Murder So Sinful

by Eileen Curley Hammond

  Jenny said, “Cindy and I did.”

  Frowning, he looked around the room. “Where’s Cindy?”

  “The EMT is finishing up putting stiches in her hand in the other room,” Patty said.

  “How did she cut her hand?”

  Patty shrugged. “We don’t know yet. It must have been when she fell.”

  He gave Patty a level look and then turned to me. “I’ll start with you, Merry, and then Jenny. Merry, since Jenny is underage you may sit in when I question her, but you need to let her answer. Father, do you have another room we can use?”

  “Yes, my study. It’s just down the hall on the left.”

  The detective nodded to Jenny. “We’ll be back for you in a few minutes.”

  He and I walked down the narrow hallway to the study. The detective had been part of our town’s police force for at least fifteen years. He was stout, married to a really lovely woman named Barbara, and they had five boys. How she did it, I had no idea.

  “Please sit.” Detective Ziebold waited a moment for me to comply. “Start at the beginning. What happened, and what did you see?”

  I told him what I knew, which wasn’t a lot. He then told me to ask Jenny to join us.

  “Jenny, start from the beginning. Why were you here today?”

  “Cindy and I were helping Father Tom with Mrs. Elderflower’s funeral. After the funeral, the family had a meal for friends and relatives in the basement of the church. We stayed to help serve and clean up, and then we left to meet our mothers in my mom’s car.”

  “What door did you leave by?”

  “The side door.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Cindy was in front of me, and I turned to close the door. It was so dark out, I could hardly see anything. I heard Cindy fall over something at the bottom of the stairs, so I carefully edged my way down. My foot stopped on something, so I bent down and felt it. It was someone’s leg! I hopped over it, and then I could see the rough outline of a body. And it wasn’t moving.” Jenny shuddered.

  “What did Cindy do?”

  “She screamed, and then we ran to my mom’s car and pounded on the door.”

  “Were you together the whole time at the service?”

  “No. Cindy said her stomach hurt, so she disappeared for a while. I thought she was in the bathroom, but when I went to check on her, she wasn’t there.”

  “When was that?”

  “I don’t know. It might have been around three thirty? She came back just as we were cleaning up. I was going to ask her where she’d been, but I didn’t have a chance to.”

  “Thanks, Jenny,” He got up and flipped his notebook shut. “You and your mom can leave, but come down to the station sometime tomorrow to sign your statement. Please ask Patty to join me.”

  We passed Patty and Cindy on our way out and relayed instructions. I told Patty, “Call me tonight if you need me; otherwise, we’ll talk tomorrow.”

  On the way to the car, we ran into Rob Jenson. He was standing just outside the crime scene tape. He frowned. “What happened?”

  “I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about it.”

  He escorted us back to our car. “There wouldn’t be anything wrong with you giving me the bare minimum, would there?”

  I sighed. “I need to get my daughter home, but if you must know, there’s been a death, and since I’m not sure if they’ve notified the next of kin, I think I’ll stop there.”

  “Got it.” He made a quick note on his phone. Finished, he looked up. “You must be Jenny.” Smiling, he held out his hand to her. “I’m Rob Jenson. I run the local newspaper now.”

  She shook it. “Were you my mom’s blind date the other night?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hmm.” She turned, climbed into the car, and shut the door.

  “What did that mean?” he asked.

  “She’s seventeen. I have no idea. I have to run now.”

  As I got into the car, Jenny said, “He’s cute.”

  “But?”

  “He’s a reporter, and we don’t like reporters.”

  “True. The jury’s still out on him, though.”

  She shot me a look and curled up in the passenger seat.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No. Somebody’s dead, and I found the body.” She rested her head on the window.

  I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Let’s talk more about this when we get home. We’ll get into our jammies, have some soup, and turn the fire on.”

  We drove the rest of the way in silence. When I turned into the driveway, Nancy Piedmont waved at me to come up to her front porch.

