Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (32 page)

She knew what he meant. Wally wanted her to act like a naïve little farmer’s daughter.

Wally went back around his desk and sat down. “So, Skye, you have something you want to tell the mayor and me?”

“Well, I sure hope I’m not wasting the time of two important men like you both, but I’ve been thinking about poor Mr. Scumble.” She forced herself to giggle. “Oh, I mean Mr. Iazetto. Anyway, the more I thought about that poor man coming to our town and getting himself killed, the worse I felt.”

Mayor Clapp patted her hand. “My dear, you really don’t have to worry about that sort of thing. The killer was probably some stranger here for the bicentennial and is long gone now.”

“You know, that’s what I thought, too.” Skye widened her eyes. “Because the only ones who had any contact with Mr. Scumble before he came to town were Fayanne Emerick and you.”

“Uh, how do you know that?” The mayor squirmed.

“The day of the Founder’s Speech you said you originally contacted him, then turned him over to Fayanne.”

“That doesn’t mean someone else couldn’t have talked to him.”

“Well, Fayanne did say he was harder to get ahold of than the president. Do you think he would have taken just anyone’s call?”

Wally spoke up. “That’s a hard question to answer. What else did you find out, Skye, that you want to share with us?”

Skye knew that Wally was telling her to back off. She smiled at the mayor. “Anyway, I thought it was interesting that the last two people to be seen with Mr. Scumble were you and Fayanne.”

Mayor Clapp was sweating.

“… Though the thing that really got me thinking was the engraving on the watch back Grady Nelson found at the crime scene.”

“But how did you see that? I took…” Mayor Clapp trailed off, realizing what he had said.

Wally leaned forward. “Yes, Mayor, you took the watch and the letter from where Grady had hid them in his shed, didn’t you?”

“No—I mean—that’s not what I meant.” Clapp sagged in his seat. “Anyway, why would I kill Gabriel Scumble? Except for a couple of phone conversations, I’d never even met the man.”

“That puzzled me too, until I had a chat with Miss Letitia.” Skye watched the mayor’s already pale complexion turn translucent. “She told me all about how Pierre Scumble hoodwinked Dewey Clapp and Dolly Emerick out of their rights to the coal mine.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Clapp mopped his dripping face with a handkerchief. “And even if what you say is true, that happened two hundred years ago. What could it have to do with anything now?”

She looked him in the eye and said quietly, “I understand that you are in a lot of financial trouble, Mr. Mayor. Maybe you found a way to get back some of that money Gabriel Scumble swindled your ancestor out of.”

Clapp struggled to his feet. “Why are you doing this to me? I’ve been mayor of this town for twenty years.” He lurched toward the door. “I don’t have to take this kind of treatment.”

The mayor disappeared down the hallway. Skye sat there, at a loss. “That went well,” she said sarcastically.

“Yes, it did. Now Quirk will follow him.”

It took Skye a moment before she guessed. “He’ll go straight for the letter and watch. He needs to get rid of them.” She frowned. “Unless he already has.”

“I’m betting he kept them. At least the letter.” Wally smiled. “Quirk is waiting on the corner in his mother’s old Pinto. Clapp will never notice him.”

“What should we do?”

“Wait in the squad car.”

They didn’t have to sit there for long. Quirk radioed them within ten minutes. Clapp had driven straight to the Brown Bag Liquor Store.

“Time to pay Miss Emerick a visit.” Wally started the motor. “Any chance I could persuade you to stay at the station and not follow me?”

“Nope.”

“Didn’t think so. Then do what I tell you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Wally called for backup on the way over. He parked next to Quirk’s Pinto at the motor court. Wally told Quirk to come with him and then turned to Skye. “Stay in the car.”

She nodded. Getting in the line of fire didn’t really sound like a good time to her.

Wally and Quirk had just gone inside the building when Justin came flying around the corner of the liquor store. The panic written across his face had Skye out of the squad car and heading toward the teen before he even spotted her. They met on the side of the road.

“What are you doing here?” Skye asked sharply.

Justin froze, and his face lost all expression.

She immediately realized her error. This was not a kid you could be confrontational with. He would withdraw and refuse to communicate. “Sorry. I’m a little uptight right now.”

Justin mumbled, “That’s okay, but…” He gulped. “Uh, so, why did the police go in the liquor store?”

