“Oh, yes. I’m okay. It was my husband coming in the front door.” I shout to the officers, “This is my husband. He’s not the intruder.” Back into the phone I say, “The officers are here. Thank you so much. I’ve never had to call 911 before.”
The operator assures me that the officers on the scene will handle everything and that she’s glad she could help. Craig is on the lawn talking to the officers when another police car pulls up and Aiden and Officer Greyson jump out. The first two policemen move on to check out the house. Aiden and Craig stop when they get to me.
“Let’s move out toward the street to talk,” Aiden says.
I stand and lean on Craig while my knees try to return to normal. “Now that I think about it, I was in the house for quite a while before I realized there’d been a break-in, so I don’t think there’s anyone in there. But your office is a mess.”
Aiden pulls out a pad, then looks up and says, “Oh no,” as his mother’s car screeches to a stop on the road outside. The first police car had pulled into our drive and is parked in the way of the entrance.
Annie flings her door open and jumps out, but when she sees me, she clutches her chest and bends over for a moment. “Thank the Lord!” she shouts as she starts towards us. “When I heard there was a break-in on the scanner, I about broke my neck getting here. Are you okay?” She’s wearing a crisp, lime-green shirt over her bathing suit. Her bathing suit is black with white and lime-green trim. She has on cute flip-flops with big green flowers on them and a white floppy hat with a black, lime, and white scarf tied around it that trails behind her as she hurries. She looks like she’s just stepped out of a magazine, one of those plus-size models, and just seeing her makes my heart start calming down.
Aiden meets her halfway to us, but she ignores him. “Me hugging my friend won’t impede your investigation one bit. Honey, I bet you were scared to death!”
I get one of Annie’s deep hugs, and then she doesn’t miss a beat when she turns to Craig and pulls him to her. Aiden and I share a look, then a grin at Craig’s surprise. She steps back and apologizes. “I don’t normally run around on the city streets in my swimwear, but I was just headed over to Adam’s house to play in the sprinklers with his kids when I heard. Lord help us, what if I’d already been gone?” She turns to Aiden. “How do I get a scanner for my car? Can I get one of them things y’all carry around with you?”
“Mrs. Bryant,” Officer Greyson says as he walks up on us. “Hate to see we interrupted your swimming, but we have everything handled here. We just need to talk to the Mantelles, so you can return to whatever you were doing.”
“I do need to get to my son’s home as I’m watching the children this afternoon, but don’t you worry, Jewel, Cherry will be right over. She was off the island shopping, but she’s headed here right this minute. I mean, we all know this has something to do with Pierson Mantelle’s murder, don’t we?”
My mouth drops open, and as I look around I realize I’m the only one who didn’t know that. Craig’s mouth is in a tight line, Aiden is doodling on his pad, and Officer Greyson grunts. No one is meeting my eyes.
“Is she right?” I ask. “Is this connected to the murder? Why?”
Annie steps back into the middle of the group and hugs me. “That’s exactly what we’re going to find out, darling. See, there’s Cherry now.” She steps toward Craig, but he steps back and sticks a hand out. Whether it’s to block her or shake her hand I can’t tell, but Annie grabs it with both her hands and squeezes. “Now you take care of your wife. I’ll let Abigale know what’s going on over here in case you need your lawyer for anything, okay?”
Craig tries to step back as he shakes his head. “No, no need to call your daughter. I let her know she doesn’t need to worry about us.”
Annie is still clutching his hand; she looks at me and raises an eyebrow. “I’m assuming you two didn’t get a chance to talk yet?”
My eyes widen, and I shake my head quickly.
Aiden says, “Mother,” and Officer Greyson says, “Annie,” at the same time with the exact same inflection.
“All right, all right.” She releases Craig’s hand and steps away. She says a few words to Cherry, and the officers take that moment to shepherd us back toward the front steps.
One of the first two officers has walked out onto the porch and waved that all is clear inside. “We can go inside to talk, okay?” the older officer said. “Mr. Mantelle, we need you to take a look in your office and see if you can tell if anything is missing.”
