Who Killed Charity? a Stratton and Davis Mystery

By Barbara Bailey

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669854159

Barbara Bailey

Barbara Bailey is Professor Emerita of Gender and Education and former University Director, Institute for Gender and Development Studies, University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

M urder! I need to report a murder. Can you talk?

Those were the first words Detective Sergeant Alexis Stratton heard as she answered her private phone. Although agitated, the voice on the other end was crisp and clear, much like a typical day in Devonfield Township, a small town in the northern part of Illinois. Only a few people had this number and even fewer used it.

The detective had looked at the caller ID, so she knew who was on the line. She’d planned to get in touch with this caller on a social basis, once the men involved in a deadly case she’d helped with had their appeals exhausted. The two in question had been convicted and incarcerated in an out of town facility. Devonfield didn’t keep those serving lengthy sentences for serious crimes in its jail.

Yes, of course, we can talk, Mrs. Powers.

Please call me Leticia. ‘Mrs. Powers’ sounds as though it’s my mother-in-law who’s being spoken to and she’s even older than I am. The chuckle released some of the tension in her voice.

"Okay, Leticia, you don’t murder people. You help catch murderers. What’s this about a murder? What evidence do you have?"

Although sounding calm and professional, Alexis was worried. Things in this township had been almost too calm, if that was bad. Already she’d asked two questions instead of waiting until the first had been answered. Detective Sergeant Silas Davis, her partner, was constantly reminding her to ask a single question and then to wait for the reply. Indeed it was a reminder because at the police academy they were taught to ask only one question at a time. You might end up giving the person a choice of which to answer and not get the really important information that was actually sought. Alexis rationalized that she’d only asked one question. She’d asked a single question in two different ways.

A scantling. I’ve been sheltering-in-place because of the COVID-19 situation. Situation. That’s not the right word. Pandemic is the correct word. I’ve been sheltering-in-place because of the pandemic and I’ve had lots of time to think. Charity Blaine, my very good friend, died unexpectedly —

Unfortunately, the pandemic has caused a number of us to lose loved ones. I’m so sorry about your friend, but —

No, it’s not that, Leticia Powers said before Alexis could complete her condolences. My friend died before the pandemic. It was said to be a heart attack, but she was a healthy woman. We were about the same age and people our age talk with frequency about our health and we talk truthfully and frankly among friends.

"So you knew quite a bit about her health status?

I definitely did. And so did all our close friends. We know what medicines and the dosages each other is taking. We know what specialists we’re seeing and when our appointments are scheduled. Sometimes we even accompany a friend who doesn’t want to go alone to the doctor’s, or whose spouse can’t make the trip.

You’re a close knit group of women.

"That we are. In short, we know how well we are or aren’t. But it’s not just that.

Her children, her two daughters, weren’t themselves at her funeral. No matter that they are adults, we still think of them as our children. Anyway, her daughters weren’t themselves." Leticia could hear herself and thought she was beginning to ramble so she stopped talking.

That’s not so unusual, is it? Alexis was careful to wait for a reply.

In this case it was unusual. That’s why I need to discuss this with you. What I called to ask is if we could meet and talk. We’ll social distance, of course, but something’s not right about my friend’s demise and I’m confident you’ll see that when we talk. You’re the first person I’ve said any of this to because I definitely don’t want to upset any of her friends or family with my speculations.

When would you like to meet? We’ve plenty of room here at our headquarters and we’re being very cautious ourselves, Alexis offered.

I appreciate that, but we could meet at my house just as easily perhaps. It’s super sanitized, Powers said with another chuckle as she thought about supersized hamburgers and such they’d shared before. I don’t want to venture out unless I have to, so I’m really hoping you can come here. I have tea and coffee and some unopened digestives, those English biscuits that I simply love. I think you’d call them cookies. So far there’s no shortage of them.

Sounds like a plan to me. We’re light on work here because Devonfield’s folks are doing like you, staying at home and staying out of trouble. Alexis hadn’t intended to divulge any information about her light work load. That might give Leticia the impression that there was lots of time available to respond to her request. Alexis quickly glanced at her calendar before adding, I can come at noon today if that suits you.

Yes, noon is fine for me, but you may want more than a couple of digestives at lunch time. Do you remember where I live?

How could I forget! A lot happened at your place. Alexis was referring to how instrumental Leticia Powers was in helping the police find those responsible for the death of the young teen, Kevin Faith. Leticia was the one who noticed a change in the behavior pattern of the two temporary construction hires at Sun Rise Village, the newest and largest housing development being built in Devonfield. The men were renting her carriage house. Rather than get rid of the expensive Scott Addict 30 bicycle as instructed, one of the pair had hidden it in Leticia’s garage because his partner had a strong desire for that particular bike. After going to all the trouble of stealing the bike, and a beautiful one at that, it seemed such a waste to dump it in the lake as he’d been told.

