JUDE: Book 2 The Justice Brothers Series (25 page)

Not responding to the irate woman’s tirade, Jude pulled out a chair across from Mrs. Berkley for Skylar and moved to the head of the table. He sat down and focused a stern gaze on Shirley. “Sit down.”

When she glared at him, her eyes storming with anger, he added quietly, “Now.”

He held her gaze, not allowing her to look away. After a long moment, the fuming woman expelled a noisy breath, and made a production of jerking her chair back, scraping it noisily across the tiled floor. With an exaggerated snort, she planted her generous backside onto the plastic chair and glared at Jude.

Skylar wasn’t surprised that the incensed woman obeyed Jude’s quiet command. She had seen thirty-year-veteran cops rush to obey when Jude so much as quirked a brow. And she was hardly the exception, given that all he had to do was turn that commanding gaze on her and a swarm of butterflies took up residence between her legs.

“Mrs. Berkley, Shirley, this is Skylar Hughes. She is an Intelligence Analyst with the Duluth PD. Ms. Hughes is partnering with me on the Parker investigation, which now includes the death of your son and brother.”

Allowing a heavy silence to settle over the room, Jude leaned forward. “Skylar is also the person who found irrefutable evidence that changed the focus of this case. Because of Ms. Hughes’s astute analysis, we are able to inform you that your brother was not drunk, and he did not miss that curve because he was intoxicated. Rather, our evidence proves conclusively that Charlie was murdered.”

Charlie’s mother cried out. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Charlie…Charlie was
murdered
? Why would anyone kill my boy?” Bursting into tears, she leaned against her daughter, crying uncontrollably.

Shirley wrapped one hefty arm around her mother, and turned in shock to Jude. “I don’t understand!” Her face was contorted with a mixture of pain and disbelief.

At Jude’s nod, Skylar spoke carefully. “I cannot begin to imagine how you feel. I will try to be as clear as I can, but please feel free to interrupt me at any point if you have questions.”

While the two women stared at her helplessly, tears streaming down their shocked faces, Skylar described her findings. She explained how acetone mimicked alcohol, and how in the wrong hands it could easily be mistaken for alcohol.

After Sky laid out her detailed analysis, Jude broke in, “We may have ultimately discovered that it was acetone and not alcohol that caused your son’s ‘accident’, but it was Ms. Hughes’s astute analysis that prevented a misinformed diagnosis. We all owe her a debt. We now know that someone planned to kill Charlie, and that he, or they, succeeded. Our task is to determine who that was—which is what we’re doing now.”

For a long moment, Mrs. Berkley’s watery sobs were the only sound in the otherwise silent room.

Jude turned to Shirley. A hard frown creased his brow. “You made some challenging accusations, Shirley. Specifically about the Parker family. I need to understand the basis of your allegations.”

Shirley glanced at her mother, then glared at Jude. But when she responded, her bluster was somewhat diminished. “I…didn’t exactly accuse them of anything, except for being weird.” She looked at Skylar, seeking her support. “Do you know what I’m talking about. You’ve seen families that are just plain sick. You know what I mean?”

Skylar nodded. “Yes, I’ve definitely seen families whose behavior is unusual, even strange. But I’m not sure what you are saying about the Parkers. Can you be more specific?”

Shirley looked at her mother, who looked away, nervously twisting her hands in her lap. The younger woman raised her chin defiantly. “Someone needs to say it, Mother. And now that Charlie is dead—murdered—what do we care what those sisters do? How can they hurt us any more than they already have?”

Both Jude and Skylar were silent, waiting for the flustered woman to expound. She finally snorted and said, “Fine, I’m gonna say it just like I told Charlie. He said I was crazy, but I know I’m not—” A sob caught in her throat stopping her in midsentence.

Sky wasn’t sure she would continue, but Shirley straightened her shoulders and stuck out a belligerent lip. “I told him again and again. There wasn’t a chance in hell that he could ever work his way into that crazy family, no matter what Alicia said. There was one man, and one man only, for every damn one of those women, and that was Blake.”

Skylar frowned. “Do you mean because he’s their only brother, the only son in the family?”

“Yes, but it was more than that.”

Shirley and her mother looked searchingly at Jude and Sky, as if they weren’t sure how to make them understand.

