“Exactly,” Karen said. “And it’s our duty, as your bridesmaids, to help you out in whatever way we can!”
*****
Chapter 14
The Suicide SMS
Simone was hesitant. “Karen, I’m really not sure.”
“Oh, come on.” Karen smiled. “This will be fun, I’m telling you. Remember when you were a kid and you used to fantasize about putting on a trench coat and being a spy? Well, this is a slightly less dangerous version of that.”
“Actually, when I was a kid, I was interested in dinosaurs,” Simone said.
“Pfft,” Karen said. “No wonder we weren’t friends.”
“Also, I lived in France, not Wyoming,” Simone said.
Karen grinned. “The distance might have had something to do with the lack of friendship. Anyway, this is for Nora, Simone.”
Simone sighed, and shut down her laptop. “In that case, I suppose I’m duty bound to do it. Poor Nora. How did she look to you?”
“Sad,” Karen said. “She was trying to keep herself busy by thinking through theories, but she just looked sad.”
“It’s a double blow, isn’t it? Having the Diner be temporarily closed, and getting thrown in jail.”
“I think there’s a very real chance she might not recover her business even after this blows over,” Karen said. “And that is, if it blows over.”
Simone nodded. The two of them fell silent for a moment, worry lining their faces. Then Simone exclaimed. “Well, there’s nothing else to be done! Let’s go help her out.”
“Awesome,” Karen said. “Now here’s the plan. You’re single and hot, and Deputy James is young and foolish… all you need to do is distract him.”
“Um, excuse me? I’m completely useless at flirting, Karen. Besides, you’re single too, or whatever it is that’s going on between you and Sean.”
Karen ran a hand through her hair. “I’m, well… yes, technically, I’m single.”
“Heavens knows why,” Simone said. “Have you even decided where you’re going to be relocating to?”
“Boston,” Karen said. “I got a job offer yesterday. In between all that’s happening, well, I couldn’t celebrate with you girls like I wanted to.”
“Congratulations!” Simone said. “So, this is it then? You’re definitely leaving Milburn?”
“For now, at least,” Karen said. “I’ve been here all my life, Simone. I don’t think I can stand it anymore. No one understands what it’s like to have memories of a husband…” She paused. Simone understood. Simone probably understood more than anyone else what it was like to live with gossip staining your day to day life.
“You have the factory,” Karen said. “And little Will to think about. But tell me the truth, if you had the chance to leave here, to start a clean slate somewhere else, wouldn’t you take it?”
“I think…” Simone sighed. “I could tell you my real opinion, Karen, but you’re not going to like it.”
“I’ll live,” Karen said. “You think I’m being a coward?”
“I think you’re trying to escape,” Simone said. “Part of you… maybe part of you still feels guilty about JJ. Even though you had nothing to do with his fate. Part of you feels like by moving on, you’re betraying him. Though he was never loyal to you.”
“That’s not true,” Karen said. “I’m over JJ...”
“Maybe you are,” Simone said with a shrug. “Anyway, let’s go over this plan of yours. So I distract Deputy James.”
*****
Deputy James had been a linebacker in high-school, and even now, often participated in weightlifting competitions, giving him a bulky physique that didn’t help his reputation for being a little slow.
Still, it wasn’t that he was slow, Simone thought, as she leaned over his desk and talked to him about the last competition he’d participated in. He was just a little naive, and tended to blurt things out when he should have stayed quiet. Overall, he reminded her of a friendly Labrador, incapable of doing harm, but intelligent nevertheless.
“So then, I step up on the podium, and...”
Karen gave Simone a wink from across the hall, and Simone gulped.
“Er, Deputy, do you think we could get some coffee from the mini-kitchen?” Simone asked. “I’m very thirsty.”
“Oh, sure,” the Deputy said. “I’m not boring you with all this talk about weightlifting, am I? It’s fascinating when you’re into it, but everyone else thinks it’s a waste of time.”
“I think it sounds… er… interesting,” Simone said. “And it definitely keeps you in shape.” She had an admiring note in her voice at this point.
