Teaberry Invitational

by R A Wallace

  Dee laughed. “I haven’t been that bad.”

  Megan thought her laughter sounded a little strained. She remembered what Dena had said about a man named Iva and his wife arguing over dinner plans with another couple.

  “Do you know many of the other couples who are participating in the tournament?” Megan asked.

  Dee and Iva shared a look.

  “Many of them, yes. Some a little better than others,” Iva said.

  “Some of us have pretty complicated past histories,” Dee said. “I’m sure you saw some of that online when you were checking us out for your web pages.”

  Megan hadn’t looked for anything like that but nodded as though that were true.

  “In some ways, our world can be pretty small,” Iva said. “Like with Dee and Paolo.”

  “What can I say? We were young and got married when we shouldn’t have,” Dee shrugged it off. “That doesn’t mean we have to remain enemies forever.” She looked pointedly at her husband.

  Megan remained silent and let them work it out between them.

  “It doesn’t mean we have to have dinner with them either,” Iva said.

  “It doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t either,” Dee said. “We do it with other couples at tournaments all the time. Why should we avoid them?”

  “I can see we aren’t going to agree with this.” Iva let out a sigh then narrowed his eyes at Megan. “You aren’t going to write about this, are you?”

  ***

  Bella climbed the steps of the library and entered through the front doors. She paused at the entry, wondering which way she should go first. That was the trouble with libraries. Each one of the books called to her, wanting their fair share of her attention. She was more than willing to oblige them whenever she had the time to spare. Mentally flipping a coin, she decided to go to the history section when she saw a familiar form bent over a book at a table.

  Maya had several pages scattered around the table and was chewing on a pencil. Even from across the room, Bella realized that she was struggling with her homework. She wondered what she should do. She didn’t want to bother Maya, but it was obvious the girl was struggling. Finally, she decided to simply offer her help. If Maya didn’t want it, she’d tell her.

  Maya looked up from her work when Bella stopped at her table. It looked like Maya was ready to cry. Bella sat down next to her.

  “Maybe I can help?” Bella said with a tentative smile. Not everyone at the high school was happy to share their classroom with someone younger than they are. At least with Maya, the age difference was only a year.

  Maya looked hopeful. “My dad dropped me off after my game today. He said I can’t play at the tournament tomorrow unless I get this work done. I’m going to flunk out of school if I don’t turn it in by the end of the week.”

  Bella looked at the pages on the table. It was already Wednesday. It was going to take a lot of work to get Maya caught up with the class by Friday.

  “Well, we’d better get busy then,” Bella said.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Megan was on her way back to her car to leave for the day when she saw a familiar face. She’d run into him several times during the week. Avery was one of the media people there to cover the tournament.

  “Do you have a minute?” she asked.

  Avery glanced toward the restaurant but stopped. “Sure.”

  “You seem like you know everyone here,” Megan said. “I was wondering if you knew Jay Kerns also?”

  “Sure. I’ve been to more golf games that I can remember. I know just about everyone who plays or is involved in the game,” he said.

  “Did you see him the night he died?” Megan looked toward the restaurant. “I know a lot of people from the tournament were at the restaurant that night.”

  “Yeah, I was one of the many. I didn’t stay very late. I talked to Jay for a couple of minutes, but it wasn’t about anything in particular. It was about golf and the tournament.” Avery lowered his voice. “To be honest, the guy had too much to drink. He was mostly repeating himself.”

  Megan wasn’t surprised.

  “I told the police all of this,” Avery added. “I’m sure they’ll have it solved soon. You shouldn’t worry about walking to your car at this time of the day. There are a lot of people around.”

  ***

  “Okay. Let’s run it again.” Erica was as tired as she knew she looked.

  Jerry wiped his hand across his face as he gathered his thoughts. “The victim was last seen in the bar in the restaurant of the golf course. He was there from approximately four in the afternoon until around nine.”

  “Several people witnessed him leaving. He stumbled from the room, bumping into several people as he left,” Erica added.

  “A few others left around the same time that the victim did,” Jerry said. “The day shift restaurant manager, Pat. The announcers, Van Haskins and Phoebe Gaines.”

  “Then there’s Wes Lowry, the golf instructor. He exited out the side entrance,” Erica said.

  “No one reports seeing Jay from the time he left until he was found the next morning by staff.” Jerry looked at the murder board out of habit. He already had it memorized.

  “The camera on the front of the restaurant shows him walking away from the building.” Erica walked over and pointed at the note indicating that on the board.

  “We’ve spoken to everyone he interacted with. We know he had an altercation with both the golf instructor, Wes Lowry, and Wes’s partner in the tournament, Maya Lin. The assistant manager claims that Wes and Jay made up by the end of the discussion.”

  Erica stood back from the board and crossed her arms. “We know that Maya Lin didn’t have access to the golf course during the window of time in question.”

  “She also claims that there wasn’t an actual argument. He was apologizing to her as he’d told Wes Lowry in front of witnesses that he would.”

  “She chose not to make it an easy apology,” Erica added.

  “You look impressed.”

