With His Dying Breath Page 16

  All concerned parties agreed not to publish a story about the clues provided to Cain Matthews. It was too risky. He recovered his file but could not get any information from the alleged thief who was out of jail. She claimed to be innocent, and a public defender prevented her from talking to the police or to Cain Matthews.

  The most convincing evidence thus far is the comic strip, Skinmore. JJ Matthews had discovered an interesting upshot in the prediction of Blake Brockton’s death and the BelRon fire. All attempts to locate the author of the comic strip had failed.

  One other newspaper in Jackson, Georgia carried the comic. It was not widely circulated by any means. Both newspapers were owned by Southern Distribution. Southern Distribution leased the comic sections from Comical Equations of Atlanta. Editorial frames arrived via email with a PDF attached. The email account was issued to Monikers at the InterService Company. None of this checked out and there was no listing for the company.

  Two months of comics had been sent at the same time four weeks ago. The email address was no longer valid. The company had no information on the subscriber. The Monitor personnel had no reason to believe it was not an actual comic.

  In truth, even with the dead ends of the investigation, they were one-step closer to solving the case of Blake’s murder. Samantha Brockton was the only suspect. Her own husband identified her with his dying breath and recent revelations of bigamy provided her motive.

  * * *

  The Macon Monitor had yet another headline story and River Town, Georgia, had lost another of her citizens to a vicious hand of murder.

  Madelyn Sommers was dead. Cain sat at his desk reading the news article written by a colleague. He had known her a long time as memories from his past flooded his mind. She and her husband were several years older, but they were still friends of Cain and his wife back before JJ was born. Her husband died about a year before Cain’s wife had obviously run away. The two became close. Cain realized he just needed sympathy and ended the brief affair before he got too deep. JJ was only three at the time.

  Madelyn eventually remarried and moved from a small house in River Town to a large plantation style house on the river. Her new husband’s family had a long history dating back to his great grandfather who owned and operated a riverboat when River Town was in its heyday and her citizens obtained extreme wealth.

  Cain ran into her at restaurants and civic affairs but had not talked with her in several years.

  Detectives Nelson and Marabell were called to the scene just because the Brockton Real Estate office was involved. They were to investigate similarities of the two murders, if any. The Captain mandated all information gathered by the two primary detectives be shared among the four detectives. As Jasper had put it, “This is a big sandbox. We’ve got to play together.”

  The only lead in the Sommers murder, if it is a lead, is the note ‘not in the plan.’ What plan? Notes had not been found at the Brockton house the day of the murder or the BelRon fire, but that one might have been destroyed. The note possibly belonged in the real estate office. She made a note to compare the handwriting against the note found by the intruder Saturday night.

  “Jaz, we need to talk to those agents down there and see what they know about this note,” Hilda said. “What else do we have on that case?”

  “Nothing not a thing that I know of,” Jasper said. “Maybe the autopsy will show something.”

  “Maybe. What about the note the unis got the other night. The one the intruder dropped. Did you check it out yet? Does the handwriting match?”

  “Yeah, I don’t know about matching.” Jasper said. “But it was a phone number for some storage building down in Perry. I talked to the manager. They have six hundred units. Without a name to look up, he couldn’t help me.”

  “Let’s see if they have anything listed for Jonas Attaway!”

  Chapter 23

  Thursday, March 22

  One week had lapsed since the murder of Blake Brockton. The case against Samantha Brockton gained momentum with the discovery of Blake’s bigamy giving her a motive. Motive to kill the man after learning he had not legally married her. His first wife, Wylene, was the only wife, the only real wife. All others were just arm trinkets, as one gossip sheet had said.

  Sammi sat in her small apartment making notes as Wilson requested. She and Blake had hosted three parties in the last four months. Most invitees were neighbors or business associates from his various rental properties. He entertained countless people in the hopes of getting and keeping business. Cain Matthews had attended a party just after they moved in. She could not recall Jenny and Jess attending a party. I’m sure they have been invited, she thought.

