by Steve Laracy
Off the sides and back of the room were little alcoves with tables and chairs, where people could read with some privacy. I found Sam in one of these alcoves, looking over some documents on the table. To the side were two boxes of microfilm.
“How’s the research coming?” I asked, startling Sam, who was deep in thought.
“Hi, Milo, what are you doing here?” she blurted.
“I came in to do a little research myself,” I said. “How’s your research coming?” I picked up the boxes of microfilm and saw they included film of the issues of Look and TV Guide from December 1954. “Still working on the magazine caper, I see.”
“Yup, I thought if I looked at both, I might find some sort of connection.”
“Good thinking. Any luck?”
“Well, I looked at all the articles and the only thing I could find was this.” She picked up the papers on the desk, which were printouts of several pages of the magazines in black and white on glossy paper.
“Here, this picture was on the last page of the December 14, 1954 issue of Look.”
The picture was titled “Derby Dolls” at the top and showed three women roller derby stars standing side by side, facing the camera with a roller derby arena in the background. All three were wearing the uniforms of their respective teams. The caption below read, “Three of roller derby’s biggest stars in a rare moment of friendship. From left to right, Midge “Toughie” Brasuhn, Gerry Murray, and Penny Dreadful.”
“Interesting, but what’s the connection?” I asked.
“Here’s an article from the TV Guide dated a week later,” said Sam. “I couldn’t print out the whole article because I ran out of nickels.”
“Remind me to reimburse you for expenses,” I said as I looked at the article. This one was titled “Roller Derby Rules the Airways” and concerned the ratings popularity of roller derby on television. It also profiled several of the star players with pictures of each.
“Interesting, but other than roller derby, what’s the connection?” I asked.
“Well, the article mentions the three women in the Look picture. That’s a connection, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but how would it fit in? I doubt if any of our three suspects were too interested in the roller derby.”
“Take a look at the picture again.” Sam pulled the Look page from my hand and pointed at the third woman, the one named Penny Dreadful. “Doesn’t that resemble Mrs. Cavendish? And she’s old enough to be the right age.”
“I guess it sort of resembles her,” I said, unconvinced. “But what’s your point?”
“Maybe Mrs. C was a roller derby star in the old days. She was looking through the magazines in Doc’s waiting room and came across her pictures. She was worried that someone might see her picture and recognize her, and she would be embarrassed that she was in the roller derby, so she took the magazines.”
“Interesting theory,” I said. “But number one, we don’t know that the woman in the pictures is Mrs. C. Number two, why would she be embarrassed? And number three, based on my experience, we’d have a hard time getting a search warrant for Mrs. C’s place based on this evidence. So even if she has the magazines, there’s no way to find them.”
“I’ll think of something,” Sam said.
I was beginning to think she might.
> CHAPTER 21
ANNIE WEBSTER
Annie Webster lived in a trailer park outside of town. Leaving Bell City and continuing on Main Street in the opposite direction from which I entered, I traveled about five miles, passing an occasional small house but not much else until arriving at the Shady Acres Trailer Park. If you think this sounds more like a cemetery than a trailer park, the Shady Acres Cemetery was right across the street.
I turned left and located Annie’s double-wide at the back of the park. I knocked on the door and Annie answered within a minute. She was holding a small child and was followed by a shaggy white dog of medium size.
Annie opened the door and talked to me through the screen.
“Can I help you?” she asked uncertainly, the way you do when a stranger shows up at your door. You don’t want to help this person you don’t know, and you have no reason to, but you can’t think of anything better to say.
“My name is Milo Forbes. I’m the new sheriff in Cordoba,” I said. “How are you holding up?”
“All right, I guess,” she said, but the dark circles and numb look in her eyes said otherwise. “Come on in.”
She held the screen door and I followed her into the trailer. She turned and looked at me with some suspicion, and the baby and dog both stared at me with the same wary look.
“I saw you at the fair yesterday. I didn’t know Cordoba had a sheriff,” she said but she didn’t ask for identification.
“I started yesterday. I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“You picked a hell of a day to start,” Annie said, half laughing and half crying. “Care for a cup of coffee?”
“If it’s no trouble.”
“I’ve got some brewing. I’ll be right back.”
Annie put the baby in the playpen and headed for the kitchen. She was a slight, pretty girl with short blond hair, darker at the roots. I guessed she was in her mid-twenties, though her weary appearance made her look older. I got the feeling that the numbness of her expression was not wholly caused by Billy’s death but also from trying to survive in a harsh climate in a small town with few prospects.
The trailer was furnished cheaply, but the place was neat and clean. I took a seat at a small dining room table. The baby and the dog were still staring at me when Annie returned with the coffee.
“Milk or sugar?” she asked as she placed the mug in front of me.
“No thanks. Black is fine.”
Before I could say anything, Annie said, “If you’re here about Billy, I don’t know how much I can help you. You saw as much as I did.”
“Just tell me a little bit about Billy.”
