Murder to Spare

by Tamara Woods

  "Anyway, we were doing too much. All the time. And everybody was getting ticked off at us. People in town. Our families. Even our...girlfriends," he said, his eyes shifting to Isa again.

  "Don't worry, I had boyfriends. I think it's safe to say that high school romances are dead."

  "You did?" He seemed so surprised that she felt a flash of irritation. What did he think, that she stayed in her dorm, pining for him, and wishing on a star?

  She just raised her eyebrows at him. "Get to the point, please."

  He cleared his throat. "Right. Everything started to escalate star, when he heard her..."

  "Her who?" Isa asked, when he stopped speaking.

  "Meredith," he said. "I still can't believe..."

  Isa felt a twist in her stomach. She had a feeling that she didn't want to know what happened next. But she needed the truth. She waited for him to go on, staring him in the eye.

  "Chad likes...liked to go out to the clubs. A big drinker with a big ego. Fast to take a shot and take a shot, you know what I mean?" He made a little punching motion with his fist. She nodded.

  "We went up to Morgantown for the weekend. WVU versus PITT. You know how big the parties are. Chad had a lot of friends up there. I don't even know how he met them all, everybody seemed to know him."

  "Was he a well-liked guy?" She asked, even though she knew the answer. She was trying to test her old boyfriend honesty.

  "The people who were close to him were down for whatever. The people who weren't didn't get his vibe you know what I mean? I'm just saying he was a cool guy and not everybody saw that."

  He glanced at the clock on the wall and started speaking a little faster. They didn't have a lot of time.

  "Any way that doesn't really matter. We went up to Morgantown like I was saying, we were going to be for the weekend. My then-girlfriend and Meredith and a couple other guys went up with us."

  "Who were the other guys?"

  "That guy Stan from high school and there's a guy that you might not know yet. He wasn't around when you were here. Brendan."

  She nodded. Of course he was involved in all of this somehow. Could she just find a guy who wasn't attached to drama?

  "The game was awesome! It was the backyard brawl of the century. We destroyed them. We tailgated in the parking lot before the game, we drank during the game, then on the way to the bar we were drinking. We had so many shots—"

  Isa rolled her eyes. "Travis! I get, you were drunk. Move on."

  He blinked rapidly. "Right. Right. Sorry. We ended up going to a bar. Downtown. We got there and Chad had a lot of money. He was buying shot after shot after shot. The girls were totally hammered. We left the bar and went to a party. It was mostly guys there."

  He paused for a moment, and he didn't look like he wanted to go on. "He treated Meredith really bad."

  "In what way?"

  "She was absolutely wasted, man. And he just kinda... Passed her a round like she was a bottle. And everybody was having a sip, if you know what I mean."

  Isa was afraid that she did know what he meant. She felt nauseated at the idea of her old friend being treated that way.

  "What happened next?"

  "One of the guys there went off on Chad. He kind of white knighted for Meredith. He and Chad had words. They came to blows. It was pretty intense."

  Isa was disappointed that it hadn't been Travis who had "saved" Meredith. What kind of guy was he now? But being a sleaze didn't mean he was capable of murder.

  "Who was the guy?"

  "That one guy think she's dating now."

  Isa hadn't met him yet, but it was time to make a change there. "What does this have to do with you beating up with Travis at the bar?"

  He huffed. "I'm getting there. I'm telling you what happened."

  She held her hands up in surrender.

  He cleared his throat again and kept going, "After all that happened, I wasn't cool with Chad. We didn't speak for a while. He was doing crazy stuff and I didn't want to be a part of it. But he texted me that night after seeing you. Told me to meet him at the spot."

  "And the bowling alley?"

  He nodded. "After I got the text I rushed over there. And when I got there, he was already dead. I called the police and then I bounced. You know what happened after that."

  "Wait a second. You were there? You didn't tell me you were there. And he sent you a text?"

  He nodded again. She frowned. If he didn't tell her that he was on the scene, what else was he lying about?

  "I wonder if he was alive when you got that text or if somebody was trying to pin things on you after your fight?"

