The silence in the house seemed to last a life time as everyone waited, plotting out their next move. After a minute, Pam spoke. “Tim told everyone that I killed Billy. He blamed me, even though Billy was fourteen, and I was only seventeen. Tim said I dared Billy to climb to the very top and then I shook the ladder to make him fall. Tim was always a troubled child, and it just got worse after Billy died. I think he wanted someone to blame, and I was the only person there other than him.”
“Forgive me for asking about this, but why would Tim want your family to think you intentionally caused your cousin’s death?” Jasmine asked.
“I don’t know that he had an ulterior motive. I was six years older than Tim, so it’s not like we competed against each other like some siblings do. I think that Tim either dreamed that I hurt Billy, or he convinced himself that’s what he saw. Tim really believed what he told everyone. He was never the same after that.”
“Did Billy’s parents believe it was accidental, or did they place the blame on you?” Marlee asked.
“Unbeknownst to the rest of the family, Art and Lola were going through a divorce at the time Billy died. They stayed together for a few months after his death, but then they went their separate ways. Tim talked to Art and spread his messed-up theory, and then Art began making claims that I killed Billy to get control of the farm. His second wife believed him and was shooting her mouth off about it too. It still makes me mad, but I try not to hold a grudge. Art was hurting and trying to deal with his grief any way possible,” Pam said.
“Did Tim receive counseling or psychiatric help?” Marlee asked.
“Mom and Dad took him to a counselor a few times, but he wouldn’t open up to her. He refused to participate in any kind of testing, so it was impossible to diagnose him,” Pam stated.
“How could he be so messed up as a kid, yet functional as an adult, if he didn’t receive therapy?” Marlee asked.
“Oh, Tim was still messed up. He just got a lot better at hiding it. He knew better than to bring up Billy’s death to Mom and Dad and the other relatives. Tim kept all of us on the outskirts of his life. Like I said before, he showed up for the major holidays to eat, and then he would leave immediately. It was like he couldn’t stand to be around us,” Pam said with a hint of sadness.
“But I understand you stopped by Stairway to Hell to talk to Tim about crops and the animals,” Marlee said.
Pam squinted. “You sure seem to be hearing a lot of information about our family.”
Marlee nodded. “I just can’t get my head around the fact that Tim is dead. I keep talking to people about him, and information keeps coming up.”
Pam nodded. “Yeah, I tried to include Tim in some of the decision-making for the farm. Like I said before, I told him he could take it over when he graduated college. I was going to step back and let him run the whole thing.”
Jasmine sensed an opportunity to dig into another area. “What were you going to do if Tim took over the farm?”
“He still had another year before he graduated, so I hadn’t made any firm plans. I thought maybe I’d stay at the farm with Tim and help him. Then I got the sense that he didn’t want me anywhere near him when he took over, so I’d thought about going back to school myself. I wanted to stay around the area in case Tim couldn’t handle the farm, and I had to step back in and take over,” Pam reported.
“What did you want to study if you went to college?” Marlee inquired.
“Either Biology or Animal Science. Maybe I would have double-majored in them,” Pam said as she continued to sift through family photos. “The funeral home asked us to bring in some pictures of Tim throughout his life. They are making a photo display to show at the lunch after the funeral.”
“When are the services?” Jasmine asked. “Is there anything we can do to help?”
“No, everything is being handled by the funeral home and our church. The funeral will be Wednesday at 10:00 am at St. John’s Catholic Church. If you could pass the word on to his friends from college, that would be a big help. I’ve met his roommates from the house, but not any of his other friends,” Pam said.
“Of course, we’ll let everyone know the time and location of the funeral, and we’ll be there for sure,” Marlee said.
“Pam, are you staying out here alone? Are your parents or friends staying with you while you go through this terrible time?” Jasmine asked.
“No, I prefer to be alone. Mom and Dad are having enough trouble handling their own grief. They don’t need to deal with me too. One of my best friends lives in Minneapolis, and she’s coming for the funeral and will stay a few days,” Pam said.
