We sat at the dining room table, which was laden with food. Usually, our meetings were lively with witty banter back and forth, especially between Tyler, April, and me. Today’s mood was much more somber.
“All right, I can’t take this funeral service anymore,” Hannah said. “How long are y’all gonna avoid the two-ton elephant in the room?”
April sighed. “Hannah’s right. I owe you an explanation about—”
“You don’t owe us anything,” Leroy said. “We know you didn’t kill him, but even if you did, we’d understand. He was a lousy human being and deserved everything he got.” His face turned red, and his bloodshot eyes flashed.
April gave Leroy a dreamy look and reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “Thank you. I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I do owe you—all of you—an explanation.” She glanced at each of us before continuing.
“Contrary to what Trooper Bob believes, I wasn’t meeting Clayton last night. I, and most of my team, worked to clear up the mess Clayton started by hiring a bunch of circus performers and one of the hottest pop singers to show up in downtown New Bison without prior warning.”
“Did he have a permit?” Tyler asked.
“Apparently, he’d been working on this for months. He told the mayor he had a plan that would make New Bison’s Spring Festival even more popular than Woodstock. He was going to put our sleepy little town at the center of the public’s eye.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother.”
“Let me guess,” Hannah said. “That darned fool Abernathy probably just saw dollar signs and didn’t ask any questions.”
“Exactly,” April said. “So, then I looked like the bad guy who wants to shut down everyone’s fun.”
“Do we know how Clayton got into Baby Cakes?” I asked.
April shook her head. “Trooper Bob’s theory is that I agreed to meet him there, after closing, for some kind of romantic interlude.”
“In the bakery?”
“He thinks things got rough and I grabbed a knife to defend myself, but rather than reporting it, I panicked and ran away to cover my tracks.”
“Because you’re just a poor defenseless woman. Lord a mercy, you couldn’t possibly handle anything messy like a murder without a big, strong man to come and save you.” I fanned myself and batted my eyelashes.
Tyler glanced at me incredulously. “But she’s the sheriff.”
“He thinks she’s too pretty to get her hands dirty with a murder.” I huffed. “That idiot is still living in the Ice Age.”
“Don’t put down women in the Ice Age,” Hannah said. “My grandmother told me women have been the same ever since the Good Lord put them on this earth. They had to hunt, gather, cook, clean, and give birth, just like today. Those Ice Age women wasn’t no different than you and me.”
“He honestly told me that if I confessed, then he would ask the judge for leniency,” April said. “He was pretty sure I’d get it too since the judge is his third cousin.”
“You have got to be kidding,” I said. “Did he want you to go into court and clutch your pearls and dab at your eyes with a handkerchief while begging the court for mercy?”
April folded her arms across her chest and scowled. “Over my dead body.”
“Does he have any suspects?” Tyler asked. “Other than you, of course.”
“He’s leaning toward me as his number one suspect, but there’s a chance that I’m covering for Maddy because of the bet. Or . . .” April flushed. “Leroy.”
Leroy turned bright red. “I wasn’t there. I have an alibi.”
“We were together all night drowning our sorrows,” Tyler said. “I have the hangover to prove it.”
“You don’t count,” April said. “You’re friends.”
“Just because we’re friends doesn’t mean I’d lie,” Tyler said.
Hannah chuckled. “I’m feeling left out. Trooper Bob is willing to believe that everyone at this table murdered Clayton Davenport, except me. I couldn’t stand that little Davenport weasel any more than the rest of you. He’s only excluding me because he thinks I’m too old to have done it. Well, that’s just age discrimination, and it’s illegal.”
Leroy nearly choked and broke out in a coughing fit.
“Don’t be too quick to get on Trooper Bob’s suspect list,” I said. “We’re going to need somebody to post bail for the rest of us.”
Hannah frowned and sipped her coffee.
Leroy and Tyler laughed, but April was dead serious.
“We’re only joking,” I said. “You know that, right?”
April took a deep breath. “I know. It’s just . . . I’ve been suspended from any real police work until this thing is cleared up.”
“Can they do that?”
She nodded. “Trooper Bob was right last night when he said it would be a conflict of interest for me to investigate my husband’s murder, but I can’t afford to be off work.”
“You know you don’t have to worry about the rent. I can—”
She was shaking her head before the words were out of my mouth. “No. I can’t. And you can’t. My moving in here was business, not friendship. I believe in paying my debts, and I can’t . . . I won’t take charity.”
“I can give you a loan until—”
She waved away that suggestion too. “I know you mean well, and that’s really sweet, but I’m okay, for now. But we need to get this case wrapped up quickly. Not just for financial reasons, but my reputation is on the line. I’m on desk duty, part-time. I can’t investigate anything major. The longer I’m suspended from duty, the longer it’ll be ingrained in people’s heads that I’ve done something wrong. Trooper Bob and all his friends who believe I’m only good for one thing will muster their resources, and by the time the next election rolls around, I’ll be out on my butt.”
“Then we better get down to business figuring out who killed Clayton Davenport.” I turned to Tyler. “Would you mind taking notes?”
He reached inside his bag and pulled out a notepad and pen.
“Now, let’s get down to business.”
