Hopscotch Homicide (Zoe Donovan Mystery Book 16) (5 page)

Zak pulled me onto his lap and kissed my neck. “I’m not tired. Are you?”

“Not anymore.”

Zak and I saw Alex off for her day with Hazel and dropped Scooter at Tucker’s aunt’s house and headed over to the preschool. Over the Rainbow had grown quite a bit over the past couple of years; it seemed Tawny had turned a small babysitting business into a successful enterprise.

“Zak, Zoe—what are the two of you doing here?”

“I wanted to speak to Trudy if she isn’t busy,” I explained.

“She’s reading to the older kids in the blue room,” Tawny informed me. She offered day care for older kids as well as preschoolers during the summer, when the kids were off school.

“Charlie and I can take over the reading while Trudy speaks to Zoe if that’s okay with you,” Zak offered.

“That’s more than okay; that’s awesome. The older kids love it when we switch things up a bit, and everyone loves Charlie. I have a group of preschool-age kids in the yellow room, so why don’t you use my office to chat with Trudy?” Tawny suggested to me.

“Thanks. That would be perfect.”

Trudy Blacksmith was a pleasant woman who I would guess was in her midthirties. For most of the time she’d lived next door to Mrs. Brown she’d been alone, but she’d met the man she would eventually marry three years ago, and a year ago she’d had a baby. It was shortly after the birth of their child that she and her husband had moved across town.

“Thanks for taking a minute to speak with me,” I said to her after we were seated in Tawny’s office. “I guess you heard about Evelyn Brown.”

Trudy lowered her eyes and nodded.

“I was wondering if you could tell me anything about her life or her friends or enemies that might help us figure out who might have killed her.”

Trudy hesitated before answering. I could see she was feeling conflicted about sharing information with me. I couldn’t blame her. It’s not like I was a
real
cop.

“If you’d rather speak to Sheriff Salinger, I’ll understand.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that Evelyn and I really hadn’t been close since the baby was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’d heard you spent a lot of time together at one point.”

“We did.” I noticed a tear in Trudy’s eye. “She was like a second mother to me when I first moved in next to her. We were good for each other; she provided me with the mothering I needed and I helped her get out of her shell a bit. I enjoyed her company very much. It’s just that after the baby came things changed.”

“Changed how?” I asked.

“Evelyn became clingy. More than clingy; it felt like she was in my house all the time. At first I thought she was just trying to help, but it got to the point where it seemed like she didn’t approve of anything I did. According to her, I bought the wrong diapers and used the wrong cream on the baby’s diaper rash. She didn’t approve of the baby formula I bought and she was constantly coming by to check on things. It was like she didn’t trust me to take care of my own baby. I tried to talk to her about it, but she wouldn’t listen. Finally, my husband and I decided the only thing we could do was move.”

“And did that help? Did she stop coming over?”

“Not at first. Even though she had to drive across town, she still managed to find a reason to show up on my doorstep almost every day. I’m not proud of it, but at one point I threatened her with a restraining order if she didn’t stay away. I could tell she was hurt by my attitude, but I really felt I was at the breaking point with all the interference.”

“And after your threat did she stay away?” I asked.

“She did, for a while. And then about a month ago she began stopping by the preschool. She claimed she was here to read to the kids, but I could see she spent most of her time holding my son. To be honest, all the attention made me nervous. I spoke to Tawny just last week about forbidding Evelyn from dropping in and Tawny said she would speak to her, but I don’t know if she ever did.”

A single tear slid down Trudy’s cheek.

“Do you have any idea who might have wanted to hurt her?” I asked.

Trudy thought about it. “Not really, but I wasn’t the only one who felt that Evelyn had worn out her welcome. She had a way about her that tended to rub people wrong. She could be really sweet and seem so eager to be involved, but then she’d turn around and try to steamroll people. She liked to control things and that pushed people away, which was really too bad because I think she was really lonely.”

“Is there anything you can tell me about her usual routine that might help? I know she worked at the elementary school, played bingo from time to time, and visited the cemetery every Sunday. I also know she quilted with you until you moved.”

Trudy took a deep breath, wiped another tear from her cheek, and looked out the window toward the play area. I could tell she needed a minute to gather her thoughts, so I waited quietly. I wondered how Zak was doing with the kids. He seemed to really enjoy spending time with the younger segment of our population.

“Evelyn didn’t really have much of a social life,” Trudy eventually said. “She visited her husband’s grave every week and worked every day school was in session, but other than the things we did together during the time we were neighbors, she rarely went out a whole lot. As far as I know she didn’t have any other close friends, which made me feel bad when I had to cut her from my life, but it was almost like she was obsessed with my son, and it really scared me. I know what happened to her husband was traumatic for her, but I think there must have been something else in her past that affected her ability to have normal relationships. I’m sorry she’s dead, and I hope you find out who killed her, but I’m not sorry I don’t have to worry about her kidnapping my baby.”

“You really think she might have done that?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Probably not. It’s just that I couldn’t help but feel threatened by the amount of attention she paid to him. It wasn’t normal.”

“I spoke to Loretta Bridgewater last night, and she mentioned she served on a fund-raising committee with Mrs. Brown five years ago. Mrs. Brown told Loretta at the time that she wasn’t available on Thursday nights. Do you happen to know what she did then?”

“That must have been back when she tried to take an adult education cooking class at the high school. It didn’t go well and she quit after a few weeks. I think the only reason she even took the class was because there was some big petition at the elementary school to have her fired. I’m pretty sure she agreed to take the class to appease the PTA members who wanted her gone.”

I stood up. “Well, thank you for your time. If you think of anything else will you call me?”

