The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “Being born in an atmosphere like that must have affected Selena a lot,” Nora said.

  “You bet it did. Her father only beat her mother. He loved and doted on Selena. She was only 5 when her mother ran away with her,” Tina said. “At least, that’s what Sam told me. So Selena was very unhappy to be uprooted like that. Afterwards, when Sam’s mom married his dad and had him, it made Selena very insecure. I think she felt unwanted. She became withdrawn, and began reading and writing all the time.”

  Nora nodded. “Poor girl.”

  Tina shrugged. “It never really improved. She was a smart kid in school, but she constantly fought with Sam’s father, and according to some of the things Sam has told me, she used guilt as a weapon to control her mother with.” Tina sighed. “I suppose you’ll think I’m bad mouthing the dead, but really I’m just being honest. There were a lot of things about Selena that were positive too.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like she hated hypocrisy,” Tina said. “If you’ve read any of her novels, you’ll see that the villains are always hypocrites of the worst kind. She used that pen of hers like a scalpel, I think. She carved out all the unhappy pieces of herself and put them in those books.”

  “What was she working on these days?” Nora asked.

  Tina shrugged. “She was superstitious about work. She thought talking about what she’s writing would give her writer’s block.”

  “Did she write on her laptop or by hand?”

  “A bit of both, I think.” Tina frowned. “The laptop’s with the sheriff’s department. I know she had a diary, and I suppose it’s floating around somewhere.”

  “Tina!”

  They heard a door open, and Tina sprang to her feet. Sam appeared, looking disheveled, his eyes bloodshot and puffy.

  “I had a nightmare,” he said. “It was horrible.”

  “What was it?” Tina went to him, put her hands around him, and he buried his head in her shoulders. “What did you dream?

  “I dreamt of mother,” Sam said. “She… she came to tell me that she was ashamed of me. That she didn’t love me anymore. Because of what I’ve done.”

  *****

  Chapter 7

  Tina’s face turned white, even as her arms tightened around Sam. “What you’ve done? You haven’t done anything.”

  “It’s my fault Selena’s dead,” Sam said. “I was a bad brother. I didn’t treat her well. I made her feel unwelcome in my home, and that’s the only reason she was out that late in the library. She wouldn’t be dead if it weren’t for me.”

  “It’s not your fault, Sam,” Tina said softly. “No one thinks it is. Not your mother, not Selena herself.”

  “It’s the one thing I promised mom,” Sam said. “I promised her I’d always protect Selena. She was so protective of Selena after everything she’d been through. I promised…”

  It was strange, Nora thought. Strange to see strength in Tina’s delicate frame, and the weakness and defeat in Sam’s hefty, barrel-chested body. She was the only thing keeping him from sliding into a puddle on the ground, and there was pure tenderness on her face as she rained kisses all over him.

  “I love you, Sam,” she repeated, over and over. “I love you and I will always love you. We will get over this together. I promise you we will.”

  “I don’t want to get over it,” Sam said, pushing himself away from her. “I just want to… I don’t know. I want to find out who did it. I want justice. I owe my mom and Selena at least that much.”

  “The sheriff will find out,” Tina said. “Sean is very capable, I know he is.”

  Sam laughed. “Please. The only reason Sean’s made any arrests in the last few years is because Nora here helped him out.”

  “That’s not true,” Nora protested.

  “Yes it is,” Sam said. “I’d hire you if I could, Nora, but I know you’re a little too busy with your catering jobs. I’ll tell you this, though, if you ever stood against Sean for the Sheriff’s post, I’d pick you over him.”

  “Sean’s great at his job,” Nora said. “Being a sheriff isn’t just about being a good detective. He helps keep law and order in this town. He’s diplomatic when needed and forceful when he has to be. Milburn needs him and so do its people.”

  “Milburn’s people are all getting murdered, if you haven’t noticed,” Sam said. “What’s Sean doing about that?” He fumbled in his pocket, and took out a brown pill bottle.

