Monsters and Lollipops

by Franklin D. Lincoln

Lew Drum was busy with a customer so he didn’t see them at first, when they came in.

  It was a sunny day for November and sunlight streamed in through the bank’s front window. Ben MacCready held the door politely open while Liz stepped through into the lobby. They could see Lew Drum in his office at the rear of the bank and kitty corner from the teller’s cages. There was a slim elderly woman sitting in the visitor’s chair in front of Drum’s desk. She had her long winter coat still buttoned tight around her and her round shoulders were hunched over the desk. Lew was pointing out something to her on a paper before them.

  The banker seemed to freeze in place for a moment as he caught a glimpse of the newcomers. He stared past his customer and watched The Police Chief and Liz approach.

  They were halfway to his office when Lew stood up from behind his desk, gathering up the papers. The woman stood up and the Banker ushered her quickly out of his office. Peeking into the next doorway, he said,” Marilyn. Will you take care of Mrs. Trask?” He ushered the woman into the office, putting the papers on Marilyn’s desk and motioning Mrs. Trask to sit down, without waiting for an acceptance from Marilyn.

  He turned and stepped back to his own doorway waiting for Ben and Liz. His usual ruddy complexion paled, but he forced a smile.” I take it, you’re here to see me,” Lew said trying to keep his voice calm. He could feel his knees shaking.” Good morning, Liz,” he acknowledged.

  “That’s right, Lew,” Ben said flatly.

  Lew stepped aside and motioned for them to step into his office. Liz glanced from Lew to MacCready and said,” If you don’t mind, Mac. I’d like to talk to Lew alone, first.”

  MacReady nodded and stepped back to allow Liz to enter the office.

  Lew Drum looked away from the police chief and kept his eyes down as he followed Liz into his office. Liz was already seating herself in the visitor’s chair when Lew swung the door shut behind them. Through the glass in the upper part of the door, he could see Ben MacCready seating himself in one of the waiting chairs in the hallway.

  “I told Ben yesterday that I didn’t realize that Jane Pruitt was the lady that died from your medication in the hospital,” he said as he moved around behind his desk and sat down. He was trying to control the quiver in his voice.

  “Yes,” Liz said.” He told me all about that.”

  “Is there something else, then?” He acted as if he wanted to know what was going on, but he feared deep down in his soul what might be coming and he really didn’t want to know.

  “We just thought you might want to know that Martin Callan was arrested last night.”

  “What on earth for?” Lew exclaimed, not having to feign surprise.

  “Seems he was involved in a money laundering scam with someone at the hospital. Last night, he tried to kill me. He was going to take advantage of the recent break ins and make it look like I was killed by an intruder.”

  “Just like Marlee? You mean he’s been staging these things, just to get at you. You mean he killed my Marlee just to get at you?”

  Lew relaxed a bit. Maybe it was all right after all.” But why? Why did he want to kill you? What possible reason could he have for it?” Then he said,” And are you saying he was behind that attempt on your life in the hospital too?”

  “No, Lew,” Liz said shaking her head.” I’m not.” She stared directly into Drum’s dark eyes. Drum stiffened, waiting. Liz continued.” Buffalo police have also arrested Natalie Taylor.” Drum’s chest sank and his head bowed. He could no longer look at Liz. His shoulders were shaking now, though it didn’t show through the thick fabric of his suit coat.

  “She’s admitted to putting poison in the bag to kill Jane Pruitt. The bags weren’t switched at all. She merely switched the name tags afterward to make it look like the bags had been switched. Need I say more, Lew?”

  He raised his head, placed his arms out in front of him on the desk and clasped his hands.” I was against it from the start. I told her…” He looked back down toward his hands and the desktop.” But how did they find out about her?”

  “I saw her here in town, Lew.”

  “I told her it was a mistake to come here, but she insisted that there was no one here, who could identify her. Oh, I knew you might possibly be able to, but you’re not usually about in town in the early morning or late at night.” He shook his head with despair.” The trouble with that woman is she would never listen to me. I told her that it wasn’t necessary to kill Jane, but I think she just wanted to get even with her anyhow. You see, I met Jane when I did some business with her husband some time back. We. . we had a relationship for awhile. Then I met Natalie when I was taking Marlee in for treatments. Things got a little out of hand between us and eventually I broke things off with Jane. She was angry with me and threatened to tell Marlee about Natalie. She even went so far as to send her an anonymous note.”

  “Marlee showed it to me, Lew. She had faith in you and didn’t really believe there was anything to it. She thought it was just a cruel prank. At least that’s what she wanted to think.” Then she added in a subdued voice,” So did I, Lew. So did I.”

  The banker jerked his head up, feeling the disappointment in Liz’s voice. Tears were starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He fought hard to keep his composure.” Believe me, Liz. I didn’t think Natalie would really do it.”

  “So why was Jane Pruitt getting the infusion anyways?” Liz asked.