Skye knew she probably shouldn’t tell Justin what was going on, but she blurted out, “The police are following Mayor Clapp. We think he’s the one who killed Mr. Iazetto.”

“Shit.” Justin’s voice cracked. “Frannie’s inside there.”

“Oh my God. Why?”

“We’re investigating for the school newspaper. We figure Miss Emerick is the murderer, so we’re taking turns watching her. I was supposed to take over, but the police rushed in before I could.” Justin shifted from one foot to the other.

Skye was afraid he was about to run into the building himself. “Do you know exactly where Frannie is?”

“The storeroom.” Justin grabbed her. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Do you know if there’s an outside door to the storeroom?”

He nodded. “Frannie was going to prop it open for me.” He started to tug her toward the back of the building. “What are you waiting for? We have to find her.”

Skye quickly considered her options. She couldn’t radio Wally to let him know that the girl was there. Fayanne and the mayor might hear. She couldn’t just stand here and hope Frannie was okay. Her only choice was to go inside and try to either tell Wally about Frannie or find the teen and get her out of the building.

“Okay, you stay here.” She wished she could lock the boy in the squad car. “I’ll go in and get Frannie.” She spoke over her shoulder as she ran toward the back of the liquor store.

Justin’s information had been correct. The door was propped open with a small wedge of wood. Skye eased inside, thankful the door didn’t squeak. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe. What if Justin followed her? What if Mayor Clapp found Frannie and held her hostage?

As her eyes adjusted from the bright sunshine to the dim light in the storage room, her gaze swept the area, but she didn’t see Frannie. A thin shaft of light to the right caught Skye’s attention, and she crept forward. Just as she reached the doorway, a hand snaked out and grabbed her arm.

Skye swallowed a scream and whirled around. Frannie had her finger to her lips and jerked her head toward a door between the storeroom and the interior of the liquor store. It was half-open, and they had a clear view of the mayor standing at the counter and Fayanne behind it. They were arguing.

Clapp yelled, “That bitch Skye Denison knows everything. She sat in front of me like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth and told the chief how I killed Scumble.”

Fayanne snorted. “She’s guessing. They have no proof. Just sit tight and keep your yap shut. You’ll be fine.”

“That’s right; they don’t have any evidence yet. That’s why we have to get rid of that letter.”

“No way. That’s our only proof that Scumble intended to give us the money. Now that we know he may be still alive, that letter is like cash in our pocket.” Her voice softened and took on a wheedling tone. “Look, you already killed one man for this money—and we felt really bad about that—but he turned out to be a gangster who deserved to die. It’s almost as if God is saying we’re in the right. Don’t give up now. Burning that letter would be like burning thousand-dollar bills.”

“I should have never left it with you,” the mayor whined. “If only my wife weren’t such a snoop.”

“Be a man.” Fayanne’s demeanor abruptly changed from cajoling to belligerent. “Keep your mouth shut, and it will all blow over.”

“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who shoved that pickax into the man’s heart. You’re not the one who’s heading for the electric chair.” Clapp stuck his hand in his pocket and withdrew a gun. He pointed it at Fayanne. “Give me the watch and the letter, right now.”

“Okay,” Fayanne said. “Calm down. No need to get so riled. They’re in the safe.”

Clapp went behind the counter and grabbed Fayanne with one hand, still pointing the gun with the other, and dragged her into the open area. “Where’s the safe?”

Fayanne motioned with her chin. “In the storeroom.”

Skye felt the girl beside her tense and jump back. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Frannie bump a pile of boxes containing wine bottles. The top one teetered. Skye held her breath. It wobbled again, then crashed to the floor. The sound of glass breaking was thunderous.

As Clapp’s head whipped around in response to the sudden noise, Fayanne grabbed his arm and wrestled the gun from his hand. She pointed it at him and shoved him toward the
storeroom. Skye used her foot to push Frannie flat to the floor behind a stack of boxes and turned toward the liquor store owner and the mayor. Fayanne had switched on the light, and she and Clapp stood in the doorway glaring at Skye.

Skye’s mind raced. She needed to get them out of the storeroom before they spotted Frannie.

Fayanne said coldly, “I should have known. You just couldn’t keep your nose out of this, could you?” She motioned with the gun. “Get your big butt over here.”

