic. “Don’t you hate it when a relationship feels childish? Things like this will happen less often the longer you’re together.”

  “That’s the thing. I’m not sure I want to stay together with him. I hate feeling like this, and I don’t have time for games.”

  “You might want to talk with him soon, because I heard Glenn’s going to be-”

  “I’m here. What do you want to tell me?”

  Kristy stood in the doorway to announce herself before walking in and sitting in the chair opposite Jackie and me on the sofa.

  Pepper scurried back into the room with an iced tea in her hand. She was giddy like a schoolgirl.

  “Hi,” she said to Kristy. To Jackie and me, she flashed a bit of material from inside her purse. It was the thong. She was obviously going commando and felt much better.

  I was never bringing her to an interview again.

  “Thank you for seeing us,” I said to Kristy. “And let me say for all of us, we’re sorry for your loss. I didn’t know your grandfather very well, but he seemed like a good man.”

  She stared at us without emotion or comment.

  “I want to ask you a few questions. What did you and your grandfather talk about when you saw him yesterday?”

  “I didn’t see him.”

  “Didn’t you go to his house?”

  “No. I was shopping all day at Polaris, and if you were doing your job and following me, you’d know that.”

  Before I could respond, Pepper piped up. “You weren’t shopping. Jo saw you leaving your grandfather’s house.”

  I clenched my lips, frowned, and tried to convey a shut up look to her. She slunk back in her chair.

  “That’s what I wanted you to know before you lied to the police,” I said. “Jackie was prepared to print yesterday that you were seen fleeing the scene, but I asked her to wait until we could talk to you today to get your side of the story.”

  “You’re lying. You didn’t see me. I wasn’t there.”

  I couldn’t believe she was going to hold to her story.

  “Kristy, I saw you. I know your car. You had a red scarf on your head, and you were wearing red sunglasses and a red shirt. When I called the murder in, I told Sergeant Rorski Miss Scarlet did it in the study with the candlestick.”

  For the second time, Jackie looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. Pepper stifled a laugh.

  Kristy looked scared then angry. “Why would you tell him something stupid like that?”

  “I’m sorry, but it was my first reaction. You had just left, no one else was in the house, and I jumped to conclusions.”

  She stood from her chair and yelled. “Mom! Come here.”

  Libby came into the room so rapidly, I was sure she had been eavesdropping around the corner.

  “Jo told the police I murdered Grandpa.”

  “No. I didn’t. They don’t know you were anywhere near the place, but once Jackie prints you fled the scene, they’re going to want to talk with you, and you’re going to be their primary suspect.”

  Her mother motioned for Kristy to sit down. She stood beside her with her hand on her shoulder and said softly, “Tell them what you told me yesterday.”

  She wasn’t so tough now. Her eyes filled with tears. “Grandpa called and said he wanted to see me. He wanted to discuss the trust he was setting up for me next month. When I got there, no one answered the door, but his car was out back, and the front door was unlocked, so I went in. I went into his office, but he wasn’t there. I was going to sit and wait for him, but when I walked around his desk, I saw him on the floor. I panicked and ran. I came straight home.”

  Pepper was hanging on her every word and nodding. Jackie jotted a few notes in her notebook.

  “I didn’t have any reason to kill Grandpa,” she said. “He told me more than once if he died before my twenty-fifth birthday, my inheritance would drop considerably, and most of his fortune would go to charity. He didn’t think a young person should have so much money.”

  Jackie looked to Libby and asked, “Do you know if your husband is in Mr. Munson’s will?”

  “He isn’t. Richard made it clear to Mark years ago there would be no money for him. From time to time, I encouraged him to go to his father and make peace, but he refused, and now it’s too late.”

  I couldn’t help the thought that popped into my mind. If I didn’t make peace with Glenn soon, it might be too late. After all, he was a police officer, and he risked his life every day when he went on duty.

  Well, not really. His day consisted mostly of writing speeding tickets and driving around drinking coffee. But still, his job could be dangerous.

  Jackie speaking brought my thoughts back to the moment.

  “What can you tell us about the cleaning lady your grandfather employed?”

  “I don’t know anything about her,” Kristy said. “She’s only been working for him a few months. Now that Grandpa is living-” She frowned and stopped to correct herself. “Was living in Columbus most of the time, he said he only had her clean once every two weeks, and he was thinking about letting her go.”

  “Do either of you know if he had any enemies?” I asked.

  Kristy shook her head. Libby responded, “I’m sure he did. He was an arrogant old bastard. I’d like to have killed him a few times myself.”