  He blinked rapidly. "I didn't think that he could've not been alive. I...I don't know. This is craziness."

  Isa started tapping her finger against her mouth, thinking. Whoever the murderer was new how close those two were. They also may have known there was a problem between the two of them at the time.

  "I hear that Chad was doing something illegal. What was he doing? Do you know who he was dealing with?"

  Travis's eyes darted again, like he couldn't stand to meet her eyes.

  "I wasn't sure. But he was definitely making a lot of extra cash from somewhere. Their construction business wasn't going that great. But he was always buying the most drinks, the most drugs, flashing his money. Acting like the hotshot."

  The last part he said with a tinge of bitterness that surprised Isa. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she heard some footsteps against the stone floor.

  "Time's up, Isadora," Sheriff Watson's voice sounded behind her. She nodded and stood up. She didn't want to make trouble with him. She had just wanted to check-in with her friend.

  "Isa, be careful," Travis said to her back.

  She flashed him a peace sign over her shoulder.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  SNOW FLURRIES FLUTTERED softly in the air as Isa paused to peer through the Mystic Eye's storefront. A fresh dusting covered the sidewalk outside, but it was still early yet. People hadn't started bustling around, opening their shops, and getting ready for the day. She and her aunt were lucky. They could roll out of bed and run downstairs, if need be.

  Yet, we never sleep in, Isa thought ruefully.

  Her phone played the theme song to Murder She Wrote. She rarely got calls, especially early in the morning. She glanced at the number and smiled. It was from the public library.

  "Hey Mackenzie, how are you?" she answered.

  The library wouldn't be open yet, but Mackenzie was definitely the kind of person to come in early to make sure everything was perfect.

  "I'm good. Fine thanks. No actually, I'm not fine at all. One could probably say I'm bad at this point." Her words came out in a heated rush. Isa's eyebrows raised.

  "What's going on? Are you okay?"

  "I'm okay. Of course, I'm fine." She must have realized she was repeating herself and took a deep breath. She'd always been a little high strung when she was under stress, even in grade school. "I hate to ask you this, but one of our techs is going to be at the dentist on Thursday. We've already got a skeleton crew as it is. I need someone to cover the children's area so I can cover the reference desk. If you're not too busy. I totally understand if you are. I could—"

  "Is that all?," Isa broke in before the girl got herself into an even bigger tizzy. "Of course! I'll let my aunt know that I'll be at the library for the day, so we can plan around it."

  "Are you sure it's no trouble?"

  "You're doing me a favor. I miss being in a library."

  "I'm so glad. Thank you so much! I'll see you tomorrow morning." MacKenzie's relief was so palpable, Isa could feel it. They ended the call and Isa felt a flash of excitement. There was something so soothing about working at a library, even when crazy things went down.

  "What are you staring at?"

  Isa almost jumped out of her skin. Her aunt's voice was right in her ear. "You think that's how this store gets ready for the day, staring out the window? You hoping a po
t of gold plops in for the first snowfall? Help me finish setting up this display."

  Pot of gold? Isa brow furrowed in confusion, but she rushed forward to held her aunt. They'd created a very pretty display for the autumn. Isa had taken a large wire display rack, spray painted it bronze, threaded battery powered fairy lights and glittery leaves through it. They were going to temporarily attach it to the wall and below it they'd display autumn themed books that gave a distinctly "cozy" vibe. They also had tea cups and coffee mugs that sported the shop's logo of a radiating eye, like the one in her aunt's office. Cuter on a smaller scale. And they placed teas around them that had autumn notes like apple cider and apple cinnamon.

  It would be really eye-catching in the storefront window. Isa spread more of the leaves on the beneath the display for continuity. The window already had fairy lights dangling from the top of the window that were operated by a switch. She turned them on and then went outside to take a quick look. It was just as warm and inviting as she'd thought it would be.

  "Nice job, Isa," Brendan said. He was sensibly dressed in jeans and a thick jacket. She smiled her thanks, wrapping her arms around herself against the cold.

