After plopping into one of the folding chairs, Trixie leaned forward and said, “Bambi told me you were at school today. Why haven’t I seen you?”
“Let me count the whys,” Skye teased. “PPS, a meeting with Pru—”
“Ugh.” Trixie made a face. “What was Corny’s problem this time?”
“She wanted a gifted student labeled intellectually challenged.”
“Seriously?” Trixie blew out a long, disgusted breath. “When does old enough to know better start to kick in? What is wrong with that woman?”
“What isn’t?” Skye asked dryly. “If only she and Homer would retire…”
“Dream on.” Trixie glanced around and asked, “Where’s Piper?”
“Observing a student for a reevaluation,” Skye answered, then asked, “Speaking of Pru, she did seem different today. Have you heard anything?”
“Well…” Trixie crossed her legs and dangled her bright-pink high heel from her toe. “There is some chatter floating around, but you don’t like gossip.”
“Trixie,” Skye warned.
“Okay. If you insist.” Trixie smoothed her pink-and-black polka dot skirt over her thighs. “Rumor has it that Corny is in love.”
“With who?” Skye asked, thinking how Pru had been cooing into her cell phone. Had there been a clue to the person’s identity?
“No one knows.” Trixie leaned forward. “Which is why I suspect whoever it is, he’s married.”
Chapter 15
2,000 Light-Years from Home
Skye discreetly checked her watch. This was Trixie’s free period and it looked as if she planned to spend the entire forty minutes catching up.
Squirming in her seat, Skye waited for her friend to take a breath in her stream-of-consciousness chatter, then said, “Sorry to interrupt, but I need to get going.”
“Of course.” Trixie jumped up from her chair. “But before you go, I wanted to ask you about yesterday’s murder. Is it true the vic was suing Homer?”
“I really can’t say,” Skye hedged, then asked, “Where did you hear about that?”
“It was the talk of the teacher’s lounge.” Trixie winked, then jerked her gaze to Skye and asked, “What’s the chance he killed her?”
“What’s that saying?” Skye stood. “Who knows what darkness lurks in the heart of men?”
“Hey. The principal as the murderer would be a great plot for my next book.” Trixie’s brown eyes lit up and she grabbed a notepad and pen from Skye’s desk. As she wrote, she mumbled, “Maybe he’s having an affair with an English teacher and the vic found out and was blackmailing him.”
“That sounds like an interesting plot.” Skye walked out of the office with Trixie trailing her. After locking the door, she headed toward the school’s rear exit with her friend on her heels. “How’s the querying going?”
Trixie had recently finished her book and was in the process of submitting it to agents. Skye hoped her friend would have some success before she got discouraged from the flood of rejections.
“I forgot to tell you!” Trixie squealed. “I just got two requests for the complete manuscript this morning. Both agents said the first three chapters showed a lot of promise and the writing was compelling.”
“That is completely freaking awesome.” Skye hugged her friend. “I bet they’ll both offer to represent you and you’ll get to choose the one you like best.”
“Fingers crossed.”
“Let me know as soon as you hear anything more from the agents.” Skye waved goodbye as she hurried out to her car.
Happy for her friend, Skye grinned as she drove to the station. Then as she neared the PD she refocused on the case and considered what she’d learned during her time at the high school.
One, Earl was still in hiding. Two, Homer was in trouble about the lawsuit. And three, Pru was interested in Edie Baker’s disappearance.
Still trying to come up with a reason that the irritating teacher might ask about the missing woman, Skye pulled her SUV into one of the open spots. As she hopped out, grabbed the bag with Homer’s trash from her tote, and went into the garage, she considered what she knew about Pru.
After she used her key to enter the station, Skye concluded that the only reason the English teacher would care about Edie Baker was if the woman’s disappearance somehow impacted Pru. And Skye couldn’t see any connection between the two women.
Hurrying down the hallway, Skye slowed as she passed the break room. Zelda was sitting at the long rectangular table staring at a laptop and Skye squinted to see what the young officer was viewing so intently. It seemed to be security footage from what looked like the interior of the dollar store. What was up with that?
Skye watched for a few minutes but didn’t see anything interesting. Had there been a robbery at the store? Or did it have something to do with the murder?
With nothing happening on the screen, Skye quickly grew bored and continued to the stairs. She climbed the steps to the second floor, knocked on Wally’s closed door, then opened it a crack and looked inside.
Wally was on the telephone, but he gestured Skye over to the visitor chair across from his desk. He smiled at her and put the phone on speaker.
From what Skye could make out, the medical examiner was in the middle of summarizing the preliminary results of Jerita Quinn’s autopsy.
When the woman stopped speaking, Wally said, “So what you’re saying, Doc, is that the vic was stabbed in the temple somewhere between nine and eleven?”
“Yes.” The ME’s voice was a rich alto. “I was able to narrow it down a bit from your coroner’s estimate, but that’s the best I can do.”
Wally made a note in the file in front of him, then continued, “And your conclusion is that the victim was most likely unconscious when the stabbing occurred?”
“From the trauma to the back of her head, that would be my conclusion.”
“How about drugs or alcohol?” Wally asked.
