The Stone of Sadness (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 3) (12 page)

“Is it okay if I ask you some questions?”

“Of course,” Waters said.

“You found the mom first? Near the car?”

Waters nodded. “Her head was partially under the car…near the open door. She was on her back.”

“And then you found the little girl?”

“That’s right. She was in the front seat. Leaning against the door.”

“Were there any signs that they might have been molested?”

“They were both fully clothed, so, I would say they weren’t.” He hesitated. “Well, you know there was semen there?”

Olivia nodded.

“My assumption has always been that the semen happened after they were dead but I don’t know what the police would say.”

“Do you know where the semen was found? In the grass? Near the bodies?

“It was on the front of Mrs. Monahan’s shorts.”

Disgust rose in Olivia’s throat.

“Could you get a sense of what happened from the crime scene?” Olivia asked. “Do you think Mrs. Monahan was driving? Do you think the killer was in the back seat directing where she should go? Or do you think the killer was driving and Mrs. Monahan was in the back? She wouldn’t have tried to escape because her daughter was in the front.”

Waters didn’t answer for a few seconds. His brow furrowed as he thought. “I couldn’t say for sure but if I had to guess, I would think the guy was in the back seat. When they got to the field, he probably jumped out, left the back door open, pulled Mrs. Monahan from the front. There was probably a struggle. He killed her. The little girl was probably screaming. Was probably too afraid to run. He must have killed her then. I picture him going back to the mother’s dead body and, you know…that’s how the semen got there.”

“It makes sense.” Olivia said.

“I’m just guessing, of course. I don’t have any information from the police about the order of events.”

Olivia nodded in agreement. “Did you and your friend Bobby talk about it? What might have happened to the Monahans? Who killed them? How the crime was committed?”

“No. We didn’t. You might think that strange, but the whole thing freaked us out so bad that we avoided the topic. We even stopped hanging out together. Seeing each other just brought the whole thing back and neither one of us wanted that. Right after it happened, people would stare at us and whisper. I figured they must think that me and Bobby were suspects. I hated being associated with the whole mess. I wanted to move away from it. I assume Bobby felt the same. Anyway, the friendship faded. He passed away a couple of years ago. My sister told me it was a heart attack.”

“Did you know Kenny Overman?” Olivia asked. “He must have been a year ahead of you in school?”

“Yeah, he was. I knew who he was but never hung around with him.”

“I know he was a suspect,” Olivia asked. “What did you think? Did you think he might have done it?”

“Overman seemed too convenient to me. The State Police took over the case from the local cops. Seemed like they would have loved to pin it on Overman. Get a conviction. Tie it up nice and neat.”

“But that didn’t happen,” Olivia said.

“Probably not for lack of trying. Overman was the perfect person to charge with the crime. A loser. No family that would fight the arrest. Somehow the cops couldn’t pin it on him though. Lucky, for him.”

“So you don’t think it was Overman?”

“Could have been him. But it wasn’t my feeling.”

“Did you have any thoughts on who might have done it?”

Waters hesitated. “Have you heard anything about the priest at St. Catherine’s?”

“Father Anthony? There was some gossip,” Olivia said.

Waters waved to the waitress indicating he wanted more coffee. He looked at Olivia and let out a long breath. “My family went to St. Catherine’s.”

Olivia waited for him to continue.

“I was in the youth group. For a while. I thought it would be a great way to hang out with the girls.”

“It wasn’t?” Olivia asked.

“The girls were all into Anthony. He wasn’t that much older than most of us. I think he must have been around twenty-five or twenty-six? Anyway, most of us guys couldn’t get any attention from the girls. They were always flirting with Anthony. Thing was…he didn’t seem to discourage it. I didn’t think it was right. Part of it was jealousy on my side of it, but it just didn’t seem right for a priest. To me, he seemed to encourage the attention.”

“Do you think he had something to do with the murders?”

“I don’t know. I suppose not. But I’ve always had a feeling. I imagine the police checked him out.”

“Is your feeling based on his flirtations?”

