The Body on the Roof Read online

  He sprinted in that direction. As he got closer, he saw it was Pierson kneeling next to the body, crying “No, no, no.” Addams pulled his radio off his belt and keyed in for medical emergencies.

  “This is Officer Martin Addams from Summerfield Police. We need an emergency medical vehicle to the south side of the village green in front of the police station. There is a person down apparently injured, but I do not know the extent of the injuries.”

  He received a response that a vehicle was on its way and he stepped closer to Pierson. Pierson was now sitting holding the head in his lap, and Addams could see it was Stephanie Reasoner. There was blood on the front of her uniform, and her eyes were only half open.

  Pierson was slightly rocking. “It’s all my fault. It’s all my fault. Everything is my fault. Stay with me, Steph. It will be alright, just stay with me.”

  Addams knelt next to them, then looked up to see others standing about ten feet away. He recognized Hank Peters from the hardware store.

  “Mr. Peters, there’s an emergency squad on the way. Watch for it and bring it here.”

  Peters hurried to the edge of the street, ready to wave the ambulance down.

  Addams reached out a hand to Pierson. “Jeff, what happened? What’s going on?”

  Pierson looked stunned. “I just told her what happened! It’s all my fault! Don’t you see?”

  “Jeff, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened here?” He pointed to Reasoner’s wound. “Did you see anything?” He reached over to the front of her uniform, hesitated for just a second, then unzipped her jacket, unbuttoned the shirt, and pulled it open to see where the blood was coming from. There was blood flowing from a long slit just below her chest. He pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket and pressed it to the wound.

  Reasoner’s eyes slid over to him, and she whispered something. He leaned in closer and she said it again, slightly louder but with great effort, “Why did he do it, Bud, why did he do it?”

  “Who, Steph, who?”

  But her eyes closed and she coughed gently, turning her head into Pierson’s chest.

  Addams pressed the cloth harder and heard the ambulance arriving. Peters was yelling, “Here, over here!” and there was the sound of the doors opening and people hurrying. Then they were next to him pushing him aside and pulling Pierson away from Reasoner.

  Jim McGarry was the EMT asking him, “Is there anything I should know, Bud?”

  “Bleeding is in front. Appears to be more of a knife wound than a gunshot. Don’t know if there’s anything more. No idea how this happened.”

  “Got it. We’ll take it from here.” He lifted the cloth briefly to look, then pressed it back down and quickly examined her for any other signs of injury. He and the other EMT loaded her onto the stretcher, then into the back of the squad. “We’ll take her to Memorial. They have the trauma unit.” They took a few minutes to get medical care started then sped away, sirens once again breaking the night stillness.

  Mayor Plummer moved out of the growing crowd. “Jeff, Bud, I just got here. Was that Stephanie? What happened?”

  Pierson, now standing, was sobbing. “Will you just quit asking me ‘what happened’? Everything happened!” He threw up his hands, and then they fell back by his side.

  Addams and Plummer looked at each other and just stood there for a moment. Pierson took two deep, shuddering breaths, then one more and held up his left hand.

  “Okay, okay. Bud, we’re going to need to talk. JJ, you might as well be there, too. But I need to call a lawyer first, some other lawyer, JJ. “

  They started walking back towards the station, away from the onlookers still in the park. Hank Peters ran up to them, “Is there anything else I can do?”

  Addams turned to him, “No thanks, Mr. Peters. I appreciate your helping with the ambulance. We’ll let people know what’s going on with Stephanie. And we’ll get back with you and the others to ask if anybody saw anything.” He paused. “Did you see what happened?”

  “No, no I didn’t. And I doubt that anyone else did. We were all just closing up. But I’ll let the others know that you’ll get with us. Tomorrow morning?” Adams just waved his hand and Peters reluctantly walked back to the small group waiting to hear what he had to say.

  Pierson waited till Peters was out of earshot, then quietly said, “I’m the one that killed Grace Mathison.” That stopped both of the others. “Stephanie figured it out and told me out there, at the bandstand. She was coming back to the station to get you, Bud, and arrest me. It’s my fault she got hurt. I didn’t do it, and I don’t know just how she got stabbed, or who did it, but I know it’s my fault. I’ll tell you what I did, but I don’t want to say it over and over.” He shook his head. “Let me do it one time when I have a lawyer present.”

  He started walking back to the department with his head down. Neither Addams nor Plummer said a word, but followed at the same slow pace.

  They entered the station to find Hazlett standing just inside the front door.

  “Word travels fast in this town,” she started, but Pierson walked right past her, so she looked at Addams. “Was it Stephanie? Is she okay, I mean...”

  “It was Steph. She was apparently stabbed. We don’t know who or why yet. I think she was still alive when they took her in the ambulance. We don’t know anything beyond that.”

  “Bud?” Pierson had stopped just outside his office. “Do you mind, is it okay if I use the phone in my, in the office? I need to call...who would you suggest, JJ?”

  “Matt Laurenfeld would be good, I would think.” Plummer shrugged. “It’s been a long time since I had anything to do with a courtroom. But he’s experienced and generally knows what he’s doing.” He turned to Addams. “I’m not used to recommending other attorneys.” He gave a nervous laugh, but nobody joined in.

