1 Murder on Sugar Creek Page 13

  Maggie popped her neck. “I guess I can understand the small amounts, but thousands of dollars? How did he get by with that? Didn’t he attract attention?”

  “Don’t you remember seeing in the paper where he won, let me see, I think it was five thousand once and ten thousand another time? The same thing with Bug. I ain’t sure about the amounts, but they was big sums of money.” Dottie sniffed. “Bug won even bigger once. I think it was twenty- or twenty-five thousand.”

  “You’re kidding,” Maggie exclaimed. “I don’t remember seeing any of that.”

  “You mean you don’t read your own paper?”

  “No, it’s just … I can’t remember every little thing from every little story and advertisement.”

  “Not even about people on Sugar Creek?”

  Dottie seemed as disappointed in Maggie’s obliviousness to goings-on in her community as had Lena and Sylvie. “How did this scam work?”

  “Sort of like the other one, but I don’t think Mac ever outright stole a big amount. I reckon he thought that would be too dangerous. Anyway, some poor fool would win big and Mac would convince him to take a cash payout.”

  “That doesn’t make sense,” Maggie argued. “If Mac paid out, then how did he make any money?”

  “He only gave them half or less.”

  Maggie rubbed her temples. Her head was starting to hurt. “Why would anybody agree to that?”

  “Cause they didn’t know no better. Usually, Mac told them the government would take at least half in taxes. Now, there was one feller who didn’t want his wife to know about his winnings and another who was afraid it would cut into his disability check and food stamps. If I’ve learned one thing in this life, it’s that people are ignorant. Some of them should walk around with a sign that says, ‘Take advantage of me.’” Dottie blew her nose. “But I can’t blame them. It ain’t their fault they was so trusting. But say somebody won a thousand dollars. Mac gave them half that, five hundred dollars. You reckon taxes will take something like a third, so after he cashed in the ticket, he walked away with about two hundred bucks.”

  “And that’s two hundred bucks he didn’t earn,” Maggie said to herself as much as to Dottie. “No one ever wondered why he and Bug won that much money in the lottery?”

  “Oh, yeah, they wondered. In fact, people around Sugar Creek began to suspect something fishy was going on, so his lottery sales slacked off. Or more customers only bought their tickets from me. You see where I’m going?”

  “He blackmailed you to make a few hundred dollars? That’s –”

  “Crazy? Oh, I don’t know what it is. But I felt so bad telling those poor old ignorant fools that their tickets was duds. I tried to tell myself that they didn’t have no reason to waste their money on gambling anyway, but two wrongs don’t make a right. Lucky for me, I only had a couple big winners. I didn’t take that first person’s money. I just couldn’t make myself do it. I had forgot about that security camera behind the register, but Mac hadn’t. He watched it and told me I had to run the racket on the next one. Oh, how I prayed nobody would hit it big. But somebody did and as much as I hated doing it, I talked her into taking the payout. I knowed Mac kept money in the safe. He came down and opened it, but he made me give her the money. I paid her two thousand in cash for a five thousand dollar winner. I know that woman. She has three young’uns.”

  “And Bug knew about this?”

  “Mac split the money with him.” Dottie untied her apron. “You want a pie? You did help make them.”

  “I guess I can take one or two.”

  “Want something to drink?”

  “Water will do.”

  Maggie took a bite of pie and said, “This is delicious. You used just the right amount of apple pie spice and cinnamon. And the apples are not too runny, either. Too much water will ruin your pies.” She accepted a glass of water from Dottie. “Thank you. Dottie, why weren’t the security cameras working the day Mac was killed?”

  “That’s puzzled me,” Dottie said. “When I said they didn’t work, I was repeating what Mac told everybody, but I didn’t believe it. I figured they’d check the tapes, see they was working, and identify Mac’s killer. But that ain’t happened. You mean to tell me they wasn’t working?”

  Not wanting to reveal too much, Maggie said, “That appears to be the case. I have one more question. Do you think Corey tried to break into the store?”

