“What’s the matter, Garfield—couldn’t get a handout anywhere else?” Virgil chuckled. His wife, Jill Beth, couldn’t say no to a garden slug, and this smart old tomcat knew she was the easiest mark on the block. “I’ll tell my sweetheart you’re waiting on the doorstep. She saved you some chicken.”
Virgil opened the beveled glass door and was hit with the pervasive aroma of freshly baked bread—and the yelping of the handsome mutt they had adopted from Animal Rescue.
“Hey, Drake. I’m glad to see you too. Now mind your manners. Sit. No, sit …” Virgil waited until the dog ran in circles a few times, his tail harmlessly swiping the glass-encased Victorian curio cabinet.
Finally, Drake sat on the shiny wood floor, whining, but holding his position.
“Good boy.” Virgil bent down and slowly petted the dog, careful not to encourage his canine exuberance. Part German shepherd and part Australian sheepdog, Drake needed to run—every day. Until Virgil and Jill Beth had figured that out, Drake’s boundless energy and wagging tail had demolished more antiques than their triplet boys had in all the years they were raising them.
“First let me read the Sunday paper,” Virgil said. “Then I’ll take you out and throw the Frisbee.”
Virgil stood and walked down the hall to the kitchen.
Jill Beth turned from the sink and stepped over to him, wiping her hands on a towel and wearing a smile that would melt an iceberg.
“Hi, doll.” He set the grocery bag on the table. “One gallon of two percent milk as instructed.”
Jill Beth put her arms around his neck, her round puppy eyes playful. “You’re a good man, Sheriff Granger. You won’t be sorry. I’m fixin’ to use some of that milk to make the low-fat chocolate pie recipe that LaDawn Mitchell gave me.”
“Police Chief Mitchell’s wife?”
“Uh-huh. I told you she volunteers with me at the food bank. She brought a slice in her lunch on Friday and let me try it. It’s beyond incredible. And the fat and calorie count is low enough that you can have seconds, and I won’t give you what-for.”
“I’m loving it already. By the way, your buddy Garfield is waiting at the front door.”
Jill Beth laughed. “I don’t know why we don’t just buy cat food and set it out. He’s adopted us.”
“Or the other way around. You can’t turn away any animal, once you’ve made eye contact.” Virgil picked up a lock of her dark, chin-length curls and studied her face. “If I haven’t said so lately, I’m mighty proud of the way you keep yourself looking nice and keep things running slick as a whistle around here. After thirty years, it’s still hard to believe I’m the lucky dog you chose to spend your life with.”
Jill Beth giggled and removed her arms. “If you’re after thirds on the chocolate pie, it’s working.”
Virgil smiled and picked up the milk and put it in the fridge. “Think I’ll go change my clothes and read the Sunday paper before I take Drake out.”
“I took the Home and Garden section,” Jill Beth said. “Dinner at six, okay? Rob and Reece are coming. Rick’s in New York on business.”
Virgil’s cell phone buzzed and he glanced at the screen. “It’s Kevin.”
“On a Sunday?”
“Can’t be good news when my chief deputy interrupts my Sunday afternoon.”
“No kidding.” Jill Beth sighed.
Virgil put the phone to his ear. “What’s up?”
“We’ve got a dead body,” Kevin Mann said. “Elderly woman. Body washed up at the shallow end of Rocky Creek about an hour ago. Couple of trout fishermen found it. She fits the description of Dixie Berne, the lady Duncan and Hobbs did a missing person’s report on. She’s slight framed and white haired. Wearing a pink dress. Timing fits—she’s been dead twenty-four hours, give or take.”
“Any sign of foul play?”
“Not that I can see.”
Virgil glanced up at Jill Beth. “All right, Kevin. Talk to Berne’s family before they hear it on the news. See if they can ID her.”
“Will do, Sheriff. I’ll let you know.”
Virgil disconnected the call and told his wife about the recovered body and the missing person’s report on Dixie Berne.
