The Cat, the Sneak and the Secret

by Leann Sweeney

  I stopped at a local chicken spot and bought a dozen sandwiches because donuts and coffee might not be enough to satisfy hungry workers. I’d ordered Kara’s burger ahead of time from her favorite vegetarian café on Main Street—Sprouts and Soups. When I passed the construction site before making the turn onto the side street to enter the area, the talkative fire crew was now on the scene along with the paramedics. In Mercy, paramedics were often the ones who transported a body to the morgue about twenty miles away. If no autopsy was needed, the local funeral homes did the unpleasant task of carting a body off.

  I parked next to Rebecca’s SUV and saw a black car was parked on the other side of hers. Up ahead Rebecca Marner and Rhett’s second wife, Zoe, stood silently together, shoulders touching. They’d both crossed their arms, as if trying to hold themselves together. I had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach because Rhett Marner would have been here if he could. My guess was that he already was here—and about to be unearthed from the kind of grave no one deserved.

  I hurried to where Kara and Lois stood, being careful not to send three cups of coffee in a cardboard tray flying. When I’d stopped for the sandwiches earlier, I decided to buy these drinks rather than make them wait for the donut truck to arrive.

  The bright day indicated we wouldn’t be rained on, but the autumn wind was brisk enough to have colored Kara’s cheeks. I noted that Lois had put on her leather gloves. They both thanked me for the coffee, but before I could tell them about the food I’d left in my van, I noticed Candace approaching the two Marner women.

  She never even gave Rebecca a glance but focused in on Zoe, who was twirling a blond curl at her temple with so much force I thought she might pull her hair out. Candace held a man’s wallet and when she was face-to-face with Zoe, she opened it and showed it her.

  The woman’s hands went to her mouth and then I heard her cry out as if she’d been cut with a knife. She bent over and then fell to her knees.

  Rebecca dropped beside her and put an arm around the sobbing woman. She looked up at Candace, who wore an anguished expression. She glanced our way before kneeling in front of Zoe and Rebecca. She spoke to them both this time. After a brief conversation where Rebecca nodded in apparent understanding and Zoe continued to cry, Candace stood and returned to where Dr. Worthy and her team continued to work. They needed to completely uncover the body and probably sift through dirt and debris for evidence.

  Billy Cranor, one of the firemen who’d stood watching the proceedings from the other side of the crime scene tape, made his way toward the women still on the ground. It was apparent Rebecca was having trouble helping Zoe to stand.

  Without even a thought, I reached the two women first. I helped Rebecca raise Zoe to her feet just as Billy got to us.

  “The paramedics are standing by to . . . to take the . . .” He lowered his voice. “The you know. Should I ask them to check out Mrs. Marner?”

  Why he asked me this question, I wasn’t sure. Maybe because he knew me better than the other two women.

  Zoe spoke haltingly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’ll be okay. I—I—”

  She went limp and fell into Billy’s arms. She’d fainted.

  The question concerning a paramedic was answered without further conversation.

  Eight

  Though Zoe came around quickly, Marcy and Jake, the paramedics, decided to err on the side of caution and have her checked out at the hospital. I heard Zoe say, “What will I tell the kids?” as they pushed the stretcher inside the ambulance. They left without the siren blaring. Rebecca followed in her SUV. I was pretty sure Zoe’s condition wasn’t too serious. She certainly hadn’t gone pale or vomited, two things I probably would have done if they’d found my husband buried here.

  Lois remained stoic as the drama unfolded, and though Kara watched in sober silence, she refrained from taking any pictures. Other journalists might have exploited family grief, but not Kara.

  I saw Candace reach for her phone. They’d need another ambulance to cart away Rhett Marner once he was extricated from the ground. I assumed that was what she was calling about. It had to be Rhett Marner judging from Zoe Marner’s reaction.

  Where the rebar had been cut away, blue-jeaned legs and work boots were now visible from our vantage point. Kara’s zoom lens ensured she could see a whole lot more.