  “Enough, Sam.” Tina tried to take it from him. “I think you need your wits about you for the next few hours.”

  Once more, he pushed away from her. “I need this right now,” he said, taking a pill in his hand and swallowing it dry. Tina looked dismayed. In a few minutes, Sam looked peaceful. He moved to the window seat, and sat on it, with his head pressing against the glass. “Beautiful weather,” he said.

  Outside, thunder cracked and it rained even harder.

  “Selena’s favorite weather,” Sam said. “She loved stormy skies and placid seas. Funny, right?”

  “Were you close, growing up?” Nora asked.

  Tina moved to sit beside Sam, and he leaned back on her. She cradled his head in her lap. “I don’t think they were.”

  “I wish we had been,” Sam said. “But Selena was always in her own room, reading. I used to try and make her play cars with me when I was five. She once threw my favorite car out of the window because I disturbed her when she was on the final chapter of a thriller.”

  “Did that make you cry?” Tina kissed him gently on the forehead.

  “No.” Sam laughed. “I tore a page out of the book, and she chased me all around the house till my father caught her and scolded her. Afterwards, she told my mother, and mother bought her three new books. That’s how it was in my family. My father would try and protect me, my mother would try and bribe Selena.” Tears were trickling onto Sam’s cheeks, and he wiped them away unemotionally. His eyes were nearly closed, and his face was blank. “I tried my hardest to make her love me, but she was always aloof.”

  “Did she tell you much about her life lately?” Nora asked. “About… anyone or any project she was working on?”

  Sam frowned. “No. Not really. We mostly talked about my business, or about the books and movies we liked. She… she mentioned people in passing, and she never spoke about her projects. She was superstitious. Never talked about a novel in progress. Although…” He frowned. “A week ago, she came home really angry. Do you remember that, Tina? She refused to eat the dinner you made because she said she was on a diet. She was just being mean, really. I came down for a midnight snack later that night, and she was in the kitchen making herself a sandwich.”

  “I know. I found the crumbs under my table the next day,” Tina said.

  “Well, she and I talked. She told me that she was having a serious argument. She said something about planning a mutiny.”

  “A mutiny?” Nora raised an eyebrow. “Was she speaking about a fictional novel?”

  Sam’s eyes were closed now, and he took a few seconds to reply. “Not fiction. Real life. She was talking about a real life mutiny.”

  “That doesn’t make sense, does it?” Tina asked. “Selena wasn’t much of an activist. Who was she rebelling against? It’s more likely to have been a book she was talking about.”

  “May...be....” Sam said. He began to snore gently.

  “Sam. Wake up and tell us.”

  He blinked, and sat up. “Sorry?”

  “You said Selena was planning a mutiny,” Nora prompted.

  “Selena?” He looked really confused. “Selena’s dead,” he said, and his face crumpled. Tears began streaming down his cheeks.

  “Leave him alone, Nora,” Tina said. “Sean will interrogate him soon enough. Let him have a few hours of peace before then.”

  There wasn’t much Nora could say. After all, it wasn’t really her business. Still, curiosity was consuming her. There was something in Sam’s words that struck her as ominous. A mutiny implied…
implied an organized attack. Selena’s murder seemed very unpremeditated so far. Stabbed in the back. The method indicated an impulsive murderer.

  Yet…

  Yet there were clues here and there, little puzzle pieces that seemed to indicate the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.

  Who was Selena? That was the question that each person seemed to have a different answer to. Tina had thought of her as an ungrateful and unwanted guest. Sam thought of her as the sister he was bound to protect. Selena’s fans thought of her as a talented writer. To the audience at the library, she had been a charming presenter.

  And what had she been to Robert Foxworthy? Nora wondered. From the little she had seen of the two of them together, they’d clearly had a history. Robert had mentioned that he had known Selena in college and high school. Had the two of them dated? There were sparks between them, even a blind man could see that. So what had happened? Had Selena rejected Robert? Had he convinced her to meet him at the library, perhaps made one last attempt at reconciliation? Had she rejected him? Could it be that in a fit of anger, Robert had murdered her?

