A Simmering Dilemma

by Tyora Moody

Amos responded, his voice a bit gruff. “There was no altercation. I saw the victim slinging hateful words at my daughter in a place of business.”

  Wilkes shot back, “That had to be humiliating for Briana. From what I dug up, there’s a history with Sondra Howell. In fact, I believe it goes back to high school. Look, I realize Briana was bullied by Sondra and some of her peers. That has a lasting effect on a person. My theory is Briana had enough, especially when the victim entered her property last Saturday.”

  I couldn’t hold my tongue. “How do you know if they had contact with each other that night?”

  Wilkes turned to me as if she just remembered I was in the room. “Ah, Eugeena! Well, I don’t have to tell you your stepdaughter had a party or get-together at her house. I’ve been in touch with your neighbors and this went on each night this past weekend. A few people who were in attendance mentioned that Sondra was at the residence on Saturday night.”

  This was news to me. I mean I knew Sandra had to have walked on the premises at some point.

  Amos inquired, “So you have witnesses who said Sondra was on the property, but you don’t seem to have witnesses that stated they saw the two women together?”

  Wilkes snapped, “Of course the women saw each other. How could Briana not see who was at her house? From our count, there were at least fifteen people at the house on Sunday night. That group wasn’t so large that your daughter couldn’t have seen Sondra at some point during the night. That’s why we need to talk to her. Something went horribly wrong. If anyone was in her shoes, the last person you’d want at your house is a known enemy.”

  Amos stood. “I’m sorry, Wilkes, I respect you, but you don’t have any solid evidence, just conjecture. None of that will hold up in court. You can’t place a solid scenario where Briana and Sondra met and had a confrontation. With that many people at the house, I just don’t see someone not noticing. When you see my daughter, she will have a lawyer.”

  Wilkes huffed, standing up sharply. Her face appeared flush as if she was ready to argue, but then her face softened. “I’m sorry this is happening to you and your family. You may not remember, but I was in school with your other daughter, Alexa. I remember Briana as a little girl. But I have to make sure justice is served for a grieving mother and … two young children who lost their mother.”

  Amos’s stance seemed to shrink a bit, “I know you need to solve this case. I just hope you are looking in the right direction.”

  “You did this job for a long time, Amos. You know it’s imperative that Briana come in and let me question her again. I’ve been trying to reach her and this doesn’t look good for her.” She turned to walk towards the door, but then spun around. “I don’t want to have to bring either of you in for impeding an investigation but I will.”

  What? She wanted to throw us in jail.

  After Wilkes left, I turned to Amos, my head spinning. “Well, she is something else! Was that a threat?”

  Amos rubbed his head, “She’s just trying to force our hands like we can tell her where Briana is right now. Even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell her. Besides, I need to talk to her before Wilke does.”

  “I’d say. You know after listening to Wilkes, you remember your theory about Theo… that he could have confronted Sondra that night?”

  “Yes. What about it?”

  “Why did they end up letting Theo go?”

  Amos walked over to the window and peered out, probably looking for Wilkes to drive away. He turned back around and looked at me. “Pretty much the same deal that Wilkes is trying to put on Briana. That Theo had to have seen Sondra. But he too claimed he didn’t see her and no one could place him in the backyard. In fact, what Wilkes didn’t share and I know is that the death of Sondra happened in the early morning hours, the coroner thinks between midnight and six o’clock on Sunday morning. Theo left the house before midnight.” Amos moved away from the window and returned to the couch. “Even I could vouch for that.”

  I frowned, “You can? How?”

  “Remember I went over there to tell Briana to turn the music down. It was about ten o’clock then. Theo was over at the house. What I didn’t tell you was I saw him leaving.”

  I folded my arms, “How do you know he didn’t come back?”

  “He left because his mother needed him. Apparently she’d been ill and had to be taken to the hospital.”

  “Okay, that’s a pretty solid alibi if people saw him at the hospital.”

  “Yes, there were several witnesses. Theo is popular in the community. People know who he is.”