Jasmine and Marlee were silent on the drive back to the dorm. Conflicting stories, swirling emotions, and obscure facts fused together to create uncertainty in the roommates. “I just don’t know who or what to believe,” Jasmine said, breaking the ice as they walked into their room.
“Clear as mud, isn’t it?” Marlee joked, although neither of them was in the mood for humor. “I’m going to call Barry to see if he found out anything new.” She placed the call and detailed her and Jasmine’s conversations Blanche, Lola, Adam, and finally with Pam.
“Thanks a lot for checking in,” Barry said dryly.
“No problem,” Marlee chirped, choosing to ignore his sarcasm. “So, as you can see, we’ve had a fairly productive evening thus far. How about you?”
Barry went on to detail the minutiae of his evening, conveniently leaving out anything to do with Tim’s death investigation. “I better get back to work. I have more paperwork to fill out from a drunk driving arrest earlier tonight.”
“Oh no you don’t! What did you find out about Tim’s death? Or Billy’s?” Marlee asked.
“Oh, that. I talked to Smith, one of the guys who’s been here for quite a few years, and he was on the scene after Billy died. He said it was a suspicious case, and he thought Pam was involved, but without evidence nothing could be done. Some of the other officers at the scene thought the same thing.”
“So, Pam was under suspicion? Why didn’t the cops listen to Tim when he said Pam caused Billy’s fall?” Marlee asked.
“Apparently, Tim went into shock at first and wasn’t able to talk about it. By the time he did talk, Pam had spun the story her way, and she already planted seeds that Tim was unstable. Anything Tim had to say to their parents fell on deaf ears. The parents defended Pam and supported the instability claim against Tim when the police questioned them later,” Barry reported.
“Did he think the parents really, truly believed Pam, or were they just protecting her since she was their daughter?” Marlee asked.
“He seemed to think they found Pam’s story believable and that Tim was mistaken or had somehow dreamed up his version of events.”
“Why did the police feel compelled to rule it an accidental death right away? Couldn’t they have ruled it suspicious or inconclusive and left the case open until they knew for sure that Tim was telling the truth?” Marlee asked.
“Remember, there was no evidence to suggest Pam or anyone else caused the accident. By looking at it, it seemed like just an unfortunate accident of a kid playing recklessly that ended in tragedy. It was just a gut feeling Smith and some of the other officers had that Pam was responsible. And Tim wasn’t seen as a reliable witness.”
“I wonder how many cases of homicide go undetected or unprosecuted because they look like accidents.” Marlee said, more to herself than to Barry.
“Many more than you would think possible. I can think of at least six cases around here where someone died in a so-called accident but most likely another person had something to do with it. It’s especially unsettling if the person in question had something to gain from the victim’s death,” Barry said.
“Like Pam getting control of the family farm?” Marlee asked.
“Exactly,” Barry replied before ending the conversation.
As she filled Jasmine in on the details of her conversation with Barry, Marle
e jotted down details of their conversations in the notebook. It was turning out to be a handy reference since so much had happened, first with Beth’s death, and now with the death of Tim. Plus, they were learning more and more about the death of Billy which happened ten years ago. All three cases were intertwined, and Marlee began thinking about breaking them out into separate parts to keep the stories straight.
“Jazz, I just don’t get it. Could Pam really have killed her cousin and then her brother to keep the farm to herself? Does she seem that cold-blooded to you?”
“No, but I bet a lot of people are able to get away with crimes because they don’t seem like the type.”
“We talked about this in criminology a couple weeks ago. There’s no one type of person who is a murderer or a thief or any other type of criminal. You can find some similarities in the way they think or carry out their crimes, but just to look at someone you can’t tell if they’re deadly. You could be a murderer. I could be a murderer. You just never know,” Marlee said.
“Do you think you could ever kill someone?” Jasmine asked.
