Chapter 20
JUNE
After Sheriff Gordon left, June and Sara Lee moved back into the study. The pets quickly settled in for another nap. It was all so comfortingly ordinary. Yet they were sitting here discussing murder. Sometimes even June had to fight the urge to pinch herself.
"What now?" Sara Lee asked, her voice still carrying the tremor of adrenaline from the Sheriff’s visit.
June thought for a moment, her mind cataloging everything they'd learned, everything they still needed to know. "Now we keep digging. We were just starting to look at someone from here who might have been arrested in Richmond, giving them a cause to have an interaction with Raymond."
She pulled out her notebook and reviewed the notes she was making before the sheriff interrupted them. "Let's think about what we know. Raymond worked at Richmond Private Lending. That's where he would have encountered people in desperate situations. People needing money, people in legal trouble."
"People who might have needed bail bondsmen," Sara Lee added, re-opening her laptop and starting to search through public records again.
"Exactly." June tapped her pen against the page thoughtfully.
“Give me some names, Nana June. My mind is still stuck on Sheriff Gordon catching us investigating.”
June rattled off the names of many of the people they knew who hadn’t grown up in Meadowlark Creek. For each one, Sara Lee shook her head. “Nothing. But then, for some of the women, we don’t know their maiden names.”
For several more minutes, they continued their search. Finally, June said, “Oh, my goodness, where is my head? Helena lived in Richmond before coming here. What if she worked for a company that had dealings with Raymond's lending company?"
Sara Lee's eyes widened. "Helena is always so careful, so proper.”
June made a note. "It's possible, though.
People can get into trouble through no fault of their own.
A bad investment, a family emergency, medical bills.
See if you can search for any records of Helena in Richmond?
Court records, business filings, anything that might connect her to Raymond's world? "
“What was her maiden name?”
“Oh, dear… let me think. I can see their wedding announcement in my mind. Bright? No, Brightly. Brighton! That’s it… Helena Brighton.”
Sara Lee immediately began to type. June watched her granddaughter work, her fingers flying over the keys with practiced efficiency. The younger generation and their technology… it still amazed June how much information could be accessed with just a few clicks.
While Sara Lee searched, June stood and walked to the window.
Outside, Meadowlark Creek went about its peaceful daytime business.
She could see Pastor Pete walking down the sidewalk away from the church, his Bible tucked under his arm.
Helena's husband was probably heading off for his rounds visiting shut-ins.
"Nana June… I… I found something." Sara Lee's words were halting.
June hurried back to the desk, leaning over to see the laptop screen. There it was… a brief news article from a Richmond paper, dated several years ago. Local Accountant Arrested in Fraud Investigation
Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. “Oh, my goodness… how stupid I’ve been!”
"What?” Sara Lee.
June dropped her chin and stared at her hands resting on the table. “I should have made the connection sooner.” She looked at Sara Lee, then said, “Raymond didn’t make a strange reference to her cookbooks. She’s an accountant. He must have said ‘cooked books’.”
“Cooked books? Like fraudulent accounting?”
June read quickly, her eyes scanning the sparse details. Helena Brighton, employed by Bennett & Associates, a mid-size finance company in Richmond, had been arrested on suspicion of embezzlement. The article mentioned missing funds from client accounts.
"Keep looking," June urged. "See if there's a follow-up."
Sara Lee's fingers flew across the keyboard again. A minute later, she found a second, much shorter article, buried in the back pages.
Charges Dropped Against Richmond Accountant
The case had been dismissed due to insufficient evidence, and the district attorney declined to prosecute.
"She was innocent," Sara Lee breathed. "But she had been arrested. Handcuffed and taken to jail."
June felt something cold settle in her chest. Helena had been in jail.
Even if only briefly, even if the charges were dropped.
She'd been processed, photographed, and fingerprinted.
She'd sat in a cell, scared and alone, accused of something she didn't do.
And Raymond's company handled the bail bonds.
"We need to talk to Helena," June said quietly.
"Now?"
June checked her watch. It was nearly three o'clock. "The church is just a few blocks away. Pastor Pete was leaving their home, which means Helena might be alone."
Sara Lee closed her laptop with a decisive click. "Let's go."
They gathered their things quickly, deciding to leave the pets at home. The walk to the parsonage took only five minutes, the small white house with its neat garden sitting right next to the Methodist church.
Helena was in the garden when they arrived, kneeling among the newly planted flowers with dirt-stained gloves and a wide-brimmed hat. She looked up when she heard their footsteps on the walk, and her face broke into a genuine smile.
"Ms. June! Sara Lee! What a lovely surprise." She stood, brushing dirt from her knees, pulling off her gloves. "Come in, come in. I made lemonade earlier."
The warmth of her welcome made June's chest tighten. They were here for a reason, and that reason was finding the truth. Even if the truth was uncomfortable.
Helena led them through the back door into a tidy kitchen that smelled of lemons and fresh mint. She poured three glasses of lemonade made from real lemons, and gestured for them to sit at the small kitchen table.
"Pete's out visiting the McNallys," Helena said, settling into her chair with her own glass. "Mrs. McNally has been having a hard time with her hip surgery. He likes to bring communion to the shut-ins." Her voice held affection and pride for her husband's dedication.
