Middle River Murders (18 page)

“That’s so true.”

“Some people kill without the least bit of remorse. After
some of the things I’ve seen, now I know why we have the death penalty.”

“I’m beginning to feel the same way.”

“Sometimes you just have to rid society of people who commit
these atrocities against others.”

I burped Ethan, wrapped him securely in his blanket and then
laid him back in his crib. I walked over, looked down at Maisy who was still
sleeping, and then motioned to Mom.

“I guess they’re good for another couple of hours. I’m so
glad that Maisy sleeps through the night. I don’t know what I’d do if they both
got up in the middle of the night.”

“You could handle the task,” Mom said. “I’m sure of it. I
wish your dad could see you now. He’d be so proud.”

She put her arm around my shoulder as we walked out of the
room.

“After all those years of your rebel-rousing, you’ve turned
out to be a well-adjusted adult. I had my worries about you, but not anymore.
And you’ve found the perfect man for yourself. I’m so glad you have Billy. I
had my doubts about Cole after a while, but I never had any about Billy.”

“I’m sorry that Dad never got to see how good my life has
turned out. He’d be so proud.”

“Your dad has always been proud of you, Jesse.”

Mom started to sniffle and it wasn’t long before the two of
us were standing in the hallway, sniffling together.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and said, “We have to stop
this, or I’m going to look rough in the morning.”

“I guess we should go back to bed and try to get some sleep.
Billy’s down for the count and there’s no getting anything out of him now.”

“According to his description of
Kansas
’ house, I think the man must’ve had
an obsessive/compulsive disorder. He never threw anything out. I think he
might’ve been the one who was snatching up all those dogs and cats in
Dogwood
Valley
.”

“What kind of disorder is that?”

“It’s just like it sounds. He’s obsessed about keeping
everything and compelled to never throw anything away. Of course, there’s more
to it than that, but it would take me all day to explain it.”

“I don’t understand,” Mom said. “And I don’t think I want
to.”

“I’m just wondering where he buried all the animal corpses.”

“That’s a horrible thought. Why would he kill a defenseless
animal?”

A thought occurred to me.

“Perhaps he didn’t mean to,” I said. “I read about people
like him. In my psychology class we studied disorders and how people with
certain disorders act. If he had a learning disability or was mentally
challenged in some way, he could’ve accidentally killed them. Maybe he hugged
them too tight.”

“Are you serious?”

“Sure, I am. It’s been known to happen.”

“That’s so sad.”

As we stood at the doorway to my bedroom, I looked over at
the clock on the nightstand.

“We better go to bed. It’ll be dawn before you know it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Mom and I hugged each other and then went to our separate
bedrooms.

Athena and Thor followed after Mom, while Spice Cat remained
in his comfort zone.

I crawled back into bed and fell asleep the minute my head
hit the pillow. I’d just fallen asleep when I thought I heard someone banging
on the front door. I figured I was dreaming, until the dogs started barking.

I could see the shadow from the light in the living room and
heard someone yelling. I looked over, but Billy wasn’t in bed.

Not again, I thought. I jumped up and stumbled to the bedroom
door. I looked down the hallway and saw a frightening sight. Billy was
struggling with Daisy Clark! He had a hold of her arm and I could see a shiny
object in her hand that looked like a gun.

The dogs barked wildly and jumped on Billy and Daisy as they
fought.

I ran over to my dresser, opened the top drawer and pulled
out my .357. I turned and went back to the bedroom doorway and stood there for
a second.

I took a deep breath and then took off down the hallway, gun
raised. The closer I got, the more I could see that it was, indeed, a gun Daisy
had in her hand. By the time I reached the living room, I looked to my left and
saw Mom coming down the stairs. I knew that she was unaware of the danger.

“Get back upstairs!” I yelled.

Mom hesitated for a second and then turned and ran back up
the stairs.

The gun fired twice into the floor, and the last time the gun
went off, Daisy shot herself in the foot. It looked as if the tip of her shoe
had been ripped off by the blast. Blood ran from the ragged toe of the shoe.

