Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
Simpson sped across town back toward Ami’s house as she requested with his caution lights flashing. As soon as he pulled up in her driveway, Kenneally opened the back door and got out. Ami followed, ran over to Gertrude’s front door, and started knocking. Kenneally raced around to the back yard to check for a back door. Instead, he found Gertrude and Clementine lying in the grass.
“Ami,” he bellowed. “Back here.”
The poor little poodle looked like it had been strangled with its leash while Gertrude’s tongue was hung out of her open mouth. He’d seen dead bodies before but never one strangled. He stooped down and checked at her neck for a pulse even though he knew there wasn’t one. Beneath his fingers, her skin was icy. This was his fault. If he hadn’t asked the woman to help keep Ami safe, she wouldn’t have been out checking on the house so early in the morning.
Ami ran toward him from the side of the house, and he stood quickly and caught her, shielding her from seeing her neighbor. “Don’t look. It isn’t a pretty sight. Call the sheriff and the medical examiner.”
She nodded and made the two phone calls as he led her back toward the front of her house. Simpson was waiting by the SUV and he gave him a questioning look. Kenneally shook his head in response and the driver nodded and pulled down his sunglasses.
“Is there anything I can do, ma’am?” Simpson asked.
“Thank you, but I’m fine,” Ami said as she finished her calls. “I just wish we’d taken the time to have looked for Gertrude this morning before going into the office. Maybe we could have saved her.”
“I doubt it,” Kenneally said. “Her body is stone cold so she and Clementine may be been there for some time, even before we left for your office.”
“Clementine too?” Ami said.
He nodded.
The shrill cry of police sirens announced the arrival of the sheriff before they saw his car arriving. He pulled into the drive and was around the car in a few strides. “Where is the body?”
Kenneally took him to the side of the house.
“Damn.” Tom stared at the bodies. “Why would anyone want to kill her and her dog?”
“I don’t know,” Kenneally rasped, “but it’s my fault. I’m the one who put her in danger by asking her to watch the place when we weren’t here.”
At Tom’s raised eyebrow, he added, “I thought it would help explain my presence here, but I never imagined something like this would happen.”
“Of course not,” Tom said. “She’s always out walking her dog. Why would anyone think she was doing anything other than that?”
He took a pair of latex gloves from his jacket pocket and pulled them on. “Did you touch the body?”
“Just to check the pulse,” Kenneally said, “Which I knew there wasn’t, but I also wanted to get an idea how long she might have been lying there. The body was stone cold.”
“Right. I understand Ami called Harold too? I’ll wait for him to give us an estimated time of death,” Tom said pulling a piece of paper folder up and sticking out of her front shirt pocket. “What’s this?”
“What?” Kenneally asked.
STOP MEDDLING
“This looks like the same handwriting as the message that was found with Tilda Jaynes body,” the sheriff said.
He walked back to the front porch where Ami sat. Kenneally followed him.
“Ami, can you confirm for me that this is the same illegible handwriting as that note that was found with Tilda’s body,” Tom said.
He held out the note for her to look at.
A horrified look crossed her features. “Oh my God. Is that message for me? Did Gertrude and Clementine die because I was getting too close to what is happening?”
“We don’t know that,” Tom said quickly. “Besides, what exactly have you done to get too close?”
Ami hugged herself. “I ask you again, Tom, should I cancel the Christmas events to keep Dixie safe?”
“At this time, I do not believe what has happened warrants you to do that.”
“You will tell me when it does?” Ami asked.
“Yes. Of course,” he said.
She sighed. “Can we keep Gertrude’s death a secret?”
“Sorry. I don’t think so, once Harold shows up and the body is taken away someone is going to see,” Tom said. “Even the few of your neighbors across the street who are home during the day have come out to see what the commotion of my sirens was all about.”
“I suppose you’re right. What a mess.” Ami sighed. “Could you tell how she died?”
“It was inconclusive,” Tom said. “There were no ligature marks on her neck therefore I don’t believe she was strangled like Clementine was with her leash. I’m going to wait for Harold’s pronouncement.”
Ami nodded. “I still wish we’d taken the time to have looked for her this morning when she wasn’t out walking Clementine when we left for work.”
“All that would have done was found her sooner,” Tom said. “She was already dead.”
The screeching of tires on payment caused them to look up as Harold and his assistant got out of the ME’s van. The assistant unloaded the gurney and the two headed around to the crime scene.
“I better go with them to help preserve evidence,” Tom said.
“December is a time for joy,” Ami said. “Not a time for accumulating bodies. Dixie is a quiet town. A crime free town. This is not something that happens every day.”
