Casey Mayes - A Killer Column

“Come on, this was lightweight compared to what we used to do,” Jenny said.

“It’s true. I don’t have the stamina for it that I used to,” I admitted.

“I’m glad about that,” Zach said. “If we’re finished gorging, can we discuss where we are now in the case?”

I sighed. “Zach, can’t we take one night off from our investigation?”

Jenny shook her head. “He’s right. We can’t afford to let up just because we found out who was stalking me. Derrick Duncan’s murder case is more important than that.”

“Fine,” I said, pushing the empty bowl away from me. “Let’s talk about it. That termination letter certainly changes things, doesn’t it?”

“Does it?” Zach asked. “We know Derrick wrote it, but we can be fairly certain that he didn’t deliver it. There’s a good chance Kelsey didn’t even know she was about to be fired.”

“If he was even going to pull the trigger and do it,” I said. “Derrick loved to threaten people, we know that.”

“So, you’re saying we’re right back where we started from?” Jenny asked.

“No, it definitely adds another layer to our investigation,” Zach said.

Jenny bit her lower lip, and then said, “Maybe it would help if we made a list of our suspects. If we have motives, that might help clarify things as well.”

Zach nodded his approval. “That’s a great idea.”

“Let me get something from my office. I’ll be right back.”

When she left, Zach asked softly, “Is she going to be all right?”

“She’s shaken,” I replied, “but she’s tough. That was brilliant, taping the porch. You saved the day.”

Zach shrugged. “I’m just glad it worked.”

Jenny came back in carrying an easel and an enormous pad of paper. “I use this when I’m prepping for a trial,” she said. As she handed Zach a thick black marker, she asked, “Would you care to do the honors?”

“Sure,” he said. He drew a vertical line down a third of the way over on the paper, and then divided it horizontally into six sections.

“Why six?” Jenny asked.

“Six lines for six suspects,” he said as he started filling in the names. After he’d written Cary Duncan, Kelsey Hatcher, Mindi Mills, Brady Sims, Sylvia Peters, and Frank Lassiter down the list, he moved to the open sections.

“Now we put down the motives,” he said as he added another line to the grid, making an elongated tic-tac-toe board with three equal vertical divisions.

“For Cary, we’ve got love and greed,” I said.

Zach nodded as he wrote that down. “Brady and Sylvia can be revenge for the firing,” he said.

“Mindi could be panic over being dumped,” Jenny added.

“And Lassiter has to be revenge,” I said.

Zach wrote it, and then drew a line through Frank Lassiter’s name.

“Hey, why did you do that?”

“I confirmed his alibi today. He was in Richmond when Derrick was murdered. Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I got the call while I was out shopping for your little binge.”

“You can mark Sylvia’s name off, too,” Jenny said. “We know she was in her room when someone tried to push Kelsey Hatcher in front of that bus.”

“Don’t be so hasty,” I said. “That might clear her for Kelsey’s attempted murder, but not for Derrick.”

“Are we going to assume the two things are unrelated?” Jenny asked.

“We aren’t even positive anything happened with Kelsey,” Zach said.

“But we have witnesses,” I said.

He shrugged. “Who saw anything except Kelsey and Brady? And what proof do we have that Kelsey was actually pushed?”

“You don’t trust anybody, do you?” Jenny asked.

“Not when it comes to a murder investigation,” Zach replied. “I can’t afford to.”

“Then Lassiter’s name is off our list, but the others are all still viable.”

I frowned. “We have alibis for some of them, but I don’t know how we can verify them. Brady said he was sitting in his car when Derrick was murdered, and Sylvia claimed to be in her room. I’m not sure how to confirm either one of those alibis.”

“What about Cary, Mindi, and Kelsey?” Zach asked.

I thought back to our conversation. “Cary told me that she got to town after Derrick was murdered, but how can we believe her? If she can kill, she can certainly lie.”

Zach wrote it down on the list. “Maybe we can prove she was here before she said she was.”

“How can we do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she got a speeding ticket on the way down, or there could be receipts for gasoline purchases. There might be something.”

“But you’d need the resources of the police department to determine that, wouldn’t you?”

He smiled. “I might just have them. You heard him; Murphy owes me one. It just might be time to collect.”

“Just because you helped him tonight doesn’t mean he’s going to bend a single rule in an active police investigation,” Jenny said.

“I’m not asking for much.”

“Why don’t we see what else we can come up with before you start calling in favors?” I asked. As I stared at the sheet of paper, I asked, “Have we even heard Kelsey’s alibi yet? Don’t forget that Mindi acted honestly surprised when we told her about Derrick’s murder, but I suppose she could have been acting.”

Jenny shook her head. “I don’t think she’s that good.”

“And Kelsey was getting her own tray of food when I found Derrick.” I remembered that scream, and how genuine it had sounded.

Zach wrote it down, and then he said, “There’s still a great deal we don’t know, isn’t there?”

“How do we go about finding anything else out?” I asked.

“We keep digging,” he said.

“Tonight?” I asked, beginning to regret the amount of junk food I’d just consumed.

“No, I think it will wait until morning. I believe we’ve all had enough excitement for one day.”

“I agree,” Jenny said. As she started to clean up, I said, “You go on to bed. I’ll take care of that.”

“I’d love to fight you over it,” she said as she tried to stifle a yawn, “but I don’t have it in me.”

“I’ll give you a hand,” Zach said.

After Jenny went to bed, we finished cleaning up, and as I wiped down the counter, I asked, “Do you think we’re ever going to solve this?”

He nodded solemnly. “I do, and what’s more, I think it’s going to be soon.”

“How can you say that?”

Zach just shrugged. “Call it a cop’s intuition, but I think something’s about to break.”

THE NEXT MORNING, I AWOKE TO FIND THAT MY HUSBAND has slipped out of the bed at some point in the night. I threw on a robe and found Jenny already up and dressed in a handsome suit, sipping a cup of coffee and scanning the newspaper.

“Hey, sleepyhead,” she said with a smile.

I glanced at the clock. “It’s only seven thirty. Have you seen Zach?”

“He left an hour ago.”

Jenny handed me a cup of coffee. “Here, this will wake you up.”

I took it gratefully, inhaled the aroma for a second, and then drank deeply from the cup.

“Better,” I said. “Did he happen to say where he was going?”

“He went for a run with Shawn,” she said. “Those two are forming some kind of odd friendship, aren’t they?”

“They’re both cops, no matter what Zach’s current status is. With so much in common, I’d be amazed if they weren’t getting along.”

Jenny watched me for a few seconds before she spoke. “Have you two come to any conclusions about that job offer he got?”

“No, we’re both pointedly ignoring it for now,” I said, and then took another sip. “Why, do you want to discuss it?”