“Ms. Berne has a history of wandering,” Virgil said. “And she’s the only woman currently on our missing person’s list.”
“Poor thing. Will there be an autopsy?”
Virgil scratched his chin. “Probably not necessary. Depends on what the coroner finds.”
t
Liam sat with Colleen in the waiting room at the Raleigh County Morgue. His sister wrung her hands and sighed about every thirty seconds. What was taking so long? It was going to be crushing for Colleen to see their mother dead. He hoped he could fake his shock. At least his grief would be genuine.
“How’re you doing?” Liam said.
Colleen exhaled. “What do you think?”
Liam put his arm around her. “I think you should wait here and let me do this.”
Colleen shook her head. “It’s sweet that you want to spare me the pain, but I need to see her for myself. That photograph Deputy Duncan showed us wasn’t proof enough for me.”
Of course it wasn’t, Liam thought.
“There’s no way Mom could’ve wandered that far. And why was all her jewelry missing? Someone must have stolen it and then drowned her.”
“Whoa, Sis. The deputy didn’t see any signs of foul play.”
Colleen stood and walked over to an oil painting of black-eyed Susans, her back to him. “Deputy Duncan said the coroner found water in her lungs. She was alive when she went into the water. Someone did this to her.”
“Hey …” Liam got up and put his hand on Colleen’s shoulder. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”
“Her ring was snug,” Colleen said. “There’s no way it came off in the water unless someone pulled it off her finger.”
“You may be right. But as of now, we don’t know much. Let’s wait and see what the coroner has to say. I’m sure he’ll order an autopsy if there’s even a hint of foul play.”
“There is. There has to be.” Colleen folded her arms across her chest. “On her best day, Mom didn’t have the stamina to wander two miles to the river.”
“But if she was lost and scared, it’s hard to say what she might do.”
“Well, not that.”
Colleen’s cheeks flushed, the pink actually an improvement to her pasty complexion, and he could tell she was vehemently determined to push for an autopsy. Didn’t matter. Liam had covered his tracks.
The door opened, and a bearded, middle-aged man in a white coat walked in. “Are you here to ID the drowning victim?”
“Yes,” Liam said, shaking the man’s hand. “I’m Liam Berne, and this my sister, Colleen Berne.”
“I’m Dr. Levin. I work closely with the coroner.”
“We’re a little on edge,” Liam said. “Could we just get this over with?”
“Yes, of course.” Dr. Levin looked over the top of his glasses. “It’s only necessary that one of you identify the body.”
“I want to see her,” Colleen said. “I saw the photos taken by the sheriff’s deputies, but I need to see her myself.”
Liam nodded. “Me too.”
“Very well,” Dr. Levin said. “Fortunately, the river was kind to this woman. I’ve seen drowning victims that were unrecognizable. There were no signs of a struggle. It appears to have been an accident.”
“My mother had Alzheimer’s,” Colleen said. “There’s no way she could’ve walked all the way to the river. If this is she, there had to be foul play involved. I’ll want an autopsy done.”
Dr. Levin stroked his beard. “The coroner would have to make that call, but I can tell you that there’s nothing about this victim to warrant it. No indication of sexual assault. Or any tra
uma. All indications support a classic case of drowning.”
“Well, she obviously couldn’t have drowned at Rocky Creek,” Colleen said. “The water’s too shallow, and the deputies said she was found faceup.”
Dr. Levin nodded. “We think she drowned in the Sure Foot. Let me explain. When a drowning occurs in a river, sinking takes place immediately, which results in the victim reaching the bottom close to the point she was last seen on the surface. Later, when the body begins to rise, it will appear on the surface not far from where it disappeared. Many people don’t realize the current on the surface is different from the current on the bottom. While the speed on the surface may be ten knots, current speed will decrease with depth. There is virtually no current on the bottom. Consequently, the deeper a body sinks, the slower the current is acting upon it. The victim’s body is almost always found downstream no more than one or two hundred yards from where it sank.”
“So then, it’s possible to determine where the victim entered the water?” Colleen asked.
