The Devil in Maryvale

by Jackie Griffey

  "Sure do. The best kind of sausage, too."

  Connie poured coffee into his cup and smiled affectionately at him. "It's the deer meat package Rhodes brought us the other day." Rhodes was an avid hunter and as generous as he was lucky.

  Cas sat without comment as he sniffed the combined aromas of the special breakfast his wife had fixed him. But he was happy only from the neck down. His suspicious nature was setting off alarms in the back of his mind.

  Connie poured his orange juice as he unfolded his napkin, too busy for small talk as she hurried to get them fed and him off to work. Cas's suspicious nature was working on him in earnest now. He looked sideways at Connie as she finished putting things on the table.

  He wondered what he was in for this time. This had all the classic clues she was up to something. Maybe there was something she wanted him to do or maybe she was up to some matchmaking plot again in spite of his warnings about that. It was Connie's firm belief that everyone should be happily married, and she gave Cupid and Mother Nature a helpful push every chance she got, in spite of his frequently repeated warnings.

  He straightened in his chair and regarded her with what she called 'his sheriff's look'.

  "All ready." Connie spoke brightly as she sat down opposite him where she could still reach the coffee pot.

  His stomach gurgled in anticipation, making Connie smile. He sipped his coffee, "Ah, just right."

  "Of course," she agreed complacently. "But it's nice to be complimented once in a while." Obviously, she knew she had set an award winning breakfast before him.

  Cas waved his hand at the spread before him, giving up subtlety. "Venison sausage, eggs over light the way I like them, English muffins. My favorite toast, as you well know. And marmalade? Orange marmalade?" He eyed the bottle as if it were gold plated. Connie stifled a giggle.

  He sat straight in his chair, the fork in his right hand like a gavel. "Hmm, you'd have to have bought the marmalade yesterday," he mused aloud. "That means all this must have been premeditated. The marmalade was the tip off," he added sagely. "I'm being buttered up for something, right?"

  A smile played around Connie's lips. "Uh-huh. I knew you had that figured out when you started taking inventory of the goodies on the table." Connie's dark blue eyes danced with amusement.

  "I knew it. There's more here than breakfast, all right." He took a deep breath and braced himself. "Why don't you just put me out of my misery and tell me what's on your mind?"

  Connie spread marmalade on her English muffin, taking her time. She let him suffer a while for always expecting the worst. She sipped her juice before she spoke.

  "You're right, as usual, Sheriff Larkin."

  She spoke politely, playing the game he had chosen. "I do have something I want to talk to you about."

  "We've already established that. So tell me?"

  Cas started on the good breakfast, waiting to hear whatever it was that was so important it rated a Saturday morning breakfast like this when she could have slept in.

  "You've been sheriff here for twelve years now and our house is nearly paid for, thanks to our having a short term loan and it not being a very big loan."

  "We're in pretty good shape considering neither of us was born with a silver spoon in our mouths." Cas nodded, agreeing cautiously.

  "And aren't you lucky I don't have a lot of expensive tastes?" Connie warmed up his coffee.

  Cas smiled affectionately at that. "I guess I'd have been soft in the head enough to marry you anyway, so I guess you can say I was lucky there." Another point conceded.

  "So, if we had to we could manage all right on only one salary now."

  Cas let out a relieved breath. "I see where you're going. If you want to quit your job and stay home, it's fine with me."

  He put his cup down, his expression more serious. "I'd be glad if you did quit. I worry about you going all that way into Fort Craig every day. And the gas and other costs, you have to consider those, too."

  "That's what started the idea, looking at the mileage on the car when I was buying gas yesterday."

  "I think it's a good idea. Go ahead and quit if you want to."

  "And...."

  "Oh, there's more?" Cas's face went quickly from comedy to tragedy. "I rejoiced too soon!"

  "Cas!" Connie was exasperated. "You've been sheriff too long. You're always waiting for a calamity of some kind. I've been thinking of something else. It's important to me. To us." She looked up to see the worried expression on his face and a wave of sympathy warmed her heart.

