“Thank you. I’ve already eaten.” I sucked in a deep breath and let go of a heavy sigh. “My friend Vince Caldwell had that accident a few months ago.”

  “Yeah. I heard about that. At first, they thought he wasn’t going to make it.” Kenneth brought back the painful memory. “Emmalynn told me he was back home.”

  “How is Emmalynn?” I had lost my manners and should’ve asked about his wife before I even thought about bringing up the murder.

  “She’s great. She’s desperately trying to get Teri home now that she’s graduated, but Teri doesn’t want to come back.” The lines around his mouth pulled as he frowned.

  “I can’t believe she’s already graduated from college.” Life was passing by so fast. “It seemed like yesterday she was on the field cheering.”

  “Speaking of cheering, how’s Grady feeling about the big game this week?” He had just asked the million-dollar question.

  “I don’t ask. I just keep my mouth shut. Thank you for the donation, by the way.” I knew the booster committee had already sent the thank-you notes, but this was a great opportunity to go right into my questions about the advertising situation.

  “This is the first time someone from the booster club stopped by to personally thank us.” Kenneth pretended to know why I was there, and by his tone, I knew he was kidding.

  “I do have the big broadcast sponsorship, if you’re interested.” I had no reason to avoid trying to sell that while I was here. “With WSCG’s cutbacks, they didn’t keep the broadcast this year, and I’m just finding out about it.”

  “That means the country club would have to give Vick the money for them to broadcast it, and I’m not giving Vick Morris a dime after what he pulled.” Kenneth spat with disgust. “That man truly thinks he can hire whoever he wants and triple advertising costs in a small town like Sugar Creek Gap. He can take his radio and shove it up—” He tucked his lips in tight. “I’m not going to say where in front of a lady, so I’m going to politely decline.”

  “I had no idea you were so upset with them. I guess since you’re their biggest advertiser, I didn’t know anything was wrong,” I lied, playing dumb.

  “I pulled all my advertising after he raised the prices. It was robbery. Don’t get me wrong. Horace LeLand was a big name in other markets, but when Vick brought him here, he didn’t take into consideration that we are Sugar Creek Gap, a small town where we don’t care about big numbers.” He tapped his finger to his heart. “We care about people.”

  “Did you hear Horace was killed?” I asked.

  “Sure did. Now I suspect Vick might go back to the way things were. Or he should because I don’t recall ever hearing over the past few months any sort of increase in rank for the radio station. And what does that get WSCG anyways?” He asked so many good questions only one person would be able to answer.

  Vick Morris himself.

  “Where were you when Horace was killed?” I just threw it out there.

  “Are you accusing me of something?” Kenneth’s brows pinched. “This isn’t the first time you’ve done that.”

  “I’m just asking, that’s all.” I played it off. “It’s like, ‘Where were you when you heard Elvis died?””

  “I was right here giving golf lessons. Now that we have the lights on the practice tees because of the extra money we found, since we aren’t advertising, I’m able to give later night classes for kids who are busy after school or even people who can’t make it during work hours.” Kenneth smiled. “I guess I have Horace LeLand to thank for that.”

  “Yeah. That’s a good way to look at it.” I could tell by Kenneth’s answer he wasn’t lying. “So, I can count on you to sponsor the football game broadcasts?”

  “I’ll think about it.” He smiled. “How about one of those golf shirts?”

  “I’ll take three. One each for Mac, Grady, and my dad.” I knew I had to give a little if I wanted him to help with the boosters, and I knew that even more now that he told me how he’d been able to increase business with the new lights. The golf shirts would make great little thank-you gifts for the wedding.

  I tucked the bag of shirts in the LLV once I got back in, satisfied with being able to mark Kenneth off my list of suspects, even though the little snooping stop had really set me back on my route.

  The school traffic was heavy when I passed Sugar Creek Gap High on my way to the neighborhood where I ended my workday.

  Instead of fighting the high school traffic by trying to deliver to the mailboxes and avoiding the vehicles, I pulled the LLV over to the side so I could give the kids a few minutes to get home from school and safely park in their driveways. I grabbed my phone to see if I had any text messages.