Liam was suddenly hot all over.
Dr. Levin nodded. “Sometimes, yes. If the authorities suspect foul play and invest time and personnel to launch an investigation along the shoreline. But that kind of investment isn’t routine with accidental drownings.”
“It wasn’t accidental!” Colleen snapped. “The deputies told us her jewelry’s missing. Someone must’ve robbed her and then pushed her into the water.”
Liam plucked a tissue from the box on the end table and handed it to Colleen. “Sis, there’s no point in torturing yourself. Let’s hold off speculating until we at least determine if the victim is Mom.”
Colleen nodded and dabbed her eyes.
Dr. Levin motioned toward the door. “If you’re ready, I’ll take you to the viewing area.”
Liam let Colleen go first, and they followed Dr. Levin down the hall to a windowless room with a large flat-screen TV monitor and a row of chairs.
“Please have a seat,” Dr. Levin said. “The image on the screen is coming from the room where we keep bodies until they are identified. I’m going to have a tech open one of those stainless steel lockers and pull out a drawer. Once the body is visible, the camera will move closer so you can see the woman’s face. Ready?”
Liam nodded and grabbed Colleen’s hand, not sure if she was shaking—or if he was. This was the moment of truth. Could he let out the genuine emotion he had been suppressing so that Colleen and Dr. Levin would believe it to be the response of a son racked with shock and grief?
Dr. Levin pressed a button on the wall and spoke into what appeared to be a speaker. “Bobby Lee, would you please pull out drawer number eleven?”
Liam gazed at the monitor, his heart pounding so hard he wondered if it might hammer him into the seat where he sat. He watched a young man walk over to a row of stainless steel lockers and slowly pull out a slab containing a body covered with a white sheet.
“Okay, would you do a close-up of the woman’s face?”
Liam pretended to look, but couldn’t bring himself to see his mother this way. He remembered how peaceful she looked when he gave her body to the river. He didn’t want that image replaced by a cadaver on a metal slab.
Colleen gasped. “Oh, Mom! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry …” Colleen started sobbing and buried her face in his shoulder.
Liam allowed himself to glance for a second at the image on the screen, and then he turned his gaze to Dr. Levin. “It’s her. It’s our mom,” he said, not sure if he had said the words out loud or merely thought them.
“You’re certain?” Dr. Levin said. “Are there any physical characteristics that would confirm this?”
“She had … a birthmark … on the back of her left forearm. It was sort of heart shaped.”
“Bobby Lee, would you hold up the left forearm so we can see the other side?”
A few seconds later, the camera zoomed in—there it was. Proof.
Liam felt as if some invisible force were pushing down on him, crushing his chest, forcing the air out of his lungs. And the tears out of his eyes.
“Thanks, Bobby Lee. That’ll be all.” Dr. Levin turned off the screen. “Try to relax. Take shallow breaths. This is never easy, even if you’ve already reviewed the photos.”
“It’s worse than I thought it would be,” Liam said honestly.
“It’s my fault she wandered off.” Colleen sat up straight and blew her nose. “But someone killed her. I’m sure of it.”
Dr. Levin pulled up a chair, then sat and faced them. “I can only imagine how shocking and earth shattering it is to see your mother this way, and wanting answers. Sometimes there just aren’t any. She drowned. There’s nothing to suggest anyone else was responsible.”
“We’re both in the state of shock.” Liam shuddered without meaning to. “We need time to process all of this.”
Dr. Levin nodded. “How about I leave you here until you feel ready to leave? My office is across the hall. When you want to leave, come get me, and I’ll escort you back to the front.”
Liam heard Dr. Levin exit the room and saw Colleen staring at nothing.
“You okay?” Liam said.
“No, I’m not okay.” Colleen turned to him. “No one’s going to pursue this because she was just an old woman with Alzheimer’s. Well, she was our mother, and I’m not buying that she drowned by accident. I want to talk to the sheriff.”
