Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 04 - With This Ring Read online

  By now tears from my own eyes were beginning to run down my cheeks every so often, and I had to keep wiping them off with the sleeve of my blouse. Blake probably wondered too, if I was a nut job or just a total mess.

  “What do you remember, Larry, about the sound you heard?” I asked. “I believe you told the police the noise sounded like a muffled shout?”

  “Yeah, it sounded like someone hollered ‘peas,’ which didn’t make any sense to me, cause why would anyone holler ‘peas’ at that time of a morning?”

  Why would anyone holler “peas” at any time of day? I wondered. Maybe what Blake had actually heard was someone hollering “please.” Could the pastor have been begging for his life at the time? Could he have been shouting for someone to “please” help him, or asking the killer to “please” spare him?

  “I also noticed the big floodlight outside his house had been turned off sometime between ten in the evening, and about five-thirty in the morning when I left for work. It’s normally still on at that time, not being turned off until after Steiner went outside and picked up his paper, which, on weekends, anyway, was around seven.”

  “Are you certain you didn’t make any other observations as you were leaving for work?” I asked Mr. Blake. I’d already heard about the floodlight and wanted to get on with it so I could get out of the laboratory as soon as possible. My eyes could only take so much more of the intense burning I was experiencing.

  “Well, nothing really, other than I saw the blinds over his kitchen sink move for just a split second before I went back inside to grab my lunch sack. I reckoned maybe old Steiner was looking out to see if his newspaper had arrived.”

  “You didn’t think that was important enough to tell the investigators?”

  “Reckon I just forgot, Natalie.” Larry Blake was starting to get jittery, as if nervous he might get caught slacking off. I thought about his last recollection. Could the killer have glanced out and seen Blake going to his car and decided to wait a minute before vacating the premises? Surely he’d want to be sure no witnesses saw him leaving the pastor’s house.

  “That’s okay. I have it all in my report now.”

  “Steiner was kind of a loner, when he was at his house, anyway,” Blake said. “He spoke to neighbors in passing, but I rarely ever saw other vehicles in his driveway, except for the red truck occasionally. I saw him talking to some guy out on his back porch a couple of times, but I reckon it must have been someone who lives in the neighborhood, because only Steiner’s mini-van was in the driveway both times. I’d occasionally go over and chat with him on his front porch, and he never turned me away, but he never walked over to my house to chat in all the years we knew each other. He’d pass by my house every morning on his daily run. He’d usually wave if I was outside, but he never once stopped to speak with me. As far as I know, he never visited with anyone in the neighborhood very much. I found this odd for a minister.”

  I found this tidbit odd too. Steiner seemed like such an out-going, amicable man. I would have thought he was the kind to make frequent rounds in his neighborhood, conversing with anyone who’d talk to him. Why was he so extraverted at church and so introverted at home? Why would he shut himself away in his house the way Blake said he did? Did he not want the neighbors involved in his private life for any particular reason?

  I’d jotted down a few notes in the small notebook I’d brought along in my purse. I’d purchased it before making a trip back to the East Coast the previous year, and it had come in handy several times. After making another quick notation, I turned my attention back to Larry Blake. “Did Steiner ever mention having problems with anyone to you, a neighbor or otherwise? Can you recall him talking about anyone who might have wanted to harm him?”

  “No, he never spoke of anything, or anyone, like that. He appeared to have high regard for everyone in his congregation and, as far as I’m aware, everyone in the neighborhood who attended Rockdale Baptist Church, was very fond of the pastor too. And most of the folks in the neighborhood did attend his church since it was so conveniently located, even though they didn’t really know the pastor on a close personal basis. He never attended one block party that I can recall.”

  “Yes, I too think it’s surprising that he wasn’t very involved with the neighborhood, because he obviously was so highly thought of in the community. Well, by most people, anyway,” I added. Clearly there was one person out there who didn’t rank Mr. Steiner very high on their list. I didn’t recognize Mr. Blake as a regular member of the congregation, but he might have rarely attended, and there were a vast number of church members. I couldn’t possibly remember them all. “Are you a member of the Rockdale Baptist Church yourself?”

