The Milburn Big Box Set

by Nancy McGovern

  “She doesn’t like too much talk about bodies,” Tina said. “But do tell Dr. Neil. How did he die?”

  “That’s yet to be ascertained,” Dr. Neil said. “He was in bad shape by the time we stamped out the fire, unfortunately. However my preliminary guess is that it was a blow to the head.” He lowered his voice. “This is between us, of course. Quite confidential.”

  Nora had to resist a smile. She’d seen ears perk up as Dr. Neil spoke, and was pretty sure that the entire town had heard him, or would.

  The bell over the door jangled, and Sean stepped in, a bandage tied over his head, cowboy hat almost covering it. He took off the hat, gave his order, then curtly dismissed questions from the curious townies as he made his way towards Nora.

  “Are you all right?” Nora whispered as he slid in beside her. “Does it still hurt?”

  “Perfectly fine,” Sean said. “The only thing that hurts is the thought that we could have caught the murderer last night, if I’d only been more alert. We might even have stopped the murder.”

  “It wasn’t your fault, Sean. You had no way of knowing.”

  “I take some comfort in that,” Sean said. “But still, it hurts. Wallis was a good man, and a good deputy. We didn’t see eye to eye about a lot of things, but I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.”

  “So what happens now?” Tina asked. “He had no relatives after his parents died, unless you count his Aunt Maude, who’s up in state prison for life.”

  *****

  Chapter 9

  “His aunt was in prison?” Nora asked, shocked.

  “Is,” Tina said. “It was a tragic thing that happened.”

  “Every family has a black sheep,” the doctor said.

  “How… why…” Nora struggled to formulate the question.

  “What did she do, you mean? Oh, she was married to a man and couldn’t stand her stepdaughter. She began slowly poisoning the girl. I believe it was Dr. Neil who solved that one, wasn’t it?”

  “Oh, no.” Dr. Neil shrugged it off. “I was young then. Just in my thirties. I did a few tests and identified the problem. She never confessed, but the evidence was piled against her.”

  “She kept saying she was innocent, but of course, what else could she say?” Tina said, shaking her head.

  “No use raking that up now,” Dr. Neil said.

  “Doc’s right, Tina. Wallis wasn’t anything like that. His family was decent, and so was he.”

  “Was he, though?” Tina asked. “Decent, I mean. His father was a singer, just like him. I’ve heard tales that—”

  Sean slammed his hand on the table and the entire café fell silent. “Enough,” he said, his voice bubbling with rage. “Not one word more.”

  Tina’s eyes widened, and pricked with tears. “I’m sorry. I just—”

  Sean shoved himself off the seat, and said coldly, “I’ve got no interest in sitting around listening to this nonsense. Good day to you all.”

  “Sean, wait!” Nora gave a pitying glance to Tina, and ran after Sean, who had slammed the door behind him. Almost as soon as he did, a buzz ran up as every person in the café began murmuring silently.

  Nora caught up to him as he was opening his car, and touched his shoulder gently. “Sean.”

  He didn’t say anything, but he froze in place, his key still on the door lock.

  “She didn’t mean anything by it. Please don’t be mad. I’ve never seen you like this.”

  “She didn’t mean anything by it? That…” Sean took a deep breath. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? I knew Wallis, Nora. I worked with him for five years now. All right, so we weren’t the best of friends but I can’t stand to see his life dissected at the same time as his body. It’s terrible. And it’s all the more terrible because maybe, just maybe, if I had been a little bit more alert, I could have saved him.”

  “Sean, if this was his destiny, nothing you did could have saved him.”

  Sean gave a bitter laugh. “I guess I’m supposed to feel better thinking that way. That nothing I did could have helped.”

  “No, you couldn’t have saved him, Sean, but you can bring his killer to justice.”

  Sean’s jaw hardened. “Yes. By god, I will. I’ve got him in custody already.”

  “You what?” Nora blinked. “Sean, that’s excellent work.”