Liam bit his lip. “The coroner didn’t find any sign of trauma. He looked her over pretty well, Colleen. What we know for sure is that she’s at peace now.”
“Well, I’m not.” Colleen stood. “I’m not letting law enforcement blow this off.”
“That’s what you think they’re doing?” Liam said.
“I absolutely do.” Colleen picked up her purse and draped the strap over her shoulder. “They have a limited budget, and an autopsy costs too much. The only way we’re going to get justice for Mom is to fight for it. I’m going to the sheriff. Are you with me or not?”
Liam felt his neck muscles tighten. He knew better than to try to reason with Colleen when she was like this. Play along with her. Go to the sheriff. Let him convince her.
“Come on,” Liam said. “I’ll drive.”
Chapter 5
Liam walked into Colleen’s red-brick ranch, the garage door closing behind him.
He made his way through the utility room and kitchen and into the living room, just as Colleen tossed her purse on the couch and flopped down next to it.
“I can’t believe the hoops we have to jump through,” she said, “just to talk to the sheriff.”
“Sis, it’s Sunday. What’d you expect? We could’ve talked to the deputies on duty.”
Colleen shook her head. “Why waste our time. We have to appeal to the sheriff to convince the coroner to order an autopsy.”
Be sympathetic. You’re not going to change her mind. “We’ll try again,” Liam assured her. “First thing in the morning.”
Colleen put her hands to her temples. “What am I saying? I can’t go in the morning. We’re taking the seventh graders on a field trip to the battlefield at Pea Ridge.”
“You can’t really be thinking of your students right now,” Liam said. “Both of us need to take some time off and get Mom’s affairs in order.”
“They’re already in order. Almost everything is in the living trust. All I have to do is call her lawyer and he’ll take care of everything.” Colleen exhaled. “But you’re right. I don’t need to be worrying about my students. I’d better go call the principal and let her know what’s happened. She’ll need to get a sub.”
“It’ll keep for a few minutes,” he said. “Relax. You’ve just been through one of the toughest days of your life. Neither of us is thinking clearly.”
Colleen’s eyes glistened, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I wasn’t ready to lose her,
Liam. I didn’t resent the added responsibility. Or paying Mrs. Olsen to stay with her while we were at work.”
“I know that.”
“I was willing to go to the Alzheimer’s center every day to see her.”
“Look … I’m sorry Mom’s life ended suddenly like this,” Liam said. “But there’s a blessing we shouldn’t miss. Mom didn’t have to live out her days lost in some crazy mental fog, confused and alone.”
“She wouldn’t have been alone. How can you say that?”
“Sis, people with Alzheimer’s stop communicating. And nothing you say gets through. I’d say that’s alone.”
“Mom wasn’t like that.”
Liam raised his eyebrows. “Pretty close.”
“No one really knows what people with Alzheimer’s are feeling,” Colleen said. “Mom didn’t seem to be suffering.”
“And that’s your measure of a quality life? She also didn’t know where she was half the time. Or who she was with.”
Colleen folded her arms tightly across her chest. “It was what it was. None of us gets to choose what it’ll be like when we’re old. I loved her. I was willing to do whatever it took to make her comfortable. But the thought that someone took advantage of her … stole her jewelry and then drowned her like she meant nothing …” Colleen shook her head and bit her lip.
Liam wanted to tell her that’s not how it happened. That he did treat their mother with respect. That he held her in his arms until she was gone. That he loved her enough to end her life before things got any worse. “You’ve got to stop speculating, Sis. The coroner said there was no sign of foul play.”
“Then explain how she got to the river.”
Liam shrugged. “I can’t. But I’ve heard of wandering Alzheimer’s patients doing some pretty remarkable things. Maybe she asked someone for a ride.”
“Give me a break.”
“Don’t be so quick to pooh-pooh the idea,” Liam said. “Yesterday morning, she rambled on and on about ‘being late for the wedding.’ Maybe she asked someone to take her to a church and wandered some more after that. We’re just never going to know.”
Only by Death Page 4