  “What’s happening, Kara?”

  “They’re working on the area surrounding the body now that they’ve uncovered his face and legs. They’re using those sifter contraptions to check for any evidence left behind in the dirt. Dr. Worthy is taking great care brushing off dirt with what looks like a paintbrush.” She glanced over at me. “Rhett Marner, I assume?”

  “That’s my guess,” I said, “though I know Zoe has two sons. They’re teenagers.”

  Lois spoke for the first time. “We’re pretty sure it’s not one of the sons. Probably Marner. His wife reported him missing last night. Didn’t come home for dinner and she called us about midnight. Course we couldn’t do much. He’s an adult and lots of adults walk away and are never heard from again. He might never have been found if not for—okay, maybe I’ve said enough.”

  “I won’t print anything without an okay from Chief Baca. Please tell me how he was discovered.”

  Lois took a sip of her coffee and glanced at Kara. “This isn’t for public consumption, but the security guard noticed a shoelace coming out of the ground under that rebar. At first he thought it was a snake. He told us he wanted to save it from being buried alive under concrete. When he bent over and saw it was a shoelace for a work boot, he pulled—and the thing wouldn’t budge.”

  “A shoelace. Wow. Very observant guy.” Kara took out her iPad. “What was this guard’s name?”

  “Seth Marner. Rhett Marner’s boy from the first marriage.”

  Neither Kara nor I spoke for several seconds. Finally I said, “Oh my gosh. How terrible. Can you imagine finding your father like that?”

  “All he saw was the boot. He doesn’t know yet. But let’s suppose he’s the one who put him there in the first place, but decided at the last minute he couldn’t go through with the whole cement burial thing.” Lois took another sip of her coffee, which seemed to be acting like some kind of truth serum for the usually less-than-chatty Lois.

  “You believe that’s what happened?” I couldn’t keep from sounding incredulous.

  “Families. Always look at the families first.”

  Kara had been tapping on her tablet. “You don’t believe his shoelace story?”

  “Oh, the shoelace was there all right. And he’d dug around it and found the boot it was attached to. He could be innocent and I don’t want to be quoted saying he’s guilty of anything more than doing a good job. But you know people will be talking. I’m giving you the facts.”

  “I appreciate that, Lois. Until the chief gives me the okay, I’ll only report what I can describe from being here and whatever statement Mike wants to offer.”

  “You’re a good woman.” Lois nodded at me. “Both of you are. Hard for me to trust a lot of folks, but the two of you and Deputy Carson? You’re the best.”

  “Thanks,” I said with a small smile. “I’m so glad you came to work in Mercy. Candace said you were on a police force up north?”

  “Detroit. Tough job.”

  I nodded. “I can only imagine.”

  We fell into silence and thank goodness Yoder’s donut truck arrived seconds later. Soon a line formed, mostly composed of the onlookers, but I heard Fred Yoder call out for them to back off. They did. Fred left the truck and walked over to where we stood. He wore a clean canvas apron with “Yoder’s Donuts” stamped on it in navy blue ink. His bald head was covered by a baker’s hat and his dark red beard and thick sideburns looked to have been recently trimmed.

  He addressed Lois. “Deputy Jewel, if you could inform the officers and the f
iremen that the coffee and donuts are waiting at no charge, I would greatly appreciate it.” He looked at me. “Mrs. Hart, I thank you for allowing me to do this service for our community. God tells me this place is filled with trouble, and I feel in my bones that comfort is needed here.”

  He turned abruptly and walked back to his truck.

  Lois texted the information to Candace. While Dr. Worthy and her team continued their painstaking work, the firemen, Candace, Mike, Morris and Lydia all made their way to the truck a few at a time. Lydia’s bleached hair was pulled into a ponytail and aside from the spike-heeled boots, her outfit was subdued—all brown. She probably didn’t have time to pull her typical inappropriate outfit together—something at the far end of the bell curve when it came to attire. Zebra stripes or purple spandex were often the norm.

