Minnie Crockwell - Will Travel for Trouble 01 - Trouble at Happy Trails (12 page)

They all appeared to have motive, though murder seemed extreme. If anyone had a good reason to kill the abusive Carl, it would have been Sally, but she could just as easily have left him. Except for the issue of the life insurance. She would have had to give that up.
 

Jim’s passion for Sally did not seem strong enough to kill for, but people had murdered for less. I didn’t think he knew about the life insurance or he would not have offered to buy her a trailer.

Bob confused me. He had arrived early and not told anyone. He’d had time to kill Carl. Could he have killed Carl to protect his sister? Or maybe for a cut in the life insurance money as well?

And Karen. She
did
have the passion for Carl that would elicit murder…and the anger.
And
she had told me how it could be done. No one else had offered up a possible scenario for murder.

Everyone was forcibly kept away from everyone else by an officer, and I approached Officer Martinez, who was questioning Jim. From the handcuffs, it appeared they thought Jim was the primary suspect. I thought they were wrong.

“Miss Crockwell, could you please go back to your trailer?” Officer Martinez said. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I would except I don’t think Jim Brothers killed Carl.”

She turned to me with her dark eyes.
 

“What?” Karen shouted. “I know for a fact he did. Him and Sally! Stay out of this, Minnie! Go home!”

“I did not!” Sally cried out. “You little…”
 

“Please, Mrs. Brothers, Mrs. Richardson, be quiet!” Martinez turned toward me again. “What makes you think Mr. Brothers didn’t kill Mr. Richardson?”

“Primarily because Karen told me how it could have been done. And frankly, she seems to have the temperament to have done it. Plus, she was hiding the notes. Did you find those, by the way?”

Officer Martinez hissed with a frown and a shake of her head. “No, we forgot to get those. I’m not sure they’d be readable anyway by now.”

“They were wrapped in plastic.” I almost smirked.
I
wasn’t venturing into the sewer to dig them up. That job belonged to the police

“You say Mrs. Brothers told you how she would have done it?”

“Shut up, Minnie! Shut up!” Karen screeched like a banshee, and everyone turned to look at her.

“What did she say?”

I was shaking by now, hoping someone was planning on restraining Karen. My PTSD was kicking in, and adrenaline robbed me of breath. My knees wobbled, but there wasn’t anything to hold onto. I wasn’t approaching the picnic bench.

Steady on, girl. Steady on. Breathe, Minerva. Breathe.

I heard Ben’s voice and took a deep breath.

“Jim and Sally did it,” Karen shrieked. “I was just guessing.”

“Mrs. Brothers, please be quiet!” Officer Martinez barked.

“She said that it was just a matter of knocking him out, putting the gun in his hand and firing. That a gunshot would have ruined evidence of a blow to the head.”
 

All the police officers turned to look at Karen who jumped up. Officer Wilson dashed to her side and grabbed her arm as she attempted to run. He spun her around and clamped both her hands behind her back.

“You can’t prove it!” she shouted. “You can’t prove it. His head was gone. All over the walls! There’s no evidence. Find a few lousy notes in the sewer. They don’t prove anything.” Officer Wilson clamped cuffs on Karen’s wrists.

I turned to Officer Martinez who shook her head with narrowed eyebrows.

“The autopsy did show blunt trauma to the head, but the coroner couldn’t figure out what caused it, not with the mess from the gunshot.”

Did you know all along, Minerva? That Mrs. Brothers had committed the murder? How did I not read that in your thoughts?

Because I didn’t know, Ben, not until she looked at me with that hard look in her eyes. Everyone has talked a good mean, cold story about Carl, but no one has looked quite as deadly as Karen did just now. It was worth a chance throwing the accusation out there to see who caught it.

Clever girl!

Karen continued to rant while Officer Wilson dragged her back to the police cruisers. Jim, appearing somewhat stunned, was led away in handcuffs as well, but I suspected he would return soon.

Sally, her head down on the picnic table, sobbed her heart out. Bob, wide-eyed, patted her back.
 

Nick turned to me with raised eyebrows.

“How on earth did you figure that out?”

“I have no idea. I’m not sure I really figured it out. I think I was just winging it, but Karen caught the bait!”
 

Officer Martinez patted my back with a grin and moved away with the other officers toward the cruisers.

Nick approached Sally to help her up.
 

“Come on, Sally. Let’s go get a cup of coffee or something in the office. You’ve had a shock.”

He and Bob half carried her toward the office. Nick continued to hold onto the cause of all the commotion—the dearly departed Carl.

As adrenaline receded from my body, I wobbled back toward my RV. Exhaustion set in again, and I sank down to sit on the stairs.
 

Are you well, my dear?

I nodded. “I’m fine, Ben. Just waiting for the adrenaline to do its thing and go away.”

We used to call it fear in my time.

“We still do,” I said. I looked up and smiled at Ben, wherever he was.
 

“We figured it out,” I said.

You solved the mystery, not I.

“We both did, though Karen solved it for all of us. She could probably gotten away with it if she hadn’t lost her marbles and started shrieking in that hideous way.

You should rest now, Minerva.
 

I looked at my watch. It was just 11 o’clock. All that activity in just two hours. I rose and took a deep breath.

“Nope! We’re going down to Lewiston. Plenty of time to take my favorite ghost to see his old stomping grounds.”

Ben laughed.

Lead on, my favorite living person. May we encounter many happy trails.

About the Author

Minnie Crockwell lives, travels and writes full time in a Class A recreational vehicle. Although she owns a house in Washington State, she enjoys living in other towns and states which the RV allows her to do. She enjoys hearing from readers. You can contact her at
 
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