“Okay, I see into him a little bit. Who were his enemies?”
“The main ones were his ex-wife and her family.”
“That’s the family of the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders you mentioned previously.”
“Yes. Let’s take a look at the rest area. The murder was planned to take place at that specific location. I don’t know why that particular rest area, except to say it fit in with the plan. Perhaps, that was the only appropriate rest area before reaching the first drop-off, Christiansburg, that didn’t have a night attendant, or the attendant was off that night. Let’s just say that location fits the plan guidelines.”
“And the weather you said was awful—foggy, rainy, and cold. Perfect for murder, though the murderer couldn’t predict or plan for weather like that. Had someone tried to plan for it, it never would happen.”
“Yes, the weather was dreadful. People were going in and out of the restrooms. There are four people in this mix that shot Duffy and an accomplice who helped them. I’m going to identify them with numbers. Person number one was waiting in the maintenance room. When Duffy walked by the maintenance room, person number two and an accomplice pushed him in. Person number one quickly covered his mouth and nose with a mask of nitrous oxide. Person number two came into the room as Duffy was pushed in and quickly covered Duffy in plastic. Person number one had brought in the plastic. The accomplice stood outside as a lookout person. Two other people stood outside close by, though it looked like they were waiting to go into the restroom. After Duffy was covered in plastic, person number one shoots Duffy twice with a .22 caliber muzzled revolver. Person number two then takes the revolver and shoots Duffy three times, then leaves the room. Person number two and the accomplice become lookouts as person number three quickly enters, shoots Duffy once, and quickly leaves. Then person number four enters, shoots Duffy once, and leaves. Persons number three and four head toward the bus for loading. Person number one quickly leaves the maintenance room, locking the door while person number two and the accomplice are standing around as lookouts. Person number one walks away into the parking lot. Persons number two and the accomplice walk toward the bus.”
“Vett, my first thought is, were there any fingerprints on the plastic?”
“None whatsoever. I am really teaching you to be a detective, aren’t I? That was a great question.”
“You know I like it when you ask for my help. Yes, you’ve turning me into a detective, and I like it. So we can assume the murderers wore gloves. Who wore gloves on the bus?”
“Almost everyone. I had on gloves. This is not a clue. Looking at who wore gloves would not have helped me.”
“Seems to me. Someone knew the ins and outs of rest area maintenance rooms or made it their mission to learn,” Aunt Clove said as she buttered and jellied another biscuit.
“My thought exactly. Someone knew there was not a security camera in the maintenance room, knew how to disable outside security cameras without anyone noticing, and knew how to unlock and re-lock the maintenance room door.”
“Who is this person? I know you know.”
Just then my phone rang. Both Aunt Clove and I jumped in fright.
Putting my hand over my heart and breathing with a slight elevation, I said, “Aunt Clove, I need to get this. It may be Detective Rivers.” I got up quickly, then grabbed the phone.
“Hello.”
“Vett, this is Detective Rivers.”
“How are you, Detective Rivers?”
“I’m well. Sorry I couldn’t call you back before now. There have been some new developments in the Diantha Lloyd murder that kept me unreachable yesterday. I need to ask you some questions, and I need your help on one matter. Is this a good time to talk?”
“Yes, it is. Give me a moment.”
I put my hand over the phone mouthpiece, then spoke to Aunt Clove, “I need to take this call. Is it okay to phone you when I am done?”
“Sure, no problem. We can continue later.” Aunt Clove picked up the biscuit tray and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“I’m back. What’s going on?”
“First, let me give you some news that I think will help you.”
“Okay. You sound so ominous.”
“I don’t mean to be. I am actually in a good place. With your help, I’m about to break the Diantha Lloyd case. And they told me I couldn’t do it. But I digress.”
“Now, you have aroused my curiosity. Tell me something, or I will explode.”
“I can tell you this. The day we met, God sent you to me. Though, you didn’t know it, you provided me with the clue I needed.”
“What was that?”
“I see you are forcing me to tell you my information in the reverse order of what I had planned. So, here goes. When you told me you had spoken with Armie Bledsoe, I was completely shocked. He has consistently spoken out against the Sheriff’s Office for years and even threatened to sue for harassment at the beginning of the investigation. He is our number one suspect. He has hired a lawyer and refused to cooperate with the Sheriff’s Office in any way, shape, or form. I take it Armie didn’t tell you we are looking at him for Diantha’s murder.”
“He didn’t tell me any of this.”
“I’m a good reader of people. I know you didn’t know, but you did reveal information to me.”
“What was that?”
“You said Armie told you that he was not sure whether or not Duffy murdered Diantha.”
“He did tell me that.”
“I believe you. At the beginning of the investigation, Armie was brought in for questioning twice. In both of his statements, he swears that neither Duffy Radley nor he had anything to do with Diantha’s murder. He was sure of it, and he was very belligerent about it. So why is he now cunningly trying to throw suspicion onto Duffy?”
“Hmm, a great question.”
“Is it because Duffy is dead and can’t defend himself?”
“Could be.”
“And why would he agree to talk to you? You are looking into Diantha’s murder just as I am.”
