Murder in the Middle: A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery (2 page)

Chapter 4

Susan crouched behind the bushes and watched Lynette and Jackson leave, before entering the school. She scratched her hand on a dry branch. Lynette would lecture her about sticking her nose into police business if she saw her and she wasn’t in the mood to hear it. She wished Lynette could understand that solving crimes kept her mind active and made her feel useful. She wasn’t trying to do Lynette’s job; she just wanted to help, especially now that Lynette had a baby to take care of.

“Your daughter and her partner just left,” said Antonio. “They interviewed my secretary and the guidance counselor, Elaine Cummings. I’m so glad you’re willing to help me. It’s not that I don’t have faith in the police department, it’s just that they have a full plate and can’t devote one hundred percent of their time to this like I know you will.”

“Always the charmer, Antonio.” Susan gave him a squeeze around the shoulders. “Antonio, do you have anyone on staff named Caleb? Maybe even a delivery man or maintenance worker?”

“No, I can’t think of anyone named Caleb. Why?”

“Never mind. Can I speak with Miss Cummings?”

“Sure. Her office is right around the corner.”

Susan knocked on Elaine Cummings’ door and was invited to have a seat. The office was slightly larger than Sophie’s. A black, microfiber sofa faced the oak desk. Susan detected the faint aroma of lavender.

“Miss Cummings, I’m trying to help find Sophie. My name is Susan Wiles. I understand you were friends.”

“Please call me Elaine. Yes, we’re friends. I’m worried sick about her.”

“I know you’ve already spoken to the police, but Antonio asked if I’d lend my assistance as well. As far as you know, did anyone want to harm Sophie? Did she have any co-workers with whom she didn’t get along?”

“She was––I mean is––quiet. She mostly stays to herself; she’s not overly friendly, but I don’t know of anyone who…” Elaine paused. “Wait a minute. There was something. One day last week, I walked into her office and I heard her talking on the phone. She sounded upset––told whoever it was never to bother her again. I don’t think it was just a telemarketer. I asked her about it, but she said she didn’t want to talk about it.”

“Maybe it was an old boyfriend or something. Was she seeing anyone?”

“Like I told the police, she’d been seeing one of the math teachers here for the past few months. They seemed happy. His name’s Mitch Coniglio.”

Susan made a mental note of the name and leaned forward in her seat. “What can you tell me about her family? Were they close?”

“Her parents live in Rhode Island. Sophie’s an only child. She was married, you know. Poor thing. Her husband, Adam, had a terrible accident. Sophie was with him when he died. They were on a picnic up at Lake Minnewaska. They went on a hike and he fell over the edge of a waterfall. He died immediately.”

“How awful. Poor Sophie. How do you recover from something like that?”

“To make things worse, there were rumblings that she deliberately pushed him. Something about him being afraid of heights and how he never would have gotten that close to the edge. Sophie would never have done something like that. Ridiculous. It’s been over two years now. Mitch is the first man she’s been out with since Adam’s death. I took that as a sign she was progressing in the healing process.”

Spoken like a true guidance counselor
, thought Susan. “Is there any chance Sophie would have just felt the need to get away for a while? That she went voluntarily?”

“Without her purse or for that matter, her car? No way.”

“Thanks, Elaine. I’ll see if I can find anything. You know, that blond police detective you spoke to earlier is my daughter, Lynette.” Saying that still made Susan beam with pride, the same way she beamed when she told people her son Evan was a medical student.

“I know. I remember seeing you both together on the news last year after the murder case at the high school was solved. Looked like you were quite the team. She was pregnant then.”

“Yes, she was.” Susan whipped out her phone. “Here’s a picture of my beautiful granddaughter, Annalise. She’s walking now.” Susan was always ready to show off her grandbaby. She’d even learned how to take videos on her phone and how to post pictures on Facebook.

“My Lord, how beautiful,” said Elaine. “Look at those blond waves, just like grandma.”

Susan wondered where her own blond waves came from. She had no idea what her birth mother looked like. The parents she grew up with both had dark hair.

