by Lauren Carr
Immediately, Nikki felt childish. She stammered, “I saw a bug.”
“On my foot?” He attempted to put weight on his foot which throbbed with pain. “It would have been less painful if you had pointed it out for me to shake off. Then, you could have stomped on it.
“Are you okay, Chief?” Helga asked when she observed his grimace.
“I’m fine. I’m not so sure about my sister.” He added a heavy dose of disdain to the word “sister.” He crossed the road to meet a dark full-size SUV that parked a few houses down. Meanwhile, Helga ducked under the crime scene tape and went inside the house.
Nikki followed Ryan to intercept a woman dressed in a sheriff’s uniform who slid out of the driver’s seat of the SUV. “Nikki Bryant,” she said without humor. “I heard you were back in town.” She rolled an eye in Ryan’s direction. “I should have known trouble wouldn’t have been far behind.”
“Tanya Williams,” Nikki said. “I haven’t seen you since your father bought you the high school valedictorian award.”
Ryan stepped between them. “Now, ladies—”
“Sheriff.” Tanya tapped the police shield pinned to her chest. “I’m the sheriff. Not a lady.”
“I see you’ve been working on growing a sense of humor,” Nikki said.
Tanya grumbled. “What were you doing here when you found Ashleigh’s body? Don’t tell me that you stopped by to catch up on old times. You and Ashleigh were never friends.”
“Whoever did it was searching her house. I was on the phone with emergency services when I heard him run out. I’m sure the call center recorded the call. I followed the suspect outside and saw him drive away in a black pickup truck.”
“License tag?”
“He turned the corner when I came out,” Nikki said with a shake of her head. “I didn’t see the plate.”
“Figures.” Tanya brushed by her to walk up the sidewalk. “Don’t go anywhere. We’re going to want to get a statement from you.”
“Don’t go anywhere,” Nikki muttered under her breath in a mocking tone as she watched Tanya duck under the tape to go inside the house.
Upon seeing the sheriff, the uniformed officers stood up straighter and dropped their smiles—adopting a serious, business-like demeanor.
“She’s a good sheriff,” Ryan said in a low voice. “Give her a chance.”
“She’d never do that for me.”
“She may surprise you.”
Nikki didn’t hear Ryan. Instead, she was busy watching a black pickup truck roll by. It made its way through the fleet of emergency vehicles and up the block to park in the same spot where it had been parked before.
“That’s him!” Nikki grabbed Ryan by the arm and pointed at the truck that she had seen drive off after she had run out of the house. She called to the sheriff deputies guarding the front of Ashleigh’s house. “That’s him! That’s the man I saw running out of the house when I found Ashleigh’s body.”
Uncertain about what she was talking about, the two deputies froze. Nikki sprinted down the sidewalk past them. “Grab him! He’s the killer!”
“The killer?” One of the deputies pointed at the truck.
Nikki ran ahead of them. “He’s returning to the scene of the crime!”
“You do know that doesn’t really happen, don’t you?” Ryan called to her.
Becca directed the camera operator to record the action as Nikki ran up behind the truck. The two deputies drew their guns and aimed them at the driver climbing out with a plastic tub clutched in his hand. Upon seeing the police, he threw both hands up in the air. The tub swung from his thumb.
“Drop it!” one of the officers bellowed.
“What’d I do?” the man asked.
“Do as I say! Drop the bucket now!”
Gingerly, the man lowered the tub to the ground.
“What do you think it is?” one of the deputies asked Nikki in a low voice.
“Maybe it’s a bomb,” Ryan muttered with a chuckle.
“They think it’s a bomb,” Becca reported into the camera.
The news spread like wildfire. Everyone dove for cover.
Nikki darted behind Ryan, who ushered her behind his SUV. Elmo crouched down inside the cab and covered his eyes with his paws.
Hearing that there was a bomb in the vicinity, the driver of the truck scurried to crouch behind his vehicle.
Tanya and two detectives ran out of the house. “What’s going on?”
“It’s a bomb!” someone yelled.
The sheriff and her detectives ran for cover behind the police cruisers. “Where?” Tanya demanded to know. “Where’s the bomb?”
“In the bucket!” The lead deputy pointed at the tub resting in the middle of the street.
“Call the bomb squad!” Tanya ordered one of her deputies.
Oblivious to the people cowering around her, a pregnant woman emerged from the house where the truck had parked and waddled to the plastic tub. “It’s about time you got back, Peter. I thought I was going to die.” She picked up the tub and ripped off the lid.
There was a collective gasp around her.
She dug two fingers into the confines of the tub and extracted a helping of ice cream which she plopped into her mouth. She let out a moan of pleasure. “Whoever invented chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream deserves a medal.”
Tanya sprang up from behind the police cruiser. “Are you kidding me? Ice cream! We’re shielding ourselves from a tub of ice cream.”
“Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, to be exact,” one of the detectives said.
“The Food and Drug Administration does warn against eating raw cookie dough,” Ryan said.
A deputy pointed at Nikki. “She identified him as the killer.”
Tanya stepped over to the husband. “Where were you in the last hour?”
