Chapter 3. Mysterious Death

  

Sue Johnson, the sheriff’s tall and slender secretary arrives at her office Tuesday morning. She is thinking how sad to lose George Citron when her phone rings. She answers, listens, says goodbye and makes another call. Then she hollers, “Hey Sheriff, we just got a call from the funeral home director. George Citron’s mother doesn’t believe George’s death was an accident. She’s insisting on an autopsy,” the sheriff’s secretary Sue explains early the morning after George’s body is discovered.

“Oh no, it sure looked like an accident to me. I don’t want any controversy this close to the election. Contact the medical examiner and tell the funeral director to hold off doing anything with the body until the examiner finishes the autopsy.”

“Yes Sir, I’ve already taken care of it.”

“Thanks, Sue, I can always count on you to do what’s needed.”

The next evening the remaining members of the museum board meet at the museum as they do every Wednesday. They usually sign in, greet each other and return to the work they were doing the previous week. This evening they gather around the big dining room table. After Pam and Joe share with the others how they found George’s body two days before Joe offers, “I doubt if any of us want to do museum work tonight but we should have a brief meeting. It still creeps me out that I went up and down the elevator with George’s dead body on top and had no idea he was there. That evening it occurred to me that if we had found him in the morning he might have just been unconscious then. We could have saved him.”

Pam replies, “I’m not a doctor, Joe, but it seems to me that if he had been unconscious he would have come to before we found him in the late afternoon. The fall must have killed him so don’t have regrets that we didn’t find him earlier.”

“You may be right. At any rate we have to elect a new board chairperson.” Looking at Peter Brown with his shock of prematurely gray hair Joe asks, “Peter, how about you leading the meeting tonight.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Turning to Mary Anderson Peter adds, “Mary you’re still secretary. We better keep complete minutes of tonight’s meeting just in case any locals raise questions.”

“Oh sure Peter, like I sometimes keep incomplete minutes,” she says tossing her long blond hair back as she opens her notebook.

Peter ignores Mary’s sarcasm and says, “The floor is open for nominations for board chairperson.”

Pamela LaFave offers, “Peter, you have your plumbing business to run, Joe has his church, Mary has her job at the Court House, so they are busy. I nominate Prof. Samuel Weiss. Sam is a history expert and being retired he has more time than most of us. I hope you’re okay with being nominated Sam.”

Sam, smoothing his short white beard replies, “We’ll all miss George’s expertise but I’m willing to give it a try if you elect me. It won’t interfere with my salmon fishing.”

“Any other nominations?”, adds Peter looking around the table. “Hearing none, all in favor of electing Sam Chairman say aye, opposed nay. The ayes have it. Sam, you’re elected unanimously.”

Peter continues, “Any other business we need to address tonight? Unless it’s urgent I’d like to end the meeting now. My heart just isn’t in worrying about the museum this soon after my lifelong friend George’s death.”

“Me neither Peter, I move we adjourn,” injects Joe.

Pam quickly adds, “I second the motion.”

“All in favor say aye, opposed nay, hearing no nays we’re adjourned,” Peter says softly.

As the members gather their stuff to leave Mary hesitantly says, “Maybe I shouldn’t share this but there was a rumor going around the Court House late this afternoon that the medical examiner is saying George’s death wasn’t an accident. It’s just a rumor so I don’t think we should take it seriously. You know how people are in this small town.”

Peter says, “I seriously doubt that it wasn’t an accident. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill George. Pushing someone down an elevator shaft doesn’t seem like a good way to murder them.”

Rev. Joe interjects, “Okay, let’s not buy into any rumors. We don’t even know if there was an autopsy. The sheriff was convinced it was an accident.”

Pam adds, “I agree Joe, we shouldn’t react to any rumors but I must say that in my years of experience as a detective in Grand Rapids the strangest deaths can sometimes turn out to be murders. Even though we all spent a lot of time with George we have no way of knowing if he had an enemy willing to kill him. If it wasn’t an accident I’m sure we’ll be hearing from Sheriff Johnson soon.”

Mary concludes, “Let’s hope it isn’t murder. I can’t imagine that pudgy little bumbling sheriff solving such a crime.”

Mary’s comment brings some snickers as they all say their goodnights; lock up the museum and leave.

The next morning while the sheriff is having his first cup of coffee his secretary hands him some papers and says, “Here’s the medical examiner’s report. It was just delivered. I snuck a peak and he says George’s death couldn’t have been an accident.”

