Murder Wins the Game

by Maddie Cochere

  I took a long drink. Not only had the running made me breathless and thirsty, but the ham in the bean soup had also left me with a powerful thirst.

  Pepper laughed and said, “Geez, want a refill?”

  I nodded a yes. “Ham and bean soup for lunch. It was salty, and I’m paying the price for it now.”

  “I heard about the bean soup,” she said. “Mama already called and said you cleared out the courtroom.”

  My mouth hung open, but only for a second. I burst into laughter and laughed so hard, I cried. “Oh, Pepper, you should have been there. Mama let one fly that was like a freight train rolling through the room. The smell was horrible. And then she blamed it on me. I could have killed her. The judge shut the proceedings down for the day and sent everyone home. It was classic Mama.”

  It took a while before we could both stop laughing.

  I reached over and grabbed Pepper’s hand. My laughter tears turned into a few real tears. “I’m so sorry about Saturday. Truly I am. I didn’t mean to be so unpleasant and make everything so hard for you.”

  “It’s ok,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. When I look back on it, the day turned out pretty great.”

  “Did you make enough money to make it worth your while?”

  She smiled. “I made twenty-two hundred dollars.”

  My mouth fell open again.

  “No way! How could you possibly make that much money?”

  “The snakes were my highest-priced item, and I had over a hundred of them.”

  I knew we were selling a lot of stuff, but I had no idea how much money we were making.

  “That’s wonderful,” I told her. “I’m proud of you. What are you going to do with the money?”

  “Some of it will buy supplies for our next school year, but we’re going to use most of it to take the kids on vacation. Buck wants to go to Virginia Beach.”

  “Nice. Virginia Beach is for lovers,” I said.

  “Speaking of which,” she said. “Tell me about Glenn. I still can’t believe you’re letting him live with you. I think it’s great, but I still can’t believe it. Give me details.”

  She refilled both of our glasses and plunked herself down again.

  I fed her the entire story. She hung on every word and seemed especially thrilled with my thinking Glenn was going to ask me to marry him.

  “Weren’t you embarrassed?” she asked.

  “Not really. I’m glad we got the subject out in the open. I’ve kind of hated not knowing where we’re going. This feels much better.”

  “Where is he now?” she asked.

  “That’s what I’m trying to find out. His car’s in my driveway, but he’s not there”

  I filled her in on our trip to the farmer’s market yesterday and how Glenn spotted the candlestick matching the one used to kill Richard Munson.

  “Even though this is looking more and more like a robbery gone wrong, we need to talk to his ex-wife in order to rule her out,” I said. “I’m not sure how to approach her though.”

  “Jackie should be able to set up a meeting with her. Judith hosts a lot of social functions, and Jackie’s interviewed her before.

  “Good idea. I’ll call and ask her tonight. If she’ll take my call. She wasn’t too happy with me Saturday night.”

  “Yeah, I heard. You missed dinner.”

  “I may have missed dinner, but I was there in time for the awards. It’s not like she had to eat by herself. There were eight other people at her table, and she was the center of attention. She didn’t have to act so cold with me.”

  Pepper checked her watch. “I need to start dinner. We’re having meatloaf. Do you and Glenn want to come over?”

  I stood and carried my glass to the sink. “Thanks, but not tonight. I don’t know what his plans are, and I just want to crash on the sofa and relax. It’s been a long day, and I have to do it all over again tomorrow with Mama and jury duty.”

  She smiled. “I’ll tell her to behave when I talk to her.”

  “It won’t do any good. I’ll call you later and let you know if Jackie works anything out with Judith Munson. Do you want to come with us if we can talk to her?”

  Her eyes conveyed her answer before she even spoke. “Yes. I love when we interrogate people.”

  I almost told her it wouldn’t be an interrogation, and she should let me do the talking, but I had just made peace with her, and I didn’t want to upset her again. I held my tongue.

