Jolly Dead St. Nicholas (3 page)

“I’ll be there,” he vowed. He watched as Zelda hurried away, heading toward the cashier’s counter in the front. He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “That woman certainly knows how to bear a grudge, doesn’t she?”

Adelaide watched until Zelda was out of sight then said, “Everyone knows it wasn’t your fault, Harold. How was the meatloaf?”

Harold smiled. “Delicious, as always. Dora wasn’t there, though. Seems she had a dentist appointment.”

Adelaide didn’t miss the disappointment in his tone, or the sadness in his eyes. Harold was a precise man who’d turned the funeral home his grandfather opened in 1914 into an extremely profitable business. Harold had also been town mayor from 1994 to 1998. He remained on town council and almost every citizen in Crescent Falls held him in high esteem.

“How is James doing?” Adelaide asked referring to Harold’s son who lived in Columbus. She knew that one of the great disappointments in his life was when his son told him he would not be returning to Crescent Falls to help run the family business. Instead, James opted to become a doctor. On the bright side, however, Harold’s daughter, Ruth, now worked with her father.

“He’s expanding his practice, which means he has little time for anything else. I’ll tell you, Adelaide, I don’t think I’m ever going to have grandchildren. James is still unmarried. Ruth won’t even date.” He sighed again.

“Just hold good thoughts, Harold. All things come about in their own time.”

Harold nodded. “I hope so. By the way, since you’re here, let me give you this.” He dug into his coat pocket, taking out a folded piece of paper, which he handed to her.

Adelaide nearly gasped when she realized it was a very generous check. “I don’t understand, Harold.” She held up the check for Vernon to see.

“I know what you’ve been doing—letting people who have no insurance have their medicine for free or for the co-pay. I want you to put this toward the fund.”

Adelaide felt a lump form in her throat. “I don’t know what to say, Harold.”

Vernon chuckled. “That will be the day.”

Harold put a prescription on the counter. “Just don’t tell anyone I gave that check to you. I don’t want it spread around, all right?”

Adelaide nodded. Vernon nodded. Harold said, “I’ll be back for my pills later.”

As Adelaide left the pharmacy moments later with the check in her purse, she thought the funeral home business must be very profitable indeed if the amount of Harold’s donation was any indication.

On Thursday afternoon, Chief of Police Daniel McBride was cloistered in his office just off the squad room, hoping to catch up on some paperwork he’d been putting off for about a week. Upstairs, the two jail cells were empty. Courtroom A was reserved for Mayor’s Court, which was held each Wednesday evening to handle traffic violations and other misdemeanors. Common Pleas/criminal cases were heard by a circuit court judge in Courtroom B or transferred to Marietta. Crime always seemed to increase during the holidays.

In the six months he’d been the town’s chief of police, he’d encountered his share of controversy. Many citizens expressed the opinion that he was too young for the job.
I’m thirty-two, how is that too young?
I have nine years on the force. Small town politics. I’ll never get used to it.

The city council vote had been close. He could still recall that night, as they sat in the town council chambers right across the hall. In his mind, Daniel ticked off who’d been for him and who’d been against him during that heated meeting. He knew for a fact that Harold Purcell, Vernon Dexter and local insurance agency owner Jerry Hatfield had voted to hire him. All three men were friends with his mother, so that explained their vote, he supposed.

On the other side of the aisle, so to speak, Marty Castro, proprietor of the local pub, Dora Carmody, the owner of the diner, and Lloyd Fletcher, a local real estate broker had voted nay. That had left the deciding vote up to the mayor, Carl Henshaw. “So, did you vote to hire me because of your friendship with my mother?” Daniel had asked Carl after the meeting in the mayor’s office, which was tucked in the back corner of the building. Carl had just patted him on the shoulder and smiled, but made no comment. On his way out that evening, Daniel noticed a small group of people cloistered in the public meeting room next to the council chambers. Unfortunately he was too far away to hear what they were saying.

