Dead in the Shed: Chapter 11

Missy, Charly and Betty clustered around Edna and walked her to the Rose Garden gazebo where Paul and the detectives joined the group.
“Can you handle a few questions?” Brumbaugh asked Edna.
“Wait, how did you know to come here?” said Edna slamming down her coffee cup. Fear, anger, and caffeine fueled her speech. “OK, Miss Miroi, just what exactly did you do with my packet? Toss it in the trash the minute I left?”
Brumbaugh answered, “I took the packet home last night. Furthermore, we have been conducting our own investigations, on everyone. We came here when we found something odd in Beckman’s background.”
“”Well, what was that?” Edna asked.
“Beckman used the same social security number on his volunteer application as when he used his real name, John Brockner. He has been in several mental treatment centers since shortly after he graduated from high school and has had problems all his life. Brockner has been unable to keep a job. In Ohio, he had a record of two serious threats against employers who had fired him.”
“Ohio, see. I had that in my packet,” Edna said tapping her elbow on Paul.
“We contacted his mother who said he left suddenly when he read an obituary about his old girlfriend, B.J. When I saw her mentioned in your packet and his high school photo, I knew we were close to the truth,” Brumbaugh said.
“How does the fishing line and hook fit into things?” Miori asked.
“Joanie took it down, or I could have shown you how Jack must have hung up his big hat while he ran into the shed to kill Russ. Betty was so used to seeing him there that she saw the hat and assumed he was there. “
“How did the plant sale money end up in the pond? What about the robbery?” Charly asked.
“Jack must have kept out a few bills to stick under Russ’s head to make it took like he surprised a robber. I think Jack’s reason for killing Russ was pure jealousy, the oldest motive in the book. He must have blamed Russ for the loss of his girlfriend, her death, and that his life was just a general mess,” Edna said.
“I can’t believe I was so wrong about him. He was very sweet to me,” Betty said wiping a tear from her eye.
The police cars left muddy tracks through the lawn. Edna hoped the tracks would fade along with the memory of the murder.
Joanie stomped across the grass with a stern look. Dirt, sweat, and spots of blood from the cacti covered her clothes. She wrinkled her forehead as if she didn’t understand why the group was gathered together.
“Did I miss something? Doesn’t matter. If you people are done chatting, I could use a hand in the Cactus Garden.