'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 30

The ride back to Emma's house was spent mostly in silence. Sarah had made two separate attempts at coaxing conversation out of Shirley Sue, but she produced only a couple of words at a time in response.

The sound of gravel rumbled under the tires of Sarah's vehicle as it pulled into Emma's driveway. The breaks squeaked as the car came to a stop.

“Thanks for the ride home,” Buck said.

Shirley Sue and Roger echoed their appreciation.

“You're welcome!” Sarah said. “Hey Roger, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Sarah watched as Shirley Sue and Buck exited the vehicle and headed toward Emma's house. Shirley Sue walked briskly past Buck, turning her head in the other direction as she moved by him.

“Maybe you should come along with me for a bit and give them a little space,” Sarah said. “I'm sure we could find something to do out here in this town.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” Roger said. “I'll go and tell them that I'll be back in a bit.”

Sarah nodded at Roger as he opened the car door. He disappeared through the front entrance. Moments later, he exited the house. The porch light illuminated his bright red cheeks as he walked back to the car.

“Everything okay?” Sarah asked.

Roger laughed. Behind it was a nervous twinge. “Ya, Buck was just giving me a hard time. You know how he is.”

Sarah put the SUV into reverse and pulled back onto the street.

The pair sat in silence for a moment before Sarah glanced over at Roger. His posture was stiff as he nervously picked at one of his cuticles. “I reckon there's a bar with a pool table 'round here,” she said.

“You know I'm no good at pool.”

“Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky.” She winked at him.

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 29

Shirley Sue lurched forward as the car began to travel down the road. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Buck looking in her direction. She turned her head away from him and stared out the window.

“What do you mean?” Sarah asked.

Shirley Sue felt the smooth surface of the black clutch slip under her fingers as she picked it up from the space beside her. The silver chain jingled as she unzipped it. She removed the photo from the clutch and passed it to Roger. “Look at this,” she said.

“You stole their photo?” Buck asked.

Shirley Sue glared at him and he diverted his attention out the window. “Like you have any room to speak,” she said.

Roger and Sarah glanced at each other.

“Is everything alright?” Sarah asked.

“Dandy,” Shirley Sue said flatly.

Roger looked over the photo and held it up for Sarah to see. “Hey isn't that the woman that was flirting with Buck through the window at the diner?”

Shirley Sue side eyed Buck. “Yes and, according to Buck, her name is Aura. Apparently he snuck off with her earlier today.”

“I told you its not...” Buck started.

“Anyway, she matches the description of our killer and not only was she here for these murders, but also she was in Clinton around the time of their murders,” Shirley Sue interrupted.

“Isn't that a bit of a stretch?” Buck asked. “She didn't seem like the killing type to me.”

Shirley Sue narrowed her eyes at him. “Oh? How well do you know her?”

“It does seem a bit hasty to accuse her of murder,” Sarah said.

“I bet Officer Brady put her up to it,” Roger interjected. “After all, he was in both places during the murders too.”

“Enough,” Sarah said. “We can't just go around accusin' everyone we've met of the murder. We'll take the photo down to the festival tomorrow and see if our witness recognizes the woman. If he does then we'll have a strong case that Aura is our killer. Until then, let's settle down and take some time to clear our heads.”

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 28

“Oh, so you've met?”

Shirley Sue felt her face flush and a lump formed in her throat. She scooted away from Buck. Her expression twisted into a mixture of anger and confusion. “Yes, do tell Buck,” she said. “Because last I knew, you said had no idea who she was.”

Buck cleared his throat. “Shirley Sue, it's not like that, I promise. When I was out looking for you today, I ran into her. She was very, um, friendly.”

“Oh, so she's in town?” Shawn said, sounding surprised. “She is such a flirt.”

Shirley Sue felt the lump in her throat increase in size.

“Yes, she is a very nice woman, an impeccable eye for fashion,” Rob added. “She approached us on the street and struck up a conversation with us.”

“She sounded like she was interested in the festival, so I'm not too surprised she popped in.” Shawn said. He looked over at Rob. “What was it she said? That she would kill to visit the festival.”

As Rob and Shawn droned on about Aura, Shirley Sue slipped the photo into her clutch. An ominous thought gnawed at the back of her mind. It was a long shot, but maybe Sarah could help her piece this together.

Why hadn't Buck said anything about Aura? Was he afraid that she would be jealous? She was bursting at the seams to find out more information, but most of all she felt hurt that Buck omitted the encounter. Was there anything else he wasn't telling her about? Her chest tightened at the thought.

The chime of a doorbell drew Shirley Sue from her thoughts. She, Buck and Shawn got up and walked over to the door. Shawn opened the door. Sarah and Roger stood on the other side.