  Sean shrugged. “I do nothing more than mop up. There’s no satisfaction in it.”

  “You should be proud of yourself.” Nora patted him on the shoulder gently. “That’s fast work.”

  “Murders usually are,” Sean said. “Especially cases like this, where there was no premeditation.”

  “What makes you think there wasn’t?”

  “It was clearly a crime of passion, Nora. Someone who had bitter words with Wallis, and decided that violence was better than words.”

  “But… Wallis and his group had just performed. They were probably all celebrating. How could they even have… why would Wallis even have gone to the shed?”

  “That’s what I need a confession for,” Sean said. “The kid’s probably under eighteen, so he’s going to go to juvie instead of proper prison, though god knows how much hope he has of being rehabilitated there.”

  Nora’s stomach dropped. “Wait, who is this suspect you arrested?”

  “The kid. The roadie Wallis fought with last night. The stage manager told me he’d fired the kid because he dropped the speaker on Wallis’s guitar. That gives us some motive, and with his kind of personality, the impulsive, hot-blooded kind, I’m sure the kid saw it all as Wallis’s fault and decided to …” Sean raised his hand, made a swinging motion, and a little cluck of his tongue.

  “That doesn’t really sound right to me,” Nora said. “Sean, I saw what happened yesterday, and that kid was terrified when Wallis was threatening him. He was trembling all over like a puppy caught in the rain. I’d be surprised if he could hurt anybody.”

  “You’d be surprised at what people are capable of,” Sean said. “What you’re saying still fits my psychological profile of him. He probably hated Wallis and felt afraid, and humiliated by him. In his mind, Ricky must have thought of himself as a victim, and Wallis was just the latest in a line of men who were bigger and badder than him. So he stood up, proved himself a man, in this twisted way. That’s how I picture it right now.”

  “You sound like you’ve made your mind up already.” There was a tiny note of disdain in Nora’s voice.

  “I promise you, I haven’t,” Sean said. “As a detective, as a sheriff, my number one duty is to serve the truth. If Ricky hasn’t done it, truly hasn’t, well then I’ll bust my gut trying to find who has. It’s just that right now, I can’t see any other motives or anyone else who had the opportunity.”

  “It still makes no sense to me,” Nora said. “Why would Wallis remove himself from the party, then travel to the shed, which was shrouded in darkness, only to meet the roadie, Ricky, who he’d threatened to beat and kill? If the roadie was smart enough to lure him there, then it is a premeditated murder. Which means it doesn’t fit neatly with your theory.”

  Sean shifted from one leg to another. “Look, I appreciate your help and I always have, but this is a police matter now. Let me handle it the way I see fit. You should probably go back inside and finish your breakfast.” He slid into his car, gave her a lazy salute, and backed out of the parking lot, leaving Nora standing alone, wondering about all the things he had and hadn’t said.

  *****

  Chapter 10

  If Sean’s exit had left her in a bad mood, things only got worse. Nora went inside to find Tina sniffing into a tissue while half a dozen people tried to cheer her up. Their consolations all revolved around how unfair Sean had been, and how maybe he was only short tempered because he had gotten hit on the head.

  “It’s just too bad he wasn’t a bit smarter about going into that shed,” one townie said. “We’d have the murderer under arrest if he did.”

  “I heard there’s alr
eady been an arrest,” May Almand said. “Sheriff caught the roadie that Wallis had a fight with last night.”

  There was a lot of speculation on this, with half the townspeople agreeing that it had to be the roadie.

  Then, one man, Alan Bridges, an ex-plumber more often found in the town bar than the breakfast place, said, “Well, I’m not so sure Sheriff’s going to be completely impartial about this, y’hear me? After all, best case scenario, he’ll be emotional. This is his deputy, who he’s worked with for years that got murdered. Worst case scenario… well… truth be told I was at that festival yesterday, and I didn’t see Sean in the crowd. So where was he when the murder happened?”

  A crowd of outraged yells drowned out Alan’s suggestion, which Alan responded to by raising his hands, one of them clutching a can of coke. “All right, calm down you lot. I’m only making theories. It’s my right, isn’t it?”

