We’d done specials for KWMT-TV after other murder cases.
We’d never done one with the news director’s office turned over to detectives and scientists, searching for evidence to buttress a confession. In case Les recanted, they said.
I suppose they had to do their jobs. Especially with the case officially transferred from Horse Creek County to Cottonwood County to resolve any conflict of interest for Deputy Greg Itson.
It was pure bonus for Shelton that doing their jobs distracted from us doing our jobs.
Turns out, Les was wrong about the bicycle.
He’d thought it would be taken from the bar, obscuring all connection to him. Instead, it remained at the bar, waiting for its rightful owner. No fingerprints were found, except a few from the owner in odd places on the frame … and one of Les Haeburn’s on a pedal, in keeping with someone adjusting it to close the trunk of a car, after he removed the gloves he’d worn earlier.
The Slake-ur-Thirst bartender identified Les as coming in every month or so for years, with a tendency to drink deep and fast. Had he chosen that spot because Val Heatherton couldn’t reach him in its black hole of connection?
It was where he spent Monday, which made it possible he’d told the truth when he said he hadn’t heard about events until we told him at KWMT-TV Monday night.
Except we told him a Sherman woman was dead. He said a woman was killed in Horse Creek County.
Something he couldn’t have known about … if he was telling the truth.
The fingerprint and bartenders’ IDs were — pardon the expression — overkill. Haeburn confessed again in a Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Department interview room while they recorded.
The county attorney and James Longbaugh were in discussions of what KWMT-TV could run of our recordings.
In the newsroom, brief but spirited debate ensued about whether we should skip a special this time, considering how close to home it hit.
That, my argument went, was precisely why we had to do one — to treat this murderer the same as we had others. The opposing argument was we didn’t have the time, staff, or resources.
Both things being true, we worked like crazy to keep the daily newscasts up to their recent, improved, standard while also producing a special.
Audrey aired another of my stockpiled “Helping Out!” segments. Two in under two weeks. At this rate, I’d run out in a couple years.
It reminded me I’d done a “Helping Out!” piece earlier in the year on negotiating the bureaucracy to get help for sufferers of early onset Alzheimer’s and their families.
Somehow a copy of that show and a printout of resources got sent to Deputy Greg Itson.
I know it was received because Deputy Richard Alvaro stopped me in the cookie aisle of the Sherman Supermarket while I was on an emergency run and — after clearing his throat three times — told me Itson’s mother’s position in the good facility in Cody was secured and it was a real decent thing I’d done.
The second piece of news about Greg Itson came in pieces via Mike.
First, that Jack Delahunt had received, taken, and returned tests from all the major family DNA companies. Mike used some connections to get those tests to the front of the line.
Next, Jack got several hits that turned out to be distant cousins. That was a blow.
Finally, the day of our special on the murder of Melissa Oxley, Mike called with the update we’d been hoping for. Jack had a hit. A son.
He sent a message.
A response came back immediately.
They talked on the phone.
That’s when they realized how close they were geographically.
They’ve set up a meeting, with the blessing of Greg Itson’s parents.
Magnus Boesch renewed his apartment lease. He continues to work in the back office of the country club.
Fawn Raglettley has started helping teach little kids basketball. Mike and Mrs. P worked together to bring this about, thanks to an old coach of Mike’s and Mrs. P’s connection in the school system.
The report is she is greatly enjoying interacting with the kids in addition to her ranch work for the Baxters.
That couple has had a meeting with James Longbaugh about setting up their estate to take care of them if they’re no longer able to work on the ranch, and to help provide for Fawn after they’re gone.
They were delighted to hear of a special program available to them through Fawn’s work with the kids to cover the cost of James advising them and drawing up necessary documents.
James has said he will not outright lie, but agreed that if they don’t ask, he won’t reveal exactly who’s funding this special program.
On that same emergency run to Sherman Supermarket, I saw Fawn with Shelley.
We all said hello, a few pleasantries, then parted ways. A couple aisles later, Fawn hurried up to me.
“I looked up that word you said before. Astute. Took a while. I didn’t know how it was spelled or anything. But I found it. That was real nice of you.”
“I reported the fact, Fawn. Recognizing that what’s said around another statement gives us additional information is truly astute.”
She smiled widely, raised her hand in farewell, and trotted off to find Shelley.
* * * *
The daily newscast folks and those of us working on the special all took time out when Dale brought in the dinner order.
KWMT kept Hamburger Heaven in business.