“And it won’t happen again once we find whoever is responsible,” Kenneally said stooping in front of her and taking her hands in his. “This isn’t your fault.”
“But I’m the mayor. The buck stops with me. I’m in charge of keeping this town going. I took an oath when I entered office,” she said, worry lines creasing her brow and her eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I take my job seriously and I will not let someone come along and start picking off my friends and neighbors one by one.”
He patted her hands and was about to give her another comforting word when she suddenly stood and headed down the porch steps. “Where are you going?”
“To see what Harold has to say about Gertrude’s death,” she declared. “I can’t just sit on my laurels waiting for him to come tell me what he has found out.”
“Of course not,” Kenneally muttered, rising and hurrying to catch up to her, but they didn’t get far because Tom had taped off the area with yellow crime scene tape.
Ami planted her hands on her hips and a frown formed at her pretty mouth. “Harold, talk to me. What do you know?” she called out to him.
“I’d said that she died sometime between 5:30 and 6:00 this morning from an injection to the neck. There is a red mark at the injection site,” Harold said. “Her killer had to have been someone she knew to have gotten close enough to her and for Clementine not to have barked.”
“Clementine wasn’t a barker. She never met a stranger,” Ami said. “She wasn’t possessive about Gertrude either. Someone could have attacked her and it would have taken Clementine a minute to realize something was wrong with her mom. It wasn’t in her nature to be suspicious.”
“Good to know,” Harold said. “As for Clementine, it appears she was given the same injection, and the leash was tied around her neck postmortem to make it look like a strangulation.”
“Why is Gertrude’s tongue sticking out?” Kenneally asked.
“I think she was having a reaction to the injection and was gasping for air,” Harold said and then he proceeded to demonstrate what he meant. “I’ll know more once I complete my autopsy.”
“Did Tom show you the note that was left on her?” Ami asked.
“Yes, he did,” Harold said. “Same handwriting, so we can presume it is the same killer.”
“That’s three murders,” Kenneally said. “Are we looking at a serial killer?”
The medical examiner and the sheriff both stared at him, wide-eyed. Neither responded for a good moment or two.
“I-I wouldn’t go jumping to that conclusion yet,” Tom said. “Gertrude’s death doesn’t fit the same MO. The only thing linking her demise is the note. Maybe she received it under her door. We all know she could be a busybody.”
“That’s right,” Harold agreed.
“What exactly is the killer’s MO?” Ami asked. “Judson died one way. Tilda another. Now Gertrude. If she doesn’t fit the pattern maybe she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, like walking Clementine.”
“What are you saying?” Tom asked.
“Maybe Gertrude came upon the killer here in the back yard looking into the mayor’s house,” Kenneally put in before Ami could. “This has been eating at me ever since we found her lying in the grass. Why else would her body be lying here like this?”
“Exactly,” Ami agreed.
“So, you think the killer had come prepared with a filled syringe in preparation for the mayor?” Tom said. “But Gertrude got it instead.”
“It makes sense,” Harold agreed. “And he saved enough for the dog too.”
“You’re saying it was a he,” Kenneally said.
“Considering the dismemberment of the previous bodies I’d like to think it was a man doing it,” Harold said. “But it could just as easily be a female. Unfortunately, the crime scene here is void of any footprint markings. We haven’t had rain lately, so we don’t have tale-tell signs of shoe size to give us a clue.”
“No and if there were I might have mucked it up by checking the windows last night. I was out here going around the house doing that,” Kenneally said. “That is when I encountered Gertrude and enlisted her help in watching over things until we knew more of what was going on in Dixie. Now I feel I put her in danger by asking her to keep an eye out.”
“You couldn’t have known this would happen,” Tom said. “Besides, she would have been out walking Clementine anyway. It was better that she was on guard than not.”
“Exactly,” Harold agreed. He worked with his assistant to get Gertrude’s body into the body bag and zip it up. They laid the poodle on top of her and placed them on the gurney. “I’ll let you know what the autopsy shows. Hopefully by this afternoon if the lab isn’t backed up I’ll be able to do my own testing.”
“Thank you for your diligence,” Ami said.
“The Smith Brothers are going to have a stellar week I can tell you that,” Harold said following his assistant as he pushed the gurney around to the front of the house.
“What did he mean by that?” Kenneally asked.
“They own the mortuary in Dixie,” Ami said. “Although some people do use the Rest in Peace Crematorium on the outskirts of town.”
Kenneally watched Tom for a moment as he laid out markers. “Do you need help processing the crime scene?”
