Upstate Uproar (15 page)

Holy shit!
“Yeah, I heard about that,”
Vivian said.

“Very convenient, if you ask me, since he’d
had her declared legally dead a few years ago.” The fan was going
fast and furious. “I heard they even buried an empty casket.
Anyway, I’m sorry to be blabbering on. All this news gets me riled
up about Mary Beth.”

“I can understand why,” Vivian said.

Wendy walked up with two stuffed moose
wearing different-colored T-shirts. “What’s this I hear about Mary
Beth?”

The woman stopped fanning. “She was my
cousin.”

Wendy plopped the moose down on the counter,
their long legs splaying awkwardly. “Oh, we’re staying out at
Turlington Farms.”

The woman’s mouth plopped open and she was
speechless for a moment, but not for long. Her eyes cut from Vivian
to Wendy, and she crossed her arms. “Are you Brandon’s little
spies?”

V
ivian was shocked by
the question posed by the shopkeeper, Mary Beth’s cousin. “Spies?
Us?” she said, laughing and pointing to herself and Wendy. “Nah,
we’re just staying out at the bed and breakfast. Got a great rate
online, actually.”

The shopkeeper uncrossed her arms and began
fanning again. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. This whole
mess is making me crazy.” Her eyes teared up. “It’s just been so
long. I feel like Brandon’s connections with the police have kept
him out of jail, but I know he’s guilty.”

“What connections?” Wendy asked.

“One of his best friends since high school is
a cop. I swear, I think if it weren’t for that they would have
worked harder to show he killed her.”

Wendy repositioned the two moose so they were
sitting on their bottoms, front legs crossed. “Why do you think he
killed her?”

“I don’t know why. I mean, they had been
together since high school. It’s not like he got a lot out of the
estate, other than Turlington Farms. But then when he married that
other woman so soon after Mary Beth died, it started to come
together. They claimed they met in an online chat room for mourning
spouses.”

“You don’t believe that?” Vivian asked.

“Not for a second. A chat room? Just go to
grief counseling at the church or somewhere. Don’t troll the
internet looking for a new wife.”

Vivian thought about that. She could see
someone reaching out for support through the internet. Maybe
Brandon was too embarrassed to get help in town, or if he felt like
people thought he killed her, then maybe he didn’t want to go out.
On the other hand, going through the internet seemed really
impersonal, especially for something so tragic. “How long after
Mary Beth died did they get married?”

“I think it was around six months, but she
was already in the picture within two. That I know for sure.”

That is awfully quick.

“What’s that sound?” the shopkeeper asked,
looking past Vivian.

Vivian turned around. “What sound?” She
listened, then she heard it. “I think it’s snoring.” She walked
back to the little tent and saw Kate curled up with a big, fluffy
stuffed bear. She was sawing logs like a lumberjack in a contest
and looked pretty and peaceful doing it. Vivian turned back to
Wendy. “Are you finished shopping?”

“Yes, got the moose for Lizzie.”

“How is she?” Vivian asked as they walked to
the front.

Wendy’s niece, Lizzie, had battled adrenal
cancer since she was 6 months old. Her initial prognosis wasn’t
good, but with Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski’s antineoplastons treatment,
she was beating the odds by a long shot at 3½ years old.

Wendy beamed. “The last two tumors in her
lungs are gone. Only a small bit of scar tissue remains, and Dr.
Burzynski is keeping an eye on it. She’s cancer free!”

Vivian gave her a hug. “I’m so happy for your
family. Amazing.”

The shopkeeper got busy ringing up their
merchandise and both girls paid for their purchases. Vivian picked
up her bag of magnets and walked to the tent to wake up Kate. “Rise
and shine, sleepyhead.”

Kate snuggled closer to the bear.

Vivian reached down and shook her gently.
“Kate, time to go.”

Kate opened her eyes. “I’m buying this bear.
He’s a great pillow.”

“That’s good because you drooled on him.”
Vivian helped her get up.

Kate swiped his fur. “So I did.” She walked
to the counter and paid for her new fuzzy friend.

On their way out, Wendy turned to the
shopkeeper. “Sorry about your cousin.”