  I sighed, “Who was this witness saying that Sondra was on the property? Why would she show up here? Was she looking for Theo? And…” I thought back to all that I knew about Sondra’s last night alive. “Sondra was at the Black Diamond that night. She left a night of dancing, or whatever, just to show up at Briana’s house.”

  “None of this makes sense. The way she went off on Briana at the coffee shop, the woman was really unhinged. Not that I’m talking about the dead or not acknowledging she was a victim, but it’s like you said, Eugeena. She was an abrasive woman.” Amos shook his head. “I let myself get caught up in finding J.C. since I knew of his associations.”

  “Is Wilkes aware of J.C.?”

  “I’m sure she is. The circumstances around Briana and this Sondra woman have not helped matters. I just wish I knew where that girl was…I’m trying to be positive, Eugeena. But I have to say in the past few days, I don’t feel like I know my own daughter.”

  “Don’t give up on her, Amos. She could just be overwhelmed and running scared. Hopefully, she’s listened to your phone messages and the messages from her sister. Most importantly, I know her mom is looking down on her. The one thing you told me about Briana is she never wanted to disappoint her mom.”

  Amos sighed. “Francine was the glue that held Briana together. She was her baby girl. I’m thankful for us, Eugeena, I really am. But sometimes I wish I could ask Francine what to do about Briana. She always knew exactly what to do.”

  I placed my hand on Amos’s shoulder, and then hugged him. “It will all work out.”

  I didn’t want to offer some cliché or for my words to be in vain. We really needed this all to work out for everyone involved.

  Chapter 21

  Saturday morning, for once Amos and I slept-in. Detective Wilkes stopping by with her threats yesterday and Briana still missing turned out to be pretty exhausting. The doorbell rang while I was cleaning up dishes from our late breakfast. When I made it to the door, my granddaughter, Keisha, came storming in the house just about knocking me down with a hug.

  “Well, look at this surprise.” I exclaimed, reaching down to wrap my arms around my granddaughter who was growing so fast.

  She had to be a whole inch taller than the last time I saw her.

  “Grandma, we wanted to come see you. We were in Columbia all week.”

  “That’s right, your Mama told me you were visiting with Tyric’s grandmother. Well, did you have a good time?” I hoped so. Keisha didn’t know her dad, but over the years Tyric’s dad seemed to have taken to treating her like she was his own.

  Speaking of Tyric’s dad, Chris’s tall frame filled my doorway when I looked up. He had his son on his shoulders. Tyric, who was still going through his terrible twos, was all smiles looking like the spitting image of his father.

  “Chris. Nice to see you back in Charleston.”

  Chris placed Tyric down, “Good to see you too, Ms. Eugeena.”

  I started to ask him about Leesa, but my daughter showed up practically out-of-breath beside him. “Hey, Mama. Sorry to drop in on you like this, but the kids really wanted to see you today. They missed their Grandma Eugeena.”

  I grinned, “Come on in. Did y’all already eat?”

  “Yes, we stopped by IHOP earlier this morning. Mama, how’s Amos doing? Is he here?”

  I sighed, “No, he had to …” I wasn’t sure how to answer that question.

 
; “Mama, you okay?” Leesa touched my arm, her eyes concerned.

  “Let’s sit down. It’s been a long week.”

  The children settled over in the corner with Porgy who was bouncing around, ecstatic to have his two little people come see him.

  Leesa sat down on the couch. Chris sidled next to her. I eyed them for a moment, forgetting about my other issues. I didn’t want to pry, but they seemed awfully cozy today.

  “Mama?” Leesa’s insistent voice invaded my thoughts.

  “Sorry, I was trying to see if it was a good idea to tell you this. I’m trying to be protective of Amos, but we’re all family.” I clasped my hands together as though sharing the news was going to pain me. “Amos is out looking for Briana.”

  Leesa shrieked, “She’s missing?”

  “I believe she took a break from all that’s going on.”

  Leesa nodded, “I don’t blame her, Mama. I’ve been talking to some of my classmates and you know I forgot how mean Sondra and her group of friends were to other people. Not to talk bad about the dead, but Sondra was a big bully. Remember the other day you were asking about Yvette? Well, she was just as mean as Sondra.”

