A Bell in the Garden

by Sheri Richey

  Leanne frowned. “Hi, I guess. I don’t remember.”

  Conrad shook his head in disappointment. “Oh, come on. You remember, don’t you?”

  “No,” Leanne said indignantly. “Why would I remember something like that? It was just a regular day. Nothing special.”

  “Wow, really?” Conrad said. “I mean I’ve never buried my stepdad, but I’d think that would be a little memorable.”

  “What? I didn’t bury anybody,” Leanne yelled as she jumped to her feet.

  “That’s true, I guess,” Conrad said leaning back and shrugging his shoulders. “You just told your brother to do it. Does everybody do what you tell them to? It must be a tremendous feeling to have that kind of power.”

  “I’m leaving,” Leanne said stomping to the door and looking back at Conrad.

  “You can leave if you want, but I’ll have to arrest you then. I’d much rather see you cooperate and do the right thing. Actually,” Conrad said pivoting in his chair. “I had hoped you would do that on your own, but it’s obvious you can’t tell the truth.”

  “I am telling the truth,” Leanne demanded but stomped back to her chair to face Conrad.

  “Let’s just clear that part up right now,” Conrad said resting on his elbows with a sigh. “I know you aren’t, so you can stop wasting your time with that story. I know exactly what you came home to that day and what you did about it. Did you know it’s illegal to disturb a dead body? It’s also illegal when you fail to report a crime? Now you’re failing to cooperate with an investigation. I’ve got quite a list to hold you on, so I’d recommend you think about this real hard and I’ll come back,” Conrad said standing. “Maybe it will go better the next time around. Sit tight.”

  CHAPTER 30

  “Okay, Daniel,” Conrad said pulling out the chair again to sit. “Let’s start with when you walked in the house after school and found Howard in the living room.”

  Sitting there quietly, they listened to each other breathe for several seconds. “I know you’re worried about getting someone else in trouble, but you’re also impeding an investigation because you’re withholding information. It only makes you look like you have something to hide.”

  “I was freaked out,” Daniel said and then sighed as if he hadn’t taken a breath in years. “I didn’t know what to do.”

  “You didn’t think to call the police?”

  “No, I really didn’t,” Daniel said running his hands through his hair. “I couldn’t think at all. I just ran outside and tried to breathe.”

  “That’s where you were when Leanne and Jack drove up?”

  “Yeah, and I ran up to them and I told them. I told them I didn’t know what to do.”

  “At this point you all three went in the house?”

  “Yeah, Jack was going to call the police, but Leanne thought we’d get in trouble, so she stopped him.”

  “Why would you guys get in trouble?”

  “I don’t know. I guess she thought no one would believe we just found him.”

  “You didn’t tell your mom?”

  “No,” Daniel said shaking his head in sadness. “I couldn’t tell her. She kept waiting for him to come home and I just didn’t know how to tell her.”

  “Have you and Leanne or Jack talked about this over the years? I mean as time went by and you got older, didn’t you ever think you needed to tell?”

  “Sure, I mean every time somebody mentioned Howard or mom said something, I wanted to tell, but…”

  “Leanne told you not to?”

  “Yeah, she said we could never tell. I told her mom wouldn’t be mad. She needed to know. She even tried to find Howard, you know, online and things like that. She always thought he left her.”

  “Yes, I’m sure she was hurt by that,” Conrad said. “So, what do you think happened while you were at school?”

  “No idea. I mean, maybe he just died. He was old and he had stuff wrong with him. Maybe he just died.”

  “The coroner said he had a blow to his head.”

  “That could be just when he fell down, couldn’t it?”

  “I don’t know,” Conrad said. “I’m not a medical examiner, but they don’t think so. It could have been an accident. Someone could have pushed him or hit him on the head with something. Maybe even thrown something at the back of his head. Did you see anything broken at the house? Or anything moved?”

  “I don’t think so. I mean I don’t remember anything like that. There wasn’t any blood or anything.”