Fortunately, no one else was hit. Billy finally grabbed her
wrist with one hand, and with the other, snatched the gun away.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, but you gave me no choice,” Billy
said to Daisy as she fell to the floor in pain. “You broke into my house and
put my family in danger. I had to stop you.”

The kids started crying.

Athena and Thor circled Daisy, their teeth bared.

Spice Cat came in from the hallway and inched forward in a
crouched position, hissing at the crazed woman as if he were using up the last
of his nine lives to defend his home.

I’d never seem him act so aggressively. If I didn’t know
better, I’d think he was rabid.

Then, without good reason, the cat stopped hissing and
approached Daisy. He rubbed against her just as he had done to us many times.

Daisy grabbed her foot and screamed at us. “Murderers, all of
you! You killed my brother. Why? Why would you kill a harmless man who never
hurt a soul? He couldn’t help it if he wasn’t like everyone else! Now look at
what you’ve done to me. You shot me in the foot.”

Startled by Daisy’s outcry, Spice Cat scrambled away.

“You shot yourself,” Billy said.
“U-lv-no-ti-s-gi `ge ya!
Ni-hi a-da-hi-hi!”

Mom came down the stairs in a rush. “I feel like such a
coward for running away.” She looked over at Billy. “What were you saying?”

Billy looked at Mom.

“She is a crazy, poisonous woman. Don’t think about her.
Think about the fact that you did the right thing. When someone has a gun and
you’re told to run, that’s what you should do.” He looked from Mom to me and
said, “I’m so proud of you both.”

The kids started crying louder, either from the loud sound of
the earlier gunfire or from Crazy Daisy lying on our floor, still screaming in
agony.

I felt as if she deserved to be in pain. I handed my gun to
Mom and said, “I have to go take care of my kids. You’ve earned the right to
hold someone at gunpoint. Are you ready for this responsibility?”

“After these past couple of days, I can handle anything.”

“We will call you
e-`tsi a-wi e-qua
—Mother Elk.”
Billy’s face lit up with pride. “You are strong and also wise. Now you have
learned when to run and when to stay. Keep the gun pointed on her and I’ll call
the police.”

“Since everything is under control, I’ll attend to my young
ones.”

I turned and left the room. I went to the nursery and
assessed the situation. Maisy was terrified and tearful. I picked her up, put
her pacifier back into her mouth and held her closely. We snuggled together as
I went over and placed the blanket back over Ethan’s little body, and then
patted his back.

He quickly calmed down. Soon he was fast asleep and Maisy was
nodding off. I placed her back in her crib and stood there looking at both of
them.

“I have two wonderful children. I’m so lucky,” I said out
loud and then turned and left the room.

When I got back to the living room, everyone had moved to the
kitchen.

The dogs were lying quietly in the corner of the room and
Spice Cat had reappeared. He was no longer hissing.

That surprised me because I knew he would hiss at people he
didn’t like. He’s a laid-back cat and that doesn’t happen often, but it has
happened. Usually, the people that Spice Cat hissed at turned out to be bad
people.

Animals have good instincts when it comes to bad people.

Billy was leaning against the kitchen counter holding my .357
in his hand. Another gun, a .38 caliber that obviously belonged to Daisy was on
the counter next to him.

Mom was over by the dining table trying to bandage Daisy’s
foot, shoe and all, with an old, bathroom towel. She pulled the towel tight and
put pressure to Daisy’s foot. Daisy cried out in pain.

“What are you doing, Mom?”

“We can’t just let her bleed to death. She’s given up. She
can’t fight back. It’s the right thing to do, Jesse.”

We all looked over at the three bullet holes in the floor by
the door and the trail of blood that led to the kitchen.

Billy walked over to the door, bent down, looked back up and
said, “I don’t see any toes, so I guess she was lucky.”

I almost gagged at the thought.

