by Jessa Archer
“Do you still have it?” he asked.
“No. I gave it to Blevins to see if he could match the prints. I mean…you don’t have the equipment to do that, right? And I thought maybe it would light a fire under him. Give him some concrete clue he could start investigating so that maybe he’d stop treating this like a joke.”
Patsy arrived then with our dinner. I could tell she wanted to ask Ed if he’d heard anything more about Tessa. If it had just been me sitting here, and Ed had already left, she definitely would have asked again. But she was always a little more circumspect about asking him questions, almost as if she really did consider him to still be the sheriff, someone who might know things he wasn’t at liberty to discuss. She refilled our water and coffees, then headed off to wait on the other tables.
In between bites of my omelet, I filled him in on the situation with Abel Davenport. “It was weird. Like Wren said, it was almost like the man made a scene on purpose at her yard sale in order to get publicity for his revival.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s done something to draw attention. He tried to lure the media up to that church back when I was sheriff, right after he inherited the congregation from his uncle.”
“Apparently he’s had some success on that front,” I said, nodding toward the woman at the cash register. “Teresa just told me he has a documentary crew filming a pilot for a cable series. But why would the media be interested? Abel doesn’t seem all that photogenic to me. Wren said they were an odd little sect—I mean, you can tell that much just from some of the things he emphasized in Edith Morton’s service. But there are plenty of strange congregations up in the mountains, right?”
“True,” Ed said. “But not all of them are engaged in legal battles with the State of Tennessee for potentially endangering their members. And also, for mistreatment of reptiles.”
“Reptiles?”
“Snakes,” Ed said with a grim smile. “Rattlesnakes, mostly. Heard they had a coral snake up there for a couple years, but it died. Probably bit its own tail to put itself out of its misery. Can’t be much fun to have some guy scoop you up out of a box and dance around with you over his head a few times a week. They keep them so sick and weak they don’t tend to strike, but every now and then one of them fights back. That’s what took out Davenport’s uncle.”
“Davenport is a snake handler?”
“Yep. They do the whole thing with members drinking poison, too. Some Bible verse says if your faith is strong enough the snake will not bite, and poison won’t kill you. Only sometimes it does. Officially, they quit both practices after that last brush with the law, but everyone knows they just took it underground. Not…literally underground, but they keep it to church members only. Friday night services, or maybe the middle of the week.”
“Then why would Davenport be trying to draw attention to his church and this revival with this documentary?”
“Maybe for his son’s legal defense fund? Eli’s out on bail. Pretty sure his trial is coming up in a couple of months.”
“What did he do?” I asked.
“Same thing that gets most guys his age into trouble. Dealing drugs.”
✰ Chapter Thirteen ✰
Suddenly, Eli Davenport’s fixation on that little alien finger puppet was making a lot more sense. If you could get a finger up inside the toy, you could probably stash something else in there, especially if you thought the sheriff was on his way.
“But how would he have known Blevins was coming?” Ed asked when I told him my theory.
His last three words rang out a bit too loudly because our fourth musical selection had ended. Jesse’s head twisted our way again. I muttered a few words that do not bear repeating and searched for more quarters to no avail. Ed found one in his pocket, though, and punched up two more songs at random.
“Derrick Blevins was talking to him at the garage sale just a few minutes before,” I said, once the music began. “Are they friends?”
“I don’t know that I’d call them friends,” Ed said. “But it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Derrick was one of Eli’s customers. Billy caught Derrick and some of his buddies with weed when he was in high school, maybe six months after the little snot sideswiped me. But…” He shrugged. “Blevins was interim sheriff at the time. Billy’s wife was pregnant and on bedrest to make sure she didn’t lose the baby. He couldn’t afford to lose his job, and while I don’t know if Blevins would actually have fired Billy, he could have made his life miserable. Billy let them off with a warning. And to be fair, I’ve done that too for kids with a first offense. Sometimes, you can scare them straight. Anyway, yeah…Derrick could have been warning Eli that his dad was headed that way.”
