The Root of Murder Read online

  “Lindsay’s body was found in the middle of the road,” Joshua said between bites of the toast, while dipping each one in the gravy. “The car supposedly rolled over her. My cousin Tad did the autopsy.”

  “Did he have an opinion about whether she was conscious or not?”

  “He said with all of the drugs in her system that she could have been in a manic state, which could have explained why she took that curve at such a high rate of speed,” Joshua said. “She was crushed by the car rolling over her body—before it went over the hill. That bothered me. If she was the only one in the car and thrown out—landing in the middle of the road—then how is it that the car went off the road and rolled down the hill.”

  “If she had enough speeding going into the curve before losing control, it could happen.”

  “That’s what Sawyer says. Because of all the drugs and alcohol in her system, I just let it go.”

  Hunter cringed. “With John Davis being murdered, do you really think now is the right time to tell the Davises that Lindsay killed herself if that turns out to be the truth?”

  “First, let’s find out if my suspicions are right.” Joshua tossed the last bit of toast into his mouth. “Then we’ll cross that bridge.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Cameron had lived in the Ohio Valley for decades. As a law enforcement officer and then detective, she had traveled over, and believed she knew, every acre of land in her vicinity. Yet, she had been unaware of the mobile park squeezed behind the apartment complex where John Davis rented his safe house and a brush-covered hillside.

  Some of the trailers were occupied by lower income couples or families just starting out and working their way up. Others were home to elderly folks on fixed incomes doing the best they could to survive. Then, there were those living in the park who had given up—as evidenced by trash surrounding their living space.

  Bea Miller rented a two-bedroom mobile home tucked away in the back corner of the park. A muddy sedan was squeezed into a square that had been carved out of the garbage bags and containers that filled the driveway. When Cameron slid out of the driver’s seat of her unmarked cruiser, she saw a rat scurry from a mound of trash and make for the briar thicket on the hillside behind the trailer.

  Clutching her service weapon, Cameron made her way up the rickety steps to the door and knocked on it. She heard movement inside the trailer before the door opened a crack.

  One magnified eyeball peered out at her through a thick pair of eyeglasses. “What?” its owner asked in a shaky voice.

  Cameron held her police shield up for her to see through the screen door. “I’m Detect—Lieutenant Cameron Gates with the Pennsylvania State Police. I’m looking for Bea Miller. Are you her?”

  “What do you want?”

  “May I come in?”

  “No.”

  Cameron was startled by the abrupt rejection. She took a moment to regroup before explaining, “I’m here to talk to you about John Davis.”

  “I’ve done nothing wrong. He’s the one stalking me.”

  Cameron took quick note of her speaking about Davis in the present tense. Possibly, she was unaware of his death, in which case, she didn’t kill him.

  “Well, if he’s stalking you, then maybe I can help you.” Cameron took out her notepad. “When was the last time you saw him?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. “Don’t have a reason to keep track of the days since Mr. Davis and his influential friends blackballed me so that I can’t get a job. He was telling everyone that I’m crazy. They paid all of those men to lie saying that they didn’t rape me.”

  “They bribed all of them.”

  Sensing that Cameron did intend to help her, she opened the door a crack more while using it as a barricade between them. “There was that boy who pinned me down on the bed and kissed me in high school. And then the man at the frat party when I was in my sophomore year in college. They also got that man on the cruise ship.”

  “And you filed police reports against each of them at the time of the assaults?” Cameron knew that Bea had. It was in her background report. She asked to see Bea’s reaction to the question.

  “That’s what they tell you to do and that’s what I did.” Bea shrieked, “You have a gun!”

  Cameron opened the screen door and stuck her foot in before she could shut the door. “It’s for protection. I’m not here to hurt you. Under what circumstance did you see John Davis following you.”

