He retrieved a notebook from a jacket pocket and flipped through the pages, skimming his notes.
With each flip, I told myself to calm down, to think straight and not blow up. Was he delaying to put more pressure on me? I finally got a handle on my anger and simply said, “Just ask me what you want to know. I’ll answer the best I can.”
He paused for a moment, then slipped the notebook back into his pocket. “What were you doing when the storm hit?”
“Marley and I were in the office, eating pizza and making a list to help figure out who might’ve pushed Edgy. A crash of thunder blasted right above the house. We jumped and ran to the windows to watch the wind and lightning like we used to. She loved the storms, but Patrick hated them.”
“Is he at home?”
“He had to get back to work.” I rubbed my knee and stretched it. “It was a good thing he left before the wind and hail hit.”
“I’ll call him later. For now, I need to know the exact order of what you saw. Can you walk me through it?”
“After you tell me why you want to talk to Patrick. He wasn’t even here.”
“Standard procedure,” he explained as if he was talking to a distraught mother who shouldn’t be concerned. “I visit with any and all possible witnesses or anyone who might have knowledge of what happened.”
Totally dissatisfied with his answer, I bit back my irritation, figuring he might leave my son alone after I explained what had happened. I took a deep breath. “Marley and I were snuggled up on the window seat watching for the next flash of lightning. Crashes of thunder always excite her. She says it’s angels playing drums, and I like to think she’s right about that.”
Mister all-business detective rubbed his chin to control a smile.
“The wind picked up,” I added quickly, not giving him a chance to say anything I wouldn’t like. “The willow branches whipped, sending fronds dashing across the yard. Then, in a breath taking moment, a bolt of lightning snaked around the spruce. It exploded like dynamite, sending pieces of tree everywhere. We ducked as some hit the house. It happened very fast and ended as quickly. When I dared to look again, I spotted something on the ground. Marley ran out into the storm, and I followed her. She dropped beside a man and quickly checked for a pulse. She yelled at me to call nine-one-one and slammed her fist into his chest and began CPR. The rest you know.”
The detective turned off his phone. “Off the record, I’d like you to try and dig deeper to see if you can recall anything else.”
What did he expect? “How?”
“Please close your eyes and let the scene run through your mind. Tell me what you see.”
I sat very still, eyes closed. “It’s storm-darkened and raining hard. Then it starts to hail. The only thing I can make out is the trees whipping in the wind. A streaking bolt of pure energy snakes around the tree like liquid electricity and explodes.” My eyes flew open. I looked at Bruce. “I saw a hint of someone running from the alley toward the tree.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“Wind, rain, thunder.”
“You may have witnessed Mr. Fitch getting shot.”
“Shot! No. Not in my yard. I didn’t see anything like that.”
“The lightning bolt held your focus. But now you have remembered seeing someone. Do you recall anything in the alley?”
“No.”
The slaps of Marley’s running shoes drew our attention before she was halfway to the patio. “You two look way too serious,” she said when she was close enough not to have to yell.
“Your mother is trying to piece together what happened during the storm.”
Marley held her hands up in a stop motion. “Three heads are better than two.” She hurried the last few steps, looking happy as can be. My daughter just didn’t get he was searching for evidence against me. She settled in the chair facing us. “What did I miss?”
“I just remembered seeing someone running.”
“When?”
“When the lightning hit the tree. Remember how it lit up the whole yard?”
Marley peered at me, then dead set her attention on Detective Langnecker.
His expression returned to solemn. “We’re just in the prelim investigation, so I have no info I can tell you. The exception is that Lester did not die from natural causes or parts of the tree hitting him. I just told your mother he was shot in the back.”
“You’re telling me I gave CPR to a man with some kind of a wound that I couldn’t see? That I might have killed him?”
I almost felt sorry for the detective. Marley’s disgust is hard to handle, and she was about to unload. She jumped up and strode away, fists clenched and breathing deeply. Finally, she walked back to us and stared down at Langnecker. “Did Mom tell you she made me drive up a Forest Service road to find drug dealers? The people you should be looking for?”
He looked from one to the other of us.
Marley added, “She even talked to the woman she and Randal have been playing pinochle with for years. Her name is Bev Stafford. She seemed friendly enough and even served us coffee. Then Mom asked about some of the family living up there and Bev turned from a sweet woman into a downright mean bitch. Rude as hell and just wanted us gone. Crazy damned thing to do unless she’s involved with the dealers.”
“I’ll need the Staffords’ address.” As I recited it, he scrabbled in his notepad. “Okay, now tell me about Randal. Start with his last name.” He fixed his serious stare on me.
“Thornton. I’ve known him a long time. Always liked him. Mel and I used to go with him and his wife to pinochle club. That’s where we first met. Been friends ever since. Then Mel passed and Randal’s wife became homebound due to health issues. Both Randal and I enjoyed card club, so we continued to go. In the summer months, we’d drive up to Bev’s on Star Meadow Road. The trip into the mountains seemed like an adventure to both of us.”
“Where does Randal work?”
“He’s been retired for a number of years but used to own a gift shop, and I think he sold insurance at one time, too. Don’t know much about him other than we played cards together twice a month. And his wife is ill.”