  I patted Jenny’s hand. “I’ll be inside in a moment.”

  I crossed the driveway to Nancy’s house, taking a moment to admire the collection of mums that framed her walkway.

  “What happened to Ben?” she asked.

  I marveled again at the speed news traveled. “Not sure yet. We’ll likely know more in the coming days.”

  “But you found him.”

  “Actually, Jenny and Cindy did. I’m sorry, Nancy, but I’m not supposed to discuss it. I’m sure we’ll know more in the morning. It’s so sad.” I pointed to her front garden. “Your mums look terrific; I love all of the different colors. They blend together so well and make a terrific accent to your burning bushes.”

  Pleased, Nancy followed my gaze. “It’s some trouble, but it’s great to have such vibrancy before winter sets in.”

  I gave her a quick hug. “Jenny’s upset, so I need to be getting in.”

  I hurried to my door. She called after me, “Let me know what you find out.”

  “Will do.” I shut the door behind me.

  Jenny was upstairs changing, so I took a moment to inventory the soup in the freezer. This occasion required something substantial. Taking out some potato and leek with bacon, I put it on the counter for a moment to defrost enough so I could get it into a microwave bowl. Then I grabbed some frozen rolls and preheated the oven. Checking the wine fridge, I pulled out a Merlot, opened it, and took a few gulps almost before the wine hit the glass. With the kind of weeks I’d been having recently, I was going to need to make a wine run.

  Hurrying upstairs to take off my makeup, I changed into my comfy jammies. By the time I returned, Jenny had the soup in the microwave, rolls in the oven, and the fire on. Giving her a long hug, I grabbed my wine and sat on the sofa in front of the fire. I patted the seat next to me, and she sat.

  I put my arm around her. “This is better, isn’t it?”

  She gave me a pointed look. “Yes, but it’s better for you because you’re having wine.”

  I jumped up. “I can fix that by making you some of my killer hot cocoa.” I stopped dead in my tracks. We both stared at each other. “Probably the wrong way to phrase that, but one hot cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream coming up.”

  Chapter 5

  The next day, I called Patty. “How’s Cindy’s hand? And how did your interview with the police go?”

  “Her hand is bothering her, as expected, but it looks better. The interview with the police was odd.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He kept asking Cindy if she and Jenny had been together the whole time. She told him they had, but he just wouldn’t leave it alone. He wants to see us again this afternoon down at the station. He says they have some more questions.”

  “Um.”

  “What does um mean? Um what?”

  “Jenny told him Cindy had a stomachache and left to use the bathroom for quite a while, but when she went to check on her, she wasn’t there.”

  “That’s strange. I’ll ask her what happened before we go down there. How is Jenny doing?”

  “She’s been a bit quiet.”

  “Dead bodies are a hard thing to process at seventeen. Actually, they’re a hard thing to process at any age.”

  “True. What do you think happened?”

  “Hard to tell. Who would do something like
that? It can’t be anyone we know.”

  “We can hope. Need to sign off. I’ll call you later.”

  The rest of the day I focused on work. Needless to say, there were a lot of questions from the staff on the murder and from clients who were curious. I handled it as best I could and finally left for the day. Remembering that I was meeting the new superintendent of schools the next morning, I puzzled about what to wear as I strode home. As I turned the corner to my street, my eyes widened slightly. Nancy Piedmont was on her porch again. Does she ever get cold sitting there? I waved. “Hi, Nancy.”

  She huffed. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about Ben Ford. I had to find out from my cousin Melissa.”

  “The police told me not to talk about it, so I didn’t.”

  “Murdered. In our little town. Makes you think about your own safety.” She shivered, and her eyes darted around. “Why Ben? He wouldn’t hurt a soul. And he was such a good postman. He kept me up to date on what was happening in town. Melissa mentioned Detective Ziebold searched his house already. I wonder if they found anything. You know Melissa cleaned for him. Do you think she’ll have to clean up after the police?”

