Walk Through the Valley (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (19 page)

“I want to help. I just don’t know what to tell you, or even where to start to try to figure all this out. All I know for sure is, I didn’t kill her,” Henry said.

“I believe you,” Jeremiah answered. “Unfortunately, I have no idea who might have wanted Lydia dead and that presents a problem.”

It was true, but the odds were good it was probably someone in that room. These were the people with the most power to affect the campaign or hurt Henry. If only there was a way to flush out the culprit.

His phone rang. It was Liam.

“I’m sorry. If you’ll excuse me, I have to take this call,” Jeremiah said, standing.

“No problem,” Henry responded.

Jeremiah stepped onto the balcony and closed the sliding door behind him. “Hello?”

“Just wanted to let you know that the only prints they found in Lydia’s car were hers,” Liam said, sounding frustrated.

“I’m here talking with Henry and some of his staff. I can fill you in later, but I’m pretty sure one of them is responsible.”

“Oh, can you prove it?”

“Not yet.”

A sudden idea occurred to him. “But I think I know a way to do it.”

“How?”

“I’ll tell you later. First, I’ve got to go back inside.”

Jeremiah hung up and opened the sliding glass door and walked back into the room. “Well, I have some good news,” he said.

“Yes?” Henry said, eyes hopeful.

“It turns out the police are going to be able to figure out in the morning who really killed Lydia.”

“How, how are they going to be able to do that?” Marjorie asked.

“It turns out that the janitor had installed a hidden security camera that covers the wall of the church where the bathroom door is located. They were having some trouble with kids leaving graffiti and he set up the camera so they could catch the culprits. He’s been on vacation and he’ll be back tomorrow morning. He’s got a padlock on his office where the monitors are and he’s the only one with a key. The recording will show Lydia and whoever went into that bathroom with her.”

He forced himself to smile broadly. “Don’t worry. It looks like we’ll have this entire thing cleared up tomorrow morning. Then it’s back on the campaign trail for you, Mr. White.”

“Please, call me Henry,” the man said. “I sure hope you’re right. I want to see that girl’s killer brought to justice. I want to be able to look someone in the eye and ask them why they did that to her.”

It was clear that the murder was haunting him. People reacted in different ways to witnessing violent crime or its aftermath. Clearly his experiences had deeply affected him.
If they didn’t ultimately destroy him they would probably make him a better leader.

Jeremiah stood. “I should go. I’ll call you tomorrow as soon as I hear anything.”

“Thank you,” Henry said, standing to shake his hand again.

Jeremiah nodded at the others in the room and let Christopher see him to the door. As soon as he made it to the car he’d have to call Liam and tell him the plan.

“You know, the next time you’re going to set a trap, you might want to consult with people ahead of time,” Liam said sarcastically.

“I had to improvise,” Jeremiah said. “If it works you’ll thank me because did you really need this case to be unresolved for another day?”

“Absolutely not,” Liam said with a sigh.

“This way it’s better for everyone, except, of course, the killer.”

They were sitting huddled on the floor of the janitor’s office at the church. The room was very dark with dim moonlight coming in from one window. There were no video cameras or recording equipment. Jeremiah had made all of that up hoping to lure out the real killer by making them think they had only a few hours to destroy evidence of their crime.

It was nearly midnight and they had been locked away in the office since before the church had closed up for the evening. Their cars were parked well down the street and not that far away other officers waited to close in on whoever showed up.

A few minutes later Jeremiah heard something. He turned and looked at Liam who nodded slightly. He’d heard it, too. Several seconds later there was the sound of metal against metal. Whoever was outside was using bolt cutters on the padlock, just like he had anticipated.

There was a clanging sound as the padlock fell off. Then the door swung open.

“Freeze, police!” Liam barked as he clicked on his intense high-powered flashlight. Caught in its beam Geoffrey struggled to cover his eyes.

Jeremiah heard the sound of running steps and moments later an officer was handcuffing Geoffrey. He had in his possession the bolt cutters, spray paint, a can of gasoline and some matches.

“Planning a little graffiti and arson to cover up your murder?” Liam asked.

“I didn’t want to kill her, she made me!” Geoffrey babbled.

“Marjorie, your lover?” Jeremiah guessed.

“Yes,” Geoffrey sputtered. “That girl had a picture of us kissing. She was going to tell Henry. It would have ruined all of us.”

“No, not all of you, just you and Marjorie,” Liam said.

“Marjorie said we had to stop her from talking, but she didn’t want money! She wanted us to come clean with Henry.”

“What did you do with her phone and the murder weapon?” Jeremiah asked.

“I threw them in the dumpster behind the hotel as soon as I got there. I - I didn’t want to kill her,” he broke down and began to sob.

“Take him to the station,” Liam told two of the officers. He pointed to the two others present, “Go find that phone.”

Liam took a deep breath and turned to Jeremiah after the others had left. “Thank you for your help, truly.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Get some sleep. In the morning I’ll need you to come in and make a statement,” Liam said.

“Of course,” Jeremiah said with a nod.

“Better make that late morning so that we both have a chance to get some sleep.”

“Whatever you say.”

“I’m off to go arrest Marjorie White for accessory to murder.”

Jeremiah wanted to go home. He wanted to get some sleep. He thought about Henry White’s face, though, and his promise to give him information when he had it.

“I’ll go with you,” he said.

Liam looked at him in surprise.

“Henry’s been betrayed by the two people closest to him. He’s going to need some triage counseling tonight.”

“That’s nice of you,” Liam said.

