Mayhem & Mass

by Olivia Matthews

  Sister Lou reached across the table to cup Shari’s left hand where it lay beside her salad bowl. “Do you want to leave Briar Coast?”

  “I’ve only been here two and a half months. And yet, of all the places I’ve lived, this town feels the most like home.”

  Sister Lou gave Shari’s hand a final squeeze before leaning back in her chair. “I don’t mean to pry, but how are your finances?”

  “I’ll be all right for a while.” Shari’s mouth tilted in a crooked smile.

  “With your writing skills, you’re qualified for other jobs outside of reporting.”

  “I’d rather stay in newspapers, but right now I’m open to pretty much anything.”

  “I’ll ask around.”

  “Thank you.”

  “What are friends for?”

  Shari smiled. She was beginning to find out.

  Chapter 28

  “Have you had a nice chat?” Chris joined them at their table in the Briar Coast Café. His tray carried only a sandwich and a cup of coffee.

  Shari saw the concern in his eyes. “Yes, Sister Lou told me all of your secrets.”

  He and Sister Lou smiled, lightening the mood around the table as Shari had hoped.

  She reached into her tote bag for the two folders containing printouts of the research she’d done last night and this morning. She slid aside her half-eaten salad and opened the folder on top. “I was surprised at some of the information I found on Wanda McClane after hearing the two of you describe her as pleasant and friendly.”

  Chris frowned. “What did you learn?”

  “Our cheerful redhead has an assault charge.” Shari handed each of them a copy of her report. “She also has a drinking problem and a couple of DUIs. Being arrested once for driving under the influence didn’t serve as a wake-up call.”

  Chris skimmed over the printout. “It states here that the assault charge was from a bar fight.”

  “They probably tried to stop serving her.” Shari heard the bitterness in her voice. She cleared her throat before continuing. “If it wasn’t for her weakness for the bottle, she’d be a perfectly well-adjusted forty-four-year-old Catholic elementary school administrative assistant. She’s separated, has two daughters. They’re both enrolled at the State University of New York at Buffalo.”

  Chris nodded toward the report. “I’m impressed by how much information you gathered overnight.”

  “I had a lot of time on my hands.” Shari met his eyes. “I quit my job yesterday.”

  Chris’s eyes flared in surprise. He glanced at Sister Lou before looking back at Shari. “I’m sorry.”

  Shari shrugged. “I’m not. Yet.”

  “Chris’s right, Shari.” Sister Lou tapped the papers. “This report is very detailed. Good work. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” Shari closed her folder on Wanda and opened the other one. “I also gathered some intel on Goodwin Barrow. He’s sixty-five years old. Our friendly neighborhood conservative theologian’s originally from Greenville, North Carolina. He and his wife, Christie Leah, have been married for forty-three years.”

  “That’s a really long time.” Sister Lou finished her soup and started on her sandwich.

  “I haven’t gotten to the best part yet.” Shari continued reading from her printed notes. “The couple has seven children and twenty-eight grandchildren.”

  “That’s one big family.” Chris seemed stunned.

  “No kidding. My ovaries hurt just thinking about it.” Shari paused for a long drink of her iced tea. “The couple has quite a bit of debt.”

  “I’m sure they do, with seven children and twenty-eight grandchildren.” Chris still sounded shell-shocked.

  “You seem to be having a lot of trouble with this.” Shari fought back a smile. “Don’t you like kids?”

  “Yes, I do.” Chris lowered his off-white porcelain coffee mug. “One day, I’d like a couple of my own, but just a couple.”

  “And imagine twenty-eight grandchildren.” Shari shook her head, dragging her fingers through her hair. “That’s an entire classroom from your sperm.”

  Sister Lou gestured toward Shari’s manila folders. “Let’s stay focused. What other information do you have on Goodwin?”

  Shari flipped through the folder, handing each of them a copy of her report. “That’s pretty much it. His college years—he transferred twice—places he’s worked, hobbies. He loves his kids, all thirty-five of them. One of his daughters-in-law is pregnant again.”

