“You’re reacting the same way everybody else will, and that’s why I don’t want this to get out.”
“I’m not going to post your business on social media.” Maggie didn’t tell him, however, that depending on how the investigation played out, she might have to share news of the affair with the police. “You were explaining how Traci learned about the affair.”
“Jennifer had been pressuring me to leave Traci. I’ll be honest. I kept putting her off. I honestly didn’t think she was that into me. Then, she started demanding that I tell Traci. I went to the bathroom that evening at her house, you know, when Traci, Phil, and I were there for dinner, and Jennifer was waiting at the bathroom door for me when I walked out. She told me that she was tired of talking. That if I didn’t tell Traci that night, then she would tell her and our principal and the superintendent. She showed me an email that she had written to them. All she had to do was hit send.” Todd picked up the abandoned bag of popcorn. “There was something about her that night. I knew she meant business. Part of me wanted her to press send. That way, I wouldn’t have to man up and do the right thing. But when I went home that night and saw my kids sleeping, I knew I couldn’t change what I had done, but I could do better. I owed it to them to tell their mother the truth.”
“How did that go over?”
“How do you think? Traci went crazy. She threw a book at me. I ducked or it would have hit me square in the head. Then she threw a coffee cup at me. I ducked it, too. She started screaming at me, so I tackled her to the floor and reminded her that the kids were in the house. She went limp in my arms and told me to end it that night. To go over to Jennifer’s and tell her we were done. I explained that Jennifer had threatened me and that it was conceivable that I could lose my job. She looked at me with shark eyes and said that either way, the principal and the superintendent were going to find out because, if I didn’t end it with Jennifer, she would end it with me and tell everybody I was a lying cheater.”
“Which she – Jennifer or Traci – would tell everybody?”
“Huh? Oh, Traci.”
“It sounds like you were caught between the proverbial rock and hard place. What did you do?”
“I drove to Jennifer’s. I rang the doorbell, but she didn’t come to the door. I called her, too. No answer.”
“That’s convenient.”
“It’s the truth.”
“What did you tell Traci when you got home?”
Checking his watch, Todd said, “I have to get to fourth period.”
“Your students can wait. What did you tell Traci?”
“Traci wasn’t home when I got there. I waited up and when she got home, she headed straight to our bedroom and slammed the door. I slept on the couch. Actually, I tossed and turned on the couch. I didn’t get a wink of sleep that night.”
“Where had Traci been?”
“I don’t know. I never asked.”
“You never asked her if she killed Jennifer?”
“No.”
Considering the nature of their relationship, Maggie had no problem believing he wouldn’t have questioned his wife. “Todd, do you know how this looks?”
“Yes, but I really need to get to fourth period.”
As they stood to leave, Maggie pointed toward his sling. “What happened to your arm?”
“The truth? Traci flipped me off the bed. She said Moonshiner Days brought back the memory of my betrayal.”
“Why are you staying with somebody who abuses you?”
“It’s not abuse,” he said. “It’s my punishment.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Maggie hadn’t planned to talk to Traci, but after Todd admitted that neither he nor his wife had alibis for the time of Jennifer’s murder, she decided to swing by Traci’s classroom. She peeked through the door’s window and saw Traci teaching a group of inattentive children. Maggie figured she’d cool her heels until Traci completed the lesson. When Traci caught sight of Maggie, however, she held up her index finger, answered a student’s question, and then picked up the phone next to her desk. Within seconds, an older woman appeared at Maggie’s side.
Stepping clear of the door, Maggie said, “Excuse me,” and watched the lady enter Traci’s classroom. Traci smiled, squeezed the woman’s shoulder, and joined Maggie in the hall.
“I’m so happy you showed up,” she said to Maggie. “The kids are really struggling with their math today. None of them are catching on. Not even the brightest ones. Maybe I’m the one having the off day. Let’s hope the aide will have better luck teaching them to count by fives. So, did you finish talking to Todd? He told me you were coming by during his planning period.”
