Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date

by Steve Demaree

  "I'm beginning to think that the smartest two of the three got left behind in that silo."

  "It wasn't a silo, Cy. It was a house. It was just shaped different than most houses."

  "Okay, whatever you say. What do you plan to do today?"

  "Take it easy for a while, then head over to Thelma Lou's as soon as she gets home. She's already called me twice this morning to make sure I'm okay."

  "Ain't love grand? But if she had called me just once I could have told her it's been years since you were okay."

  "I'll try to forget that, since you drove down to Tennessee and picked me up."

  "That reminds me. You owe me $48.23 for the gas."

  "I'll think about it."

  I told Lou goodbye, hung up my old-fashioned phone, and sat down while I tried to figure out what I was going to do. I was afraid to start reading another mystery. I was afraid I would agree to do something I didn't want to do and end up in the hospital when Jennifer heard about it.

  10

  I wasted most of my morning and had actually dozed off when the phone woke me. I was surprised that Sam got back to me so soon.

  "Cy, I have a little bit of information for you. That dating service is owned by a husband and wife, Arthur and Edna Comstock. They're originally from Midway, or at least that's where they spent the last several years, but they moved to Lexington shortly before they started this dating service a couple of years ago. They operate this business from their home. Their only employee is the wife's mother, Irma Childers, who lives in the house next door. What will really surprise you is how large of an operation they have. They have clients in ten states and paid taxes on over two hundred thousand dollars income last year."

  "Boy, that's a lot of dates. Maybe you and I should go into that business."

  "I think I'll pass. They seem legitimate. Only a couple of complaints since they've been there, which is a small amount when you have that many clients."

  "Not as much if half of them are being kidnapped. Maybe they are using those they have kidnapped to produce some kind of product to compete with China."

  "I don't think so, Cy."

  "Were you able to get any information on their clients?"

  "I'm working on that. That will take a little longer."

  "Okay, get back to me as soon as possible. I may have to get involved in this."

  I hung up from talking to Sam and wondered how I was going to approach Jennifer with this. I didn't have to wonder long. Ten minutes later she called me.

  "I was just thinking about you. Do you feel like doing lunch together? I picked up a little something for you in Gatlinburg."

  "Why don't you just pick up something and bring it over here where we can have more privacy? Besides, I'm tired from running all over the place."

  +++

  I hopped on one foot as I tried to put the other shoe on, anxious to see Jennifer. She had been gone for a week, and I wasn't used to being without her for that long. I stopped to pick up food for the two of us. I would let her decide which one of us got the olive nut sandwich and dainty salad, and which one would chow down on the Stromboli sandwich and French fries drenched in gravy. I also picked up a piece of pecan pie and a bowl of banana pudding. I didn't really care which one of those she took, or if she took either of them.

  I met her at her front door with bags in hand. She met me with a quick kiss, and then she took the lunch and set it down so she could give me a lingering kiss. She knew I preferred lingering kisses to quick pecks.

  Wanting to eat lunch before mold got to it, we dispensed of our private display of affection and sat down to eat. She had talked to Thelma Lou and found out that I had been telling her the truth about Lou being kidnapped, so she asked me to tell her more about it. I held my hand in front of my face as I talked with my mouth full and told her what little I knew. We finished our main course and decided to wait a few minutes before we ate our dessert. I wondered if after I told Jennifer what I had to tell her if I would get any dessert. I quickly pulled out the necklace I bought for her in Gatlinburg and gave it to her.

  "Oh, Cy. You didn't need to do this."

  "Oh, but I did," I answered, but I'm sure she misunderstood the meaning of my answer. She grinned at me and asked me to put it on her. It took me a while. I had to kiss the front and back of her neck first. Part of my lingering kisses had to do with the fact that she had a very kissable neck. The other part had to do with the fact that I had cold feet when it came to doing something I felt would get me in trouble. Besides that, I'm thankful I don't have to try to hook a clasp located at the back of my neck each day. It took me a good minute to secure one around Jennifer's neck, and that was a whole minute from the time I got serious about it.

  "Uh, Jennifer, just before you got back someone from the department approached me and asked me for some help with a current case. I wasn't sure how you'd feel about that, so I told them I'd have to check with you first."

  "Now, Cy, you know I don't mind you dabbling in some work from time to time. By the way, how is Heather, anyway?"

  "I don't remember saying who called me."

  "I was looking at you when you said someone called you. Who that someone was was obvious."

  "And it's still okay for me to do it?"

  "It depends on how closely you have to work with Heather."

  "Oh, she won't be involved at all."

  "Then you have my permission. Is it anything you can tell me about?"

  "It might bore you."

  "Then I think you'd better tell me."

  "Well, there are a couple of guys who have disappeared and one of them is a friend of Heather's cousin, and of course people are concerned about him."

  "This won't involve any long travel, will it?"