Trudy shrugged. “Yeah, okay.”

Zak was still reading to the kids when I came out of the office and he seemed to be having a good time, so I went looking for Tawny to tell her that I was going to wait for him outside. She confirmed that Mrs. Brown had indeed seemed to be obsessed with Trudy’s baby, and she had asked her not to come by to volunteer anymore. She felt bad about having to do it, but it had seemed like her only option. I asked her if she’d ever seen Mrs. Brown smoke or smelled smoke on her, and she said she hadn’t.

I called Salinger while I was waiting outside. I wanted to fill him in on my conversation with Trudy and see if he had any new information. It was a gorgeous day, so I sat down on one of the picnic benches that were arranged under a large shade tree to enjoy what was left of the summer.

After dispatching with what had become an almost predictable greeting routine between us, I filled him in on everything I’d learned. I had to admit that after our conversation I felt we should put Trudy on the suspect list. She seemed nice enough and had shared freely what she knew, but it occurred to me that a mother who felt her child was in danger could be driven to do almost anything.

“I’ll do some digging,” Salinger promised. “What do you know about Trudy Blacksmith’s husband?”

“Nothing, actually. I never even thought to ask his name.”

“That’s okay; I can get the information. If Mrs. Brown seemed to be a threat to their baby it’s equally likely that the husband might have decided to eliminate that threat.”

“Did you test the cigarette butt we found for DNA?” I asked.

“We did. All I can tell you at this point is that it wasn’t Evelyn Brown’s. There’s a chance it’s just a randomly tossed butt not even related to the murder.”

“And the button?”

“So far we haven’t learned anything useful from it.”

I waved to Zak, who had just come outside looking for me.

“Zak, Charlie, and I will be off the mountain for the day. The three teenagers who are going to be living with Phyllis King this school year are flying in and we’re going to the airport to pick them up. If you figure anything out go ahead and call me. It would be awesome to get this wrapped up sooner rather than later.”

“You do realize you’re starting to sound like my partner,” Salinger pointed out.

“Complaining?”

“Not really. I’ll talk to you later.”

Zak walked over and sat down next to me.

“Salinger?” he asked.

“Yeah. I wanted to fill him in before we left. Did you have fun with the kids?”

“I did. There’s a little boy in there who I would guess is around six. He shares many of your features. It made me wonder what our kids are going to look like when we eventually have them.”

“I’m sure our kids will be adorable.” I smiled. “Do you think about kids often?”

Zak shrugged. “Not really. We have a lot going on, and I realize it would be best to wait a few years. It’s just that this particular little boy had your smile.”

“I hope if we have girls they have your thick blond hair and not my crazy curly brown hair,” I stated firmly.

“I love your crazy curly brown hair.” Zak reached out and brushed a stray curl from my face.

I smiled. “Too bad we need to head down the hill. It would be nice to have some alone time in the house.”

“Yeah.” Zak groaned. “It would. But we can’t leave the girls to fend for themselves, so we’d better take a rain check. Are you ready to go?”

“I just want to call Ruby first if we have the time.”

“That’s fine. Charlie and I will take a walk so he can attend to any needs he might have before we head down the mountain.”

I went back inside and asked Tawny if I could use her phone book to look up Ruby’s number. Then I headed back outside to the bench to make my call. I hadn’t spoken to Ruby since before the wedding. She’d been an active member of the senior center at one time but tended to stay close to home since she’d suffered a stroke the previous spring.

“Ruby, it’s Zoe,” I said when she answered.

“Zoe, how are you, dear? How was the wedding?”

“It was really nice. I’m sorry you missed it.”

“I’m sorry I missed it too. It seems this old body has been letting me down lately. I just can’t get around like I used to.”

“Charlie and I will come for a visit once school gets started and things slow down a bit.”

“I’d like that. Speaking of Charlie, I wanted to talk to you about Digger.”

Digger was a medium-size terrier Ruby had adopted two years before.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine, but I’m afraid I may have to rehome him. My daughter wants me to move to the assisted care facility in Bryton Lake so I’ll be closer to her. They don’t allow dogs, I’m afraid. At first I was adamant that if I couldn’t take Digger I wouldn’t go, but he’s a young dog who loves to go on long walks and I just can’t manage them any longer. It think it would be best to place him with someone who will love him and be able to keep up with his exercise needs.”

Poor Ruby. Poor Digger.

“You know I’ll be happy to find the perfect home for Digger. Can you give me a few days?”

“Absolutely. I’m reconciled as to what needs to happen, but I’m not in any hurry.”

It was so hard when owners were forced to part with beloved pets after the restrictions that come along with aging kick in. Both Zak and my dad owned dogs that had come to them due to similar situations. I was determined to find an equally awesome new placement for Digger.

“The reason I called is that I wanted to ask you about Evelyn Brown.”

“Such a tragedy. And to have it happen to someone so young.”

I supposed sixty-two was young when you were in your eighties.

“Loretta mentioned that Evelyn served with the two of you on a fund-raising committee for the senior center a while back.”

“Casino night. What a fun time we all had.”

I couldn’t help but notice the wistful tone in Ruby’s voice. I’m sure from where she was sitting, facing the changes that were imminent in her life, she believed those fun days were a thing of the past. I really hoped they weren’t.

“I was volunteering at kids’ camp with Levi and Ellie that summer, so I wasn’t able to attend. We’ll have to do it again, maybe this winter. It would be great if you could help the committee with it again.”

“I’d like that, if I can arrange a ride from Bryton Lake.”

“We’ll figure something out,” I promised. “Anyway, I was wondering if you could tell me anything about Evelyn that might help us track down her killer.”