A Treasure to Die For (13 page)

By Wednesday, the three of us were on our way to Bailey to give our statements of what we had seen on Mosquito Pass. I had nearly forgotten about the ticket the cop gave me for driving with expired plates. He said he wouldn’t have noticed if they hadn’t been covered in mud. It seems Bonnie was eighteen days past the grace period of getting her plates renewed.

This time we took my Jeep to avoid another ticket. I waited until we were on the road before telling Bonnie I was going to tell Deputy White about the bloody shirt and our visit to the cabin.

“You should have said something sooner, Jake. Margot will have a cow. You know I can’t do that without her lawyer.” Bonnie fumbled through her purse, looking for her phone. “I better call her and see if Harvey can meet us there.”

It would be useless to try to stop her, assuming she found her cell phone. I had seen her miss more than one call when she couldn’t get to it in time. “Harvey must be far too busy to just drop everything and drive to Bailey, but I suppose it’s worth a try.”

She held a finger to her lips in the universal sign for me to shut my mouth. “Damn it, Margot, answer your phone.”

Her sister’s phone did as it was told and came back with a recorded message.

Bonnie yelled into her phone, “Margot, call me back when you get this. It’s important!” Then she slammed the flip-phone shut and looked at me with real fear in her eyes.

“Can’t we do this later, Jake? Please?”

“Are you forgetting the cops at Appleton’s yesterday? It can only mean one thing.”

She cut me off before I could finish. “They no longer think he killed himself.”

“Exactly, and no matter how clever we thought we were, they are bound to find something to connect us to the crime scene.”

Bonnie looked at her phone again before putting it back in her purse. “Like Fred’s paw prints,” she said. “Okay, Jake, you win. I suppose Margot can always bail me out if she has to.”

***

We rehearsed our story during the forty-five minute ride, so if we wouldn’t be caught in a lie if we got interrogated separately. It was a simple story. It was basically the one we told Wilson, without the part of us breaking and entering Appleton’s cabin.

“Be a good boy, Freddie. We shouldn’t be long,” I said after parking the Jeep and rolling down all the windows.

Bonnie didn’t make a move to get out. “Maybe I should stay here with him, Jake.”

“It’s not even seventy, Bon. He’ll be fine.”

“No. Not the heat. What if they arrest us? Who’s going to take care of Fred?”

“Unless the deputies drive unmarked cars, the answer is no one. There are only two cars in the parking lot, and not one of them is a police vehicle or has county plates.”

***

Once we left the building, I realized my observation had been correct. The only officer at the substation was a clerk, and she was busy with someone paying a ticket. I grabbed Bonnie’s elbow and led her back outside.

“Change of plans, Bon,” I said once we were back at my Jeep. “Let’s just give them a statement on what we saw and did on Mosquito Pass.”

Bonnie looked relieved. “Okay with me. I wasn’t looking forward to spending the night in jail anyway. What made you change your mind?”

“What did you see in there?”

“Nothing. Just someone paying a ticket.”

“Exactly. No deputies. I doubt if they have six in the entire county. They have to be way too busy to bother trying to catch us in a lie, so there’s no need in asking for trouble.”

***

The drive home was quiet, at least our conversation was. Margot called back before we got half a mile from the sheriff’s substation. I became invisible while Bonnie reassured her sister everything was okay, and they went on to talk about nothing that interested me. I waited until she hung up before saying anything.

“How well do you know your Bible, Bon?”

She looked at me wide-eyed. “What?” Then she seemed to understand. “Oh, you mean for church next Sunday.”

“Not exactly. I had something a little more devious in mind. I was thinking of knocking on a few doors in Appleton’s neck of the woods. I could dress Fred as a seeing-eye dog and pretend to be a blind Jehovah’s Witness. Of course, I’d need your help to pull it off.”

“That’s got to be the goofiest idea you’ve ever had,” she said, once she’d finally stopped laughing.

“We need to know what the cops found at Appleton’s. Maybe one of the neighbors would open up to a couple of bible-toting evangelists, especially if one of them was blind. So unless you have a better idea, I think I need to start looking for one of those harnesses guide dogs wear.”

“How would they know what the sheriff found in the cabin? It seems to me that if the cops found anything they’d keep it to themselves.” She looked at me like I’d lost it.

“True, but bear with me for a minute. What if the cops went around interviewing the neighbors after searching the cabin? It’s possible they might have said something about what they found.”

Bonnie’s vacant stare answered my question without her having to say a word.

“Yeah, you’re right, Bon. Dumb idea. Besides, I doubt if Fred could pull it off anyway. They’d know he wasn’t a service dog the first time he saw a cat or squirrel.”

“Well, you did have one good idea today. I’m glad you changed your mind about confessing. Margot would have been madder than a horny hornet if I confessed without her lawyer present.” She absentmindedly turned her phone over and over again. “What really made you change your mind anyway? I’m not buying that it was because they don’t have the manpower to waste on us.”

“Who were we going to tell? The only one in the office was the clerk. I really need to talk to Deputy White before I go confessing to breaking and entering.”

