Annie’s thoughts raced around her head. Crap, she thought, this is definitely going to complicate things.
There was a thick silence for a moment as Annie formed her next thought. You’re going to have to tell Emmett what you told me, she said finally. I’ll go down and let you get dressed, then you come and talk to him. She felt like she was sending him to face a firing squad, though she realized that Emmett knew Devon well enough to know that the boy hadn’t done anything wrong. At least, she hoped that Emmett would come to that same conclusion.
Annie left her son standing in his pajamas, holding TigerLily, who’d followed Annie upstairs and into his room. The cat was oblivious to Annie’s distress and doing what cats do best, which is to say she was purring loudly as Devon fawned over her.
She walked back downstairs a little less confidently than she’d walked up them. Her brain tried to reassure her that Devon’s explanation would simply clear things up for Emmett, but her heart was convinced that it was just going to look like a damning piece of evidence against her family. A property feud between the town grinch and a woman whose historic inn seemed to attract as many dead guests as live ones? Of course, that was no reason for Emmett to think that one of them had killed the old man, was it?
She had a lot on her mind as she neared the bottom of the stairs, and the last thing she expected to hear was laughter, but the sound filled her kitchen and drifted out into the stairwell. She reached the kitchen to find her mother was the source of the laughter.
Mama! Just what is so funny? Annie glared at Emmett. Did he tell you why he’s here? He seems to think that Devon had something to do with Mr. LaRue’s murder, or at least, he seems to think that Devon was over there at some point.
Bessie took a deep breath. Oh, calm down, Annie. Emmett does not think that Devon had anything to do with that horrible man’s death. But he did find Devon’s jacket over there, right? Well, we need to get to the bottom of that. Emmett, do you think that Mr. LaRue could have taken Devon’s jacket himself? Maybe he thought it was worth something. After all, he was awfully upset about those chickens of his.
Emmett held a hand up, trying to diffuse Annie’s anger. Now, Annie, your mother is right. I know there’s bound to be a logical explanation for the jacket. Who knows, maybe Devon left it outside and the old man found it. How about we just wait and see what Devon has to say about it before you get all defensive.
I already asked him, Annie replied. He says he left the jacket in the downstairs closet, but it wasn’t there this morning when I put my own jacket in there. She stopped at telling him about Devon’s visit to the man’s property--that would be best revealed by Devon himself, she thought. She took a deep breath and tried not to sound too mad or defensive, but she was finding it difficult.
Well, it wouldn’t be, would it? Not if it was down at the police station with the other evidence. Bessie shook her head. I don’t know how it got over there, but I do know that Devon is a good boy. I don’t think we have anything to worry about, do we, Emmett? Bessie actually fluttered her eyelashes at him, and it took a real effort for Annie not to groan out loud.
Emmett patted Bessie’s arm affectionately. I’m sure there’s nothing to worry about, but we do need to figure out how it got there.
Annie threw her hands up in frustration. You two seem so calm about all this, like it’s perfectly reasonable for my son’s jacket to be found at a murder victim’s house.
Emmett cleared his throat. Now, Annie, we will get to the bottom of this. Let me have a little chat with Devon--purely procedural, mind you--and then we can move on to looking at all the other evidence.
What other evidence? Annie felt like she was in an episode of the Twilight Zone. She was certain that at any minute, Frances LaRue himself would walk through the front door and accuse her of getting him murdered.
Emmett hesitated. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was so close with Annie’s family, he wouldn’t say another word, but he was close with them, so he replied. There were dishes in the sink and the remnants of what looked like a meal for two people. Two glasses, two plates, et cetera. I believe that Mr. LaRue knew his killer and was on friendly terms with them.
Well, that certainly wouldn’t have been Devon, then, Rory interjected.
How can you be sure that the killer ate with Mr. LaRue? I mean, you saw the state of that place. His dishes could have been his own from earlier that day or the day before. Annie realized that she shouldn’t be playing Devil’s advocate, but since Emmett really didn’t seem to be convinced that Devon had anything to do with the man’s murder, she felt emboldened to ask the question. Besides, despite the man’s horrible personality, he deserved justice.