  “Thanks, JJ. And my wife. Oh God, I have to tell Judy.”

  Addams waved at the door. “Yeah, Jeff, go ahead.”

  As the door closed behind him, Hazlett looked puzzled. “A lawyer? What does he need a lawyer for? He didn’t have anything to do with Stephanie, did he?”

  Addams shook his head. “No, he...” Just then, Peabody came in through the back door, and Addams waited for him to get closer. “Jeff just confessed to killing Grace Mathison.” Both Hazlett and Peabody stepped backward and sat down hard on the edge of a nearby desk. “We don’t know anything more than that. He’s going to give us the details when he has a lawyer present. And George, Steph is on her way to the hospital. She was stabbed, we don’t know why, but it is serious.” He put out a hand. “But not by Jeff. He didn’t do that.”

  “I heard something had happened, but, good God!” Peabody muttered. More to himself than to the room.

  Both Addams and Plummer pulled chairs out and sat down. They all sat in silence for a few moments. Plummer spoke first.

  “I don’t know about the rest of you, but this has been a bit overwhelming to me. A police officer stabbed, and the police chief confessing to a... murder.”

  “Well,” Addams said. “I know Jeff wasn’t responsible for stabbing Steph. He was running to the body just as I was.”

  “Did you see anybody else?” Peabody asked.

  “I saw several people out as I was running over to the green, but nobody that I could say was particularly running away, and I’m not even sure who else was there.” Addams looked up as if he was trying to recreate the moment in his mind. “I know Hank Peters was there. I asked him to wait for the ambulance. And I think Charlene Matthews, the bank manager. Maybe Mel Johnson, his office is right there. Maybe.” He shook his head. “But right now, I can’t recall anybody else, just that there were people. I
was focusing on Jeff and who I later found out was Steph.”

  He leaned his head back to look at the ceiling. “Oh crap.” He turned to Peabody. “George, we need somebody to secure the area. I’ll take you out and show you where I found them. We better do that now.”

  They had just returned when a car roared up to the rear of the building, the back door banged open, and Judy Pierson ran toward them. They all stood, but she didn’t see who she was looking for. “Where’s Jeff?”

  Hazlett pointed at his office door. “Go right in. he’ll be waiting for you.”

  Judy rushed to the door, opened it, released a sob and closed it again behind her.

  “What should we do now?” Peabody asked.

  Addams replied, “I’m going to wait for Matt Laurenfeld to get here, then we’re all going to go into the conference room and hear Jeff’s story.”

  “That makes sense,” Plummer nodded.

  “Marie, why don’t you call Memorial Hospital and see if we can find out anything?” Addams asked her.

  She called while they sat silently again and spoke quietly into the phone. Then she hung up and slowly returned to the group.

  “She’s in critical condition and is now in surgery. It’s too early to give a prognosis. Did anybody call her parents?” She took their stunned silence as a “no” and returned to the phone. “I’ll call them.”

  While they waited for her, the front door opened and Matt Laurenfeld came in.

  “Gentlemen...and lady,” though she wasn’t listening. “I have a client I need to see.”

  Addams barely heard him but nodded toward the closed office door. He had his own thoughts to keep him company.

  CHAPTER 17

  It had been a long night for Martin Addams. Of course, all nights are long when you don’t sleep, but this one seemed to have set a record.

  Judy Pierson had left crying, and then everyone had gone into the conference room for the interview with Jeff. His lawyer, Laurenfeld, had at first wanted to talk with him alone, but Pierson had insisted that everybody be there. He said he wasn’t going to go over it and over it, at least not tonight, and the whole department had earned the right to hear him. Laurenfeld eventually gave in, but reserved the right to stop him at any time. He didn’t.

  When Pierson was finished with his statement, Addams and Laurenfeld asked any questions that needed to be asked. There weren’t very many, and no one else said a word.

  Pierson and Laurenfeld then did meet privately for a short period of time. Plummer left for home, to get what sleep he could. Hazlett had recorded the confession and interview and began transcribing it. She knew she wasn’t going anywhere for the rest of the night. Addams and Peabody got flashlights and went back to the green to look for a knife or any kind of evidence. They also took police tape and cordoned off more of the area, as big an area as they guessed the crime scene unit would need. They came back an hour later, empty-handed, and Peabody went to his home to get what rest he could. They were going to be busy in the morning. After Laurenfeld left, Addams escorted Pierson to one of the cells.

  “Jeff...” Addams began.

  “Bud, there isn’t anything to say.” Pierson sounded exhausted. “I got myself into this. Now I have to pay the piper.” He sat down on the cot, but looked up. “Any news on Stephanie?”

  “Marie called again. She’s out of surgery, but nothing’s changed in her condition. They still don’t know how she’s going to do.”

  “It’s all my fault, Bud.”

  “You didn’t do this, Jeff. I really believe that. I saw you running toward her, not away.”

  Pierson lay down. “It’s my fault, it’s still my fault.”

