by Kate Bell
“I’ll be glad when this whole thing is over,” I commented after we had walked in silence for a while.
“Me too,” he said. “When we get to the road, we can call someone to come get us if your knee is hurting badly enough.”
“I think it’s okay. It has kind of gone numb from the cold at this point,” I said. “The road isn’t far from Mama’s house, anyway.”
I hoped the dagger would yield the fingerprints of the killer so this could be put to rest, just as Tom had been put to rest a couple days earlier.
--17--
“Ow, ow, ow!” I said as Mama dabbed on the merthiolate. “Seriously, Mama? Have you had that same bottle since I was nine?”
“No, this is the one I had when Shelby was nine,” she said. She looked at Alec. “She was always a big baby.”
Alec chuckled. “I’m not sure that I blame her.”
I blew on my knee. A large dark bruise was spreading beneath the scrape and I knew I would be sore all over by tomorrow morning.
I ate a biscuit with butter and honey on it while Alec put the dagger in a two-gallon Ziploc bag.
“Good thing I buy those big ones,” Mama murmured, trying not to look at the dagger.
“Let’s go,” Alec said, grabbing a biscuit.
I hobbled out to the minivan and got in. I needed coffee, but it would have to wait.
***
Elmer was leaning on the reception desk at the sheriff’s office, flirting with the receptionist. The smile left his face when he saw Alec walk through the door. I glanced down at Alec’s hand and noted he had draped his jacket over the hand that carried the bag with the dagger in it.
“Good morning, Elmer,” Alec said brightly.
Elmer sneered at him, then grudgingly said, “Morning.”
“Is John around?” I asked.
Elmer looked at me, and didn’t answer for a moment, then changed his mind and said, “He’s in his office.”
“Great. Thanks. We’ll go on back and say hello to him,” I said, and we went on down the hall.
When we were out of Elmer’s sight, I looked back at Alec and gave him a big smile. “He doesn’t like you for some reason,” I whispered.
“I can’t imagine why,” he said innocently.
I giggled and knocked on John’s door when we got to it.
“Come in,” he called from the other side.
John’s desk was covered in file folders and papers. I wondered which one was Tom’s, but I wasn’t going to ask. I didn’t want to see any pictures.
“Hey, y’all,” he said. “What’s up?”
Alec held up the bag with the dagger. “Possible murder weapon.”
“Wow. Where’d you find that?” he said, wide-eyed.
Alec laid it on his desk and we took a seat. “Well, my graceful girlfriend here took a spill during our morning run and she saw it when the sun shone on it.”
“Are you all right, Allie?” he asked, turning to me.
“Yes, just a scrape and a bruise or two,” I said. “It’s kind of weird. That thing just laying out there.”
“Where was it exactly?” John asked.
“About five miles out from the murder scene, deep in the woods. I think it must have been covered in the dead leaves, but Miss Graceful here might have uncovered it in her fall,” Alec said with a grin.
I gave him a look. If it wasn’t for all the leaves, I wouldn’t have fallen and he knew it.
“Wow, what a find,” John said, examining it through the bag. “I hope it yields some useable fingerprints.”
“Why would it just be laying out there? Wouldn’t you think the killer would have buried it?” I asked. “Or taken it with them?”
“You would think so. But they may have panicked. It’s hard to second guess a criminal. They don’t do things normal people do because their minds are always trying to figure out what might go wrong and cause them to be caught,” John said.
“I’m going to stick with it being a non-criminal. It’s less complicated,” I said. It still amazed me that anyone could do that to another human being. I had never been angry enough for it to cross my mind.
“I’ve got a number of pictures of the area where we found it,” Alec said. “I’ll send them to your phone. I can show you where I found it if you want to have a closer look at the area.”
“That’s a great help,” John said, nodding. “I’m glad it was you two that came across it. It’s odd, but the crime lab said the broken Christmas plate we found at the scene only had Tom Turner’s prints on it. You would have thought the person that made or brought the cookies would have left prints on it.”
“Do you think it was premeditated then?” I asked. “They knew they planned on killing him and wore gloves?”
“It’s a possibility,” John said. “I can see someone wearing gloves to bring the cookies to him, since it’s cold. But the baker wouldn’t have worn them, I wouldn’t think.”
Alec nodded, thinking. “Part of me feels like it was a crime of passion, but it’s hard to tell.”
“I wonder why he was holding a candy cane when he was killed?” I asked.
John shrugged. “Maybe he just happened to be holding it and got so scared when he realized he was going to be stabbed, that he just never turned loose of it.”
“Maybe the killer gave it to him as a gift, and then turned on him. A girlfriend. I’m voting crime of passion,” I said. It seemed obvious to me.
“Passion means rage, and possibly jealousy, considering Tom had a reputation as a, um, ladies’ man,” Alec said. “I’m leaning toward that, too.”