Yes, a lot did happen. I think about many things with so much time on my hands. It was a tragic ending for such a nice young man, only a teenager really. He had a long life to look forward to and it was cut short because of greed. If people weren’t so greedy, I think we’d all live better and longer lives. Speaking of young men, how’s that handsome partner of yours? He’s certainly easy on the eyes if I might borrow that expression.

Leticia, I think you’re being naughty. This time it was Alexis’s turn to chuckle.

Oh goodness no. I would never say anything louche. I’m simply observant and truthful.

Leticia sounded very serious. Alexis hoped she’d not misread Leticia. Somehow the detective didn’t think so. That was the problem with simple phone calls. So much could be missed because it wasn’t being observed. That was another lesson from their police academy.

All right. I’ll be there at noon and if Silas is available, he’ll be with me. In the back of her mind, Alexis was wondering how she’d get Leticia to avoid using so many unfamiliar words. One needed a dictionary when talking with her.

That’s fine with me. No doubt you’d tell him anyway because I think you and your partner will want to look into this unless you or he can persuade me that it wasn’t murder. That’s a harsh word for me to use. I don’t deal with matters like that as you do. But I think my friend was killed. Yes, I definitely think Charity was murdered no matter how much I want to be persuaded that it was otherwise. A weak heart. What nonsense. Charity Blaine didn’t have a weak heart. She had a generous heart, not a weak one.

Okay. I think it’s settled. Either both of us or just me will be at your home at noon. If you’d like hamburgers and fries, we’ll bring them.

That would be absolutely divine. I have several flavors of pop, so we could substitute that for the coffee and tea. I try to limit my intake to a cup a day and I’ve had one rather large one already. Leticia laughed softly as she again thought of supersized.

I look forward to seeing you again. I hadn’t forgotten our agreement to keep in touch. See you at noon, Leticia. Using the first name felt comfortable; the subject of their meeting didn’t. This meeting could hardly be the social one Alexis had been hoping to make happen.

Thank you, Detective. Until noon.

With the call ended, Alexis pushed her chair back from the desk and released a deep sigh. She liked Leticia Powers and thought she was a smart woman. Alexis was also beginning to see a side of this older woman she hadn’t noticed before, her droll sense of humor. But this would probably turn out to be a case of Leticia with too much time on her hands and not a homicide at all. At first Alexis thought it’d be hard to call the older woman by her first name; however, the more Alexis said it, the easier it became. Soon using the first name would have a natural feel to it.

Alexis looked up to see if Silas had returned to his office. Where glass could be used for walls, it was in their modern offices. A great deal of time was saved when you wanted to know if someone was in his office or if he had another person with him. Often that other person was his partner. Silas’s office was still empty, so Alexis would wait awhile longer before calling him. It was a new, unspoken agreement between the two not to call each other unnecessarily.

At one point in their partnership when they felt a physical attraction to each other, it was more difficult to decide what might be considered unnecessary. Now it was clearer because that relationship had cooled. It had more than cooled. It had ended. They each had needed something from the other at that juncture in their lives. That had been satisfied sufficiently and now each had moved on successfully. Alexis and Silas remained excellent work partners and that accurately described their current relationship.

As there were a couple of hours before the time she’d agreed to see Leticia, Alexis would wait patiently for Silas to return to his office. He couldn’t be too far away or be too much longer. If he’d left the building, he’d have told her. There were still items in her in-box. She’d use the time to continue with them. They weren’t quite as interesting as the old cases she studied. But at least they filled the time and helped the minutes to pass rather than to drag on until the work day’s end.

After completing that task, Alexis decided to finish reading the two daily papers that Silas prompted her to read. Actually, he did more than prompt. He told her she needed to make that part of her daily routine. Because of COVID-19 there was very little other news. Mostly there were featured updates about how the disease was ravaging the nation and how low the numbers of accurately reported cases there were in the township. It wasn’t a big city with many health resources at its disposal, but it was responsible in matters that were important to its well-being.

The Devonfield Board of Trustees helped everyone by setting an excellent example. The Telegraph had the better, more balanced reporting on this as it did with other news. Alexis wasn’t thinking this way because her boyfriend’s family owned the paper and he was the editor-in-chief. On the other hand, The Daily, the less well-thought-of paper, was fairly objective in reporting the news about COVID-19. But its editorial line as usual was a bit provocative and suggested, for example, that people call the police when they observed violations of the trustees’ mandates.