We can’t, not yet, Emmett conceded. But the crime scene guys are taking care of the evidence, so I’m positive we’ll know more very soon.
Know what? Devon appeared behind his grandmother, no longer holding the cat but still covered in her orange fur. He brushed at it absentmindedly as he reached around Bessie for the tin of cookies that she kept on the table. She blocked him, swatting at his hand.
Cookies aren’t for breakfast, young man. And Emmett here needs to have a little chat with you, so why don’t we all go in the sitting room and let Emmett and Devon here discuss things. With one fell swoop, Bessie stepped up and redirected the group, handing Devon a banana from her fruit bowl as she passed him. Brain food, she told him, then patted him on the shoulder and headed towards the sitting room.
Annie and Rory followed reluctantly, while Devon and Emmett sat at the table for their chat. It seemed like forever before the Chief of Police rejoined Annie and the others in the sitting room, but in reality, it was probably only ten minutes later.
Where’s Devon? Annie looked for her son to join them, but he didn’t appear to be coming in.
Oh, I told him he’d better get on with seeing to his grandmother’s chickens, Emmett explained. I told him he ought to be scooping up that poop, Bessie. Makes great fertilizer for your garden, he added. He sat down next
to Bessie on the sofa and cleared his throat.
But what did he say about the jacket? Bessie furrowed her brow at Emmett.
Well, Devon admitted that the jacket might not have been in the closet, he continued. He said there was a good chance he left it on the back of the chair in the kitchen last Thursday.
He did, Bessie confirmed. I’ve been at him about that--told him it looks so messy to just leave his things laying around like that. I do remember scolding little Joshua for trying to put it on, she added, a slight scowl settling on her face. But I can’t remember if he put it away or not.
So, if he didn’t put the jacket away, how did it end up in the old man’s house? Rory beat the others to the question. Did someone else take the jacket and leave it over there?
Emmett mulled this over. Maybe. That would be the most likely thing to have happened, I suppose.
Annie had been silent, waiting for Emmett to say something about Devon being at the house. He didn’t seem to be about to discuss this particular aspect of things, so she asked him a tentative question. Was that all that Devon had to say about the matter?
Emmett smiled. No, it was not. But speculation and hearsay won’t be allowed in court, and unless we find Devon’s fingerprints inside the house, I’m inclined to believe it all happened just the way he says it did.
What on earth are y’all talking about? Bessie’s voice rose when she spoke. What are you talking about hearsay for?
Young Devon admitted to me that he was, in fact, outside of Mr. LaRue’s house the day before his body was discovered. He says Karma got away from your property and he was only retrieving him before the dog could get into trouble.
Bessie and Rory exchanged puzzled looks. Oh, the woman said, putting a hand to her mouth. And he must have seen or heard something, that’s why you mentioned hearsay. She looked at Emmett, waiting for a reply.
Devon claims to have heard someone arguing with Mr. LaRue. We can’t be sure if this i
s true or not, but I can assure you that I will be looking into it. His answer didn’t satisfy Bessie, but his tone told her that he wasn’t willing to discuss it any further.
Annie was relieved that Emmett trusted her son so implicitly, but something else preyed on her mind. Emmett, was someone trying to frame my son for murder? Annie set her mouth in a firm line, waiting for Emmett’s reply. Her inner mother lion was about to roar. When Emmett didn’t respond quickly enough, she snapped.
If somebody is messing with my family, so help me, I’ll--I’ll...ugh! She threw her hands up in frustration. Well, I won’t kill them, she added hastily, because we don’t do things like that in this family. You should know that. She directed this last part at Emmett, who nodded reassuringly.
Annie, listen, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. My gut tells me that there’s an innocent enough explanation for the jacket finding its way over to the LaRue place. Anybody wandering through here could have picked it up and carried it off. What about your guests? Who do you have staying here this week?