The Deputy’s chest puffed. “Yes, I get complimented quite a bit. Helps in my profession too. You don’t want criminals thinking you’re a weakling, you know? I’ve had plenty of fights that I broke up with just a look and a sneer.”
“I can imagine,” Simone said. “It’s amazing, the work you men do. If I had to deal with murders every other day, I should never be able to sleep at night.”
“Well, I guess that’s why we’re around. So you can sleep peacefully.” He turned a little red, and Simone thought it very cute that he was blushing at her compliment.
“But the death at the wedding, that was a suicide, wasn’t it?” Simone asked. “I heard you found the note.”
“Oh. That.” Deputy James looked sheepish. “I did find a note. We’re still looking into whether it’s the note.”
“What does that mean?” Simone asked.
The Deputy handed her a mug half-filled with coffee, and helped himself to some biscuits from the pantry. “Well…” he said. “I got into some trouble with the boss for talking about it a bit too loudly last time.”
“Oh, right,” Simone said. “I totally understand. I’m sure you don’t want to discuss it.”
“Oh, no… I’m sure I can trust you,” he said eagerly. “I’m just saying, you know, this is sensitive information.”
“Right,” Simone said.
“Well, the thing is, the note was just typed in her mobile phone,” the Deputy said. “We found the phone in her room, and there was an unsent draft saved on her messaging app. Hang on, I took a photo with my phone. I can show you.
He took out his phone, and Simone felt herself blush as he deliberately swiped through a few photos of him posing with barbells.
“Here it is,” he said. It was a grainy photo, of a phone screen. Typed up on it was:
I can’t bear it anymore. Everyone only pays attention to Charlot and nobody pays attention to me! I’m sick of it! I am going to kill myself!
Simone frowned. “Who was she planning on sending the message to?”
“We don’t know. It was just a draft with no sender inputted,” Deputy James said. “But it seems to me, that it was a suicide note. Suicide SMS, at least.”
Simone frowned. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t be so sure. Besides… you say you found the phone in her room at the inn?”
“Yep. I didn’t understand myself why the family would spend money on rooms at the inn when they’ve got a nice farm just an hour’s drive away.” Deputy James shrugged. “But then, I’m not made of money like they are.”
“But isn’t it unusual that the phone wasn’t found on her body?”
“There’s no pockets in ball gowns,” Deputy James said. “I suppose she figured she’d rather leave it in her room.”
“But why would she leave an unsent message?” Simone frowned. “I mean, especially a message like that.”
Deputy James shrugged. “People do strange things,” he said. “I mean, why would she eat the wedding cake before the bride and groom had a chance to cut it? Why would she play that horrible prank on Jeremy when she pretended to be Charlotte? None of it makes any sense to me. The woman was clearly unhinged.”
Yes, that was one possibility, Simone thought. Yet part of her wondered if there wasn’t more to the story.
*****
Chapter 15
Eav
esdropping
Matt Harris looked more than a little nervous. He was dripping with sweat, in fact, as Sean guided him into his office. “I’ve already given my statement,” he said. “I don’t understand why I’m being called in here again.”
“Just a formality,” Sean said easily. “Sit down. Shall I get you some coffee?”
“Do you have a beer?” Matt asked.
Sean gave him a look that was pure steel. “This is not a bar,” he said.
“I know… I just thought maybe… you had one in that little mini fridge.” Matt nodded past Sean’s desk.
As a matter of fact, Sean did have a few cold beers in there, but those were reserved for quiet Friday afternoons when he and the deputy would gather around for some chit chat.
Coming back to Matt, Sean said, “Coffee or water. You pick.”
“Water sounds good.” Matt nodded. Sean passed him a cup, and Matt drained it immediately.
“Another cup?” Sean asked.
“Thanks.”
Sean handed him another, and then sat down opposite him. For a long moment, there was silence. Matt was biting his lips and fidgeting.
“Well?” Sean asked.
“What?” Matt replied. “You didn’t even ask me anything.”
