Murder by Kindness

by Barbara Graham

  “That woman is a menace.” Theo looked up from the newspaper. “I will kill her.”

  “Please don’t.” Tony shared her anger and the sight of her scraped and bruised face did not diminish his opinion of her injuries. “The jail’s pretty full right now and frankly, I think you’ll heal faster here.”

  “At least it’s not election year again.” Theo tapped the headline. “How many people won’t bother to read the article?”

  Tony did not want to think about it.

  If Tony could select the person he least expected to see in his office later that morning, and even more unexpectedly, looking timid, it would be newspaper woman Winifred Thornby. The two of them had an adversarial relationship. Tony didn’t share more than basic information with the woman, and she loved to print disparaging articles about him.

  Winifred’s particular favorites were letters to the editor written from the jail. Shockingly, the inmates were not pleased with their less than elegant accommodations. They whined about the cheap soap, the thin towels, being forced to wear one-size-fits-no-one unattractive orange and white striped jumpsuits. They accused him personally of limiting personal phone calls, which lead to problems with their personal lives. The head jailor was too strict. The only person they left out of their misspelled and grammatically incorrect diatribes was the jail cook, Daffodil Flowers Smith. They might feel certain they could insult everyone else without retribution, but they ate well in the jail and knew the cook might not provide palatable food if aggravated.

  Tony frowned and thought he would come right to the point. “Is there some reason you dropped by my office today, Winifred?” The few short hours since the photograph of a battered Theo had graced the front page of her paper were not enough for him to feel anything less than angered by her presence. Not enough time had passed, if there was such a thing.

  Winifred hesitated. “Eunice Plover and I were not friends.”

  Tony didn’t consider that a news bulletin. He’d be more surprised if Winifred claimed to have a friend. “And you think I should know this because . . .?”

  Winifred’s face tightened and she half rose from her seat before catching herself, and she settled back down. “The word on the street is that you are looking for people who did not get along with Mrs. Plover. I’m one of them.”

  “Was there a particular subject that you two disagreed upon? Or was it more of a general antagonism?” Tony had to admit he was intrigued.

  “She once accused me of manipulating facts in a newspaper article in order to change the outcome of a vote about a zoning change.” Winifred was careful not to make eye contact with him.

  “Were you successful?” He didn’t ask her if she had done it. He knew she had.

  “No. I am ashamed of doing it.” Winifred seemed to shrink a bit. “It was during the first year that I was in charge of the newspaper.”

  Tony doubted this disagreement was severe enough or recent enough to be a motive for murder. Nevertheless, he made careful notes about their discussion. If he had learned anything in his life, it was that people were not always predictable and rational. Given the right motivation, anything was possible.

  “Is that all?” Tony thought Winifred looked like she wasn’t through. What was coming next: another confession, or a declaration of war?

  Winifred nodded and then shook her head. “No. I wanted to let you and Theo know that I deleted all the rest of the pictures I took at the quilt shop. I’m sorry about the picture we did print.”

  “Why?” This confession was more stunning than her claiming to dislike Mrs. Plover.

  “It wasn’t Theo’s fault. The fight, that is, and she’s always been nice to me. It just wouldn’t seem right to print any more of them.”

  “I’ll tell her.” He watched as, without another word, Winifred rose to her feet and hustled from the room. Tony stared at the empty doorway. It didn’t excuse her for printing the one she did. He couldn’t help but believe Winifred had another agenda for her visit. But he couldn’t guess what it might be.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Tony was impatiently waiting for the results of Daniel Crisp’s autopsy. He felt like he was wasting valuable time.

  If someone had deliberately killed Daniel Crisp, Tony’s first nomination would go to Nina’s dad. The second and third runners-up could be a tie between her brothers. Tony might have to toss his own wife into the mix, and his mother and aunt as well. He groaned out loud. Might as well get started with some surface interviews. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to know where all the major suspects were around the time they guessed he’d died. Nothing like fishing without bait.

