Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date

by Steve Demaree

  "Maybe your fingerprints are on the gun."

  "I don't think so, Cy."

  "So you remember that part?"

  "No. I used to be a homicide detective. I remember enough about that to know that neither of these people have been shot."

  "Do you recognize the dead guy?"

  "No one I've seen before."

  " Why don't you take a selfie with this couple?"

  "How about I just take a picture of them and send it to you? I don't want to get that close to this dead couple."

  "Any idea how long they've been dead?"

  "Well, all I know is that she looked alive when she knocked on my door and asked me to try a sample of some drink and give my opinion of it. So, less than twenty-four hours. My guess is he died about the same time. He's not smelling real bad, and he still looks pretty much like a human being."

  "Send me the picture. Heather has a missing guy. Maybe it's him."

  "It's not Dan, Cy. I know what Dan looks like."

  "No, this is a friend of a friend of a cousin or something like that. Dan's okay. Well, he's like he usually is, if you want to call that okay. So, I think we need to give your situation a sense of urgency. Take the picture. Send it to me. Then do whatever it takes to get out of there. You might be the next street over from your place or you might be across town. Whatever the case, someone probably did this to you yesterday, so you could be anywhere."

  "One other thing, Cy. I got a message. Floyd Kramer. Get to work on it."

  "You mean God's already giving you clues to this couple's murder?"

  "It seems that way, Cy."

  "Well, we'll save that clue for later. Right now I want you to send me that picture and beat a hasty retreat. Keep thumping the walls until you find a way out. The kidnapper/murderer could be back any minute. Could be whoever is doing this is kidnapping one day and murdering the next. We're going to try to find out where you are. If you find out first, call me. Try my cell phone first. I might be out in the snow looking for you. Oh, and Lou, when you get out, head to the closest house and call the police, and if the person who answers the door looks at you and says, 'How did you get out?' then take off running as fast as you can to the next closest house. Now get busy!"

  I ended the call. Maybe I was harsh toward my best friend, but I haven't been exactly myself since he turned out to be missing. At least it was good to hear his voice, but I don't like his situation. He's in a round house with no doors and windows, but with a dead man and a dead college girl. Sounds like my friend was hallucinating. I forgot to ask him if the walls were padded. I envisioned Lou finding a way out and running through the snow with someone chasing him wielding a snow shovel. I called Thelma Lou.

  "I found your honey, sort of."

  "What does sort of mean?"

  I relayed to her what Lou had told me. Neither of us knew of a house that was round, but then neither of us knew of anyone other than Thelma Lou who wanted to kidnap Lou.

  I told Thelma Lou all I could, then called George to tell him the same.

  "George, I've found the missing Lou. Now all we have to do is locate him."

  "Cy, I told you drinking wouldn't help you find our friend."

  "George, Lou's been kidnapped."

  "What? You get a note from the kidnapper telling us how much he's willing to pay us to take Lou back?"

  "Not exactly. I got a phone call from Lou."

  "I don't think that's the way it works, Cy."

  "It did in this case. Lou even told me about the dead bodies next to him when he woke up."

  "Someone kidnapped Lou and dropped him off at the morgue?"

  "He described the place. I've been to the morgue. The description didn't match."

  "So, you're saying that Lou murdered his kidnapper in his sleep and he doesn't remember a thing about it."

  "Pretty much. And when I told Thelma Lou about Lou being kidnapped I didn't mention that there were two dead bodies next to him. I didn't want to worry her any more than she already is."

  "Good move there, Cy. So, what did Lou say? Anything that made sense?"

  "Not really. Well, he did say that he's being held in a round house without any doors or windows."

  "They're called silos, Cy, and they do have doors. Well, at least this means we can narrow our search down to somewhere in Iowa."

  "I don't think silos have fireplaces. And Lou said his place has a fireplace."

  "Maybe he paid extra. Or the kidnapper did. But you're right about silos. Most of them don't come with a fireplace. So, what's our next move?"

  "Well, I made Lou promise to send me a picture of the dead couple and then hightail it out of there, even if he has to make his own door on his way out."

  "Maybe the walls are made of steel. Could be that's how the dead guy died. I assume that the dead guy isn't anyone Lou knows."

  "I don't think so. I know most everyone he knows, so I should know as soon as he sends me the picture."

  "Maybe you should call him back, have him take a few pictures of the place where he's staying. Could be you might recognize one of the pictures on the wall, or one of the end tables. Maybe we can have someone there in five minutes."

  "Unless he's in Iowa."

  "You're right. It would take longer in Iowa. Do you realize how many silos they have in that state?"

  I told George he could think about that while I waited to receive a picture from Lou. I hoped Lou was coherent enough that he would remember to take a picture of the couple's faces. Arms and legs aren't that good in identifying someone, unless that someone has a tattoo no one else has.

  6

  I received a picture from Lou almost as soon as I hung up from talking to George. If the guy whose picture he sent me wasn't dead yet, then he was a good actor. I didn't know who he was. I had no idea if he was Heather's cousin's friend's friend, or whoever it was she told me was missing, and if the dead girl was his blind date.

