Death Over the Dam (A Hunter Jones Mystery Book 2) (18 page)

She typed “Michael Donagan” on the search line, and found several of his photographs along with a photo of him and a teenaged Deirdre. He had gray hair and looked frail, which surprised Hunter, who had been imagining a charming Irishman with Deirdre’s good looks. There was no mention of his death.

“I don’t get it,” Sam said frowning.

He got out his notebook and made a note to himself.

“I’ve got ice cream,” Hunter said. “Do you want to talk about when to get married?”

“I was thinking maybe next week, one day when we both have time,” he said. “One of those courthouse weddings.”

“How about next month at the beach?” Hunter asked.

And the negotiations began.

Meantime, Molly Bloomfield was eating a tomato sandwich and wondering about Damon Dixon. Could he have the rest of those things from Ned Thigpen’s car hidden away somewhere? She felt sure he had taken the cell phone and wallet and then decided to throw them in the creek, but his reaction had been so different to the rest of the items.

The story, as he told it, made more sense to her than the idea that he would lurk in the woods waiting for somebody to drive down that road.

She wondered idly if she could get him to behave less like a sociopath if it came to a jury trial.

CHAPTER 21

S
AM’S FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS ON
Wednesday morning was talking to Jeremy Hayes, the new assistant D.A. who had come over early to be prepared for Damon Dixon’s arraignment at 11 a.m.

“I think a good case can be made that he’s a flight risk,” Sam said. “He doesn’t really have a home, and I doubt the girlfriend he’s been living with for the last month is going to want him back after having her place searched. He doesn’t have a job either. I think he’s been getting most of his pocket money from his grandmother who just died, and most of what’s in his wallet probably came from Ned Thigpen’s wallet. Really, there’s nothing to keep him here, and besides that I’m pretty sure he’s got some stolen goods out there somewhere, maybe in Macon where he bought the drugs. And we still consider him a suspect in the Thigpen murder.”

“Will his family help him?”

“I doubt they’ll even show up. I think they’re more concerned about his grandmother’s funeral,” Sam said, “and the father told me it would suit him if Damon stayed in jail because he’s upset the whole family.”

.”I’ve read the interview Deputy Williston did with the aunt,” the young lawyer said. “I’ll ask the judge to hold him without bond.”

He got up and stretched.

“Is there any coffee here?” he asked. “I didn’t get breakfast.”

“There’s a café across the street,” Sam said. “They have good coffee and good food, and you’ve got time.”

Just outside Sam’s office, Jeremy Hayes almost collided with Taneesha Martin, who looked stunned and then smiled with pure delight.

“Jeremy, what are you doing here?” she asked.

“It can’t be you,” he responded. “Where’s your tennis racket.”

He turned to Sam, “I can’t tell you how many times this woman beat me at tennis when we were at the University.”

“So I don’t need to introduce you,” Sam said. “Sgt. Martin, Mr. Hayes is here from Mr. Beal’s office for Damon Dixon’s arraignment. Why don’t you show where to get the best ham biscuits in Georgia?”

They left together, laughing and talking.

Sam went back into his office and called T.J. Jackson.

“I need some detective work done,” he said… “May not amount to a thing but it’s a loose end, for sure.”

“I’ve got all morning, and two interns here, too,” T.J. said, “What do you need?”

Sam explained.

Hunter missed seeing Sam for breakfast, but joined Taneesha and the attorney from the DA’s office briefly. They were apparently long lost friends with shared memories, and seeing how pleased they were to be catching up, she made a sudden decision to do them both a favor and get take out instead of sharing their table.

Back at the paper, she had a relaxed morning ahead, with nothing to write, until Sam sent over a statement about his Person of Interest in the Thigpen case. That meant she could help with the remaining page layout and proofreading, and make thing easier for the others, too.

Sam called to say he was having Shellie e-mail a short press notice about the arrest of Damon Dixon on charges of theft of items from Ned Thigpen’s car.