As we head inside, I ask Craig, “Where were you? I thought you were working here today.”
He whispers, “Later,” and steps ahead of me to run up the porch steps. Behind him I see the officers meet eyes. Aiden’s eyebrows rise, and Officer Greyson grunts again.
Just as Cherry lays her arm across my shoulder, it hits me.
My husband is still a murder suspect.
Chapter 17
Cherry and I are about the same height, so her arm is able to stay on my shoulders as we walk up the front steps. The front door is not quite closed, so we push it open and step inside. As I begin to close it one of the police officers says, “Ma’am, I wouldn’t close that if I were you. Nigh impossible to open. Hmm, maybe we should fingerprint it? Maybe it was damaged by the burglar.”
As I pull it to, I tell him, “It’s been that way since we moved in. Do you think the burglar was here or in the rest of the house?”
Officer Greyson steps out of the office and walks toward us. “No, we don’t, but we’ll keep looking. Maybe you can look around and see if you notice anything out of place? But first, tell me what time you left this morning and when you arrived home.”
“Okay. Can I get some water?” I walk into the kitchen. As I enter, I see the list I’d been working on, with the “Suspects” written in big, bold, embarrassing letters at the top. I dart to the table and pick up the pad, folding it shut, then hold it close to me as I go to the fridge. “Can I get anyone else a bottle of water?”
Cherry shakes her head; so does the officer. Then he says, “We can just sit here if that’s okay.”
As I slide into a chair, I push the notebook onto the empty chair seat beside me. “Okay. I left here this morning sometime before ten. Annie may know exactly what time. She came over to get me, and we went the coffee shop to meet Lucy Fellows. After that we shopped some, then talked to some people, had lunch with Annie’s daughter Allie, then I bought that painting.” I point at it. “Then I came home. I don’t remember what time it was exactly. Again, Annie may have noticed. Oh, Allie had to get back to the gallery by one, so it wouldn’t have been too long after that.”
“Once you got home, what did you do?” the officer asks. “Did you go upstairs or out back? I’m assuming you came in the front as you would’ve noticed the open window if you’d used the back door.”
“Yes, if I don’t park around back, I use the front door. Now that I’ve learned how to open it, it’s not a problem. No, I didn’t go upstairs to change. That’s why I’m still in this dress.”
Cherry laughs. “Whew, that’s a relief. I was thinking, ‘If that’s what she wears to hang around the house, we can’t be friends.’”
That one comment and her laugh release a knot of tension along my shoulders, and I smile at her. Looking back to Officer Greyson, I point at the cold cup of tea sitting in front of him. “I made that cup of tea, then sat down here… thinking. Then, for some reason, I got up and went to look in Craig’s office.” I look down and feel the tension working its way back along my neck.
“And what did you find there?”
“It was warm, and there were papers everywhere. The curtains moving scared me, and that’s when I realized the window was open. I ran back here to get my phone out of my purse, and I called 911. First time ever.” I take a drink of my water. “She, the 911 lady, told me to get out of the house, so I was trying to decide which way to leave when Craig came in the front door. Scared me to death! Scar
ed the 911 operator, too, when I screamed someone was coming in to the house.” I grimace, thinking of her panicked voice. “Poor woman. The first police car showed up really fast, and then you and Officer Bryant got here. That’s it.”
“Was your husband still here when you left this morning?”
“Yes, he was working from home today because, well, I guess you told him to stay close?”
The officer ignores my question. “So you didn’t hear anything when you got home?”
“No. I don’t know how long Craig had been gone. I suppose he went to get some lunch. We haven’t had a chance to chat. I bet he’s upset about his office. I should check on him.” I stand up and Cherry does, too, but Officer Greyson motions for us to sit back down. As we do Cherry reaches out and takes my hand in hers.
The officer explains, “They’ll be done in there in just a minute. So you were sitting here thinking before you opened the office door?” His eyes shift to the chair next to me, where I’d slid the notebook. “Just thinking? Not writing anything?”