  Her mind bounced from one subject to another settling on her lack of money and transportation. She called Wilson to ask about a car. “I need a way to get around, Wilson. My nails are a mess, and I could certainly use a massage.”

  He agreed she needed transportation and said he would arrange it. Maria will pick you up in about thirty minutes,” he said. “Then you can run her back to the office.”

  Jess was shocked when he heard her voice. “Of course, I can see you today. Do you want to come in now or what time were you thinking?”

  “Jess, would three o’clock this afternoon be okay? If not, just let me know a time.”

  “I’ll see you then and Sammi, I’m so happy you called.” Jess was thrilled to hear her voice. He would rearrange heaven and earth to fit her in today.

  She smiled. “Thanks Jess.” Check.

  He began getting the massage table and ointments ready even though her appointment was hours away.

  Gracie squealed when she heard Sammi’s voice. Manicure and pedicure 11 a.m. Check.

  Third, she made a call to Exquisite You for a trim and style. Check.

  Fourth, she called Bill Fritz and asked if she could meet him sometime this morning. 9:30 Check.

  She was glad to see Maria again. They chatted as she drove to a temporary office Wilson had set up for work on her defense. It had a small apartment in the back.

  “Wilson, something came to mind on the way over here about my car, at home.”

  “What about it?”

  “What I’m wondering about my car is if I own it, you know free and clear. Blake gave me the Mercedes on our first anniversary.” Smiling about that day, “You know paper is the traditional gift, and he gave me title to a fancy car.”

  “We can call the tag office and find out about your ownership. Do you know the tag number?”

  “Yes.”

  The office confirmed the Mercedes was in Sammi’s name and hers alone, Samantha S. Brockton, and there was no lien holder meaning it was hers and hers alone. “Perfect, Wilson, thanks so much.”

  “Do you want to go get it?”

  “If you or Maria have time to take me over,” she said more excited than he had seen her.

  Wilson drove her back to the house, and she retrieved her white SL550 from the garage thinking how great this little bit of freedom felt. Wilson advised her to be extremely careful. “Do not talk about your alibi, about you and Blake, the other wives or women. Nothing, Samantha. I can’t emphasize this enough,” he spoke as if speaking to his sixteen-year-old daughter taking the family car out for the first time.

  “Yes sir,” she smiled. “Yes, Wilson. I understand. And thank you. Call me later if we need to get together. I’ve been working on my activities for the last few months. You know the parties you asked about—people in and out of the house.”

  “Yes, good. We’re going to need it. The information that has surfaced in the last few days is damaging to our defense.”

  “I know. I’m beginning to look guilty, but I’m not. I did not kill my husband.”

  “Keep that attitude,” he said as she backed out of her driveway. Her first trip was to the Brockton Real Estate office.

  “Bill, I just wanted to thank you for arranging Blake’s funeral. I’m sure he would’ve been very proud.”

&nb
sp; “Sammi, you know as well as I do, Blake would fire me if he knew how over-the-top it was. He would’ve hated it!”

  “Yes,” almost smiling. “He would’ve.” She looked around the office observing a few changes.

  “What can I help you with?” Bill leaned back in his office chair. “Have a seat.”

  “Well, this is almost embarrassing. I’m in unfamiliar territory here.” She said taking a seat in the nearest chair.

  “What is it Sammi? What can I help you with?”

  “Okay, well, you know, I guess you know, I don’t have any money. Blake handled everything. He would give me one thousand dollars cash every week. That might sound like a lot, but he wanted me to keep up appearances so I spent it on lunches, charities, makeup, hair, nails, stuff like that and you know it adds up. I would save some when I could. But for about the past month, I’d remind him that I didn’t have any money.”