  Pepper gasped and asked, “Where were you at the time of his death?”

  I was going to kill her when we left.

  Libby smiled and said, “I was here alone, but I was out back planting flowers and talking to our neighbor next door. She can vouch for me.”

  The room became uncomfortably quiet.

  I stood and said, “I think that’s all
for now. Thank you for talking with us.”

  I picked up my bag and looked back at Jackie and Pepper to be sure they were following. Kristy remained seated, but Libby showed us to the door. I hesitated and walked back to Kristy.

  “I think things will go much better for you if you go down to the police station and talk with Sergeant Rorski before he reads in the newspaper you were at your grandfather’s house.”

  She didn’t look up or respond.

  On our way to the truck, Pepper walked without so much as a shimmy and said, “I think that went well. It’s obvious she didn’t do it.”

  “What part of let me do the talking didn’t you understand?” I asked. My irritation with her was clear in my voice.

  She was indignant. “What? I’m not allowed to ask questions? All three of us were there to interrogate her.”

  I was about to launch into a tirade of how unprofessional she was, but something about the way she stood, defying me with her hands on her hips, and knowing she wasn’t wearing any underwear, struck me as funny.

  I burst into laughter. Her countenance reminded me of when we were kids. She would try to hold her ground as the oldest in the family, but my bossy personality usually ran all over her.

  I was sorry I had been snippy with Jackie yesterday, and I didn’t want to take my frustrations out on Pepper today. In that moment, my cranky pants may as well have been in Pepper’s purse with her thong, because they were gone. She appeared completely befuddled by my laughter and surprised when I gave her a quick hug.

  “You know what? Never mind. You did great in there. What was in the medicine chest?”

  We climbed into the truck before she answered. I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw her in the back seat with her eyes bugged out again.

  “You should have seen that bathroom! It was a guest bath, and it was bigger than the master in our bedroom. It was like being in a resort.” She dug through her purse and pulled out two objects shaped like shells. “I thought these soaps were adorable, and they smell like the beach. There were so many of them, they’ll never miss these two.” She looked sad for a second. “There wasn’t any medicine chest.”

  Pepper was famous for snooping in medicine chests. Jackie and I couldn’t help laughing at her very real disappointment.

  I looked at Jackie. “Pepper thinks Kristy’s innocent. What do you think?”

  “She’d be my number one suspect but for the fact she stood to lose a lot of money if her grandfather died before her birthday. That’s a big consideration against motive.”

  “I agree,” I said. “That leaves us with nothing to go on. Someone was at the house before Kristy, me, or the cleaning lady. There weren’t any appointments on his calendar other than mine, so it could have been anyone from anywhere.”

  “Too bad there wasn’t a butler,” Pepper said. “The butler always does it.”

  “Not anymore,” Jackie said. “The spouse does it.”

  “There’s a thought,” I said. “I wonder if Judith Munson had any reason to want to kill Richard.”

  “I don’t think so,” Pepper said. “From what I’ve heard at the beauty shop, she gets a big alimony payment every month. She’d lose it if she killed him.”

  Talk of Richard Munson ceased, and a discussion of where to eat lunch took its place. Not surprisingly, it came down to Chummy’s or Parker’s. I made the decision for them.

  “I’ll take you back to the office, and you can go to Parker’s. I have two subpoenas that have to be delivered today, so I’ll grab something to eat while I’m on the run.”

  I didn’t really have to deliver the subpoenas today, but I didn’t want to tell them where I was going, which was to Glenn’s to wake him. It was time to end this squabble or break up with him. It would all depend on his attitude when I got there.

  I dropped the girls off and drove the short distance to his house. I pulled up in front of the older, two-story home and ran up cement steps to a covered porch spanning the front of the house. I used the key he had made for me and let myself in.

  As usual, the house was spotless and everything was in its place. Glenn was a bit of a neat freak. I always thought he’d make a great husband for the simple fact our house would always be clean.

  He inherited the house from his grandfather a little over a year ago, and other than giving the place a good cleaning, he hadn’t changed anything. It still held a faint odor of cherry pipe tobacco, which was actually somewhat pleasant.

  I tried to avoid the steps that squeaked as I walked up the staircase. I didn’t want to have a gun drawn on me when I rounded the corner to his bedroom.

  I stood next to the open doorway and listened for any noise that would signify he was sleeping. He rarely snored, but his breathing had a particular rhythm when he slept.

  There were no sounds. Worried he had heard me creeping up the stairs, I thought it best to call out.

