1 Murder on Sugar Creek Read online

  “But what do I know?” Maggie said to herself as much as to Edie.

  Tyler slammed the newspaper down on Maggie’s desk. “This is ridiculous,” he lamented. “I thought you proofed my story.”

  Maggie looked up at Tyler and down at the paper. “I did proof the story.”

  “Then why is it full of mistakes? One sentence contains the wrong form of ‘there’ and the man’s age is interposed. He’s seventy-five, not fifty-seven like it states in the story.”

  “Tyler,” Joe bellowed from his office door. “Lower your voice and cut the attitude.”

  If Tyler’s outburst hadn’t captured the attention of everyone in the office, Maggie felt sure Joe’s verbal explosion had, but she didn’t look around and confirm her suspicions.

  “Thanks to her,” Tyler pointed at Maggie, “my story contains two errors. One grammatical, one factual. I think you should write her up.”

  Joe stormed into the newsroom and stood face-to-face and inches apart from Tyler. “If I wrote up everybody every time a mistake got through, I could file a worker’s comp claim for carpal tunnel. Besides, if I write her up, I write you up.”

  “There you go again, taking the side of your favorite,” Tyler countered.

  “If it’s between you and Maggie or you and a rattlesnake or you and a kidney stone, you’ll still come in second.”

  The men’s heated exchange was beginning to make Maggie nervous. She finally looked around the office. A rapt audience stood motionless and with their eyes fixed on Joe and Tyler.

  Joe pointed his forefinger at Tyler. “You made the factual error, Tyler.”

  Tyler picked up the paper and tapped it twice with his hand. “It was a story about a veteran of the Korean War. Any good proofreader should know a fifty-seven-year-old is not old enough to have fought in that war. Of course, she has the Jasper County School System to thank for teaching her history.”

  “Enough,” Joe shouted. “In my office.”

  Tyler followed Joe into his office, slamming the door behind him. Although they spoke in raised voices, Maggie couldn’t make out what they were saying. In the meantime, several co-workers stopped by her desk or called and told her not to let Tyler get her down. When Tyler emerged from Joe’s office, he grabbed his jacket and left for the day without speaking to anyone. Joe then motioned for Maggie to come to his office.

  “If I could make him apologize, I would,” Joe said as he chased two over-the-counter pain relievers with water.

  “You shouldn’t let Tyler make you so angry and he has a point. I did let two mistakes slip by.”

  “Actually, you let a couple more slip by. There was a misspelled word in one story and the wrong form of ‘your’ in another. But Tyler had no right to talk to you that way. You’re usually so conscientious it makes me jealous, but everybody has a bad day. Don’t beat yourself up over this.”

  “Are you going to write me up?”

  Joe snorted. “No. We don’t have that kind of a policy in place and you can’t make up rules as you go along. I am concerned, though. You haven’t been yourself this week. Is something wrong?”

  Maggie sighed. “It’s Barnaby. He’s okay, but he gave me a scare over the weekend.”

  Joe and his family housed a menagerie that included two cats, a parakeet, a rabbit, and a guinea pig, so Maggie was not surprised when he said, “Let me know if you need to take off some time to be with him.” She was surprised when he looked past her and added, “Hey, what can we do for one of Jasper’s finest today?”

  Maggie turned to find Seth entering Joe’s office. “Oh, my God. Did Tyler press charges against Joe?” she asked.

  “Tyler?” Seth asked. “The kid who covers the crime beat? Press charges against Joe for what?”

  “I thought …” Maggie looked from Seth to Joe. “They had an argument earlier.”

  Joe laughed. “It was nothing. Maggie is being dramatic. So, what business brings you to the Sentinel?”

  “Actually, I’m here to see Maggie.”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah. Is there some place we could talk?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Maggie and Seth sat on opposite sides of a table in the break room. Just as she opened her mouth to inquire about his mother, he said, “Edie called me.”

  “Oh, no,” Maggie covered her eyes with her hands. “I knew she would blow this out of proportion.”