  “She had been checking up on me. She wanted to get to Natalie so she arranged for the B12 treatment just so she could meet her.”

  “Sounds like she wasn’t a very stable woman, then?”

  Lew shook his head.” No. She was a very mean, vindictive woman.”

  “But at least, she didn’t kill anyone.”

  Drum sat back with a start.

  “Seems to me you haven’t been picking very nice women at all. That is, with the exception of Marlee. She was a nice lady.”

  “She was,” Lew said.” She didn’t deserve to have me cheating on her. It was tearing me apart what I was doing to her. I was going to break things off with Natalie and try to make things up to Marlee, but she was killed before I had a chance to.”

  Liz was silent for several moments. She stared at Lew Drum. Her face was placid and her eyes began to water also. She shook her head despairingly and said,” It’s no use, Lew. I know you killed Marlee yourself.”

  “Wh…what…what are you saying,” he stammered nervously.” That’s ridiculous. You know yourself that I didn’t do it. You were with me at the nursing home at the time. You know that better than anyone else.”

  “It was clever of you to use me for your alibi, Lew. But something has been bothering me since that night and I just recently remembered what it was.”

  Lew stared back at her, waiting for her to continue.

  “Remember when we got to the home, you had me zip up the back of your costume, because you couldn’t reach it.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “When I saw you later in the day room dancing around, the zipper was down.”

  “So what? It sometimes works its way down when I move.”

  “There was a clasp on the zipper. It should have kept it in place.”

  “I still don’t know how that means anything?” Lew scoffed.

  “It means that you took the costume off at some point and put it back on again.”

  A glint of understanding was registering in Drum’s watery eyes. His chin began to quiver.

  “I think,” Liz continued,” that you took off the suit, sneaked out of the home and went back to your house and killed Marlee.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Lew’s voice was rising to a higher pitch.” I was at the home all the time. Ask anyone there. They’ll tell you.”

  “Oh, they probably will say so. I’m sure they thought you were there. At least they saw Scooby Doo.”

  Drum said nothing. He now knew there was no p
oint in bluffing anymore. Liz continued.” That means that you had to have had an accomplice. Someone you could have let in from the back door. Someone who could have helped you unzip that costume. I believe your accomplice was Natalie Taylor and she switched places with you, while you, went home, did the deed, came back and changed back into the costume. The problem was, that your Natalie had already left the building before you could finish changing. So, you left the zipper unzipped. You probably didn’t even think it was important. Even if someone noticed, they probably wouldn’t see any significance to it.”

  Tears were streaming down the banker’s face now. He dabbed at them. Then buried his face in his hands and sobbed.

  After a moment, Liz said,” You did kill Marlee then, didn’t you Lew?”

  He nodded his head up and down, his face still covered by his hands.

  “Were you also involved in what Martin Callan was into?” Liz asked.

  Lew let his hands slip away from his face and placed them on the desk once more. He shook his head from side to side.” No. Not really. But I did know what he was up to. At least I was pretty sure of it. Martin knew I had been involved with both Jane Pruitt and Natalie. Then when Natalie did what she did, Martin suspected what had happened. He was furious with me. He was involved in a scheme with someone at the hospital and he was afraid that a murder investigation would bring attention to the hospital and might reveal what he’d been up to.”

  “And what had he been up to?” Liz quizzed.

  “You just told me when you came in, Liz. You said it was money laundering.”

  Liz waited for more.

  “Of course that’s what I thought anyhow. He had been slowly moving that money for years. First he sent Roger to college and medical school and then he bought that farm equipment dealership.”

  “What money was that?”

  Lew squirmed in his chair.” I don’t know if you remember it. There was an armored car robbery some years back.”

  “Yes. Joe worked that case off and on for several years. The robbers and the money were never found.”

  “Yes, it was,” Lew said.” I found it. Well found probably isn’t the word. I saw Martin Callan hide the money in the old quarry. I was out hunting with a couple of other fellows that night. I had gotten separated from them and saw the armored car drive out into that open field. The armored car driver and the guard were in on the job. They met a third person who double crossed them. He killed them both and kept all the money for himself. I followed him to the old quarry and got close enough to see who it was,”

  “Martin Callan,” Liz supplied.

  “Yes. He didn’t see me. He thought he had pulled it off without a hitch.”

  “Why didn’t you report it?”

  “After he left, I took a look at the stash. It was an awful lot of money. I…I took one of the bags. I didn’t think it would be missed.”

  “What did you do with it?” Liz asked.

  “Nothing at first. I was afraid to. I kept going back to the quarry and checking on it. It hadn’t been touched, so I figured Martin was letting it cool off. The third time I checked on the money, I took some more. That’s what I used to start this bank. I never knew if Martin had ever realized that any of the money was missing.”

  “He must have,” Liz said almost to herself.” He seemed to think that I had some of it. Last night, he demanded it from me.” Then it occurred to her.” My God, he must have been the one who hurt Joe.”