  I went to my van and brought out the box of sandwiches and had Fred set them out. They were gone in seconds—mostly taken by the firemen.

  As I handed Kara her black bean burger, Candace joined us, a donut in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. “Whoever arranged for the donut truck, thank you. I had no idea how slow this process would be. Billy Cranor brought a couple cases of bottled water, but folks were getting hungry, for sure.”

  I said, “All this standing around isn’t what you want to be doing, I know.”

  “I hate it almost as much as delivering bad news.” She finished off the last of her donut and licked glaze off her fingers.

  Lydia seemed to appear out of nowhere and stopped behind Candace. “I could have handled that job. I’m used to dealing with grieving families, you know.”

  Candace closed her eyes and drew a calming breath before pasting on a smile and turning to face Lydia. “But I was here. So you didn’t have to.”

  Lydia looked me up and down. “What are you doing here? Don’t you have a wedding to get ready for? By the way, he will leave you standing at the altar. Mark my words.”

  Kara’s cheeks reddened. “Why we’re here is none of your business.”

  “Oh, it’s my business, Lois Lane. I keep track of what goes on at a crime scene, and as far as I’m concerned Jillian Hart has no reason to be hanging around.”

  Before I could respond, Candace stepped between me and Lydia. “There are plenty of observers besides Jillian. Let’s get back to work.”

  Lydia didn’t budge. “Morris informed me some kid found the body. Did you send him home? Because that’s not how you’re supposed to—”

  “He’s resting in my squad car, Lydia. He was up all night working his shift. He doesn’t even know it’s his father we’ve found—and I will be the one to tell him.”

  “His father? Why didn’t you tell me this when I got here?”

  “Because we didn’t know it was his father until not long ago.”

  Lydia pointed a finger at Candace. “You need to interrogate him now. And I’ll be right beside you. Let’s go.”

  She whirled and hurried toward Candace’s patrol car. The boots proved a hindrance that allowed Candace to catch up to her right away. The argument about who was in charge and when Seth Marner would be questioned grew loud enough that the chief had to intervene.

  After a minute or two of his quiet mediation, the three of them returned to where the body lay. Firemen were positioning themselves to help lift the corpse onto a waiting stretcher.

  Kara took a few pictures of the group huddled around what remained of Rhett Marner, but she respectfully put her camera down when they put him on the stretcher. I couldn’t see much, nor did I want to, but I did notice the brown paper bags covering his hands and secured at the wrists with rubber bands.

  The ambulance soon left with its siren wailing and lights flashing en route to the county morgue, a good forty-five minutes away on our rural roads. Mike Baca shook hands with the firemen who had helped. Candace was now on her knees at the makeshift grave ready to assist. Dr. Worthy gave her a dirt sifter and she began working alongside them to hunt for evidence. Morris, I noticed, was standing by the squad car he and Candace used. Or I should say standing guard. Lydia marched past him angrily on her way to her county vehicle and didn’t give him so much as a glance. She’d been thwarted and was none too happy about it. This seemed to bring out the happy side of Deputy Morris Ebeling. He was grinning from ear to ear as his gaze followed her all the way out of the parking area.

  Kara decided her work was done after Mike Baca told her he wasn’t ready to release any information. Not all family members had been notified. We stopped at the donut truck to thank Fred Yoder. He offered me a yummy-looking cruller—even held it out close enough to my face that I smelled sugar and yeast and the decadence of at least five hundred calories.

  “I have a fitting for my wedding dress later today. If I eat that, I’ll have to start all over with the alterations.”

  Kara took the cruller. “I don’t have a fitting. I can’t think of a better dessert.” She started digging in her bag to pay him.

  Fred held up a gloved hand. “As I told the others, Miss Kara, no money. This is a gift to all the people who came here today. I understand it’s Rhett they just took away. Such a sad fate, to die like that.”

  “You knew him?” Kara asked just before taking a bite of the cruller.

  “Yes. His family was once part of our community, but his father left the church many years ago. Rhett was related to my wife—a cousin several times removed.”