“I talked to him. Is there somewhere we can go that’s a little more private?”
“Sure. The third-graders are on a field trip. Let’s go to one of their rooms.”
Maggie followed Traci down the hall and into another classroom. Once Traci had settled into the teacher’s chair and Maggie onto a sturdy table, Maggie said, “We both need to get back to work, so I’ll get to the point. Blake told me about Todd’s affair with Jennifer, and Todd told me you learned of the affair the night Jennifer was killed.”
“You know?”
“Yeah. Traci, are you all right?”
The shaking started in Traci’s shoulders, then moved to her chest and head. She closed her eyes, contorted her face, covered part of her face with one hand, and emitted a mournful moan as tears fell down her face. At that moment, Maggie understood why Todd Taylor had been unwilling to wake her from her short slumber. She considered it improper to watch Traci do something as deeply personal as cry, but decided it would be even ruder to leave. She fixed her eyes on a scuff mark on the floor and waited until Traci had cried herself out.
After Traci blew her nose and dried her watery eyes, she said, “I’m sorry I’m such an ugly crier, but I needed that. This is the first time I’ve cried in a year. I even tried to make myself cry. One day when Todd took the kids to his mom’s, I watched Titanic, The Notebook, and Steel Magnolias back-to-back. Nothing.” Blowing her nose again, she said, “God, I’m so relieved.”
“Relieved? Why?”
“Because someone else knows. Do you know how hard this has been on me? Not being able to talk to anybody about what really happened?”
“And what really happened?”
Traci tossed a wet tissue into the trash and grabbed a fresh one. “Todd and Jennifer. I still can’t believe it. When he told me, I assumed he was joking. I mean, Todd and Jennifer? Todd with anybody but me? But I knew he wasn’t joking. Todd’s way too serious. He doesn’t have much of a sense of humor.”
“He said you became a little emotional that night.”
“A little? I threw everything I could get my hands on. I aimed for his head. I only calmed down when he reminded me that the kids were upstairs sleeping.”
“What happened then?”
“He didn’t tell you? I made him go to Jennifer’s house. I didn’t give him a chance. I let him know he had to end it that night.”
“And what did you do? He said you were gone when he got home.”
Traci wiped the tissue over her damp, red splotchy face. “I drove to the Zippy Mart, bought a pack of powdered donuts, a bag of barbeque chips, a king size candy bar, and a two liter of pop. And not diet, either. Only the real stuff could help me that night.” Sniffling, she said, “I sat there and ate all that junk food and drank that real pop, which by the way I hadn’t had since I was twelve. It tasted so good.”
“I can’t handle diet pop,” Maggie said. “One time I went on a trip with my aunt – she’s diabetic – and I got really thirsty. All she had packed was diet pop. I thanked her, but told her I wouldn’t drink diet. She told me I would if I was like her and didn’t have a choice. I don’t understand that rationale. It’s pop. We have a choice on whether to drink it or not. Anyway, I told her I wasn’t drinking diet. After that, I always made sure to take my own beverages to her house or
when taking trips with her.”
“I quit drinking the real stuff to lose weight. I didn’t realize how much I had missed it until the first sip from that two liter that night. I also didn’t realize how much I hate diet.”
“Not that it’s any of my business, but if you hate it so much, then why do you drink it?”
“Why did I shove junk food into my mouth until I threw up in the Zippy Mart parking lot? Why did Todd and Jennifer betray me? Why did I tell you about Jennifer’s fictional boyfriend? Why do any of us do what we do?”
“Yeah, why did you tell me about Bob Smith? You didn’t tell the police.”
“I wasn’t thinking straight during my first interview with them. And, later, when they asked me about it, I didn’t tell them his name. I was afraid they’d find out the truth.”
“Which was?”
“That she had invented him to make Todd jealous. Maybe to make Phil jealous, too. I guess I thought that telling you about fake Bob Smith would keep you off the Todd-Jennifer trail. But I can’t say for sure. I really don’t know what I was thinking.”