Of course he saw my notes when he was in here earlier. I’m not a good liar, and Cherry just stays quiet. Where’s Annie and all her bluster when you need it? “I might’ve been writing down some stuff. Nothing important.”
He tips his head and looks at me from under his bushy eyebrows. “Mrs. Mantelle, help me out here. We’re not used to murders on Sophia, and we’d like to get this one solved as soon as possible. Isn’t that what you want, too?”
When I pull out the notebook, Cherry releases my hand so I can open it. I flip to the page with “Suspects” written in big letters. My friend lets out a little gasp as she sees what’s written below the heading.
The officer takes the offered notebook and reads it. “Y’all’ve been busy, haven’t you? This Sheryl-Lee is Sheryl-Lee King, the one on the city council, I assume? Do you know something I don’t about her?”
“Well, Annie told Aiden earlier, right?” He barely nods. “Sheryl-Lee was on Mr. Mantelle’s boat yesterday. She really didn’t like him, I guess. Stuff about the marina. And her skirt was wet when we saw her at Colby’s after lunch.”
He makes some notes in his own notebook, then scowls again at my sheet. “Ray Barnette? And did you run into him while you were shopping?”
Okay, there’s that tension in my neck that was trying to get away. “Not exactly. I ran into him in the courthouse.”
He squints at me. “Your notes say that ‘he said he needed this job’?” He looks at me. “Said he ‘needed’ it?”
“Yes, I mean, that’s understandable. Janitors don’t make that much.”
Cherry pats my hand and clears her throat. “We’ll talk about Mr. Barnette in a minute.”
“Just another question or two, Mrs. Mantelle. Here beside your husband’s name you’ve written ‘LIE.’ In caps. What does that mean? What did he lie about?”
Cherry leans forward, breaking Officer Greyson’s direct line of sight to me. She looks me in the eyes. “Honey, you don’t have to answer that. These are just your personal doodles. They don’t have to mean a thing.”
Taking a deep breath, I nod. “She’s right. It didn’t mean anything. Just, just doodling.”
He lumbers to his feet and lays my notebook back down on the table. “Whatever you say, Mrs. Mantelle. However, I think you should know I’m pretty sure the burglar was in the office when you came home. Looks like they were in a big hurry to leave and fell out the back window instead of stepping over to the back porch as they apparently did coming in.”
I shudder. Cherry’s smile at me is weak. My knees don’t return to their jelly state, but the officer’s words definitely make them quiver. There are voices outside the office door, and soon Officer Greyson is standing in the kitchen, holding out his hand to me. “Thank you, Mrs. Mantelle. Remind your husband to fix that back window.”
Shaking his hand I ask, “Did they break it getting in?”
“No. It doesn’t lock. Slides right up and needs a stick in it to prop it open. You probably didn’t have time to notice that there was a stick in it when you went in there.”
“So they broke the lock?” My hand is still in his, but the way he’s looking at me has me almost transfixed. It’s like he’s trying to tell me something.
“No. The lock didn’t work before. It hasn’t worked in a long time.”
“Oh wow. We had no idea.”
He squeezes my hand once more and lets it drop. “Your husband knew.” He stares at me for just another fraction of a second and then turns to shake Cherry’s hand. “Good to see you again, Mrs. Berry.”
“Wait,” I say. “Your name is Cherry Berry?”
She grimaces. “Yep. Until we had kids I kept my maiden name, but then I decided, ‘Who wouldn’t want to be one of the Berrys when those babies are so cute?’” She shakes the grinning officer’s hand. “At least no one ever forgets my name.”
Distant voices grow louder as the men come into the kitchen. Cherry puts her arm back around my shoulders. As the officer working with Craig lays out some papers on the counter, I pull Cherry toward the living room. Once we’re out of the kitchen door, though, I lead her to the right, and we walk quietly down the hall to the office.
We tiptoe in and look around. The window is closed again. I look out of it. The porch, more of what we called a stoop up north, is just to the side of the window. I think I could even lean over the wooden railing, open the window, and climb onto it. I’d never thought about it, but if I’d known this window didn’t lock, I think I would’ve. I can’t decide if I’m more scared or mad. I’ve been here alone several nights, and Craig knew it wouldn’t lock?
