by Misty Simon
“Time to get glasses? Your mom is not going to be happy if you have a squint. She’ll think that’s why you don’t have a girlfriend.”
Matt rolled his eyes at me. Well, at least it wasn’t Burton, not yet, anyway.
“At first, I didn’t know who it was, but then I figured out that it was Audra, the woman who was cleaning with me today.” I knew who I would’ve preferred it to be, but I didn’t think that was appropriate to tell a cop, regardless if I was related to him.
“Are you certain it’s the woman who was cleaning with you today in the mansion?”
“I can’t be absolutely certain without seeing her face.” Which a) I did not want to do, and b) I knew better than to want to look from my days at the funeral home. “But I did recognize the nails, her tattoo, and the ring on her finger. Her boyfriend just proposed to her a few days ago.”
“Do you know the boyfriend? What’s his name? Could he be the one who killed her? You know, it’s almost always the spouse or intimate partner in cases like these.”
And yet it had been a “pseudo-spouse” only once in all my time solving murders in town. I would keep that to myself, though. Points for me. Yet this was me helping without asking for anything in return. I wanted points for that, too. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and thumbed through my screens to get to texting. I couldn’t remember the boyfriend’s name off the top of my head with everything that was going on, but I remembered Audra had texted me about him. The pictures from Bethany still hadn’t come through, but I did have a message I must have missed. It was from Audra and was sent this afternoon, ten minutes before I found her.
Heading out. See you later. Sorry it didn’t work out for you.
“No way,” I whispered.
“Show me,” Matt demanded, Burton right behind him.
“No way,” I said again to myself, not them.
“Yes, Tallie, now. You don’t want to hide anything from us.” Burton reached for my phone, and I automatically batted his hand away, but not intentionally.
I snapped myself out of my haze. “I wasn’t saying no way to you. I was saying no way to the fact that Audra texted me thirty minutes ago. She had to have been dead by then, and Chris had to be already on his way to get the Dumpster with his truck. Do you think someone took her phone and used it to text people she knew so that the perpetrator could pretend Audra was alive and so no one would look for her, and then she’d already have been gone?” I got a chill when I realized how that could have absolutely happened.
“I don’t know,” Burton said. And even if he did, he probably wouldn’t have told me. “Look, we’re going to take a look around inside the house while one of the guys looks in the garbage. I’m leaving you out here by yourself, so please don’t get into any trouble or touch anything. I want you to stick around, in case I have any questions, but I want you to stay out of this until I invite you in. If I ever do that.”
Same old song and dance. I really did not get why Burton always thought I was purposely causing trouble. And I didn’t often go touching things I wasn’t supposed to. Okay, so a few times I had, but not too often and not without getting results. There was nothing to touch here, though. I certainly wasn’t going back into that Dumpster anytime soon if I could help it.
They left the truck driver out here, too, and didn’t threaten him if he touched anything. At least not that I could hear.
I sat on the edge of my bumper and checked my phone again. Still no pictures and no new info from Audra. Now that we’d found her, would whoever had done this try to text me again from her phone, hoping I would think the girl was alive and well? And merely off to her next job?
Of course I didn’t want Audra to be dead and would have preferred for her to have run away. However, at least her boyfriend wouldn’t be looking for her forever, wondering why she had left.
And seriously, I had to stop thinking about people, because just then another car came tearing up the drive. Caleb Yoder jumped out of the junker, which he’d parked behind the other cars, and ran toward the house.
God, her boyfriend. His name and face had snapped together in my head just as he got out of the car and the porch light highlighted his face. I knew Caleb, but I just hadn’t been able to pull his name out of the chaos in my brain after finding another dead body. I felt stupid for forgetting, but in the scheme of things, it wasn’t the end of the world.
“Have you seen Audra? I can’t get ahold of her, and we’re supposed to be on the road by now. She didn’t get cold feet, did she?”
I didn’t know about her feet, but her hand hadn’t been warm, even though she was wrapped up tight in a carpet.
Chapter Six
With Caleb standing before me, I glanced up at the house, knowing I was about to get in trouble and not having one single care in the world. Burton would not want me talking to this guy, but Caleb was here, and so was I, and no one else. Besides, what was I supposed to do? Just smile at him until someone from the force came down and told him his girlfriend was dead? I could have sent him inside to find out, but that felt wrong.
I couldn’t do that. I knew I couldn’t even if I wanted to, which, in all honesty, I didn’t.
“I saw her this morning, but that was it.” Keep it vague and simple, I told myself. I still didn’t know if the person in the Dumpster actually was Audra, and I wouldn’t know until they pulled her out. Being vague was about all I had. “When did you last talk to her?”
“Right before she came over to clean. She usually texts me at lunch, and I didn’t hear from her, but when she also didn’t text me at dinner or show up at the restaurant to celebrate her getting this awesome contract for her side business, I got worried. I tried her a few minutes ago and nothing. I don’t know where she is, and I couldn’t think of anywhere else to look for her but here.”
