Death of a Coupon Queen

by Jenna Harte

  “He said he liked walking in the woods.”

  “If he knew he was going to kill her, he’d have researched a way in,” Ellie said.

  “I’m not sure her murder was planned. It feels like a spur of the moment thing,” I said.

  “What about the will?” Vivie asked. “They made it sound like they were owed some money. And he’s packing up her stuff. Can he do that?”

  “I don’t know. Sergeant Davis said John wasn’t entitled to any of the money while she was alive, and that he wasn’t in the will.” I huffed out a breath as I realized what that meant. “He doesn’t really have a motive.”

  “Except being angry,” Ellie said. “If my Al won the lottery and I didn’t get any of it, I’d be mad enough to stab him. Of course, my Al would never do that.”

  I thought through the situation, taking a drink of my iced tea as I did. “What if he didn’t know he wasn’t in the will?” I looked up at the ladies. “He said they were trying to work things out—”

  “I don’t believe that for a moment,” Vivie scoffed.

  “Maybe he wasn’t sincere. There was a lot of money involved. Money Marla was being stingy with, according to Debbie. Maybe he pretended to want to work things out and that morning, she told him no and he killed her thinking he’ll get the money.”

  “Or because he’s just mad,” Ellie said again.

  “Right.” I nodded in agreement.

  “It makes sense,” Vivie said.

  “I wonder what he did when he learned he wouldn’t get the money.” If he did kill her, I’d have liked to have seen that moment. It would serve him right, even though it would be tragic that Marla died for nothing.

  “He’s making the most of it by raiding her house.” Vivie sipped her tea.

  “Do you think she had things worth value?” I asked.

  “She had a couple of nice pieces of jewelry. The rest, I don’t know.”

  Ellie frowned. “Who does get the money?”

  “What?” Vivie and I asked in unison.

  “Who is in the will? Maybe the sheriff should look into that person.”

  Vivie and I looked at each other and shrugged.

  Ellie sat back in her chair and studied us for a moment. “I’m an old bored woman, so I’m a busy body. What are you girls doing poking your nose in this?”

  “I didn’t kill Marla or hurt Junior Junior and Sophie is going to help me prove my innocence.”

  “Are you now?” Ellie looked at me with intrigue.

  “Sophie has experience since she cleared her name when Joe Cullen was killed.”

  “An amateur sleuth?”

  I shook my head. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

  “I would,” Vivie said in a rare show of confidence in me. “You notice things and you’ve got the ear of Sergeant Davis.”

  I snorted. “I annoy him.”

  “He knows you’re smart and respects you.”

  I wanted to ask her what she’d done to Vivie because this woman wasn’t her. “I hope your confidence in me is rewarded.”

  “I know it will be.” Vivie had more faith in my ability than I did.

  “Oh lordy.” Ellie jumped up from the table to look out the window. “What is she doing?”

  I followed her gaze to Marla’s garden where Debbie was picking tomatoes. “Looks like she’s getting some vegetables.”

  “That’s not her garden.” Ellie was incensed. “She can’t invade Marla’s home and her garden.”

  “Here, here.” Vivie lifted her glass in salute.

  “We have to go, so we’ll ask her to stay out of it.” It was an unreasonable request, but I knew Vivie had to get home, and, to be honest, I also felt a sense of invasion for Marla. Debbie had the husband, and probably her jewelry, but the garden was Marla’s pride and joy. We could try to reserve that for her.

  We left by Ellie’s back door and headed toward Marla’s garden.

  “Hey Debbie,” I said as we approached.

  She looked up from a tomato plant. “Yah.”

  “Listen,” I started, not sure what to say.

  “Stay out of Marla’s garden,” Vivie snapped.

  I shot her a glare. Why couldn’t she be civil? That whole “get more flies with sugar than vinegar” thing.

  Debbie’s eyes widened in surprise, then her expression turned to disdain. “It’s not like she’s here.”

  “All you yanks are so rude.”