I combed back through my memory, trying to pull up exactly what Derrick had said to Elijah. But it was no use. I tipped back my mug. Maybe once the caffeine reached my brain, it would jumpstart my powers of recall.
“Eli could have left the can there,” I said. “Kate said she always dated older guys. He looks like he’s in his early twenties.”
“More like late twenties. But yeah…it’s definitely possible. So where is the alien toy now?” Ed asked and then took a big bite of his burger.
I sighed. “Here’s where the story gets complicated. And I’m going to wait for you to swallow that bite before I go any further.”
Ed gave me a puzzled look but chewed a little faster. While it was partly a joke, I also thought that there was a decent chance that my next words could either cause him to choke or do a spit-take.
“Okay,” he said, dabbing the side of his mouth with a napkin. “My mouth is empty, and you have my undivided attention. Where is the toy alien?”
“Well, if the two women who were at Wren’s yard sale were telling the truth…your daughter shoplifted it.”
Ed paused, french fry in front of his mouth. He dropped it onto the plate and burst out laughing so loudly that not only Jesse but half the restaurant turned to look.
“You’re not…serious?”
“I’m serious,” I said.
“I don’t have a daughter.”
“That’s exactly what your sister told this girl last night when she showed up at your signing. She introduced herself to Sherry and said she was her niece. Her name is Mindy Tucker. About Cassie’s age, maybe a little younger. She and her mother are staying down at the marina. I was going to tell you last night…but at first I kind of forgot with everything else going on, and then later it really didn’t seem like the time.”
He nodded. “That does explain something Sherry said before we went in to talk to Blevins. She asked if you’d mentioned the girl who was at the signing, and then changed the subject real quick when I didn’t know what she was talking about. So…the girl came to the yard sale, too?”
“Yeah. And she brought her mom…who shoved a couple of Wren’s collectibles into her purse. We had a bit of a confrontation about that. The mom’s name is Meredith. Long dark hair. Early forties, I’d guess. Pretty, in an obvious sort of way.”
Ed smiled slightly, probably because I sounded precisely as jealous as I felt. “The name’s not ringing any bells.” Then he stopped and looked over at the cash register where Mac had just handed the cashier his credit card. Jesse was still sitting at the counter. He clearly planned to hang out a bit longer, either hoping to pick up some gossip or just to flirt with Patsy. By which I mean argue with Patsy, although I think it’s the same thing for those two.
“Hang on a sec,” Ed said, still looking at Mac. He got out of the booth and crossed over to the register. Mac nodded at whatever Ed said, then responded. Ed listened for a minute, then clapped him on the shoulder and came back to our booth.
“What was that about?” I asked.
“Mac has a cousin who used to come to Thistlewood in the summers. I remember her being at a party one night out at The Stump.”
The Stump was the bar at Jolly’s Marina. It had the reputation as a bit of a dive even when I was in high school.
I went once with Wren when we were in our twenties and both back home for a visit during the holidays. We were newly legal to drink, tired of dealing with our respective families, and curious to check out the no-longer-forbidden fruit. We’d stayed about ten minutes and decided we didn’t like the vibe, so we picked up a six-pack of wine coolers and drank them down by the river.
“Whole lot younger than me. He said the two of them had a falling out years ago, but her name is Meredith. It was Meredith Capps back then. Anyway, I was off-duty, and the band one of my buddies played bass for was performing. She was there with Mac, Jesse, and four or five other people. I danced with her…but like I said, she was barely twenty-one, and I was in my late thirties. And she was really drunk. I think she pulled every guy in the place onto the dance floor at some point. That’s the main reason I even remembered it. Before I left, I told Rick he needed to cut her off and suggested to Mac that he might want to escort his cousin back to her cabin before someone called her in for drunk and disorderly.”
“Did he?” I asked, glancing toward the door as Mac departed. “Get her back to her cabin, I mean?”