Marley frowned thoughtfully. “Where does he live?”
“Owns a big house in the lower valley.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes. I almost heard her adding figures. Her lids popped open, and the look in her eyes sizzled. “How the hell could he make enough money to own a Corvette and a big fancy house on a tourist-trap business and selling insurance? And have a sick wife with medical expenses?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He seems wealthy, but it never came up. Why should it? We’re just card-playing buddies.”
The detective wrote a few things down and finally joined the conversation. “I’ll do a background check.”
Why would he be telling us what he was going to check out? He seemed so relaxed, almost like family. I was appalled at my thinking that. He was the detective who suspected I could kill someone. My daughter had better think again if she believed I’d grow to like him.
Marley’s cell phone rang. She dug it out of the V-neck in her stretchy running shirt. How anyone could go jogging with a phone in their bra was beyond me.
She checked caller ID. “It’s Ruth.”
Bruce and I listened to her talk—couldn’t help it.
She noticed our eyes on her. She got up, turned her back to us, and walked to the side of the house out of earshot.
I had to laugh a little. “It’s uncomfortable to be stared at when you’re talking on the phone.” I met Langnecker’s eyes full on. “That’s how I feel when you ask me questions, knowing you’re trying to figure out if I killed Edgy and now Lester. How can I make you understand I didn’t have anything to do with their deaths?”
“I’m not your enemy, Mrs. Cooper. I’m just trying to piece together what happened. You were at both death scenes, which makes you a witness. I need to know what the witness saw. That info could prove your in
nocence quicker than anything.”
“I’ve told you everything I know.”
“You think so, but I’ve learned something new at each visit. This time, I heard about a family up in the mountains who allegedly deals in drugs. That’s important. I also learned someone else was on scene when Mr. Fitch died. Things have a way of adding up.” He paused, studying me for a moment. “Promise not to go back into the mountains while we’re investigating.”
Marley ended the call and wandered back to us. She plopped down in the chair. Tears watered her eyes.
I demanded, “What’s wrong?”
“Ruth’s Uncle Dean has taken off.”
I shook my head, trying to comprehend her words. What I didn’t show was the instant thrust of fear in my tightened chest. “I don’t understand.”
“Dean’s missing,” Marley repeated. “Ruth wanted to know if he was here.”
I couldn’t make sense of what she said. “Why would he be here?”
“Mom.” Her voice sounded sharp. “I don’t know. She told me he left town for a few days, and she hasn’t heard from him since. Ruth knows he likes you and thought he may have come to see you without telling her.”
I pressed my palm against my forehead. “He doesn’t like me. That makes no sense whatsoever. I haven’t heard word one from either Ruth or Dean since they left right after Edgy’s funeral.”
“You have his cell number, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
Marley pointed at the door. “Get your phone and call him. Maybe he’ll answer for you. Ruth is beside herself. She said it’s just like the time he left to check out Edgy and she didn’t hear from him until after her mother had died.”
I glanced at Bruce.
“Make the call,” he said.
I hurried inside and grabbed my cell from the cupboard beside the sink. My fingers trembled as I awakened it. Dean’s number was under favorites for quick access. I paused, uncertain. What would it mean if he didn’t answer? So many sad things had happened. Could I bear learning about another one?
I tapped the green icon.
The phone rang six times, and then I got a message saying the mailbox was full. I went out to report to Marley and Bruce. “No answer and no room to leave a message. I sent a text telling him Ruth was worried and to contact her.”
Detective Langnecker zeroed in on Marley. “Before I go, I need you to close your eyes and picture the night of the storm.”
She shut her eyelids. The moment stretched, and then she opened them and looked dead center into Langnecker’s eyes. “I didn’t see anything I haven’t already told you.”
He nodded, then quickly rose and hurried toward the front yard. He raised his hand and waved as he disappeared.
I plopped down in a chair beside Marley. We sat quietly and let time run away. Some things were just too worrisome to discuss. They couldn’t blame me for Lester’s death, but had he been the target?
Marley broke the stagnant silence. “Mom, I’m worried that someone might’ve been after you instead of Lester.”
“I just had the same thought.”
She hopped up and hauled the lawn chair back to the patio. “We need to eat.” This was her way to get me inside the safety of the house.
Putting on a brave face, I followed her inside and opened the refrigerator. “Yogurt and salad?”
“Are you nuts? We’re going for burgers and greasy fries. I’m gonna worry about this only on a satisfied stomach.”
“Should we ask Fred if he wants to go?”
“Sure. He’ll want to know what’s going on.”
I tapped his number, and he answered on the first ring. “Marley and I are going for sandwiches. Want to come too?”
“I’ll be waiting on the sidewalk, but only if Marley is driving.”
“She is.” I bit back a word of sarcasm.
Actually, I was glad he was back to teasing me again.
Chapter 21
I lagged behind Fred and Marley as they entered a historic black-smithing building that had been converted into a pub. I was so busy gawking at the rough wooden exterior and beams that I tripped on an uneven piece of sidewalk and had to be quick to avoid falling. I opened the rustic double doors and stepped into the past. Once again, I felt like a four-year-old walking beside my grandpa into a room of smoke-darkened wooden planks and a set of bellows. I’d watched a broken horseshoe turn orange-hot in the coals and then be hammered into shape.