The shopkeeper nodded. “Thanks, enjoy your
visit. Feel free to kick Brandon in the balls for me. Twice.”

Kate was shocked at that last bit. Vivian
hustled her out of the store and explained what all had happened
while she snoozed.

“Wow. I’m glad I was asleep.”

“It was a little awkward, especially when she
asked if Brandon had us spying on her.”

Kate nodded. “I imagine it was.” She moved
her bear bag from her left arm to her right. “What time is it? I’m
getting hungry.”

Wendy looked at her watch. “Almost 6 o’clock.
I could use a beer or a glass of wine. Y’all want to find a
restaurant in town and then go to meet Nicole at the paper?”

A steak and seafood place down the street had
a nice deck with lake views. Much to Vivian’s delight, the
restaurant brewed its own beer. The waitress let them sample the
varieties and Vivian decided on the blonde ale. Wendy went for the
Hefeweizen while Kate ordered a hot tea.

Vivian looked over the menu. “I should
probably have a little something besides chocolate cake for
linner.” She ordered a grilled shrimp served with a side of rice,
veggies and house salad.

Wendy decided on a cup of clam chowder, as
did Kate, who added a small salad as well. The air was almost too
brisk, but still they enjoyed some down time and the view while
they waited for 7:30 to roll around. Vivian walked to the edge of
the deck overlooking the lake and called the kids.

Rick answered on the third ring and rounded
them up to talk to her. She spoke to Audrey first, asking if she’d
enjoyed the zoo field trip the first grade had taken the day
before. Audrey told her all about the animals she had seen, and how
she ran into a tree because she was looking down at her shoes while
she was walking.

“I got a big bump on my head.”

“I’m sorry, sweetie. I’ll kiss it when I get
home, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy. Bye.”

Audrey passed the phone to Lauren, who said a
policeman had visited her kindergarten class. She was excited
because he had given her a police badge sticker.

“I stuck it on my wall at Daddy’s house.”

“I think that sounds like a great place for
it,” Vivian responded. “Do you want to be a policewoman when you
grow up?”

“No, I want to be on American Idol.”

Vivian smiled. “I bet you will be, Lauren.
Just you wait.” She heard some shuffling of the phone.

“Here’re the twins.”

Ben and Olivia sang “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little
Star” together. Vivian applauded them, then Rick got on the phone
and confirmed what day she was returning.

She walked back to the table as the other
girls were paying the bill.

“Time to go see Nicole,” Kate said. “I’m full
and happy.”

Back at the fall festival, vendors were
loading up, firemen were spraying off the pumpkin remnants, and
visitors were leaving. The girls hopped into the rental and
followed Google directions to the newspaper office.

Only two cars were parked in the lot. The
front door was locked, so Vivian knocked.

Nicole appeared in the front window, waved
and unbolted the door. “Welcome to my home away from home.”

They went in and Nicole closed the door
behind them. She took them on a quick tour, showing them the two
printing presses in the back. Tables covered in newspapers lined
the wall; paper, ink and other supplies filled the shelves.

“Is that the paper?” Wendy asked, pointing to
two huge rolls that lay against the front wall.

“Yep. Newsprint.”

“That’s practically as big as my car,” Kate
said.

“It’s like a giant roll of calculator tape,
but a million times bigger!” Vivian said. “I have a sudden urge to
jump on top and ride it like those lumberjacks ride a log.”

“I can’t tell you what I thought you were
about to say,” Wendy said, relief in her voice.

“Uhm, yeah. Don’t,” Nicole said and shot an
“I mean business” look around the room.

“Okay, okay,” Vivian said, but she really
wanted to.

“Our print circulation is 3,000 and the
weekly edition comes out tomorrow. I update the website every day.
In fact, I’m doing that now.”

They walked out of the printing area, through
a hallway and another door and into the office space. Nicole
pointed to three white boxes sitting on a wooden desk. “Those are
my grandpa’s files. The one to the left, from what I can tell, were
his main suspects. Brandon’s file is the thickest.”

Vivian wasted no time. “Let’s take a
look.”

