The Guilty

Chapter 66

Reel stared over at him, her brows elevated. “That’s a leap of logic, isn’t it?”

“Not so much.”

“So do you mean Sherman Clancy cut a deal with Barksdale? Give me enough stuff I can blackmail Nelson Wendell with, and I’ll let you alone?”

“Well, Wendell probably had a lot more money.”

“But Barksdale would be a fool to trust Clancy.”

“Maybe he didn’t have much choice. And Pete said his dad let Wendell use his shack. He thought at first for women. Maybe they never intended for Clancy to know what they were really doing. But he found out.”

“Now that makes more sense.”

“And I always wondered about the connection between Nelson Wendell and Clancy. They didn’t move in the same circles. Hell, Wendell didn’t even live in Cantrell. But Wendell and Barksdale, now they moved in the same circles. So maybe Barksdale arranged all of this after he found out he and Wendell shared a thing for kids. That could be how Wendell and Clancy hooked up. Through Barksdale.”

“Or maybe Clancy was never supposed to know Wendell was even involved.”

“Right. That’s more likely. But Clancy was enterprising, saw his chance and took it.”

“But you found out that Barksdale didn’t leave Cantrell until a couple years after you did.”

“Maybe that’s when Clancy started to put the squeeze on him. He had pictures. It would be the blue-blood Barksdale’s ruin. Hell, maybe he sold the house in order to pay off Clancy.”

“This is something we need to find out for sure.”

Robie pulled out his phone. “Well, we know a place that’s good at gathering information.”

Blue Man answered his phone on the second ring.

Robie patiently explained the situation and asked for what he needed.

Robie could hear the man jotting down no-doubt-meticulous notes. When he was finished Blue Man said, “Interesting theory.”

“I hope you can confirm it as more than a theory.”

“I’ll get right on it.”

“And thanks for sending Jessica down here. I wouldn’t be talking to you if she hadn’t been around to save my butt.”

“I like to plan for all contingencies. And Robie?”

“Yes?”

“I can understand why you’re doing this, even if I don’t agree with it.”

“Thank you for that,” replied a surprised Robie.

“My relationship with my father was something less than ideal, too.”

He clicked off.

Robie looked at Reel as he put his phone away. “He’s on the case, but we can’t rely just on that. We need to work the angles we can, too.”

“Starting with?”

“Sherman Clancy’s first wife. She was in court when my father was arraigned.”

“Do you know where she lives?” Reel asked.

“No, but I’m sure we can find out.”

“Even if she knows something do you really expect her to admit it to us?”

“Like you said before, it’s all in how you ask, Jess.”

Cassandra Clancy had never remarried. She lived about twenty miles from Cantrell.

As Robie and Reel drove up the cobblestone drive and pulled to a stop in front of the large, well-appointed two-story home with a BMW sedan parked out front, Reel said, “Looks like she got her pound of flesh from her husband in the divorce.”

“Hopefully, she managed her cash better than her ex did.”

They got out and went up to the door.

Robie knocked, and they heard footsteps heading their way.

The door opened, and Cassandra stood there. Robie had not gotten a good look at her in the courtroom, but now he could see that she had aged poorly. Her skin sagged and was mottled with sun damage. Her hair had been permed to such an extent that it was thin and wispy, and her scalp showed through in various places. Her clothes were costly, though, and fit her stout body well, hiding the depth of the belly and width of the hips.

“Can I help you?” she said cautiously.

“I’m Will Robie. This is my friend, Jessica Reel.”

Cassandra looked from one to the other before settling her gaze back on him. “Damn, Will, you’ve changed, honey. Didn’t recognize you. Not that we knew each other all that well way back when.”

“No, I guess we didn’t. But I went to school with a couple of your children.”

“I remember now I saw you in the courtroom. Didn’t put two and two together.”

“It’s been a long time.”

“Well, if your daddy killed Sherm I owe him my thanks.”

“I take it you didn’t get on with your ex-husband.”

“I hated his guts. He dumped me for a floozy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“So was I,” she said sharply.

“I saw you sitting with the floozy in the courtroom.”

Cassandra took a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, tapped one out, struck a match, and lighted up. “Time heals wounds. You two want to come in?”

They followed her inside, and Robie noted the luxurious appointments throughout the rooms they passed. She led them out onto the back patio, accessed through French doors. The grounds were fenced in, and there was a large, tiered fountain, professional landscaping, and wrought iron benches parked in various places.