  “You’re sure? Nothing dried on the floor or carpet?”

  “No, nothing. I just thought he died. I never thought anyone killed him.”

  “Well, you see,” Conrad said. “There are a lot of medical conditions that can just kill you instantly while you’re sitting in your favorite chair watching TV. I’m not a doctor, but I’ve been a policeman my whole life and I’ve seen a lot of things like that. He could have had a heart attack, an aneurysm, a stroke, an asthma attack, lots of different things, but without a body to autopsy, we’ll never know if it was something like that.”

  Daniel looked down at his hands with teary eyes.

  “Keeping this secret for Leanne has probably prevented us from ever knowing the truth, from your mom ever having that closure.”

  “I should have told mom,” Daniel said sniffing as Conrad saw tears drop onto his clasped hands.

  “My advice to you, son, don’t listen to your sister anymore.”

  Daniel nodded quietly.

  “I’m going to leave you alone for a bit and you write down the details for me. Start with coming home from school and what you found. You’ll need to explain the motorcycle and the sidecar, all the details, and I’ll talk to the coroner for you. I’ll be back shortly.”

  §

  “Okay,” Conrad said walking in calmly. He didn’t really need Leanne’s statement anymore. He was tired of the emotional roller coaster and thought it just easier to arrest her. “I don’t see anything written on your statement.”

  “Is that what you need me to do? I’ll write down what happened.”

  “Okay. You do that and I’ll come back,” Conrad said turning the chair back around and putting it under the table.

  “If I come back and you haven’t written down the truth, I’m going to arrest you.”

  “You can’t just arrest me because I won’t write what you want,” Leanne said slamming her hand down.

  “I’m not going to fight with you. I don’t need you to tell me the truth. I already know it. I’m giving you this chance to save yourself. I’ve got too much to do today to waste it arguing with you.”

  “You might as well just lock me up then,” Leanne hollered.

  Conrad opened the interview room door and motioned for Officer Tabor. “Take her to holding for me.”

  “No!” Leanne screamed. “You can’t do this.”

  Conrad just nodded and walked down the hall to his office ignoring the screams. Cora had warned him Leanne liked to make a scene.

  §

  Conrad shut his office door and poured some coffee in his cup. Pulling out his desk chair, he sat down to search online for a phone number to the local high school.

  “Good morning. This is Chief Harris down at the PD. Can you access attendance records that are really old?”

  “Morning, Chief. Well, it depends on how old. Is it before 2004?”

  “Yes, are those older records gone?”

  “No, they just aren’t on the computer. You could call the school district office, and someone could pull the paper files, probably. They might still have them, but it would take a little while to find them.”

  “Okay, I’ll try that. Thank you.”

  Conrad was fortunate enough to reach a helpful clerk at the district office who told him she would search the records for him and call back, so Conrad called Cora.

  “Hey Connie,” Cora said when she answered the call. “How are things going so far?”

  “Well, Daniel ga
ve a statement and he’s all good.”

  “And Leanne? Did she make a scene?”

  “Oh, yes,” Conrad said chuckling. The release felt good. “You missed a great performance.”

  “Did you tell her you already knew?”

  “It didn’t matter. I just locked her up.”

  “Oooooh,” Cora cooed. “You didn’t.”

  “I did. I don’t even think that will work though. The girl won’t budge.”

  “Maybe she has more to lose or has more of the story than the guys do,” Cora said.

  “Does Miriam have any relationship with the kids?”

  “I don’t know,” Cora said. “Not that I know of. I wouldn’t think so since they aren’t Howard’s kids.”

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think Leanne was Miriam’s daughter. They have a similar temperament.”

  Cora laughed. “Now, Leanne can be sweet.”

  “Yeah, when she’s playing you,” Conrad said.

  “But Miriam can’t pull off that persona at all.”

  “True,” Conrad said as Cora chuckled again.

