Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date

by Steve Demaree

  +++

  We drove to my place and walked into the house. I headed to my recliner, Lou to my couch. He kicked off his shoes, put a pillow behind his head, and lay down. Both of us reclined for a few minutes while we thought about what all we had to tackle. I had worked a lot of murder cases in my life, but my thoughts on the current case were that never had I known so little about so many people. I wondered where to start. I chose the wrong question to ask Lou.

  "Where do I begin?"

  "Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a love can be."

  When Lou started singing the theme to the movie Love Story I turned my head to keep Lou from seeing my tears. The song reminded me of my Eunice, who died of cancer much too young.

  After I dried my tears, I tried to lighten the moment. I looked around for something heavy to throw at Lou. I saw a few things, but nothing that I wanted damaged. I got up in mid-song and headed to my dining room table. Lou quit singing and followed suit. Lou knew I was all business as soon as I took out a Hershey Almond candy bar and laid it on the table. He reached into his pocket and thrust down a package of M&Ms to let me know he was in, too.

  I carefully unwrapped my Hershey bar and took a bite, careful not to bite off more than one almond. Lou, whose brain still hadn't recovered from his kidnapping, put an M&M on his thumb and shot it toward me. I was quick with the wrapper still holding most of my candy bar and deflected the M&M before it could hit me in the eye. It bounced off the table and slid down onto an unoccupied chair. Lou picked up the M&M, blew on it, and popped it into his mouth.

  "Is playtime over?"

  "You're just jealous because your candy is harder to flick."

  I felt like I'd been called out. I went to the kitchen to retrieve a knife and came back to cut a square section of chocolate. I laid it flat on my hand, and projected it end over end until it came down squarely on Lou's nose.

  With Lou's manhood deflated, all he could muster was, "even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then."

  "It's not an acorn. It's an almond. Now are you ready to get started?"

  When he didn't answer, I began.

  "Okay, here's what we are going to do. Let's start by listing the names of every one of our suspects, and putting them into a category of likely or unlikely suspect."

  Lou, familiar with my house, got up and grabbed a piece of paper, came back to the table and wrote a L on one side at the top, and a U on the other side. Then he wrote my name under the L.

  "If you're talking about a murder that might happen today in my house, you're off to a good start."

  Undeterred, Lou moved over to the other side of the paper and wrote the names of each of the victims.

  "Could you hold on a minute while I get my gun, Lou? I don't have a syringe."

  33

  Lou quit playing games and was ready to play detective.

  "Okay, let's talk about each person in the order they came into the picture. Let's begin with Arthur and Edna Comstock and her mother, Irma Childers. What category would you put them in, Lou?"

  "Business owners."

  "I mean likely or unlikely to have committed the murders."

  "So, we're going to lump them together, Cy?"

  "Not necessarily. If you think one of them looks more guilty than the other two, then split them up. The courts will do the same if one of them is guilty."

  "In that case, Cy, I don't know. I see one reason to put each of them in either category."

  "Okay, out with it. You're probably thinking the same thing I'm thinking."

  "Well, the fact that they own the business, and murder would certainly hurt that business, means that each of them would be among the least likely suspects."

  "But the only connection the victims have is that dating service."

  "Which means that it must be someone who used the service."

  "But, Lou, those who used the service aren't privileged to all the information about each of the victims."

  "But, as someone said later, it would have been easy for someone to follow the victims home."

  "Except for one thing. Two victims from the same date were murdered. It would have been impossible for someone to follow both of the victims home."

  "Well, what about Irma Childers? She doesn't own the business. Maybe she's trying to get her daughter and son-in-law out of the picture and take over herself with a clean slate."

  "Then put her in one category and the Comstocks in the other."

  "I don't know, Cy. Let's say we think of them together. Do we put the Comstocks and Miss Childers in the Likely or Unlikely category?"

  "I don't know. Any of them could have easily left home on a Thursday and gone out and murdered someone. Remember, some of these people were murdered in the daytime, others at night. Someone didn't have to be gone all day to commit murder."

  "But we tend to forget those early victims. There was the young woman, whom I think just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she had nothing to do with the dating service, either as an owner or a customer. One of the others lived in Morehead. Another was taken to Tennessee, probably late on a Saturday, with me and that young woman. It would take at least two and a half hours for someone to get to Morehead, murder someone, toss him in the woods behind his house, and return to Lexington. And I was kidnapped sometime in the early evening on a Saturday and transported to Gatlinburg, probably in a trunk with that other guy and the young woman. The other guy may have been put in there before or after me. My guess is that the young woman and I were loaded up around the same time, since she came to my apartment. That makes me think that whoever it was wasted close to eight hours to take care of that job. Maybe longer than that. It could be that whoever it was stayed there with us a while, and waited until Sunday morning to come back."

  "How could one of those three have gotten away with being gone for so long of a time?"