“I once read of a woman that killed her lover by stabbing him with knitting needles,” John said. “She found out he had cheated on her with a woman that crocheted and the fact that she crocheted made her angrier than anything, so she stabbed him repeatedly with knitting needles. She told the police she needed him to understand that crocheting was an inferior form of craft.”
“Wow,” I said. “Haven’t people heard of just breaking up?”
“Not when they’re unhinged to begin with,” Alec said.
I was glad I wasn’t in law enforcement. I couldn’t imagine all the crazy people they had to deal with in the line of duty.
“John, I thought I’d mention something. The other night when we were at the Christmas carnival, Jennifer said there was a woman in a black trench coat with dark, short, curly hair. She said she was following her and it freaked her out. Did you happen to notice anyone like that?” I asked.
He frowned, thinking back. “I really don’t remember. Did she say she had any contact with her before?”
“No, Jennifer doesn’t know anyone here. She hasn’t gone out much after having discovered Tom’s body. She’s the sensitive sort and it really upset her.”
“I thought I had seen the woman, but I can’t really be sure,” Alec added. “I don’t remember seeing anyone that was behaving suspiciously.”
John shook his head. “I wish I’d have known about it at the time. I might have seen her.”
“I’m sorry, I guess I should have said something to you guys. After she told me, I kept an eye out for her, but I didn’t see her. The rest of the evening Jennifer hung out with Alec and I. She was upset over it. I don’t know why I didn’t mention it to you both,” I said, kicking myself mentally.
“Maybe it was nothing,” Alec said. “Like you said, the woman might just have been making the circuit of booths and Jennifer thought she was following her. She’s been so shaken by finding Tom’s body, she’s actually been nice to me.”
I giggled. “Well, some good came of it, I guess. I think you’re right though. I think she’s on edge.”
“Well, let me know if she sees anything else,” John said.
“Is there anything new with the case?” Alec asked.
John sighed. “Just that Leslie Warren was arrested for public intoxication. She was screaming at one of Tom’s girlfriends at the Piggly Wiggly. Accusing her of being the kil
ler. It’s sad. I had a talk with her when she sobered up. Suggested she get into rehab and try to not waste the rest of her life.”
“What did she say?” I asked.
“She agreed it would be good and said she would look into it. I gave her some phone numbers. I don’t know that she’ll do it though,” he said. “It’s a hard change to make.”
I nodded. “It’s sad.”
“Who was the girlfriend she was screaming at?” Alec asked.
“Charlotte Moody,” John said. “Do you know her?”
I nodded. “She’s the aunt of a friend from high school. I wonder why she thought it was her?” I asked. “I mean, I wonder if there’s something there, and she felt like she was more likely than someone else.”
John shrugged. “She never said. I think she just happened to run across her at the wrong time is all.”
I sighed. “Probably so.”
“Well, John, we appreciate your time,” Alec said, standing up. “I’d appreciate your keeping us updated and if Jennifer sees that woman, we’ll certainly let you know.”
John stood up to see us out. “Well, I appreciate y’all finding that dagger. I agree, it’s most likely the murder weapon. It looks like something Tom would have had in his collection.”
We said our goodbyes and headed out to the minivan. Elmer was nowhere to be seen, and the receptionist didn’t look up from her computer screen as we passed.
“Well, hopefully that dagger has what we need to arrest the killer,” I said once we were outside the sheriff’s station.
Alec nodded in agreement. This thing needed to be put to rest.
--18--
“Got it,” I said, holding up the key to Tom’s house. Alec had wanted to put Tom’s little black book back where we found it. “We’ll be right back,” I called over my shoulder.
“Maybe we should have taken copies of it to give to John,” I said to Alec.
“What for? It’s an address book. There wasn’t anything interesting in it,” he said.
“Maybe. But I bet the killer’s name is in there,” I said as we walked next door. The sun was setting and it would be dark shortly.
“Probably so, but so are a lot of others,” he said. “I bet the white pages of the phone book has the killer’s name in it, too.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said.
He unlocked Tom’s front door and let us in. It looked the same as when we left it the other day. “I wonder who’s going to come and clean his stuff out? Don’t you think they’ll sell the house?” I asked.
“I would imagine. I don’t know if he would have left it to his daughter or not, considering their relationship,” he mused. He went to the little table in the hall and opened the drawer. “That’s odd.”
“What?” I asked.
“I don’t remember these keys in this drawer.”
I went over and looked at the drawer. “He had relatives in town for the funeral. Maybe they put them in there?”
“I suppose. I wonder what they go to, and why someone wanted them,” he said, placing the book back in the drawer and closing it.
“I’ll go water his plant,” I said, remembering the Elephant Ears.
I opened the cupboard and took a glass out and went to the sink. The water was ice cold when I turned the tap on and filled the glass. The plant looked the same, and I wondered if I should take it to my mother. She might have liked it to remember Tom by. I wondered if that would be classified as stealing or if anyone would care. I poured a little water on the plant, and dumped the rest.
I dried the glass on the dishtowel hanging near the sink and put it back in the cupboard. Death was a terrible thing. Murder was even worse.