  “Is she? Because she told me somebody broke into your home and, for lack of a better word, kidnapped Barnaby. That doesn’t sound like blowing anything out of proportion.”

  Maggie uncovered her eyes. “Please don’t interrogate me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  Seth bit his lower lip. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Anyway, Edie said your parents are skeptical.”

  “Yeah, they must think Luke and I shared a hallucination.”

  Seth narrowed his eyes. “Luke?”

  “Yeah, this guy I’ve been seeing. He was with me. Didn’t Edie tell you?”

  “No.” Seth rested his chin on his right hand. “This changes everything.”

  “Oh, I understand. When it was just me, you thought I was imaging things. Well, it really happened, Seth.”

  He sat back in his chair. “I believe you, Maggie, and I’m sure you were scared to death. I remember when you got Barnaby. When we rescued those puppies from the puppy mill, I told my partner one of them would find a good home with you. And, of course, you chose the runt. You’re always pulling for the underdogs, literally and figuratively.”

  For the second time in less than an hour, Maggie felt uncomfortable. She didn’t understand why Seth was waxing poetic about an event that had occurred one week before their breakup. “Why did you come here today?”

  “Because I’m worried about you. You should have called the police that night.”

  “I wanted to, but Mom and Daddy acted like I had lost my mind.”

  Seth scratched his neck. “It’s probably too late now to find anything, but I could come out and look around. Unofficially, of course.”

  “That would be great.”

  “Have you been staying at the house or are you with Robert and Lena?”

  “They won’t allow Barnaby in the house and I won’t leave him, so there you go. I’m staying put.”

  Seth took a few seconds before asking, “Maggie, why do you think this happened? Do you think it has anything to do with Mac Honaker’s murder? Edie said you’re still snooping around.”

  Maggie allowed her arms to fall onto the table. “I talked to his family and an employee of his. I wrote a few columns. You read them. Did you find a smoking gun hidden between the tales of Mac’s generosity?” Maggie intentionally withheld the results of her conversation with Sylvie Johnson as well as the mysterious email message she had received.

  “No, but I’m not the murderer.”

  “If this is related to the murder, then you know what it means?”

  “What?” Seth asked.

  “That Kevin’s innocent.”

  “Maggie –”

  “Hear me out. Nothing in those interviews concerns Kevin. Besides, he wouldn’t break into my house. At least not without stealing something.”

  Seth smiled. “I’m glad you’re showing some signs of rational thought. But if Kevin is the killer, he wouldn’t hesitate to hurt you or your dog or anybody else to protect himself. As for the interviews not implicating him, how can you know that? You just admitted that you didn’t hear anything that sent up red flags. How can you be so sure that Kevin didn’t read something in there that alerted him?”

  Maggie hunched her shoulders. “Because he was upset with me when they didn’t exonerate him. He confronted me in the parking lot.”

  Seth’s smile faded. “Are you trying to prove my point?”

  “No, but your point is taken. It’s just –”

  “What?”

  “Nothing.” Maggie didn’t mention to Seth that she told Kevin’s dad she might be onto something. At this jun
cture, she didn’t know if that would help Kevin or hurt him.

  Maggie sat on the floor of her living room. Barnaby lay at her side and color-coded index cards were spread in front of her. After talking to Seth, she had decided to become more proactive. She had tired of moping and fretting and had resumed her workouts and re-focused her mind. She needed to find Mac Honaker’s killer and, in the process, Barnaby’s kidnapper.

  One by one, she examined the cards, which held the names of everyone she connected to the murder as well as notes that suggested suspicious behavior. On Dottie’s card, she made three entries – lazy mooching grandson, bristled at mention of lottery, confusion over security cameras; on Bug’s – discovered the body, cut the interview short, confusion over security cameras; on Carla’s – the spouse is always the first suspect, misrepresented the success of her business; on Rhonda’s – the ex-spouse is also considered a likely suspect, he cheated on her, she might resent his relationship with Carla and their relative success; on Kevin’s – seen near the crime scene, fired a gun that morning, paid off drug debt; and on Mac’s – stole from two previous employers and insurance customers.

