“I guess the news is around town that we’re here,” she finally said when the twins’ attention was elsewhere.
Logan laughed and a few heads swiveled around at the sound. “Good news travels fast.”
“We knew it would be like this.”
Logan nodded, taking a bite of his burger. “We did. All this does is make me more determined than ever to find Lyle’s killer.”
“Then we can go home.”
This town wasn’t home anymore, and the people weren’t her neighbors and friends. This was hostile territory and they’d have their work cut out for them, but they’d find the truth no matter what.
Corville could kiss her ass.
Chapter Twelve
Drake’s grim expression perfectly matched Logan’s as they trudged to what would hopefully be the last neighbor’s home. They’d been questioning the people that lived near Mary and Lyle and so far the story had been the same.
Mary and Lyle argued. Loudly. They’d fight and then Lyle would stomp out of the house and tear down the street, going way too fast. Eventually he’d come back and all would be quiet for days and even weeks. Then the cycle would start all over again.
“I hope Ava is having better luck combing through the phone records,” Logan muttered as they knocked on the front door. “Because this is not clearing Mary at all.”
“She just might have done it,” Drake said, shaking his head wearily. “Statistically speaking, she’s our prime suspect.”
Logan was well aware of the numbers, but he simply couldn’t see his sister-in-law hiding in the bushes and shooting her husband. It didn’t mesh with anything that he knew about her. She didn’t like to smudge her nail polish, for heaven’s sake.
“I doubt most marriages would stand up under the scrutiny,” Logan said as the door swung open. An older gentleman, Howard Styles, stood there unsmiling. But then Logan didn’t ever remember Howard cracking a smile in all the years he’d lived in this town. He was, however, a straight shooter and they could count on him to tell the truth.
Drake took the lead since he was the official head lawman in town. “Howard, we were hoping you had a few minutes to chat.”
The man nodded and stepped back to let them in. “I’ve been waiting for you to come talk to me. Saw you across the street and figured you’d get to me eventually so I put some coffee on. How do you take it?”
“Black,” Logan replied, following into the kitchen where they sat down at the small round table. “So you know why we’re here?”
“I do. What do you want to know?”
Logan accepted the cup of steaming coffee. “What can you tell us about Mary and Lyle? Or more specifically, what can you tell us about Lyle? Habits, schedules, friends. Anything might help us.”
Howard considered the question, taking his time before answering. “He was a good guy, friendly and helpful, although he didn’t go out of his way to talk to anyone. Mostly he kept to himself, but that wasn’t a surprise considering all that had happened with the Bryson family. He would wave and sometimes stop and talk for a little while. On Christmas, Mary made cookies and candy and they’d give boxes of it to their neighbors. Good fudge. She’d put green and red sprinkles on it.”
Logan didn’t really give a shit about the sprinkles but he stayed quiet, hoping Drake would as well. Howard was just getting warmed up. He was the type that had to tell everything single thing he knew, small or large.
“Anyway, Lyle did keep to a schedule. He ran in the park in the morning pretty much every day unless it was raining or snowing. Even then he’d sometimes go but it wasn’t a sure thing. Then he’d go back home and get ready for work. He usually left for the office about eight-forty-five, coffee in hand.”
Good details. The person who had waited for Lyle had to have known his habits. Since it was a nice day they’d had reason to believe he would be running that morning.
“You’re probably wondering why I know all of this.” Howard took a sip of his coffee. “Being retired, I have a lot of time on my hands. Plus, this window in the kitchen looks out over the Bryson yard and driveway.”
It did indeed. Howard had a front row seat to the comings and goings.
“Anything else?” Logan asked. Howard had yet to mention the arguments.
“He’d come home about six for dinner, although some nights it was much later. On the weekends, he kept busy with projects around the house and yard. He liked to go to the hardware store.”
Drake scribbled in his notebook. “Did they ever have company?”
“Sometimes his brother and the family would come by. Mary had a small book club that met once a week and they’d come over now and then. I’d know because they always blocked my driveway. Not that I really had anywhere to go.”
It sounded like Lyle and Mary had kept a low profile. For the hundredth time Logan wondered what had possessed them to move back to Corville where they were the talk of the town and everyone knew their secrets.
“They were homebodies?” Logan asked. “Didn’t socialize much?”
Howard frowned. “Well…yes and no. Mary didn’t go out much but Lyle did on occasion. Although I don’t know where he was going. He was dressed casually so he could have been heading back to the office. If he left or returned later than nine I wouldn’t know about it because that’s when I usually hit the hay. But I’m up before the sun every morning and have been for more than sixty years.”
As the father of twins, Logan was usually up before the birds and probably would be until the kids were teenagers. Then he’d take great delight in waking their asses up early.
“Anything else?” Drake prompted. “Anything out of the normal routine?”
“Not that I can think of. I’m guessing the other people in the neighborhood told you that the Brysons fought every now and then.”
“They argued?” Logan asked, acting as casual as possible. Like this was the first he was hearing of it. “Often or just now and then?”
Howard stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “I wouldn’t say a whole lot but every now and then. My sweet Nola and I got in a few shouting matches in our time, God rest her soul. I remember one time I had a few too many at the watering hole and she chased me around the backyard with a rolling pin.”
