The Body on the Roof

by Kevin Creager

  “Do you have somebody with a camera?”

  “We have several somebodies with cameras. That’s what we do.” Phil smiled to take the sting out of the comment.

  “I guess what I mean is, is somebody going to take pictures inside the house? I’d like to have pictures taken of all the knick-knack cabinets and shelves and bookcases.”

  “We’ll do that. Are you looking for anything in particular? Want close-ups of something?”

  “Both distance and close-ups of each shelf. I don’t know what I’m looking for. Yet. There seems to be something odd about them. Too many things that don’t seem to belong. At least belong to her. But I don’t know what that means.” Addams shrugged. “If anything.”

  He turned back to the door. “I’m going to look through more of the house. But I’m not going to touch anything. At least I’m planning on not touching anything, but, if I do, I’ll let you know. OK?”

  “Yeah, do what you need to do. We really don’t expect to find much to help us, with all the people that were here this morning, and no one being careful then. Unless there’s a blood splatter somewhere and a weapon just lying around.”

  “I know Steph was trying to be careful. Maybe she was able to save something. Thanks, Phil.”

  Addams retraced his steps through the kitchen and living room to the hallway facing the front door. He started to reach out to the door, then decided he better leave it to Phil’s team to check for evidence of a possible break-in. Behind him down the hall was another door, which he did open and turned out to be for the basement. He thought he could look at it later. To its left was the hall closet. Deciding he could open that door too, he found fall, winter, spring, and summer coats, apparently rotated by the season. Hats, gloves, a small toolkit, and two flashlights on the shelf. One box behind them.

  Okay, I’m going to have to touch something, he thought to himself. He pulled the box down and found it contained toy soldiers. Surprised, he set it on the floor. Now he realized he had also seen a couple of soldier figures on one of the shelves in the living room. When you see one or two, you figure it represents a trip or something of particular historical significance, but a boxful? Not intended to play with –- they didn’t look old enough to be childhood toys for Mr. or Mrs. Mathison or even her nephew, and he hadn’t heard about any children. Maybe there were younger relatives that no one was aware of yet.

  Leaving the box where it was to ensure the photographers getting it, he moved to the hall opposite. Master bedroom to the right. Stepping in, it was clear that these mementos were more personal...family pictures, reading books, a couple of jewelry boxes on a dresser. He gently lifted the lid of both boxes and discovered them full of necklaces and earrings, but there was no way Addams could tell if anything was of value or if any jewelry was missing. But then he didn’t think there was any way you could have crammed anything else in. He glanced around the corner at the bathroom. It looked typical and undisturbed. The medicine cabinet held extra toothbrushes and toothpaste, cough medicine, and heartburn pills. No prescriptions. They were going to have to check her health history to determine if any drugs should have been there, but were not.

  In the hallway, the door opposite led to what appeared to be Mrs. Mathison’s study/workroom. The window on the far wall now glowed with sunlight, indicating the storm had completely passed. There was a desk against the left wall topped with bills and personal papers. A table stood in the middle of the room with two chairs set up to it. A sewing machine sat on it, and sewing paraphernalia was scattered around the machine. Mrs. Mathison’s apparent hobby. Opening the closet to the right revealed more sewing materials and out-of-season clothes.

  At the end of the hallway, a bathroom was to the right, again nothing particularly out of place, and what appeared to be the smallest room opposite. It included a small dresser and a single guest bed, seemingly not used in quite some time, and a tall bookshelf against the back wall. It had a few books, but also the rest of the collection of miscellaneous doodads and whatnots. No real order or sense of belonging to any of them. The closet to the left was mostly empty, but held a few older men’s jackets and ties. Probably some of Ralph’s things that Grace had never been able to bring herself to get rid of.

  Addams had seen enough to rule out a random break-in and any sort of a search for valuables. If there had been anything of real value, it was going to take a record of it in her paperwork or her nephew recognizing it was gone, and someone that had known exactly where and what it was.

  Passing the master bedroom again, he glanced back in and, this time, noticed a framed picture on the dresser of Grace Mathison and her nephew, Harry Townsend. In the picture, they were standing to one side of the mantle in the living room with a portrait of Ralph behind them, and the corner knick-knack shelf on the other side of them. To Addams, it looked much more symmetrical, the shelves more evenly distributed than now. He picked up the picture carefully by one corner and took it back with him to the living room.

  Holding it up next to the cabinet, now he could see that there were some obvious pieces missing. What appeared to be a bowling trophy, a small statue of two objects (was that Laurel and Hardy?), a wooden bowl, and a toy locomotive. Maybe some other tiny items, but there were definitely differences. They certainly didn’t appear to be worth much, definitely not someone’s life, but it was something to start with. Maybe they had been given away at some point, but maybe not.