Roger waved at the trio. Buck quickly introduced everyone and thanked Shawn and Rob. They said their goodbyes and exited the cozy living room, stepping out into the cool evening air. The door shut behind them and the party walked over to Sarah's vehicle.

Shirley Sue buckled herself into one of the back seats. “Hey Sarah, you wouldn't happen to remember if you saw anything about a murder in Clinton would you?” she asked.

“Clinton? I think there was one just a couple weeks ago. Why?”

“I think I know who our killer is.”

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 27

Shirley Sue sat down in a wooden chair next to the living room entryway and looked over at Buck, who held the telephone against the side of his face. Her ears perked up at the sound of voices whispering.

“How long are we going to hide this, Shawn?”

“Shh, will you keep your voice down, Robert?”

“No, I won't keep my voice down. People aren't stupid. They're going to figure it out sooner or later.”

“Please Rob, let's talk about this some other time.”

“Fine.”

Shirley Sue heard the click of the phone reaching its cradle and glanced over at Buck. He nodded at her and she rose to her feet. They walked into the living room and sat down beside each other on a sapphire blue velvet couch which had white throw pillows with blue trim stationed at either end.

“Thanks for letting us use the phone, Officer Brady,” Buck said. “They should be here in a few. It was real lucky that we saw you pull into the driveway before the truck broke down.”

“No need for formalities here. Just call me Rob, and don’t thank me, thank Shawn. This is his place.”

Buck looked at the man sitting in a matching sapphire chair. “Thanks Shawn.”

Shawn smiled at Buck. “Don’t mention it.”

“Hopefully we weren't disturbing anything,” Shirley Sue said.

“We were helping out with a case in Clinton last month and we were about to go through the photos when we heard your knock,” Shawn said.

“Don't let us stop you then,” Shirley Sue said.

“Oh they probably would just bore you. We can wait until you're gone,” Shawn replied. “We would hate to be rude to our guests.”

“Really, we wouldn't mind at all!” Shirley Sue said.

“I'm sure it will be fine, Shawn,” Rob said.

Shawn glared at Rob. Rob picked up a blue gift box and opened the lid. He shuffled through the box for a minute before setting a dozen or so photos onto the coffee table.

“Er, um, here are some less serious photos. We were goofing off.”

Shirley Sue picked up the pile. She smiled at an image of Rob giving Shawn bunny ears. She handed the photo to Buck and looked down at the next one. Ice formed in her veins as her eyes focused on a woman standing with Rob and Shawn. She passed the photo to Buck. She saw the color drain from his face.

“That's Aura,” Buck said.

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 26

“I thought I might find you two here,” Ben said.

“It’s not what it looks like!” said Roger. “We were just...”

Sarah spun to face the voice. She felt Roger let go of her and she wished for a moment that he hadn't. She had known that Ben was coming, but the brief encounter had left a flutter of excitement plucking away at her heartstrings.

Ben laughed. “Maybe I should have stuck around to ‘use the bathroom’,” he said, emphasizing the latter part of the sentence with air-quotes.

Roger’s face turned bright pink.

“I think what Roger was trying to say is that we were looking for a minute to ourselves and stumbled into your room. You wouldn’t mind keeping this to yourself would you?” Sarah asked.

“Ya, whatever. Your brother is on the phone, Roger. Do you want to answer it or should I tell him that the sheriff is doing a special investigation on ya?

Sarah looked over at Roger. The shade of pink on his face had intensified. “Oh no, I’ll get it,” he said.

Ben grinned. “I bet you will.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes at Ben. “Okay Ben, why don’t you show us where the phone is,” she said.

Ben’s eyes connected with Sarah’s, and he looked away. “Fine,” he said flatly. “I was just havin’ a little fun… But, one last thing Roger.”

Sarah walked out of the bedroom past Ben and into the hall way.

“You sure look mighty purty in that shade of lipstick,” Ben said.

Sarah turned in time to watch as Roger’s face turned as red as a beet. He hurried past her and into the bathroom. He grabbed a tissue and started scrubbing at his lips. She peeked into the mirror and touched up her own lipstick. She and Roger then followed Ben down the stairs. The trio walked into the kitchen. Ben pointed at the telephone, which rested on a small wooden table. Roger picked up the receiver.

“Hey Buck,” Roger spoke into the phone. “You there?” Roger paused for a moment while he listened. “The truck broke down? Where’re ya at?”

Roger grabbed the pad of paper and pen which lay beside the phone’s cradle. He scribbled down something on the sheet of paper.

“Got it, 347 Maple Drive, a big brick house. Okay, we’ll see you in a few.”

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 25

Sarah opened the door to the bathroom. She looked around but saw no sign of Roger. “Roger?” she called out.

