by Tonya Kappes
I knew the stamp but had never seen one in person, so I wasn’t even sure I’d know it if I saw it.
“Did he tell you where he kept the stamp?” I asked.
“Tell me? I seen it.” The deep laugh came out again. “It was the only thing he kept in that small safe of his.”
“Safe?” I tried to refresh my memory about whether I’d seen a safe. I didn’t remember one, but maybe Millie did.
“Yes. He bent down and had me go down to the ground with him. I’m not going to lie—I did fear those boxes were going to fall right down on us. I even asked him about why he lived liked that, and he simply said they were his life treasures.” Isiah groaned. “I am glad I do not have the daunting task you do going through his house.”
“When was the last time you talked to him about the stamp?” I asked, wondering if he’d been there a long time ago and Lee had gotten rid of the safe.
“A week ago. I came back to Sugar Creek Gap to get one more look at it to see if I wanted to pay his three-thousand-dollar asking price, even though it’s only worth about twelve hundred.”
Three thousand dollars? Would that amount be worth it for someone to have killed Lee?
“In fact, I had gotten the signed receipt stating my offer was picked up at the post office.” That got my attention.
“Signed receipt? You had the offer sent certification?” I asked, knowing I could see who signed for it.
“Yes. Got confirmation yesterday, but the strange thing is that it didn’t have Lee’s signature. Someone by the name of Luke Macum signed for it.”
Luckily, I’d turned into the post office parking lot because I nearly skidded the car to an abrupt halt.
“Luke?” I questioned to make sure I heard correctly even though I’d be sure to check on it myself.
“Mmhhmm. Got it right here. Want me to text you a photo?” he asked.
“Yes. Please.” I put the car in park and sat there trying to process everything Isiah was telling me, which brought me right back to why I couldn’t help but think Luke had everything to gain from killing Lee.
It all played out in my head as I recalled all the times I’d seen or even heard news about Luke. Luke asked Angie if his uncle was murdered. Why would he immediately ask her that when Lee could’ve died of natural causes?
Luke and Walter had that private conversation where Luke told Walter that he said he’d call, but Walter said he thought things might’ve changed… what did that mean?
Luke wanted Brother Don to go see Lee. Was that to conveniently make Luke look like some kind of caring nephew so when he did kill Lee no one, not even the sheriff, suspected him?
Luke also said Lee had been forgetting to lock his doors at night. Was he laying the foundation to throw everyone off that he really did kill Lee? If anyone had a key to Lee’s house, it was probably Luke.
Then it smacked me in the face. Didn’t one of the front porch ladies say something about them seeing Luke carrying something out of Lee’s house? Wasn’t that when they heard Lee and Luke fighting?
It was in my head to ask the front porch ladies about it when I saw them at Lee’s viewing. If not there, I’d ask at the repass.
“Let me know if things change and you’d like to sell the stamp to me.” Isiah was still talking about the stamp, from which I’d clearly moved on.
“Yeah. I’ll be in touch.” I hung up the phone.
I checked my texts before I went into the post office to see if Luke had texted me back, but he hadn’t. Maybe he wasn’t up, but it was almost nine o’clock, and he needed to be at the funeral home by nine-thirty.
Monica was standing up front with the other clerks waiting for me. I rolled the key off my key ring and gave it to her.
“Did you happen to give Luke Macum a certified letter for Lee?” I asked her, knowing she was the only clerk at the counter unless she was working someone’s route, like today.
“You know about that?” Her mouth drew tight. “I had no idea Luke wasn’t going to be the executor, and I know I’m supposed to hold all mail, but we are a small town, and we know everyone.”
I gave her a hard stare.
“Yes,” she answered. “I know. You don’t want an explanation. You want an answer. Yes. He signed for it.”
“That’s all I needed to know.” I turned to leave so I could get down to the funeral home.
“Am I in trouble?” she asked.
“Not from me. But I need to get that letter.” I sucked in a deep breath. “And that safe.”