At least people weren’t being encouraged to take matters into their own hands. That was truly a good thing. It was also a good thing that the phones weren’t ringing with loads of citizens reporting their neighbors. Surely there’d have been talk if that’d been the case even though the detectives themselves wouldn’t be involved. The patrol officers would be dealing with that, not the Third Floor, which housed the detectives and had that formal designation.

Although Alexis viewed reading both newspapers front to back every day as a chore, an unpleasant task, she did like Jeffery’s editorials which were clear and sincere. She also enjoyed the puzzles, comics, and book reviews. The Telegraph was easy for her to read.

When Alexis next looked up from her desk, she saw Silas had returned. She finished the paragraph she was reading, folded the page for easy retrieval, and walked next door to her partner’s office. She remembered the time as patrol officers when they sat right across from each other. To get his attention then only required her to look up or cough or clear her throat. Considering all things, this new arrangement was better. Alexis knocked and when he looked up she opened the door and entered.

Hey, you remember Leticia Powers don’t you? Alexis cleaned her hands with the sanitizer at the edge of Silas’s desk after closing the door.

Sure do. And not just because of how helpful she was with the Kevin Faith case. She’s some smart lady with such a strong vocabulary. It’s like talking with a teacher, but one with patience. She’ll correct your mistakes in a subtle way. At first I thought of her as a ‘word Nazi’, but that’s too harsh for such a genteel lady. Yep, she’s a lady to the core.

Alexis, not expecting such an effusive response, cut to the chase. Leticia wants to talk to us about something she thinks is important. I don’t want to say more now except that I told her we’d be able to meet at her house at noon and that we’d bring burgers and fries. She wants to remain at her home if at all possible.

Okay, Alex. But let’s get double orders of the fries for each of us, just in case I might want a few of them.

Okay. Point taken.

Alexis often dipped into Silas’s fries after devouring every single one of hers. That’d been her pattern since they’d teamed up a few years ago when she joined the police, shortly after he had. He was senior to her by one Devonfield Police Academy class.

I’ve got a few more items to deal with. Then I’ll be ready whenever you want to leave. It’s funny, but I seem to be working on more stuff I didn’t think was important until this COVID-19 thing made it necessary to find things to do, you know what I mean. Silas ended in a normal way for those born and reared in this town. Often they didn’t raise their voice at the end of this localism.

I’ve been doing much the same thing. Polishing up report notes, learning computer shortcuts, reading both daily newspapers from front to back and sometimes from back to front to vary the routine. I’m even looking forward to the review of old cases. Our folks are too busy staying in the safety of their homes to commit any crimes that need our attention. There’re more of us at our desks than is usual for the Third Floor. That’s probably true for other departments also.

You’ve got that right, Alex. Times are different. I liked it the old way better.

Be ready at eleven-fifteen. That’ll give us enough time to get the food and be at Leticia’s at noon.

"I’m going to call ahead and place the order. I’ll also say what time we’ll be driving by so the order is sure to be fresh. That way they should give us something just prepared rather than have it waiting under the heater.

Good. Now that I’m more sedentary and not getting to the gym, maybe I won’t eat many fries. Then again, all the mental stimulation may burn calories. With that, Alexis left her partner’s office.

After placing their lunch order, Silas returned to finish the few pieces of work he’d found to engage his interest. Alexis did the same. First she finished the newspaper and then went on to the next piece of work.

At 11:15 A.M., the two detectives left their respective offices and headed toward the elevator. They let Ami, the Third Floor receptionist and Senior Investigating Detective Ortiz’s private secretary, know where they were headed and that it might be late before they returned. She assured them that as long as they were there for tomorrow’s briefing, there’d be no problem with the time they needed to spend out of the office on police work. Ami always knew the lay of the land and helped all the detectives stay on the right side of the Senior Investigating Detective, Lieutenant Manuel Ortiz which meant by association, the right side of the Chief of Police Kurt Phillips.

Let’s take the stairs. I’m not getting as much exercise as I’m used to and it’d be a shame if I outgrew my Paris wardrobe. She was referring to the clothes bought when she went to a newspaper owners’ conference in Paris with Jeffery.

Fine by me. You look nice in those clothes, the few I’ve seen. Given their past relationship, Silas felt comfortable with his compliment. There were but a few women working at the police department. Even fewer of them were police of any sort. And even fewer of them would’ve deserved the praise he’d given to Alexis.