Robie looked around. “Well, I’m glad to see you did okay financially.”

She grimaced. “I should have gotten more, but old Sherm, while a total shit, was cunnin’ as a gator on the hunt. He hid assets. He was worth ten times what he said he was when he filed the divorce papers. But I did okay. And I managed my money well. I’ll never have to work again. And who knows, since the son of a bitch died without a will, I might get a few more bucks from his estate.”

She pointed to a full pitcher and some glasses set on a wooden console. “Y’all want some sweet tea?”

Knowing that it might put him into a diabetic coma, Robie declined. So did Reel. Cassandra rose, poured herself a glass with plenty of ice, and sat back down. She took a long sip, smacking her lips.

“Nothin’ better on earth.”

“I’m sure,” said Robie. “So the money had come from the sale of the mineral rights on the farm you both owned?”

She tapped ash into an ashtray and eyed him suspiciously. “Look, what the hell is all this about?”

“Just following up leads with my dad’s case.”

“I see. I didn’t know your daddy all that well. But I never heard anyone say a word against him. Good man. I was sorry to hear about all the trouble he’s in now.”

“Do you think he could have killed your ex?”

“I don’t know. I can tell you I wanted to kill Sherm many times. Just never had the guts to do it.” She paused. “He was proud of you, I know that.”

“Who? Your husband?”

“No. Your daddy.”

“How do you know that?”

“Many’s the time I sat on the bleachers next to him at the games, that’s how. This was before I got divorced, of course. Two of my boys played for Cantrell. They were ahead of you in school by a few years, but I still went to all the home games even after they graduated. Anyway, your daddy would cheer like mad. Tellin’ everybody around him what a tough son of a gun you were. Thought the man would pop with pride.”

“He never said anything to me.”

“Well, some men are like that. I don’t think Sherm ever complimented his boys either. Probably afraid it would make ’em soft if they thought they’d get praised for everythin’. So the idiot never said a kind word to ’em.”

“I guess some men are wired that way,” said Robie quietly, drawing a sharp glance from Reel.

Cassandra smiled and pointed a finger at him. “Now, you quarterbacked the Panthers to the state championship. Only good thin’ that ever happened in Cantrell, far as I’m concerned.”

“Thanks.” He paused and pondered how best to say it. “I remember your farm. It was a big one.”

“I remember that farm, too,” she replied. “And none of those memories are fond ones. We never made a dime growin’ crops. Worked our asses off for peanuts.”

“But then the mineral rights were sold. And Sherm parlayed that into business ties with the casino folks. And then the cash flow picked up nicely. And then you divorced. All pretty fast, actually. Just over a few years.”

She looked at him suspiciously again. “You seem to know a whole lot about our business.”

“I like to know things. Like, for instance, what sort of dealings your husband had with Henry Barksdale and Nelson Wendell.”

Robie emphasized the names to see the woman’s reaction.

Her complexion changed. “Nelson Wendell? The oilman? How would we know him?”

The lie was not very good, thought Robie.

“What energy company bought the mineral rights to your property, Ms. Clancy?” asked Reel.

The woman turned to face her. “Why does that matter?”

“It would matter if it was Coastal Energy.”

Cassandra stood and said darkly, “I want you two outta my house. Right now.”

Neither Robie nor Reel moved.

Robie said, “People have died, Ms. Clancy. Murdered. Including your husband. We know why he was murdered. Do you? And do you want to be next?”

Her lips were trembling but Cassandra still stood there looking defiant.

“I think you should sit down,” said Reel. “And let’s talk about this before things get even worse.”

Cassandra abruptly sat, smoked down her cigarette, and hastily lit another.

“There’s a shack on the back part of your farm, you remember that?” asked Robie.

Cassandra said nothing.

He took out the photo and slid it across to her. “This was taken inside that shack, wasn’t it?”

Cassandra glanced at the photo and then just as quickly looked away.

“And that man is the late, if unlamented, Nelson Wendell,” added Reel.

Robie tapped the photo. “The thing is, Cassandra, where did the little kids come from?”

The woman’s face turned red and she started to breathe more heavily. She grabbed her chest. “I think I might be having a heart attack,” she gasped.

“I think you’re having a panic attack. We can call an ambulance if you want. But my question will still be out there. And maybe the police will be the ones to come and ask you next time.”

Her chest stopped heaving and she glared at him venomously. “It’s not legally actionable anymore. They have to file criminal charges before they turn twenty-one. And the statute of limitations has run on the civil side, too.”