I hobbled back into the living room and stopped. Alec was looking through a magazine rack.
“Want to know what happened in 1989? He has a Time magazine if you do,” he said thumbing through the magazine rack beside the hall table, and then looked up at me. The smile left his face. “What’s wrong?”
I frowned. “I’m not sure. Something’s different.” I suddenly had this eerie feeling about the place. It was eerier than the first time we had searched the house.
He straightened up, and his eyes went around the room. “What?”
Then it hit me. “The vacuum. It’s gone. It was sitting right there next to the wall.”
He went to the hall closet and opened it. “It’s not in here.”
“Maybe he kept it someplace else,” I said, and went to the guest bedroom. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was trespassing in someone’s house and they might come home to discover me at any moment. I pulled open the closet, but it only had the few items of clothing it had in it before. I closed the door and looked around. Everything seemed the same. Except, I smelled lemons. My heart pounded in my chest. We were trespassing.
I headed back into the living room as Alec was coming out of the master bedroom. “It’s not in there.”
“Not in the guest bedroom, either,” I said. “And I smell lemons in there.”
He looked at me. “Lemons?”
I nodded.
He went into the den while I checked the bathroom. I looked under the sink, but the same cleaning supplies and toiletries were there from the other day. I headed back to the den. I suddenly wanted Alec near me.
“Maybe we should go,” I whispered.
“Yeah, in a minute,” he said, looking over the weapons’ collection. “Something’s not right.”
“What?” I asked, looking at the weapons displayed there.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and started swiping. He stopped and tapped on a picture and I peered at his phone. A picture of the wall we were standing in front of was on his phone.
He looked up at the wall. “There’s a dagger missing,” he said.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah, see?” he said and made the picture larger. A large dagger with blue jewels on the handle had hung on the wall at the bottom of the display.
“When did you take that picture?” I asked.
“The day of the murder. I took a lot of pictures and texted them to John. John was outside, taking pictures of the crime scene, so I took pictures inside the house,” he said. “Do you remember if that dagger was there when we were here last?”
I stared at the spot, trying to make myself remember. “Maybe?” I said. “Yes. No, wait. No, I don’t remember.”
He stared at it. “I don’t either. There were several missing on the day of the murder as well as when we were in here. I didn’t think to look at the pictures to see if anything had changed. I just assumed it hadn’t. Rookie mistake.”
“You can’t blame yourself. You can’t think of everything,” I said.
“I have enough experience, that I should think of most,” he said.
“What would someone want with a dagger and a vacuum?” I asked.
“I have no idea,” he said. “Unless the killer vacuumed up some evidence and got paranoid we would check it. And you know what?”
“What?”
“We should have.” He sighed heavily. “Let’s take one more look around and then we’ll go.”
We looked through the pictures on his phone and compared them to what was here now, going through each room and carefully looking at everything.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything else missing,” Alec said when we had gone through the entire house again.
“It kind of creeps me out, knowing someone came back for that dagger,” I said.
“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Alec said, still scanning the living room.
The air was pierced by a scream and Alec and I looked at each other wide-eyed.
“That’s Jennifer!” I said, but Alec was already out the front door.
I stumbled after him, trying to ignore the pain that shot through my knee, as Jennifer screamed again.
--19--
I couldn’t keep up with Alec as he ran across the lawn and back to my mother’s house. I caught
sight of his backside as he swung the front gate open. Thad burst through the front door, running around the side of the house.
“Thad!” Alec shouted.
Thad looked over his shoulder, but kept running. Alec followed after him.
I got to the front steps and hesitated. Did I follow Alec and Thad or go to Jennifer? I decided the guys could handle themselves. Alec had a gun, after all. I took the front steps two at a time and ran through the front door.
Jennifer, Mama, and Sarah stood in the middle of the living room, holding on to one another.
“What happened?” I gasped.
Tears streamed down Jennifer’s face. “Someone was at the window. Someone’s out there!”
“Oh,” I said and went to them. “It’ll be okay. Alec and Thad will find whoever it is.”
“What about Thad? Whoever it was might be armed and Thad doesn’t have a weapon to protect himself,” Sarah asked, fear written on her face.
“It’ll be okay,” I repeated, hoping it was so. “Alec has a gun, and he was right behind Thad.”
We stood and held each other for a while, listening for what was going on outside. The silence was deafening as the minutes ticked by. Shouldn’t there be some kind of sound out there? Anything?
“Why aren’t they coming back in?” Jennifer whispered.
“I don’t know,” I said. I wondered if I should go out and check, but it had gotten dark while we were at Tom’s and I didn’t want to be mistaken for the intruder.
We heard footsteps on the front porch, and my body stiffened. We all stared at the front door as it swung open and I breathed out when Alec and Thad walked through it.
“Hey,” Thad said, and Sarah ran to him. “It’s okay,” he said, taking her in his arms.
I went to Alec, and he wrapped his arms around me. “What was it?” I asked.