Chapter 37
Dear Natasha,
I haven’t seen your color prediction for this year. Are you making one? I need to know. I’m redecorating!
Done with Gray in East Orange, New Jersey
Dear Done with Gray,
You’re not the only one who feels that way. This year’s color is sea-glass aqua. It will play nicely with corals and bold yellows.
Natasha
I hadn’t expected that! “Should he be?”
“Oh, Sophie,” she wailed, “please don’t make me say it. I know that you know. I don’t understand what’s happening. Are you giving him a pass? Sophie, I’ve been doing my best to get him out of town.”
“I noticed that. Hasn’t worked out very well for you. Has it?”
“He’s flying out this evening. He’ll be somewhere safe, where he’s loved. In the fall, I’ll make sure he gets into a good boarding school. Someplace where he can get therapy. I’ll make sure nothing like this ever happens again. He’s a good boy, Sophie. Truly he is.”
“Are you telling me that Spencer killed Tate? Did he confess to you?” I really hated to think it, and there remained a hair of doubt in my mind. Had he helped her and now she needed to pass off a good story, placing the blame on him and getting him out of town?
“The day we found Tate’s body, everything was a blur,” she said. “Just trying to wrap my head around the fact that Tate was gone was overwhelming. I was numb. Then there were the EMTs, and being questioned by Wolf, and people calling to ask if it was true. It was like a house of mirrors, with another nightmare no matter which way I turned. When Wolf left our house, there was a brief period of quiet. Pierce pulled me aside and showed me Spencer’s backpack.” Bobbie Sue swallowed hard. “Tate and I had bought the kids planet-friendly packs. They’re a natural color, sort of off-white because they haven’t been dyed. There was blood on it. It was unmistakable. And then he opened it and pulled out a team T-shirt that the kids wear. And there was blood on it, too. So much blood.” Bobbie Sue buried her head in her hands. “I couldn’t believe it. My sweet little boy!”
I patted her shoulder. “I thought Spencer ran in the 5K.”
“Coach said something about how well he did. Came in second, I think.”
“Where was the backpack while he was running? Wasn’t the finish line at Market Square? There are plenty of lights at night. Wouldn’t someone have noticed a bloody backpack?”
Bobbie Sue raised her head slowly and looked into my eyes. Relief washed over her face. “Yes. Yes, they would have noticed! And Spencer wouldn’t have run with it on his back. How could I have overlooked that?”
“Where did Pierce find the backpack?”
“In Spencer’s room, I think. I don’t really know.”
“You didn’t ask Spencer about it?” I stared at her.
“No! We were in a panic. The bloody backpack, the bloody shirt. It was so obvious to us. What were we supposed to think?”
“Where is it now?”
“Pierce destroyed it. We couldn’t have the police find it. He meant well, Sophie. We had to protect our boy.”
An awful thought crossed my mind. What if Bobbie Sue was worried about Pierce blabbing? “Did you poison Pierce?”
“No! How could you even suggest such a thing? Granted, I hated the miserable lug. There were times when I’d have liked to wring his neck. But I didn’t. I wouldn’t! Besides, I had never heard of that plant. Do you really think I would have had the time to go out and find one? I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
She made a very good point. It had to be someone who ran along trails and would have run across one. “Coach,” I said.
Bobbie Sue blinked at me. “Why him?”
“I guess it could have been someone else, but I know of two runners who have been hanging around Pierce. Coach and Spencer. I could be wrong, but doesn’t Spencer run mostly around town? That leaves Coach.”
“Why on earth would Coach poison Pierce? Oh, dear heaven! What if Spencer poisoned Pierce?” Bobbie Sue slid off her chair onto the floor in a dead faint.
I knelt next to her, gently tapping her cheeks and thinking that Spencer had been right. It was all too much for Bobbie Sue to take.
I retrieved a paper towel and wet it slightly with cold water. Kneeling again, I laid it across her forehead. “Bobbie Sue?”
She groaned and opened her eyes briefly before mashing them closed again.
“Maybe you should get some rest. Would you like to nap here or would you rather go home?”
She looked at me wearily and struggled to get up. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“You’ve been through a lot, Bobbie Sue. You need to take some time for yourself.”