  "That is assuming that the other two didn't know what the one was up to. And Comstock's mother-in-law could have said she was going home, walked next door to her house, and sneaked off a little while later with her daughter and son-in-law knowing nothing about it. She had no reason to be at their house on Sunday morning. Or mother and daughter or husband and wife could have been operating together. And of course any of them could have fed the other two a story about having something come up that would take them away."

  I was thankful when Lou didn't say, "Calgon, take me away." I couldn't picture Lou taking a bubble bath anyway, and I was thankful for that.

  "So, which category do we put them in, Lou?"

  "I don't know. Maybe we can move on to the others and come back to them."

  And so we did just that. Nothing accomplished, just time spent.

  "Okay, let's move on to our next category, my three dates."

  Lou looked at me and smiled.

  "Let's start with Bambi Fontaine. What do you think, Lou?"

  "I think you learned your lesson, Cy. It's best not to lie on an application."

  "Okay, I'll start. She could have been upset enough that she didn't find a man on any of her three dates that she could have become unhinged and gone on a murderous rampage. She could have left that trailer park anytime without arousing suspicion. We know she went back to The Cheesecake Factory more than once. What's to keep her from following someone home? And people are more likely to open their door to a stranger if that stranger is a woman. And it would have been easy enough for her to get away anytime she wanted."

  "But the murders started before you met her. Are you saying she had three dates before she got to you?"

  "Who knows? She could have been inspired to do away with others after one date."

  "So, do we go ahead and convict her, or have a trial first?"

  "Oh, we might as well have a trial."

  "But do we think a woman is capable of murdering all these people?"

  "Of course a woman is capable. All she has to do is jab a needle in someone's arm. It's not like she had to win t
he best two out of three falls."

  "But, you've seen her. Is she capable of dragging me out to the street and tossing me in the trunk of her car?"

  "I think so. She might have banged your head tossing you in, but your head was damaged years ago, so no one would be able to tell the difference. What about the other guy? What was his size compared to yours?"

  "He was taller than I am, but he weighed less. He was a thin guy. But I'm still not sure she could have done it."

  "So, are you voting 'no' for her?"

  "No, let's keep her in the mix."

  "Okay, so we have one definite 'yes' from me and one qualified 'yes' from you. Let's move on."

  I said that a little too soon. It took me a minute to realize who was next on our list.

  "Yes, Cy. Let's move on."

  I didn't need to look at Lou to know he was smiling at me.

  "Well, I can't see how Sarah Jane could possibly have murdered anyone."

  "How did the victims die again, Cy?"

  "Okay, I realize she's a nurse, and a nurse knows how to use a syringe, but she's a nurse who loves babies."

  "And says she loves you."

  "Well, she didn't actually come out and say she loves me. But she was at least a little bit smitten."

  "As were you. But don't worry. I'll keep your secret. Jennifer will never know unless Sarah Jane shows up on her front porch with a syringe."

  "Lou, you're forgetting that Emily French, that woman Hacker dated, is a receptionist in a doctor's office, and that Phil Pendleton calls on doctor's offices."

  "I'm not forgetting anyone. We just haven't come to them yet."

  "So, Lou, do we need to discuss her anymore, or are you ready to vote?"

  "I'll put her with the Comstocks. We'll come back to her later."

  "And I'll put her in the Unlikely category."

  "And you'll decide later whether or not to go back to her."

  I deflected Lou's comment and moved on.

  "Okay, Lou. How about spinster number three, Lucy Marlowe?"

  "Cy, you're forgetting that I never met your last two dates, so I'm forming my opinion based on hearsay evidence."

  "No, you're voting based on what I told you."

  "Isn't that the same?"

  "Moving right along, this woman, who seemed quite mousy on the date, grew very agitated when I showed up at her house and wanted to question her about the murders."

  "But then she didn't know you were there to talk to her about the murders."

  "Not unless she's the murderer. Then she might have had an inkling."

  "All I can say is that the woman I didn't think could do this, when I had dinner with her, I now feel is very capable of murdering someone. I wonder if she has Thursdays off from work."

  "I'll go along with you on this one, Cy, since I have no reason to put her in either category."

  All we were doing was forming opinions. We had no evidence that cleared or convicted any of them. I was hoping that a phone call from Sam would nail someone to the wall, or at least eliminate some of the suspects. But it would probably be a while before that happened, if at all.

  34

  It was time to take a break. I looked at my watch. It was lunchtime.

  "Lou, are you up to going to Antonio's for lunch?"

  I was afraid that working a case again might put some weight back on me, but hopefully we would solve it soon and I could get back to my new routine.

  Lou and I bundled up and headed out the door. The temperature was in the mid-thirties. The wind had a mind of its own. Its intent was to blow over a couple of guys who weren't as big as they used to be. I made it to the van, started it, and was serenaded by the Loving Spoonful, and Lou joined in as they sang the line, "What a day for a daydream." Well, it would have been, if it were forty degrees warmer, the sun was shining, and we didn't have to solve someone else's murder for them.

