A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery 2)

“Yeah,” Leland said. “Exactly. She’s taking the blame. She—”

He took a moment to compose himself. “I didn’t know of the bootie until Tayla told me this morning.” He blinked back tears. “Where do I begin? Janet—” He swallowed at the name. “Janet Beeson babysat our boys four times. We thought she was ideal, a sweet little old woman who said she’d taken care of hundreds of children in her lifetime. She said she used to teach school.” He looked at them for verification.

“Not that we’ve heard,” Sara said.

“Our kids and the Nesbitt boys were friends.”

Again, Kate gasped.

Leland shook his head. “I guess you’ve met Kyle. He hated the woman. Said she complained about everything he did. Trees, noise, deliveries. Everything displeased her.”

“The boys probably heard his complaints,” Sara said.

“Kyle said he figured that’s part of why the kids thought she was a witch.” Leland looked up, his eyes brimming in tears. “I didn’t believe him. I like Kyle, but he gets angry too easily. I felt sorry for the woman. She—” He took a breath. “So we said yes when she said she’d love to babysit for us.”

“Did the boys like her?” Sara asked.

“No. But we didn’t believe them either. We thought the Nesbitt kids had told them what Kyle said.”

“The trickle-down effect,” Kate said.

“Exactly what did your boys tell you?” Jack asked.

“That Mrs. Beeson poisoned them.”

Jack, Kate, and Sara were too stunned to make a reply.

“I punished them for that. No iPads for a week. And to prove my point, I asked Janet to stay with them overnight.” He paused. “Today Tayla said Janet probably drugged the kids so she could search the house.”

“To get rid of them so she could look for secrets,” Sara said.

“Yes,” Leland said. “I think so.”

“And she found a big one,” Jack said.

“I didn’t know it—and neither did Tayla—but Charlene had an old tin box with newspaper clippings and the pair of booties in it.”

“I would imagine that it was so she’d never forget how fortunate she is to have her life today,” Sara said.

“Why was Janet so angry at Tayla?” Kate asked.

“I think it was because Tayla sold Sylvia a house.”

“You mean for charging too much?” Kate asked.

“No,” Leland said. “A few years ago, Janet went away for a couple of months. While she was gone, Sylvia bought a house through Tayla.”

“Why would that make Janet angry?” Kate asked.

“You ask me? My life is coming apart and I’m supposed to know why some old woman wanted to hurt people? Why did she bring up a twenty-plus-year-old...? I can’t even call it a kidnapping. Charlene was sixteen years old.” He stopped and looked away.

“Would you tell us?” Sara asked softly.

“I guess you deserve that.” Leland took a moment to collect himself. “Charlene shouldn’t have been left alone. I guess you know that just days before her parents left the country, she’d given birth to a stillborn baby, a little boy. She was still...” He made a motion around his chest area. “You know.” He looked up. “My wife is brilliant at concealing pain. She said all the things her mother and grandmother wanted to hear. She told them she was glad it was over so that now she could get on with her life.”

“The catch phrase that everyone thinks buries the past,” Sara said.

“Yes!” Leland’s hands were in fists. “Her mother shouldn’t have believed her, but...” He looked up.