  “She stood up for herself. I still don’t understand what the guy was so upset about. You would think he’d be happy to have a young phenom to help draw interest and pull in viewers.” Erica looked back at the board. “Maybe that’s what we need to look at. Why did the guy ride her so much? Maybe there was something in his past?”

  “Maybe. From everything Megan is telling us, it sounds like a soap opera out there. There are those who are trying to hook up with each other.”

  “We’d need a bigger murder board to map all of that out,” Erica said. “Some of the players used to be married to other players who are now married to someone else and they’re all competing against each other.”

  Jerry picked up his notes. “Iva and Dee Kaptur. Iva is a doctor in private practice. His wife is the nurse in the same practice. She used to be married to Paolo Russo, a dentist.”

  “I agree with Megan. I’m not sure any of it has any relevance to the case.” Erica pressed her fingers into her eyes.

  “That’s just it. Nothing we’ve found so far seems to have a lot of relevance to the case,” Jerry pointed out.

  “Yeah.” It came out on a sigh. “Megan said the same thing. We’re looking in the wrong direction.”

  ***

  “Enjoy your dinner,” Pat said after seating another group.

  She quickly returned to the front station and found Emily studying the seating chart.

  “Hey, you ready to call it a day?” Emily asked.

  “That was a long time ago,” Pat joked as she glanced across the restaurant. “One of the things that has worked in our favor this week was the players knowing each other.”

  “Most of them have been very good about sharing tables,” Emily agreed. “Well, I have this. You have a good night.”

  “I’ll walk you out.”

  Pat turned toward the voice. “You don’t have to do that.”

  Van smiled. “Safety in numbers.”

  “I tend to agree
with him,” Emily said.

  “I’m going that way anyway,” Van said. “I still need to change for dinner.”

  “Okay.” She couldn’t think of any reason to tell him no. Since Jay’s death, she didn’t feel comfortable walking around alone anyway. “I’ll grab my purse and be right back.”

  He was still waiting for her when she returned. He raised his hand, motioning for her to lead the way. She gave Emily one last look before heading for the door.

  “How did things go for you today?” Van asked as he opened the door for her.

  “Busy, but in a good way. You?” She passed through the door and walked slowly beside him.

  There were several other people walking around the grounds within view. She really shouldn’t feel uncomfortable going from the restaurant to her car, but she did. Knowing that someone had been murdered there, especially someone she had known, was troubling.

  “The week is flying by, that’s for sure. It’s already half over now,” he said.

  “You still have tonight,” she pointed out.

  “But you’re already leaving,” he said.

  She didn’t know how to respond to that.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow,” she finally said as she reached her car.

  A police cruiser pulled into the large parking lot and drove slowly around.

  “It’s good that they’re doing that,” he said.

  “Have you heard anything?”

  “About Jay’s death? No. You?”

  She shook her head. “It scares me. I didn’t know him well, but I did know him.”

  “The police are working on it,” he reminded her.

  “I know.” She realized that she was keeping him there. She managed a smile. “I should let you go. Enjoy your evening.”

  “Drive safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He watched her pull away before he continued on his way to his room. He nodded to some of the players going in the other direction as he passed by them. He only heard a small part of the conversation but saw the irony in the situation. It would seem he wasn’t the only one moving at a snail’s pace.

  “You should just ask her out,” Rudy said to Dion.

  “It’s easy for you to say. You’re married already,” Dion said.

  “Yeah, because I asked her out,” Rudy said pointedly. “You need to man up. Just walk over to Jodie’s room, knock on the door, and ask her to dinner tonight.”

  “Where is your wife, by the way?” Dion asked.

  “She’s not feeling well and you’re prevaricating,” Rudy said. “I’m picking up food to bring it back to her.”

  Dion stopped walking. “Okay. You’re right. I want to ask her out. It’s just that we’re friends, you know? What if me asking her out ruins that?”

  “What if you’re friends because you two are good together?” Rudy asked. He threw his hands up. “You’re the only one who can make the decision.”

  Dion debated it as he watched Rudy walk away. It was a long debate. Finally, he turned around to walk back to Jodie’s bungalow. When he got closer, he stopped. He could see Jodie talking to Gil. He stood where he was and debated what to do next. Maybe they were talking business? They all worked for the media, after all. He heard Jodie begin to laugh. Gil joined her and rested his hand briefly on her arm. Dion turned around and walked away. He had no idea where he was going. He decided to walk toward the restaurant. Jodie would probably end up there anyway, right? He didn’t really need to ask her out. When he reached the restaurant, he stopped again.

  What was he doing? Rudy was right. He needed to man up. He would never know if there was more to their friendship if he didn’t take a chance. He turned and began walking back to the bungalows. He was halfway there when he heard a shout. He thought he recognized the voice but didn’t know why. Whoever it was, it sounded like something was really wrong.

  Dion switched course again and began walking toward the swimming pool. He heard a splash and more shouting. When he reached the pool, he saw someone floating face down. Someone else was swimming toward him. Dion didn’t think twice. He jumped into the pool and started swimming toward the deep end too. Together, he and Van pulled the man out. Dion helped Van turn the unconscious man over.

