The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “He was Grace’s age. Just a confused, young man with so much potential ahead of him,” Nora burst out. “I keep thinking…why?”

  Harvey took a breath. “I talked to the sheriff. Tyler was found belted into the driver’s seat. So he’s considering the theory that it could have been suicide.”

  “The sheriff doesn’t believe that,” Nora said. “Neither do I.”

  “But,” Harvey shook his head, “that doesn’t make sense. It has to be suicide. Tyler’s car went over the side of a mountain - with no other tracks around. Are you saying the killer did that somehow? That it was murder?”

  Nora nodded. “Definitely. Tyler was already dead when the car went off the mountain. In fact, I think Tyler was killed right here in Milburn. The killer drove to a remote spot with Tyler, strapped him into the driver’s seat, then pushed the car off the mountain.”

  “Well, if the killer drove to the middle of nowhere to get rid of Tyler, how did the killer get back to Milburn, then? There are no buses running that late, and one person can only drive one car at a time.” Harvey considered. “Unless you think more than one killer is involved here?”

  “I’ve got a few ideas in mind,” Nora said. “But, no, I think there’s only one killer. Someone smart…and desperate. I think Tyler ran out of our house the other night to confront this killer and things went bad for him.”

  “You said Jess was the last person to see him. She saw him run out of his house with some sort of black object in his hands. You think he met someone after that?”

  “I do. Sheriff Ellerton told me that, when they found Tyler, his knuckles were scuffed up, like he’d just punched someone,” Nora explained. “His hands were fine when he came to see us yesterday. Which means he went to see someone else before he died. He got into a fight with someone, Harvey.”

  “Well, who could it be?”

  “I don’t know,” Nora admitted. “Not yet. Though I think I can guess who it was.”

  “That bruise on James’s face...” Harvey said, his voice trailing off. “You think it was Tyler who gave it to him?”

  “Somebody sure did,” Nora said. “Who’s to say it wasn’t Tyler?”

  Harvey’s teeth ground together. “We should tell the sheriff.”

  “I already did,” Nora said. “He promised to look into it.”

  “Good. But…James? Our Coach James? How could he possibly kill someone, let alone his best friend?”

  “Love does strange things to people,” Nora said. “It can drive the sanest man mad. I think James was in love with May. I think he never quite got her out of his head. Maybe Tyler figured that out.”

  “Maybe,” Harvey agreed. “But why would he run out so suddenly the way he did? We didn’t he even talk about James with Tyler that night. Did we?”

  “Actually, if you remember, it wasn’t long after I talked about overhearing James and Natalie that Tyler ran out,” Nora said.

  “What about Brooke?” Harvey asked. “She and Peter were out of town all of a sudden. Don’t you think that’s weird?”

  Nora bit her lip. “It could be.”

  “Brooke had the most motive for killing Maybelle,” Harvey said. “It seems that way to me, at least. Plus, if Peter and Brooke are in on it together, he could have followed her in his car and picked her up from the side of the road. Easy.”

  “You think Peter helped her?” Nora’s eyes were wide.

  “Why not?” Harvey asked. “Isn’t it weird that Peter randomly cancelled our golf game to go to on a romantic getaway with Brooke the morning after Tyler disappears? In any case, isn’t it about time we asked her some tough questions? She’s been avoiding you - but she can’t forever.”

  Nora opened her mouth to agree when the doorbell shocked her into silence. Harvey looked at her with wide eyes and then at the clock on the wall. 3am. Who could be at their house at three in the morning?

  “I’ll get it.” Harvey stood up and went to the closet. He pulled out a hammer and walked out of the room.

  “Harvey, I hardly think that’s necessary,” Nora whispered, hurrying to catch up with him.

  “I’m not taking any risks,” he said quietly. “There’s a killer on the loose, Nora.”

  Downstairs, Grace was peeking out of her room as Harvey and Nora walked to the door.

  “Everything ok?” she asked. “I woke up when I heard the doorbell.”

  “Go to sleep, sweetie,” Nora told her.