She looked at her phone like she’d just realized what it was. “What about Margot? Should I call her back and ask her to send Harvey with us when we talk to White?”

“You can call her if you want, but tell her you won’t need her lawyer because there’s no need to involve you in this. I’ll tell White it was just me and Fred at the cabin. I’m pretty sure his paw prints are the only prints the CBI will find. I’m positive they will never know you were there.”

Bonnie had put the phone away and replaced it with a pack of cigarettes as I pulled into her driveway. “I can’t let you take all the blame. No jury in the world is going to convict an old widow pushing seventy. Please let me go with you when you talk to White. I promise not to tell Margot until afterwards.”

She got out of the Jeep, lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. “I’d like to meet your mama someday, Jake, and tell her what a great job she did raising you.” The smoke must have gotten in her eyes, for I thought I saw her wipe a tear from her face.

Deputy White was waiting at the substation for us Thursday morning. He had returned my call the previous night and agreed to meet us. This time I left Fred home so if we did get arrested, he wouldn’t get lost in some animal shelter.

His truck was parked next to the car we had seen when we gave our statements earlier. “I wonder if they have a jail cell here?” I asked Bonnie after shutting off my engine.

She was playing with her cigarette pack again, a sure sign she was nervous. “Do you think they’ll arrest us?”

“Sorry, I was just thinking out loud. I noticed his truck isn’t set up to transport prisoners, so I was wondering where they kept them until they could send them to Fairplay.”

Bonnie lit a cigarette once she was out of my Jeep. “I need a minute before we go in there, Jake. You should have let Harvey come with us.”

“All the more reason you need to stay here and let me go in alone.”

She dropped her cigarette and stomped on it. “No, I’m just as guilty as you. The Lord would never forgive me if I didn’t own up to my sins.” She didn’t wait for a response and headed toward the building.

It was all I could do to catch up with her at the door. “Okay, Bon, but let me do the talking,” I said, opening the door for her.

***

We were led to a back office by the clerk where Deputy White was waiting for us.

“So what is so important that I had to drive all the way in from Fairplay?” he asked after the preliminary greetings were over and we’d taken two chairs in front of his desk.

“We saw your CSI team yesterday, or whatever you call it.”

White had a smile that would put Bozo the Clown to shame. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“You knew we were there?” Bonnie asked.

“I thought I recognized that Cherokee from the time I was at your place, so I ran a check on it and guess who got a ticket not a mile away?”

Evidently it was a rhetorical question, as he didn’t wait for an answer. “So what were you doing there?”

Bonnie answered for me. “Jake wanted to check for power-steering fluid in the driveway.”

He looked briefly at her before turning to me. “Is that why I had to drive all the way from Fairplay, Jake?” I knew the tone in his voice from when I was a kid. My father had used that tone after I’d been caught smoking in the boy’s restroom at school. When I got home, he asked me how was school. He never asked before, so I confessed thinking he already knew.

“It’s true. I wanted to see if Cory’s Datsun had been there, but it’s not the first time. We were at Appleton’s cabin before he was found dead, and I took a shotgun he had stolen from me.” I wanted to add that Bonnie had not gone inside, but didn’t want to be caught in a lie if they had found her prints.

“So you’re telling me you two committed a felony breaking and entering, and decided to come clean after driving by Appleton’s cabin yesterday when you saw the forensics truck?”

“No, sir, Bonnie was just an innocent bystander, and I didn’t break in. The door was wide open and when I saw my gun on his kitchen table…well it did belong to me, so I wasn’t really stealing.”

I expected the deputy to act surprised, but he only smiled. “You should have called me before taking anything. But I suppose I would have done the same under the circumstances.”

“Then you’re not upset that we entered a crime scene?”

“I would be if it was a crime scene,” White answered.

“Tell him about the blood on the deck, and the shirt Fred found, Jake.”

I bumped her knee in a futile attempt to shut her up.

“Jake thinks you should run a DNA test on the blood samples to see if they match. He thinks those kids killed Appleton, don’t you, Jake?”

White was no longer smiling. “I know about the blood on the deck. What’s this about a bloody shirt? Did you remove evidence we should have found?”

“Not at the cabin, silly. Fred found it at the kids’ house,” Bonnie said.

White’s mood changed for the worse. “Who the hell is Fred?”

“He’s Jake’s dog,” she answered, then followed it with an Ow when I bumped her knee a little too hard.

I ignored Bonnie’s cry and tried my best to stay focused on White. “I’m sorry, Deputy, I think I better start from the beginning and tell you everything.”

***

White was all smiles again after I explained my adventure at Cory and Jennifer’s house, and how Fred had found Appleton’s shirt after rolling in the trash. I didn’t mention Bonnie’s manicure kit, but I did tell him how scared I was when I saw the Lakewood cop giving the car next to my Jeep a ticket. I think that’s what made him grin. Then I told him about our trip to Three Sisters Park.

“We saw the same oil spot next to where he supposedly shot himself. That’s why we went back to his cabin. We wanted to see if the kids had left their calling card in his driveway, too.”

“That they did. A rather large spot indicating they had been there for some time, but what makes you think Appleton was shot?” White asked rather smugly.