  I called George back to let him know that I received the picture from Lou and was sending it on to him. He said if I didn't recognize the guy then he doubted if he would recognize him either. I reminded George that he was the one still working for the police department and asked him to see what he could do to identify the guy, and to see if he could identify the young lady, too.

  It was my afternoon for phone calls. Next on my list was my friend Sam Schumann, the best guy I knew for getting me information, and another guy who still worked for the Hilldale Police Department.

  "This is Sam I am, dining on green eggs and ham."

  "You mean you eat that stuff this time of day?"

  "Cy, what caused you to call me on a Sunday, you, the retired guy that you are."

  "Sam, I don't know how to tell you this, but Lou has been kidnapped."

  "So, is the celebration at your house? What time?"

  "I'm serious, Sam."

  "And you thought I wasn't. So, what do you mean by kidnapped?"

  "I realize that you've only been with the police department a little over twenty years, but kidnapping is sort of like one or more people taking another person without their permission."

  "So, it's not like his girlfriend has him at her place?"

  "No, but she'd like to."

  "Okay, spill it."

  I filled him in on what Lou told me.

  "Any idea who might have done it?"

  "No, but I have an idea of a couple of people who didn't."

  "I can probably add two or three to that list myself."

  "But my two people are dead."

  "I can add some of those names, too."

  "Yeah, but do you have any pictures of your people newly dead?"

  "You got me there, Cy. You win. You want to enlighten me again?"

  I told Sam I would send him a picture of the dead couple, so I could see if he could identify them before George did.

  "And Sam, you're our expert at the department on gadgets. Is there any way you can check on Lou's phone and tell me where he called from?"
<
br />   "You mean the kidnapper is sort of like the police department, let him make one call?"

  "The kidnapper skipped out for a little bit. Left Lou alone with the dead bodies."

  "So they tied Lou up with his phone in his hand?"

  "They didn't tie him, and before you ask, the reason Lou hasn't left is because he couldn't find any doors in the place."

  "Cy, you aren't doing your April Fool's joke early this year, are you?"

  "No, and I don't think Lou is, either. The couple in the picture look dead. And Lou has already eliminated himself from the suspect list."

  I got off the phone and let Sam go to work. There wasn't anything for me to do except read, watch movies, or worry. I thought about calling Lou back to see if his kidnapper let him take a book along, and if so which one. Instead I set a little time aside to worry, hoped that Lou had found a way out of that house, and that it wasn't far to the next house. An hour later I had decided that Lou was being held in the only house on an island. He hadn't called me back to tell me he had successfully escaped. I wondered if the kidnapper returned before Lou found a way out. I wondered if the kidnapper would be willing to call me if he arrived before Lou got away. After all, it's only common courtesy to do so. And then I wondered if the kidnapper was a man. Then my vision changed to Lou, stumbling through the snow, having already lost one shoe, frostbite setting in, with some deranged person throwing ears of corn at him, provided someone didn't eat all of their corn before winter.

  The photo Lou sent me wasn't of a bloody guy, partially beheaded. If I hadn't known he was dead, he could just as well have been sleeping. So, I called Heather, asked her if she knew what the missing guy looked like. She told me "no," but I sent her the picture and asked her to send it on to her cousin, who would keep sending it on until someone could tell if the dead guy was the missing guy or not. I knew he was a missing guy, but was he Heather's missing guy.

  We came to a temporary dead-end. Heather's cousin's friend didn't have a Smart phone. But that was only a temporary setback. Heather's cousin drove to her friend's house, and showed her the picture. The guy she knew was still missing, and maybe dead, but he wasn't this dead guy. At least that was a small victory. Maybe our luck was about to change. But then it wouldn't change a lot as far as I was concerned until Lou called to let me know that he was all right.

  7

  The night passed slowly. All of it. I tossed and turned all night long, wishing I had some way of locating my friend. I decided to kill him if he was back at his place and had forgotten to call me, but I wasn't willing to drive over there in the middle of the night to find out. Maybe I should have called George and made him go.

  Monday morning, as I was making a mess trying to fix breakfast, the phone rang. I was hoping it was Lou, but I was willing to settle for anyone who could make my day better. It turned out to be Heather, who could certainly make my day better on a normal day. She informed me that the police in Lexington had another man who had turned up missing after going on a blind date. They were in the process of seeing if there was any connection between the two missing men. I asked Heather if she had names for the two men. She did. She shared them with me and I wrote their names down.

  A few minutes after I'd finished eating breakfast without dropping too much of it on my shirt, the phone rang again. I was becoming a popular guy. All it took was for a couple of guys to be missing.

  "Cy, do retired guys get up this early?"

  "I've been up for hours. So, do you have some news for me, Sam?"

  "Have you ever found me to be lacking in solving your cases for you?"

  "Yes, but sometimes you're able to stumble upon something helpful."

  "I'm wondering if I should keep this to myself, but since Lou is a friend of mine too, and I want to see the two of you reunited as soon as possible, I will tell you what I've found out. I was finally able to zero in on Lou's phone. I can't give you an exact location, but I've tracked him to somewhere in the Smoky Mountains."

  "You're kidding?"