Annie forced herself to relax a little. Emmett wasn’t her enemy, and he didn’t think that Devon had anything to do with LaRue’s murder. She really ought to try harder to be nice to the man, especially considering his relationship with her mother.
We’ve only got three guests here at the moment, she replied. A mother and her little boy plus a musician from Nashville.
Emmett’s eyebrows went up. Anybody famous? he asked with a grin. I do love my country music.
It was Bessie who replied. He’s a songwriter from Nashville and he’s had several very big hit songs, she gushed. I didn’t know who he was, but Rory here did. Apparently one of his last songs went triple platinum, she added coyly.
His name is Bo Michaels, Annie sighed. He seems nice enough. As a matter of fact, he’s hardly been here all week. He comes and goes a lot, she added.
I think he’s taking one of those working vacations, Bessie interjected. I saw him playing his guitar and making notes the other day, so I asked him about it. He’s writing some new music while he’s here, she told them. He says this place inspires him.
Annie could swear that she could see her mother blushing as she spoke. I thought you said you hadn’t spent much time talking to him? she asked.
That doesn’t mean I haven’t spent any time talking to him, Bessie replied curtly.
Emmett changed the subject. And what about this mother and her son? Is he a teenager, like Devon?
Oh, no, Bessie replied, shaking her head. He’s just a little thing. Gets into all sorts of mischief. Broke one of my plates just this morning, she sighed.
Emmett twisted one end of his mustache thoughtfully. You reckon any of them know anything about the jacket? Did any of them mention meeting Frances LaRue, you know, when he came over here raising cain about those chickens of his?
Miss Wallace and her boy were out by the pond when he came over. They may have seen him, but if they did, she didn’t say anything about it. Annie hoped that little Joshua hadn’t seen the crazy old man waving his dead chicken around everywhere. That had been traumatic enough for Annie--she couldn’t imagine how scary it would have been for a young child.
If you think they’d be of any use to our investigation, let me know. I’d be happy to chat with the mother if it might help clear Devon’s name in all this. Emmett was trying to be helpful, Annie could tell, but she honestly doubted that Melody Wallace could be of any use to the investigation. The woman had been an emotional wreck since she’d walked through the front door, and she didn’t seem to be making plans to leave anytime soon. Annie sincerely hoped that the woman had enough money to pay for her stay at Rosewood Place.
I don’t think she saw much, if anything, that day, Annie sighed. She’s a little preoccupied, it seems.
Well, she’s got a lot on her mind, Rory piped up. In her defense, she’s been wrestling with a big decision, not that I should be telling you all about it, he added, realizing that he’d probably said too much.
How would you know that? Annie asked with a smile, but he could tell it wasn’t a genuine one.
Rory rubbed the back of his neck. Well, I was chatting with her yesterday, after the whole tray down the stairs incident, and she told me the real reason she was in Coopersville. She was supposed to be meeting with Joshua’s father, only he didn’t know he’s a daddy. She said she had been working up the courage to call him and when she finally did, he agreed to meet with her in town a couple of days ago. From the way she’s been moping around here since then, I don’t think the meeting went the way she’d hoped.
Oh, Annie groaned, how awful! Do you think the boy’s father turned her away? I mean, maybe he didn’t believe he was really the dad? She felt sorry for Melody, and a little jealous that the woman had been so willing to confide in Rory. A small part of Annie hoped that Melody wasn’t looking to find a replacement father for Joshua right there at Rosewood Place.
I think he kicked up a stink, Rory confirmed, but it’s not really my place to go digging into the guests’ issues, so I didn’t ask questions. She just sort of offloaded that other bit of information on me, he explained. I guess she just needed to vent, and I was the most convenient outlet.