“Not much to tell. We both grew up in Chiquita. Got married after high school and moved to Bell City. Billy’s had odd jobs to make a living. He worked at Harry’s garage a little and over at the airport. I work as a waitress and we pretty much just manage—managed—to make ends meet.” She broke down again.
“Had he been jumping long?”
“He’s done it for years. Ever since we were in high school, he’s always wanted to fly. Sort of captivated with the sky. I guess maybe that was my problem. Everyone I was involved with was more interested in the sky than staying grounded.”
“Jim Turner too?”
She gave me an ironic look.
“Jim Turner too. Gossip travels fast in a small town,” she said. “Jim and I were dating, and Billy and Jim were best friends. You’ve heard the story before. Star high school quarterback and running back, head cheerleader. That was Jim, Billy, and me. Jim went off to be a pilot. I told him I’d wait for him. You can imagine the rest of the story. I grew tired of waiting, and Billy had always had a crush on me.
“By the time Jim got out of the Air Force, Billy and I were married. There were the expected confrontation and angry words, but mostly Jim was just hurt. He never talked to either of us again unless he had to, and he avoided us whenever possible.
“After a while, it got so uncomfortable that Billy and I moved here to get away from Jim. I was caught in the middle. Jim hated me for marrying Billy, and Billy thought I was still in love with Jim.”
“Were you?”
Annie looked at me and gave me a weary smile but didn’t answer my question.
“I guess you might have been better off if Billy had joined the Air Force with Jim,” I continued.
“Billy never wanted to fly a plane like Jim. Billy wanted to fly. He had an obsession with being able to soar like an eagle above the trees. That’s why he took up parachute jumping. It was the closest he could get to flying.”
“Jim flies at the airport, I understand.”
“Yes, but the two alway
s managed to avoid each other by checking the airport schedule.”
“Did Billy have any other problems—alcohol, drugs?”
“He drank a few beers but no drugs I know of other than for his illness. Billy had some rare cancer of the bone. He was in bad shape for a couple of years. He had drug treatments then and chemotherapy and started getting better.”
“How was he doing recently?”
“He’d been feeling a lot better. Last week he had a doctor’s visit, and Dr. Cooper said the cancer was in remission. Billy’s been a lot happier ever since—was happier, I mean.”
“Anybody besides Jim that Billy didn’t get along with?”
Annie’s expression changed. “Why are you asking all these questions? Billy’s death was an accident, wasn’t it?”
“I have no reason to think differently,” I lied, “but I want to cover all the bases, just to be sure.”
Annie relaxed a little but remained on guard.
“Everybody liked Billy. He didn’t make enemies.”
“Chief Baker?”
“Everybody is Chief Baker’s enemy. But he’s more of a bully than anything else.”
“Didn’t Billy have a run-in with him, and didn’t Billy threaten to run for police chief against Chief Baker?”
“Yes, Billy punched him when he made a pass at me, and Billy was going to run for chief. Do you think Chief Baker was somehow involved?”
“Not that I know of. Just gathering information.”
“I guess you could put me on your suspect list too then. As I mentioned, Billy and I had our problems, but we loved each other. And Billy had a life insurance policy, but it’s only for ten thousand dollars. Most of that will go for Billy’s funeral. And I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Billy Jr.”
She picked up Billy Jr. from his playpen, where he was getting restless.
I had no more questions, so I also rose to leave.
“Come with me,” Annie said suddenly. She walked to the kitchen with Billy Jr. in her arms.
I followed her and she pointed out a window over the kitchen sink.
“Look out the window and tell me what you see,” she said.
I took a look. The trailer was in the back of the park, and the back window in the kitchen faced out into the desert with nothing in view as far as the eye could see.
“Not much,” I said.
“Exactly,” Annie replied. “Sometimes I stare out this window and think there’s nothing here, and there’s nothing in that direction or any other direction from this town. I don’t even know what direction that is, but sometimes I think maybe I’ll just go out the back door and start walking, and maybe in a few days or weeks, I’ll end up in L.A. or Las Vegas. And then I realize that if I found someplace else out there, it would be another town just like Bell City, and I would be just as lonely there as I am here.”
She turned away from the window and gave Billy Jr. a kiss on the forehead.
“Time for your nap, young man.” She walked out of the kitchen with me close behind. “I hope I’ve given you what you needed,” she said as she showed me out, “and thank you for showing an interest.”
I told Annie I would let her know if I discovered anything and made a mental note to cross her off my suspect list.
> CHAPTER 22
CHIEF BAKER
By now the afternoon was well shot. I decided to make one more stop on my way through town and have a talk with Chief Baker. Soon after reentering the city limits, I noticed a police cruiser following me. A short while later the red-and-blue lights started spinning, so I pulled over to the side of the road.
The cruiser pulled up behind me, and two uniformed policemen got out and came up to my window.
“Are you Forbes?” asked the older officer, who had a Chief Baker crew cut.
“Yes, I am.”
“Chief Baker would like to have a talk with you down at the station.”
I wondered how the chief knew I was in town. Then I remembered my conversation with his brother, Dr. Baker.
“Have I broken any laws?”
“No. Chief just wants to have a little chat with you.”