  “At the grocery store! I swear! He was following me! He’s trying to frame me for violating the restraining order! I’ve seen him at the gas station. He had switched cars. He was wearing a hat and jeans and driving a white truck so that I wouldn’t recognize him, but I did. I saw him at the convenience store, too. He’s been out to get me ever since I told him that I wasn’t going to have sex with him during our interview. As soon as I saw him, I remembered what the judge told me, and I came home and haven’t gone back to the store since.” She kicked Cameron in the shin and slammed the door shut.

  Derek’s mother, Sadie, and Joshua waited in the hospital lunchroom for over an hour while Dr. Tad MacMillan, Joshua’s cousin, met with Derek and arranged for his medical release. While Sadie ate a sandwich and vegetable soup, her first real meal since Derek’s arrest, Joshua noted that he hadn’t seen her so optimistic in years.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” she said repeatedly.

  “Don’t thank me,” he said, “thank J.J. He proved to the prosecutor that Derek didn’t do it.”

  “A chip off the old block, huh? Not only can’t I believe he took Derek’s case, especially after what he had done to his friend in high school, but that he proved he didn’t kill John.”

  “Well, this was the easy part,” Joshua said. “The hard part is getting Derek well again. It’s going to be a lot of hard work, and it’s all going to be on him.”

  “I hope he listens to Tad.” She took a sip of the soup. “Lord knows I’ve talked to him until I was blue in the face.”

  “Well, I think Tad may have better luck,” Joshua said. “He’s been in Derek’s shoes. Tad spent many years as the town drunk. Like Derek, for a long time, it seemed like the only one he had left on his side was his mother. Then he had a daughter and he made the conscious decision to be a good father to her. He went through hell, but he cleaned up his act and now he’s one of the most respected men in the area.”

  Squinting at him, Sadie set her spoon down. “I knew Tad’s story, but I never realized the parallel between his life and Derek’s.”

  “If Tad can turn his life around, so can Derek.”

  Beyond her, Joshua saw Tad MacMillan enter the lunchroom. Clean shaven and with auburn hair that had only a touch of gray at the temples, Tad looked much younger than his true age. Dedication to a healthy lifestyle since his sobriety, he was in excellent shape. One would never have guessed that he was quite a few years older than Joshua. Tad gave Joshua a thumbs-up from across the room. Derek had agreed to his offer. “I guess we’re on our way to Cleveland.”

  An hour later, Tad was driving Derek, his mother, and Joshua in his SUV north on the freeway toward a rehabilitation facility on the outskirts of Cleveland.

  A sponsor and leader for addiction recovery programs, Tad had been through the routine of delivering guests to the facility multiple times before. For that reason, he was able to remain calm, while Sadie made conversation to ease Derek’s nerves where he sat next to her in the back seat.

  Several minutes in the ride, Derek asked what day it was. After Sadie answered that it was Tuesday, Joshua asked, “What’s the last day that you have a clear memory of, Derek?”

  “I dunno,” Derek said while staring out the side window at the countryside rushing by. “I remember being in the hospital all weekend. You and Sawyer comin’ to the trailer. What day was that?”

  “That was Saturday afternoon.”


  “Lindsay must have visited me the night before that.”

  Silence fell over the vehicle. It had to have been a drug-induced hallucination of his late wife.

  “Does Lindsay visit you often, Derek?” Tad asked.

  “No. That was the first time since she’d died,” Derek said.

  “Are you sure—”

  “It wasn’t my imagination,” Derek interrupted Joshua. “She was real. I touched her.”

  “And this was Friday night?” Joshua asked.

  “I guess.” Derek shrugged his shoulders. “I know it was her because I recognized her necklace. Heather gave it to her. Lindsay never took it off.”

  “Did she say anything?”

  Derek shook his head. “I saw her in the kitchen. I thought she was an angel and had come to take me home with her. I went up to her and touched her. She jumped and looked at me. I tried to kiss her, but she shoved me and ran away.” A tear rolled down his cheek. “I guess she didn’t come for me after all.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I’ve never asked. Do you like dancing?” J.J. looked across the passenger compartment of his truck to Poppy when she didn’t answer. They were on their way to Beaver Falls to visit Madison Whitaker’s studio. Preferring to make use of the element of surprise, he hadn’t called to make an appointment.