  The door opened wider, and Jacob stood behind Grace. “I can help if there’s trouble,” he said. Motioning to Grace that she should go back to sleep, he stepped into the living room. Nora gave him a grateful smile. Having a towering lumberjack like Jacob nearby was always reassuring in times like this.

  Harvey opened the door carefully, stared in surprise at the person outside, then threw the door wide open. Brooke stood on the doorstep, wrapped up in a tan coat, her eyes streaked with tears.

  “This is a surprise,” Harvey said, still not loosening his grip on the hammer. “What brings you here, Brooke? I thought you didn’t want to talk to Nora.”

  “That was when I thought Tyler killed Maybelle,” Brooke said. “Please can I come in? I need to talk to you. I heard what happened to Tyler and I haven’t been able to sleep. I just keep on thinking…oh, Nora you have to help me. I don’t know what to do!”

  Softening, Nora beckoned to Brooke. “Come on inside. We’ll have some coffee and chat a bit. No harm in that.”

  “Nora…” Harvey had a note of warning in his voice. “Just be careful.”

  “Harvey, you and Jacob should go back to sleep now. I guess Brooke will want to talk to me alone.”

  Brooke threw Nora a grateful look. “I’d like that very much.”

  Harvey glowered at Brooke a little, then said, “I’ll be nearby. Don’t try anything.”

  Brooke recoiled. “What? What are you saying?”

  “That anybody and everybody is a suspect now,” Harvey clarified. “But especially you. Where did you disappear to? How come you and Peter ran out of town the morning after Tyler disappeared?”

  “Ran out of…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Oh, yes, you do. The night before, Tyler vanishes. The next morning, Peter emails me that he can’t play golf because you decided to go stay at some bed & breakfast somewhere. Pretty convenient, isn’t it, that you weren’t in town all day, huh?”

  “We went because I needed a break from this craziness!” Brooke exclaimed. “You can accuse me if you want, but don’t drag Peter into this. He’s the most honest man I know.”

  “He’s a lawyer!” Harvey laughed. “If you believe there’s an honest lawyer anywhere in the world, then lady, I got a bridge to sell you.”

  “Don’t you talk about my Peter that way,” Brooke hissed.

  Nora stepped forward and gave Harvey a look. “Harv. Sweetheart. Go to bed now, please.”

  Harvey tapped his other hand lightly with the hammer. “I’ll sit in here while you two talk in the kitchen. That’s the best I can do. I’m not leaving you alone with Brooke until I’m sure she’s not the killer.”

  Brooke started to protest, but Nora knew Harvey wouldn’t be budged. She grabbed Brooke’s hand and dragged her into the kitchen instead.

  “The nerve of that man!” Brooke exclaimed.

  “We’re all on edge right now,” Nora said. “It’s not his fault. He’s pretty upset about Tyler’s death. We all are.”

  “I guess so.” Brooke’s voice softened a bit. She pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. “I just can’t believe he’s gone. There are rumors that it’s suicide, but that’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?”

  “Is it?” Nora shrugged. “You tell me.”

  “I knew Tyler,” Brooke said. “He’s not the kind of man to commit suicide. He just isn’t. No. I don’t believe he killed himself. Then again…” She hesitated. “Maybe it was him. You know, who killed May. Maybe he was overcome with guilt, or maybe he panicked at the thought of
going to jail and just ended it instead.” She gave Nora a pleading look. “Will you help me? Tell me he was the killer.”

  “I could tell you a lot of things.” Nora said. “But how about you tell me some things, too. Like the truth, for one.”

  “The truth?”

  “Maybelle met you at the swimming pool that day,” Nora said. “After you talked, you looked miserable and said that you hated her. Why?”

  Brooke looked away. “It isn’t what you think. It’s got nothing to do with May.”

  “Then what’s it about?”

  Brooke took a deep breath. “Do I have to tell you?”

  “Do you see any other way out?” Nora asked. “With Tyler gone, suspicions are going to fall on the people left behind, Brooke. That means you. Sheriff Ellerton is going to ask hard questions. It’s better you tell me first, so I can tell him to go easy on you. Don’t you think?”

  Brooke twisted a strand of hair round and round with her fingers. “I guess…” She took a deep breath first. “Think I can get that coffee before I start?”