They made pleasant conversation for a few minutes about the garden, about the church's upcoming summer program, about how the festival cleanup had gone. Helena was easy to talk to, her manner gentle and unassuming. It was hard to imagine this woman in handcuffs.
But then June took a breath and decided to dive in. Sometimes the only way through was straight ahead.
"Helena," she said, her voice gentle but direct, "I know that Raymond’s death was a surprise to everyone. Pastor Pete did a lovely service."
The change in Helena's countenance was immediate and striking. Her pleasant expression bounced from nervous, to a flash of anger, then finally settling into something that looked like resignation bordering on relief.
The lemonade glass trembled slightly in her hand as she set it down on the table. “Yes. My husband always seems to know what to say in difficult times.”
"Did you know him?" June asked, keeping her voice soft. "Raymond?"
Helena’s mouth opened, but the words died before they could emerge. Her hands flitted around nervously, first to her hair, then to her glass, then to her lap where they twisted together.
Finally, she held June's gaze, then Sara Lee's. "You know, don't you?" she asked them, her voice barely above a whisper.
"We know you were arrested in Richmond," June said carefully. "For fraud. But the charges were dropped."
Helena's eyes filled with tears. She blinked them back, her jaw tight.
"I'm sorry," June said. "I know this is distressing, but we wanted to hear it from you. I have a feeling you've held things in for a long time."
Helena looked down at her hands for a long moment, then swallowed deeply and looked up.
"I was employed with a finance company out of college," Helena said, the words tumbling out now like she'd been holding them back for years.
"I had worked there for about two years when money suddenly went missing from one of their client’s accounts.
I had no idea what happened, but one day the police showed up.
They came directly to my office, and I was escorted out of the building in handcuffs.
And was taken to the city jail where I was processed. "
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
She paused, gathering herself, then continued.
"It was the most horrible fifteen days of my life. My parents had no money or influence, so I couldn’t post bail.
My attorney said they were working diligently to make sure I was released since the evidence was circumstantial. ”
June reached over and patted her hand. “I can’t imagine that for you. I am so sorry.”
"Thank goodness, there were a few nice women in there who helped me feel less alone.
" A sad smile crossed her face, remembering.
"One suggested a bail bondsman company, and I contacted them, but then I was released. There wasn't enough evidence and the DA dropped the charges. It was later found to be one of the vice presidents who had taken the money.” Her voice broke. “All that horror, and it was someone else who’d done it and said nothing while I sat in jail.”
"What happened then?" Sara Lee asked gently.
"I never went back to my job. I couldn’t face the people who had seen me marched out in handcuffs.
I was so traumatized. I had a hard time getting another job because I was scared all the time.
" Helena's hands were still twisted together in her lap, her knuckles white.
"I had a friend who knew Lucy. She suggested I move here to Meadowlark Creek.
It was the best decision," she said through a teary gaze.
June smiled. “Is that when you met Pastor Pete?”
"Yes, I met him, and we began dating, getting married a year later."
"Does he know?" June asked.
"Oh, yes." Helena's voice strengthened slightly. "I told him about the experience when we first started dating."
"How did Raymond fit into this?"
Helena sighed as she rubbed her hand over her forehead. "His company handled bail bonds." Helena's voice went flat, emotionless. "I met him once when he came to the jail to see someone else about bail. Then I was released, didn't need him, and thought that was that."
She paused, her gaze distant. "I had no idea he was from this area until he showed up one day. He recognized me and started to taunt me by saying he’d let my secret out."
"But Pete already knew," Sara Lee said softly.
"Yes, but no one else in town did, other than Lucy.
" Helena looked directly at them now. "Pete was so angry with him, but we knew that to approach him would make things worse.
So we just silently endured his taunts when he was around.
He made our lives miserable when he was here, which thank goodness, wasn't often. "
She stopped speaking then, looking at them with an expression June couldn't quite read. Defiant? Afraid? Relieved?
"If you think I had something to do with his death, you're wrong!" Helena's voice rose slightly, passion breaking through her usual calm demeanor. "I disliked him immensely but I’d never take a life."
June reached across the table and covered Helena's trembling hands with her own.
"I admit that I'm glad he can't spread his vitriol anymore, but I never wished him dead,” Helena forced out.
Just then, the front door opened. They heard Pastor Pete's voice calling out, "Helena? I'm home."
Helena's eyes widened, but June squeezed her hands gently before releasing them. “You must tell me about your roses, my dear.” The conversation quickly veered into safe pleasantries about the garden as Pastor Pete entered the kitchen. He smiled widely as soon as his gaze landed on his wife. He greeted June and Sara Lee warmly before he bent to kiss the top of Helena’s head.
Soon after, June and Sara Lee said their goodbyes.
They walked home in contemplative silence, the late afternoon sun warm on their faces.
"She didn't do it," Sara Lee said finally, looking at June. “Kill him, I mean… not her.”
June offered a sad smile. "We can’t always determine who is guilty and who is not based on a person’s likability. Or… perhaps someone who loves them." With that, they continued home.