“Wow!” Hunter said. “Is this the Person of Interest? Just theft, not murder?”

“Let’s just go with the statement,unless you get something else on your own,” Sam said.” We are not charging him at this time with the murder of Ned Thigpen at this point, but if you read the release, you’ll see that you and Will Roy both can probably get better story if you’re in the courtroom at 11 a.m.

Hunter went and told Tyler, who said, “Yes, go to the arraignment. We’ll move the Kiwanis Club story to page two. The family’s local. He’s been in trouble before.”

CHAPTER 22

A
T 10:35,
T
.
J
. CALLED
S
AM AND
said, “Michael Donagan’s alive as far as we can find out, or at least he’s alive on paper. He’s got a P.O. Box in Macon, and an account with Georgia Citizens Bank, a good credit rating and Social Security is sending him checks every month straight to the bank. I’ll e-mail what we’ve got.”

Sam thanked T.J. and asked Shellie to find Skeet Borders.

“I’ve got a job for him” he said.

“You don’t look happy,” Shellie said.

“I’m not. I think I know who’s in that casket, but that’s not the worst of it.”

Sam was in a hurry when Skeet arrived, and kept it simple.

“I want you to go find Grady Bennett and bring him in for questioning,” he said.

“Do I need to know what for?” Skeet asked.

“No, just tell him you don’t know but the sheriff wants to talk with him. You can sit in when I talk to him.”

Skeet left to make the 12 mile drive to Grady Bennett’s home.

Hunter got her story about Damon Dixon in just under the deadline—although that was a matter of professionalism mostly. She knew Tyler would let the press crew wait for ten minutes, but she liked the challenge.

Damon Dixon, who looked bored when he was brought in and angry when he was taken out, was denied bond on the strength of the new young Assistant D.A. Jeremy Hayes’ very strong arguments that Dixon has no family support, no job and no permanent address in Magnolia County.

It had all gone quickly, and to her delight, Will Roy Johnson was not there, but as Hunter would certainly point out to him later, he got the same information she got from Sam, and he could have driven the half mile from the radio station to the courthouse.

Sam who had smiled at her across the courtroom was unavailable for lunch. But Taneesha and Jeremy Hayes were back at R&J’s together, and Taneesha, seeing Hunter come in alone, got up to come and talk with her.

“He and I were almost serious in college,” she said, “and then I fell for this other guy. I’m wondering what came over me now. I can’t believe he’s still single. You want to come join us?”

“No,” Hunter said, smiling, “ I want you to concentrate on that man. I saw him in court and he is really a good lawyer. I have to go out to the Bennett’s house anyway. I’m taking those paintings out there to be fixed.”

Taneesha shook her head and laughed.

“You and your crazy art.”

And then she left and headed back to her table.

Hunter went back to the Messenger to watch the papers rolling off the press, found her written instructions to the Bennett’s house, and left for the day.

Skeet was surprised at Grady’s relaxed reaction, when he told him that the sheriff wanted him to come in and talk.

“I was going to call you , Skeet,” he said. “I know what he wants to talk about and I’ll be glad to go get it over with. I just need to call this lady from the church and see if she’ll stay with Dee Dee. She said she would if I need for her to. She’s Pastor Jimmy Rayburn’s wife, and they know all about this.”

“No problem,” Skeet said, bewildered.

“Pastor Jimmy” Grady said on the phone, “You know what we talked about yesterday? Well I’ve got to go in and talk to the Sheriff now. My friend Skeet is here to drive me there, and I really need Miss Arnette to come and stay with Dee Dee just in case it takes a while.”

They got into the car, as soon as the pastor’s wife arrived and gave Grady a hug. Skeet headed back, calling in to let Shellie know that Grady was with him and they’d be there in 20 minutes or so. He tried to make it sound off hand.

He didn’t ask any questions either, but Grady started telling him the whole story.

