After finding the Bowards, explaining what had happened, and directing them to Neva to lodge their grievance, Skye left the school. It was only one o’clock, but there was no way she was sitting through that particular awards ceremony. It would feel too hypocritical. She would return that evening to help chaperon the graduation.
She pulled into the police department’s parking lot. Only two vehicles occupied slots—Thea’s old Chevy and her brother’s Jeep. What was Vince doing there? Surely he wasn’t a suspect this time. It had been a nightmare last fall when he had been accused of murdering a Chicago TV star. Skye hurried across the asphalt and thrust the glass door open.
Thea, the dispatcher, greeted her. “Skye, honey, don’t you look cute as a bunny in that pink outfit.”
“Thanks, Thea. Is my brother here?”
“Yep, he and the chief are talking.” Thea reached for the phone, but let it slide back into the cradle. “They been talking long enough. You go up there and see what’s going on.”
“Thanks.” Skye flashed the dispatcher a smile and ran up the steps. Thea had been one of Vince’s staunchest supporters when the police had tried to pin last September’s murder on him.
She could hear the two men’s voices as she rushed down the hall. Their tones sounded calm. As she pushed open the half-closed door, both men turned toward her.
Wally spoke first. “Skye, I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
“There were a couple things about Grandma’s death I wanted to talk over with you. Simon told me about the poison.”
“Good. Vince and I are about done. You might as well pull up a chair.”
“Thanks.”
The chief picked up a piece of paper and gestured toward Vince. “So, this is a list of customers you had the day your grandmother died?”
Vince nodded. “Yes. I started at seven that morning and didn’t leave the shop until Simon called me around five.”
“Is there anyone who can vouch for you before seven?” Wally asked.
“Yes, ah, I was with someone from about eight o’clock the night before.” Vince glanced at Skye and his ears turned red. He scribbled something on a slip of paper and slid it over to the chief. “That’s her name. I’d appreciate it if you kept this quiet.”
“I’ll check it out personally. No one else will have to know.”
Skye stared at Vince. Who had he spent the night with? He was supposed to be going out with Abby Fleming, the school nurse.
The chief stood and walked around his desk. “Sounds like you’re in good shape.”
The men shook hands.
Vince turned to Skye before leaving. “Stop by the shop tomorrow if you get a chance, will you?”
“Sure.” And you can tell me who your new girlfriend is. “I’ll be over sometime in the afternoon.” Skye closed her eyes and smiled. “Tomorrow is the first day of summer vacation. I’m sleeping until noon.”
“At Mom and Dad’s?” Vince smirked. “Dream on.”
After Vince’s departure, Wally took the chair next to Skye. She wished he’d go back behind his desk. Distance was a good thing where she and the chief were concerned.
“So, what’s up?” Wally smiled warmly.
“Well, one thing I wanted to mention to you was that those survivalists out by the farm had been annoying my grandmother for months, and I was wondering if you’d checked them out.”
“I talked to some of them. They probably did trespass and hunt out of season, but I can’t really see a motive for them killing her.”
“Maybe she saw something she shouldn’t have. She liked to sit with binoculars and watch the birds.”
“If she was shot, maybe, but I can’t see them baking poison brownies. Or her eating them if they were a gift from those people.”
Skye was unconvinced, but she didn’t have anything solid to offer the chief. She’d have to check them out herself. “I see from Vince you’re examining alibis. How is everyone checking out?”
“This is strictly between you and me.” Wally turned and grabbed a file. “I don’t think the police commissioners would be happy to find out I was discussing this case with a civilian, but I’m sorry for not taking more seriously what you said the day you found your grandmother.”
She pushed her hair back over her shoulder. “Thanks. I promise to be discreet. All I want is to help you figure out what happened. Being a member of the family, I have access to facts you don’t, but unless I know what you already have I may not realize what info is important and what isn’t.”
Wally nodded. “That’s my thinking too. And I’m convinced it wasn’t you or Vince. And your parents were together until about four that day. They had gone out to breakfast at seven, then to Kankakee to Farm and Fleet and a few other stores. Both the waitress and clerks remember them. So, I’m comfortable with this arrangement.” He sat back and crossed his legs. All the good old boy humor left his face. “Just don’t let me down. I’ve never been able to forgive a betrayal.”
This was one of the things that made Wally so attractive to her. He was straightforward and could admit when he was wrong. She leaned toward him, their knees almost touching. “I’d never do anything to damage your trust in me.”
He smiled and brushed her cheek with a knuckle. “I’m counting on that.” He turned and picked up a different folder. “Even though the pan of brownies could have been dropped off anytime, we figure Mrs. J was put into the well sometime between noon and three.”
“Mrs. J wasn’t real big, but I don’t think I could get her down the stairs and all the way to the well.” Skye tapped her chin with her finger.
“It’d be easy to shove her down the stairs and then it’s flat ground from then on,” Wally said. “We found a child’s wagon in the garage that matches the tire tracks in the grass. Whoever did it used the wagon to haul Mrs. J from the house to the well and once they were there they just tipped her in.”
“Any fingerprints?”
“Nope, everything was wiped clean.” Wally threw the manila file on his desk.
“Do you suppose it was the murderer I heard in the garage that day?”
“Seems a good possibility.”
Skye shivered. It really had been stupid to go out to that garage. “You didn’t say anything about alibis for my aunts, uncles, and cousins.”
Wally shrugged. “It’s hard to pin the rest of them down. Ginger and Gillian were at work most of the day, but both left to do errands on their lunch hour. Minnie was supposedly in Urbana, but she had no appointments during that time period so she could have driven back and forth.”
Skye scratched her head. “And let me guess. Dante, Emmett, and Neal were in their fields, alone.”
“Right. Mona was alone too, at her house. Then she went to Joliet to the dentist and shopping. But her appointment wasn’t until three. Olive was alone until Dante came home about four and they went to the auction around five. And Hugo was at work at the car lot, but it was a slow day and there were long stretches of time when he was without a customer.”
“So any one of them could have done it.”
“Afraid so.”
Skye looked around the Scumble River High School gym. The bleachers were extended to their fullest length and folding chairs filled the floor. All the lights were blazing from protective cages in the ceiling. The scents of flowers and perfume competed with the long-entrenched effluvium of sweat and the unique hormonal odor of teenagers.
A scattering of people had already claimed seats in the front rows. They chatted with each other, read the program, and otherwise amused themselves while waiting for the ceremony to begin. Three or four small children raced up and down the aisles, looking sweaty and uncomfortable in their dress clothes.
Leaning against the entrance, Skye remembered her own graduation thirteen years ago. She had stood on that very stage as the valedictorian of her class. Back then she thought she knew everything. She was sure Scumble River had nothing to offer her, and life would be perfect if she could just get away from her hometown. She had yearned for bright lights and sophistication without understanding the cost involved in acquiring those wishes.