Skylar exchanged a glance with Jude. At his imperceptible nod, she turned to both women and pursed her lips. “Help me out, Shirley. Before the murders, I met the Parker sisters at several social events, but never talked with any of them until the investigation. I did have a number of conversations with Blake, but I don’t know him well.” She nodded encouragingly to Shirley. “Tell me more about the relationship between Blake and his sisters. How is it different from what one would expect? He is the youngest of the four Parker children, correct?”

Obviously agitated, Shirley shook her head. “Yes, yes, he was the baby of the family, but it was much more than that. It was almost like…he was their child, or their…”

Shirley stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked to her mother, who refused to meet her daughter’s gaze.

Jude broke the silence. “Are you saying that their relationship was sexual? That he was their lover?”

Nodding fiercely, Shirley blurted. “Yes, that’s exactly what I am saying. But it was more that. They were his lovers.
All
of them.”

“Including his mother?”

Skylar held her breath when it was unclear if Shirley would answer Jude’s startling question.

After a lengthy pause she answered, “Yes. At least, that’s what Charlie told me.”

“I see.” Jude tugged on his chin thoughtfully, then faced the disconcerted woman and said carefully, “I understood you to say earlier that Charlie thought you were crazy.”

Shirley’s voice rose sharply. “He did, at first. But when I confronted him, he finally admitted that I was right. Even more right than I thought.”

Jude was silent for a moment, then caught Shirley’s gaze. “What caused you to confront your brother, Shirley? I can imagine that was a difficult thing to suggest. Particularly since Charlie was married to Alicia at the time, correct?”

Bright red splotches marked Shirley’s fleshy face. She swallowed several times before she answered. When she finally spoke, her voice was softer, less belligerent as if it pained her to say to say the words. Refusing to look at Jude or her mother, she looked up at Skylar.

“It was six months ago. I was at a party at Charlie and Alicia’s house. I hated going to their parties because of the way the Parkers treated Charlie.”

“All the Parkers, including Mr. and Mrs. Parker?”

“Yes. They treated him like he was a big buffoon. Mr. Parker called him ‘the jock’ as though it was proof that Charlie was stupid or uneducated, which wasn’t true. They never included my mother in their invitations, and rarely invited me. They constantly referred to how ‘poor’ we were. We weren’t really, it was just in comparison to them. I didn’t care, but I hated watching them make fun of Charlie.”

“Was Alicia also disparaging?”

“Not at first. She and Charlie sorta seemed happy. Then I noticed Charlie was upset a lot of the time. He stopped inviting me to their house, as if he was ashamed or something. I think it was because of the way they all made fun of him right to his face.”

“Even Alicia?”

Shirley snorted. “Especially Alicia.”

Skylar asked, “What happened at the party six months ago, Shirley?”

The pained woman sighed then began to speak. “It was late. Most of the people had gone. I wanted to say good night to Charlie, but he wasn’t in the party room. I didn’t care if I said good-bye to anyone else, but at least I wanted to let Charlie know I’d left. I…I knew that some of the people had been out in the gazebo, and I thought Charlie might be there.”

Skylar prompted her, “Was he in the gazebo?”

Shirley shook her head and closed her eyes, as if blotting out a frightening sight. After a long pause, she said, “No, but Blake was. And Charlotte, Marion, and Alicia were there.”

After another long pause, she added, “I didn’t see their mother at first.”

Skylar stood and went over to the small refrigerator and brought out several bottles of water. She put one in front of Mrs. Berkley and handed the other to Shirley.

When Mrs. Berkley just stared at the bottle, Jude reached over and taking off the cap, handed the opened bottle to her. “Please, Mrs. Berkley, drink this. I know this is challenging. But you need to keep up your strength.”

As she was drinking the water, Skylar pulled out the chair next to Shirley and sat down beside her. Taking advantage of the proximity, she asked, “What were they doing in the gazebo?”

Shirley’s face flamed a dark scarlet, almost purplish hue. “They were…drinking and talking. I heard someone laugh, and I was going to ask them where Charlie was, but…”

“You stopped because of what you saw?”

Shirley nodded and looked up at Sky.

Seeing the tears in her eyes, Sky prompted, “Could you see what were they doing, Shirley?”