“Don’t mention it. Please.”

They drove over separately, but went up to the top floor together. Liam knocked on the door and a minute later Henry opened it, eyes groggy.

“May we come in?” Liam asked.

Henry nodded and stepped back. He tied his robe tighter around his waist and closed the door behind them. He
looked at Jeremiah and hope flared for a moment in his eyes.

“Did you find out what happened to her?” he asked.

“We did,” Jeremiah said.

“Who is it?” Marjorie asked, entering the room. She, too, was wearing a bathrobe.

“It’s the detective and Jeremiah,” Henry said.

Marjorie stopped short and Jeremiah saw terror flash across her face. Liam stepped forward, handcuffs out.

“Marjorie White, I’m placing you under arrest for aiding in the murder of Lydia-”

The rest of his words were drowned out by her scream of rage.

“It was Geoffrey; he killed her. Not me!”

“We know. He also told us of your involvement,” Liam said as he handcuffed her. He began to read Marjorie her rights as Henry turned bewildered eyes on Jeremiah.

“What’s going on?”

Jeremiah put a hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Geoffrey and your wife were having an affair,” he said quietly. “Lydia took a picture of them kissing. She wanted them to come clean, tell you everything. They refused.”

Henry stared at him, mouth gaping. At last he turned toward his wife. “That’s why she died? You killed her because you were cheating on me and you were afraid I’d find out?”

“Henry, please, think about what it would have done to your campaign, your entire career. We couldn’t let one little groupie ruin everything.”

He held up a shaking hand. “She didn’t ruin anything. That was all you, Marjorie.”

Five minutes later Liam was walking Marjorie outside. Jeremiah watched from the balcony until he had put her in the back of his car and driven away. Then he turned to Henry who had sat down on the couch.

He went and sat in the chair near him and leaned forward. “I’m terribly sorry, Henry. I know this has to be hard for you.”

“You can’t even begin to imagine,” Henry said, face ashen. “She really helped kill that poor girl?”

“Geoffrey said she was the one that pushed him to do it.”

“You think you know somebody... It turns out, I didn’t know her at all.”

“People make mistakes. They do stupid things to cover up those mistakes just making the problem that much worse.”

“Don’t try to excuse what she did.”

“I’m not,” Jeremiah said. “I’m just saying that I’m sure the woman you married wasn’t capable of doing this. Somewhere along the way, though, she changed.”

“I don’t believe people change. Not really, not their core personality. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but the truth is this really is all my fault. I chose a wife who was capable of murder. I chose her and then I gave her a taste of power. As soon as something threatened to take it away, she did as her nature dictated. Had I made better choices Lydia might still be alive.”

“Maybe, but you can’t know that for certain. All you can do is live such that her sacrifice means something.”

Henry nodded. “You’re right, of course, thank you.”

Jeremiah nodded. The man was in pain and deep, deep shock. He was more lucid than many would have been, but he suspected that trying to reason his way through it and shoulder blame were part of Henry’s coping mechanism.

Jeremiah called Christopher who came over. He was grief-stricken, but he struggled to keep himself together to try and take care of his boss. Jeremiah finally left as the dawn was breaking and drove home to get some sleep.

He slept very fitfully and rose a couple of hours later and headed straight for the police station.

“You look terrible,” Liam noted.

“Thanks,” Jeremiah grunted as he sat down at Liam’s desk. “Let’s get this over with so I can put this all behind me.”

An hour later he was leaving the police station. In the parking lot he ran into Christopher.

“How’s Henry doing?” he asked.

Christopher shook his head. “Not good, but a heck of a lot better than I would be if I were in his shoes. He’s decided to continue his bid for governor, though, which I consider a victory. The state needs him.”

“He seems like a good man,” Jeremiah said.

“He is. And now he’s taking this whole idea of walking through the valley even more personally. The state’s in trouble and trouble is something he understands intimately, especially now. He’s going to pour his own pain and anguish into his efforts to help save the state.”

“That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“No. I think it will be the salvation of him. Maybe even of the state.” Christopher shook his head. “I’ve got to go in and talk to the detective then I can go home and get some rest. When the story breaks later today we’re going to all need to be on our game.”

“Good luck,” Jeremiah said.

“Thank you, really,” Christopher answered as he shook Jeremiah’s hand. “I owe you. The state owes you.”

“Don’t mention it,” Jeremiah said.

“I’m sorry I’m not going to get a chance to say goodbye to Cindy, but we have to get back on the campaign trail.” Christopher hesitated then continued. “About her, is she seeing someone?”

“Cindy is spoken for,” Jeremiah growled.

Christopher took a quick step back and raised his hands. “Sorry, I didn’t know,” he said hastily.

“Now you do,” Jeremiah said.

Cindy tossed and turned all night. It had been nice to catch up with Hank over their early dinner, but the man was as much of an enigma as he had been months earlier. At least she could finally put to rest her nagging doubts about Bunni, though. He had been with her filming when Kyle and Lisa were attacked. They had heard the news together and her shock and horror had been one of the driving forces that got them in the car and driving to Vegas.

After dinner Cindy had tried to visit Lisa only to find that the other woman was asleep. She had returned to keep watch with her parents before finally turning in for the night.

The next morning had consisted of more watching, waiting. When Cindy went to check on Lisa she found that her parents were there visiting. They were both incredibly well-dressed, but eyed Cindy with thinly veiled contempt that rattled her. She had no idea if the detective had been out to talk to Lisa. She was guessing she had, though, since Lisa didn’t ask about her phone.