With the worst of the hunger pangs sated, I said, “I’ve heard Thurston screw-up stories about Oreos and in absentia and sperm whales and finger-sucking. But nothing from you, Leona.”
She grinned.
“Those are all good. But not the best one.”
We all quieted, acknowledging she had our full attention.
“He was doing a teaser for the next block, including a medical story.”
We groaned. Thurston’s renditions of scientific terms — even with the pronouncers supplied by the wires — defied logic or description. Remembering Jerry’s account about the story on the library, he wasn’t foolproof with ordinary English, either.
“It was about researchers discovering a deadly organism. But Thurston announced that after the break, he’d reveal details behind researchers discovering —”
“Oh, no,” Diana and I said together.
“—a deadly orgasm.”
“No!” came a chorus nearly as loud as the laughter.
“And with nobody willing to face the wrath of Fine,” Leona continued, “that’s what he said throughout the story.”
After the laughter eased, she added, “I’ve had that recording transferred to new media every couple years so I don’t lose it. Institutional memory.”
Late that night, when the two of us walked out together, I said to Leona, “I’ve been thinking about institutional memory.”
She waited.
“Your voice when you said Les didn’t have the same kind of sway with the ownership Artie had. You knew. About Val Heatherton.”
“Knew? Like with proof? No. Suspect? Yes. Artie had enough on her to keep her away from the newsroom, but he told me never to get on the wrong side of her. She’d had a string of men she controlled, mostly working for the company.”
“Dodd Oxley.”
“Dodd?” Her eyes went wide, which let me see her brain putting together pieces. “Huh. His father-in-law, too? That would explain why he hated Dodd. Protective of Barbara or angry at being pushed out by his son-in-law or both. Also, probably pissed Dodd escaped… My, my, my.”
And she’d scoffed at Jennifer for a soap opera plot.
She added thoughtfully, “Bet Dodd Oxley surprised the heck out of her when he sprung loose.”
“Explains why he was willing to take the risk of stealing from those con men.”
“All this explains why Val, Honey, Craig, and staff have decamped for a home in Spain. No sign of an imminent return.”
* * * *
I watched the special at home, with a making-up-for-lost-time cuddle with Shadow
Though, in fact, my dog might not have felt the lack of my company, with Iris and Zeb Undlin caring for him, plus visits from Tamantha and Tom, which I’d heard averaged out to more than daily.
I needed to thank them for their Shadow missions of mercy.
Tamantha would be easy.
Watching the special, I saw more I’d like to change than any of our previous ones. We’d covered the bases, but areas that would have benefited from another edit or a re-ordering of information to make it easier to follow. I suppose if we ever produced the perfect one there’d be no point in doing more.
My phone rang as the credits ran.
Mike.
His face appeared and a smile welled up from my heart.
“I only have a minute, because I’m the sports guy tonight, but you all did a great on this,” he said.
“How did you get it so fast?”
“Jennifer.”
Of course.
“You don’t look as pleased with yourself as you should, Elizabeth. The special or—?”
“I thought… I thought maybe I didn’t want to look into this at the beginning because part of me hoped Thurston was guilty.”
“All of Jennifer hoped that.”
“I know. But there was an innocence about her hope — her belief.”
“So you wondered for, what? A day? After that, you didn’t. You found out who did it. You found out the truth.”
The truth.
I looked at him on the screen. “Mike, it was awful. He… It was so awful.”
“You didn’t make it awful, Elizabeth. He did.” He swore under his breath. “I know this isn’t the time, but I need to talk to you about something. Something big. Something that could change both of our futures.”
My heartbeat stumbled like a tripped-up runner. “Mike—”
“Don’t say anything. I can’t get into it now, here.” He dropped his voice, reminding me he was in a newsroom. “And you can’t really know until I tell you all of it. But I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Soul-searching.”
Soul-searching.
I gulped in air. “Of course. We should set up a time when we can talk without interruption. If you want to video chat—”
“In person. I’m coming there. Soon. Elizabeth—” He swore again. “I’ve gotta go. I’m sorry, but—”
“Go, go. I know the strident call of deadline. We’ll talk.”
He chuckled lightly as we hung up.
I didn’t.
* * * *
The next afternoon, Tom Burrell and I stood at the bottom of my back steps, watching my dog and his daughter adore each other.
Apparently, the Burrells had not been prepared to quit visiting Shadow cold turkey. I knew he wasn’t, either, and welcomed them happily.