“She got the blond hair from Lynette, and the waves from Jason, her Daddy. Jason is already showing her addition facts on flashcards and speaking to her in French. He’s really into education, being a college professor and all.”

“Enjoy her. You know how fast they grow. And thanks for trying to help. The quicker Sophie is found, the better. I’m trying not to think about what situation she may be in right now. This used to be a safe little town. We moved up here when the kids were about to start school because New York City had too much crime. Here, we could raise our kids in a safe environment and Bob could hop on the train and commute to his job. Nice being a stone’s throw away from the big city.”

“Westbrook is still a great little town. We’ll find Sophie.” Susan hoped she was right. On her way home, she pulled into the parking lot of the two-story, brick police station to drop off the bracelet.
Maybe,
she thought,
if she talked fast, Lynette wouldn’t be able to butt in with questions about the delay in reporting it.

“Lynette, I found something in the parking lot this morning. It probably has nothing to do with Sophie’s disappearance, but I thought you’d want to see it just in case.” Susan took the bracelet out of her purse and spilled it onto Lynette’s desk. “One of the links is broken. I found it in the parking lot.”

“Looks like a bracelet.”

“I already checked the faculty roster, and I asked Antonio if he knew anyone named Caleb associated with the school. No luck.”

“Mom, did you wear gloves when you picked it up? I’ll bet you ruined any possibility of getting fingerprints off of it. And what took you so long to bring it over here?”

“Well, Kinsey Malone has been hard at work I see,” said Jackson. He strolled into Lynette’s office, a bag of Fritos in hand.

“Maybe you should have been doing the footwork yourself, Gomer Pyle.” Jackson always sided with Lynette and made it clear that Susan’s help wasn’t needed or appreciated.

“The guy Sophie was dating is named Mitch, so it doesn’t belong to him,” said Lynette. “It had to have been dropped recently, since the snowplows cleaned up after the storm the other day. It would have gotten swept away.”

“Wasn’t there a kidnapping case just a few months ago? The media was all over it for a while, but I haven’t heard anything about it in weeks.”

“We’re looking into it,” said Jackson. “There was also an unsolved case in Marlboro last year. Could be the same guy.”

Susan glanced at her watch. “I’d better get going. Mike’ll be home soon and I should do something about starting dinner.”

“I’ll be wrapping up here soon too. The daycare closes at six,” said Lynette.

“Hey, Gomer. Tell your beautiful fiancé I said hello.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Theresa,” said Jackson.

Chapter 5

Susan heard the sound of the key opening the front door. Even after spending decades together, her heart still gave a little flutter in anticipation of seeing Mike.

“Hi, Hon. How was your day?” asked Mike. He sat his lunchbox on the kitchen counter and gave Susan a kiss. She ruffled his wavy brown hair. Mike had the same chestnut eyes as Lynette and was handsome in a rugged, trustworthy sort of way. He worked in the building permits office down at City Hall.

“What’s for dinner?” he asked. He took the lid off the saucepan that was beginning to boil over on the front burner of the stove.

“That’s couscous,” said Susan. “I have tofu baking in the oven.” Susan knew he’d rather be eating lasagna and French fries––so would she––but they’d been sticking to their healthy eating plan for quite a while already and she’d tried her best to keep the momentum going. Mike had lost twenty pounds since they started. Susan had gained five. She chose to blame it on aging rather than her affinity for Mint Milanos and cookie dough ice cream.

“Antonio Petrocelli called me this morning.” She proceeded to fill him in on the events of the day. “We’re thinking the owner of the bracelet, Caleb, or else the same person responsible for two other abductions may be responsible.”

“Is that
we
as in
you and the police department?
”

“Well, of course. I’m the one who found the bracelet, you know.” Susan recognized a defensiveness in the tone of her own voice.

“Just be careful. I don’t want to be putting out an Amber Alert for my wife.”

After dinner, Susan looked on the internet for information about Sophie Bartolo and Mitch Coniglio. She found Sophie’s marriage license, and an obituary for her late husband, Adam Bartolo.
Poor man was only 38 years old,
thought Susan. According to the obituary, Adam was survived by his wife, his parents, and a brother. Then, she searched for silver identification bracelets. They were available on many different websites, and, of course, in jewelry stores. Trying to find the source of this particular bracelet was next to impossible.
 