  "They don't wear coats in Ohio?" he asked playfully.

  She tilted her head and gave him a closer look. "How did you know I lived in Ohio?" Had he been asking about her? If he was, she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

  His cheeks looked a little red, but she wasn't sure if it was just from the cold. "You know how Whisper Valley is. People talk. And most nights, I'm bartending."

  "People love to open up to bartenders. It's like alcohol is a chat serum," she said, nodding and then fell silent. They stood there, shifting back and forth on the balls of their feet.

  She cleared her throat. "Alright well, I'm going to..." She pointed to the store.

  "Right. I need to..." He pointed toward his brewery.

  "Okay then."

  "Right."

  "Isa, quit flirting with the enemy and let's get this show on the road!" Her aunt stood in the door, an accusing look on her face, and Isa silently asked for all the gods to swallow her whole.

  No such luck.

  "The enemy?"

  "She's old," Isa said with a shrug.

  "I heard that!"

  "I meant that!" she called back.

  She turned back to Brendan, "I better go." He nodded as she rushed into the shop before her aunt could say anything else that would mortify her.

  As soon as the door closed behind her. "The enemy? Really, Auntie? I told you his store has nothing to do with your financial issues."

  Her aunt's face took on a mulish expression that was all too familiar. "I don't care what you say. I don't trust him."

  Isa's eye roll was epic. "You haven't trusted any boy who's taken a shine to me since I started grade school."

  "They ain't proved me wrong yet." Aunt Maybel shrugged one shoulder in her smug way. Isa wisely kept her tongue. There was no arguing with that woman when she thought she was right.

  The rest of set-up was smooth sailing. By the time they opened the doors, The Ladies Who Lunch came marching in. The book Isa had been trying to shelf, fell from her hand, bouncing on the ground when she caught sight of Mrs. Brown.

  The Ladies liked to keep up with the times by reading magazines and watching shows on Music Television. Unfortunately, they sometimes decided to take on the fashion as well. Which was why when Mrs. Beaulah Brown shrugged off her faux fur coat to reveal a cropped top, over her skinny jeans, and blue platform Chuck Taylors, Isa really shouldn't have been surprised. But it was snowing outside! And the should cut-outs were a bit much, right? Really heavy smoky eye should've topped her off. And the fresh manicured nails with the diamond bling shiny on the tips were another dead giveaway.

  "You like my 'fit, Isa?" Miss Beaulah asked, ending a slow spin, with a jaunty hip thrust.

  "You better watch, you're going to throw your back out," Auntie cautioned.

  "Oh hush. You're just jelly at my swag," Miss Beaulah said, pretending to dust dirt off of her shoulder.

  Isa smiled weakly at her. "You are definitely living your best life, Miss Beaulah."

  Her laugh was as smoky as her eyeshadow, and Isa had the impression that when she was younger, Miss Beaulah got down with her bad self.

  "I need to take this show on the road. Anybody wanna blow this popstand and go to the senior center?" she said with a wink.

  "We just got here. And I'm feeling every single one of my seventy years. Sit your fast self down." Mrs. Hildegrad Strait said, seating on the edge of her chair, with her hands folded primly in her lap.

  Mrs. Brown huffed, but gently perched on "her" chair. They took their residence near the drink and snack counter. Isa put the book away and then made her way to the counter. Even though her aunt was there, she was there to take care of the stuff.

  Her laptop was already open and cued up for mindless browsing. No one was in the place other than The Ladies. Isa checked her socials. Nothing was exciting there. She posted a picture of the display on the Mystic Eye social networks. Once she started taking pictures of all her aunt's hard work and they actually started like things and sharing, Aunt Maybel was hooked.

  Now she wanted her own Facespace.

  Have mercy on us all, Isa thought.

  She wondered what people were saying about Chad. She pulled up his profile and started scrolling through it. A lot of posts about him drinking with people. Was that all his life was? There were a few inappropriate memes from people who thought he'd get a kick out of it, "From wherever you are, bro."

  A couple angry posts from people wondering what was going to happen with their botched work. She winced. His brother is going to be really busy with a lot of ticked off people.