  There was a missed call from Iris.

  She answered the phone. “I’ve tried calling you twice. Where are you?”

  “Pulled over to let the school traffic go before me. These kids will kill you, they drive so fast.” I looked out at the side mirror and cringed. A student driver had gotten a little too snug to the LLV for me, nearly knocking off the mirror. “I swear they need to do a better road test down at the courthouse.”

  “You’re getting grouchy in your old age,” Iris teased.

  “I’m following you,” I joked back. “What’s up?”

  “I was going to tell you I got my first order for Horace’s repass. His layout is going to be this weekend.”

  “You mean as in during my wedding?” I groaned, knowing funerals were a big deal to Iris’s bottom line, and I couldn’t ask her not to do it because she was doing my wedding stuff for free as a gift.

  “Exactly.” She confirmed what I didn’t want to hear. “Don’t worry. I’ll have the order there before then. Or you will.”

  “Me?” I wondered what was up her sleeve.

  “I got a call from Melissa LeLand. She asked if I could drop off some cookies tonight at the funeral home. She said they were going to go there tonight for the final preparation and sign off on the paperwork. Apparently, Angela Hafley has signed off to release the body to the family.” Iris was full of useful information. “And there’s no better time for you to overhear some things.”

  “Jigs will go over the autopsy with them, and I’m curious to see how Melissa will react.” I gnawed on the inside of my lip. “What time?”

  “Six.” It would be pretty much after I got off work, and I really wanted to go back and see Vince to clarify a few matters. “Do you want to do it?”

  “Yes, I’m going to do it.” I thought about the rest of my day. “I think Vince is hiding something.”

  “Vince? Really?” Iris’s lack of shock surprised me.

  “You knew he was seeing Sandra, don’t you?” I knew it.

  “I didn’t know. I had my suspicions up until his accident. Do you remember the night you couldn’t make bingo because you were babysitting Clara when Julia came up with the summer cold?”

  “Yes.” There were a few times I hadn’t helped Iris at the senior living facility during bingo.

  “That night, they came in together. The rumors were flying about how he’d moved into the main facility to be closer to her and how she’d gotten her claws into him. Those old ladies can be mean.” Iris snickered. “Slim pickings.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?” I asked.

  “I remember calling you to check up on Melissa, and you were talking about Clara, so I totally forgot about it. Then he had his accident. Even when you brought up the connection between Horace and Vince, I didn’t remember.”

  “What sparked your memory?” I asked.

  “Today, when Melissa called about tonight’s order, I overheard Sandra in the background saying something about ‘Vince’s favorite’ or ‘order Vince’s favorite.’ I asked Melissa what her mom was saying, and she pooh-poohed it,” Iris recalled.

  “Pooh-poohed it?” I asked, seeking more clarification.

  “Yeah, like she didn’t even want to go there or visit the subject. Kinda had a tone of being put off or something.” Iris’s words made it even more urgent for me to see Melissa LeLand in person.

  “We will definitely get to the bottom of this.” I put the LLV in gear and hit the gas. If I was going to finish by six, I had to get going on the rest of the deliveries, crazy high school kid drivers or not.

  “We?” Iris chuckled.

  “Yes. You and me. I’ll pick you up at six.” I hung up the phone, and by the time I got all the mail delivered, I had enough time to hurry home, feed Rowena, let Buster out, feed him, and change my clothes before I got into my car to pick up Iris.

  “Are you ready?” I walked into the bakery to help her carry some of the bakery boxes for the repast to the car.

  “Back here!” Iris called from the back. “Come on back.”

  When I pushed through the kitchen door, I saw Iris wasn’t alone.

  Vince Caldwell, Sandra Rothchester, and Melissa LeLand were with her.

  Chapter 11

  “Melissa, I’m so sorry to hear about Horace.” I immediately greeted Melissa once my head had wrapped around the sight of the three of them standing there.

  My gaze slid over to the wipe-off board, where Vince was standing with his legs slightly apart, his arms crossed, and his eyes focused on what Iris and I had written on there.