  Glenn still wasn’t home when I walked into the house. I tried his cell phone and heard it ringing in the kitchen. I hadn’t noticed it earlier. His phone was on the counter beside the door to the garage. Why would he leave without his phone? My spidey senses went up, and I was mildly alarmed, but there was no reason to call anyone yet.

  After pacing for a few minutes, I went upstairs to the murder room. I made a note that the candlestick was a match to the one used to kill Richard Munson. I grabbed a bright pink marker and drew a line connecting the candlestick at the farmer’s market in the home robbery column to the candlestick in the middle of the board under the Richard Munson’s murder. There was now a connection between the two events.

  I then added Roberta Hart’s name and address to the Munson column as well as to Dave Jackson’s murder column. I made a notation she was Dave’s neighbor.

  I also made a mental note to ask Mr. Drucker or Bernie if they saw anything, not only on the day Dave was murdered, but since that time. Their apartment had windows overlooking Dave’s back yard. Maybe one of them saw someone poking around or even breaking into the house.

  I used the pink marker to draw lines connecting Roberta’s name to itself in both columns. It was disturbing to see the color pink in every column now. What did it mean?

  “Honey! I’m home!” Glenn called out in a goofy voice.

  I had been running all day. Why stop now? I ran down the hall and down the stairs. I stopped and put my hands on my hips once I hit the living room.

  “Where were you?” I asked. I didn’t mean to sound like I was irritated with him. It just came out that way. When I saw his smile fade to a slight frown, I tried to recover. “Your phone is on the counter in the kitchen. I was worried something happened to you.”

  He walked over, put his arms around me, and gave me a kiss. “You were worried about me, huh? I’ve only been here one day, and already you’re trying to keep tabs on me.”

  I could tell by his voice he was teasing me, but I sensed there was an underlying accusation in his words.

  I tried to assure him. “No. Not at all. You said yourself looking into these murders could be dangerous, and when your car and phone were here but you’re weren’t, I couldn’t help thinking something happened to you.

  He kissed me again. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s put one of those magnetic chalkboards on the refrigerator, and we can leave notes for each other there. If I go out other than for work, I’ll leave a note for you, and you can do the same for me.”

  I nodded, but I knew neither of us would go shopping for the board. “I’ll put a legal pad and a couple of pens on the counter. We can use those for our notes or messages.”

  “That’ll work,” he said. “What do you want for supper? I was thinking about frying the cabbage with onions and putting some kielbasa on the grill.”

  I grimaced. “It sounds really good, but after the ham and bean soup at the Courthouse Cafe today, I can’t eat cabbage and onions. My stomach will explode.”

  He smiled a smile so big, his dimple appeared to have a twin. “I heard you already exploded once today.”

  I couldn’t help laughing, but I backhanded him on his chest. “I did not! That was Mama.”

  “I knew when I heard the story it was Estelle. I think everyone knows it was her.”

  “Who told you?”

  “I heard it from the horse’s mouth. Winnie picked me up, and we went to Parker’s to talk. Estelle and Nancy came in from your offices, and Mama launched into a tale so big, you’d think
the entire town had to be evacuated because of your gas.” He couldn’t help laughing.

  I simply couldn’t be mad about it. It wasn’t worth it, and if I wanted to be truthful, the story was funny as heck. If Mama had begun embellishing the details, no one would believe her anyway.

  “What did you and Bill talk about?” I asked.

  He became serious. “I know you want to work these cases on your own, Jo, but I had to tell him where I got the picture of the candlestick and what your theory is about the people who run the space at the farmer’s market. He’s going to take Collins and go over there in the morning to see if he can get in touch with the manager and find out who the people are running the space.”

  I didn’t want to, but I agreed it was probably the smart thing to do.

  “Do they have any leads on either of the murders?”

