Jill Churchill - Silence of the Hams

Patsy put her hands to her cheeks. "No! Oh, no! He was the one responsible for pressuring the judge to keep the baby alive!”

Jane nodded.

“But Conrad didn't kill Stonecipher. Nobody did."

“But at the time Emma died, neither Emma nor Conrad knew that," Jane said. "Apparently Emma came over here Friday night after the high school graduation and waved that article around in Conrad's face, claiming that he had the best motive for killing Stonecipher and demanding money to keep quiet about it. Conrad must have been horrified," Jane said. "Not only was Emma threatening to put him in danger of arrest, but the whole ugly, upsetting story about the baby's death would becomepublic in the town where they finally intended to settle.”

Patsy nodded. "I can see his fear of the story about the baby getting out, but that alone wouldn't be worth killing someone for. And even the threat of arrest — well, Conrad knew he didn't kill Stonecipher because nobody killed him. I'm getting more confused. Did Conrad push the rack over on Stonecipher?"

“Yes," Jane said.

“But why make it look like murder?"

“That's what we all wondered, but we were looking at it backward," Jane said. "We kept saying, 'Why would anyone want an accident to look like murder?' when the truth was, Conrad probably thought it was murder and was trying to make it look like an accident."

“Who did he—? Sarah? He thought Sarah murdered Stonecipher?" Patsy said.

“That's my guess. Grace said Conrad was fanatic about not letting the local paper anywhere near Sarah. He was probably afraid she'd see Stonecipher's name in connection with some of his many causes and recognize it. As much as it upset him, think how much more it would upset her. But for all his efforts, he finds Stonecipher dead right there on the floor of the storage room and probably leaped to the conclusion that Sarah had identified him, gone berserk, and killed him. So he tried to make it look like an accident. Conrad's a big, tall man and didn't realize that just reaching out and shoving the rack over wasn't going to be that easy, even for him, and certainly not for a smaller person.”

They heard the front door open and fell silent. Grace and Sarah were talking quietly as they moved toward the stairs. As their steps died away, Patsy said, "What was the article doing — wherever you said Mike found it?”

Shelley said, "The police had a witness who saw Emma going out Friday night in her jogging clothes, but carrying car keys and a file folder. It must have been the folder containing the article. It probably wasn't one of the blackmail files. I'd guess it was a sort of clipping file Stonecipher kept on himself. Mentions of him in newspapers and such. She was certainly bright enough to have made a copy or at least a notation of the paper and date.”

Jane took up the story. "She must have given Conrad the clipping, which he subsequently dropped. When he discovered that it was missing, he was frantic. Grace told me they'd had trouble with raccoons emptying the trash cans all over the place Sunday night.”

Patsy nodded. "Conrad rummaging for the missing clipping."

“Right," Jane said. "And when he didn't find it, he remembered that Mike had tidied up the yard. So he looked in Mike's car whileit was parked in back and Mike was working inside the deli. Mike told me someone had been in his car, but hadn't taken anything. Conrad again."

“But Jane, all of this is what could have happened. Where's the proof of any of it? The police don't recklessly arrest people who might have a reason to murder someone.”

Jane looked uncomfortable. "I haven't talked to Mel since early this morning. They obviously have physical evidence to support the theory or they wouldn't have arrested Conrad. Maybe both his and Emma's fingerprints were on the clipping in spite of it having been mauled around. And there was the paper dot from the folders.”

She explained briefly to Patsy about the little paper lozenges. "When he showed me one, I knew I'd seen such a thing before. I think — yes, I have it here." She had put the blue dot back in her jeans pocket and now placed it on the kitchen table.

Patsy stared at it for a minute. "Hmm. Looks familiar in a way—"

“You and I saw a green one. At the same time.”

Patsy closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them very wide. "Stuck in the treads in the bottom of Conrad's sneaker when I ran into you here! I thought it was an odd-colored piece of grass.”

“The deep treads in his sneakers picked it up from the carpet in her apartment.”

“So he met her Friday night—?"

“I think he not only met her," Jane said, "I think she made the poor guy jog around the block with her while she laid out her threats. Remember, Conrad had his shoe off because he had a blister on his heel. They were old sneakers. He wouldn't get a blister from any normal activity. It would have really added insult to injury to make him trot alongside her like a pet dog."

“And he went to her apartment Saturday to kill her?"

“I don't know. Maybe she'd told him to bring money and he went to do that, but saw the other folders and realized she was making several other people's lives a misery and simply lost control."

“He didn't take a weapon along," Shelley said. "She was killed with one of those hand weights from her own apartment."

“Did he take the rest of the folders?" Patsy asked, then said, "He must have. But if he did, where are they?”

Jane shrugged. "Maybe the police found them. Maybe they're still in his car. If it had been me, I'd have gone by the nearest fast food restaurant and pitched them in the Dumpster or a trash barrel.”

Shelley got up and started clearing the table.

“To think — he did it all out of love for Sarah," Patsy said.

“No, he didn't," Grace said from the doorway.

They hadn't heard her approach.

“I wasn't deliberately eavesdropping," she said. "Just standing there for a minute working up the courage and energy to face you all.”

Jane pulled out a chair and gestured for Grace to sit down. She did so wearily. She looked like a soldier returning from a long, exhausting battle — but a victorious one. "Don't waste your good thoughts on Conrad," she said finally.

“You don't have to tell us anything, Grace, but we're here to listen if you'd like to talk," Patsy said.

Grace smiled. "I know you are. Conrad didn't kill that woman out of love of Sarah. Out of need for control, revenge, money — but not love. The police only questioned us for a short time this afternoon and told us they'd be back tomorrow morning. The rest of the time you dear ladies were doing our jobs, Sarah and I were sitting in the car talking. We got years' worth of talk into a few hours. Or at least Sarah did. Shelley, could I ask you for one more—? Oh, thank you. You read my mind.”

She took a long drink from the glass of iced tea Shelley had handed her, organized her thoughts for a moment, and said; "It's terribly complex and I don't know if I can sum it up, but Conrad blamed Sarah for the baby's death. And why not? She blamed herself. He told her that it was only fitting that she should have to face him — the child's father — every day of her life. She was so consumed by guilt that it seemed a fitting punishment to her. A way to atone, I guess. After she'd been out of the mental hospital for a while, he never mentioned it again. He was always terribly kind to her. Very protective. She had no friends, no life of her own, no part in any community, but she felt she had no right to complain. Every time they moved to a new place, he'd make all the more sure she was dependent on him. If she started making friends, rumors would start about her and people would turn away — often in disgust. She knew he was responsible, but could never absolutely prove it, not even to her own satisfaction."