A Collage to Kill For 4

A China Bayles papercraft mystery: Collage

Hello!

This is the final episode in this four-episode papercraft mystery.

Previously: China is shocked to discover her friend, Mattie Long, dead at the foot of the Craft Emporium stairs—and surprised to learn that Mattie’s sister, Caroline, suspects foul play. China and Ruby search both Mattie’s home and her studio. There, China discovers a paper-art clue that might solve the mystery and telephones her police-chief friend, Sheila, to share the news. You can read/review the previous episodes here, where I’ve posted an index to all the current stories.

Botanical paper collage by Mary Delany (1700-1788) She called her work “paper mosaics.” Enlarge for detail.

“Well, are you satisfied?” I asked.

 “Not exactly,” Sheila said glumly. She folded her arms and leaned a hip against the counter in Ruby’s shop. “But it saved the cost of the trial.”

 If you’ve met Sheila Dawson, you know that she does not look like your standard-issue police officer. No. She looks more like a Dallas deb in full bloom, or a Junior Leaguer on her way to her sorority’s alumnae tea. Today, she was wearing her Monday-go-to-Council-Meeting garb: a pale yellow blazer over a creamy silk blouse and dark, trim-fitting slacks. Her ash-blond hair was pulled back sleekly, and she wore pearl earrings and a pearl necklace. You’d  never in the world guess that this woman is a blackbelt in karate.

“You’re not pleased?” Ruby asked in surprise. She put down the crystal ball she had been polishing. The shelves in Ruby’s shop are full of crystal balls and magic wands and Tarot cards—things you won’t see anywhere else in Pecan Springs. “I would have thought you’d be happy to see Dr. Weaver put away.”

I chuckled. “Sheila is ruthless. She wanted him tried for capital murder. She’d be happier if there hadn’t been a plea bargain.”

“Yeah.”  Sheila shrugged. “But we have to take what we can get. At least Weaver’s off the streets. For decades, actually. And the pleas will make it easier for the families of both his victims to get significant civil judgements against him. He won’t have a nickel left by the time he gets out.”

Here’s what happened after Ruby and I had shared our discovery of the three tell-tale collages. Dr. Richard Weaver—the prominent local gynecologist in whose office Mattie Long had worked for seven years—was arrested, charged with, and then indicted on two counts of capital murder: Mattie’s death and the murder of Alice Mason. He was the man whose guilty secret Mattie had discovered and profited from—until her victim got tired of being blackmailed and took care of it by pushing her down the stairs.

When all the plea-bargaining and legal bowing-and-curtseying was done, Weaver had pled guilty to second-degree murder in the deaths of both women. Judge Wooster sentenced him to two twenty-year terms to be served consecutively. Which was rather a nice surprise. Given the doctor’s social position (a prominent doctor, married to a local socialite), everybody expected him to serve the sentences concurrently. I often doubt it, but maybe there’s some justice in this world, after all.

Sheila looked from Ruby to me. “You know,” she said, “I have a lot to thank both of you for. I could never have charged Weaver with Alice’s murder on the little evidence I had. And I had no idea about the connection to Mattie Long’s death. You put it all together for us when you found those hidden collages in Long’s studio.”

As part of the plea bargain, Dr. Weaver had been required to make a full confession, so we now knew the whole story. As Alice’s longtime friend, Mattie had known about the illicit relationship. She had a key to Alice’s house and knew where to look for the letters Weaver had written. And as Weaver’s receptionist, she had access to Alice’s medical records. And as a clever blackmailer, she had assembled all her evidence and hidden it on the backs of the three collages we had found in her studio. She made photocopies of the collages and sent them to Weaver, one at a time, threatening to send them to the police if he didn’t pay up.

But by the time the doctor had forked over the money Mattie demanded, he began to be afraid that he couldn’t trust her to keep quiet. He sent her tumbling down the stairs, where I found her when I went to look for Ruby’s toilet paper.

Sheila pushed herself away from the counter and went toward the door. “Thanks again, guys. Now I can tell the city council to get off my back. On that score, anyway.”

“Right,” Ruby said with a laugh. “You can tell them that the Case of the Collage to Kill For has been solved.”

I scowled. “Ruby, murder isn’t funny.”

“I know that, China,” Ruby said indignantly. “But if we can’t have a little fun, life would be pretty bleak.”  She appealed to Sheila. “Wouldn’t it, Smart Cookie?”

“You bet,” Sheila said, with her hand on the doorknob. “Tell you what, girls. Next time, I’ll hire the two of you to solve the case and save my cops for traffic stops. That would cut the overtime. And make my life a little simpler.”

Everyone, thank you for reading this final episode—all the way to the end! I’ll be back on Monday with the June issue of LifeScapes. Supporting subscribers, the premium extras for this episode offer more notes on the mystery craft and some examples of the interesting craft of cutting-and-pasting. As usual, I’ll be available to reply to your questions and comments.

Paid subscribers make Thyme, Place & Story possible, help to support the Story Circle Network, and provide complimentary subscriptions to low-income Substack readers. I am enormously grateful for your generous support. Thank you!

And if you haven’t yet asked your favorite librarian to put you on the waiting list for China’s latest adventure, now would be a very good thyme. 🙂