  “It’s very uncharitable of you,” Nora said, feeling angry. “And where were you, Alan? Do you have people who can confirm where you were when the murder happened, I wonder?”

  “Well, I suppose I can,” Alan said confidently. “Given that I was in the crowd.”

  “That’s when the murder was discovered,” Nora said. “I was asking where you were when the murder happened. Can you account for where you were every second between when the concert ended and the burning of the boat began?”

  “Can anyone?” Alan asked. “It was a fair. There were people all around. By your logic, even you could have slipped away for five minutes, and five minutes is all it must have taken. Less, probably.”

  “What I wonder,” another lady said, “is how the murderer got their clothes clean? Surely there would have been some blood on them?”

  There were murmurs of agreement, and the town folk began to put up new theories.

  “Maybe the murderer put on a jacket to cover the blood? It was cold enough that people wouldn’t comment on a zipped jacket.”

  “Maybe they changed their clothes. Put on more medieval fare? I know there was a stall selling medieval tops. It wouldn’t look out of place.”

  “Maybe the killer was just careful that nothing got on him or her.”

  “…or maybe,” Alan said, loudly, “maybe the killer pretended to be hurt. Maybe he pretended someone hit him on the head, which would explain the blood stains on his shirt, and also give him a somewhat credible alibi.”

  “This is ridiculous,” Nora said.

  “Is it?” Alan asked. “Is it really? What I find weird is that everyone knows Sean hated Wallis, and no one is protesting that he’s in charge of this investigation. I say it should be handed over to higher authorities. Then again, it might already be too late. Sean had more than enough time to do over the evidence as he pleases.”

  “You’re apt to be arrested for libel, carrying on that way,” May Almand said. “This is nonsense. Sean is no murderer.”

  But the crowd was silent, drinking in Alan’s words. Nora looked from one person to another, and one by one, each avoided her eyes.

  “This is pathetic,” she said. “I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of this townie paranoia. So I’m asking you all, please don’t do this. Have faith in Sean.”

  “I would,” Alan said, a little more smug now. “But this is a question of justice, at the very least, Sean should step down as sheriff for now, or call in the state police.”

  “He isn’t wrong,” someone else chimed in. “They say a surgeon should never operate on his own family, and a policeman should never investigate a case he’s emotionally involved in. Besides, if Sean is telling the truth, he’s a witness too. The closest one to the murderer was him. How can he properly investigate this case? I back what Alan is saying. Let Sean step down, and let’s call the state police in on this.”

  “You can’t do this,” Nora said. But her voice was weak. She completely believed in Sean’s innocence, but she saw now that the seed of doubt had been planted in the crowd.

  “You saw the way he stormed out,” someone was whispering.

  “… he was yelling at Wallis day before,” another whisper came.

  “Heard he was really worried about losing the election.”

  Nora faced each of the whisperers in turn and saw their expressions turn to doubt and fear.

  “At the very least,” Alan said, “I’m going to go down to the station and protest. Right now. Anyone who wants to join me can come along.” Throwing back his shoulders, he marched out.

  One by one, others gathered their jackets and marched out with him. Nora could only watch as a veritable mob formed, and began to head to the police station.

  “I’ve got to get there before they do. Poor Sean is going to be devastated when they tell him he has to resign,” she said, turning to Tina and the doctor, the only two who had remained behind with her.

  “Better run then,” the doctor said. “Knowing Alan, he’s riling up the crowd right now, and that’s never a good thing.”

  *****

  Chapter 11

  It was as bad as the doctor had suspected. Maybe worse.

  Nora cut through the side streets, running as fast as she could, and was panting by the time she reached the station.

  “Sean,” she called out as she burst in.

  Sean was bent over a book at the desk, pointing something out to his young and scared deputy, Dean. “Nora,” he looked up, surprised.

