Panic in Paxton Park

by J A Whiting

  Shelly thought it was a good idea to have the gift wrapped in case Melody still wasn’t feeling well. As she watched the man cut some floral wrapping paper to the correct size, she said, “Abby Jackson worked here, didn’t she?”

  Tad looked up quickly with a surprised look on his face and then smiled to cover his reaction. “Yes, she did. Did you know Abby?”

  “I didn’t. What was she like? Did you know her well?”

  “Well enough, I’d say. She was bright, worked hard, had a pleasant personality. I enjoyed working with her.”

  “She was going to college in the fall?”

  “Yes, she was.”

  “Did you know her boyfriend, Adam?” Shelly asked.

  “He came in sometimes when Abby was working. I didn’t have time to chat with him.”

  “Did Abby talk about Adam?”

  “Sometimes. She’d mention what they’d done together on the weekends or evenings.” Tad folded the wrapping paper carefully and reached for a piece of tape.

  “Do you think they were happy in their relationship?”

  “I really couldn’t say.”

  “Did Abby seem serious about Adam?”

  Without looking up, Tad said, “I think she was ready to go off to college and experience more than what a small town like this had to offer.”

  “Abby talked about that with you?”

  “Not really. It was the impression I got from her. I think she was tired of Adam.” Tad pulled some ribbon from a roll on the back counter.

  “What makes you say so?” Shelly pressed the man for more information.

  “Abby didn’t seem that excited to see the young man whenever he came in. If he called, she wouldn’t answer her phone saying she’d return the call after work.”

  “Did Abby ever seem upset about anything? Did she mention having an argument with someone?”

  Tad raised his head and looked across the room, thinking. “I don’t recall anything like that.”

  “Did you and Abby get along?” Shelly questioned.

  “Sure we did, as much as an eighteen-year-old girl and a forty-seven-year-old man could get along. We didn’t share a lot in common.” Tad finished making the bow and taped it onto the gift box.

  “I understand Abby used to work at Glad Hill Farm. I wonder why she changed jobs this summer to work here instead.”

  Tad smiled. “The farm was hard work. This opportunity was much better for her. An air conditioned space, a more discerning clientele, easier work, and higher pay. What more could she have wanted?”

  “I thought she liked working at the farm,” Shelly said. “I heard she enjoyed the outdoors. Did Abby tell you how much she made working at Glad Hill?”

  “I don’t recall.” Tad seemed a little annoyed at all the questions.

  “I would have thought she’d have stayed at the orchard,” Shelly said. “Abby worked there for a few years. Did she ever say anything about someone at the farm being difficult to work with?”

  “Not to me she didn’t.” Tad rang up the sale.

  “I’m surprised she left the other job.”

  “You know she hurt her back?” Tad asked.

  Shelly’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that. What happened?”

  “She was playing sports … wait, was that it? Or did she fall down? I don’t remember.” Tad waved his hand around. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. The cause isn’t what was important. She hurt her spine, she had a cervical injury. It had healed, but it gave her some pain. I think the farm work was too difficult to handle in light of her back injury so she made a change and took the job here this summer.”

  “That makes sense.” Shelly nodded. “Did she complain about her back when she worked?”

  Tad said, “No, but I noticed her rubbing at it many times during the day. Sometimes, she sat down while she was changing prices on items or while doing work at the counter. She never complained out loud about it.”

  “Are you married?” Shelly asked.

  “No, I’m not.” Tad gave Shelly a look of annoyance and then his expression softened, maybe from thinking the attractive young woman was interested in him. “I’m divorced.”

  “Did you have any interest in dating Abby?”

  “What?” Tad’s voice was shrill. “I certainly did not. She was thirty years younger than I am. That would be absurd.” The man held Shelly’s eyes and a corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “I prefer lovely young women, not girls.”

  A feeling of disgust raced through Shelly. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but Tad rubbed her the wrong way. His attitude was a little superior and dismissive and his manner bordered on the aggressive side. He held her eyes a little too long, he deliberately brushed hands with her when they exchanged the gift and the cash payment, he got too close and invaded her personal space. It made her uneasy and uncomfortable. She took a step back.

  “Are you looking for a job, by any chance?” Tad asked.

  “Me? Oh, no.” Shelly shook her head. “I’m a baker. I bake for the diner and the resort bakery.”

  Tad’s face lost its smile. “Too bad. You’re just the type of person who would be successful working here.”

  “How can you tell that?” Shelly’s face was hard.

  Tad let his eyes rove over Shelly’s body and his voice grew deeper when he said, “I can just tell. You sure you don’t need a change from baking?”

  “I’m very sure. I like my job.” Shelly picked up the wrapped gift from the counter and took her change from Tad who again, let his hand linger against hers when she accepted the coins and dollar bill. Pulling her hand back, Shelly took the gift and left the shop in such a hurry that she almost walked right into Juliet outside on the brick walkway.

  Apologizing, Shelly let out an exasperated breath and told her friend about the creep of a man who ran the gift shop and what he’d told her about Abby’s injured back.

