Murder is Secondary: A Susan Wiles Schoolhouse Mystery Read online

  “A few questions? If it will help me understand why on earth that man killed my daughter, ask away.” They followed her into the living room and sat on the soft white sofa. “I can see you will be a mother soon yourself. I hope you never have to go through something like this. I feel like I was murdered right along with Amber that night. I feel dead inside.” Her eyes teared.

  “We are so sorry for your loss. I hate to bother you, but is Mr. Bernstein here?” asked Lynette. “We’d like to speak to both of you.”

  “No, he went to the office. It helps distract him from this whole situation.”

  “Mrs. Bernstein, where were you and your husband on Saturday evening?” asked Jackson.

  “Saturday night? We were right here at home, watching television.” She gazed down at the floor.

  Lynette noticed a hesitation in her voice. Was she telling the truth?

  “Neither of you left at all that night? You’re sure? Do you remember what time you went to bed that night?” asked Jackson.

  “We turned in around ten, no eleven. It was after Saturday Night Live.”

  “After? Saturday Night Live starts later than eleven,” said Jackson.

  Mrs. Bernstein continued to avoid eye contact. “Oh, I guess I must be mistaken. It was midnight. Yes, midnight.” Lynette could see that she was confused by her jumbled responses but there was more than that. Her intuition told her that this woman was hiding something.

  “Mrs. Bernstein, this is really important. What time did you and your husband go to bed that night?” asked Lynette. She was beginning to lose patience. “Try to remember.”

  “I don’t know. I was so upset, I took a sleeping pill. I hardly remember that night at all.” She slowly looked up at Lynette with her eyes glazed over.

  “Then you can’t say for sure that Mr. Bernstein was home all evening, can you?” asked Lynette.

  “Yes. I mean no, I can’t say for sure. But don’t think for a minute he killed that man. My husband is a good man. He wouldn’t do anything like that.”

  “We aren’t saying he did. We are just trying to run a thorough investigation. We will need to talk to him. At this point, we’re just exploring all possibilities,” said Lynette. “We want to catch your daughter’s killer. Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch.”

  As Lynette and Jackson headed to the car, Mr. Bernstein pulled up.

  “Well, two birds with one stone,” said Lynette

  “Let’s go for it.”

  Jackson and Lynette approached Mr. Bernstein. “Good afternoon, Mr. Bernstein. We were just chatting with your wife. Do you mind if we ask you a few question?” said Jackson.

  “Of course not. Now that we know who killed Amber, I need to know why. It doesn’t make any sense. I don’t understand why that man would have wanted my daughter dead.” His voice made a crescendo as he continued speaking. “I’m glad he’s dead.”

  “We are looking for motive here, now that we know Zachary Chichester killed Amber. Thank you for finding the link to her murderer, by the way. If your private investigator hadn’t found that eyewitness we’d still be at square one. I received your voicemail after the baby shower Saturday night. You must have been anxious to tell me your news. What did you do when you couldn’t reach me?” asked Lynette.

  “Nothing. I was disappointed but what could I do? I left that message and figured I’d talk to you in the morning. I was here all night with my wife.”

  “Mr. Bernstein, we just spoke to your wife. She said she’d taken a sleeping pill and couldn’t remember much of anything. She can’t verify that you were home all evening.”

  “What are you saying? Just what are you accusing me of?” His voice began taking on that gruff, authoritative quality. “Do you think I killed that man? I was planning on putting him away for life, but I didn’t murder him. I’m a civilized man.”

  “Mr. Bernstein, we need you to be truthful with us. We have reason to believe you were at the crime scene Saturday night.”

  “I can’t believe you’re accusing me of this.” He was practically yelling.

  “We’re trying to find out why your daughter was killed. Please cooperate with us. We’re trying to help,” said Lynette.

  “All right.” He took a breath and calmed down. “I did go to your Mom’s house that night. I was so anxious to tell you the news, I couldn’t wait until morning, but I certainly didn’t kill anyone.”