  Nora, who’d been working her mini-espresso machine, poured a latte for each of them. She sat down at the table, facing Brooke, and raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

  Brooke hung her head. “I don’t know where to begin.”

  “At the beginning,” Nora suggested. “What did Maybelle have on you? What did she know that nobody else did?”

  Brooke took a deep breath. Plaintively, she asked Nora, “Can’t I just say it’s personal and leave it at that?”

  “No,” Nora said.

  “Fine then.” Brooke frowned. “A year ago, I…I did something. Something my husband has no idea about. May found out and…she wouldn’t stop badgering me. She kept telling me that I did a horrible thing.”

  “What was it?”

  “See, Peter’s a wonderful man,” Brooke continued. “But he’s always wanted a bunch of kids. I thought I wanted that, too…until I started loving my job with the school board. Until I realized how hard actually raising a child was.”

  “Ok?” Nora frowned.

  “Men never get it,” Brooke said bitterly. “Men never truly get how much you have to think and plot and plan when raising a kid right. Every little detail needs to be smoothed out. One was hard enough. Two was alright. But more than that? I knew my body and my mind couldn’t take it. I was happy with what we had. But Peter? He wasn’t. And Peter’s family is just like him, too. Every one of his brothers and cousins has three or four kids. His parents had four, too. Every barbeque we went to, they were constantly nudging and hinting and winking. I got so sick of it. But I didn’t know how to say that I didn’t want more kids. Peter’s so…well, he’s a man who knows his own mind, and he’s a lawyer, too. He can argue around in circles till you think up is down and right is left.”

  “I see,” Nora said.

  “So, finally, I gave in. I told Peter we should have more kids. Peter was ecstatic. What he didn’t know was…I’d visited a hospital and taken certain measures. I’m never having kids again. Medically, it’s…just not possible.”

  “Wow,” Nora said. “That’s…that’s a pretty serious thing to hide from your husband.”

  “Maybe it is, but what else could I do?” Brooke sighed. “I didn’t even think it was a big deal, really. Peter was disappointed that we weren’t conceiving, but he just shrugged it off. It was the kind thing to do, really. No fighting, no arguments, no hurt feelings. Just us and our little family - the way it should be,” Brooke said. “But when Maybelle found out, she acted like I’d robbed Peter of some kind of a birthright. She was angry on his behalf, like I’d cheated him or something.”

  “Really?”

  “I think it was because she and Tyler were trying for kids without much luck. She said that if Tyler had done something like this, she’d never forgive him, and that I needed to tell Peter. I told her it was different - I already have two kids, after all. But she thought that I shouldn’t lie to him. She gave me an ultimatum that day- told me I needed to tell Peter. Or else.”

  “And it made you hate her.” Nora frowned. “It made you angry. It made you scared, too, that Peter would find out. Scared and angry. Is that right, Brooke?”

  “Yes, but-”

  “It’s a powerful combination, anger and fear. Did it make you do something stupid, Brooke? Something you regret?”

  “No!” Brooke exclaimed. “I didn’t do anything of the sort! I did not kill her!”

  “Effectively, she was blackmailing you,” Nora said.

  “She was my friend, Nora! She thought she was helping me!” Brooke exclaimed. “I know it’ll sound weird to you, but Maybelle was like that. If she thought something was right, she’d pressure you and pressure you until you did it. Look at how relentlessly she was insisting on matching up Jess and James, for example. She didn’t care what they wanted. She just thought that she knew better, and that they’d be happy together. So that was that.”

  “Interesting.” Nora frowned. “So you don’t think Jess and James want each other?”

  “If they did have any romantic feelings, all of Maybelle’s interference probably killed it,” Brooke said. “I tell you, she was a wonderful friend, but also an absolute idiot at times. She didn’t understand that different people could have different ideas about happiness. She always had our wellbeing in mind, but if she thought I shouldn’t keep things from my husband, then I didn’t get to have a say in it. No matter the cost, she’d find a way to make me do what she wanted.” Brooke put a hand over her eyes. “I guess I knew deep down that she was right - I needed to tell Peter. I was just angry because she was so high-handed about it. As if she wasn’t hiding things from Tyler herself!”