  Connie patted his hand that clinched his fork like a gavel. "At least wait till you hear what I have to say before you put it on your worry list."

  Cas nodded, taking a bite of the hot venison sausage. He regarded his beautiful, petite, brunette wife, whose matchmaking and 'managing him' he put up with because he loved her.

  He brooded, wondering what was so important to her, important enough to quit her job for. "Then it's important to me too. What is it you want to do?"

  "I'm going to try working here. What I want to do is call on some of the local businesses here in Maryvale and freelance a day or a half day's work when they need someone to help them get out bills or extra correspondence. You know, something that takes more office help than they can keep on regular salaries. Hiring me a few days would be a lot cheaper than having to pay a yearly salary and benefits on another full time employee."

  "You're right about that. Sounds like a good selling point to me."

  Cas got up and inspected his khaki uniform.

  "Did my good breakfast do any harm?" Connie grinned.

  "Not a chance. If I'd found any crumbs I'd just have rubbed them in," he laughed.

  She came to him for a goodbye hug. "Never underestimate the power of venison sausage."

  He kissed her and held her a minute before reaching for his hat. "If it turns out there's no job market here, you can always stay home and fix me deer sausage and English muffins. It will be no problem."

  Cas reluctantly let her go. "Missy coming home after lunch?"

  "She'll be here around three. Thanks for the input, see you tonight."

  * * *

  No, Cas sighed to himself, remembering Connie's pleased expression, her warmth as he held her. He hadn't really appreciated how well off he was. He dragged his mind back to his current problem as he approached the scene of the crime Rhodes had told him about.

  Neither he nor Rhodes spoke, walking single file as the other deputies had.

  Haines was standing in the pathway waiting for them. He gave a short wave, turning with them to look at the body.

  "Can't have been here long." Cas glanced at Rhodes. "She looks to be about my daughter's age but I don't know her. Do either of you?"

  Haines shook his head.

  "I do," Rhodes spoke up. "I mean, I know who she is. Her family goes to church where my wife and I go."

  "What's her name?"

  "Denise Davis. Mother's a widow. They, Denise and her mother and her aunt live together. Aunt's a school teacher. Her mother works in Judge Spruce's office. She's the secretary or something there."

  * * *

  At home, Connie heard the car stop outside and glanced at the clock. It was five till three.

  Missy appeared in the front door. She wore jeans, a short sleeved shirt, and blue denim sneakers. A sweater was slung over one shoulder as she balanced her belongings with a pillow on top. She held the door open with an elbow.

  "Hi, mom! This looks like moving, doesn't it?"

  "Not even close." Connie wrinkled her nose. "As you'll find out when you have to go to college. Need some help?"

  "No, I'll make it." Missy heaved the bedclothes to the front of her burden to close the door. "And I've got a while to go before college."

  She stopped at the bottom of the stairs, breathed an exasperated sigh, and rearranged her load again. "Or maybe I'll decide to be a recluse and just stay up there in my room the rest of my life!"

  Connie
stuck her head around the door, amused at the thought. "I'll believe that when I see it."

  Missy smiled too, one foot on the first stair step. "Yeah, on second thought I guess a few moves are worth it to make progress."

  Connie stood watching until the pillow sailed from the top of the stairs into Missy's room then went back to her baking.

  Missy got back downstairs in record time. A junior in high school, Missy had her mother's pretty face, her father's black hair to frame it, and she was already as tall as her mother. She paused in the kitchen door and closed her eyes. She sniffed the chocolate scent as Cas had sniffed the scent of the venison sausage. Connie laughed at the resemblance.

  "What's so funny?" Missy asked on the way in. Without waiting for an answer she went on, admiring the cooling goodies. "These cookies are just right, I don't like them too brown."

  "Thanks, boss." Connie checked on the batch in the oven.

  "Did you save me some chocolate chips?"

  "Yes, though I thought you might be too grown up for such a thing now."

