Denise Swanson - Murder of a Sleeping Beauty

Vince frowned and flicked a look at Skye.

She made a face. “Vince, get something to tie her up with.”

He looked around. “What?”

Her mind worked frantically. “The electrical cords on the lamps.”

Lorna yelped, “Don’t touch those lamps. They’re originals by Tiffany.”

Vince ignored her, ran to the nearest end table, and yanked the wire from the base, returning with the cord. Even though she fought him, he easily secured Lorna’s ankles, and then repeated the procedure for her wrists. As soon as he was finished, Skye jumped up and between them they tied Lorna to the desk chair with the sash from her robe.

Within minutes, Vince and Skye were running toward the cemetery. They arrived at the end of the Ingelses’ property at the same time. Vince had longer legs and was in better shape, but Skye was still jazzed with adrenaline from her wrestling match with Lorna. A few inches in front of them the graveyard began.

Skye paused, listening. Which direction? Sounds of scuffling indicated the way. She slowed down, picking her way carefully among the plaques and grass-covered mounds. Vince followed silently. As they advanced, Skye began to hear voices and she slowed further, going from headstone to headstone, crouching behind the granite markers.

A huge gray marble slab with a teardrop shape cut out of the top allowed her to stand upright and peek through it without being seen.

May was sitting on a flat headstone, and Allen Ingels held a pistol pointed at her head. May was speaking. “You never answered me. What did you do with my money?”

Allen looked a wreck. His hair was in disarray, allowing his bald spot to show through. The knee of his suit had been torn, and the lining of his jacket hung beneath the hem. He wiped a soiled hand across his eyes, leaving dirt on his cheeks. “Shut up. I’ve got to think. What am I going to do with you?”

“Give me back my money.” May cocked her head. “It’s not right what you did to this town.”

“You’re forcing me to shoot you,” Allen gritted out from between clenched teeth. “You’re just like Lorna and Linette—totally selfish. If that little brat hadn’t insisted she had to have her crown, we could be in Mexico by now.”

“Why did you take her then?”

He looked puzzled. “I couldn’t leave her with Lorna. Not after she told me last night about ‘accidentally’ killing Lorelei with those damn diet pills of hers. She’d already started Linette on them. What was I supposed to do, wait for another ‘accident’?”

May reached out as if to pat his arm, but he stepped back, out of contact. “Save your pity. Linette and I will be just fine as soon as I take care of you.”

May clasped her knees. “Why did you do this, Allen? You had money. You didn’t need ours.”

His laugh was raw. “That’s what everyone thinks, but when the bank was sold last year, the new company cut my salary in half right away. We couldn’t live on that amount.”

“But your family has had money, what about that?”

“With a wife and kids like mine, that money was gone long ago. We live from paycheck to paycheck.” Allen’s voice was dazed.

“Look, why don’t you just turn yourself in? I’m sure Wally will see that things go okay for you, especially if you give back the money.”

Allen clutched his head with both hands, momentarily directing the pistol away from May. “Shut up! You’re driving me crazy!”

As soon as Allen’s aim drifted from May’s head, Skye signaled Vince and they darted forward.

But before they could cover the uneven ground, Wally stepped out from behind a small group of trees and leveled his gun at Allen. “Drop it.”

Allen stared at the police chief for what seemed an interminable second before he let his weapon fall to the ground.

Officer Quirk and a couple of county deputies emerged from their cover in the foliage. They handcuffed Ingels.

“You might want to pick up Lorna Ingels too, ” Skye said. “She’s in the house, tied to a desk chair in the library.”

Wally shook his head. “What have you done now?”

Skye explained about the confrontation and handed over the tape recorder containing Lorna’s confession.

“Okay, men, take Mr. Ingels away, and while you’re in the neighborhood, pick up his wife.”

Skye heard one of the officers reading Allen Ingels his rights as they walked away.

Vince and Skye had been standing with their arms around May. Now, they all spoke at once.

Vince gave May a hard squeeze. “I was so worried.” Skye patted her mother’s back. “How could you say those things to him?”

May looked them both over, and said, “What took you two so long?”

After a few minutes, Vince led May away. Skye turned to Wally, who had been leaning against a tree trunk, silently observing. “How did you end up out here? Were you following Allen?” she asked.

“Nope. I was following you.” He straightened. “What did you expect after our last conversation? I knew you’d go after Mrs. Ingels.”

“You didn’t have to do that. I had my own backup.”

“Are you referring to the Three Stooges? A seventy-year-old man sitting in a Cadillac, a defenseless middle-aged woman, and a hairdresser?”

Skye crossed her arms. “Who does that make me? Shemp?” She was none too happy about being called the fourth stooge, even if Shemp was her favorite.

Wally grinned. “If the stooge fits.”

Epilogue

It was hard for Skye to drag herself to school on Friday. Her throat hurt from Lorna’s attempt to strangle her, and every muscle in her body ached. Worst of all, her four-hundreddollar suit was ruined. She was seriously depressed.

She vowed that she would go to work, do what had to be done, and sneak home early. The most urgent item on her schedule was to talk to Lorelei’s friends . . . and enemies, so they could have closure. There would be an assembly first hour to tell everyone in the school what had happened, but the kids most closely involved deserved to be told in private.

Skye arranged for extra chairs to be set up in the guidance office and asked the various homeroom teachers to send the teens on her list to the guidance office as soon as the bell rang. They filed in silently. Zoë and Frannie immediately claimed the two seats across from Skye’s desk. Troy drew up a folding chair just behind Zoë, and Justin did the same on Frannie’s side. The rest of the cheerleading squad and Chase occupied the remaining seats.

Skye leaned forward. “I’m sure many of you have already heard some version of what happened yesterday, but I wanted to tell you the true account. Mrs. Ingels was arrested for the accidental death of her daughter. Lorelei had stopped taking a prescription medication that her mother wanted her to take. Without telling her mother, she started to take it again. In the meantime her mom had begun to put it in her food. She ended up with a fatal overdose.”

The teens remained silent. Their expressions ranged from boredom to incredulity.

Skye went on. “To add to this family’s tragedy, Mr. Ingels embezzled the bank’s money, took his youngest daughter, and tried to leave the country. He was caught when he came back to retrieve one of Linette’s belongings. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ingels are in jail, and Linette is staying with a relative in Chicago.”

Zoë yawned. “And you’re telling us all this, why?”

“Well, Zoë, partly so we can all have closure. Lorelei was a big part of everyone’s life, whether they liked her or not. But I guess partly because I thought you all might gain some insight from this mess.”

Justin gestured with his head. “That’s asking a lot from these guys, Ms. Denison. They all have hipatitis.”