  “I have no idea.” I looked at her more closely. “Are you going to be okay?”

  “Yes, it’s just such a shock. Oh, Jenny got home a half hour ago.”

  “Thanks. She texted me when she got here. See you later.”

  Entering the house, I checked to make sure the cats had food and water. A quick petting session for each, and I climbed the stairs to knock on Jenny’s door. “Enter.”

  I leaned on the doorjamb. “How are you doing?”

  “I’m fine. Everyone at school wanted to know what happened to Mr. Ford.”

  “How did you handle it?”

  “I just told them what I knew, which isn’t a lot. Have you heard any more? Do they know who did it?”

  “Not yet, honey. It’s probably going to take some time.” I sat next to her on the bed and put my arm around her.

  “It’s kind of scary to think someone would do this in our town.”

  “You’re right. It’s a good reminder that we should always be careful and aware of our surroundings. I have a favor to ask: Would you help me figure out what to wear tomorrow?”

  “What’s tomorrow?”

  “Nothing really. I’m meeting Mr. Gordan for coffee in the morning. He wants to get my thoughts on the school district.”

  “I told you he was hot.”

  “I don’t think you should be calling your school superintendent hot.”

  “Is lukewarm better?”

  “You know what I mean.” I shoved her toward the edge of the bed. “Are you going to help?”

  Getting up, she pulled me to my feet, and we went to my room. “Of course. Everyone knows you’re wardrobe challenged!”

  “What would I do without you?” I rifled through my clothes.

  I was up bright and early the next morning. Having some work to catch up on, I wanted to make sure to exercise. I skipped a few days the past week because it had been so hectic. Finished, I showered, changed into the Jenny-approved clothing, and sauntered to the Morning Pastry. John was already there. Waving, I ordered a cappuccino and a blueberry scone at the counter and joined him.

  “I’m not sure my waist is going to thank you for introducing me to this place.”

  “It’s good, isn’t it?” I took a sip of my cappuccino. “How are you settling in?”

  “I’m getting close to a house on Willow, just a few blocks from here.” He pointed out the window due north.

  “Is it that Craftsman on the corner? I thought I saw it was for sale.”

  “Yes. I like the attention to detail and the large front porch. It’s good for people watching since this town is so walkable.”

  I smiled.

  “Might be a bad subject, but I heard you were involved in some excitement again over at the church?”

  “Unfortunately, someone murdered our postman, Ben Ford. He was such a nice man.”

  “I think I met him when I was getting a change-of-address form. What happened?”

  “The girls, Jenny and Cindy, had been assisting Father Tom at the church, and unfortunately, they ended up tripping over Ben.”

  He settled back in his chair. “They seem to get mixed up in a lot around here.”

  I gave him a look. “They can’t be blamed for this. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” I leaned forward. “Didn’t you want to talk about my thoughts on the school district?” I took a bite of my scone.

  “That, plus, I wanted to get to know you better.” He smiled and moved closer.

  My scone went down the wrong way, and I coughed. Nice way to impress. I tried to catch my breath.

  “Are you all right? Would you like some water?”

  “Yes, please,” I squeaked.

  He went to the counter for water and brought it back. I took a deep drink. “That’s better. Sorry.”

  “I’m just glad you’re no longer choking.” He patted my shoulder.

  “You said you want to get to know me better?”

  “Yes, I’d like to be friends.”

  Friends. That’s kind of middle of the road and noncommittal. I can do friends. “Sounds good. Why don’t you start? Did you always want to be a superintendent of schools?”

  He smiled and said in a confidential tone, “I don’t think anyone aspires to be superintendent of schools when they are growing up. I wanted to be a teacher.”

  “Then why the change?”

  “I realized I could have more control over the overall educational process.”

  “Do you like it?”

  “I like parts of it. I miss being a teacher. I miss the day-to-day interaction with the kids. And sometimes the bureaucracy drives me nuts. What about you?” He encouraged me with his eyes.

