Murder at Catfish Corner: A Maggie Morgan Mystery (15 page)

Brandi spun
around and yelled in her husband’s face, “Stop flirting with her. She ain’t
interested in an old fart like you. She ain’t that desperate yet.”

Earnest turned
his head and held up a hand as if to deflect the noise. “I’m not flirting. I’m
being friendly.” He looked to Maggie. “What occasion has brought you to our
door today?”

“That fancy talk
ain’t going to get you nowhere with her and why do you think she’s here, dummy?
She wants to talk about your dead ex-wife.”

Earnest’s face
crumbled. “Now, I told you everything I know about that.”

“May I come in?”
Maggie asked.

Earnest said, “I
don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Come on in,”
Brandi said.

Over Earnest’s
protests, Maggie followed Brandi into the living room. Brandi fell onto the
sofa and fixed her eyes on the TV. Maggie recognized the show,
Snapped
,
which detailed the stories of real-life women who lose control and, in most
cases, kill their significant other.

“If somebody
don’t change his ways, you’re going to see me on this show one of these days.”

Brandi’s threat
didn’t seem to faze Earnest, who stood beside the sofa, saying, “This doesn’t
concern me.”

“Would you sit
down,” Brandi said. “You know I hate it when you stand over top me.”

Earnest did as
requested as Maggie pulled her notepad and copies of the email messages from
her purse.

“What’s that?” Brandi
nodded toward the papers.

“It’s what I
wanted to talk about today. Brandi, would you mind turning down the volume on
the TV? Thanks. Is your daughter here?”

“No, Paradice is
at my sister’s. It’s where I wanted to be, but I never get what I want.”

Maggie closed
her eyes and counted to ten before addressing Earnest. “Stella allowed me to
look at Hazel’s computer.”

“So?”

He might have
been flirting earlier, Maggie thought to herself, but not now. “I was able to
access her email.” She handed the papers to Earnest. “Do you remember engaging
in these conversations with Hazel about your pension? Do you remember telling
her you had borrowed against your pension and requesting she agree to amend
your divorce agreement?”

“What?” Brandi
snatched the papers from Maggie’s hands before Earnest could review them. She read
them and threw them at Earnest. “So, me and Paradice are costing you too much
money? We don’t ask for nothing we don’t need. It ain’t our fault you’re a
tightwad who don’t want to let loose of a dime. You didn’t even want to buy her
those ballet shoes she needed.”

“Ballet is
expensive. I tried to tell you that, but you have no grasp of money management.
You might understand the value of a dollar if you actually earned it,” Earnest
said.

“Believe you me,
I earn every dollar I spend.”

Maggie cleared
her throat. “Earnest, did you know that Hazel went to the post office the same
time every day?”

“Of course.
Everybody knew that. She went to the post office every day at three o’clock.
What does that have to do with anything?”

Earnest’s tone
of voice and glowering face reminded Maggie of an insolent teenager. “Does that
mean you didn’t just happen to run into her that day at the post office? You
know, a couple days before she died.”

“Ha,” Brandi
slapped Earnest’s chest. “She’s got you there.”

“No, I ran into
her just like I told you.”

“Did you talk
about your retirement that day? How did she react when you suggested amending
the divorce agreement?” Maggie asked.

Earnest shook
his head and said, “No, no, no.”

In a soft voice
that betrayed her earlier shenanigans, Brandi said, “Why don’t you just tell us
what happened. It will be okay.”

Earnest took a
sip from a can of diet soda sitting on the coffee table. “She wouldn’t listen
to reason. I told her that if she had ever loved me, she’d give me that money.
I needed it more than she did. She was drawing her Social Security and I know
she saved for her own retirement. The house was paid off and she collected rent
on her mommy’s house every month. She wanted it out of meanness. I never
realized how mean she was until I divorced her. She always did exactly what I
wanted,” he sighed, “until I left her.”

“Did you see her
or talk to her after that day at the post office?’

“I tried calling
her, but she wouldn’t answer.”

“Did you go to
her house? Did you –”

“Unh-uh,” Brandi
said, springing to her feet. “I don’t like where this is going. You have to
leave.”

“Brandi, I can
talk to her.”