“I’m good, thanks for the offer,” he said. “Just waiting for my deputy to get here with the camera to take photos.”
“We’re going in the house now,” Ami said. “Come in if you need anything.”
“Will do,” Tom called not looking up from the grassy area he was inspecting.
As they rounded the house, Simpson was sitting on the top step to the front porch. “Would you like to have some gumbo for lunch?” Ami asked. “I made a large pot for dinner last night and it won’t take long to warm up a portion for lunch.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Simpson said. “Will you be returning to the office for the afternoon?”
Ami stared at the ground for a moment. “I’m not sure. I really should because there is work to be done, but with two deaths coming back-to-back like this… I’m sure Judson would have just shaken it off and went about his business, but I don’t think I can.”
“No ma’am, I don’t think he would have,” Simpson said, getting to his feet. “He’d have taken to his favorite fishing spot until he could have sorted it all out in his head. He did that often when he didn’t know what to do on an issue at hand. I know because I drove him. No one knew because it looked like he had a meeting out of the office on his calendar, but he’d take off fishing.”
Ami shook her head and unshed tears pricked her eyes again. “Damn him. He always made this job seem like it never flustered him. That he had everything under control.”
“That he did,” Simpson agreed. “If you need an afternoon, you take it. I’m sure Selena can hold down the fort for you.”
Kenneally placed a hand on her back in reassurance. “I agree. I only just met your assistant, but she does seem very capable.”
“She is,” Ami said and charged up the steps to the front door, digging out the key and unlocking it.
Half an hour later, she had the gumbo and left-over cornbread warmed from the oven on the table. Tom came in about that time. “I don’t suppose I can warm up my container you gave me this morning?”
“Save yours for later and have a hot bowl with us,” Ami said. “Wash up at the sink and I’ll get it.”
They ate, chatting about anything other than what had brought them all there today. But the reprieve didn’t last long because the sheriff’s walkie-talkie interrupted the interlude with a call from dispatch and he was off again to right order in town.
“Another fender bender with the tourists,” he said. “What would we do without the tourists this time of year?”
“It sure wouldn’t be Christmas,” Ami agreed.
“I better be going too,” Simpson said. “If you are not returning to the mayor’s office. I have my own work that I need to get back to.”
“No. I think I will just work from home this afternoon,” Ami said.
“See you in the morning then,” he said. “And thank you for that wonderful gumbo. You always prepare the best in Dixie. I always thought that when you’d bring it to the office and Judson insisted that I come eat with us guys.”
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe,” she said, smiling and walking Tom and Simpson to the door. “See you tomorrow.”
Kenneally quickly stacked the empty soups bowls, gathered the silverware, and empty glasses before heading into the kitchen. He sat the dirty dishes in the sink and began unloading the dishwasher from that morning when he heard the front door close and the footsteps approaching. He had everything put away and dirty dishes loaded by the time she entered.
“Well, aren’t you the domestic help,” she said and chuckled. “I had no idea where you got off to. All you need is a ruffled apron.”
“Security and handy around the house to boot,” he said.
She smiled. “Thank you. But you didn’t have to do it, I would have. It would have kept my mind off of…”
“Yes, but now you can go take care of mayor business and not worry with this,” he said walking to the doorway and ushering her in the direction of her room. “I assume you have a desk in there where you work when at home?”
“I do.”
“Then I will make myself comfortable out here and keep watch while you take care of the town,” he said.
“All right,” she said and went to do just that. The first thing she did was call Selena. She had been gone almost two hours and she knew she should have checked in with her assistant by now and let her know she wasn’t returning to the office.
“Mayor’s office, Selena Sanchez speaking. How can I help you?”
“Selena, it’s me,” Ami said. “I’ll be working from home the rest of the afternoon. If I have any appointments please reschedule them. We found my neighbor Gertrude dead in her backyard.”
“Good heavens! Who’d want to hurt that old busybody?” Selena said. “What’s going to happen to her little dog?”
Ami was silent unsure how to tell her that the dog was dead as well, but she just couldn’t find an easy way to do it. “Clementine was dead as well,” she finally admitted.
“Oh my,” Selena gasped. “Is her death related to Tilda’s and Judson’s?”
“Hard to say.” Ami wasn’t sure what she should share from the crime scene and what she shouldn’t, so she changed subjects. “At this time, it is best not the spread the word about her passing until it is made public knowledge. We don’t want people in Dixie to panic.”
“Right,” Selena acknowledged.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Call if you need me,” Ami said.
“Will do,” Selena said.