Maggie knew she shouldn’t wade into the waters of Todd and Traci’s relationship. On the other hand, she feared for Todd’s safety and well-being. “Todd also said you cut him with a knife and flipped him off a bed.”
“If you think I’m going to feel guilty because he has a couple boo-boos, you can think again. He stood before God and our families and promised to forsake all others. And then he had an affair with my best friend. A woman, mind you, who if she told me once she told me a hundred times, preferred worker bees. She didn’t want a man who wore khakis and a tie and worked an office job. She wanted a man with dirty fingernails who worked a real job. If that’s the case, why did she choose my man? Todd is so professional that people believe me when I joke that he wears a tie with his workout clothes.”
“Listen, Traci, I’ve never been married, but if you’re going to stay with Todd, don’t you think you should forgive him? You do love him, don’t you?”
“Of course, I love him. He’s the only man I’ve ever loved.” Traci’s facial muscles jerked and, for a moment, Maggie feared she would start crying again. “You don’t know how many times this past year that I’ve wished he had never told me. I know they say everything happens for a reason, but I’ve asked myself time and time again why he had to tell me that night. If he had just kept his mouth shut for a few more hours, I would still be blissfully ignorant. Well, maybe not blissfully, but I would have been ignorant of his affair. And I could have grieved Jennifer instead of hating her. I lost my best friend that night, but not in the way people think.”
“Yeah, about that night, you and Todd don’t have alibis.”
“I was puking in the Zippy Mart parking lot. I’m sure somebody saw me.”
“What about Todd? Do you think anybody saw him at Jennifer’s? Even if somebody did see him, he put himself at the scene of the crime. Have you thought about that this past year? He said you came home and went to your room without speaking to him. He said he never asked you where you had been. In the past twelve months, have you asked him what happened at Jennifer’s house?”
“No.”
“Have you ever thought that Todd killed her?”
“Todd doesn’t have it in him to kill.”
“Did you think he had it in him to have an affair?”
Traci pulled another tissue from the box. “I need to make myself presentable and get back to my class. I assume you can find your way out.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
After meeting her deadline and helping to proofread and edit stories, a bleary-eyed Maggie secured Joe’s permission to go home early. A quarter after four, she grabbed her purse and made a beeline for the door, only to hear Tyler call her name as she neared the exit.
“Joe gave me his blessing,” she called over her shoulder. “If you have a grammar question, you’ll have to ask your phone.”
“There’s somebody here to see you.”
Maggie turned to see Tyler and an elderly gentleman approaching. “Mr. Few-gate is so anxious to see you that he couldn’t wait in the newsroom, like I requested.”
“Few-gate? You mean Few-git?” Maggie said to Tyler, who rolled his eyes and returned to the newsroom. Sizing up the ruddy-faced man, Maggie asked, “Are you related to Delphene Fugate?”
“I reckon I am,” the man answered. “I’m married to her.”
“Married? To Delphene?”
“Yep.”
Maggie didn’t have the energy to be surprised. Nor did she have the energy to pull her notepad or recorder from her purse or even ask Mr. Fugate if he’d like to sit. She simply said, “For some reason, I assumed her second husband was dead.”
“I reckon I’m alive. Ain’t nobody told me no different.”
“But Delphene said you were no longer around.”
“Oh, I’m around. I never left. See, Delphene and me were both widowers. We both had adult children, so when we got married, I kept my house and she kept hers. We mostly lived in mine, though. Least we did until she up and left me.”
“When was this?”
With lips protruded, he shook his head back and forth before saying, “Two, two and a half years ago.”
“Have you not found time in two and a half years to get a divorce?”
“I reckon we could have found the time if we had looked. But neither one of us believes in divorce. ’Til death do we part. That’s what me and Delphene live by. Like I told you, we were widowers.”
In spite of the sleepiness behind her eyes, Maggie laughed. “How long have you been married?”
“Oh, I’d say three, three and a half years.”