Skye moved toward the pair, relieved to divert their attention away from where Frannie was hiding behind the boxes. “Listen, Fayanne, I heard what you were saying. The mayor killed the guy, not you. Put down the gun, and you’ll be fine.”

Fayanne cast a speculative glance at Clapp. “You’ll tell them what you heard? That I didn’t have nothing to do with the killing? It was all him.”

Skye nodded. “Just put the gun down.” She had finally spotted Wally and Quirk. They had eased into positions to the right and left of the storeroom door and had their guns aimed at Fayanne.

“How should we do this? I’m not letting you go until I’m sure the police aren’t going to come after me.”

“Uh, well…” Skye wondered what she should do. It was obvious that Wally and Quirk couldn’t do much while Fayanne had her gun leveled at Clapp’s and Skye’s heads. “Let’s call Wally and have him tell you himself.”

Fayanne pursed her lips. “You call him. Tell him I want it in writing.”

“Where’s the phone?”

“Behind the counter.” Fayanne used her gun to gesture, and Wally stepped out from behind a cardboard display. He put his gun to Fayanne’s temple and said, “Drop it.”

She hesitated for a second but finally brought her arm to her side and let the gun slide from her fingers to the floor.

Quirk came out of his hiding place and took the mayor by
the arm. “Eldon Clapp, you are under arrest for the murder of Snake Iazetto. You have the right to remain silent…”

“Are you nuts or just self-destructive?” Wally yelled. Quirk and another officer had driven off with the two prisoners a few seconds before. Now the chief focused his attention on Skye. Justin and Frannie stood by her side.

“I had no choice. Justin ran up to me and told me that Frannie was in the liquor store. You had already gone inside, and there was no way to let you know. I couldn’t leave her in danger.”

Wally blew out a stream of air. “You could have been killed. That gun Clapp and Fayanne were waving around had real bullets in it.”

Justin frowned. “You’re right Chief; I should have been the one to go in, not Ms. D.”

“Hey, no one had to go in to rescue me.” Frannie said, “I would have been just fine. I can take care of myself. I’ve been studying karate.”

Both adults looked at the teens. Skye raised an eyebrow at Wally. “I give up. Which would you have preferred being in danger—Justin, Frannie, or me?”

“None. None would be my first choice.” Wally shook his head. “But I can see your point.”

“Thank you.” Skye smiled. “And I can see yours.”

Wally used Quirk’s Pinto to drive Skye and the teens to the police station. He went inside, and Skye drove Frannie and Justin home in her car. She spent some time letting them talk over what had just happened. Finally, she turned them over to their parents and headed back to the PD.

She found Wally in his office and threw herself in his visitor’s chair. “So, anything new?”

“Plenty. Fayanne is still testifying against the mayor, and in exchange we’re not filing charges against her as an accessory.”

“She was a fool to cover up for him the first place.”

“According to the mayor, the murder was an accident.
Gabriel Scumble had agreed to pay Clapp and Fayanne one hundred thousand dollars each to make up for Pierre’s chicanery. So, after the picture-taking session at the carnival, the mayor asked for his money. Iazetto masquerading as Scumble didn’t know what the mayor was talking about, but he tried to bluff it out by putting Clapp off.”

“Let me guess. Clapp told Fayanne, and she confronted Iazetto/Scumble that night in the Beer Garden.”

“Right.” Wally nodded. “So, Clapp approached Iazetto/Scumble again, and again he was put off. Clapp went back to tell Fayanne, and she punched him in the face for being so useless.”

“Which, of course, hurt his male ego.”

“And made him determined to get the money he felt was rightfully his. He took Iazetto/Scumble out to the bandstand so they could be alone and demanded the money. Clapp tried to grab the pickax from Iazetto, saying he didn’t deserve the honor of having it. They struggled, and Iazetto ended up dead.”

“Amazing. So then, even though the mayor had already killed the man he thought was Gabriel Scumble, he and Fayanne still planned to try and get the money Scumble promised them from his estate. So they had to keep the letter in order to prove that Gabriel Scumble intended to give them the money his ancestor swindled theirs out of.” Skye shook her head.

Wally took over the explanation. “And then when they found out that Mayor Clapp had killed Snake Iazetto, not Gabriel Scumble, they decided to go back to plan A and get the money from Scumble himself.”