Рита Браун: Nine Lives To Die

Without a word, Harry put her forefinger and middle finger together and made the sign of the cross.

Arden pushed Harry down and ran for the front door. She flew by Al Toth, bumping him as he manhandled Esther, dragging his wife through the building’s door, which he’d forcefully kicked open.

Tucker ran after Arden, who had gotten up from her collision. Slamming the church door shut, she ran outside.

Cooper called the police dispatcher. She figured the department would have Arden cornered within twenty minutes. No point in her chasing the woman, especially since she had to now focus on Esther Toth screaming and Al bellowing.

“Father O’Connor! Father O’Connor!” Al shouted.

“Al, Al, let me go!” Esther screamed as he continued to drag her down the hallway.

Harry, Cooper, Father O’Connor, Mrs. Murphy, Pewter, and Tucker from the opposite direction converged in the hall.

Father O’Connor approached him. “Al, Al, please let her go.”

Hand on holster, Cooper quietly moved behind the priest.

Harry and the animals stepped just to the side.

“Tell him,” said Al. “Tell him, goddammit, or I’ll break your neck.” Al’s anger shook the windows.

“I was wrong,” said Esther.

“Tell him you killed Margaret! Confess. He’s a priest, confess.”

She dropped her head. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned.”

“Yes, my child.” Father O’Connor hoped the words, uttered for two thousand years, would calm down Al. And perhaps Esther would say whatever she needed to say.

“I murdered Margaret Donleavey,” she confessed, sobbing.

“You killed the sweetest woman that ever walked.” Al gave her a shake. “Why?” His rage began to subside.

“Because I loved you,” said Esther.

“Loved me. You killed the woman I loved and put me through hell.”

“I made it up to you. I was a good wife.”

He threw her on the wooden floor, turned, and walked out.

Shaking, Esther staggered up, sucked in a gulp of air, looked at Harry. “This is your fault.”

“Get behind her,” Mrs. Murphy told Tucker.

Too late. Esther lunged for Harry, grabbing her by the throat.

Harry fought, then reached into her pocket. She couldn’t open the pocketknife, but the knife was heavy enough that, folded into her hand, it made her punch harder. She hit Esther with all her might as Tucker sank her teeth into Esther’s calf. Cooper, who had drawn her gun, stepped into the fray as Esther released Harry.

“You are under arrest for the murder of Margaret Donleavey.” Cooper quickly put Esther’s right arm behind her back and apologized. “Harry, I didn’t see that coming. I’m sorry.”

Rubbing her throat, voice scratchy, Harry replied, “Who did?”

Father O’Connor was stunned. Collecting himself, he said to Esther, “I will pray for your soul.”

Esther snarled at Harry, “If you’d kept out of it. You were even nosy back in high school. You’re nosy now. Everything was fine.”

“I’m hardly responsible for the wind uprooting that tree. Esther, would you have killed your sister?”

“I don’t know.” Esther immediately assumed a bland expression.

Cooper, quick to catch on to Harry’s design, jacked Esther’s arm up enough to hurt. “Did you threaten your sister?”

“I did. She was impossible.”

That was enough for Cooper. As she walked Esther to her squad car, she called Rick. By the time she’d deposited Esther at the jail, the papers were drawn up for Flo to be released. Cooper checked in with the magistrate to be sure.

After Esther spit at everyone from behind bars, Cooper hurried into Rick’s office. “Did they get Arden Higham?” she asked.

“They did, right where 240 and 250 meet. She tried to ram through the roadblock. Broken collarbone but alive.”

“Boss, let’s get over to the hospital. Maybe she’ll talk. Be a doubleheader if she did. Solve two cases in one day.”

While not serious, Arden’s injury did hurt. The doctors allowed the sheriff and his deputy to question her. An armed officer stood outside the room, closing the door when Rick and Cooper entered.

Cooper sat next to Arden, while Rick sat next to the deputy.