“You checked the law, so you must have known all about it, then,” said Robie.

Cassandra was trembling. “If my ex did somethin’ bad, that’s on him, not me.”

“So where did the kids come from?”

“I have no idea what you’re even talkin’ about.”

“But like you said, you’re home free, Ms. Clancy. The law can’t touch you now.”

She tapped her ash and said nothing.

“Your kids doing okay?”

She said warily, “Yes. And the grandkiddies, too. Got six of ’em. All just fine.”

“Unlike the kids in the shack. Did you and your husband befriend folks saying you’d take care of their kids for them while they were working, maybe? And instead you let two pedophiles loose on them?”

She barked, “You two get the hell outta my house. Now! Before I call the cops.”

“The cops know we’re here,” said Robie. “We’re working with Sheriff Monda on this.”

Cassandra nearly dropped her cigarette. “He…he knows you’re here?”

Robie nodded.

“He knows a lot,” said Reel. “Pretty much everything we do.”

She sputtered, “I-it’s not actionable. I–I’m tellin’ you that. It’s n-not.”

“But that’s not the same as the truth coming out. They may not be able to take you to court, but I wonder how your kids will take the news. And your grandkids.”

“I’ll sue you. That would be slander. I’ll sue you!” screamed Cassandra.

“Well, one absolute defense to slander is the truth.” He pulled out his phone and held it up. “I recorded everything you said.”

“That’s…that’s illegal.”

“Is it? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t think it’ll matter to your family.”

“I…I…”

“You might want to think about moving to another country and assuming a new identity,” said Reel. “Because your life, as you know it, is over. I don’t think folks around here would like a pedophile’s helper.” Reel looked around at the fine property. “I hope it was worth it,” she added.

Cassandra slumped back in her chair. “Look, can we come to some sort’a understandin’?”

“Like what?” asked Robie.

“I tell you what I know and you forget I’m part of this at all.”

“Let’s hear what you have to say.”

“But—”

“Let’s hear what you have to say,” said Robie more firmly.

Cassandra finally nodded and sat forward, stubbing out her cigarette. She drew a few long breaths and began.

“See, the thing was we had seasonal workers comin’ through,” she said, her voice trembling a bit. “They came through every year, usually from Mexico or Central America. And some of them were black folks, itinerant workers, tryin’ to get by.”

“But no white kids then?” said Robie.

“No, none that I can remember. They worked the fields all day when we were harvestin’. Most had kids, little kids. Me and my daughter would watch ’em and even do a little schoolin’ with ’em. That was all. I swear to God.”

“Okay, when did things start to change?” asked Robie.

“Sherm came to me one day and said he’d had a visitor. Apparently, Henry Barksdale got wind of the little kids we kept in the shack on the edge of our property. He had a friend, he said, who would pay well if we…”

“If you left him alone with the kids for a while each day?” said Reel.

She nodded.

“When was this?” asked Robie.

“Hell, I can’t recall exactly. Probably twenty-five years ago.”

“Did your daughter know?”

“Absolutely not!” snapped Cassandra. “She’s a good person. She never would have”—she drew another long breath—“she never would have been part of that. So, I just had her head up to the house when the man was comin’ by.”

“But you obviously had no problem with it?” said Robie quietly.

Tears started to spill out of the woman’s eyes. “I did have a problem with it. But I talked myself into believin’ it was really doin’ no harm. And those kids were so little and most of ’em didn’t even speak English. And the money, my God, the money was—”

“—just too good? It made you forget about what was happening to the kids?” said Robie.

“You can judge me,” said Cassandra spitefully. She added in a more resigned tone, “And Lord knows God will one day, but I didn’t know those kids. They were just part of these families comin’ through. And they didn’t take good care’a their kids neither, let me tell you. But when they were with me they were fed and clean and taught some—”

“—and molested,” Reel finished for her.

Cassandra wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her blouse.

“Did you see both Henry Barksdale and Nelson Wendell at the shack?” asked Robie.

“Once. As a rule they didn’t come till I was gone. Sherm and them had it all worked out. Fewer people knew about it the better. And to tell the truth, I didn’t want to know. But I left late one day and they got there a bit early. They didn’t see me, but I saw them.”

“And the kids?” asked Reel.

Cassandra looked at her. “I swear to God they didn’t seem no worse for it. They were so young and all. Whatever they did to ’em, I don’t think it messed ’em up. Probably didn’t even know what was happenin’. And their parents never said anythin’, so I guess the kids never even told ’em. So, I think they’re okay, right?”