Waters leaned back in the booth. “One time, the youth group went on a camping trip. We got to the place late. Some of us guys were putting up the tents. One guy had no experience, made a mess of one of them. Anthony came by. He yelled at the kid. Lost his temper. Knocked the poles down. Made a scene. Told him to figure it out and do it right. It was an odd over-reaction. I didn’t like it. The guy seemed off to me. I quit the group after that. I thought the priest was volatile. I didn’t want any part of him.” He shrugged. “I wondered. In a certain situation, with that temper of his?” Waters leaned forward and lowered his voice. “They wouldn’t let him off would they? Just because he was a priest?”

Olivia had no answer for that.

On Friday, Olivia took Lily to the state park for a long walk and a swim in the lake. After drying themselves in the sun on the bank of the water, they headed home, stopping first at the florist so Olivia could buy a bunch of mixed flowers for the dining table.

Joe and Brad were coming for the weekend and Olivia couldn’t wait to see them. They were bringing a kayak and a canoe so that they could spend Saturday on the lake and the river that fed into it. The canoe was so Lily could go along too. Joe had prepared something special for dinner for Friday night, but wouldn’t tell Olivia what it was. Olivia decided she would put together a green salad with strawberries to go with whatever Joe was bringing.

The oppressive heat of the past few days had been chased away by a late night thunderstorm and now the air was warm and pleasant. Olivia had cleaned the house, made the beds with fresh sheets, and put out fluffy towels in the bathrooms.

She was feeling tired suddenly and decided to sit on the front porch in one of the big wooden rockers and take a break for a little while. She called Lily as she opened the screened door and the dog came bounding from the kitchen. There was a cushion in the corner of the porch for the dog but Lily lay down in front of the gate that John had placed across the steps to contain her safely on the porch. She surveyed the occasional cars driving past, the two squirrels playing in the big oak, and she snapped at a fly that buzzed too close to her head. Olivia sank into the cushioned rocker thankful for the quiet at the house today. The work crew had taken the day off from renovating the sunroom. Olivia moved gently back and forth in the rocker, the movement lulling her to drift into sleep.

Olivia dreamed of a sunny field of wildflowers and long grasses. She wandered through the field happily picking some daisies for a small bouquet. Black-grey clouds appeared on the horizon and rushed overhead turning the day into evening. Olivia looked up at the darkened sky and huddled in the field, trembling. The wind whipped around her. Lightening flashed. Olivia heard a low rumbling, an engine, the sound getting louder and louder, closer and closer. Over the ridge to her right, a blue sedan flew over the hill, went airborne and hurtled toward her. She knew she didn’t have time to run so she knelt on the ground and crouched into a ball. She clamped her eyes shut. The sound of shattering glass and crunching metal deafened her. Tiny shards of glass rained over her. She opened her eyes. All was black.

She was inside now but the place was unknown to her. She stood and took a few steps in the darkness trying to get her bearings. Her foot bumped into metal. She tripped over something and fell to the concrete floor. Her foot was caught in the wheel spokes of Aggie’s bicycle. She struggled to free herself. A light was coming toward her. It was blinding. Olivia shaded her eyes. It was a man, an eerie blue-red light glowing from him. It was Aggie’s killer. He had a knife. The silver blade reflected the light emanating from the man. Olivia tried to scramble away but her foot was still tangled in the wheel. She smashed at the metal spokes with her free foot while she jerked the trapped leg from side to side. The knife flew from the man’s hand like a missile and plunged into Olivia’s stomach. She screamed.

Olivia startled awake from Lily’s nose nudging at her. Sweat beaded on Olivia’s brow, her clammy hands pulled at the sweaty t-shirt stuck to her chest and back. Her breath came in short, fast gasps. Adrenaline was surging through her veins.

Lily put her head on Olivia’s knees and Olivia stroked the soft smooth fur of the dog’s head. After several minutes of patting, Olivia’s breathing evened out and her heart beat returned to its regular pace. Anxiety is no match for the tenderness of a gentle dog.

“These stupid dreams, Lily. When are they going to stop?” Olivia sighed. Lily tapped her tail on the floorboards of the porch. The big pink tongue shot out and licked Olivia’s arm. Lily stood up and put her paws on the rocker on the outside of Olivia’s knees and tried to push up onto her lap. Olivia laughed.

“Lily, we both can’t fit in this chair.” Lily’s tongue slurped a big kiss over Olivia’s face. Olivia turned her head away. “Ugh,” she laughed again and gently pressed Lily back down. She scratched behind the dog’s ears.

