Chapter Seventeen

The moans that escaped my mouth while I was eating the maple bacon donut was not normal. No wonder my dad loved them. I couldn’t believe I had waited so long to try them.

I sat in the Wagoneer with the full intention of actually writing down everything Raven had told me about what she’d learned about Avon while she was a customer. It wasn’t anything different than what Sebastian had said about her personality that he’d seen as she worked. I would be interviewing a few members of the staff and also some of the therapists in addition to my interview with Reagan, while I was at Cottonwood Acres Rehab.

I went to reach for my notebook in the pocket of my shirt and realized there was gooey maple glaze smothered on my fingertips. Naturally, I put it in my mouth and licked off every single bit of it, giving me one more good groan of delight. These just might replace my chocolate drizzle and country gravy biscuits from Ben’s. I’d never tell him that though.

I quickly wrote down that Avon had purchased three donuts on the day she died. Did she eat all three? It was something I could ask Max Bogus when I stopped by to get the autopsy report. This could determine if she’d eaten all of them or had the intention of giving a couple away. It would help determine what might’ve been in Avon’s head. Was she meeting someone and took donuts to them as a good gesture? If that was the case, who did she meet? Was that my killer?

I looked back through my notebook to where I’d gone to Avon’s house with Finn. Based on how my notes stated that her kitchen had healthy food and the fact that she had a healthy physical appearance, I’d bet that she didn’t eat all three donuts. But only Max would for sure be able to tell me that.

By the time I’d finished writing down what Raven had told me, there was already a line out of the Sweet Shop’s door. Who knew how well they would have taken off in Cottonwood. I was glad. This only added to my plea in hiring a second deputy. With growth of the economy, came more people and citizens. That was a good argument about how that alone would make the crime rate statistics go up.

The curvy roads leading to Clay’s Ferry were empty. The trees had grown into a canopy overtop the road and filtered out any sort of the new day’s sun. My mind was filled with many things and darted from thought to thought. It was too early for me to call Finn and check on his mom. It was definitely too early for me to call Mama.

“What’s on our plate today?” Poppa suddenly appeared after I pulled into the parking lot of the lab.

“Good morning,” I greeted him and pushing the gear shift into park, noticed that Tom Geary wasn’t there yet. I’d have to save his donut for later. “It’s been a busy day. Finn’s mom had a heart attack.”

“Is she okay?” Poppa asked with furrowed brows.

“She was talking last night, but her nurse was Reagan Quinlan. She gave me a gut tug, so I think we’ve got something with her. We will find more out when I go talk to her later today.” I reached around the seat and grabbed the evidence bags with Avon’s purse and wallet.

“Did you tell Finn the theories we came up with?” He asked.

“No. He was more preoccupied with his mom and when I did point out to him that Reagan was a person of interest, he got kinda mad and said his mom was top priority.” I didn’t blame him. I woulda been the same way. “So, it looks like today, me and you are on our own.”

“The way I like it.” Poppa’s brows wiggled up and down in a dance.

“I’ll be right back. Tom isn’t here this early and I’m going to put it in the metal slot next to the door.” Since Tom was a one-man operation, he couldn’t be there all the time so there was a metal slot on the door that you could slide the evidence into. It led to a vault that only he could get into. It was convenient, and I’d never had any problem when dropping things off.

When I got back into the Wagoneer, Poppa was sitting there with a blank look on his face peering out the windshield.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“Do you really think these are two separate crimes?” He asked.

“I’ve gone over that a million times. Is it a coincidence that I caught Rich and Avon arguing? I’ve got a feeling it’s not. I can’t help but wonder if maybe it was Rich she knew something about and that’s why we’re going to see Sheriff Davis in Clay’s Ferry.” I pulled out of the parking lot and headed right into Clay’s Ferry.

The sheriff’s department was much bigger than ours and was its own building in the town’s precinct district. The area included their courthouse, their department, and their jail. I was jealous that they had an elected jailer position.

“Are you going?” I asked Poppa and pulled into the parking lot closest to the sheriff’s department. “I’ve got to go to the dispatch and grab the transcript they have on Lita Brumfield and Avon Meyers before I go see Sheriff Davis about Rich’s early release from jail.”

“I might take a gander around.” He ghosted out of the car and I got out. I left my bag in there since I wasn’t going to need it.

“Try to find out something good.” I laughed and knew that there probably wasn’t much he could find out since all over our suspects were back in Cottonwood.

The hours of operation open for public was six thirty a.m. until five p.m. with night shift hours for the dispatch and limited deputies on staff. This was something I needed to bring up at the town council. Then I wouldn’t have to come here to get transcripts for my town.

“Sheriff, what brings you over here?” I recognized Wilma Gerhding’s voice from when I’d called here before.

“You’re Wilma.” I offered a smile and walked up to the chest-high counter, placing my elbows on it.

“The one and only.” She stood up from her chair. She was only about five-foot-tall, petite figure, and short curly red hair that reminded me of an older version of Annie from the movie Annie. There was a pair of glasses hanging down her chest from a chain around her neck. “What can I do you for?”

“We’ve got a murder investigation.” I started to say.

“I heard. Anytime there’s a murder, we hear about it.” Her face remained facing forward, but her eyes shifted left and right before she leaned over the counter. “With what’s going on around here, we have to talk about other counties to keep us feeling better.”

