One Dog Too Many (A Mae December Mystery) (7 page)

“Find everything?” Gampy asked.

“Almost. Where do we pee?”

Gampy’s low chuckle rasped out.

“I guess your brother never told you ’bout that, huh? We go out the back door and stand on the edge of the porch. Then we water the weeds.”

He pointed to the small wooden door in the far wall, and Ben gleefully ran out on the porch and did just that. They stayed for three whole days, hiking the forty acres, fishing the creek and telling stories. After that weekend, Ben pestered his grandfather to take him out to the cabin as often as possible. He wasn’t allowed to go with Gampy for hunting trips until he turned twelve, but until he turned sixteen, the cabin was his favorite place on earth.

Of course, once he smelled gasoline, bought a beater car and tasted his first girlfriend’s lipstick, he lost interest in the old place for a while. Gampy died when Ben was in college. Ben’s brother inherited his home in Rosedale. The cabin went to Ben. He installed a rudimentary bathroom but made no other changes. Whenever his life got too hectic, Ben ran to ground there, even if only for a mental vacation.

M
ae’s mother departed after a short visit with her dogs. Mae called Tammy, leaving the “Avalanche” message again. Checking on the puppies, she smiled, seeing them sleepily cuddled up with Tallulah. Then she called the sheriff’s office.

“Dory, it’s Mae. Was Ruby’s cellphone found when they searched the house?”

“No honey. Not on her or in the house. Do you know her number?”

“I do. I’m going over there to try and call it. If
the phone has got any power left, maybe I’ll hear it ringing.”

“Good idea. Let me know if you find it.”

“I will. Bye.”

Mae grabbed her car keys, walked out to the car and drove down the driveway. Black cumulus clouds towered over the large hills behind her home as she headed down Little Chapel road toward Ruby’s house.

If she was going to have any time to search for Ruby’s phone before the storm broke, she would need to hurry. As a successful manager for clients in the country music industry, Ruby must have kept a calendar, possibly on her cellphone. If Mae found the phone, she might get some clues about Ruby’s death. She parked her car in Ruby’s driveway and walked slowly across the backyard. Yellow crime scene tape was wrapped around the house and she could hear more flapping in the trees around the grove. Mae kept her distance from the tape. She knew Ruby’s body was gone, but she didn’t want to get close to the grove ever again. The wind blew fiercely and last year’s damp leaves clung to her boots as she dialed Ruby’s cellphone number.

She heard nothing until she started walking back toward the house. As she got closer to the garage, she could hear a very faint rendition of “I’ve got Friends in Low Places” playing. There was no crime scene tape around the garage, so she opened the side door and stepped inside. Looking through the car’s windows, Mae noticed a white paper sack from the drug store
on the rider’s seat. Beside the bag was a pregnancy testing kit. It had already been torn open. The ringtone sounded louder now. The phone lay on the concrete behind the left front tire. Mae always carried plastic bags for “doggie poo.” Taking two out of her pocket, she used one to pick up the phone and the other to wrap it carefully. She dashed back to her car as the first drops of rain slapped her windshield.

The rain was pelting down when she drove back up her driveway. Tammy’s car was parked outside. They both ran into the house, laughing.

“What now?” Tammy was out of breath.

“Look what I found.” Mae held up the plastic-encased phone with a flourish normally accorded an Oscar envelope.

“Ruby’s?”

“Um hum and it’s just like mine, so I should be able to charge it.” Mae got a pair of thin latex gloves from under the sink in order to remove the phone from the bag. She pushed buttons on the phone until she found the calendar. Ruby’s date of arrival back home was listed as March fourteenth and her appointment the next morning was with the road commissioner. At one o’clock, the calendar showed a meeting with Ruby’s attorney, followed by a doctor’s appointment.

“Well, I think this could be your chance to get to know our handsome single sheriff,” said Tammy.

“What are you talking about?”

“You need to take this to Ben. Maybe he’ll even let you help with the investigation.”