Deep down, I knew the item Luke was seen carrying out of Lee’s house had to be the safe. What else could it be? Not to mention, Isiah had said there was a small safe and he had to bend down to look in it with Lee. I didn’t forget him mentioning the boxes and them falling on him. That empty space where Lee’s coffee cup had rolled under had to be where the safe was.
The coffee cup.
“Nah.” I tried to shake off the idea of Luke bringing Lee a cup of coffee with the rat poison in it. I gulped. “I’m sorry, Lee,” I whispered when I knew I would have to use his viewing service and the repass as a way to sleuth my way around Luke’s house. I had to do it not only to find the safe and the certified letter but also the rat poison.
I tried to put all the thoughts in the back of my head when I walked into the funeral home. After Jigs met me at the door with the bill, that fueled my fire even more about Luke. I was itching to get out of here so I could get to his house and look around while he wasn’t there.
The viewing ceremony was much more of a memorial service. It was actually very nice. Lee had asked to be cremated in his will, and since his body was just released, Jigs hadn’t been able to fulfill Lee’s wishes in such a short period of time. Since Jigs had assumed Lee was going to be laid out when we’d spoken, he had simply laid out the clothes Luke had chosen and set them on a chair with a nice photo of Lee that Luke had framed.
The flowers were overflowing, and the crowd was large. It was apparent how many lives Lee had touched as their garbage man of many years. Brother Don said a really nice speech about the afterlife and our eternal home before he opened the room up for the mourners to say something if they wanted to.
I stood in the back and kept my eye on Luke the entire time. He sat there as if he really did care about Lee when all I could think about was how he knew he shouldn’t have signed for that certified letter and how he knew the last time he’d seen Lee, they’d been arguing.
“You were wrong again.” Angie Hafley walked up beside me.
“I barely noticed it was you in that dress.” I smiled. “You look nice. What was I wrong about?” I took her bait.
“Walter Ward.” She looked at me out of the side of her eye. “Lee’s time of poisoning was placed at around eight p.m. Walter was clear in Lexington when Lee was poisoned. Not only that, but he was with one of Amy Logsdon’s employees from that morning working on his client’s yards to get them all pretty for the Make Kentucky Colorful campaign, and that same employee went with him to Lexington to see about a job because Amy is thinking about expanding the business outside of Sugar Creek Gap.”
The news of Logsdon Landscaping trying to grow didn’t come as a surprise. Amy had taken over her family company to try to save it from going out of business. But the part about Walter only made me think Luke did it.
Angie didn’t bother waiting to see my response. She walked up the center aisle and took the seat next to Luke.
I wanted to tell Angie so badly what I had found out and my theories on Luke, but she looked so chummy with him that I knew she wouldn’t hear of it. Not today anyways.
One by one, customers on Lee’s garbage route got up and talked nicely about him. How he did things that weren’t in his job description, like the time he would take the elderly citizens’ cans back to their houses or even the time one of them was looking to replace an old TV stand but couldn’t afford to buy one. Lee had found one on his route in someone’s garbage and took it back to them.
If I wanted to ge
t to the repass before Luke and snoop around, I knew I’d better say a few words then dart out of there using the excuse that my mom needed me to help set up the food.
“I only wanted to say a few words. We all have heard from Lee’s customers and friends how kind he was. I don’t need to tell you that, but the one thing I will say is how the town knew Lee had kept more than he threw out.” There was a collective murmur of laughter and nodding along with some smiles. I adjusted the microphone to fit my height. “Lee had written me a letter.” I pulled Lee’s letter out of my pantsuit, placed the letter on the podium, and smoothed it out with my hands. Out of the corner of my eye, Luke shifted in his seat. “I’m not going to read the full letter, but I do want you to hear this one line. I know we’ve all heard it so many times before, but after listening to all the good deeds he did when he listened to what the needs of his customers were, I found this to be fitting. Ahem.” I cleared my throat. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasures.”
