by J.R. Bowles
Chapter 8
“Is there any change?” Sarah asked.
“No, nothing yet that I can see.” Elva laid another cold wash cloth on Nicholas’ forehead. She had used the camp stove to heat enough water to clean Nicholas and Mr. Smythe.
They had made warm honey tea for Mr. Smythe’s throat. Tamika and Patrick were busy checking him over for cuts and bruises.
They had found a large bump on the back of Nicholas’ head and applied cold compresses to that.
Willie turned to the sisters and asked, “Would you make Mr. Smythe some soup ― maybe soup broth?
“We will,” Elva agreed and they both left the room.
Elva opened a can of chicken noodle soup, poured it in a pan while Sarah lit the stove again.
It was the first time since they had found Mr. Smythe that they had been alone and Sarah was the first to state her worries.
“What happened, Elva? I don’t understand. I’m worried what Mr. Smythe might say when he gets his voice. We did bury him. Can you go to jail for burying dead bodies?”
“I don’t know. We will just have to wait and see what he does say. We found him in the closet. We thought he was dead but he wasn’t. We buried him in the basement.” She sighed and stirred the soup. “Somehow he got out of the garment bag.”
“But what caused him to seem like he was dead?” Sarah asked.
“Willie seems to think it was the white wine. I’m afraid it was Nicholas. I haven’t wanted to talk to you about it ― I didn’t want you to worry and you do worry on so.”
“I know I do. I try to not worry but I just can’t seem to help myself. Nicholas crossed my mind too. The way he likes to cut up dead things is scary sometimes.”
“Well Sarah, I guess we will just have to see. Maybe Mr. Smythe won’t recover his voice.” She said hopefully.
“He can still write.”
“Oops,” Elva giggled. “Soup’s done.” They placed the soup in a bowl on a tray with some crackers and headed back into the parlor.
Mr. Smythe smiled at the ladies and both ladies smiled back at him with relief.
“Oh ― uh, ouch, my head is killing me.” Nicholas groaned and his hand immediately went to his forehead.
Everyone rushed over to him with concern.
“What?” He said. “My head is killing me. Don’t stare at me. What’s the matter?”
“We thought you were dead.” Elva answered when nobody offered him any information.
“Dead? Seriously, that’s wicked.” Then he groaned again when he tried to sit up.
“Take it easy. We can’t get emergency rescue here.” Elva recommended.
“Do you feel like talking?” Willie asked.
“Sure, can I have something to drink first?”
“I’ll get it.” Sarah said. “What would you like?”
“How about I go get a cola from the fridge?” He suggested.
“You need to rest.” Sarah said.
“I need to stretch and go pee.” He said reluctantly.
“Very well, but I’m going with you. Elva and I will wait outside the bathroom until you’re finished. We’re not letting you out of our sight for a while.”
They stood beside him and offered out their hands. Nicholas smiled and grabbed each their hands with his and stood up.
They followed him to the bathroom and when he was finished they all went to the kitchen.
“How about a donut too,” he suggested.
“That would be fine.” Elva got a box of donuts sat them on the counter.
Nicholas popped the soda can and took a big gulp and asked, “Are you two okay?”
“Us? We’ve been worried about you.” Elva answered. “Where have you been and what have you been doing?”
“Most of it I can’t remember. But when I saw Mr. Smythe it scared me. He was the one banging on the door earlier when I went to answer it.”
“You thought he was a zombie too?” Elva’s eyes got big as she spoke.
“No, well maybe a little, but I was afraid he would get you two in trouble.” He took another sip and rubbed his nose of the carbonated bubble splash tickle.
“Why would you say that?” Sarah leaned forward worriedly.
“Well I know about the men in the basement floor. I don’t know why you killed them but I wanted to help protect you.”
“Oh darling, that’s so sweet.” Elva said as she gave him a big hug which he tried to shrug away from. “But dear, we didn’t kill them. We thought you did.”
“Me?” His boyish voice cracked a slight octave. “I didn’t do it.”
“Well, you do like to kill those animals and stuff them.” Sarah responded.