“Tammy, you’re brilliant. I’ve been thinking I could help him and maybe even catch the perp. That’s what they call them. I’ve been getting more and more upset about how Ruby died. People are acting as if she practically asked to be killed, all because she didn’t want Little Chapel Road widened. She was a human being, and she didn’t deserve to die like this.”

Tammy smiled. “You’re right, Mae-Mae. She deserved better.”

“That reminds me, I’d better call Dory and tell her I found
the phone. She’ll probably want me to bring it in right away.”

“Go ahead, Mae. I need to get back home.”

Tammy waved and was out the door before Dory answered.

“Dory, I found it! Ruby’s cellphone. It was in the garage. Should I bring it in?”

“Could you bring it in the morning? We have a meeting with CSI and the deputies first thing tomorrow. After that you can probably meet with Sheriff Bradley.”

“That’s perfect. I’ll see you then.”

Mae dug her charger out of the kitchen drawer and plugged it into a wall outlet. She stuck the other end into Ruby’s phone and left it on the counter.

B
y 7:00 a.m. Mae was up, showered and dressed in black denim jeans, a blue sweater, and silver earrings. Putting her hair in a twist, she turned around to check her backside in the mirror. The black pants made her look five pounds slimmer. She’d even remembered lipstick. Tammy would be proud.

She ran downstairs, took her dogs outside and fed the boarding dogs; then she came inside and fed Tallulah, Titan and Thoreau. After filling her coffee mug, she poured the whole pot into a large coffee urn and sliced a loaf of apricot-walnut bread. She was headed down the driveway by twenty after seven. The sky was pale blue with high cirrus clouds. A whole cluster of crocuses lay face down in the mud by her mailbox, casualties of the
heavy rain. How quickly spring storms passed by in the south. Flowers paid the price, gone before their time. Like Ruby.

Mae arrived at the donut shop by seven thirty. By seven forty-five, she had hot coffee, homemade bread, donuts and best of all, Ruby’s phone, to share with the sheriff. The previous night she had placed the recharged cellphone in an envelope, carefully using her latex gloves to avoid smudging any fingerprints.

Mae struggled to open the Sheriff’s office door with her hands full. “Dory, did the meeting already start?”

“Yes, honey.” Dory held the door open for her.

“Could you please stick your head in there and tell the sheriff I have coffee and donuts for everyone? This bread is only for you, unless you want to share.”

“Oooh, apricot-walnut?” Dory held it up to sniff. “Your mother gave me some last time I visited. It’s delicious. Thank you. I’ll keep this. It would be wasted on those scoundrels.” She stashed the loaf in her desk drawer. “I’ll go see what I can do about getting you into the meeting.” She left the reception area and went down the hall into the conference room. Mae moved a little closer as Dory opened the door.

“Sheriff Bradley.”

“What is it, Dory?” the sheriff asked in an exasperated tone.

“Sheriff, Miss Mae December is here with coffee and donuts for everyone. She’d like to come in.”

“Tell Miss December I’ll see her in an hour and not before. Dory, what’s wrong with you? You know I can’t let civilians into a staff meeting.” The door shut firmly.

Dory turned to Mae. “Sorry, I guess he’ll see you in an hour.”

“Did you tell him I have Ruby’s cellphone? Her calendar’s on it.”

Dory nodded. “Now you sound like Suzanne’s child, with that persistence. I’ll tell him.” Dory opened the door again.

“She has Ruby’s cellphone.” Dory’s voice was deadpan. “It has her calendar on it.”

“Fine,” Ben snapped.

Dory turned to Mae. “The sheriff said you can come in.”

Both women walked into the conference room and sat down at the table.

“Good morning
, all.” Mae smiled as she set down the box of donuts and the coffee urn. “I’m Mae December.”

Thank you for joining us, Miss December,” the sheriff said dryly. “Listen up people, this is the woman who found Ruby’s body. Mae, I’d like to introduce my staff. This big guy to my left is Wayne Nichols, Chief Detective. To his left is Tech Hadley Johns from our lab.”

