A Murder In Milburn Book 2 Death Of A Deputy REVAMPED June 2016 SCRIVENER (10 page)

When she woke up, she was covered in a sheen of sweat. After taking a hurried shower, Nora put on a navy blue dress and a white jacket. Then, changing her mind, she took it off and went with blue jeans and an emerald polo neck t-shirt.

“It’s all over town that Ricky’s missing,” Mrs. Mullally said. “There’s rumors that it’s the police that made him run away. I heard the new cops are a little bit better than thugs.”

“They’re all right,” Nora said, looking downcast. “Mrs. Mullally, I rather suspect it was my fault that he’s gone.”

“
Your
fault?” Mrs. Mullally asked. “Why Nora--”

“I was the last person to see him,” Nora said. “He vanished after…” but Nora didn’t complete this, she just shook her head miserably.

“There, there, dear,” Mrs. Mullally said. “Let me make you a cup of chamomile tea. It’ll make you feel that much better.”

“Actually, I think I just want to gulp down some coffee today and run into town,” Nora said. “I never did meet Anna, and I think I need to soon.”

“Before that, there’s someone here to see you,” Mrs. Mullally said.

Tina walked in, wearing her workout gear, clearly just in from a run.

“Tina.” Nora stiffened, remembering their last meeting.
 

“I know you don’t want to see me,” Tina said. “But Sean called, and he told me you might need me. He seemed to think you were unnecessarily blaming yourself for Ricky’s disappearance.”

That was Sean for you - a good man through and through.

“I’m fine,” Nora said tightly. “I’m just afraid for Ricky, and I don’t know what to do. I feel responsible for him.”

“Of course you do,” Tina said. “You feel responsible for every person on the planet, Nora.”

“That’s harsh,” Nora said.

“I’m not being harsh on you,
you’re
being harsh on you,” Tina replied. “Nora, if the silly boy was fool enough to blackmail the murderer, then whether or not you were near him, he’d eventually have gotten caught by the murderer. I’m just glad you weren’t in the crossfire.”

“Wait, who told you that?” Nora asked.

“Told me what?” Tina looked puzzled.

“Told you about… about Ricky blackmailing the murderer? Was it Sean?”

“Does it matter?” Tina looked irritated. “What are you doing, Nora? Mrs. Mullally, I’m sure you’ll agree with me. The last thing Nora should be doing is getting involved in this case. She’s got the diner to think about, and she’s still not over Raquel yet.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Mrs. Mullally said. “I told you I toured with the greats, didn’t I? Stevie Nicks, Zany Motts…”

Tina looked impatient. “Yes?”

“I remember once, we had this drummer, real nice fella named Chauncey. Big guy with more muscles than a wrestler, and a ponytail, but the sweetest man you ever saw. He was a drummer for us then, but he finished college and eventually quit to become an accountant somewhere in Idaho. Can you imagine that? Well, I suppose I did become a science teacher myself, so there’s never a way to tell. Anyhow, Chauncey had a twin brother, Kane. Kane looked just like Chauncey but on the inside, that boy had a mean streak wider than the Grand Canyon. He went into the military to escape some ruckus he’d created in his hometown, and then he was thrown out of the military for being too rough. That’s the kind of guy Kane was. Anyhow, Chauncey was really upset when Kane, for the third time, stole money off his ma and pa to fund some bad habits of his.”

“Mrs. Mullally…” Nora could see Tina was getting a glazed sort of look on her face.

“Yes, dear, I’m coming to the point. My youngest, Steve, often said that the worst part of doing something wrong wasn’t the punishment as much as it was listening to me go on and on.” Mrs. Mullally chuckled. “Never did learn to say it in 10 words when 500 would do.”

Nora laughed. “Mrs. Mullally, I never tire of listening to them.”

“I like you for it,” Mrs. Mullally said. “Anyhow, Chauncey was unloading on us all, how bad he felt about what Kane was doing, and saying that Kane used to be a good guy that his bad behavior all started when their older sister died in a hit and run.”

“Oh, that’s so sad for the parents,” Tina said. “To lose one child to an accident, and another to bad decisions.”