Apparently that was a funny memory for Howard because he was almost smiling. Almost.
“I love a woman with sass, don’t you?” Logan could only agree. He did like a woman with spirit. “That Mary never took any guff from Lyle, I can tell you. She’d give him a piece of her mind when he needed it. Of course, women don’t chase their husbands around with rolling pins anymore.”
Drake nodded in agreement. “I’ve never had the pleasure but don’t give Tori any ideas. She’s got a rolling pin the size of a tree branch in that bakery of hers.”
Howard refilled their coffees from the carafe on the table. “These days they use a shotgun and they mean business.”
About to take another drink of his coffee, Logan froze. What did Howard say?
“A shotgun?”
“Actually, Mary just used a handgun, but Kayla Johnson down the street used a shotgun on her husband when he came home smelling like a whorehouse. The whole neighborhood got a chuckle watching him run back to his car and hide until she calmed down.”
Drake and Logan exchanged a glance. This was worth the visit.
“Mary threatened Lyle with a gun?”
Howard shrugged. “Don’t know what it was about but she told him to leave and never come back. He did come back, of course, the next day and everything seemed back to normal.”
“So it just happened the one time?” Drake asked, his pencil poised over the notebook.
“Far as I know. But it was all peaceful by the next day. Every couple has their own way of working things out.”
They certainly did. When Ava was pissed off at Logan she would make frozen waffles for dinner every night until he broke down and asked what the problem was. Then he’d apologize because it was always that he’d don
e something stupid or thoughtless.
Ava, however, didn’t usually brandish a firearm in his direction. Or a rolling pin. Funny how Howard didn’t think anything of it. Nola must have been quite a handful back in the day.
They finished their coffee and thanked Howard, waving goodbye as they climbed into the SUV. Drake drove away without saying anything and Logan too was still processing what they’d learned. As they got closer to the station, Logan finally had a few questions.
“Did you know about Mary and Kayla Johnson?”
Drake nodded. “I did know about Kayla because her husband Bill called the cops from inside his vehicle. He was too terrified to leave it until we got there. We took Bill to the drunk tank to sleep it off and told Kayla that threatening people with guns wasn’t smart or legal. She’d calmed down at that point so we didn’t take her in. Never happened again but then they got divorced a short time later. As for Mary, that’s news that she chased him out of their house. You know, this is Montana and everyone has a gun. You’ve been living in the city for too long, my friend. You wouldn’t have batted an eyelash a few years ago.”
Perhaps Logan had become too citified. He’d broken up more domestic situations than he cared to remember and they did include firearms from time to time. The fact that Mary waved one in her husband’s face wasn’t that shocking. What was shocking was that Lyle ended up dead from a gunshot wound.
By trying to clear Mary, he’d only managed to put her further under suspicion. He needed that gun to compare to the bullet they’d pulled out of Lyle. Hopefully Mary would just give it to him so he didn’t have to get a warrant.
That would be fun. Have dinner with Ava’s family and serve a warrant at the same time.
Chapter Thirteen
Carol added the dry ingredients to the wet and gave the mix a stir. Ava’s mother was making more of her famous chocolate chip cookies but even that wasn’t making Mary happy. She’d sulked most of the morning, complaining on and off about Drake, Logan, and the unfairness of the universe in general.
Not that they needed to do any baking, but Ava had a feeling that her mother was simply trying to keep busy. There was something about a death that seemed to bring out the chef in everyone. The refrigerator and freezer were crammed with all of the casseroles and baked goods that had been dropped off by the townspeople.
“They’re going to make things sound worse than they really are,” Mary pronounced. She wasn’t happy that Logan and Drake were questioning the neighbors. In fact, she’d been so upset about it, they’d brought her to Carol’s home so she wouldn’t have to see what was happening. “They’ll exaggerate every little thing.”
Ava pinched one of the chocolate chips and popped it into her mouth. The twins loved chocolate chip cookies and were going to be thrilled when they were done with their playdate. They were spending the morning at Tori and Drake’s house playing with their two kids.
“Is there something you don’t want Logan and Drake to know? If you don’t have anything to hide it’s better that they learn all the details.”
Mary’s lips pressed together. “I don’t have anything to hide.”
“Then you don’t need to worry,” Carol replied with a smile. “Let Logan and Drake do their jobs. They said their first task was to clear you. I would think you would be happy about that.”
“I don’t like people sticking their noses into my personal life.”
There was no such thing as privacy when a murder happened.
“They’re not pawing through your underwear drawer.” Carol’s tone was soothing but firm. “They’re talking to the neighbors, that’s all.”
Ava didn’t enlighten her mother but that wasn’t all. In a box on her kitchen table was phone and financial records that needed looking through. That’s where she should be now but she wanted to talk to Carol. In private. So far they hadn’t been alone.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Yours, dear, but you’re making this harder than it needs to be. You look exhausted. Why don’t you go upstairs to my room and lie down for a little while? I’ll wake you up when the cookies are done.”