  Staring straight ahead, Poppy chewed her bottom lip. She picked at the rim of her western hat, which rested in her lap. Why she had taken it with her to sign up for dance lessons, she had no idea. It must have been because she was wearing it while riding Gulliver when J.J. told her it was time to leave. She hadn’t even bothered to change out of her riding boots.

  “I wasn’t planning for us to learn anything too complicated,” J.J. said.

  “I haven’t danced in years.” She sighed. “My dad wanted his little girl to be a dancer.” She shot a glance in his direction. “A ballerina. I was in dance classes from the time I could walk.”

  “I pictured you more as a line dancer than a ballerina.”

  “Yeah, who would’ve thought. Mom let me continue with the lessons after Dad disappeared. That was only because all of the right people had their daughters in dance.” Sadness filled her face. “But then, after …” Her voice trailed off.

  “Forget about that.” He reached for her hand. “Think about here. Now. Today. You loved dancing. I love to dance. It’s something we can love together. Let’s have fun with it.”

  She squeezed his hand. “And drag information out of your former girlfriend.”

  He smiled at her. “Have I told you today that I love you?”

  She brushed her fingers down his cheek and across his jaw. “Maybe not in so many words.”

  In the middle of the lunchtime rush, downtown Beaver Falls was busy with customers filling the cafes and restaurants, which made it impossible to find available parking in front of the studio. J.J. circled the block twice in search of a space big enough for his truck when he spotted a familiar face behind the wheel of a purple SUV that had scored a spot in front of the dance studio.

  Her long dark hair spilled in long waves over her dark cloth coat. J.J. recognized her even with sunglasses covering her eyes. He was so focused on watching her enter the dance studio owned by her rival that the car behind him had to lay on the horn to move him along.

  “There’s a spot right there.” Poppy pointed to the empty space on the next block.

  After putting coins in the parking meter, he took her hand and kissed her on the mouth when she stepped up onto the sidewalk. “I saw Heather going inside just now.” He led her across the street.

  “Why would someone go into a dance studio owned by her archenemy?”

  “Good question.” He flashed a grin at her. “I intend to use all of my charm to find that out.” He grabbed the door handle to open the door for her.

  “And I’ve never seen you charming before,” she whispered as she stepped inside.

  Dressed in a bright blue wraparound skirt with a long-sleeved ballet sweater, Elizabeth stood up straight from where she had been leaning across the corner of her desk. “J.J.?” Her face broke into a wide grin. “J.J. Thornton!” She turned around to call into the business office behind her. “Maddie! You’ll never guess who’s here. It’s J.J.”

  To their surprise, a man rose up from where he had been working under the desk. “J.J. Thornton?” The heavy-set man’s dirty blond hair was shaggy, his beard equally scruffy. His round face filled with a crooked tooth grin. “Hey, J.J.!” With effort, he rose to his feet. In doing so, his pants fell low on his hips to droop under his beer belly. He pulled up his pants and stuck out his hand. “How ya doin’?”

  Shaking his hand, J.J. struggled to place a name with the familiar face. “Fine. How are you?”

  “J.J., this is Aaron,” Elizabeth said.

  “Aaron Collins.” J.J. shook his hand with more enthusiasm. “You dated Elizabeth.”

  Aaron threw his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders and pulled her in tight to give her a hug. “And married her, too. Got married right after graduation. We’ve got two sweet kids, too. Seven-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. You?”

  “No kids that I know of.” J.J. turned his attention to Madison and Heather, who had stepped into the doorway of the business office during the exchange. “This isn’t a meeting that I ever expected to walk into.”

  “You need to get over yourself, J.J.” Heather folded her arms across her chest. “Maddie and I have buried the hatchet.”

  “No one’s happier to see that than me,” J.J. said.

