A Murder In Milburn Book 2 Death Of A Deputy REVAMPED June 2016 SCRIVENER (11 page)

“We can’t meet, can we?” the woman said. “No, you’re right. It won’t look good. Wallis and I may have been separated, but it will still seem like I’m being, well, disrespectful. Oh, it’s so unfair! Wallis cheated on me all the time. I don’t believe he was faithful to me for one month of our five year relationship. But still,
I’m
the one who has to sneak around with you like I’m doing something wrong.”

The man must have replied, but Nora couldn’t hear what he said.
 

“I
hated
him,” the woman, clearly Karen, replied. “That’s the whole truth. I hated him. I loved him too, and that’s what makes it so much worse. Being here, being forced to greet strangers as if I was still his wife, feeling their stares and their whispers, it makes me feel like I’m being torn apart, inside out. Why? Why did he have to choose me as his wife? Why couldn’t I have been like all the others, just a fling?”

The man said something, soothing her, but Karen continued. “No, no, that isn’t true. I tell you, Wallis loved me, once. He was never able to be faithful, but he fought hard to keep our marriage intact. When I finally left him, well, I didn’t tell you this at the time because I thought you’d… you’d react,.. but he nearly killed me the day I told him I was leaving. He said that no matter how many women he’d slept with, I was the one who he came home to, and that’s what mattered. If I hadn’t been seeing you already, I think I’d have… reconsidered, even. But he was scary, that day. He broke a guitar, smashing it to pieces. He blocked the door. He sobbed at my feet, begging me to stay. I know you can’t understand a man like him, but Wallis did love me. It was just a very destructive love, and I eventually had to choose my own life over it.”

The voices behind the door ceased, suddenly. Feeling uneasy, as if the couple knew she was here, Nora decided to tiptoe back down the stairs. Downstairs, she nearly bumped into a man and gave a startled gasp.

“Easy, dear,” Dr. Kurt Neil said, steadying her by the shoulders. “You look a little pale. Are you all right? I haven’t seen you since the to-do at the pancake house the other day.”

“I’m fine, Dr. Neil, thank you.” Nora smiled. But she did feel a little off balance. The woman she’d overheard had been Karen, clearly. But who was the man?
 

Had Karen killed him? She had said Wallis had become violent when she tried to leave him. Had he hurt her? Had she decided to take revenge? Or had the man with her hurt Wallis? Had he been jealous that Karen still had a soft spot for him, and decided to take his life?

She had to find out who the man was, Karen decided, and there was only one way. She’d stay right where she was, near the stairs, until the man came down.

*****

Chapter 20

Deciding to stay by the stairs until Karen and her sweetheart came downstairs was one thing, executing it was another. It seemed that everyone wanted to talk to Nora, and pull her away. It was hard to stay rooted where she was.

Dr. Neil, who had got her in a corner, seemed to think that she was upset about Wallis’ death, and was trying to be a gentleman by changing the topic to more cheerful subjects. Only he was terrible at it, his conversation inevitably circling around to death.

Some of Wallis’ bandmates had joined the conversation too. Joe, his bass player, was leaning against the wall next to Nora, nodding his head to something Dr. Neil said.

“He played guitar all his life, didn’t he?” Nora asked, trying to participate in the conversation.

“He was born a rockstar,” Joe said. “That’s the truth. If his daddy had been richer, and Wallis had been able to afford going to LA, who knows what he might have become. We were all so surprised when he decided that he was going to become a deputy to pay the bills. It’s not exactly the world’s best side job. But Wallis, he was crazy enough to think that being exposed to
real
life like a Deputy is would make him a better songwriter. Crazy thing is, he was probably right. Seeing all the pain of victims, living the stressful life that cops do, it changed Wallis. He was a kinder man for it, and a better performer too. On some level, he always connected to the crowd’s pain, and that’s why they loved him.” Joe took a swig from the can of beer in his hand and sighed. “Poor guy. Poor Karen too.”

“Oh, Karen will be all right,” Dr. Neil said. “She’s young. She’ll recover.”

As if her name had summoned her, Karen appeared on the stairs. Dr. Neil immediately stopped speaking, and the three of them nodded quietly as Karen passed them by, the red of her hair now contrasted by the red on her cheeks.