“Good dog. Come on, let’s go get ourselves a cool drink.” Olivia and the dog headed for the kitchen. Olivia splashed her face with water and went to the bedroom to change her sweaty t-shirt. When she returned to the kitchen, Lily was sitting next to her food dish thumping the floor with her tail.

“I get the message,” Olivia told her. She opened a can of dog food and scooped it into Lily’s bowl along with a container of dry dog pellets. Lily gobbled her meal while Olivia freshened the water in her bowl. Olivia sipped cold water from a glass, her hip leaning against the counter, and watched the dog enjoying its meal.

Lily and Olivia turned their heads at the sound of two car doors slamming. Olivia smiled at Lily. “They’re here, girl. Let’s go see Joe and Brad.” Lily looked eagerly at Olivia, and then cocked her head at the sounds in the driveway. They both trotted to the front porch to greet the visitors.

Brad was removing an overnight bag from the back seat and straightened when he heard the slap of the screen door closing. He grinned at Olivia. Lily let out a friendly woof. Joe was hidden by the open trunk of Brad’s car, but leaned left to reveal his tanned, craggy face, his light blue eyes beaming at Olivia. She hadn’t seen them for over a month and the sight of them filled her with warmth and calm and light.

Olivia slid the porch gate back and Lily bounded down the stairs and danced around the men. Brad dropped his bag and enveloped Olivia in his arms. He leaned back a bit, brushed a strand of hair from her face, and tenderly cupped her chin in his hand. He kissed her.

“Okay, it’s my turn,” Joe kidded. Brad and Olivia laughed and stepped apart. Joe gave Olivia a bear hug.

“You look good, Liv,” Joe told her, his voice was soft.

She hugged him tight.

“So do you,” she smiled.

Lily bounced around them. Brad greeted the dog and patted her head. Joe scratched her ears. They carried in bags of food and the two small suitcases.

Joe produced a huge pan of pasta and eggplant parmesan and a plate of garlic bread. He instructed Olivia to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brad pulled whipped cream from the cooler and put it in the fridge. He placed the blueberry cake on the counter and pushed it back to the wall in case the dog got exuberant and decided to help itself.

Olivia had set the table earlier, so the men had glasses of beer and Olivia poured herself a glass of iced tea. They sat around the dining table, the candles flickering, waiting for the meal to heat through. Olivia filled them in on what she had discovered so far about the murders.

“So it sounds like that Kenny Overman kid is the one that did it,” Joe said.

“But the police didn’t arrest him, so maybe not,” Brad said.

“Whoever it was, he was pretty darn bold,” Joe said. “Taking the woman and child in the daylight. Killing them outside…someone might have heard screams.” He was quiet for a minute. “Were they…” he paused.

“Molested?” Olivia finished it for him. “No, they weren’t, but there was semen found at the scene.”

“Ugh,” Joe muttered.

“So the guy kills them and then stands there and …” Brad shook his head.

“I know,” Olivia said. “It’s sickening.”

“If the police think Overman did it and they found some guy’s bodily fluids at the scene, why don’t they run a DNA test on it now?” Brad asked. “Wouldn’t that prove he did it?”

“I guess it would,” Olivia said.

They were silent thinking it over.

“Would the police need something to go on besides speculation in order to ask someone for a DNA sample? In order to match it to the DNA from the crime scene,” Joe said. “I wouldn’t think they could just ask to take a sample without cause. Without something concrete. Would they need something like a search warrant?”

“That’s a good point,” Brad said.

The oven timer went off and Joe took the eggplant out of the oven. It was getting dark outside and a light breeze floated in through the windows. Olivia put some music on and they enjoyed the delicious meal.

After the dishes were cleaned up, the three of them took Lily for a walk around the neighborhood and then they sat on the front porch rocking. Brad and Joe caught Olivia up on the news and gossip from Ogunquit.

“It’s nice having you here,” Olivia told them. “I miss you two.”

Brad reached over and held her hand. “The feeling’s mutual,” he said.

“I sure miss you, Liv. It’s strange not having you next door,” Joe said.

“How is the renter doing, Joe?” Olivia asked. Olivia decided that since she would be away in Cambridge for law school it would be best to rent out the Ogunquit beach house that Aggie had left to her. Joe was keeping an eye on the house for her.