  "Never, never, think that," Missy intoned in a chant. "I'm going to eat chocolate chips until I'm a hundred and nine." She quickly amended that. "Maybe ten."

  "How was the slumber party?" Connie asked as Missy retrieved the muffin cup full of chocolate chips from the refrigerator and sat down at the table to eat them.

  "About what I expected. Most of us had a really good time and of course, there were a couple of fruitcakes who acted like they'd never been allowed out before."

  "And nobody tried to crash?"

  "No, a couple of cars full of boys cruised by but no one paid any attention or went out. They didn't stop." She added, "Probably because they saw Janet's dad sitting in the porch swing. We had a good time."

  "That's good." Connie checked again on her last batch of cookies.

  Missy thoughtfully licked chocolate off her fingers. "Mom, what do you know about the devil?"

  Connie shut the oven door carefully and turned a surprised face to her daughter. "Not very much, I guess. I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, as the saying goes."

  "And you wouldn't buy a used car from him." Missy grinned around a mouth full of warm cookies and melted chips.

  Connie contemplated her daughter, thankful she was still more child than woman, grateful for that. "Why in the world do you ask?"

  "Oh, one of the Brainless Ones mentioned something about the devil last night and I happened to overhear it. That's all."

  "What did she say?" Connie was curious.

  "She said the devil was going to punish somebody for something. I didn't hear all of it. I just noticed it because I thought it was a funny thing to say."

  "Trying to get attention, no doubt." Connie dismissed it, taking the last batch of cookies out of the oven. "We're having chicken for dinner tonight. These chocolate chips are for dessert and to munch on."

  "Good. I like crockpot chicken, too." She gave Connie an approving nod. "Your job's safe, for now."

  "That's a load off my mind!" Connie rolled her eyes heavenward.

  The last two sheets of cookies were still cooling. Missy got up and began stacking cookies on a paper towel to take upstairs with her.

  "Guess I'll have to eat the overflow." She carefully picked up her cookies and started out but paused to kiss her mother's cheek. "Please don't ever get a bigger cookie jar, mom."

  * * *

  The ring-ring of the phone in the silent house sounded loud and shrill. Connie ran to answer it, glancing up the stairs.

  "Connie," Cas hesitated. "You sound out of breath."

  "I ran for the phone is all, I think Missy's asleep. Are you all right?" It was unusual for him to call home. She knew it wasn't just to chat.

  "Yes, I'm all right."

  She didn't believe it. She knew every nuance that familiar voice was capable of. He sounded distracted or worried about something. Her hand tightened on the phone.

  "I called to let you know not to wait supper for me. I don't know what time I'll be in."

  Hearing a sound, Connie turned slightly to see Missy standing in the door. She mouthed 'I heard the phone' and stood listening.

  Connie finished her brief conversation and replaced the receiver. She sat down on a kitchen chair, looking shaken.

  Missy came into the kitchen. "I heard dad's not coming home for supper. What's going on, mom?"

  "You'll know tomorrow anyway. They, your dad and Rhodes and a back-up car went to answer a disturbance call at The Roadhouse."

  "Oh, a fight or something? Are all of them all right?"

  "Yes, they're all right. It was a drunk causing trouble. Dad resolved that. The drunks are in jail where they should be. But the back-up deputies had to go through the woods to get to the back door of The Roadhouse and they found a body in the woods. It was a young girl."

  * * *

  Cas addressed Rhodes, gesturing behind him. "The coroner's van pulled up as I left the car. I sent Haines back with Doug and called Connie. Told her to expect me when she sees me coming."

  Rhodes nodded. "That's about what I said on my call home, too. Here they are." Rhodes moved back to let the men from the coroner's office through.

  "At least she hasn't been here very long, thanks to our call to the Roadhouse." Cas spoke quietly to Rhodes. "And she's fully clothed."

  "Looks like the cause of death is going to be easy," one of the coroner's men said.

  Cas winced, looking away from the body. The handle of a large knife protruded from the chest wound.