“In here,” she heard a hushed voice say.

She walked over to the open door and saw Roger kneeling in front of a bed, arm deep in a knapsack.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

“You should have seen it, Sarah. Ben was in here tearing this bag apart looking for some box. After he found it, he shoved it back in this bag. I seen him in the hallway and he was acting like he just robbed a bank.”

“You can’t just go through someone’s stuff, Roger. You need a search warrant first.”

Roger pulled a small, black velvet box from the bag. “Here it is,” he said. He pivoted toward Sarah as he opened the box. “A ring?” he said, scrunching his face in confusion as he extending the box to Sarah.

“Why Roger Wilson, I don’t know what to say,” Sarah joked as she took the ring from him. She held it up to the light and studied it. The ring looked to be a half karat diamond ring. She looked on the inside of the band and saw a mark denoting that the band was crafted from 14 karat yellow gold. “Doesn’t this seem a bit hasty?”

Roger’s face turned bright red as he climbed to his feet. “It’s not like that… I was just...” he stammered.

“You know, you’re cute when you get all flustered,” she said and grinned at him.

She heard the sound of footsteps marching up the stairs.

The ring box snapped shut and then Sarah passed it to Roger. “Quick, put it back,” she whispered. She glanced around the corner and saw Ben’s head pop into view.

She looked around the room for some place to hide. “It’s Ben.”

The sound of the footsteps drew nearer as Ben approached the room. She glanced around the room. There was no time to hide and no way to escape. She looked at Roger. His eyes were filled with fear as they darted frantically around the room. Sarah grabbed him by his shirt collar and drew him close to her. She pushed her lips against his. She felt a tingle race down her spine as his lips caressed hers. He placed his hands on the small of her back, drawing her closer. As she twisted her fingers through his hair, a single thought emerged in her mind. Roger wasn’t a bad kisser at all.

Sarah jumped at the sound of someone cleaning their throat behind them.

'Til Death Do Us Part - Part 24

Roger winced as the car tire rammed against a pothole. “Oops,” Sarah said. He noted that the roads out in this part of town could use some mending. The vehicle slowed to a stop. He looked up and saw a traffic light hanging down at the intersection. Sarah glanced over at him as they sat in silence.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Sarah said, and smiled.

Roger crossed his arms. “I don’t trust him.”

“So you’ve mentioned before,” she said. Her voice sounded flat.

The light turned green and Roger felt the vehicle accelerate. “Come on, he didn’t even have a lead this mornin’ and now they have a suspect?”

“Like I said before, we’ll keep an eye on him and Ben. If they are involved, then we can’t let them know we suspect them,” Sarah said.

Roger glanced at the houses and trees as they flew by. The gloom of the day obscured the evening in a foggy twilight.

“Turn right up ahead. Her apartment is about a mile down the road,” Roger said.

After a few minutes of driving, the vehicle pulled off to the side of the road in front of the apartment. Roger exited the vehicle. He looked around at the vehicles, searching for his brother’s pickup truck. “It doesn’t look like Shirley Sue and Buck have arrived yet,” Roger said.

“We are a little early. They’ll be here soon, I’m sure.”

Roger led the way up the stairs to the apartment. He knocked on the door. Patty’s mother answered the door.

“Hi, we’re here for the wake.”

“The viewing? That was earlier. This is the reception,” she said. “But you’re welcome to join us anyway.”

Roger felt his face flush. “Sorry about that. I guess we were given the wrong message,” he said.

Roger entered the house and Sarah followed after him. They weaved through the other visitors to Patty and gave their condolences.

After a few minutes of talking, Roger felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Do you know where the bathroom is?” Sarah whispered.

Buck looked around the room. “Maybe it’s upstairs?” he whispered back.

Roger climbed up the stairs. He saw an open door and peaked through and saw a toilet, sink, and tub. He motioned to Sarah. She hurried into the bathroom and shut the door behind her.

As Roger waited outside of the bathroom, he heard someone moving around in one of the bedrooms. He crept up to the door and saw Ben digging through a knapsack.

Ben dug through the bag, throwing clothes onto the bed. “It’s got to be in here somewhere,” he muttered to himself. He stopped and rose to his feet, holding up a small black box. “Phew, I thought I lost you,” he said. After a moment of admiring the object, he stuffed it back into the bag and then shoved the clothes in after it.

As Ben turned around, Roger drew back, flattening his body against the wall. He crept back to the bathroom.

Ben emerged from the room. “Oh hey Roger,” he said. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked around nervously.

“There’s a line if yer lookin’ for the bathroom,” Roger replied.

Ben hurried past Roger. “Oh, no. I’m fine. Guess I’ll see you downstairs.”