A Problem in Paxton Park, page 9
part #5 of Paxton Park Mystery Series
Shelly nodded. “Meeks may not see a way out. Maybe he was with Barrett in the park trying to convince him to give him the loan, and when Barrett refused, Meeks may have gone off the deep end and in his rage, killed his friend.”
“If that is the correct scenario,” Jack thought out loud, “Meeks must have found something in the park to use as a murder weapon. I doubt he planned to murder Barrett.”
“What a mess,” Shelly said softly. When she reached for her glass, Jack noticed her fingers trembling and he took her hand.
“Jay will look into it. She and Andrew will figure it out,” he said using a soothing tone.
Shelly looked into her boyfriend’s eyes. “I had a dream last night.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “Did you?”
“It scared me.” The young woman’s eyes filled up.
Jack swallowed. “Tell me about it.”
After she relayed the events of the dream, Shelly sighed. “Lauren wants me to watch my back. She implied that I should protect my head. My mind is warning me about someone. That’s why all the pictures fell from the sky. The killer must be in the photographs we looked at when we were at the police station with Andrew and Juliet. My subconscious mind knows something. It’s been able to put things together and it understands a clue.” She put her elbow on the table and leaned her chin into her hand. “I just need to figure out what my subconscious is trying to tell me.”
“Maybe you should look at the pictures again. I can go with you. I’ll help,” Jack told her. “Maybe someone in one of the photos will stand out this time.”
“What if some of us are in danger?” Shelly asked with a shaky voice.
“Why would some of us be in danger?” Jack asked.
“What if the killer is afraid we’re on to him? What if he thinks he needs to silence someone because he’s afraid that person is getting too close?” Shelly tried to calm herself. “Why else would my sister show up in my dream telling me to watch out?”
Jack moved his chair closer to his girlfriend and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Every person in town needs to be careful. Everyone should be on guard. Just in case. No one knows what the killer’s state of mind might be. For all we know, he may have fled the area by now. We don’t know anything for sure so we all need to be watchful. Your mind is simply alerting you to the possibility of danger.”
“Okay. You’re probably right. We all need to be careful until the killer is caught. Not just me.” Shelly took a deep breath. “It makes sense. Lauren symbolized my worried mind trying to tell me I need to watch my back … just like everyone else needs to do.”
“How about dessert?” Jack asked trying to lighten the mood. “I made a chocolate caramel cake. See, I’m trying to impress this baker I like.”
“I bet you’ll win her over,” Shelly told him with a smile.
Jack brought the cake to the table, cut the slices, and set them onto the plates.
When Shelly brought a forkful to her mouth, she closed her eyes as she chewed. “Mmm. This is delicious. Maybe you need to switch careers.”
“I’ll think about it.” A few seconds later, Jack said with a serious expression, “Maybe think about taking another look at those photographs the police have. It couldn’t hurt to go through them again. Maybe something will stand out this time.”
Shelly placed her fork on her plate and met his eyes. “I was just thinking the very same thing.”
16
Feeling nervous as she entered the bank, Shelly’s worry was eased when the mortgage loan officer, Pam McFee, greeted her with a friendly smile and a welcoming handshake. Pam, in her mid-forties with short, dark auburn hair and blue eyes escorted Shelly into her comfortable office with two glass walls, and shut the door.
The women sat at a round, glossy wooden desk and chatted for a few minutes before Pam opened a folder to show Shelly the loan rates. As she was explaining the options to the young woman, someone tapped on the glass and they both looked up to see David Pillman, dressed in a fitted suit, peering in at them.
David opened the door to Pam’s office and looked at Shelly. “Hey. It’s you.”
Shelly recognized the man who had met her at the police station with Jay and the two other people who had walked past Wilson Barrett’s body on the morning he had been found. She wasn’t thrilled to see him again.
“Do you know each other?” Pam asked.
“We’ve met,” Shelly said. “Only briefly.”
David nodded. “We met formally at the police station, but I saw Shelly in the park when she was standing next to that dead guy’s body.”
Shelly cringed at the young man’s crude comment and Pam noticed her discomfort.
“We’re going over some paperwork,” Pam said trying to give David a hint to go away. “We’ve only just started.”
“Nice to see you,” Shelly fibbed.
“Yeah, you too. I’ll see you.” Reluctantly, David left the office and closed the door.
“Sorry about that,” Pam said. “He can be a little….”
“Intrusive? Crass? Arrogant?” Shelly asked, and then was immediately sorry she showed her annoyance afraid it might make the loan officer dislike her.
“You nailed that description,” Pam told her.
“Does he show those characteristics here at the bank?”
“Oh, sure, and a whole lot more.” Pam made a sour face.
“I would think David would rein it in with people he works with or with people he doesn’t know well,” Shelly said.
“You’d think that, wouldn’t you? He can be difficult. I understand he was on the scene when Mr. Barrett’s body was found.”
“He was. I was one of the people who found Mr. Barrett,” Shelly told the woman.
Pam’s face registered shock. “You poor thing.”
“David showed up a few minutes after we discovered the body, but I was so preoccupied I didn’t even notice him.”