  I shook my head, dumbfounded by Vivie’s inability to see her own hypocrisy. “No, she’s not here. This garden was something she really enjoyed, and for the time being, we all want to try and preserve it for her.”

  “I can do that.” Debbie rolled her eyes at us.

  “Yes, well, the thing is . . . you’re with Marla’s husband and some folks around here see you being in her home and garden as . . .” I couldn’t figure out what to say without sounding as rude as Vivie.

  “Being in poor taste.” Vivie tossed out.

  “We’re just asking for you to respect that. For now.”

  Debbie let out a huff. “Fine. I don’t like vegetables anyway.”

  “Then what are doing out here?” Vivie asked.

  Debbie shrugged and walked back toward Marla’s house. Vivie’s question stuck with me. Was there something about Marla’s garden? It made sense for Junior Junior to be there, but not Debbie. Had Marla buried something there?

  “Come on, Sophie. Let’s get out of here.” Vivie headed toward the trail that would take us back to her house.

  Ten minutes later I was in the Brown Bomber and sorting out my next step. I knew I had to let Sergeant Scowl know about John packing things in the house, or did I? Someone would have to do it, and maybe there wasn’t anyone else in Marla’s family to do it. Then again, if John wasn’t in the will, he had no right to go through it. I decided that wasn’t for me to decide if something was important or not. I’d call Scowl and he could decide if it was important. Except I didn’t want him to know I was nosing around again.

  Instead, I called Lani and explained how Marla’s husband and his girlfriend appeared to be staying at the house and packing things up. She could tell Sergeant Scowl. I gave her a quick call and then left Vivie’s.

  I arrived home fifteen minutes later. Aunt Rose wasn’t there and was likely at the senior center. I wondered what game she’d accuse Carl Jackson of cheating in today.

  I pulled out my plans for the Awilda program I was planning at the library when my phone rang. The caller ID said it was the library. Maybe it was good news about a real job.

  “Hello.”

  “Sophie?” Mrs. Wayland asked.

  “Hi Mrs. Wayland.”

  “Do you have a minute?”

  “Yes.” There was something in her tone that made my stomach sink.

  “The library board is very happy with the work you’ve been doing, but . . . well we heard that you were questioned by the Sheriff’s office about Junior Junior Mason’s attack.”

  Ugh! “I was a witness, not a suspect.”

  “Oh, well that’s good to know. As I’ve told you before, it’s important to the library that our staff maintain a quality reputation.”

  “Yes.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why is it that everyone thought I set out to get into trouble?

  “The board has put off making a decision about you taking on the children’s facilitator role full time; however, I was able to convince them to add an additional after school program. How about Tuesdays, noon to five?”

  It wasn’t the steady regular job I wanted, but it was closer to it. My heart jumped in excitement. I was one step closer to being able to leave the Booty Burgo. “Yes, I’d love it. Thank you, Mrs. Wayland. Is there anything I should do now?”

  “Stay out of trouble.”

  “Yes, ma’a
m.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  That evening, my shift at the Booty Burgo went smoothly. Wednesday nights were ladies’ night, which meant things could get a bit raucous with all the men there to check out the women. Tonight though, we didn’t need to call a cab for anyone, no one got punched, and the bathrooms were free from puke. All in all, a quiet night.

  Randy wasn’t there, and I wondered what torture Vivie was inflicting on him.

  “Ready to head out, Parker?” Spike asked once the bar was closed and we’d finished all the closing duties.

  “Yep. I just need to clock out. I filled out my timecard and then followed Spike out the door.

  “Looks like you have company.” Spike nodded toward my car.

  AJ’s truck was parked next to the Brown Bomber. My heart did a little flip. I hadn’t expected to see AJ since his was sister in town.

  “I’ll see ya tomorrow.” Spike peeled off and went to his car parked on the other side of the building.

  “Bye Spike.”

  AJ sat on the bed of his truck with Dutch.

  “I wasn’t expecting you.” I made my way across the parking lot toward him. Spike’s car roared to life and he drove off.

  “My sister has a friend over.” AJ jumped down from the back of the truck waiting for me.