  I nodded, “Yes, I have gathered that. Seems like with Briana being back in town, the past reared its ugly head.”

  Leesa grimaced, “I saw the video on Facebook. Sondra was going off on Briana. You think she was jealous of Briana hanging out with Theo? Oh and by the way, I did get confirmation that Theo had been pursuing Briana in high school. I learned a lot in the past few days.”

  I grinned. “Thank you for confirming. I hope I’m not rubbing off on you.”

  Leesa touched Chris’s arm. “Nope, I’m leaving this investigating thing to you and Amos.”

  Chris smiled at Leesa.

  I have not seen these two quite so affectionate in a while. I wonder what has changed?

  Chris tore his eyes away from my daughter like he suddenly remembered I was here. “So you really like this detective stuff?”

  I shrugged, “Well, I’m not trying to become an official P.I. But if something is happening to my loved ones or friends, I like to get down to the bottom of the situation if I can.”

  Leesa leaned into Chris, “Hey, Mama, did you know Chris knew Theo a long time ago?”

  I actually didn’t know much about Chris as I would have liked. I arched my eyebrow turning my attention to my grandson’s father. “Did you? How is that possible? Didn’t you graduate from Dreher High School? That’s in Columbia, right?”

  Chris spoke up, “Yes, I moved to Columbia after my parents split. I was born here in Charleston and attended school here up until sixth grade.”

  “Oh! I didn’t know that.”

  Chris continued, “Yeah, I knew both Theo and Damion. We grew up down the street from one another. Even though I moved from Charleston, I still saw Theo on the football field when our teams played against each other.”

  Leesa grinned, “Small world, Mama.”

  Chris agreed, “It really is. I can tell you that Theo has always been a really nice guy. Everyone loved him on and off the field. When I heard what went down last weekend, I had a hard time accepting Theo would have hurt Sondra. I’m glad the cops let him go.”

  “Taking his mama to the hospital is a pretty solid alibi.” Then I remembered from our lunch that Leesa mentioned Chris was related to the owner of the Black Diamond. “Chris, Leesa mentioned you know the owner of the Black Diamond?”

  Chris and Leesa exchanged a look. “Yeah, my cousin, Mac Porter, owns the place. May I ask why you want to know, Ms. Eugeena?”

  “Sondra started working there a few months ago. I guess your cousin should know her. In fact, she was there last Saturday. I thought it was funny that she would want to hang out at the same place she worked.” I leaned forward, “What I really don’t understand is why she moved from being at the Black Diamond to ending up at Briana’s house?”

  Leesa offered, “Maybe she just was in a mood and wanted to start something with Briana. Sondra certainly proved from that video at Sugar Creek Cafe that she didn’t have a problem going off in a public place.”

  “True. Still, that’s pretty bold to go to someone’s house.”

  It’s on another level of crazy!

  Chris nodded, “I agree. But people get tired of a scene and go from party to party. Maybe she didn’t know whose house she was going to, especially if she was riding with someone.”

  I snapped my fingers, “When I talked to Gladys, she said someone picked Sondra up at the house.”

  Chris offered, “So maybe she didn’t have a choice. If her ride was leaving the Black Diamond, she had to go with them.”

  “Mmm, have you been in the Black Diamond? I’m sure your cousin must have cameras installed.”

  Chris hesitated, “I’ve been there once when he opened the place. Yeah, I’m sure he has security, but…”

  I eyed him, “But…”

  “I love my cousin. Kind of looked up to him when I was younger but you should know that my cousin and I have been on opposite sides of the law. Mac tends to do things that are not legal. Me being a cop and him being family, well, let’s just say it’s awkward when the family gets together.” He leaned forward, a warning written all over his face, “I see where you’re going with this, Ms. Eugeena, but I would advise you to stay clear of the Black Diamond and Mac.”

  Leesa practically jumped off the couch. “Yeah, Mama, don’t go too far. Besides, didn’t Carmen and I mention to you at lunch the other day that something could have happened at the club?” She side-eyed Chris. “Maybe Chris can work on the case soon since Detective Wilkes is looking in all the wrong directions focusing on poor Briana.”

