A Justified Murder Read online

  The pastor said it was a time to remember the good of a person’s life, not the bad that had ended it. He stepped aside to let Megan Nesbitt take her place by the microphone.

  Megan had note cards with her and she read a highly edited story of the kindness of Janet Beeson. She left out the part where her brother had described Janet as what a witch looked like. Megan made the story of painting “Witch” on the garage sound like the innocence of children. It was just play. She ended with “But Janet forgave them.”

  Kate drew in her breath. That was the opposite of what Megan had told them. “Janet never forgave her brother,” she whispered to Jack.

  He turned to her with a frown and nodded. He also saw the change.

  Next came the three teenage girls. Again, it was a different story. This time around the girls were humble, taking all the blame onto themselves. No bragging about Britney’s talent at mimicry.

  Britney said, “I felt so bad that I didn’t want to live anymore.”

  The girls looked at the audience, then put their arms around each other.

  “But Mrs. Beeson saved her,” Ashley said. “She saved all of us.”

  What they said and the way they presented it was so well-spoken, so well played, that Jack and Kate turned to Sara.

  “Everett Gage,” Sara said in disgust.

  At the same time, in the same tone, Chet Dakon also said, “Everett Gage.”

  In delight of their words spoken in unison, the two older people looked at each other as though they might start giggling.

  Jack and Kate leaned back against the hard oak pew. “Now I wish he’d go away,” Kate muttered.

  “Get in line,” Jack said.

  The next person up was Valerie Johnson. They hadn’t met her but the guards had spoken of her. She’d won the local crocheting contest. “I gloated,” she said. “I had the sin of pride and I played it up to dear Janet.” She looked at the audience. “Later, when my studio burned down, it was Janet who helped me. In spite of everything I did, she was a good friend to me.”

  It was then that the sobbing began. Loud, deep, soulful sobs. A broken heart was showing itself in tears. And it came from one person.

  The four of them turned to look. Two rows behind them, Everett had his head on the back of the pew in front of him and was crying hard and loud. It was genuine misery.

  “He sees his father-in-law’s furniture catalog before him,” Jack said.

  Chet whispered something to Sara, then she whispered to Kate and Jack. “No one else is crying.”

  They looked around the church. There were at least two hundred people there. The walls were ringed, the pews packed. Everyone was staring and listening. But there were no tears being shed.

  Chet was the first to turn back to the front. Another woman was at the podium. She told how kind Janet had been to her after an accidental bad hair dye job in her salon.

  Last came the only man. “Drugstore,” Kate whispered.

  It was Eric Yates, the pharmacist. “I made a fool of myself but Janet forgave me” was all he said. His face was red with embarrassment.

  After he sat down, two women and a man got up from the front pew and sang “Tears in Heaven.”

  After they finished, the pastor led the congregation in prayer. When the service was over, the people began to leave. What little they spoke was done in whispers.

  Outside, all four of them went to Jack’s truck and leaned against the long bed. They were watching the people file out.

  “I don’t know about you guys,” Jack said, “but I feel like I’ve just come out of a two-hour therapy session.”

  “The question,” Sara said, “is whether we were the patient or the doctor.”

  Chet gave a snort of laughter at that, then stepped forward and looked at them. “I don’t mean to intrude, but I’d really like to talk to you three. Flynn says you know a lot about this case.”

  “We told him everything we know.” Jack sounded hostile.

  “There were a few things we left out,” Sara said. “Were you the one who told Everett about the cross sewn into the baby bootie?”

  “Yes.” He nodded toward a big green SUV. “That’s mine. I brought some boxes of info about the case with me. I thought I’d get a hotel somewhere, unload them, and you could look at what I have.”

  Since his eyes never left Sara’s as he said this, they weren’t sure if his “you” was singular or plural.

  “We can put them in my dining room.” Sara walked with him to his car.

  “Think we should check into a hotel?” Jack muttered.

  “I’d tell you to be nice but I feel the same way,” Kate replied.

  When they saw Sara get into Chet’s SUV, Jack opened the driver-side door of his truck.

  Kate got in and scooted across. “My suggestion is that we make a run to Chipotle and pick up a lunch for four. Otherwise, you and I will probably be relegated to being houseboys.”

  Jack and Kate looked at each other and smiled. It felt good to be together on this.

  It took over an hour to go to the restaurant on University, then get back to Lachlan. As they neared the house, Jack said, “Maybe we should go see a movie. Give them time alone.”

  “Good idea,” Kate said. “However... I am a tiny bit curious as to what files he has on the White Lily Kidnapping. Do you think Aunt Sara will tell him about hearing Tayla on the phone, then about...? You know?”

  “Your father and Charlene?”

  Kate nodded.

  “Your dad was Sara’s brother. I don’t think she’s going to tell his ugly secret to a stranger.”

  “I hope not.”

  “I wonder—since he’s former police—if he knows anything more about Janet’s personal life. Where she came from, her family, that sort of thing.”

  “How long ago was it that he talked to Everett?”

  Jack nodded. “And what else did he tell that blabbermouth that Gage didn’t tell us? He certainly sugarcoated their stories at the memorial.”

  “Oh yeah. When the teens told us, they were...”

  “Insufferable,” Jack said.

  “Right, but today they had a studied remorse.” She looked at him. “It was perceptive of Mr. Dakon to notice that no one was crying.”

  “Except Gage. But then, his life as a reporter might be over. No wonder he was bawling.”

  “Catalog writing! Pretty horrible fate. But if he could help break the White Lily case, it would all change.”

  Jack was turning into the driveway. “I wonder where Janet got that bootie?”

  “And where is it now?” Kate asked.

  Jack pulled into the garage and turned off the engine. Sara’s MINI was in place and he’d seen that Dakon’s SUV was in her favorite spot to the side of the house. “Maybe we could be of some help in figuring out the answers.”

  “Yeah, maybe.” Kate could feel a bit of excitement running through her. “It really is a mystery of who, why, how. Was Janet’s murder connected to an old kidnapping? What did Sylvia have to do with it?”

  “If anything.”

  Kate looked at him. “The photo!”

  Jack smiled. “Ah yes. The man who got away.”

  “The one who wanted his picture taken. Maybe Chet could find out who he is.”

  “So, it’s gone from Mr. Dakon to Dakon and now it’s Chet?”

  “You should tell about Kyle’s extreme jealousy since you understand it so well.”

  He ignored her jab. “Megan left out the jealousy part in her oh-so-clean little speech, didn’t she?”

  “Everyone left out all the juicy bits. In fact, no one told how truly nasty they’d been to Janet Beeson.”

  “But she forgave them all.”

  Kate opened the truck door. “I’m hungry. You hungry? Maybe Chet wants to eat. Maybe while we’r