“Peter was talking to my stomach,” The expectant mother grabbed another double finger-helping of ice cream. “That’s all he’s been doing for the last eight months. It’s driving me crazy. You should arrest him.”
“I want our son to know who I am when he’s born,” Peter said. “It’s so unfair that the mothers get a nine month’s jump over the fathers in bonding.”
“I saw you run out of Ashleigh’s house,” Nikki said.
“Whose house?” Peter asked.
“Next door.” Nikki pointed at the house. “Ashleigh Addison’s house.”
“Ashleigh Addison is that annoying woman who does the six o’clock news at WKPG-TV,” Peter’s wife said while licking her fingers. “I told you that she lived next door to us.”
“Her husband plays for the Steelers,” Peter said. “We don’t see much of him. Good thing. He’s not that good.”
“She was killed,” Nikki said.
“And you think Peter did it?” With a laugh, his wife took another helping of the ice cream. “Sorry, you got the wrong guy. Peter faints every week during our childbirth classes.”
“What time did you leave the house to go on your last ice cream run?” Ryan asked.
“Around forty-five minutes ago,” Peter said.
Tanya ordered her deputies to put away their weapons and apologized to the couple. She fired off a glare in Nikki’s direction before going back inside the house.
Nikki slowly shook her head. “But I could have sworn…”
“That’s why circumstantial evidence is so weak,” Ryan whispered to her. “When you ran out of the house, you saw Peter driving away on his ice cream run. The real killer made his getaway when you went back inside to look for the laptop.”
Chapter Six
“There’s a big problem with your story,” Tanya told Nikki.
Sitting at the table in the interrogation room at the sheriff’s department, Nikki arched an eyebrow at her former classmate.
All through school, Tanya Williams had been devoid of warmth or personality. In the third grade, Nikki had been sent to Tanya’s house for an afternoon playdate. Tanya’s mother had high hopes that Nikki could teach her daughter how to behave like a normal child.
Nikki did not understand what she had done to deserve four hours of memorizing the one-hundred word spelling list which had not been assigned as homework, but rather, extra credit. In her world, no one ever did extra credit homework—except Ryan. But he was different. Doing extra credit with Ryan was fun. Not so with Tanya. Nothing was ever fun with Tanya.
When she grew older, Nikki discovered that Tanya had inherited her lack of humor from her father, the county commissioner. It was rumored that the last time Tucker Williams had laughed was during the Ronald Reagan administration.
The sun had set on Pine Grove before Tanya had Nikki taken to the police station to collect her statement.
“Besides everything, what’s your problem?” Nikki asked.
“The idea that Ashleigh Addison was investigating a story.” Tanya tapped her badge with her pen. “I’m the sheriff. If she was investigating your dad’s case, I’d know about it.”
“What if a source went to her instead of you?”
Tanya was offended more than usual. “Why would anyone go to that airhead instead of coming to me?”
“How do I say this?” Nikki let out a tired sigh before plowing ahead. “Because she came across as more accessible.”
Tanya’s eyes blazed. “I’m accessible.”
“Maybe I meant accommodating.”
“I’m very accommodating.”
“Seriously?”
Tanya bit off her words. “Very seriously.”
Nikki opted to take the conversation in another direction. “As a journalist, I’ve found that many witnesses to a crime may have reason to avoid law enforcement. However, they may want to help with an investigation. So, they’ll use journalists as a go between to get pertinent information to the right people.”
Tanya’s small eyes narrowed.
“It’s not about you, Tanya. Maybe Ashleigh’s source wanted to steer clear of the police for whatever reason.”
Tanya relaxed. “Let me get this straight. You swing into town yesterday and, out of the blue, Ashleigh knows who killed your father and announces that she is going to reveal the name of the killer live on Monday’s six o’clock news?”
“No.”
“No?”
“All she said was that she had a big breaking news story that she would reveal on Monday. She never said that it had anything to do with my father’s murder.” Nikki paused. “It was Conner who said that she had been working on his cold case. Speaking of Conner, have you located him yet?”
“He was at his house in Latrobe,” Tanya said. “He stays there during training season.”
“Latrobe is only a little more than an hour from here. Why keep a whole ‘nother place?”
“Because he can,” Tanya said. “He makes a million or so dollars a year playing football. I’m sure the cheerleader our detective observed sneaking out the back door had nothing to do with him staying elsewhere. We’re checking into how much he stands to inherit.”
“Suppose Conner was lying.”
“Won’t be the first time.”
“There were dozens of witnesses around when he said that. Suppose Conner lied about Ashleigh having a lead in Dad’s murder to plant a motive for her murder. In reality, Conner killed her himself so that he’d be free to chase cheerleaders.”
Tanya rose from her seat. “I like you as the suspect better.”
Nikki followed her out of the conference room and down the hallway. “Like you said, I’m back and I’m going to find out who killed my dad.”
“Nikki, I understand totally about you wanting to get closure about your father’s murder,” Tanya said with a sigh. “I get it. Totally. But you’ve been gone like forever. You want me to believe that your father’s murder case has been cold for two decades and then you come back and—boom! It’s hot again. Suddenly, Ashleigh decides to bust the case wide open with a lead that she’s been sitting on for who knows how long, and the murderer takes her out before she can do it.”