  “Not really. Kristy Munson finally confessed to being at the house, but she swears her grandfather was dead when she got there. She’s still their number one suspect. Dave Jackson doesn’t have any relatives living in town, so the family angle is probably out. Sarge thinks it’s a local who knew Dave was stashing money in the house.”

  “I didn’t know Dave very well, but he didn’t strike me as the type of person who would tell anyone he had money in his house. Do you think that gossip Vicki at the bank would have told people about the withdrawals?”

  “There’s no way he took that much money out over the counter. If he had a couple hundred thousand cash in his house, he got it with a ton of paperwork to the federal government and, at the very least, a bank manager.”

  “We need to find out where he banked and talk to the manager. If whoever it was didn’t keep their mouth shut, they might be responsible for Dave’s death.” My eyes widened. “Maybe the bank manager killed him?”

  Glenn laughed. “I think you have an overactive imagination, but it is a theory.” He headed for the front door. “I’ll run to the store and get some eggs and mushrooms to make omelets.”

  As soon as he was gone, I sat cross-legged on the floor and dialed Jackie on the red phone. It rang once before I remembered she didn’t appreciate my calling from this phone. I hung up and retrieved my cell phone from my bag.

  This time, I settled on the sofa with my feet on the coffee table. Glenn liked to sit in this same spot. I had always let him have it when he visited, but now that he lived here, was he going to expect it all the time? I didn’t want to give it up. I’d been in this spot for years.

  I hit his speed dial number to ask him to bring home cold drinks, even if they were only bottled water. This thirst was going to kill me yet.

  His phone rang in the kitchen.

  I couldn’t believe he left again without taking his phone. What if I needed him – like right now for the drinks?

  It was the little things - like the spot on the sofa and leaving his cell phone home – that we would have to work out quickly, or we’d end up fighting over the most ridiculous things.

  I hit Jackie’s speed dial number. She answered right away.

  “Jo. I was just about to call you. Kristy Munson’s been arrested. They’ve charged her with murdering her grandfather.”

  I wasn’t surprised. “She didn’t do it.”

  “I don’t think she did either, but the prints are back from the lab in Pittsburgh, and other than yours, hers were the only other prints on the candlestick. Get ready to be questioned by lawyers, because a case is being made that she was furious with all the restrictions he put on her, and when she found out you were hired to follow her, she confronted him and killed him.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “Unless she has a great lawyer, it’s going to be enough to convict her.”

  We were both silent for a few moments before I said, “Jackie, I’m sorry about Saturday night. I was with Pepper at the farmer’s market, and I was exhausted when I got home. I didn’t mean to fall asleep and miss your dinner.”

  “What are you talking about? I didn’t care you missed dinner. I appreciated that you came for the awards.”

  “But you were so mad, you barely spoke to me.”

  “I wasn’t mad at you. I was a nervous wreck about accepting the award. I kept going over my acceptance speech in my mind, and I was terrified there’d be hecklers in the audience. The investigation and the reporting Nick and I did on the Hapsburg story affected a lot of powerful people in that town.”

  Pepper’s words came back to ring in my ears – everything isn’t always about you, Jo. I suddenly felt foolish and didn’t know what to say.

  “Is that why you called?” she asked. “There’s no apology necessary.”

  “I wanted to apologize, but I also wanted to ask if you could arrange for us to meet with Judith Munson. I have a tip there’s a story between her and Richard’s girlfriend, and one or both of them murdered him. I should probably check it out right away if Kristy’s been arrested.”

  “That sounds like a bogus tip to me. Judith and Bridget Birchard are friends. They didn’t have any reason to conspire to kill him. They’re both on the losing end because he died, but I’ll give Judith a call. She’s hosting a reception at the Garden Center in the park next month. I’ll see if I can get her to meet me on the pretense of covering the event, and that I’d like to have some preliminary information from her. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll call you back.”

  A few minutes later, the red phone rang. I assumed it was Jackie, but on the off chance it was business, I answered with, “Two Sisters and a Journalist. Jo Ravens speaking.”