  Maggie studied Mac’s card and said, “There’s got to be something we’re missing, Barnaby.” Barnaby ignored her and ran to the front door. Almost immediately, the doorbell rang. Maggie gathered the cards, placed them on the coffee table, and opened the door for Seth.

  Maggie and Seth, accompanied by an active Barnaby, walked across her back yard. When they reached the fence, Seth stopped walking and looked to the right toward Maggie’s parents’ house.

  “Your folks’ place is well-lit and close to the hill. I don’t think anybody would risk getting to you from there or taking a dog behind their house. I know you say Barnaby doesn’t bark much, but this person had no way of knowing that,” Seth explained.

  “Actually, my aunt and uncle said they did hear a dog bark a couple times that night, but they assumed it was a stray.”

  With his head, Seth indicated a ranch house about a quarter of a mile up the road. “They live up there, right?” When Maggie nodded, he asked, “Do you still own the barn across the bridge?”

  “Yeah, it’s not like I would sell it. That was Poppaw’s barn and we’ve always raised a garden in the bottom.”

  “Relax.” Seth said. “I thought you might have sold it to your uncle or a cousin. Shall we?”

  With Barnaby in the lead, the trio crossed the small wooden bridge that spanned the creek and led to a field on which the barn sat.

  Seth chuckled when he saw the remains of an expansive garden. “I see your uncle and Robert are still growing enough vegetables to feed everybody on Sugar Creek.”

  “We dug twenty-five bushels of potatoes last month,” Maggie said smiling.

  “When did they get lazy? I remember helping them dig twenty-eight bushels one year.” Seth kicked a rock. “Just being here reminds my muscles of all that squatting and crawling around on the ground.”

  “Every year, I forget how tiring the chore is.” Maggie sighed. “But, once I start pulling potatoes out of the ground, it only takes a couple minutes for me to remember.” She looked at the plowed earth a few minutes before saying, “Let’s check the barn.”

  When they stepped inside, sunlight streamed through the doors and between the wooden planks.

  “There’s no electricity in here, but there are a couple lanterns,” Maggie said.

  “That’s okay.” Seth produced a flashlight from his jacket. “This might be unofficial, but it’s still an investigation.” He halted and shone the light on the corner of the barn. “What’s he doing?”

  Maggie followed the light and saw Barnaby sniffing and pawing the barn floor. “Barna –”

  “Shh. Let’s go over there and take a peek,” Seth suggested.

  They found Barnaby chewing and nosing around old tires and empty barrels in a quest for more food. His actions scared Maggie, who grabbed the flashlight and sank to her knees. “It could be poison.” Her search produced a handful of dry dog food. “No,” she commanded to Barnaby and put the food in the pocket of her jeans.

  “Does your uncle have a dog?” Seth asked.

  “No.”

  “Who has access to this barn?”

  “Daddy and my uncle and anybody else who wanders by.” Maggie swept her hand across the air. “They keep a tiller, a plow, an old tractor, and all these tools in here but never remember to lock the door.”

  “It must run in the family.” When Maggie didn’t protest, Seth continued, “Would either of them have any reason to keep dog food in here?”

  “No. Unlike me, they don’t feed strays and Barnaby’s the only dog in the head of the holler. Besides, they wouldn’t keep anything in here that might attract critters.” Maggie paused. “Wait a minute. A few days before this happened, I was in here helping Daddy. Barnaby was with us. He roamed around before finding a spot near the door and resting. He didn’t eat anything or spend much time over here. I would have noticed.”

  Seth scratched his head. “Maggie, whoever took Barnaby probably brought him in here and kept him until you got home.” He moved to the doors. “You can see your house from here.”

  Maggie joined him. “But where would they have come from?”

  Seth walked outside the barn. He looked up the road toward Maggie’s uncle’s house, across the creek to Maggie’s house, at the hill that led to the family cemetery, and, finally, behind the barn. With the flashlight still in his hand, he pointed to the hill behind the barn. “It’s not steep and, all things considered, not too tall, either. There’s even a path that goes to the top.”

