The Corpse at the End of the Chapter

by Karen Hayes

  “Well, they might not do it as often,” Harve said. “I do a few things myself. I must say, though, that Vince does a good job and doesn’t overcharge. I’m glad we got you to come over tonight, Monica. You’ve got a good memory. Anyone else?”

  Copper jumped up suddenly. “Oh, I just remembered when you said Monica’s name, Harve. Monica Charles came in–from the dry cleaners in Pleasant View. We spoke briefly. She was another one who was looking for Blue Butterfly and I promised to hold a copy for her when it came in. And that reminds me, Monica, we had better double our initial order for that book. I have a feeling it is going to sell very well.”

  Monica grinned and said that after she had finished the book (which she had a hard time putting down), she had taken it upon herself to double their order. “I think it is going to be a number one best seller,” she predicted.

  “You may be right,” Copper said.

  “Well, we have a few more names, but none that I would consider as suspects,” the sheriff said. “But someone had to have killed those women.”

  Copper thanked Monica for her help and said she could go home. She took the new list from Harve and looked over it carefully. There had to be something they were missing, someone with a good motive for the killings that they didn’t know about. But one thing was certain, whoever killed Agatha had to be someone on the list. She ran her finger down the list and came to a stop at one name.

  “Harve, what about Vince Kinney?”

  “That old grease monkey? What would he have to do with anything?”

  “Well, I seem to remember some rumors some years back that he had been sweet on Ruby in high school, but she wouldn’t have anything to do with him.”

  Harve laughed. “High school for them was a long time ago, Copper. Been a lot of water under the bridge since then.”

  “Yes, but Harve, what if he was obsessed with Ruby just like Ruby was obsessed with Brandon?”

  “That’s just speculation, Copper. You don’t know that.”

  “True, but it’s something to think about. He’s the only person on this new list that is any kind of possibility.”

  “Hmmm. You’re probably right. Mike Fields would hardly be a suspect.”

  “Of course not. He’s just twenty. He’s not of drinking age yet, so likely has never been to the Rainy Day and probably knew Ruby only by reputation. He knew Agatha, of course. I understand Mike is an avid reader and the proud owner of a library card. But I doubt he would have any motive–or inclination–to kill anyone, except maybe Trevor, as he does seem a little too interested in Monica. He’s always flirting with her.”

  “Monica’s a cute girl. Not a lot of girls her age around. Guys are bound to be interested in her.”

  Harve got up from the table and began pacing. Vince Kinney did not seem like a likely suspect, even if he did have a thing for Ruby. But who else? And what would Vince’s motivation have been to kill Agatha Lafferty, anyway? There had to be something they were missing. He sat back down at the table and leaned towards Copper.

  “Copper, what if we’re wrong in the way we’ve been looking at this? What if the murders aren’t connected? What if they have nothing to do with Ruby’s babies?”

  Copper frowned. “Well, that would kind of throw all our theories out the window.” She took a sip of her coffee, cold by now, made a face, got up and dumped it in the sink and poured herself a new cup. “And, if we are going to look at things in a different way, we also have to consider that there may be no connection at all between the two murders.”

  Harve nodded and held out his empty coffee cup, which Copper took and refilled. “I think that’s what I just said.”

  “Now, Monica said that Suds and Ruby came in and left together. What if they murdered Agatha? And somebody else killed Ruby?”

  “Do you have a motive for Suds and Ruby to have killed Agatha?” the sheriff asked.

  “Of course. Ruby was angry with Agatha for not having told her about Ron.”

  “But Suds didn’t know about Ron.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Of course, I’m sure. I talked to Suds the night before I went to Salem. We talked about Cindy, but he didn’t say a thing about Ron. And he didn’t know Ruby and Cindy had gotten together. He thought Ruby was still hiding her identity from Cindy, just watching her from afar.”

  “Hmmm. Well, maybe Ruby slipped down the aisle and killed Agatha while Suds was looking at magazines or something.”