“I don’t know why we’re feeling sorry for her,” I said. “She
sent her brother to Mom’s house to kill us, and then she comes here with the
same goal in mind. Are we nuts? You must’ve lost your mind!”

“You’re the one who’s nuts,” Daisy lashed back at me. “I
didn’t do any of the things you accuse me of, except come here. I wasn’t going
to hurt anybody. I just wanted to scare you. I know what my brother did was
wrong, but did you have to kill him?”

“He was like a madman,” Mom said in her most soothing voice.
“Daisy, I was scared for my life, and the life of my daughter. You can
understand that. We had to defend ourselves. We had no other choice.”

Daisy
Clark
was injured and in extreme pain, but
managed to continue to ramble on, declaring her brother’s innocence as we
waited for the police and the ambulance to arrive. She looked distressed and
beaten. She was a shell of a person. I almost felt sorry for her.

“I don’t understand what would make him do something like
that,” Daisy said. “It’s not like him. He’s done a few things that I’m not
proud of lately, but he’s never hurt anyone.”

“Maybe he just hates animals,” I said.

“He likes animals. He takes home strays and tries to protect
them. Sometimes he hugs them too tight. I talked to him about it, but I
couldn’t get him to stop. I told him he was doing more harm than good, but he
just didn’t understand.” She looked directly into Mom’s eyes and said, “I swear
to you, Minnie, my brother wouldn’t hurt you, unless…”

“Unless what, Daisy?”

“Unless he went off his medication.”

“Now, ain’t that grand?” I said as I walked with Billy over
to the kitchen counter.

I stood staring at the .38 lying on the counter. I had to
give Daisy credit for learning from her first mistake. If she had really wanted
to kill Jonathan, she should’ve used a higher caliber weapon like the one she
brought here tonight. She would’ve gotten better results.

“You have a brother who literally loves animals to death,
goes off his medication, and then resorts to killing people. Are you going to
try to convince us that he wanted to love us to death? That’s about as stupid a
story as I’ve ever heard.”

“No, that’s not what I’m trying to tell you.”

“I see that you’ve gotten wiser,” I said, changing the
subject. I pointed to the gun. “Now you’re using a real gun… not like that puny
.22 you used on Billy’s brother. You shot Jonathan with your .22 and didn’t
kill him, so you decided to go big, or go home.”

“What are you implying?”

“Most women choose a .38. It’ll stop anyone no matter where
they get hit, unless you’re a bull elephant. Nothing stops one of them. Not
even you, Daisy Clark.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Daisy said,
tearfully. “Gabe only has one gun.” She pointed to the one lying on the
counter. “That one over there. That’s the only gun we have in our house.”

“Oh, I see. I guess that means you must have the .22 in the
garage or in your car. Which one is it, Daisy? The garage or the car?”

“I’m telling you the truth,” Daisy replied. “That is the only
gun we have. We don’t own a .22, I swear.”

“I’m sure you’re telling the truth, but forgive me for not
believing you. We’ll find the other gun. I can promise you that. While you’re
rotting away in a jail cell on multiple counts of murder and attempted murder,
we’ll be digging through everything you own. How do you like that, Miss Smarty
Pants?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Daisy yelled. “I
didn’t kill anyone! I swear!”

Billy walked over to Daisy and sat down in the chair next to
her.

“What happened to your brother to make him like he was? Was
he born that way?”

Daisy hesitated for a second and then said, “He drank alcohol
and coffee and then took some kind of tranquilizer. Then he tried to hang
himself. But he failed. He didn’t die, and he’s been messed up ever since. He
was left brain-damaged.”

“How many years ago did this happen?” I asked. “Was it around
the time Sophie died?”

“How did you know about Sophie?” Daisy fussed. She was
startled at what I’d said. “You’ve been snooping around his house, haven’t you?
How dare you! What gives you the right to go prowling around on someone’s
property like a stalker?”

