Milton laughed suddenly, a little wildly. He sobered quickly. “From the garden shed,” he said. “When she isn’t strung out on pills, Tammy is out in the garden. That’s why she has such a dark tan. People in the neighborhood consult her a lot, because she knows so much about chemicals. She has all kinds of hazardous stuff in that shed. Including sodium cyanide.”
“Good grief, where does she get the cyanide?” I asked, remembering another situation where cyanide had come into play.
“She distills it herself,” Milton said. “You probably don’t remember this, but she has a degree in chemistry. Worked for a big company in Memphis for almost five years after we first got married.”
I didn’t think Milton needed me to tell him how bad things looked for Tammy. She went out of the house disguised, knew how to make a deadly, fast-acting poison, and had had a nasty confrontation with the dead woman. The circumstantial evidence was highly suggestive.
“You understand now why I’m so terrified,” Milton said.
“Yes,” I said, still stunned by the latest revelation. Could there be another explanation for why Tammy had disguised herself when she left the house? I thought of a sordid one, but there could be other, less sordid ones.
“Was this the first time, to your knowledge, that Tammy went out disguised like that?” I asked.
“No,” Milton replied. “I’ve caught her doing it three or four times in the past few years. I think it has something to do with her sources for the pills.”
That was the sordid explanation that had occurred to me. “Then isn’t it possible that’s what she did last night? Went out because she needed more pills?”
“I’ve thought about that myself,” Milton said, “but I know for a fact that she got a fresh supply on Saturday.” He sighed. “She thinks I don’t know where she hides them, but I do. I’ve been tempted so many times to dispose of them, but I know that wouldn’t stop it.”
In the length of the time she had been gone from home on Tuesday night, she could have driven to Holly Springs or another good-sized town not far away. If Tammy hadn’t needed pills, though, then she wouldn’t need to don her disguise in order to meet a dealer or go to another pharmacy.
Back to the scenario with Tammy as the murderer.
“Doesn’t look good, does it?” Milton said in a despairing tone.
“No, it doesn’t,” I replied. “If you told me all this because you wanted my advice—”
Milton interrupted me. “I do.”
“Then my advice to you is to talk to Kanesha Berry. She’s intelligent, and she’s fair. If she isn’t absolutely sure that Tammy is responsible for Gerry’s murder, then she won’t arrest her. But she needs to know about this.”
“I know,” Milton said. “Besides, somebody there might have recognized her, and for all I know, they’ve already informed Deputy Berry.”
“Yes.” I got up from the desk and placed a hand on Milton’s shoulder. I squeezed it lightly. “This is really rough, I know, and I hate that you’re having to go through all this. You’re a good man, Milton, and you deserve better.”
The look of gratitude Milton gave me touched me deeply. He looked more peaceful now. He had undoubtedly needed to unburden himself, and though I was not happy to know all the things about Tammy that I knew now, I was happy that I could help my friend by listening.
“Thank you, Charlie,” Milton said, his voice husky from emotion. “You’re a good man, too.”
“I’m going home now,” I said. “If you need to talk again, let me know.”
“Thanks, I will,” Milton said.
I looked back at him before I stepped through the door. He sat staring at the telephone on his desk. I turned and walked away, saying a prayer for him as I went.
When I left the store, I stopped beside my car while my eyes adjusted to the bright afternoon sun. Though the air chilled me, the sun was warm on my face. I took time to glance around the square, surveying the holiday decorations. The town council and the square merchants worked together every year to put up a beautiful Christmas display, and this year the square was as beautiful as ever.
Colorful metallic garlands wrapped around light poles, and oversized ornaments dangled from trees and light poles alike. Storefronts were also strung with garlands and festooned with holly. At night, multicolored lights would suffuse the square with a magical glow. In the middle of the square itself stood a stable, surrounded by the Three Wise Men, their camels, and assorted stable animals. I knew that inside the stable there stood a crèche in which the holy infant rested, while on either side of him his earthly parents knelt in prayer.
When I was a small child growing up in Athena, the displays weren’t quite so lavish, but I remembered the excitement I felt when my parents would bring me to the square on Christmas Eve. We would walk around the square and check out the displays in each store window. After we made one circuit, my father would put me on his shoulders so that I could see over the crowd of other families who had also come to enjoy the sights.
Thanks to recent events, my Christmas spirit had retreated. I had too many worries on my mind to let the joy of the season work its usual magic. Now, however, with the vista spread before me, I started to catch the spirit again. I vowed that my family would have a joyous holiday, Alex included.
A loud voice and a quick toot on a horn roused me from my daydreaming. I glanced toward the street, where I saw a man in his car trying to attract my attention.
“Are you coming or going?” he asked in an easygoing tone. “If you’re going, I could really use that parking space.”
“Sorry, yes, I’m going.” I smiled before I got in the car, thankful that he hadn’t been rude. As it was, I felt guilty enough for tying up the parking space longer than was strictly necessary. I backed out, and I saw in my rearview mirror that he moved right in. I focused on the street ahead of me.
Traffic was heavy around the square, and cars moved slowly through the four-way stops at each corner. While I waited for the cars ahead of me to move, I continued to glance around the square. Up ahead to my left I spotted the building that housed Jared Carter’s dental practice and a couple of lawyer’s offices. The young woman emerging from the building looked familiar, and as the cars began to move, I drew closer to where she stood by a parked car, talking on her phone.
She glanced my way, and I recognized her and waved. Startled, she waved back, as if by reflex, then turned away. I wondered if Jincy Bruce, Gerry’s assistant, had been consulting one of the lawyers or if she had been to see the dentist. Given the fact that Jared had possibly known the identity of Ronni Halliburton, I suspected she might have been to see Jared. She had an expression similar to one I often sported after a session with my dentist—extreme discomfort.
Was it only a simple visit to the dentist, though? Maybe Jincy knew more about this whole situation than I had thought.
That idea led me to another one. Was Jared somehow involved in Gerry Albritton’s real estate schemes?
TWENTY-FOUR
That constituted a rather big leap in logic, I told myself—going from a chance, overheard remark at the party to a connection between a prominent dentist and a secretive real estate scheme.
If Melba had heard correctly, however, then Jared Carter obviously knew something about Ronni. Was it really a person’s name? Or perhaps it was simply a code word. There might not be a Ronni Halliburton at all, at least in this case.
Kanesha had the resources to trace the true identity of Gerry Albritton. I had no access to databases used by law enforcement agencies, and presumably one of Kanesha’s deputies had checked the yearbooks by now. If Kanesha couldn’t turn up anything through her sources, though, the mystery might never be solved. I needed to let go of my curiosity over this investigation and stay out of Kanesha’s way. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, whether Milton had picked up the phone and called her. Not my business, I reminded myself sharply, and concentrated on driving.