Hope cleaned up the kitchen while both Bigelow and Princess curled up. Once she was done with tidying up, she packed her tote for class. It was the last night of class, and she had to dig deep within herself to summon up the smallest amount of enthusiasm between now and when class would begin. After the day she’d had, it was going to be a struggle to be upbeat.
Hope made it to the library with little time to spare before her students arrived. When they did, they were eager to participate in the last lesson, which was social media management.
Next was a thirty-minute block of time she’d set aside for everyone to talk about what their plans were. When she’d written up the curriculum, she’d thought a half hour would be enough time.
She was wrong. The library had a strict policy about closing time for after-hours events. There was a collective groan at the announcement, and that was when Laila’s hand went up.
“Why don’t we all go over to the diner for coffee and dessert to finish our discussion?” She looked expectantly at her classmates.
“Sounds like a good idea. I’m kinda hungry,” Phil said.
Everyone’s head nodded in agreement, except for Hope’s. She wanted to go home and hide.
“Okay, let’s do that.” As much as Hope wanted to bail, she couldn’t. In a matter of minutes, all her students had gathered their belongings and headed out the door with her promise to catch up. She wanted to check her emails and social media, something she’d neglected to do earlier in the day.
Alone and seated at the table, she typed on her laptop’s keyboard and waited for her email account to come up. Waiting, her gaze drifted over the top of the computer to the seats where her students had sat. Shirley’s spot had been empty. No big surprise there.
She sighed.
The email account opened, and on top of the long list of new emails was one from Drew. She clicked on it and read what he’d sent. It was more information about Alec, who apparently had been busy being creepy. He’d had more than one arrest for harassment.
According to Drew’s research, while in community college, Alec had stalked a female professor.
The college professor wasn’t his first crush on an older woman. Hope remembered the incident with the English teacher back in high school. It seemed he was drawn to older women. Was it possible he’d had a crush on Joyce? A fatal crush?
He’d been friends with Devon, and it was possible he’d spent time at her house. Back then, they hung out wherever they could whenever they had the chance.
She shook her head and chided herself. She’d accused Drew of leaping to conclusions in the past and now she was doing the exact same thing. Just because Alec was arrested for stalking a professor didn’t mean he’d harmed Joyce in any way.
She quickly typed a thank-you reply and then closed her email account. She checked the time on the computer. She had better get a move on, because she was hungry. First, she called Ethan, but got his voice mail.
After telling him she’d be late, she rambled on about her theory of Alec possibly being involved with Joyce’s disappearance. She gave him the highlights of Alec’s run-ins with the law and ended with acknowledging she could be way off base. She set down her phone and was about to turn off the computer, but did a quick check of her social media first.
She had a scheduled post published and perused the comments. All positive. She smiled. Feeling a little better, she was about to navigate off the page when an ad popped up for a fashion website she’d visited online before. The model had a tattoo on her forearm.
Hope stared at the photograph. The tattoo was visible because it was on the model’s forearm.
Joyce’s tattoo hadn’t been visible. At least, she didn’t think so by the way Devon described it on the podcast. It sounded as if the black rose was situated on her lower back.
Wait.
What was Ernie’s comment about tattoos?
Guess that’s why grown women get those things too. It might be a flower, but it’s still a tattoo.
A rose was a flower.
At the time, she hadn’t given his comment much thought. Now, thinking back to it, his comment seemed odd.
She shook her head. Maybe his late wife had a flower tattoo. Besides, Joyce’s tattoo would have only been visible to someone handling her body.
Sure, Ernie was rough around the edges, but he wasn’t a killer.
It was time to pack up and head to the diner. She reached for her phone and it slipped from her grip. Thankfully she caught it before it landed on the floor. She really should get a case for it like Gail had on hers. A nice sturdy leather case . . . wait . . . Gail had a case on her phone.
The phones were different.
