Exhaling loudly, I give Emma Jo a reassuring smile. When she returns it and asks me to help her get changed in the bathroom, I know I definitely made the right decision getting on that plane. Everyone in Bald Knob might like Jed, but if he comes anywhere near my friend, Jed is dead.
CHAPTER 4
Recorded Interview
June 2, 2016
Bald Knob, KY Police Department
Deputy Lloyd: I know this is a difficult time for you right now, Mrs. Godfrey, but I need you to answer the question.
Starla Godfrey: I just don’t know if my heart can take this right now, Buddy.
Deputy Lloyd: Mrs. Godfrey, this is an official sheriff’s office investigation on record. Could you please not use my first name?
Starla Godfrey: I am eighty-years-old and I’ve earned the right to call anyone whatever I please. I think we should discuss the fact that you’ve been living here for three months and I have yet to see you attend a service at Bald Knob Presbyterian.
Deputy Lloyd: Mrs. Godfrey, please try and focus. We brought you in today because you are a witness to one of our suspects threatening the victim. I need for you to tell me exactly what you heard Miss Lambert shout the night of the murder.
Starla Godfrey: That girl got herself all citified and does a lot of yelling now. She yelled at my poor Bo Jangles when he took a tinkle on her foot. He was so terrified I couldn’t get him to go outside the whole next day.
Deputy Lloyd: Weren’t you the one who placed a call to Mrs. Jackson’s home right before the body was discovered and told her that Bo Jangles was outside barking at something in her backyard? So, you must have been able to get him out at some point, which would make your statement false. I need to remind you that this is a sworn testimony you’re giving here today, Mrs. Godfrey.
Starla Godfrey: Don’t try to trip me up with your fancy detective words, Buddy Lloyd. I’ve seen every episode of Cagney and Lacey, and I know what you’re trying to do here.
Deputy Lloyd: I’m not trying to trip you up, ma’am, I just need you to answer the question. What did you hear Payton Lambert shout at the victim on the night he was murdered?
Starla Godfrey: I’m a good Christian woman, young man, and I could never repeat what she said. Let’s just say it had something to do with removing a man’s body part and killing him with it.
Deputy Lloyd: Can you tell me exactly what body part Miss Lambert referred to?
Starla Godfrey: I can tell you the only ones I’ve ever seen were Mr. Godfrey’s, God rest his soul, and they weren’t all that nice to look at. Is that what happened? Did he really choke on them? I just can’t imagine that’s a good way to go. He was such a nice young man, too. Well, I’ll say a prayer for him on Sunday that it was quick and painless. You’ll be there to join me, won’t you, Buddy?
Deputy Lloyd: Mrs. Godfrey, please sit back down, I’m not finished with the interview.
Starla Godfrey: Bo Jangles has been locked up in the house all morning and I need to take my back pills. You come to church on Sunday and we can finish our talk then. There’s a potluck after the morning service so bring something nice. And don’t be going down to Knob Grocery and just picking up a bag of cookies. What you need is a woman in your life. Someone who can make these things for you. I hear Emma Jo is single now. I always thought you two would make a lovely couple.
Deputy Lloyd: Mrs. Godfrey, we’re investigating the murder of her husband. The one that happened just a few days ago. I don’t think that’s appropriate at this point in time.
Starla Godfrey: She kept staring over at you when you were at her house the other morning. Every time you turned your back, she had her eyes on you. And those were eyes of interest.
Deputy Lloyd: They were? She was? Like, every time I turned around or just-
*Recording stopped abruptly*
CHAPTER 5
Coffee keeps me going until it’s acceptable to drink wine.
—Coffee Mug
“I don’t think this is a very good idea,” Emma Jo warns me, glancing around her living room nervously like someone is going to jump out from behind a piece of furniture and yell at her.
Which makes this idea all the better and will help calm her nerves, hopefully keeping me from taking Emma Jo’s car and driving around town until I find the asshole responsible for making her jump every time she hears a noise.
“When have I ever had a bad idea? It’s just wine, Emma Jo, not crack. You’re thirty-years-old and you’re allowed to have a glass of wine. Or ten. I’m leaning more toward the double-digit area, just so you know. And since you don’t own a coffee pot, the wine is what’s going to keep me from killing anyone,” I explain, pushing the glass of Moscato into her hand and raising one eyebrow until she brings it up to her mouth.