Murder of a Small-Town Honey

May was waiting for them in the doorway. Seeing Skye's soot-streaked face and torn clothes, she turned on Chief Boyd. 'Walter Boyd, why isn't this girl in the hospi­tal?'

He raised his hands in mock surrender. 'She refused to go, and you ordered me to bring her here.'

'I'm okay, Mom. I just need a shower and a couple of Nuprin and I'll be fine.'

Reaching up, May ran her fingers over the back of Skye's head. 'Well, there's hardly any lump.'

'Can I go home now?' Skye asked tiredly.

Chief Boyd patted her on the shoulder. 'Why don't you wash up a little and wait for me in my office? I want to talk

to the fire chief and Roy before I let you go. I don't sup­pose you saw who hit you?'

Skye shook her head, which wasn't a good idea since that made the throbbing intensify. Once inside the ladies' room with the door safely locked, she took the envelope out from its hiding place and examined it. It was about six inches wide by nine inches long and had two bulges in the middle. She didn't have time to open it, so she stuck it back into her waistband.

Along with washing her face and smoothing her hair back into its barrette, Skye brushed off her clothing. A but­ton had been ripped from her shirt and it now gaped open, exposing her midriff. Her elbow peeked from the hole in her sleeve, and there was a large tear across the knee of her pants. She had no cuts, so her clothes must have protected her from the exposed glass and nails.

When she finished, Skye went to the chief's office. It was empty and dark. Flipping on the light, she looked around. His padded chair beckoned, and she sank wearily into its cushioned depths. She noticed that his middle drawer, the one with the lock, wasn't closed all the way.

Deciding to test it, Skye put her finger underneath and tugged. It came open with no resistance. A white business-size envelope lay on top of the pile. Its typed label showed it had been sent to Mrs. Walter Boyd at her home address. The return address was the Carle Clinic, a large medical fa­cility in Urbana.

Skye got up and looked out into the hall. There was no sign of the chief. Going back, she took the envelope out of the drawer, extracted the contents, and skimmed the pages quickly. It was a medical report concerning Darleen. The gist of it was that she was infertile due to a previous infec­tion in her fallopian tubes, most probably caused by an un­treated sexually transmitted disease.

Where have I heard that before? she wondered. Wasn't that what Simon said about Honey ?

Hearing footsteps in the corridor, Skye hastily stuffed the letter back into the envelope and the whole thing back - into the drawer. She was sliding it shut as Chief Boyd en­tered. She leaned against the desk and tried to look noncha­lant.

The chief walked around her and sat in his chair. Skye glanced down and saw a white corner sticking out of the closed drawer. Following her eyes, he frowned and opened the drawer, pulling the envelope out.

As his gaze went from Skye to the envelope, his voice became dangerously quiet. 'Were you snooping?'

Her face mirrored her contrition. 'I'm sorry. It was an awful thing to do. I'm just so worried about Vince.'

Chief Boyd sighed and sat back. 'Did you read it all?'

She nodded miserably.

'Darleen is obsessed with having a baby,' he said, al­most to himself. 'Oh, sit down, before you fall down,' he said when he noticed Skye swaying.

Gratefully, she sank into a chair. 'I am sorry, Chief. Does this have anything to do with why she got upset when I brought up Honey Adair?'

He tapped the edge of the report on his cheek. 'Yeah. It seems Mike Young passed the disease to Darleen in high school before breaking up with her. From Honey's autopsy it seems that he may have given it to her too.

'She knew something was wrong back then but was too embarrassed to go to any doctor around here for treat­ment. The symptoms finally went away, and she forgot about it until a few years ago when we started trying to have a baby.

'Darleen did some reading on infertility and was afraid this might be the cause. We got this report a couple of days ago, confirming it.'

Skye didn't know what to say so she repeated, 'I'm so sorry for you both.'

'Can you take Darleen off your list of suspects now? If

she was going to kill anyone, it would be Mike Young. Be­sides, she was with a group of kids from her class when the murder took place. They were staking out a good spot to see the parade.'

Though Skye was nodding her head, she couldn't help but think, Then why was Honey blackmailing Darleen?

CHAPTER 24

Photographs and Memories

Skye entered her bedroom just as the digital display on her clock radio turned to three A.M. She swallowed some Nuprins, stuffed a handful of ice into a dish towel, and flung herself across the bed. When her alarm woke her at six-thirty, she was lying in a pool of water and her head felt as if a giant had been using it for a soccer ball. She struggled to the bathroom and took some more pills.

She decided to take a sick day and made the necessary calls. Before going back to sleep, she took the phone off the hook. When her doorbell started ringing, she tried to ignore it, but minutes later, her mother's voice jarred her awake.

'Yoo-hoo, Skye, are you here?'

Skye pushed her hair out of her face and opened one eye. May stood in the bedroom doorway.

'How did you get in?' Skye was groggy and had diffi­culty focusing her eyes.

'Don't you remember? You gave me a key when you moved in. Maybe you do have a concussion.' May came over and perched on the edge of the bed.

Skye sank against her pillows and pulled the sheet over her head. 'I knew that action was going to come back to haunt me. I told you it was only for emergencies. Like if I locked myself out or something.'

'This is an emergency. You didn't answer your phone, and they said you called in sick at school.'

Skye sat up reluctantly. 'Okay, you're here. What's up?'

'I wanted to make sure you were all right.' May looked hurt. 'After all, I have one child in jail and then one almost gets burned up ...'

Skye hugged her mother. 'You're right.' Knowing what would cheer May up, she added, 'Want to fix me some breakfast?'

May bounced from the bed. 'Sure, what would you like? French toast, waffles, bacon and eggs? You name it.'

'Tea and toast would be great. I don't have the stuff to make all those other things.'

'How about I go and get you some groceries?'

'No, thanks. I'll just take a nice hot shower, and you can get my tea and toast ready. Okay?' Skye headed for the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, she emerged, wrapped in her robe, to find her mother sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee. Skye's Earl Grey was in her favorite cup, two packages of Sweet 'N Low placed beside it. A plate with toast had been set next to her tea. The butter dish and a jar of marmalade were also on the table.

'Wow, this is service. Thanks, Mom.'

Her voice catching, May smiled angelically. 'I could do this for you every day if you moved home.'

Skye picked up her cup and drank without replying. In­stead, she told May what she'd found out so far and what had happened last night, leaving out the part about finding the envelope. May was thrilled that Simon had been added to their ranks of investigators.

'Who brought you the yellow roses?' May looked at Skye as if her prize heifer had just won a blue ribbon at the county fair.

'Simon.'

'Do you like him?' May started putting the breakfast things away.

'Yes,' Skye admitted, taking a last sip of tea before her

mother whisked the cup from her hand. 'But we've only had one date.'

'When are you going to see him again?' May asked, ze­roing in on the important issue.