He stuffed his hands into his opposite armpits and began pacing in front of me. “I went by her apartment, but no one has seen her since last night. I called her parents, but they haven’t heard from her, and no one remembers seeing her after she took off for this place. I’m worried. Should I be worried? Why are there so many cops here?”
This kid had to be just about drinking age. How was I going to tell him that his girlfriend, whom he had just proposed to, was probably dead, rolled up in a carpet at the bottom of a Dumpster? Seriously, this was something I most certainly did not want to do. And I guess I hadn’t realized until now how truly young he was. Not that I had a problem with a May-December romance. I just was curious.
“Hopefully, we can find her.” What a lie! And it stuck in my throat and almost choked me. And I had completely skipped over his question about the cop cars. I was not good at lying; but avoiding, I could do.
“Did you see her car here? I thought she might still be here for some reason, and I was running out of places to look.”
He answered my question of why he would be here looking for Audra before I could ask it, thankfully. Normally, I was all gung ho to put people on the spot and ask the hard questions, but the sadness and nervousness on this kid’s face were making it difficult for me to even think, much less ask questions.
Should I tell him what I had found? Maybe it really should be left for the police.
“I don’t see her car,” he continued. “Did you? I’m sorry if I’m asking twice. I’m just so anxious.”
“Totally understandable, but no, I didn’t see her car. There’s a barn out back. Maybe there?” And I wouldn’t mind getting a peek while I was at it.
I led the way but got only to the corner of the mansion before Burton yelled down from a second-story window. “Do not move. Wherever you’re going, stop right now.”
Caleb and I both stopped and looked at each other. He was wide-eyed and wondering, and I probably had guilt and anger stamped all over my face.
“Are we going to get in trouble?” Caleb whispered.
“Probably not you, but definitely me.”
Sure enough, Burton came out of the house and dow
n the porch stairs like his rear end was on fire.
“What did I tell you, Tallie?”
I shook my head slightly at the man who was a pain in my life more often than not with these kinds of things.
“I told you that you couldn’t touch anything until we confirmed that your rival really is dead and it is not just a guess. Now I find you trying to traipse off to God knows where with God knows who.” He squinted at Caleb. “Who is this anyway?”
“Audra’s fiancé.”
Burton’s eyes went wide, then narrowed down to slits. “Where were you this afternoon, young man?”
Caleb stood behind me, using my body as a shield against Burton, as he squeaked out, “At home, sir.”
“Anyone able to verify that?”
“Burton, knock it off,” I said. “He just got here, because he can’t find his girlfriend, and they were supposed to be at dinner to celebrate their engagement.”
Burton’s eyes stayed narrowed for a moment longer and then went back to normal, but with sorrow in them.
“I’ll leave you two alone.” I backed away. “I think you might have some things to talk about.” I headed toward my car.
At that moment, the officer who had been in the Dumpster popped his head out. “I got her out of the carpet, boss, but it’s not pretty.”
Caleb’s whole face went sheet white, and I rushed back to put my shoulder under his arm so he wouldn’t fall.
“Audra?”
“Let me check it out before I say anything.” Burton’s whole face drooped. “Matt,” he called out. “Can you come down here?”
“I can stay with him, Burton,” I offered and was given the scowl.
“We’ve got this, Tallie. No need to interfere. You can go when Matt gets here. You and I will talk at the station when I get done.”
Moments later, Matt walked away with Caleb. Burton and I stared at each other. Then I watched Caleb’s shoulders shake, and Matt put an arm around him before I looked back at Burton.
“You can talk to us back at the station when we’re done here.” He started to walk away, as if the conversation was over with his decree.
“I want in on this one.” I was very capable of making my own decrees.
“No.” He kept walking, as if that might deter me.
“Burton, I’m not kidding.” I trotted along behind him. “Audra was my friend, and I was good enough to be your eyes and ears last time.” She hadn’t technically been my complete friend yet, but Burton didn’t have to know that.
“That was last time, not this time. This time I have to run the investigation like the department is supposed to run it. That does not include bystanders or citizens.”
“But I found her, and that makes this my concern.”
“And now that I’ve opened an investigation into her wrongful death, she’s mine, Tallie.” He stopped and put his hand on my shoulder. “I know I tease you a lot about getting a hobby, but this time I’m serious. Remember that death a few months ago? I said it was a death by accidental electrocution, but you were all into everyone’s business because you were so convinced that it had to be foul play. But it wasn’t. It was really an accident. You need to leave these things alone and go with your strengths. Like cleaning and avoiding your father.”
“But we know this one is murder for certain.” Yes, I totally glossed over that one time when I thought it was murder and it had been an accidental death a few months ago. I shouldn’t have tried to get involved in that case when I had no one at stake in the game. And I had felt like an idiot when it turned out I was totally wrong. But this time I did have someone at stake, and no matter what Burton said, I would get involved. Depending on who the murderer was, it could have been me in that Dumpster.
He sighed, then crossed his arms over his chest. “As always, I hesitate to say this, but maybe you really should consider enrolling in the police academy. I heard they have a new class starting soon. Should be just enough time to get to the gym and make sure you’re in good shape.”