Cherry whispers, “Is anything is missing?”
“I don’t know. I’ve only been in here a half dozen times. Craig’s the only one who would know.”
Aiden sticks his head in the room. “Mrs. Mantelle? We’re leaving now. I just wanted to say goodbye and that I’m real sorry this happened. You get that window fixed, you hear? We stuck a piece of wood in the top to hold it shut for now. My momma will be worried about you. Matter of fact, she’s probably half melted my personal phone by now, but I left it in the car.” He winks at me. “No need for you to tell her, though, okay?”
“Okay. Thank you so much and tell Annie not to worry. I’m sure we’ll be fine now.” He pulls away from the door, but I stop him. “Aiden? Could this have just been some kids? Someone looking for some money or something? It doesn’t have to be related to the murder, does it?”
He steps in closer and shakes his head as he thinks. “In some ways that would be comforting, I know. But it just seems awful coincidental, doesn’t it? A Mantelle is murdered one day and a Mantelle is burgled the next? My momma says, ‘You ignore what’s right in front of your face and you deserve what you get.’ Momma may be a pain, but she sure ain’t stupid.” He tips his head to me as he leaves the room.
Cherry is squatting down looking at cords plugged into a power strip on the floor beside the desk.
“What are you looking at?” I ask her.
“Nothing.” She straightens up. “Anything else you want to look at in here?”
“No. I want to get out of this dress, take a long shower, and have a glass of wine.”
She gives me a one-armed side hug as she scoots out of the door before me.
I look around at Craig’s office and quietly add an item, the most important item, to my to-do list. “And then I want to talk to my husband.”
Chapter 18
By the time the police all leave, shadows are lengthening in the front yard and throughout the house. “I’m starving,” I say to Craig as we stand in the living room, still kind of stunned. “I had plans for hamburgers on the grill, but that sounds like too much work now. How about soup and a sandwich? Of course, I have a frozen pizza for such a crazy day as this. Want that?”
He leans to give me a kiss on my cheek. “It has been a strange one, hasn’t it?”
Before I can lean into him, he pulls
back and walks away. “However, I do have to return some calls for work. This afternoon was shot. Put the pizza in, and if I’m not done by the time it’s ready, I can eat it later. Thanks.” He’s in his office and closing the door before I can get fully turned around or think of what to say.
Watching him, the churn of hunger in my stomach turns into a churn of anxiety. When I walk into the kitchen, my eyes fall on my new painting. I stop to look at it. The pinks of the sky and the steadiness of the bird calm me, and I take a deep breath. “A really hot shower. That’s what I need,” I say as I walk farther into the kitchen to preheat the oven. At the fridge, I grab an already opened bottle of pinot grigio and pour myself a glass for the shower.
Craig’s voice rises and falls from his office, and it’s hard to imagine everything that happened here today. As I walk up the stairs the window on the landing that faces west, toward the river beyond the marina, is lit up with a shaft of light from the lowering sun. I stop to sip my wine and watch the sun shoot through the leaves and Spanish moss that wrap around our house. We need to make more of an effort to get down to the marina to watch the sunset. As I turn to finish walking up the stairs, I sigh. I’m sure Pierson Mantelle never thought Tuesday’s sunset was his last.
My shower made all the difference. I dashed down the stairs earlier and put the pizza in the oven while I was only wrapped in a towel, then hurried back up to the bedroom. Now I’m ready to get everything straightened out with Craig. And eat. It seemed too early to put on my pajamas, so I threw on a pair of shorts and an old baseball shirt from my son Drew’s high school team. I listen for Craig’s voice while I throw together a salad, but I don’t hear him. That’s a good sign. He’s getting his work wrapped up. Him working on the road all these years was hard, but it was almost harder to have him home because he would always bring work home at the end of the day. I’d expect him to be with us, but instead he’d be holed up in his home office. I’d make nice family meals, and he’d eat them later. Without the family. Basically, it was a lot less frustrating for him to just be on the road.
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