  “Mark, our cousins, and I climbed that path when we were little. From the top, you can see everything – the road, our houses,” Maggie shuddered, “everything.”

  “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll find the person who did this and we’ll keep you safe.”

  Maggie nodded. “It’s just creepy knowing somebody was watching me. They knew when I left and when I came back.” She pulled Barnaby toward her. “And they had him.”

  Seth stared at Barnaby. “He’s a friendly dog. I’ll bet it didn’t take much to get him out of the house. The food probably kept him from becoming too antsy in the barn.”

  A grateful Barnaby panted as Maggie tickled behind his ears. “He did bark, though, and he wouldn’t leave me that night. He seemed scared.”

  Seth lowered himself to Barnaby’s level. “I’d say the big guy missed his momma.” As he scratched under the dog’s head, Seth said, “Now, we need to talk to Robert.”

  “Why?”

  “So we can find out what’s on the other side of that hill.”

  Maggie winced. “We don’t have to ask Daddy. I know what’s on the other side of that hill. Little Elm Fork.”

  “Kevin Mullins’ home?”

  Maggie’s sigh served as her answer.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Maggie looked out the passenger side window of her dad’s pickup truck and wished he had taken her up on her offer to drive. She had always considered Robert a slow driver, but the pace in which he lumbered along in the truck gave her enough time to count the few remaining leaves that clung to the roadside trees. At least that’s what it felt like to her. The sight of a lone elm tree in someone’s yard reminded her of Seth’s visit to her house the previous day. After the revelation that Little Elm Fork connected to her property, Seth had seemed more convinced than ever that Kevin had killed Mac Honaker and kidnapped Barnaby in an effort to intimidate her.

  Maggie wasn’t so sure. To her, it made no sense that Kevin would ask for her help only to break into her house and steal her dog. She also put no stock in Seth’s assertion that she had uncovered something Kevin assumed would stay hidden. There’s nothing there, she had repeated to herself. Nothing to incriminate Kevin. Or anybody else.

  Or maybe I don’t want to see it, she reasoned. Maybe I don’t want to admit I’m a bad judge of character. Maybe I’ve read all those mysteries and watched all tho
se crime shows for nothing. Maybe I’m just a trusting softie.

  But the other component to Maggie’s personality asked, would a trusting softie install a security system in her home? In the wake of Barnaby’s disappearance, she worried and stressed to the point of exhaustion. After enduring sleepless nights and harassing her parents with phone calls during the days, she had purchased security systems for herself and for them. It gave her peace of mind and allowed her and her parents to leave their homes unattended at the same time.

  “Did you lock the barn, Daddy?” she asked Robert.

  “I shore did.”

  “Maggie,” her mom asked. “What type of egg did Luke have?”

  “I think it was a Western omelet.”

  “It looked good,” Robert said.

  “Did you all like the food?” Maggie asked.

  “Yeah. It’s wasn’t as good as your mother’s breakfast, but the biscuits tasted good,” Robert said. “They just crumbled in your hands.”

  “What about you, Mom?”

  “I enjoyed it. They fixed my egg exactly as I asked. Not everyone can fry an egg without breaking the yolk.”

  Maggie had not predicted a positive outcome while trying to convince them to have brunch with Luke at a lodge in a neighboring county.

  “That’s an awful far piece to drive for a meal,” Robert had argued.

  “I told you. We don’t have to drive the whole way. We’ll meet Luke in Jasper and he’ll drive to the restaurant,” Maggie had explained.

  “I don’t have to go all over the country to find something to eat,” Lena had said.

  “It’s not all over the country, Mom. It’s in the next county. Listen, you can go or not go, but I think it’s nice of Luke to extend the invitation.”

  She eventually won that battle, but she was not as successful in her quest to chauffeur her parents to town, and Luke lost out on his bid to pay for everyone’s meal. When it came time to settle with the waiter, Robert reached for his wallet.

  “I’ve got this,” Luke had stated.