five.”

“Is there anyone who can vouch for you before seven?” Wally asked.

“Yes, ah, I was with someone from about eight o’clock the night before.” Vince glanced at Skye and his ears turned red. He scribbled something on a slip of paper and slid it over to the chief. “That’s her name. I’d appreciate it if you kept this quiet.”

“I’ll check it out personally. No one else will have to know.”

Skye stared at Vince. Who had he spent the night with? He was supposed to be going out with Abby Fleming, the school nurse.

The chief stood and walked around his desk. “Sounds like you’re in good shape.”

The men shook hands.

Vince turned to Skye before leaving. “Stop by the shop tomorrow if you get a chance, will you?”

“Sure.” And you can tell me who your new girlfriend is. “I’ll be over sometime in the afternoon.” Skye closed her eyes and smiled. “Tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation. I’m sleeping until noon.”

“At Mom and Dad’s?” Vince smirked. “Dream on.”

After Vince’s departure, Wally took the chair next to Skye. She wished he’d go back behind his desk. Distance was a good thing where she and the chief were concerned.

“So, what’s up?” Wally smiled warmly.

“Well, one thing I wanted to mention to you was that those survivalists out by the farm had been annoying my grandmother for months, and I was wondering if you’d checked them out.”

“I talked to some of them. They probably did trespass and hunt out of season, but I can’t really see a motive for them killing her.”

“Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have. She liked to sit with binoculars and watch the birds.”

“If she was shot, maybe, but I can’t see them baking poison brownies. Or her eating them if they were a gift from those people.”

Skye was unconvinced, but she didn’t have anything solid to offer the chief. She’d have to check them out herself. “I see from Vince you’re examining alibis. How is everyone checking out?”

“This is strictly between you and me.” Wally turned and grabbed a file. “I don’t think the police commissioners would be happy to find out I was discussing this case with a civilian, but I’m sorry for not taking more seriously what you said the day you found your grandmother.”

She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “Thanks. I promise to be discreet. All I want is to help you figure out what happened. Being a member of the family, I have access to facts you don’t, but unless I know what you already have I may not realize what info is important and what isn’t.”

Wally nodded. “That’s my thinking too. And I’m convinced it wasn’t you or Vince. And your parents were together until about four that day. They had gone out to breakfast at seven, then to Kankakee to Farm and Fleet and a few other stores. Both the waitress and clerks remember them. So, I’m comfortable with this arrangement.” He sat back and crossed his legs. All the good old boy humor left his face. “Just don’t let me down. I’ve never been able to forgive a betrayal.”

This was one of the things that made Wally so attractive to her. He was straightforward and could admit when he was wrong. She leaned toward him, their knees almost touching. “I’d never do anything to damage your trust in me.”

He smiled and brushed her cheek with a knuckle. “I’m counting on that.” He turned and picked up a different folder. “Even though the pan of brownies could have been dropped off anytime, we figure Mrs. J was put into the well sometime between noon and three.”

“Mrs. J wasn’t real big, but I don’t think I could get her down the stairs and all the way to the well.” Skye tapped her chin with her finger.

“It’d be easy to shove her down the stairs and then it’s flat ground from then on,” Wally said. “We found a child’s wagon in the garage that matches the tire tracks in the grass. Whoever did it used the wagon to haul Mrs. J from the house to the well and once they were there they just tipped her in.”

“Any fingerprints?”

“Nope, everything was wiped clean.” Wally threw the manila file on his desk.

“Do you suppose it was the murderer I heard in the garage that day?”

“Seems a good possibility.”

Skye shivered. It really had been stupid to go out to that garage. “You didn’t say anything about alibis for my aunts, uncles, and cousins.”

Wally shrugged. “It’s hard to pin the rest of them down. Ginger and Gillian were at work most of the day, but both left to do errands on their lunch hour. Minnie was supposedly in Urbana, but she had no appointments during that time period so she could have driven back and forth.”

Skye scratched her head. “And let me guess. Dante, Emmett, and Neal were in their fields, alone.”

“Right. Mona was alone too, at her house. Then she went to Joliet to the dentist and shopping. But her appointment wasn’t until three. Olive was alone until Dante came home about four and they went to the auction around five. And Hugo was at work at the car lot, but it was a slow day and there were long stretches of time when he was without a customer.”

“So any one of them could have done it.”

“Afraid so.”

Skye looked around the Scumble River High School gym. The bleachers were extended to their fullest length and folding chairs filled the floor. All the lights were blazing from protective cages in the ceiling. The scents of flowers and perfume competed with the long-entrenched effluvium of sweat and the unique hormonal odor of teenagers.

A scattering of people had already claimed seats in the front rows. They chatted with each other, read the program, and otherwise amused themselves while waiting for the ceremony to begin. Three or four small children raced up and down the aisles, looking sweaty and uncomfortable in their dress clothes.

Leaning against the entrance, Skye remembered her own graduation thirteen years ago. She had stood on that very stage as the valedictorian of her class. Back then she thought she knew everything. She was sure Scumble River had nothing to offer her, and life would be perfect if she could just get away from her hometown. She had yearned for bright lights and sophistication without understanding the cost involved in acquiring those wishes.

She had thought everyone else was dumb, but she had been the stupid one. The chance to make a speech to the whole town had gone to her head like cheap wine. And as with too much cheap wine, when she finally woke up, years later, she had a terrible hangover and faced the consequences of her actions.

Skye stared at the podium and saw herself giving the infamous valedictory speech in which she had told the whole town how little she thought of it and its residents. Now she had been back for ten months and people had stopped reminding her of that shameful oration, but she was sure someone would mention it again tonight.

Suddenly the PA cut into her thoughts. “Ms. Denison, please report to the band room.”

Hurrying down the corridor, Skye wondered what was up. They were using the band room as a staging area for the senior girls. Long before she walked through the door, she heard high-pitched shrieks and screams.

From the hall she could just make out two figures rolling on the floor. Both wore pastel nylon frocks that looked more like slips than dresses. As Skye skidded into the room, a crimson-tipped hand snaked out of the melee, grabbed its opponent’s fragile shoulder strap, and tore downward.

Homer Knapik, the principal, stood on one side of the writhing mass and his secretary, Opal Hill, on the other. Neither seemed to have a clue about how to stop the fight.

Skye scanned the area, looking for a way to separate the girls without resorting to physical force. She dropped her purse and grabbed a pair of cymbals lying next to a music stand. Wading through the onlookers, she got as close to the combatants as possible and banged the brass discs together with all the strength she could muster.

The brawlers stopped to cover their ears. Skye ignored the pain in her own ears, replaced the cymbals, grabbed the nearest girl by the upper arms, and dragged her out the door.

Homer nabbed the other warrior. He shouted instructions to Opal as he hurried down the hall after Skye. “Keep everyone else here.”

Вы читаете Murder of a Sweet Old Lady
Добавить отзыв
ВСЕ ОТЗЫВЫ О КНИГЕ В ИЗБРАННОЕ

0

Вы можете отметить интересные вам фрагменты текста, которые будут доступны по уникальной ссылке в адресной строке браузера.

Отметить Добавить цитату