  Addams shut the cell door from the outside and pocketed the key. He walked back to the desk area. Hazlett had run off copies of the transcription of the confession and handed him one.

  “You’re the arresting officer, you need to sign it,” she said, “You could go home. I’m staying here.”

  “No, I have duty tonight, remember? This is my night.” He took the copy and sat down at his desk.

  — — —

  George Peabody arrived back at 7:00 A.M. on the dot. Addams had never seen him come in that early or even close to it. Usually no one paid much attention to Peabody’s hours. He just came in sometime and left sometime, and, in between, got done whatever he needed to do.

  Hazlett had kept coffee going through the hours, and, somehow, there was a fresh plate of doughnuts. Addams could have sworn she never left. But then again, she also looked like she had slept all night and had put on a fresh, clean uniform. Addams rubbed his unshaven chin as Peabody absently picked up a doughnut and pulled up a chair next to him. Though he had gone home, he still looked as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep either.

  Peabody took a bite. It was a simple glazed doughnut, which wasn’t usually his preference, but he didn’t seem to care. If there was food there, he was going to eat it. “Stephanie?”

  “Still the same as of twenty minutes ago. Not yet conscious, guarded condition.”

  Peabody nodded. “Susan is on her way over there this morning. To sit with her parents.” He brushed a crumb off his shirt. “What are we going to do now, Bud? Where do we go from here?”

  “The Grace Mathison case is closed. I’m waiting for a call from Sharon Alvarez from the district attorney’s office. She’ll be coming over sometime today – I assume this morning as soon as possible.” Addams picked up a paper from his desk and studied it. “I know Hank Peters and Charlene Matthews were there on the green last night. And JJ. I also have the impression Mel Johnson was there somewhere. We’re going to need a list from them of everyone else who was around. And then we’ll need to interview them about what they saw, see if we can find a witness of some kind.”

  He stretched his arms and yawned. “And now, we definitely have to find a motive. This one was no accident. This was done intentionally.

  “I read through Jeff’s statement several times. He’s the only with an immediate motive, but I know he didn’t do it. I saw him running towards Steph as I was getting there. And he has openly confessed to Grace’s death, so that actually removes the motive.”

  He looked at Peabody take his last bite. He thought it was the same doughnut, but wasn’t sure.

  “You and I are going to be busy today. We have to interview the witnesses, go through the papers Steph brought in last night, and somebody has to go out to Jeff’s house to get the bowling trophy and the other evidence he said is in his garage. I also want to go back out to the Mathison house. Steph was in the house yesterday, maybe something is there that she didn’t think was important but means more than she thought. I talked to Phil Culbertson from Crime Scene, but their department is still dealing with the gang war in Oldstown, and he will have to get here when he can. You and I need to go back over to the green as soon as there’s enough light and look around again. There were a lot of people hanging around last night, so outside of a knife, I don’t know what’s there to be found.”

  The door that was rarely used, the connecting door to city hall next to the chief’s office, suddenly opened and JJ Plummer came through. As usual, he was in a three-piece suit and looked ready for the day. Unusually, he ignored the plate of pastries. He strode over to where Addams and Peabody sat, waving Hazlett to join them.

  “Bud, George, Marie. I have called an emergency town council meeting for eight o’clock this morning. It shouldn’t take very long, but I’d like the three of you to be available as soon as it’s over.”

  They all nodded, and Addams said, “Okay, we don’t have anywhere to go quite yet.”

  Hazlett added, “I’m going over to the hospital soon after that t
hen. Now that George is here, I think we’re good with coverage in the station.”

  “I’ll let you know when we’re ready.” Plummer turned and went back to his mayor’s office.

  “If you don’t mind, after that meeting, and quickly before we figure out what else we have to do, how about if I go over to Jeff’s house to get the evidence. I think it would be good for us to get that case wrapped up as soon as possible. Lord knows, I don’t want to talk to Judy, but I’ve known her longer than you, and it may be easier for her to face me.” Peabody had picked up another pastry. No point in them going to waste. As long as Susan wasn’t around to glare at him.

  Addams nodded. “I think that makes sense, George. You’re also not the one that arrested her husband. When you get back, we’ll sort out who does what from that point. Maybe I’ll look at the papers Steph has on her desk while you’re gone.”

  The three of them sat in silence, alone with their thoughts for the moment. They knew they would not be resting again until this attack was solved.

  CHAPTER 18

  While they were waiting for the council meeting to end, Addams and Peabody had gone back to the green looking for the weapon used on Reasoner, expanding the range of their search to cover the entire area now that there was some light, but still had no luck in finding anything.

  It wasn’t quite 8:30 when Plummer returned and asked for the three of them to follow him back over to the town council meeting room. Around the table sat the current members of the council – Myron Stump, furniture-maker and current president of the council, Gladys Schumacher, the government teacher from Summerfield High School, and Cecil Skinner, the butcher from the Corner Grocery Store. Three chairs against the wall were also occupied. Mike Wannamaker was in one. The other two young men were strangers to the police officers, but apparently not to each other. They were identical twins.