Appliqued to Death

by Kathleen Suzette

  I stopped my car in front of Bill Woods’ house. His wife had died ten years earlier, and I knew he had a son in college, but I didn’t know much else about his personal life. It made me sad that his son had now lost both of his parents. The outside of the house was neatly kept, with the lawn manicured. Other than the tire tracks that now went through it, everything looked normal. The brick planter out front of the house was empty like Darren Peabody’s had been. I supposed single men weren’t much on growing flowers. I shut the Bel Air off and got out. Robert’s car was parked at the curb and I had parked behind it and I headed up the walkway. He wouldn’t appreciate having me stop by another crime scene, but as long as he didn’t completely throw me out of the place, I was going to see what I could see.

  The door opened before I could knock and Robert stood there, his eyes narrowed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  I grinned. “Can’t your favorite sister stop by and say hello?”

  “I’m not allowed to pick favorites,” he said. “And when you show up to a crime scene, no, you can’t just stop by and say hello.”

  “I know you like it when I visit you at work. You stop by my work, after all,” I said. “What do you know so far?” There was no use beating around the bush. He knew what I was here for.

  He chuckled and rolled his eyes. “You are too much. Since when did you get interested in police investigations?”

  “I can’t help it. It’s in my blood. Dad must’ve had strong police genes that he handed down to both of us.”

  “Yeah that must be it,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t really know anything yet. And if I did, I probably wouldn’t tell you about it.”

  “Can I come in?”

  He sighed and looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was looking in our direction, then he stepped back, holding the door open. I walked in and he shut the door behind me. “Don’t touch anything. I mean it.”

  I nodded. “I’m not going to touch anything.” I glanced around. Bill had a boring house. The sofa was beige, and the floors were bare hardwood. There was a small lamp on an end table with a beige shade on it. The television sat along one wall and looked to be several years old. Two pictures were on the wall, one was his son, and the other a picture of him and his wife. It made me sad.

  “Satisfied?” he asked.

  “So, come on Robert,” I said turning to him. “What do you really know? I mean, there has to be something, right? Are you sure there were no muffins?”

  He chuckled. “There were no muffins unless someone came by the crime scene and decided to take them home for a snack.”

  I walked further into the living room. “It’s just so weird. I can’t understand why two teachers would be killed so close together.”

  “You can say that again,” he agreed. “Obviously the murders are related, but it’s the how that I haven’t figured out yet. As soon as I figure out the how, I’m sure I’ll know the who.”

  “Have you taken fingerprints?”

  “Yes, Sherlock,” he said. “I’ve taken fingerprints. But I still don’t want you touching anything because I don’t want you to leave any new ones behind. We may need to take some more, and I’d hate to have to arrest my sister because hers were all over the place.”

  “Relax,” I said. “I won’t touch anything.” I walked over to the kitchen and looked around. It was neat and tidy, and for some reason that surprised me. I guess the fact that Bill was a football coach made me think he wouldn’t have an interest in keeping things neat. I could just picture him with his football buddies, whipping up a bunch of snacks and watching the game together. In my mind, I saw dirty dishes strewn about the kitchen.

  “See anything interesting?” he asked from the kitchen doorway.

  I shook my head. “The only thing interesting is that the kitchen is so clean. You know how men are.”

  He snorted. “You’re stereotyping me now,” he said.

  I turned and looked at him. I wasn’t stereotyping him. He was a slob. He always had been. “Did the neighbors hear anything? Don’t tell me his neighbors are practically deaf, too.”

  He grinned. “According to the neighbors, they didn’t hear anything,” he said. “It happened late at night and apparently everyone was in bed asleep or watching television with it turned up so loud they couldn’t hear a thing.”

  “I have trouble believing that.”

  “So do I,” he said and shrugged. “But no one is volunteering anything. I can haul them downtown and crack some kneecaps, but I don’t think it will get me anywhere. They all appear to be in their sixties and seventies.”

  I groaned and headed down the hallway to investigate the bedrooms. “Two bedrooms?”