  I reached the back of the Brown Bomber when loud bang burst from the woods on the other side of the road. Almost immediately, I felt a whoosh and heard a ping as something hit my car.

  “Sophie!” AJ grabbed my arm and yanked me toward his truck. He dragged me around to the front of the vehicle and forced me to squat down.

  Confused I looked to AJ. “What’s going on?”

  “Someone is shooting at you.” AJ pulled his phone from his pocket and began dialing.

  “Why?”

  “I don’t know. Just stay down.” He put the phone up to his ear and then peeked around the hood of the truck. The moon was bright and high in the sky, but it was pretty dark. I couldn’t imagine he’d see anything. A chill ran down my spine. Whoever was shooting could be stalking toward us and we wouldn’t see him.

  “Yes, I’m in the parking lot of the Booty Burgo and someone is shooting at us,” AJ said into the phone. He turned to me. “Do you know the address?”

  Who didn’t know where the Booty Burgo was? “I don’t know the number. It’s on Route 520 just at the top if the mountain.”

  AJ spoke into the phone again.

  I didn’t like the loud noise of the gun; however, the silence of the night was equally as chilling.

  AJ must have felt my unease because he said, “Just stay down, Sophie.”

  We huddled in the shelter of his truck, and I tried to figure out why someone was shooting. Maybe it was a stray shot from someone hunting. Except, who hunts at two in the morning, and it wasn’t hunting season. Then again, if someone was illegally hunting, maybe the middle of the night was the best time to do it. I liked that idea much better than someone was trying to kill me.

  A single sheriff’s deputy showed up first, and then another two arrived. One questioned AJ and me, while the others investigated the area across the street. We gave our statements and waited for the other deputies to report back, when another sheriff’s car pulled in and Sergeant Scowl stepped out. That ut-oh feeling I always got when I saw him clinched in my stomach. It was rarely a good thing when Sergeant Scowl showed up.

  “Ms. Parker, Mr. Devlin.”

  “Sergeant,” I said. AJ nodded his greeting.

  “Why are you here?” I asked.

  “Well, I heard on the scanner that Sophie Parker had been shot at it and I couldn’t help but wonder if I was right in thinking she was the anonymous tipper about Mr. Naylor this afternoon.”

  AJ’s eyes narrowed as he looked at me. I did everything I could to keep a neutral expression until it dawned on me that John might be the shooter. He would have motive if I was right in that his alibi was bogus. For him to be the shooter, he would have to know I worked at the Booty Burgo and would be here tonight. Was it possible he’d found that out?

  “What were you doing there?” Sergeant Scowl put his hands on his hips as he waited for my answer.

  AJ’s brows lifted as if to say, “Yeah, what were you doing there?”

  “Vivie Danner and I brought him a lasagna.”

  Sergeant Scowl’s expression was dubious.

  “We wanted to pay our respects.”

  He scoffed. “I doubt it.”

  I shrugged.

  “He said you all talked about Mrs. Naylor’s murder.”

  “Well it came up, of course, because we were there to offer our condolences.” None of what I was saying was untrue. It just wasn’t the whole truth.

  “I thought I told you to stay out it.”

  “You said you’d cleared him.”

  The sergeant’s scowl deepened.

  Since I had his ear and he didn’t believe me anyway, I decided to let him know what we’d learned. “You should talk to him again. I’m not sure he’s telling the truth about his alibi.”

  “Now why would you think that?” Sergeant Scowl’s voice was tight, like he was holding back what he really wanted to say.

  “His girlfriend, Debbie, commented that she thought he was here around the time Marla was killed. And he had to remind her that they were at Ohiopyle Park.”

  “Maybe she forgot.”

  I rolled my eyes. “It was last week.”

  “There’s no record of him at the gate.” Clearly, Sergeant Scowl had considered some of the things Vivie, Ellie and I had.

  “He could have walked in.”

  Sergeant Scowl huffed out a breath. “Unlikely.” But there wasn’t the same bravado behind it making me wonder if he’d already been looking into it. If that was the case, why was he busting my behind?