Marlee laughed until she realized Jasmine wasn’t joking. “God, no! I couldn’t do it even if I was really mad at someone. How about you?”
To Marlee’s surprise, Jasmine replied in the affirmative. “My best friend in high school was beaten up by her boyfriend. He broke her nose, her arm, and some ribs. Sheryl was in the hospital for nearly a week. I didn’t even recognize her the first time I went to visit. I think I could kill the bastard that did that to her. Or if I knew someone was going to harm my family, I could kill them.”
“Remind me to never get on your bad side,” Marlee said as she made toast for them. After a few pieces of hot, buttery toast, they were ready to check out for the night. It had been a long evening of investigating and asking questions.
Marlee was dog tired, but she couldn’t fall asleep. Facts about Tim and Billy’s death kept surfacing, then she would think of additional questions to ask Pam, Tim’s roommates, and others. After an hour of tossing and turning, she finally fell into a fitful sleep. Her brain continued to churn the information she had taken in during the past several days. When she woke the next morning, her blankets were all tangled up around her and the pillow had fallen out of the lofted bed onto the floor. Marlee was just as tired now as she had been when she went to bed last night. “That was pointless,” she thought grumpily as she grabbed her towel and toiletries and stumbled toward the shower.
When she exited the communal bathroom, freshly showered, with her towel wrapped around her, Marlee felt awake and ready to take on the day. Entering her room, she was greeted not by Jasmine, but by Barry.
“Morning!” he said with a smirk.
“How did you get in here so early? The doors are supposed to be locked!” She pulled her towel tighter, self-conscious about how much skin was showing.
“I flashed my badge, and they let me right in. Just got off duty a bit ago and thought I’d come over and tell you something I found out,” Barry said.
“Spill it,” Marlee said as she pulled her blue fluffy robe around herself and cinched it tight.
“It seems Pam’s name came up in another death,” Barry stated.
“Whose death? Where?” Marlee asked.
“It was her grandma’s death five years ago. Out at the farm,” Barry said.
No matter where you go, there will always be somebody spreading gossip and lies with just enough truth mixed in to make the story believable.
Chapter 23
“Her grandmother’s death? Really?” Marlee exclaimed.
“Pam was the one who found Ethel DeWitt at the farm. Grandpa Edgar was over at the neighbors’ having coffee. He hadn’t been tested for dementia yet and was still driving. The family just chalked his behavior up to typical forgetfulness that comes with old age. Pam said she stopped out to visit her grandparents and found her grandma collapsed on the upstairs bathroom floor.” Barry rattled off the details of this additional tragedy that occurred at the DeWitt farm.
“What caused her collapse?” Marlee asked.
“She went into a diabetic coma because of low blood sugar. No one was around to help her, and she wasn’t able to get food or sugar into her system. According to the report I saw at the station, Pam said Grandma Ethel was already gone by the time she found her,” Barry reported.
“That sounds plausible. Why did the cops have doubts?” Marlee asked.
“Because of Billy’s death five years prior. It just seemed odd that Pam was at the scene of yet another unexpected passing of a relative. Everything could have happened just as she said. There was no evidence of foul play on Pam’s part, and it was deemed a death due to natural causes,” Barry said.
“Was anyone in the family suspicious?” Marlee asked.
“There were questions by Billy’s father, Art, but nothing was ever pursued. I guess everyone just accepted it,” Barry reported.
“And then Billy’s father died just last year. How did he die? Was Pam a suspect in his death too?” Marlee’s imagination was running away with her and she knew it, but was unable to jump off this high-speed train of thought.
“Naw, he died from a long-term illness,” Barry replied. “There wasn’t anything fishy about his death.”
Barry went to the dorm lobby and waited while Marlee got dressed. They drove to a greasy spoon and ate a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash browns, sausage, and toast. Pop refills were unlimited, so Marlee also drank four Diet Pepsis, and Barry gulped down at least that many glasses of Mountain Dew.