  “He sounds like an A-plus creep.” Juliet looked over her shoulder to the store. “I’m glad I never go in there. I wonder how Abby hurt herself. We should talk to Jay and let her know what you thought of Terrible Tad. What happened at the farm? Did you get the part-time job?”

  A smile spread over Shelly’s face. “I did get it and I’m glad about the extra money I’ll be making.”

  “I sense a but,” Juliet said.

  “I talked to Nora’s son, Paul, who works at the farm doing marketing for the place. He told me how hard it’s been on Dwayne since he found the hand. The poor man’s full of anxiety, he makes mistakes, is very forgetful. Paul told me that Dwayne has awful mood swings and I should consider carefully if I want the job.”

  “You accepted so you mustn’t think working there will be a problem?” Juliet asked.

  “I think it will go okay. At least, I hope so. I feel badly for Dwayne. He has to be on medication. Finding the hand has really messed him up.”

  Juliet made a face. “I imagine such a thing would make anyone anxious.”

  Shelly agreed and then said, “There’s something about the situation with Dwayne that picks at me … makes me uneasy.”

  “Maybe it’s just the unknown,” Juliet said. “A new job, new people, meeting new expectations.”

  “I’m not sure what it is.” Shelly shifted the bag with the gift in it to her other hand.

  Juliet glanced at her friend and pointedly asked, “Have you had any interesting dreams lately?”

  Shelly sighed. “I haven’t. Lauren hasn’t been in any of my dreams.”

  “Too bad,” Juliet said. “Jay told me there’s an immense amount of pressure on the department from nearly everyone in town to get this crime solved. This case sure could use some help.”

  Shelly didn’t think she would be the help they needed.

  10

  Shelly sat at the beat-up wooden table in the small, cramped conference room in the police station with Jay sitting next to her and Abby Jackson’s boyfriend, nineteen-year-old Adam Wall, sitting opposite them.


  Jay had explained Shelly’s presence by telling the young man that she was working in consultation with the police department. Despite the standup fan blowing on them, Shelly could feel little beads of sweat trickling down her back.

  Jay had approached Shelly about sitting in on the interview with Adam asking her to attend in case the experience might trigger Shelly to have an important dream related to the proceedings.

  Jay told her, “It’s not that I’m a big proponent of the paranormal … because I’m not, but you seem to have a heightened perception of situations and people around you and your dreams could be what happens when your subconscious works on a problem while you sleep. Your mind leads you towards something you only noticed in passing during the day. The importance of things gets highlighted in your dreams. If you sit in on the interview, your subconscious might point you to things we overlook.”

  Jay made such a compelling case that Shelly couldn’t think of an excuse not to attend the interview … except that the idea terrified her and made her worry she wouldn’t be able to help in any way.

  On the table in front of Shelly, there was a notebook and a pen which she picked up to keep her hands from fidgeting. Feeling meek and like a fish out of water, she kept silent and listened to Jay’s questions and the young man’s answers.

  Jay said, “Thanks for coming in again, Adam. I’d like to go over some of the things we talked about last time for clarification.”

  Adam Wall was about six feet tall, slender with the body of a long distance runner. His hair was sandy blond and his eyes were blue. He sat with his hands in his lap and a serious expression on his face. Shelly would have described his look as slightly defensive or arrogant and she wondered if she would look the same way if questioned by the police.

  “Could you tell me again about the last time you saw Abby?” Jay opened a brown leather folder and glanced down at the papers inside of it.

  Adam took a deep breath. “Abby and I had gone out. We hung out with a few friends down by the river, then some of us went out for something to eat. Abby and I drove around for a while and then she dropped me off at my house. I went inside and talked to my parents, then went up to my room.”

  “Did Abby plan on going right home?”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “Did she say that to you?”

  Adam said, “Yeah, she told me she was tired. She felt like a headache was coming on. It was pretty hot and humid that night. Abby got headaches sometimes when the weather was like that.”

  “You’re going to college in the fall?”

  “I’m going to Amherst. School starts at the end of August for freshmen.”

  “And Abby was also planning to go away to college?” Jay watched the young man’s face.

  “She was going to attend Boston College.”

  “What are you planning to study?” Jay questioned.

  “Pre-med.”

  “What about Abby? What was she planning to study?”

  “Abby was thinking of going to law school eventually, but she was having second thoughts and wasn’t sure what she wanted for a career.”

  A sheen of sweat was visible on Adam’s forehead and Shelly wondered if it was solely due to the heat or whether he was nervous and uncomfortable about the interview.

  “Did Abby ever drop you at home after a night out and then go to meet someone else?”

  Adam bit the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know.”

  “She never talked about getting together with someone after you’d been out together?” Jay asked.

  “I don’t remember. Maybe she did.” Adam shrugged. “I can’t say for sure.”

  “I hear from some people that Abby may have wanted to break up before you both headed off to school,” Jay noted. “Had you spoken about doing that?”

  Adam’s eyebrows seemed to move closer together. “We talked about it. We hadn’t come to a decision yet.”

  “What were your thoughts? Did you feel strongly one way or the other?”

  Adam shifted on the seat. “Sometimes I thought it would be a good idea to take a break from the relationship. Other times, I thought we should stay together and see how it worked out.”

  “Did you love Abby?”