  “Lord, no. I asked him, though. I felt I had to cause, by that time, I had talked to him about stealing from the register. He said it wasn’t him. And I do believe him. Besides, Mac knowed who those boys was. That’s how I figured out the outside cameras worked. Oh, Mac sneaked around, but I knowed what was going on. After somebody tried to break into the store the first time, the man from the security company came to the store and he and Mac was back in the office for a long time.” She shook her head. “A few days after the second attempt, a boy that lives up the road and his buddy came in to buy cigarettes. They was riding four-wheelers and had masks pulled up over their heads. Mac asked them if they had broke into any stores recently. They turned white as ghosts and Mac laughed. I ain’t no fool. I put two and two together. Mac recognized their masks and maybe their four-wheelers from the cameras. I just wished I had put two and two together sooner when it came to Mac.”

  “Do you think those boys could have come back that morning and killed Mac?”

  “No. That Mullins boy killed him.”

  “Why are you so sure?”

  Dottie crinkled her eyes. “Who else could it have been?”

  Maggie took a chance Bug would be home and continued up Sugar Creek to see him. When she reached his porch, she knocked on the door and rang the doorbell, but he didn’t answer. Just as she turned to leave, she saw him walking across the road from his mother’s house.

  “Hey, there, I didn’t expect to see you darkening my door,” he said to her.

  “I hope it’s not a problem.”

  “Not a problem at all.” Bug pulled a set of keys from his pocket and opened the door. “Come on in.”

  Once inside the house, a sense of foreboding overwhelmed Maggie. What if Bug was the killer? she asked herself. She had come to his house without telling anyone her plans or whereabouts. She speculated that he could kill her, bury her on his property, and push her car into the river and no one would be the wiser.

  “Well,” Bug nodded to the couch, “sit down.” When Maggie complied, he added, “What can I do for you?”

  She didn’t know how to begin. It had been difficult enough to question Dottie about her grandson’s criminal activity, but she didn’t know how to go about asking Bug to explain his money-making scams. She rubbed her hands together.

  “Are you cold? I like to keep it on the chilly side myself, but I don’t mind turning up the heat for you.”

  “No, no, I’m fine.” Maggie took a deep breath and vomited the words. “I know about the lottery tickets.”

  Bug blinked several times. “What do you mean?”

  “I know how you and Mac cheated,” she reconsidered her choice of words, but continued, “yeah, cheated some customers out of their lottery winnings.”

  “Now, hold on, little lady. I don’t appreciate you coming into my house and calling me a cheater and a thief. I never stole nothing in my life.”

  “I also know about how you and Mac overcharged the nursing home and split the money. That’s how he was able to finance his store, right? With money and supplies from the nursing home scam. And maybe he still had some of the money he stole from his insurance clients and the shoe store. That’s why he didn’t inherit anything from his dad, because his dad paid restitution to those companies to keep Mac out of trouble.”

  Maggie’s fears evaporated when Bug fell back onto his recliner and let loose a loud painful sob. He cried for so long and with such intensity that Maggie feared for his health.

  “You need to calm down, Mr. Damron. You’re going to make yourself sick.” She conside
red going to his side, but bent to the words of caution that rang in her head. “Do you need a tissue? Or some water?”

  Bug picked up a blue handkerchief that lay on the TV tray beside his recliner and blew his nose. “I’ll be okay.” After some time, he spoke again. “I reckon Dottie told you about the lottery tickets, but I can’t imagine why. I can’t imagine how you found out about the nursing home. As far as I know, me and Mac was the only two who knew about that and only one of us is still breathing.”

  “Somebody’s always watching.”

  Bug sniffed and directed a hard stare toward Maggie. “What are you getting out of this?”

  “Hopefully, the truth.” With Jenny on her mind, Maggie continued, “Listen, Mr. Damron, although unfortunate, the situation at the nursing home is water under the bridge at this point. For all I know, the statutes of limitations have expired on those crimes. The lottery racket is more recent, but, well, I don’t know if the authorities could make a case out of those crimes, either. As for me, I’m most concerned about finding out who killed Mac.”