  Harve raised his eyebrows. “Yeah. And maybe the moon really is made out of blue cheese. It would be easier to believe Suds killed Agatha while Ruby was buying her poetry book. But I don’t know why Suds would have killed Agatha. As far as I know, he had no beef with her. I saw her at the Rainy Day every now and then and they seemed to get along fine. I think they were actually friends. He even called her Aggie.”

  “Agatha went to the Rainy Day? I wouldn’t have thought that of her.”

  “I understand she ate there a lot. I don’t know that she drank a lot, but she did seem to like their food. Maybe someone who knew her from there killed her.”

  “Well, somebody did,” Copper said. “I guess what we need to do is look at everybody on the list, whether we think they could have done it or not. And we need to look at motives that might have nothing to do with Ruby or her babies.”

  “Or that do. We don’t want to totally eliminate our original idea.”

  “Fine. First on the list is Conrad Affleck.”

  They went through the list, eliminating those who had come and gone before Agatha had even entered the store, such as Connie Affleck and Brandon Lafferty, the Mayor and Mrs. Metcalf, Eve Gardner, and Mike Fields. And Trevor Hodges, who hadn’t come until after the murder.

  Copper also remembered another customer not on the list–Drew Barnes, Wendy’s father. Drew was Misty Valley’s plumber, and the guitar player Suds wanted to play at Ruby’s funeral. Drew was a widower, the same age as Brandon and Copper. He had tried to get Copper to go out with him a few times in the last few months, but Copper had not felt ready to re-enter the world of dating. She had dated him in high school, though, and had liked him quite well until George came along. Drew was still a nice-looking man, and if he persisted, she might agree to have dinner with him in the city and maybe even see one of the came Across America brought to Portland, as he had suggested from time to time. If, of course, he didn’t turn out to be the murderer, and she couldn’t think of any reason he would be.

  “Drew came in with Wendy, but left before she did,” Copper said. “But he was here at the same time Agatha was. I don’t see him as a suspect, though.”

  “We have to consider everyone, remember?” Harve said. “I know Drew pretty well from the Rainy Day, and I don’t see him as a killer, either, but he was there, so he is a suspect. And he and Agatha both ate at the Rainy Day.”

  “Motive?”

  Harve threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t know!” he hollered. “I can’t think of a motive for anybody, but somebody obviously had one.” He lowered his arms. “How much do you know about Drew Barnes?”

  “Well, he started working with his dad in the plumbing business when he was in high school and took over the business completely when Drew Senior decided to retire. He’s an excellent plumber and Misty Valley is lucky to have him. He could make a lot more money in the city. He married Georgia Fields of the hardware store Fields and they had Wendy. Then Georgia died in that car accident in Portland about three years ago.”

  “Drew’s parents were divorced, right? Do you know why?”

  Copper shook her head. “Drew would never talk about it. His mother just up and left one day, moved to the city. We stayed with her sometimes, Drew and I, when we went into the city for dinner and a play or concert and thought that would be better than driving all the way back home late at night.”

  “You dated Drew Barnes in High School?”

  “I was very popular in High School, Harve. I was a cheerleader, in the deba
te club, in the band, in Madrigals. And I dated a lot of different boys.”

  “What did you play in band?”

  “Clarinet, just like you.”

  “You remember what I played in high school?”

  “Well, your little dance band played for all the school dances and George and I went to them all. How could I not remember? Saxophone too, right?”

  “Right. Hey, maybe we could play a tune at Ruby’s funeral.”

  “I don’t think so, Harve. I don’t even have my clarinet anymore. My son plays it. Now, back to the business at hand. I can think of no reason at all for Drew to have killed Agatha.”

  “Okay, we’ll table him for the moment. How about Wendy?”

  “Well, Wendy might work if she were really having an affair with Brandon and Agatha found out and was threatening to tell.”