  “I have my own insurance agency in town. So when you close on your house, you may want to think about me.”

  “I will.” He smiled. “Did you grow up wanting to be an insurance agent?”

  I grinned. “Yes, I did. My dad was an agent. When I was young, I used to go with him on calls, and I saw how well respected he was in town. He helped people when they needed him most. That’s what I try to do for my clients.”

  He took a sip of his coffee. “Sounds like a calling.”

  “In a way, maybe it is.” I smiled. “Do you have any kids?”

  “No. I just haven’t found the right woman.”

  Someone hovered just on the edge of my vision. I looked up straight into Rob Jenson’s sea-green eyes. I jumped. “Rob, I didn’t see you come in.” John stood. “Rob, I don’t know if you’ve met John Gordan?”

  “Actually, I have a call in to his office.” Rob extended his hand. “John, I’m Rob Jenson, the new owner of the local newspaper, and I was thinking of doing a piece to introduce you to the community. Would you be interested?”

  John shook Rob’s hand. “Sounds great. Please let my assistant know where and when, and I’ll make sure we get some time together.”

  “Merry, I was going to give you a call as well. I was wondering if you had heard any more about the postman’s death?”

  “I would think the police would know more than I.”

  Rob smiled. “Yes, but they aren’t as cute as you.”

  Heat filled my face as Rob and John exchanged looks and stared down at me.

  “She is pretty cute,” John said. “I have to agree with you there.”

  Becoming even more flustered, I said, “Thank you both, but I need to be getting back home.” Sliding out of my seat, I squeezed past Rob and tried to glide nonchalantly toward the door. “John, it was nice to get to know you better.” That went well. Not!

  Chapter 6

  Waking up, I was concerned that Patty hadn’t called or texted. I made a mental note to call her once it got to a decent hour. The cats were quite vocal this morning, letting me know I had been neglecting them. Tossing them a few treats
, I stroked their fur as they inhaled them. Satisfied my pet owner’s duty was finished for the moment, I decided to make my daughter happy with some cinnamon buns. I popped them in the oven and set the timer. Pulling over the paper, I sipped my coffee. The headline read, “Local teen person of interest in popular postman’s demise.”

  I grabbed my phone and nearly knocked my coffee over. “Siri, call Patty.”

  “Hello.”

  “What happened? Why didn’t you call me? What can I do to help?”

  “There was no time to call you. Detective Ziebold questioned Cindy for four hours the other day. That’s when Patrick and I decided it was time for a lawyer.”

  “A lawyer? They can’t be serious. Who would suspect Cindy?”

  “Apparently, the police do. Cindy didn’t help her cause either.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember how you told me Jenny said Cindy had a stomachache and had disappeared?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Cindy didn’t tell the police that. She stuck to her story that she had been there the whole time. It was only after the lawyer got involved that she confessed she snuck away with Michael.”

  “Did Jenny know?”

  “No. Cindy didn’t want to tell her because she didn’t want her to get into trouble. That’s why she made up the story about her stomachache.”

  “Now that the police know the true story, she should be in the clear, right?”

  “One would think so, but they also were very suspicious about how she got the cut on her hand. And now they have Michael in for questioning. It’s such a mess.”

  “What a nightmare! What can I do?”

  “Find the real killer!” Patty started crying. “I need to go. I have to get the other kids to school.”

  Hanging up the phone, I began to pace. Patty’s request was a big one. My life had finally settled down to a comfortable existence. I was respected again in town. If I got involved, I might threaten that. But I couldn’t let Cindy continue to be suspected. It was tearing Patty apart. I remembered writing a paper my senior year of college on the number of wrongful convictions each year in the United States. It stunned me and hasn’t much changed today. The police do an admirable job, but sometimes people slip through the cracks. I couldn’t let that happen to Cindy, no matter what the cost. She was like another daughter to me.