Barbara Graham - Quilted 04 - Murder by Vegetable (25 page)

“I know. Thank you.” Her smile was radiant. “It's the first thing most people do notice. But not you.”

“I guess I was too busy thinking how much you're like Theo, and also admiring your view, to pay attention. I didn't notice any special markings.”

Olivia gestured to the wide door. “If you look, you'll find there's a button for the automatic door openers. I did not want bright blue handicapped pictures all over my home.” She smiled warmly at her husband. “Bart can work anywhere in the world, and he built this palace for me after the accident. Pouring over the plans and sample books gave me something wonderful to think about. Bart's a sweetheart.”

Tony thought Bart was almost embarrassed by her statement.

“I wanted to add an ivory tower, but she said no.” Bart leaned against a wall, but did not look particularly relaxed.

As much as he was enjoying talking with this couple, Tony had a job to do. “What did you see?”

“Bart was in California.” Her hands trembled and she looked away from the windows. “It was terrifying.” She took a deep breath as she forced herself to turn back to the windows. “I saw three men on the roof of the house that burned and thought they were working on it, but when the woman's van returned and the garage door opened, they sort of hid, you know, flattening themselves out. Then the garage door closed behind the van and almost immediately a fire started right below the window opening onto the roof. I went to get my cell phone, but I'm not very fast. When I got back to the balcony again, huge flames were coming out of the upstairs windows, and a river of fire covered the garage roof below the little balcony. As I dialed nine-one-one, I saw the mom and kids run out with the dog. By the time nine-one-one answered, they were safely away from the house.” She trembled. “I just remembered. I took some pictures of the men with my phone.”

“Photographs of the arsonists?” Tony wondered if Bart would object to his wife being kissed by the sheriff. “Awesome. May I see?”

“I doubt they're very clear. I didn't look at them.” Olivia retrieved her state-of-the-art cell phone from a drawer and handed it to Tony. Her expression was only half apologetic. “I hate it ringing when I'm working.”

Bart nodded. “I can't tell you how many times I've called her and she doesn't answer.”

“Did you see where the men went?” Tony could only think of three men who ran in a pack, the Farquhars.

“They ran away from the house, down to the dirt road on the edge of the park.” Olivia pointed through the trees before looking at Tony. “But I only saw two leave.”

Tony made no comment. He now knew for certain what he had only guessed before.

Olivia swallowed hard and began scrolling through the tiny pictures on her phone. “Here's where they start.” She turned it so Tony and Wade could see, showing each one at full size, which was still the size of a playing card. “Will they help?”

Wade said, “The second one looked pretty clear. I'll bet a photo genius can make it poster size.”

Theo couldn't believe how exhausted she suddenly felt; like she'd fall over if she had to stand up for another minute. She glanced into the kids' corner of her office. Chris and Jamie were battling some video game monster with yellow teeth and spots. It reminded her of someone. She couldn't place who though. “Are you boys at a stopping spot?”

“Not now mom.” Chris said, “Almost. We have to get into the castle and collect the coins first.”

“Our sisters are sleeping.” Jamie gave her a pitiful look. “Are you going to wake them up?”

Theo yawned. Behind the boys, the trundle bed called her name. “How about I take a nap and you can wake me up when you're ready to go home.”

“Deal.” The boys turned back to their game.

She moved some stuffed animals aside and curled up on the bed. Within seconds, she was sound asleep.

“Theo?” She heard Tony's voice in her dream. “Theo, honey, wake up.”

She felt someone shake her shoulder and slapped at it like it was mosquito. “No.”

“Mom?” Now it sounded like Jamie's voice was right inside her head. Warm breath tickled her ear. “Are you in there? It's time to go home.”

She blinked a few times. All three Abernathy males were staring at her. “Tony? What are you doing here?”

“Not that I don't envy you sleeping away the afternoon, but are you ready to go home?” He had a baby in each arm. “The boys called me when they couldn't wake you up.”

“I'm sorry.” Theo managed to sit up. “I was just so tired and thought I'd nap for ten minutes while the boys finished up their game.” She glanced toward the window. “At least it's not dark.”

“Yep, but it will be soon. Let's go home and you can sleep there.”