  “We need help over here!” Van shouted.

  “Here!” Paolo said. “Is he breathing?”

  “I don’t know,” Van said as he and Dion moved out of the way to let Paolo and Dee work on the unconscious man.

  Dion stared down at Gil and wondered how he had gotten from Jodie’s bungalow to the pool and why he was unconscious.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Megan knew as soon as she got out of her car at the golf course in the morning that something had happened. There were police cars in the parking lot. Instead of patrolling the lot and leaving, these cars were parked. She knew that the staff at any business would be the ones to ask. She first considered Pat at the restaurant, then changed her mind. Dena was the one who moved around and was invisible to some by her own account. She found a cleaning cart parked in front of one of the bungalows. She waited until Dena stepped outside.

  “Oh! You scared me.” Dena’s hand flew to her heart.

  “I’m sorry. I was wondering if you knew what was going on?”

  “Not really. I know that there was some sort of accident around dinner time yesterday.” Dena began moving the cart down to the next bungalow.

  “What kind of accident?”

  “That’s the thing. A man was pulled out of the swimming pool.” Dena looked around and lowered her voice. “He said he was pushed in.”

  “Who was it?”

  “They said he was one of the media people. His name is Gil something.” Dena knocked to announce herself on the next bungalow and called out.

  This time, there was an answer. The woman answering the door looked tired.

  “I can come back,” Dena said.

  “No, that’s alright. Go ahead. I’ll stay out of your way.” The brunette stepped out of the bungalow and smiled at Megan as Dena carried some of her supplies inside.

  “I hear there was some excitement here last night?” Megan said. She made it sound like a question.

  “I’ll say. My husband was in the middle of it.”

  Dena stepped out and took the vacuum from the cart.

  “I’m Megan. I work with the mayor’s office to update their web pages.”

  “I’m Lacey.”

  “Lacey Corbett? Your husband’s name is Rudy?”

  “That’s right. How did you know?”

  “I created some web pages with information about the players in the tournament this week.” Megan watched as Lacey’s hands went down to her stomach. “You weren’t with your husband when he found Gil?”

  “No. I wasn’t feeling well. He was going to the restaurant to pick something up for dinner.”

  “I know that it isn’t fun but it passes. It just seems like forever at the time.” Megan laughed and her hand dropped to her stomach.

  Lacey’s eyes followed Megan’s hand then she looked down at her own.

  “Oh!” She raised surprised eyes to Megan. “I’m an idiot.”

  “I just thought I wasn’t feeling well,” Megan said. “I didn’t make the connection either.”

  “I’m a doctor. I’m supposed to know things like this.”

  Megan thought she still looked a little stunned but she seemed to have a little more color in her face.

  “Promise you won’t say anything,” Lacey said.

  “I promise. Can I ask you some questions?” Megan could hear Dena running the vacuum inside.

  “About the tournament?” Lacey asked.

  Megan made a face. “I’m more interested in what happened with Gil yesterday. I understand your husband was involved?”

  “He and Dion Pritchard jumped into the pool and pulled Gil out. Good thing too. The man was face down and floating. He would have drowned.”

  “Did you treat Gil?” Megan asked.

  “I checked him until
the ambulance arrived. I wasn’t there when they first pulled him out.”

  “Who was?”

  “Fortunately for him, two people in the medical field, among others. Dee Kaptur is a nurse. The other guy, Paolo Russo, is a dentist but he knew enough to help Dee. They had him breathing by the time I got there.” Lacey narrowed her eyes at Megan. “Why are you asking?”

  “Like I said. I work with the mayor’s office.” Megan figured it was technically correct. “Did Gil give any indication of how he got into the pool?”

  Lacey hesitated. The vacuum in the bungalow shut off.

  “I understand he mentioned being pushed. Did you see anything to indicate that?” Megan asked.

  “He had a fairly nasty bump on the back of his head. I can’t imagine how it got there.”

  “Do you think the hospital will keep him long?” Megan asked.

  “I would keep him overnight for observation. I’m sure he’ll be released this morning.”

  “Did you know him before this happened?” Megan asked.

  “I’ve seen him around, sure. I definitely know of him. Anyone in golf does. He’s pretty well known. I’m sure that’s because he’s up on technology, you know what I mean?”

  “He’s also online?” Megan guessed.

  “Yes. He really caters to a tech-savvy audience. He has podcasts and does social media. All of that.”

  “It’s what people are into,” Megan agreed.

  “Know your audience.” Lacey turned as Dena emerged to swap supplies before returning inside. “I think I’ll sit inside. She’s probably working in the bathroom now so I won’t be in her way.”

  “Yes, I understand. Congratulations,” Megan said.

  Lacey laughed. “It hasn’t sunk in yet.”

  Megan knew that Dion Pritchard was one of the media people. She doubted he would still be in his room. He’d need to keep current on the events. She also knew there was a tent setup for the television crew and media people. It was where Lauren brought her baked goods every morning. It seemed like a good place to start looking but she wasn’t positive what he looked like. She searched for him on her phone and got a lot of hits, several with photos. Half way to the media tent, she ran into him coming from the other direction.