“No clue. He didn’t even remember the specific night I was talking about, so maybe it was something they did a lot. As a heads-up, though, there will almost certainly be a rumor going around town pretty soon that I’m thinking of two-timing you with her.”
“Why?”
“Because I just asked Mac if he’d heard anything from her. And you know he’s going to call Jesse as soon as—”
Jesse’s hand was already reaching for the phone in his back pocket. I stifled a laugh.
“Wait for it,” Ed said. “Jesse will look over his shoulder at us in three…two…”
He didn’t even make it to one. Jesse hadn’t expected us to be staring back at him, however. And he definitely hadn’t expected me to stick my tongue out at him. His face turned red, and he ended the call.
I laughed. “Maybe he’ll think we were playing a trick on them. That might slow the gossip train down a bit.”
“It’s possible.” But then Ed shook his head. “Nah. Jesse won’t be able to resist. Not unless some juicier bit of gossip comes along pretty fast.”
We focused on our food for a few minutes, and then I asked him, “Why do you think Meredith would tell Mindy she’s your daughter? I mean…if nothing happened. Not saying I don’t believe you. Because I do.”
I reached across the table and squeezed his hand. What I’d said was true. I did believe him. Although, jealousy aside, it wouldn’t have mattered if he had actually had an affair with Meredith Tucker. That was decades ago, and people can’t change their pasts. I knew who Ed Shelton was now, and he wouldn’t lie to me.
“What I’m getting at is that paternity will be easy to disprove,” I continued. “All it takes is a cheek swab.”
“I don’t know why she said it,” Ed said. “Maybe she got me confused with someone else?”
Leave it to Ed to pick the most charitable possibility. I still thought Wren was more likely to be right. We already knew that the two women were petty thieves. The odds seemed fairly good that they might also be con artists.
“Well, either way, Meredith stopped by the sheriff’s office to lodge a complaint. Said I attacked her. Blevins apparently talked her out of official charges, but he made a crack about having better things to do than referee a fight between your girlfriends.”
“I’m sorry,” Ed said, squeezing my hand.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. Just wanted to let you know that the rumor mill will have that to chew on along with everything else.”
“Well, I’m going to have to have a little chat with the two of them,” he said. “I’m not happy about this Meredith telling her daughter something that isn’t true, and I’m doubly annoyed that they’ve been harassing you and Sherry. Plus…someone needs to let them know about that toy alien. I’ve never heard of Eli Davenport being violent, but there are only a few places they could be staying, and you know how this town is. All he’ll need to do is ask a few people, and he’ll know where they’re staying. He might know already.”
“Actually,” I said. “I can guarantee that. Wren told him they took it. And also that they were staying at the marina campground.”
“Why’d she do that?” he asked, pulling out his phone.
“Possibly because she was annoyed that they’d stolen from her. Twice.”
And it was possible, although I thought the more likely reason was that Wren had overheard some of Meredith’s snide comments. Wren has been known to go mama-bear when someone attacks her friends. But I didn’t really want to go into that with Ed, since it would sound like I was complaining that his ex-not-really-girlfriend was picking on me.
“But…I got the sense that Eli already knew them.”
“Are you sure?” Ed asked.
“No,” I admitted. “I could very well be wrong. It was just this little flash of what looked like recognition when Wren told him their names. He…doesn’t seem especially good at subterfuge.”
Ed chuckled. “If that’s your polite way of saying Eli’s not too sharp, you’d be right.”
“The point is, neither of us had the slightest clue that Elijah might be hiding anything inside the toy. It was really small—it fit in the palm of my hand. I didn’t know he had a criminal record, and I doubt Wren did either. When was he arrested?”
“About a year ago. He’s had a couple of continuances. As for the size of the toy, you can buy plastic bags half the size of your pinky online. I’m talking the size of your pinky, not mine. With some drugs, you’d only need a fraction of that tiny bag to end up with a fatal dose.” He held up a hand as someone on the other end picked up. “Hey, Rick! Ed Shelton. Quick question. You got a woman named Meredith Tucker staying in one of your cabins?”