Shirley slammed her eyes closed then blurted, “Blake was standing in the middle of the gazebo. And…and…Charlotte was kneeling in front of him. At first…at first, I didn’t understand, and then I realized that Blake’s pants, his trousers, were…down to his knees.”

Shirley rested her head on top of her arms on the table. When she didn’t speak, Skylar put her arm around the shaking woman’s shoulders and asked quietly, “From where you were standing, could you see that Charlotte was performing oral sex on her brother?”

When the shaken woman merely nodded, Sky exchanged a glance with Jude, then asked, “What were Marion, Alicia, and their mother doing?”

Shirley raised her head and faced Skylar. Her mascara was smudged, and tears swam in her eyes. Unlike before, she wasn’t angry. Rather, she looked confounded. “They…they were watching…and chatting.”

Chapter 28

Skylar was still reeling from their challenging conversation with Shirley Martinson and her mother. While she explained to the shell-shocked women how critical it was not to tell anyone the truth about Charlie’s death, Jude arranged for one of his female lieutenants to take them home and stay with them for the next several days.

When the women left, Sky tried once more to contact Blake. She met Jude’s gaze and shook her head. “I’m getting his voicemail. I’m not surprised Blake isn’t answering. I left a message for Marion asking how he is, but she hasn’t called me back either.”

Jude was clearly as concerned as Sky was.

“In my message for Marion, I reiterated how important it is that we speak with Blake. If I don’t hear from her shortly, you and I are going to drop in on the Second Chance Boutique.”

Bernice buzzed to say that Marion Parker was on line three. Jude put the call on speaker.

“Good morning, Marion. Ms. Hughes is here with me. As you know, we each left you a message indicating that we need to talk with Blake. When will he be available?”

Marion’s response was curt. “As you saw yesterday, Jude, my brother is ill. He is under a doctor’s care and is currently heavily medicated. Obviously, he isn’t up to having visitors.”

“Excuse me, Marion, but our need to speak with Blake doesn’t fall within the realm of a
social call
. Blake asked Ms. Hughes to meet him yesterday, indicating that he needed to talk with her. He was insistent. If Blake has information that can help our investigation of your parents’ murders, it is essential that we talk with him.”

Marion hesitated, then responded in a more conciliatory tone, “I understand, Jude. I can assure you that if Blake had information about our parents’ murders my sisters and I would also have it, and we would have shared it with you. As for Ms. Hughes, apparently Blake finds her interesting. My assumption is that his interest is personal. While I can’t imagine what he sees in her, there is no accounting for taste, as they say.”

Jude winked at Skylar and shrugged. “Regardless of the reason, Marion, Blake was insistent that he needed to talk to Skylar. I want you to call me as soon as he is able to talk with us.”

He nodded when Sky handed him a note with the word ‘doctor?’. “Oh, and Marion, I need the name of Blake’s doctor.”

“Why is that?”

“Because I want to know the nature of his illness and also what medication he is on. Ms. Hughes was concerned that he may be dangerously combining medications in a way that—”

Marion interrupted. “Now Ms. Hughes is questioning our physician? Really, Jude. How outrageous can that woman get? I have no intention—”

“Let me stop you there, Marion. Two things, and Marion, these are
not
requests. Ms. Hughes and I need to talk with Blake as soon as he’s able, and I need Blake’s physician’s name right now
.
”

After a long moment of silence, Marion said curtly, “Our family physician is Dr. James Samuels. I will tell him that you’ll be calling.”

“You do that, Marion. And remember that I expect you to call me as soon as Blake is able to talk.”

The dial tone signified that Marion had hung up without answering Jude’s directive.

***

Dr. Samuels’ tone was cordial, concerned. “I’m sure you understand, Detective Justice, that I’m not accustomed to discussing my patients’ treatments. However, given the unusual circumstances and Marion Parker’s request, I will tell you what I can about Blake’s illness.

“Blake has been under my care for years for a combination of severe depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety. I’m sure you understand that his parents’ deaths have greatly exacerbated his condition and symptoms. I am treating him with relatively high dosages of Paxil, an antidepressant and SSRI drug, shorthand for a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Blake had been responding well to this medication, but after his parents were killed, he went off the deep end. It’s been difficult to manage his dosages. I understand from Marion that he may not have taken his correct dosage, causing the behavior that you and Ms. Hughes witnessed.”