  “Did you ever check on the attorney in Paxton Howard was using? Maybe he has something interesting to add.”

  “No, I didn’t, but you’re right. I need to see if that goes anywhere. I may have to talk to Miriam again though and I’m sure not looking forward to it.”

  “Well, you know I’d offer to do it for you, but since she just spits on me, I don’t want to get involved this time.”

  Conrad leaned back in his chair and clutched his stomach in a hearty laugh. “I forgot about that.” Years ago, Cora had gotten into a disagreement with Miriam at a Chamber of Commerce meeting and Miriam had spit at her when she had exhausted all of her scathing retorts. The Council had voted in favor of Cora’s suggestion and Miriam had hated Cora ever since.

  “I shan’t soon forget,” Cora said haughtily and then joined him in a chuckle. “Your next interview has got to be better than that.”

  “I sure hope so,” Conrad said feeling the tensions of the morning ease.

  §

  “How is it going?” Conrad said as he walked back in Daniel’s interview room. “Did you get it all down?”

  “Yeah, I think so,” Daniel said sliding the notepad over.

  Conrad read through the brief but accurate retelling. It matched Jack’s story pretty close. “Looks good. I appreciate you cooperating, Daniel.”

  “I’m sorry, Chief. I mean if I could do it all over again…”

  “I understand, but you’ve done what you can to right things now and I think your mom will understand. I’d recommend you go home now and tell her. She needs to hear it from you.”

  “Okay,” Daniel said standing up. “I think you’re right. I’ll do that.”

  §

  “That seemed to go a bit better than the last one,” Officer Tabor said grinning as they stood watching Daniel leave the PD.

  “Yeah, if only they could all go that way,” Conrad said. “Hey, will you call Mavis Bell and see if she can dig up Howard’s attorney information? I’d like to give him a call.”

  “Sure, Chief. You want me to get the girl now?” Officer Tabor said as Conrad began walking away.

  “No, let her sit a while longer.”

  “She’s asking to make a call,” Tabor said smirking. “Actually, she’s demanding to make a call.”

  Conrad rolled his eyes. “Before you call Mavis, I need for you to run over to the Nutmeg Inn and pick up Jack Summers. You can bring him back and put him in an interview room. I’ve got a couple calls to make.”

  “Sure, Chief,” Tabor said and headed down the hallway toward the side door.

  “Message for you, Chief,” Georgia called out from the dispatch office. Conrad took the message slip she held up in the air and thanked her as he turned to go back to his office.

  Grabbing the phone, he punched in the number from the message slip and it was answered quickly.

  “Hey, Jeanette. That was fast.”

  “Good news, Chief. I found all three of them. I wasn’t sure we still had them, but your suspicions were right.”

  “They weren’t there all day?”

  “Two of them were, the boys,” Jeanette from the School District office said. “Leanne was absent during fifth period and marked tardy in sixth period that day.”

  “Okay, thanks, Jeanette. You’re the best.”

  Jeanette giggled. “Glad to help.”

  Conrad poured some coffee before sitting down. He couldn’t seem to get more than a few sips out of each cup today and reached slowly for the phone again.

  “Chamber of Commerce. This is Debbie. How can I help you?”

  “Good morning, Debbie. This is Chief Harris and I need to speak with Miriam Landry.”

  “I’m so sorry, Chief, but Mrs. Landry isn’t in today. Would you like me to tell her you called?”

  “Yes, I would. I need Mrs. Landry to come down to the police station today before 2:00 this afternoon. If she hasn’t arrived by that time, I will send an officer out to find her and bring her here. Please make sure she gets that message as soon as possible.”

  “Oh, okay, but uh, Chief, I don’t know—”

  “Thank you, Debbie.” Conrad was certain that poor Debbie had been told to always give the same disappointing news to anyone trying to talk with Miriam. He wasn’t wasting any more time with that.

  Conrad heard a tap on the door.

  “Jack Summers is in room four, Chief.”

