“Why?”
“Well, a suicide victim can only shoot from certain angles, if you know what I mean.”
Chapter Twenty Four
J uniper yawned and tucked the bookmark between the crisp pages of her mystery novel when her next-door neighbor, Fern’s daughter, Kara approached her on the garden swing. Jack’s parents had stopped by the Inn for a visit. She wasn’t exactly avoiding them—she just needed some quiet time to think about the day’s events and perhaps she didn’t quite feel like discussing the wedding tasks she’d been putting off in favor of investigating the murders. Picking out the flowers for her bouquet, choosing the appetizers for the reception and deciding which music to use for the ceremony paled in comparison.
“Do you mind if I sit with you for a minute?” Kara said.
“Not at all,” Juniper replied, handing her an extra blanket she’d brought out. She’d been about to head upstairs but she settled back in. “Have a seat.”
“My house is empty right now,” she said as she curled up in the opposite corner of the garden swing. “I’d rather be around people.”
Juniper felt bad for her. Kara’s family was going through turmoil right now and she could surely feel that.
“How’s your summer going?”
“Good.” She pulled the blanket tighter around herself. “I heard something creepy, though.”
Juniper frowned.
“Is it true the girl whose bones you found at the old mill is related to me?”
Juniper couldn’t lie to her. She nodded.
“That’s so terrible. I wonder why mom never told me I had an aunt.” She rubbed her arms as though she were cold, but Juniper figured she was shivering from the story.
“It happened a long time ago. You really didn’t know about your aunt? You never saw pictures?”
“Nope. Mom doesn’t have any pictures of her childhood. She says she doesn’t need the reminders. But I guess that’s why she and Uncle Jay have been acting so weird lately. Don’t you think that’s awful?”
“I do, Kara.”
“A friend from school showed me a picture of her singing in a band. My friend’s mom said that my aunt was really sweet and very talented. And really pretty, too. They all thought she ran away to be a singer because my Grandpa was such an awful man. But I guess she didn’t run away, huh?” Kara frowned and Juniper could see she was thinking about all of this and getting more and more upset. “My friend also said that the place is haunted. Is it true?”
Juniper nodded. “Yes, but not by your aunt. She’s moved on and she’s at peace, okay?”
“Who’s haunting it?”
“Do you know the man who used to own my house?”
“The Doctor?”
Juniper nodded. “He’s hanging around there right now but I’m trying to help him move on.”
“How will Pike live there, knowing it’s haunted?”
“What do you mean?” Juniper asked lightly, hoping to defuse her fear. “I live in the Gothic Inn and you know Victoria hangs around here.”
“Yeah, but Victoria’s not a killer. The Doctor was. Oh my god, do you think the ghost killed my aunt?”
“No. Absolutely not. Ghosts can’t actually kill anyone, even if he wasn’t the charming conservative doctor he appears to me to be.”
She smiled a little, slipped her feet back into her shoes and stood. “Thanks for the chat. I’m feeling better now. I think I’ll ask my mom about my aunt Belinda tomorrow. Oh, I almost forgot,” She dug into her back pocket and pulled out a sealed envelope. “Aunt Edie left this for you. She made me swear to give it to you and tell no one else about it.”
Juniper stood, too. “Thank you, Kara. And for the record I know your mom misses her sister very much. I’m sure she’ll appreciate talking to you about her even if she doesn’t feel like it at first.” Juniper gave Kara a hug and waited on the swing until she saw Kara got in okay then she tore into Edie’s letter. Juniper’s jaw dropped as she read the first paragraph:
Juniper, dear, I must apologize for lying to you earlier. I do know who fathered Trephinia’s baby. It’s just Tiff and Fern are not aware of all the facts surrounding my sister’s…umm…I’m not sure what to call it…baby scandal.
Anyway, it was Almer.