  “Yeah–and that would give her a motive for killing Ruby, too. She knew about that long time ago affair and was jealous.” Harve slapped his hands on the table in triumph. “Why did we not consider Wendy a suspect before?”

  “Sorry, Harve. That won’t work. Wendy is not having an affair with Brandon. She is going to marry Ryan.”

  “That could be a front to cover up the affair.”

  “I don’t think so. Wendy and Ryan have been a couple since high school. Who’s next?”

  “I’m not so ready to give up on Wendy Barnes. She wouldn’t be the first woman to have an secret affair with one man while publicly planning to marry another. I mean, look at it this way. Wendy and Ryan are all lovey-dovey through high school and college. Then Wendy gets a job working for the handsome, charming, successful Doctor Lafferty. He comes on to her, she falls for him, but she has to continue to pretend to be in love with Ryan because she has to keep her affair with the doc secret.”

  “You missed your calling, Harve. You should be writing romance novels.”

  “Come on Copper. You have to admit it is a possible scenario.”

  “No, Harve. Wendy is not our killer. She’s too nice a girl.”

  “You think ‘nice’ people can’t be killers?”

  “It’s not Wendy, Harve.”

  Harve sighed. “Okay, have it your way. I still say she’s a logical suspect. So, who’s next?”

  They went down the rest of the names on the list, one by one: Vivian Belt, Marcia Cabot, Monica Charles, Marian Fisher, Suds Grogan, Vince Kinney, Louise Lafferty, Lars Olson, Ron Parker, Carol Roberts, Don Sargent, Lucy Stafford, Ruby Stone, Reverend Burt Taylor, Celine Webb, Paul Webb. They wondered if Lars, given his ladies’ man reputation, had put the moves on Ruby and been rejected and Agatha knew about it and threatened to embarrass him about it. They both laughed at this one. Lars put the moves on most women he met and the majority of them rejected him, so he was kind of immune to embarrassment. And Ruby was older than he was.

  They also dismissed Vivian, Marcia, Monica Charles, Marian, Suds, Don Sargent, Lucy, the Reverend, and the Webbs. There was nothing they could come up with that would implicate any of these people in Agatha’s murder. That left Vince Kinney and Carol Roberts.

  “Okay, Copper, I can understand why you want Vince as a suspect. But why did we not eliminate Carol Roberts? She’s an old woman. And a thin one. Would she have had the strength to stab to death someone as large as Agatha?”

  “Carol used to be a nurse. She would have the medical know-ledge of just where to stab.”

  “Wendy Barnes is also a nurse and would have the medical knowledge of just where to stab—and she’s a lot stronger than Carol Roberts.”

  Copper stared across the table at the sheriff. “Give it up, Harve,” she said, “It’s not Wendy.”

  “But why would Miss Roberts want to kill Agatha? I thought she was Agatha’s best friend.”

  “I haven’t figured that out yet. One step at a time, Harve. But best friends do have tiffs now and then. Maybe they had a really big tiff. Now, it’s getting late. Let’s call it a day and sleep on this overnight.”

  SIXTEEN

  SLEEPING ON IT OVERNIGHT DIDN’T REALLY HELP much. It just brought out more questions. Copper tried googling stuff on her computer, but she just didn’t have the right skills. She called Louise, who invited her to come right over. So once more, Monica was left on her own to run the store.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, as Copper apologized profusely. “No matter how many customers we have, I can handle it, I promise.”

  “You’re a good girl, Monica,” Copper told her. “I’m glad I hired you. Try to sell a lot of books today, okay?” She smiled as she hurried out the back door to her car.

  The day was sunny, the skies were blue, unlike the cloudy skies and misty rain that had marred Agatha’s funeral the day before. But it was October and the air was starting to get quite chilly. Louise had a small fire burning in the pot-bellied stove that sat against one wall of the sun porch, and a pot of another of her favorite herbal teas sat steeping on the coffee table, along with a cake plate holding a delicious-looking cheesecake. Louise had her laptop powered up and was ready to hunt for whatever Copper needed.