The two took the stairs and as luck would have it, they were the only people in the stairwell. Their chief had told everyone to stay as far away from each other as reasonably possible. Their immediate supervisor was on board with this as well. Anyone who felt the least bit sick was told to work from home and no sick leave would be charged. The big bosses definitely had their backs. Ami did as well.

Chief Phillips and SID Ortiz walked the walk and talked the talk. Phillips was no less gruff than usual than during pre-Covid times, but he didn’t bark as loudly when anything was irregular. No doubt his wife was still trying to make a gentler man of him. Ortiz was already mild in his manner, but you knew from the start that he didn’t suffer fools or foolish action. He didn’t get even; he got rid of those who failed to toe his line.

Ami had given Stratton and Davis that heads up when they first arrived on the Third Floor as probationary detectives. It was knowledge they kept in mind even as full-fledged detective sergeants. Knowing the expectations and following two strong leaders who brooked no nonsense made being a member of the this police department so rewarding. Right now all of the action was taking place at their headquarters. Rumor had it that a new precinct might open because of predicted growth. So far it was just a rumor, but it was hinted at in both daily papers. One was favorable to the idea. The other thought it would be a waste of tax payers’ money. Having two views wasn’t such an awful thing if it helped fuel discussion and interest in how best to grow the township.

In a short while, the detectives were in the garage. They’d decided to take their own personal vehicles. If they didn’t return to the precinct after seeing Leticia Powers, that’d make going home easier. Because this wasn’t a situation that called for the two of them to be in one car, this approach was a wise one in these times.

Silas made the stop for the lunch. Alexis parked in the lot and then followed him from the drive thru as they made their way to their destination. Alexis knew what the agenda was for the meeting. Silas had no clue. She wanted his eyes to see and his ears to hear everything Leticia presented firsthand. From what he said when Alexis told him of their scheduled meeting, she was confident that he’d hear every word. After the meeting they’d find a way to discuss the information as was their custom and see what they thought and decide if any next steps were needed. Maybe they’d have to go back to headquarters after all.

During the drive, Alexis could already see the impressive home of Leticia Powers in her mind’s eye. She remembered the carriage house Leticia rented to guys from out of town who worked construction at Sun Rise Village. It was the craving for the expensive bike that was at the root of their problems and Kevin Faith’s death. Alexis wondered if Leticia was still renting out the space. She had rented it, not for the extra income, but for knowing that someone was close by. She was a widow, living alone and wanted to be on the safe side. Sometimes you just never knew.

Alexis sorely missed riding with Silas. There was so much she wanted to share with him on their way to Leticia’s manse. But all that’d have to wait until after the meeting and sometimes that wasn’t a good thing. She and Silas were well synced and a great deal of that had to do with their ability to communicate effectively with each other. Alexis wondered if Silas felt the same as she did. Of course she could and did talk to Jeffery, but not about police work. She couldn’t and he wouldn’t have permitted it. Silas probably talked a lot with his current girlfriend, Ivory Bolt, but not about police work. Alexis and Silas wouldn’t talk about cases until they’d been resolved. Even then care was taken about what was revealed to others, especially about their cases. Words have a strange, strong power that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

CHAPTER 2

T he tantalizing aromas wafting from the food bags were powerfully hunger inducing, making Alexis glance at the time to see how long before they’d be able to devour the food. It couldn’t be long because it was exactly twelve noon when she pushed the doorbell of Leticia Powers’s home. Promptness was a trait Alexis prided herself on and she couldn’t remember a time when it hadn’t been an important factor in her life. She didn’t have to be the first one at an event, though she often was. Sometimes she was even a few minutes early, but she was never late. Today was no exception.

Judging from how fast Silas returned to his car, the order must have been ready. Sometimes everything was not able to be controlled by intentions. Today the traffic flowed all the way to their destination. Silas arrived first, so Alexis parked behind him on the long driveway. They didn’t need to block the exit from the garage as they would have done if the person they sought might do a runner. Alexis recalled the drive up to Leticia’s door from a previous stop at this home. Everything appeared as picture perfect as she had recalled. She might have been looking at the cover of a home magazine or a real estate brochure featuring a luxury home on its cover, not that she did much of that sort of reading.

When Alexis pushed the bell, the door was answered immediately. A house this size seemed to demand a staff, but it was Leticia herself who opened the enormous wood door to greet the arrivals. She’d mentioned to Alexis before that Gregory, her beloved but deceased husband, thought a large door was an inviting door. A door should speak of hospitality and be an invitation to enter. He liked them to entertain and to make guests feel welcome from the start, even before pushing