Almer Stone was the father of Trephinia’s baby. You mustn’t judge her, it wasn’t her choice. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone, but she told Marjorie anyway. Not that it mattered; Marjorie had already figured out what a rat bastard her husband was. You see, she knew he had been the one to murder her sister and the doctor. Call me for the details.
Chapter Twenty Five
O n Monday morning, Juniper entered the Bohemian Lake Police Department. She’d phoned Edie before she left using the number from the letter and received the remainder of the long and sordid details.
A glass wall and counter separated the front lobby from the officers and staff. Juniper walked up to the front counter and waited for someone to open the window.
“Hey, Juniper Palmer!” a woman Juniper recognized from the Café said as she slid the glass pane to one side. “How can I help you?”
“I’m looking for Detective Bones,” Juniper said, “Kaden Bones.”
“I’ll check and see if he’s available,” the woman said before sliding the window shut. Juniper stood at the counter, glancing around.
A few minutes later a door leading to the inner offices opened, and the woman led Juniper to Kaden’s desk.
Kaden was on the phone when Juniper arrived. He looked annoyed and stressed-out and he was pacing back and forth along the wall of windows on the west side of the room. When he saw her, he gestured toward one of the visitors’ chairs that faced his desk.
“So, is it the budget,” Kaden said, then paused to listen to whoever was speaking on the other side of that phone call. “Right. It would be pretty dumb to order DNA tests for every male in town over the age of forty-five. Yes, I realize how impossible that would be.”
DNA tests? Who was he talking to?
“That’s right,” Kaden said. “They’ll have to take it on a case-by-case basis, depending on the evidence.”
Kaden listened for another minute, then said, “Yeah, thanks. Keep me posted.”
When he hung up, he looked fried, but he walked over and pulled her in for a hug. “Junie,” he said, letting her go. “What are you doing here? Don’t tell me you found another body.”
“No.” Juniper chuckled. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question,” Juniper said.
“Sure. Is it about Belinda? Because I just had a very interesting phone call with regard to her case,” Kaden sat behind his desk and leaned back, looking at Juniper, who sat in a chair facing him.
“No, but is everything okay?” Juniper was sitting on the edge of her seat, ready to jump up and run out. “Should I come back later?”
“No, of course not. I’ve always got time for you and, besides, maybe you can help me.”
“Okay.” Juniper scooted back in the chair and waited while he stared out the window for a moment. The view seemed to calm him down, because when he turned around and walked back to his desk, he was breathing easier and it looked like maybe his blood pressure was falling back to normal. But maybe he was just faking it.
“What’s going on, Kaden?” Juniper asked. “How can I help?”
He sat in his chair and said without warning, “Belinda Battams was pregnant.”
It was like he was speaking in tongues or something. Or maybe Juniper just didn’t want to believe it. “Wh-what did you say?”
“Belinda Battams was pregnant when she died.”
“Oh.” Juniper had to concentrate on breathing because it felt like she’d had the wind knocked out of her. “Oh God.”
“They should’ve found out sooner, but the medical examiner’s office deals with cases coming in from three different counties. So he’s always backed up.”
“But . . .”
He finally seemed to notic
e that Juniper was stunned and upset by the news he’d just dropped.
“Sorry, Junie. That was blunt. The medical examiner estimates that Belinda was at least three months pregnant.”
“Three months?” Juniper wrapped her arms around her stomach, as though she could protect herself from the tragic news. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah.” He stared at the wall behind her. “The ME said the baby’s skeleton was about two inches long.”
His tone was eerily matter-of-fact but Juniper knew he was hurting inside. Juniper imagined a tiny skeleton the size of a lime. “Why are you telling me this?”
Through gritted teeth he said, “I need your help. I’m not getting anywhere with the ladies.”
Juniper couldn’t help herself. She smirked.
“I don’t mean it like that. I mean I’m an outsider and I don’t think Fern or Michèle trust me yet. You’re friends with them and Eve for that matter.”
“Yeah, Eve definitely won’t talk to the police. Her exact words when I suggested it were, ‘snitches get stitches’.”
