Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

A t Maisey’s suggestion, Aaron made a trip to the high school in Corbin to talk to the principal, and he insisted Maisey come along. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but he felt it would be best, so she decided he might be right and she’d see what happened. The only reason she could come up with was the shadowy figure’s comment about high school, but it meant something.

Mrs.Albright invited them into her office and asked them to take a seat, and Maisey felt like she was a sophomore in high school again, about to be railed at by the principal for something she had no part of. “So, what can I do to help you, deputy?”

“We’re looking into the death of VictoriaHunt and I wondered if you could answer a few questions.”

“I can’t think of anything I might have to contribute, but sure. I’ll try.”

“Thank you. MissHunt died about eight months ago. I was wondering if there was anything unusual happening at the school during that time?”

“What on earth could it have to do with her death? She wasn’t a student here,” Mrs.Albright pointed out.

“Yes, ma’am, but we received a tip that her death might have been related to something going on here during that time.”

“Hmmm. Can you refresh my memory with the exact date she died?” When Aaron told her, she shook her head. “No, I can’t think of anything. I mean, she came here once to talk to the students. Matter of fact, it was about that same time.”

“What was she presenting on?”

“The value of pageants and how they could help young women get scholarships, increase their self-esteem and confidence, things like that.”

“I see. Was there like a big school rivalry, or a problem between a couple of students?” Maisey watched as the teacher shook her head again. There was no indication in her expression that she was being untruthful. “Or maybe someone acting out?”

“Nothing that I can think of.”

“Anything with a teacher? Got fired? Got sick? Got divorced? Maybe―”

“Um, Mr.Skidmore won the lottery. I don’t remember the exact date, but it was close to then.”

“Wow. A lot of money?” Aaron asked. Maisey couldn’t imagine what that had to do with anything.

“Yes. About a hundred and fifty million.”

“Wow,” Maisey whispered under her breath.

Aaron snorted. “Yeah, I’d call that a significant win. Could we talk to him?”

“He’s not here. Not too long after he won the money, he retired.”

“Is there anything else you can think of?” Aaron asked.

Mrs.Albright stood. “No, but if I do, I’ll call you.”

“Thanks. I’d appreciate that. And thank you for your time.” Aaron stood and reached down for Maisey’s hand. When she was standing, he reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a business card. “Please take this. They can find me anywhere.”

“Thank you. Have a pleasant day and good luck.”

“Thanks.” As they left the office, Aaron reached for Maisey’s hand, and they walked up the corridor and out the front door. “Well, that wasn’t the least bit helpful.”

“Yeah, but we had to try.” As soon as she was in the truck and Aaron had closed her door, she started to think. Something about Mr.Skidmore was tickling the back of her mind, but she couldn’t figure out what. Once Aaron was in the truck, Maisey turned to him. “Is Mr.Skidmore still around here? And do you think you could get a picture of him?”

The corners of Aaron’s mouth turned down and his chin wrinkled as he thought. “I have no idea. I guess we could check.”

“I think that would be a good idea.”

“Why? You thinking something?”

Maisey shook her head. “No. Just curious.”

“Then I’ll find out.” Aaron slipped the truck into gear and pulled out of the visitor’s space in the school parking lot.

When Aaron dropped her off at her office, Maisey’s head was spinning. Why did she get a weird feeling when she thought about Mr.Skidmore, a man she not only didn’t know but hadn’t ever seen? It didn’t make sense. Then she chuckled.

If there was anything she’d learned, it was that nothing had to make sense in order for it to be important.

By the time Maisey got home, Aaron had been home with Murielle for a couple of hours and had even made dinner. “Oh, wow! I feel like a queen!” she said as she kissed him on the cheek.

“You are a queen. My queen. Dinner in about thirty minutes. Murielle, are you working on your homework?” he called out.

A little voice answered from down the hallway, “Yes, but I don’t get it.”

Maisey dropped her bag in the chair by the door. “I’ll go help her.”

“Thanks, babe.” She crossed the room and watched as the muscles in his shoulders bunched and released while he stirred whatever was in the pot. Just the sight of him there made her tingle all over.

Murielle was struggling with a math problem, so they sat and talked about it, with Maisey showing her several ways to understand it. They’d been at it for fifteen minutes when Murielle sang out, “Oh! I get it!” and worked the problem flawlessly.

“You’re so smart,” Maisey said as she reached for Murielle, pulled the child’s head to her, and kissed the top of it.

“I love you, Mama Maisey,” Murielle crooned.

“I love you too, sweetie. Got more math problems?”

By the time Aaron called them for dinner, Murielle’s homework was finished. They ate, talked, and laughed throughout dinner. After a little TV, it was time for Murielle to hit the sack. Aaron read to her while Maisey lounged across the end of Murielle’s bed. When the story was finished, they kissed her goodnight, first Aaron and then Maisey. As Maisey hugged the child, Murielle whispered, “I miss my mommy, but I love you so much, Mama Maisey.”