  "I hope not. As far as I know, nothing overnight."

  "How did they disappear? Does anyone know?"

  "Well, there is one thing their disappearances have in common. Both of them disappeared not long after they had had a blind date. Not that night, but a few days later."

  "Of course, it wouldn't involve you having any blind dates, would it?"

  "There is that possibility."

  "You know. You probably need your rest. Maybe Heather should find someone else to do this. Like Dan, or George, or even Lou."

  "It's not a blind date like you think of one."

  "So, it wouldn't involve you going out with another woman?"

  "Well, yes and no."

  "I prefer the no."

  "Well, it's like this. It's different than you think."

  "You mean she's in one place and you're in another, and you sort of just talk, like Skype?"

  "Not exactly different in that way."

  "What other ways are there of being different? I remember what blind dates are like. Remember. I had one with you. And from what you're not saying it's possible that this woman is a kidnapper. I'm not that eager to lose you."

  "Well, this one is safer."

  "Evidently it wasn't too safe for those other two guys."

  "But they didn't know to be on the lookout. Besides, I don't have to pick them up. I don't have to take them home. I don't have to kiss them goodnight. And I don't even tell them my last name."

  "Some of that sounded a little bit more palatable, but one of those words scared me.

  "Oh? Which one?"

  "Them. How many of these blind dates are you talking about?"

  "Probably only one with each woman."

  "That's the way it works, Cy. By the second time it's not a blind date anymore, unless you live in a nursing home. Are you telling me you might have to date several women?"

  "Not exactly date."

  "Oh? What will you be doing?"

  "Well, I'd just be meeting them at some restaurant. We'd eat, talk, and get to know each other a little bit. Then we would leave separately, and we wouldn't even know each others last name. And I'll probably use a fake first name, and make up a story about who I really am."

  "There were
some other scary words in there."

  "What scared you this time?"

  "Get to know each other a little bit. How about if I meet them and wear a wire? Women are better judges of other women anyway, and I can save you the trouble and let you know if I think each one is capable of kidnapping."

  "I don't think it would work that way."

  "How about you taking me along, introduce me as your real girlfriend, and then I'll go sit in the corner while you talk. I'll have you miked of course. Oh, Cy, go ahead. The Bible says we need to let someone go, and if it's meant to be they will come back to us."

  "You know there's no one else out there as good as you are."

  "I know it, but do you know it? But I wasn't just thinking of that. What if one of these really is the kidnapper, and she gets the drop on you?"

  "I think I can handle myself."

  "What's the name of this place, anyway? Maybe I can meet some of the guys, maybe even go to the same restaurant on the same night that you do. Besides, maybe the kidnapper is a jealous man. It's harder for a woman to kidnap a man, you know."

  "Depends on what methods she uses."

  "Well, I don't want some woman using any methods on my man. Now, would you like for me to show you some of my methods?"

  Things were looking better. And it didn't sound like dessert would be soon. The next several minutes we took turns kissing, coming up for air, and telling each other how much we missed each other. It was the first time I could remember that I was willing to wait a while for dessert.

  11

  It was a little after 3:00 when I got home. I hadn't been home long before the phone rang. I picked it up, hoped it wasn't Jennifer calling to tell me I would contact that dating service over her dead body. From the first sentence I knew it wasn't Jennifer.

  "Cy, where have you been? I've been trying to call you."

  "So, the shoe's on the other foot now. Huh, Lou?"

  "I just wanted you to know that I heard from the guys in Tennessee. Because I hadn't wandered too far from that round house before some guy found me they were able to locate the house within a few hours. It took them a while to figure out how to get in. They even considered circling the house seven times, then blowing trumpets, but eventually they were able to spot a way in. But when they did the two dead people were still in there getting riper. Neither of them had any identification on them."

  I interrupted Lou to let him know that the young woman had already been identified. Then I let him continue with his story.

  "Well, the guy didn't have any identification on him, and they ran his prints but weren't able to come up with anything. They don't think he's from around there. They're guessing that because he was there with me that he might be from Kentucky. They don't think he was murdered in that house, but they will know that as soon as the autopsy is completed. They contacted different police departments in Kentucky and sent them his picture, but so far they haven't turned up anything. And nobody around here recognized him. George showed his picture around."

  "I'm sure they'll turn up something soon. By the way, what was that clue again, the one you gave me when you called the other day?"

  "Floyd Kramer."

  "He isn't that football guy, is he?"

  "No, but the name sounds familiar. Why don't you Google it, see what you come up with."

  I had already planned to do that. I told Lou to call me back if he found out anything else, then hung up and headed to the computer. It didn't take me long to find out something about Floyd Kramer. He had some hit songs back in the 60s. I looked for a list of them, hoping some lyrics would give a clue as to why Lou was given his name. I didn't need the lyrics. I needed only the name of one of his songs. Last Date. Evidently this guy was from the dating service too, and someone had done away with him. I hoped there wasn't going to be a series of bodies turning up after bad dates.