  Nina’s dad, “Lead” Ledbetter, grew up in these mountains, working on the family farm. The major crop of the Ledbetter farm had always been rocks. It was hard, backbreaking work and they barely grew anything. When Lead was a boy, they’d farmed with a mule and plow. When the mule died, Lead’s father in desperation had harnessed the young man. It made Lead into a powerfully strong, and very determined, man. He was literally as strong as a mule. He hated farming. He hated everything about farming, from the color of the dirt to the smell of it, and, of six children, he was the only male.

  Lead’s father had not been an early proponent of equal rights for females, but he loved his daughters and on his deathbed made Lead swear to take care of them. He did. So, Lead inherited the family farm and five sisters. By that time, he had his own set of females to deal with: his wife and daughter, Nina. He also had two sons, Adam and Zachary, usually called A and Z.

  After his dad’s death, Lead swore he’d never farm again. So, ignoring the spinning sounds coming from his parents’ graves, he subdivided the family farm. He sold part of the land as several highly priced lots. Because he liked privacy, he turned the center of the tiny subdivision into a wilderness park. He kept the best lot for himself and gave Nina and her brothers other prime lots. He didn’t like Nina’s husband, so although it was her land and she picked the design for the house she wanted, the titles remained in his name. Until he died, and she officially inherited it, he would protect her from losing her home. Not only did Lead believe Daniel was untrustworthy, but Lead wasn’t going to have some new “foreigner” move in and try fleecing one of his children, not as long as he lived.

  Lead’s bullheaded action turned into Nina’s salvation. The divorce proceedings had been pretty nasty. The property settlement ended with Nina’s father’s sworn oath and supporting documents that he owned the property. He promised he would sell it to the first person, except Daniel, who offered him a dollar for it rather than have it fall into enemy hands.

  The judge believed him, and that was the last time Daniel ever mentioned the land.

  Tony thought his inquiry into Daniel’s death would be incomplete without an interview with Lead. When he and Wade drove out to the elder Ledbetter’s home, they were met with friendly words and fresh coffee. The cynical side of Tony wondered if the man was hoping to soften him up. But why? To protect his daughter, or himself?

  “I suppose you’ve heard.” Tony didn’t get another word out before Lead’s hands tightened into fists.

  Lead leaned forward, resting his still-powerful fists on the table. An earnest expression settled on his face. “She didn’t do nothin’ to him. I didn’t do nothin’ to him either.”

  “Actually, I’m reasonably sure that’s true. Mostly because I don’t think there’s any way you’d have put his body in your daughter’s storm cellar. I think if you killed him, you’d have buried his body somewhere deep in the woods where he’d never be found.” Tony let the words rest between them. “I’m more curious about when was the last time you saw your son-in-law alive.”

  “Ex-son-in-law.” Lead spoke softly but clearly. “You’re right, though, about the body. You think about those little girl babies of yours and consider what you would do in this circumstance. I might have entertained myself many days conjuring different and painful ways to rid us all of him. I damn sure wouldn’t have left
his worthless corpse in her house or yard.” Lead grimaced. “You just wait. One of those tiny girls who have you wrapped around one teensy finger will probably drag home some worthless sack of dirt and want to marry it.”

  Tony felt a sizzle of fear. “I sincerely hope not.”

  “Just you wait.” Lead did not appear happy about his prognostication. “As for the last time I saw him, hmm, it was maybe two or three weeks ago.”

  Tony wrote the information in his notebook. “What was the occasion?”

  “We were both at the basketball game, watching the kids play.” Lead cleared his throat. “I didn’t like the man, that’s no secret, and although he was a bad husband for my Nina, he did care for his kids. He remembered their birthdays and always watched their games if he was in town.”

  Knowing that was better than a lot of children in Park County had, Tony considered it a definite good point. “Was he sitting alone at the game?”

