Secret Keepers and Skinny Shadows: Lee and Miranda

by Mary A Russell

  Lee took a couple of steps in Miranda’s direction. “I don’t think you should just assume that what this woman says is true. She could very well be crazy.”

  She took a couple of steps back while holding his eye contact.

  “In my opinion as an FBI profiler, I think all of the incidences she mentions worked together to drive Lilly to live on the edges of her own psychosis. I think it’s evident as you read each letter.”

  He smiled and touched her elbow. “So you’re saying that she drifts in and out of reality?”

  “I know after all these years it’ll be difficult to prove what she says, but what kind of detectives are we if we can’t dig up the evidence?”

  He nodded.

  “I have to run or I’ll be late for my appointment at the gym, you should have enough time to look at that material while I’m gone. It’ll be interesting to hear what you think.”

  “One thing before you go, after I read the newspaper clippings and letters, I placed a called to the Bridgetown police to make an appointment with someone to go over the case with me. That was weeks ago, and I haven’t heard back from them.”

  She shot a wide-eyed glance at Lee and pushed his hand away. “That isn’t unusual, murder cases are considered open until they’re solved. I can understand their reluctance to talk with you, but they should give you something.”

  “I gave my number to the secretary where they could contact me, it would be nice if they would call while I’m here saving me a trip back to this town.”

  The look in Miranda’s eyes softened for a second.

  “You can stay with me as long as you want to, and as long as you remember your place. I now have all the time in the world since I retired.” She said.

  Lee returned the smile, ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Thank you,” he said as he cleared his throat. “Now I have all the time in the world as well.”

  “Why? What do you mean?”

  “The day before I received your envelope in the mail, the publishing house fired me.” Lee looked down at the floor as he spoke. He couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact.

  “What? Why?”

  He looked up in time to see her put her hand on her hip cocking one leg out slightly.

  “My good friend Ray is the one who axed me. He said I was the only editor who still wrote everything out on paper. They invested in expensive computers for me and I never even tried to use them.”

  Miranda threw her hands into the air. The keys in her hand jingled on the way down to her side. “What did I tell you? Years ago I told you, you should learn to use a computer but, oh no, not you. You could get by without learning to use one.” Lee looked back down at the floor. Miranda stepped forward, and with her finger gave a gentle tug under his chin lifting his head up. Lee moved back a couple of inches.

  “As I was saying, before I was rudely interrupted, Ray told me they were combining my job with two others and Sally Parker would replace me.” He watched Miranda’s eyes grow to the size of quarters.

  “Your assistant? How humiliating. They really stuck it to you. It almost makes me feel sorry for you.” The corners of her mouth turned down.

  Miranda reached out and took his hand in hers patting it trying to comfort him.

  “Lee I’d like to say I’m sorry, but I did try to warn you. Someday you’ll learn to listen to me. But that did have to hurt.”

  “Is that a bit of sympathy I detect? Thank you but I’m past it all now and what’s important is this murder case.”

  She pulled her hand back from his, moving back to the door.

  “Maybe a bit, but being computer savvy in this day and age is almost a necessity in any business. I’ll be back in an hour or maybe sooner. I have to go. Try to finish reading that stuff before I get back so we can discuss our plans and lay out a course of action going forward.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Present Day

  Lee made his way across the expansive Tudor-style living room, stopping in front of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out onto the driveway. He followed Miranda’s expensive car as it disappeared into the heavy mist rolling in off the mountains. He stared up into the sky; he could feel someone watching him—but who and why?

  The silence in the big house was deafening. He didn’t like it. The quiet allowed him too much time to think about the past, present, and future. The past he couldn’t change. The present he could manipulate, but the future, filled him with renewed hope, remembering the vow he made to solve this murder for Joan, he could control and change the direction he was going.

  He couldn’t shake the feeling that his and Miranda’s lives were in danger, especially since the death of the local historian and the warning he gave Miranda. He sensed that everything that happened so far was somehow tied into the murder and the letters. What else could it be?

  Miranda was always a private person and lived alone for reasons she never shared with him, but he was sure she shared them with Joan.

  To live alone for such a long time she must enjoy the solitude. Of course, he didn’t know the real role Adrian played in Miranda’s life either. He was still trying to piece that together. Maybe he was a bodyguard pretending to be a housekeeper. After all, who ever heard of a house-carl? Maybe he was her lover to be available at her beck and call, then he thought how silly that sounded, he shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts when the silence was broken.

  “Lee, is there anything I can get for you before I leave?”

  “Nothing I can think of, but thanks anyway, Adrian.” Lee watched him walk out the same door Miranda used.

  Miranda, lives the life of a single lady with a heart that’s locked up and refuses to empty itself of its secrets and loneliness. He thought maybe he was the only one she didn’t open up to. Keeping him at arm’s length with a rough persona made him wonder if she was hiding some deep, dark secret. For someone he has known for so many years there were many things he didn’t know about her.