  “What?” I was confused. “What are you talking about, Leesa?”

  Chris patted Leesa’s hands as though he wanted her to calm down, “Everything hasn’t gone through yet,” he said to her. Then he faced me, “What I think Leesa is trying to tell you, and one of the reasons I came over today is I wanted to let you know I passed the detective exam. There isn’t a position open in the Richland County Police Department, but a position has opened up in Charleston. I interviewed this past week.”

  I clapped my hands together. Well that explained the change in pace with these two. “Oh, that would be wonderful for you to move to Charleston and be near the kids.”

  Chris looked at Leesa, “Yes, it will be great being close. We needed this change.”

  Leesa and Chris exchanged looks again. Okay, I knew sparks when I saw them. But before I could say anything Amos entered the house. By the look on his face, something upset him.

  “Amos, are you okay?”

  He stopped short, noticing Leesa and Chris on the couch. “Hey, I didn’t know we had company.” He walked over and shook Chris’s hand. “How are you doing? It’s good to see you again.”

  Chris stood, towering over Amos, “You too, sir.”

  Anxious to share the news again, Leesa stated, “Amos, Chris passed his detective exam. And he could be moving to Charleston soon.”

  Amos smiled, though something still pained him. “Congratulations, that’s wonderful! I knew you could do it.”

  Amos knew about this.

  I didn’t even know Chris had those types of aspirations. But with both men being in law enforcement, it made sense they would talk. I appreciated the changes happening in my daughter’s life with Chris, but I wanted to know what was bothering Amos. “Amos, is everything okay? We’re family.” I urged.

  Amos sat in his chair. “Yeah, well, I’ve been looking for someone and I just found out why we weren’t able to track him down.”

  I cocked my head, “Are you referring to …”

  He nodded, “J.C. has been found.”

  “Found? The way you said it sounds as if he’s—”

  “Dead.” Amos finished my sentence.

  Chris and Leesa had been turning their heads looking from Amos to me and back as if they were watching a ping pong match.

&
nbsp; Leesa shrieked, “Someone else is dead.”

  Amos nodded, “The crazy thing? J.C. was killed the same night Sondra had to have been killed. These two people were classmates.”

  That definitely left any theories of J.C. doing something to Sondra off the table. It also heightened my suspicions more about this group of classmates. I’d lost classmates over the years, but not this young. None of these former students of mine had reached their thirtieth birthday yet.

  What was going on with these classmates?

  After Leesa and Chris left with the children, I met Amos outside on the front porch. It was still sweltering outside, but the sun was going down. I sat a tray of ice tea on the table between the rocking chairs. The new bamboo fans that Amos helped install earlier this summer gave a bit of breeze as we rocked. Feeling buzzing, I slapped my neck. This lavender scented mosquito concoction I found last summer worked on and off, but it didn’t smell horrible, which was why I used it.

  Amos guzzled down about half his ice tea before placing it back on the table. “I didn’t mention something else to you. I probably said more than I should have in front of Leesa and Chris.”

  “Oh what else?”

  “J.C’s body was found near the Black Diamond.”

  Good thing I hadn’t picked up my glass of tea. It would have certainly slipped out of my hand. “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope. My contact in the coroner’s office said that J.C’s body had been found a day after Sondra’s but he hadn’t been identified as quickly.”

  “What does this mean?”

  “I don’t know, but something happened at the Black Diamond.”

  My many conversations including the one a few hours ago with Chris spun in my head. “What if Sondra saw something at the Black Diamond? Something having to do with J.C.?”

  “That’s definitely a possibility.”

  “Still, how did she get from there to the shed in the back, Amos?”

  “That I don’t know. I’m fairly certain she arrived here in the neighborhood alive. Whatever happened to cause her death occurred in the backyard next door.”

  “Well, you know Chris’s cousin owns the Black Diamond. Might not hurt to ask your contacts about talking to him. His name is Mac Porter.”