  “No.” Lead looked thoughtful, pressing his lips together. “Seems like he was sitting with a curvy, blond woman.” His hands sketched an hourglass in the air. “She looked a bit put out, and as I recall, they left together before the game was over.”

  Tony wanted to talk to the buxom blond again. He hadn’t seen her since their initial discussion. Since then several people had mentioned seeing her and Daniel together and not always in a lovey-dovey situation. “Have you seen her recently?”

  Lead’s head started to move from side to side and then stopped. “Wait. Yes, sir, I have.” Lead’s green eyes sparkled. “She was coming out of your little wife’s shop. Yesterday.”

  Tony thanked Lead and headed back to town.

  Theo was baffled. When could Lead have seen the buxom, blond wife leaving her shop? “I swear, Tony, if she was in there, I don’t know anything about it. Did you ask Gretchen?” Her employee knew almost every customer by name, at least if they’d been in twice.

  “No.” Tony looked tired. “I’m just curious. Someone said she’d been spotted coming out of your shop and, well, frankly, it didn’t seem like the kind of place she’d shop.” Theo’s mouth opened and he raised a hand to stifle her reply. “I know, I know, you are going to tell me how quilters come in every size, shape, color and gender.”

  Theo was amused. She must have been overly emphatic about something recently. Her husband looked ready to dive under the counter for protection. “I was going to say, Gretchen is coming up behind you, why not ask her?”

  Tony turned.

  “Ask me what?” Gretchen tucked a loose strand of hair back into her braided coronet.

  Tony produced the photograph. “Buxom blond?”

  “Oh, her.” Gretchen rolled her eyes like a teenager and made Theo giggle. “She sashayed in here yesterday and looked around a bit. She watched the quilters for a while. Then she stopped by the counter on her way out and said to me that the dumb hicks in this town must have to sew their own blankets because they’re too stupid to order one on the internet.” Gretchen patted her flaxen, braided coronet and waved a hand at Theo’s blond curls. “Gives us golden girls a bad name.”

  “Okay, how about this one?” Tony pulled out a photograph of Nancy2.

  “Sure, I recognize her,” Theo said. “I don’t know her by name, but she’s been in the shop from time to time.”

  Gretchen nodded. “She was in yesterday and she bought a lot of that fabric you pulled out for the sale rack.”

  Disappointed he hadn’t learned more at Theo’s shop, Tony decided to continue talking to Nina’s relatives. Her brother, Adam, shared the flamboyant Ledbetter coloring—auburn hair and brilliant green eyes. Adam looked like a younger version of Lead. As far as Tony could tell, their mother’s gene pool had been ignored by all of her children.

  Adam, as befitted the alphabetical placement of his name, was the oldest of the Ledbetter children. Unlike his sister, he held the title to his house and land and could see Nina’s back deck and flagpole from his front window. “I always promised her I’d keep a watchful eye on her. If she is ever in distress, all she needs to do is raise the flag, upside down.”

  Tony could easily see the top of Nina’s flagpole. “No signal?”

  “Nope.” Adam’s green eyes sparkled like bottle glass. “I can’t say I’m sorry Daniel won’t be threatening her anymore.”

  “Threats?” That word hadn’t come up before now in his quest for the truth. “What kinds of threats?”

  Adam looked genuinely surprised. “I’d expected she’d have told Theo about them, and you’d have gotten the full story.”

  “I can’t say she’s been terribly complimentary of the man, but she hasn’t mentioned threats.” Tony made a mental note to have a chat with his wife. “Were these recent?”

  “Oh, yeah.” The muscles in the brother’s jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. “Just a couple of days ago, just before she left for D.C., he stopped by and suggested she give him some cash.”

  Tony could read between the lines. This suggestion probably equaled coercion. “How much did he want?”

  “A couple of hundred.” Adam frowned. “It’s not like it’s a fortune, but it’s the principle, and my sister is far from wealthy. She’s not teaching high-school French to fill in the empty hours.”

  “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “Maybe Sunday.” Adam waved his hand toward the road. “He was driving down there with his hot, blond bombshell.”