  “Well,” Aaron said with a chuckle, “except maybe your health insurance provider.”

  “Aaron,” Elizabeth said, “are you done setting up our public wifi? I have work to do and you need to go pick up Chelsea.”

  With a grumble, Aaron crawled back under the desk.

  J.J. urged Poppy forward. After introductions, Poppy told Heather, “I’m sorry to hear about your father. I know how hard it is.”

  “Oh, did your father get brutally murdered?” Heather snapped.

  “No,” Poppy shot back. “Unfortunately, they never found his body. We had to wait five years before the authorities declared him dead.”

  Heather’s face went white. Her hands fell to her side.

  “I was a little girl when he went Christmas shopping one morning and never came home,” Poppy said. “They found his truck in the mall parking lot. It was one of those cases where everyone knew who killed him and why, but with no body, no one could ever prove it.”

  “Dang,” Aaron said from under the desk.

  “Maybe whoever killed him didn’t realize what they were doing. Like temporary insanity. They were so enraged …” Elizabeth’s voice trailed off.

  “Cameron is still working on locating your dad, Maddie,” J.J. said.

  Madison’s eyes widened. She glanced at Heather, who slowly shook her head.

  J.J. went on, “Unfortunately, I’m not privy to any details of her investigation. I’m only Derek’s defense counsel. But I can tell you, Heather, that I made a motion to drop the charges against him this morning, and the prosecution is concurring with my motion.”

  Heather clenched her fists like she wanted to punch J.J.

  “I thought Derek had the knife,” Elizabeth said.

  “The police have located the crime scene,” J.J. said, “and there’s no evidence to place Derek there. Evidence indicates that he was framed. Heather, don’t you want to know who really killed your father?”

  “Of course,” Heather said miserably. “Where was he killed?”

  “I can’t be specific because it is an active investigation,” J.J. said. “I can tell you that it was in Ohio.”

  He noticed that Madison and Heather exchanged quick glances before looking away from each other. Madison fought the tears wan
ting to fill her eyes. In a surprising move, she draped her arm across Heather’s shoulders. He cast a questioning glance in Poppy’s direction.

  “Uh,” he began, “I almost hate to ask this but, where were you Friday night?”

  Heather’s head snapped up. She glared at him.

  “When your father was being killed,” J.J. asked. “Cameron is going to be asking you. She’ll ask everyone.”

  “I was on a date,” Heather said. “If you must know, it was a blind date. In Robinson. I’d met the guy for drinks after work.”

  “Do you have the guy’s name and number?” J.J. asked.

  “It didn’t go that well,” Heather said.

  “If it didn’t go well, I guess you got home early.”

  “Are you accusing me of leaving a bad date to go hunt down my father and kill him for whatever reason? I loved my father. Why would I want to kill him?”

  “I don’t know,” J.J. said. “Can you think of a reason?”

  Heather grit her teeth. Her jaw muscles tightened to draw her mouth into a tight line.

  “The police will want to talk to this guy you went out with Friday night,” J.J. said.

  “I didn’t take his phone number if you must know. But I’m sure I can get it from the friend at work who set us up.”

  “Do you remember what you were doing Friday night?” J.J. asked Madison, whose eyes grew wide.

  “Why would Madison need an alibi for the night of my father’s murder?” Heather asked.

  “You tell me,” J.J. said.

  Heather’s and J.J.’s eyes locked.

  “Maddie was with me,” Elizabeth blurted out.

  All eyes turned to Elizabeth. Clutching the pendant hanging from the necklace around her throat, she smiled nervously. “Wasn’t Friday night our girl’s night out, Maddie?”

  Her mouth hanging open, Madison said nothing.

  “Don’t ask us for any specifics though. We got so wasted.” Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “We were both so hung over on Saturday.”

  “I can attest to that,” Aaron said from under the desk. “I was stuck taking care of the kids while those two went out right after the studio closed. Elizabeth didn’t get home until after midnight.”