Murder in the Middle: A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery (4 page)

Chapter 10

Susan got into her car and turned on the radio. She mulled over the new information she’d just learned from Antonio. The former principal of Westbrook Middle was facing jail time for embezzlement and it was Sophie who’d discovered it and turned her in to the police. If that wasn’t a motive for hurting Sophie what was? But there was also Caleb, the brother of Sophie’s dead husband. Boy was Susan surprised when she found out Caleb was the name of Adam’s brother. He’d suspected Sophie of killing his brother Adam and may have recently come back to town after finishing his military service. She’d have to get Lynette to check on that. A third possibility was that it was the work of a seasoned kidnapper. After all, there had been two unsolved kidnappings in the area and both victims bore a physical resemblance to Sophie. Susan was so deep in thought that she nearly ran a stop sign.

Just as she was beginning to feel a migraine starting, the radio broadcast was interrupted with breaking news.

This just in––the missing bank teller who was assumed to have been abducted from the parking lot of Westbrook National Bank six months ago has been found unharmed. The alleged victim reports that she left of her own free will with her ex-boyfriend. Details on the local news at five.

Susan couldn’t believe the timing. Just as she’d been considering three possibilities for Sophie’s abduction, one had likely been ruled out. Of course, there was still the disappearance in Marlboro––but now that it was no longer linked to the bank teller’s abduction, it seemed much less likely that this was a serial kidnapper. Anyway, Susan remembered hearing that in order to be considered a serial crime, there had to be three cases. Her phone vibrated on the seat beside her.

“Hi, Lynette. I just heard the news on the radio that the bank teller was found safe and sound.”

“Yes, thank God for that. Anyway, that’s why I’m calling. Jason is teaching a class tonight and now that the bank teller has reappeared, I have to stay late at work. Can you babysit Annalise for me?”

“Of course.” Susan was always thrilled to spend time with Annalise––especially when Lynette wasn’t there to interfere with her spoiling her granddaughter. “Just have Jason drop her off on his way to work.”

“Antonio Petrocelli called earlier today. He said he’d spoken to you and remembered that there had been issues between Sophie and the former principal,” said Lynette.

“He did. The trial is coming up soon and Sophie was certainly going to be called as a witness, right?” said Susan.

“She was. We’ll be speaking to Principal Talbot first thing in the morning.”

“And Lynette, one more thing. Can you find out when Caleb Bartolo comes back from military duty?”

“We already did. He has another six months in Germany.”

Chapter 11

Susan happily took Annalise from Jason’s arms and covered her cheeks with kisses. The little cherub smelled like a fresh spring day. Well, at least when her diaper was clean, she did. At an age where most babies were inclined to cling to their parents, Annalise wrapped her arms around her grandma’s neck and let out a squeal. Being a Grandma was more fun than recess.

“I fed her dinner already,” said Jason. There’s an onesie in the diaper bag, and her bottle is in there too. It should go in the fridge.”

“Yes, Jason. I know the routine. I’ll have her ready for bed when you come by after class,” said Susan. Mike plopped down in his recliner and turned on the TV. Annalise pulled herself up on the coffee table and began exploring the living room on her tip toes. Susan wondered how she’d ever had the energy to chase after Lynette and Evan. A few minutes of running after Annalise and she felt as if she’d just completed a marathon.

“I never get tired of staring at her,” said Susan. “She must be the most beautiful baby in the whole world.”

“No doubt about that,” said Mike. “She acts just like Lynette did at that age––exploring everything. Remember how Lynette used to climb up on the kitchen table?”

“Shhh. Don’t give Annalise any ideas.”

The TV news flashed a story about the return of the missing bank teller. Mike turned up the volume. “Hey, looks like that bank teller wasn’t abducted after all,” said Mike. “That’s a surprise.”

“Yes, I heard it earlier on the radio. After all this time to be found unharmed––her parents must be over the moon about this.”

“I know I’d be if it were Lynette or Evan who went missing.”

“Now that Sophie’s disappearance doesn’t seem to be the work of a serial kidnapper,” said Susan, “it’s possible that Westbrook Middle’s former principal could be behind Sophie’s disappearance. Do you remember when they arrested her for embezzlement a few months ago?”

“I do,” said Mike. “She was a skinny thing; I saw her on the news. I can’t imagine that she could have abducted the bookkeeper.”

“But if she had a weapon she could have,” added Susan.

“I guess it’s possible. Seems odd that she’d risk kidnapping charges on top of embezzlement charges, don’t you think?”