“I don’t kill them. I just take out their insides and stuff them with Styrofoam. They are dead when I bring them in.” He ran his hand from forehead backward across his hair. “Well if you didn’t and I didn’t then who did?”
Sarah looked and Elva and then back to him. “That’s a good question. After the deputy died Willie seemed to think it was something in the wine.”
“Oh my god… that explains a lot. I took a sip of the wine the Deputy left.” He looked down sheepish.
“Now Nicholas….” Elva began but decided it wasn’t the time or the place to talk about it and then said, “Never mind.”
“I feel better now knowing you didn’t do it.” He said.
“We do too,” Sarah answered back.
“There were four, right?” He asked.
“Yes, only four. When they died here we didn’t know what to do other than bury them.”
“Only?” He laughed.
“But what are we going to do? The deputy’s body is still missing and that will bring in lots of police and they will tear this place apart.” Sarah lamented. “They will find the other three.”
“You don’t have to worry about it. I got rid of the bodies.”
“What? How did you do that? What did you do with them?” Elva bombarded him with the questions.
“Don’t sweat it. That’s probably what happened to Mr. Smythe too. Remember when the construction workers put up the tube chute to dump the junk out of the attic? Their company went bankrupt and they left the chute ― I’ve been using the chute to get rid of the bodies.”
“The bodies were in the cellar and….” Elva began.
“I know. I dug each one up and I put them on the dumbwaiter and cranked it up to the attic. That’s where I embalmed them.”
“How on earth did you learn something like that?”
“The internet, everything is on the web. What I did was one by one took them up, embalmed them, slid them down the chute, and drove them to the old cemetery back in the woods. I opened a crypt and put them in. They are there now.”
“How did you get them to the cemetery?” Elva asked.
“I put them in the trailer attached to the ride mower. It was easy.” He explained.
“Well my, my, that is incredible. I always knew you were one very smart cookie and I’m just so glad you weren’t killing them. I still wonder what happened to them. So what happened with Mr. Smythe?” Elva praised and questioned.
“I can only speculate I took him up and left him on the table in the attic. I was getting ready to embalm him. I learned how to bleed them and everything. That’s when I came down earlier. He must have woken up on the table. It was dark and he probably fell and slid down the chute ― ended up in the mud and staggered around to the front door.”
“We found you in the attic. How did you get there?”
“Well when he startled me at the front door I jumped back tripped and hit my head. I manage to stagger over to the dumbwaiter and hand cranked it up to the attic. That’s where I passed out and then with whatever was in the wine I was out of it.”
“That’s how you got trapped in a locked room.” Elva shook her head in amazement.
Both ladies threw their ar
ms around him and started showering him with kisses against his protests.
“At first we thought you were dead. Then we saw the knife with peanut butter on it and we figured you were alive.” Elva said somewhat perplexed. “But you were still unconscious. I don’t understand. You hadn’t eaten the peanut butter then.”
“I sneaked some peanut butter when you ran me out during the ED talk.” He said sheepishly, “I guess I didn’t clean the knife very good.”
“Sarah, you were wrong. That knife had been there before he died.” Elva accused.
“So he was still dead when we thought he was alive.” Sarah said vaguely.
“Sarah dear, don’t over think it. He was alive then and he’s alive now.” Elva pointed out.
“I guess I’m getting as forgetful and confused as you are Elva.” Sarah said and they all laughed.
“Well it’s good to see you all so happy.” Willie said as he entered the kitchen. “I came to get Mr. Smythe a little more tea with honey.”
“Here you go Willie I’ll pour it.” Sarah hurried over to him and leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.
Willie grinned and said, “You take your time. I’ll ask questions when you make it back in.” Willie left with the tea.
“Let’s go back and get this over with.” Nicholas said grabbing up his soda he headed to the door. Elva and Sarah fell in behind Nicholas. In the parlor Nicholas sat on a loveseat and the ladies sat next to him one on each side.
“Nicholas, do you feel up to trying to answer some questions?” Willie sat down across from them.
“Sure, I’ll try.”
