Blood Is Thicker Than Wine

by Liz Eagle

  “Wow, oh my gosh!” Lil said. “You have just given me the best idea.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

  “What did I say?” Joe asked.

  “Well, all the players are dead, right?” Lil asked.

  ‘Yes, they are,” Joe said.

  “But, I am not dead,” Lil said, “and neither is Dr. Lewis’ daughter.”

  “What’s she got to do with all this?” Joe asked.

  “Well, as the reigning surgeon in town, the doctor would be the only one that would know anything specific about the murders and causes of death,” Lil said. “He signed the death certificates for the two women who were killed.”

  “That makes sense,” Joe said, “but what if she cannot remember or doesn’t know anything? I can’t imagine a father coming home and saying to his daughter, ‘Hey little girl, I did an autopsy on two girls who were murdered in the park today. How was your day?’ Besides, how are you going to find her?” Joe asked. “She is way older than we are, right?”

  “She may not know anything,” Lil said, “but her dad was a big player from what I can gather from the notes. He was involved enough to make my grandfather talk to him and I don’t think Gus trusted him. I think his daughter moved to someplace out west to go to school. Maybe she went to medical school. I think she was very smart. I might be able to find her with help. If I can’t find her maybe she has kids that know something. Where is the phone?” She asked. “I will see if I can find her with Nancy’s help.” Feeling energized, Lil started to enlist the help of her best friend before she went any farther.

  “Hey, neighbor,” Lil said to her oldest and best friend in the world, Nancy Warwick. “Hey, girl,” Nancy said. “How are you? Long time no see. Well, it has only been a few months since the funeral and I am still combing through those boxes.”

  “How is that going for you?” Nancy asked.

  “Not too good, really,” Lil said, “but I have a question for you. Do you know what ever happened to Doc Lewis’ daughter? I know she left Warsaw as soon as she could, but I don’t know where she moved to, do you? I doubt I would even recognize her.”

  “I just heard from someone that she moved around a lot and just moved outside of New York. I am not sure where she is now.” Nancy said. “You know she was married and got divorced. I think the move was prompted by the divorce. I don’t know what her name is these days. She may have gone back to her maiden name after the divorce. I have an old phone number for her if you want it. Not sure it is still hers though. Why are you so interested in her?”

  “I believe she might be able to help me with something I have been working on, just a hunch,” Lil said. “But, she might just be able to connect the dots for me. Do you happen to know if she went onto medical school just like her dad? If so, I need to be looking in the medical arena.”

  Nancy had to think. “You know, I think she went on to law school instead. Not sure she wanted anything to do with the medical field since her mom’s death. Someone said she was some hot-shot lawyer in Buffalo for several years before she moved.” Nancy gave Lil the last known phone number she had.

  “Thanks so much.” Lil replied. “You are awesome. I will be in touch…stay tuned. Same bat channel, same bat time.” She knew Nancy would smile at that comment.

  Lil hung up the phone and dialed the number. She got the customary recording from the phone company. She left a voice message. “Hey, this is Lil Chandler, now Lil Starling. Nancy Warwick gave me your phone number. She says hi, by the way. Listen, I am working on something from back in our parents’ and my grandparents’ days. Dad left me some boxes of documents, and most of the papers are about that one and only double murder back in 1944 or 1945. I was just wondering if your mom or dad ever mentioned anything specific about it to you? Thanks for whatever you can offer. Looking forward to hearing from you. Get back to me when you can. And, if you ever get near the beaches of South Carolina, please come visit. My husband has a house at the Cherry Grove section of North Myrtle Beach. You would be welcome anytime.” She hoped that the doctor’s daughter would respond. Now maybe she could start getting some answers. That was it. Lil just had to wait for the response.

  She walked back to Joe feeling much better, hugging his neck from behind as he sat at the kitchen table. “You know, a trip to the beach sounds wonderful,” she said. “I will submit a leave request, and we can go down next weekend. Can we call the neighbors and have them over for a cookout under the house?”

  Joe was excited to hear some encouragement from Lil. “Great idea,” he said. “I will call them now and see if they want to join us.” The only discussion after that consisted of what to smoke on the grill and what cold beverages they needed to buy.

  Chapter 41

  North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

  Lil and Joe had a wonderful night’s sleep their first evening at the beach house. The house was built by Joe’s parents in 1967, after they sold their beachfront house and built this one on one of the finger channels. He loved to go there, and it was even more special with Lil because she was definitely a beach person.

  They had coffee on the screened-in porch overlooking a channel full of water. The early morning sun was shining, creating Lil’s favorite scene, sparkles on the water. The channel would rise and fall to the schedule of the tide, just like the ocean. It had a ritual of its own and was fun to watch while sipping coffee or reading a good book. Joe told Lil he called their friends, and they had agreed to meet for dinner under the house. Since it was on stilts, they had plenty of room underneath to grill, drink, and eat at the picnic table.

