Page 25 of Exposure of Murder

“Please give me some good news,” said Ethan.

Rosie shook her head. “We got nothing. I have an appointment later to talk to David Thornton’s daughter. Maggie was out of town and will be back in a couple of hours. She didn’t seem to upset to learn he was dead.” Rosie looked at her notes. “We’re waiting to hear from Ezra. He might have a better timeframe for the murder.”

“Did you get anything from Jane that would help us?” asked Adam.

Good question. What he got was Thornton had threatened Jane. She had means, motive and opportunity. What he didn’t get was the sense she murdered Thornton. “Not much. Apparently, Thornton threatened her a couple times, but she says she didn’t let it bother her. Still, it’s mighty suspicious. Why Jane’s pond? Why now?”

“So, Jane is still on the suspect list?” asked Rosie.

“Until we prove otherwise.” Ethan ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve got to put Tanner on the list too.”

“Tanner?” Adam exclaimed. “Why Tanner?”

“I visited Tanner after I left Jane’s house to see if he’d seen anything suspicious.” Ethan huffed. “Tanner had a couple of altercations with Thornton. The last time was when Thornton visited him at the farm. He thought he might have given Thornton a black eye.”

“Fuck,” Adam exclaimed. “I don’t believe he killed him, but why was Thornton threatening him?”

Ethan closed, then opened his eyes. “Some old rumor about my grandfather and ol’ man Jenkins’s father making some sortof pack with Thornton’s family to buy the two farms. Thornton threatened to get control of Jenkins’s farm and cut off the stream that runs into our property.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Rosie said. “Did Thornton have proof? A receipt? Why the sudden focus on buying the land?”

“No idea.” Ethan slapped the desk and stood. “Just a FYI, the mayor just called and is demanding updates. So let’s solve this murder quickly.”

“Great,” Adam said. “No pressure here.”

“Rosie, let’s get Thornton’s financial records and see where he was spending money,” Ethan said. “Adam, interview anyone who knew Thornton. There must be a clue somewhere. Thornton’s fingers were in so many shady deals.”

Rosie and Adam stood. “Sounds like a plan,” she said.

As they left, Ethan leaned back in his chair. He stared at the wall of old photographs of his father and grandfather standing in front of the station. He wondered if he was living up to their ideals and hoped he’d get justice for David Thornton’s death.

Sixteen

After another sleepless night listening to thunder roar and lightning crack, scaring the crap out of her, Jane finally gave up on sleep.

She lay in bed as long as she could, hoping to catch another hour or two of sleep, but no luck. After glancing at her watch, she realized she must have dozed off. It was already 8a.m., later than she usually got up.

Jane stepped over to the window and pulled back the drape.

The storm had passed. It was going to be a sunny day. From her viewpoint, she noticed that the wind had brought down and scattered a lot of small branches and a couple of big ones. Bucky could probably cut them if she had a chain saw, which she didn’t. A trip to town was warranted.

It would be nice to meet up with some friends to help buoy up her bad mood, so she called Claire and Emily to see if they could get away for an hour.

After making her bed and eating a light breakfast of toast and homemade peach jam, Jane got dressed and headed down to the barn. The fresh, earthy scent of rain lingered in the air, giving her the sense that everything was all right in the world.Well, except for the dead body in her pond and the sheriff, who thought she was a killer. Hopefully, they would resolve that soon. The murderer would be put in jail, and everyone could get on with their lives.

Approaching the barn, she heard the chickens clucking softly as they pecked at some corn on the ground. Bucky was standing by the fence, already feeding them more as the two cats, Clover and Bruiser, wound around his leg. Jane laughed when Bucky named the new cat that, but it fit. He was a bruiser—big and assertive.

“Hey,” Bucky called out when he saw her approaching. “I heard there was a lot of excitement here yesterday.”

Jane blew out her breath. “Is that what they’re calling it?”

“Small town,” he replied with a shrug. “When something like that happens, everyone knows about it.”

He looked over at her, concern in his eyes. “Are you all right? This had to be devastating.”

“It was, and it’s not over.” She shook her head sadly as she watched the chickens scrambling for corn. Rocky the rooster stood in the corner by his favorite lady of the day, glaring at her.

“That rooster hates me,” she said jokingly.

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