  CHAPTER 6

  Stephanie Reasoner retraced Pierson’s steps toward the Johnson & Johnson Insurance office. The main north-south street through town (for some reason known as North Main and South Main) split to go around the town green, the pastoral heart of Summerfield. A bandstand, used for summer Monday Night Musical Memory concerts and Fourth of July parade announcements, stood in the center. It wasn’t big enough to hold more than ten performers, particularly if they used instruments, but it was still the centerpiece of the shows, giving the director a place to stand and the town council a place to sit. An open space remained in front of it, large enough for concert seating and volleyball games during family picnics. Trees stood behind it and throughout the green, sharing space with a few picnic tables and benches.

  Along the west side stood the police station and the rest of the town hall, a dentist office, a hardware store, the insurance office, Summerfield National Bank, and a few other shops and small offices. The east side held the Summerfield Church of Light and Hope, Mac’s Café, the Summerfield Press, and again the necessary sundry shops and offices, including Mayor Plummer’s law office, which was in use when he wasn’t busy mayoring.

  In nice weather, Reasoner ate her lunch at one of the scattered picnic tables and enjoyed watching the townspeople go about their business. Today had not been one of those days.

  She entered the waiting area of the insurance office and stepped up to Sherri Northrup sitting at the front desk. There was only the one Johnson in Johnson & Johnson, but the story was that somewhere along the line Mel had thought that adding another one made it sound more professional and prosperous.

  “Hi, Steph.” They had been classmates in high school. “Are you here to see Harry? That is such a shame. I didn’t really know Mrs. Mathison, but she seemed like a nice person. His aunt, you know.”

  “Sherri.” Reasoner nodded. “Is he here? I know the chief was here earlier, but there are just a few questions I need to ask him. And it might be more comfortable here than at the station or his home.”

  “Harry’s in his office. I don’t think he’s done much of anything, and Mel told him to leave, but he said he didn’t know where he’d go. Nothing at home, and it’s not like he’s a drinking man. At least not at this time of day. I don’t know about evenings or when he’s with a client. He doesn’t tell me about them. I think Mel’s going over to Mac’s to meet with your
boss a little later. Everybody’s in demand today.”

  Reasoner interrupted. “Okay if I go back to his office? You can let him know I’m coming.”

  “Sure thing. I like doing it official-like, like this is a big important office or something.”

  Sherri gave the call and pointed down the hall in the direction of his office, and Reasoner walked towards his door.

  Townsend was sitting at his desk, but not paying any attention to the papers on top of it. He was working a squeeze ball in one hand, but didn’t seem to really be aware of that either.

  “Mr. Townsend, I’m Officer Reasoner. If you’re up to it, I’d like to ask you a few questions regarding your aunt.”

  “Yeah.” He passed the ball to the other hand. “I might as well. I’m not doing anything much worthwhile here. Oh, just so you know we have met before. Mel Johnson introduced us at lunch one time. And I would find it hard to forget you. A lovely woman in uniform is memorable. Please sit down and make yourself comfortable.”

  Reasoner paused for a second, then sat. The “lovely woman in uniform” wasn’t a comment she had been expecting. Inwardly she shrugged. Maybe this was how he handled uncomfortable situations – retreating into his salesman persona, including some hopefully harmless flirting.

  “I do wish to express my condolences on your loss. I didn’t know Mrs. Mathison well, but she appeared to be a very nice woman, and everyone else speaks highly of her.”

  “Thank you. She was. She took good care of me when I came to town, and we spent time together several evenings a week.” He resumed squeezing the ball.

  She pulled out her department notebook. “May I ask just how you were related?”

  “My father was her brother. Her maiden name was Grace Townsend. My parents have been gone for a few years, so she has been the closest thing to a mother for me recently.”

  “Are there any other relatives?”

  “I have a sister in Colorado. She’s married, name is now Ann Bennett if you need it, and she has two children. I called and told her this morning after Chief Pierson was here. She will probably be coming to town in a few days when she has arranged for time off. I believe there was family on Uncle Ralph’s side, but I only met them at his funeral and have never had any other contact with them. They’re from somewhere south, but I couldn’t tell you where.”

  He shifted in his seat. “Can you tell me any more about what happened? Chief Pierson just said she was found on her roof, that she had been hit on the head with something and her body had been placed there?” He seemed to have trouble referring to “her body”.

  “That is all that we are aware of at this time, sir. Outside of the roof part, the rest is primarily conjecture, nothing proven yet. The county crime scene unit is out there now, and we have officers canvassing the neighborhood to see if anybody saw anything last night. “

  “In the rain? Good luck with that.” He sat forward. “The chief said they thought at first that she had gone out on the roof to get her cat? Why would anybody think that? She wasn’t senile, officer.”

  “Mrs. Mathison had a history of needing to get her cat off the roof. She had called both the police and the fire department several times, and it was thought that she might not have wanted to disturb them again.” Reasoner decided she needed to retake control of the conversation. “There was a ladder against the roof in back. Do you know if she had a ladder that would have reached?”

  “Yes, she did.” Townsend rubbed his forehead. “I have had to use it on occasion. There were times I was called for the cat too. But I have never known her to go out on her own. She wasn’t comfortable with heights.”

  “I didn’t know that. At first, as I said, we thought she may have been trying to do this on her own, but now we know that was not the case.”