“It looks like it didn’t take you all long to realize you weren’t compatible.”
“If that means getting along, then we’re compatible. Our problem was, well, our problem is, that girl of hers.”
“Ah. Scootie.”
“I do not understand how a good-hearted, hard-working woman like Delphene could have raised such a sorry young’un. It had to be her daddy. Between you and me, he never kept a job. Delphene working is what kept them up.”
“I’m assuming, Mr. Fugate, that you didn’t come by to talk about Delphene’s first husband.”
“That’s right. She done told me how you’re trying to find out who killed Jennifer. So, I was hoping you could help Delphene, too. Of course, she won’t be none too happy if she finds out I’m here. But I just don’t see no other way around it. I’ve held my tongue long enough. But they’re talking about charging her with murder. The good book says there’s a time to keep silent and a time to speak. Well, it’s my time to speak.”
Maggie waited a few seconds, but when no speaking was forthcoming, she said, “Do you know something about Jennifer’s murder?”
“No, but I know Delphene didn’t kill her. I know that for a fact cause she was with me most of the night.”
“With you how? No. Wait. Never mind. What time was she with you?”
“Like I just said. For most of the night. I reckon she come over about supper time cause she brung food from Jennifer’s. She brung steak and what Delphene called twice-baked taters. I’m telling you what. Them was about the best-tasting taters I ever had. They was real creamy. I bought me some out of the store. They was in those stand-up freezers. The ones with the doors. I warmed them over in the oven, but they didn’t taste the same. I shore would like to have me some more of those taters she brung from Jennifer’s.”
“So, Delphene brought dinner from Jennifer’s.”
“Yep. Taters and steak, and we drunk some Kool-Aid.”
Not that she exerted much of an effort, but Maggie couldn’t keep herself from asking, “What flavor?”
“I don’t rightly remember, but it was probably grape. There ain’t nothing better than grape Kool-Aid.”
“It’s definitely better than lime.”
“You’ll get no argument from me on that count. But, me and Delphene, we ate
supper and worked a little in the garden that evening. She dug around in some flowers she had planted. We watched some TV. I don’t rightly remember what we watched, but it was probably that Raymond. Or The Waltons. Sometimes if we’re lucky, we can find that. Then we turned in.”
Maggie didn’t want to go down that road, so she said, “Scootie was in the ER that night. She said she called Delphene all night, but that she didn’t answer until late. Doesn’t Delphene have a cell phone?”
“She carries around some sort of phone, but she can’t get it to work at my house, so she don’t even turn it on.”
“Did she go home that night?”
“She did. Scootie spends more time at Delphene’s than she does her own place and Delphene didn’t want her coming by the house and her not there. She told me she knew something was wrong when she didn’t see Scootie’s car parked in front of the house. Of course, she couldn’t tell that to the police or they would have knowed she wasn’t home when she said she was. It ain’t right, but Delphene told a fib about where she was most of that night. But I reckon the good Lord will understand. She wasn’t doing nothing wrong. She was with her husband.”
“Mr. Fugate, if she did nothing wrong, why did she lie about her whereabouts?”
“To keep Scootie from finding out she was with me.”
“Her husband?”
“Scootie thinks we broke up. Well, I reckon we did for a while. But we couldn’t stay away from each other.”
“That’s sweet, but why were you hiding your relationship from Scootie?”
“Cause of the shine she cut when we got married. We figured she’d calm down, but she just got worse. Why, she pretended to be the police. She sent Delphene a letter saying things about me that I won’t repeat. Not one of them was true. Delphene didn’t believe it none, but we went to the police anyway. I meant to convince her that she had married a good man. Why, I ain’t never even been pulled over for driving too fast.”
“How did you know it was Scootie who sent the letter?”
“Cause there ain’t nobody else who would do such a thing. I told the police it had to be her. That didn’t sit too good with Delphene. It wasn’t long after that that she went to check on her house and didn’t come back.”
Murder at Moonshiner Days Page 14