“Two insults, one sentence. I’m impressed. And you know my mother and father would never go for me being a police officer.”
“That doesn’t stop you from avoiding being drawn into full-time work at the funeral parlor.” Walking away again, he made it absolutely necessary for me to trot to keep up.
He had a point there, but I really didn’t want to be a police officer. I just wanted to find out who killed Audra and make sure that they were caught and that they paid for the crime.
“I don’t understand why we have this fight every time. You know I can help. You called me in yourself last time. Why can’t you just admit that I bring something to the table?”
“It’s how you bring it to the table that’s an issue. And the fact that you shouldn’t be looking into things at all, shouldn’t even be in the room with the table much less. Heck, you should be in a whole different house, like the one you have to clean.” His face stormed over as he spoke.
“But they often find me.” I intensely disliked being on the defensive, but Audra was important, or she could have been once I had gotten to the bottom of why she would have let Preston help her cheat. I was not going to let this go.
He finally stopped walking and looked at me. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t get involved. Let me do my job, and go hang out with your boyfriend. I heard from Gina’s mom that he’s going to be in town for the next month. Maybe he can straighten you out and keep you out of trouble.”
This time when he walked away, I was too stunned to follow. Straighten me out? Keep me out of trouble? Who did Burton think he was?
I had a few more words to get in before he ended our conversation. I strolled up to him, ready to deliver a piece of my mind, but I was interrupted by a commotion ahead of us.
In the midst of my conversation with Burton, I’d lost track of Caleb. Matt had walked away with him and, I thought, had him in hand. But suddenly, Caleb took off at a dead run across the field of decaying stalks of corn next to the mansion. Matt was behind him and was falling farther behind with every step. Two other officers tried to come up alongside the runaway, but Caleb hit his stride in the tall stalks and kept on going. Every once in a while, I’d see a stalk sway, but it could have been the breeze. The clouds above our heads suddenly burst open, and a pattering rain fell. It seeped through my clothes in the seconds it took for Burton and me to make a mad dash for the covered porch.
I was surprised he didn’t run after the guy, too, but Burton remained standing with me, watching intently as things continued to run amok in front of us.
“You’re not going to run after them?” I asked.
“No, because then you’ll probably just go get into trouble in some other way. I think it’s better to stand with you here and make sure you stay where you are.”
“For God’s sake, Burton, I’m not going to get into trouble.” I shook my head in disgust, water droplets spraying out around us. “And you keep saying I should let you go do your job. So go do your job.”
“I don’t have to do anything more than stand here.” He used his notebook to point to the left, and sure enough, there was a disheveled Matt and the other two officers dragging a furious and drenched Caleb between them. He kicked and spat and yelled, but none of them were releasing what I was sure was an iron grip.
“I didn’t do it,” Caleb yelled.
“We’ll figure that out down at the station,” Burton responded from the porch, then finally walked away from me. He had the stroll down pat, almost turning it into a saunter, even in the mud created by the rain. “Read him his rights, Matt, and we’ll go from there. Why don’t you put him in my car? We’ll get this taken care of and get back to our regular day.”
Back to their regular day? What did they normally do? And this was serious business.
While Matt put Caleb into the back of the squad car, I ran up to Burton, not caring about getting more soaked than I already was. “And just like that, you think it’s solved? What about the Dumpste
r? The corpse? You don’t even know how she was killed.”
“I’m sure Caleb will tell us all about it. And I’ll have the guys comb the area for any evidence, while I take the significant other down to the station and get some answers.”
“You think you really have the guy?”
“I know I do. It’s almost always the spouse or, in this case, the almost spouse.” He remained stone-faced, and I sighed.
“So it’s all done. No mystery here, huh?”
“Nope, no mystery, so go on home to your soon-to-be-something and let us figure out how it went down and why it went down. You can read about it in the paper in a few days.”
He seemed awfully sure of himself as he walked over to his car and got in, with Caleb still yelling in the backseat. That was going to be a long ride back to the station, and a noisy one.
Not my problem, I told myself, and now I really could spend my days with Max. Do fun things without worrying about murder in the area again. And if they got a confession and finished up their clue gathering today, then I could go about my life and not worry. If all the ladies on my team were available tomorrow, I’d gather them together and tell them I’d failed, or at least my reputation had, and we could brainstorm other ideas on how to get them all working.
All was right in the world. But why did it feel so wrong?
On my way home, I tried to talk my way through why I didn’t have to worry about this. Burton would figure it out. He was positive Caleb had done it, and he had years of experience behind him. He should know.
It was weird that Caleb had shown up at the mansion, though. Why would he think that was the right place to look for Audra since she should have been done for the day once she got the contract? And he was so young. I hadn’t realized he was that young. He’d mentioned that he hadn’t received Audra’s normal texts at the normal times and that she hadn’t answered his phone calls. So on a hunch he’d shown up at the mansion. Why so late in the day? He’d said he talked to her parents, ran by her apartment, and then came right here. Had he really talked to those people, or had he just said that to get me to tell him whether I’d seen her car or to give him any info he wanted?