“Come on, Matt,” Sean said. “You know what you’re in here for. Or did you believe my ‘just a formality’ nonsense?” Matt had no idea, Sean was sure, but open ended questions were always better. A lot of times, the suspect would tell you something you weren’t expecting to hear, and then you could make some breakthroughs.
“Maybe I should call a lawyer,” Matt said.
“Maybe you should.” Sean nodded. “But then I’ll have to be real thorough in checking out any story you tell me. Right now, you and I are friendly. I have no reason to believe you’re lying to me. Oh you might have forgotten to tell me some stuff, or been too shocked to remember, but that’s why you’re here now. This is your second and last chance.”
“I didn’t kill Eliza!” Matt said. “I don’t know why you’re trying to pin it on me.”
“Well, I’m not trying to do anything,” Sean said. “I’m just going where the evidence leads me. So you didn’t kill Eliza. Fine. Why don’t you walk me through whatever you know.”
“I don’t know a thing,” Matt said.
“You had to have known something,” Sean replied. “That’s why you impersonated a groomsman and snuck into the kitchen. You took a look at the cake, too. Awfully fishy, wouldn’t you say? For an innocent man?” Matt drained the cup of water again, and made a gesture to Sean, indicating he wanted another. “You need to answer a few more questions before I get you more water,” Sean said. “Starting with this one. Do you realize how much trouble you could be in if you obstruct a police investigation? Especially one relating to murder?”
“I had no idea!” Matt exclaimed. “It all just went so terribly wrong.”
“What did?”
“Just… everything! Everything!” Matt buried his head in his hands.
“How about you take a deep breath and start from the beginning,” Sean said. “You knew something was going to happen to the cake. Did you know it was poisoned?”
“No!” Matt exclaimed. “Nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“We have a group, all right?” Matt said. “We play poker a lot. Me, Timmy Jr, Wyatt, Bret, Maria and Eliza.”
“Uh-huh?”
“Well, the night before the wedding, we had a little party at my place, and played some poker,” Matt said. “Maria had to leave early since she was maid of honor, and Eliza, well, Eliza was jealous as anything that Charlotte was getting married. As a matter of fact, well, to be honest, the reason Maria left early was because she was pretty sure she was going to start fighting with Eliza if she stayed longer.”
“Why would Maria fight with Eliza?” Sean asked.
“She was really angry that Eliza had done that whole stunt with Jeremy where she pretended to be Charlotte,” Matt said. “Maria didn’t want to talk about it, but Eliza kept bringing it up. She kept saying that Jeremy’s lips tasted like chocolate, and how Charlotte was lucky.”
“Wow,” Sean said.
“Yeah.” Matt nodded. “Eliza wasn’t a nice girl. But she was hot, so we kept her around. Wyatt and Bret both had a thing for her.”
“Sounds like you were real stellar friends,” Sean said sarcastically.
Matt didn’t notice the sarcasm, and nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah. We were tight, all of us. I mean, we had this tradition where we’d get drunk enough and then we had to accept whatever dare someone proposed. So like, one time, Wyatt dared me to buy a goat online, and I did it. Then a week later, it gets delivered and I have no memory of making the order so I—” Sean raised an eyebrow and Matt coughed. “Anyway.”
“No, I think I know the ending to this story,” Sean said. “We found a goat mysteriously eating poor Ethelridge Danner’s garden. She was convinced the goat had wandered in from the mountains. The rest of us were just baffled. Farmer Daly’s kid ended up adopting the goat.”
“Right.” Matt chuckled. “It was Eliza’s idea to put it in Mrs. Danner’s garden.”
“And Mrs. Danner’s prize vegetables were ruined because of your tomfoolery,” Sean said.
“Well...” Matt shrugged. “No harm done, right?”
“Not to you at any rate,” Sean said. He was more than a little annoyed. Ethelridge Danner was a cantankerous old lady, but she was a good woman. She’d worked hard to raise those vegetables, and these idiots had destroyed them just for a laugh. Still, they were idiots, not murderers.
“Well, anyway.” Matt coughed. “I and Timmy Jr were out for a smoke. When we came back inside, Bret and Eliza were whispering something about a prank. I didn’t get what it was, but I gathered it had something to do with the statuettes on the wedding cake.”
