Lethal Suds

by Sophia Barton

  “When did that happen?”

  “Last night. It doesn’t mean they had anything to do with the murder, though.”

  “It doesn’t. Thank you for telling me.”

  “I just, well, I felt I had to do it. I don’t want you to think they killed Randall because of that.”

  Chief Holden stared at Abigail for a moment, then asked, “You don’t think I know how to do my job.”

  It wasn’t a question, but Abigail felt she had to answer anyway. “That’s not what I said. I don’t know you. I don’t know if you’re a good chief of police. I hope you are. Only the guilty should pay, and if Martha and Roger did kill Randall, then they should be arrested. But this—I’ve never been involved in something like this, and I’m scared.” She looked away. She couldn’t face him, not after exposing herself this way. She hated that she was so vulnerable, but in an odd way that didn’t make sense to her, she trusted Chief Holden.

  No matter how offended Abigail had been that he’d suspected her, she could admit he’d been doing his job.

  There was a pause before Chief Holden answered. “I’m sorry you’re afraid, although I understand. And I can promise you that I’ll do my best to find the killer and arrest him or her. Thank you for telling me about Martha and Roger. It was the right thing to do.”

  Abigail hoped so, but she couldn’t help the hint of doubt that had plagued her for the entire day.

  10

  Aunt Charlotte was investigating again. Abigail should have known it wouldn’t end well. She’d asked her aunt to stay away from the case, but of course, Aunt Charlotte hadn’t listened. She never did, not when it went against what she wanted to do—and in this case, she wanted to stick her nose into something that wasn’t her business.

  Abigail sighed and stared at her aunt from the open backroom door. She already knew that once she stepped into the shop, Aunt Charlotte would try to drag her into the investigation. Abigail wasn’t looking forward to it, especially not after the conversation with Chief Holden. He’d told her he didn’t suspect her anymore, but she thought that might change anytime depending on what he found while he investigated. She didn’t want to stick her nose into it, not when it might mean he turned his attention to her again.

  Of course, Aunt Charlotte would have none of that. She turned around before Abigail could hide, and her smile widened. She gestured at Abigail to come closer, which Abigail did reluctantly. Aunt Charlotte was surrounded by her friends, and they’d been whispering at each other for the past fifteen minutes.

  Abigail forced herself to smile. “Hey. Do you need anything?” she asked.

  Aunt Charlotte shook her head. “Come here. We were talking about the case.”

  “I guessed that.”

  “We want you to talk to us. You spoke to Chief Holden the other evening. What did he tell you?”

  Abigail didn’t even ask how Aunt Charlotte knew about her conversation with Chief Holden. “Nothing. He told me nothing because I’m not a police officer. He was very clear that it was none of my business, and I didn’t push.”

  Aunt Charlotte pouted. “Are you sure? Why did you want to talk to him anyway?”

  Abigail wasn’t about to answer that. She hadn’t been sure she should tell Chief Holden about Roger and Martha, and she didn’t like that she had. She felt like a spy, even though she knew it had to be done. She wasn’t about to tell Aunt Charlotte and her friends about the affair, though. They would spread it all over town, and everyone would find out. Abigail was surprised no one had already, especially considering how careless Roger and Martha had been. They’d been lucky she was the one who’d walked in on them, not someone else.

  “I have work to do in the backroom,” she said.

  “Come on. You can take a break and have tea with us.”

  Abigail had to smile. She didn’t like that her aunt was investigating, but in reality, she wasn’t doing much. She and her friends gathered for an hour or so, drinking tea and gossiping. They might try to talk about the murder a few times, but their conversations always wandered to something else, like what Eunice’s neighbor’s teenage daughter was up to. Abigail didn’t usually listen in. She wasn’t interested.

  But maybe there was something there. The women might not be talking exclusively about the case, but they were talking about the town. They were exchanging secrets, and while Abigail didn’t like it, especially when she was still being talked about, she might find out things about who the killer might be.