The guy must have said yes, because Ed asked him to go check and see if they were around. While Ed was waiting for him to respond, a second call came in.
Ed frowned, then let the call go to voicemail. About a minute later, he said, “Okay. Thanks, Rick. If you see them pull in, could you give me a call at this number? It’s kinda important.” Then he turned back to me. “Rick Jolly says he hasn’t seen them since they grabbed breakfast at the Riverboat Grill. So they must be out doing touristy stuff or drove over to the casino. He seems pretty sure they’ll stop by The Stump later, so I think it’s entirely possible Meredith still likes to party. I’ll ride out there later. You want to come along?”
I considered this for a moment. On the one hand, I kind of did. But on the other hand, I didn’t want Ed to think I didn’t trust him with her.
“That’s okay,” I said. “Probably the kind of conversation that is best kept between the two of you.”
“Up to you,” he said. “Right now, though, I’ve got to return this call.”
I could tell from his tone that he was dreading it. “Who is it?”
“Jeff Martin.”
“Tessa’s dad?”
Ed nodded. “I’m guessing he’s gonna want me to stop by if Blevins has told them that Kate was out there with Tessa. Which I don’t mind. Jeff and Brenda are good people. But…” He listened to the message, which I couldn’t really hear over the jukebox, and then hit dial.
The other party picked up quickly. I focused on finishing my omelet while Ed asked how he and Brenda were holding up and whether they’d heard anything more. At one point, he looked over at me, and said, “I can ask. But I think she’s told Blevins everything she knows. I’m finishing up dinner now, and I’ll be over in ten minutes or so.”
He ended the call and then said, “I’m sure you gathered they want to talk to you, too.”
“I did. But why? What am I supposed to tell them, Ed? Blevins is still saying it’s some sort of prank, so they aren’t exactly going to be happy about me coming in and taking away their hope.”
“I know,” he said. “But it doesn’t seem right to keep them in the dark, either. You were the last one to see Tessa be
fore her body disappeared. The truth is, Jeff doesn’t trust Blevins one bit. They were buddies years ago, back when Steve was my deputy. Then they had some sort of disagreement over a hunting lease. All they do now is snarl at each other. And he and Brenda have had a lot on them. I don’t know if you knew about their youngest, but they had a health scare with him earlier this year.”
I nodded. “Kate mentioned it. Tessa’s little brother. But…you don’t think that’s why Steve refuses to take this case seriously, do you? Because he’s got some sort of grudge against Tessa’s dad?”
“I’d hate to think that Blevins was that petty, but…I don’t know. Maybe.” Ed shrugged and then finished off the last few bites of his burger. “It’s also possible that he’s legitimately worried about upsetting them. Blevins is a rotten human being, generally speaking, but it’s possible that there’s a heart in there somewhere. His wife is actually a nice person, and she must see some good in him to have put up with him all these years.”
I nodded, even though I hadn’t really spoken to his wife much. Jenny Blevins had seemed pleasant enough on the few occasions that we’d passed each other at the grocery store or on the sidewalk. She tended to keep out of the limelight, which was probably wise when married to a politician.
“You definitely don’t have to come with me to see the Martins, Ruth. I didn’t promise anything. But…I think they just want to hear what you saw, in your own words. And if there’s any little thread of doubt in your mind, you could let them know that, too.”
“I’ll go,” I said reluctantly. “To be honest, I don’t have any doubt, Ed. I know what I saw. But you said there are drugs that can mimic death. And Wren says there are people who’ve been minutes away from an autopsy and then it turned out they weren’t dead after all. That’s usually in other countries, with less advanced medicine…but it’s not like I gave Tessa a full medical exam. So sure. I guess there’s a tiny possibility that I was wrong—that Kate, Sawyer, Julissa, and Cassie were all wrong, too. I definitely hope we were wrong.”