Murder is Elementary (A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery Book 1)

by Diane Weiner

  “Damn,” said Jody. “You parked behind me. Move your car right now!”

  Susan was sure that she was close to getting the truth out of Jody. Otherwise, why would Jody go off the deep end like this?

  “Jody, calm down. Tell me what happened. Were you trying to protect your friend from Vicky? Did you hurt Vicky? I know how crazy you get when you think a child’s in harm’s way.”

  “Give me your keys right now,” said Jody.

  “No.” said Susan. “You can’t drive in this state of mind and the roads are slippery to boot. Let’s talk about this.”

  Jody grabbed Susan and reached into Susan’s pocket for her keys. Susan held on with a death grip. Jody was undoing Susan’s grip, finger by finger but before she could get possession of the keys, Susan flung them across the yard. She guessed those tricep exercises must really be working because she threw them far enough that they couldn’t be found under the swiftly falling snow.

  “Why did you do that? Now we’re both trapped here,” said Jody. She reluctantly went back into the house. Susan followed.

  “You knew him, right?” said Susan. You somehow wound up in the same school as Vicky all these years later and you killed her to protect your friend. That’s why you had left over funfetti frosting to use on those sugar cookies. It was left over from the poison cupcake you made for Vicky. Was Vicky still harassing your friend? Was he the one who Vicky listed as baby boy on her contact list? Lynette’s on her way. You might as well get the story off your chest.”

  “Knew him?” said Jody. “I was him. It should never have been a boy in that picture. It should have been a girl. It was a girl, only packaged in a boy’s body.”

  Susan was really confused now. Jody’s eyes pierced the dark room.

  “I told my mom I was a girl. I knew all my life. She tried to force me to do boy things like football and skateboarding. She didn’t know what to do with me. When I put on one of her dresses one day and said I was going to wear it to school, she flipped out and called her best friend––Vicky Rogers. She trusted Vicky. Vicky was a teacher back then. She was around kids all the time and she had a degree in education. Mom trusted her. After my dad died, she went to Vicky all the time for advice. She asked Vicky what she should do about me.”

  “And what did Vicky tell her?” asked Susan.

  “She told her about this camp she knew about. It was a place where they changed behaviors. The church ran it. Mom assumed I was gay. She had no understanding whatsoever about what it meant to be transgender. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure what it meant either. I only began to understand myself years later.”

  “What happened at the camp?” asked Susan.

  “Well, first of all they preached the bible day and night. They told me I was going to go to hell if I didn’t change my behavior. Then they tried to ‘pray away the gay.’ We would meet in a group outside in a huge tent. There was fire inside––lots of burning coals. It felt like a sauna. It must have been 120 degrees in there. They would pray over us for hours and hours. We weren’t allowed to eat or drink. The tent door was zipped and one of the counselors stood guard. I was terrified that it would catch on fire. It’s a miracle it didn’t. A few of the children passed out from the heat.”

  “Oh, Jody, that must have been horrible,” said Susan.

  “It was. They berated us, even physically beat us. I couldn’t believe my mom had put me in such a place. I called her one night. I had to sneak out and use the payphone at the gas station down the road. I begged her to come get me. She said she would but she didn’t. I called her back the following night. She said she’d called Vicky and Vicky told her it was for my own good––that she had no choice but to leave me there so I could heal.”

  “You must have hated your mom and Vicky too,” said Susan. “I don’t blame you.”

  “The word hate is such an understatement. I vowed I’d get revenge, even if it took the rest of my life,” said Jody.

  “Then you killed Vicky?” asked Susan.

  “After I got out of the camp, I went into a severe depression. I even tried to commit suicide but my mom found me before it was too late and called an ambulance. They pumped my stomach at the hospital. It was touch and go for a few days but I survived. They transferred me to the psychiatric ward and diagnosed me with bipolar disorder. Mom was elated that the doctors had figured out my problem. That’s all she wanted, was a nice simple explanation for my behavior. She thought that was the end of my insisting I was really a girl trapped in a boy’s body.”