  +++

  I can remember when one call a day was a little high for me. Things were definitely changing. I wondered if Lou had written my number on a wall somewhere or told someone there was a new bookie in town. I dismissed those thoughts when I realized that all the calls had come from someone I knew. Heather was the next to call. Her news was not good news. They had located the body of John Ed Caudill, the guy she called me about, in the woods behind his home. They did an autopsy and found out that he had been killed by having something injected into his arm. Their guess was that he was killed in his house, then dragged into the woods so he wouldn't be found so quickly. I wondered if the dead guy Lou found had been injected, too. I called Lou to find out.

  "Cy, I was just getting ready to call you."

  "More information?"

  "Of a sort. I got another clue. This one is 'Winter Wonderland and Summer in the City.'"

  "Well, at least I solved the first one quickly. Floyd Kramer is a piano player who had a hit record back in the 60s called Last Date. And I just heard from Heather. And the guy she asked me to check on is dead, injected with something that killed him, then tossed into the woods behind his house. I don't guess you know if the guy in Tennessee was murdered by injection, do you?"

  "I have no idea, but I'll see what I can find out."

  +++

  Five minutes later Lou called me back. His guy was killed by injection. So was the girl. Lou informed the Tennessee authorities about the guy from Morehead, who died the same way.

  I hung up and pondered what I knew so far. Two guys and a young woman had been murdered. All by injection. But one of the guys was left near his home, while the other one might have been driven far away and dumped. And I knew where the young woman was from. And after I checked I found out that she had no connection to the dating service. I assumed that she was merely a young woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. But back to the men. Why did they murder the one guy, but let Lou live? Was it because Lou hadn't used that dating service? It looked like it was time for me to fill out that application. Once they identified the guy in Tennessee, I would need to check to see if both dead guys had dated the same woman, and if so, if she had dated anyone else. There might be other bodies out there. And there might be other men to warn about the danger they could face.

  +++

  I was trying to figure out what to do next when Sam called again. He had more information.

  "So, what do you have for me, Sam?"

  "Some of this you may already know, so forgive me if I repeat myself. Everyone fills out an application and mails it in. The mailman delivers all the applications to the house each day. Then the man, his wife, and his mother-in-law go over each application and try to find the best match for each person. If they don't agree completely, they try to arrive at a conclusion where two of them agree. They try not to match anyone with someone from the same small town, but two Lexington residents would be okay. Then they mail the information to both interested parties, but list only the first name of the person they are to meet. Now, this next part is where I might have spoken too hastily."

  "Oh, what do you mean?"

  "The dating service decides the location where they meet. Since I think the main area we are looking at right now is Kentucky, that's my main concern. Everyone who lives within an hour and a half of Lexington meets their date at The Cheesecake Factory at Fayette Mall in Lexington."

  "Can I get one of these dates for every night?"

  "I think they limit you to three dates, Cy. Now, some of this stuff sounds kind of cloak and dagger or something out of an old melodrama. The way they know each other is that the man wears a white carnation and the woman wears a white rose. Each pays for his or her own dinner, and they leave separately, and at least five minutes apart. Now, they are not to let on as to what they think of each other, but they are to contact the dating service within two days to let them know if they want another date with this person or would prefer a date with someone else. The company sends them three cards, a red one, a yellow one, and a green one. The red one means they don't want any more contact with this person. The yellow
one means they aren't sure, but they want to keep their options open after meeting another one of the dating service's possibilities. The green one means they want to give this relationship a try. Whichever card they select, they are to mail it back to the company. The company contacts them within a week with the information about this person if both send back green cards, or the name of another person, provided one of them sent back a yellow or red card and the person hasn't used up all three dates."

  "It does sound weird. Was this something designed by a committee?"

  "No, you're thinking of a camel. As the saying goes, a camel is a horse designed by a committee. And Just For You Dating Service seems to be working. The company reports that some of their clients have married someone they met through the dating service, and the dating service is definitely making money. Good money."

  "At least up to now. What if word gets out that one out of every ten gets murdered after their date? Sam, how soon can you find out the names of the people who have used this service, and for sure the names of the people who dated the two murdered men? I'm particularly interested in whether or not any woman has dated both murdered men. And is there any way you can get me a copy of the application any of these women filled out, so I can get paired up with Miss Most Likely to Commit Murder?"

  "Cy, you know you can take Jennifer to The Cheesecake Factory and there's no danger in that."

  "I might do that, too."

  "Remember, The Cheesecake Factory is a big place. You might want to have someone there watching your back."

  "Sam, so far no one has been murdered on the night of the date."

  "We don't know that, Cy. We don't know that for sure yet, because we don't know when these men had their dates, or when they were murdered. We just think that it was sometime after that night. All I'm saying is be careful. And you might want some help on this."