“Oh, there’s no pain like the pain of a wayward son,” Mrs. Mullally said. “In any case, the original point I was trying to make, my dear, was that Zany, listening to all of Chauncey’s rantings, ended it with one sentence.
You can’t change a leopard’s spots
. If it hadn’t been for the sister, it would have been something else, in all likelihood.”

“You don’t really believe that do you?” Tina asked. “Human beings aren’t fixed creatures. We’re constantly evolving. More importantly, we’re constantly
choosing
to evolve.”

“Still, you can’t run away from your nature,” Mrs. Mullally said. “It seems to me that it’s in Nora’s nature to help those who are injured, to fight against injustice. I think it’s always been. I remember back when she was in school, there was a girl named Sheryl, who was bullied by the rest of her grade. There’s always one like that in every batch. They have to exist for the rest of the kids to pick on. The lowest on the totem pole. Well, Nora here was the only one who tried her hardest to be nice to Sheryl. I could see she felt awkward about it because she was picked on plenty too, but she never stopped being nice. Nora’s not going to rest till the murderer is caught. You wait and see.”

“But she
has
to,” Tina said. “Nora has a job, she has a life. Wallis’ death is none of her beeswax.”

Nora wasn’t listening to Tina’s protests any more. Hearing Sheryl’s name reminded her of why she’d been distant with Sean for so long. He’d always been one of the popular kids in school, and he’d picked on Sheryl too.

“You agree, right, Nora?” Tina asked.

“Hmmm.” Nora looked up, confused.

Tina sighed. “There you go. You haven’t heard a word I said.”

“Sorry.”

“I was only saying that it’s every human being’s duty to evolve, to do things that make themselves happier,” Tina said. “I don’t think what you’re doing is healthy, Nora. It seems to me like you’re distracting yourself from what you really want, the diner, and instead chasing around unsolved cases that you have no business chasing around in.”

“That’s one way of looking at it,” Nora said.

“Well, why else wouldn’t you take my money?” Tina asked. “If you did, we could have the diner started as soon as next week. I know you’ve already arranged for licenses and the like.”

“Tina, I didn’t take your money because I thought you were very casual about it,” Nora said defensively. “It doesn’t mean I’ve got no intention of opening the diner. That’s my one dream and I’m going to achieve it.”

“You’re procrastinating,” Tina said. “That’s what it is. You’re still not over Raquel’s death, and that’s what it is too. You won’t admit it. It’s why Ricky was important to you, it’s why you were trying to solve Wallis’ death. It’s why you’re scared of your dream ever coming true, because if you
actually
open the diner, you’ll feel like you betrayed Raquel, won’t you?”

There was a ringing silence in the room. Mrs. Mullally looked down into her tea cup, suddenly interested in the contents.

“I’ve got one word for you,” Nora said. “No.”

“Oh sure,” Tina laughed. “I told you Raquel and I were close, Nora. She was my best friend too though I know you two were closer. Still, you were away for the last ten years, and I was the one who met Raquel every day. I knew the two of you were as close as sisters. You haven’t gotten over it yet, and that’s why you won’t accept help.”

“I don’t want
pity
,” Nora said, her words suddenly a scream. “Can’t you and Harvey ever understand that? I don’t want my dream diner opened because people gave me money out of pity
. Oh, poor Nora, lost her parents, then lost her best friend.
I want to do it on my own. I had bad luck, yes, but someday, I will open the Madness Diner, or maybe I’ll just call it Raquel’s this time. When I open the diner, Tina, and I promise you I will one day, it won’t be because a rich girl who felt bad for me opened up her purse strings on a whim. It won’t be because my rich boyfriend decided he’d “loan” me the money. To do
that
would be betraying Raquel and all the hard work she’d put into our dream. To do that would be spitting on her legacy.”

Tina stared at Nora with tears in her eyes. “Do you really think that little of me and Harvey?” she asked. “Actually, I don’t care what you think of Harvey. Do you really think so little of
me
?”