  Kara finished chewing and held up what remained of the cruller. “This is heaven, by the way. Do you happen to know who might want to harm Rhett?”

  Fred’s smile faded. “I wouldn’t know. We were no more than acquaintances.” He busied himself by wiping the serving window shelf.

  “Um, Kara, we should be going,” I said.

  My tone held a hint of admonishment and she picked up on it. We said our good-byes and thanked Fred before walking toward my van.

  I whispered, “You don’t ask Fred stuff like that, Kara. Maybe he’d be straight with the police about anything he knows, but he would never tell us.”

  “I had no idea. Doesn’t hurt to try, though.”

  We were just passing Morris, who still stood by the squad car. Then the door to the backseat opened and a young man who didn’t even look as old as Finn emerged. He wore a navy blue shirt and gray uniform pants that seemed at least a size too large for his small frame. The prominent blond cowlick made him seem like a kid playing dress-up. An embroidered gold patch on his shirt pocket said “Security.”

  He looked at Morris. “What’s going on, man?”

  Kara had stopped in her tracks and I had to tug at her arm. Out of the corner of my mouth, I said, “Let’s go. You don’t want to be here for this.”

  “Oh, you’re so wrong about that.” Kara had resumed walking, but she didn’t take her eyes off Seth Marner.

  By the time we reached my van and climbed inside, Candace joined Morris. Her demeanor serious, I assumed she was passing along the bad news.

  Kara rolled down her window and Seth’s loud response carried on the wind for everyone around to hear.

  “About time someone took care of that bastard.”

  Nine

  I pulled out of the office building’s would-be parking lot as Kara said, “Morris is right. It’s always about the families—which is why I wanted to see the kid’s reaction.”

  “Glad you got what you were after, but I didn’t need to hear how Seth felt about his father.”

  “You understand that if I don’t spell out exactly what that young man said in my article tomorrow, you can bet everyone else who heard it will have him admitting to murder.”

  “I suppose you’re right. Sadly, my guess is Seth Marner will regret those words until the day he dies.”

  “Maybe. All I know is he had a reason to feel the way he did, and soon everyone in town will be speculating. Or maybe they know more than we
do about the two Marner families. Speculation probably started a long time ago.”

  “Ask Belle. She knows almost everything that goes on in town,” I said.

  “I plan to. Morris knows plenty, too, but he’d tell you before he’d tell me.”

  I laughed. “Why do you say that?”

  “Come on, Jillian. You can actually make the man smile just by showing up.”

  “The feeling is mutual. He’s a good guy under that grumpy exterior.”

  Kara silently typed on her notebook all the way back to the newspaper office, only occasionally interrupting her work to check a picture on her camera.

  Her intensity seemed to fill the space around us, making me want to hug a cat or pick up one of the many appliqué projects I had going at the moment. Nothing like a little handwork to ease my worries.

  I usually enjoyed being with Kara, but after I dropped her off, I breathed a sigh of relief. She was as intense as Candace. My appointment with Martha for the final alterations was right after she closed the shop around five p.m. I had a couple of hours to relax and check a few more things off the wedding list. With all these preparations coming to a big conclusion in just a few days, I was beginning to feel the city hall route might have been the way to go for this marriage, too.

  Syrah, Merlot and Chablis greeted me when I came in through the back door. They did not seem happy that I’d been absent for most of the day. And where was Magpie? After treats were dispersed to my crew, I began calling for the missing kitty. Not that she actually knew her name yet. But cats do like to answer a human voice with a few meows. I was hoping I could track her down that way.

  When I heard nothing and couldn’t find her upstairs, and knew the door to the basement was always left ajar, I decided to check down there. Sure enough, Magpie was in Finn’s room and when I saw her, I burst out laughing. She had gathered every cat toy in the house, along with a few socks from the laundry basket. She sat surrounded by her treasures in the middle of Finn’s bed. There was nothing like cat antics to erase whatever was troubling me. The tension in my neck melted away.