“I think Brightness’s owner Jackson Stevens had a lot to do with that. He told certain employees to be available to talk with me. If Armie had refused, Jackson would’ve been told. Armie probably didn’t want it getting back to Jackson that he refused to talk to me, so he agreed to meet with me.”
“That makes sense.”
“What doesn’t make sense to me is why Jackson doesn’t know Armie is a suspect,” I said.
“Highly classified information. Heads would roll, people would lose their jobs if this information leaked,” Detective Rivers explained.
“But everyone knew about Duffy’s connection to Ms. Lacecap’s murder.”
“Totally different situation. He was married to Sybil. He openly propositioned Diantha. People saw him with the men who murdered Ms. Lacecap. His name was associated with the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders from the start in the newspapers, TV, and in people’s memory.”
“Even Sheriff Hobbs didn’t leak that piece of information to his old friend Jackie Stevens,” I said.
“Not if he wanted to keep his job.”
Just like stepping on a piece of ice or a child’s toy or anything that is unexpected in your walking path and stuns you for few seconds, I had stepped on the real reason Jackson had hired me. Jackson knew about Armie and had been sworn to secrecy by Sheriff Hobbs. There is no way in the world these two old buddies had not looked out for one another. Sheriff Hobbs probably told Jackson about Armie being a suspect after discovering Armie worked for Jackson. What Jackson truly wanted me to find out is did Armie murder Duffy and Diantha, but he couldn’t ask me in these words. If he had, I would have wanted to know why he suspects Armie of murder. Jackson did not want me to know Armie was a suspect because I would put two and two together and realize Sheriff Hobbs gave
him the information. Jackson was protecting his friend.
“Vett, are you still there? You have gone quiet on me.”
“I’m here.”
“I need for you to tell me everything Armie said to you.”
“Well, let me see. He wanted to know how I was going to solve Duffy’s murder before the police. I explained my process to him. He said during the time Duffy was murdered, he was doing drop-offs from a trip to Cape May, New Jersey. It all checked out. When he got back to the office, Jackson told him Duffy had been murdered.”
“Did that check out?”
“Yes. Let’s see, uh, he said the last time he last saw Duffy was the Friday night before our Tennessee trip. Duffy, Armie, and their wives had dinner together. He said he had no idea who murdered Diantha or Duffy. I remember him saying Duffy wanted a baby, but his wife Nancy did not. We talked about Duffy’s sickle cell trait. Is any of this helpful?”
“It is. Keep going.”
“He told me he worked for Brightness for eight years. He confirmed that Duffy did make sexual advances to Diantha and that Diantha despised Duffy. He said the bunch of blue hydrangeas Diantha had with her meant she was meeting someone. He explained that this was Ms. Lacecap, Sybil, and Diantha’s signature thing to do—give people bouquets of hydrangeas.”
The gasp in Detective River’s voice did not escape me. I had evidently said what she had been waiting for me to say. I paused for a moment.
“Keep going,” Detective Rivers said.
“Do you want to see my written notes? They are more detailed.”
“They’re not needed. I just want to hear your memory of what was said. That’s good enough for me.”
“Armie did say that he doesn’t understand why the person Diantha was meeting in the park has not come forward. He mentioned that Duffy was an animal lover and had a dachshund. After eating, he walked me to my Jeep and mentioned that Lanta had an attraction for Black men. Lanta and Ms. Lacecap’s brother were a couple when they were young. He told me to look into Lanta’s background regarding the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders. That’s all I can remember unless you want to hear about minor details.”
“Throwing suspicion on to someone else is a classic sign of guilt. What minor details?”
“Armie’s fingernails were dirty, and the last button on his shirt was broken in half. He smelled like turpentine, even though he had told Lemmonee he would clean himself up before meeting me. Lemmonee set up the appointment for us to meet. He was experiencing left knee pain, though he tried to hide it. His right hand. . . .”
“Vett, stop! Gee whiz. Is there anything that you didn’t notice about the man? Anyway, I have what I need.”
“It’s the color of the bouquet of hydrangeas, isn’t it? Once I said the color out loud, it came back to me that the color was redacted from the police report.”
“Nobody, I mean nobody knows the color except for Sybil, the Sheriff’s Office, and the murderer. The sheriff detectives working the case at the time asked Sybil to keep that information a secret, and I believe she has because no one we questioned has mentioned the color before now.”
“What about the joggers who found Diantha?”
“They were traumatized. To this day, they have never mentioned seeing a bouquet of blue hydrangeas at the murder scene.”
“Sybil said Diantha had the blue hydrangeas with her before she left for the park?” I asked.
“Yes, she did. The day of the murder, she was in the kitchen when Diantha walked in from the outside carrying a bunch of blue lacecap hydrangeas. Diantha walked to their ribbon drawer and retrieved some white ribbon, which she wrapped around the hydrangeas stems. As she walked out of the kitchen door with the hydrangeas, she told Sybil she was on her way to the park. Sybil heard Diantha’s car startup. That was the last time Sybil saw Diantha alive. Sybil had moved back into the house on the hill with Diantha after Ms. Lacecap was murdered. Before then, she had her own place. Diantha had always lived with Ms. Lacecap.”