  Nora pondered this. Sean had dropped Robert at the edge of town earlier that day. Yet Robert had snuck back into town. Why? It had to be Selena he was interested in seeing. But how had they gotten into the library? After all, Nora and Tina had helped Grant lock it up for the day. She was sure that there had been nobody in it when they did.

  For that matter, why the library? Why would someone choose to meet at the library if they wanted to talk, instead of a motel or just in a car? Surely that was far more discreet.

  It took Nora about five seconds to come up with a theory. Selena had been the head of Milburn’s Art Council. As such, it was perfectly plausible that she had an extra key to the library. A light bulb suddenly came on in her head.

  “Sam!” Nora exclaimed. Sam blinked, and Tina looked annoyed.

  “When Selena mentioned that she was going to carry out a mutiny, was it something to do with the Art Council?”

  Sam’s words were slurred. “May…”

  “May Almand?” Nora asked. “She was planning to take May Almand off the board, wasn’t she?”

  Sam nodded.

  “That’s enough, Nora!” Tina motioned her to leave. “Let Sam sleep in peace.”

  There was a clatter of feet up the stairs, and the raucous man that Nora had seen earlier, appeared on the landing, puffing.

  “Uncle Horace? What is it?” Tina asked.

  “It’s over!” he gasped. “They’ve arrested the murderer!”

  *****

  Chapter 8

  Nora drove, while a still shaken Uncle Horace sat beside her. Sam, still half asleep, lolled in the back with his head in Tina’s lap. The pill he’d taken was clearly quite powerful. The rain had slowed to a misty haze. The sky was divided into sections of gold and grey by the setting sun, and beyond the seemingly everlasting grasslands, the Tetons loomed.

  Nora’s car, a rusty old Toyota that had stayed with her for many a year, had long lost its ability to manage speeds above 40 mph. They moved slow, which was why Nora was able to brake in time.

  Ahead of them, a bison sat huddled on the road, its massive head bobbing up and down. Fur covered its eyes, making it look rather like a surly teenager.

  “What on earth!” Uncle Horace sputtered. “Is that… are those beasts allowed out of Yellowstone Park?”

  “I guess no one gave this guy a memo,” Nora said.

  “Horrible!” Uncle Horace said. “We must complain to the rangers.”

  “I wonder how he wandered away from his pack?” Nora mused. “Poor thing might be injured.”

  “I’ll call animal control and tell them about it.” Tina took out her phone.

  The beast gave a low grunt, and began shuddering to shake off the rain. For five minutes, they sat there, the rain steadily dripping down the windows, turning them grey and foggy, until the wipers cleaned them temporarily, only for them to mist up again.

  “They’ll be here soon,” Tina said. “Meanwhile, we’re stuck.”

  “Is there any way around it?” Horace asked. “Maybe if you honk it will move?”

  “I don’t think so,” Nora said. “I’ll just turn the car around. Is there another road to town, Tina?”

  Tina shook her head. “There’s one road, but we’d have to pass a gated section. It’s private land.”

  “Whoever owns it, I’m sure we can explain,” Nora said. “Let’s go.”

  Turning the car around, she drove until she reached a fence with a bright yellow door. In the distance was a slightly shabby looking exposed brick house.

  She got out of the car, opened it, and drove through. Being a private road, it was full of both bumps and potholes. Additionally, the rain had mixed to form a fine paste of mud that clung to the car’s tires. Nora drove as carefully as she could, but with the rain obstructing her vision, it proved to be impossible.

  Minutes after they’d entered, there was a bump, a shock, and the whine of a wheel that had been lifted into the air.

  Three of them got out of the car, while Sam snored in the back. One wheel was in the air, while another was stuck firmly in the mud.

  “Such good luck.” Tina huffed. “We should have taken my car instead.”

  “I’ll figure out a way,” Nora said. She bit her lip. “Maybe if you two push for a while…”

  “I’ll call the tow-truck,” Tina said. “This car isn’t going anywhere for sure. We can hitch a ride with them.”

