Tears formed in Marilu’s eyes, and Kamira watched her husband whisper in her ear and squeeze her hand.
“Charles would tell me he loved me. He would say to me we were soul mates. Charles was making plans for us to move to Texas and begin a new church there. I asked him about Faye, but he said she wouldn’t be a problem much longer. Charles made it clear he did not love Faye any longer, and her bouts of depression over the loss of their daughter Cassie were overwhelming.
One night, he was visiting, and I watched him steal my fresh bottle of Ambien, a prescription I had gotten from the doctor. After divorcing my husband, I had trouble sleeping. I was in constant fear he would find Tommy and me. Plus, the affair’s guilt played a part in that time as well.
The night Faye died, Charles came over. He told me he had convinced Faye to have a drink. He told me he had dissolved ten of those pills in her glass. Said he had told Faye that the alcohol would relax her. If you can believe it, Charles convinced her they could get the marriage back on track with a new sexual experience.
He then told me she became sleepy, and he handcuffed Faye to the bed until she fell asleep and then put a pillow over her face to suffocate her. Faye moved and gasped for air. Thinking she was already dead, Charles panicked and again put the pillow over her face until he was sure she was dead.
Two days later, the police questioned me about why Charles was counseling me. They asked if I was having an affair with him. I denied it.”
Kamira, not surprised, looked at Marilu and asked, “Why did you deny the affair?”
Tears flowing down her cheeks, she replied, “It terrified me. Terrified I would get sent to jail, and Tommy would go into the system, and scared Charles would kill me if I said anything.”
“Did he threaten you?”
“The day the police interviewed me, Charles showed up at my apartment. He had plane tickets for Tommy and me to go to a motel his uncle ran in Texas and told me to stay there till he got there, and our lives would begin anew together. Charles gave me a cell phone and one thousand dollars in cash, told me to pack, that a car would pick me up at 3 pm. It was strange, and he looked so eerie, it scared me.
I packed a suitcase for myself and Tommy, and the car came at 3 pm to take me to the airport. When Tommy and I got to the airport, I used the cash and purchased two tickets to International Falls. Here. I had an old childhood friend who lived here, Mary Ann Penske. I stayed with her and got a job as a maid at the local hotel.”
Marilu smiled. “That is where I met Harry here. Harry owns the hotel. We married three years later, and he adopted Tommy.”
Kamira asked, “Did you ever hear from Charles Chestfield again?”
“For a year, I received calls on that phone. Every few months, I would get a call. The caller said nothing, but I could hear he was breathing on the other end. I knew it was Charles. One day, it got to be too much. I had the pastor call the church in Shadowbank and ask for Pastor Chestfield to transfer my membership. Greta Garrison, the church secretary, informed him that the pastor had died in a car explosion a few weeks after losing his wife, but she could help with the membership transfer.”
Kamira, her Spidey senses at full speed, asked, “Marilu, do you think Charles Chestfield is dead?”
A look of fear crossed Marilu’s face. “No, I don’t. Who else would call that number? I threw the phone away in 2004 and have never heard from him again. But no, I don’t think he is dead. I have put that part of my life behind me. Harry is a good husband.”
Kamira nodded. “One last question. Did you ever meet Daniel Billings, the gravedigger?”
Marilu looked confused. “Danny the Gravedigger? I never knew his last name. Yes, I met him a few times. Very nice man. But Charles often said he didn’t like him. He thought he was having an affair with his wife, Faye.”
Kamira said, “Thank you, Marilu, for your time and answering my questions honestly.”
Marilu asked, “What now? Have you found Charles? Will I have to go to jail?”
Kamira smiled and replied, “Marilu, we have not yet found Charles Chestfield. We are still investigating. If there is a trial, we will call you to testify. But I will speak to the district attorney and explain the circumstances around your story.”
Handing Marilu her card, Kamira said, “If you remember anything else, please call me.”
Kamira said her goodbyes and headed for the hotel to get a bite to eat and a good night’s sleep. Her flight back to Shadowbank was leaving at 7 am.
While Kamira was interviewing Marilu Hudson Bester, Willie Mae was just getting to Parchman Farm. The guard let her in the visiting room to sit and wait for George Buchanan to arrive.
Willie Mae was nervous, and her heart skipped a beat when she saw George enter the visiting area.
George took a seat across from Willie Mae. “Willie Mae, are you enjoying that five million that my bitch of a wife gave you? Are you here to gloat?”
Willie Mae’s face turned red in anger. “No, George, I am not here to gloat. I gave that money to Billie. That was Clifton’s money.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Willie Mae said, “I am here to tell you, I know you are running things with the mob from here, behind bars. That Buddy Colfax is doing your bidding. I know you ordered the pipe bombing of the gazebo, but that didn’t quite work out the way you wanted it to,