  “Well, I’ll be a son of a gun. You know that Mullins kid. I remember it now. Him and your brother used to sell eggs to me and my mommy. You’ve stirred up all this for him? That druggie and murderer?”

  “The police released Kevin. The ballistic tests were inconclusive.”

  “That don’t mean nothing.”

  Maggie wasn’t about to debate Bug on the subject of Kevin’s presumed guilt. “Mr. Damron, you and Mac had participated in schemes and you were the one who found Mac’s body.”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  Maggie could feel dampness forming underneath her armpits. “Maybe you were tired of cheating innocent people out of their winnings or maybe you wanted a bigger share or maybe you found out Mac had something on the side that didn’t include you. Maybe you cut the feed from the security cameras so there wouldn’t be video evidence of the murder.” Bug’s narrowed eyes and heavy breathing conspired to frighten Maggie, who, in the hope of calming him down, added, “Or maybe you just saw something that morning.”

  “Let me tell you something, little miss. If those people who came into the store were too dumb to read a lottery ticket, then they deserved to lose what was never theirs to begin with. That money went toward a boat and fishing gear and I’m just sorry I didn’t have the chance to make more cause a boat don’t come cheap. As for the security cameras, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Mac never even turned those cameras on. And I did see something that morning. I saw Mac laying behind the counter with blood oozing from his chest. He didn’t die immediately. Did you know that? He was still gurgling when I got there. I called 9-1-1, but it was too late.” Bug’s mouth quivered. “That’s what I saw and I don’t appreciate you suggesting otherwise. Now go on. Get out of my house and don’t come back.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Maggie downed two Tylenol with a swig of water and rested her head on a kitchen cabinet. “I need a massage, but I’ll settle for a long, luxurious bath,” she said to a captive Barnaby.

  She also wanted to expunge the day’s events from her mind, but she knew that wish wouldn’t come true. Dottie had seemed almost happy to unload her burdens, but Bug certainly didn’t seem content with her. She turned her back to the cabinet and faced her kitchen.

  “Those could have been tears of guilt. Not for stealing the lottery money. That obviously didn’t bother him. He could have wanted a bigger cut that Mac wouldn’t give to him. That could be why he became so enraged. Not because I questioned his morals, but because I spoke the truth. And with so many lies, why should I believe he didn’t know the cameras worked? What’s with those cameras anyway? Why weren’t they working the day Mac was killed? But let’s not forget Corey. Dottie stole to protect him, but would she murder someone in cold blood for him?” She bent down and scratched Barnaby’s ears. “What do you think?”

  Before Barnaby could pant, the phone rang. It was Maggie’s mom.

  “Hi, Mom.”

  “Could you come over here?”

  “Is something wrong?”

  “No.”

  “Then can it wait until tomorrow? I’m really tired and I just want to take a bath and go to bed.”

  “No, it can’t wait.”

  Maggie’s parents were waiting for her at the kitchen table. Robert sat with his arms folded and his eyes downcast while Lena pressed the folds of a wash cloth with her hands. The spectacle caused Maggie to flashback to a fall evening nineteen years earlier. On that night, she had earned their disapproval by attending a football game without permission. As she pulled out the chair opposite Lena, she wondered what had caused such displeasure this time.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Lena never missed an opportunity to behave dramatically and this was no exception. “That’s what we’d like to know.”

  “Mom, could you just tell me? I’m really tired.”

  “Dottie Elswick called me.” When Maggie let her body fall against the chair, Lena said, “No wonder you’re so tired. I guess all that investigating you’ve been doing is wearing you out.”

  “Mom, I don’t know what she said –”

  “What were you thinking?” Maggie had hoped Lena would lead the interrogation and that she could avoid Robert during this confrontation, but his question quickly extinguished that optimism. “You could have gotten hurt.”

  “She could still get hurt.”