  “Three,” he said following after me. “Don’t touch anything.”

  “I’m not touching anything,” I protested and pulled a handkerchief from my purse to open the door with. Inside Bill’s bedroom, it was as boring as the living room and kitchen had been. When I saw a picture of his wife on the bedside table, I had to step out and close the door. This was a heartbreaking house, and I was regretting having stopped by.

  “Say Mary,” Robert said thoughtfully. “Did you know Bill dated Peggy?”

  I stared at him. “What do you mean? Who told you that?” I still couldn’t imagine them actually dating and I wondered how it was getting around. I had yet to ask Peggy about it. I didn’t know how to bring it up.

  “When I spoke to the neighbor, Martha Sutton, she said Bill had gone out with Peggy a couple of times and that she had been happy for him. She thought he needed a woman in his life after his wife died.”

  I folded my arms across my chest. “Well, she never mentioned it to me. I suppose if they just went out a couple of times, it wasn’t important to her and she didn’t think it was worth talking about.”

  He nodded. “That could be. It just seems odd that she wouldn’t mention it to her best friend.”

  He had a point, and I didn’t like it.

  “Well, like I said, if it didn’t mean anything to her, why talk about it?” The truth was that I didn’t understand why she hadn’t mentioned it. We talked about a lot of things. She knew about my heart ache in not being able to have a child, and I knew about her heartache when her husband had cheated on her and then the resulting divorce. There was a period during that time that she had called me every night, sobbing over the breakup of her marriage. We were best friends after all, and we told each other everything. Or so I thought.

  He nodded, his eyebrows furrowed. “Yeah, I get you.”

  “Robert, don’t you dare think that Peggy had anything to do with this. We’ve known her all our lives and there isn’t even a remote chance that she could have killed anyone. Let alone killed two people. You need to get looking for the real killer.”

  He raised both hands, palms facing me. “Calm down,” he said and chuckled. “I’m not looking at anyone just yet. I’m simply gathering information and investigating crime scenes. A crime scene by the way, that you should not be at.”

  “Fine, I’ll leave the crime scene,” I said. I was done anyway. “But I’m serious about this. You know as well as I do that Peggy couldn’t have done something like this. Don’t you?”

  He looked at me “I couldn’t imagine Peggy doing this,” he said. “But I’m looking for commonalities between the two victims. And she’s one of them.”

  “Well, if you’re looking for commonalities, then obviously the fact that they were both teachers and worked at the same high school is the main one. So why don’t you focus on that? Why don’t you focus on somebody like principal Jefferson? You know what a worm he is. He’s a person I could imagine killing someone.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Really? Could you really see it? Or are you just trying to keep me from taking a closer look at Peggy?”

  I thought about it. “Well, no I guess I couldn’t imagine him killing someone. But then, I couldn’t imagine anyone killing someone, so I don’t know what that means. And I
am not trying to keep you from looking at Peggy. I just know she didn’t do it.”

  He nodded. “Killing someone would take a lot. I mean, I’m still stunned that someone could take another person’s life and I’m a police officer.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if I’ll ever understand that.”

  “You and me both,” I agreed. “Well, I guess I shouldn’t keep you. I know you’ve got work to do.”

  He nodded. “You probably should be going. If the chief finds out you stopped by, he’ll have my hide. Not to mention Dad having a fit over it.”

  “Yeah, if Dad finds out I was here, we’ll never hear the end of it,” I said and headed toward the front door. Showing up at one crime scene was one thing, but if he heard I showed up at the second, he wouldn’t like it.

  “Yeah well, we’ll just have to keep this between ourselves,” Robert said following me to the front door.

  I used my handkerchief to open the front door, then stopped and turned to him. “You don’t seriously think Peggy could’ve done this, do you?”

  He sighed. “If she did, it would break my heart to have to arrest her for the crimes.”

  I thought about this and nodded. “She didn’t do it.”

