Rivaled in Murder

by Helen Gray

  “Someone posted stuff about you on social media,” she said with certainty.

  Both girls nodded.

  Melody explained. “There’s a site that’s saying bad things about kids we know, calling them losers and bad names. It says it’s us posting them.”

  “Facebook? Instagram? Snap Chat?”

  “Facebook.”

  Something had to be done about this. Now. Toni gave them no choice. “Someone from the police department needs to check your computers, and your friend Shelby’s, if they haven’t already. I'm going to call Chief Freeman. You two sit tight."

  Toni went to the phone and dialed the police station. When she had Buck on the line she gave him a quick summary. "Do you want us to come by your office and talk to you?"

  "No, I'll be right there. Don't let those girls leave."

  As soon as she hung up, Toni lifted the receiver again and dialed the office. "Pam, can you call the middle school and junior high offices and have someone tell my boys to come to my classroom rather than waiting for me in the lobby? Thanks," she said when the secretary assured her she would do it immediately.

  Buck arrived before the boys. He entered the room and noted the girls at the lab table. He removed his hat and tapped it against his leg. “All right. Tell me what has you upset.”

  The girls directed a silent plea at Toni for help.

  She looked at Buck. “I assume you're aware of the cyberbullying that goes on among teenagers?”

  He nodded, his expression grim. “Yep.”

  When Gabe and Garrett appeared in the doorway, Toni pointed at the table in the back of the room where they often did their homework. They went to it and pulled their books from their backpacks.

  She returned her attention to Buck. “I’ve heard about a couple of cases where kids in other districts committed suicide. I don’t know how bad the problem is in our area, or understand how a lot of it works.”

  He eased onto a chair at the end of the table. “It’s way too common. Cell phones, instant messages, and social media are used to spread gossip and rumors, ruin reputations and relationships. There are some terrible consequences. Who’s bullying you?” he asked, shifting his attention back to the girls.

  “We don’t know,” Zoe blurted angrily. “That’s why we don’t know how to strike back.”

  “Striking back isn’t the answer,” Toni said, hoping to calm the distraught girl. “The thing to do is to tell us about it and let the right people take care of it."

  Buck took over. "You said it’s messages on Facebook. Do you mean someone has created a fake page in your names?”

  They both nodded, but Melody spoke. “Our pictures are on it, and the posts bad-mouth our old friends from before we changed schools.” She squeezed her eyes closed in pain.

  “You have no idea who’s behind it?” His voice lost some of its gruffness.

  Toni spoke, as much to herself as to them. “I don’t know your former classmates, but I know about teens in general. They compete in everything—and arguments happen in a blink over any little thing. Criticism, tattling, and ridicule turn best friends into worst enemies. Social battles have reached a whole new level in cyberspace.”

  She considered a moment and continued. “We’ve been told in workshops that the technology especially appeals to girls, gives them a way to fight with cutting words instead of physical brawn. According to some experts, girls are deeper into cyberbullying than boys. I’m guessing that a girl, or girls, is behind this. And Facebook is just one of their fighting grounds.”

  “There’s that other site,” Melody whispered, earning a glare from Zoe.

  Toni focused on the girl. “What other site?”

  Melody winced. “It’s one where kids talk.”

  “You mean a teen hangout site?”

  She nodded, ignoring Zoe.

  “We need the address.”

  Now she did glance at Zoe, silently seeking approval.

  Zoe raised her hands, palms spread. “You already opened it up. So you may as well tell.”

  “Podunkhangoutdotcom.” Melody spit out the words, running them together.

  Toni reached over and caressed the girl's hand in an attempt to comfort her. “It’ll be all right. We need you to show us those sites.”

  Melody raised her eyes, her face drawn and tense. “I don’t want to end up dead like Shelby.”

  “Then help us make sure you don’t. My computer is still on. Show us the site.”