“Something like that.”
With a growl, Tanya waved her arm across the reception area. “She’s all yours.”
Ryan stood up from where he had been waiting on a wooden bench. In front of the display case of most wanted criminals, a group of uniformed deputies were taking turns having their pictures taken with Elmo.
Ryan gave Nikki a quick hug.
“Did you tell Mom that I’m not in jail?” Nikki asked as he escorted her and Elmo out to his SUV.
“I texted her. She’s over at Camille’s right now.”
A sense of dread washed over her. “Does Camille know I didn’t do it?”
It was a question.
“Of course, she does.” Ryan gestured for Elmo to jump into the back seat. The dog waited patiently for him to strap him into the canine seatbelt. “Get in. I’ll take you to get some dinner. My treat. You deserve it after such a bad day. Whatever you want.”
Nikki opened the passenger door. She had been so preoccupied with Ashleigh’s murder that she had forgotten that she had not eaten any lunch or dinner. “Do they still have that burger place we used to go to after school?”
A wide grin crossed Ryan’s face. “Benny’s it is.”
Benny’s was a café on a street corner in the middle of Pine Grove. The diner’s founder and namesake had died during the eighties, after which his daughter and then grandson, also named Benny, had continued with the family business.
It was late in the evening by the time Ryan pulled into the parking lot.
Only one booth was occupied with four teenagers who appeared to be on a double date. Upon seeing Elmo on his leash, their conversation stopped. After exchanging quick glances, they began talking among themselves in low voices filled with excitement.
Nikki led Ryan to a booth at the opposite end of the restaurant where they would sit back in their youth. A middle-aged woman clad in jeans and a t-shirt with Benny’s logo on the breast followed them to their seat. She pointed at Elmo when she asked, “Is that—”
“Yes, he is Elmo,” Nikki said. “Do you want me to take your picture with him?”
“Why would I want to have my picture taken with him?” the server asked. “I was asking if he’s a service dog.”
“I told you that was Elmo!” One of the teenaged girls had followed the boxer. Upon learning his identity, she yelled to her friends from over her shoulder. She thrust her phone at Nikki. “Take my picture! I can’t wait for my friends to see. They are going to be so jealous!”
“Elmo?” The server’s eyes grew wide. “Is he famous?”
After the teenagers explained about the dog’s social media celebrity, the server ran back into the kitchen. “Benny! Comb your hair and get out here. We need to get our picture taken with Elmo.”
“Who’s Elmo?” came a gruff voice from the kitchen.
“Some ugly dog that’s famous on social media. We need to get our picture taken with him. It’s free advertising!”
“But, Millie, I’m not on social media!”
“That’s okay. I am!”
After a rather long photo session, Elmo curled up under the table. Ryan and Nikki put in their dinner orders. Millie posted the pictures of her, Benny, and Elmo posing around a plate of delicious Benny Burgers to their website and across the social media. While Benny prepared their order, Millie uttered noises of delight with every like and comment they received on the diner’s social media page.
Ryan took the thick case file that Daniel had left him from his valise.
Nikki stared at the folder. “Is that Dad’s case file?”
“The one that Daniel had made
a copy of and took home with him when he’d retired. It has the crime scene pictures in it. Have you ever seen them?”
Nikki slowly shook her head. She swallowed.
Ryan slid the folder back toward him. “I could just—”
“I want to see them.” She slapped her hand down on top of his. “If we’re going to get to the bottom of this, we need to suck it up.” She took in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’m ready. Show them to me.”
Ryan opened the folder and slid out the pictures one by one for her to study. She grimaced when she saw the picture of her father slumped over in his chair behind his desk. Her hand went to her chest. When she covered her mouth with her hand, he slid the picture out of her hand.
“I assume there were no fingerprints on the scissors,” she said.
“Nothing usable.”
She picked up one picture after another. Then, she placed them side by side to create a kaleidoscope of the room to envision the scene more clearly.
“What’s that?” She pointed at the mark on the desk next to the caddy.
“Sam Hill apparently dropped his pipe on the desk just before retiring,” Ryan said. “The lit tobacco burnt the desk. He also spilt tobacco and ash on the carpet. It’s listed in the forensics report.”
“But Sam retired the week before,” she said. “The offices are cleaned every weekend. What was the ash still doing in the carpet?”
“Maybe they missed a spot.” Ryan lifted a shoulder. “Truth is, it’s very hard to pick up everything with a simple vacuuming. Unless the cleaning people did a deep shampoo of the carpet, some of the ash and tobacco would have been left behind for our forensics people to find.”
She peered at the images. Her eyes narrowed. “Something’s not right.”
“We’re very aware of that. The problem is figuring out what it is exactly.”
Nikki placed her hand on the picture of the entertainment center in the wooden cabinet. “Was the television on when Debra found his body?”
Ryan referred to the police report. “No. He had meetings most of the day with producers and directors to critique filmed segments. The last meeting was with Wyatt. When it was over, Wyatt took the videos back to the records library.”