  I headed back to my car, my heart heavy with the things I knew about the crimes. My heart hurt for Bill Woods’ son and for Darren Peabody’s family. Having a loved one murdered was a terrible thing to have to live with.

  Chapter Twenty

  What are you making for dinner?" I asked Peggy and peered over her shoulder.

  She turned and looked at me. “Bologna sandwiches.”

  “Are you serious?” It was Tuesday evening, and we had decided to ditch Daniel and hang out at her place. Summer would be here before we knew it and I could hardly wait. During the school year it was hard to find time for the two of us to do something together, and even though we saw each other every day at school, I still liked when we got together and did things we enjoyed.

  “Yes, are you disappointed? Because we can find something else to eat.”

  I laughed. “No, bologna sandwiches are fine. You cook all day and I’m not about to ask you to cook me dinner.”

  “Good, because if have to cook one more thing today, I’ll scream. What’s Daniel doing on his own this evening?”

  “He’s going to go over to his mother’s and see if she’ll make him dinner. I told him to open up a can of pork and beans and have at it, but he didn’t think much of that suggestion,” I said.

  She laughed. “Yeah, I bet he didn’t care for that suggestion.” She opened the jar of mayonnaise and began spreading it on the Wonder Bread.

  “No, but he doesn’t really mind. He’s pretty flexible about meals with both of us working.”

  “You got a winner with that one,” she said looking at me. “You really did.”

  Her words made me feel bad. Her husband hadn’t valued her as he should have. I’d kept my mouth shut about it, even though there were times I really wanted to say something. “I know I did. Daniel’s the best thing that could have happened to me, and you know, you’re going to find someone just as wonderful.”

  She smiled and put bologna and cheese on the bread. “I know I will. I’ve made up my mind to not even consider the slugs of the world anymore.”

  “Slugs? What do you mean by that?”

  She shrugged and sliced a tomato. “It seems like the good ones are already taken. Men our age are either married or ones that no one wants.”

  “I don’t know about that. What about a widower?” I wondered if she would bring up Bill and I hoped she would.

  “I guess there’s that,” she said and looked up at me. “But I guess I have to wait for some woman to die then, don’t I?” She laughed.

  I chuckled. “You just wait and see. You’re going to find a winner.”

  “I’ll take your word on it then,” she said and put the tomato along with some lettuce on each of the sandwiches. “I’m taking the liberty of making your sandwich, by the way.”

  “I won’t complain,” I said and went to her cupboards to take down two glasses. “Is there Iced tea?”

  “Yes, and there’s potato salad in the refrigerator.”

  I removed the potato salad and the tea from the refrigerator and filled our glasses. “So, have you heard anything new about the murders?”

  “Just the gossip most of the students are spreading around school,” she said without looking at me. “I doubt anybody really knows the truth except for the killer.”

  “So, Peggy,” I said slowly and set the glasses of iced tea on the table. “Is there anyone you’ve been dating lately?”

  “No one really,” she said and brought the plates with the sandwiches over to the table and set them down. She put the bowl of potato salad in the middle of the table and stuck a large serving spoon into it. “Eat up.”

  I sat across from her, wondering how I could bring up what I’d heard about her dating both Bill and Darren. “Looks good.”

  “There’s nothing like a homemade bologna sandwich,” she said and picked hers up, trying to keep the tomato and lettuce from slipping out from between the bread.

  “Peggy,” I said slowly. “Did you go out with Bill Woods?” I couldn’t think of a more subtle way to say it and I hoped I wouldn’t regret just coming out and asking her like that.

  Her eyes went wide for a moment and she stared at me. “Well, I wouldn’t say there was any kind of relationship, but yes, we went out to dinner a couple of times.”

  “Really? You never told me about that.”

  Her eyes went to her sandwich and then she looked up at me again. “He wasn’t my type. You know how those he-men are. They’re all about the sports and that’s all you hear about during dinner. After the first date, I swore I wouldn’t go out with him a second time. But then I thought maybe I was being too hasty, so I said yes when he asked again.” She shrugged. “There was nothing to tell and so I didn’t.”