  “Great. Thanks.” Conrad looked sadly at his coffee and took one more drink before he abandoned it again.

  CHAPTER 31

  “Jack,” Conrad said as he entered the room with his hand extended. “Did you have a restful night?”

  “Not really, Chief,” Jack said anxiously. “I mean the room was great, but I’m worried about what Leanne is going to do.”

  “Well, I’m not finished interviewing her yet. I suspect she’ll be here most of the day, but I have talked to Daniel. That went really well, and he gave me the same story you did. I think he wanted to do the right thing, just like you have. He just wasn’t making those decisions for himself. He’s gone home now to tell Mavis and I’m sure she’ll understand.”

  “Oh, I hope so. I’d hate for her to be mad. We really didn’t mean to hurt her at all.”

  “I know. I wanted to ask you one more thing. That day at school, you said Leanne was there all day?”

  “Yeah. We had a morning class together and ate lunch together. I brought her home after.”

  “Did you see her during the afternoon? I mean did you have lockers close together? Or run into each other in the hall?”

  “Nah, I was at the other end of the building. I had shop in the afternoon anyway and it was in an outside building. We never saw each other until class was over.”

  “Did Leanne have keys to your car?”

  “No, I only had the one set.”

  “But did she ever have your keys?”

  “Sometimes she put them in her purse. I mean I didn’t need them during the day. She still does that. Why?”

  “She missed some classes that day and went somewhere. I just wondered how she left. If she went with someone else or if she used your car.”

  “I don’t remember her saying anything about it that day, but I probably wouldn’t remember. She did use my car sometimes to run to the gas station to buy cigarettes. She doesn’t smoke anymore, but she did back then.”

  “Would you know about it? Would the car be parked in a different place or anything?”

  “Sometimes. She’d always tell me when we walked out of school if she did. I didn’t care.”

  “Okay,” Conrad said standing and pushing the chair under the table. “I’ll get somebody to run you back to Mavis’ house. Daniel just left a short time ago so you may get there just after he’s told her. Maybe you can help her understand what happened.”

  “Okay, Chief. Thanks.”

  §

 
“Beagle and Toole, Attorneys at Law. Can I help you?”

  “Good morning. This is Chief Conrad Harris of the Spicetown Police Department. I was calling to see if I could speak to Douglas Beagle regarding his client, Howard Bell.”

  “I’m sorry, but Mr. Beagle is in court today. Would you like to leave a message?”

  “No,” Conrad sighed. “I’m a little short on time. Maybe you can help me.”

  “I’m not at liberty to discuss another individual’s case with you, Chief. I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not interested in the case file. Howard Bell is dead. We are trying to determine time of death and I know he was in regular contact with Mr. Beagle during the time in question. Can you look in the file and tell me when your office last had contact with Mr. Bell? Either by phone or visit?”

  “I don’t think I can give out that information. I’m sorry.”

  “Well,” Conrad said. “I’ll call the prosecuting attorney’s office and have them subpoena that information if you’d rather, but I’d like to think your office would want to cooperate with the investigation into the death of their own client. Howard Bell has been dead for over eighteen years. There is no active case any longer.”

  “I’m happy to ask Mr. Beagle, but I can’t do that without…”

  “Where is Mr. Beagle right now?” Conrad shut his eyes and tried to calm his breathing.

  “He’s at the courthouse here in Paxton.”

  “Is there another attorney present in your office right now? Someone you can get permission from? Or do I need to send someone from the Sheriff’s office down to the courtroom?”

  “Please hold,” the receptionist said before she cut the phone to elevator music and Conrad blew air out of his lungs.

  Conrad heard a soft tap on his door. “Come in.”

  “Sorry, Chief,” Georgia whispered.

  “It’s okay. I’m on hold. What’s up?”

  “Miriam Landry is here to see you,” Georgia said with a sorrowful look.

  “Put her in Interview Room Four and lock her in. I’ll be there as soon as I get done with my call,” Conrad said brusquely.