“As a matter of fact, I was just on my way to the station to pay a call on Chief Baker.”
“In that case, you can follow us in.”
“No thanks,” I told Crew Cut. “I’ve decided I don’t want to talk to Chief Baker after all.” I had decided that I wanted to speak to the chief on my terms, not his.
“I think it would be better if you came along. You don’t want to get in trouble with the law,” he responded.
“I’ll be glad to go along if you want to arrest me,” I said. “I’ll step out of the car and you can search and cuff me. I’ve got a lawyer on retainer in San Diego who would like nothing better than to get some small-town yokel police chief in a courtroom and grill him about certain activities.”
“We don’t want any trouble,” the second younger cop jumped in. “Chief just wanted to welcome you…”
“Shut up, Fred,” Crew Cut interrupted. “I think we can persuade Forbes to come along.”
“Are you crazy, Jake? We can’t do this.”
“Listen to Fred,” I told Jake. “You’ve got two choices. You can arrest me and take me to the station, or you can get back in your car and drive off and we’ll forget the whole thing. And by the way, it’s Sheriff Forbes. What’s it gonna be?”
Fred whispered something to Jake, who reluctantly turned away and headed back to his car. A minute later they drove off.
As I drove through Bell City, my anger was getting the best of me and I drove to the police station. I walked in and located the chief’s office. He was seated behind his desk talking to Jake and Fred, who were standing on the other side.
“I see you changed your mind and decided to come in for a talk.” He smiled.
“No. I stopped in to use the men’s room. While I was here, I thought I would let you know that I don’t appreciate your sending your men out to fetch me.”
“Don’t be offended,” Chief Baker replied. “I wanted to welcome you to Bell City and see how your investigation was going.”
“My investigation is going fine. If I need your help or think you need to be informed of anything, I’ll let you know.”
Chief Baker turned angry and said, “Listen, this is my town, and anything that goes on in this town is my business. You’ll play ball with me or…”
“Your boy already tried that routine,” I cut him off, motioning toward Jake. “This is my investigation and I’ll handle it my way,” getting angrier as I spoke, “and if you want to talk again, you can drag your lazy ass over to Cordoba. And the next time you talk to your brother, tell him to keep out of my investigation.”
I walked out of his office as calmly as I could manage without looking back.
On the way out of the building, I stopped in the men’s room.
> CHAPTER 23
BACK IN CORDOBA
My first stop upon returning to Cordoba was the boardinghouse.
Felicity was outside, unloading groceries from the trunk of her car, so I gave her a hand. Frozen foods get unfrozen quickly in these parts, so speed is essential.
After we were done, we sat in the dining room with a glass of iced tea. I mentioned Sam’s theory on the missing magazines to Felicity.
“That might not be such a farfetched idea as it sounds, Milo,” she said. “Mrs. C is proud of her status as town matriarch. I’m sure she wouldn’t like it if it became known she used to skate in the roller derby.”
I told Felicity I remained doubtful and went over the reasons it would be difficult to investigate.
“I’ll think of something,” she responded. It seemed all the women in Cordoba wanted to be involved with this mystery.
I told Felicity that my car should be ready in a day or two.
“That’s nice,” she said, but she didn’t sound like she thought it was nice at all.
I was beginning to think it wasn’t so nice
myself. I liked being around Felicity. Plus, there were certain matters I wanted to clear up before I left.
After getting everything put away, Felicity and I took a stroll down to see the Flagg sisters and deliver a couple of bags of lemons that Felicity had picked up for the ladies.
They were on their usual perch when we arrived, straining to reach the porch floor with their tiny legs so they could swing back and forth. I noticed that the swing was attached to its wooden frame by chains on both sides attached to hooks at the top. As the sisters got down from the swing to bring the lemons inside, I told them I could lower the seat by adjusting the links of the chain. This seemed to please the ladies, as they had never thought of that as an option.
“Thank you, dear, for bringing us our lemons,” Ruth said to Felicity as they walked into the house.
“We couldn’t make our lemonade without the lemons,” said Mabel.
“You’re our savior,” said Jewell.
After I adjusted the swing and we had a short chat and the obligatory glass of lemonade, I said to Felicity, “Care for a cup of coffee?” She said yes, so we walked around the corner to the diner. It was again empty, except for Hilda.
“Hello, Hilda, how are you?” said Felicity as we entered.
“Well, if it isn’t Nick and Nora Charles,” exclaimed Hilda. “Care for a couple of martinis?”
“Leave the martinis to Frank,” Felicity joked back. “I’ll just have a coffee with cream and sugar.”
“Care for a muffin or a piece of pie with that?”
“No thanks, just the coffee will do.”
“And I’ll have a black coffee,” I added.
“Have a seat and I’ll bring them over,” Hilda said.
As I looked at her face, with the heavy makeup and wig, it now seemed obvious that it was Frank in disguise. She had the cups of coffee at the table almost before we arrived.
Felicity and I took a booth. “Well, I guess you’ll be leaving soon now that your car is almost ready,” Felicity began.