38. Maddy’s Dagger Fingerprints

Kathy had not spoken to Madeline about the Stormont dagger. Why would she? They had talked about Madeline’s future, it was time to talk about the past. But what was the best way to start talking about the murder weapon, the rituals and the fact her fingerprints were on the knife that killed her sister? She would just begin and see how it went.

“Madeline,” she began, glancing to her left and right to make it clear this was something sensitive. “As you know, I’m writing a piece about the Stormont dagger,” she lowered her voice, “the murder weapon.” Madeline nodded. “I’m writing with a historical perspective, because Shaye, God bless her, is the latest in a long line of women who’ve been involved with the dagger over generations.”

Madeline was watching her closely. Kathy ploughed on. “Have you ever seen it?”

“Seen what?”

“The dagger. The Stormont dagger. Have you ever seen it?”

Madeline gazed levelly at her. “Why do you ask?”

She hadn’t answered the question. Kathy saw traces of the tense, hostile person she had met at their first interview. She had struck a nerve.

Be careful, she thought. She couldn’t say police had Madeline’s fingerprints on the knife, because the police didn’t know that – not officially.

“It’s been in the papers and on TV, you must have seen it. I just wondered how much you know about its history and,” she shrugged, “whether you’d ever run into it before. I’d never heard of it, but you’d be surprised how many people are familiar with the whole story.”

Madeline raised an eyebrow, leaned back, relaxed her shoulders. She seemed to come to a decision. ,

“Off the record? I’ll tell you this as a friend, I don’t want it spread around. Agreed?” Kathy opened her mouth to remind her new friend that she was a journalist, but she closed it again.

Madeline was tense but ready to confide in her. If she stayed calm, she might hear something critical to the case. If she made a wrong move, Madeline could shut down.

“You have my word. Two friends talking, just between you and me.”

Madeline sighed. “I’m sorry for the attitude, but I’m less trusting since the accident. Money’s tight. I’m trying to hang on to our rental house. His medications are expensive and the lousy, lying company is doing everything it can not to cover them.”

She stopped and collected herself.

“Recently I took a side job with a catering company. I got my SmartServe bartending licence when I put myself through nursing school. I did a lot of events back then, but I hadn’t done it for a long time. It was Shaye who introduced me to the catering company. She figured it was extra money and would get me out of the house, give me something else to think about.” She smiled, remembering.

“We did a couple of lunchtime things. It wasn’t hard, it was fun and Shaye liked meeting new people, especially interesting men. Then we did a gala for the Stormont family, one of their charity events at that big house.”

***

Kathy clenched her fists under the table.

“Before the party started, Mr. Stormont gathered the hired help by the fireplace to see his famous dagger. He opened up an old box and took out some ratty old gloves and this big fancy knife and told us about its history. Then he let us hold it. Well, some of us held it. He wanted us to get a sense of the history in his family so we could answer questions if any guests asked. I remember thinking, hey I’m only getting thirteen bucks an hour for this, I don’t think so.

“This friend of Mr. Stormont’s, a teacher called Dr. Rivers had arrived early and he joined in to offer his own expertise. He seemed to think it was a waste of time telling the stories to waitresses, and said we should send guests with questions to him. He was kind of full of himself, but Shaye was talking to him, flirting really, during the party. I had to give her a nudge to keep her moving with the drinks.” She stopped and slumped a little.

“Maddy, what is it?” Kathy said softly.

“I feel like shit talking about it. There we were oohing and ahh-ing over some stupid old knife to be polite to a client,” tears welled up, “when it was a fucking murder weapon!”

Kathy took her hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to cause you pain. I hadn’t really thought how you must feel about it. I’m truly sorry.”

“That’s okay,” she said, wiping at her tears. “I didn’t realize how emotional I’d get talking about it.”

Kathy was puzzled. Madeline blew hot and cold. She had legitimate reasons to be emotional and also wary and locked down. But Kathy had studied killers and knew that some could detach themselves from what they had done, be genuinely heartbroken over the loss of a loved one and ‘forget’ they were responsible for the killing.

Madeline had recovered her composure. “Do you have any other questions? That’s really all I know about the dagger, or the Stormont family, and I don’t want to know any more. I just want to know who killed my sister.”

“No more questions, and I have to go. Thanks for being honest with me, I’m sorry it got rough.” Madeline waved that away.

They had a hug before going opposite ways. Madeline had to hurry to catch a train, Kathy was happy to walk the mile and a half home and think about things.

She had a plausible explanation for Madeline’s prints on the dagger. She still didn’t know for sure if Madeline had known about Shaye’s wealth and her will. She liked Maddy, but she was still on their list of suspects – in fact pretty close to the top.