Tom and I had already dealt with his showing up for the scene at KWMT. I expressed my independence and self-reliance. He listened carefully and said he’d do it again and to get over myself.
Not quite in those words.
He shared that Leona and Linda Caswell individually had conversations with Val Heatherton before her departure for Spain.
No word on specifics or even what aspect they talked about. But take your pick — it couldn’t have been comfortable.
Without ever going back on the air, Thurston Fine resigned from KWMT-TV, refusing to acknowledge that Les fired him.
Either way, he was gone.
Needham had the best line: “Oh-ho, so this is playing out with a hush, not a bang.”
Dale had been tasked with packing Thurston’s office belongings and taking them to his home. He said the house was dark and no one answered the door.
Penny said Thurston was seen at the airport within hours of leaving the Heatherton house the day after Les’ arrest.
The release put out by the station’s owners — in other words written by news aide Jennifer Lawton and approved by Craig Morningside via email — said he’d left to explore other pursuits.
He’s in Denver, working for a corporation headquartered there, in their PR department — excuse me, Communications Department. I suspected Chloe helped get him the job. After all, she wouldn’t want a failure besmirching her stats. Not to mention any other besmirching.
The best part is Thurston’s writing news releases. I expect he’s decent at it, considering his familiarity with the genre from reading so many on-air as his version of news.
Could Les do anything about Thurston’s thumbscrew-turning? Considering his own legal issues, he probably has other priorities.
Nothing has been said publicly about the relationship between Val and Les, but even if it doesn’t figure during the investigation or court case, enough of the newsroom knows that it could sift into the public realm like mist across a mountain.
Perhaps with the upheaval in so many lives and the memory our previous backyard chat on my mind, I said to Tom. “I did want the truth. I needed to find it.”
“I know.”
“Hah! That’s not what you said Monday night.”
“Elizabeth—”
“No. Wait. I shouldn’t have said it that way, like I was outraged or even mock outraged, because I needed to hear it. Yes, keeping KWMT from rolling off the tracks was the priority the first day, but I needed to be brought up short. To be reminded about—”
“No, you didn’t. You were always going to look into it. You were tired. You’d wrapped up that other murder and with Jennifer here for only part of it and Mike gone—”
“And you.”
“—and me. You carried a lot. After a breath, you were always going to pick this up and look into what happened to Melissa Oxley. And I knew that. That’s what Diana said when I called her on my way here Monday night. That I already knew what you would do and I was making excuses.”
Excuses? But that wasn’t the real question. “Why did you come, then?”
He swallowed.
“I couldn’t stay away from you.”
He turned to me and stroked the back of his knuckles down my cheek.
“I can’t stay away from you.”
Timing is everything.
Like the sound of someone at my gate.
We turned together to see Krista Seger standing there.
“Mind if I come in?” She looked uncomfortable enough to have witnessed that moment between Tom and me.
There was nothing to say except, “Of course not, come in.”
I thought she might want to discuss the news that broke yesterday and led both the Five and Ten newscasts.
A lawyer from Cody, who’d been away when Melissa died, came forward with her will, drawn up in September.
Melissa left a few bequests, including a modest trust for Fawn and money to the library. Everything else went to Greg Itson.
The neighbors were so thrilled Magnus Boesch did not inherit the house, that I hadn’t heard even one wondering why Melissa made a Horse Creek County deputy her heir. Yet. That connection was sure to come out. Not from me, however.
So even if Krista was interested in that aspect, I would not be spilling…
She had an entirely different topic in mind.
“Elizabeth, you know I’ve appreciated how you handled that, uh, situation at the B&B last year and I wanted you to hear this before it goes public. Aunt Val is selling KWMT.”
“To whom?”
“Nothing’s final, but she’s talking with a group that owns other stations. They broadcast old sitcoms and religious services.” She inhaled quickly, then exhaled slowly. “They don’t consider news wholesome. They’ve dropped it from all their stations.”
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Thank you for reading Elizabeth, Tom, Mike, and the KWMT staff’s story! Team Tom? Team Mike? You’re finally going to find out the answer … and so is Elizabeth. After investigating a series of murders, Elizabeth finds herself drawn to both the enigmatic rancher and the fellow journalist and home-town sports hero. But Mike has TV career aspirations of his own, and Tom has a feisty daughter who’s definitely Team Dad.
Will crime in Sherman go on hiatus so that Elizabeth can sort out her next moves? Not on your life.
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