“How dare you kill all those women just so you could move up
the ladder in your stupid social club!” Mom snapped. “Why, Daisy? Why would you
do something so terrible? Have you no shame?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Minnie!” Daisy
replied. “I didn’t kill anyone. Why do you keep saying that?”

“Because the evidence points to you!” I shouted.

“All right, I have to admit that I thought Pat Johnson died
from the mushrooms I fixed, but later I learned that I was wrong. And I will
admit that at first I was overwhelmed with the thought that I could get rid of
someone so easily.”

“You have that killer instinct.”

“When I came to my senses, I realized how wrong I’d been. I
just wanted everyone to think Pat wasn’t right for the position of club
president. I wanted that spot. I’d earned it. I never should’ve tried to make
Pat look bad. I didn’t play fair, and it was wrong. Thank God, I wasn’t
responsible for her death! I’d never be able to forgive myself.”

I walked over, slammed my hand down on the table and yelled
at Daisy.

“You never did answer my question about Sophie. Did you kill
her, too? What happened? Did she try to take your brother away from you?”

“I didn’t kill Sophie.”

“I’ve met women like you before. You put your brother up on a
pedestal. You thought he was too good for Sophie, so you got rid of her.”

Daisy started to cry, but her tears were wasted on me.

“You’re a sick person. You belong in jail.”

I turned and walked back to the kitchen. I looked down at the
gun on the counter and then looked up and asked, “Where’s Gabe?”

Something about that gun was bothering me.

“He’s probably still in bed,” Daisy replied. “He gave me
those pills, but I didn’t take them. When he went to sleep, I snuck out of the
house. Somebody needs to call him for me.”

“I’ll go call him,” Mom said.

She got up and went to the wall phone.

“How did you know where to find us?” I continued.

“I fell apart when I found out about
Kansas
. I wanted my brother’s killer to
pay, so I made Gabe call his detective friend. It didn’t take long to put the
pieces of the puzzle together.”

Daisy turned to Mom and said, “I was so hurt when I found out
that you had tricked me.”

Daisy let out a cry of pain. The blood from her wound had
seeped through the towel and was pooling on the floor.

Mom hung up the phone and came back over to the table. She
dragged one of the kitchen chairs over for Daisy. She carefully lifted her foot
and placed it on the chair.

“Gabe didn’t say a whole lot. He was confused, but said he
would get to the hospital as soon as he could,” Mom said. “I told him they’d
probably take you to UVA. When they ask, tell them that’s where you want to go.
Okay?”

“Okay,” Daisy said, weakly.

“The ambulance will be here soon. Just hold on, Daisy. I know
it hurts. I’m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry about?” I fumed. “She’s the one who came
here to get revenge. She’s the one who shot herself in the foot!”

Mom looked up at me and ignored my statement.

“Jesse, would you go to the laundry room and get another
towel?”

The .38 handgun on the counter was still bothering me as I
turned and walked to the laundry room. As I retrieved a towel from the cabinet
and then turned to walk away, a thought crossed my mind. Is Daisy telling the
truth about the gun, and if so, is it a possibility that she’s not the guilty
party? Could she be telling the truth about everything? Have we blamed the
wrong person? What about that eyewitness who saw Daisy run
Alice
off the road? Could the eyewitness be wrong? A whole
lot of questions had been stirred up in me because of that gun.

If Daisy was telling the truth about the gun, then maybe she
wasn’t lying about other stuff after all. By the time I got back to the
kitchen, I had a lot of unanswered questions.

Mom looked at Billy and asked, “Should we take off her shoe?”

“No!” Daisy insisted. “I don’t think I could stand the pain, and
the sight of it would probably make me sick. I’m weak-kneed. I faint at the
sight of blood.”

“Don’t you want to see what kind of damage was done?”

“No thanks,” Daisy replied. “I’ll pass. If I have to look at
my foot, I’ll puke. I’m telling you the truth when I say that I can’t stand the
sight of blood. Please, leave my foot alone. Let the doctors take care of it.”