“She and Caleb Bartolo are the only suspects at the moment. Lynette said Caleb has another six months of military duty over in Germany. He insisted that Sophie killed his brother Adam last year. She and Jackson plan on contacting him.”

Annalise tripped over a plastic bowling pin and toppled onto the rug, crying. Mike bought the toy bowling set before Annalise was even crawling in hopes that one day she’d be a bowling buddy. He didn’t trust Jason to get his granddaughter into sports. Mike always said Jason was more likely to train Annalise to play the violin or speak Cantonese than do anything physical. Annalise cried. Susan scooped her up and comforted her, then got her dressed for bed. Mike warmed up her bottle in the microwave. As Susan was feeding Annalise, the sight of the bowling pin prompted her to remember that the former principal had been on the same bowling team as one of Susan’s former coworkers.

“Mike, can you put the baby to bed after I finish feeding her? I need to go out for a bit.”

“Out where?” asked Mike.

Susan decided to opt for a little white lie over starting an argument about snooping. “I was going to do my nails, but I realized I’m all out of nail polish remover. I just need to run over to Rite Aid.”

As soon as she was out of the house, Susan scrolled through her phone contacts and found her former coworker’s number, immediately hitting the call icon. Fortunately, she answered.

“Hi, Susan. It’s been a while since I heard from you. Still enjoying retirement?”

“Sure am. Especially now that I have a granddaughter to dote on. I’ve also been helping Antonio with a situation at his new school.”

“Really? We all miss him over at Westbrook Elementary. Too bad that middle school principal had to turn out to be a thief. That’s why they moved him you know.”

“So I’ve heard. Didn’t you used to bowl with that principal?” asked Susan.

“She was in our bowling league. Not on my team though. She hasn’t shown up since this whole mess began. Word is she only leaves her house once a week to attend Sunday mass. Otherwise, she’s become a recluse.”

“You know, we have to get together for lunch soon. Maybe on a teacher planning day? I’m flexible––you let me know what works for you.”

“Sure thing. I’ll see you soon. Enjoy that granddaughter of yours.”

Sunday mass,
thought Susan. There was only one Catholic Church in town. Susan used to accompany the choir over at St. Augustine’s back in the day. They only had two masses on Sundays.
Time to dig out my Sunday clothes thought Susan.

Chapter 12

On Sunday, Susan showed up at St. Augustine’s and planted herself in the last pew. Mike hadn’t batted an eye lid when she’d told him that she had to attend church services––to substitute for the sick accompanist. Trying to convince him that confronting a suspected kidnapper and known embezzler was a good plan just would have taken more effort than it was worth. She scanned the congregation and saw many familiar faces, but Principal Talbot wasn’t at the early service. She grabbed a donut and coffee in the church lobby after the mass and chatted with various acquaintances while she waited for the 11:00 service to begin. This time, she spotted her target. Principal Talbot came down the center aisle and sat a few rows ahead of Susan. Susan couldn’t believe this thief had the nerve to show up at church after breaking one of the Ten Commandments, but hey––who was she to judge? She waited outside the church after the service and made her move when the principal exited.

“Excuse me, but don’t I know you? I’m Susan Wiles, retired music teacher from Westbrook Elementary. We brought our chorus to your school every spring for the community sing along.”

“Yes, that was a great program. Lots of good publicity for all our schools.” Her tone was as flat as a dead man’s EKG line. “Excuse me, but I need to be going.” She brushed right past Susan.

Susan pretended to walk away, but quietly followed her out to the parking lot and hopped into her Prius. She kept a safe distance between the two cars as she followed Principal Talbot through the center of town, on to a single lane road flanked by apple orchards. A pickup truck entered the road from a roadside fruit stand and gave Susan a buffer between her Prius and the principal’s Grand Marquis. When the Grand Marquis turned into a steep driveway, Susan kept going. Then she camouflaged her car behind a patch of trees, parked, and retraced the path up the driveway on foot. Susan regretted having worn pumps, especially given the fact that icy patches shaded by trees still dappled the driveway after the last snowfall.
What was she doing here again, putting herself in the path of a criminal?
She reminded herself that she was looking for a connection between the principal and Sophie’s disappearance and swallowed her fear.