  “I always suspected that he did. Joe must have found out about the quarry somehow. Maybe he even followed Martin. I don’t know.”

  “And you never told anyone?” Bitterness crept into Liz’s voice.

  “No. I’m sorry, Liz.”

  Liz only glared at him. No he wasn’t sorry she thought. At least not sorry enough. To think that she had considered this man to be a friend, when all the time, he let Joe’s attacker run free. Just for his own selfish reasons.

  “Do you know if Roger Callan was in on it too?”

  “I don’t think so. At least I never had an inkling that he did.”

  “Tell me, Lew,” Liz asked.” Did you do the breakins?”

  Lew nodded. Then after a moment, he said,” But I never meant to hurt you, I just wanted to make it all seem real.”

  “One more thing, I want to know, Lew.” Her voice was cold and demanding this time. Gone was the sorrow she had felt for the man when she first came into his office.” Why? Why? Did you have to kill Marlee?”

  Drum felt the iciness of Liz’s stare. He looked straight into her face and his lips quivered.” I took care of that woman for years,” he said.” She had one ailment after another. I took her to doctors. I cooked for her, I cleaned the house. I waited on her hand and foot. I cleaned up after her. Especially after that infernal bag she had to wear. It would leak and the smell and the mess were disgusting. It seemed like she was never going to get better. I was never going to be free to have a life. Then there was Natalie and after what she was willing to do for me, I knew I had to end it with Marlee. She wasn’t having any quality of life anyways. I deserved a life too.” His voice was becoming loud and shrill as if trying to make himself hear and understand. Then he lowered his voice and leaned across the desk, peering up into Liz’s impassive face.” You just don’t know what it’s like to have to take care of someone like that day after day.”

  “No. I don’t suppose I do,” Liz said coldly. Then almost to herself she said in a low sad tone,” I guess I should ask Deb.”

  “Ask Deb? I don’t think I understand.”

  “No Lew, I don’t think you do.”

  “Well. What do you think, Liz?” Deb asked.

  “About what?” Liz was sitting in her chair and stroking Sissy Boom Boom.

  “Haven’t you been listening to a word I said?” Deb came back with annoyance.

  “Of course. Every word.” Liz was tired. She had not taken a nap all day. She kept thinking about Lew Drum, Marlee, Martin Callan and Joe and couldn’t settle herself down enough to be able to sleep. Mac had told her that Blakeney had been arrested and had been willing to talk. He had followed Shirley Robbins from the hospital and had hidden in her car, but he did not kill her. He had called Martin Callan and he had met them on the old quarry road. Callan had disposed of the girl.

  Roger Callan had not been involved in his father’s schemes and was devastated. Liz felt sorry for him and wondered if they could ever have a relationship again. She really hoped so.

  “So. Then what do you think?” Deb pursued.

  “About what?” Liz asked again.

  “I knew you weren’t listening,” Deb pouted.” You never listen to me.” Then she added,” But you will. Everybody in town is going to listen to me after I’m elected.”

  “Elected? What on earth are you talking about?”

  “See? You weren’t listening. I knew you weren’t”

  “For heaven’s sake, Deb what is this all about?”

  “I’m gonna run for town council. With Lew Drum and Martin Callan cooling their heels in the calaboose, there’s two openings on the council. I figure I can snag at least one of them.”

  Liz laughed.” You going to fill two chairs at once? You keep eating ice cream like you do and maybe you can.”

  “Ha. Ha.” Deb chided.” Don’t you go making fun of me. I know I can’t get two places on the council. I’m smarter than that.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “And don’t go making cracks about me getting fat neither.”

  Liz just laughed.

  “Go ahead and laugh,” Deb said.” You’ll be laughing out the other side of your face when I’m on the council.”

  “You on the council?” Liz said.” That’s ridiculous.”

  “Mac don’t think it’s so ridiculous.”

  “So, now it’s Mac with you too, is it? I take it you’ve changed your mind about our chief of police.”

  “Aw, I always thought
he was a pretty good man. It was just that Sadie broad that was leading him astray. But I’ve straightened him out on that.”

  “Oh, you have, have you?”

  “Darned right I have. And if he ever strays away from his wife again, you can be sure, it will be for me.”

  “Did he tell you that?”

  “Not in so many words, but I can tell what a man thinks.”

  “So, Mac is encouraging you to run for council.”

  “He said with me on the town council, this town would never be the same again.”

  Liz nodded and smiled.” I can agree with that.”

  “Good I’m glad you see things my way. Now I’d better get busy on my campaign. She exited the living room and headed down the hall for her own room.

  Liz reached for the candy dish on the coffee table and picked out a lollipop. She unwrapped it. Lemon. That figures, she thought. She put it in her mouth and stroked Sissy Boom Boom, sayingto herself,” Then I guess the whole town better buckle their seat belts. Looks like it’s going to be another bumpy ride.”