Hope saw Gail’s phone when she invited her over to help with the homework. But the phone Ernie said Gail left in his truck was white . . . like Devon’s phone. Though, she only saw it a moment at the apartment, but she was certain it was white.
Why hadn’t she noticed when she was at Gail’s house?
She could be wrong. There was only one way to find out. Hope quickly gathered her computer and papers and shoved them into her tote bag. As she stood, she swiped up her phone and grabbed her jacket. Bustling out of the room and heading to the parking lot exit, she checked social media to see if she could find out if Alec was back in Jefferson. Surely there’d be some clue, like a comment or photo. Everyone did that.
Nothing. He was smart.
He must have slipped back into town without anyone realizing. Though it was dangerous to have invited Hope to the Graves house if he were in town.
Did Ernie and Gail know? Maybe Alec was hiding out. No, if he was, how did Devon’s phone end up in the Graves’s house? Hope slowed her pace and her racing thoughts.
There was no proof the phone Ernie had given to Gail earlier had been Devon’s phone. Though every fiber in her body was telling her it was Devon’s phone.
The trek from upstairs through the corridor seemed to take forever. The narrow space had seemed bright and cheery earlier in the day, with its bulletin boards covered with flyers and narrow book tables showcasing novels perfect for wintery nights. But now, alone in the building with thoughts about murder, the space seemed eerily silent.
She reached out to open the door but froze when she spotted Oliver’s truck outside. And it wasn’t plowing. It was just idling.
Her heart thumped. Was she one hundred percent certain Alec was responsible for the murders?
No, she wasn’t.
She spun around and headed back through the corridor. She’d go upstairs and call Ethan. Good. She had a plan.
Maybe calling Ethan now was a better idea. She paused and tapped on her phone to open up the contacts, and that was when she heard the back door open.
Her heart thumped again. This time the thump felt more like a slam knocking some wind out of her.
Footsteps sounded on the tiled floor. They were getting closer.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
“There you are. Everyone is waiting for you.”
Hope wanted to feel a rush of relief that it wasn’t Oliver, but seeing Gail standing there with a not-so-sincere smile made her tense. Warning signals flooded her body, threatening to overload her.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”
Hope licked her lips and made the hopefully smart decision to play it cool.
“I’m just heading out now.” She squeezed her tote closer to her body and glanced at the phone in her hand.
“Is everything okay?” Gail stepped forward, her pace measured and precise. “I’m thinking everything isn’t okay. How could it be, with you talking to so many people about Devon and her poor missing mom?” Her voice had changed to harsh and cold.
Gail’s razor-edged voice raised alarm in Hope, which wasn’t too hard to do, because she was already on the verge of a full-blown panic episode. But she couldn’t indulge. She needed to stay calm, cool, collected. Oh, what a phony façade she was attempting to show.
“I saw Oli
ver outside. Maybe he’d like to join us at the diner.” Yeah right. But the weird vibes coming from Gail had Hope feeling Oliver wasn’t the threat she’d originally thought.
Gail glanced over her shoulder and gave Hope a nanosecond to tap the Record button on her phone.
“Nah, I talked to him. He was just driving through to see if he had any plowing to do. Looks like he did a good job the first time around.”
Hope gulped. So, it was just her and Gail. “You’re right. There are a lot of things wrong now. Devon’s murder is one of the things that’s wrong.”
“It appears she talked to too many people too. Asked questions someone didn’t want answered.”
“You really can’t blame her. She wanted to know what happened to her mother. I think all of us would want the same thing. Even Felice wants answers.”
“Felice asked you to step away from the investigation. She told me that you both talked at the funeral parlor.” Gail stepped forward. Her eyes had hardened, just like her voice.
“She did. I respect her wishes.”
“Not enough to abide by them, though?”
“Come on, the rest of the class is waiting for us.” Hope forced a smile. She didn’t want to let on she knew all about Alec’s troubles, and that he could have been the one to have harmed Joyce and killed Devon and Donna.