  “You must have been so confused and upset.”

  “I had a very long road ahead of me. First, they had to keep adjusting the meds. One day I couldn’t get out of bed. They adjusted my dose and then I couldn’t get to sleep. I lost weight because I couldn’t eat, then I gained weight when they changed to a different pill. The worst thing was that the real problem was being buried. I still couldn’t make anyone understand that I really wasn’t a boy. Vicky was right there at my mother’s side telling her how I just needed to stop trying to get attention.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jody.”

  “The minute I turned 18, I left home for good. I didn’t speak to my mother for many years after that. I was on a roller coaster throughout my teen years. I can’t believe I actually graduated high school on time and with a scholarship to boot. Oh, I wasn’t headed for Harvard or anything. It was a scholarship to attend community college but I saw it as a chance to break free. I knew I wanted to find a career in which I could help people––specifically children.”

  “And you did just that. You’ve helped so many children just in this short time you’ve been at Westbrook. And you were even helping Carolina even though she is Vicky’s daughter. That wasn’t in your job description,” said Susan.

  “I can’t resist helping a child in need. It’s not Carolina’s fault that her mom was a good for nothing bitch. Anyhow, to continue my story, while I was in college I found a support group for gay, lesbian, and transgender students. Seeing that announcement on the library bulletin board saved my life. I understood for the first time that there was nothing wrong with me. I got the support I needed to learn to love myself and to take steps toward leading the life I was meant to live.”

  “Did you get back in touch with your mother? I understand support groups often help repair families,” said Susan.

  “I wrote her a long letter explaining the process I was going through. Vicky was still interfering, I knew. Eventually Mom did accept me as a daughter. We’ve been redefining our relationship these past few years. She even said she was proud of me for going into social work. That I didn’t expect,” said Jody.

  “So what happened with Vicky? Did you get your revenge?” asked Susan.

  “Oh yes. I plotted my course very carefully and patiently. I knew she’d become principal of Westbrook. For several years I kept my eye on the job openings there and last year––Bingo. I applied for the social worker position and I got it. Even the job description mentioned that Westbrook was a peanut-free magnet school. A peanut-free magnet school? How crazy was that? When I interviewed for the position, Vicky explained that she herself was deathly allergic to peanuts. I filed that piece of information away.”

  “Are you saying it was you who killed her?” asked Susan.

  “That woman was dangerous. She nearly ruined my life and then she was even recommending behavior boot camps to some parents at our school. She had to be stopped,” said Jody.

  “What did you do?” Susan swallowed hard. She was having a difficult time digesting all of this information.

  “I didn’t have the guts to just walk up to Vicky with a gun and shoot her, not that I own a gun. I’m not a violent person. When the PTA announced the bake sale they were doing during the holiday concert, the idea came to me. I would bake a cupcake especially for Vicky. She would assume it was from the bake sale and therefore hypoallergenic.”

  “So you made a poison cupcake?” Susan asked. She was perspiring despite the freez
ing, dark room. Was she in danger? If Jody had killed Vicky, she could just as well kill her. She wished Lynette were there.

  “It wasn’t exactly a poison cupcake––only if you happened to be allergic to peanuts. I just crushed some peanuts in the blender and threw them into the cupcake batter. Added some almond milk too. I made a happy little cupcake just for her. I decorated it with lots of frosting and sprinkles on top. Then I put it on her desk during the first half of the show, knowing she’d probably go to her office during intermission. I was right.”

  “Jody, that’s murder,” said Susan.

  “I prefer to think of it as paying a consequence. It was a stroke of luck that her angry husband came in and punched her. They didn’t even put together the cause of death for weeks. The world is a better place without Vicky Rogers in it.”

  “How did Vicky’s purse get in Antonio’s closet?” asked Susan.