  "You're right. Actually, I tracked him to a conference with the Maharishi in Nepal, but I didn't think you'd believe that story. Besides, it turns out neither of them wanted to be disturbed. Lou was enlightening the Maharishi."

  "You mean Yogi?"

  "Yes, but not Bear or Berra."

  "So, where is he really?"

  "Yogi's dead. Died a few years ago, but he's not the guy in the picture you sent me."

  "Sorry. I didn't know. I would have sent flowers. Now, where's Lou? I mean where is he really?"

  "I don't know, but when I traced his cell phone he was in the Smoky Mountains, and not near any town. I'm surprised I was able to track him, with all those trees. But then I lost the signal, and I don't know where he is now."

  "Could you tell if he was mobile?"

  "He wasn't at first, but then he started moving and I lost the signal."

  "Could you tell if he was on foot or in a vehicle?"

  "I didn't have a signal for long. My guess is he was on foot, but I don't know where he is now. I waited a few minutes, hoping I could track him again, but nothing yet."

  "I'm going down there. I'll check in with you to see if you can reconnect with him."

  "Cy, wait until tomorrow. Maybe he's escaped and he'll find his way back home. Or at least to a phone where he can call us and let us know where to pick him up."

  I hung up and called George to see what he thought I should do. He reminded me that the Smoky Mountains cover quite a large area, and without more to go on it might take more than one lifetime to find Lou. I reminded him that we could be well on our way to Lou by the time we heard from him, which would make it easier and quicker to pick him up. George said he would call me back in a few minutes.

  Hours later, or ten minutes by the clock, George called back. If we hadn't heard from Lou by Tuesday morning, he would take time off from work and go with me to Tennessee. He had his wife's and the chief's blessing. I compromised, hoped I was making the right decision, and agreed to head to Tennessee with George on Tuesday morning. I told George I would drive. George's car doesn't have 60s on 6.

  +++

  A couple of hours later George called again. He didn't know anything about Lou, but they had identified the dead woman. An officer had found an abandoned car out in the county. They ran the license plate and found the name of the owner. Then it was a matter of matching the photo Lou had sent me with the one on the young woman's driver's license. She was a University of Kentucky student who lived in a county close to Hilldale. Speculation was that her car had stalled, and someone had kidnapped her. But then if someone had kidnapped her, why would she be handing out samples of a new drink to Lou? Could it be that she was offered a ride by a stranger who promised to drop her by a garage after she did a favor for him? It didn't make sense, but then a lot of times life doesn't make sense. Her parents had been informed of her death and shown the picture of the dead man they found with her. Neither of her parents recognized the man and neither did her roommate, who confirmed that she was on her way home for the weekend, and she had complained about having problems with her car quitting on her from time to time. One of the reasons she was going home was to have her dad look at her car and possibly fix the problem.

  +++

  It was a little before 6:00 on Monday evening when the phone rang again. I jumped at least two inches off the floor when I heard Lou's voice. He told me that he was at the hospital. Some guy had found him wandering around in the mountains, trying to find a cabin or chalet somewhere. A doctor had looked him over. The police had finished talking to him just before he called me. They had no idea of the location of the house he described, but said there are a lot of unknown places in those mountains. The doctor wanted to keep Lou overnight, so Lou told me he would catch a bus home in a day or two. I told him that George and I were coming down to pick him up the next morning, and we set a time and place to meet. When I ended the call I brought my arm down as I shouted "yes!" I quickly promi
sed myself that if I repeated that move in my lifetime I wouldn't be standing next to the wall and wondering afterwards if I might have to have my elbow amputated. After my pain subsided to a mild five on a scale of ten I called everyone on my Christmas card list to let them know that Lou had been found and had survived his ordeal. I could tell a few of them had to reach for the Whiteout, because they had already scratched Lou from their next year's Christmas letter list. It was just as well. I knew some of them, had received their Christmas letter only a month before, and I knew they hadn't been to Europe twice last year. I wondered if eleven months hence if Lou would put out a Christmas letter telling how he had been kidnapped by a pack of wild dogs and a gypsy on crack.

  +++

  Around 8:00 the phone rang again. My phone hadn't rung that much since the last election. I was hoping Lou hadn't found out that he was going to have to have his leg amputated and wouldn't be able to come home for a while longer.

  "Hello."

  "Is this the love of my life?"

  "Beyonce, is that you?"

  "I'll Beyonce you. This is Jennifer and you know it."

  "Aniston, Garner, Lopez, or Lawrence?"

  "Never mind. I guess I have the wrong number. I was calling someone I thought would want to know that I'm coming home soon. The day after tomorrow. But just in case I do have the right number, you'd better get those posters of those other Jennifers off your wall before I get there."

  "Oh, are you moving in with me?"

  " I don't think so, but you'd better take those posters down."

  "I don't have any posters on my wall. I had Mark paste them on the ceiling when he came over to shovel the snow. Oh, and I'm leaving town tomorrow."

  "Oh? Where do you think you're going?"

  "To pick up Lou. He's been kidnapped."

  "Oh he has, has he? And I guess you've decided to pay the ransom?"

  "Don't have to. Lou escaped."

  "What are you talking about, Cy?"