  “And you weren’t tempted to get your ex-brother-in-law out of the neighborhood?”

  “Damn right I was. I wanted to grab my deer rifle and blow his damn head off.” Adam pantomimed lifting and firing a weapon. “Didn’t, though.”

  Tony would be shocked if the man had killed his ex-brother-in-law and left the body as a welcome home present for his sister. “Did you see or hear anything unusual coming from your sister’s home?”

  Adam considered the question, taking his time. Then shook his head. “We’re close but not that close, and the view is pretty limited.”

  Brother Zachary lived the same distance from his sister as Adam, but in the opposite direction. He, too, could keep watch on his sister’s home, after a fashion. Old-growth trees and dense underbrush in the park were visually limiting. Tony and Zachary had been in school together and played ball on the same teams. “How’ve you been?”

  Zachary looked surprised by the question and Tony’s presence on the front porch. “Fine, Tony, and yourself?”

  Tony said, “Fine.” Once the greetings were covered, Tony began asking him the same things he’d asked Adam. The answers were close to the same until they got to the last time Zachary had seen Daniel.

  “I saw that no good—” Zachary swallowed the rest of his emotional statement. He paused, exhaled sharply and began again. “Sunday afternoon.”

  “Where?”

  “He stood right where you’re standing now.” Zachary’s nod encompassed the broad front porch that served as an additional, but outside, room. The room was furnished with a patterned carpet, upholstered chairs and sofa, and a large glass-topped table surrounded by ladder-back chairs. Just off the porch, on its own private brick patio, sat a combination gas and charcoal grill. It was as big as a car. Tony guessed Zachary could roast a whole pig on either side.

  Zachary opened his front door and held it open. “I wouldn’t let him in my house. You can come in if you’d like.”

  Tony appreciated the offer but refused. “What was he doing here?”

  “Looking for a handout. He got all hot under the collar when I refused to give him any money, not so much as one thin dime. You want my guess, Tony?”

  “Sure. You’ve spent more time around him than I have.” Tony knew guesses would never be categorized as fact or evidence, but opinions were usually based on some type of experience.

  “Only a couple of hours after he asked for money I was on my way to the Knoxville airport and he zoomed by like a bullet. Even as fast as he was traveling I could see he had a blond woman with hi
m.” Zachary’s eyes darkened. “My guess is she was proving to be more expensive than he’d bargained for.”

  Tony knew Zachary was a pilot and was often away. Still, he thought Zachary had a pretty cavalier attitude toward the deceased. “Have you talked to your sister lately?”

  “Sure, kind of. She was getting ready to take a school group to D.C.” Zachary shifted to stand straighter and the corner of his lips turned down into a frown. “Is there a problem? Isn’t she all right?”

  Tony gave Zachary his best reassuring smile. “Nina’s fine. However, her ex-husband is not.”

  “Well, now, isn’t that just awful. I leave town and what, was he in an accident?” Delight rearranged Zachary’s face. “How bad is it?”

  “He’s deceased.”

  “Well, you don’t say. Isn’t that a piece of happy news?” Zachary’s wide smile made him look like he’d bet big money on the winner at the Kentucky Derby.

  Tony sighed. He still had the feeling that Nina’s brothers, either or both of them, would have been happy to take Daniel out into the woods, shoot him and bury him right there. There was simply no way, at least not one he could see, that they’d kill the man and leave him practically on their little sister’s front porch.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Sheriff, I’ve been working on this autopsy and have a bit of news for you about Daniel Crisp.” Doctor Death’s cheery voice came through the speaker phone. The Knoxville pathologist loved his work. “I can tell you the man had a broken neck and there was no water at all in his lungs.”

  Tony was relieved. It was a personal thing with him. The whole idea of drowning was one of the worst things he could think of. If anything, his spending several years in the Navy had made the idea even more repellent than before. All those miles and miles of deep water. “Do you have anything else you can share with me?”