  “I took it off Vicky’s desk when I brought the cupcake. I knew she carried an Epi-pen with her always. Then I remembered she kept one in her drawer as well, so I took that too. I rushed out to my car and stashed the purse in my trunk. I must have dropped the other Epi-pen on the way to my car. The night of Antonio’s party, I took it with me inside my super-sized purse. I went upstairs to use the bathroom and planted it in the closet. I figured that would slow the police down for a while.”

  “Jody, we have to call the police. You took Carolina’s mother away from her.”

  “Believe me, she didn’t need a mother like that. I’ve saved her years of therapy,” said Jody.”

  “That’s not for you to judge. If you explain that you were a victim throughout your childhood or even that you’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, maybe the court will go easier on you,” suggested Susan.

  “No, Susan. That isn’t going to happen. You need to keep this between us.”

  “I can’t. I understand how you felt, I really do, but that doesn’t justify murder.”

  In the candle-lit room, Susan saw Jody enter the kitchen. She heard Jody rummaging through drawers. Susan knew this was her chance to escape. She tiptoed to the front door.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” said Jody. “You aren’t going anywhere.” Jody took a heavy wooden rolling pin from behind her back and raised it above Susan’s head. Susan ducked just in time. Didn’t Jody just say she wasn’t a violent person? Susan was contemplating her next move when the front door burst open.

  “Police! Drop the weapon.” Lynette and Jackson were there, guns out. Jackson put handcuffs on Jody.

  “You’re under arrest for the murder of Vicky Rogers. You have the right to remain silent…” Lynette finished reading Jody her rights.

  “Lynette, how did you know I was here? How did you know Jody was the murderer?” asked Susan. Her heart was still beating in overdrive.

  “Shortly after you left the station, we got a hit on the prints that were on the Epi-pen that the custodian found in the parking lot. We ran them through the database and they matched Jody’s. It’s a good thing we require fingerprinting for school employees or we never would have made the connection,” said Lynette. “What on earth were you doing here anyway?”

  “Well, I just got a confession,” said Susan. “You were going to be my first call.”

  “Had you lived, that is,” said Lynette. “That rolling pin could have done some real damage. What do I tell you all the time about snooping?”

  “I’m sorry, Lynette. At least we solved the case. I can’t wait to tell Carolina and Javier. I still can’t believe it was Jody who did this.”

  “You never know what people are capable of given the right circumstances,” said Lynette. “Let’s go. We’ll drive you home. Dad can bring you back to pick up the car tomorrow when the roads are clear.”

  Jackson walked over to them. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked.

  “I’m fine, thanks to my daughter and her fearless partner.” Maybe Jackson wasn’t all that bad, thought Susan. It was snowing so hard that they could barely see the police car. Lynette and Jackson dropped Susan off at home on the way to the station.

  “Wow, what a night. I can’t wait to get home and crawl under the covers. The snow’s really coming down now,” said Lynette.

  “Go ahead and get some sleep,” said Jackson. “I have one stop to make first.”

  Chapter 60

  Jackson got into his car and headed toward Theresa’s apartment. He’d been stopping by every day on his way home from work to check on her. He had no doubt that one day they’d get married and start a family. She was so warm and so funny. Smart too. When he got to her street, all the lights were out. He parked in her driveway, made his way up the icy sidewalk to her door, and knocked.

  “Jacky, I’m so glad to see you.” Theresa greeted him with a huge bear hug. The electricity was out and judging by the freezing temperature inside of the apartment, he figured it had been out for a while.

  “Are you okay? I was worried about you being alone during the storm,” said Jackson.

  “I’m better now that you’re here,” said Theresa. “I’ll admit it was creepy sitting alone here in the dark.”

  “Theresa, I have some terrible news about your friend Jody.”

  “What? Is she alright? Did she get into an accident?” asked Theresa.

  “No,” said Jackson. “Jody had problems that she kept very well hidden.”

  “What problems? She’d have told me. I’m her best friend,” insisted Theresa.

