Who Killed Mrs. Hogg? (3/3)

It must have been about a week after my visit to Senior Constable Scott that I got the phone call from Dr. Kate Forbes. I was sitting at the table marking the kids’ homework.

“Oh, hi Kate!” I said, “How are things?”

“Not great.” I thought I heard her sniffle, as if she was crying.

“Why, what’s happened?” I asked.

“I was wondering if I could stay with you tonight.”

I thought suddenly of how messy and small my place was and felt a sense of reluctance. I’d been planning to have an early night…

“Please?” she said.

“Of course you can,” I said, immediately feeling guilty. “But what’s up?”

“I’ll tell you when I’m there. Can Felicity come too?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “It’d be nice to have a dog around.

“That’d be fantastic. Thanks Ruth,” she said. The relief in her voice was unmistakable.

She arrived at my house at six o’clock with an overnight bag and Felicity straining at the leash. The dog soon made herself at home on my couch and I poured Kate some wine, noticing that her hands were shaking. We exchanged some meaningless chitchat, mainly as a way to calm down. I figured she’d tell me what was wrong in her own time. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before she opened up.

“I got a phone call from my ex early this morning,” she said. “He…” here she broke down in tears. I rubbed her back, got some tissues, waited. Dabbing her eyes, she continued, “He was raging at me. I think he’s lost his mind. He accused me of calling the police and saying he’d killed a woman! Apparently they took him into the station and interrogated him for three hours yesterday. He called me every name in the book and accused me of trying to ruin his career. I said in the first place I had no idea what he was talking about and in the second place I’d never do anything underhand like that. He absolutely wouldn’t listen to me. I said. He said he was going to fly down here and teach me a lesson. I’m really afraid, Ruth,” she said, sniffing. “And I’m afraid for Sam too. What if he calls her in a rage?”

Well, this was awkward. I wondered if I should admit that it was thanks to me that Tim Randall was interviewed by the police. After weighing it up in my head, I decided not to. Admittedly this was not very honorable on my part but frankly I didn’t’ like the sound of this volatile Tim, who may very well have murdered someone. The words of Senior Constable Scott were echoing in my ears: “You’re running a hell of a risk in coming to me.”

“Christ, that’s terrible Kate,” I said sympathetically. “You know,” I added, “You really should tell the police about it. Making threats like that is just not on.”

“That would just make it worse!” she wailed.

“Look, you’re overwrought. That’s totally understandable but you’re not thinking clearly right now. What you need is a bit of distraction. Why don’t watch TV for a bit, get your mind off it for a while. Knight Rider’s on in a few minutes, I think. I’ll get dinner on.”

As I was peeling the onions, I thought about the situation and decided to call on Senior Constable Scott as soon as I got a chance.

“Ruth!” I heard Kate call from the living room.

“What is it?” I asked. Something about the tone of her voice made my heart beat faster, spurred by a hint of fear.

She pointed to the TV. It was the evening news. There was a reporter standing outside a suburban house. Police were passing to and fro behind him.

“That’s our old house.” Kate said dully. “They’ve found a body in the garden.”

***

“Thought I might see you at some point,” said Hal Scott. “Come in.”

Today he was dressed in his uniform—light blue shirt, clip-on tie, dark slacks. Even his dour expression and drooping moustache might be considered part of the regulation look.

I followed him into his proper office—it may have been New Zealand’s tiniest police station, basically a one-room shack.

“So, what happened?” I asked, sitting opposite Hal in the wooden chair that looked as if it had been taken from some 1950s classroom.

He smoothed his tie and folded his hands over his stomach, his characteristic pose.

“I called Bob, my detective friend up in Wellington, and he looked into some old records. Turns out that even if the case hadn’t been investigated at the time, there were people keeping tabs on it. There was a file with Daisy Hogg’s complaint, a record of informal interviews and—this is the interesting part—a neighbor reported seeing Fiona Hogg several times with the man next door. The neighbor said she’d seen ‘Missing Persons’ posters of Fiona, which Daisy Hogg had put up on telephone poles all around Wellington at that time. There’s a transcript of the interview, apparently.”

“So what happens now?” I asked. “Is Tim Randall going to be put on trial?”

“Well, no. He was only brought in for questioning. There needs to be a bit more evidence before he—or anyone else—is arrested. Forensics are going to take a look at the body and obviously we’ll need to interview some other people. Including Doctor Forbes.”

I told him then that Kate Forbes had had a threatening phone call from Tim when he was interviewed the week before, and that she was so scared she’d spent a couple of nights at my place. I made it clear that she knew nothing about the whole thing.

He made a face like a bull frog but said nothing.