  “Thank you. We are just devastated, and I was telling Iris how grateful I am she’s able to get the desserts made so quickly with your wedding and all.” Melissa gave me a sympathetic smile.

  “She is a gem,” I said and gave Iris a glance. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to attend the funeral Saturday. I’m getting married.”

  “Gosh.” Vince twisted around. “I forgot about that.”

  My eyes shot up with one question in my mind. How did he forget? We’d been talking about this for months.

  “Sandra, I will have to go to Bernie’s wedding.” He walked over to Sandra, and I noticed he was getting stronger with each passing day. “She’s almost like a daughter to me.”

  “Can I see you for a minute?” I directed my question to Vince, though I didn’t state it so much as a question but as a request. I expected him to follow me out the kitchen door, so I didn’t wait for him to answer before I left the kitchen.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing Sandra?” I asked him as soon as he emerged. “I guess the little fact escaped your memory?”

  “I was busy trying to get better and figure out who had tried to kill me over the last few months.” As he spoke, I gave him a good look and noticed his coloring was almost all back to normal. “Getting better was what I was focusing on, but yeah, we’ve had a couple of dates here and there.”

  “You didn’t think to let me in on that because I have good motive to believe Melissa killed Horace, and Horace tried to kill Sandra. All over money.” I sighed.

  “That’s where you’re wrong.” Vince had a determined look on his face. “If you’ll come back into the kitchen and let me explain why we three are here together, then I think you’ll see Melissa and Sandra are not suspects.”

  “Fine.” I headed back into the kitchen, my interest piqued over why Vince didn’t believe my theory about Melissa’s very good motive to have had killed her husband.

  Iris, Melissa, and Sandra were standing in front of the wipe-off board when Vince and I went to rejoin them.

  “I can’t believe you think I killed my husband.” Melissa had an expression indicating she thought it was the most outrageous theory anyone could have. “Or that my mother would be part of the reason he’s dead.”

  “Let me explain.” I knew Vince had something to say about this matter, too, but I wanted my reason for coming up with this theory to be on the record. “I believe someone thought Vince was your mom, since your mom had been staying in that room while she waited for her more permanent room.” I smiled at Sandra and received a grin in return. “When I overheard you, your mom, and Horace arguing over the payment for her room the other day before bingo, I couldn’t help but believe a motive for Horace to have attempted to kill you”—I directed this part of the explanation of my theory to Sandra—“was the money he was paying out for you to stay there.”

  “The money? Horace had money?” Melissa threw her head back and cackled. “He didn’t have any money but the money she gave him so she could outwit Medicare.”

  “Excuse me?” Her statement baffled and confused me.

  “When you sign up to live in a senior living facility, you give them access to your records, including your money.” Sandra put a hand on her daughter’s arm. “I didn’t ever want to be a burden on my family, and there’s nothing wrong with me, like Vince. We live there because of the wonderful community and no burden to our children. If we are lucky, we get to meet someone like you there along the way.”

  Sandra’s head swiveled. She gestured to Vince.

  “Vince loves you like a daughter. He told me all about you and your life.” As she spoke about him, he walked over and put an arm around her. “We have found a common bond that’s brought us great companionship.” She placed a palm on his chest.

  “Mom has a lot of money. We just couldn’t sign over her accounts to the senior living facility, so we found a loophole in the system.” Melissa began telling what they’d been doing. “You see, if Mom loaned all of her money to Horace and me, then she doesn’t have any money for the senior living facility to take, so they start using the Medicare. We were able to take all of Mom’s money and have her sign papers over to loan all her money to us. We don’t touch the money. Every month, Horace writes Mom a loan payment out of the money she loaned us, and that payment goes to Vivian for Mom’s extra things outside of what the actual cost of living there is. So when I asked Horace if he paid, I wanted to make sure nothing got snafued.”

  “Is all of that legal?” I asked, since I’d never heard of such a thing.

  “Completely,” Melissa confirmed. “But it doesn’t mean Horace and I were happy. We weren’t. The problem is the loan is in both of our names. If I were to divorce him, he told me he’d not let me assume the loan, tying my hands to him.”