  “Glenn,” I whisper-yelled. “It’s me. Don’t shoot.”

  I stuck my head around the corner to find the bed perfectly made. He wasn’t here.

  I went to the kitchen and looked out the window to the small back yard. The access to the garage was from the alley behind the house. He used the garage for storage and parked his car in a graveled spot beside it. His car wasn’t there.

  He may have worked over, but it was well past noon, and he wouldn’t have worked this long. I debated leaving a note on the counter to let him know I stopped by to see him, but decided to raid the refrigerator instead. I could have my lunch here, and he might come home while I was eating.

  I opened the refrigerator and was disappointed there weren’t any leftovers. There was plenty of beer, a half gallon of milk, bologna, bread, and condiments. A bologna sandwich didn’t appeal to me.

  The cupboards didn’t have anything better in them. I turned to leave the kitchen and spotted a white pie box atop the open trash can beside the back door. The sticker indicated it was from Crump and Crumpets.

  I couldn’t believe Glenn ate an entire pie by himself. I opened the box to see if I could tell what kind of pie it had been and was floored to find an entire blueberry pie inside. Even though it was in the trash, the box wasn’t ruined, and just seeing the pie sent my taste buds into overdrive.

  I put the box on the counter, cut a large slice, and poured a glass of milk. I took the pie and milk to the kitchen table. The pie had a slightly different taste than the same pie at Pepper’s, but it was still tasty.

  While I ate the pie for lunch, I pulled out the last two subpoenas and looked them over. One was for William Drucker, a.k.a. Bernie. If Beth was right, and he was the one stealing from the company, I’d want to pay close attention to his reaction when I served him.

  The final subpoena was for Greg Thompson. I knew Greg. He was in his early sixties and near retirement. I doubted he would jeopardize his retirement by stealing from the company. A few years ago, he had hounded Mama for weeks to go out with him, but she said she wasn’t interested in having a man in her life. She’d become so set in her ways, she was convinced a man would cramp her style. She finally told him she didn’t like skinny old men, and if she was going to date, she wanted to be a cougar and date guys in their twenties. It took everyone by surprise when she began dating Roger. He moved in with her after he lost his business in the flea market fire four months ago, and he was still living with her today.

  I checked the address on the envelope for Greg, but I knew he wouldn’t be home. Greg was a heavy drinker. Smitty’s may have the best ribs in the state, but the bar wasn’t a place you went with your family for dinner. It was a dingy, hole-in-the-wall bar only the most serious of drinkers patronized. Because he wasn’t working, I knew I would find him there.

  I polished off the slice of pie before rinsing the dishes and setting them in the sink. I grabbed the pie box and took it with me. I couldn’t see throwing away a perfectly good blueberry pie. Glenn probably pitched it in the trash when he had a hissy fit over my not wanting his lasagna.
/>   Ten minutes later, I pulled into Smitty’s parking lot.

  It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the low lighting. Stale beer and an odor not unlike gym socks assaulted my nose. Absent was any reminder whatsoever of the delicious ribs that came from the kitchen. A sad Patsy Cline song played softly from an antique jukebox beside the bar.

  I sat on the stool next to Greg, rummaged through my bag for his envelope, and handed it to him.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “You know it’s the subpoena for your deposition, right?”

  “I figured as much.” He downed the last of his drink and signaled to the bartender for another. I shook my head slightly to let the man know I wasn’t drinking.

  “You’ve worked for Chet Kimble a long time. Do you have any idea who’s been stealing parts?”

  “Could be anyone. Economy’s tough right now.”

  “Beth Sauder thinks she’s being framed.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Beth Sauder is taking care of her grandpa, and I hear things are rough for them. They might lose their house. Twenty thousand dollars would go a long way toward fixing their problems.”

  He had a point. Financial stress could make people do things you would never expect them to do. But Beth seemed so genuine and sincere, I had a hard time believing she was stealing auto parts and selling them.

  “What about William Drucker?”

  “Who?”

  “William Drucker. He’s the new guy. Only been working there about three months.”

  “You mean Bernie? He seems like a nice enough kid. Keeps to himself. Why do you suspect him?”

  “I’m not saying I do.”

  I didn’t want to share with him what Beth had said about finding Bernie when he was putting inventory into his car.

  “What do you make of the Richard Munson murder?” he asked.

  It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. “I don’t make anything of it. Do you?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “There are rumors.”

  I waited for him to share the information with me, but he only stared ahead and pounded back half his drink in one gulp. I signaled to the bartender for another for Greg and slipped a ten-dollar bill onto the bar.