  “I don’t know how to tell you this. Jody was just arrested for Vicky’s murder.”

  “What? No, I don’t believe it, not for a second.” Theresa looked completely confused. “Why would Jody kill Vicky?”

  “Jody has had a tough life. She realized early on that she was transgender, though she didn’t have a label for it. Her mom thought she was gay, which she isn’t. She identifies with the female gender although physically she was born a male,” explained Jackson.

  “I still don’t understand how that’s related to Vicky’s murder. This is totally crazy. Jody’s one of the girliest girls I know. She loves clothes and makeup. This must be a mistake.”

  “Jody had planned to kill Vicky for quite some time. Her mother was Vicky’s best friend. Vicky encouraged her friend Kara to send Jody to a behavior change program. It nearly killed Jody. She blamed Vicky for the trauma she underwent and for destroying her relationship with her mother.”

  “Poor Jody. I had no idea. This is hard to digest,” said Theresa.

  “Jody will stand trial but hopefully she’ll also get the help she needs,” said Jackson.

  “And you know what, Jacky? I’ll still be there for her. It’s horrible that she was compelled to commit a murder, but I can’t imagine how much pain she must have been in to drive her to that point.”

  “You’re a good friend, Theresa. I knew you were special the minute I met you,” said Jackson.

  “Jody always helped people. She gave all those wacky kids at school the benefit of the doubt. She always tried to see things from their perspective,” said Theresa.

  Jackson couldn’t help himself. He embraced Theresa and gave her a long, slow kiss.

  “I took out a bunch of blankets,” said Theresa. “We could cuddle up on the couch, to stay warm.”

  “Yes,” replied Jackson. “To stay warm. Sounds like a plan.” He took off his shoes and cuddled next to her. There was nowhere in the world he would have rather been.

  “You know Jacky, the roads are awfully treacherous. It may be better not to chance driving. Maybe you should stay here tonight.” said Theresa.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” said Jackson.

  Chapter 61

  Carolina felt like a kid on Christmas morning. Her dad was being released today. Although it had been nearly a month since Jody was arrested, she still couldn’t believe that the sweet social worker turned out to be a murderer. Carolina hoped that Jody would spend the rest of her life staring at the walls of her jail cell. She hoped Jody
would feel lonely and scared every single day. Although she was glad that her mother’s killer was paying the consequences of her actions, it didn’t make Carolina miss her mother any less. At least I connected with my aunt Becky, thought Carolina. Carolina had been spending a lot of time with Becky lately. She respected her and enjoyed her company. It was remarkable that Aunt Becky had voluntarily decided to share the inheritance with her. She could have kept it all. I never would have known about it, thought Carolina. At least she didn’t have to worry about paying for college now. Becky sent a text telling Carolina that she was out front. Carolina opened the front door and decided to swap her coat for a sweater. The sun was out, the snow had melted, and the bareness of winter was evolving into the abundance of spring. It felt like a new beginning.

  “Hop in,” said Becky.

  “Hi, Aunt Becky. I can’t wait to pick up my Dad. I’ll ride home with him if you don’t mind, but remember we’re going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I know your dad was assigned a sponsor but you and I will need to support him too. We need to make sure he goes to his AA meetings. Also, I got in touch with Human Resources at Ohio State. They want to interview your dad for a job doing technical support. He can work from home. With the new push for virtual classes, there’s a big need for 24 hour tech support,” said Becky.

  “Aunt Becky, you’re amazing. Thank you. I know he was worried about finding another job,” said Carolina.

  “I’d do anything for my favorite niece. The three of us are family now.” Becky twisted and turned the steering wheel en route to Coventry.

  Carolina noticed buds on the previously bare trees that were interspersed between the evergreens. Anticipation made the ride seem interminable. It was like waiting to open Christmas presents. Carolina remembered how when she was younger it used to seem like December was the longest month of the year. She and her mom would open the little doors on the advent calendar every night but it seemed as if the days were passing in slow motion.