Paws & Ballroom Blues (A Willow Crossing Mystery Book 2)

by Leona Fox

  Just as Don and Chris were about to lower Ru onto the large piece of glass, a voice came from behind them, “Stop right where you are. Don’t make another move. We have you surrounded. There’s no way out. Put Mrs. Delgado down and step away.”

  Don and Chris looked at each other and realized they were caught. They slowly put Ru back on the ground and then followed the directions being given to them by the police. Shaking, Ru turned around and saw Chief Putnam standing in front of her, Opal at his side. The Chief waved his head as if telling Ru it was okay to come in his direction, and Ru ran as fast as she could toward him.

  “How did you know?” Leanne said to one of the officers as she was being taken into custody.

  Ru looked in the murderers’ direction and said, “I told you people knew where I was. See, while you were having me watched, I was watching you. I sent Chief Putnam a text telling him where he could find me.”

  “Great thinking, by the way,” the Chief said with a grin.

  Opal ran to Ru and she scooped up the dog, “I’m sorry I left you in the car, Opal. I know you don’t like being in there alone.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing you did! She led me right to you.” Chief Putnam then turned to the three suspects and said, “Get them out of here.”

  “Oh, Opal, thank you for being a good girl and taking the Chief to me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

  Chief Putnam put his arm around Ru and said, “Come on, let’s get you home. One of the officers will drive your car, you can ride with me and tell me what happened.”

  He looked at one of the other men and said, “Have Jones bring her car home, and you make sure those three get locked up tight. I’ll be at the station in a while to get their statements.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Ru followed the chief to his car and they put Opal in the back seat where she instantly fell asleep. Once Ru was settled and her seatbelt was on, Chester said, “So, this is how you keep your nose out of it?”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

  “You didn’t mean to follow them out here? You didn’t mean to get caught? You didn’t mean to almost get killed?”

  “I know, I know.” Ru hung her head, ashamed that she didn’t follow the Chief’s instructions not to get involved any deeper.

  “Explain, please.”

  “First can I call Esteban? I had my ringer off so they wouldn’t know I was there, and he called like four times.”

  “You can talk to him at home. I let him know to meet us there. Now, spill it. What happened here?”

  “I was at the office supply store and I saw Mayor Espinoza there. I hurried to my car and followed him to see what he was up to. He went to Seth’s house to pick up Leanne and then came here. Don met them behind the train station and they talked about what they were gonna do with the money from the will.”

  She remembered the recording and said, “It’s all right here. I recorded what I could. I didn’t get much, though, because Don and Mayor Espinoza began arguing over Leanne.”

  “Go on.”

  “Don had his dogs out there, obviously, and I think they could smell Opal on me, so they were trying to pull away from Don. That got the attention of all of them, and I was caught. They chased me, but the dogs slowed me down. They cornered me and admitted they were the ones who killed Seth.”

  “Was this all caught on your cell phone?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it. Yes, it should all be on there. When I started running I put my phone in my pocket.”

  Chief Putnam held out his hand and said, “I’ll take that phone now.”

  Ru handed him the phone and continued with her story, “They dragged me over to the broken window and were just about to drop me onto the glass. And, that’s when you showed up.”

  “Well, thank God I did! Do you realize how lucky you were?”

  “Yes, sir, I do. Thank you so much for getting there as fast as you did.”

  They drove the rest of the way in silence, and when they pulled up in front of Ru’s house, Esteban jumped off the porch swing and ran to the car.

  “Thank God you’re alright,” he said as he scooped up Ru in a tight embrace. “I was so worried!”

  “I’m fine, Papi. I’m fine.”

  “Don’t you ever scare me like that again!”

  “I won’t, I promise. Can you bring Opal inside please, I need to thank Chief Putnam again and find out if he needs me to make a formal statement?”

  “Of course.” Esteban turned to look at the Chief and said, “Thank you so much for getting her home safe.”

  “It’s my job, Esteban. Now it’s your job to keep her there!” Both men laughed and then Esteban brought Opal inside.

  “Thank you again, Chief Putnam. I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for you.”

  “Like I told your husband, it’s my job.” He paused for a moment and then said, “I’ll need you to come down to the station tomorrow to give a formal statement, but for now, just stay home and be with your husband.”

