Walk Through the Valley (Psalm 23 Mysteries) (3 page)

“Is there a reason both of you left before Henry?” Liam asked.

Marjorie shook her head. “Almost everyone but a couple of staffers leave these things before Henry. He insists on staying as late as possible to shake hands and answer questions. He doesn’t leave until the last voter does, sometimes hours after an event is over. By then I’ll have gotten some rest, be changed for dinner and ready to talk over the day with him. Geoffrey is busy coordinating and setting up the next event the moment one ends. None of us has time to stay as long as Henry. But that’s his job. To be accessible to the voters. At least, that’s how he sees it.”

“You don’t agree?” Cindy asked before she could stop herself.

Liam glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, shaking his head slightly.

“I think he gives too much of himself. He ends each day so exhausted he can barely stand. And there’s weeks to go before this tour is over. Even then he won’t be able to take a rest. Not until the election.”

“Okay, so who was still here with your husband when you left?” Liam asked.

Marjorie shrugged. “A lot of people. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“We were just getting ready to leave actually,” Christopher volunteered. “It was just him, a couple other staffers, and me. I was getting ready to call the guy to come lock up after us. I always stay on site with Henry so I’m responsible for making sure buildings get locked behind us.”

“Do you know the victim?” Liam asked.

Cindy turned so she could look at Christopher while he was talking. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Jeremiah standing, arms folded across his chest. He looked slightly calmer, but not much.

“No. I think I might have seen her, though.”

“At the rally?”

“No, a couple of days ago. Different rally, different city. I can’t be sure, though. I’m sorry.”

“Her name was Lydia Jenkins. The name familiar?” Liam asked.

Christopher shook his head.

“How about you?” Liam asked, turning to Marjorie.

“No, I’ve never heard the name,” she said.

Liam was doing a great job, but Cindy couldn’t help but wish that Mark was there. He and Traci should be en route to Tahiti, though. Liam was a good detective from everything she had seen, but she’d feel so much better with Mark on the case.

“She’s not a member of the church,” Cindy offered.

Liam turned to her. “You know, I’ve got your preliminary statement. If you want to head home I can swing by later and get more details.”

She shook her head. “That’s okay. I’ll stay.”

She glanced at Jeremiah. “You can go if you want. I’ll be okay.”

Cindy saw the muscle in his jaw clench and she realized in surprise that somehow what she had just said had made him angry. She couldn’t figure out how it possibly could have, but didn’t have time to fixate on it. She knew from experience that she was going to be at the heart of this murder investigation whether she wanted to be or not, and she didn’t want to miss a word of what Liam and the others were saying. The smallest thing could end up being important later.

“I’ll stay,” Jeremiah said, his voice curt.

“Okay,” she replied, not knowing what else she could say. That seemed to be the wrong thing, too, because she saw him scowl.

Liam moved over to stand next to Henry and Cindy followed. “Sir, can you tell me what happened?” Liam asked.

“I was heading to the parking lot,” Henry said, his voice shaky. “I heard...I thought I heard a woman scream. I ran, but didn’t see anyone in the parking lot. I realized maybe it was coming from somewhere else. I saw the women’s restroom. It was the closest door in the building, and I yanked it open.”

He paused and put his head in his hands for a moment. Cindy took a step backward, wondering if he was going to be sick. When he lifted his head again, his skin was sickly colored. His hands were shaking now. “I saw her on the floor. I ran over to see if I could help. There was blood. And she was just staring...staring. I think she was dead.”

He glanced over at Cindy. “Then she came in.”

“How much time had passed?” Liam asked.

“I really don’t know. A minute. Five. She was just staring...and I couldn’t wake her...and I didn’t know what to do.”

Cindy’s heart went out to him. She remembered finding her first dead body. Time had lost meaning for her as well.

“Did you know her?” Liam asked.

He shook his head. “I saw her at a couple of rallies. She never came up to me or shook my hand. She always hung back. I don’t know who she was, but noone deserves...that.”

Tears sprung to his eyes, and Cindy’s heart ached for him.

Mark leaned his head back against his seat and squeezed Traci’s hand. They had just taken their seats in the first class cabin.

“Tahiti,” she said excitedly.

“Tahiti,” he breathed. “And you.”

“It’s probably our last trip together alone for a while.”

He squeezed her hand harder. “I still can’t believe we’re having a baby.”

“September 18th.”

“How often do babies arrive on their actual due date?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I packed a few books for you to read on vacation. You know,
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
. That kind of thing.”

He chuckled. “Never thought I’d say this, but I’m looking forward to reading them.”

“We’re going to be okay.”

“We’re going to be better than okay,” he said. “We’re going to be great.”

He stretched out his legs. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fly coach again.”

She laughed. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Great minds think alike.”

“I keep wondering what trouble everyone’s going to get into while we’re gone,” she mused.

“I keep trying not to think about that. Whatever it is, I’m sure they can survive two weeks without us.”

In the back of his head there was a little nagging doubt. He tried very hard not to think about the news Cindy had given him that morning that pertained to his deceased partner, the man he had known as Paul but who was really someone else entirely.

As the plane pulled away from the gate he took a deep breath. Two weeks with just the two of them on an island. It was going to be wonderful. It was exactly what they both needed.

“Did you remember to turn off your phone?” Traci asked as flight attendants began to do their safety spiel.