  They gathered around Toni's desk, with Melody in the chair. Soon they were looking at the phony Facebook page. The comments posted on it were mean and belittling, aimed at specific students. It amazed Toni, not only that students could behave in such a mean spirited way in cyberspace, but that they were naïve enough to think there were no consequences, that they would never be caught.

  “We’ll find out who’s doing this,” Buck promised. “Now show us the other site.”

  Most of the postings on this one were the type of things that might have been written in diaries or talked about on the phone. Teachers were trashed, music was discussed. Romances, broken hearts, and family matters all entered into the discussions.

  When he had seen enough, Buck directed a probing gaze at the girls. “Your friend Farris Gunther has an alibi for the time when you two were attacked. He said he stayed after school for a club meeting, and it checks out. He left his car in the school parking lot. Do you girls know if someone could have borrowed it?”

  Zoe took a deep breath of relief and ran a hand over her eyes. “I knew it wasn’t him. But he’s the kind of guy other kids will take advantage of. He’s been known to loan his car to friends.”

  The chief’s brows arched. “Do others have a key?”

  Zoe shook her head, frowning. “I don’t think so.”

  “He keeps a spare key hidden under the fender,” Melody said quietly.

  All eyes turned on her. “How do you know?” Buck demanded.

  “I …uh, I saw him stoop down and reach under there one day. That’s what he took out.”

  “If you saw him do it, others could as well. Who did you see him give it to?”

  Melody closed her eyes, as if trying to visualize the scene. Then she reopened them, her head shaking. “I’m not sure. I think it was one of the guys.”

  “If you remember later, will you call me?”

  She nodded.

  He directed his next words to both girls. “I want each of you to bring me your computers. I’m confiscating them. No, I'm not accusing you of wrongdoing,” he added quickly. “But I want our tech guy to examine them.”

  “This is all so unfair,” Zoe snapped.

  “I know. But it’s what it is. We have to check everything. Detectives are canvassing the countryside out there, following every lead and looking for witnesses, anyone who saw or heard anything between nine and midnight last Monday night. There have been a few tips, but none have led to any solid information yet.”

  The girls started to leave, but Buck signaled for them to stay seated. “Just a couple more things. The parents of the boy victim and some local Brownville businesses have created a reward fund. They’re offering twenty thousand dollars for information leading to an arrest.”

  They absorbed the information in silence.

  “Then there’s this last thing.” He paused, looking back and forth between the girls. “The coroner says Shelby was pregnant.”

  Their eyes rounded in shock. For once Zoe had no instant retort. She slumped back in her chair. “Pregnant,” she repeated in disbelief.

  Melody burst into tears. “We told her Brant was trouble. But she wouldn’t listen.” She leaned forward and laid her head on her arms. Her shoulders shook.

  Suddenly Zoe raised a fist, her face contorted in anger. “Brant sweet talked all the girls into giving him whatever he wanted. Shelby knew that, but she dated him anyhow. How could she do that?”

  Toni wanted to comfort them, but didn’t know how. They were so young to face suc
h brutal reality. “All the girls? Are you saying that Brant dated a lot of girls?”

  Zoe nodded, her mouth curled in a fierce scowl. “Yes. He thought he was God’s gift to women. That he could have anyone he wanted, or several at one time. Whoever he pleased.”

  “And he did.” As she raised her head, Melody’s voice was small, but stiff with anger. “He was a user. The girls were too stupid to see it. Especially Shelby.” Tears trailed down her cheeks.

  Toni exchanged a glance with Buck. She wanted to pull them into her arms and comfort them, but this was not the place. There were more questions that had to be asked.

  Buck shifted in his seat, crossed his arms and settled back in his chair, clearly leaving the honors to Toni.

  “I’m glad you were smart enough to see that," she said. "Do you know much about Brant? I mean aside from his life at school?”

  Melody stared down at her hands, rubbing at a thumbnail as if trying to scrape it off. Then she looked back up to meet Toni’s eyes. Toni gave her a reassuring smile.