  Sister Lou looked over her copy of the printout. “This is wonderfully detailed, Shari. Thank you. Goodwin came to see me this morning.”

  “What did he want?” Shari was startled.

  “Why?” Chris asked at the same time.

  Sister Lou set down Shari’s report. “Kevin sent him an email accusing me of giving Goodwin’s name to Deputy Cole and Deputy Tate as a person of interest in Maurice’s murder.”

  Chris sipped his coffee. “Why would Kevin lie to Goodwin? How would he benefit from that?”

  “I believe he wants to sow dissension in our investigation so people won’t want to speak with me about Mo.” Sister Lou’s theory sounded solid to Shari. Chris seemed to like it, too.

  Shari addressed Sister Lou. “Should we confront him about his lies?”

  Sister Lou touched her Hermionean cross pinned to her tan blouse. “I called him, but my call went right into his voicemail.”

  Shari shook her head with a laugh. “That guy has uncanny instincts when it comes to knowing when you’re going to show up at his office. It’s more than a coincidence that he’s never there when we arrive.”

  “If I hadn’t met Appleby, I’d think he didn’t exist.” Chris leaned into the table.

  “It’s as though Kevin’s just disappeared.” Sister Lou seemed startled by the possibility.

  Shari felt a moment’s foreboding. The guy must be guilty as sin. “Would Beatrix give us his home address?”

  Sister Lou shook her head. “Probably not. Could you find it on the Internet?”

  Shari dropped both folders into her tote bag. “I have time to try.”

  * * *

  “This is a convenient coincidence.” Sister Lou greeted Sister Carmen when she spotted her in the congregation’s office mailroom Thursday afternoon. “I added a social media component to the public relations section of the draft.”

  Sister Lou handed Sister Carmen a marked copy of the draft of their community outreach plan, then slipped past her to check her mailbox.

  “Social media. I guess it’s a necessary evil.” Sister Carmen added the draft plan to the stack of mail in her arms.

  “Do you have time to talk about it now?” Sister Lou dug into her mailbox and pulled out periodicals, invoices, and solicitations.

  “I’ll follow you to your office.” Sister Carmen stepped aside to wait for Sister Lou in the room’s cozy confines. “You can also fill me in on your investigation.”

  “I have new information from my lunch with Chris and Shari today.” Sister Lou closed her mailbox, then led the way out of the room.

  As she and Sister Carmen walked down the wide, carpeted hallway to her office, Sister Lou was puzzling over a plain white business envelope she’d found among her mail. Only her name appeared on it in a simple, black font, centered on the envelope’s face. Maybe that’s why it seemed almost menacing. The envelope wasn’t sealed closed or even taped. Instead, the flap had been carefully tucked in.

  “How are Chris and Shari getting along?” Sister Carmen’s question distracted her from her examination of the envelope.

  “They’re working together well.” Sister Lou set the mysterious envelope aside to give her friend a wry look. “It was tense in the beginning, but Chris was able to work with Shari once he realized she hadn’t twisted my arm to do this.”

  “Any chance their relationship could develop into something more once you find the person who killed Maurice?” Sister Carmen was an incurable romantic.

&nb
sp; “Maybe when they know each other better.” Sister Lou led her friend into her office.

  Sister Carmen slumped onto the right-hand guest chair. “So how is it going? Are you narrowing down your suspects?”

  “I don’t know what I’m doing, Carm.” Sister Lou took her seat with a sigh. She balanced her elbows on her desk and dropped her forehead into her palms. “All I know is that I need to bring Mo’s killer to justice, but I’m beginning to lose hope that that will ever happen.”

  “Don’t lose hope.” Sister Carmen straightened in her chair. “From what you’ve told me, every day brings you closer to unmasking this killer. And you have so many people who support you and believe in you.”

  “That reminds me.” Sister Lou dropped her forearms and lifted her head. “Marianna knows you’re helping me with the community outreach project.”

  “So what?” Sister Carmen shrugged.

  She should have anticipated Sister Carmen’s reaction. “If you’re not worried, then I won’t be, either.” Sister Lou’s gaze dropped to the plain white envelope. This time, she didn’t resist the urge to open it.