“You might want to get a lawyer,” Skeet said, after a minute of two “and not tell me all this.”

He saw a familiar car about a mile beyond the little white church.

“Hey, there’s Hunter Jones,” he said, changing the subject.

“Oh, I forgot,” Grady said. “She was going to bring two of Dee Dee’s painting out for me to fix them. They got floodwater on them. I guess she can just leave them, though.”

He got back to Skeet’s suggestion.

“No, I don’t think I need a lawyer. Pastor Jimmy called his brother who is a lawyer and asked him about it, and he said it wasn’t some kind of big crime. Mama was the one who told me it was. She was gone to Florida with her sister when we did it. . She just wasn’t used to that kinda thing, I guess.”

Skeet kept driving and staring straight ahead.

“You think it would be all right for me to call her?” Grady said. “I was supposed to go by and help her with something later.”

“OK,” Skeet said.”But how about not telling her where you’re going? I don’t know that the sheriff wants a lot of people to know about this.”

Grady made his call and left a message.

“Hey, Mama, I’ve got some business to tend to, and I probably won’t be by later. I’ll call you “

Hunter was relieved when she finally saw the little white church where she was supposed to turn off for the Bennett home. She had been thinking she was lost in endless farm fields, and having looked at the big county map, before she left the office to make sure she understood the detour, she could really see how essential the rebuilding of the Timpoochee Creek Bridge was, even if they didn’t rebuild the dam.

That, she thought, as she reached the Good Shepherd church, could be her next column.

She pulled up in the circular front driveway of the old farmhouse and smiled at the view. It wasn’t fancy, but a huge oak tree shaded the front yard, and there was a big front porch. She could see a barn in the back. It all looked like Grady worked hard at keeping things up.

She got the paintings out of the back seat and headed for the front door.

A woman she had never met before, slim and gray-haired with a warm smile met her at the front door and she wondered if she was at the wrong house.

“Hi,” Hunter said, “I’m Hunter Jones. I’m looking for Grady Bennett. He was going to repair these paintings for me. His wife did them.”

“He’s had to go take care of some business, but come on in. I am sure Dee Dee would like to meet you if you have bought some of her paintings. I am Arnette Rayburn. My husband’s the pastor at the church down the road.”

Hunter smiled and went inside. Finally, she was going to have a chance to meet the mysterious Deirdre Donagan Bennett.

Sam had explained Grady’s rights to him before he started asking questions.

“I don’t think I need a lawyer. I’ve already told Skeet the whole thing,” Grady said, “And Sheriff Bailey, I’m sorry if I’ve caused a problem . I didn’t mean to do anything wrong, and then I’ll be honest. I just got scared.”

“Tell me about your wife’s father to start with,” Sam said. “Is he dead?”

“Yes.”

“When did he die?”

“It was about four months after me and Dee Dee got married. He was living with us then and he was real sick. He had a bad heart and that awful cough and problems breathing from smoking a lot.”

“Lung Cancer? Emphysema?”

“I don’t think it was cancer, but he had to have oxygen about half the time, and he kept doing more than he should and getting out of breath. I wanted to take him to a doctor, but he had this service for the oxygen and he said he was tired of doctors and he knew he was gonna die. He just wanted to be outdoors a lot and take pictures, and be with Dee Dee. He called her Deer-Druh. Anyway I fixed him up a darkroom in the barn so he could develop his photos but he hardly got to use it.

“How did he die, Grady?”

“Dee Dee found him lyin’ out in the woods in the back of our house and he was already gone. I was away from home until about an hour later and I found Dee Dee just sitting there beside him, crying.”

“Did you bury him in that old wood casket?”

“Yes Sir, I did. That’s what he wanted. He even wrote that down, and I’ve got it in my lockbox where I keep my money. He had seen the old casket in the barn. I did not even know it was a casket. My granddaddy used it to keep kindling’ wood and coal in. They must have made it for somebody who didn’t die after all.