The Monarch Graveyard

by James R Nelson

  Thirteen

  Louise Applegate stood about a hundred feet in front of the Newberry State Mental Hospital’s administration building and slowly raked leaves into a small pile. What time was it? She had thought out her escape plan in minute detail and had been watching Eric Anderson, the big, blond Swedish orderly, for the last twenty minutes. When he ducked into the alcove with Freda Miles, like he had done just about every day for the last month, that’s when she was going to make her move. Sex was a strong drive that never went away, no matter where you were holed up. People went to strange lengths to get it back. Especially Freda. The group had teased her that it had taken her three months before Eric succumbed to her flirtations.

  Yes. There they went. Sauntering over to the vine- covered love nook like nothing was happening. Louise grabbed her rake and slowly walked three hundred feet to where the manicured lawn of the grounds met the start of the thick state forest.

  She bent down, removed her right shoe, and tossed it into the bushes. Its bright white color stood out against the dark leaves. Shouldn’t be hard to spot when they started looking for her. Louise followed the perimeter of the cut grass and stopped every now and then to pretend to rake. Her heart started beating faster. She didn’t have long. According to Freda, Eric wasn’t the longest lasting fellow she’d ever been with.

  Louise glanced around. The handful of other patients outside doing yardwork were scattered about the grounds. Three should be behind the building trimming bushes. Only one, Brenda Berg, was visible. She shouldn’t be a problem. Her back was turned, and she was facing the other direction.

  Louise slowly laid down the rake and walked over to the parking lot. This was going to be the hard part. If any doctor or staff happened to drive up, she’d almost certainly be discovered. She got between a row of cars and ducked down. It didn’t take long for her to make her way to Nurse Stefano’s vehicle. She tried the door. It opened. Yes! Good old Midwestern values. Not many people locked their cars. Even when parked outside the state hospital.

  She reached inside, pulled the trunk latch, and then softly shut the driver’s side door. Louise climbed into the trunk and pulled down the lid, being careful not to fully engage the lock. Now all she had to do was wait.

  Inside on the fourth floor, Ralph sat on a folding chair next to Nurse Stefano just outside of Doctor Franklin’s office. “How did you think yesterday’s session went?”

  Angela glanced down at her notes. “For the most part, I thought it went well. One suggestion, did you notice how Freda kept wanting to get your attention?”

  Ralph nodded. “Yes. It was starting to get irritating.”

  “It was. You being a man, Freda was trying to show the group that you were hers. You ignored her actions, but that only emboldened her. What I think you should have done—”

  Angela was interrupted by Doctor Franklin tapping on her window. She turned to Ralph. “Hold that thought. I hope Doctor Franklin hasn’t come up with something that takes forever for me to do. I’m starting my vacation tomorrow. I was hoping to get out of here a little early.” She glanced down at her watch. “Looks like those plans are shot. Let me see what she wants.”

  As she stepped into the office, Doctor Franklin motioned for her to take a seat. “Angela, are you excited about your trip?”

  Hmm. That didn’t sound like the start of a new task. “Yes, I sure am. It’s been two years since I’ve seen my sister. And I’ve never seen my little niece. Two weeks is a long time to be gone, but California’s so far away, I thought I’d spend as much time there as I can.”

  Doctor Franklin nodded. “It is a long time.” She glanced at the clock on her desk. “I’m sure you have lots of things to do before you leave. Why don’t you finish up what you’re doing and get out of here? We’ll miss you, but it’s always good to take a break. Especially from this demanding job.”

  Angela smiled. “Really? Oh, thank you, Doctor. I was just reviewing with Ralph the session he conducted yesterday.” She stood up. “Thank you so much.” She left the office and returned to her seat next to Ralph.

  “By the look on your face, whatever she wanted won’t be taking as much time as you thought.”

  She laughed. “No, it won’t. Doctor Franklin said as soon as I finish up with you, I can leave.”

  “Well, let’s wrap this up then.” He paused. “I’m a little nervous. I’ll be working with her most of the time you’re gone.”