  “He was from Poplar Bluff. He transferred to Brownville when we were in the sixth grade. He was almost four years older than us, but I remember because he enrolled in the middle of the year and all the girls went ga-ga over the new boy.”

  “His folks have a lot of money,” Zoe spoke up. “He got in some serious trouble and was expelled. So they enrolled him up here.”

  Which meant they paid tuition and provided the boy with transportation. “Did he have a car of his own?”

  Both girls nodded.

  “That was part of his attraction,” Melody explained. “He was good looking and already had a car, even though he was only a freshman when he transferred.”

  “Do you know why he was expelled?” Buck asked.

  Melody frowned. “I’m not sure.”

  Zoe scraped a hand along her denim-covered thigh, as if debating whether to speak. She raised her face, resignation in her expression. “I heard he was in trouble a lot of times, not just once. The last time was when he and two other boys broke into the school and vandalized it. I also heard that he got a girl pregnant and her folks hired a lawyer because she was so young.”

  “Didn’t the girls here know any of this about him?”

  The girls exchanged a furtive glance. Then Zoe continued. “Not at first. But they found out pretty quick. Instead of scaring them, it just thrilled them, made him dangerous, and exciting.”

  “Bad boy syndrome,” Toni muttered with a shake of her head. “Girls love a rascal.”

  “We didn’t like him,” Zoe said emphatically. “But Shelby thought he was exciting. She found ways to get in his space and flirt with him. Back when she started doing it, the older girls made fun of her. But she didn’t care. She kept track of him all through seventh grade. Then last year Melody and I changed schools and didn’t see her every day any more. I knew she still liked him, but we figured it was a dead end.”

  Melody picked up the story when Zoe faltered. “This year she went to the boys’ baseball tryouts and tried to make the team. She didn’t make it, and some of the guys made fun of her, but some of them thought she was gutsy. She was excited because she had found a way to get their attention.” Melody looked up at the ceiling. “I didn’t believe her when she texted that Brant was flirting with her.”

  “When he wasn’t running people off the road with his fancy car,” Zoe snorted. Then she grew solemn. “I wonder if Shelby was ever with him when he did that.”

  Having quietly absorbed the exchange, Buck pushed to his feet. “I expect those computers delivered to the police station within the hour—or I'll come looking for you."

  Toni placed a hand on his arm, signaling she wanted him to stay. As soon as the girls had walked beyond hearing range, she spoke. “Is Vonda Miller in some kind of trouble?”

  He sighed in exasperation. “You know I can’t give you every detail of the investigation. But, no, I don’t think so. I hope not anyhow. We’re just talking to every girl we can locate who ever dated Brant Gorman. Someone at Brownville mentioned that he had been seen with a girl from Clearmount. Further questioning eventually produced this girl’s name.”

  Toni breathed easier. “I understand that you have to talk to everyone whose name emerges. I didn’t realize the boy’s romantic interests extended over this way.”

  Buck rolled his eyes and moved his head side to side. “Mr. Brant cut a wide swath in the female population. Vonda says she met him at Brownville’s carnival last summer and dated him only once after that. She basically says she found out what a player he was. In her words, ‘a lot of girls loved him, and a lot of girls hated him.’”

  Toni made no effort to detain him further. “I’m glad she had the sense to drop him,” she said as he headed for the door.

  So she didn’t end up like Shelby.

  Chapter 6

  When Toni and the boys reached the parking lot after school, she recognized her mother’s car parked next to her van. Faye emerged and outstretched her arms toward the boys. Garrett raced to her and claimed the first hug.

  “Dad’s stranded in Michigan,” Gabe informed his grandmother as he received the second hug.

  “Oh, dear,” she said sympathetically. “Does he have plane trouble?”

  “I don’t know,” Toni said. “He sounded tired and frustrated and promised he’ll explain when he gets home, so I didn’t press for details.”

  “I need to talk to you,” Faye said so seriously that a twinge of foreboding chilled Toni.