Brandi bent over
and put her hands around each side of Earnest’s face. “You don’t have to say
one more word to her, baby.” She stood and faced Maggie, who had gathered her
belongings and risen from the chair. “Don’t let the door hit you on your way
out.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Stella happened
to be home, so Maggie swung by her house to bring her up-to-date on the day’s developments.
When she told her about finding the email messages between Earnest and Hazel
and Brandi abruptly ending the interview, Stella clapped her hands.

“I knew it,” she
said. “I told you Earnest killed my sister. We need to call the police.”

“Not so fast,”
Maggie cautioned. “There are other suspects.”

“Who? Earl David?
He shouldn’t have left her out there, but I can’t believe he would have intentionally
hurt her.”

“What about
Fallon? Or Dennis? Do you think they would have intentionally hurt her?”

The confused
look on Stella’s face became more pronounced as Maggie explained Hazel’s
discovery of Dennis and Fallon’s relationship as well as her intention to evict
Fallon.

“I don’t believe
what you’re saying. Brother and Fallon? That can’t be right.”

“According to
the involved parties, it is.”

“Why didn’t
Hazel tell me about this?”

“Maybe she was
trying to protect you or maybe she was planning on telling you later.”

Stella brought
her hands together as if in prayer. “How am I going to tell my daughter?”

“I’m sorry that
I had to be the one to give you this news. I know this can’t be easy for you.
It seems like you’re enduring one painful revelation after another.” Maggie
paused. “But you have to consider the possibility that Dennis killed Hazel.”

“No, he’s not
capable of hurting someone.”

“Ten minutes
ago, did you think he was capable of having a relationship with Fallon?”

“I’m going to be sick,” Stella said and ran from the room.

Although the day
had proven informative, it hadn’t illuminated matters for Maggie. She spent the
next couple days mentally reviewing the list of suspects and motives. Then, she
called Seth.

“I hate to
bother you,” she said.

“You’re no
bother. What’s up?”

“It’s the Hazel
Baker death. By my count, six people had a motive to kill her and that’s only
counting the people I know about. There could be dozens of other folks she
ticked off. She was one disagreeable woman.”

Seth chuckled. “The
last time we talked, Brandi Baker had smashed your car window and accused her
husband of murder. What’s happened since then?”

“I guess I
should start with the receipt.”

When Maggie
finished talking, Seth whistled. “You’re right about Hazel Baker. She doesn’t
sound like a nice person. Be that as it may, you don’t have a right to take a
life even if you catch somebody trying to pour bleach on your catfish. By the
way, the state police need to know about that. They need to know Earl David
Osborne caught her in the process of damaging his property.”

“Why? After all,
if she wasn’t murdered, then it’s not like he failed to report a crime.”

“Don’t split
hairs with me, Maggie. Take what you have to the state police. If you’d like, I
can go with you.”

“But if they
didn’t think it was murder when she died, why would my suspicions change their
minds?”

“Because it
sounds like, at the very least, Mr. Osborne lied by omission to the police. He
also moved the bleach and the hand cart. They need to talk to him.”

Maggie groaned.
“Can it wait until tomorrow? Luke and I are going to Edie and Ben’s for a
cookout. Edie wants to get together before Luke and I leave for vacation.”

“Where are you
going? I hope it’s somewhere fun.”

“We’re driving
to the Grand Canyon on Saturday.”

“Well, you have a safe and fun-filled trip. And this can wait until
tomorrow. Go grab a burger and a hot dog at Edie’s, but if I don’t hear from
you by the end of the day tomorrow, I know where to find you.”

“Why is it that you
can only get a man to cook if it involves a grill?”

“That’s not
true,” Maggie corrected Edie. “Luke’s a good cook.”

“Maybe he can
teach Ben. He can’t even make toast.”

Maggie looked
out the French doors to the patio where the men stood over a grill. “Do you
think we ought to join them?”

“Absolutely not.
It’s too hot to breathe out there. I intend to stay inside this cool house and
work on this necklace until Ben serves up a hot, juicy burger.”

Edie
concentrated on the wire that lay in front of her on the dining room table.
Maggie had been skeptical when Edie had developed an interest in making jewelry
several months back. She felt sure this hobby would go the way of Edie’s
previous and short-lived pursuits of knitting, bread making, and scrapbooking.
But Edie’s perseverance had surprised and impressed Maggie.

Maggie leaned
over the table and asked, “What are you working on this time?”

“It’s a bird’s
nest necklace. I’m giving it to a friend from the bank. Her baby shower is this
weekend.”