“No. You have a theory of what happened to Joyce. I want to hear it.”
Hope considered for a moment. It didn’t seem she had a choice. She had to decide how much to say. She’d keep it general. There was no need to let on she considered Gail’s brother a suspect.
“I believe Joyce was killed and her body disposed of somewhere.”
“Everyone has that theory. You have an idea of who killed her.” Gail advanced forward. “Come on, who do you think did it?”
“Alec.” So much for keeping it general. Now there was no turning back for Hope. “He was impressionable in high school. We all knew how easily he fell in love. And so very hard when he did. Joyce had a flirtatious side that could easily be misinterpreted by someone. Especially someone younger. It’s possible he made an advance and she rebuffed him and he accidentally killed her and your father helped dispose of the body.”
Gail barked a laugh. “Wow. You’re definitely creative. I can see how you could imagine my brother being involved. You’re right, he was quite the hopeless romantic; still is.”
Interesting spin on stalking.
“I’m curious about how you came up with my father being his accomplice?”
“It’s only a theory. And having said it out loud, it’s not much of one. The Alec I remember was too sweet to hurt anyone.” Hope forced her mood to lighten and stretched her lips into a smile. “Come on, I’m starving. I could go for a slice of apple pie.”
“Me too. And you’re right about your theory not being a good one. My money is on Shirley Phelan. Now that her affair with Greg has become public, it gives her a motive for wanting Joyce out of the picture and wanting to keep Devon from discovering her secret. I bet once the police realize that, when they go and search her house, they’ll find the knife used to kill Joyce. Shirley liked collecting things, so she probably kept it as a souvenir.”
Hope’s grasp on her tote bag tightened, and she saw the look of regret on Gail’s face. Her former high school classmate realized she’d said too much.
“How do you know a knife was used? How do you know Joyce was murdered?”
Gail stiffened. “Because I was there. Are you happy now? I was there!”
Hope flinched at Gail’s raised voice. “It wasn’t Alec. It was you?”
“Why did you have to keep poking? Why? Killing Devon was easy. I never really liked her. But you? I’ve always liked you, Hope. And with these classes, you’ve taught me so much. Too bad I have to get rid of you too.”
“What happened, Gail? Why did you kill Joyce?” Hope inched backward.
“Stop moving!”
“Okay. Okay.” Hope lifted up her hands in surrender. She wanted to keep Gail as calm as possible. The longer they talked, the better the chance of Hope coming up with a plan to escape.
“Give me that!” Gail seized the phone from Hope’s hand and threw it on the floor. She sucked in a deep breath and then expelled it with as much vigor. “I went to her house. I only wanted to talk to her. Get her to realize what she was doing could hurt Alec.”
“What was she doing? Flirting?”
“Flirting. It sounds so harmless, doesn’t it? A toss of the hair, a batting of her lashes and some breathy giggles. It’s only harmless if the person being toyed with isn’t an impressionable boy who had boundary issues. I was trying to keep him from getting into trouble, from ruining his life. We didn’t have a mom, so I was the only person who looked out for Alec.”
“What about your father?”
Gail rolled her eyes. “He was too busy with his business. Besides, he treated Alec so badly. If he found out that Alec had a crush on Joyce, I think he would have killed him. He almost did when Alec went all crazy in love with the English teacher. He took his belt and then his fist to Alec. He said he was knocking some sense into his boy. He hated feelings. He never understood Alec. Still doesn’t.”
“Alec has been arrested for harassment.”
“You’ve been a busy little bee, haven’t you? I know my brother has problems, but he’s harmless. I figured if I could reason with Joyce. Tell her about my father and how he felt, and how Alec would be treated if our dad caught any whiff of the flirtation.”
“She didn’t see the problem, did she?”
“She laughed in my face!” Gail’s face twisted as rage filled her eyes, and her step forward was determined.