  “Or we could ask the man in the house,” Uncle Horace said, pointing to the large upper windows.

  “What man?” Tina squinted. “Uncle Horace, you’re not even wearing your spectacles.”

  “But those are my reading spectacles. I saw a man up there, I swear,” Uncle Horace said.

  “I’m getting back in the car and calling the garage,” Tina said. “I’m soaked, so are you all. The last thing we need is one of us to fall sick.”

  Uncle Horace got in too.

  Only Nora remained outside, staring at the house. Horace was right. She thought she saw some movement upstairs too. Should she knock and ask for help?

  Tina rolled down the window, and stuck her head out. “The garage said they’ll be here in an hour, maybe an hour and a half,” she said sadly. “My battery’s almost dead, and the signal is pretty weak too.”

  “Try calling someone in town,” Nora said. “They should give you details on the arrest.”

  “Completely my fault,” Uncle Horace chimed in. “I should have asked for details, I know. But when I heard that the sheriff’s arrested someone, I’m afraid I stopped thinking.”

  “I’ll call May Almand,” Tina said. “There isn’t much that goes around town that she doesn’t know about.”

  Nora nodded.

  Tina paused, “Nora, why are you still standing out there? Come back in the car and wait. The rain’s just getting worse each second.”

  “I’m going to go knock on the door,” Nora said, making up her mind.

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Uncle Horace coughed. “I don’t mean to be paranoid, but a woman’s just been murdered. This isn’t the right time for a young lady to go about knocking on doors at sundown.”

  “Uncle Horace is right,” Tina said. “I should come with you.”

  “Don’t be silly, both of you,” Nora said. “I’m already soaked anyway, there’s no need for you two to be soaked again. Stay right here, and if I’m not back in fifteen minutes, come look for me. All right?”

  “All right.” Tina rolled up her window.

  By the time she made her way to the front door, Nora was shivering. Her pretty ballerina shoes were now caked in mud, and the hem of her olive green dress was spackled with it, as were the back of her legs. Harvey kept telling her to keep an emergency kit with an umbrella, blanket and a change of clothes in the car. Nora sighed, and promised herself she’d do it as soon as she got home.

  She rang the doorbell once, th
en twice. The driveway, she noticed, was covered with tire-tracks that were slowly dissolving in the rain. People were definitely here, or had been recently. She rang the bell again, and peered through the side window, wondering if Uncle Horace had just been hallucinating. A hand tapped her on the shoulder.

  Nora jumped, and gave a little scream. She whirled around, and two hands caught her by the shoulders. Ready to strike out, she suddenly paused. Harvey.

  He grinned at her, water dripping into his eyes. “Well, this is a nice surprise,” he said.

  “Harvey? What are you doing out here?”

  “Minding my own business in the garage when I heard you knock.” He jerked his thumb at the garage. “What are you doing here?”

  “My car broke down. We were trying to get into town, now we’re stranded,” Nora explained.

  “Ah.” Harvey took a step forward. “Looks to me, like somebody is in need of a knight in shining armor.”

  “How about a knight in a tow truck?” Nora smiled. “Tina’s called one. They should be here in an hour.”

  “Or,” Harvey said, “I could take you all to town in my car.”

  “We’re soaking wet. We’d ruin your precious leather seat.”

  “Hmm.” Harvey considered this. “Yes, well, I suppose you can pay me for the inconvenience.” He took another step forward. “So, cash or kiss?”

  What Nora loved about Harvey was the way his face would glow sometimes when he looked at her. With other people, he was alternately smooth and charming, or sarcastic and cold. Even when he was relaxed and friendly, he always had his guard up, somehow. First and foremost, he was always a businessman. Except with Nora. When he looked at her the way he was looking right now, the stress would fall away from his face, and he’d look almost boyishly young.

  “You’re freezing,” he said, moving his hand from her shoulder to her cheek. His voice grew a little more serious now. “The others probably are too, aren’t they? Let’s call them in.”