The principal climbed up the steps to the front porch and let herself in. Susan took a deep breath and assessed the surroundings. She was standing in front of an old, wooden farmhouse framed by evergreens and bare maple trees. There was a covered, above the ground pool on one side of the house. Also an iron swing set. And an enormous back yard. Susan pulled her scarf more tightly to shield herself from the cold air, and crept around to the back yard.
What do you think you’re going to find? Do you think you’ll find Sophie out here tied to that red and white doghouse over there?
Susan crept over to the tiny doghouse, expecting to see Sophie tied up and shoved inside with a gag in her mouth, but when she was close enough to peek inside, she could see that neither Sophie nor some Cujo-like guard dog was in there. She looked up at the second story windows, half expecting to see Sophie standing there like Rapunzel awaiting her prince. Nope. Sophie wasn’t up there either.

Then she saw it. Outside doors that pulled up and led to a cellar. The house Susan grew up in had had a cellar like that. It had made it easy for her Dad to take tools out to the backyard, but you could also access it through the kitchen via a staircase. Her mom used to store mason jars full of canned tomato sauce and stewed apples down there. This door was closed with a large branch running through the handles.
What a great place to hide a kidnapping victim. And how easy would it be to pull out the branch and do a bit of searching?
She really had no choice but to explore this possibility.

Susan carefully tugged one end of the branch. After a bit of maneuvering, she worked it through the handles and at that moment the door was free. Susan took another deep breath, drank in the smell of the backyard evergreens, and hesitated.
Come on now, Susan. You’ve got this. There are no monsters in that basement; remember, you came to find Sophie.
She tugged open one of the double doors. A short wooden ladder led into the musty, cave-like basement. The basement smelled like over ripe fruit. With the door open, Susan could see well enough to work her way down the rungs. One rung creaked beneath her shoe. She froze for a moment, held her breath until she was convinced that she was still alone. Then another step. Soon she was standing on a concrete floor. There were some old tools on a workbench, a pool net, a plastic gasoline can, and some firewood. She jumped when she felt something scurry over her feet. And screamed.
Please God, don’t let there be mice down here.

She waded farther into the basement.
Perhaps Sophie was being kept prisoner in a secret alcove of this tomb.
Her feet were killing her. Her hand reached unsuccessfully into her coat pocket for the security of her phone.
Darn it, Susan. Why did you leave it in the car?
She took another step and then she heard it. The cellar door slammed shut from the outside and Susan was swallowed by blackness.

Chapter 13

“Lynette, your mom should have been home hours ago,” said Mike. “She was playing the organ for the choir but the last mass should have been over by noon.”

“Don’t worry, Dad. Maybe she decided to stop at Walmart, or the mall. She could have run into a friend and got talking. You know how Mom loves to talk.”

“She would have called. And her phone keeps going straight to voicemail. I know something’s wrong. And I know you know it too.” Mike paced back and forth as he spoke.

“Jackson went over to the church and talked to Father Anthony. Father said he saw Mom at both masses, but she wasn’t accompanying any choir. She was sitting in the pews just like the rest of the congregation.”

“And her car? Was it still in the parking lot?” asked Mike.

“No, the parking lot was empty. Dad, I know you’re thinking what I’m thinking. Mom probably went there to get some information about Sophie’s disappearance. She just can’t resist. Otherwise, why would she lie to you about playing for the services? As a matter of fact, why would she even attend one mass––let alone two? The last time I know of her being in a church was at grandma’s funeral. What would she be looking for at the church? Better yet,
who
would she be looking for at the church?”

“No idea. I told her not to get mixed up in this. I warned her to keep away from trouble.”

“When has that ever stopped Mom?” asked Lynette. “She’s going to get hurt one of these days.” She paced back and forth across the carpet just as her father had been doing.

“Every time she starts with this new hobby of hers,” said Mike, “I’m afraid she’ll wind up dead, just like the victims she’s trying to help.”

“I think I know who she’s looking for,” said Lynette. “I’ll bet she had a hunch that the former middle school principal would be at church and then she could pump her for information. I told her that Jackson and I’d spoken to her and found nothing suspicious, but I knew Mom wasn’t going to leave it alone.” Lynette took her cell phone out of her pocket and called Father Anthony. Just as she’d suspected. The principal attended 11:00 mass like clockwork, every Sunday. Lynette tried her best to keep a poker face, which she was usually quite good at, but her father saw right through her expression.

“Lynette, I know you just found out something from that phone call. Tell me. I can see it in your eyes. You’re terrified about Mom.”

“I think we have a lead. I need to swing by the station and pick up Jackson.”

“Not without me you’re not.”