  “Don’t be. She’s wonderful. You’ll learn a lot. She’ll be able to tell you more about the research she did for the Praise and Reward program she’s put together. I bet by the time I get back, you’ll be sorry to have to work with me again.”

  He smiled. “Yeah. I’m sure.”

  Angela quickly finished up the coaching session. She waved goodbye to Doctor Franklin and hurried toward the stairs.

  ###

  Louise heard footsteps approaching the car. The door opened and closed. Suddenly they were moving. Where did she live? Was it in a neighborhood with houses all around or did she live out in the country somewhere?

  After what seemed like a twenty or thirty minute ride, the car made a sharp right hand turn and there was an unmistakable sound of tires on gravel. Louise smiled. Good. The country. The car continued for several minutes and then stopped.

  Louise waited in the trunk until she was sure Nurse Stefano had enough time to enter the house. She slowly pushed the lid up a few inches. A narrow gravel road extended as far as she could see through a thick canopy of dense trees. No houses on either side.

  Louise slipped out of the trunk and crouched down behind the car which was parked in front of a small cottage. She scanned the two windows that looked out into the front yard. No sign of movement. A strip of pretty black-eyed Susan’s traversed the length of the house.

  Bent low, Louise ran to the front door. She pushed it open slightly and peered in. Soft singing was coming from the bedroom. Louise slipped into the room. The kitchen? Where was the kitchen? She took a few steps toward the center of the room and looked around. A bedroom was on the right. The kitchen was on the other side.

  She turned left. Next to the stove sat a wooden block with an assortment of knives. She reached over, pulled out the largest one, and held it up to the light. It would do. Holding it behind her back, she turned to the bedroom. Let’s make this quick.

  ###

  Doctor Franklin stood behind her desk and stared at Eric Anderson. She felt a wave of panic spread over her. Her knees felt like they were about to buckle. “What do you mean Louise is missing? It’s your job to watch her. Have you checked the grounds? The woods? Don’t tell me this. Do you know what this would mean to our program if she’s gone? It would be over. All of our hard work. It would…” She sat down in her chair and tried to keep her hands from trembling.

  “I know, Doctor. I know it’s bad. But I’m telling you, she was out there raking leaves like she does every day, and the next thing I know, she’s gone. I got Ralph out there now. He’s looking too. She can’t be far. I found a shoe in the thick grass. I think she may have wondered off in the woods near there.”

  Doctor Franklin pulled a tissue from a box on her desk and wiped her forehead. “Look, you can’t say anything to anyone about this, okay?”

  Eric nodded.

  “Not yet. We need some time. Time to find her. She can’t be far. Go back out there and check around the buildings. Maybe she’s hiding near the trash bins or something.” She looked at her watch. “It’s almost five o’clock. Forget about going home. Tell Ralph he needs to work with you. Don’t be conspicuous. You can’t be raising red flags around here. We have to find her. Now go. I’ll be right here for the rest of the night. Keep me posted.”

  Fourteen

  It was eight o’clock Saturday morning. Paulie sat at the kitchen table with a scowl on his face. Kitty tapped the ash off her cigarette. “What’s eating you?”

  “I can’t spend another minute in this moldy, stinking dump. And the trees. Everyw
here you look…trees. It’s…it’s starting to get to me. I say we make a run for it. Drive straight to New York City. I’m really pissed at Al. Good thing I’m not there…yet. I’ll kill that little bastard. He’s giving me the brush off. I know it. That son-of-a-bitch. After all the shit I did for him and the boys.”

  “What? Leave now? In broad daylight?”

  Paulie clenched and unclenched his hand. He looked out the window. “I’d like to, but maybe we should wait. Geeze. I don’t know if I can take another whole day here. No. Tonight. As soon as it gets dark.”

  “What are we going to do when we get there? Where can we stay?”

