Jeanne Glidewell - Lexie Starr 04 - With This Ring (18 page)

Glancing around, I saw Buck and Sandy Webster standing in the back of the crowd. Bonnie and Harold Bloomingfield were sitting in chairs up at the front of the large gathering. All of the pastor’s children, and a few other close relatives, were standing directly behind several rows of fold-up metal chairs. I spotted Teddy Steiner talking to his sister, Paula. They were whispering back and forth, appearing to be engrossed in an argument. Both had determined expressions on their faces. I had to wonder what they were discussing. Teddy looked uncomfortable, but he appeared sober, at least. Paula just looked angry. Neither appeared emotionally distraught.

Steve Steiner, the real estate mogul, and his wife, Julie, stood off to the side of the casket, with solemn expressions on their faces. They waved or nodded occasionally to various mourners in the crowd. They made no effort to speak to those mourners, or to each other. They appeared almost detached from the events occurring around them.

Just as I turned to point the couple out to Stone, I saw the church treasurer, Betty Largo, slipping through the back door into the rear of the church. I pointed Betty out to Stone instead, and said, “I’d like to go speak with her for just a minute or two.”

“Right now? Does it have to be done today? Is this really an appropriate time? I’m sure the detectives will speak with her.”

“It’s probably not a great time, but our wedding is just four days away now. I’m wondering why she is slinking back into the church. If she sees me, I can just tell her I’m on my way to use the restroom.”

“Yeah, that worked out so splendidly the last time you tried that trick,” Stone said. “If you have to do it now, I’m going with you to keep you out of trouble, if nothing else.”

We were toward the back of the crowd, so were pretty much unnoticed as we returned to the church and followed Betty through the back door. Once inside we found we were the only ones in the back meeting room. I motioned for Stone to follow me down a hallway. Just as we rounded the corner we saw Betty looking to her right, away from us, and walking stealthily into a room with the placard “Church Treasurer” on the door. Why was she sneaking into her own office in the middle of Steiner’s funeral service?

Betty wasn’t an elder or anything of that caliber at the church, so it wasn’t surprising she hadn’t been questioned or scrutinized by the authorities yet. Maybe I could make the suggestion to Wyatt that she be questioned. An interview with the treasurer might wind up being fruitless, but, considering the financial health of the church, I felt it was justified and necessary.

We heard a drawer being opened and something being placed on a desk, and then heard Betty walking toward the entrance of her office. We ducked behind the open door of the sanctuary and waited silently for her to pass. She didn’t carry anything in her arms. She opened the women’s restroom door and went in. I could have followed her in, but thought better of it. I felt those precious minutes could be better spent prying in her office.

“We’ve got two minutes tops to see what she placed on the desk,” I whispered to Stone. “I have a feeling it’s something crucial to this investigation. We need to go in there just long enough to see what it is.”

“I’m probably going to regret saying this, but you go and I’ll detain her if she comes back out while you’re in her office,” Stone whispered back. “Go ahead now, and hurry!”

I couldn’t believe Stone was going along with my idea. I must have caught him at a weak moment. I’d expected him to take hold of my arm and drag me back outside. Apparently, Betty’s furtive actions had piqued his curiosity too. I nearly sprinted to her door and rushed in. The only thing on her desk, other than a statue of Jesus and a paperweight that had a depiction of Moses holding a long staff etched on it, were two ledgers.

I quickly flipped them both open to the last page with notations on them. I assumed these would be the most recent figures entered. Under the headings “Tithes” and “Weekly Offerings” in each book was a list of numbers. The dates on each line matched, but the numbers in the two books didn’t; the figures on one were quite a bit more substantial than on the other. Was Betty keeping two sets of books? Was one ledger for the church and one for her own self-interest? It looked that way. Had Pastor Steiner been aware of this transgression? He surely had to be curious as to why the church was suffering financial woes.

“Isn’t this a beautiful day for the service to be held outdoors?” I heard Stone ask, in a louder voice than the soft-spoken man usually used. He was giving me a warning. I pulled my cell phone out of my purse and quickly took pictures of the same corresponding page in each book. I hoped the pictures would be clear enough to make out the figures, so the authorities could tell they didn’t match. I took two photos of each page, one close up, and one farther back.

I then closed the books, stacked them one atop the other, as I’d found them, and hurried back out the door. Fortunately, Stone and Betty were around the corner and she wouldn’t be able to tell which door I’d come out of. It would appear to her as if I’d been walking through the sanctuary, most likely a late arrival.

“Well, have a nice day, Betty,” Stone said as I joined them. “What took you so long, Lexie? I thought you were directly behind me.”

“I’m hurrying, Stone,” I said. “It just took me a minute to put my lipstick on.”

“That’s fine. I didn’t mind waiting for you.”

“Good morning, Betty,” I said. I greeted her before she could comment on the fact I wore no lipstick. Damn! Why hadn’t I said “foundation,” as it tends to blend in with your natural complexion? But then she’d have wondered why she hadn’t seen me in the ladies’ room applying the makeup, which is hard to do without looking into a mirror. I needn’t have worried, however. She appeared too flustered to notice I’d even donned clothing before leaving home. “Has the service already begun, Ms. Largo?”

“Good morning, Ms. Starr,” she replied. “Yes, it’s only just begun. You haven’t missed much. I just stepped in momentarily to use the ladies’ room.”

We nodded and retreated out the back door. I whispered to Stone, quickly informing him about what I’d discovered. As we reached the outside, Stone stopped me. He untied his tie and began to slowly retie it, while we stood just off to the side of the back patio. He put his finger up to his lips in a “keep quiet” gesture.