“Oh, she’ll recover,” Joe said, a tad cynically, as he watched her go. “It’s Wallis’ fans I’m more worried about. Without him, our band is dead too. I suppose I might as well sell off my instruments.”

“Yes. Karen will sell off Wallis’ collection too, I suppose,” Dr. Neil said. “I heard he had some really classic guitars.”

“Wallis was really proud of his guitars.” Joe sighed. “He was always showing off about having one from Zany Motts, signed too. But that was Wallis, always boasting about himself, his house, his wife, his guitars. It hit him really hard when Karen left. He spends three months getting drunk and talking about her. Man, he was such a great player, though, that we didn’t mind all his boasting. He was kind too, though he’d always let you know you owed him if he helped you out.”

“Oh, that kind of kind.” Dr. Neil sighed. “The
I’ll be nice to you but you better thank me and praise me a long time after
. No, that’s not true kindness, I feel. Though I’m an old-fashioned man, and I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.”

“Plenty of people here who are,” Joe said, getting a bit quieter. “There’s men whose wives he slept with. Like Luke Taggart there, he’s the owner of Luke’s sporting goods up in Maple Street. Luke looks downright gleeful. He’s only sorry he didn’t kill Wallis himself, I think.”

“Maybe he did, though,” Nora said, her voice dropping.

“Maybe,” Joe said, looking startled at this. “I don’t know. I don’t want to accuse anybody.”

“Joe,you were with Wallis when the rock show ended,” Nora said. “After the set, what happened? Shouldn’t you all have been partying together?”

Joe looked a little ashamed. “We were,” he said.

“So you might be among the last people to see him alive?” Nora asked.
 

“I
was the
last person to see him alive,” Joe said. He looked furtively at Dr. Neil. Then, looking back at Nora, he said, “I want you both to promise you won’t say a thing. Especially to the cops.”

They both nodded.

“The truth is, he and I and the boys… we were… in the bus, getting a little drunk,” Joe said. “Well, a lot more than just drunk, but I won’t tell tales. Us rock stars need energy.”

Drugs?
Nora thought, feeling disgusted.

Seeing her look, Joe said, “It was harmless. We knew we had another set coming up after the fireworks. Nothing that’d knock us out. Anyway, Harvey and that girl of his came into the bus, and Harvey lost it.”

“Harvey fought with him?” Nora asked.

“Fought? Harvey was furious enough to throw all our stash down the toilet,” Joe said. “He yelled at Wallis that this was the kind of behavior that would make Sean win. He threatened to call the cops. Wallis was a little out of it, and he began yelling back at Harvey. He said Harvey knew nothing about the kind of pressure he was under, and that Harvey was just a pretty little rich boy with his pretty little rich girl,” Joe said.

“What happened then?” Nora asked.

“Harvey grabbed him by the collar, and asked him to apologize,” Joe said. “Wallis refused. He grabbed his guitar, and said, “Harvey, the only reason I ain’t breaking this guitar over your head is because my Daddy gave it to me, and it once belonged to Zany Motts himself. I’m a
rockstar,
Harvey. I’m no piddling small town sheriff. Maybe I should just quit. Who’d contest your election then, you little smug rat? I’ll be living the life in LA and you’ll be down here alone, Sean still lording it over you.””

“Wow,” Nora said.
 

“Yeah, it was quite a scene.” Joe said. “But you know Harvey. He’d calmed down by then. You could see he was still furious on the inside, though, you know? He almost looked amused. He turned to Wallis and said, “That’s fine by me. You go ahead, go ahead. And who’ll look after your family here, Wallis? Or are you okay with abandoning her? That’s why you wanted to be sheriff, isn’t it? For justice to your family?”

“What?” Nora looked confused. “What justice? What was Harvey talking about? Wallis doesn’t have family here. His wife left him, he had no kids, and his parents are deceased, aren’t they?”

 
“Yeah,” Joe said. “Maybe he was, but… well, that’s what Harvey said, and it wiped the smile off Wallis’ face, let me tell you. After that, Wallis picked up his guitar and went outside for a smoke, and Harvey was so angry, he just bolted. It was real awkward. Harvey’s girlfriend, that cute out-of-town girl, she tried to go after him, but Harvey had run off ahead and mixed with the crowd before she could catch him.”

“Wait, but did you tell any of this to the detectives?” Nora asked. “About the fight and all?”