  “No, but that’s because I’m Catholic. I go to St. Mary’s at the corner of Fourth and Cypress. And even then I only attend church on rare occasion—Easter, Christmas Eve, and special days like that.”

  “Are you married, or do you have a significant other?”

  “No, I live alone, Natalie,” he said. I saw his eye move quickly from my breast to my left hand. I suddenly wished I was sporting my engagement ring, but it, along with my wedding band, was at Zale’s being sized. In fact, I needed to remind myself to pick the rings up in the next day or two. Blake smiled and looked back up, winking his good eye before it settled back on my breast. “But I reckon I’m available if you’re interested.”

  “Sorry, I’m engaged,” I said with a laugh, even though I don’t think he was joking. Gee, what a shame I already had a partner. Blake seemed like such a good catch. Good Lord, there was a perfectly good nightmare just waiting to happen.

  “Listen, lady,” he said, no longer in a flirting mood. “I reckon you ought to get going now. As much as I’d like to help out, I really gotta get back to work before my boss finds me lollygagging around. I can’t afford to lose this job,” he said. I reckoned he needed every dime he could get so he could save up for a new set of chompers. I thanked him and left the room. My eyes were really bothering me now, to the point I couldn’t have stayed in the science lab much longer even if Larry Blake had a whole gaggle of observations to relate to me.

  * * *

  “Ms. Starr, are you okay? Is there something wrong? You don’t look well at all. Your eyes look a little swollen and very watery,” the nurse said to me, as she inserted the butterfly I.V. into the crook of my elbow. I’d waited in line for nearly a half hour to give blood and, if anything, my eyes burned even more now than they had while I was talking with Larry Blake. I could feel them swelling as I waited. Tears were streaming down my face and I felt flushed.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I assured her. “Just got these allergies to contend with.”

  “Okay, just checking,” she said. “I’ve got some allergies myself so I know how it feels. With everything starting to bloom, mine are worse than usual. Let me know if you need anything. I’ve probably got some extra Benadryl in my purse if you’d like a tablet or two.”

  “I’ll be fine, dear. But thanks for the offer.”

  Actually, the only serious allergy I was aware of other than bee stings, was shellfish. Crab legs gave me nausea and unrelenting gas, not burning, irritated eyes. And I’m sure everyone around me wishes I had burning, irritated eyes instead of the unattractive gas problem I experience after I’ve had a shrimp cocktail. At least that way I’d be the only one who suffered. Despite my allergy, or maybe because of it, I craved seafood and occasionally gave into those cravings, despite the consequences.

  But letting the nurse think I was allergic to pollen, juniper trees, or even sunshine, was the best tactic for right now. The last thing I wanted to do was start telling everyone I met that I’d come in close proximity to ammonia at the junior college while impersonating a member of the police department and asking questions of a witness in a murder investigation. I’d rather say I was upset because I was deathly afraid of needles than to tell her the truth. But, of course, if that were so, the last place they’d find me was at a volunteer bloo
d drive. I wouldn’t be offering up a vein for a nurse to tap in to right now.

  I could tell my eyes were continuing to swell. I’d be lucky if they weren’t swollen shut by the time I had to drive home to the inn. How was I going to explain my current condition to Stone without letting on I’d been somewhere besides the VFW? I hated to lie, so maybe I could somehow mislead him without actually out-and-out lying to him. I gave it some serious thought as my blood drained out into a bag and my eyes drained out onto my cheeks.

  * * *

  “Oh my goodness,” Stone exclaimed as I walked into the kitchen. There was deep concern in his expression. He set down a glass of water and grabbed the back of a chair. “What happened to you? Here sit down before you walk into a wall. Oh, honey, you look awful. You didn’t get stung in the face by a bee, did you? If so, I need to get you to the emergency room. I’ve seen how you react to bee stings before.”

  “No, it wasn’t a bee, Stone.”