“What’s going on?” I’d been so involved with the cases, that I’d not heard whatever news she was talking about.

“I can’t believe you haven’t heard about the FBI putting Sheriff Davis on permanent leave.” There was an element of surprise in her tone as if she’d just heard the news too.

“You’re kidding me?” Immediately, my judge-y side made me think he was guilty of whatever it was.

“Not a bit. He was helping out a drug lord.” She shrugged. “I’ve heard that it did have something to do with that guy from your town.” She snapped her fingers. “Fiddle faddle. I can’t remember his name.” She held up a finger and turned on the balls of her feet.

She picked up the phone and pushed a bunch of numbers. She curled her small hand around the receiver and whispered into it before she hung it back up.

“Rich Moss.”

“My Rich Moss?” Things had just become very interesting.

“Mmmhmmm. I don’t know what he had to do with Rich Moss, but I hear it ain’t good. He even let him go on good behavior.” She wagged her finger. “That was a no-no. Last night the prosecutor put a warrant out for the judge to sign this morning when he gets in to put Rich Moss back behind bars.”

My stomach lurked.

“I’m assuming you aren’t here for that.” Her eyes snapped.

“No, but that’s good information. I’m here to see about getting the transcripts from my area from a call from Lita Brumfield. The young woman murdered has history with Mrs. Brumfield calling dispatch after hours. They’ve had neighborly disputes for a year or so and a lot of calls.”

“Lita.” When she said Lita’s name, she dragged it out while typing. I watched her eyes scan the screen. “We’ve got a separate input for Cottonwood and she’s called a ton.” Her tongue outlined her lips and her fingers continued to tap on the keyboard. “Print.”

The printer behind her started to spit out paper into the tray. She reached around and grabbed them.

“Here you go.” She laid them on the counter. “It looks like she’s called at least once a month.” Her finger drew down the date column. “Pretty silly stuff too.” She tapped the header under causation and laughed. “She claimed the young girl’s car was an inch over the property line in front of the house.” She shook her head in disbelief.

“You have no idea.” My eyes glazed over the paper. I’d take much more time when I got back to the office to go over them.

“Kenni, bug.” Poppa appeared in the doorway leading out to the hall that connected to the courthouse. He sounded out of breath. “You’ve got to come here fast.”

“Thank you so much. And it was nice to put a name to the face.” I smiled. “You’ve been so kind over the past few years and I truly do appreciate it.”

“No problem.” She went back to her chair.

“Come on!” Poppa screamed at me. “Look.”

I followed his arm down to his pointed finger and in the distance, I saw a man in street clothes who looked like Finn.

There must’ve been a strange look on my face because Poppa confirmed what I was thinking.

“Yep. That’s your deputy with the city commissioner.” Poppa nodded.

I gulped and watched them disappear into an office. Finn didn’t see me. My phone chirped a text from my back pocket. I grabbed it. Anything to get my mind off what I’d just seen. It was Katy Lee Hart. She asked me to call her when I had time. She’d gotten some information about the cuff links and their value for me.

Instead of heading down to the commissioner’s office, I trotted back to get some information from Wilma.

“You’re back.” Wilma grinned.

“Wilma, did you say the sheriff’s position is open?” I asked.

“Mmmhmmm,” Her chin lifted up and then down in a dramatic way. “The commissioner is interviewing candidates all day today. Some big wig from the Kentucky State Reserve is in there now. They’re really impressed with his resume.”

Her words were like a sword stabbing my heart. Had Finn really come to interview for the job and not tell me about it?

I tapped the counter with a couple quick pats.

“Thanks, I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled and send any candidates your way.” There was a smile on my face that covered up the heart breaking in my chest.

The more I thought about what I’d seen, the angrier I got.

“How could he?” I beat the stirring wheel with the palm of my hand, taking the curves back into Cottonwood with a heavier footed than I should. “I was even going to see the sheriff about Rich, but not now.”

“Kenni bug, slow down.” Poppa had his hand curled around the door handle. His ghost knuckles were whiter than usual. “You’ve got to settle down before you see him. Your head has to be on straight. We’ve got a big day ahead.” He repeated what I’d told him earlier. “What are your thoughts?”

“My thoughts?” I snorted. “They are jumbled. Why on Earth wouldn’t Finn tell me anything about Clay’s Ferry? What else do I not know about him?”

I had some doubt in how well I really did know Finn and I didn’t like having doubt in my head.

“Kenni bug,” Poppa’s tone had turned a bit condescending.

“What?” I spat, “You mean to tell me that all of the sudden you’re going to take his side and stick up for him?’

“Not what I was going to say, but you’ve got to take care of you. You can’t be worrying about him. You need to make sure your head is in the game. You need to be in tip top shape for interviewing Reagan, going back to talk to Lita about her boy. Go to the rehab to visit Shelby with a smile on your face and act as if you don’t know a thing about Finn with the Clay’s Ferry commissioner.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, relieved that we had just driven over the Cottonwood town line.

“Because you have to be elected again. Everything you do will always be under a microscope. You can’t worry about what he’s out there doing.” I both loved and hated when Poppa made sense and brought me back to reality.

I let what he said hang in the air between us as we continued our trip back into town. As we headed south on Main Street, I knew that I wanted to go the rehab center to check on Shelby and Lita Brumfield before I continued with the investigation I’d planned for today.