When Maggie’s
eyes settled on the pearl wrapped inside the sterling silver wire, she knew
what she would have to do. Only this time, Sassafras would come to her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Although Maggie
had chosen the time – noon – and location – the park – she started doubting
herself at one minute past the hour. What if I’m dealing with a no-show, she
thought to herself. Or a sniper? She turned and looked at the mountains across
the road. Years earlier, while she and her parents had listened to bluegrass
music in the park during Moonshiner Days, another festival-goer had alerted
them to a man lurking in the hills. Lena had immediately suspected the man on
the mountain of harboring ill will, especially when a festival-goer with
binoculars noticed he was holding something long in his hands.

“It’s a gun,”
somebody had exclaimed.

Luckily, before
panic could overwhelm the crowd, the man on the mountain had planted a flag
pole.

“Huh, it’s the
American flag,” the festival-goer with binoculars had announced. “Now, why you reckon
he’s putting a flag up on that hill?”

Although that
incident had proven to be a false alarm, a sniper could have a scope aimed at
her head that very minute. Or so Maggie feared.

Of course, it’s
not like her number one suspect knew they were the number one suspect. Maggie
had watched enough movies and true crime shows to know better than to level an
accusation without cover. So, on the phone the evening before, she had simply
said, “I have something to show you and it would be in your best interest to
meet me. I’ve already briefed the police, but I’d like to hear from you before
I take further action.”

Although an
agreement had been made, by ten minutes after noon, Maggie’s lunch date had not
arrived and she decided to take Seth up on his offer to accompany her to the
state police post. She had unlocked her phone when Vanessa Griffith finally
strode into the park and took a seat beside her on a park bench.

“I had to close
the clinic for the afternoon. You’re denying my patients the care they need and
deserve. Don’t make me regret taking another one of your calls.”

If I’m right,
Maggie thought, the patients will be denied even more care and answering the
phone won’t be the only thing you regret. “Vanessa, why do you think I asked to
meet with you today?”

Vanessa fanned
herself with her hand. “I imagine it has something to do with that absurd fraud
accusation.”

“Not exactly.”
Maggie squinted at the sun and felt grateful she had selected a bench shaded by
a tree. Still, there was no denying the noon-day heat that pressed down upon
her and she wanted to get through with this and return to an air-conditioned
environment. “Vanessa, have you ever been to Catfish Corner?”

“Hanging out at
a pay lake isn’t my idea of fun.”

“So, are you saying
you’ve never been there?”

Vanessa stopped
fanning herself. “Why are you asking that?”

“Why do you
think?”

“I don’t have to
sit here and take this.” Vanessa jumped to her feet and took two steps away
from the bench.

“Don’t you want
to see what I have to show you?”

Vanessa stood on
the sidewalk for a full minute before turning to Maggie. “What is it?”

“Why don’t you
come over here and sit by me?”

“Why don’t you
just show it to me?”

Maggie held out
the piece of paper and said, “It’s a copy, of course.”

Vanessa stared
at the paper from where she stood. Although her expression didn’t change, she
did take Maggie’s advice and returned to the bench.

“According to my
friend who makes jewelry, it’s called a bird’s nest necklace,” Maggie said. “It
was found at the lake the same morning Hazel’s body was found floating in the
water. I’ve had the photo for weeks, but the necklace meant nothing to me until
yesterday evening. Until then, it was simply a necklace with two pearls. But
now I understand the significance. The pearls represent your children.”

“They were born
in June. The pearl is their birthstone. My husband had his sister make the
necklace for me. He presented it to me the day we brought the babies home.”

“And you lost
the necklace the night Hazel died. Why were you there?”

Vanessa’s mouth
quivered as she spoke. “You have no idea how hard it is to take care of twins.
They never sleep at the same time and the girl is colicky. Car rides help, so when
she started crying that night, I loaded her in the car and drove around. I
didn’t plan to go to Hazel’s neighborhood, but that’s where we ended up. The
baby had fallen asleep, so when I saw Hazel pulling that hand cart on the side
of the road, I pulled into her driveway and watched her. I made sure the baby
was still asleep and I walked to the lake.”

“Why was it so
important to talk to Hazel that night?”

Vanessa wiped a
stray tear from her cheek. “She hadn’t just stopped by the clinic to say hi.
She had come there to make veiled threats about contacting the authorities.”

