Murder of a Sleeping Beauty (34 page)

“Are you referring to the Three Stooges? A seventy-year-old man sitting in a Cadillac, a defenseless middle-aged woman, and a hairdresser?”

Skye crossed her arms. “Who does that make me? Shemp?” She was none too happy about being called the fourth stooge, even if Shemp was her favorite.

Wally grinned. “If the stooge fits.”

 

 

 

 

I
t was hard for Skye to drag herself to school on Friday. Her throat hurt from Lorna’s attempt to strangle her, and every muscle in her body ached. Worst of all, her four-hundreddollar suit was ruined. She was seriously depressed.

She vowed that she would go to work, do what had to be done, and sneak home early. The most urgent item on her schedule was to talk to Lorelei’s friends . . . and enemies, so they could have closure. There would be an assembly first hour to tell everyone in the school what had happened, but the kids most closely involved deserved to be told in private.

Skye arranged for extra chairs to be set up in the guidance office and asked the various homeroom teachers to send the teens on her list to the guidance office as soon as the bell rang. They filed in silently. Zoë and Frannie immediately claimed the two seats across from Skye’s desk. Troy drew up a folding chair just behind Zoë, and Justin did the same on Frannie’s side. The rest of the cheerleading squad and Chase occupied the remaining seats.

Skye leaned forward. “I’m sure many of you have already heard some version of what happened yesterday, but I wanted to tell you the true account. Mrs. Ingels was arrested for the
accidental
death of her daughter. Lorelei had stopped taking a prescription medication that her mother wanted her to take. Without telling her mother, she started to take it again. In the meantime her mom had begun to put it in her food. She ended up with a fatal overdose.”

The teens remained silent. Their expressions ranged from boredom to incredulity.

Skye went on. “To add to this family’s tragedy, Mr. Ingels embezzled the bank’s money, took his youngest daughter, and tried to leave the country. He was caught when he came back to retrieve one of Linette’s belongings. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ingels are in jail, and Linette is staying with a relative in Chicago.”

Zoë yawned. “And you’re telling us all this, why?”

“Well, Zoë, partly so we can all have closure. Lorelei was a big part of everyone’s life, whether they liked her or not. But I guess partly because I thought you all might gain some insight from this mess.”

Justin gestured with his head. “That’s asking a lot from these guys, Ms. Denison. They all have hipatitis.”

“Hipatitis?” Skye asked.

“Yeah, terminal coolness.”

Zoë narrowed her eyes. “Are you getting smart with me?” “How would you know?”

“This is exactly what I mean,” Skye said. “You all make judgments about each other based solely on appearances instead of getting to know each other as real people. I was hoping you would learn something from Lorelei’s tragic experience.”

Justin spoke again. “That’s like saying that someone like Zoë, who looks perfect, could ignore the fact that I don’t look like a Ken doll, and actually date me. It’ll never happen.”

Zoë shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t date out of my species.”

This was obviously a waste of time, Skye decided; she wasn’t making a bit of difference in these kids’ attitudes. Maybe she was being too subtle.

“I guess that’s that then,” she said. “But think about these three things. First, TV is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to work. Second, and this one is especially for you, Zoë, be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one, or wishing you had married one. And last, if you think your teachers are tough, wait until you get out in the real world. Bosses don’t have tenure, so if their team members don’t work up to their capabilities, they’re fired.”

 

Later that night Skye, Vince, Charlie, Trixie, Loretta, May, and Jed sat around May’s kitchen table snacking on salami, cheese, and crackers.

“I still don’t understand why you didn’t call me to be part of your backup team.” Trixie said, pouting like a two-year-old who had been denied a trip to Toys R Us.

“It would have been too hard for you to get off work,” Skye answered, before drinking from her glass of pop. “You know how Homer is.”

Charlie puffed out his chest. “She didn’t need more help. The Three Musketeers did just fine.”

Skye hid her grin and did not share with Charlie what the chief had actually called them.

“I can’t believe you talked me into handling another case down here in Skillet River,” Loretta said. “I thought when they released Kent, I was home free.”