“What, you don’t believe me?” I asked, annoyed.

“In my experience, a spouse knows something of what’s going on.” He didn’t elaborate.

On my way back from the police station, I walked to the local dairy to get a few things. Of course, the local grapevine was in fine form; everyone seemed to know that a skeleton had been found in the doctor’s old backyard. In fact, I heard Mr. Sprout shopkeeper and Mrs. Tipton gossiping about it while I was looking around for the Marmite.

“They’ve arrested the ex-husband of that new townie doctor,” said Jack Sprout. “I saw it on the news last night. He’s a policeman too. That’ll be fifteen dollars fifty, please, love.”

“Shocking. You never know who you can trust these days, do you?”

“You don’t, you’re right there.”

“But what I’m surprised at is Doctor Forbes. How could she not have known?”

“Maybe she was in on it,” said Mr. Sprout. “One of her patients, maybe.” He chuckled ghoulishly.

“There’s no evidence that either Kate Forbes or her husband did anything,” I said sharply. Mrs. Tipton whirled around, surprised.

“Ah, you’re her friend aren’t you,” she said with an unpleasant smile.

“Yes I am,” I said, feeling a flash of anger, “But even if I weren’t I wouldn’t gossip about something like this.”

Mrs. Tipton pursed her lips and left, saying goodbye to Jack but not to me.

“Six-twenty-five,” said Mr. Sprout tersely.

I paid and left without saying goodbye. Just past the store, I saw a dog that looked a lot like Felicity, except she was being walked by a tall man. At first I had the horrible feeling that it was Tim Randall, come to Minton to ‘teach a lesson’ to Kate. But at a second glance I realized that this guy was much younger than Tim, who would’ve been about 40 now. He was more like my age—late twenties or early thirties.

Felicity saw me too, and immediately broke away, galloping towards me joyfully, her leash trailing on the ground. The guy called her name a few times but she ignored him, jumping up on me, wriggling frantically and enjoying my attention to the extent that she flopped onto her back for a tummy rub.

I handed the leash to the guy as, who’d strolled across the road in pursuit.

“She’s not usually that friendly with strangers,” he observed.

“Oh we’re old friends by now,” I laughed and extended a hand. “I’m Ruth. Kate and I bonded over being fellow outsiders in the township.”

“Ah yes,” he said. “She mentioned you. She said you bonded over being single too.”

“Well,” I shrugged defensively, “I’m not looking for a relationship right now anyway. Teaching is plenty to keep me occupied.”

“That’s a shame,” he smiled slightly.

I suddenly felt quite awkward under his steady gaze.

“So, who are you to Kate?” I asked pertly.

“I’m the baby brother, Craig,” he grinned. “Listen, can I walk you home? Seeing as you’re friends with Kate, I’d appreciate a word.”

“Oh. Yes, of course.”

“Magic.”

He was so relaxed and calm, but there was something about Craig that put my back up. Maybe it was the sense that he was acting like a close friend after only just meeting me? He was definitely walking uncomfortably close. Or maybe I was just fighting my own strong sense of attraction? After all, it had been hard to trust anyone after breaking up with Owen.

“I’m staying with Kate for a bit because I’m worried about her ex,” he said. “Tim’s always had an explosive temper.”

I nodded.

He scuffed his feet a little, as if weighing up whether to say something on his mind.

“Look, I don’t know if Kate told you this,” he said at last, “But Kate practically brought me up after our parents died. Plus I was Sam’s babysitter basically from when she was a newborn. If anything happened to either of them, I’d never forgive myself.” He frowned darkly.

“She didn’t tell me that,” I said. I didn’t add that Kate had never even mentioned a brother. “I can see why you’d be worried, eh.”

“Yeah. I’m worried sick. And I have a job up in Dunedin so I can’t stay here longer than today. I know that Kate trusts you and I think it’s important for her to have an ally in Minton. If I give you my number, would you call me if you see something weird?”

“Weird? Like how?”

“Well, if Tim comes or if something happens to Kate. She might tell you but she’s too much of a big sister to ask for my help. I mean, I’m not saying anything will happen, God forbid. It’s more for my peace of mind more than anything.”

“Oh. OK,” I said, half mesmerized by his look of pleading.

“Thanks Ruth,” he said and squeezed my arm.

“No problem!” I said, a little too brightly.

We passed by a familiar looking house. Felicity suddenly stopped stock-still, staring ahead of her. Looking in her line of sight I saw a big dog staring back, through a wire fence. Felicity pulled Craig over and the two dogs said hello. I realized then why the next house looked familiar.

“Oh, this is Daisy Hogg’s old house,” I said. “So this must be Rocky the dog.”