“No one would blame you for that. I can’t even imagine.” Pam shook her head. “David wasn’t fond of Wilson.”
Shelly stared at the woman. “Why not?”
“He held a grudge against him. David interviewed for a position with Wilson at the other bank. He didn’t get it and he badmouthed Wilson any chance he got. We were at a banking conference not long ago. Lots of personnel from area banks were there. David was rude to Wilson in front of a large group of people. Wilson was presenting from the stage and David asked a lot of irritating questions and challenged what Wilson was saying trying to rattle him. The goal was obviously to undermine and embarrass Wilson.” Pam narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice. “A lot of people didn’t like what they saw of David that day. Our bank president had a meeting with him. David basically got demoted and warned not to make the bank look bad in the future. I’m surprised the president didn’t fire him. I think he should have. You can have a dispute with someone, but that isn’t the way to handle it. I was so uncomfortable at that presentation. Someone should have hauled David away by his shirt collar.”
“That’s really awful, but from talking with David at the police station, I can’t say I’m surprised by his behavior. He even mentioned he didn’t know Mr. Barrett well and couldn’t remember ever talking with him.”
“I’m not surprised. David has some trouble with telling the truth,” Pam said. “You should have heard him after Wilson died. David went on and on about how Wilson got what he deserved. He was practically gleeful. I couldn’t stand to be around him. I think David’s nonsense stems partly from jealousy. Wilson was well-respected in the banking community. He was an innovative thinker, kind, concerned about making home ownership available to more people, things like that. If David was smart, he would have tried to learn from Wilson.”
“Unfortunately, some people can’t see what’s in their best interests,” Shelly said.
With a sigh, Pam returned to the information she’d started to share with Shelly, and the two sat together for over an hour discussing the costs and options of different loans.
* * *
Shelly was coming out of the bank when she spotted Jay coming towards her down the sidewalk.
“I haven’t seen you in a couple of days,” Jay said. “Everything good?”
“I was inside getting information about a mortgage. My landlord might be selling the bungalow and he wanted to offer it to me first.”
“That was nice of him.”
“I talked to Juliet about buying the house,” Shelly said. “She’d love for me to do it, but she knows it’s a big decision and I need time to be sure it’s the right thing for me to do.”
Jay nodded. “It’s a huge step. I’m sure the landlord will give you the time you need to figure it out.” She tilted her head to the side, and asked, “You aren’t thinking of leaving Paxton Park someday, are you?”
“Definitely not. This is my home now.” Shelly explained how she’d been saving to invest in her own business. “I’m torn between buying a house I love and planning for a business I’ll love. Maybe I’ll have to toss a coin in order to make the decision.”
“Oh, gee.” Jay chuckled. “Don’t resort to a coin toss. Spend some time thinking it over. You’ll come to the right choice.”
They walked along the sidewalk until they came to Jay’s car.
“You have some time to drive around with me?” Jay asked. “I’d offer to buy you a coffee, but I’d prefer to talk in private.”
“Sure.”
Shelly got into the car and Jay pulled away from the curb and onto Main Street.
“I was going to call you.” Jay headed for a quiet, scenic road that would loop around back into town. “But before I share some new information, have you had any dreams?”
Shelly said, “I was going to call you, too. I did have a dream, but now that I’ve thought it over, I don’t think it means anything.” She reported the details of her latest dream.
Jay glanced over to the young woman. “I think it would be a good idea for you to come to the station one day soon and take another look at the photos.”
“I will. Maybe I missed something earlier.”
“And I think you have to take your sister’s warning seriously,” Jay said. “Watch your back. And your head. We all need to be aware of our safety especially since the killer’s modus operandi is to sneak up behind a person and whack him in the head. It’s hard to defend yourself in an attack like that. Listen for footsteps, watch for shadows.”
“We can’t let our guard down,” Shelly agreed with Jay’s comments. “Has something happened? What did you want to share with me?”
Jay carefully turned the wheel of the car to follow the curves in the road. “There’s a new interesting twist in the case.”
“Oh?” Shelly felt a shiver run over her skin.
“You know Wilson Barrett’s ex-wife, Tina. We interviewed her several days ago. Well, Barrett never changed his will after they divorced. His entire estate goes to Tina.”
“Really?” Shelly shifted a little in the passenger seat to better see Jay’s face. “Is it a large estate?”
“It seems Barrett took his own advice about personnel finances,” Jay told Shelly. “He saved and invested, and the money he accumulated along with the equity in his house added up to an estate worth just under three million dollars.”
“What?” Shelly’s voice was loud. “That much? Why in the world didn’t he change his will?”
“The answer to that died with him,” Jay said. “Maybe he was busy and kept putting it off.”
“I don’t know. A man like Barrett? I don’t think he’s the type to put off something like that especially since he was careful and clever to manage his money to three million dollars.”
“So what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking Mr. Barrett wasn’t quite ready to change his will. He shared years with Tina. He may still have had a soft spot for her. He didn’t have any other family except his father who is in a nursing home. From what we learned from his girlfriend, Imelda, she and Mr. Barrett seemed to have a committed relationship. Maybe Mr. Barrett needed more time to be sure the relationship would last before he changed his will.”