  She couldn’t avoid thinking about the murder even when she tried. Her main suspects right now were Roger and Martha, or maybe the man at the coffee shop who’d been fighting with Randall. Abigail knew none of them well enough to be able to tell if they had anything to do with it. Hell, she’d never even talked to the man in the coffee shop.

  Lee had to know him, though.

  Abigail hadn’t thought about it, but maybe asking him was a better way to find out about the man in the coffee shop and even Roger and Martha than participating in her aunt’s not-so-secret meetings. She didn’t want to gossip, but talking to Lee would be different. He’d never been one to spread gossip as far as Abigail remembered. They hadn’t been friends in close to twenty years, but surely he hadn’t changed that much. Abigail had, but that had been mostly because of Kevin. Lee had been back a while. He would know who the players in this game were.

  “Are you okay?”

  Abigail could hear the worry in her aunt’s voice. “I am. Don’t worry about me.”

  “How could I not?” She leaned closer. “Is it Kevin? Is he back?”

  Abigail shook her head. “I haven’t heard from him again.”

  Which was strange. Kevin always wanted to be in control. He didn’t like it when she was, which was why over the fifteen or so years they’d been together, she’s taken a backseat when it came to decision-making. She hated it now, but back then, it felt natural. Now, Abigail had to take her life in hand. Kevin didn’t like that she was making decisions, especially when those decisions excluded him.

  She wanted him out of her life, and she wasn’t surprised that he’d realized where she’d gone and that he’d found her. She’d left their house and had asked him to sign divorce papers, but she knew better than to hope he would. He would drag this out for as long as he could. He would make it painful because he didn’t want to lose control over Abigail.

  “You know you can talk to me if you need to,” Aunt Charlotte said. “I know we’re not friends, but I am your aunt. I watched you grow up, and I don’t like what he’s doing to you.”

  Abigail’s gaze flashed to the other women, but thankfully, none of them were listening to the conversation. She swallowed and turned to Aunt Charlotte again. “I’m fine. I can’t say I was happy to see him on the porch, but I dealt with him.”

  “Has he signed the papers?”

  “No. I asked him again when he came by, but you know him.”

  Aunt Charlotte wrinkled her nose. “Unfortunately, I do.”

  Abigail didn’t want to hear another I told you so. Not that her aunt was trying to be nasty or anything like that. Abigail’s mother wasn’t, either. But they were worried, and they had told her so.

  Abigail’s mother hadn’t been crazy about Kevin when she’d first met him, and that hadn’t changed over the years. If anything, she’d become even warier of him after she’d noticed how he treated Abigail. Abigail had ignored it. She hadn’t thought there was anything wrong with Kevin wanting her to stay at home instead of working as a teacher. She hadn’t thought there was anything wrong in him making sure that whatever she did, she did it with him. She’d been stupid, and Kevin had been her whole world.

  Not anymore. She had to stop thinking about him. He wasn’t relevant anymore. She was the one making him so by obsessing, and she had to stop.

  “He’s going to make things difficult, isn’t he?” Aunt Charlotte asked.

  “He’s already making things difficult, and he won’t stop. It’s fine, though.”
<
br />   “It’s not. He should sign those papers so you can start living your life.”

  “I agree, but we both know he won’t do it. It’s fine, Aunt Charlotte. Really. I already knew he would act this way, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get divorced in a rush. He’s going to drag this out for as long as he can, but I expected it. I can deal with it.”

  “You might be able to deal with it, but it doesn’t mean you should have to. You shouldn’t have to go through this.”

  Abigail agreed, but what could she do? “Don’t worry. I promise that if anything happens, I’ll tell you and Mom. But I kicked him out, and I think he got the message. He might not sign the divorce papers right away, but he knows I’m not coming back to him. Eventually, he’ll stop pushing.”

  “I sure hope so. It isn’t fair.”