“Oh no, does he say it was a murder?”

“You’ll have to read it, I just peeked at a couple of lines.”

“Okay, I hope it wasn’t a murder. I don’t need that just before the election. It’ll start all kinds of rumors in this county. My Aunt Lois, our State Senator, always tells me to avoid any controversy close to elections.”

“I didn’t know Senator Taylor is your aunt. Is she related to old John Taylor who was in local politics forever?”

“She’s his daughter in law. She married Ben, one of John’s sons. Ben isn’t interested in politics like his father, but Aunt Lois is. She capitalized on the Taylor name to get started in local politics. Now, does anyone else know we have the medical examiner’s report?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure you’re aware very little happens in Sturgeonville that Mary Jane Bloom, the reporter for the Weekly Journal, doesn’t find out about. She seems to have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“Okay, okay, just let me read this.”

A little later the sheriff calls his secretary in and tells her, “The medical examiner says it was murder. He says there is no way the blow that killed George could have happened in a fall. I don’t know how he knows that but he’s the expert so we have to believe him. Now, please don’t say anything to anyone, especially about how we know it was a murder. Or that the body was found on top of the elevator. Fortunately the medical examiner’s report doesn’t mention the elevator. The longer we can keep these things quiet the better chance I have of gathering any evidence the killer might be trying to cover up.”

“Yes, Sir. I won’t say anything but you should know there were rumors around the Court House late yesterday afternoon that it wasn't an accident.”

“Well you tell anyone who asks we haven’t received the medical examiner’s report yet and they shouldn’t start any rumors.”

“I can’t lie, Sir, I’ll only say I’m not going to spread any rumors.”

“Fine Sue, now get Rev. Joe Penny on the phone for me. He’s the board member I called to get me into the museum. I added his phone number to our directory. I want to meet with the board members first. Since the murder happened at the museum they may know something helpful.”

The secretary dials the phone, reaches the Reverend then calls to the sheriff, “Rev. Penny is on Sir.”

“Hello Joe, this is Sheriff Johnson. I’d like to meet with the museum board members today. Can you arrange that?”

“I can if the meeting can wait until the early evening. Some members have jobs or businesses to run so it would be hard to get them together before this evening.”

“Okay, I can live with that. I’ll assume you can reach them and get them to the museum at 6:00 this evening.”

“I should be able to do that. Can you tell me why you want to meet with us?”

“Not now, I’ll explain at the meeting. Now don’t start guessing and start rumors.”

“All right, I won’t. See you at 6:00.”

Joe contacts the other board members and arranges the meeting for 5:30 that evening. When they are gathered he says, “The sheriff wouldn’t say why he wants to meet with us. It must have something to do with George’s death. Maybe the rumor going around the Court House that Mary mentioned is true. I doubt any of us have any experience being suspects in a murder so I gathered you early. I’m hoping Pam will give us her advice as an experienced police detective on how we should handle ourselves when the sheriff arrives. What do you say, Pam?”

Pam thinks for a moment. Her light blue eyes narrow and she says seriously, “Just answer his questions as best as you know. Don’t add any opinions; just give him facts and be as honest as you can be. We all know this sheriff has little or no experience with accidents or murder. He has a reputation as a bumbler so let’s not make his job any harder than it has to be. Everybody understands and okay with that?”

Everyone nods their head affirmatively. Then Peter says in his soft voice, “I hear the sheriff coming. Go sit around the dining room table. I’ll bring him in.”

There is a knock on the front door. Peter opens it and welcomes the sheriff inside.

“Good evening Sheriff, come into the dining room and I’ll introduce you to the board members. I’m Peter Brown. I own Brown’s Plumbing. I understand you met Rev. Joe Penny and Pam LaFave this morning. I assume you must already know Mary Anderson from the Court House, and this is Sam Weiss. Sam is a history professor from Michigan State. He retired here to fish and discovered he and Doc Arra shared an interest in the history of America’s frontiers. We elected Sam to be the new board chairmen now that George is gone. Without George, we’re the entire museum board”

Everyone says hello to the sheriff and he replies, “Thank you all for meeting with me. I got the medical examiner’s report this morning. It says George couldn’t have received the blow that killed him in a fall down the elevator shaft. It sure looked like an accident to me but I have to accept the medical examiner’s findings. That means I have to treat George’s death as a murder. I asked to meet with all of you together because you all worked with George in the museum where his body was found. I’m thinking maybe he was killed over something involving this museum.”