Skye slapped her friend on the arm. “It’s Scumble River, Ms. Big Shot. Besides, you like it down here. You get to be a giant catfish in our itsy-bitsy pond.”

“It is kind of fun riling up that cute police chief of yours. He’s single now, you know.” As if they both weren’t well aware of Wally Boyd’s marital status.

Skye’s thoughts flashed to Abby. “I think he’s dating someone,” she said.

“Dating isn’t married.” Loretta grinned, took a sip of ice tea, then turned serious. “I’m surprised you wanted to help Lorna by getting me to represent her. Isn’t she everything you hate?”

Skye squirmed in her chair. It was hard to put what she felt about Lorna into words. “I guess so, but I think she’s a product of our society. The media, the magazines, everything tells us if you aren’t thin, you can’t win. Did someone like Lorna ever really have a chance to think any other way?”

After a pause, Trixie broke the uncomfortable silence. “Speaking of Kent, have you heard from him since he went back to Boston?”

Charlie took a swig of beer and answered, “I met with him after he had been questioned by Wally, and we decided it would be to our mutual advantage if he forgot Scumble River even existed.”

“Mutual advantage?” Vince asked.

“Yeah. He’d get to go back where he fits in, and I wouldn’t tell his father that he’d been screwing teenagers.” May coughed, and Charlie added, “Pardon my French.”

Skye turned to Charlie. “Did you know Allen Ingels was embezzling from the bank?”

He shrugged, a smug look on his face. “Maybe, maybe not. Let’s just say I knew he was up to no good. Wasn’t sure exactly what.”

“With both her folks in jail, what’s going to happen to Linette?” May asked.

Loretta crossed her legs. “Her grandmother is too frail to take care of her, but her mom has a cousin in Chicago. The little girl’s going to go live with her for now, until we see what happens with Lorna.”

“What do you think will happen to Lorna?” Skye asked Loretta.

“Hard to say. She could get off with probation, or she could go to prison for a long time.”

 

It was the first Saturday in May, and Skye, her mother, and Vince were attending Scumble River High’s production of
Sleeping Beauty
. Jed had declined to join his family for a night of live theater, stating he preferred his La-Z-Boy and TV.

To everyone’s surprise, Abby had volunteered to direct the musical after Kent was removed from duty. Zoë would be the star and Frannie Ryan had taken her role—the evil fairy.

Justin greeted Skye and her family at the gym door. He had signed up to usher. “Ms. Denison, I saved some seats up front for you.”

Skye smiled at him, blinking away the tears that threatened to leak from behind her eyes. Justin had come so far from that boy who would barely speak. His grades now reflected his IQ rather than his depression, he had joined a couple of clubs, and while still not the most popular kid in his class, he had made a friend or two. It was a moment before she could trust her voice to speak. “How nice of you, Justin. Do you know my mom and brother?”

He ducked his head and said to the floor, “Sure. Mrs. D works at the police station and Vince cuts my hair.”

Skye shook her head. She should have known. It was hard to find two Scumble River citizens who hadn’t met each other.

Justin showed them to their seats and said hurriedly without looking at them, “Frannie’s in the first act. She’s the best one.” Before they could respond, he turned and ran back to his post by the door.

They sat without speaking while the gym filled with spectators. Skye finally said, “It’s hard to believe that only a month ago I found Lorelei’s body on that very stage.”

May shook her head. “You need to forget about all that.”

“I can’t. I thought I knew all about the problems between parents and children, but nothing prepared me for the blind selfishness that ended up killing Lorelei.”

May patted her hand, and Vince put his arm around her shoulders. They sat quietly until the lights dimmed and the music started to swell.

Suddenly, May said, “Well, I feel sorry for Lorna’s mother. That woman sacrificed everything so her daughter could get out of the trailers and have a better life.” May tsked. “But no matter how you try to protect your children, they still eventually get themselves arrested and end up in the local paper.”

Skye and Vince looked at each other in disbelief, then exclaimed in unison,
“Mother!”