He turned and grinned at her. “I didn’t even bring it.”

She raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. “But, what if something important happens, someone needs to reach us?”

“Nothing is more important than the two of us and uninterrupted quality time. Besides, if the world ends I’m sure someone on the island will let us know.”

3

Cindy was sitting on the ground next to Henry, talking to him occasionally while Liam finished his interviews with everyone else. The man was still in shock but doing a whole lot better. Jeremiah had glared at her when she sat down next to him. He probably didn’t think it was safe. He probably thought Henry was the murderer. She was pretty sure Liam thought that.

Eventually Jeremiah had stalked off. She wasn’t sure where he had gone. For all she knew he was at the synagogue or even back home. Sylvia, the business manager at the church, had been called. It was her number Christopher had had. She had unlocked the facilities earlier and stayed during setup but had to leave before the rally got underway.

She had pulled Cindy aside for a minute when she got there, muttering under her breath about how people were going to start calling First Shepherd the “Murder Church”. Cindy had told her briefly what had happened before Sylvia went off to talk with Liam.

Night had fallen but Sylvia had turned on some extra lights other than the handful that normally came on at dusk. Cindy pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. Mark and Traci should be on their flight. Half a dozen times she had been tempted to call him, but she wasn’t going to be the one to potentially spoil a vacation the two of them desperately needed. Besides, Liam was doing just fine. There wasn’t anything more Mark could have done.

She wondered how much longer it would be until Liam was finished. She knew from experience that when officers took your statement they asked you dozens of questions several different ways, trying to jog loose extra details or things you might not have thought to bring up before. It made the process incredibly thorough but also agonizingly slow.

Christopher wandered over and crouched down next to them. “I don’t think we’ll be here much longer,” he said. “The detective said he was done with me. I’ll stay, of course, until everyone’s free to go...or, whatever.”

He flushed and she gathered that he was wondering if his boss was about to be arrested. Given the state in which he had been found, she was sure that his status was the only thing that had kept him from being arrested immediately.

“What a mess,” Christopher muttered, rubbing his eyes with his hand.

He looked tired and strained. Cindy was feeling better than she could have expected. She had a sneaking suspicion that was because dealing with a murder was less stressful than the thought of resuming her conversation with Jeremiah.

Sad, but true
, she thought to herself.

She heard a step and glanced up just as a camera light flashed in her face. She shouted and Christopher jumped to his feet. The officer who had been standing nearby facing the other direction whirled around.

Cindy blinked furiously, but all she could see were bright spots.

“This is a crime scene, get back!” she heard the officer shout.

There was another flash of light and another followed by excited voices yelling all at the same time.

“How did they find out?” Henry asked.

“Who? What’s going on?” Cindy asked.

“The vultures have arrived,” he said, voice miserable.

“Who?”

“The press,” Christopher said.

Cindy scrambled to her feet, her vision clearing as she watched some officers pushing back half a dozen people.

“That’s just the first wave. The rest will be arriving soon,” Christopher said, anger flaring in his voice. “We need to get out of here.”

A hand descended on Cindy’s shoulder and she spun around with a gasp. Jeremiah was standing behind her, features tense. She had no idea where he’d come from. “Come with me,” he said, voice low.

She nodded and let him guide her deeper into the church grounds away from the reporters.

“The last thing we need is our picture with that guy on the front of every paper and news site come morning,” he said grimly.

His avoidance of publicity finally made perfect sense to her. He might have a different name than he used to, but he would still look the same. Maybe he was afraid of being recognized.

“We can wait in here,” she said, fishing her keys out of her purse and unlocking one of the Sunday School rooms.

They walked inside, closed the door and then sat down at one of the tables. Jeremiah took a deep breath. “Okay, start at the beginning.”

She noticed that he sounded more like himself, the accent having faded into the background again. She wondered if that meant he was calmer, or at least more in control of himself than he had been earlier.

His request irritated her. If he’d been paying attention he would have heard her explain it to Liam half a dozen times already. Still, he had been agitated. Besides, it was good to go over it again, make sure there wasn’t a shred of information she had forgotten to share earlier.

“Well, I finally decided to come look for you instead of waiting at your house any longer,” she started.

A grimace crossed his face for a moment and then was gone. The sudden urge to tell him this was all his fault was great, but she managed not to.

“I figured I’d see if you were at the synagogue. By the time I made it over here with all the traffic from the rally letting out I decided to use the restroom and wash my face so it wasn’t immediately obvious that I had been crying.”

She paused and was rewarded when he flinched slightly.

“So, I headed to the women’s room that’s there close to the gate. I opened the door and I saw the dead woman with Henry crouched over her. I backed out, shouting for help. I heard someone running toward me and, to be honest, I really thought it was you.”

A new expression passed over his face very briefly and was gone. She wasn’t sure what it was he was feeling, but the look she had just seen was chilling.

“It wasn’t, though. It was Christopher. He asked me what was wrong. I told him to call 911 because a woman was dead in the bathroom and there was a man in there with her. He did. Then he opened the door, recognized Henry and called to him. Henry didn’t move though. We kept the door open, watching him to make sure he didn’t try to destroy evidence or anything.”

“That was incredibly foolish,” Jeremiah said. “What if he’d tried to attack you?”