Hadley Johns was tall and gangly looking. His dark hair was military short, Mae noticed. She thought it was probably to protect samples from contamination.

“
Next to Hadley is Emma Peters, also from the lab. Going around the table, we have Deputy Robert Fuller in the glasses and George Phelps, who always looks a bit sleepy this early. George, are you with us?” Ben asked and George nodded, looking shamefaced.

Deputy Fuller had given Mae a s
harp look when Ben said she was the person who found Ruby’s body. It was not the look of a man appreciating a woman.

Deputy Phelps smiled at Mae, seemingly unrepentant at Ben’s chastisement.

“It’s very nice to meet you all,” Mae said, smiling.

“Now, Dory said you have a cellphone for us?”

“Yes, Sheriff.”

Ben peered into the envelope. “Damn thing looks more like a computer than a phone. Does anyone here know how to use this thing?”

“I do.” Mae smiled. “It’s just like mine. I found it yesterday. Don’t worry, I used gloves. Her calendar shows that she had an appointment with the road commissioner on March fifteenth at ten a.m. Then she had an appointment with her attorney at one, her doctor at three and a dinner scheduled at the Bistro at six forty-five. I couldn’t find a dinner partner’s name.” Mae smiled.

“Thank you, Miss December. Where did you find this?” asked the sheriff.

“I went to Ruby’s before the storm and dialed her cellphone number. When it rang, I followed the sound to the floor of the garage by her car. It was right behind the left front tire.”

Ben sighed. “Didn’t you see the yellow crime scene tape?”

“Yes, and I know I’m not supposed to enter a crime scene, but the yellow tape was around her house, not around her garage.”

“Okay. Our mistake then.” He turned to his staff. “Which one of you geniuses put up the crime scene tape and failed to put tape around the victim’s garage?” He shook his head when
Phelps put up his hand. “Go take care of that right now, George.” Phelps left in a hurry with his head down.

“Sheriff, could I stay for the rest of your meeting?” Mae asked.

He shot a glare in her direction. “Absolutely not.”

Deputy
Fuller gave her a wink. “Oh come on, boss, a pretty lady who brings us coffee, donuts and a Blackberry?”

Ben gave him a stern look. “Fine, but only until we finish discussing what we can learn from this phone, since Miss December seems to be the only one of you smart enough to decode it.”

“Thank you,” said Mae. “Please help yourselves to the treats. Yesterday I read the names of everyone on her cellphone list, her entire calendar, and her Notes to Self section. I was also able to see all the Internet sites she searched the week before her death. Plus, I figured out how to see her texts. There may be more clues on that phone, and I’ll keep looking while I’m here.”

“Thank you, but I think my staff is up to it from this point on. Johns, please take the phone and get the fingerprint information. Then I want it returned to Dory so she can make copies of all this information for Chief Nichols. Got it?”

Dory nodded.

“Certainly, Sheriff.” Mae smiled. “I have some more information which might help
, too. Before she died, Ruby talked to a realtor about selling her property to a big developer. Apparently, she also planned to change her will.”

Ben turned to Dory who had entered the room
with Mae. “What did you find out about the will?”

The sheriff seemed to be overlooking Mae for the moment.
She sat very still, trying not to call attention to herself.

“She planned to leave everything to her brother, Silas,
unless she had children. The land and the house came to her in trust from her father. If she died childless, the whole property went to Silas. The only thing she left to her husband was the dog.”

This news earned a few laughs, quickly stifled.

Dory went on. “The property was free and clear. No mortgage. I also found out that her doctor is a fertility specialist.”

“Lord have mercy,” Hadley Johns muttered. “She was trying to get pregnant? How old was the woman anyway?”

“Thirty-seven,” Mae said. “She’d never been pregnant. Not for lack of trying.” The corners of her mouth raised.