Theo got to her feet and staggered a bit before managing to get her purse and keys and all the babies' stuff together. “Would you mind if we just order pizza for dinner?” If she wasn't so wiped out, she might have cared that Tony and the boys looked relieved she wasn't planning to cook.

Curious about Harrison Ragsdale's nephew, Tony thought he'd have time to return to Randal Byers's home before the pizza could be delivered. He found the young man in the back yard helping his daughter practice shooting a basketball. The hoop was only about five feet off the ground, but she still struggled. When Randal noticed him, he smiled and walked toward him. “Sheriff?”

“Sorry to disturb you and your daughter.” Tony stepped backwards, hoping the young man would follow until they were out of the girl's earshot. “I have only recently learned you are the nephew of Harrison Ragsdale.”

Randal nodded. “I'm not real proud of my family tree. I think learning about it was part of the reason my wife left me. She thought the whole family, including my daughter, is tainted by bad blood.” Anger vibrated in his voice and made his eyes narrow. “If you've got any similar ideas, you can stuff them.”

Tony shook his head. “I'm just collecting facts. Can you tell me about your relationship with Ragsdale?”

“We've barely even met and never really spoken together. His sister is, was, my mom. She drank herself to death about two years ago. And my uncle, their brother, is in the penitentiary in Illinois. We don't visit.” The young man stared into the distance, past Tony's shoulder. “Quite a family tree, isn't it?”

“I've known better and worse.” Tony wasn't without sympathy. “I don't suppose you know anything about Ragsdale's will.”

“If there is one, I know nothing about it. You can ask my grandmother, but she's my dad's mom.”

Tony thought the young man's facial expression was half-belligerent and half-desperate at the idea of an inheritance.

“Grandma did say some man with a cane stopped by one day and wanted to meet my daughter. I thought it might be my uncle Harrison. Grandma said she took a broom and swept him off the porch; didn't like the looks of him. He never came by again.”

“How are your finances?”

“Without Grandma's help, I couldn't afford to live here. The fertilizer plant pays okay, but if I had to pay a baby-sitter, I don't know how I'd do it.”

“About your ex-wife.” Tony felt like a louse asking him painful questions. Randal acted like a good father and a hard worker but the law was
his
job. “Do you have joint custody?”

A bitter-sounding laugh was part of Randal's answer. “Nope. I have full custody and eight kinds of paper to prove it. She didn't want any part of us. It seems I was fun for a little while, but she didn't think being a mom was worth the effort. She bitched a lot about stretch marks and stuff. I'd guess she used all the money I gave her to pay for some plastic surgery. Last I heard, she was headed to Hollywood.”

“Is she an actress?”

Randal laughed long and hard. A real, deep-from-the-belly laugh. “Thank you, Sheriff. I swear that's the funniest thing I've heard in weeks. Yeah, she thought she was finest actress ever, and to be fair, she convinced me that she loved me, for a while.” He tossed the ball to his daughter.

Tony watched the little girl trot after it. She watched them over her shoulder. “She looks concerned.”

Randal's voice dropped to a whisper. “The first few weeks we were here, she was afraid her mom was coming to take her away.”

“She didn't want her mom?” Tony didn't like the way this story was getting hinky. “Does she think she's going back to live with her?”

“No, not anymore, but it's taken a lot to convince her she's just mine.” Randal kicked a rock with his toe. He squinted as he raised his eyes. “One of the reasons, besides every dime I had, my ex-wife finally signed the papers giving me full custody was because I threatened to call the cops and have her arrested.”

“Abuse or neglect?” Provoked by his anger, Tony's stomach gnawed.

“A little of both, and neither obvious.” Randal looked directly into Tony's eyes. “When you're working two jobs and are rarely home, it's hard to keep track of all the little details. There were just lots of things my wife said or did that didn't quite add up.” He heaved a big sigh. “Then one day, I came home and she, my wife, was entertaining a man in our bedroom and my daughter was locked in her room. I went ballistic.”

“I think I've heard enough.” Tony extended his hand. “Good luck with your daughter. As long as all this is substantiated, I'm on your side.”

“Do you think? Is it possible?” Randal couldn't quite ask the question.

“Do you mean are you in the will?”

Randal nodded.

Tony lied. “I don't know. We haven't found one yet. But if you are, you'll be contacted by the lawyers.” Tony sincerely hoped Randal was as innocent as he seemed. “We're still looking into your uncle's death, so it may take a while. Don't give up hope, and remember your time is worth more to your daughter than the things money buys.”

