Crowned and Moldering

“I already told you he was.” I said it more petulantly than I meant to, but I didn’t like how he was getting in my face.

“Okay. Sorry.” He held up his hands in surrender as a way of acknowledging that he was being pushy. “Really, I’m sorry. I’m a little . . . well, this whole thing has blown up in our faces, and I’m angry—really angry—about it.”

“I don’t blame you. I’m currently in shock, but I’ll be moving toward angry any minute now.”

“You might want to hurry up,” he said curtly. “This case was unfortunate to begin with, but it just turned really ugly. Frankly, I was hoping to write it off as an unfortunate accident or misadventure, but the fact that Lily was pregnant makes me think somebody wanted to get rid of her and the baby. And that spells murder.”

“Oh, God.” I rubbed my stomach, feeling sick. Poor Lily. If only she’d had an understanding parent at home, she might’ve been able to get through this with family support. Instead she’d had only Cliff to lean on—if he even knew. Or if the baby was even his. Either way, I couldn’t see him being any help at all.

I knew instantly that it wasn’t fair to blame Cliff. At least until there was more evidence against him. But in my book, he was a big enough creep to have killed Lily and her unborn child. So until further notice, he was number one on my suspect list.

“So, that’s why you were talking about DNA tests.”

Eric’s eyes narrowed. “There you go, paying attention again.”

Whether he was kidding or not, his response made me laugh. “Yeah, it’s an irksome little habit of mine. So I guess this means the ME was able to extract the baby’s DNA, and now you’re going to want to run a DNA test on whoever you think is the father.”

“You’ve got the basics right there,” Eric said. “So, can you think of anyone else, any other male who was friendly with Lily? Maybe you saw her talking to some guy and it didn’t register at the time, but now it makes sense? Anyone, Sha

“I’m thinking.” I hated to name names off the top of my head, but that was what I was here for. “Okay, I’m just going to call out every male who was around at the time. Doesn’t mean I think he’s guilty, okay?”

“Noted.” He grabbed a pen and clicked it open. “I’ll write down the names.”

“Okay. So there’s Sean, of course, and his father, Hugh. And there’s Cliff and his buddy, Jason. I forgot about him before. Jason moved away years ago. They hung out with a bunch of other guys, but I can’t think of any of their names. They were older than me.”

“Okay.”

“And there were all the guys in the play with her.” I thought for a moment. “Bart Bockner played Da

“He still living around here?”

“He’s not in Lighthouse Cove anymore, but I think he lives maybe ten or fifteen miles away. Tommy might know all these guys and where they live. And there were a couple of stagehands who were friendly with Lily.” I gave Eric the names of everyone I could remember seeing on a regular basis in the drama club. “I guess you could add the drama teacher, Mr. Peterson. He and Lily were always talking together because he was directing the play. I think he’s still teaching.”

“Good to know.”

I shrugged. “And as long as you have Mr. Peterson, you might as well add all the other teachers in school. There’s Mr. Delgado, Mr. Jones, Mr. Carver. And let’s not forget Dismal Dain. I know you already talked to him but I’ll bet he’s worth another shakedown.”

He glanced up. “Shakedown?”

I smiled. “Just wishful thinking, I guess.”

“Do you even know what shakedown means?”

I broke out in a grin. “Not really, but I’m hoping you’ll shake him silly.”

Eric shook his head. “Dream on. Anyone else?”

I threw my hands up, exasperated. “Everyone I went to school with is a possibility. I mean, Hal Logan went to school here. He was in Lizzie’s class and they’re both five years ahead of me. But Hal might’ve known Lily. And there’s Billy. He’s on my crew and went to school with me and Sean. And there’s Tommy. And Gus.”

“Wait. Are you talking about Hal Logan, your friend Lizzie’s husband? And Gus Peratti at the auto shop?”

“Right. We were in the same grade.”

“And Tommy,” he said flatly. “Your former boyfriend and my deputy chief.”

I gave him a pointed look. “You asked for the names of guys who went to school with Lily and me.”

“I did. But I’m more interested in any guys who were actually part of Lily’s circle. We can’t go around accusing the whole school.”

“But you asked,” I grumbled, then shook off my mood. “Okay, you can erase Tommy and Hal and Billy and Gus off the list. And Sean, too, as far as I’m concerned, but I know you have to at least consider him. Of course, he already agreed to your DNA test, so you’ve already proven he’s i

Eric didn’t answer, just gave me one of those looks that told me I’d ventured into unwelcome territory, so I moved along with my theories. “Cliff, on the other hand, is a definite suspect. And his buddy Jason, too, although I don’t know how you’d track him down. Mr. Dain is another definite, in my humble opinion. Bart and the other actors in the play were with Lily almost every night for three months leading up to the Spring Festival. They should all be investigated. Not that I’m telling you how to do your job.”

“Thanks,” he said dryly. “Besides Bart, how do I get the names of the other actors? Do you have a yearbook?”

“I do, but you’d be better off looking at the playbill for that year. They’re all on display in the glass case outside the theater auditorium. And they’ll have not only the actors, but the A/V guys and the prop guys and stagehands and carpenters. Not that a carpenter could ever be the bad guy.”

“Of course not.”

“I’ll be working at the school tomorrow,” I said. “I could get the programs for you.”

He smiled for the first time. “No, thanks, but I appreciate the offer.” He set down his pen and sat back in his chair. “So, you got the job at the school.”

“Yes. I’m excited about it. My crew and I are expanding and resurfacing the senior parking lot and erecting solar canopies.”

“Really smart idea.”

“I think so, too.” I stood to leave, then remembered something. “Why don’t you ask Denise Jones for some names? She would know if Lily was ever with one special guy.” I didn’t mention that I knew he’d already talked to her. It couldn’t hurt to ask her again, right?

Eric’s jaw clenched even tighter than before and I stepped back in shock. “Oh, my God. Denise is a suspect?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“Nothing is interesting, Sha

I gri

“Why?”

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to keep from rolling my eyes at the very question, not to mention his tone. “Because she’s a friend and she works at the nursery where I’ve been buying plants for most of my life.”

“Okay, just checking.”

I sighed. “You’re a suspicious guy, aren’t you?”

“Comes with the job.”

“Understood. Anyway, Denise and I were talking about Dismal Dain and the horrible stuff he told Lily. And Denise got so angry, she started pounding and hammering her shovel blade into the dirt. I don’t think she realized what she was doing, but it was weird and kind of violent.”

“What’s your point?”

I shrugged, unwilling to admit that I didn’t really have a point. “I just thought she seemed capable of killing someone with that shovel of hers. And she really hated Dismal Dain, so you might want to keep an eye on him.”

He gazed up at me. “I thought you hated him, too.”

Darn, he had me there. “I guess I do. But I wouldn’t kill him with my shovel.”