Murder at Catfish Corner: A Maggie Morgan Mystery (11 page)

Chapter Twenty

Maggie tried
with no success to reach Seth later that night, but heard from him the next
morning in the form of a voice mail. “Sorry I missed your call,” he said. “I
was working a case. Unless I hear otherwise from you, I’ll see you in the park
at five.”

Maggie moped
around all day. She couldn’t muster enough enthusiasm to join the discussion
when the sports guys shared the account of a fist fight that had broken out
between two umpires during a little league game or admonish Tyler when he
characterized a caller who complained about one of his stories as a “toothless,
holler-dwelling inbreed.”

After a solitary
lunch, she met Stella in the parking lot and transported two boxes as well as
Hazel’s laptop and a handful of papers from Stella’s car to hers. Throughout
the day, she answered questions about her well-being with a terse, “I’m fine,
just tired.” At five o’clock, she exited the building and crossed the street to
the park where Seth sat waiting for her on the steps of the gazebo.

“There are
clouds on the horizon,” he said as Maggie planted herself a foot from him on
the steps. “Must be something about us and the park.”

“How did you
know it was Brandi Baker?”

“I guess small
talk is out of the question,” Seth said with a smile. When Maggie didn’t make
eye contact, he sighed and added, “It worried me when I heard you couldn’t identify
the person on the video. I thought, correctly, I might add, that it had
something to do with this Hazel Baker situation or that you were being stalked
or targeted. But I’ve been busy and didn’t get to watch the video until
yesterday. Officer Tackett identified the suspect as a female and I wanted to
see if I recognized her. Maybe I had come into contact with her or even
arrested her. I didn’t recognize her, but I did see a figure in the front seat
–”

Maggie rolled
her head to the side and said, “Of course, you did.”

“Of course, I
did, because I’m trained to see that sort of thing.”

“Did Officer
Tackett see it?”

“I don’t think
so, but he’s a rookie and that’s not the point. The figure was either extremely
short or a kid and I remembered you saying that Brandi Baker had a little girl.
I pulled her driver’s license photo and, well, it’s not a perfect match, but I
knew it was her. So, I have a question for you, Maggie. When did you become
such a liar?”

Maggie felt the
anger pounding against her temples. “I told him it could be anybody, so
technically, I didn’t lie. But don’t you dare tell me you’ve never lied during
the course of an investigation.”

“I’m a cop.”

“So? I’m sort of
an investigator.”

“Sort of is
right. But it doesn’t give you an excuse to break the law.”

“Don’t turn this
into a federal case. I didn’t commit perjury. I didn’t obstruct justice.” When
Seth rolled his eyes, she said, “There’s no case if I don’t press charges so
what’s the big deal? I’m the victim.”

“You blackmailed
her, didn’t you?”

Maggie wasn’t
prepared for Seth’s change of subject and could only manage to say, “Uh, no.”

“You’re going to
sit there and tell me you didn’t use that video as leverage to extract
information from her?”

“Did I suggest
to her that it would be in her best interest to meet with me and pay for the
damages to my car? Yes. Was that a mutually beneficial arrangement? Yes. Was it
extortion? No.”

“You have an
answer for everything.” Seth covered his face with both hands and rubbed his
eyes. “Did she kill Hazel Baker?”

“I don’t think
so.”

“Then why
vandalize your car? By the way, did you get your car back?”

“Yes, I did.
And, just so you know, Kevin Mullins’ friend fixed it for me and Kevin talked
him into giving me a sweet deal. That’s the same Kevin Mullins you were
convinced killed Mac Honaker, in case you forgot.”

Seth laughed. “What
does it matter to you if Kevin got his buddy to cut you a deal? Brandi Baker
paid for it. You should have had Kevin’s friend jack the price up on her. That
would teach her not to go around busting windows with a baseball bat. And you
still haven’t told me why she threatened you.”

“I don’t
remember you asking, but she did it because she wanted me to stay away from her
husband.”

Seth grinned. “Isn’t
he Hazel’s age? I guess he does go for younger women. Should Luke be jealous?”