  Stone pulled the chair out away from the small kitchen table and I gratefully took a seat. My vision really was greatly impaired at this stage. I was also beginning to get a terrible headache in my temples. At least the queasiness in my stomach had abated somewhat. Before I began to speak again, I pulled off a band-aid the nurse had placed over the needle mark in the crook of my arm, more to emphasize the fact I’d actually donated blood than anything else.

  “There was a man stripping floors with ammonia and I guess I reacted poorly to it,” I said. That was true enough.

  “He was stripping floors with a powerful chemical like ammonia while a blood drive was going on?”

  “Well, yes, both were happening simultaneously.”

  “Didn’t you or anyone else complain? Why did you even stay there if it was affecting you?” Stone asked.

  “I was the only one who was having a problem. My eyes didn’t begin to swell this badly until I was on the way home or I would have left sooner,” I said. I had yet to actually lie, but I felt a bit guilty for being so evasive with my answers. I needed to divert the conversation to a safer subject. “Listen, I need to take a couple Tylenol and lie down with a wet rag over my eyes for a spell. I tend to react poorly to all sorts of strange things. I’m sure I’ll be fine in no time at all. Any news about Pastor Steiner?”

  “Nothing so far, but Wyatt is stopping by later this afternoon, right after his shift ends. I’m sure he’ll have some news to share. And don’t worry. I’ll remember what he says, and repeat to you anything Wyatt tells me after you get up from your nap. I know how interested you are in this murder case. But for now, you really need to take your medicine and go lie down.”

  * * *

  Wyatt did stop by in the afternoon while I was asleep, and he did have news to relate to Stone. However, it wasn’t the type of news I’d hoped for. Sometimes I wondered why I even liked the human garbage disposal as much as I did. He could get me in to hot water without even trying.

  I’d been napping for several hours, I realized, when I felt Stone patting me on the upper thigh. As I began to awaken I noticed my vision had improved, and the burning and swelling of my eyes had decreased somewhat. Even my pounding headache had disappeared. The second thing I noticed was that the expression on Stone’s face was alarming. He was obviously upset about something, and it made the hairs on my arms stand on end. That look usually ended up with me apologizing for something foolish I’d done.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, with my voice barely audible.

  “That’s what I’d like to know, Natalie,” he retorted. I could tell he was trying to control his temper and finding it hard to do. “WSRC? I mean really, Lexie. A WSRC? Is that the best you could come up with? I hate to inform you, but the Rockdale police department does not have a Witness Statement Record Collector on their payroll. What were you thinking?”

  “Uh, well, I, uh—”

  “You just had to get involved, didn’t you?”

  “Well, you see, I, uh. Um, I just—”

  “How long were you planning on sneaking behind my back and placing yourself in jeopardy again? Did Wendy know about this?” Stone asked. He was clearly extremely displeased with me. Worrying about the wedding going off on schedule might be a moot point now. He might have decided he wanted nothing further to do with me. And who could blame him? I wouldn’t want to marry me either, if I were Stone. I had to tread lightly, I realized.

  “Honey, I’m sorry I misled you. I really had no intention of getting involved to the extent I’d be putting myself into jeopardy, and, of course, I still don’t.”

  “I’ve heard that before, and yet you were nearly killed because of your involvement those other times. You just don’t know when to quit. ‘Self-preservation’ and ‘self-restraint’ simply aren’t in your vocabulary, are they? I don’t mean to sound cruel or controlling, but I love you more than life itself, and if anything happened to you, I’d be lost and extremely devastated.”

  “I’m sorry. Really I am, Stone. I’m just so worried about how we’re going to continue with our wedding plans, and who we’re going to get to conduct the ceremony. I have quite a long guest list, and they’ve already received invitations and marked the date off on their calendars. Postponing the wedding at this late date would be terribly difficult and inconvenient,” I said.

  “Inconvenient? I’m sure Pastor Steiner didn’t mean to inconvenience you.” He sounded sarcastic now, and irritated by my ‘it’s all about me’ attitude. I instantly felt about two inches tall, like I could walk under the four-poster bed without bending over. Hiding under the bed sounded like a good idea right now.

