by Judy Clemens
“Sure. I’ll be right there.” I hung up and saw I had other missed calls. Nobody I knew, because they just showed up as phone numbers, instead of names. Erase. I changed course, heading toward the calf barn.
“Now what?” Miranda trotted along.
“Zach.”
“What about him?”
I didn’t answer, because I didn’t know. He was waiting outside the barn, at the far corner, and he wasn’t alone. Taylor was by his side—huge surprise—and another girl I didn’t know. Taylor shot me a quick smile, but overall she gave off sadness, and almost…fear.
Zach waved us to the side of the barn, out of sight of the main path.
“What’s going on?” I stepped closer to him.
He glanced at Miranda. “What’s she doing here?”
She stiffened. “Excuse me—”
“She’s my ride.”
“Oh. All right.”
“You want her to go away?”
“I don’t know. You trust her?”
“Standing right here, folks,” Miranda said.
“Um, who is she?” Taylor said.
Miranda bristled. “Who are you?”
“Taylor Troth.”
Miranda blinked. “Daniella’s daughter?”
“That’s right. And you are?”
“Miranda Hathaway. So pleased to meet you.” She held her hand out. Taylor shook it, but swiveled her eyes toward me.
I sighed. “My fiancé’s sister. I don’t trust her when it comes to planning my wedding, or even liking me. But when it comes to life and death, I guess I have to trust her, seeing how she already saved me once.”
Miranda nodded sharply, like she herself had proved the point.
Zach shuffled his feet. “Well, all right, then.” He glanced around, like he was afraid we were being watched.
“Zach, you’re scaring me.”
“Sorry.” He gestured toward the girl I didn’t know. “This is Laura Tiffin. She’s got a calf here, too. She’s in my class at school.”
I checked her out. She was shorter than Taylor by several inches, and her blond hair was that flyaway kind that always looks messy, or like she got shocked by lightning. Her eyes were a faded blue, her lips pale, and next to Taylor she looked entirely insubstantial and flighty. Like a scared rabbit. “Tiffin? Do I know you?”
She flicked her eyes at Zach, and he nodded at her.
“You probably know my folks.” She named them. Another dairy family. No one I knew well, but it was a familiar farm.
“Okay.” I was done with niceties. “Why do you all look so weird?”
“Tell her, Laura.” Zach crossed his arms.
“Well…” She moved back, so she was against the barn. “I was here last night, right? After the concert. I was checking on Bunny. My calf.”
“Bunny?” Miranda said, laughing.
Fitting, seeing as how I was thinking of the girl as a rabbit, herself.
“Bunnicula, actually,” she said. She didn’t care what Miranda thought. That was obvious.
Join the club.
“Anyway Bunny had been skittish all day since I brought him, and I wanted to make sure he was okay, you know? So, anyway, hardly anybody was here, and I didn’t really feel like going back to the trailer, and he was still jumpy, so I just sat in the stall with him. It was really quiet, you know, just the calves moving around and breathing and stuff, since the public wasn’t allowed in yet, and everybody else was out.” She hesitated.
“And?” Miranda said.
I glared at her. “Give her a second. She’s obviously spooked.”
“By a smelly barn?”
Seriously, I was going to brain her if she didn’t shut up.
“Nevermind her,” I told Laura. “Take your time.”
She glanced at Zach again, and Taylor touched her arm.
“So I was sitting there, sort of half asleep or whatever, and somebody came in.”
“To your stall?”
“No, they went right past me and down the row. Like around to where the Greggs’ calf is.”
Oh. Oh.
“Who was it?”
“I wasn’t paying attention, and I didn’t really feel like talking to anybody, so I just sort of stayed quiet and still. But then they were whispering, and I heard one of them giggle, and she said, ‘You’re sure this won’t hurt him?’ and the other one, he said it wouldn’t.”
Holy cow. “They were putting the lemon in the calf’s food.”
“That’s what I figure now, but I didn’t know it then.”
“You should have told somebody,” Miranda said. “Why didn’t you? Did you at least tell them today?”
“I told Zach.” Her voice shook. “As soon as I heard what happened.”
“Nevermind Miranda,” I said. “She apparently thinks this is a Class A felony.” Which it might have been, actually. I wasn’t sure. But the calf was fine now, so I doubted the cops were going to get involved any more than they already had been. They had bigger things to worry about. “What happened next?”
“Okay, well, I was afraid they were going to do something really mean, so I peeked around Bunny and saw them. A guy and a girl, like I thought from the voices. But it was dark so I couldn’t tell who it was.” She swallowed. “And then…then they came back down the row, so I ducked into my stall and hid behind Bunny.” She hugged herself.