  “Now I’m wondering if she tried to call me about the cat. I wasn’t home last night.” He took a deep breath. “If I had been, maybe she would still be alive.”

  “Sir, we don’t know the circumstances from last night yet. Don’t beat yourself up.”

  “It’s Harry, Officer Reasoner. In this community, I don’t think we need to be as formal. The sirs make me feel guilty about everything. Do you have a first name, or is it Officer?” He smiled.

  “My name is...Stephanie, sir, uh, Harry, um, Mr. Townsend. But I don’t believe this is the appropriate time. I would prefer Officer Reasoner at this point. I’m sorry. This is our first suspicious death, and I am trying to be professional. And I probably shouldn’t have used the term ‘suspicious death’”.

  “That’s okay, but it does sound grim.”

  Reasoner felt like she had lost control of the interview once again. “To get back to the point of my visit, unless something different turns up today, it doesn’t look like there was any forced entry. There were two glasses recently washed on the kitchen counter. Do you know if she was expecting any company last night? Any friends, any appointments?”

  He shook his head. “She, of course, had friends, but I don’t know if any would have been over last night. She belonged to a book club. Well, they called it a book club, but they usually went to dinner or over to each other’s house and talked about anything and everything. Maybe even books, but mostly about what was going on in Summerfield that you weren’t supposed to know was going on. But I think they met on Tuesdays. Not last night.” He shifted again in his seat. “I am surprised about the two glasses. I know, because I have asked her about it, that she tended to use just one glass throughout the day. She got one out for juice in the morning and didn’t want to dirty another one. Ralph used to get a new one out each time he wanted a sip of water, and that used to bug the hell out of her. And she didn’t wash it till the next day when she set it with the breakfast dishes.”

  “So it would have been unusual for her to have washed glasses sitting on the counter at night?”

  “If they were the only thing and when getting ready for bed, yes.”

  “And you mentioned that you were out of town last night. Can you elaborate on that?” Reasoner tried to make that sound nonchalant, but wasn’t sure if she was successful.

  Townsend rubbed his chin this time, looked out the window, took a deep breath and turned back to Reasoner.

  “As a gentleman, I’d rather not.” He left it hanging, but when she didn’t respond, he sighed and continued. “I was with a client in New Lincoln, a female client. And I stayed the night. Mel knows about it.” He pulled a pad toward him and wrote on it. “Here’s her name and number. She is unmarried, so it’s not that there’s a husband involved, it’s just that...“

  “She’s not the only one?” Reasoner finished for him. “We will try to be discreet.”

  “Thank you. The relationship is not serious, and it’s not exclusive.” There was a hopeful note in there that Reasoner chose to ignore.

  “But one of the others may view your relationship with them differently. I’m not going to say I understand, but I am going to say it’s not my business. If it doesn’t have anything to do with your aunt’s death.”

  She changed the direction of her questions. “Do you know who benefits from Mrs. Mathison’s death?”

  “Well, nobody benefits. If you mean who inherits, I suppose my sister and I, unless she chose to add any of Ralph’s family or Ann’s kids in her will. I doubt his family, but I really don’t know. I honestly don’t know what value there is to it. I never thought about it. If you’re thinking I benefit from her death, I can tell you, I’d much rather have her alive. I benefited more from our relationship.”

  Reasoner raised her eyebrows in an implied question.

  “When I first came to town, I didn’t know anybody. She told me she thought she could get me a job. And she
did, with Mel Johnson. And it’s been great. It has really worked out for me.” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s also been good to have family. I needed some...stability in my life. My previous circumstances were not the best. I got a brand new start here, and she is, was a big part of it.”

  “What about her life insurance?”

  Townsend half-smiled. “Mel handled that before I came to town. I made sure to stay out of any of those issues with her. I never asked him or her.”

  Reasoner let that go for the moment.

  “Speaking of Mr. Johnson, and this is going to seem very personal, but I have to ask it anyway, what can you tell me about their relationship? It is no secret that there was something there.”

  Townsend scratched his nose and swiveled slightly in his chair. “I know they cared for each other deeply, but I don’t know if it was ever going further than their getting together a couple of times a week, maybe going on a weekend trip. I think Mel may have wanted more, but I also think Aunt Grace was happy with the way things were. If Mel wanted to go to a movie or dinner or some special event, it was going to be with Aunt Grace. If she wanted to do something, I, or even a member of the book club, was still an option for her. They both seemed to be happy, and I’m not aware of any troubles between them. I certainly can’t see Mel either hitting her or taking her up on a roof, for heaven’s sake.”

  “You’re not aware of any other conflicts? Any disagreements with anybody else?”

  “No,” he emphatically shook his head. “As I said, she was liked by everybody. I can’t imagine anyone doing this. Her friends certainly wouldn’t have been physically able to take her on the roof, and somebody breaking into the house to rob it wouldn’t have bothered. Would they?”

  When Reasoner didn’t answer, he continued. “If you want my honest opinion, I think it had to have been an accident, but I couldn’t tell you why or how she ended up on that roof. It just doesn’t make any sense.”