“Thank you again, Miss December,” said Ben, firmly
. “I need you to leave the meeting now. Dory, can you go with her and track down the other items we talked about?”

They did but Dory left the door slightly ajar
, probably by accident. Mae said she needed to go to the ladies’ room, but as soon as Dory walked around the corner to follow the sheriff’s instructions, Mae slipped back down the hall to the conference room. She stood outside the door and listened.

“All right
, everyone,” Ben said, “let’s get down to business here. The purpose of this morning’s meeting is to get everyone’s input and settle on a list of tasks. As all of you know, murders are usually solved within the first forty-eight hours, if at all. Since Ruby had been dead for four days when Miss December found her body, we are already starting with a handicap.

“Just as a reminder, everything discussed in this meeting, as well as the detailed reports, are confidential. The press is pushing very hard for answers, but only Detective Nichols and I will be meeting with them. Nobody else is to say anything. Understood?”

Section by section, Ben received reports. Mae waited fascinated and completely silent. She did feel a little guilty for ignoring the sheriff’s directive to leave. She knew whatever she heard by eavesdropping would have to kept completely confidential. She wouldn’t even be able to tell Tammy. Listening in on the meeting was rash if not illegal, but the open door proved too much of a temptation to resist. She learned that Ruby had sued Lucy Ingram a few months before her death. Even Mama didn’t know that! Ruby apparently died sometime after eight p.m. on the night of March fifteenth. The cord that Mae had seen with her body was a piece of vehicle counting equipment.

“What was the actual cause of death?” Emma Peters asked.

“Ruby died from blunt force trauma caused by a blow to the back of her head. The murder weapon is still missing,” Ben said his voice was low and angry.

“Why would the perp leave her body outside in a grove of trees, instead of hiding her more carefully or burying her?” someone asked.

“Good question.” The voice sounded like Detective Nichols. “We think the perp chased Ruby and then clubbed her near the grove. He probably left her body in the closest possible place where it wouldn’t be spotted immediately. This might indicate a perp who wasn’t strong enough to haul the body very far.”

“So why would she have the traffic counting cord around her neck?” This sounded like Deputy Fuller.

“We think the perp might have done that to tie Ruby’s death to the controversy about widening Little Chapel Road,” Ben said. “Johns, did David Allison’s shirts show anything suspicious?”

“No, but
he might have changed clothes after work. I’m going back today to pick up whatever hasn’t been washed.”

“Has the car been gone over?” That was Ben’s voice again.

“Yes. Nothing but evidence of the vic and her dog.”

Mae covered her mouth so they couldn’t hear her laugh. Elvis shed up a storm during every car ride. In fact, there was enough red fur left in her tote bag to knit a sweater.

After everybody gave their opinions and ideas, Ben asked Detective Nichols to summarize what the next steps would be.

“Our first step is to meet with all the people Ruby saw on the fifteenth. We’
ve already talked to everyone who lives on Little Chapel Road. So far, we’ve interviewed Lucy Ingram, the Ryans, David Allison and Beth Jensen. The Connollys are gone for the month. MaryLou Dennis has been in a medical rehab facility for several weeks. Both those houses were supposedly empty at the time of the murder.”

Ben said, “Where’s that plat map, the one that shows all the lots on Little Chapel Road? Hadley, put that up on the board, will you? Everybody, please note the names of all the homeowners on Little Chapel Road as shown in this diagram.”

“I see there’s a Connolly. Any relation to James Connolly, Ruby’s attorney?” Wayne asked.

“Yes, he’s the
ir nephew. Here’s the Dennis property. MaryLou is Joe Dennis’ mother. All these people have a history—Joe Dennis grew up in this house and he’s currently remodeling Mae December’s house.”

“Joe Dennis and Ruby dated when they were young and may have been sexually intimate at that time.” It was the detective’s voice. “We can’t exclude the possibility that they might have been having an affair currently. This makes him a person of interest.”

“Right, I talked to Joe, and he still seemed to have feelings for her,” Ben said.