  I nodded. “I guess I can see if he didn’t mean anything, why would you bring it up, right?”

  She nodded. “Exactly. There was nothing to tell, so I didn’t.” She set her sandwich down without taking a bite and picked up the bowl of potato salad and scooped some onto her plate, putting the spoon back into the bowl with more force than was necessary.

  “Are you upset?” I asked her.

  She looked at me again. “It’s just a weird thing to ask, isn’t it? I mean, we went out back in January, exactly two times. Why bring it up now?”

  I slowly shook my head and then took a sip of my iced tea. I hadn’t meant to upset her. “I don’t know, I just wondered is all. It’s no big deal.”

  “Who told you?”

  I didn’t want to get Christine into trouble. “Robert said one of Bill’s neighbors had mentioned it to him.”

  She stared at me. “Wait a minute. People are talking about me dating Bill Woods? And the police know about it?”

  “Peggy, Robert knows you. Please. He just happened to bring it up is all,” I said feeling more guilty than ever.

  “Does he think I had something to do with Bill’s death?”

  I shook my head. “No. Like I said, he knows you. We’ve known one another all of our lives and there’s no way you had anything to do with it.”

  She sat back in her chair, thinking about what I’d said. “I can tell you Mary, I would never do such a thing. Sure, I did go out with Bill, and I went out with Darren, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’ve dated other men that I haven’t told you about. And the only reason I didn’t tell you was because they didn’t mean a thing to me. Slugs. Just like I said. Slugs.”

  I nodded and wondered if I should ask the next question. I’d already hurt her feelings, and I didn’t want to make it worse, but since we were talking about it, I thought I should go ahead. “How many times did you go out with Darren?”

  Her mouth opened and then she closed it quickly. After a moment she said, “I guess it was two or three times. Maybe four at th
e most. But again, he was a slug. He was only interested in himself like most men are.”

  I nodded, but felt confused. Why hadn’t she told me the truth to begin with? “Like I said, you’re going to find the perfect man for you.”

  She stared at me and I saw her eyes tear up. “I don’t know what you’re thinking Mary, but I wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

  I shook my head and I felt my own eyes tear up. “I know that, Peggy. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. Will you forgive me?”

  She nodded. “Of course. We can’t break up you know. It would be like losing my right arm.”

  I chuckled. “Exactly.”

  “But if Robert wants to look at someone, he needs to look at Principal Jefferson. He couldn’t stand Darren or Bill.”

  “What do you mean he couldn’t stand either of them? I know everybody thinks he was afraid of Darren, but what about Bill? I thought football was everything to the school?”

  She nodded. “It is everything to the school. But Principal Jefferson resented how much of the budget went to football. He wanted more of the money spent on academics and every time he tried to get the board to give him more money for math and science, Bill would show up at board meetings and somehow finagle it so that he got more money put in the football budget instead.”

  “Really? Bill told you this?”

  She nodded. “He laughed about it. He was proud of himself. They got new uniforms last year when the uniforms they had were only two years old. He said they didn’t even need them, but the school board paid for them anyway.”

  I helped myself to some potato salad, thinking about this. “How much would you say Jefferson disliked Bill?”

  “Bill made a joke one night, he said Principal Jefferson would kill him if he didn’t stop taking money from the academics programs.”

  My eyes went to her. “Was he serious?”

  “He laughed about it, but you know how Jefferson is. If things don’t go his way, he takes it out on a scapegoat. And Bill wasn’t a scapegoat, he was the actual person that was causing him trouble.”

  This was interesting news. Football in a small town is important. Maybe more important than academics, which is unfortunate, but that’s the way things are. If Bill really had managed to get the board to give him money that he didn’t even need when Principal Jefferson wanted it for academics, I could see resentment building up over time. Maybe that resentment had exploded, and that was the end of Bill. Combine that with what everyone said about Principal Jefferson being afraid of Darren and it did make me wonder if he took care of two of his problems.