A Problem in Paxton Park, page 7
part #5 of Paxton Park Mystery Series
Jay thanked the security guard. “That would be a big help.”
“Did you go to the community meeting the police held?” Shelly asked.
“Yeah, I did. It got out of hand for a while, huh? And now the mayor is dead.” Chapel looked at Jay. “Do you think the killer is the same person? Or did the mayor get killed by a copycat?”
Jay said, “It’s still being investigated.”
Chapel made eye contact with Shelly. “That’s police double-talk. It means they can’t share any details with the regular public.”
With a smile, Shelly nodded. “It’s an ongoing case so they have to keep some things to themselves. I’m just an assistant so they don’t tell me anything either.”
“Did you go to the community meeting?” Chapel asked Shelly.
“I went with a friend. We left when the commotion started.”
“Why? That was the most interesting part,” Chapel kidded.
“We didn’t think anything useful would come out of everyone shouting at each other,” Shelly told him.
Jay turned the conversation away from the antics at the community meeting. “I can’t recall … did you tell me you grew up in town?”
“I grew up a few towns over from Paxton Park, but I have an apartment here now,” Chapel said. “I’ve been living in town for a little over a year. I like the resort atmosphere. There’s a lot going on.” Chapel turned to Jay. “I’d really like to get hired as a police officer here someday.”
Jay gave the young man an encouraging smile. “None of us knows what the future might hold.”
12
The scent of the pine trees and the earthy smell of the soil and old fallen leaves drifted on the air as Shelly, Jack, Juliet, and Andrew rode their bikes over the mountain trails on their way to a place in the forest not many people went to see.
After locking their bicycles to some trees off the trail, the foursome hiked for twenty minutes over the forest paths and emerged into a clearing next to a cold, deep, pool of water.
For the last ten minutes, they’d been able to hear the thunderous crash as water traveled over five cascades, sped over the granite wall and boulders and down the eighty-five-foot waterfall before ending in the peaceful pool. The sight of the falls always took their breath away.
Opposite the falls and the pool, at the rear of the gorge that had formed during the ice age, a huge granite wall rose straight up from the floor of the chasm. The wall was magnificent, but it had to be respected. More than thirty rock climbers had died in the gorge over the past hundred years.
The friends stripped off their t-shirts and shorts to reveal swimsuits underneath and then removed towels from their backpacks.
“You know how cold the water is, right?” Jack asked.
“I won’t stay in even for a second.” Juliet lifted her long brown hair into a ponytail.
“Whose idea was this again?” Shelly kidded as she placed her towel on a rock close to the water.
“I think it was mine,” Andrew replied. “And now that we’re here, I’m thinking it was probably a bad one.”
The day was unusually warm and the idea of a bike ride and the first, quick jump of the season into the cold, natural pool had sounded like a terrific way to enjoy the afternoon, but now everyone was eyeing the water with apprehension.
“Shall we jump in together or should we each go in separately?” Jack asked.
“Or how about not at all?” Juliet dipped her toe into the pool and pulled it out as fast as she could. “It’s like ice,” she nearly shrieked. “Maybe this isn’t a healthy thing to do.”
Andrew asked, “Should we change our minds?”
Shelly laughed. “Come on. It’s always cold at this time of year. We’ll be in and out in a couple of seconds. People jump into colder water than this in the middle of the winter to raise money for charity. We can do it.”
With a smile, Jack said, “Okay, since Shelly has shamed us, I guess we better jump in.”
The four of them stood side-by-side at the edge of the water and held hands.
“I’ll count to three and then we jump,” Andrew told them. “Ready?”
When Andrew reached three, they leapt into the air and screamed with anticipation as they dropped into the icy pool. When their heads popped up, they shouted and yelled and swam like maniacs to shore where they hurried out, shivering, trembling, and laughing, to grab their towels.
“That was amazing.” Andrew rubbed the towel over his skin to get his frozen blood flowing again.
“I’m not sure it was amazing, but I’m glad I did it.” Juliet ran her fingers through her long hair and turned her face up towards the sun.
“The amazing part was when we got out,” Jack kidded his friends as he ran the towel over his head and face.
“Want to do it again?” Shelly asked with a grin and was met with an immediate loud chorus of a single word … no.
Sitting on the sun-warmed boulders to soak up the rays, their skin dried quickly in the bright light and Shelly and Juliet passed around homemade granola bars they’d made the day before.
“I’d like to skip going to the police station when we get back,” Shelly said. “Why don’t we do it another day.”
“No weaseling out of it.” Andrew shook his head. “We can’t put it off. We need some clues if we’re going to solve these murders and every little thing we do can move us one step closer.”
“It’s only looking at photos. It won’t be anything disturbing.” Jack put his arm around his girlfriend’s shoulders.
Jay had asked Andrew to bring Shelly and Juliet to the police station later in the afternoon to look at photographs taken at the community meeting.
“It is disturbing though.” Shelly reached up and took Jack’s hand in hers. “The killer was present that evening. He went to the meeting. He sat there acting like a concerned citizen. It scares me.”
“It scares me, too.” Juliet’s sounded nervous. “What if the killer was sitting near us? What if he decided to target us next?”