“He wasn’t shot?” Bonnie asked, placeing a hand on her knee and leaning forward before asking the question.

Now I was the one with big eyes. “But you said you found power-steering fluid in the driveway. That proves Cory was there and if the blood on the deck matches the shirt, he must have shot Appleton at the cabin and moved the body to Three Sisters to make it look like a suicide.”

“This is why you two need to leave detective work to the pros. The blood on the deck that you think belongs to Appleton isn’t human, and he killed himself with a bad injection of heroine, not a gunshot.”

“You’re telling us it was an accident? What about the note where he confessed to killing Shelia?” I asked.

“I didn’t say it was an accident. You didn’t hear it from me, not that it matters once the press finds out, but he overdosed on purpose.”

White got up from his chair, indicating he was done. “The only crime I see is when you entered his cabin, but I’ll let it go if you two promise to quit playing detective.”

***

Except for small talk about Bonnie not having to get her sister involved, we hardly spoke on the trip home until she had me pull over at the liquor store in Evergreen. I waited in my Jeep while she went in for cigarettes. She surprised me when she came out with a shopping bag.

I got out and opened her door. Any other time she would object to anyone holding a door for her, but it was either that, or she would have to put the bag down and open it herself.

“I didn’t want to drink alone, Jake, so I got you a six-pack of your favorite beer,” she said.

I took the bag until she got in. “Thanks for thinking of me, Bon, but you know I gave it up for Julie.”

She looked up at me, and I gave her the bag. “Trust me. After today, she won’t mind if you have a couple.”

I must admit it was tempting, but I simply smiled and shut her door.

She waited until we were back on the road before speaking again. “We just admitted to breaking and entering and got off with only a warning. I don’t know how you can celebrate without a little drink.”

“I’m afraid it’s not quite over, Bon. Did you forget about your manicure kit?”

“I don’t follow, Jake. You got it back from those kids so how could the police trace me now? You don’t think they still suspect me, do you?”

“Deputy White doesn’t because it’s not his case. Shelia wasn’t murdered in Park County, but you can bet your next Social Security check the Lakewood police haven’t forgotten about that nail file.”

“But they would have arrested me by now if it was my file. My name is on the handle.”

“Okay, you got me there. I was sure it was Appleton who killed Shelia and hid the evidence in the kids’ trash. But it couldn’t be your file, not if your name is on it.”

“How do you figure it was Appleton? I thought you said it was Craig?”

“That was before I found your manicure kit in the trash. Let’s suppose Appleton broke into her place looking for her copy of
Tom Sawyer
when she was doing her nails. She screams when she sees him, then he grabs the file out of her hand and stabs her in the neck. He gets blood all over his shirt from the wound, so he takes off his shirt, grabs the manicure kit and throws everything in the nearest trash can when he leaves.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes. “And what was Shelia doing with my manicure kit in the first place? And why would Appleton want to hide it anyway?”

“I don’t know. Maybe White is right and we need to leave it to the pros. None of it makes any sense to me. When the cops find Appleton’s prints on the file you’ll no longer be a suspect and the case will be closed.” I said as I pulled into her driveway.

Bonnie fiddled with her pack of cigarettes. It was obvious she couldn’t wait to get out of my Jeep and light up. “Good idea, Jake. Now go get Freddie and come back down so we can celebrate.”

***

Fred acted like I’d been gone a month. He was still trying to get me to play with him long after we’d left our cabin and walked down the path to Bonnie’s. I quit throwing Fred’s stick when we started up her deck stairs for fear he might jump off the deck to retrieve it, but it didn’t stop him from trying to put it in my hand.

Bonnie was sitting on her porch rocker staring at her drink as if hypnotized and didn’t look up when I spoke. “Are you okay, Bon?”

I had caught her rubbing her chest and her face looked like she was in pain, but she smiled when she saw Fred.

“It’s that damn sister of mine. She’s all ticked off because I went without her lawyer,” she answered reaching out to pet Fred. “You must be starving, Freddie. Would you like Aunt Bonnie to get you something?”

“Please don’t bother, Bon. I think you need to go inside and lie down. We can celebrate some other time.”

She got up and started to go inside. “Nonsense, it’s just a little heartburn. Now sit down while I get us something to eat.” She went back inside before I could beg off. Fred understood the word ‘eat’, for he quit trying to put the stick in my hand, and started wagging his tail.

I opened a soda she had left for me on the table, and tried to think of a nice way to tell her we wouldn’t be staying for dinner. She may no longer be a suspect in Shelia’s murder, but it didn’t get me any closer to finding Julie’s ring and copy of
Tom Sawyer
. I needed to go while there was still enough daylight for me to sneak back to Appleton’s cabin and retrieve my property.

Fred couldn’t care less about my plans and went to Bonnie’s screen door. At first I thought he must have smelled her cooking something good until he started barking at me. “What’s wrong, Freddie?”

He ran over to me, barked again, and then ran back to the screen door.

I knew Fred better than any human. “Bonnie, are you okay in there?” I asked, getting up from my chair.

“Oh my God! Bonnie!” I yelled when I saw her lying on the floor.