Looking up from the files in front of him, Daniel stared out the large picture window that served as part of his office wall. In the squad room, Sergeant Ray Butler, a tall man with finely chiseled features, was just settling behind his gunmetal gray desk. Of all his officers, he trusted Ray the most. In truth, he’d assumed when the job of police chief became vacant, Ray would be hired. He had one more year on the force than Daniel, along with an exemplary record.

Daniel’s mind went to a conversation he’d overheard between Ray and Officer Ed Lucas. At twenty-nine years old, Ed had been on the force for four years. Daniel didn’t care for Ed’s caustic attitude. He’d been brought up on charges more than once for using excessive force. On that particular afternoon, about a month after Daniel was promoted to chief, he happened to hear Ray and Ed arguing in the smaller, downstairs break room…

“I don’t like his laid back attitude. He needs to grow a set,” Ed said in a tone riddled with scorn.

“Like you, you mean? How many complaints are in your folder?” Ray retorted.

“I do what it takes to get the job done, Butler. Let’s see if McBride has the stones to do the same!”

Daniel shoved some papers into a folder, then sat back in his swivel chair, which squeaked in protest. Out in the squad room, Lieutenant Luke Fagan, who had come to them five years ago from the Columbus PD, strode to his desk, shoving a scruffy looking teenager down in a straight back chair. The skinny kid seemed high on something.

Daniel liked Luke, who had just made lieutenant last month after a major arrest involving a drug ring trying to get a foothold in Crescent Falls. He was a tall, bulky African-American man who’d recently turned forty but didn’t look a day over thirty. He and Daniel weren’t good friends, but he knew the man always had his back on the job. He also had training in crime scene investigative techniques, so that made him a very valuable asset to the department.

While Luke questioned the disgruntled youth, Daniel turned his thoughts to Judy Hess, a petite redheaded officer whose small stature hid the proficient Tai Kwan Do expert beneath. She’d been a star athlete on the high school gymnastic team. He’d seen her bring more than one belligerent drunk down with an expert move. He smiled as he thought about how her green eyes flashed like emeralds when she had to subdue a perp. Her marksmanship with a gun was also legendary. They’d partnered up several times while he was still a patrolman. He found her so easy to talk to, often thinking that if he wasn’t involved with Brenda Collier…

Forget it. It would never work out. She’s a cop under my command and such things are strictly forbidden
.

Daniel’s thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Lloyd Fletcher entering the squad room. A ball of cold clay settled in his stomach as he watched the short, stocky realtor strut past the other officers. The only one he acknowledged was Ed Lucas. No big surprise, since they were united in their disapproval of the way Daniel was running the police department.

Without knocking, Lloyd came into Daniel’s office, shutting the door soundly behind him. Daniel assessed the man from head to toe. His hair formed a light brown fringe around a shiny bald head. A pronounced pot belly struggled to remain hidden behind a starched white shirt. The man’s dark green eyes flashed angrily.

In Daniel’s opinion, the word huckster had been invented for men like Lloyd. A native of Zanesville, he’d moved to Crescent Falls in the late 1990s and purchased two parcels of land. He’d developed the large acreage on the west end of town into a gated condo complex called Creekside Village, where Daniel now lived. Off State Route 550, Lloyd also purchased a smaller tract where he erected a less exclusive apartment complex called Mulberry Manor. Daniel guessed that Lloyd was probably a millionaire by now, since he seemed to own property all over the state, including two-hundred wooded acres he’d purchased about a year ago north of town. Coincidentally, that was just about the time Lloyd began pressuring council to allow a casino to be built in order to bolster Crescent Falls’ sagging economy.

“What can I do for you, Lloyd?” Daniel asked in a voice he hoped didn’t reveal his aggravation at being interrupted.

Lloyd glared down at Daniel from the other side of the desk. “You can catch the juvenile delinquents who have once again spray painted the lions at my gate. This time they are bright, neon green!”

Lloyd owned a double lot on Buckeye Street. The house was in the beautifully restored area of two-story frame dwellings built in the thirties. About three months ago he’d commissioned a three-foot high stone wall across the front yard, with two hand-carved stone lions on either side of a wrought iron gate. The neighbors hated it, many of them still angry at the zoning board for allowing the construction, stating that was not in keeping with the architecture of the neighborhood. The local teens, however, seemed to love spray painting the lions on a regular basis. Lloyd would have them cleaned, but eventually they’d be repainted.

