Sequestered with the Murderers by Dr. Tanner (books for 8th graders TXT) 📕

My inner voice told me they were not standing outside by themselves, yet no one saw them standing out there. What does this mean?

My inner voice said Gwen was involved with the murder. Is this the reason she committed suicide?

My inner voice said the name of Angeline is essential to the case. How so?

I’ve concluded that Ms. Lacecap had a secret on Holt, Sr. What is the secret?

I read what I had written several times, then formulated answers in my mind. I needed to talk it out with someone. Gam was in a meeting, and Dimma had told me she was meeting with the mayor this morning. Aunt Clove came to mind. It was now 11:00 am. Using my phone camera, I took a picture of what I had written. I dressed, then drove to work.

Aunt Clove was a willing participant. She came into my restaurant office with a pot of coffee, hot biscuits, and various little jars of jellies.

“I figured you are not ready for lunch yet. So I brought with me a little snack,” Aunt Clove said.

After setting everything on my office table, I poured a cup of coffee and buttered two biscuits, then added strawberry jelly. I then said, “I’m going to walk through how the murder of Duffy Radley occurred. I want you to walk through it with me and ask questions. I’ll then go back to pertinent evidence and play devil’s advocate to make sure I’m not missing anything.”

“This is good. I can ask questions,” Aunt Clove said, clearly excited at being a part of my winding down the case. “First, can you tell me about Duffy’s character?”

This isn’t the way I want things to go. I want to ask the questions, then get her feedback and questions. Since she was excited, I let it slide. I had no one else at this juncture to run my findings by. I answered her question.

“His good sense of humor stood out. He was a loyal and dependable employee. Some people said he drank too much and when drinking was a mean son-of-gun. He loved his wife and provided for her. He engaged in things she wanted to do. He didn’t go to church. I found nothing to say that he was a dishonest man. He loved people, and Brightness passengers loved him back. And I would say he had a spirit of resilience. He had to with the type of job he had.”

“Okay, I see into him a little bit. Who were his enemies?”

“The main ones were his ex-wife and her family.”

“That’s the family of the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders you mentioned previously.”

“Yes. Let’s take a look at the rest area. The murder was planned to take place at that specific location. I don’t know why that particular rest area, except to say it fit in with the plan. Perhaps, that was the only appropriate rest area before reaching the first drop-off, Christiansburg, that didn’t have a night attendant, or the attendant was off that night. Let’s just say that location fits the plan guidelines.”

“And the weather you said was awful—foggy, rainy, and cold. Perfect for murder, though the murderer couldn’t predict or plan for weather like that. Had someone tried to plan for it, it never would happen.”

“Yes, the weather was dreadful. People were going in and out of the restrooms. There are four people in this mix that shot Duffy and an accomplice who helped them. I’m going to identify them with numbers. Person number one was waiting in the maintenance room. When Duffy walked by the maintenance room, person number two and an accomplice pushed him in. Person number one quickly covered his mouth and nose with a mask of nitrous oxide. Person number two came into the room as Duffy was pushed in and quickly covered Duffy in plastic. Person number one had brought in the plastic. The accomplice stood outside as a lookout person. Two other people stood outside close by, though it looked like they were waiting to go into the restroom. After Duffy was covered in plastic, person number one shoots Duffy twice with a .22 caliber muzzled revolver. Person number two then takes the revolver and shoots Duffy three times, then leaves the room. Person number two and the accomplice become lookouts as person number three quickly enters, shoots Duffy once, and quickly leaves. Then person number four enters, shoots Duffy once, and leaves. Persons number three and four head toward the bus for loading. Person number one quickly leaves the maintenance room, locking the door while person number two and the accomplice are standing around as lookouts. Person number one walks away into the parking lot. Persons number two and the accomplice walk toward the bus.”

“Vett, my first thought is, were there any fingerprints on the plastic?”

“None whatsoever. I am really teaching you to be a detective, aren’t I? That was a great question.”

“You know I like it when you ask for my help. Yes, you’ve turning me into a detective, and I like it. So we can assume the murderers wore gloves. Who wore gloves on the bus?”

“Almost everyone. I had on gloves. This is not a clue. Looking at who wore gloves would not have helped me.”

“Seems to me. Someone knew the ins and outs of rest area maintenance rooms or made it their mission to learn,” Aunt Clove said as she buttered and jellied another biscuit.

“My thought exactly. Someone knew there was not a security camera in the maintenance room, knew how to disable outside security cameras without anyone noticing, and knew how to unlock and re-lock the maintenance room door.”

“Who is this person? I know you know.”

Just then my phone rang. Both Aunt Clove and I jumped in fright.

Putting my hand over my heart and breathing with a slight elevation, I said, “Aunt Clove, I need to get this. It may be Detective Rivers.” I got up quickly, then grabbed the phone.

“Hello.”

“Vett, this is Detective Rivers.”

“How are you,