Rose Hill (25 page)

The same summer the photo Mrs. Crawford gave Theo was taken, Scott and his friends had a scary experience in the cemetery, and no matter how many years went by Scott still dreaded going there. He reminded himself as he got out of the SUV that he was a grown man, an armed police officer, and it was broad daylight.

‘If Mrs. Crawford can come here by herself surely I can,’ he admonished himself.

T
he cemetery was not large, merely two acres of hilltop, and the graves were arranged around a figure-eight-shaped drive. Most of the headstones were modest and plain, but there were the occasional flights of granite fancy, most of which memorialized children or young people who died in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. There had been a flu epidemic, tuberculosis, German measles, polio, several mine disasters, and two world wars since this graveyard had been built.

Scott found Brad’s stone with no problem; he had been to visit a few times on the anniversary of his death. There was a small brass plaque on the stone with “George Bradley Eldridge,” and the dates of his life engraved on it. The only sentiment was “beloved son and brother.”

Scott walked in the opposite direction, where Theo must have been coming from the day Mrs. Crawford saw him, toward the maintenance shack, and felt the hairs rise up on his arms and neck. The feeling of dread which accompanied him into the cemetery became oppressive, making him feel almost panicked to get away. He looked at the surrounding graves but could not find any with what seemed like a direct connection to Theo or his family.

‘We will never know what he was up to,’ Scott thought.

Now that it was almost noon, and Mandy would be at work in the bakery, Scott stopped back in to have another word with the young woman about the night Theo was murdered. Under the disapproving look of Bonnie Fitzpatrick, Scott took Mandy out in the alleyway behind the bakery to talk to her.

“Theo tried to come in with that pervert Willy around midnight, and Patrick throwed them out of the bar,” she
said. “He came back later, right after last call, and got throwed out again. He offered Patrick $500 for a bottle of whiskey. I couldn’t believe that. I’d a took it.”

“What happened then?”

“Theo tried to pick a fight with a couple guys, and said somethin’ purty rude to me. Then he got right up in Patrick’s face and mouthed off, so Patrick told him he could walk out or get carried out, it was up to him.”

“What did Theo say to Patrick, exactly?”

“He said ‘you’ll never have her, I’ll make sure a that,’ or something like that.’”

Scott wondered if Theo meant Mandy or Ava.

“What did Theo do after Patrick threatened him?”

“Well, what would you do if Patrick was wavin' a baseball bat in your face, tellin’ you to get outta there?”

“Patrick had a bat in his hand?”

“Well, yeah, the one we keep behind the bar.”

“Is it metal?”

“No, it’s wood.”

“Did Patrick go out after that?”

“No, we was busy and he didn’t have no help but me.”

“So then what happened?”

“We take last orders at 1:00 and then throw everybody out by 1:30 so we can clean up. Patrick puts the chairs up so I can mop while he counts the till and gets the trash together.”

“And then?”

“We get outta there by 2:00 most nights. We drop the trash off in the dumpster in the alley and he walks me home.”

“Did you see or hear anything unusual?”

“No. It was really foggy.”

“How does he go from your place home?”

“Down Iris or Marigold, I guess.”

“But not the alley.”

“I don’t see why he would,” she said. “That’s backtracking, ain’t it?”

“Does he ever drop you off and then go in a different direction?”

“If he has a date, he might. I never watched him enough to notice.”

“And Patrick didn’t leave the bar at any time before 2:00, even for a short while?”

“Well, he mighta gone to the bathroom, Scott, but I don’t remember nothin' in particular.”

Mandy looked worried.

“You don’t really think Patrick had anything to do with Theo getting his self murdered, do you?”

“No,” Scott said. “I want to be sure no one else can say he did.”

“Well, I didn’t like Theo, and I don’t know anyone who did, but you can’t just go around killin’ people ‘cause you don’t like ‘em. There wouldn’t be nobody left in this whole world.”

Scott looked in Mandy’s big green eyes and saw she was sincere and serious.

“You’re right about that, Mandy,” he said.

“I know,” she said. “It’s the truth.”

“Was Tommy up when you got home?” he asked her.

“Course not. He delivers the papers of the morning, so he goes to bed early. He’s always sound asleep when I get home.”

“He told you about the fight at Phyllis’ trailer, though, right?”

“Oh Lord, everybody done told me about that fight. They was always fussin’ and fightin’, those two.”

Scott thanked her and left. He thought she was telling the truth about Patrick, but she owed her living to the Fitzpatrick family, and would be likely to protect them if she could. Scott was anxious though, to confirm the bat they kept behind the bar was made of wood.

Scott stopped by the service station and asked Patrick to show him the bat. Patrick led him across the street to the Rose and Thorn, unlocked the door, walked around to the back side of the bar, and handed Scott an old wooden bat. Scott examined it before handing it back, and then took a seat. Patrick poured him a soda, and poured himself a beer.

“We need to have a serious talk,” Scott said.

“Shoot,” Patrick said. “I’ll answer any question you got.”

“When Theo said, ‘You’ll never have her,’ or whatever it was he said that night, was
he talking about Mandy or Ava?”

“I don’t remember exactly what he said,” Patrick said. “It
all sounded like typical Theo bullshit to me. He hit on Mandy because he knew it irritated me, and everyone knows he had a thing for Ava a long time ago.”

“Did Theo know you and Ava were involved?” Scott asked.

“I was cut out of one of those pictures he had of her; it was taken through her bedroom window. So I would say, yeah, he knew. I burned it up in the trash barrel out back of the fire station the night you tried to arrest Maggie.”

