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

“I’m well. Sorry I couldn’t call you back before now. There have been some new developments in the Diantha Lloyd murder that kept me unreachable yesterday. I need to ask you some questions, and I need your help on one matter. Is this a good time to talk?”

“Yes, it is. Give me a moment.”

I put my hand over the phone mouthpiece, then spoke to Aunt Clove, “I need to take this call. Is it okay to phone you when I am done?”

“Sure, no problem. We can continue later.” Aunt Clove picked up the biscuit tray and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“I’m back. What’s going on?”

“First, let me give you some news that I think will help you.”

“Okay. You sound so ominous.”

“I don’t mean to be. I am actually in a good place. With your help, I’m about to break the Diantha Lloyd case. And they told me I couldn’t do it. But I digress.”

“Now, you have aroused my curiosity. Tell me something, or I will explode.”

“I can tell you this. The day we met, God sent you to me. Though, you didn’t know it, you provided me with the clue I needed.”

“What was that?”

“I see you are forcing me to tell you my information in the reverse order of what I had planned. So, here goes. When you told me you had spoken with Armie Bledsoe, I was completely shocked. He has consistently spoken out against the Sheriff’s Office for years and even threatened to sue for harassment at the beginning of the investigation. He is our number one suspect. He has hired a lawyer and refused to cooperate with the Sheriff’s Office in any way, shape, or form. I take it Armie didn’t tell you we are looking at him for Diantha’s murder.”

“He didn’t tell me any of this.”

“I’m a good reader of people. I know you didn’t know, but you did reveal information to me.”

“What was that?”

“You said Armie told you that he was not sure whether or not Duffy murdered Diantha.”

“He did tell me that.”

“I believe you. At the beginning of the investigation, Armie was brought in for questioning twice. In both of his statements, he swears that neither Duffy Radley nor he had anything to do with Diantha’s murder. He was sure of it, and he was very belligerent about it. So why is he now cunningly trying to throw suspicion onto Duffy?”

“Hmm, a great question.”

“Is it because Duffy is dead and can’t defend himself?”

“Could be.”

“And why would he agree to talk to you? You are looking into Diantha’s murder just as I am.”

“I think Brightness’s owner Jackson Stevens had a lot to do with that. He told certain employees to be available to talk with me. If Armie had refused, Jackson would’ve been told. Armie probably didn’t want it getting back to Jackson that he refused to talk to me, so he agreed to meet with me.”

“That makes sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense to me is why Jackson doesn’t know Armie is a suspect,” I said.

“Highly classified information. Heads would roll, people would lose their jobs if this information leaked,” Detective Rivers explained.

“But everyone knew about Duffy’s connection to Ms. Lacecap’s murder.”

“Totally different situation. He was married to Sybil. He openly propositioned Diantha. People saw him with the men who murdered Ms. Lacecap. His name was associated with the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders from the start in the newspapers, TV, and in people’s memory.”

“Even Sheriff Hobbs didn’t leak that piece of information to his old friend Jackie Stevens,” I said.

“Not if he wanted to keep his job.”

Just like stepping on a piece of ice or a child’s toy or anything that is unexpected in your walking path and stuns you for few seconds, I had stepped on the real reason Jackson had hired me. Jackson knew about Armie and had been sworn to secrecy by Sheriff Hobbs. There is no way in the world these two old buddies had not looked out for one another. Sheriff Hobbs probably told Jackson about Armie being a suspect after discovering Armie worked for Jackson. What Jackson truly wanted me to find out is did Armie murder Duffy and Diantha, but he couldn’t ask me in these words. If he had, I would have wanted to know why he suspects Armie of murder. Jackson did not want me to know Armie was a suspect because I would put two and two together and realize Sheriff Hobbs gave him the information. Jackson was protecting his friend.

“Vett, are you still there? You have gone quiet on me.”

“I’m here.”

“I need for you to tell me everything Armie said to you.”

“Well, let me see. He wanted to know how I was going to solve Duffy’s murder before the police. I explained my process to him. He said during the time Duffy was murdered, he was doing drop-offs from a trip to Cape May, New Jersey. It all checked out. When he got back to the office, Jackson told him Duffy had been murdered.”

“Did that check out?”

“Yes. Let’s see, uh, he said the last time he last saw Duffy was the Friday night before our Tennessee trip. Duffy, Armie, and their wives had dinner together. He said he had no idea who murdered Diantha or Duffy. I remember him saying Duffy wanted a baby, but his wife Nancy did not. We talked about Duffy’s sickle cell trait. Is any of this helpful?”

“It is. Keep going.”

“He told me he worked for Brightness for eight years. He confirmed that Duffy did make sexual advances to Diantha and that Diantha despised Duffy. He said the bunch of blue hydrangeas Diantha had with her meant she was meeting someone. He explained that this was Ms. Lacecap, Sybil, and Diantha’s signature thing to do—give people bouquets of hydrangeas.”

The gasp in Detective River’s voice did not escape me. I had evidently said what she had been waiting for me to say. I paused for a moment.

“Keep going,” Detective Rivers said.

“Do you want to see my written