Reel said fiercely, “No child walks away from being molested without being damaged.”

“No, I…I guess not,” admitted Cassandra, sniffling a bit while Reel looked at her in unconcealed disgust.

“Okay, Sherm was getting well paid for his ‘services.’ So when did he start blackmailing Wendell?” asked Robie quietly.

“That came later, a few years or so after this whole thing started. He didn’t tell me he was going to do it, but I called him out on it after he told me who was buyin’ our farm.”

“Coastal Energy?” said Robie.

“Yes. Hell, we never had oil or gas on our land. I knew that. And nobody had come out there to check for it, so why was some big oil company writin’ us a huge check for our farm? I mean millions and millions of dollars. Well, I knew why. Nelson Wendell.”

“So you were rich now, too?”

“Yes. And Sherm had big plans. About twenty years ago we moved into a nice house outside of Cantrell. Then he got in on the ground floor with the casino folks at the Rebel Yell. He made a lot more money there. I was surprised at how smart he was at business, to tell the truth. Things were going good.” Her voice rose. “Till the son of a bitch came home one night less than a year later and basically told me I was being replaced by a floozy he’d been shackin’ up with behind my back and who was pregnant with that pissant Pete. I got my money, though he screwed me on that, and bought this place. He built that monstrosity over near Cantrell and he and the floozy had Pete. Then the floozy got the boot and it was just him and Pete. And Pete only stayed because he’s a lazy ass livin’ off Sherm’s money. He’s barely nineteen and probably can’t even wipe himself.”

“The house burned down,” said Robie.

“So I heard,” said Cassandra, not hiding her glee. “I guess what Sherm did came back to bite him in the ass.”

“And the Barksdales?” said Robie. “They sold the Willows and slunk out of town. Why?”

“I don’t know why. I just know that Henry was the go-between with Sherm and Wendell.”

“And he was a pedophile too, of course, and Sherm knew that,” noted Robie.

“No, he wasn’t.”

“What?” asked Robie sharply.

“I know he sometimes came to the shack where the kids were, but from what Sherm told me, he wasn’t into the kids. Never touched ’em. That was just Wendell.”

“But why be part of it at all then?” asked Reel. “If he wasn’t into kids?”

“That’s easy. It was for the money too. Sherm told me Barksdale had bet on somethin’ big and it went south. He was broke. Goin’ to lose the Willows and everythin’ else. He needed the cash bad, and Wendell had more than enough for everybody.”

“So Wendell was paying him to arrange things with the kids?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think Sherm might have been blackmailing Henry Barksdale as well?” asked Robie. “And maybe that’s why he left Cantrell so abruptly?”

She shook her head. “Sherm was an asshole, but as crazy as it sounds, he was a man of his word. Sherm would’ve gotten zip if not for Henry Barksdale bringin’ him in on this. Sherm never forgot that. He told me that mor’n once. He wouldn’t have done nothin’ to hurt Barksdale.”

“So if they were getting paid, why start blackmailing Nelson Wendell and make him buy the farm for an exorbitant price?” asked Reel.

“Hell, that’s an easy one. Sherm was greedy as they come. And, yeah, we were gettin’ paid, but Sherm wanted more. A lot more. He had plans and he needed big money. So he got pictures of Wendell and the kids and that was his way of takin’ the guy to the cleaners. Sherm called Wendell his golden goose.”

“I bet,” said Reel. “And it seems that Henry Barksdale might have supplied the pictures to Sherm just to make sure the guy never turned his sights on him.”

Robie looked confused. “Okay, but if Wendell refused to pay, what leverage did Sherm have? If the truth came out, so would his role in the whole thing. They could have all gone to jail.”

“Hell, Sherm was a nobody. Nelson Wendell was rich, from a well-known family, and everyone looked up to him. Sherm had nothin’ to lose if the truth came out. Wendell had everythin’ to lose. And Sherm might have been a blackmailer. But Wendell sexually abused little kids. Which do you think folks would find worse?”

“I guess that makes sense,” said Reel.

Cassandra said weakly, “So, can we just keep this between the three of us?”

Robie and Reel rose together.

Staring down at her, Robie said, “I guess only time will tell on that.”

Her face fell. “So that’s all the assurance you can give me? I’ll worry myself sick.”

“Then consider yourself lucky,” retorted Robie. “Because everybody else has ended up dead.”