“He won’t,” Andrew reassured Juliet. “You did nothing to antagonize him. He honed in on the mayor because it was almost like a challenge to the killer when Mayor Daniels spoke about Mr. Barrett not taking safety precautions.”
Jack said, “So the killer attacked the mayor to prove to everyone that no matter what precautions they take, if he wants to kill you, he will.”
“That’s our interpretation.” Andrew nodded and took Juliet’s hand when she slipped over the boulder to get closer to him.
“That is not comforting at all.” Juliet whined. “This nut might start picking off people who attended the community meeting to show how powerful and clever he is.”
Shelly tried to ease her friend’s worry even though she wasn’t entirely convinced that what she was saying was true. “There were so many people at the meeting. He probably didn’t even see us. We don’t need to worry that he’ll come after us.”
“I hope you’re right.” Juliet’s expression indicated she really didn’t think her friend was right.
* * *
After hiking around the falls and returning to their bikes for the ride back to town, the two couples arrived at the police station to view the photos.
In the small conference room, they clustered around the table and stared at the pictures as Andrew removed them from a folder and passed them around.
“Scan the people in the photos,” Andrew said. “See if you recognize anyone. See if anyone seems excessively eager or excited by the goings-on. Bring a picture to everyone’s attention even if something looks only mildly concerning or slightly off.”
The photographs of the people at the community meeting were taken from nearly every angle and level of the school auditorium.
“Who took all these pictures?” Jack asked.
“The press, the attendees, law enforcement,” Andrew said. “Some were on social media. They give us a look at practically every row in the place.”
Juliet and Shelly sat next to each other and stared at each photo.
“Look, here’s Barrett’s girlfriend, Imelda,” Juliet pointed out.
“And over here is Barrett’s ex-wife, Tina,” Shelly said.
After a few more minutes of examining the photographs, Shelly spotted Mike Meeks in the audience, as well as some of their friends, associates, and acquaintances.
Leaning back and rubbing her eyes, Juliet asked Andrew, “Do you have any magnifying glasses? The close work is giving me a headache.”
Andrew left the conference room briefly and returned with some magnifying lenses for them to use and after they had gone over all of the photographs, the detective had a short video of the meeting to play for them. “See if you pick up anything by watching the crowd.”
The film showed people filing into the auditorium, waiting for the meeting to start, and the introductions of the officials. Andrew sped it up and then stopped the video right before the mayor said that Barrett would still be alive if he’d been more careful about his safety.
“Watch for people’s reactions. Focus on their facial expressions,” Andrew suggested.
The view panned the auditorium as the mayor spoke about safety and the crowd reacted to his comments.
“I see the security guard we talked to the other day,” Shelly said and gestured to him.
Andrew stopped and backed up the tape.
“There he is. Standing right there by the exit.” Shelly got up and pointed to Donald Chapel. “Oh, there’s Mike Meeks, too. He moved out of his seat.” Meeks was standing behind the last row of seats leaning against the wall on the far side of the auditorium.
“It was so hot in there,” Juliet said. “He probably didn’t want to stay in his seat anymore.”
“I wonder if the man standing next to him is the mutual friend of Meeks and Mr. Barrett. His name is Bill Handy,” Shelly recalled.
“We spoke with him briefly right after Barrett was killed,” Andrew said. “It wouldn’t hurt to talk to him again.”
“What do you think about what the security guard told us?” Shelly asked. “He said Meeks was arguing with Barrett in the high school one evening. Do you think Meeks should be spoken to again?”
“I think it would be a good idea. I’ll call him about having a meeting. I’ll bring up the argument and see how he reacts,” Andrew said.
Finishing up in the police station without noticing anyone suspicious in the video or in the photographs, Jack suggested having dinner at the resort and everyone agreed.
Heading outside into the darkness, Juliet sidled up to Shelly and whispered, “Can I sleep at your house again tonight? Talking about the murders and looking at the people at the meeting has me feeling nervous again.”
With a smile, Shelly nodded. “Of course, you can. Justice will be happy that you’re staying over tonight.”
Shelly didn’t admit it right then, but she was feeling uneasy and was thankful that Juliet would be staying the night with her.
13
Jay thanked the three people for coming and introduced Shelly and Juliet to them.
“I’m talking again with people who arrived on the scene at the park the morning Mr. Barret was found,” she explained. “Shelly and Juliet were the first to find Mr. Barrett, but we’d like to hear again what you heard and saw that day.”
In his mid-twenties, with an athletic build, brown hair and brown eyes, David Pillman went first. “I went out for my run and decided to go through the park. I like to run early in the morning before I go to work. When I was going up the hill, I noticed the two women.” He gestured to Shelly and Juliet. “They looked concerned. That’s when I noticed the guy on the ground so I went over to see if I could do anything to help out.”
Jay nodded and then looked to Jean LeBlanc. In her mid-forties, she had short dark hair and brown eyes and carried a little extra weight.
Ms. LeBlanc said, “When the weather’s nice, I walk through the park on my way to work at the hospital. I’m a receptionist. I saw the people standing beside the man on the ground. I thought maybe he’d fallen. I went over to see what I could do.” She swallowed. “I saw the blood and got woozy. I stepped to the side to collect myself.”