“Hi Rocky the dog,” said Craig. Rocky wagged his tail.

I looked over to Mavis McCurdy’s house opposite and noticed she was standing at her kitchen window staring at us. I waved but she didn’t respond.

“That’s strange,” I said.

“What’s strange?” Craig asked.

“Well, my friend Mavis lives opposite. She was standing at her window just now staring right at us but she didn’t react when I waved. I hope she’s OK. I’ve heard people can have strokes standing up sometimes.”

“Oh she was probably just daydreaming or something.”

“Mavis is the one who told me Rocky’s name. It’s kind of a weird story actually.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She saw the man who killed the old lady, you know, Daisy Hogg?”

“Oh yeah, I read about that. The mailman killed her.”

“Right. Except Mavis said it wasn’t the mailman. She said Rocky hated him and always barked. But when the killer went in, Rocky wagged his tail.”

“Sounds like she’s losing her marbles.”

“Mavis isn’t batty. She’s actually pretty sharp,” I said. I hate it when people think old people must have dementia just because they’re old. “Well, here’s my place,” I said. “It was nice to meet you,” I said a little stiffly.

“It was nice to meet you too, Ruth,” he said, insisting on smiling into my eyes again. “Oh!” he said, “I almost forgot. Here’s my phone number. He reached into his chest pocket and gave me a little piece of paper with his number on it. Call me if you notice anything or if, you know, you’d like a chat,” he smiled wistfully.

“Thanks,” I said, feeling a bit guilty at my sharpness with him. After all, he seemed a bit lonely under his over-friendliness.

***

It must have been about three hours later that I put everything together in my head. I’d had a bath, made dinner, marked the kids’ homework, watched a whole episode of A Country Calendar but the whole time my mind must have been chewing on the matter, like a dog worrying a bone.

She practically brought me up…Hello Rocky the dog…losing her marbles.

“Hells bells!” I said to the empty room.

I raced to the phone and dialled 111.

“Hello? Operator? Can you get me Senior Constable Hal Scott please?”

The phone rang shrilly about 15 times. I realized I’d have to go myself.

Still wearing my pajamas, I pulled on my shoes and a coat and raced out into the street. When I got to Mavis McCurdy’s house I saw Hal Scott’s Holden Commodore and felt sick to my stomach thinking I was too late.

Then I saw Hal himself, and another cop. Between them was Craig, scowling in handcuffs.

“Ruth,” Hal nodded as he passed me. “Go in and see after Mavis, would you? She’s had a bit of a shock.”

Well, when I got into the kitchen Mavis didn’t look particularly shocked. She was busying herself with a pot of tea and asked if I’d like a cuppa. I said I would, despite the hour.

“Mavis, I’m so sorry,” I said, tearing up. “He was going to kill you because of my big mouth. I told him that you’d seen him, you see. I mean, I didn’t know it was him at the time.” I was babbling with relief.

She nodded.

“I recognized him when he said hello to Rocky. Something about his build and posture. Then you must have said something because he turned to look at me. I could see from that look that he meant to kill me. I’ve seen that look before, you see, but that’s another story. In any event, I said to myself, Mavis, you’d better look out for yourself. Time to call Hal Scott. There are some policemen who wouldn’t have come on a hunch, but Hal and I go way back. Hal was sitting in that chair there and made himself comfortable, waiting for that young man to pay a visit. Sure enough…”

“I should have realized sooner,” I said. “He talked about being close to Kate and babysitting her daughter Sam—he must have been spending a lot of time at their house around the time when Fiona Hogg disappeared. And it would also explain why Fiona Hogg didn’t tell anyone his name. Craig would have been in high school at the time, and she was a teacher—she could have been fired.”

“But why would he have killed poor Daisy?” Mavis asked.

“I’m guessing that Kate told him about the Daisy asked her about the Jake Griffiths painting. In his mind’s eye he must have seen the noose tightening around his neck. If the police traced Fiona to Kate’s old house then they would have figured out that he was a potential suspect. Or they would have accused Kate, and I think he genuinely cares about Kate and didn’t want her to be dragged through it. Well, too late for that,” I said.

“Well, dear, I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Me?”

“I didn’t like how he was walking so close to you this afternoon. I think he must have guessed that you were the one to tip off the police. You were in danger. It was a guess that he’d come for me first. Hal agreed that it was more likely, though he did ask your neighbors to keep an eye on your place too.”

“Bloody hell, I hadn’t even thought of that,” I said.

“Yes. So…” she looked at me with a mischievous gleam in her eye. “What do you think? Still think Minton is a rest cure?”