“When you went to answer the door, what happened?”
“I opened the door and Mr. Smythe was there. I didn’t recognize him. He was naked and muddy… he scared me. When I jumped back I tripped and hit my head. I almost broke the oil lamp when I fell. I left the lamp on the floor and I ran. I hid in the dumbwaiter and pulled myself up to the attic. I crawled out and that’s the last I remember until I woke up on the couch there.”
“What’s a dumbwaiter?” Karalina asked.
“It’s like a small elevator. Lots of the large older homes have them and hotels. It was used to take food up and down.” Willie answered her.
“Some were electric but ours isn’t.” Elva added.
“That answers that,” Willie said more for his own benefit. “That’s how you got into the locked part of the attic. But where did the lock come from?”
“I put it on there to keep my aunts from snooping in some of my private stuff.” Nicholas said. “You know boy stuff.”
Willie grinned and nodded understanding. “Now it’s just up to you Mr. Smythe. Do you think you can talk yet?”
Mr. Smythe set his glass of tea down and cleared his voice. “I’ll try,” he answered, his voice thick dry and gravely.
“Tell me what you remember?” Willie turned and everyone watched Mr. Smythe.
“Not much. I remember fainting, I must have been in the shower or sleepwalking. When I woke up it was dark. I was cold and naked. I couldn’t see. I fell and passed out again. When I woke up I was in the mud outside. The lightning let me see how to get to the front door. I pounded on the door and the boy opened it. Like he said he fell then got up and ran. I grabbed the lamp and went to Agnes’ house and borrowed some of her husband’s clothes.” Mr. Smythe took a big drink of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Where were you when you fainted?” Willie asked, “And where were you the past several days.”
“I honestly don’t remember where I was when I fainted. This house is so big I might have been showering or something. I woke up naked so that’s odd. But to tell the truth I just don’t know. It’s easy to get lost in this house.” Mr. Smythe explained.
“How did you get in Agnes’ house?” Tamika asked. “The door was locked.”
“Agnes showed me where she kept an extra key.” He answered.
Everyone looked at Agnes. “Well, well, the Hilltop ho strikes again.” Elva interjected.
“Shut-up Elva, you said Jonathan’s company called him back.” Agnes said accusingly trying to refocus the attention away from her.
“I didn’t know what to say.” Elva said causally. “He just disappeared. I figured that must have been why he took off with some of his things still here. By the by, Mr. Smythe your suitcases are in the attic. And Agnes, he said he woke up naked. I think that must have been your department.”
Willie interrupted the squabble and asked, “How did Nicholas there, the boy, how did he get over to Agnes’ house?”
“After I found clothes I came back. I looked around and that’s when I heard gunshots. I saw the boy sleeping on the couch; and picked him up and took him across the street.”
Willie looked at him doubtfully. “I thought your other arm is hurt?”
“That’s how I hurt it ― carrying the boy. He was over my shoulder on this side and I carried the lamp with the other.”
“Why did you run when Karalina screamed?” Willie asked.
“She scared the hell out of me. I can’t remember ever hearing a woman bellow like that before.” He said as he looked at her.
Everybody laughed and she chuckled along while blushing.
“Did you see any signs of the body of a female police officer?”
“No.” He answered.
“Well, that only leaves a few questions. The biggest question is ― where is the Deputy’s body and what caused the coma like states.”
“Elva do you have any more of that white wine?” Willie asked.
“I’m sure we do but it’s in the wine cellar and the basement is still flooded.” Elva answered.
“I guess it will be okay there until the power comes on. I don’t feel up to wading through water tonight.”
Sarah scratched her head. “Elva, remember the ‘hide and go seek-me-not’?”
“Oh yes. I forgot all about that. It’s a hidden passageway down to the wine cellar that was built during the prohibition days. Father said he helped his pappy build it. We were supposed to use it if he ever gave us that secret phrase.”
“And it goes into the wine cellar?” Willie asked.
“Yeah, it’s in the back of the front closet.”