N
icole went back to
her desk to finish updating the
Lake Placid News
website,
while Vivian, Wendy and Kate tackled the files. Wendy opened the
primary suspects box and pulled out a few folders. A cloud of dust
followed, and Kate sniffled and coughed. The newspaper offices were
quiet with the exception of buzzing coming from an overhead
light.

The file on Brandon was at least three inches
thick and filled with newspaper clippings and handwritten notes.
Vivian tried to read one of the notes but handed it off to Wendy.
She worked to decipher it since she had the worst handwriting of
them all, therefore making her a good candidate for reading bad
handwriting.

“Grandpa wrote down a timeline of events,
going all the way back to when Brandon and Mary Beth were dating in
high school,” Wendy said, holding it up. “Brandon and Mary Beth
started dating their junior year. They got married at age 24, and
she died after their third anniversary, so she was 27. He received
$100,000 in life insurance, plus a bit more from the school
district, since she was a teacher.”

“Well if he did it, it probably wasn’t for
the money,” Kate said. “Because that much won’t go too far.”

Wendy continued reading. “Six months after
Mary Beth died he married Rebecca. He was 28, she was 42.”

“Got himself a sugar mama,” Vivian said, and
she started singing “Money, money, money,”
For the Love of
Money
, by the O’Jays.

“He does mention in here that they met on the
internet,” Wendy said. “Rebecca went missing when she was 43, they
hadn’t even been married a year. Grandpa made a note that the time
to declare her legally dead started on that day and ended three
years later.

“Brandon started seeing Tracy a year and a
half after she disappeared. He worked at the hardware store and
frequented The Rumor Mill Restaurant and Bar when he got off, which
is where Tracy worked. The three years passed, he got a chunk of
change from Rebecca’s estate and life insurance, and he and Tracy
got married. Apparently the wedding was a big to-do at the country
club.”

Wendy held up a picture of the wedding party.
A sticky note on it read #3. Tracy’s white gown was sparkly and
puffy, and she stood with seven smiling bridesmaids. Brandon’s
smile seemed forced, and there was only one guy by his side.

“Is that the cop?” Kate asked.

Wendy squinted at the picture. “Kinda looks
like him, hard to tell, but that’s the last thing on the timeline.”
She lowered her voice. “Guess Grandpa passed away.”

“Or the case went cold,” Vivian said.

They flipped through the pages quickly,
looking at the pictures, highlights and headlines Grandpa had
accumulated over the years.

Kate closed that file and began looking at
the names on the others. “I think Grandpa believed Brandon was the
killer, but he couldn’t prove it.” She picked up the file on wife
number two, Rebecca, which was very thin.

“Guess she wasn’t around long enough to
warrant a thicker folder,” Vivian said.

Vivian was able to make out Grandpa’s scrawl
and read the notes explaining that Rebecca had received a large sum
when her first husband died. He was the CFO of a Fortune 500
company in New York and died from brain cancer.

Kate shifted in the office chair. “My back
hurts.”

“You’ve been on your feet a lot today. Are
you ready to go?”

“Yeah, I think I am.”

Nicole popped out from around the corner.
“Did you solve the mystery of the dead wives?”

“Not yet,” Wendy said, “but we’re working on
it.”

“I’m going to take these home with me
tonight,” Nicole said, putting the files back into the box. “Maybe
something will jump out at me.”

Kate stood and stretched.

“Want help carrying them out?” Wendy
offered.

“You mind?”

“Not at all.”

Wendy and Vivian each grabbed a box and
followed Nicole to her Corolla. She popped the trunk and they put
the boxes inside. “I’ve got to go back in and lock up. Thanks for
the help.”

“Let us know if you find anything
intriguing,” Vivian said.

“Will do. Good night,” Nicole said and went
inside the shop.

They got into the rental and Kate pointed the
car toward Turlington Farms. “We’re such wusses these days, going
back to our room at 9:00. I feel like I’m bringing y’all down since
I’m pregnant.”

“Nonsense,” Vivian said. “I’d rather go back,
layer up and sit outside by the fire. Maybe make some s’mores. It’s
not like Lake Placid is booming with nightlife anyway.”

“There are bars in town we can go to,” Kate
said.

“Nah, we’re good,” Wendy said. “I want to
call Jake’s parents and see if there are any updates.”