“Exactly. I need the names of every single man Belinda was involved with three months before she died.”
Juniper nodded as if in a fog. “Okay. Wow. Well, I can’t promise anything but I’ll try. I told you about Frank Patone.”
“Yes, but I can’t pin it on him just because you don’t like him.”
“Of course not. That’s not at all what I’m suggesting.”
“Okay. Sorry.” He held up his hands in surrender as a way of acknowledging that he had snapped. “Really, I’m sorry. I’m a little . . . well, this whole thing has blown up in our faces, and I’m angry—really angry—about it. Frankly, I was hoping to write it off as an unfortunate accident or misadventure, but the fact that Belinda was pregnant makes me think somebody wanted to get rid of her and the baby. And that spells murder.”
“Oh, God.” Juniper rubbed her stomach, feeling sick. Poor Belinda. If only she’d had support. Instead she’d had only Frank to lean on—if he even knew. Or if the baby was even his. Either way, Juniper couldn’t see him being any help at all.
Juniper knew instantly that it wasn’t fair to blame Frank—at least not until there was more evidence against him. But in her book, he was a big enough creep to have killed Belinda and her unborn child. So until further notice, he was number one on her suspect list.
“So, that’s why you were talking about DNA tests.”
Kaden’s eyes narrowed. “Anyone ever tell you you’re nosey?”
Whether he was kidding or not, his response made her laugh. “Hey, you said it in front of me. My hearing works just fine.”
“Fair enough.”
“So I guess this means the ME was able to extract the baby’s DNA, and now you’re going to want to run a DNA test on whoever you think is the father.”
“You’ve got the basics right there,” Kaden said. “So, let me know if Eve, Fern or Michèle can think of anyone else, any other male who was friendly with Belinda. Maybe she saw someone talking to some guy, and it didn’t register at the time, but now it makes sense. Anyone, Junie. I’m willing to grasp at straws to nail this guy.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“Excellent. So, what can I help you with. You obviously came here for a reason. Do I need to kick Jack’s butt? Put him back into line for you?”
Juniper smiled. “No. I was just wondering about old police department files? How far back do they go?”
“Are you talking about case files?” Kaden leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desktop.
“Yes, mainly autopsy reports.”
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“If possible, I’d like to look at Albert Downey’s case file.”
“Albert Downey?” Kaden frowned.
“The Doctor who built my Inn and owned the old mill,” Juniper explained. “You know, the one Pike just inherited.”
“Ahh, Dr. Death—it didn’t register. He’s the one who shot himself after stuffing his wife in a trunk in the attic?”
“So they say, but I’m not sure that’s what happened. I believe they were both murdered, and he was set up.”
“Wasn’t that back in the twenties or thirties?” Kaden asked.
“Yes. Do you not have files that old?” Juniper looked disappointed.
“No, I’m pretty sure it’s back there. And if you have a few minutes, I’ll be happy to get it for you. But you’ll have to look at it here. I can’t let you take it from the office.”
“Seriously? You would do that?” Juniper sat up straighter and smiled.
“Sure, I’ll be right back.” Kaden stood up and tossed his pen on his desktop before stepping from the office. He was gone for less than ten minutes. When he returned, he was carrying a manila folder.
“Found it.” He waved the file before tossing it on his desk and sitting down. Instead of handing the file to Juniper, he opened it and thumbed through its pages.
“As far as an autopsy goes, his body was checked out by a… Doctor Smith.” Kaden looked up from the folder.
“Smith? That was the local doctor at the time,” Juniper explained.
“Really? How did you know that?”
“Umm… I’ve been doing some research, and I spoke to Edie McNitt. She told me Almer murdered them among other things.”
“Doctor Smith wrote a lot of notes on the condition of the body.” Kaden studied the report while Juniper sat anxiously, waiting for her turn to inspect the file.