  “You know what I meant,” I said, nearly pouting. I really can’t stand it when grownups pout like four-year-olds, but Stone had driven me to the point of not knowing what else to do. Maybe I should call off the wedding and let the chips fall where they may, I thought.

  “Our pastor and close friend, has been murdered! You don’t think our wedding guests will understand why we’ve had to alter our plans? And you don’t think they’d be willing to change theirs too?”

  “Of course, they’d understand and change their plans. I just hoped it wouldn’t come to that. It would be so disappointing if we had to delay the wedding. I can’t wait to become your wife, and I’ve looked forward to our special day for so long. If we don’t get married next Saturday, no telling for how long we’ll have to postpone the ceremony,” I said. “We’ve got guests booked at the inn for many weeks to come after our honeymoon. I can’t call and cancel out on guests who have already booked a room. It would be so unprofessional. And this is our only opportunity to take a honeymoon in the conceivable future. Who wants to go to Jamaica in the middle of the summer?”

  I reached out, with tears welling up in my eyes, and stroked his hand. I could visibly see his attitude soften. He was so tenderhearted that my tears had provoked his softer side to emerge. That hadn’t been my intention, but I was glad to see my heartfelt words were affecting him.

  “Oh, I know you have, honey. Don’t cry. I’ve looked forward to our wedding too. I’m not anxious to postpone it either, but I don’t see that we have any choice in the matter. We had no way of predicting the pastor would be killed. Sometimes things just happen that we have no control over and we have to bend and roll with the punches.”

  “I know. But if they arrest the suspect and have Thurman laid to rest by next Saturday, I don’t think it would be entirely inappropriate to go ahead with our scheduled plans. We’d have to find a replacement for the pastor, of course, but I’m sure that’s doable,” I explained. “And if we can possibly help speed the investigation up—”

  “Okay, Lexie. You win,” Stone said with a long drawn-out sigh. “I’m going to be pretty busy getting the grounds and everything ready for the wedding and all the guests we’re anticipating at the inn. I want to put a fresh coat of redwood stain on the gazebo, weed out all the flowerbeds, and do a number of other landscaping things around the inn in the next few days. I also have some squeaky floorbo
ards I need to replace in two of the upper suites. So I’m not going to be able to help much in your little personal investigation, nor do I think you should be intricately involved. And I don’t want you going off on your own and putting yourself in any kind of danger, but I know I can’t tell you what to do.”

  “I won’t put myself in the middle of any kind of dangerous situation,” I said.

  “I’ve heard that before.”

  “Yes, strange things have happened in the past, but you know I’m always as cautious as possible,” I said.

  “No, I don’t know that,” Stone said. “For someone who’s always cautious, you sure seem to end up in the emergency room a lot. Plus, you don’t want to impede the detectives’ progress or get under their skin. I hope you’ll at least keep me apprised of what you’re up to, and I’ll help you out whenever I can, because I’d like to know you’ll be protected from harm and mayhem. Unfortunately, you don’t find mayhem. It has a tendency to find you. It follows you around like a shadow, and that’s what concerns me. I doubt if my presence alone can prevent it, or keep your safety from being jeopardized, but I’d feel better if I were with you. To be perfectly honest, this goes way beyond my better judgment.”

  “I know you’ve got a lot to get done this week, as do I. I’m not going to go out of my way to get involved. I’m just going to keep my eyes and ears open in case I can pick up on any clues that might be overlooked by the investigators. I realize it’s not likely to do any good, but I just hate the idea of postponing this wedding,” I said.

  “Lexie, whether or not to postpone the wedding is entirely up to you. I’m fine with whatever decision you make. I’m not overly concerned with what our fellow church members think about our decision—or anyone else for that matter. They’re not the ones who have friends and family members already planning on coming in from all over to attend the ceremony. A lot of planning and scheduling has gone into this event, and if you want to go ahead with the wedding as planned, it’s all right by me. Just promise me you’ll be careful if you do decide to do any snooping around. Okay?”