  “What does this have to do with someone shooting at Sophie?” AJ asked.

  “Are you sure she was the target?” One peppered brow rose on Scowl’s face.

  AJ’s face hardened at the Sergeant’s suggestion that maybe he was the target. Jefferson Grove society, especially the sheriff’s office, didn’t hold people from Cooter’s Hollow in high esteem. The residents of that area had a long history of crime, starting back in the bootlegging days.

  “The bullet hit my car. AJ was over by his truck. And, you obviously thought I’d done something to deserve this if you heard it on your scanner and decided to come out to question me in the middle of the night.”

  “You don’t deserve it, but you do seem to find trouble.” He shook his head. “It’s possible you weren’t a target at all and some numnut was shooting in the woods. Given that your friend was murdered, and you were there when Mr. Mason was attacked, and now today, you were questioning Mr. Naylor, it’s possible someone doesn’t like your snooping.”

  “What about Vivie?”

  “We’ll be checking to see if she has access to a firearm.”

  What? No. I shook my head vehemently. “Not as the shooter. To make sure she’s okay. She was the one who found Junior Junior and she was with me today.” I understood why Scowl would suspect Vivie was the shooter; however, I knew it couldn’t be her. Unless Randy told her a lie about me to deflect blame from him and Tracy onto me. But even then, she was more of the scratch my eyes out type of person, not shooting from the woods in the middle of the night.

  “Now would be a good time for you to stay out of it and let me do my job.” He nodded at me as if he were putting a final exclamation point at the end of his sentence.

  I glared at him. “Vivie didn’t do this or kill Marla or hurt Junior Junior.”

  “You’re an ardent defender of hers. I’m not sure she’d be so loyal if the situation was reversed.”

  She wouldn’t be, but that wasn’t the point. “It’s someone else.”

 
; “Okay, who do you think it is?” Sergeant Scowl widened his stance and crossed his arms waiting for my answer. I’m was sure he was just humoring me.

  “Maybe Mr. Naylor or his girlfriend.”

  “Did you tell them were you worked and when you’d be here?”

  “No.” My voice sounded dejected, because I knew that was a significant reason to not suspect them. They didn’t know me or this area. “It would be easy to find out. Everyone knows everyone’s business here.”

  Sergeant Scowl pursed his lips. “Go home and go to bed, Ms. Parker.” He looked at AJ. “Can you make sure she gets home safe?”

  “Yes, sir.” AJ set his hand on my lower back. “Do you think she’s still in danger?”

  “I’m not sure she ever really was.”

  I gaped at him. “Someone just shot at me.”

  “But they missed. I’m betting that was on purpose. You were a sitting duck out here. Even a bad shooter could have hit you. I think whoever it was missed on purpose.”

  “Why?” AJ asked.

  “Probably to get her to mind her own business.” Sergeant Scowl gave me a pointed look. “I suggest you heed the warning and stay out of this.” He didn’t wait for my response. He strode off toward one of the other deputies.

  Alone with AJ, I waited for him to lay into me for snooping. Instead, he gave me a gentle push to start me walking to my car. He opened my door to let me in. I searched his face to see if he was silent because he was angry and holding it in until later, or worried for me.

  “I’ll follow you home.” His tone wasn’t angry, but there was a lack of affect to it that made me nervous. I nodded and got into my car.

  As I drove home, I practiced all the things I could say to AJ when he questioned me on my visit with Mr. Naylor. I hadn’t told him I would stop sleuthing, although he was clear on his opinion about it. I figured I’d have to have a good excuse.

  When I arrived home, I parked the car in the driveway. By the time I’d gotten out, AJ had reached me and walked with me up to the door. He didn’t say a word, which ratcheted up my worry. I didn’t like being fussed at, but the silent treatment was worse.

  At the door, I stopped to see if he’d say anything. He took my key and opened the door for me. I walked in with AJ following and shutting the door. I hoped he didn’t unleash his anger on me now. Aunt Rose wouldn’t like it that I had AJ in the house in the middle of the night, or technically the wee hours of the morning.