  Paulie thought for a moment. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. You have everything packed and ready to go tonight. I’ll drive over to the store and call Al and tell him we’re coming. He can find us a place and get it ready by the time we get there. Then I’ll come back and pick you up.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Like hell you will. I’m going with you. I can just see you driving down that dirt road and heading out to the big city all by yourself. Nope. We’ll go talk to Al together.”

  Paulie stood up. “Suit yourself.”

  ###

  Air traffic out of the Los Angeles airport made it hard for Stephen to hear his uncle on the phone. He sat on the motel bed and listened as Phillip complained. Stephen interrupted, “I know she left. I talked to Jeanette yesterday. You better hope she comes back after her vacation. You really can’t blame her for being upset. To be accused of stealing? Really, Phillip. That’s pretty bad. You have to do something about Barbara. Look at the havoc she’s causing.”

  “I know. And from what Jeanette informs me about her mother’s condition, I’m afraid it won’t be long until she’s caught up with her mother’s care. I’ve already put an ad in several papers looking for part time help. I’m interviewing tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow’s Sunday.”

  “I know. If you were here eating my cooking, you’d be interviewing tomorrow, too.”

  Stephen laughed. “I’m sure it’s not that bad. But seriously, you better have a good talk with Barbara about her attitude. What good would it do to find someone if she’s just going to chase them off with her antics. Maybe it’s time for her to go home.”

  “I know. We’ve talked about it. Unfortunately, she needs to be here right now. By the way, when are you coming back?”

  “I was going to take a flight out today, but I thought of something I wanted to check out before I left. It’s just a hunch.”

  “But you will be coming home tomorrow?” Phillip asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’m looking forward to you getting back here.” Phillip said goodbye and hung up the phone.

  Stephen had been packing his suitcase when an idea popped into his head. A quick call to Caroline’s husband had given him the name and phone number of Richard’s late father’s assistant, Gayle Sherwood.

  Initially, she had been hesitant to meet with him when he called. When Stephen mentioned he had had cocktails with Richard and Caroline the night before, she had agreed to see him. Gayle told Stephen to meet her at the Green Chili Mexican Grill on the west side of Inglewood. It was close to where she lived.

  After a three mile cab ride, Stephen stepped inside the squat adobe building. The smell of sizzling steak fajita’s made his mouth water. It was eleven-thirty in the morning, and he hadn’t had any breakfast. He spotted a woman waving at him from a corner booth. She appeared to be in her late thirties. She had reddish hair and was wearing a yellow blouse. He walked over.

  “You must be Gayle.”

  “That’s me. I knew it was you when you came in wearing that red shirt you said you’d have on.”

  Stephen slid into the booth across from her.

  “How do you know Richard again?” she asked.

  “I worked on a movie with Caroline last year. I met Richard when he visited the set of a remake of The Creature from the Black Lagoon.”

  “Oh. You said something about a movie director when you called, but I couldn’t figure out all the particulars. Okay. So that’s how you know Richard.” She grabbed two menus from behind a metal box of napkins and handed one to him. “I’m curious. Why do you want to talk to me?”

  Stephen took the menu. “I’m really not sure. I had a crazy idea this morning, and I wanted to check it out before I head back to Michigan. Do you know someone named Cyrus Bonaventure?”

  Gayle wrinkled her nose. “I’ve never met the man, but I’ve heard Francesco complain about him on several occasions. Why do you ask?”

  Stephen was about to speak, when a waitress walked over to take their order. Gayle said she wanted a plate of Chimichangas. Stephen ordered the lunch special, steak fajitas, and waited for the waitress to leave before he answered. He lowered his voice, “The reason I’m asking is Mr. Bonaventure and his wife traveled to Florida to attend Richard’s wedding. Well, something happened. I’m here trying to see if I can figure out what was behind it.”

  “What happened?”

  Stephen glanced around. “I’m really not at liberty to say. I know this sounds foolish. I’m not telling you much, but at the same time, I’m asking you for information. Maybe nothing happened. Right now, we don’t know.”

  She stared at him. “Yeah. That does sound foolish. But you think I may be able to help you? Help you with something that may not have happened. Why me?”