  A muffled voice on the other end said, “Mind your own business and back off the Jackson murder if you know what’s good for you.”

  A chill ran up my spine and caused me to shudder, but I wasn’t as frightened as I was irritated.

  “What did you say? Speak up. I couldn’t hear you. Hello? Is anyone there?” I paused for a moment before saying, “Must be a wrong number.”

  The man no longer attempted to mask his voice. He said loudly, “You need to mind your own business and quit digging around in Dave Jackson’s murder.”

  “Murder?” I shrieked. “I thought he had a heart attack.”

  “Just mind your own damn business,” the man said before hanging up.

  His words felt hollow. There wasn’t any real threat in them. He didn’t even say or else when he told me to mind my own business.

  My cell phone rang.

  “We’re meeting Judith tomorrow afternoon at three o’clock in the Garden Center,” Jackie said.

  “I’m still on jury duty tomorrow, but we were out early today. Maybe we’ll get out early tomorrow, too.”

  “Eat more bean soup,” she deadpanned.

  I couldn’t help laughing. “No. I’ll tell Mama to eat more bean soup. If anyone can get everyone sent home early, she can. But really, I think we’ll be finishing this case tomorrow. If everyone’s in agreement on the verdict, I should be out in plenty of time. If I’m not, find out where Judith was when Richard was murdered, and ask her if she knows what Bridget was doing then, too.”

  “Ok, will do,” she said.

  I called Pepper and gave her the same information. She agreed to meet Jackie at the Garden Center, and I would meet both of them if I was done with jury duty.

  I settled myself back on the sofa, flipped on the television, and promptly fell asleep to a Castle rerun.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Let’s do a show of hands,” Mama said. “Who thinks Wilbur Finch is guilty?”

  Nine of the twelve jurors raised their hands. A few groans sounded in the room.

  “What’s the problem?” Mama asked. “Miss Grimes positively identified him when he was running from her house, and the police caught him a few blocks from her home.”

  “But he has an alibi,” Juror Number Ten said.

  “His mother is lying to protect him,” Mama said.

  It had come out in today’s testimony that only jewelry and cash had been taken from the home, and al
l of the items could easily fit into pockets.

  “The police didn’t find any of the stolen items on him,” Juror Number Ten continued to argue.

  “He stashed them,” she said.

  “Mama, you don’t know that,” I said.

  She frowned. I knew she didn’t approve of my calling her Mama in front of the other jurors. What difference did it make? They all knew we were mother and daughter.

  I tried again. “Madam Foreman, we have to convict if the evidence clearly points to the defendant’s guilt, but in this case, it doesn’t. He didn’t run from the police when they stopped him. He said he had no idea what they were talking about when they asked him about a robbery.”

  “He’s a good actor,” Mama said.

  “What if he was telling the truth?” I asked.

  Juror Number Three looked at me and asked, “What do you make of the glove?”

  “The maid said she used gloves just like it when she cleaned. It’s possible she dropped it. Ellen Grimes could have seen Wilbur Finch run by her house, and wrongfully assume he was the one who broke in and stole her items.”

  Juror Number Five piped up, “How was the house broken into? No one asked and no one said. Was a window broken? A door lock picked? How did the burglar get in?”

  We all looked at each other and either shrugged our shoulders or shook our head. No one knew. It was unbelievable this detail hadn’t been covered during the trial. The prosecutor simply said the home had been broken into, and Ellen Grimes kept referring to the break-in, but it was never stated how the house was broken into.

  “For all we know, the maid could have stolen the items,” I said.

  A cartoon light bulb over my head came on so bright, the bulb exploded.

  “Holy smoked sausages,” I said. “Roberta Hart. The maid did it. She had just been there that day, and it would have been easy for her to take money and jewelry. Maybe she left a door unlocked and Roberta thought the house had been broken into. How much do you want to bet the maid wasn’t planning to go back there to work next week?”