While Stone was fumbling clumsily with his tie, Betty Largo walked out a minute later, carrying the two ledgers. I understood Stone’s reasoning now. He wanted to look like he had a reason to dawdle so he could see if she was intent on getting those record books out of her office, as apparently she was, as she had both tucked discretely beneath her arm. She had a knit shawl draped over her shoulders, which nearly masked the two ledgers she carried. She nodded to us again, and walked up to stand behind the Websters, who were still in the back of the crowd. We returned to stand with Wyatt and Wendy, who both gave us a questioning glance. “We’ll tell you later,” Stone whispered.

A couple of minutes later I looked back to where Betty Largo had chosen to stand and she was gone, as were the Websters. I didn’t see Betty anywhere in the crowd. She’d made an appearance, probably spoken to a number of church members and other mourners so they’d remember seeing her at the service, and then had slipped in to retrieve the ledgers and head home with them before anyone noticed her carrying them. I couldn’t wait to tell Wyatt what we’d witnessed.

I pulled out my cell phone to check out the photos I’d taken and forward them to Detective Johnston. The close-up pictures looked pretty blurry, but the other ones looked relatively clear. I think they would suffice in pointing out the differences in balances to the investigators. With the amazing equipment crime labs had these days, they could enlarge the photos and make the writing more legible, if need be.

We turned our attention back to Reverend Bob, who instructed everyone to bow their heads in prayer. After the prayer, Frieda Smith took the microphone. They’d been unable to move the organ outside for Perry Coleman to play, so Frieda sang her songs a cappella, and did a remarkable job of it. She had a strong, clear voice that carried well.

After another eulogy, and two more prayers, the group marched as one to the gravesite. As the vault was lowered into the ground, the sobbing intensified. Even Teddy and Paula were blowing their noses and dabbing at their eyes with tissues now. I saw tears well up in Stone’s eyes, and I passed him a Kleenex. He was a tough guy with a soft heart, just one of the things I loved so much about him. It was one of the reasons I wanted to become his wife in four days time.

Chapter 10

By the conclusion of the funeral, my feet were aching from wearing a brand new pair of shoes. We had an hour to spare before the luncheon at Paula Bankston’s house across town, so we returned to the inn to change into something more comfortable. I put on a pair of black jeans and a short-sleeved sweater, along with my whitest pair of tennis shoes. At this point I was more interested in comfort than style. My wrist was beginning to throb, and I didn’t want to dull my senses by taking a pain pill.

Stone removed his sports jacket and changed into a polo shirt. It would just be the two of us going over to the luncheon. Wyatt had to report for duty at the station, and Andy was picking up Wendy to go see some new improvements at the farmhouse on his new ranch property.

I’m the type who usually opts to be fashionably late to any social event, but today I wanted to be assured of not missing out on anything that might prove to be advantageous in the murder investigation. We were among the first to arrive at Paula’s. Paula greeted us out on the large patio where the luncheon was to be held. Several tables were lined up to hold the food, and others were arranged for guests to relax and eat on. I volunteered to assist Paula in any way I could. I’d have to get past my embarrassment over the church incident if I wanted to garner any information out of anybody at the luncheon.

“There are a few dishes in the kitchen that need to be brought out and placed on the long table next to the swing,” Paula told me. “Do you mind bringing those out to me while I place them on the table?”

“No, not at all. I’d be happy to lend a hand.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot you only had one hand to lend,” Paula said, with a rather demeaning chuckle. “Are you sure you can pick anything up with that cast on your wrist?”

“Oh, I think so. I was carrying around dishes and bowls as I helped clean up after supper last night and it didn’t result in any disasters.” I felt smug when I said it, but the smugness quickly turned to embarrassment when I realized I was bragging about the ability to move a half-full bowl of peas from the table to the sink without causing a messy catastrophe. Not exactly like boasting about winning the Nobel Peace Prize, or graduating from law school. But Paula blew it off as she did everything else I’d ever said to her.

“Okay. Just don’t pick up anything you might have trouble carrying. I don’t want you to drop anything on the floor. I spent a lot of time making all these side dishes to go along with the catered barbecued meat,” Paula told me. I could have guessed it wasn’t my well-being she was worried about when she expressed concern.

I nodded and headed inside to the kitchen. Paula came in through the sliding glass door right behind me. To the right of the refrigerator was a built-in desk. On top of the desk were a laptop computer, a couple of loose pieces of paper, and several opened envelopes. I assumed they were unpaid bills and the desk was used for that purpose.

I was bending over to pick up a large bowl of macaroni salad when Paula brushed past me, straight to the desk. She snatched up the loose papers, folded them quickly and stuck them inside one of the envelopes. She then opened the top right drawer of the desk and shoved the envelopes into the back of the drawer. I got the impression she wanted to make sure nobody saw what was on those papers, especially me.

Was she afraid I would look at them when I made one of my trips into the kitchen to retrieve bowls of food? I was a little bit offended by the notion. Yes, I probably would have looked at the papers, but that didn’t give her the right to assume I’d do such a thing. Some people could be so rude. My opinion of Paula went down a notch or two, and it hadn’t been that good to begin with.

And now I
really
wanted to see what was on those papers. I’d have to contrive a way to come inside without Paula seeing me. Right now, however, numerous people were filing in and out of the house, and I had to get all of the food out to the table on the patio. I found I could grasp one side of the bowls with my right hand and balance the other on the cast on my left. I started making one trip after another, carrying cole slaw, pitchers of tea, baked beans, an assortment of condiments, a variety of desserts, and a pump thermos full of coffee. Once the task was completed, I pumped myself a Styrofoam cup full of coffee, and a cup of tea for Stone.