Murder of a Small-Town Honey

She was trembling when she turned to Skye, and tears were run­ning down her cheeks. 'You're like all the rest of them, asking questions, prying into the past. Leave me alone. Why can't everybody just leave me alone?'

Darleen ran out of the lounge. Skye sat there, stunned. / wonder who all the rest of them are? Who else has been prying into her past?

At five o'clock, on her way out of the building, Skye stopped at the front office to try once again to talk to Lloyd. Ursula had been telling her all afternoon that he wasn't see­ing anyone. This time she found Ursula gone and the room vacant.

She called out as she walked back toward the principal's office, 'Lloyd, are you busy?'

There was no answer, but she could see that the light in his office was still on. Standing at the partially closed door, she knocked. 'Lloyd, it's Skye Denison. Could I talk to you a minute?'

Silence, except for the humming of a computer monitor. This was beginning to feel like deja vu. First Mrs. Gumtree's trailer, then Charlie's cabin, and now this. Skye forced her­self to push the door all the way open and stick her head in­side.

The office was trashed. All the desk drawers had been taken out and their contents strewn on the floor. Certificates and plaques that usually hung on the wall were thrown into a pile. It was clear that someone was searching for some­thing and didn't care who or what got in the way.

CHAPTER 14

As Time Goes By

Once again Skye found herself in the backseat of Chief Boyd's squad car. Scumble River had recently pur­ chased all new police vehicles, which meant buying two of them. Chevy Caprice Classics had been the mayor's selec­tion after an arduous brainstorming session. This was not exactly a risky choice, since most police officers in the country drove similar sedans, and Chevrolet manufactured a special line of this model especially for law enforcement departments.

Scumble River's Caprices were robin's-egg blue with a map of the river painted in black on both front doors. Chief Boyd's squad smelled faintly of his aftershave, and some­thing else Skye couldn't identify.

The interior was exceptionally neat. No candy wrappers, empty soda cans, or other debris littered the floor. The dashboard was dust free and the windshield sparkled. Skye wondered if her mother routinely washed the windows be­fore each of her shifts.

She felt unsettled. After the initial shock of discovering Mrs. Gumtree's body had worn off, Skye had found the sit­uation fascinating, in a morbid way. Of course, she was upset when Vince was arrested, but she felt resourceful as she took charge and saved him. Talking to people was inter­esting, and she was astounded at how easily they told her their secrets. But she was getting tired of finding rooms vandalized everywhere she went.

Chief Boyd interrupted her thoughts by opening the door. 'Okay, Skye, we're finished. You can come back in­ side. I have a few questions to ask.' He smiled. 'You know the drill by now.'

Slowly, Skye followed him into the school. He led her to the health room and closed the door. After they were seated, he took out his notebook and clicked his pen. 'Tell me what happened. Start with why you were here after everyone else went home.'

She shrugged. 'What can I say? I'm either dedicated or foolish, take your pick. The school system hasn't had a psy­chologist in almost a year. They still don't have a social worker. There's a ton of paperwork that the state and fed­eral agencies require be done ... in triplicate. I'm trying to catch up so I can do my real job of working with kids.'

'It sounds like my job. More paperwork than police work.'

'In a small town you have to do both—be an administra­tor and go out in the field.' Skye tried to gain brownie points by demonstrating her empathy.

Chief Boyd nodded and leaned toward her. 'Okay, when did Ursula and Lloyd leave?'

'They usually leave between four and four-thirty. I checked with Ursula at about three-fifteen to see if Lloyd could see me. She said he was unavailable but didn't give any details. Then I got involved with what I was doing and forgot to go back until I decided to call it a day at five.'

'Did you see anyone when you walked from your office to Lloyd's?'

'No, It was sort of spooky. Like someone gave a signal and the place just cleared out. Or like they'd all been beamed aboard the Enterprise.'

The chief made a note. 'I'll have to check and see if this is typical behavior. I don't suppose you've been around long enough to tell?'

Skye shook her head. 'Was there anyone in the building when you searched it?'

'We found a custodian in the boiler room, but that was it. Tell me what you did when you found Lloyd's office trashed.'

'I backed out the door, used the phone on Ursula's desk, and called you.'

'What did you do until we got here?'

'Well, I knew there was no one in Lloyd's room or up here in the front office, so I sat in Ursula's chair where I could see the entrance. The only thing I touched was the telephone and Lloyd's door. Do you think this has anything to do with the murder?'

He shrugged. 'I can't see how, but you never know.'

Sitting silently, Skye debated whether to mention his wife's peculiar behavior and what she had found out about Lloyd. She finally decided to tell him what she knew about Lloyd but not mention Darleen. 'Ah, Chief, I did happen to hear about a connection between Lloyd and Honey.'

He raised an eyebrow. 'How did you 'happen to hear' about this connection?'

'I was chatting with Abby Fleming, the district nurse, and she mentioned that Lloyd coached a softball team that she and Honey were on the summer before their senior year in high school.'

'That's not exactly a close association. He coached vari­ous sports for several years. There are a lot of people in town who were on those teams.'

Skye hesitated, not wanting to start an unsubstantiated rumor. 'Abby did allude to a closer relationship than stu­dent and coach.'

'What do you mean by 'allude to' ?'

'She said they seemed very close. More so than he and other students.'

'This was just an opinion, right? Abby didn't actually witness any impropriety?'

'No, I think it was only an impression.'

He took her hand. 'I know you don't want to think that Vince could have killed her, but you have to consider the facts. They all point to him.'

Skye snatched her hand from his grasp. 'All the facts do not point to him. You have to consider that you haven't looked at anyone but him. Which makes me wonder why. There are a lot of people in this town who hated Honey Adair and had good reasons to want to see her dead.'

She paused, knowing that if she continued she'd be sorry. Stealing a peek at the chief, she saw a look of conde­scension on his face and lost control.

Her words tumbled out with no pauses for breath. 'Lloyd Stark may have been intimate with her when she was underage. Abby Fleming certainly hated her for break­ing up the relationship Abby and Vince had in high school. Charlie Patukas inherits a lot of money with her dead. Mike Young had an intense relationship with Honey until she went after Vince. And last, but definitely not least, your wife had reason to hate her for stealing Mike away.'

Without giving him a chance to reply, Skye stood up and stalked out of the room. She got into her car and drove home, refusing to think about what she had just done. It wasn't until she was in her bedroom changing clothes that she allowed herself to consider the consequences of her im­pulsiveness.

She sat on the bed and pounded her knee with her fist. 7 hate it when I put my mouth in gear without first engaging my brain. What have I accomplished by provoking Chief Boyd? Nothing. Up until now he has treated me like the old friend I was. He hasn't done anything to deserve that abuse.

Then an idea crossed her mind, and she stopped hitting her leg. This whole thing could force the chief to look at other suspects. Maybe this isn't such a bad thing. Maybe he won't be angry that I threw his wife's high school fling in his face. Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly, too.

A glance at her clock radio told her it was five after seven. That Big Mac had been a long time ago. She went into her kitchen, and over to the refrigerator. The shelves were empty. It was time to go to the grocery store.

Clouds had continued to roll in, and it was beginning to get dark when Skye pulled into the parking lot of the