A sudden thought of using the blacksmith’s hammer against Theo Wood’s head stopped me cold. Vengeance didn’t run in my nature, and I wouldn’t allow his hate to turn me into a person I wasn’t.
I took time to recover by ambling along a bar that separated the customers from the cooking. Many interesting relics lined the shelves on the walls. When I finally settled at the antique table Marley had chosen for us, she frowned with impatience. “Did you count every nail in the bloody studs?”
Fred snorted. “And you, young lady, spent too much time with Edgy.”
Marley and I gaped at him.
“You sound just like her.” He preened his chin whiskers with his fingers as he gave her a gotcha grin.
Tears glistened in our eyes. To help save us from breaking down, I pointed to a collection of horseshoes hanging among the beams. “I remember coming here with my grandpa when he needed something welded or a horse shod.”
Marley also studied the horseshoes. “I wonder if any of those came from the horses at Grandpa’s farm.”
“Could be. It’s been a long time, but I remember the glowing coals and the hammering.”
The waitress approached with large, laminated menus. We ordered the special without looking at the list of designer sandwiches. No burgers or fries, which Marley frowned about.
Fred appeared less haggard; maybe he’d had a good long sleep. He leaned against the back of his chair and crossed his arms. “Will you two quit staring at me to see if I’ve fallen apart? Of course, I have. We all know Edgy kept me hopping. Without her, time weighs heavy like it did in ’Nam.”
Fred’s talking about his military service surprised me. “Edgy told me you had been in the war.”
He shrugged as if combat didn’t matter. “There’s nothing to say. I survived the madness of hurry up and wait. Kinda like now. I want to sell the house and get on with life, but it looks like that won’t happen any time soon. I just listed it, and the realtor already suggested a price reduction.”
“I understand your need to start fresh somewhere else,” I said. My bottom lip curled into a pout. “But the neighborhood won’t be the same without you.”
He winced when he twisted to resettle in the chair. The stress of losing Edgy had added to his seventy-two years. I understood the grief. I’d aged after the shock of holding her dead body. Not so much physically, but pieces of my joy had died with her. The sorrow would always be with me. People said the sadness would lessen—so far, they were wrong.
Fred’s lackluster eyes met mine. “I made peace with battling Edgy, much like I came to grips with the war.”
I was speechless. He’d compared living with Edgy to fighting a war. Surely, he meant her emotional upheaval and not any physical damage. I’d never seen a violent side in her and felt disgusted at myself for even thinking such a thing. I had to admit, though, she sometimes couldn’t see beyond herself, like when she had reacted to Lester Fitch at the church. She just couldn’t let it go and had to keep their argument going. I believe she did that to ease the never-ending loss she had suffered as a teenager and young adult. Her nephew’s death and her own baby stolen from her had left deep wounds.
Right now, I needed a break in the tension caused by Fred’s words. Without thinking. I blurted, “We just learned that the lightning didn’t cause Lester’s death.” I could have bit my tongue.
“An act of God, as far as I’m concerned.” Fred’s mouth tightened as if his opinion eliminated any other possibility.
“Actually, I’m not supposed to say any
thing, but you deserve to know. Lester had been shot in the back before the lightning struck the tree.” Fred had lost too much, and I couldn’t help trying to appease him.
Fred glowered. “No way. You two would’ve seen people shooting at each other.” He glanced from me to Marley and back again like he was checking to see if we were blind.
“We couldn’t see anything. The hail came down thick and hard. It was after the lightning hit the tree that we saw someone on the ground.”
“Who would’ve shot him?”
I shook my head. Marley shrugged almost to her ears. We were like children in denial.
A cheesy smirk spread across Fred’s face. “Serves the bastard right. A bolt of lightning was too easy for the likes of him. He deserved to suffer before the devil carted him off.” His smugness faded as he pulled his forearms off the table. The waitress placed a heaping plate of toasted French bread smothered with savory sliced beef and sautéed sweet onions in front of him.
Marley had quietly listened while I told Fred about Lester. Now, when her mouth was full of delicious bites of roasted meat and fresh bread, she said, “You two are quite a pair. Sounds like you’re glad he’s gone. You do realize I’m still sore from trying to keep him alive.”
Fred and I stared at each other, knowing we shared the same opinion of Lester.
Her statement dampened our snide remarks; we held them in check due to fear of saying the wrong thing. At least, that’s why I kept my mouth shut. We ate silently until Marley cleaned her stoneware plate with the blue striping and slurped the last of her frothy beer. She dropped her big, thirsty napkin onto her plate.
“I’m ready to go.” She left as Fred waved to the waitress for the bill.
He grinned at me, “Sorry I ruffled her feathers. Guess she figures I’m glad he’s dead. Between you and me, I’m tickled pink.”
“Me, too.” But I cringed at my thoughtless remark. “Fred, you know Marley’s been telling me and Edgy what’s right and what’s wrong since she was a kid. I guess you’re now going to take your wife’s share of any blame.”
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