“And?” Miranda said.
I pushed her back. “Will you shut up?”
She gasped, then got all pouty.
“Go on,” I said to Laura. “Did you not mention seeing them because you knew the girl, and you didn’t want to get her in trouble?”
Laura’s lip trembled. “I couldn’t see the guy, because he walked by on the far side of the row, and like I said, it was sort of dark.”
I tried to keep my voice calm. “But what about the girl?”
A tear rolled from Laura’s eyes. “It was Rikki Raines.”
Chapter Twenty
“Rikki Raines?” Holy crap, Laura might have been the last person to see Rikki alive. Other than the guy she’d been with, of course.
“What time was this?”
“I guess around elevenish or whatever, because some of the lights had been turned out, but lots of people were still out doing rides and stuff. They hadn’t made their last visits to their calves. You know, they usually do that after one, when the rides close.”
That would fit the timeframe, when Nick and I got to the barn. Rikki had probably been stuffed on the manure trailer shortly after Laura saw her. Maybe the guy had been the one to put her there.
“You don’t have any idea who the guy was?”
Laura shrugged. “I didn’t see him, and they were talking real quiet, so I couldn’t recognize his voice. I’m sorry.” Her voice trembled, and she chewed her lip. Taylor put her arm around the girl’s shoulders.
I tipped my head sideways, and Zach met me several feet away.
“You realize she has to tell the cops this. And they’re going to wonder why she’s just now mentioning it.”
“I know. I just thought, if she told you first, it might make her feel more ready to tell somebody who matters.”
“Thanks. I appreciate the affirmation.” My sarcasm went right over his head. “But still, why didn’t she tell somebody this morning?”
I thought it was a valid question. We went back to the others. “Laura.” I kept my voice quiet. “Why didn’t you tell anyone till now?”
She squirmed. “I was afraid they’d think I had something to do with it.”
A common worry when dealing with crimes. I should know.
Laura continued. “But I would never put something in a calf’s food.”
I blinked. “The calf. Right, of course you wouldn’t. But what I mean is, why didn’t you tell anyone you saw Rikki?”
She shuddered. “Oh, I know, yeah, that’s way more…” Her chin trembled. “I was afraid they’d think I did that, too.”
I looked at
the tiny girl. The only way she could ever kill someone was by accident. “You didn’t, right? Do anything to Rikki?”
“Stella!” Zach practically jumped me.
“No! No, I would never…” Laura hugged herself and sniffed.
“Of course you wouldn’t. I just wanted to make a point. Look at you. They’re not going to think you did it.”
“I don’t know about that,” Miranda said. “She withheld evidence for almost twelve hours now.”
“Miranda—”
“Fine. I get it, okay? I’m just saying the cops might not be so understanding.”
I hated to say it, but Miranda was right. “You need to go tell the cops. Right now.”
Zach frowned and pulled me aside again. “Judging begins this afternoon. What if they don’t let us go in time? We’ll both miss our event.”
“I’m sorry, Zach, but this has to take precedence. A woman is dead, and Laura has important information.”
“But—”
“How about if I take her over to talk to Detective Watts? You stay with Barnabas and get ready. That way you’re not at risk for being late, too.”
“I don’t know. Laura’s kind of scared.”
I smiled. “I can be non-scary if I want to. And I think Watts can, too.” Our little meeting this morning had showed me another side of the detective. One that was still young and vulnerable. That could be an asset in this situation.
He narrowed his eyes. “You sure?”
I slugged his arm—in a non-scary way—and we went back to the girls. Zach explained what needed to happen. Laura regarded me with something less than absolute trust.
“I’ll go, too,” Taylor said. “You won’t be alone.”
I decided not to argue that she wouldn’t have been alone with me. I wasn’t someone who mattered, anyway, so there was no point in trying to make a point.
Laura thought it over, and finally nodded.
“You sure?” Zach said.
I thought that was pushing it, so I said, “Come on, Laura. We’ll take care of you.”
“What about me?” Miranda said.
“You need me to take care of you?”
“No, Stella, I mean what am I supposed to do?”
“About what?”
“Being here!”
“I don’t know. Look around. Watch some judging. Check out the rabbits. Eat some deep-fried pickles.”
“Eww!”
“Or go home. I can give Nick a call when I’m ready.”
“Fine. Unless you need me. I can stay.” She said this half grudgingly, half hopeful, eyeing Taylor, like if she got in good with the daughter, that would further cement her new bond with Daniella, the salon goddess.