  “Let’s get inside where we can be warm.” Toni turned to unlock the van and shove her purse and satchel inside.

  When they were in the front seat with the heater running, the boys seated in the back, Faye blinked and swiped at her eyes. “Doctor Edwards called me in for a report on the autopsy. He says it was a heart attack that killed Mavis, but it was a forced one.”

  As Toni’s brain rapidly processed the blunt statement, she thought she knew what was coming. But she didn’t speak.

  “Because of his suspicions, Doc took special precautions,” Faye continued. “The final diagnosis is that an air embolism caused the attack. Once the medical examiner knew that, he went looking for an injection site, and finally found it in her mouth.”

  “Someone injected her,” Toni breathed softly, picturing the scene. A small needle, maybe pediatric, would have been used to avoid detection. A direct injection of air into any vein or artery would block it and cause a heart attack.

  “Someone cold hearted,” Faye agreed grimly. “But why?”

  “I don’t know, but someone better find out. Has Doctor Edwards talked to the police yet?”

  “He said he was going to call Buck as soon as he finished some paperwork.”

  Toni eyed her mother thoughtfully. “What do you think should be done next?”

  Faye stared up at the windshield for several moments, and then turned to face Toni. “I’ve never had your level of inquisitiveness or ability to ferret out information, and I don’t know anything else I can personally do. I think Buck will look into it thoroughly.”

  “Can you get a look at the personal items Mavis kept in her room?”

  Her mother frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe. What would I be looking for?”

  Toni shrugged. “I don’t know. But how about if we looked at them? Can you arrange that?”

  Suddenly Faye’s demeanor became calmer, more resolute. “I’ll contact you as soon as I have anything.” She opened the door and slid to the ground.

  *

  As Toni worked in the kitchen, the sound of Garrett’s saxophone drifted down the hall. She was glad he practiced faithfully, and knew he would get better. It was her poor ears she feared would never be the same. A shrill squeak made her cringe. Another broken reed. Maybe she should get him a huge supply for his birthday.

  After supper she did some paperwork and took a shower. Exhausted, she sent the boys to bed at nine and was in her own bed minutes later.

  The sound of K
yle’s truck pulling into the garage woke her. She looked up at the digital clock. It said midnight. She groaned, crawled out of bed, and hurried to meet him.

  “Rough trip?” she asked, noting his tired look as he entered the kitchen from the garage.

  “You could say that.”

  “Get your coat off, and I’ll reheat a plate of spaghetti for you.”

  “I may fall asleep in the middle of it,” he warned, crossing the room and continuing up the hallway.

  Toni had the food and a glass of tea on the table when he returned. As he sat to eat, she took a chair across from him and propped her elbows on the table. She waited while he bowed his head in silent prayer. “So tell me about it,” she prompted when he raised his head.

  “As soon as I eat a little.”

  She waited while he ate a few bites and gulped half the glass of tea. Then he began to speak. “I took that group of men into upper Michigan as planned, and prepared to land at a little sod field airport. It only had a grass runway, no hard surfaces anywhere. I called in on the Unicom, but no one answered.”

  Toni knew that Unicoms were air-ground communication facilities operated by non-air traffic control private agencies to provide advisory service at uncontrolled airports and to provide various non-flight services, such as requesting a taxi, even at towered airports. Airports with a low volume of aviation traffic and no active control tower typically used a single communication frequency, and the Unicom basically provided the barometric pressure, wind direction, and wind velocity. It was up to the pilot to get the plane down safely.

  “So I dragged the field, came down low and slow, and rolled the plane to the side so I could see the runway. It looked okay, so I went ahead and landed—and knew immediately that something was wrong.”

  Her muscles tensed as she waited for him to take another drink of tea and continue.

  “We rolled only a short distance before we stopped. When I opened the door and stepped out onto the wing, I discovered that we were down almost to the belly of the plane in water. The grass was quite high, and there was about two feet of water under it. We spent these last two days waiting for a crew to get us out of there.”