She plopped into a chair. “I was afraid that you would discover that Spencer had killed Tate. I paced the house at night. I’ve hardly had any sleep. I should have come to you instead of hiding it like a dirty little secret. How stupid could I be? I need to see Pierce.”
“How about I drive you home to get some rest and I will go see Pierce?”
“No, I’m fine.” She stood up and swayed. Grabbing the table to steady herself, Bobbie Sue said, “Okay. Maybe that’s not such a bad idea.”
I grabbed my purse and walked her out to my car, staying very close lest she fall again. I drove her home and helped her to a sofa. When Bobbie Sue was comfortably sprawled out with a light throw over her, I asked, “Where would Spencer be about now?”
“They like to hang out around Jones Point Park. I think there are basketball hoops or something.”
“Thanks, Bobbie Sue. Get some rest.” I headed for the door.
“Wait! I thought Spencer was in the clear! Why are you looking for him?”
“Just for information on when and where he last saw his backpack. Get some sleep.”
“You will report back to me, won’t you?” she called.
“I promise.” I made certain the door was locked and pulled it closed behind me.
I drove over to the park and spotted Spencer right away.
He saw me as I approached and ran toward me. “Is Mom okay?”
“She’s exhausted. She’s taking a nap.”
“Whew! Seeing you here scared me.”
“I wanted to ask you some questions. Do you mind?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” He pointed at a bench.
We sat down and I asked, “How did you lose your backpack?”
“I was working on Midsummer Night’s Day.” He snorted. “Is that a thing? Anyway, I took my running clothes and shoes with me to work in the backpack so I wouldn’t have to go home. I changed my clothes at the restaurant and met up with a bunch of my friends. After the fireworks, I wanted to run a little to warm up, so I left the backpack with them. When I came back, it was gone. I thought Moe Millhouse had taken it and we got into sort of a tussle.”
“A tussle?”
“Yelling and pushing each other. Nothing major.”
“Why would he take it?”
“As a prank. Moe’s a jerk. He knew I could beat him, and I thought he wanted to throw me off by taking my backpack.”
“Did you ever see it again?”
“Nope. Is that important?”
“I don’t know. Did Pierce or Coach run in the 5K?”
“Naw. Coach is past his competitive days. Pierce wanted to run, but I didn’t see him. Typical.”
“What does that mean?”
“Ask anybody. Pierce is always late.”
“Coach was there when you finished?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see Pierce before you ran?”
“No.”
One-word answers. Oy. Teenagers! “Do you recall what Coach was wearing?”
“Seriously?”
“Try,” I said.
“I don’t know.” Spencer smiled. “Yes, I do. Coach wore his team shirt. I thought it was nice of him to show up to support the guys he coaches.”
“A team shirt like the one you couldn’t find this morning?”
“Yeah. Some of the guys are wearing one.” He pointed at his friends. They were typical. A cartoony mascot on blue and gold, which I presumed were the school colors.
A couple of his friends motioned for him to join them. “One last thing, Spencer. Did you see Coach anywhere that night?”
“Sure. He was at the play. I remember that because he was really nice to Jo, telling her what a great job she did. And I could tell Mom appreciated it, especially since Dad wasn’t there.”
Spencer went back to playing basketball with his friends and I sat on the bench for a few minutes watching them. Anyone could have taken Spencer’s backpack. I eyed the boys as they played. They were old enough to wear a size large or even extra-large in a T-shirt.
The disappearing and reappearing backpack was very odd. If an ordinary thief had taken it, then it would not have turned up in Spencer’s bedroom. It had to have been taken and returned by someone who knew that it belonged to Spencer. It had blood on it, so it was most likely at the scene of Tate’s murder. And since Tate was dead, the only person who could return it would be the killer. And that pointed directly to Pierce, who showed the backpack to Bobbie Sue.
Thoughts were swirling through my head. What if Pierce wanted to be Tate? Maybe he envied what Tate and Bobbie Sue had and he wanted to step into Tate’s place. He murdered Tate and then came to the rescue by making up the story about Spencer’s backpack so he and Bobbie Sue would have a new bond. A twisted one, but a joint desire to protect Spencer would unite them. Had united them.
I waved at the kids when I left the park and then drove to the hospital to see how Pierce was doing. If he was better, he might be able to talk to me. He would probably lie, of course. Especially if he murdered Tate.