  Nothing seemed too angry or misplaced.

  She searched for Meredith's profile. Who was her boyfriend? Time to find out. After a few minutes, she came up with nothing. How can people live in a small town and still manage to have secrets? She'd never learned that skill, but she would definitely take that webinar.

  Mrs. Viola Jones, Jussy's grandmother came in a few minutes later. The elderly black woman had on a much more sensible outfit than Miss Beaulah. Thanks goodness. Her gray slacks matched her overcoat. She carried a cane that had a wooden duck handle on it.

  "Hi Miss Viola! I heard from Jussy the other day. She sound really good. I think we might get lunch together or something."

  "You are? That's surprising," Miss Viola said as she settled in.

  "It is? Why's that?"

  "She doesn't like...that is you...she thinks...oh nothing dear. I'm just an old fool. Don't mind me." She picked up her bag searching for something and ending the conversation. Isa looked at her curiously, but didn't push the subject.

  Other than Auntie's hooligan geriatric baddies sipping and spilling tea about Whisper Valley, nothing else happened that morning.

  She thought back to the conversation from last night with Travis and she knew she had to check on one other thing. While there was no one in the shop, Isa gave Meredith a call.

  "Hey Meredith, this is Isa, how are you?"

  "Isa, hi. I've been meaning to call you, but things kept coming up."

  "I was wondering Meredith, the day that Chad died, where were you that morning?"

  She paused for a beat."I was visiting my boyfriend Scott in Westlake. He's living there with his parents until we save enough for our own place. Why do you ask?"

  "I'm looking into all of this for Travis and I'm just being thorough. Nothing personal."

  "Of course not." She cleared her throat. "I've been meaning to call you anyways."

  "Is something wrong?" Isa asked.

  "Oh no, nothing at all. Quite opposite."

  Isa waited for her old friend to fill the silence.

  "Your aunt's reading really brought things to light for me," she said.

  "It did?"

  "Oh yes. I had been praying that something terrible would happen to Chad
after...something went wrong with him. He wasn't a nice man." Her voice wavered a bit.

  "I'm sorry that he hurt you," Isa said quietly. She didn't have to ask Meredith what he'd done. And she felt guilty that she'd thought maybe Meredith had done something terrible in retaliation.

  "But now I see that his death and the death of anything we had, can bring light to my current life. I thought I needed closure. I thought I needed to know why he was the way he was. But I didn't. I needed to know it was over. And it is," she said, and Isa could a smile in her voice.

  "I'm glad for you Meredith."

  "In any case, we'll have to doubledate sometime."

  "We will?"

  "Sure. Me and Scott and you and Brendan."

  "We're not together like that."

  "Oh you will be." Meredith's voice was so confident, Isa almost believed her.

  After they rang off, Isa thought about going to the law office tonight, and her heart beat hard in her chest. At least Jussy was going to help get them into the building.

  Hopefully, it wouldn't go full-out blizzard before their night adventure.

  "THIS IS CRAZY, ISA! Did I rub off on you or something?" Clare whispered. The snow had stopped for the day, but it still smelled like snow in the air.

  Definitely cold enough for more of the white stuff, Isa thought, rubbing her gloved hands together. They looked like the Olsen twins turned goth dressed in black from head to toe. Their sneakers even had black shoelaces. Perfect outfit for the spying they were planning to do. They stood outside of Spencer Hammill Attorney at Law, pressed against the back wall hidden from the street.

  Isa set her lips firm. She honestly couldn't believe she was being this impulsive either. If she thought about it too deeply, she'd probably go back. But she'd do anything to help her loved ones.

  "We have to do we have to do. And Jussy should be here any time now," she said, glancing down at her phone again. It was already ten after.

  "But do we have to do this?"

  "This feels like opposites day," Isa's voice was low.

  They'd already gone through this many times before. She knew that some of the answers they were seeking would be about at the Hammill Law Office and they weren't going to get those answers by asking nicely. Time was of the essence and they were going to cut some corners so they could access things that the police legally could not.