“No. It’s
nothing like that and it wouldn’t matter if he were interested in me. I think
he’s gross, he’s married, and he reminds me of a weasel.” Maggie hunched her
shoulders and leaned forward. “Brandi thinks Earnest killed Hazel.”

Seth whistled. “Whoa.
What do you think about that?”

“It’s possible. Stella
swears he did it. He had a motive and he lies.”

“Huh. So does
lying automatically make you good for a murder?”

Maggie glowered
at Seth. “No, of course not, but Earnest lies about things that can be easily
disproven. I mean, he told me Brandi had an ex-husband. She doesn’t.”

“So, if you’re
going to lie, make it a good one. Is that what you’re saying?”

Maggie looked
directly into Seth’s green eyes. “Cut it out.”

Seth shrugged.
“Brandi could be lying to you, too.”

“I think she’s
the only one who’s telling the truth. Sure, she has anger issues and she lacks
self-awareness especially when it comes to her role in breaking up Earnest’s
marriage, but it’s kind of refreshing to talk to someone who tells the truth in
spite of themselves.”

“People usually
aren’t as good or as bad as they seem. As for her and Earnest, if he hadn’t
wanted her to break up his marriage, she couldn’t have done it.”

Later, when
Maggie thought back to their conversation, she didn’t know what had compelled her
to ask Seth, “Is that what happened to your marriage? Was a third party
involved?” As soon as Seth turned his woeful face upon her, she regretted her
words.

“No. I have no
reason to suspect that Jamie cheated on me. And while I’m not perfect, I was
never unfaithful to Jamie or to you or to any of my exes. I would hope that
after all this time, you would know me better than that.”

“I do know that.
I … never mind. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s all right.”
Seth clasped his hands in front of him. “I hate to admit this, even to myself,
but I never should have married Jamie. I rushed into that relationship and
marriage. I didn’t know her as well as a man should know his wife. And I didn’t
take the time to get to know her after the wedding, either.”

“What do you
mean?”

“We were both in
our early thirties and we both wanted kids, so we decided not to wait. We started
trying on the honeymoon.” He shook his head. “In retrospect, that would have
been a mistake even if we could have had kids. But we couldn’t have them, and
it was because of me.”

“Seth, I’m
sorry. I know how badly you wanted kids.”

“I know that’s
not important to some men, but it is to me. I wanted to be a father more than
anything. I suggested we adopt, but she said her family would never accept an
adopted child. I argued that it wouldn’t be their kid, it would be ours, but
she was afraid the kid wouldn’t feel welcome, that he wouldn’t feel like part
of the family. And that was that. It fell apart before it had even started.” He
swatted a fly circling Maggie’s head. “It’s funny how things work out. But
actions have consequences and one decision can make you spend the rest of your
life trying to choke back the regret.”

Maggie knew he
wasn’t talking about Jamie any longer, but she didn’t know what to say. They
sat on the steps, each staring in a different direction, until Seth’s phone
rang. He answered it and said, “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be right there.”

He stepped away
from the gazebo and said, “Our suspect in the chicken tender case has
sufficiently recovered from surgery and is finally well enough to submit to an
interview.”

“I heard about
that. Tyler said your guy hitched his truck to the restaurant’s freezer and
pulled open the door, liberating cases of frozen food in the process.”

Seth chuckled. “And
all he took was chicken tenders. We found them in the deep freezer at his
apartment just as he made a run for it and jumped from a three-story window,
breaking his legs in four places.”

“Wow,” Maggie
said, “That must be some good chicken. I predict the restaurant will be moving
their freezer from outside to inside the premises.”

“Some people’s
kids.” Seth sighed. “Before I go, I want to ask you to do something for me.
Call Officer Tackett and tell him that now that you’ve had some time to think
about it, you know who smashed your car window. And then tell him it was a
misunderstanding and you don’t want to press charges.”

“Okay.”

Seth nodded.
“Good. Take care and call me if you need me.”

As Maggie
watched him walk out of the park, she pulled her legs to her chest, and wrapped
her arms around her legs. She sat like that until light rain began to fall.

Chapter Twenty-One

After calling
Officer Tackett from her car, Maggie picked up dinner and drove to Luke’s.

“I’m glad you
called when you did,” Luke said as he assembled his steak fajita. “I was
getting ready to eat a boring turkey sandwich for dinner. Did you have to work
late?”