The board members glance at each other but no one says anything.

The sheriff continues, “If George was killed over something to do with the museum you are the ones that might know what it was. So, can you tell me if there is anything in the museum worth killing over?”

Everyone hesitates, then Prof. Weiss answers, “The museum has old Doc. Arra’s collections of things connected with America’s frontier days. These things are of interest to people like us that enjoy history but only a few have any significant financial value. A doctor in this rural county doesn’t make a lot of money. Doc Arra spent his inheritance building this clinic and most of his earned money keeping the clinic up to date from what I understand. I doubt he spent more than a few dollars for anything in his collections. I doubt anyone outside of us knows about the few valuable things. We don’t tell anyone about the valuable things in Doc’s collections because we don’t want anyone to break in and steal things.”

Sheriff Johnson ponders Prof. Weiss’s statement then asks, “Do any of you know of any enemies George might have had? Was he doing anything with the museum that someone might have objected to?”

Rev. Penny replies, “George did everything associated with the museum with great care. I believe he kept us board members in the loop on everything he was doing. He did his best to follow Doc Arra’s wish to make the museum a place where anyone in the community could learn about frontier history. If he had any enemies I doubt their issues had anything to do with the museum.”

“I see.” the sheriff says. “Did George ever get rid of anything in the museum that someone might have objected to?”

Everyone shook their head and Pam added, “Not that any of us are aware of and we’ve been involved from the first. George wanted to keep everything just as Doc left it; even all of his medical records.”

The sheriff then asks, “Do you know of anything in the doctor’s medical records that could be related to George being killed?”

Pam answers, “We wouldn’t know. We always treat those records as private and no one ever looks at them as far as I know. Another reason we keep them is George felt they might be important to people in the community who were Doc’s patients. He said someone might want their new doctors to have access to their medical history.”

“Makes sense,” the sheriff replies. “Well, thanks for meeting with me tonight. I’d like to meet with you all tomorrow night here at the same time we met tonight. In the meantime I want each of you to make a list of any possible motives anyone might have for killing George. Also list the things in the doctor’s collections that you think someone might know about and want badly, especially any that are valuable. Without a motive I don’t know where to start looking for the murderer. Don’t be shy or embarrassed to list any possible motive you can think of. Maybe as a group, we can decide which one's are the most likely. That’ll give me some place to start. In the meantime I’ll continue to meet with the people that work in George’s insurance office and others that knew him. Oh, and please don’t discuss our meetings with anyone in town. Don’t mention to anyone that George was murdered or that we found his body on top of the elevator. It’ll just cause a lot of rumors and muddy the waters. And finding the killer may be easier if he doesn’t know what we know. Okay?”

The board members nod in agreement.

The sheriff adds, “Thanks again. I can let myself out so you can lock up and go home.”

After the sheriff leaves Peter comments, “What a shock that it was murder. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to kill George. As you were saying Mary it looks like our bumbling sheriff is in over his head. What do you think Pam; maybe you should offer to help him.”

Pam replies, “I had enough police work by the time I retired. I’d like to live quietly now and enjoy my art hobby and working here with all of you.”

Joe interjects, “Pam, maybe it would be a good idea for us to meet and share our lists of possible motives with you before we have to give them to the sheriff. You could help us evaluate them. What do you think?”

Pam answers, “That’s a sneaky way to get me involved Joe. But you do have a good point. If we discuss our lists together maybe we can provide the sheriff with a better overall list. Also please think about possible suspects as well as motives. Sometimes it’s easier to identify possible suspects even if you’re not sure about their motives. And let’s not make a list of the valuable things here. Hopefully the sheriff will focus on suspects and motives and forget about asking us to list the valuable things. Peter, Mary, can you make a meeting at 5:00, an hour before the sheriff comes to meet with us? I assume you can Sam.”

Mary replies, “Yes, I can leave the Court House a couple of minutes early and be here by 5:00. Can you make it Peter?”

“Yes, I can take my helper with me on our last call. I’ll let him finish if I have to leave before the job is done.”

Sam adds, “I don’t usually fish in the afternoons so I can be here at 5:00.”

Rev. Joe says, “Let’s not say anything to anyone about our meeting before we meet with the sheriff. It would surely get back to him and he might not like it. That’ll do it for tonight. Let’s lock up and go home. I’m ready for dinner and I’m sure my wife is wondering why this is taking so long.”