  Abigail was aware of that, and she was fighting to find a way around it. She’d never thought she was a fighter, but after leaving Kevin, she’d realized that maybe she’d been wrong. She was going to win this, whether Kevin liked it or not.

  And if she happened to find Randall’s killer as she did so, then all the better.

  Lee and Abigail met for lunch at the coffee shop. Abigail had called him, telling him she wanted to talk to him. She had half a mind of asking him about the people she suspected of being guilty of Randall’s murder, but once she was sitting in front of him, she wasn’t so sure anymore. It was ridiculous. Abigail wasn’t the chief of police or a deputy, and she shouldn’t get involved.

  “Okay, what’s wrong?” Lee asked.

  Abigail forced herself to smile. “Nothing. Who said something was wrong?”

  “I doubt you would have asked me out for lunch if something wasn’t wrong.”

  Abigail was slightly offended by that, but only slightly because he wasn’t wrong. “We’re friends. Why shouldn’t we have lunch together?”

  Lee’s smile was gentle. “Sure. We are, and I’m more than happy to have lunch with you. Still. Something happened, didn’t it?”

  Abigail sighed. Apparently, she couldn’t hide secrets from the people who knew her. “Fine. I think something might happen, and I want to try to prevent it.”

  Lee poked at his salad. “You’re going to have to be more precise than that. Give me some details. Tell me if it has something to do with what you saw the other day.”

  Abigail looked around. “Nothing will leave this place, will it?”

  “Of course not. I’d be offended if we hadn’t lost touch for so many years. I won’t tell anyone what’s going on, though. I promise.”

  It was reassuring. Abigail didn’t have many people she could trust in her life, and she hoped Lee would become one of them. “I talked to Chief Holden. I told him about Roger and Martha.”

  Lee’s eyes lit up. “Roger and Martha? You mean they were the ones you were talking about?”

  “They were.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He thanked me. I don’t know what he’s going to do with the news, and honestly, I don’t care. I also asked him if he still suspected me of the murder.”

  Lee’s salad was entirely forgotten. “And?”

  “He said he never actually believed I did it. He had to interrogate me because he has to interrogate everyone, but he doesn’t think I had anything to do with it. Aunt Charlotte, on the other hand, is still on his list.”

  Lee snorted. “That’s ridiculous. How could she have killed Randall with a broken arm?”

  “That’s what I said, but I think Chief Holden suspects she might have had help.” And maybe that help had been Abigail. She didn’t entirely trust Chief Holden. She couldn’t trust him, not when this was so important.

  Lee tapped his fingertips on the table. “Okay, so you told him about Roger and Martha, and he told you that you weren’t a suspect anymore but that your aunt still was. Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”

  “Not really. Well, only in part.” Abigail looked around. With no idea who the killer was, she felt like the person was around her every time she was in a public place. She was almost afraid to speak to Lee, wondering if the killer was in the coffee shop, watching them. “Aunt Charlotte got it in her head that she has to find the murderer,” she murmured.

  Lee blinked, then, to Abigail’s surprise, grinned. “I’m not surprised.”

  “I’m not, either, but I can’t let her do this.”

  “Good luck with that. I doubt you can convince her to do or not do something. Hell, the doctors tried when she got hurt. They told her to take a break, to step away from the shop, but she’s still working.”

  “I’m afraid she’ll get herself in trouble. Even if Chief Holden doesn’t arrest her, the killer might find out what she’s doing. What do you think they’ll do if they realize she’s getting close to finding them?”

  “Who says she’ll get close?”

  That much was true. Aunt Charlotte might talk about this a lot, but it didn’t mean she’d find out who the killer was. Besides, Abigail had taken the time to observe her and her friends when they spoke about the murder. They spent as much time drinking tea and talking about other things as they did talking about Randall’s death. “I’m just worried, I guess. I don’t want anything to happen to her. I’m afraid that the murderer will think that she can find something, even if she doesn’t. She hasn’t been discreet about this. She and her friends meet at the shop, or here. What if the murderer realizes that and decides to strike just in case?”

