Murder or Not Chapter 9

Murder or Not?

By

Rebecka Vigus

Copyright ©2019

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 9

Sam and Anna hunted up some old friends of Bryleigh Hillman. They learned she’d been quite the party girl and spent much of her time avoiding her brothers.

“It seemed like the boys wanted her for themselves,” said long-time best friend, Misty Manning. She was a plump woman with four children running around. Sam could see she’d been pretty. Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief as if she was telling tales out of school. Her dark brown hair just reached her shoulder.

“One time,” Misty continued, “the brothers ran off some guy she’d been seeing for a couple of months. I remember he was a college boy home for the summer. The brothers sent him away quick. Bry wanted to sneak out to meet him, but he was scared, so just packed up and left.”

“Do you remember when it happened?” asked Sam.

Misty paused to think about it, then said, “Just before she told us about the baby. She was heartbroken. I always thought he’d come back, but he never did. Then she died over near the falls.”

“Thank you for talking to us,” Anna told her. “I know it must be hard.”

“I just hope what I told you helped in some way,” Misty replied. “Bry was a good person. Her life was cut way too short and the baby never had no chance.”

“You’ve been a big help,” Sam assured her.

“Well, y’all come back any time,” Misty told them as they went out front door.

As Sam and Anna headed back to the office, Anna said, “Misty’s quire the character. I be she knows the secrets of everyone in that little burg.”

“I agree with you,” Sam chuckled. “I must admit she keeps an immaculate place for someone with four kids.”

“Especially after you get a look at the outside of her rundown trailer. The inside could be right out of a decorator’s magazine,” Anna remarked.

“Yep.”

They drove the rest of the way in silence. It was a good way for them to pull their thoughts back to the case. Tomorrow they’d go over what they learned and figure out what, if anything it meant to the case.

###

Sam stayed to close the office after Anna dropped her off. There was one message from her dad saying he’d gone to visit her mom and would have dinner if she wanted to stop by. Smiling she picked up the phone.

“Chief, here,” he said automatically.

“Dad, it’s Sam. I’ll be there in about five minutes if you still have dinner.”

“Just about to go on the table,” he answered.

“See ya soon.” She hung up the phone, reset the machine, turned off the lights, and locked the door on her way out.

As promised, dinner was on the table when she arrived.

“Hope you’re hungry,” he said giving her a hug.

“Always, Dad!” Looking at the table she was surprised to see a home cooked pot roast with all the fixings. She knew he came home for lunch to have it ready on time.

Her father said grace and they helped themselves.

“How was Mom today?” she asked.

“One of the best days in a long time,” he answered. “She asked about you.”

“What did you tell her?”

“You were on a case,” he chuckled. “She told me I was working you, too hard. Started fretting about you never having any free time.”

“I’ll go see her on Sunday. Wouldn’t want her to worry I’m neglecting her.” Sam smiled then ate her dinner.

Mom’s Alzheimer’s had become too much for them to handle with out help, so she lived in a local nursing home. Sam learned not to visit her in the evenings. Her mother would be “sun-downing.” She became agitated easily and most times she had no idea who Sam was. She hated seeing her mom like that. Afternoons were easier.

“So, did you pick up anything new on the case today?” Dad asked.

“We learned Bryleigh Hillman was a party girl. She avoided her brothers, who ran off any real boyfriend she ever had,” Sam answered. “I still wonder what she was doing up by the falls the day she fell. I wonder if she met someone there and the fall was an accident.”

“Probably not something we’ll ever know,” he told her.

“There’s something, Dad,” she said, “I can’t put my finger on it, but something in the Hillman family is off. There’s a secret I need to unearth.”

“Let me know when you do. We still have a week before any DNA results come back,” he said. “We are running it against the brothers, Tom Mason, Matt Weaver, and Robert Bakersfield. I’m sure we’ll find it’s one of them.”

“I hope so. I’d like to give Tom and Matt’s parents some closure,” she said. “I also want to prevent any more tragedies from occurring.”

“Can you talk to her mother?” Dad asked.

“I’m trying to figure out how without alerting the brothers,” she answered. “I fear if one or both are involved, they will hide her away or bolt. Possibly both.”

“This case is always bringing more questions than answers,” he agreed.

Sam left for her apartment after helping him do the dishes. Something still tickling the outer reaches of her mind. Hopefully, Anna would be able to dig it out in the morning.