  “How did you know where to find me?” asked Lynette.

  “I went down to the police station. They wouldn’t tell me where you were, but I overheard two of the officers complaining about how they were stuck working when most of the station was at your baby shower. Then I happened to see an invitation tacked to the bulletin board. You really should be more cautious. It wasn’t difficult to find the house.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to me then?” asked Lynette.

  “I saw how happy everyone was. I realized it wasn’t the time or place to confront you with my information. I wanted to let you enjoy the shower.”

  Lynette wasn’t buying this sensitive side. “So you left and went home? You were never in my mother’s back yard?”

  “I didn’t say that. Of course, I wanted to see who this monster was who killed my daughter. I walked around to the backyard and heard someone refer to Zachary Chichester by name. I wanted to confront him––I wanted to kill him––I wanted to make him suffer––but I didn’t. I restrained myself and went back home.”

  Lynette got the sense that he was telling the truth, although she couldn’t be entirely certain. “Thank you for being honest with us. We’ll talk soon,” said Lynette. As she and Jackson began to walk away, Mr. Bernstein called after them.

  “Wait. I just remembered something that may be important. As I was sneaking back to my car, I could have sworn I saw someone moving quietly toward the house.”

  “Did you get a look at him?” asked Jackson.

  “No, it was dark and I was anxious to get out of there. It could have just been a neighbor or something but I remember thinking it was odd,” said Mr. Bernstein. “Another thing––I think it was a man. I heard him trying to stifle a cough.”

  “Well, sometimes the seemingly least important observations wind up cracking the case. We’ll be in touch,” said Lynette.

  She and Jackson got into the cruiser and drove back to the station.

  Chapter 34

  “Mom, I have to talk to you,” said Joey. He and Julie had just sat down to dinner.

  “Sure. What’s wrong?” said Julie. She could tell it was serious by the tone of his voice.

  “The other night at the baby shower, I overheard your conversation with Zachary Chichester. Carolina and I were sitting behind the tool shed.”

  “What? You were there? What exactly did you overhear?” Julie’s heart dropped to her feet. At that moment, her world changed.

  “I heard everything. I heard that you were once married to him but that you changed your name and faked our deaths.”

  Julie felt like she was going to faint. She took a few deep breaths and said, “Joey, I…..I never wanted you to find out this way.” She had played this scenario over and over again in her head since the day they fled from the city. Would Joey abandon her now that he knew the truth?

  “Come on, Mom. Be honest. You never wanted me to find out at all.”

  “Joey, it was for your own good. Zachary abused me from the day we were first married. He hit me, kicked me, ridiculed and humiliated me. He was an evil, evil man.”

  “Mom, I can’t believe you went through that.”

  “That wasn’t the worst thing. One day, he was angry and slapped you across the face. You were just a toddler. I couldn’t let him hurt you too. When I got the chance, I made us disappear. I thought we’d be safe here in Westbrook. I knew he would have come after us if he thought we were alive. He would have stopped at nothing to find us.” said Julie.

  “I figured it was something like that. The way he was talking to you, I kn
ew he would hurt––make that kill––you if someone didn’t stop him. After all, he’d already tried to kill you once. Look what he did because Amber was wearing your raincoat. He thought she was you and ran her over with a bulldozer. That was supposed to be you. What kind of lunatic does something like that anyway?”

  “Lunatic is an understatement.”

  “I was going to talk to the police this morning, before I heard that he’d been murdered. I’m glad he’s dead. I know you were just trying to protect me. I would do the same for you.” He hugged her.

  “I love you, Joey. You are everything to me. Now that Zach is dead, I feel at peace. All these years I lived with the worry that he might find out the truth and come after us. Now we never have to worry about that again.”

  “I love you too, Mom. I’ll be going to MIT next year. I don’t want you to be alone. You deserve someone who treats you right. Mr. Copland seems to make you happy.”