“They’re hard to catch, Lloyd, since we never know when they’ll strike again,” Daniel explained. “Have you considered surveillance cameras?”

Lloyd almost jumped up and down in anger. “Why should I have to pay through the nose for surveillance equipment when it is
your
job to protect property owners? Are you that inept, McBride? Stake the place out for a few nights, for God’s sake!”

Daniel tamped down his anger. After taking a deep breath he said, “We don’t have the manpower to do that, Lloyd. Remember, our budget got cut. In fact, didn’t you spearhead the movement to make those cuts?”

“Don’t get smart with me, McBride! I never was in favor of you getting this job. Now I see I was right!” His eyes turned nearly black with fury.

“I’ll beef up patrols around that neighborhood for a while. Let’s see if we can’t catch those…vandals.” Daniel stood, indicating the meeting was over.

Lloyd didn’t move. “You seem to have influence with certain council members, McBride. You’d be wise to make them see the wisdom of allowing that casino to be built here. You know as well as I do that this town will die without a new income source. If you want your department to grow—well, that takes money. Real money.”

At that moment, Daniel realized that Lloyd’s visit had as much to do with strong-arming him into backing the casino deal as it did with the vandalism of his stone lions.

Walking to the door, Daniel opened it wide. “We’ll do our best to get those vandals with the resources we now have, Lloyd, don’t worry. Have a nice day.” He smiled as Lloyd strode out of his office in a snit.

After an uncomfortably silent meal with his wife Susan, Jerry Hatfield went into the den of the Victorian home they shared, closing the door behind him. The room had a cozy, intimate feel, with built in bookshelves lining two walls. The desk, a large ornately carved heirloom made of mahogany, sat in the center of an exquisitely detailed Oriental rug. The deeply tufted desk chair had belonged to his father. The rich aroma of old leather combined with lemon oil permeated the air.

They’d purchased the house at the corner of Hawthorne Avenue and Buckeye Street eight years ago. Before that they’d lived in one of the small tract houses on the other end of Buckeye Street near Falls Way. The area was respectable and well kept, but couldn’t compare to what they had now.

Sitting down in the desk chair, Jerry leaned back, closing his eyes. Something was definitely off with Susan lately. Not only had she been moody, she hadn’t been interested in making love for weeks.

As he sat there, rocking back and forth in the supple leather chair, he recalled his glory days at Crescent Falls High School where he’d played football and earned a place on the Honor Society, therefore debunking the theory that all jocks were dumb. After high school he’d attended Ohio State University. Upon graduation he went to work for a large insurance company in Marietta, learning all he could until he felt confident enough to open his own office in Crescent Falls. Now, he brokered policies for clients, hooking them up with whichever company met their needs at a price they could afford.

He’d missed the twenty-year high school reunion in May because he was out of town at a convention. Susan had attended, though, stating that it was boring since the same people she saw weekly in town were practically the only ones who attended.

Success felt good. His life was on track. He was on the town council, chairman of the Crescent Falls United Methodist Church finance committee, treasurer of the local historical society as well as a member in good standing of the Marietta Lion’s Club. The only problem he could see on the horizon was Susan’s sudden coldness. Of course, he had a pretty good idea who was to blame for that. He’d been debating with himself for several days about how to handle the situation. Up until now, he’d avoided a direct confrontation with his wife, but tonight was the last straw.

Leaving the den, he walked through the dining room. All remnants of the meal were gone. The kitchen was empty, although the dish washer purred quietly from underneath the counter. “Susan?” he called. No answer.

He walked into the foyer, checking the living room as he went. She wasn’t there. Only the seven foot spruce Christmas tree with its numerous strands of twinkling white lights greeted him. They’d put the tree up last weekend, another activity that seemed tedious to him this year because she’d barely said two words during the two-hour venture.

He went up the stairs, his mind suddenly going to another problem that had been weighing heavily on his shoulders for the past two weeks. “I have to handle the matter carefully, but it has to be settled soon,” he muttered.