I looked around the room and knew it applied to the customer that needed that TV stand and the other customer who said her son needed any furniture. Lee had brought them an entire bedroom suite, though none of it matched. Still, Lee understood the impact that one statement made, and I left everyone with that one quote.
EIGHTEEN
“There you are.” My mom greeted me with an exhausted look on her face as she stood in the middle of Luke’s small kitchen. “Did you see the crowd at the viewing? I hope I have enough food.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” I bounced on my toes. “Which way is the bathroom?” I asked her, pretending I had to go potty.
“How do I know?” She moved around the kitchen, opening some of the cabinets. She curled up on her toes to see if what she was looking for was lurking in the back. “I’ve never been here.”
“Okay.” I looked down the hall at all the closed doors. “I’ll go find it.”
Mom was too busy looking to even hear me, so I took off down the hall in search for the safe, letter, and rat poison.
“Bernie!” I heard someone call my name when I tried to quickly walk past the family room full of people already there.
I closed my eyes, sucked in a deep breath, and twirled to face the crowd. When I opened my eyes, the front porch ladies were in a huddle near the front door, all dressed to the nines in their Sunday-go-to-church-meeting clothes. Each one of them wore a different colored pastel mid-calf skirt with a matching jacket. A small purse dangled from each woman’s gripped hands, and the ladies’ matching pill box hats were like cake toppers that sealed their outfits.
“Bernie!” Millie yelled again, waving me over.
“Hi, ladies.” I greeted each one with a small hug. “I’m so glad you could make it. Listen…” I glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “Tell me again who you saw coming and going from Lee’s house. Unfortunately, Carla and Walter have been taken off the suspect list.”
“What about Luke?” Mille asked.
“That’s what I’m trying to find out. Apparently, he signed for a certified letter for Lee about a stamp, and that’s illegal, since he’s not the executor of the estate.” I knew they all knew this since they were all widowed. But saying these words out loud added fuel to my fire. “And I have reason to believe there was a small safe in the area where I found Lee’s coffee cup. Which reminds me, did anyone bring him coffee that day?”
“Gosh. Well, there was Carla who came by, Walter, and Luke. But you’re saying they are all off the suspect list.” Millie blinked several times.
“Not Luke,” I reminded her.
“And I don’t remember anyone bringing Lee coffee.” She looked as if she were trying to remember. “But he always had a coffee. It was kinda gross too.” Millie snarled. “He liked to keep the same cup all day and then heat it up through the day. And if he made a pot of coffee and the automatic power turned off, he would run that old coffee back through the pot.”
The thought of that made my stomach curl. I was thankful I’d never taken him up on the offer for a cup of coffee on my route.
“If Luke did take the safe, does that make him the killer?” Harriette made a good point I wish she didn’t make.
“Then we need to find that rat poison,” I told them and turned around, only to hear them shuffle behind me.
The five of us each took a different door to look in once we were down the hall and away from prying eyes. I knew we were on limited time and had only a matter of minutes before Luke got home after thanking everyone at the viewing for attending. He might have even been giving his address so they could all stop by for some food.
I opened the door to the office. I hurried over to the desk and immediately noticed the last stamp I’d given Lee from my father the day before I found him. I frantically looked on the top of the desk to see if I could find anything else like the certified letter. Just because he had the stamp didn’t mean he was a killer, but he could be brought up on charges for signing that letter. If only I could find out.
I heard some sort of bird chirping. I looked out the window to see if I could find what the heck kind of bird was outside.
“Bernadette? Why are you in my office?” Luke was standing in the door of his office.
“Cuckooooo.” Gertrude was behind him waving her hand. “Cuckooooo….” She clamped her mouth. I glared. “I didn’t know how to signal you were in danger.”
“Bernie.” Angie walked up behind Luke. “What is going on?”
By the time she finished her question, all the front porch ladies were in the room.
“He killed Lee,” Millie accused and pointed her finger at Luke.
“Killed my uncle?” He laughed. “I sure hope Violet has that room open at the nursing home because Millie has lost her mind.”