Jay let out a long breath of air. “If I was the girlfriend, I wouldn’t be too happy about Barrett’s estate going to the ex-wife. I’d feel like it was sort of a slap in my face.”
“Yeah,” Shelly agreed. “But Imelda must have known what he was like, careful, methodical. They weren’t married. She probably didn’t expect to be in his will. At least, not yet.”
“Good points,” Jay said. “So do any relevant questions pop into your mind?”
Shelly’s face scrunched up in thought, and then a lightbulb went off. “One in particular comes to mind.”
“Yes?” Jay kept her eyes on the winding road.
“Did Tina Barrett know she was the beneficiary of Wilson Barrett’s estate, and if she did, when did she discover this fact?” Shelly corrected herself. “Actually, that was two questions. Here’s a third one … did Tina know the size of Barrett’s estate?”
“Three excellent questions … and the answers to them could prove very interesting.”
17
While on their way to see Mike Meeks’s wife, Jennifer, Jay told Shelly about her latest meeting with Barrett’s girlfriend, Imelda Wallace.
“Ms. Wallace knew Wilson hadn’t changed his will, but she admitted she hadn’t changed hers to include Wilson either. She regrets now that they never got around to doing it. She said it wasn’t so much missing out on the money that bothered her, but the fact that Tina Barrett would receive Wilson’s estate. Tina had hurt Wilson and even though they were cordial with one another, Wilson did not care for the woman.”
“It’s a shame that Mr. Barrett didn’t remove Tina from the will,” Shelly said. “I changed mine when I lost my sister. I don’t have any other relatives so, for now, I’m leaving anything I have to charities.”
“You were proactive,” Jay acknowledged. “It was a smart thing to do.”
“I’ve read some horror stories about people who died without wills and what happened between their family members. I’d rather have things spelled out and crystal clear.”
“A good idea.” Jay parked the car in front of a high-end townhouse. “Mrs. Meeks lives in some fancy digs.”
“She sure does.” Shelly admired the landscaped grounds and the handsome townhouses surrounding a treed common area.
Jennifer Meeks, a successful insurance company executive, opened the door to her visitors and greeted them. She was about five feet six inches tall, slender, and attractive with big blue eyes and shoulder-length blond hair. Wearing beige slacks, fashionable shoes with small heels, and a white, starched shirt, Mrs. Meeks led them into a beautifully furnished living room.
“Please call me Jennifer.” She offered water, seltzer, tea and coffee and returned to the room with the beverages.
Jay began the interview. “As you know, we’re investigating the death of Wilson Barrett and are speaking with people who knew him. We understand your husband, Mike, was a friend of Mr. Barrett’s.”
“Wilson and Mike had been friends for a long time. Wilson was a nice person. Sort of a gentle soul, kind, smart, a good listener. He valued his friends. He enjoyed his work. He had a girlfriend he’d been seeing for a couple of years. I met her a few times.”
“We were sorry to hear that you’re planning to file for divorce from Mike,” Jay stated.
Jennifer blew out a breath. “That’s right. Things change. It’s time we moved on from one another.”
“How is your husband taking the decision?”
Jennifer’s jaw set. “Poorly, but he’ll have to get used to it because it is going to happen.”
“My I ask why?” Jay questioned.
“Mike is losing his business. He blew through a lot of our money. I started to move some of it to my own account so he couldn’t get his hands on it and completely ruin us.” Jennifer shook her head with a look a disgust. “I told him so many times to abandon the business, but he wouldn’t give up. He didn’t care if he bled our savings dry. I wasn’t going to lose everything we’d worked so hard to build. I think Mike lost his common sense a few years ago.”
“What caused him to do so?”
“His fanatical devotion to keeping that company going.”
“He created a software business?” Shelly asked.
Jennifer nodded. “The software was to help keep track of personal finances. It didn’t take off like he’d hoped, but he would not give up on it.”
“We heard from someone that Mike had argued with Wilson at the high school when they were teaching adult education classes,” Jay said. “Had Mike and Wilson not been getting along?”
“What kind of an argument was it?” Jennifer eyed the police officer.
“Some sort of disagreement. Details are fuzzy.”
“Who told you there was an argument?”
“Someone who works at the evening adult education classes,” Jay said.
Jennifer let out a long sigh. “Although I didn’t know there was an argument, I’m not surprised. Mike and Barrett’s friendship had been strained for a while. When I turned off the cash spigot, Mike went crying to Wilson for a loan. Honestly, I was furious. He had no business trying to access Wilson’s money.”
“Did Mike know how much money Wilson had?” Shelly asked.
“He knew Wilson was a saver, an investor. I’m pretty sure Mike knew the value of Wilson’s estate since he’d been advising him for years. Wilson was careful about money. He wasn’t a risk taker. He was conservative about his spending. Wilson was very concerned about having enough to live on after he retired.” Jennifer made a sour face. “Unlike Mike.”
“Did Wilson give Mike a loan?” Jay questioned.
“He did. The fool.” Jennifer shook her head slowly back and forth. “He didn’t get the funds back. Mike ran through the money, and then had the nerve to go back to Wilson for more.”