“Did he ever threaten to reveal the affair?”

“No, but I wouldn’t have cared if he did. The only reason it’s a secret is because Ava wants it that way. If it were up to me she would get an annulment, marry me, and what anyone else thinks be damned.”

“So he couldn’t blackmail you.”

“Hell no. Besides, he could hardly use a photo he’d taken that way, could he? He’d be arrested for invading her privacy.”

“Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to do anything that would hurt her.”

“Except leaving her that money is as good as claiming they were involved, at least as far as the whole town is concerned. That’s hurting her.”

“But it’s also providing security to her and the kids.”

“It’s hard for me to believe the bastard didn’t have a nugget of coal where his heart should be, but maybe he really loved her. I don’t know and I don’t care.”

“He must have really hated you, though. If he knew you and Ava were having this affair, why didn’t he try to sabotage it somehow? Seems like it would have eaten him up inside to know you had what he wanted. It wasn’t like Theo to let something like that go unpunished.”

“He bought the building next door to this one, the one everyone knew I wanted to buy so we could expand this place. Theo outbid me by some ridiculous amount and then put a price tag on it he knew no one would or could pay, so it sits there empty. That might have been his revenge, a way of taking something I wanted away from me.”

“But he never got into it with you directly. Physically, I mean.”

“He was always telling me he’d like to kick my ass, but when I’d say, ‘come on then’ he was afraid to throw the first punch. I’ve never beat the hell out of anybody like I did Theo when we were kids. I really lost it that day. He knew after that I wasn’t afraid of him.”

“Brad came and got me,” Scott said. “When I got there Theo was holding Sean under the water. Brad and I tried to stop him but Theo was too big. He broke my nose and punched Brad in the stomach, knocked the wind out of him.”

“Ava came and got me,” Patrick said. “I got there right when he broke your nose. I thought he’d drowned Sean. I don’t remember everything that happened after that.”

“When Theo saw you coming he tried to get away but the water slowed him down. While you whooped his ass, Ava and I pulled Sean out of the lake. Brad ran to the lodge to get help.”

“Just think, if I’d killed Theo that day, Brad would be here now, and I would have saved everyone so much aggravation.”

“But you’d be in jail.”

“I was under age. I might have got away with it.”

The two men were silent for a
while, remembering that day.

“Did you ever confront Theo about burning down Maggie’s house?” Scott asked.

“I told him I believed he did it, that everyone believed he did it, and as soon as I had proof I was coming for him. But I trusted Chief Estep and he said it was electrical, so I couldn’t justify going after Theo.”

“Maggie said Theo had photos he may have used to blackmail Eric Estep. That’s probably why the poor man blew his brains out a year later.”

“I burned up those photos, too, in case you wondered.”

“If it’s not directly connected to Theo’s death I’m not officially interested, but Sarah would be. I hope you will remember if she questions you to only answer the questions she asks, and not to volunteer any additional information.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not that stupid. Besides, she’s already been in to see me, and she was more interested in where I’d be when she got off work than where I was when Theo got killed.”

“She’s pretty aggressive.”

“She seems like a scratcher and a biter. I’d watch out if I were you.”

“Don’t worry.
I’m not stupid, either.”

“Ian’s gonna be here in about ten minutes. Unless you want him sticking his nose in, you better wrap this up.”

“Just one more thing; I know you know where Brian is. Have you been in contact with him?”

“No. He might as well be dead as far as I’m concerned. He broke our mother’s heart and left Ava and the kids. How could someone raised the same as me do something like that? I hope he never comes back, and if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t.”

“No chance he came back and killed Theo, then.”

“No way. My brother Brian is a weak man. When the going gets tough he runs away.”

“Why do you think he left?”

“I think Theo had something on him, something he couldn’t face. I think Theo paid him to go, and those loan papers were a cover up.”

“You saw Sean’s letters.”

“Yeah, and I know they weren’t written to Gwyneth.”

“Maggie still thinks so.”

“I’m not going to be the one to tell her any different. I don’t care, you know. I’m not that big a jerk. I don’t understand it, but Sean’s a good guy, and he’s the only decent brother I’ve got left. I think those guys are probably born that way, and there’s nothing they can do about it.”

“Theo held those letters over Sean’s head so he wouldn’t tell anyone Theo was the last one with Brad before he died.”

“The more I find out about that prick the more I think we should thank whoever did kill him.”

“You were one of the last people to see him alive,” Scott said. “Although Sarah doesn’t seem too interested in solving the case, you’re probably still on her list of suspects. She may not be telling me because she knows how close I am to your family.”

“What can I tell ya? I didn’t do it, but everyone knows I think he deserved it.”

“I wish you had a better alibi.”

Patrick shrugged and Scott got up to leave. When he was halfway to the door Patrick stopped him.

“I can tell you this,” Patrick said. “If it’d been me taking a bat to him, there wouldn’t have been enough left of him to ID.”

Scott looked around the bar, empty except for him and Patrick.

“Please don’t say that to anyone else,” he said, and left.

When Scott got back to the station he called Maggie, and asked her if she knew about any rumors regarding Margie and the mail.

“Everyone knows Margie snoops in the mail, Scott. Where have you been?”

Scott remembered Mamie claiming Margie stole her National Geographic magazines. He spent a couple hours in the files, looking for complaints about the mail, the post office, or Margie, and found plenty in files dated before he came to work there. Put together, there was a damning amount of evidence suggesting Margie had been “tampering” with the mail for ma
ny years, and so far, had got away with it.