  “I don’t want to think about you being away, but I have to admit that Tank and I are getting closer.” Julie smiled, remembering how he’d referred to her as his girlfriend that night they were being chased by Zach. “Now that he has been cleared of the murder and the sexual harassment charges, and I’m completely free from Zachary, I’m thinking our relationship can finally blossom. He’s a wonderful man. We’ve been friends for many years.”

  “I like Mr. Copland a lot. I hope things work out for the two of you.”

  “Thanks, Joey.”

  Chapter 35

  Dalia had just finished her phone conversation with Julie. They both felt relieved and free now that Zachary was gone. She was thankful that she’d met Julie and that she had warned her about Zach being in town. She’d felt as if she had an ally. Julie was probably the only other person in the world who knew what it was like to live with Zach. She heard a knock.

  “Phillip, you shouldn’t be here,” said Dalia when she opened the door and saw her lover. “We don’t want anyone to become suspicious about us being involved.”

  “I couldn’t help it. I wanted to see you.” He embraced her and tried to kiss her but Dalia pulled back.

  “I miss you too, but I think we need to be careful. You have an alibi for the night of the murder, but I was there at the party. Fortunately, there’s no apparent motive for me wanting Zachary dead. As far as the world is concerned, I’m just a grieving widow. However, if the police find out I’m having an affair with my husband’s business partner, or that his business partner is stealing from the company right under my husband’s nose, that will cast a shadow of suspicion over us.”

  “I guess you’re right,” said Phillip. “I don’t want anything to jeopardize our future––our family’s future––together.”

  “And that’s another thing. No one knows I’m pregnant yet. I figure I’ll pull out that card––the poor pregnant widow thing––if and when I need to.”

  “What about Kaitlyn and Joey? Do you think they’ll come forward and tell the police they are still alive? How will that affect the life insurance money? Won’t they have a claim to it? And to Zach’s half of the company?”

  “I’m sure Zach must have put me as his sole beneficiary. I don’t think it will be a problem. Julie wouldn’t risk going to the police. After all, there’s no reason to now.”

  “Alright.” Phillip sat down on the bed. “Let’s order some room service. I’ll go back in the morning.”

  Chapter 36

  Susan picked up Lynette on the way to Ihop. Lynette had been having cravings for chocolate chip pancakes and Susan, being the good mother that she was, decided to forgo her morning oatmeal with flaxseeds and instead take her daughter out for breakfast. She wanted to tell Lynette about finding the adoption papers and ask her how difficult it would be to find her birth parents, if she decided she wanted to go forward with a search. After inhaling the aroma of coffee and carbs, they sat down at a table, and opened their menus. Lynette could no longer comfortably fit in a booth.

  “I’ve been craving pancakes all week,” said Lynette.

  “One of the perks of being retired is being able to go out for breakfast on a weekday morning,” said Susan. She ordered banana nut pancakes, with bacon and sugar-free syrup.

  “Lynette, I want to talk to you about something. The other day I went down to the bank to close out Grandma’s accounts. I’d forgotten all about her safety deposit box, but when the lady at the bank reminded me, I decided to gather the contents and close that out also.”

  The waitress put a steaming carafe of coffee down on the table. Susan poured herself a cup as she tried to talk herself into continuing this story.

  “When I looked inside, I found the usual things––a marriage license, a passport––but I also found something quite unexpected.”

  “What did you find?” asked Lynette.

  “I found adoption papers. My adoption papers. Lynette, Grandma and Grandpa weren’t my real parents. They adopted me.”

  “What?” said Lynette. Susan watched as Lynette’s jaw literally dropped. “Did I hear what I thought I heard?”

  “I couldn’t believe it either. It’s taken me a few days to absorb the whole thing and even be able to talk about it,” said Susan.

  “Why did Grandma and Grandpa hide this from you?”

  “Back then, there was more of a stigma associated with adoption. This explains why Grandma was in her forties when she had me though. She had probably tried for years to conceive before that. Maybe she was embarrassed that she couldn’t get pregnant.” Susan wished she hadn’t said that.