“Except for the prescription medication her husband said she took for her heart condition, our tests didn’t detect anything unusual in her system.”
“Is there anything else about the vic you can tell me?” Wally tapped his pen on the desktop.
“Not at this time,” the ME answered. “I still have a few results I’m waiting on, but as of now, that’s all I know for certain.”
“Thanks, Doc,” Wally said. “When can I expect the full report?”
“Twenty-four to forty-eight hours.” The ME said goodbye and disconnected.
As soon as Wally hung up the phone, Skye asked, “Anything from the crime techs yet?”
“Nothing helpful.” Wally gestured to the evidence bag Skye was holding. “Is that Homer’s trash?” When she nodded, he slid a sheet of paper across the desktop along with a pen and said, “You’ll need to fill out this form and attach it to the bag.”
“Okay. And you probably want this as well.” Skye tossed him the crumpled ball of paper she’d found on the floor by Homer’s garbage.
After looking it over, Wally murmured, “Interesting. If the DNA on Homer’s trash matches the pumpkin seed hulls at the murder scene, I’ll use this to get a warrant to formally obtain his DNA and a sample of his handwriting.”
“Right.” Skye wrinkled her nose. “No use rocking the boat if the hulls aren’t his.”
While Skye completed the document Wally had given her, he made a call. “Martinez, stop what you’re doing and get up to my office right now.”
“That was rude.” Skye finished writing and attached the paper to the bag.
“Martinez wouldn’t appreciate it if I treated her any different from the other officers.” Wally rubbed the stubble on his jaw. “She’s been briefed on the importance of this evidence and has been waiting to take it to the crime scene techs in Laurel.”
“Well, you cou
ld say please.” Skye hid her smile. Her husband was generally the sweetest guy, but unsolved murders brought out the worst in him.
“I’ll try to remember that in the future.” Getting up, Wally walked around the desk and leaned down. “May I please have a kiss?”
“You may.” Skye’s lips brushed his and he drew her into his arms.
Things were just getting interesting when the door burst open and Zelda Martinez rushed inside. She skidded to a stop and, with red cheeks, stuttered, “Uh…sorry, Chief. I should have knocked.”
“No worries, Zelda,” Skye giggled. “It’s okay. We are married.”
“Here.” Wally released Skye, grabbed the bag on his desk, and thrust it at the young officer. “Tell them to let me know the minute they have the results.”
“Will do, Chief.” Zelda clutched the evidence to her chest and backed out of the office. “You can count on me, sir. I won’t let you down.”
As the door closed behind the young woman, Skye fanned herself. “Wow. She has a bad case of hero worship.”
“What?” Wally frowned. “Not at all. She just wants to do a good job.”
“Sure.” Skye wiped the smirk from her face. “Anyway, I need to get home before Dorothy thinks I’ve abandoned her and the twins.”
“Anything I should know before you leave?” Wally put his hand on the small of her back and guided her into the hallway and down the stairs.
“Earl’s still hiding, but I asked Bambi to have him call me if she sees him or he comes home.” Skye walked toward the garage door, pausing with her hand on the knob. “Oh. One other thing. Pru Cormorant asked me about the Edie Baker case. I have no idea why she’d be interested.”
“Could she know them from the VFW or American Legion or Lions Club?”
“Maybe.” Skye frowned. “You know, it’s odd. I don’t remember ever hearing anything about Pru outside of school. The only other place I’ve ever seen her is church. No, wait a minute.” Skye tapped the metal knob with her fingernails. “I’ve also run into her at the dollar store. She mentioned that they have a certain candy she likes that she can’t get anywhere else.”
“That could be it.” Wally nodded. “Today when I talked to Mrs. Baker’s home care worker, she said that Edie liked to go there.”
Skye snapped her fingers. “Which was why you had Zelda viewing their security footage.” She grinned. “Well, I’m sure glad to have both those mysteries solved. Pru and Edie must have struck up a conversation and Pru was curious when she heard Edie was missing.” Skye kissed Wally’s cheek, opened the door, and waved as she walked out. “See you later.”
As she drove home, Skye realized that she hadn’t asked Wally if he’d found out anything in addition to the dollar store information from his interview with the home health aide or if he’d learned anything new about the murder. The fact that Jerita had been hit over the head and was probably unconscious when she was stabbed made Skye think that it had been a sneak attack. Had the killer lured her outside, then somehow gotten her to look away long enough to knock her out?
Arriving back at the RV, all thoughts of the murder and the missing woman were pushed aside as Skye thanked Dorothy. Then despite the woman’s protest that her babysitting fee could be added to her salary, she paid her and walked her to the door.
Once the housekeeper left, Skye fed the twins and changed both their diapers. After she had them settled in their swings, she called her mom.
When May answered and they exchanged the usual greetings and assurances that she, Wally, and the twins were fine, Skye asked, “Is Loretta out of the hospital?”
“Surprisingly she is,” May answered. “She got home around noon and is doing great.”
“That’s wonderful.” Skye cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder, tied on an apron, and grabbed a package of Italian sausage from the refrigerator. Then after selecting a large cast iron frying pan from the cupboard, she said, “Wally and I thought we’d bring them dinner and welcome the new addition to our family.”