  Copper explained they had narrowed it down to two suspects, although they weren’t sure about it. Copper thought they might have crossed some people off the list that should have been left on.

  “What are the two you’re considering?” Louise asked.

  “Carol Roberts and Vince Kinney,” Copper told her.

  “Why them?”

  “Couldn’t come up with any reason why not them,” Copper said. “Drew Barnes is also a possibility–simply because we don’t know why not.”

  “Hmmm. Well, let’s see what we can find on them. Who do you want to start with?”

  “How about Drew. I like Drew a lot, so I’d really like to eliminate him.”

  “Okay. What do you want to know about him?”

  “I’d like to know why his parents divorced.”

  “Oh, I can tell you that. I don’t need to look it up.”

  “You know?”

  “Sure. Agatha confided in me.”

  “Agatha knew?”

  “Agatha was the reason,” Louise explained. “Agatha and Drew Senior had an affair. His wife found out about it, they had a big row and she left.”

  “I did not know that. Louise, you have shocked me to the core.”

  Louise laughed. “I’m sorry. I thought it was common knowledge. It was a very short-lived affair. Agatha told me so I would be aware that being a doctor’s wife could sometimes be lonesome. She told me to find creative outlets, and not to fall into the trap she had. That’s why I started writing. Agatha always regretted destroying that marriage. She tried to apologize to Mrs. Barnes one time, but she wouldn’t even listen. I understand she did remarry, though, and happily so.”

  “Yes, she did, and not too long after her divorce. I used to date Drew in high school and sometimes we would go to Portland and would stay overnight with Mary Lou and her new husband. He was an attorney, a very nice man and even better looking than Drew Senior.”

  “You dated Drew, but didn’t know why his parents had split?”

  Copper shook her head. “Drew never wanted to talk about it. I actually don’t think he knew. He always said his father was really upset about it, saying that Mary Lou had been the love of his life.”

  “I suppose that could be a motive. Drew Senior had that heart attack a few weeks ago. Maybe he finally told his son about the affair before he dies and Drew killed Agatha.”

  “I have to admit that’s a possibility.” She shook her head. “I don’t like the idea, though.”

  “Copper, I don’t like the idea of it being anyone we know. But we have to face the facts. Somebody we know, and know well, maybe even liked a lot, committed these murders. But I don’t know why Drew would have killed Ruby.”

  “Well, that’s another thing, Louise. The sheriff and I have been thinking that maybe the murders aren’t connected after all.”

  “Okay. I guess that makes sense. I never could figure out
why Ruby’s babies should inspire murder so many years after the fact.”

  “We haven’t totally dismissed that idea. But we decided we need to look at alternatives. Let’s check out Carol.”

  “So why Carol Roberts? I thought she and Agatha were good friends. Old high school BFFs, went to lunch together once a month, at least, took nice vacations together—Brandon and I even went with them once, to Italy. That was such an awesome trip. I wouldn’t mind going to Italy again—especially Florence.”

  “I admit I haven’t come up with a motive. But Carol had medical knowledge so could have known exactly where to stab for an immediate kill.”

  Louise had a hard time stifling her laughter. “That’s hardly a good reason, Copper. Wendy has the same kind of knowledge. And maybe she found out the reason her grandparents got divorced and killed Agatha.”

  “Hmmm. You might have something there. I never thought of that. Harve and I were arguing about Wendy last night. He thinks she should be considered a suspect because maybe she and Brandon really are having a affair.”

  Louise shook her head. “They aren’t,” she said. “I am positive.”

  “Anyway,” Copper continued, “we had to have some sus-pects. What do you know about Carol?”

  “Not much. She was Brandon’s father’s nurse for many years. An old maid. Never heard of her having any interest in any particular man.”

  “Not even her boss?”