“There were no defensive wounds on Albert, which is why it was ruled a murder-suicide. There weren’t any rope marks on his wrists to indicate he was restrained, no sign of a struggle.” Kaden shuffled through the pages. “But the trajectory of the head wound, the distance and the lack of splatter, tell a different story. Most suicide shots are angled slightly upward, and they’re at contact or near contact range, causing a burn mark around the wound and leaving gunpowder residue. If the gun is fired here just above a bone, a star-like wound is produced. This wound looks like he was shot from a distance.”
“So, Edie’s right. This looks like homicide to you?”
“Yes. I think he was killed somewhere else and staged at home.” Kaden closed the file and pushed it across his desk to Juniper. She picked it up and began looking through its pages.
“I wonder how the killer got Downey from the Mill to the house without being seen,” Juniper said.
“What about your secret passages? They could have been used, right?”
“Of course. So, the killer was most likely someone who knew about them.” Juniper said. “But how did the doctor performing the autopsy miss all of this?”
“He was probably a little country doctor—this wasn’t a very big town back then. It’s not that big now. I imagine he didn’t have the experience or training. It was probably his first shooting that wasn’t a hunting accident.”
“Either that or he was bribed,” Juniper flipped through the rest of the papers. “Is there any way you could make me a copy?”
Kaden stood up and gathered up the file, taking it from Juniper’s hands. “Wait here, I’ll see what I can do,” Kaden flashed Juniper a smile before stepping from the room.
Sitting alone at the desk, Juniper tapped her feet nervously. What now? She asked herself. Had she sufficiently looked into Albert’s death? Would the information she gathered be enough to convince people Albert Downey had not taken his own life? If so—would it matter? Would it liberate Albert and allow him to move onto the next level—wherever and whatever that might be? The thought of Victoria leaving made Juniper a little sad.
While she might be able to prove Albert had not killed Victoria, she saw little possibility of proving who had killed her. Almer was the most likely suspect, and yet… Juniper frowned at the thought. Almer…
Juniper glanced at the office door, anxious to have another look at the case file. When reading through it she saw no mention of interviews with Almer Stone, which, according t
o the newspaper, had taken place, especially with regard to his discrepancies involving his whereabouts during Victoria’s death.
Kaden returned to the office a few minutes later and handed Juniper her own file.
“Here you go,” he said with a smile. Juniper immediately opened the folder and began shuffling through it.
“You know, you can take it with you.”
“I know, but I have another question for you.” She continued to look through the file.
Kaden sat on the edge of his desk, his arms crossed over his chest as he silently watched Juniper. After a few minutes she closed the file and looked up at him
“There’s nothing in here about any interviews with Almer Stone. If they interviewed him, wouldn’t that be in the case file?”
“Almer Stone?”
“He was Victoria Downey’s brother-in-law. I think he’s the one who murdered them.”
“Junie?” Kaden smiled. “You’ve become pretty invested in this old case, haven’t you?”
“I suppose. I just want the truth.”
“If Almer Stone was a suspect, there should be something in there. I don’t remember seeing anything, but maybe I missed it.”
“I came across some old newspaper articles about the case. The maid placed Almer at the scene before the murder but then retracted after pressure from the police.”
“That should be in here. Let me see that…” Kaden picked up the file he’d given Juniper and started thumbing through it. After a few minutes he shook his head and handed it back to Juniper. “No, there is nothing in there about that—about any of it.” Kaden said. “If one of the police officers intimidated Trephinia McNitt to suppress evidence, my guess is that anything regarding Almer Stone was scrubbed by a dirty cop, and considering his brother was Captain back then—it’s not too hard to imagine who ordered that to be done.”
“Well, then, that confirms what Edie said,”
“What’s that?”
“That Captain Stone covered up all of the murders.” Juniper went on to tell him about how Marjorie had devised a plan after Trephinia came to her with the pregnancy. How the two women murdered him and staged the suicide, blackmailing his brother Captain Stone to cover the whole thing up.”
Crumb Cake, Corpses and the Run of the Mill Page 10