“We-e-ll.” Joe looked a little sheepish. “See the thing is, Monty, from the band, he’s been in trouble over drugs before. We didn’t want… well, the police wouldn’t be too kind if they saw what we were doing. So we stayed silent about it then. After that it just felt awkward to bring it up. Besides, we saw Harvey run off into the crowd. No way he did it. Right?”

“Right,” Dr. Neil said, still pale.

Nora was watching Dr. Neil, whose teeth were bared in a smile that seemed almost feral. Sweat had gathered on his brow. What had happened to him? He had been fine all along, and now he looked as if he’d seen a ghost.

“Dr. Neil, do you need a chair?” Nora asked. As a man in his mid-to-late sixties, she wondered if the stress of the atmosphere had gotten to him.

“I’m all right, my dear.” Dr. Neil said. “But I’d better head back home now. Give Mrs. Mullally my compliments, will you? I’ll be around your house for some of her excellent chamomile tea soon.”

“She’ll be delighted.” Nora smiled. “I’ll make some of that Blackberry pie you like so much, too.”

“Oh, I’m not allowed much more than a small bite at my age,” Dr. Neil said, “so I’ll only have about two of those pies.”

Joe laughed. “You ought to sell those pies, Nora,” he said. “I’ve heard all about them from Sean. He used to make us jealous with his rhapsodies about your food.”

Nora blushed. “Well, it’s all in a day’s work.”

“Where’s Sean, by the way?” Joe asked. “Haven’t seen him around.”

“Here,” Sean said, appearing at the top of the stairs. “Must have eaten something wrong for breakfast.” He smiled. “How are you holding up, Joe? Everything all right? I know losing him has been hard on you.”

“It is what it is.” Joe shrugged. “I knew him a long time, and I still can’t quite believe he’s gone.”

“It’s hard,” Sean said, putting a hand on Joe’s shoulder. After a few more minutes of conversation, he added, “Well, I suppose Nora and I had better get going too, Joe.”

Joe nodded and gave Nora a look, a look that seemed to plead with her not to tell Sean anything that he had told her.

Nora gave Joe a slight nod, as Sean took her arm.

She allowed him to lead her to his car, as she didn’t want to make a scene, what with people around them. As soon as they had closed the doors of the car, she turned on him, her face red with anger.

“How long?” she asked. “How long have you and Karen been seeing each other, Sean?”

*****

Chapter 21

“What?!” Sean’s instant reaction was to deny it. He shook his head and held his hands up, but Nora caught the fleeting look of anger and fear on his face, and she knew. She knew that he had been the man with Karen when Nora had overheard their conversation.

“How long?” she asked, again.

“It’s not like you think,” Sean said. “Karen and I aren’t exactly--”

“I heard everything,” Nora said, icily. “There’s no need to hide any more, Sean.”

Sean let out a deep breath. “I suppose,” he said. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and began reversing the car. “Will you at least allow me to drive us out of here before I tell you my side of the story?” he asked. “The last thing I want is to cause a scene here. I don’t want to disrespect Wallis.”

“Disrespect him?” Nora laughed. “That’s a hoot. Where did all this respect go when you were seeing his wife, Sean?”

Sean weaved his way through the cars that crowded the street and then gunned the engine. “Nora, you can think what you like, but I always respected him. Besides, they were already separated when I started seeing Karen.”

“Oh sure,” Nora scoffed. “Why did you get together with her, Sean? Were you insecure that he’d beat you in the elections? Was this your twisted way of getting back at him for standing against you?”

“It had
nothing
to do with the elections,” Sean burst out, his voice hoarse. “Nothing!”

“So what was it?” she asked.

“I fell in love with her, all right?” Sean said. “I fell in love with Karen. There, I said it.”

Nora didn’t know what to say. She’d been right. All along, Harvey had been jealous of Sean, and she’d defended herself, telling Harvey that she felt nothing for Sean, and he felt nothing for her. The entire town had been convinced that the two had a mild flirtation going on, but Nora had always felt… nothing. She’d had no right to, of course, but she’d begun to believe that Sean liked her after she broke up with Harvey. She’d actually been wary, wondering whether it was right that she was spending so much time around him, then, when Harvey had moved on
 
she’d decided to move on too, even if her heart wasn’t in it.