  “Because you worked with Richard’s father and you know what he was working on when he died.”

  Tears filled her eyes. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed her face. “Francesco. What a wonderful man. He was a fearless reporter.” Her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute. Something happened to Cyrus, and you think it has something to do with what happened to Francesco?”

  Stephen shook his head. “No. That’s the problem. I have no idea if any of this is connected. It’s just that this morning, as I was packing to leave, for some reason, I started thinking about what Richard told me happened to his father. That made me wonder if there was something connected to Cyrus. It does seem a little odd that two tragic things happened to two men who are somewhat related.”

  Gayle picked cracked polish off one of her fingers. “And you want me to help you, but you won’t tell me what happened to Cyrus Bonaventure.”

  Stephen thought for a moment. “You’re right. I can’t ask you to help me if you don’t know what’s going on. Okay. Here it is. The morning after the wedding, Cyrus disappeared. He went for a walk on the beach and never came back. I’m trying to figure out what happened. Scenarios range from he got caught in an undertow and drowned, or that he faked his own disappearance because he needed time to raise some money to pay off gambling debts, or maybe his bookies grabbed him and want ransom money for what he owes them.” He watched to see if any one of those ideas registered with her. They didn’t.

  “Does Richard know what you’re talking about? Does he know what happened to Cyrus?”

  “He knows Cyrus has disappeared but he doesn’t know I’m wondering if that has anything to do with what happened to his father.”

  Gayle tilted her head and stared at him. “What do you think Francesco was working on?”

  “From what his son told me, he was investigating several things. One was how people were smuggling drugs across the border and the other thing was mob influences in the movie industry.” Stephen leaned closer. “Both are dangerous investigations, I’m sure.”

  “Like I said, I didn’t know the man, but from what Richard said about him, I’d have to pick the ones that had something to do with gambling debts.” The waitress came and set their food on the table. The steak was still frying in the pan. A cloud of delicious smoke filled the booth with smells of meat and peppers.

  They spent the next few minutes in silence enjoying their lunch. Stephen wiped his mouth with a napkin. “How busy are you today?”

  Gayle looked surprised. “I’m not working right now. But I’m in the middle of going through seve
ral boxes of Francesco’s notes. Why?”

  “I looked up Cyrus’s address in the phone book, and I’d like to drive over there and see what his house looks like.”

  Gayle took a drink from her soda. “Why would you want to do that?”

  “I think seeing his house would give me a better picture of who the man is.”

  “Where does he live?”

  Stephen pulled a slip of paper from his pocket. “456 Robin Drive.”

  Her eyes got wide. “Oh, the bird streets!”

  “The bird streets? What’s that?”

  “It’s a very swanky place in L.A. To give you an idea of the area, George Harrison from the Beatles wrote the song Blue Jay Way there when he was staying in a house on Blue Jay Way. That’s where you want to go? Sure. We can take my car. I’m parked in the back.”

  Stephen tried to keep the conversation focused on idle chit-chat for the rest of the meal. He didn’t want Gayle to ask any more questions about why he really wanted to visit the Bonaventure house. When they were finished eating, he paid the check, and followed her outside to the back parking area.

  Forty minutes later, Stephen was enjoying the view from the passenger side of Gayle’s red Mazda RX-7 when they turned onto Robin Drive. The narrow road hung on the side of a hill with a great view of the Sunset Strip and the Pacific Ocean. Gayle pulled into the Bonaventure’s driveway, and they both got out of the car.

  She looked around. “Great place. I told you the Bird streets were nice.”

  Stephen walked up to the front door and peeked into the window. A large, nicely furnished living room met his view. He tried the door. It was locked. He walked around to the garage and looked in the small window that ran across the top of the wide door. A shiny new Mercury Cougar sat in the shadows.

  Gayle followed him down a narrow sidewalk to the back of the house where a patio and swimming pool were located. The kitchen and a hallway to the dining room could be seen from several windows.