  Chapter 3

  The microwave dinged and Missy mixed hot chocolate, casting a furtive glance at her mother. She preferred making chocolate from scratch but this was an emergency. Envelopes of ready-mix would do. She poured the contents and milk into a pan then after mixing it, left it on the stove to keep it warm before handing Connie a cup.

  Connie took it and sipped. "Thanks, this is good."

  "You looked like you needed it." Missy glanced at her, venturing a small smile. "It's a wonder you can still get chocolate without a prescription."

  Connie smiled back. "Sometimes simple things are better than prescriptions."

  Missy regarded her from the corner of her eye. She sipped her own chocolate and waited.

  Connie's disbelief and denial hadn't yet given way to compassion but the warmth of the chocolate took away the chill of the shock. Things like this just didn't happen in Maryvale, not to people you know. She had to get used to it enough to talk about it. She inhaled the comforting steam from the chocolate.

  "Tell me what dad said." Missy's voice broke into her thoughts.

  Looking at Missy's worried face, Connie was at a loss where to start.

  "About the girl they found," Missy prodded. "I guess it wasn't a car wreck since you said they had found her body."

  "No. No, it wasn't. And your dad said she looked to be about your age."

  "About my age. And not a car wreck," Missy repeated patiently. She frowned, uneasy. "But, if it wasn't a car wreck and not an accident. You—you.... Surely you don't mean someone killed her?"

  Connie nodded, catching her lower lip between her teeth at the horror of it.

  "It was murder then. Someone was murdered, right here in Maryvale." Her eyes searched Connie's. "Who? Where, mom? What happened?"

  "You know where the Roadhouse is. Out by the junction of Harper's Road and Highway 220. They called for help."

  "I know, you told me about the drunks."

  "One of them, the drunks, had a gun and was holding some people hostage because they wouldn't sell him beer. While dad and Rhodes watched the front the other deputies had to go through the woods and cross that little branch of the river to cover the back. There in the woods is where they found her. Found the girl's body."

  "Mom," Missy's face creased with anxiety. "You still haven't told me who she is. Do they know?"

  "Dad said one of the deputies knows her family or something. Her name was Denise Davis. It sounded familiar...."<
br />
  Connie closed her eyes briefly, then shook her head. "I just can't quite place the name. Do you know her? She must have been in your class, or your dad thinks maybe a year before?"

  "Yes. I know her, mom."

  It was Missy's turn to be shocked. She struggled with the fact that someone she knew had been murdered. "Her mother works for Judge Spruce."

  "Oh, that's where I've heard the name. Did you know her very well?"

  "Just to speak to, not well. She was invited to the slumber party last night but I heard someone say she wasn't feeling well or something like that."

  "But she was invited?"

  "Yes, she was. The ones I called Brainless Ones were friends of hers." Missy continued, remembering the party. "I think it was one of them who said she wasn't feeling well. I didn't pay much attention. The three of them have names beginning with D's. Denise, Diane, and Doris. They were always rattling on about some silly thing, never serious. And now, one of them is dead! Oh, mom," Missy shivered.

  Connie came and put her arms around her. She poured them both more chocolate and sat back down.

  "I hope they find out who did it soon. What happened?" Her eyes sought Connie's. "How, how?" Missy seemed to shrink a little sitting there in the chair beside her mother.

  Connie patted her hand. It felt cold under hers, still warm from holding the cup of chocolate.

  "They will find out, don't worry about that. But Missy, in the meantime, someone did this, right here in Maryvale. Don't trust anyone or get in a car with anyone except one of us. Me or your dad. It's hard to believe someone here is a murderer but it has to be someone here. Probably someone she knew, possibly someone we know."

  Missy sat silent, appalled at the finality of sudden, violent death.

  Connie got up to wash the chocolate cups as she talked. "We'll have to take care until we know who it was who did this and put him in jail where he can't hurt anyone else."

  "I know, I'll be careful." Missy shook her head. "I can't believe she's really dead. I saw Denise on Friday, mom. She was standing by her locker in the hall. And now she's gone."