To Ava’s relief her sister agreed and flew up the stairs. There was always tension when Mary was in the room and in one of her moods. She had a good reason but it was still uncomfortable.
But that meant it was time, so Ava wasn’t exactly relaxed.
“Um, Mom…is everything…okay these days?”
Carol poured the chips into the thick batter. “You mean other than my son-in-law being shot to death and my oldest daughter being a suspect? Then yes, things are good. Why do you ask?”
Ava had to concede the question had been stupid. Maybe the direct approach was the best. She took a deep breath and plunged in.
“It’s just that Colt and Brianna mentioned that you and Dad argued yesterday.”
Carol stopped stirring but she didn’t look up, instead bustling over to the corner cabinet to dig out the cookie sheets. “I didn’t realize they’d heard us.”
“They said you were kind of…loud.”
Placing two cookie sheets on the kitchen island, Carol still managed to avoid making eye contact with her daughter. “We had a disagreement.”
“So you were just having a little fight?” Ava could have dropped it right then but her mother was being evasive. Did she think no one would notice?
Carol’s cheeks had turned red and she took a shuddering breath. “Your father can’t seem to decide what he wants and doesn’t want in the settlement. Frankly I’m getting tired from all of the back and forth. I just want to be done with it. I want us to have a friendly relationship especially now with all that’s going on.”
“It’s gone on a long time,” Ava said. “Maybe you both don’t really want the divorce?”
“I know that I want it,” Carole sighed, her lips turned down. “Your father and I…I just can’t anymore. Ever since he retired his behavior has become more and more erratic. He gets angry at the slightest thing and never seems happy. Least of all with me. I suggested we go to counseling, but he refused and that’s when I decided to move out. I’ve suggested your father sell the house so we can split the proceeds and that’s what we argued about. He doesn’t want to sell. He doesn’t want anything to change. He wants to stick his head in the ground and pretend everything is the same.”
Ava digested the information. Like most children – whether grown or not – she didn’t like to think of her parents divorcing but it wasn’t that much of a shock. They’d had their ups and down over the years. Her father had never been particularly easy to live with either.
“I’m sorry,” Ava finally said.
Her mother began dropping cookie batter onto the pans. “I had hoped we could work it out but that’s not going to happen. He has to make some changes and he doesn’t seem willing to do that.”
Bruce seemed to take pride in living in the past. Ava didn’t imagine that getting him to change would be all that easy. His favorite decade was the 1950s.
“You could always move in with me and Logan,” Ava suggested. Her mother deserved more at this point in her life than being hidden away in this little town. “We’re close to the city and there are lots of things to do.”
Carol laughed and slipped the pans into the oven. “Just what you and your husband need…your mother underfoot all the time. Maybe you should talk that over with Logan before you offer.”
Ava had a feeling Logan would love the idea. He adored her mother – and her cooking – and found her charming whenever she came to visit.
Bruce on the other hand? Not so much. That relationship was strained at best.
“I will talk to him about it. I’m serious, Mom. You should get out, make new friends, and have fun.”
“We’ll see. Now how about a fresh cup of coffee before you have to pick up the twins?”
Ava checked her watch. They had about forty-five minutes left and then she had to return back home and get to work on those files. She was posi
tive her sister hadn’t shot her husband and that meant someone else did. The truth was always in the minute details. There had to be something there that pointed to the killer. Just one little clue. That’s all she needed.
* * * *
The story was the same when Logan and Drake talked to Lyle’s employees. Their boss was a great guy, terrific to work for, but money was tight. Now that he was gone, they were worried about their jobs. Would Mary be closing down the construction company? Logan didn’t have the answer but he’d ask.
There was only one more person to talk to. Gary Newhouse, Lyle’s supposed best friend according to the people they’d talked to. He was a local real estate agent who was rarely in his office so they met him at the coffee shop in town. Logan and Drake arrived first but Gary came in right after. He looked the part of a successful businessman, dressed in a well-tailored blue suit. His dark hair was cropped close and he wore a big smile despite the fact that his close friend had been gunned down only a few days ago.
Gary shook their hands and sat down at the table after ordering at the counter. “It’s nice to see you again, Sheriff. I mean…Logan. Is it okay if I call you Logan?”
“Of course,” Logan replied, trying to remember this man but his mind was blank. “I’m afraid I don’t remember making your acquaintance the first time.”
The real estate agent chuckled and turned pink. “I wouldn’t say we actually met so much as we have some of the same friends. I used to hang out at the roadhouse before I was married.”
The roadhouse. Logan had taken Ava there a time or two.
“I’m sorry we didn’t get to meet then. So thank you for coming to talk to us today. We do appreciate it.”
“Anything I can do for law enforcement. I want whomever did this to be caught. My wife is beside herself with fear thinking we have a killer walking the streets of our town.” Gary leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Plus, it’s bad for business. No one wants to buy a house in a town with a killer.”
Drake cleared his throat and coughed a few times. “I would imagine that would be an issue. So we do have a few questions for you. We’d like to talk about Lyle and if he had any enemies. Did he piss off anyone in business? Or perhaps personally?”
Justice Divided (Cowboy Justice Association Book 10) Page 7