  “Sean, there’s a whole crowd coming for you. I guess they’re going to ask you to step down. I don’t think they’re in a very good mood either.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s Alan, Alan Bridges. He’s riled them up against you.”

  “You know there’s an old saying, don’t burn your bridges before you cross them,” Sean joked. “I do wish I could burn this particular Bridges. God knows I’ve already crossed him more than once.”

  “Sean, this is not a joking matter.”

  “I know it’s not,” Sean said. “But the town can’t seriously take Bridges’ word over mine. I and Wallis took his driving license away after his third drunk driving offense. Or did they choose to forget that? He’s never been fond of me.”

  “I don’t know if the town’s forgotten, but a lot of them are coming here to talk,” Nora said. She peeked out of the window. “I can see them now. Man. If this were a few centuries ago, the pitchfork shops would have been doing brisk business with this crowd.”

  There was a lot of noise outside. A mob was walking down the street towards them, headed by Alan Bridges, whose eyes were glinting with joy. They were marching down, giving occasional shouts, with hands pumping the air.

  Sean just sucked on his tooth and shook his head. “This is ridiculous.” He grabbed a shotgun from a drawer and racked it. Dean gulped and pulled out his own revolver.

  “Sean, you can’t greet them with a gun!”

  “These are hooligans, Nora. They don’t listen to words. There’s only one thing they respond to - action.”

  Nora put her hands on the shotgun, pushing it down. “You put that gun down and meet them outside. Calm them down if you have to.”

  “Oh look, your friend’s here too,” Sean said, his voice barbed with glass. “I’m guessing he’s going to be doing all the talking.”

  Nora peeked out again, and her heart sank. Marching with Alan, looking absolutely, improbably, handsome in an olive shirt and grey jeans, was Harvey Nathaniel himself. How had she missed him earlier? He must have caught up with the crowd just right now.

  As the crowd reached the office, Harvey and Alan ran up the steps, with Harvey raising his hands to quiet the crowd. Knocking the door, he slipped inside when Sean opened it up.

  “Listen, Sean, it’s not good,” Harvey said, his face drawn. “I’ve been talking to the men outside, and they’re mostly … well, they’re mostly full of people who you’ve been unkind to in the past. I know, I know, that’s what your job’s all about. You need to be the tough guy. But some of these men and
women carry grudges. They’ve carried them ever since you fined them for speeding or told them off for being too loud or whatever it is you did. They’ve got a chance to get back at you now, and Alan’s riling them up so that they do.”

  “They can all go to--” Sean was cut off by a look from Nora.

  “Sean, we aren’t pals,” Harvey said. “But Alan’s plan is to dissolve your office and call on the citizen’s rule. According to town charter, that’s something he can do.”

  “What?” Nora looked confused. “I’ve never heard of this.”

  “If a majority of the townspeople feel that their elected official is unworthy of his post, they can dissolve his office and through a show of hands immediately select a replacement,” Harvey said. “Now, it’s an old and arcane law, but it holds up just the same. Sean, these people are here to fire you.”

  Sean’s face paled for a second, then his jaw tightened and his nostrils flared. “Fine,” he said. “If that’s all the loyalty I get for serving this town so many years, then let that be it. They don’t need to fire me, I’ll resign.” He threw the shotgun on the desk, scattering papers about. “They can just hire that criminal, Alan, to lord over them. See how that works out.”

  “Sean, be serious here,” Harvey said.

  “What do you care? You must be thrilled,” Sean said. “You didn’t care about Wallis, you just wanted me out of office. And very soon, I will be.”

  “You’re a capable man, and so was Wallis,” Harvey said. “I’m too smart a businessman to have some corrupt fool like Alan, or any idiot that Alan chooses, rule this town. So no, I’m not doing this out of fondness for you, but out of the best interests of this town.”

  “Where’s Mayor Almand when you need him?” Dean Elbert squeaked from behind them.

  “Mayor Brett Almand and his wife, May, were two people who supported you, by the way,” Harvey said to Sean. “But Brett’s not going to engage with this crowd.”