Chapter Twenty-two
As Detective Darnell Jackson approached, Lenora was grateful for a familiar face. The handsome detective would be marrying Candace in a few short weeks. Too bad this meeting wasn’t wedding related. Only a few hours before, she was enjoying cake samples with his fiancée.
Darnell’s voice rolled out smooth and mellow. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Freeman?”
She scolded. “After all this time, you know you can call me Lenora.” She hated the way she addressed the detective, but it occurred to her how wrong the day had turned out to be. This man was a homicide detective. She shook her head. “I’m sorry, I know you’re doing your job right now.”
He bowed his head, his face was solemn. “It’s okay, Lenora. Is there someone we can call for you?”
Lenora stared at him. “No, I’m fine. Is Charmayne all right?”
Darnell hesitated. “I understand Charmayne Hudson came by to visit you yesterday at the boutique.”
Why won’t he answer my question? “Yes, she came by during the fitting with Candace and the other members of the bridal party.” Did Candace mention something to him? Lenora felt compelled to admit. “We did have a disagreement.”
Darnell responded back, “Friends argue. It happens.” He rubbed his goatee. “Would you care to share what the argument was about?”
Lenora twisted her fingers. “Why is that important, Detective Jackson?” Deep down she knew the answer to her question, but she asked again. “Is Charmayne okay?”
That’s when she noticed an official-looking man walk up toward them. Darnell nodded, and the man returned his nod. As he walked by, Lenora saw CSI across the back of his shirt.
This was a crime scene. But it was Charmayne’s house.
The neighborhood houses around her seemed to tilt. Or was that her body swaying? Lenora lurched forward.
Darnell caught her. “Why don’t we go over here and sit down?”
She let the detective guide her away from the scene behind her over to a bench that sat in the middle of Charmayne’s front yard. Lenora remembered this was Charmayne’s mother’s favorite spot. Rosebushes grew next to the bench.
Darnell cleared his throat. “I really hate to be the bearer of bad news.”
Too late. He was only stating the obvious. Lenora held her hands up to her mouth and choked on the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat. Tears sprang in her eyes as she rocked her body back and forth. “She’s dead. I know.”
“I’m so sorry, Mrs. Freeman. I mean, Lenora.”
A memory of Charmayne’s distraught face yesterday appeared in her mind. Lenora focused on Darnell’s face. “She was in the car.”
Darnell glanced over his shoulder before responding. “She apparently succumbed to the high levels of carbon monoxide.”
“She would have never done something like this on purpose.”
Darnell eyed her. “Maybe we should go down to the station to talk in private.”
“Why do you need me to go to the station?”
“It’s just an informal conversation. I would like to know Charmayne’s frame of mind.”
“You’re homicide, but you think she killed herself?”
“Well, we need to determine the cause of death. I can say the manner in which she was found leans toward suicide.”
Lenora shook her head vehemently. “Charmayne would never take her own life.”
“You seem really sure of that, Lenora.”
She held her hands up. “I’ve known her most of my life.”
Darnell frowned. “Sometimes we don’t always know people.”
“I have been calling her and she . . .” Lenora thought of the phone call she received before she drove over to her house. Was that Charmayne reaching out for help? Lenora didn’t know how severe the threats had become, but she knew her friend was scared. What the detective didn’t know was there was danger lurking and Charmayne’s death may not be so accidental.
“I need to show you something.” Lenora pulled the crumpled piece of paper out of her pocketbook and stretched it out. “Someone put this on my car earlier.”
Darnell’s eyes furrowed as he tried to decipher the text on the paper. “What does this all mean? What’s the article about?”
She shook her head. “I can tell you later. When my husband comes.” She held out her phone. “She called me. That’s why I came here.”
Darnell peered at her phone. “You’re saying she called you a few minutes before you found her?”
“Yes.”
Lenora noticed Darnell kept looking behind her. She turned and saw the media starting to arrive on the scene. Lenora closed her eyes. This can’t be happening, she thought. She snapped her eyes open. “I really need to call Pastor Freeman.”
Darnell looked at her with questions in his eyes, but he didn’t say a word.
“I stand by what I know in my gut. Charmayne wouldn’t have done this.”
One of Darnell’s eyebrows shot up. “Are saying there could be foul play with Charmayne’s death? How do you know this wasn’t a way for Charmayne to reach out to you?”
Lenora swallowed and folded her arms as though to protect herself. She looked back toward the garage and watched as two men carried out a black bag on a stretcher.
Her body shook as waves of tears flowed. This old secret lay solely with her now. Lenora wasn’t sure who or what led to Charmayne’s death. What she did know was that it was time to tell the truth.
Darnell touched her shoulder. “Why don’t I call your husband and ask him to meet us at the station?”
Unable to answer, she nodded. Lenora realized she was about to test the limits of her marriage. What would Jonathan think of her? This was one of those times when she would have loved to hear her mother’s no-nonsense advice. In the back of her mind, she could hear her mother stating her favorite Bible saying, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”