  “I know what that’s like,” said Lynette. Susan remembered how difficult it was for Lynette to become pregnant. She and Jason had tried for quite a while before it happened. “Do the papers give the names of your real parents?”

  “You mean my birth parents? Grandma and Grandpa will always be my real parents. No, it was a closed adoption.”

  “Do you want to search for them?” asked Lynette.

  “I’m still not sure. I have mixed emotions. On the one hand, it’s very difficult for me to squelch my natural curiosity. On the other, I’m afraid of what I might find out. There’s a good chance they are no longer even alive. Not everyone lives to be 101 like Grandma did.”

  The waitress set a heaping plate of chocolate chip pancakes in front of Lynette, and a stack of banana nut pancakes in front of Susan. That first bite tasted like heaven itself.

  “Well,” said Lynette, “sit with it until you feel comfortable. If you decide to search for them, I’ll be happy to help. This is hard to believe. What did Dad think about this?”

  Susan poured herself another cup of coffee.

  “You know, I haven’t even told him yet. He has so much on his mind already. This is a difficult thing for me to talk about. I’ll sit down with him and tell him the whole story soon though.” Both she and Lynette had attacked their plates with gusto, but both were now beginning to slow down.

  “I’m getting stuffed,” said Lynette.

  “I’ll ask for boxes when the waitress comes back. You know, Lynette, I have something to tell you that may be related to the murder case,” Susan had decided it was time to share the news about Julie’s fake identity.

  “What is it, Mom?”

  “It’s about Julie Martin. She…”

  “Owww,” cried Lynette. She clutched her stomach and doubled over. “It hurts.”

  “Lynette, Lynette, what’s wrong?” Susan could see that Lynette was in pain and she herself began to panic. She got out of her seat and looked around the restaurant. “Is anyone here a doctor?” she asked.

  “Call 911,” said Lynette. She clutched Susan’s hand. “I think something is terribly wrong. I’m so scared that the baby is in trouble.”

  Chapter 37

  Susan rode in the ambulance with Lynette and called Mike and Jason to tell them what was happening. She was so upset, she wondered if they understood half of what she said. When the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Lynette was quickly taken to
the emergency room while Susan paced the floor of the waiting room. She was terrified that her daughter and grandchild were in jeopardy. Soon, Mike and Jason arrived. The nurse took Jason to the back to be with Lynette while Mike stayed with Susan.

  “What’s going on?” asked Mike. “Is she okay? Is the baby alright?” Mike generally kept his cool during emergencies, but Susan could tell by his voice that he was every bit as worried as she was.

  “I don’t know anything yet. Everything was just fine. We were enjoying our pancakes when suddenly Lynette doubled over in pain. I called 911 and they came almost immediately. I’m so scared.” Mike put his arms around her.

  “I’m sure it will be okay. You got her here right away and so far this pregnancy has been smooth sailing. I wish we could do something. I hate that all we can do is wait.” Mike went to the vending machine and handed Susan a cup of bitter tasting coffee. He paced back and forth across the room while they waited.

  After what seemed like an eternity, Jason came into the waiting room.

  “How is she? How’s the baby?” asked Susan.

  “They are both going to be okay, but the doctor has put Lynette on bed rest. The pain has stopped but they want to keep her here a few hours to make sure.”

  “Oh, thank God,” said Susan. She felt her body relax.

  “Jason, we’ll be there for you. Susan and I can stay with her while you are at work,” said Mike. His strained expression had softened.

  “I don’t think she will need someone there every minute, but I’m sure she’ll appreciate some regular company. The doctor says she has to avoid stress.”

  “Knowing Lynette, it’s going to be hard for her to stay put,” said Mike.

  “Yes, but I know she’ll do everything the doctor says in order to protect the baby,” said Jason.

  “The important thing is that she stays calm and follows doctor’s orders. I’ll order up some Netflix, pop some popcorn, and spend my afternoons with her.”

  “Thanks. We’re lucky to have you both nearby. Speaking of which, I need to call my parents and let them know what’s going on. Let me go back and do that.”