  Adam looked down at the tabletop. “Yeah.” The word came out like a whisper.

  “Was she in love with you?” Jay asked.

  “I thought she was.”

  Jay asked in a gentle voice, “Do you have any idea who might have hurt Abby?”

  Adam looked up and met Jay’s eyes. “I don’t have any idea.”

  “Had Abby mentioned an argument with anyone? Had she talked about not getting along with someone?”

  Adam shook his head. “Things were normal.”

  Jay stood and made fleeting eye contact with Shelly. “I have to step out for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”

  When Jay exited the room, Shelly tried to make small talk with Adam. His answers were short and without any detail and in combination with his stiff posture, it was clear he had no interest in chatting.

  Shelly said, “I heard Abby hurt her back. Do you know what caused her injury?”

  Adam seemed surprised by the question. “Abby was running cross-country and she slipped on some loose rocks. She took a real bad fall. She was in the hospital for about a week.”

  “When did that happen?” Shelly asked.

  “It was spring. April, maybe? She was on the school’s spring cross-country team.”

  “Did she fully recover from the injury?”

  “It still bothered her. She wasn’t supposed to lift anything heavy for a while longer.”

  “Abby was working at the resort gift shop. How did she like the job?”

  “She didn’t,” Adam said. “Abby liked to be outside, moving around. She didn’t like being cooped up inside waiting on snooty customers.” The young man’s face clouded. “She didn’t like the manager either.”

  “Why didn’t she like him?”

  “He was a jerk. Abby said he was too friendly. He made her uncomfortable.”

  “Did he do something to her?”

  “No, nothing like that.” Adam shook his head. “He was just a jerk, he made sexual comments and jokes, trying to be funny. Abby didn’t like it. She missed working at the farm.”

  Shelly told Adam she had been hired to do some baking for the farm. “Abby worked there for a few years, right?”

  “All through high school. She liked working with the families and the kids. She loved the animals.”

  “Did she get along with the owners?”

  “Oh, yeah. They seemed pretty good to work for. Dwayne, he owns the place with his sister, he runs it, too … Abby said he was a good guy, cared about the farm animals, the employees. She said Dwayne was a little spacey sometimes, but overall she liked working at the farm and the orchard.”

  “What did she mean that Dwayne was spacey?” Shelly asked.

  “Sort of lost in his thoughts, kind of forgetful sometimes, he would tell two different people to do the same job. Stuff like that.”

  The door opened and Jay walked back in and took her seat, apologizing again for being called away. “Adam, was there any indication that Abby might be seeing someone else?”

  The young man sat up straight, a flash of anger in his eyes. A muscle twitched near his jaw. “No.” His voice was loud and his cheeks reddened. “She wasn’t seeing anyone but me.”

  Jay leaned back and attempted to move the inquiry into calmer waters. “If Abby went somewhere else after dropping you off at home that night, do you have any idea where she might have gone? To a friend’s house? To get a late-night snack?”

  Adam’s face was still hard. “She wouldn’t have done those things. If Abby was going to see a friend, she would have told me. She had a headache, she was going home.”

  “Did you ever go out after being dropped at home by Abby?” Jay asked.

  Something darted over Adam’s face and then was gone. “Once in a while.”r />
  “Did your parents always know when you went out late at night?”

  Adam’s eyes shifted around the room. “Not always. They’d be asleep. I’d get a text from a friend to go out for pizza or something. I didn’t want to wake them so I just left.”

  “Did you leave them a note when you went out?”

  “No.” One of Adam’s shoulders shrugged. “They wouldn’t want me to go out late so I just went and came back. Anyway, I never stayed out long.”

  “Did you go out after Abby dropped you at home?” Jay questioned.

  “No.” Adam looked at Jay with an angry gaze. “I know what you’re getting at. I was at home that whole night. I didn’t see Abby again.”

  “We aren’t accusing you of anything, Adam. We’re only trying to figure out who was where, when. Occasionally, a person sees or hears something that doesn’t seem important at the time, but might hold a small clue or could point us in a new direction. When we ask where people were and who they were with, it’s only to create a timeline and to perhaps, stimulate that person’s memory about some little thing.”

  Adam’s posture relaxed slightly.

  Jay asked in a calm, gentle voice. “Is there anything that you can remember about Abby’s mood or maybe about something she said that now, under the circumstances, might be important or might shed some light on what happened to her?”

  “Nothing. Nothing stands out. I don’t know any more than what I’ve told you already. Twice.” Adam glanced up at the wall clock and stood. “I have to get going.”

  Adam’s tone and aggressive expression caused a shiver to run down Shelly’s back.

  The interview was over.

  11

  Shelly and Juliet carried their homemade pizzas of tomato sauce, grilled Vidalia onions, diced peppers and mushrooms, and thin-sliced mozzarella to the patio and settled in their chairs while Justice rested in the grass nearby watching the birds, with one paw curled under her chest.

  Shelly went on with her tale of trying out for the farm baking job by making two apple pies for Dwayne to try. “I was nervous even though I could make those pies in my sleep. Dwayne loved them and we signed a contract. The job is so flexible and the people working in the kitchen seem really nice.”