  “We have enough to worry about without adding Marianna to the list.” Sister Carmen paused. “What’s that you’re reading?”

  Sister Lou looked up from the sheet of paper she’d unfolded onto her desk. Her hands were shaking. Her mouth was dry. Her eyes met Sister Carmen’s.

  “A death threat.” Her voice emerged as a whisper.

  “What?” Sister Carmen scooted to the edge of her seat.

  Sister Lou pushed the empty envelope across her desk to Sister Carmen; then she read the brief message again, this time aloud: “‘Stop meddling in this investigation. Bad things could happen to you, too.’”

  Sister Carmen looked like she’d been sucker punched. “Give that to me.”

  Sister Lou passed the typewritten note to her friend. “Who would send this to me?”

  “Someone who wants to scare you senseless. And if I’m any indication, it’s working.”

  “It was in my mail. How could it have gotten into my mail? My address isn’t on it.”

  “It couldn’t have been hand delivered. Strangers can’t wander around these offices unsupervised.” Sister Carmen looked at her. Her coffee-brown eyes were dark with confusion. “We have a security door, and there’s a receptionist at the front desk.”

  “Then how? And who?” Sister Lou pulled her thoughts together, forcing herself to concentrate. “I haven’t told many people that I’m working on this, only members of the congregation, Chris, Shari, the deputies, and the people I’m investigating.”

  “It must be one of your suspects.” Sister Carmen returned the note to Sister Lou’s desk. “You’ve got to tell Chris.”

  “I don’t want him to worry about me.”

  Sister Carmen gave her a wide-eyed stare. “Are you kidding me? How would you feel if Chris got a threatening message but didn’t tell you because he didn’t want to worry you?”

  Sister Lou panicked as an even more terrifying thought occurred to her. “Do you think Chris and Shari received one of these notes, too?”

  Sister Carmen gestured toward Sister Lou’s desk phone. “Ask him—and tell him about the note you received.”

  “I will.” Although she didn’t want to. But she’d rather have him smother her than have something happen to him because he hadn’t known about the note. Sister Lou checked her watch. “Afterward, I want to speak with the deputies.”

  “That’s a good idea.”

  “In the meantime, I’ll make a list of the people who could have sent me that note.”

  * * *

  “Aunt Lou, is something wrong?” Chris saved the computer file he’d been working on Thursday afternoon, then circled his desk to get to his aunt.

  Sister Lou was doing her best to mask her expression, but he saw the concern in her eyes and the tension tightening her mouth. What had happened? He’d left her less than an hour ago, after they’d had lunch with Shari. Why would she need to see him again so soon?

  Chris assisted her onto one of his blue visitors’ seats. “What’s happened?”

  His aunt hesitated. “Chris, have you received any strange notes, emails, or messages?”

  That’s not what he’d expected to hear. “Strange in what way?”

  Sister Lou studied Chris for a moment in silence, then shook her head with a sigh. “Of course, you haven’t. If you had, you’d have told me.”

  “What’s going on, Aunt Lou?” He watched her reach into her bulging navy handbag.

  “I found this in my office mailbox when I checked it after lunch.”

  The fact that the note and business envelope she handed him were sealed into a clear plastic food storage baggie was an ominous foreboding. It took Chris only a second to read the note. It was even more chilling in its brevity. That chill was quickly supplanted by a white hot flare of anger.

  Someone had threatened his family.

  Chris stared at the letter through a red haze. “Who sent this to you?”

  “I’m trying to find out.”

  Chris heard the strain of fear in her voice, and his temper erupted again. This was his nightmare come true. He lifted his gaze to hold her eyes. “Aunt Lou, this isn’t something you should do on your own. We need to take this to the deputies.”

  “I’m on my way to do that now, but I wanted to know if you or Shari had received similar messages.” She gripped his hand as though to give him comfort. He needed to comfort her; he needed to protect her.

  Chris stood, giving her back the food storage baggie. “I’ll come with you.”