“But how do you know for sure the bouquet of blue hydrangeas were Diantha’s. Someone else could have dropped it there,” I said as the answer dawned on me before I said my last word.
“That’s the beauty of you, Vett. We didn’t know for sure until now. Outside of Sybil and the Sheriff’s Office, only the murderer would know the color of the hydrangeas and that she had a bouquet of blue hydrangeas with her. Until now, no one has ever come forward saying they saw Diantha in the park with a bouquet of blue hydrangeas.”
“But why? Why did he murder her? What is the motive?”
“She was breaking up with him. Diantha told a girlfriend this, though the girlfriend did not know when this would happen. The girlfriend is willing to testify to this in court.”
“Why would Diantha take a bouquet of hydrangeas to break-up with him?” I asked.
“To help make the break-up process easier, I guess. I really don’t know. It was Ms. Lacecap, Sybil, and Diantha’s signature trademark thing to do. All three of them gave away hydrangeas all the time.”
“Do you need me to testify in court, too?”
“I need something more alarming from you. I want you to meet with Armie again and get him to repeat what he told you.”
“What! He’s probably realized his mistake and won’t make it again,” I said, dreading the three-hour drive to Attribute.
“I don’t think so. He’s too cocky. He doesn’t realize what he has told you. He probably thinks a lot of people saw her with the blue bouquet. All you have to do is make the call and get him talking about Diantha. My people will be recording the conversation.”
“So I don’t have to drive to Attribute to face him?”
“No, no, I think that would be dangerous.”
“Okay, when do you want to do this?”
“Tomorrow, he’s not working then. Say around 10:00 am. Where do you want to make the call from?”
“My restaurant office.”
“We’ll be at your restaurant by 9:30 am to set up things. We’ll have a list of questions for you. Do you have any questions?”
“Not now, possibly I will tomorrow morning.”
“Vett, this will go smoothly. If Armie doesn’t mention the color of the hydrangeas, we’ll have your testimony that he mentioned the color to you. So don’t worry. The questions will be general questions to get him talking. If at any time you are uncomfortable, we’ll end the call.”
“I’m okay with it.”
“Whether he mentions the color or not, Armie will be picked up tomorrow afternoon, after your phone call, and brought in for questioning and will be arrested. We’ll have people outside his house while you are on the phone with him. Now, are you ready for my other news?”
“Yeah, it’s got to be more uplifting than what we just talked about.”
“I’ve gotten a copy of Diantha’s birth certificate. It took some doing, but a copy finally surfaced. Sybil Lloyd is her mother. It doesn’t say who the father is, but I have confirmation on who he is. Remember, I mentioned I was waiting for a document to be authenticated. Well, it is authentic. It is an agreement between Holt Pruitt, Sr. and Mildred Lloyd, Ms. Lacecap, regarding their children Holt Pruitt, Jr. and Sybil Lloyd.
“I am so excited about getting a copy of this document. Gosh, Vett, Ms. Lacecap was a brilliant lady. To sum up the document, for keeping the secret forever that Holt Junior is the father of Sybil Lloyd’s yet-to be-born-baby, Holt Pruitt, Sr. agreed to pay Mildred Lloyd $500 a month in child support until the child reached age eighteen. Also, Holt Sr. agreed to use his influence on the board of supervisors to help Ms. Lacecap maintain her women abused and battered safe haven business, which she conducted from her residence. Should she lose her safe haven business before the said child reached eighteen years of age, Holt Sr. agreed to increase the child support to $1000 a month. There are some other agreements in the docume
nt, but I think the name of the father of Sybil’s baby is what you are interested in.”
“Good grief, did Holt, Sr. really sign this agreement?”
“Yes, he did. I say it again, Ms. Lacecap was one smart cookie.”
“And she probably insisted that Sybil give Diantha the middle name of Angeline, the same name as Diantha’s paternal grandmother. This was another safety precaution in case Holt Sr. tried to screw her over.”
“I guess you can look at it that way.”
“I still don’t see what the big deal is? Young people fall in love and have babies. It happens.”
“You must remember the times. The Holts were a prominent family in Envyton County back then and still are to this day. They own businesses, rental properties, and a huge tobacco farm, though nobody works it now. They couldn’t afford a scandal. Their White son getting a Black girl pregnant was considered a scandal back then.”
“That’s it, that’s it, oh my God, that’s it!”
“That’s it what? What are you talking about, Vett?”
“Marjorie Brown and Rebbie Shields.”
“What do you know about them? They have been reported missing.”
“I know where they are. They were passengers on the Tennessee trip. I’ve tried to reach them several times regarding Duffy’s murder. They have never returned my calls.”
“They have never returned your phone calls because, after that Tennessee trip, they walked off the face of the earth. No one has seen them since they walked into Rebbie’s home. The next door neighbor of Rebbie’s saw them come home from the trip with luggage in hand. The neighbor said Marjorie had been staying with Rebbie for a few weeks. After a few of the neighbor’s phone calls to Rebbie went unanswered, the neighbor knocked on Rebbie’s door. After the third day of getting no answers to her knocks, the neighbor called the police.”
Sequestered with the Murderers Page 26