“About the
fraud? She was right about that, wasn’t she?”

Vanessa raised
her head slightly. “We’re good people, my husband and I. I could have made more
money in private practice or working for a hospital, but I wanted to help the
people of Sassafras. I didn’t want to let them down and I wanted to carry on my
dad’s work, but property doesn’t come cheap and we over-extended ourselves with
the house. And do you know how much it costs to adopt a baby? Well, try
adopting two. It was an open adoption and we didn’t know she was expecting
twins until we had settled on an agreement. Don’t get me wrong, I love our kids.
We love our kids. We are so grateful for them, and I haven’t for one moment
regretted bringing them into my life. They make me complete, but my God, it’s
so hard. Our mothers help, but between the sleep deprivation and the expenses,
I was already stressed to the max. Hazel made everything worse.”

Vanessa buried
her head in her hands and sobbed.

“Here,” Maggie dug
a tissue out of her purse and handed it to Vanessa. “Tell me about the fraud.”

Vanessa blew her
nose. “It started as an accident. There was a mix-up and my husband
accidentally charged Medicaid for a test we didn’t perform. When they
reimbursed us, we knew we had to return the money. It was the right thing to
do. But we didn’t. We told ourselves that we’d send it back tomorrow, but
tomorrow never came. We kept the money and all the money that followed. We knew
it was wrong, but you can convince yourself of anything. You can convince
yourself that there is such a thing as a victimless crime and that you deserve
that money. After all, you worked hard in med school. You’re a good doctor who
cares about her patients. You’re making sacrifices to help people without
access to care. If you don’t deserve a little extra, then who does?”

“How did Hazel
find out about the fraud?”

“One of Hazel’s
best attributes as a nurse was her memory. Another was her attention to detail.
When she saw a patient’s name on our schedule, she knew if that patient had
submitted to blood work or had an X-ray three months earlier. And if they
hadn’t. I told my husband she would figure it out, but he underestimated her
and convinced me I was worrying unnecessarily. But I wasn’t. Of course, she
didn’t say anything. Then, she retired and we thought we were safe. We didn’t
have to worry about her hovering over us and, frankly, we didn’t have to listen
to her talk about the good old days when she ran the clinic. I was so happy the
day she retired. It was easily one of the five best days of my life.”

“When did she
share her suspicions with you?”

“A few days
before she died. It was when she stopped by the clinic. She marched into my
office, sat down, and said she was giving me a heads-up due to her respect and
admiration for my parents. I didn’t admit to anything, but I pleaded with her
to think of my mother and the clinic. A baseless accusation would destroy what
my father had built. She countered that my husband and I had destroyed his
legacy. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know she had the files.”

“So, you
followed her to the lake and killed her while your daughter slept in the car.”

“No.” Vanessa spoke
so forcefully that two kids riding bikes in the park turned to look at her.
When they rode away, she said, “I did not kill her.”

Oh, no, Maggie
thought, not this again. “Vanessa, I think you’ve been truthful up to this
point, please don’t start lying to me now.”

“It’s not like
that. I did confront Hazel or at least I tried to. She paid more attention to opening
those stupid boxes of bleach. I slapped the top of a box and told her to listen
to me. I didn’t realize at the time that I had caught my hand on the necklace
when I hit the box. I didn’t know it had fallen to the ground.” Vanessa closed
both hands in fists. “The noise startled her, she backed up a little, and
slipped and fell into the lake.”

“Do you really
expect me – and the police – to believe you?”

“Yes. I swear on
my father’s grave and on my children’s lives that I did not push Hazel into the
lake.”

“But you didn’t make
an effort to pull her out of the lake, either, did you?”

Vanessa relaxed
one hand and put it up to her mouth. When she pulled her hand away, she said,
“No. She hit the back of her head and rolled into the water. I moved toward the
water, but suddenly stopped. I thought about my children. I wondered how we would
provide for them if we went to jail or if I lost my license. I saw my mother’s
disappointed face when she learned what I had done and I also thought of all
those patients who depend on the clinic. There’s no other doctor or healthcare
facility for miles and Sassafras is not a wealthy community. If I just did
nothing, if I just turned around and walked to my car, everyone would be better
off.”

“Everyone but
Hazel. You’re a doctor. How could you allow her to die?”

Vanessa caught
her breath. “I was protecting my family and my patients.”

“And yourself,”
Maggie said.