D. Gilles - Colder Than Death

He looked to me as if he wanted my approval.

“You’re assuming she was murdered there. If she was killed somewhere else and brought to the cemetery it changes your theory completely.”

“That’s another scenario. All I can work with is something that sounds logical. What I just said sounds possible. But just to show you I can be open minded, let’s call mine Theory One. Now let’s talk about Theory Two. Del’s theory — that she was killed somewhere else. I’ll make this quick, because it’s real simple. For argument’s sake, let’s forget about the fact that Brandy Parker was a cemetery buff. Let’s say that on the day she was killed she picked up a guy in a bar. They went somewhere to do the dirty deed. For whatever reason, things get out of hand, and for whatever reason, he kills her. It’s late at night. Again, let’s assume the killer didn’t plan on killing her. It just happened. Just like our guy in Theory One, he has to decide whether or not to call the police. He says no way. He has to hide the body. Now this guy’s a cemetery buff. He figures he’ll take his chances and hide the body in the mausoleum. Bingo! That’s how she could’ve been strangled somewhere else and then brought to the cemetery.”

“You’re pretty much basing everything on the idea that the killer’s a cemetery buff.”

“Has to be. Or like I said to you the day we found the body it’s somebody who knows that cemetery inside and out.” Perry turned back to the computer, punched a couple of keys and watched as something came onto the screen. He pressed the Print button and in seconds out came a sheet of paper.

“I made of list of the employees of Elm Grove, your Funeral Home and DiGregorio’s. There’s a grand total of nineteen people, including you. Take a look.” He handed the sheet of paper to me. I read the list of names.

Inside

Mel Abernathy (Manager)

George Granger (salesman)

Joanne Linley (bookkeeper)

Patricia Aimes (secretary)

Outside

Alton Held (Head Groundskeeper)

Vaughn Larkin (Night Watchman)

Will Polk (Gravedigger)

Nat Jaspers (Gravedigger)

Tim Wallach (Gravedigger)

Del Coltrane (FD)

Lew Henderson (FD)

Clint Tristler

Nolan Fowler (Embalmer)

Elaine Whorley (Hair)

Tyler DiGregorio (FD)

Alphonse DiGregorio (FD)

Wilton Ging (Embalmer)

Elaine Whorley (Hair)

“Why do you have Vaughn’s name on the list?” I asked.

“Don’t get your balls in an uproar. I just put his name there when I listed all the cemetery employees. Far as I’m concerned, Vaughn’s the only person in this town who’s above suspicion. What about the other names? You know them all. Does any strike you as having a dark side?”

I looked at the names. Precisely because I did know them all I didn’t put much stock in the idea that one was a killer, but as I stared at the names one thing began to alarm me. If the killer was someone on the list, it meant that I knew him. And despite Perry’s refusal to consider the possibility that Brandy Parker had been murdered by the same person who killed Virginia Thistle and Alyssa, if the killer was on that list, it meant that someone I knew had killed the only woman I’d ever love.

“I can’t believe any of them are capable of it,” I said.

“My father never trusted Alton Held.”

“Alton’s a pussycat. What was not to trust?”

“His white trash southern accent bothered my father. He always had a hard on for people with any kind of accent. He did some checking up on Alton when he moved to town and found out he had a record back in Louisiana.”

“What was the crime?”

“Burglary, breaking and entering, passing bad checks, a bunch of drunk and disorderlies and assault and batteries.”

I wondered if Vaughn knew about Alton’s record. “Was he arrested for any serious crimes?”

Perry smirked. “No. But coincidentally, Alton’s been living here for twenty-five years.” I said nothing. “The guy comes out of nowhere with a record and hires on as a gravedigger, one of life’s great career moves.” He rolled his eyes. “Gets to know his way around the cemetery pretty well. Could even be a cemetery buff… and even if he wasn’t he probably sees some now and then. I’m thinking on my feet here, Del, so this might not be totally clear yet, but if your notion about one killer murdering three woman is right, the guy had to be around for all these years. Alton was and Lew, Alphonse, Mel Abernathy, Nolan Fowler and Wilt Ging.”

He leaned back looking satisfied with himself. “They were all around and they’re all suspects. All of ’em!”

“But there’s one guy who wasn’t around?” I said. “Kyle Thistle. He was in the institution when Alyssa was killed.”

“If she was killed,” said Perry.

“If. But under my theory, Kyle is eliminated. And obviously most of the names on your list aren’t serious suspects. Like Vaughn and the women. And I can’t believe you put Lew Henderson as a serious suspect?”

“Go back nine years. Lew would’ve been fifty-five. And old man DiGregerio would’ve been in his early Sixties. And interestingly enough, both men have always looked younger and stayed in good shape, especially Alphonse. And it was common knowledge that he was a pussy hound all his life. And based on what the girl just told us about her Aunt being turned off to young guys and maybe seeing an older man/father figure type, who would be more natural than Alphonse?”

“You’re reaching, Perry.”

“It’d be convenient for everybody if he was the one. Not only would a nice deathbed confession have taken the heat off me to solve the damn murder, but it would save the County a fortune in court costs. I wish I could’ve talked to him before he died.”

“The man isn’t even in the ground yet. I think a little respect for the dead is called for.”

“Screw the dead! I know what people are saying. I’m an asshole and I don’t have a shot at finding the killer. I don’t need a murder case in my life, Del. I’ll take a lifetime of chicken-shit misdemeanors. I don’t want to have to prove anything to anybody. And I don’t want this to slip into the wind. And I most assuredly don’t want to spend the rest of my life being haunted by a case like my old man.”

“Which case was your father haunted by?”

“Whattya think?” he snarled. “Not finding the body of Virginia Thistle.”

“But you said as far as your Dad was concerned, it was closed.”

“Only reason it got closed was because Kyle Thistle lost his mind. Sticking him in the nuthouse made things easy for everybody, especially my father. But he had his pride. No easy answer ever does anything for your pride. That case nearly drove him off the deep end. It’s hard enough to find evidence for even the simplest of crimes, but when it’s murder, not to have a friggin’ body? My Dad worked his ass off trying to figure what happened to that woman.” Perry shook his head with heaviness. “Goddamn Pete Dinwiddy!”

“Who?”

“The so-called witness who claimed he saw Kyle Thistle dropping garbage in a couple of cans. Dinwiddy was a lush, but it was the only thing my father had to go on. There was pressure from the County DA so my Dad made an arrest. But he never believed him. As for the body being in the lake, it’s standard procedure to make a search. You comb the area around the missing person’s house. You scour the wooded areas. You drag Lake Dankworth. Ho-hum. But Thistle got put away and everybody was satisfied except my father. He wanted Kyle to be tried. Figured a jury wouldn’t put much stock in the testimony of Dinwiddy because of his drinking. Dad was counting on a not guilty verdict. He figured people would’ve thought he tried to find justice.”