“Back of the front closet… where we put the Deputy’s body? Why didn’t you say something earlier?” He jumped up grabbed the flashlight and headed toward the door.
“I forgot.” Elva grabbed a lamp and fell in behind him along with Sarah, Tamika and Patrick.
When they got there he was examining the closet. “How do you open the panel?”
Sarah looked at Elva. “I don’t remember.”
Elva eased past Willie reached up and twisted a coat hook in the back and whoosh ― the panel turned.
There on the other side stood the Deputy. Her eyes were wide with relief rapidly replacing fear.
“Are you okay?” Willie asked in disbelief.
“How long have you been awake?” Willie asked as he helped her out of the closet.
“Not too long.” She said holding her head.
“Why didn’t you try your cellphone?”
“I couldn’t find it.” She said.
“We thought you were dead.” Willie said in disbelief.
She nodded, “So did I.”
Chapter 9
The sun was bright, the day was calm and all was once again right with the world of Elva and Sarah. Willie parked in front of the huge house walked up and rang the doorbell.
“Ding dong.” He grinned as he wondered if Elva said her usual. He tucked the brown envelope under his arm and eyed the construction workers busy fixing the corner of the porch. Someone had already cleaned up the broken limbs and debris. The mud was gone and everything sparkled. He knew Sarah had been busy.
Sarah opened the door and broke into a huge smile. She glanced around for a second to
see who was within ear sound and said, “Hello Willie. Please come in.”
“Hi Sarah, I can only stay a few minutes there’s still a lot to be done in town.”
“Have you got time for tea?” She asked.
“That would be fine.”
When they arrived in the parlor Elva was the only one there and she was busy knitting.
“Hello Willie.” Elva greeted him with a smile, “How’s tricks?”
“Hi Elva, I just wanted to bring by the tests from the white wine.” He laid the brown envelope on the table. “I don’t know how many bottles you have but it’s bad. It has a saxitoxin in it. That’s a powerful neurotoxin found in bivalve mollusks, including mussels, clams, and scallops. Somehow it got into the wine making process. The company that made it said if you send them an invoice they will refund you along with a monetary stipend if you agree not to sue them.”
“Well isn’t that nice.” Elva smiled.
“I believe that will be true of everyone that drank from that batch of wine. I am sure they will be contacting Mr. Smythe.” Willie informed them.
“Here’s your tea,” Sarah said as she handed him a cup already mixed to his taste.
“Willie,” Elva began, “I still don’t understand how the Deputy was spinning around on the porch when Agnes took a pot shot at her. The Deputy disappeared a lot earlier in the evening. Remember Agnes had disappeared and then we discovered VD’s body gone.”
“VD, told me about that. She said she remembered waking up but she was groggy. She opened the French doors in the library leading to the porch. Her elbow hit the glass pane and broke it inward. She was on the porch spinning around in pain and passed out. She wasn’t sure how long she was out and when she woke up again. She tried to stand up and grabbed a vine to steady herself and that is when the gun fired. She said she must have passed back out again at that point. If you remember when we found her we thought she was dead. It was the rain and the toxin. She suffered from hypothermia.”
“Well I have to go.” He placed the cup on the table and stood up. The town is a mess. I’m going to be busy for a long while. Oh yeah, there were no terrorist bombs it was lightning. It is weird how people’s imagination runs away with them on nights like that. This is one we won’t forget.”
“Thank you Willie.” Elva said.
“Sarah, would you walk me out?”
“I will.” Sarah smiled as they left the room.
In the distance Elva heard Willie say, “Wednesday?” And then Sarah giggled.
Elva stood up from the rocking chair waited until her hip joined the rest of her body then walked over and picked up an electronic book reader on the table. She brought it up to her face and stared at it for a moment then spoke out loud.
“Well, that’s my tale. I hope you enjoyed it. Now ask yourself who is the addlepated one? Me or Sarah? Or is it Sarah or me? Oh, and if you come back to visit me I’ll introduce you to my six foot tall friend. His name is Harvey. He’s an odd chap. You’ll like Harvey. He’s a Chippendale dancer. Bye for now.”