“Thank you,” Jay said to the woman and then turned her attention to the man across from her. “Mr. Benson, would you please tell us how it was you came upon Mr. Barrett’s body?”
Milton Benson was in his sixties, was tall and very slender with lots of gray showing in his light brown hair. “I was on my way to work at the town utility company. I often go through the park. It’s quieter than walking on the streets. It was a very nice day. I saw the women and the jogger and then spotted the body on the grass so I walked over to see if they needed help.”
“Did you notice anyone hurrying out of the park?” Jay asked. “Did you see anyone who seemed to be in a rush?”
Benson tried to recall the day. “I don’t think so. I was lost in thought thinking about the work day ahead, meetings, emails that needed to be answered. I wasn’t really paying much attention to who was passing by.”
“Did you notice anyone hurrying away?” Jay asked Ms. LeBlanc.
The woman blinked in confusion. “I thought Mr. Barrett was killed the night before. What would it matter if I saw someone in a hurry if Barrett got hit in the head hours before morning? His attacker would have been long gone by then.”
“That’s very true,” Jay told the woman. “But sometimes an attacker returns to the scene to watch what’s going on. So the person responsible for Mr. Barrett’s death may have been in the park that morning.”
“Oh.” Ms. LeBlanc’s eyes widened and her hand flew to her chest. “I didn’t realize that. That’s very disturbing.”
“Do you think you remember someone who seemed to be in a hurry?” Jay repeated her original question.
“I don’t know. I haven’t given that any thought.” Ms. LeBlanc looked down at the table. “I’m not sure I remember who passed me that morning.”
“Maybe something will come to you,” Jay said in a kind voice and then looked to David Pillman. “Do you recall the morning?”
“Sure,” Pillman said. “It was a warm day. The sun was coming up. I was feeling good, strong. Other runners went by me, a couple of cyclists, a couple of people walking. No one seemed to be running away from anything. The people I saw were just regular people doing their thing.”
“Did any of you notice someone lurking about?”
“Lurking?” Ms. LeBlanc asked. “Gosh, no.”
Pillman shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone like that. Of course, it doesn’t mean someone like that wasn’t around.”
Milton Benson said, “On occasion, there is someone in the park who looks to be a little rough around the edges, but I didn’t notice anyone that morning. My mind was elsewhere.”
“Did any of you know Wilson Barrett?” Jay asked.
“Not me,” Ms. LeBlanc replied.
Benson said, “Maybe I’d seen him around town. He looked familiar to me when his picture was in the news. I didn’t know his name though and I don’t recall being introduced to him, but as I said, he did look familiar. I just couldn’t place him.”
“I knew who Barrett was,” Pillman said. “I knew where he worked. I work at the other bank in town. I think we might have met once at a banking and financial conference, but I really don’t remember ever talking to him.”
“All of you live in Paxton Park, correct?” Jay asked. “May I ask how long you’ve lived in town?”
“Why is that relevant?” Pillman asked.
“Just collecting background information,” Jay smiled pleasantly.
“I’ve been here about three years,” Pillman said. “I moved here when I got the job.”
“I’ve been in town for about thirty years,” Benson said. “I enjoy the outdoors. I thought this would be the perfect place to live.”
“Has it been a good place to live for you?” Jay asked.
“Indeed, it has. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
Ms. LeBlanc said, “I’ve lived here all of my life. I don’t like the winter though. I’d prefer to move someplace warm.”
Pillman looked at Jay. “Can I ask a question?”
“Yes, sure you can.”
Pillman focused on Shelly and Juliet. “How did you notice Barrett on the ground? He was on the path close to the trees. What were you doing in the park?”
Shelly thought the young man’s tone of voice was almost accusatory. “We’d been running. We noticed Mr. Barrett when we came off the trail.”
“Really?” Pillman trained his eyes on Shelly. “I don’t know how’d you’d see him from that angle.”
“Well, we did,” Juliet said with a touch of defensiveness.
“Do you run on the trails a lot?”
“Once in a while,” Shelly said. “Not a lot.” She and Juliet did run on the trails regularly, but she didn’t like Pillman’s seemingly nosy manner and didn’t want to give him any information.
“Maybe I could run with you two sometime.”
“Maybe,” Shelly said. “Our work schedules are irregular so we kind of just go whenever we get a chance.”
Benson rolled his eyes at David Pillman. “For Pete’s sake, if you want to ask one of them out, just do it.”
Pillman gave the older man a dirty look. “If I wanted to do that, I’d do it. I don’t need your help in the matter.”
Flustered, Ms. LeBlanc said, “There’s no need to get angry or snippy with one another. We’re all here trying to help.”
Pillman flashed Ms. LeBlanc a look of annoyance and she answered him with her own expression of disgust.
“Would you prefer to be interviewed separately?” Jay asked the three of them with a stern voice. “I can certainly accommodate you by moving you into separate rooms and speaking with each person individually.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” Benson said.
“I agree.” Ms. LeBlanc sat straighter in her chair.