“I love you too, doll baby. And I know you miss your mommy. But I’m always here for you. You know that.”

“I know. Thank you.”

“Thank you for being my little girl! Now, get some sleep so you’ll be ready to go in the morning.”

“Okay. Night.”

“Night, baby.” Maisey stepped to the doorway, switched off the light, and closed the door.

Aaron was sitting on the sofa when Maisey reached the living room and he looked up, his eyes sad. “She told you she misses Bailey, didn’t she?”

Maisey sighed and sat down beside him. “Yeah.”

“Does that bother you?”

“No. Of course not. Bailey was her mom, and she gave her life for her child. Murielle remembers all of that. She’ll never forget it. She knows her mom loved her, and I would never take that away from her. I mean, would I like for her to call me Mom? Sure. But if we ever have one of our own, it’ll call me mom, and she’ll follow suit. I know she will.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s right.” Aaron leaned forward and picked up a folder from the coffee table’s worn wooden surface, then opened it. “Okay, I managed to find a picture of Mr.Skidmore. Looks like a pretty average guy.” He handed Maisey the picture, and he was definitely right―Mr.Skidmore looked just like you’d expect a high school teacher to look. “He still lives here, but he retired from teaching, bought a house out in the county, and moved out there.”

“What does he do now?”

Aaron shrugged. “I dunno. What would you do if you won a hundred and fifty million dollars?”

Maisey shrugged at that question. “I dunno. I mean, I have everything I need and want right here.”

Aaron smiled and snatched a kiss from her lips. “Right answer! So here’s all the information we have on Mr.Skidmore.” He handed Maisey a sheet of paper and she skimmed over it.

VinceSkidmore. Forty-nine. Taught chemistry at the high school for twenty-three years. It was the only place he’d ever taught. He was a widower. His wife, Amelia, had been killed in a car accident years earlier. In addition, he had a son, Colin, who’d been eight when his mother died. There wasn’t a lot of information on the boy. “Do you know how old his son is now?”

“Looks like he’s nineteen. Think that’s relevant?”

“Maybe.” Why did a shiver run up and down her spine when she heard ColinSkidmore’s name? Poor kid had lost his mother, just like Murielle had. “Were there any interviews with any of the kids at the school? Vince’s students? Friends of Colin? What about Victoria’s friends? And when exactly was Victoria at the school compared to when Mr.Skidmore won the lottery?”

Aaron looked lost. “Wait… what? Why does that have anything to do with anything?”

That seemed simple enough to Maisey. “They’re the only significant occurrences anywhere near the time Victoria died. And what about her phone records?”

Aaron reached into the folder and pulled out a sheet. “Odd that you’d ask. There were several calls to her phone from a burner phone over the two weeks or so before she died, but we were never able to find out who it was or where they were calling from. And the phone calls all lasted less than thirty seconds.”

“Long enough for someone to threaten her.”

“Yeah, I remember thinking that at the time.”

“Wait! Here’s a call, one of the very last ones, and it was on the day she died. From that number. And it lasted for almost two minutes. That’s different.”

“It is. Looks like she made two calls after that. One was to her sister. Just a few seconds, so apparently her sister didn’t answer. The other was to the sheriff’s department. We pulled our logs and saw that at the time that call was made, we got one at the department and no one spoke. It just lasted for a few seconds and they hung up.”

“So whoever called her, she called her sister and the sheriff’s department after they’d called.” Victoria had been afraid and she’d felt threatened. That was the only thing that made sense. “She called her sister, but she has two sisters. Which sister?”

“Let’s see… Augusta. She lives here. The other sister, Lenore, lives in Parkersburg.”

“West Virginia?”

“Yeah.”

“And Lenore couldn’t have helped her because she was too far away, so she called Augusta.”

“I’m guessing that was it.”

“Did anybody talk to Augusta?”

“Yeah.” Aaron looked over some notes. “She was at a movie with a friend, so she didn’t answer her phone. Had it on airplane mode.”

“Well, at least she’s polite when she’s at the movies.” The only thing worse than a phone going off in the movies was one going off at a wedding or a funeral. “And Victoria didn’t leave a message?”

“No. We actually checked her phone records and she wasn’t lying. There was no voicemail from that call.” He stopped for a minute before he asked, “I’m guessing you’re going to put the coat on again tonight?”

Maisey sighed and slumped back into the sofa. “I don’t think I can. I’m exhausted.”

“Yeah, and you look it too. Let’s pack it in. This will all be here tomorrow, and she won’t be any more dead then than she is right now.”

“That’s true. I’m beat.” She hated to pass up the chance, but he was right. Once you’re dead, you don’t get any deader.