  Lee knew from experience that living alone wasn’t a formula for success. Every time he looked in the mirror he could see the gray hair spreading from his temples, weaving paths to the front of his head, the deep crow’s feet around his eyes and mouth, all signs of aging beyond his years.

  After three years his heart had started to wither because it didn’t answer to the beat of another. Looking back on everything that had happened he was beginning to wonder if his heart ever answered to the beat of another person. He now thinks his heart was answering to the beat of his successful career at the publishing house? It was hard for him to admit he didn’t take the time to get to know the real Joan.

  Miranda seemed to be warming up a little from the way he remembered her. She was still a dazzling beauty. No wonder Adrian stayed with her. She was his eye candy.

  He turned around to move back into the kitchen when his eyes stopped on a large framed picture hanging on the wall above the sofa. It was of Joan and Miranda, taken shortly before Joan passed away. Lee stared at it for a couple of minutes. He was reminded of Joan’s soft, kind and gentle nature. It was in her eyes. He held his head between his hands while thinking what a jerk he had been.

  He retrieved his glass of juice from the kitchen, then went back into the living room, found a comfortable spot on the sofa, picked up the notes and started to read.

  CHAPTER 15

  Present Day

  Lee finished the notes when he heard the door opening. Miranda walked in, he watched her stroll to the kitchen and drop her keys and purse on the countertop.

  “Have you finished reading?”

  Lee stood and stretched, rocked back and forth on his heels. “Reading always makes me sleepy. I’m not a speed reader. I did finish your notes you’re right—I’m hooked. I know a lot of time has passed since this took place but we might get lucky and find someone who remembers this lady as well as the murder.”

  By this time Miranda was in the living room standing in front of him. He found it hard to con
centrate on what she was saying. She was so beautiful.

  “I’ve done some of my own digging around on the computer,” Miranda said. “Lilly did spend a lot of time in the mental institution, but I don’t know if it was for protection from George or sickness. Several months after the murder Lilly was in and out of the hospital.”

  Lee stared into her brown green eyes, listening to her soft voice. “Come on Miranda let’s take ride and get a drink.”

  While Lee drove he peppered Miranda with questions.

  “What did you find out about George?”

  Miranda shifted in her seat to face him. “Well, he was hard to track down. He was twenty years older than Lilly. Short and stocky, from the description on his draft card. He left the army because he was too old to serve any longer and took a job on the Conn railroad here in Bridgetown working as a laborer.”

  “So you think Bert and George worked together at the railroad.”

  “Yes, that must be where he met and knew Bert. I couldn’t find any of George’s family. Maybe they will pop up somewhere as we continue to look into this. It’s like they dropped off the edge of the world.” She took a breath. Lee broke in with a question.

  “Didn’t Lilly say in one of her letters that she divorced George married Hap Mills and later divorced Hap before she remarried George?”

  “Yes, she did say that, but I could only find a marriage to George. Why do you ask?”

  “Would this have been something she made up or the truth? It’s a good place to start to see if Lilly is lying,” Lee said.

  “I don’t know about that, it could be poor record keeping back then, but we might come up with something,” she said. “Why are you pulling over to the side of the road?”

  He brought the car to a stop pointing in the direction of the mountains. “What a great view,” he said. “People pay a lot of money for a view like that.” he glanced in her direction.

  “I did pay a lot of money for it, when I bought that old house.” she shrugged and grinned.

  His attention was taken by the blue lights flashing in his rear-view mirror, he swore under his breath watching the policeman get out of the car and walk to his side of the car. Lee lowered the window.

  “Did I do something wrong officer?”

  “Are you Lee Perkins?”

  “Uh, yes, I am. Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, I was on my way to Miranda’s to talk with you.” The officer leaned over and looked into the car.

  “Hi there Miranda.”

  “Winslow, what do you think you’re doing? Why did you pull behind us? We weren’t doing anything wrong. And how did you know I would be in this vehicle?”

  “Wow, Miranda, so many questions,” the officer said. “Don’t get your panties all twisted. We knew Mr. Perkins was staying with you. Come on Miranda, it’s a small town, word gets around.”

  “What do you want, Winslow?” She said.

  Winslow directed his attention back to Lee.

  “I have a message for you from the police chief. It seems they were able to squeeze in some time for an appointment between you and Captain Woods for tomorrow at 1 P.M. That’s the only opening they have available. I told the chief I would drive down and give you the message; when I spotted your car pulled over to the side of the road.”

  Winslow grinned at Miranda. “I’m still waiting for our date you promised me Miranda.”

  “That’ll be the day Winslow, I never promised you anything, now leave us alone.”

  Lee smiled at Winslow as he glanced in Miranda’s direction. He could see the cold stare she was giving him.

  Winslow backed up and tipped his hat. “Be seeing you around.”

  Lee grinned at him, and watched in his mirror as he got back into his car.

