“Pam and I were just talking, and we think Melissa couldn’t have done anything with Aaron’s body alone,” Floyd said, ignoring the sheriff’s comments about the freshly brewed coffee. “He probably outweighed her by fifty pounds and there’s no way she could’ve handled the dead weight. Mike Nelson was at the Round Lake house when Aaron arrived, and Melissa was really pissed that she had to go clean up after their tryst at the house, so I’m guessing that Melissa dragged the two of them back to help her deal with Aaron’s body. Leaning on Mike with this new information could break him.”
“The county attorney had a call from Melissa Smith’s lawyer last night. The lawyer made it very clear there was no way his client was going to make a statement with or without immunity. So, if you’re going to get a statement from someone, it’s got to be from someone else.”
“Did Tom authorize us to offer immunity to get this resolved?” Floyd asked.
“He thinks it’d be great to close an old case, so we can dangle the immunity offer, but he wants to authorize the offer before it’s formally made.” Sepanen looked closely at Pam and asked, “Are the bruises under your eyes turning green?”
“Yes, and they’re spreading down my cheeks. I should look great in Barb and Sandy’s wedding pictures.”
“They’ll be memorable,” the sheriff said.
“C’mon, Pam,” Floyd said getting up. “We’ve got to corner Mike Nelson.”
“Before you go,” the sheriff said, “I heard from North Memorial Hospital. Kathy Tucker is stable but still unconscious.”
“Thank God for that anyway,” Pam said. “Did they give you any prognosis for her recovery?”
“They haven’t even started to repair her broken bones yet, because she’s been so critical. They’re doing an EEG to check her brain function and that’ll determine a lot of their path forward.”
“But Kathy didn’t have any head injuries,” Pam said.
“The doctor said she had a setback yesterday. They had to put her on a respirator.”
“You know,” Floyd said, “Kathy is another person who could’ve helped Melissa. She’s been less than candid with her answers.”
“I don’t think a woman could help stuff the body of someone she loved into a coffin with or without the help of another person,” Pam said. “It’s just not going to happen. Kathy may look tough and strong, but I sense that she was really shattered by Aaron’s announcement and the revelation she’d been exposed to HIV. My intuition says she wasn’t part of what happened at, or after, Aaron arrived at Round Lake.”
The sheriff pulled a cigar from his pocket and clenched it between his teeth. “I’m going to bet on you guys, so I’m calling public works to see if they can bring a backhoe out to the cemetery this afternoon.”
“When did you turn into an optimist?” Floyd asked.
“I’m optimistic about every election, otherwise I wouldn’t do all the campaigning.”
Dan Williams walked in as the sheriff left. “I read your reports about the Melissa Schotten interview. That was good work. Too bad she decided to lawyer up.”
“She worked at the funeral home when she was in high school and nursing school. I’m convinced that she knew how to disable the alarm and open a latched casket,” Floyd explained.
“She was very close to Karen Solstad, and Melissa didn’t want Karen to know that Kenny’s last act on earth was killing Aaron. So, we think that was why they put Aaron in the casket,” Pam added
“What’s next?” Dan asked.
“I think Betsy will cave in. I think she’s more likely that Mike to admit to the scheme.”
Floyd and Pam were parked in front of the lumberyard when Mike Nelson showed up to open for the day. They met him at the front door.
“I’m getting double-teamed today. Did we have a break-in last night?” he asked as he unlocked the door and disarmed the alarm.
“We need to talk about Aaron,” Floyd said, following Mike into the showroom. “We had a long talk with Melissa yesterday and now we need to know your side of the story.”
“I told it all to you the last time we talked,” Mike said as he walked around the store unlocking doors and turning on the lights.
“Actually,” Pam said, “you quit before you got to the most important part.”
“What would that part be?” Mike asked as he drew water for a pot of coffee.
“The part about Aaron being killed in the Round Lake house, and you and Melissa disposing of his body.”
“I didn’t skip it. That never happened,” Mike said calmly.
“So,” Floyd said, “when we dig up Ken Solstad’s casket this afternoon we won’t find your fingerprints?”
“What?” Mike asked as he set the pot on the coffee machine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It’s too late, Mike,” Pam said. “We know what happened to Aaron and your involvement amounts to being an accessory to murder by disposing of the body. The county attorney is willing to offer immunity to close this case. Do you want to talk to us about it here, or shall we have you come down to the courthouse?”
“I can’t believe this,” Mike said, trying to steady his hand while he measured coffee and dumped it into the filter. “The whole thing is ancient history. Just because you guys find an old picture you have to go plowing up all this old stuff. What does it accomplish? I’ll tell you what: it got Kathy beaten nearly to death. It dredged up all kinds of sadness for the Solstads. It got Mark Roberts thrown in jail, maybe for the rest of his life. It’s going to make three of us look like ghouls. All over what, a stupid picture?” Mike shook his head and put his hands flat on the counter.
“All right. Here’s the deal. Betsy and I were still at the house when Aaron showed up. He was half frozen and dressed in Salvation Army clothes. His chest was covered with bloody bandages he said Kathy had put on him. He said Kenny had cut him up and he was afraid Kenny would find out Kathy had set him free. We got him cleaned up some, and put fresh bandages on his chest. Betsy gave him some pain killers she found in the bathroom. We were going to take Aaron to the hospital, but Kenny knew where Betsy and I had gone from the bar, so he showed up. When he saw Aaron he started screaming at all of us. Betsy freaked and demanded that I take her home. While Betsy went to the car I tried to calm Kenny down, but he was still high. I made him go outside to the car and he promised that he wouldn’t go back in.
“Anyway, I called Melissa from Betsy’s house, thinking that she might be able to calm Kenny down. She told me about Kenny attacking her, too, and then she freaked about Betsy and me using her uncle’s house. I told her I’d go back and check on Aaron, but she said I’d done enough damage and that she’d check on Aaron, then clean up after she was sure Kenny had left for Missouri.”
The coffee stopped perking and Mike poured himself a cup and set the carafe on the counter so Floyd and Pam could help themselves. “Melissa was mad about us spending the night at the Round Lake house, but I thought it was all over. Then I got this frantic call from Melissa about mid-morning. She told me that she went to the house to make sure we’d cleaned up and found Aaron dead. She said Kenny had killed him and left him there. I called Betsy, then I rushed over and it was bad. I mean…well, it was bad. Aaron was slumped on the table and there was no sign of Melissa. I was going to call the cops, but Melissa showed up and was freaked out about Aaron. After she thought a while, she gave me this sad story about how we couldn’t do that to Ken’s parents. They’re nice people and it would tear them up if they knew that Ken had killed Aaron. I was totally out of it. I’ve never seen a dead body before, and Aaron didn’t look like himself.”