“No.” Maggie
took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you
about. Luke, I wasn’t exactly forthcoming the night at the police station. I
recognized the person who vandalized my car.”

Luke chased his
fajita with a few sips of beer and said, “There’s no better way to end the day
than with a cold beer, a warm meal, and a visit from a hot woman.”

“Luke, you and I
both know that I’m lukewarm, at best. Did you hear me? Did you hear what I said
about the car?”

“Yes, Maggie.”

“And?”

“And I kind of
figured you weren’t exactly forthcoming.”

“How did you
know?”

“Well, for starters,
you were really tense after we found the car, but you seemed to relax after we
saw the video. I remember coming home that night and thinking that seemed
strange. The only thing that made sense was that you were no longer worried
about your safety. You weren’t afraid of the person wielding the baseball bat.”

“I wouldn’t say
that. I’m sure she could take me in a bare-knuckled brawl, but why didn’t you say
anything?”

Luke dipped a
tortilla chip into salsa. “I thought you’d tell me when you felt like it.”

“Were you mad?”

“I was at first.
But I did tell you I didn’t want to hear anything about this Hazel Baker situation,
and it has something to do with that, doesn’t it?”

Maggie nodded
and finished the last of her burrito before saying, “I didn’t expect you to be
so understanding.”

“Thanks for the
vote of confidence.”

She scooted her
chair closer to his and draped her arms around his shoulders. “I’m sorry. That
didn’t come out the way I intended. It’s just that I thought you’d be angry.”

Luke wiped a
dollop of dried cheese off her face. “What made you come clean? Did the guilt
finally become too much to take?”

Maggie allowed
her arms to fall from Luke’s shoulders and to her side. “Yeah, but only after
Seth called me on it.”

“Seth?” Luke crunched
a chip between his teeth.

“He figured out
who was on the video.”

“How?”

“It was a woman,
he thought the figure in the car had to be a child, and he knew Brandi had a daughter.”

“What figure in
the car?”

“There was a
person in the front seat. Didn’t you see them?” Maggie asked.

“No.”

“Neither did
Officer Tackett.”

“How did Seth
know Brandi has a kid?” Luke asked.

“I told him.”

“When?”

Maggie once
again inhaled deeply and exhaled softly. “I ran into him a few weeks ago, by
accident, and bounced a few ideas off him.”

Luke slumped in
the chair. “Would you have told me about recognizing the person on the video if
Seth hadn’t called you on it?”

“I thought you
weren’t mad? You distinctly told me you weren’t mad.”

“I said I wasn’t
mad before I learned of Seth’s involvement.”

“So, you are
mad?”

“No, not really.
I am curious, though. And you haven’t answered my question. Would you have told
me?”

Maggie placed
the palm of her hand on her forehead as if she were checking her temperature.
“I can’t say for sure when I would have told you.”

Luke nodded. “I
guess it’s a good thing Seth saw that video. He’s keeping you honest.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

A warm soothing
rain continued to fall as Maggie arrived home. She ducked into the house and
tried to get Barnaby, who had become accustomed to a certain dry lifestyle, to
go outside and do his business. He refused that command but he did accompany her
to the front porch where Maggie sat and reflected on her discussions with Seth
and Luke.

Her meeting with
Seth had unsettled her. Although she tried to chase such thoughts from her
mind, she couldn’t help but ponder on how her life would have unfolded if she
had married him.

“I would have
gotten that honeymoon in Vermont,” she said to Barnaby, who lay at her feet
with his head on his front paws. “We had already made reservations at a bed and
breakfast and planned what the website referred to as a scenic fall drive. We
were going to drive all the way up there from here and spend a day near Boston
so Seth could watch a football game.” Barnaby stole a glance at the rain and
Maggie followed his gaze. Following the breakup, Maggie had consoled herself
with the thought that the New England fall foliage couldn’t be more spectacular
than the colorful eastern Kentucky leaves that greeted her every time she
looked out a window. She had a harder time convincing herself that the Mrs.
Butterworth’s she poured on her pancakes tasted as good as the fresh maple
syrup she had hoped to experience in Vermont. “I haven’t thought about the trip
that never was in a long time. I put it out of my mind. I saw no sense in
dwelling on that or chastising myself for delaying the talk about children
until we were already engaged.”