“I’m sure visiting them would be fine. But since Vince picked up April, and I’m off work, why don’t you let me make the dinner? I could bring it to your place and you could take it over to their house?” May continued before Skye could respond. “I can stay with the twins for you.”
“I’ll accept the offer to watch CJ and Eva, but I already have the lasagna started.” Skye had known her mom would want to cook, so she’d deliberately gotten the meat browning while they were talking.
“You could save it for you and Wally to eat tomorrow night.”
“No thanks.” Skye filled a pot with water and put it on a burner to bring to boiling. “I already have something for Wednesday, and then Thursday’s Thanksgiving and you know you’ll give us leftovers.”
“There’s always the freezer,” May persisted. “You’ll be happy to have some quick meals in there once you go back to work.”
“That’s still over five weeks away. Besides—” Skye cut herself off. She wasn’t ready to tell May that they’d hired Dorothy to work as a full-time housekeeper yet. She wasn’t sure how her mom would take it. “I don’t like keeping food in there that long.”
“How about a salad and garlic bread?” May countered quickly. “I could make you a nice green salad and I have some Italian bread just sitting here waiting to be slathered in garlic butter.”
“I’ve got that covered.” Skye crossed her fingers. She had the makings in the fridge, but she hadn’t actually put them together yet.
“Dessert!” May’s voice was triumphant. “I bet you don’t have a dessert.”
“Got me there, Mom.” Skye smiled. Her mother was so predictable. “Any chance you could make that yummy fruit cocktail pudding?” She’d been hungry for that dessert and hers never tasted as good as May’s. “And homemade whipped cream?”
“In my sleep.” May’s tone was smug. “What time do you want me?”
“Do Loretta and Vince still like to eat late?” Skye preferred to have dinner at five, but with Wally’s schedule, they’d pushed dinnertime back an hour. She’d be starved by seven and would have to resist the urge to snack.
“Yes.” May tsked.
“Then how about you come over here about six thirty?” Skye suggested.
“Fine,” May said, then added, “I’ve told Vince eating that late isn’t good for them, but he just does whatever Loretta wants him to do.”
“Kind of like Dad does with you?” Skye chuckled.
“And Wally with you,” May pounced. “Which is how it should be.”
“Mmm.” Skye kind of agreed but wouldn’t admit her mother was right. “See you at six thirty.”
“I’ll let Vince and Loretta know that you’re bringing supper instead of me.”
“Thanks!” Skye disconnected and glanced at the microwave clock.
It was already four thirty. Wally would be home in an hour and would want to shower before going over to Loretta and Vince’s, which meant Skye really should freshen up now while the sink and mirror were free. She definitely missed having a second bathroom.
Once she slid the pan of lasagna into the preheated oven, Skye checked on Eva and CJ. Both were dozing and the lasagna needed to bake for an hour. This was Skye’s chance for a quick sponge bath and to change out of her work clothes.
Leaving the bedroom door open so she could keep an ear out for any sounds of distress from the twins, Skye stripped off her dress pants and tunic. After a hurried wash, she touched up her makeup and combed her hair.
She was zipping up a pair of dark jeans when there was a loud knock on the front door. She hastily pulled on a forest-green cowl-necked sweater, rushed from the bedroom, and put her eye to the peephole.
There was no one there. Confused, she moved to the window and looked out. Sitting behind her Mercedes was an old Buick Regal. Its light-blue paint was hard to se
e for the primer and Bondo, but there was only one person in town who drove a car like that one.
Skye rolled her eyes and returned to the foyer, grabbed her coat, and flung open the door. As she stepped out, she scanned the yard, but there was no one in sight.
Making a megaphone with her hands, she shouted, “Earl Doozier, get your skinny butt over here right now.”
Chapter 16
A Long Way from Home
Skye gave Earl five minutes to show his weaselly little face, but when the time was up and he still hadn’t put in an appearance, she patted her pockets, searching for her phone. She had to call Wally. He would be none too happy to hear that the fugitive he had his officers searching high and low for was currently in his very own driveway.
Or at least his car was parked there. At the moment, Earl’s location was anyone’s guess.
When Skye didn’t find her cell in her jeans’ pocket, she remembered that when she went to change clothes she’d plugged the phone into its charger. As she opened the door to go get it, she heard a shout and turned around.
Shading her eyes with her hand, she scanned the area until she saw Beilin Quinn marching Earl across the lawn. They were about halfway between the motor home and the new house and Skye could clearly see Earl’s face, which looked a lot like an overripe tomato getting ready to burst out of its skin. Beilin had a meaty forearm against Earl’s throat, a nail gun to his temple, and eyes blazing with barely contained rage.
Earl waved both skinny tattooed arms in the air as if he were drowning and gurgled, “He’s chokin’ me to death. Save me, Miz Skye. Save me.”
For a moment, Skye wondered why Earl wasn’t wearing a coat. Beilin didn’t have one on either, but he’d probably been working inside the new house where it was warm.
Blinking away her distracted thoughts regarding the men’s outerwear, Skye shouted, “Let him breathe! I know this man!”
Come Homicide or High Water Page 15