After their meal, they discussed the latest developments regarding Tim’s death. “What caused the blow to Tim’s head? Has the coroner figured it out yet?” Marlee asked.
“Not exactly. It was a blunt instrument, so it could have been a baseball bat or a tire iron. Anything with a bit of weight to it like that could be the weapon,” Barry said.
“Were there any bats or tire irons in the shed?”
“No, there isn’t anything in the shed that could be the weapon. And based on the angle of the blow and the location of the wound on Tim’s head, he could not have hit himself. The cause of death was changed to homicide,” Barry said.
“So, it’s official. Someone killed Tim, but we just don’t know who. That’s really scary when I think about it. I might have talked to the killer.” Marlee shuddered as she gave this some serious thought. “Who do you think did it?”
“My money is on Pam. It’s just too much of a coincidence for her not to be involved. She had motive because she wanted to keep the farm for herself. She had means because there are all types of blunt instruments on a farm. And Pam had opportunity. Tim was killed on the family farm where Pam lived sometime after the fire at Stairway to Hell. Like I said, just too many coincidences to be believable.”
“Okay, I know anyone can be capable of about anything, but does Pam strike you as a killer? I mean, I get that she had motive and could have done it. But does your intuition tell you she’s involved?” Marlee asked.
“Intuition is useful, but I look at the evidence. Besides, she might be a psychopath, like Dr. Eisner talked about in criminology at the beginning of the semester. She might be capable of distinguishing between right and wrong but not have any empathy for others,” Barry said as they both reflected on the lecture in criminology.
“If Pam is guilty, then we need to believe she lured Tim out of his house and set the house on fire. Then she took him somewhere, probably her house. At some point, she killed him and stashed him in the shed. And if that’s all true, then there’s a good chance she killed Billy and maybe even her grandmother. It would take quite a bit of cunning and criminal intelligence to pull these off. I don’t think Pam’s stupid, but she’s not exactly a genius,” Marlee said.
“So, who do you think killed Tim?” Barry asked, trying not to roll his eyes but not trying very hard.
“I don’t know who killed Tim, but I think his roommates know a hell of a lot more than they
’ve told the cops or me, and I still think Beth Van Dam’s death might be a key component in this too,” Marlee said.
Barry didn’t even try to hide his disdain. “Are you kidding? You still think Beth was killed? Come on, it was an accident, and you know it! If there was something suspicious about her death, the coroner and detectives would have found it. And why would Tim’s roommates kill him? Because he was late with his rent check this month? Because he ate some food that belonged to one of the other guys?”
“I may not be a cop, but my theories are just as credible as yours!” Marlee exclaimed as she slammed down the last of her Diet Pepsi. “I know the outcome of the investigation into Beth’s death, and I don’t know why I think her death is fishy or why Tim’s roommates would want to kill him. All I know is that I can feel it.”
“Are you saying you have ESP?” Barry frowned and tried not to roll his eyes again.
“No, I don’t have any special powers. I’m just telling you I can feel that there’s more to Beth’s case and Tim’s case than meets the eye. Call it what you want,” Marlee said.
“But as an officer of the law, I can’t base my decisions on feelings. It’s all well and fine to have feelings, but unless there’s proof to back it up, then those feelings mean nothing. I can’t go into court and testify what my feelings were. The judge and the jury want evidence,” Barry said in a gentler tone.
“You don’t have to talk to me like I’m nine years old. I know feelings are not evidence, but I also know your brain picks up a lot more than what your senses tell you. I’ve taken enough psychology to know that we pick up on subtle cues that we can’t even identify,” Marlee said, proud of herself for standing up to Barry, who seemed to be turning into a bully when his views on police work were challenged.
“Hmmm, I don’t know that I buy into psychology,” Barry said.
“It’s a social science, and it’s one of my majors. There are a number of world-renowned theorists who studied psychology and have expanded the field into what it is today,” Marlee said.
Fatal Footsteps Page 18