Nora’s phone began buzzing, next to her. There was a moment of silence, as Tina’s question floated in the air, unanswered, and then, Nora said in a slightly cracked voice, “I have to go now. I needed to meet--”

“No need,” Tina said, putting her hand up. “I give up, Nora. Go chase your suspects. I’m out of here.”

*****

Chapter 19

“Here,” Sean said, turning the car into a small alley that was packed with cars. People dressed in black were crowded around one house, talking in small groups and occasionally dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs.

“The town’s here and many besides,” Sean said. “Wallis was a popular man, with a lot of friends. Funny thing is, he didn’t have much of a family.”

“Who took charge of the funeral arrangements then?” Nora asked.

“His wife, Karen. Well, Ex-wife, sort of. The two of them were separated, no thanks to Wallis and his rock star ways,” Sean said. “Still, she’s very upset.”
 

Karen was a pointy-chinned woman with deep chestnut hair that looked painted on, as it rested on her dark grey and black dress. Her eyes looked puffed and red, but she had a brave smile on as she greeted each person in the line. Sean and Nora handed her some flowers and paid their respects to the body.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Nora said.
What must she be feeling?
Nora wondered, her eyes resting on the widow’s face. In a few months, she would have been a divorcee, but once, she must have loved the man who now lay still in the casket. Was she regretting the words she’d said to him, regretting leaving him? Or was she glad, secretly, that there would be no messy procedure? No division of assets?

Karen nodded, poker faced, and gave Sean a frigid glance.

The wake was filled with whispers. Dean Elbert stood with five rough men around him, looking obviously nervous as they pressed him for details about the investigation. In another corner, Nora saw the Detectives Jason and Rudy talking amongst themselves with a glass of beer in each hand. Casually, she wandered nearby, pretending to be interested in the cold meats.

“You really think so?” Jason was saying.

“We’re fairly sure,” Rudy said in a whisper. “I got a call confirming it not five minutes ago. He’d hired Doctor Gerard Hansen just last month.”

“Ok. Let’s discuss this later,” Jason said, giving Nora a look filled with suspicion. “Never know who’s listening, right, Nora?” he said, in a louder voice.

“Sorry?” Nora asked, turning around. “I didn’t hear what you just said?”

“Oh, funny.” Jason smiled. “Look, about Ricky. Don’t worry too much. We’ve got word that he might be trying to escape the county and head back to his hometown in Nebraska. A cop last night saw someone matching his description in a red pick-up truck, but the boy had a legitimate ID. Rudy and I think Ricky was using fake ID in his job here and used his real ID to escape. We’ll get him and bring him in for questioning sooner or later, though, don’t you worry.”

Nora felt a load lift from her heart. “Thanks, Jason,” she said, “And I’m sorry if I was a little--”

“Rude? Judgmental?” Jason laughed and waved it off. “Life’s too short to hold a grudge, right, Rudy?”
 

“Sometimes life’s too short
because
people hold a grudge,” Rudy said. “You know what I’m saying?”

“I hear you.” Jason smiled and took another sip. “You’ll want to watch out for Sean, Nora. There’s a section of people here who aren’t too fond of him right now.”

“Like anyone who was friends with Wallis and trying to get him elected,” Rudy said.

Nora nodded. “I’ll go see where he is,” she said.

“You do that.” Rudy raised his glass to her.

Surprisingly, Sean seemed to have vanished. Nora wandered from one room to another, lost in a sea of black suits and dresses, but he was nowhere to be found.
 

Finally, she climbed the stairs to the upper levels and was about to pass into a room when she stopped. From inside one of the closed doors, she could hear a faint conversation. It was barely above a whisper, but once she concentrated, she heard the words quite clearly.

“I had to get away,” a woman’s voice said. “It was too much, downstairs. God, it was the same when I lived here. Day and night, there was always someone in the house. Wallis was never happy unless he was surrounded by his courtiers.”

“He was the kind of man who blooms when given attention,” another voice said, this one so low that Nora could barely make it out.
 

“Oh, I’ve missed you,” the woman said, a little bit louder. “Take me into your arms, will you? I need a strong hug right now.”

There was a few second’s silence, and Nora, embarrassed, wondered whether she should go back downstairs.