  Sister Lou rose from her seat. She released his hand and checked her wristwatch. “Don’t you have a donor meeting with the Russells?”

  Donald and Sonya Russell were a wealthy couple from old money, who were always looking for ways not to write a check. One of Chris’s goals for this fiscal year was to get a donation from the Briar Coast royal family.

  “I’ll ask someone else to take it.” Chris waved his arm in a dismissive gesture as he circled his desk.

  “In the next fifteen minutes?” Sister Lou caught his arm as he started to walk past her. “Chris, you won’t be able to bring someone up to speed on your presentation in fifteen minutes. Besides, they asked for you.”

  His aunt was right. As much as he wanted to be with her, he couldn’t walk away from this meeting. Chris rubbed the tightening muscles at the back of his neck. He loved his job, but right now, he resented the heck out of it.

  “Aunt Lou, we need to stop this investigation.” Chris stood with his back to Sister Lou. It pained him to say the words. He understood the importance of this project to her. “We’ve gone as far as we can. Let’s give all of our information to the deputies, then step back.”

  “I spoke with the deputies Tuesday morning.” Sister Lou released Chris’s forearm. “They aren’t interested in our information or our theories. They’re determined to prove that Jessica is the killer.”

  “Then let them try.” Chris turned to his aunt. “We know they won’t be able to. Once they fail, maybe then they’ll be more interested in what we can offer.”

  “And how long will that take?” Sister Lou shook her head. “It’s already been two weeks. We’re days past the optimal forty-eight-hour window in which you’re most likely to find the criminal.”

  “This investigation just took an even more dangerous turn.” Chris threw an arm toward the baggie in her hand. “Someone’s threatening you.”

  “I know.” Her sigh was knotted with frustration.

  “I know that Maurice was your friend, but he wouldn’t want you to risk your life to find his killer.”

  “He wouldn’t want me to give in to a bully, either.”

  Chris’s eyes stretched wide with incredulity. “That threat’s not from a bully; it’s from a murderer.”

  Sister Lou returned the baggie to her purse with care. “I understand if you’d rather not work on this case any longer, but
I can’t stop.”

  He wasn’t surprised by his aunt’s response. In fact, he’d expected it. “Then neither will I.”

  Sister Lou looked worried.

  Well, now they both were.

  She adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder. “I’m going to call Shari to see if she’s received any anonymous notes.”

  Chris found a smile. “If Shari got a message like that one, we’d be the second and third people she’d tell, right after she clobbered the person who sent it.”

  “You’re probably right.” Sister Lou chuckled. “I’ll let you know how it goes with the deputies.”

  “I’d appreciate that.” And after his appointment with the Russells, he was going to pay a visit to the person he suspected of sending the threatening message.

  Chapter 29

  “Twice in one week.” Deputy Ted Tate feigned a look of surprise as he watched Sister Lou approach the work area he shared with Deputy Fran Cole. “To what do we owe the . . . pleasure?”

  “I’m here to report a crime.” From her oversized navy purse, Sister Lou pulled the plastic baggie in which she’d secured the note and envelope. She’d made a copy of the letter before coming to the sheriff’s office.

  “Couldn’t you solve it yourself?” Ted rested back on his swivel chair.

  “Knock it off, Ted.” Fran leaned into her desk, bringing her closer to Sister Lou. “What’s the crime, Sister?”

  Sister Lou walked past Ted and handed the baggie to Fran. “I found this note in my mailbox this afternoon.”

  Fran took a moment to read the message. “Does the congregation have any security problems?” She examined the letter and envelope without removing either from the baggie.

  “No, none.” Sister Lou shook her head. “No one saw any unaccompanied strangers near the mailroom or anywhere else in our offices.”

  She was more frightened than she was prepared to admit. No one had ever threatened her life before. But with God’s help, she would defeat her fears and find Maurice’s killer.

  She glanced around the sheriff’s office. There were almost twice as many deputies present as she was used to seeing. Still, the activity in the room was minimal. The phones rang infrequently, and the typing was sparse. The near inactivity was a testament to Briar Coast’s low crime rate.