  “What kind of things?”

  “Money,” Brooke said. “Maybelle had come into a small fortune and was trying to decide how to use it without telling Tyler. Well, he found out eventually anyway. They even had a fight about it at James’s party.”

  “I know that part.” Nora nodded. “May was trying to decide whether to give the money to Jess or to use it herself for a photography course, isn’t that right?”

  “Right,” Brooke confirmed. “Of course, she did end up giving it to Jess, after all.”

  “She what?! When?”

  Brooke frowned. “The day after James’s party. It was a loan, not a gift, of course.”

  “But with Maybelle and Tyler dead, that means Jess has nobody to repay the loan to,” Nora said. “She’s in the clear now.”

  “I…” Brooke opened her mouth and then shut it. “No, I’m sure that’s not…” She stared at Nora. “Stop it!” she said suddenly. “I hate it when you imply things about people. Jess is a good, decent person.”

  “Good, decent people can be tempted into sinning if money’s involved,” Nora said. “How come Jess never mentioned this to anybody? Not even the sheriff?”

  “I...” Brooke shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “Well, I don’t either. But I intend to ask her.”

  “So you really don’t think Tyler did it?” Brooke asked miserably. “I was so hoping that his death meant the end of it all. That it was a confession of sorts.”

  “I’m not sure it’s anything of the kind,” Nora said.

  “But if it’s not Tyler, then...” Brooke looked horrified at the thought. “Nora, do you really think it’s one of us?”

  “All I know is that, whoever it is, needs to be caught and brought to justice,” Nora said.

  *****

  Chapter 17

  Love and Money

  Nora readied herself early the next day, intending to go see Jess. Remembering that Jess had mentioned she'd be staying over at Natalie's house, Nora headed directly there. She just hoped Jess was there because it was time to get to the bottom of things, once and for all.

  Natalie’s house was neat as a pin from the outside, and a riot of colors, fabrics and textures on the inside. A bright yellow painting of a sunset over the ocean hung at the entranc
e, welcoming in visitors and giving the illusion of space. Mirrors were placed opposite windows, broadening the tiny rooms, and tapestries hung on the walls of her kitchen, giving it the feel of a farmhouse in the 1800s.

  Nora admired every bit of it as Natalie led her inside and poured her some lemonade.

  “Jess is still in bed, fast asleep,” Natalie said. “We stayed up late talking, you see.”

  Nora nodded. Even at eight in the morning, Natalie had her makeup on and was dressed in a light blue skirt-suit with an olive green silk shirt. But the makeup didn’t hide the exhaustion in her eyes or the dark circles under them.

  “I have a client meeting in half an hour,” Natalie explained, pointing to the dining table, where a computer was set up with a pair of headphones and mic. “Even if it is just videoconferencing, I have to look as professional as possible.” She rested her head against the fridge for a moment. “I wish I could cancel it all but I need my clients and, somehow, I feel being busy helps more than brooding about things.”

  “I understand.” Nora nodded.

  “Brooke messaged me earlier this morning,” Natalie said. “She…she told me about Tyler. Is it actually true? He’s gone?”

  Nora didn’t know what to say. Natalie was looking at her as though she wanted Nora to deny it, to say it was all a lie. “I’m sorry.”

  Natalie shook her head. “This is a nightmare. I don’t even know how I’ll break this to Jess. He killed himself? The sheriff’s department is saying he did.”

  Nora shrugged, wanting to remain non-committal. “I suppose we need to wait for forensics.”

  “At least it’s all over.” Natalie took a deep breath. “Horrible as it is, it’s over. Nora, can you stay? I’ll be busy with my client call and I don’t want Jess to read Brooke’s message and have no one to talk to.”

  “I’ll stay.” Nora put a hand on Natalie’s. Natalie gave her a grateful squeeze in return.

  On the kitchen counter, Natalie’s phone buzzed and Nora looked at it. The caller’s name was “Babe”. Natalie blushed. She picked it up and moved away as much as she could without appearing obvious.