“Arden, you’ve carried a heavy burden. It’s time to put it down,” Cooper soothingly counseled.

“Is Harry all right? I didn’t mean to hurt her, but I panicked and had to get away.”

“She’s fine. Now tell us what’s really going on. Did you kill your husband?”

“No.”

“Then why did you run away from St. Cyril’s?”

“Harry was getting too close when she made the sign of the cross. She was closing in on why the fingers were taken from Lou and Pete. She’s clever. In time, she’d figure the check scheme—well, I had to go.”

Voice also quiet, Rick asked, “Did Tyler take the checks?”

“He did.”

“But he didn’t steal anything. I mean, he didn’t cash them, even though he forged your signature on them.” Cooper pushed lightly.

She clammed right up.

Cooper leaned forward, touched Arden’s hand, and took a long shot. “Did Tyler kill his father?”

“Oh, God.” Arden burst into tears. Her whole body shook from sobs.

“Please, Arden, I know this is terrible, you’ve been through so much, but we must know. We don’t want Tyler to harm anyone else or himself. He’s a minor. I’m sure there will be compassion in the hearing. You need to protect him.”

“That’s what I tried to do. He thought taking the checks would divert people’s attention. I found them in his drawer. He’s suffering. You have to understand how much he’s suffering. He shredded the one just to see how long it would take for someone to find it. Perverse humor, I guess. I returned the others hoping to add to the confusion. He didn’t argue about the return.”

“Why?” Cooper almost whispered.

“Lou and Pete bullied him for over a year. He’s too scared. They were relentless. They thought they were making a man of him. Some of the other boys picked up on their disdain and they’d push Tyler around, too.”

“I see.” Cooper put her other hand over Arden’s. “Silver Linings?”

Arden nodded. “Tyler’s slight. He’s almost pretty. He snapped. Do you understand? He just snapped.”

“Did he tell you?” Cooper asked.

“No. I noticed sometimes he’d be bruised on his back or arms. I put it down as boy stuff, roughhousing. He tried to play football. I noticed Lou was very hard on him. After a game, Tyler was always beat up. I wanted to take him to the doctor. He had a meltdown. I didn’t know what to do. Finally, he told me both Lou and Pete had been knocking him around. He begged me not to say anything, especially to his father, because he’d look weak. He didn’t want anyone to know he was a victim. Other boys would call him ‘faggot.’ He tried to fight back. He wasn’t strong enough.”

“Do you think he is gay?” Cooper asked calmly.

“Truthfully, he doesn’t know what he is. He’s too beaten down.”

“Are the other bullies adults or boys?” asked Cooper, voice steady.

“Tyler said Lou and Pete were the worst. He hated them more than any of the boys. Not that he liked them much. All my son wants to do is play games on his computer, research dragons. He doesn’t want to be with people. Tyler is happier doing an equation, fooling around in the school chemistry lab, than he is with people.”

Rick took over. “Arden, we want to help you and we want to help Tyler. Can you tell me how he killed Pete and then his father?”

“Tyler’s a chemistry whiz. He reads everything online, he experiments. He read that potassium chloride can stop a heart. It appears natural. He made friends with the chem teacher at St. Anne’s. He has use of the lab. He’s so bright. I can’t tell you how smart my son is, only that I don’t know much of what he’s talking about when he explains these lab experiments. Anyway, he made potassium chloride, filled a syringe, and waited. For weeks. When Pete Vavilov offered to take Tyler home after the big fund-raiser, Pete asked me, of course. And so did Tyler. Then Tyler asked him to pull off the road in the storm. He jabbed him with the needle in the neck before Pete fully stopped so he couldn’t fight him off. Pete actually stopped the car as his heart was failing. I pulled up behind. You see, Tyler had asked me to follow them. Pete didn’t know, and he couldn’t have really seen me anyway. I parked behind the car, Tyler and I pushed the Explorer off the road so it looked like an accident. Then we drove off.”