  “I will. Thank you again.”

  ~~~

  At the station, Chief Putnam prepared to question the three suspects. He listened to the recording made by Ru and knew that even if the three didn’t confess, there was enough to charge them with the murder of Seth Washington and the attempted murder of Ru Delgado, along with multiple lesser charges. He decided to start with Leanne and end with the interrogation that would be the hardest to do on a personal level, Mayor Espinoza.

  Chief Putnam sat across the table from Leanne and said, “So, Ms. Birch, I just have a few questions for you. You have been read your rights and I have been told you don’t wish to have a lawyer present?”

  “I don’t need one.”

  “Well, fine then, let’s get started. Why don’t you first explain to me why you wanted Seth Washington dead.”

  “Isn’t it obvious? The man was an insufferable jerk. I put up with his abuse for years, and I was done. He informed me that once he was Mayor of this pathetic little town, he no longer would need me because he would be provided with a personal secretary. I couldn’t believe he basically was telling me I would be out of a job when he got what he wanted. He expected me to help him become Mayor, and then was gonna just drop me.”

  “So you thought you’d kill him?”

  “Well, yeah, but it wasn’t just me. The Mayor helped.”

  “Explain how the Mayor helped you.”

  “He is the one who put the poison in Seth’s drink that night.”

  “Then could you please explain to me why the coroner came to the conclusion that Mr. Washington had been poisoned over a period of possibly months?”

  “Because he had been.”

  “Are you to have me believe the Mayor poisoned Mr. Washington for months? Exactly how would he have that kind of access?”

  “Oh, Chief, I didn’t say the Mayor poisoned Seth for months. I simply said Seth had, in fact, been poisoned over months.”

  Leanne sat up straight in her chair and continued, “Every morning, Seth expected me to not only brew his coffee and bring him a cup, but also to prepare him breakfast. He never asked me if I would, he demanded it. So, I began small; a dab here in his coffee, a dab there in his eggs or on his fruit. He started getting sick, so each time he wouldn’t feel well, I would stop adding the poison. He would start to feel better and then I would start adding it again. The final, and fatal, dose was given to him in his drink at the dinner. I made sure the amount added to his drink by the Mayor was enough to drop him.”

  “But why that night? Why at a charity event?” Chief Putnam asked.

  “Because if he died there after eating the food, people would think it had everything to do with what he ate and nothing to do with being poisoned.”

  “I guess you didn’t take into account that a coroner would be doing an autopsy?”

  “At that point, I really didn’t care,” she paused, “I just wanted him dead.”

  Chief Putnam was amazed that Lean
ne could sound so cold. “What about the will? How did you get him to add you and Don and even the Mayor?”

  “He didn’t. I did it. See, years back, he gave me power of attorney. I had access to all of his documents and bank accounts. I made the changes to his will, adding myself, Don and Chris. Seth hated them, so they were the perfect people to help me get what I deserved.”

  “Oh, you’ll be getting what you deserve, that’s a promise.” Chief Putnam stood and walked out of the room. He instructed an officer to put her in lockup until the county could send someone to pick her up.

  He then went into the next room where Don Jacobs was waiting. “Well, Mr. Jacobs, fancy meeting you here.”

  “Yeah, real fancy,” he replied sarcastically.

  “Let me guess, you were willing to do anything Leanne said just to get her to love you. Am I close?”

  “I helped kill Seth because he was a sanctimonious pig. Not only did he mistreat Leanne, he also mistreated the dogs he bought from me.”

  “And you thought that would be reason enough to kill him?”

  “No, I killed him because Leanne made it worth my while.”

  Shocked with Don’s coolness, Chief Putnam said, “Explain to me what worth your while is.”

  “She paid me $10,000 up front, and all I had to do was keep the jerk occupied while the Mayor put the poison in his drink. That’s it. That’s all I had to do. I told her we shouldn’t be seen together so soon, but she insisted we meet out by the old train station to figure out our next move. She’s as stupid and annoying as Seth was!”

  The Chief could tell that Don was fuming mad, so he just simply said, “Well, it seems to me that you aren’t too bright yourself. After all, you were caught trying to kill someone.”

  “Yeah, well, she got in the way and she knew too much.”

  “Which one of you put the note on the Delgado’s house?”

  “That was her idea.”

  “But who put it there?”

  “I did. She told me should would pay me extra once the will was settled if I would make sure Ruby Delgado stopped nosing around.”

  “Again, not too smart. An officer from the county will be here shortly to take you to central lockup. I suggest you get a really good lawyer, you’re going to need one.”

  When the Chief walked out of the interrogation room, he took a deep breath. He considered Chris Espinoza to be one of his best friends. He couldn’t believe he was about to question him about his involvement in a murder case and was tempted to have someone else do the questioning. He took another minute to prepare himself and then walked into the third and final room, where he found the Mayor, sitting calmly at the table.

  “Chris, I hate to do this, but I have some questions for you.”