  At some restaurants, like The Cheesecake Factory, Lou and I order something different each time, but at Antonio's we usually get Stromboli’s and French fries with gravy. There's no reason to mess with perfection. Eating there didn't bring us any closer to solving the case, but it put us in a better frame of mind.

  Not long after we got back to the van Herman's Hermits were leaning on a lamppost and Lou was leaning against the window. He quit as soon as he started to get cold from leaning against the glass. Luckily, I lived only three or four songs from Antonio's, so we were soon back at my house, full, but with no more information to help us solve the case. Hopefully, the time off from using our brains would allow us to operate at full throttle.

  Lou and I opted for comfortable seats and a discussion of great books and movies for a few minutes before getting back to tackling the case.

  I was about to put things back in motion when the phone rang. I jumped up to answer the house phone, when I realized that someone was calling my cell instead. When I saw the number didn't register I took the phone in the other room so Lou couldn't hear.

  "Cy, this is Eve."

  "You mean someone has confessed and we don't have to do anything else?"

  "No, just an update on some of the people we had under surveillance today."

  "Had?"

  "Yep. Some of them are on the loose."

  "Not long after the mailman dropped off the mail at the Comstock's house slash business each of the three of them headed out. Each in a different car. Each to a different place. Arthur Comstock seemed to be in quite a hurry. His mother-in-law, the last to leave, looked rather sneaky as she left, and constantly checked to see if anyone noticed her leaving. Our man thinks she didn't see him. Also, we had someone follow Phil Pendleton, but at one of the doctor's offices our guy missed Pendleton as he left. And Marge Shockley spotted the guy who was following her and she was able to give him the slip. So, it's Thursday and several of our suspects are unaccounted for. You have anything yet?"

  "No, Lou and I are going over everything we know, but we're not ready to make an arrest yet."

  "Well, if you're ready to arrest me, let me know. Or feel free to interrogate me at The Cheesecake Factory, or in your car in a dark and secluded place."

  "Well, I admit it's the best sounding offer I've had so far this morning. I'll run it by my girlfriend and see what she thinks."

  "You do that, Cy. And Cy, thanks for helping us with this. One more head could be just what we need."

  "There are a lot of times I can use another head. A couple of more hands, too."

  "Just let me know if the ones you request are mine."

  I hung up and hoped that Jennifer hadn't tapped my phone. Well, actually I hadn't done anything wrong. I wondered if a guy who isn't married is allowed to dream of three women, or only one.

  After I hung up, I did something I shouldn't have done. I walked back into the other room just as Lou slipped onto a seat at my dining room table.

  "What's the best offer you've had all morning, Cy?"

  "Are you listening in on my phone calls?"

  "Not as much as I'd like to. Let me guess. Jennifer probably doesn't know we are home, and Sarah Jane doesn't have your phone number. So, my guess is that your call was from a detective who would like to put you in handcuffs."

  I filled Lou in on what Eve Sanchez had told me. We wondered if it was simply five people who were out about their business, or four people who were out about their business and one out decreasing Lexington's population. I hoped it was the first.

  "Okay, Lou, where were we?"

  "Well, it looks like you are out somewhere in La-La Land, trying to decide whether to go for bachelorette number one, number two, or number three."

  "I've already picked number one. Now, go on. Let's move on to Patty Moran."

  "I'm not sure we need to discuss her until we hear back from Sam, telling us whether or not she was on a cruise with a friend. Besides, she seemed awfully broken up by Ben Connaughton's death."

  "And I agree. I think she's the second most innocent of all of our suspects."
r />   "How can someone be the second-most innocent? I thought someone was either innocent or guilty."

  "You know what I mean. Now are you ready to move on?"

  "Yeah, I think we ought to move back to the living room. It's more comfortable in there. If I promise not to fall asleep can we resume in more comfortable confines?"

  "As you wish. And you don't even have to stay awake."

  We changed rooms and moved on to the next person.

  "Okay, that brings us to Phil Pendleton. You said he gave someone the slip this morning."

  "I'm not sure about that. I would think he would be the hardest to follow of any of our suspects, calling on all those doctors."

  "Not to mention dropping off or picking up his dry cleaning."

  I gave him a look. He moved back in line.

  "Cy, I don't know if you agree or not, but I didn't think he seemed quite as broken up with his date's death as Patty Moran did with hers. And he could have gotten away between calls or after he finished for the day to murder someone, pick up a birthday present, and make it to the dinner on time."

  "Wow, Lou! That's twice in a row I agree with you. I have him as a confident bird. I'm just not sure if he's merely someone who feels good about himself, or a murderer who thinks he won't get caught. In the meantime, I'll put him in the Likely category."

  "I think I will, too, Cy, as long as you don't comment about how agreeable I am. So, whom do we have left?"

  "Well, let me see. There's Charles Hacker, Marge Shockley, and Emily French."