Silence of the Hams jj-7

by Jill Churchill

  Patsy nodded. "I can see his fear of the story about the baby getting out, but that alone wouldn't be worth killing someone for. And even the threat of arrest — well, Conrad knew he didn't kill Stonecipher because nobody killed him. I'm getting more confused. Did Conrad push the rack over on Stonecipher?"

  “Yes," Jane said.

  “But why make it look like murder?"

  “That's what we all wondered, but we were looking at it backward," Jane said. "We kept saying, 'Why would anyone want an accident to look like murder?' when the truth was, Conrad probably thought it was murder and was trying to make it look like an accident."

  “Who did he—? Sarah? He thought Sarah murdered Stonecipher?" Patsy said.

  “That's my guess. Grace said Conrad was fanatic about not letting the local paper anywhere near Sarah. He was probably afraid she'd see Stonecipher's name in connection with some of his many causes and recognize it. As much as it upset him, think how much more it would upset her. But for all his efforts, he finds Stonecipher dead right there on the floor of the storage room and probably leaped to the conclusion that Sarah had identified him, gone berserk, and killed him. So he tried to make it look like an accident. Conrad's a big, tall man and didn't realize that just reaching out and shoving the rack over wasn't going to be that easy, even for him, and certainly not for a smaller person.”

  They heard the front door open and fell silent. Grace and Sarah were talking quietly as they moved toward the stairs. As their steps died away, Patsy said, "What was the article doing — wherever you said Mike found it?”

  Shelley said, "The police had a witness who saw Emma going out Friday night in her jogging clothes, but carrying car keys and a file folder. It must have been the folder containing the article. It probably wasn't one of the blackmail files. I'd guess it was a sort of clipping file Stonecipher kept on himself. Mentions of him in newspapers and such. She was certainly bright enough to have made a copy or at least a notation of the paper and date.”

  Jane took up the story. "She must have given Conrad the clipping, which he subsequently dropped. When he discovered that it was missing, he was frantic. Grace told me they'd had trouble with raccoons emptying the trash cans all over the place Sunday night.”

  Patsy nodded. "Conrad rummaging for the missing clipping."

  “Right," Jane said. "And when he didn't find it, he remembered that Mike had tidied up the yard. So he looked in Mike's car whileit was parked in back and Mike was working inside the deli. Mike told me someone had been in his car, but hadn't taken anything. Conrad again."

  “But Jane, all of this is what could have happened. Where's the proof of any of it? The police don't recklessly arrest people who might have a reason to murder someone.”

  Jane looked uncomfortable. "I haven't talked to Mel since early this morning. They obviously have physical evidence to support the theory or they wouldn't have arrested Conrad. Maybe both his and Emma's fingerprints were on the clipping in spite of it having been mauled around. And there was the paper dot from the folders.”

  She explained briefly to Patsy about the little paper lozenges. "When he showed me one, I knew I'd seen such a thing before. I think — yes, I have it here." She had put the blue dot back in her jeans pocket and now placed it on the kitchen table.

  Patsy stared at it for a minute. "Hmm. Looks familiar in a way—"

  “You and I saw a green one. At the same time.”

  Patsy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them very wide. "Stuck in the treads in the bottom of Conrad's sneaker when I ran into you here! I thought it was an odd-colored piece of grass.”

  “The deep treads in his sneakers picked it up from the carpet in her apartment.”

  “So he met her Friday night—?"

  “I think he not only met her," Jane said, "I think she made the poor guy jog around the block with her while she laid out her threats. Remember, Conrad had his shoe off because he had a blister on his heel. They were old sneakers. He wouldn't get a blister from any normal activity. It would have really added insult to injury to make him trot alongside her like a pet dog."

  “And he went to her apartment Saturday to kill her?"

  “I don't know. Maybe she'd told him to bring money and he went to do that, but saw the other folders and realized she was making several other people's lives a misery and simply lost control."

  “He didn't take a weapon along," Shelley said. "She was killed with one of those hand weights from her own apartment."

  “Did he take the rest of the folders?" Patsy asked, then said, "He must have. But if he did, where are they?”

  Jane shrugged. "Maybe the police found them. Maybe they're still in his car. If it had been me, I'd have gone by the nearest fast food restaurant and pitched them in the Dumpster or a trash barrel.”

  Shelley got up and started clearing the table.

  “To think — he did it all out of love for Sarah," Patsy said.

  “No, he didn't," Grace said from the doorway.

  They hadn't heard her approach.

  “I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping," she said. "Just standing there for a minute working up the courage and energy to face you all.”

  Jane pulled out a chair and gestured for Grace to sit down. She did so wearily. She looked like a soldier returning from a long, exhausting battle — but a victorious one. "Don't waste your good thoughts on Conrad," she said finally.

  “You don't have to tell us anything, Grace, but we're here to listen if you'd like to talk," Patsy said.

  Grace smiled. "I know you are. Conrad didn't kill that woman out of love of Sarah. Out of need for control, revenge, money — but not love. The police only questioned us for a short time this afternoon and told us they'd be back tomorrow morning. The rest of the time you dear ladies were doing our jobs, Sarah and I were sitting in the car talking. We got years' worth of talk into a few hours. Or at least Sarah did. Shelley, could I ask you for one more—? Oh, thank you. You read my mind.”