  Mayor Espinoza hung his head low and said, “I understand.”

  “I understand you waived your right to have a lawyer present?”

  “That’s right. I know I can trust you to not twist things.”

  “Okay, then, let’s get started.” Chief Putnam took another deep breath and asked, “Why, Chris? Why did you kill Seth Washington?”

  “At first I wanted nothing to do with it all. I almost went to you to tell you what was about to happen, but then Leanne made me an offer I just couldn’t refuse.”

  “And just what was that offer?”

  “She knew that Seth was gunning to run against me for Mayor, and she said that he would buy votes to make sure it happened. She offered me $10,000 up front if I helped her get rid of Seth, and then another million after the will was settled.”

  “You did it for money?”

  “No, I did it to keep my job,” he said and then went on, “And …”

  Chief Putnam said, “And? And what?”

  “And, she said that if Seth was out of the picture, we could be together. She told me that as long as he was alive, he would make it so she and I couldn’t see one another.”

  “How would he be able to do that? They weren’t married.”

  “He was that evil. He treated her horribly and constantly threatened to fire her and send her packing.”

  Disappointed, Chief Putnam asked, “You couldn’t find any other way to deal with him, Chris? There had to be another way.”

  “I was blinded by her beauty and the money. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s too late for apologies. You’ve lost it all, Chris, and there’s nothing I can do about it. You tried to kill Ru for Pete’s sake. Why?”

  “I don’t know what came over me. I panicked, and then Leanne said we had to get rid of her. I thought if we could just get rid of Ru, we’d be in the clear.”

  “How’d that work out for you, Chris?”

  “Obviously not the way I had hoped. Why did Ru have to be out there today?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m glad she was. Now this town can move forward.”

  “What’s going to happen to me?”

  “Well, Mayor, you will be booked into the central lockup and then will go before the judge. You can kiss your career goodbye, and you will be lucky if you don’t spend the rest of your life in prison.” Without another word, Chief Putnam walked out of the room and shut the door. He walked outside and breathed in the cool afternoon air.

  Chapter 10

  Back at home, Ru was still a bit shaken up, but Esteban still had questions. “So, why don’t we sit down and you can tell me exactly what went on today.”

  “I will, I promise. First, I need to get out of these clothes and take a shower. I need to calm down and process what happened before I can even think about explaining it to you.”

  Understanding, Esteban said, “Okay, but as soon as you are done in the shower, we talk.”

  “Of course, Papi,” Ru said and hurried upstairs.

  As the hot water beat on Ru’s back and neck, she thought about everything that had happened. She realized just how close she had come to dying, and then thought about what Esteban would have had to go through if she had died. That thought brought her to a whole different place in her mind. She realized that life is short, and that you shouldn’t put things off just because you think you have plenty of time. She knew Esteban wanted to be a father, and thought about what a great job he would do as a father. The day’s events led her mind to a decision that she had made years ago, and she knew she was ready. She hurried with her shower and as soon as she was dry and dressed, she ran down the stairs. She knew she would have to explain herself, but then she hoped her new decision would take some of the edge off of her husband.

  “Papi? Where are you?” Ru shouted as she walked around the first floor of their house.

  “I’m out here,” he replied from the front porch.

  Ru climbed up into the porch swing next to her husband and took his hand, “I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I really didn’t mean to make you worry.”

  “What were you doing out there today?”

  “I went to the office supply store and saw Mayor Espinoza there, so I followed him when he left.”

  “But why? I don’t understand.”

  “I don’t know why. Something inside told me I needed to follow him. He went and picked up Leanne and then met Don out at the train station.”

  “So you felt the need to get out of the car and spy on them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  Ru could sense the confusion and explained, “It seemed odd to me, and so I sent Chief Putnam a text and then hid in the bushes to hear what they were talking about. I knew it would be a little while until the Chief got there, so I recorded them with my phone. Don’s dogs could smell Opal and knew I was there. They all saw me and chased me.”

  Then she smiled and said, “I’m fine now, though.”

  “Did they hurt you?”

  “No, though they did try. They picked me up and were going to cut my throat with the broken glass of a window, but that’s when the police showed up. Look, I’m fine. Not a scratch on my body.”

  “Do you have any idea how dumb that w
as to follow them?”

  “Yes, Esteban, I do know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you, but I just knew that something was going on and I didn’t think the police would get there in time, so I had to do something.”

  “What if they would have killed you? What if the police didn’t get there in time? I almost lost you forever.”

  “But you didn’t. I’m right here,” Ru said, and put his hand between both of hers. She laid her head on his shoulder and they both sat in silence.