This made Annie feel just the smallest bit better. Well, you’re right, we shouldn’t be getting involved in the guests’ private lives. They come here to get away from all that, so I guess we should just focus on making this place as warm and welcoming as possible. She stood from where she’d been sitting on the couch, stretched her arms above her to relieve the stiffness that had crept up on her while she sat, and let out a long sigh.
Emmett, I appreciate you stopping by to talk to us, and I appreciate it more that you believe Devon had nothing to do with Mr. LaRue’s death. I just wish we knew how my son’s jacket found its way onto the scene of a murder investigation.
Emmett, who’d taken a spot on the opposite end of the couch beside Bessie, stood as well.
Oh, someone knows how that jacket got over there, alright. And I’ll figure out who it is directly. In the meantime, you all keep an eye out for anyone or anything suspicious. I still don’t have an obvious motive for Mr. LaRue’s murder, so I can’t say exactly what it is we’re looking for. However, if they were bold enough to kill the old man in broad daylight, they could very well be a danger to you and your guests.
Annie wanted to say something, to deny this, but she didn’t have a chance. A sound she recognized as the slamming of the back door startled everyone, and Devon’s face appeared in the doorway to the sitting room.
Mom, I think you need to come and see this. Something bad has happened. His face was white and he looked as if he’d seen something truly horrible.
Annie and Rory followed him to the back door, expecting to find some minor inconvenience blown all out of proportion. Annie wished that her expectations had been met.
Outside the house, on the far right side, sat Bessie’s small chicken coop. It normally housed six fat, friendly hens that often greeted Annie with clucks of expectation. Today, the coop was silent. Inside, five terrified hens
huddled together in one corner, their tiny chicken faces all pointed in the same direction. Annie followed their gaze to the opposite end of the coop. Blood and feathers covered the ground, but the sixth chicken was nowhere to be seen.
8
A Fox Among the Hens
Bessie was inconsolable over the loss of her hen. After a brief inspection of the ‘crime scene,’ it was determined that Lady had been the unfortunate victim of some creature, possibly an animal looking for a nice chicken dinner.
Looks like you might have yourself a predator on your hands, probably a fox, Emmett suggested. Can you see where it got into the coop?
Rory had already begun checking the wire for signs of damage. Not yet, he conceded, but I’m still looking. I guess these girls hid in the hen house when it happened. Foxes get pretty frenzied when they get in tight little spaces full of food like this one, he said to Anni
e, taking care not to let Bessie overhear him. We’re lucky it only got one chicken.
Rory continued examining the little coop, which consisted of a small, enclosed hen house and a run of about eight feet. At the furthest end of the run, he could just make out a pile of loose dirt. Something dug its way in here, he stated, pointing to the disturbed earth. I guess it dragged the hen out the same way.
Oh, Rory! That’s awful! Annie fought back a tear, which made her feel just a little foolish. She’d never even wanted the chickens to begin with, but seeing her mother so upset and seeing the look of fear on the remaining hens’ faces made her a little emotional. Do you think this is what happened to Mr. LaRue’s chickens?
Probably. Actually, didn’t the police take the rest of Mr. LaRue’s hens away for safekeeping? Rory directed his question at Emmett.
Yep, took them to Dr. Fisher to keep until we’ve sorted out who gets to own the property.
That’s probably why our hens were attacked, Rory mused. You took away its other easy food source, so it just moseyed over here and helped itself to one of these. Smart fox.
Annie nudged him. I don’t think my mother is too interested in how smart the fox is. She loves these chickens--she’s going to want some serious revenge on that fox.
Just then, Karma’s barking filled the air. It was a frenzied sound, full of warning and intent.
Where’s the dog? Annie tried to follow the sound, but before she could locate its source, it stopped. What on earth was he barking at?
A moment later, Karma came bounding around the side of the house, his stocky German Shepherd body moving lithely and quickly towards his owners. He would have been much more beautiful if he hadn’t been carrying the dead body of Lady the hen.
Oh, Karma! No! Annie started to scold the dog, but Rory stopped her.
Greed & Deadly Deceit Page 5