  She took a long drink from the glass of iced tea Shelley had handed her, organized her thoughts for a moment, and said; "It's terribly complex and I don't know if I can sum it up, but Conrad blamed Sarah for the baby's death. And why not? She blamed herself. He told her that it was only fitting that she should have to face him — the child's father — every day of her life. She was so consumed by guilt that it seemed a fitting punishment to her. A way to atone, I guess. After she'd been out of the mental hospital for a while, he never mentioned it again. He was always terribly kind to her. Very protective. She had no friends, no life of her own, no part in any community, but she felt she had no right to complain. Every time they moved to a new place, he'd make all the more sure she was dependent on him. If she started making friends, rumors would start about her and people would turn away — often in disgust. She knew he was responsible, but could never absolutely prove it, not even to her own satisfaction."

  “How horrible!" Patsy whispered.

  “And then they came back here," Shelley said.

  Grace nodded. "Torturing her must have become a bit boring and he was attracted to the idea of having a business and being 'somebody.' Especially since it didn't cost him anything."

  “What do you mean?" Jane asked.

  “I made sure our grandmother left thehouse jointly to me and Sarah. She and I mortgaged it and used the cash to fund the business. He liked the idea of not having to put any money in, but didn't grasp at first that it belonged, lock, stock, and barrel, to Sarah and me. But Sarah knew it. And it finally gave her some power over her own life."

  “But she didn't act like it," Jane said. "She was so shy and remote, even with you."

  “Especially with me," Grace said. "She was afraid to show her hand for fear he'd somehow turn me against her, just like he had everyone else. She intended to tell me all this once the deli opened and business was under way, but then. ." She paused, swallowing back a sob.

  “—Stonecipher died," Shelley finished briskly. "And she went to
pieces. Why?"

  “Because she thought Conrad had killed him as some kind of warning to her. She had no idea who Stonecipher was and neither did I. When the baby was dying, Sarah and I just concentrated on him and each other and didn't read the newspapers. Then Conrad visited her at the hospital the other day and started telling her she'd killed Stonecipher, but he'd covered it up and made it look like an accident.”

  Patsy stood up suddenly and paced the kitchen. "This is so terrible I can hardly stand to hear it! I'm so angry I could—”

  Grace got up and put an arm around her old friend. "Calm down, Patsy. It didn't work. Sarah's not stupid or crazy. She saw through him. He either believed she'd killed the man, which showed an intolerable failure to understand her at all, or he was trying to make her believe she was a murderer, which insulted her considerable intelligence. It's a good thing he did it, really. That was what finally made her fully realize how wicked he was."

  “What did he tell her about Emma's death?" Jane asked. "Or did he try to keep it a secret."

  “He told her the truth — or at least part of it," Sarah said. "That Emma had threatened to expose that Sarah had, through her own carelessness, killed their child. And that he had killed Emma to 'protect' Sarah. Conrad was supposed to be taking next weekend off to attend a seminar in Detroit on commercial cooking techniques. Sarah was going to wait until he was gone, then tell me and the police everything."

  “So he killed Emma to keep her from telling everyone why the baby died?" Shelley said. "But he'd spread the same rumor himself."

  “Only when and where he wanted to. When it turned people away from Sarah," Grace said. "Coming here was different. He wanted to stay here. He wanted them both to be well-liked. He wanted, in short, to get rich and comfortable on Sarah's and my inheritance. And he had to keep that threat to himself, tohold over her. But that's not the main reason he killed Emma, I don't think. You have to remember that when she was killed, nobody knew Stonecipher had died of a heart attack. Emma must have showed him the clipping, made a good case for him being suspected of Stonecipher's murder. And for all Conrad knew then, he might have actually killed Stonecipher."

  “What do you mean?" Shelley asked.

  Grace sighed. "He came into the storeroom and saw Stonecipher lying there looking dead. He apparently leaped to the conclusion that Sarah really had gone mad and had killed the man. So, in the heat of the moment, he tried to make it look like an accident. But it had to have crossed his mind later that Stonecipher might have only been unconscious and that he himself had killed him by pushing the rack over. And all the time he was acting like the perfect husband, protecting his poor frail, crazy wife. And looking like a saint the whole time."

  “You had a phrase for that, Patsy," Jane said.

  “I did?"

  “Yes, you called it deadly kindness. Remember?”

  When Shelley and Jane finally started home, Shelley said, "They're going to need a new cook. Grace said Conrad had hired an assistant who's supposed to start tomorrow, but they'll have to hire someone to replace Conrad. I was thinking about volunteering to.fill in for a few days until they can hire a professional. I have to admit that I enjoyed being the chef du jour.”

  Jane thought for a minute. "I recently gave Katie a rather pompous lecture about helping the world by starting in your own neighborhood. I guess I could waitress for a couple days to free Grace to interview and hire a cook. Uh-ho!" Jane added as she pulled into the driveway and saw Mel's car approaching. "I've got some explaining to do. He was furious that we were at the deli when he came to arrest Conrad."

  “You'll manage," Shelley said. "Just be very, very kind," she added with a wicked laugh.

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