  “Yes. Go on.” Almost in tears, she continued, “Bill, for about the past four to six months, Blake has given me only two hundred dollars a week. I’ve had no cash to speak of. I haven’t been able to tip my hairdresser, the manicurist or Jess after a massage without adding it on to the bill, which I guess you’ve been taking care of. But the most important item is my aunt’s nursing home bill. I’m way overdue in my payment.”

  “I see.”

  “Since the news came out about his bigamy and that I’m not, or was not, legally married to him, well, Bill, I need to know where I stand with the house, bank accounts, CDs, was my name on any of it?”

  “Sammi, I’ll have to do some research. Blake had become very secretive the last few months. He had several meetings with a law office but I don’t know about what.”

  “Oh, I do. He had them write a new will. His new lawyer notified my attorney. Well, our attorney.” she said.

  “I saw his car over there several times. I just didn’t know about any company business,” Bill said. “I don’t think they’ve done any real estate work for us. Anyway, none that I know of. I just thought he might be stirring up some new customers.”

  “He didn’t tell you about making a new will?” Sammi asked.

  “No. He didn’t. I wouldn’t think he would work with such a small unknown firm.”

  “Bill, I’ve been constrained from removing, from our house, any items that we owned together.”

  “I think that’s probably normal, don’t you?”

  “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Are you living at the house now?”

  “No, I actually am staying at a small apartment building downtown. I’m very comfortable though. I’m just unable to buy any groceries or personal items.”

  “Sammi, the company has a slush fund, a pretty hefty slush fund. Let me give you a couple of thousand dollars. Will that help you?”

  “Help me? Goodness, Bill, of course it would.”

  He removed the two thousand cash and made an entry for operating expenses.

  “Thank you so much, Bill. You’re a good friend.”

  “Sure, Sammi. Keep in touch, okay?”

  “You do the same.”

  She left the office thinking of a way to get additional money. The nursing home bill alone was twelve thousand dollars in arrears.

  As she adjusted the air conditioning and changed the station on her satellite radio, an idea popped in her head as she passed a car dealership.

  She turned into the Kia dealership and purchased a small used, but very nice, SUV. She left the dealership with her used, but new to her, vehicle and a certified check for $65,000.

  She drove to her aunt’s bank and opened another account to deposit the large check and twelve hundred dollars in cash.

  Her next stop was to the nursing home to make payment on her aunt’s nursing home care.

  When she entered the Exquisite You beauty salon at one thirty, the patrons stared like seeing a ghost. Evelyn had told all the stylists but evidently, they failed to tell their clients. Sammi walked over to her stylist as if nothing had happened. She smiled and spoke to the familiar faces and chatted about the weather and the beautiful cherry blossoms and other colorful trees and flowers. Poise and grace had carried her through the tragedies in her life and did not fail her now as everyone said how happy they were to see her.

  * * *

  Jenny’s depression continued to worsen. She had not been included in any plans with Evelyn and Anne. She and Jess barely spoke especially since the articles appeared in the National gossip magazines. The only person she wanted to be near was Blake even though she had allowed another man in her life. The talk behind her back was increasingly louder and she did not want to leave her house fearful of reporters dredging up more of her past or discovering the status of her current life.

  Everyday an article appeared about the women in Blake Brockton’s life. She hated to admit it but Sammi was a victim just like her, a notch in the bedpost of the great Blake Brockton!

  The whole town had scandalized her love for Blake calling her the other woman, mistress, all those names meaning adulterer. She had not known about all the other women and now with him dead she was a laughing stock.

  They don’t know she had turned her back on him this time. Finally, she broke it off saying she hated him. Oh, I didn’t mean it, my darling! That last day before he died she told him to never, ever call her again, not to come by the shop and to find another manicurist. In reality, she told him to drop dead. He always came to her when he was in trouble. Well, not this time she had said, you dig yourself out of this hole. Now he’s in a real hole, six feet down. Oh what have I done?

  Her last meeting with Blake was at a fast food restaurant near one of his vacant buildings. It was not a rendezvous meeting.