Barnaby moved
from his position on the porch floor and put his head in Maggie’s lap. “He
would have been living here with us,” she said and patted the dog’s nose. “He
would have taken you for hikes in the hills and let you eat human food.” She
looked into Barnaby’s eyes. “You would have liked him more than you like me,
wouldn’t you?”

Barnaby averted
his eyes and looked to the rain.

“Of course, he
would have been much firmer with you than I’ve been. This business of holding
it for a sunny day would not have worked on him.” Barnaby lifted his head from
Maggie’s lap and returned to the floor. “Hmm. I guess somebody can’t handle the
truth.”

She threw her
head back and looked at the porch ceiling. “Why am I torturing myself? I have a
good life. It’s better than most. I’m happy with my job and my relationship
with Luke. Gosh, this is so unfair to Luke. He doesn’t deserve a girlfriend who
sits on her front porch playing a game of ‘what if I hadn’t broken my
engagement to my ex-boyfriend’ with her dog. And Seth does seem to be popping
up everywhere. Heck, I accused him of following me. So, Luke has every right to
be upset by his presence” Maggie bent over and looked into Barnaby’s face. “You’re
a good listener, but I’ve gotten better advice from a fortune cookie. I need to
talk to your Antie Edie. Too bad she’s drinking daiquiris on a beach this
week.”

Maggie stretched
her arms in front of her and said, “Oh, Barnaby, I need to get my mind off
this.” She looked to the sky. “It doesn’t look like it’s letting up soon. Stay here.”
She disappeared inside the house only to emerge seconds later carrying her car
keys and a leash. She attached the leash to Barnaby’s collar, opened her trunk
with her keyless remote, and stepped off the porch and into the rain.

Barnaby would
not budge. “Come on,” she prodded him. “If I can stand the rain, you can. Your
canine ancestors would be so embarrassed by your behavior right now.” She
gently tugged the leash and began walking down the driveway. Barnaby put his
head down and followed. “I know a good boy who will earn himself two treats if
he does his business.” She added in a lower voice, “And a mommy who will be out
here cleaning up that business.”

With the leash’s
loop around her wrist, Maggie lifted her trunk lid with her other hand and pulled
one of the boxes from Hazel’s house out of her car while Barnaby did, in fact,
do his business. She stood in the rain until he finished and then lugged him
and the box to the porch. She collapsed into her rocking chair, removed the box
lid, and said, “Let’s see what’s in here.”

She pulled a
file from the box and flipped it open to what she immediately recognized as a
patient’s medical records. She placed that file on the table and picked a
handful out of the box. Each file contained the confidential records of a
patient at Dr. Griffith’s clinic.

Maggie held the
folders to her chest, “I shouldn’t be seeing these files. I should stuff them
into that box and return them to the doctor.”

But Maggie didn’t
quit looking at the records. As she examined page after page, she noticed that
someone had used a highlighter to mark every file. A few records included
several sections highlighted in either blue, yellow, or pink. “For this patient
alone,” she said to herself as she scanned the records of an elderly man, “X-rays
and blood work were highlighted in October as well as in June, an ultrasound
the next December, and a pneumonia diagnosis the following April. Poor guy. I
hope he recovered.”

Although the
highlighted records confused her, she continued to search the files until the
darkening night forced her to flip on the porch light. It wasn’t until she had
slapped at the tenth bug biting into her flesh that she said to Barnaby, “I
guess that’s enough for tonight. Let’s go in. Maybe we’ll catch a vintage
episode of
Dateline
on ID.”

She had no luck
with
Dateline
, but the channel did show an older episode of
48 Hours
that had somehow escaped her notice during its original airing. When she went
to bed, she was still wondering how one had gotten by her. She didn’t give the
medical records another thought that night. It wasn’t until she was conducting
a telephone interview with the next performer in the Summer Under the Stars Concert
Series that the explanation roared into her mind like the first crack of
thunder on a quiet night. As the singer named her musical influences, Maggie
wrote two words at the bottom of her notepad – Medicaid fraud.