  “Then they’ll have to get rid of both your aunt and her friends. It wouldn’t be easy to do. I doubt they’ll do anything, not unless your aunt actually finds something. It would be too risky.”

  That much was true, too. “I should be relieved I’m not a suspect anymore, but now there’s Aunt Charlotte to think about. I’m starting to wonder if I shouldn’t find the killer myself to keep her out of trouble.”

  Lee’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want to find the killer?”

  Abigail hadn’t meant to say that. “I don’t want to get involved. I don’t care who the killer is, as long as they leave my family alone.”

  “But your aunt won’t let this go. We both know that. Maybe you’re not wrong. Maybe you should find the killer yourself.”

  “I wouldn’t know where to start. I don’t know the people who live in town anymore. Hell, I didn’t even know Randall, and he’s the guy who died.”

  “I know the people who live here.”

  That was why Abigail had reached out to Lee. “You’d help me?”

  “Of course. We can make a list of people we suspect might have had something to do with the murder, and we can go over it. I wouldn’t mind helping you. I’d be delighted, actually. My life was boring until you came back into it, and I’m glad you did.”

  “Right now, I would take a boring life over this.” But Abigail couldn’t deny that it helped her not think about Kevin and her old life. She might not like being involved in the murder, but she was, and she might as well use it as a distraction. Besides, even if she tried finding the murderer, what was to say she would? She wasn’t a detective. She probably wouldn’t be able to find anything. It would be a nice distraction, but that was it. Hopefully, Chief Holden would find the murderer before anything else happened and anyone else got hurt, and Abigail would have had a nice interlude.

  She looked around. “I don’t think we should talk about it now, though.”

  “I agree.”

  “You really think we can find something?”

  “I don’t see why not.” Lee shrugged one shoulder. “You’ve already told me more than I knew about this. I had no idea Martha and Roger were having an affair. I’m pretty sure no one did. I don’t know how they managed to keep it a secret, but once people find out, I’m pretty sure everyone will suspect them. It’s only natural.”

  “I don’t know if they did it.”

  “I want to believe they didn’t. I like Roger. I don’t know Martha as well, but I do walk her dog a few times a month wh
en she can’t. But we’ve never really talked. I always thought she was a loner, but I’m starting to wonder if maybe that wasn’t Randall’s doing.”

  That gave Abigail pause. Kevin hadn’t been abusive, but he hadn’t liked her going out with her friends. That was how she’d ended up not having any after a few years. Had Randall isolated Martha just like Kevin had done with Abigail?

  Suddenly, Abigail found herself feeling a kind of kinship with the woman. She didn’t want Martha to be the murderer, but if she had been, Abigail could understand.

  “I don’t want them to get in trouble,” she repeated.

  “I don’t think anyone wants them to get in trouble, even if they killed Randall. The man was an asshole.” Lee looked around again. “How about we have dinner together? We can talk about this more.”

  “Not at a restaurant or the pub, though. We’d have the same problem. Why don’t you come over to my house tonight? I’m not a great cook, but I can put something together.” Abigail wasn’t great at cooking, but she also didn’t completely suck at it. The main reason she didn’t cook a lot was that she hated it, and she hated the many years she’d had to cook dinner for Kevin every evening.

  Those days were over, though. Now, she cooked only if she wanted to, and she found she didn’t mind the thought of cooking for Lee. She liked the direction their friendship was going, and she hoped this was a sign that she was finally getting used to her new life, that she was evolving into a person she would like again.

  Lee beamed. “Dinner is perfect.”

  At least Abigail would have something to look forward to tonight.

  Abigail was flustered by the time Lee arrived that evening. She’d been the one to invite him for dinner, but she’d realized that she barely had anything to cook in the fridge, which meant that instead of going straight home after work, she had to go to the grocery store and face the people there. Shannon Parnell, the owner’s daughter, had been at checkout, and she’d had a lot of questions.