  “That gives you even more motive than I thought of before,” I said, stating the obvious but not to her liking. “Let me explain,” I added, stopping her from talking. “If someone on the loan dies, the other will just automatically absorb the loan. If you weren’t happy in your marriage, it would come out, and then this loan stuff would also come to light.”

  “I didn’t kill him. I knew Sheriff Hafley was getting at something.” Melissa bit her lip as though she were holding something back. Her nostril flared. “Leave it to Horace to have the last laugh.”

  “You need to tell her. Vince said she can be trusted.” Sandra encouraged her daughter to tell me what she was talking about.

  “You can trust both of these ladies.” Vince pointed between Iris and me. “They have a way of getting to the bottom of things. People in this town trust them.”

  “Horace and I had an agreement years ago. He’s always had a wandering eye, and I don’t care. The only thing I cared about was my mom.” Melissa gave her mom a frown. “Horace’s job has taken us all over the world, and I love that. I had to give a little in order to travel with him, and that meant letting him have an open marriage.”

  “You mean to tell me you encouraged him to cheat on you?” Iris choked. She grabbed a cookie and stuffed it in her mouth. “This is the kind of stuff that happens in movies, not here in Sugar Creek Gap.”

  “I know it sounds terrible.” The edges of Sandra’s eyes turned down. “Please don’t judge my daughter for it. She’s been trying to get out of the marriage, but Horace wouldn’t.”

  “Again, another motive for Melissa to be Angela Hafley’s number-one suspect.” I hated to give them the little bit of news, but the issue was as clear as day. “Melissa wanted her life without Horace, and she made sure of it.”

  “What would have happened to the loan if Sandra was killed?” Iris asked.

  “It would’ve been forgiven. There’s a clause in the loan papers the lawyer made up stating if something happened to Mom, then we didn’t have to pay the loan.” Melissa shook her head. “When Vince told us today about the theory that someone mistook him for my mom, I couldn’t help but think Horace might’ve tried to kill her because he was starting to come around about a divorce. If Mom was dead and we got the loan money, then he could divorce me and take half.”

  “What do you mean he was coming around to thinking about a divorce?” I asked. “What changed?”

  “Tracey Damski.” Melissa snorted.

  “You mean Tracey Damski as in DJ Damski? The Sunday-afternoon DJ?” Iris knew much more about who was employed and who wasn’t at the WSCG station because she always had the radio on when she baked. “I listen to her every Sunday while I’m in here baking for the upcoming week.”

  “Yes. Horace had his eye on her from the first day he took the position at the radio station. They hit it off right away. I could see it from the moment they laid eyes on each other when Vick Morris introduced us at the welcome party the station threw.” Melissa huffed a snort and then rolled her eyes. “I told Horace as soon as we got home, and he made fun of me for even thinking such a thing, as though it didn’t happen at each station along the way.”

  “What happened?” Iris’s curiosity was her greatest vice, and I loved it. She never held back from asking the yucky questions when it came to deeply personal stuff. I always seemed to dance around them.

  “She happened. I was right. They’d been secretly seeing each other, although he tried to tell me they weren’t and he was on the up and up.” A sadness shone in her eyes as she retold the story. “Now that Vince brought up how Horace could’ve killed Mom, I have to believe it was because of the affair with Tracey. I found this.”

  Melissa dug down into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper, which she handed to me.

  Iris stood behind me, looking at the piece of paper.

  “That’s an email from Tracey to Horace. It came to our personal email, not our work email, so it wouldn’t be seen by anyone but Horace. He had a strict policy with his women friends not to communicate during work hours, on work phones, or any devices, including email. As you can see at the top, it’s his home personal email. She writes how she cannot be the other woman, and if he wanted to have a chance he had to be single.” She talked with a crisp, to-the-point tone. “That means a clear path would be to kill Mom, divorce me, and take half so he could have somewhat of a decent life. The radio station can’t afford to keep him here after his contract is up in a few months.”

 

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