“I hadn’t realized how much she and Devon were alike. Alec thought Devon was his friend, but I saw what she was really like. She made fun of his inexperience around girls right in front of him, but you should have heard the things she said behind his back. I did. I tried to convince him to stop hanging around with her, but he didn’t listen. Then I saw why he wanted to stay friends.” Gail used air quotes around the word “friends.” “I saw the way my brother looked at Joyce the night of the Winter Formal.”
Hope hadn’t thought about the annual dance in years. The name sounded far more sophisticated than the event was. Even so, Hope and Claire had enjoyed dressing up and dancing for hours that January night.
“I’d forgotten Joyce had been one of the chaperones. Did something happen between Alec and her?”
“No! I made sure of it.” Gail took a deep breath, trying to control her rage. “Between Devon’s cruel teasing and Joyce’s need for attention, the Markham family was ruining my life. I had to protect my baby brother. At all costs.”
Hope gulped.
How far had Gail gone twenty years ago?
Chapter Eighteen
“You killed Joyce?” Hope braced herself for the answer, but the detached look in Gail’s eyes already told her.
“It was an accident. I swear it was. After she laughed at me, she told me she was a grown woman with no interest in a boy like Alec. He’d meant nothing to her. He had feelings, but she didn’t care. How could she not care?”
Hope had never seen that side of Joyce. Then again, people were very clever in hiding things about themselves they didn’t want others to see. Besides, at the time, Hope was a teenager and not interested in the private life of her mother’s friend.
“You’re right. She should have cared.” Hope was stalling for time. The more Gail talked, the better chance there was of her calming down and realizing it was time to turn herself in to the police.
“She was too self-absorbed. She told me that she had to be somewhere, and I needed to leave. She talked to me like a was a five-year-old. I wasn’t leaving until she agreed to end all contact with my brother. I didn’t want him at her house anymore. Joyce refused to agree to anything. Then we both started yelling. I got so angry! I pushed her. She pushed back. Then we started fighting. At some point, I was thru
st toward the counter, and that’s when I grabbed a knife out of the block. I don’t know what came over me. I saw red. Before I knew it, she was on the floor and I was holding a bloodied knife. I panicked.”
Hearing the details of Joyce’s murder sickened Hope. She pushed all that down, though, because she needed to keep Gail talking. “It was an accident. You hadn’t meant to hurt Joyce.”
“I didn’t! It happened so fast.” Gail’s eyes took on an eerie look that made Hope wonder if the scene in Joyce’s kitchen twenty years ago was playing out in Gail’s head. “I couldn’t breathe. I ran out of the house for air. Then I kept running all the way home.”
“You left Joyce in her kitchen?” To die? Hope left the last part of her question unspoken.
“I didn’t think she’d die! When I got home, I called my dad and told him what happened. He told me to stay put and he’d take care of it.”
“What did he do?”
Gail shrugged. “All he said when he got back home was that he’d cleaned up the mess and I was never to speak about it to anyone.”
“So he removed Joyce’s body from the house and disposed of it somewhere in town? Or nearby?”
Gail gave a casual shrug. Like it wasn’t a big deal. “Just in case anyone asked any questions, I was to tell them I was home all day because I had a stomach bug.”
“Did the police talk to you?”
“No. But we thought they might, because Dad said Donna’s car drove past the house after he’d arrived to check on Joyce.”
“He saw her?” Then the work truck Donna saw hadn’t been Oliver’s, but rather Ernie’s truck. “You both were worried she’d mentioned that to the police?”
“Of course. How would Dad explain being at the Markham house?”
“Is that why you killed Donna? To make sure she didn’t tell anyone about seeing your dad’s truck that day?”
“When I went to Donna’s house, I didn’t intend to kill her. After all this time, I thought she’d forgotten the truck. Though how could someone forget something like that? But she was getting older, and she’s had her own troubles over the years.”
The Corpse Who Knew Too Much Page 24