Chapter 16

Eckle felt anger well inside himself, as he viewed the body of Mrs. Denton. Whoever attacked her did so with viciousness he had never seen before. Moira Denton’s head was struck with powerful blows. The coroner estimated at least six, enough to kill her three times over.

Her nephew Roger stood beside him, weeping as he identified her body. “Who would do this to her?” He said, wiping tears off his cheeks. “She could be cold and distant but I can’t think of a thing that she could have done to cause someone to kill her, Sheriff.”

“I hate to ask but could you go throw her house with a deputy sometime tomorrow. Just to see if anything is missing. We’re trying to figure out if it was a robbery. Has she had any arguments with her neighbors or anyone that you can think of?”

“No sir. No one. I don’t mind going through the house. Though she didn’t ever let me go beyond the parlor. I won’t know what’s missing. Maybe you should check with her insurance agent. She had most of her possessions insured. I’ll get his info for you.”

“That would be appreciated. Here’s my card. Call me if you think of something. Doesn’t matter what time.” Eckle squeezed Roger’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about this. We’ll do our best to find the maniac who killed her.” He walked to the turn. With his hand on the door knob, he turned to Roger. “By the way, where were you today?”

Aghast, Roger said, “You can’t think I would do this?”

“Now I’m not saying that. But by law, we have to rule you out as a suspect.”

“I was at work all day. My boss can vouch for me.” Roger wrung his hands together. His face was full of five o’clock stubble. He rubbed his hand across it, causing a grating sound that echoed in the quietness of the morgue. Sheriff Eckle tried to read his expression, but it was closed to him—almost guarded.

“I’ll send a deputy by tomorrow to get his statement. Thanks for co-operating. One of us will call you tomorrow about the insurance information and also arrange a time for you to stop by and go through the house. In the meantime, it’s still a crime scene and you aren’t allowed inside it.”
Eckle left the morgue.

On his way to the Lambert house he stopped by the station to see if O’Reilly had developed the photos from the McHenry house break-in. To the sheriff’s delight he had, but to his disappointment the Denton film hadn’t been processed. Eckle took a copy of the McHenry photos and left instructions for O’Reilly to work on the Denton photos pronto. He put the copies in his briefcase and left for the Lambert house, after getting a briefing from Hunter regarding the current status of both cases.

As he was leaving the station, he got a call from Roman Ouellette. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to the jerk, but as a public servant it was his duty to take the call.

Ouellette wasted no time in getting to the point of his call. “Sheriff, I know who killed Old Lady Denton. That damn witch next-door. Lava Lambert. Or Lamplighter. That’s her witch name. I’ve seen it on some of her mail when I collect their garbage.”

“That’s not proof of anything. Until I have concrete evidence, I’m not arresting anyone.”

“I’ll get your proof. Tomorrow night is a full moon. She dances naked with Satan during full moons. You’ll have your proof then, Mr. Doubting Sheriff. You know, Brown would have hauled her in for questioning by now. Get your thumb out of your ass, Sheriff and do something.”

“Ouellette, don’t do something stupid. I’ll ignore that comment about my ass.”

Ouellette shouted into the phone, “You dumbass redneck sheriff-wanna-be.”

Before Eckle could reply Ouellette broke the connection. The sheriff muttered, “Dill weed!” into the silence of the phone. Just what he needed, a rogue idiot doing private investigation! He would stop by and have a word with him before going over to the Lambert residence.

Chapter 15

As they walked away down the street to see Mrs. Denton, Todd and Cinnamon laughed over the absurdity of her being a witch. “Did you see those deputies, Todd? They acted as if I could hex them with just a glance.”

Todd laughed, “Can you? The sheriff thinks you’ve bewitched me.” Todd was pleased to see a blush touch her cheeks. “Hey did you see that fat deputy who almost walked into a tree while trying to eavesdrop on you and Sheriff Eckle? Roman Ouellette pisses me off. He started the witch-hunt. Why does that asshole have it in for you and your mom, Cinnamon?”

“When we first moved beside him, he propositioned mom a few times. She told him off in front of his poker friends, embarrassing him as only Mother can. Since then he’s been obsequious with his arrogance, going out of his way to harass us. Mother says to ignore him, so I do my best too. We had the high fence put up between our house and his so he wouldn’t peep at us over the hedge. He’s partly the reason Mother had Little Joe on the back porch. I wonder who stole him.” Cinnamon continued before Todd could comment, though he didn’t mind her musing aloud. He loved being with her. “I bet it was Roman Ouellette, trying to stir up trouble for us.”

He took her hand on impulse. It was warm and soft, fitting in his as if it were meant to live there. He reassured her. “Everyone knows he’s a trouble-maker. Don’t worry about it. I’ll be your body guard.”

She squeezed his hand. “Thank you. I think Sheriff Eckle is an honorable man. It will be interesting to watch the exchange of wits between him and Mother. She won’t be happy to know that Little Joe was kidnapped. I hope she doesn’t go into her hippy performance. She enjoys the fact that people tend to stereotype her. Ah, we’re here.”

The walk to Mrs. Denton’s house went quickly. They ran the front doorbell but got no answer. Todd said, “I bet she’s in the back of the house. I think her hearing isn’t so good. Let’s go around to the back door and try it.”

Both were surprised to see it slightly open. It was a warm day but a spring breeze blew causing the air to be nippy. Todd pushed it open, calling out “Hello, Mrs. Denton. It’s Todd Roberts and Cinnamon Lambert. We came by to make sure you’re doing okay.” He got no answer. He and Cinnamon exchanged a look.

“She has to be here, Todd.” Cinnamon walked into the kitchen. A second later she screamed, turning to Todd and burying her face into his shirt. Over her head he saw Mrs. Denton on the floor with a stream of blood around her. He pulled Cinnamon outside onto the porch and called 911 with his cell phone.

The police and ambulance arrived promptly but there was little that could be done for Mrs. Denton. She was struck several times on the head. Whoever did it, made sure the job was done thoroughly. Deputy Ward, the fat deputy who Todd referred to earlier waited outside with him and Cinnamon. He kept a good distance from them, watching Cinnamon cry as if she were a novelty act. Todd did what he could to comfort her. He was in a state-of-shock himself, wondering who could be so brutal to an old lady. He prayed that they hadn’t disturbed any evidence. Things didn’t look good for Cinnamon. He could see how the police might suspect she had something to do with the chain of events. But he had been with her all afternoon. She was at the McHenry house when Mrs. Denton was driven home earlier. And she hadn’t left his sight.

When the sheriff arrived, Todd noticed how Cinnamon clung to him, as if he were her father. In her anguish, her trust for him showed and Todd hoped that the sheriff took note of it. It pained Todd to see her so distraught. The sheriff was right. She was his girl. Todd watched how delicately he dealt with Cinnamon. When he told Todd to get her home, Todd wasted no time. Once there, he held her hand as she fell asleep on the couch, waiting for her mom while the deputy made himself at home in the kitchen reading an astrology magazine that had been left on the table. Todd held her hand and watched her sleep, thinking how angels must be jealous of her beauty.