  “I think that is a good example for us to witness, how brazen the police are in this town,” Lee said. “You’re going with me tomorrow Miranda, whether they like it or not.”

  Winslow pulled out and drove south.

  “Our own personal invitation. They send a cop down to tell us. How connected are you in this town?”

  “Oh Winslow. He stops me every chance he gets trying to get me to go out with him, I think he’s disgusting. I don’t like him, don’t trust him, and I would certainly never go out with him.”

  “I can’t say I blame him for trying,”

  She nodded turning her head away.

  “Let’s get back to what we were talking about,” she said. “Lilly did mention a lot of different men in the letters. She must have known these guys from the hotel where she said she cleaned and tended bar. Do you know where you are going?”

  “No, but I was sure you would tell me how to get to a coffee house,” Lee said.

  “The Dr. Denny she talked about,” Miranda said, “has since passed away and the hospital wouldn’t release any information about her or Bert.” He noticed how animated Miranda was as she talked like a marionette puppet without the strings.

  “Turn right here.”

  Lee followed her order. “What would you think of placing an ad in the local newspaper asking for information about the murder of Bert and any information about Lilly that someone would like to share?”

  “Great idea,” Miranda said. “I’ll place the ad right now from my iPhone. It should make tomorrow’s newspaper.”

  “At this meeting with the police tomorrow we can question the police chief about the young historian who was killed in the accident last night.”

  “They could have called instead of sending Winslow” Miranda said, typing the ad text into her phone. “I’ll cancel my exercise class for the rest of the week. I need some time off anyway.”

  Miranda pointed to the parking lot of the coffee shop he found a vacant spot to pull the car into.

  CHAPTER 16

  Present Day

  The fogged over storefront windows with streaks of dirty white residue caught Lee’s eye. “Hum, looks like a greasy spoon,” he said.

  “You can’t always go by looks.”

  “You would go in there and have coffee?”

  “It’s not as bad as it looks, don’t be so fussy Lee.”

  The wooden sign with faded white letters on a red background was swinging back and forth, a single rusty nail kept it from falling on the head of the next person who walked under it. The rusted knob wiggled in Lee’s hand as he turned it pushing the door open. To his great surprise it was like walking into a different world. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee was incredible. The place was packed with people chatting while soft rock music played in the background. Clean, neat tables were spread around the expansive room.

  He found a table in the back and ordered coffee.

  “You drink way to much coffee,” Miranda said. “It’s not good for you. No wonder you can’t sleep at night.”

  He smirked. “I was thinking about Lillian’s remark in one of the letters when she said the aluminum siding wouldn’t burn. It’s hard to believe that anyone would think like that. Pretty funny isn’t it? She must have believed the house wouldn’t burn because of the siding. What a nut case.”

  “Nevertheless,” she said, “I’m willing to wait and see what we come up with before I pass judgment on her.” She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips as she gave him the evil eye.

  “Don’t look now,” Lee said, his voice dropping lower so only she could hear him, “but I think that man sitting by himself two tables back is trying to hear what we’re saying.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “The way he is sitting in the chair with his head cocked in our direction while pretending to study his coffee cup.”

  “Oh, come on Lee, he could have a lot on his mind or he could be thinking about something important.”

  “Okay, let’s get back to the letters,” Lee said. “In her letters, Lillian was sure Cain and Clay Bliss were the people who murdered Bert. Did you look up anything on them? Did you check the mental hospital? Was the book ever published? Isn’t it
interesting that she said not many people knew about her or of her?”

  “She was probably a shadow person, you know, she listened to peoples conversations and then went home wrote down what they said to create her book, she mixed fact with fiction,” Miranda said.

  “I think there could have been a love triangle. According to Lilly there was—or was she making that up? She mentions in the second letter this Mr. Merritt. How does he figure in this whole mess? She never explained that.”

  Lee paused, as he now understood why Miranda was so interested in this murder.

  Miranda stared at Lee. “I think there was a love triangle, but not the kind you’re thinking of.”

  “You’re right. It was a love triangle of different kind,” Lee said. “According to Lillian, there was the gay thing with the detectives. I can’t remember the detective’s name that made a pass at Bert, and Bert nearly killed the guy. It all got pretty messy after that.”

  The man two tables over picked up his coffee cup and moved to the table beside Lee and Miranda. Lee tapped Miranda’s wrist. She shifted in her chair to look, then nodded at Lee.

  “I think money, revenge, and love are always motiving factors in any murder,” Miranda said.

  “And I think all three played into this murder.”

  The man at the table next to them stood up and approached their table. He cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said, “I hear you are looking into the Grayson murder. I think there are some things you should know.”

  Lee looked at Miranda and back to the man. “How do you know that?”

  “Talk around town,” he said. “I’m Derrick. You don’t need to know my last name.”

  “I’m Lee and this is Miranda,” Lee said. “You don’t need to know our last names either.” Lee hesitated, sizing the man up, whether he was a threat.

  Miranda was the one who said, “Have a seat.”