“You better watch your mouth,” I told him sternly. “Angie, I know there’s something going on between you two, but you have to hear me out.”
“Bernie.” Angie’s lack of approval was written all over her face.
“This stamp was given to Lee by my dad. I personally delivered it. And there’s a certified letter Luke signed for, but it’s Lee’s, and it’s illegal.” I drew my eyes to look at Luke. He shifted his weight from left to right as he crossed his arms. “He also had been trying to get Lee deemed unable to care for himself so that he had to move out of his house.”
“Why on earth would Luke want that dump?” She practically laughed me off.
“Because he is hurting for money. He can’t pay his cat checkup bill, and he can’t pay his taxes. He needed the money from the sale of the stamps, one stamp in particular.” I took Isiah’s business card out of my pocket and handed it to her. “This man can tell you all about the stamps in the safe Luke took from Lee when he was living. When Lee didn’t want him to.”
So I might’ve added the last part about Lee not giving it to Luke. He might’ve. I was not sure, but from how I read the letter Lee left me, he had no intention of giving Luke the stamp.
“Is she right? Did you take a safe?” Angie looked at Luke.
“Yeah. He didn’t need the money. I took the safe.” Luke walked over to a closet and opened it. There sat the small safe that would fit perfectly in the empty space I’d seen at Lee’s. “But I didn’t kill my uncle. Yes, I signed for the letter, but it was before I knew I wasn’t going to be named executor. I took care of my uncle. I didn’t want him to die. I wanted him to be taken care of and not in that filthy house.” He put his wrists out. “Go ahead, take me to the station and give me a lie detector. I don’t even have rat poison.”
Everyone turned around when we heard another person walk into the room. It was Matilda Garrison with a tray full of coffees.
“Oops.” She looked shocked. “It looks like I’ve walked in on something. I brought Lee’s favorite coffee for my little contribution for the repass.” She started to walk backwards out of the room.
“I’ll take one.” Angie lifted her hand in the air. “I hope he liked it strong.
”
“Yes, he did,” Matilda confirmed and gave everyone a cup of coffee from her tray. “I’ll let y’all get back to whatever it was you were discussing.”
When Matilda slipped out of the room, Angie asked the front porch ladies to leave her, Luke, and me alone.
“Luke, please open the safe.” Angie was calm, cool and collected.
Luke took the safe out of the closet and set it on his desk. He took his billfold out of his pants pocket to retrieve the safe code from it.
“So you did take the safe?” I questioned him.
“No. Yes. Well, only because Uncle Lee wanted me to get the safe open so he could get the Pan-American stamp to show the stamp collector. He had heard from Carla a few weeks ago that I’d gone to see Vivian at the nursing home, and he was upset. I’d gone to the nursing home to check out prices and if he could afford it. So Uncle Lee knew I’d gone there a couple of times, which I guess is when he’d gone to change his will.” Luke bent down and turned the small dial on the safe, keeping his eyes on the numbers on the piece of paper.
“So you went to talk to Vivian a few times before I saw you there this week?” I asked, since he was probably right about Lee changing his will a few weeks ago.
“Yes. Carla had told him during one of her visits with the city’s finest that she loved to deliver. In fact, she told him that she wasn’t going to bother him anymore about cleaning up his property because in a few weeks he was going to live in a nursing home.” The sound of the safe lock clicked.
The three of us held our breath when he opened it. There was a single stamp in a plastic stamp case. That was the only thing in the small safe.
“That’s what is so expensive?” Angie took it from him.
“Yeah. I mean, a few thousand dollars, which would help me pay my current bills.” He looked at the stamp in her hand. “He was going to sell the stamp. That’s what we fought over. But I didn’t kill him. I might need money, but I needed my family more.”
“Bernadette, I’m sure you have figured out Luke and I have been dating.” She turned to Luke. “It might come as a shock, and I know we were together at Lee’s time of death and the hours Jigs had put the time of ingestion of poison, but I still did take a look around your house when we were here yesterday.”