“Yes, sir.” Randal picked up the ball and tossed it. The little girl ran after it, giggling and suddenly at ease, almost as if she sensed a possible threat to her happiness had been averted. Her hair flew behind her and the old lady opened the door and called them to dinner.

“Good luck.” Tony whispered and went home to hug his own kids. Running around in circles was not conducive to thinking things through, and money was still one of the oldest and best motives for murder.

“I want to know what the three Farquhar boys have been up to for the past week or two.” Tony addressed the day shift—Wade, Mike, Sheila, and Darren. “And I wouldn't be disappointed if one of you should learn one of them fed Ragsdale a handful of walnuts.”

“They haven't been in town for a while.” Sheila tapped her notebook. “Or they're being low-key. I had to drag two of them out of the Okay a couple of weeks ago. Mom Proffitt said she'd shoot one if they came back. They are definitely not welcome in her establishment.”

Mike said. “The only certainty is they're drinking somewhere. They were pretty liquored up at the festival. I bumped into one of them, and he started to take a swing at me, but his brothers pulled him away.”

“So they're probably doing their drinking at home or over at the Spa,” said Sheila.

Tony thought about his next move. The Spa was the nickname for the Spot. No one ever seemed to think pronouncing the whole “spot” was worth the effort. Neither was spending much time in the Spa. Unlike the Okay, the only reason anyone went there was to have too much to drink and maybe chum up with someone else over-imbibing. It was a dump. A dive. A cesspool. And thankfully for the county budget, it was conveniently near a really fine place to set a trap for speeders and DUIs. “I'll go to the Spa myself. I need to have a little chat with Fast Osborne about his customers being over-served. Wade, come with me.”

“I'll watch the roads while you two chat with the Farquhars,” Sheila looked at Mike and Darren. When they nodded, Sheila relaxed a bit, making Tony wonder what she wasn't telling him. Sheila said, “Have you noticed the shrine near Dead Man's Curve seems to be growing?”

“Larger?”

“Flowers.” Sheila used her hands to suggest the width and length. “The center is planted with crocuses and some other small bulbs, and around it is a border of something else, and so on. There's at least four borders, and each contains a different kind of plant. I've been taking Alvin out there to clear the weeds from his grandparents' memorial and we've noticed lots of changes.”

“Any idea who is gardening there?” Tony leaned forward. “Or what, if anything, is buried there?”

“No.” Sheila gestured again. “The center has had a handmade cross ever since the man from North Carolina drove into the stone wall and you rescued Catherine. It's pretty crudely done but identifiable. Now there's an additional wreath of artificial flowers on a stand. The way the shrine is getting larger kind of gives me the creeps.”

“Here's your chance to do some detective work. See what you can learn about it. I remember seeing it not long ago, but it sounds like after several years untouched it is definitely changing. Find out why.” Tony knew Sheila would handle the assignment with her usual efficiency. He looked at Mike and Darren. “You two, watch out for those Farquhar boys. I suspect they are our burglars as well as our arsonists.”

“Do you think one of them was the body in the garage?” Mike absently massaged Dammit's ear. “I wouldn't put it past them to kill one of their own.”

“Me neither, so be extra careful. Don't turn your back on them.” Tony stood. “Wade, let's go bar hopping.”

In Tony's opinion, if there was ever a case of a nickname not matching the establishment, it was the Spa. Where the Okay Bar and Bait Shop was built like a box, sort of a whitewashed wooden cube, the Spa was long and narrow and built of cinder-blocks. The original owner named it “the Spot” and had painted a huge red circle on the front of the building, encompassing the door. The rest of the cinderblocks were painted the same dull gray as their natural color.

No one had painted anything around the Spa in years, and most of the red paint had flaked off long ago. No one had trimmed the weeds growing through the gravel of the parking lot. No one had filled the ruts either. Driving across the parking lot in the patrol vehicle, Tony had to wonder how the Spa's customers could afford to keep their vehicles in alignment.

“Good thing we brought your vehicle. It has higher clearance than mine.” Wade gripped the window frame of the Blazer as they dropped into a vicious rut. “I doubt the Thomas Brothers could straighten the frame if I drove here in my car.”