That statement did it for me. If Daisy couldn’t stand the
sight of blood, then she surely couldn’t pull off a murder… at least, I didn’t
think so.

Sirens blared in the background as flashing lights lit up the
front yard.

I never did get a chance to question Daisy further. The
paramedics stabilized her foot for transport and she was out the door within
minutes.

“Shouldn’t one of us go with her?” Mom asked before the
ambulance pulled away.

“No,” I said. “She has her husband to take care of her. He’ll
be there soon. Don’t worry about Daisy. She can take care of herself.”

Our living room had now become a crime scene.

Two police officers were walking around, asking questions and
taking pictures. Once they were satisfied with the answers, they politely left
with the promise that they would return if necessary.

They bagged the .38 as evidence.

“I think we have everything we need,” one of the officers said
just before he turned and walked out the door.

“I’m beginning to doubt her involvement in those
Middle River
murders,” Mom said. “I think Daisy
might be innocent.”

“That’s strange,” Billy said as he closed the door behind
himself. “Some of her statements make me think the same thing.”

“Like what statement?” I asked.

“Take that gun for instance. She swears that Gabe doesn’t own
a .22 handgun. She swore the .38 was the only gun they have.”

“That did bother me a bit.”

“Now if that’s the truth, then we might be on the wrong path.
We might need to back up and reevaluate the situation.”

“
Middle
River
murders, huh? Now
that’s an interesting thought,” I said. “All the women who died lived on
Middle River Road
, with the exception of Alice Aikens.
She lived on
Teel
Mountain Road
.”

“I don’t think where they lived had anything to do with why
they were killed... or does it? Maybe the location is the key. Perhaps it has a
lot to do with why they were killed.”

“I don’t know, but if Daisy isn’t the killer, I’d bet that whoever
killed those women lives nearby. Maybe we should be looking for someone in the
neighborhood with a grudge.”

“Yeah,” Mom agreed. “Perhaps there was someone who wanted to
join the club, but wasn’t accepted and now she wants revenge.”

“You could have a point,” Billy said.

“I guess it’s time for me to put on a pot of coffee,” Mom
said. “I don’t think we’re going back to bed. We need to come up with some
answers and we need to do it quickly before someone else gets hurt.”

“You’re right about that. I couldn’t sleep now if I had to,”
I said. “I have too much on my mind… too many questions.”

“I have a few of my own,” Billy said.

“I think we should go to the hospital this afternoon and talk
to Daisy. I’m sure they won’t release her today, not after she just shot
herself in the foot. I’m sure she did a lot of damage that will require
surgery.”

“That’s a good idea,” Billy said. “She’s going to be at her
weakest point now and there’s no telling what she might say.”

‘That’s right,” I added. “When someone is in pain, they’re
likely to say anything. She might even confess if we push her hard enough.”

“If she has anything to confess to,” Billy said. “I’m not so
sure anymore. I don’t know what to think.”

“I’m just amazed she didn’t scream the whole time,” Mom said.
“Shooting yourself in the foot with a .38 must be painful. I’d be in a tizzy.”

“You can bet she’ll have trouble with that foot the rest of
her life,” Billy said. “A .38 is a powerful gun. I’m surprised we didn’t have
to pick up pieces of her foot, or a few toes.”

“Yuck,” I said, gagging. I looked at Billy. “I guess I should
clean up this bloody mess. Oh, Lord. What a gross sight.”

“What an awful thought!” Mom said. “The idea of picking up
someone’s toes off our floor makes me nauseated.”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” I said. “There aren’t any toes on the
floor... just blood. I’ll clean it up. You go sit down.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Billy said.

“No, I will,” I said. “You have to take care of the holes in
the floor.”

Billy looked down and then back up at me.

“I’ll have to patch them with duct tape and throw a scatter
rug over them for now. As soon as I can get the material, I’ll cut out the
hardwood planks and replace them with new wood. That’s going to be a job.”

“I’ll help clean up the blood,” Mom said as she grabbed a roll
of paper towels and went to work.