  “I think you’re overreacting.” Maggie squeezed one of the plastic grapes that adorned the fruit bowl. “Why did Dottie call you?”

  “Because she couldn’t get up with you. God only knows what kind of trouble you got into when you left her.”

  “I’m not in trouble.” Maggie closed her eyes and counted to ten. “Why was she trying to reach me?”

  “She wanted to make sure you didn’t tell nobody about her grandson stealing that money.”

  Maggie’s eyes flew open. “She told you about that?”

  “Eventually, she did. At first, she asked to leave you a message. I could tell she was upset so I said, ‘Dottie are you all right? Are you crying?’ She was crying and, after she quit, she told me about her grandson and the lottery tickets.” Lena looked at Robert. “I was right about that one. I told you something fishy was going on. Ain’t nobody that lucky.”

  Robert furrowed his bushy eyebrows. “That’s in the past. I quit buying lottery tickets there a long time ago.”

  Lena jutted her head toward him. “How long ago? Was it before or after Mac got killed and they closed the store?”

  On a normal occasion, her parents’ bickering would have annoyed Maggie. But she hoped they’d concentrate on each other and forget about her. Her hopes were once again crushed.

  Lena pivoted her head in Maggie’s direction. “The first time you talked to her, you was just pumping her for information. Right?”

  Maggie nodded.

  “I don’t –” Robert shook his head.

  “I was trying to help Kevin.”

  “Kevin?” Lena all but screamed. “What’s he ever done for you?”

  “We’ve been over this before. He was Mark’s friend and I think he might be innocent.”

  Lena widened her eyes and pointed a finger at Maggie. “There you have it. You think he ‘might’ be innocent.”

  Robert tapped the table with his forefinger. “Why couldn’t you let the police handle it?”

  “They’re not working fast enough,” Maggie answered. “Sure, they released Kevin. Meanwhile, they’re still trying to pin this on him and everyone thinks he’s guilty.”

  “Maybe,” Lena emphasized the word, “he is guilty.”

  “Or maybe he’s not.”

  Robert’s comment caused Lena to glare at him and ask, “Whose side are you on?”

  “Lena, this ain’t even about Kevin. This is about Maggie getting involved in something that she had no business getting involved in.”

  “Who says I had no ri
ght?” Maggie asked. “You’re the ones who taught me to stand up for what I believe in.”

  “Don’t try to blame this one on us,” Lena said.

  “I’m not blaming this on anyone and I understand your concern. That’s why I didn’t tell you.”

  “If you left us in the dark, did you think that would keep you safe?”

  “No, Mom.”

  “Does this have anything to do with the night your dog left the yard?” Robert asked.

  Maggie gritted her teeth. “He didn’t leave the yard. Someone forced him out of the house and out of the yard. And, yes, I think Barnaby’s disappearance is linked to Mac’s murder. A question I asked or something I put in the paper struck too close to home for somebody.”

  “What was that?”

  Maggie held up her hands. “I don’t know. If I could answer that question, I would know who killed Mac and kidnapped Barnaby.”

  “And you went back into that house knowing that somebody had been there? And you kept asking questions knowing that somebody had been in your house and took your dog? How dumb are you?”

  “I’m not dumb, Mom. I had a security system installed.”

  “Does that feller you’re seeing know about this?” Robert asked.

  Maggie shifted in her chair. “No. He knew that Barnaby was actually missing. I know what you two were thinking, but we did not hallucinate.”

  “It would have been better if you had,” Lena said.

  “What about Seth? He know about this?”

  Maggie squeezed a grape so hard it popped off its plastic vine. “Yeah.”

  “You wouldn’t tell your boyfriend, but you told your ex-boyfriend?” Lena asked.

  “No, Edie told Seth and, before you ask, Edie and Ben know. They didn’t approve and that’s why Edie called Seth.”

  “At least somebody was using her head,” Lena said.

  “Is that why Seth was out here looking around?” Robert asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know what to think,” Lena said. “Who else have you been talking to? Who else can I expect a call from?”