  “Jenny,” he smiled happy to see her. “Hi.”

  “Blake, what are you doing at a fast food restaurant?”

  “If you must know, I saw your car parked out front and I just wanted to see you. So are you by yourself?” He ordered a grilled chicken and diet soda “I’ll pay for hers, too.” He told the cashier handing her a twenty.

  “Yes. Want to sit over here?” She pointed to a booth near the playground partially hidden from the street. They took their food over to the corner.

  “Jenny, something strange is going on. Something very strange,” he said.

  “With your new wife?”

  “Jenny, please, listen to me, honey.” He stared into her eyes. “I’ve been getting phone calls for a couple of months now, well, more like six months, about.

  “About what?”

  “Jenny, about your dad.”

  “My daddy?” Her facial expression revealed her surprise.

  “Yes, your dad and Joan’s sister.” Blake was not fazed and continued to eat his sandwich.

  “My dad and who?” she asked.

  “The lady in the wreck with me and Jess. She was Joan Christian’s sister.”

  “What about?”

  “The circumstances of their deaths, saying I was to blame. That your dad was the first time I’d killed somebody, and I would pay for it.”

  “First time? Blake, what are you going to do?” she asked.

  “I don’t know.

  “Have you been to the police?”

  “No, don’t think I have anything to confess to.” Blake had always been able to wiggle out of a bad situation.

  “That was a long time ago. Why now?”

  “There’s a story in a magazine that manipulates the events and places blame on me. The caller told me to get it. That it was a warning before he went to the authorities and gave the real story. I bought a few off the rack and then just subscribed to it. There’s no names or city mentioned but the caller told me that if I didn’t turn myself in, he would go to the police.”

  “My goodness. You don’t think you need to?”

  “Do you think I’m guilty?”

  “Well, no. I’m probably the one who destroyed my dad. He just never accepted you and me, our child who was his only grandchild h
e and my mom never got to see. It was like he grieved himself to death. You know, basically, he lost me, his business he had built from the ground up. He lost that land, his inheritance, his only grandchild and his wife ‘cause Mom was never the same, hating me, too. And Daddy was still a young man.”

  “I know.”

  “I destroyed my father’s life because of you and I can’t do it anymore. My mom doesn’t want anything to do with me. I just don’t want to live like that anymore.” She stood to leave. “You’ll have to work this out yourself, Blake. You’re married, I’m married….”

  “But what about ….?” Jenny cut him off.

  “That’s none of your concern. You made your choices and I’ve made mine. I need you to leave me alone. Please, Blake, leave me alone.”

  Blake was stunned as she left the restaurant in tears. He walked out to her car, and she left as if the building was on fire. He ran after her but she was shaking her head no, no, no.

  She quit her job at the beauty shop and locked herself in her house. She avoided everyone. She would not go to the door for anyone or anything until she noticed JJ in her driveway of their small duplex.

  “What’s that little b…. doing here?”

  She flung the door open and startled JJ who had turned to get back in her car.

  “Jenny, I’m sorry to bother you. Could I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Well, for a moment. I was just getting ready for a bath.” She was in her bathrobe with a disheveled appearance.

  Curiosity got the best of Jenny since the two had never been close so she stepped out on the porch to talk to her. JJ saw inside for a moment and was surprised to see how unkempt the house was and so dark and dreary. It smelled like your grandmother’s house. She hadn’t known her grandparents since they died when she was little but she’d been with Sara numerous times to visit her grandparents. Dark, dingy, musty, dirty—that old people’s smell. It was the smell on Dr. Early.

  “Jenny, I just want to say how sorry I am about Mr. Brockton. I know that you were good friends for a long time.”

  “I guess it’s no secret, so, yes, we were very good friends since I was your age. I miss him very much! But is that why you’re here?” Jenny’s voice was almost a whisper as she looked over her shoulder.