Mike sat down next to her on the sofa. “You might try the local jewelry stores,” said Mike. “Caleb isn’t a very common name. It’s possible someone might remember engraving it.”

“That’s a good idea. There are only two jewelry stores in town. It’s a longshot, but worth pursuing.”

Having finished with the case for the evening, she went on her adoption website. Over a year ago, she’d been blindsided with the news that she’d been adopted. After the death of the woman who Susan thought was her mother, she’d found adoption papers––her own adoption papers––in a safety deposit box at the bank. Having support from others in the same boat had proven to be invaluable. Thank goodness for the internet. She’d been searching on and off for her birth parents this past year, but every avenue she’d explored had led to a dead end. In a way, that had been a relief. She had reservations about opening this can of worms at her age. On the other hand, her curiosity wouldn’t allow her to let it rest. She wondered if she’d gotten that nosy streak from her birth mother. The mom who’d raised her would have let sleeping dogs lie.

Chapter 6

The next morning, Susan headed for the jewelry stores. The first stop was a quaint Mom and Pop shop in downtown Westbrook. The area was kept in pristine condition. Renovations were made when needed and the buildings were scrupulously clean. Susan loved Westbrook because it reminded her of a New England resort town. Her boots tap-danced across the cobblestones and into the store.

“If it isn’t Susan Wiles. Haven’t seen you in a while. Is that wristwatch acting up again?” The owner was an elderly gentleman with a thick head of gray hair and a soft, weathered face.

“No, T.J. My watch has kept ticking along ever since you changed the battery for me.”

“Then how can I help you?” He looked down at her wedding ring. “Let me shine that up for you while you’re here.” He placed the ring in a steam cleaner.

“Thanks. Got to bring Mike around so you can shine his up too. Do you happen to sell silver identity bracelets? You know, the kind that you engrave?”

“Sure do. Are you in the market?”

“Not at the moment. I found one in the parking lot of the middle school. It’s engraved with the name Caleb. I’d like to get it back to him. Looks like a link pulled apart.”

“That’s odd. Those things are designed to be durable. I haven’t sold any since Christmas season and I don’t remember engraving the name Caleb on any bracelet. I’ll check my sales receipts though.” Susan half expected him to bring out a shoebox and weed through them by hand, but no. She was impressed when he pulled up the information on the computer screen.

“Sorry, but I only sold two and they were both women’s bracelets.”

“Thanks for checking, T.J.”

She moved on to the other jewelry store. This one was located in the small mall that went up a few years ago next to the Walmart. The last time she’d been there it’d been packed with holiday shoppers, but on this mid-January morning, it felt like a ghost town. She found the jewelry store, which was one of those national chains. Again she had no luck.
At least my ring got a much needed cleaning,
she thought. She couldn’t resist going into the baby boutique and picking up a few outfits for Annalise while she was there. Then she decided to head to the Westbrook Library to look up those other two abduction cases. The librarian knew all the town gossip and had a flawless memory. Maybe she’d shed some light on the case too.

“Good morning, Peggy. I was wondering if I could get any articles you have about those abductions that occurred this past year––the dental hygienist and the bank teller. I’m sure the
Post
gave those stories lots of coverage.”

“Sure, Susan. Give me a few minutes. Are you working on a case?”

“I can’t give you details, but yes, I am.” The librarian rubbed her hands together and went into the back room.
At least some people in town recognize my crime-solving aptitude
, Susan thought.

While she was waiting, Susan drank in the musty smell of old books, the shiny new covers of the recent releases, and the dark wooden shelves––dense with knowledge and history. She’d always loved libraries. This one was housed in its original building and hadn’t undergone any major renovations.

The librarian returned with a small stack of newspapers. Susan sat down at a table and began reading through them. Both of the missing girls had similar physical characteristics, and both had been abducted at their work places. Neither case had been solved. In all likelihood, the same person was responsible for all three disappearances. Did he know his victims, or did he choose them randomly? Did the victims know each other? Susan was determined to find out.