“What did you hear them say, exactly?” Sean asked.
“Um...” Matt raised his head to the ceiling as he thought about that night. “Well, Bret was saying something like ‘Seriously? You’ll do that?’ and Eliza replied, ‘Oh sure! It’s a stupid idea for a cake topper anyway! I’ll show him!’”
“I see.” Sean nodded. This fitted with what Nora had told him. Matt had asked to see the cake, then mentioned the cake topper, and possibly even reminded Maria about it. Clearly, he was eager to see if Eliza would fulfill the dare.
“So… that’s all I know,” Matt said.
“This poker party…” Sean scratched his cheek. “Was Bret there all night?”
“I don’t know,” Matt said. “Timmy and I… er… that is…” He looked away. “I don’t really remember.” He finished.
Sean nodded. “You weren’t smoking cigarettes out there, were you?” he asked. “Something a little stronger?”
Matt didn’t say anything.
“I won’t arrest you,” Sean said. “But I’m warning you, Matt, be careful. You’re too young to get caught up in this stuff.”
“Thanks,” Matt said grumpily.
“So how about Charlotte, then?” Sean asked. “I hear you used to date her once upon a time.”
“Charlotte?” Matt looked startled. “I… yes.”
“Heard you were pretty deeply in love with her,” Sean said.
Matt shrugged. “We were just kids. You know how it is. I couldn’t believe she preferred dating Jeremy. He was so much older than us, and already divorced once! I mean… I was a way better guy to date. Jeremy’s nearly bald and I have… well, I have gorgeous hair.”
Sean laughed. “Unluckily, Charlotte’s has a little more depth than you.”
“Whatever,” Matt grumbled. “She made a mistake marrying him.”
“Is that what you tell yourself?” Sean asked.
Matt didn’t reply.
“So answer me,” Sean said. “Eliza. You didn’t have a crush on Charlotte’s identical twin who just happened to hang out with you all the time?”
“El
iza? No man, I’m with Maria now,” Matt said. “I don’t have… I didn’t have any feelings for Eliza.”
Sean wanted to press him some more, but the sound of a slight bump against his door had him curious. When it was followed by silence, Sean realized immediately what was happening - someone was eavesdropping!
Creeping silently to the door, he yanked it open with some force, and Karen almost fell in. With a glare, Sean looked around to see where Deputy James was, and found him walking out of the mini-kitchen with Simone hanging onto his every word.
“All right Matt, we’re going to talk some more later on,” Sean said. “You’re free to go for now, but don’t leave town for a bit.” He ushered Matt out. “Karen.” He turned to face her. “We need to talk.”
“Oh, boy.” Karen took a deep breath. Deputy James looked startled, and Simone looked very embarrassed. It was immediately obvious to Sean what had happened. Deputy James had been lured away by Simone while Karen took the opportunity to overhear what he and Matt were saying. All of this, no doubt, would get reported back to Nora. He fixed his glare on Karen, who seemed to wilt before him.
“Get in there.” He pointed to his office, and she scampered in. Slamming the door behind him, he turned to face her. “What’s the big idea, Karen? Since when have you started to play detective?”
“I wasn’t doing anything,” Karen said. “I was just...”
“Save it,” Sean said. “I know I can’t prove anything, and I’m not planning to throw you into a cell for eavesdropping, though who knows, maybe putting all of you behind bars would make it easier for me to investigate this case!”
“We’re trying to help,” Karen said.
“Deputy Ellerton went to pick up Timmy Jr. today, for a bit of questioning,” Sean said. “You know what happened? The kid’s dad says he was last seen talking to Harvey, and he’s been missing ever since.”
“Oh,” Karen said.
“Yes. Oh.” Sean nodded. “Ellerton’s spent the last three hours looking for Timmy, and I think we’ve just found him. He was at Harvey’s office. Now why on earth was Timmy Jr, who is in no way connected to Harvey, suddenly found at his office?”
The Milburn Big Box Set Page 84