“No, go on home. I’ll be in touch.”
“If you’re sure…”
“Go.”
After a few more token “I can stays,” she finally left.
“Okay,” I said. “Laura, let’s go see if we can find the detective.”
Watts wasn’t at the building when we arrived, but one of the cops said he’d call her, and sat us in some chairs in the corner.
“Do you think she’s going to be mad?” Laura shrank into her seat. Now she looked more like a scared mouse than a rabbit.
“Just tell her your story,” I said. “If she’s mad, I’ll deal with her.”
Taylor squinted at me. “How?”
“She and I have come to an…understanding.”
I expected her to ask what I meant, but her attention was across the room. Gregg had come in with an older man in uniform. The sheriff, Watts’ dad. So he’d made it home already, sooner than Watts had thought. I bet she was thrilled.
“What’s he doing here?” Taylor said.
“He’s the sheriff.”
“No, I mean Mr. Gregg. Do you think they’re questioning him, as maybe the killer?” She sounded both hopeful and disgusted. I could relate. I wanted to both beat him up and chase him off, so the whole dual desires thing was familiar.
From the way he was being greeted by the sheriff and other officers, I doubted he was a suspect. Potential killers weren’t usually invited into the fold with bad coffee and donuts. And Gregg had one of each in his hands. He didn’t look very interested in the food, though. His hair was wild, and I wasn’t sure what kind of look he was going for that day with his dress pants and “farmer” shirt. It was almost like he’d gotten dressed in the dark. Or a daze. Sort of how you might behave if you’d killed someone and were feeling guilty. Or, to be fair, if one of your upcoming stars had gotten murdered the night before.
I studied Taylor. “Do you know him?”
“Not really.”
“But you don’t like him.”
“I’ve met him before, but he wouldn’t remember me. That’s how he is.” She shrugged. “I hear a lot about him from my mom, and from the other girls, you know, Rikki’s friends.”
“What do they say?”
She squirmed. “That he makes girls…do stuff.”
Exactly what Daniella had told me. I watched as the creep talked with the police officers. When it looked like he’d had enough small talk, the sheriff guided him to a more private area. What would the sheriff have to tell him? Or maybe the sheriff really was questioning him? That would be more believable. If I believed that politics and power never made people look away from obvious issues, like the fact that Gregg had been fighting with Rikki the same night she got killed.
“There she is.” I stood up to get Watts’ attention, and she came over. “I see your dad made it.”
“Yup. Wouldn’t want to miss the chance to be a hero.”
“But a hero for who?”
She glanced over at her dad and Gregg, and by the set of her shoulders I could tell she understood me. And I could also see she wasn’t sure which side her father would end up on, if he had to choose. She pulled up a chair, studying the girls. “So, what’s this big news you have to tell me?”
Laura looked up at me, and I nodded. “Go ahead. She’ll listen. And she won’t get mad.” I said this last part to Watts, of course. She gave me a funny look, but I think she got the point.
“Well,” Laura said, “it was late last night…” She told her story. I could see the war in Watts to either freak out and yell at the poor girl for not coming forward sooner, or to be the calm, cool, mother/big sister figure and gather information through non-threatening questions. Fortunately, the less frightening version came out, and Watts didn’t burst a blood vessel or anything. That I could see.
“Amanda.”
Her questioning jerked to a stop, but otherwise, she didn’t move.
I’d watched the sheriff walk across the room and hadn’t been sure whether to break Watts’ rhythm of questions to warn her of her dad’s arrival, or let it take its course. I hadn’t decided what to do until it was too late. Which I guess was making a decision not to tell her.
Watts still didn’t look at him. “I’m in the middle of something.”
“I can see that, but this is important.”
“So’s what I’m doing.”
He waited until she very carefully closed her iPad and stood up.
“Thank you,” he said. “If I could just have a minute of your time.”
They stepped away. My hearing wasn’t good enough to catch words, but it wasn’t hard to tell that Watts was pretty ticked off at being interrupted.
“You’re doing great,” Taylor said to Laura.
Laura shuddered. “Do you think she believes me?”
“Of course she does.”
Laura didn’t ask me, but then, I was just an adult who didn’t matter. What did I know?
Watts came back, looking shaken.
I sat up. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar.”
She glared at me. “Nothing I can tell you. How’s that?” She sat and focused on Laura. “Still no idea who the guy was you saw Rikki with last night?”
Laura shook her head.
“I’m sorry.”
“What about anyone else in the barn? Did you see anyone? Hear anyone?”