  “Did you see the Smiths over at the condos?” Lil asked Joe. His parents were good friends with the Smiths, and they looked for them each time they visited the beach. The Smiths owned one of the corner unit condos across the street from the beach house. Joe’s parents had sold many a family from their hometown some of those condos years ago. There were several units on the three floors of the condos, but Joe and Lil could easily see the Smith’s condo from under the house.

  “No, I have not seen them yet,” Joe said. “Did you see their car in the parking lot? I thought I saw a light on in their condo last night, or on the porch, but have not seen them to say ‘hi.’ I don’t even see their car. We can get a better look for their car when we walk past the parking lot on the way down to the beach for a stroll after dinner.”

  Lil and Joe’s friends pulled into the driveway, and Joe lit the grill. The three couples sat at the picnic table and drank wine and beer. After a few rounds, Lil went upstairs to get the steak and shrimp. Joe grilled the steak perfectly, and they feasted on seafood and steak and drank more wine and beer.

  “What a great night,” Lil said. “The breeze under the house is so refreshing. The meal was superb and the conversation great. Good friends are such a blessing.” The couples all agreed and touched glasses. They laughed and told stories and jokes. The more they drank, the funnier the jokes became. Lil opened up and told their friends a little about the family issues she was struggling with and what she had learned so far from the papers in the boxes.

  “This is some serious shit she has been dealing with,” Joe said.

  “Man, you should write a book,” Larry said. He owned two condos down at the Inlet Pier.

  “Yeah, and when she does, I want to be in it,” Joe said. “I will be the gardener…Pete Moss.” The whole group laughed.

  Larry chimed in. “And, since I do woodworking, I want to be in the book as…wait for it…as Stanley DeWalt.” That brought the others to tears from laughing so hard.

  Suddenly, a deafening shot came from out of nowhere and landed with a hard thump in the piling right above Lil’s head. She yelled, “GUN! Everybody get down!” The group followed her instructions, and everyone hit the cement. Lil peeked out from under the table. She knew that sound all too well because of semi-annual firearms training, although she ne
ver heard a bullet whiz by her head quite that close before. She went into reaction mode and called upon her training. She and Joe tipped over the table and instructed everyone to stay behind it.

  “That was a gunshot and it came from the condos,” Joe said, removing his pistol from his shorts pocket with both hands and aimed it toward the condos with both hands. Lil was glad that he was never without his 9mm.

  “I think it came from the Smiths’ condo,” Joe yelled. “Someone call 9-1-1! I am going over to check it out.” He stood up with his gun in his hand.

  “Not without me, you’re not,” Lil said. “Just wait, let me get ‘Pearl.’” She named her .380 ‘Pearl’ because of its pearl handles. She got her gun from their car and quietly closed the car door. Staying right beside Joe, walking toward the condos. They were like “Starsky and Hutch,” with only the light from the streetlamps to guide them, eyeing every condo up and down the three stories, looking for any movement. They stayed low to the ground and waited behind pilings and lamp posts till they thought the coast was clear.

  As they got closer to the Smiths’ condo, Lil looked down on the ground. There would be evidence of the gun somewhere. It did not take them long to find a spent casing on the gravel beside the patio. Looked like it was from a 9-millimeter. She knew enough to leave it for the police to collect as there might be a fingerprint on it.

  “They must have shot at us from around here,” Lil said. “From the patio maybe.” Lil kept her gun drawn and pointed at the condo. Finger off the trigger unless you make the decision to fire. That phrase went through her head many times. It is what the firearms instructor drilled into her head at every qualification. She held the gun with both hands, fingers interlaced, but had that trigger finger pointed straight alongside the gun.

  “I agree, but where did they go?” Joe said. “The condo is dark, and it does not look like anyone was inside it at all. The patio door is closed tight. Where the hell are they now? And where did they go?” That was scary, and he was frustrated. Lil might be accustomed to this sort of thing, but he certainly was not. Lil noticed that their hands were shaking.

  The next sound they heard was a car squealing its wheels out of the back of the parking lot on the other side of the pool.

  “I bet they jumped off the patio went inside the condos, then down the hall and out the back door at the pool,” Lil said. She and Joe ran down the street, with guns drawn, heading toward the pool. With Joe’s “eagle eyes,” he could make out the car’s license plate and made a mental note.

  Back under the house, the group was processing the event as they waited for the police. No one had any idea why someone would take a shot at them. They were clearly shaken, and it should never have happened at a place where everyone felt so safe and comfortable. Lil tried to be strong and put on an act that it did not bother her, like she was used to these types of events, but that could not be farther from the truth. She was rattled, and this was nothing like her training, despite how real the simulations were. She resumed comforting her friends and encouraged them to cooperate with police as much as possible. However, she was so frustrated that she was not quick enough to respond before that person ever got a shot off. She should never have let her guard down and was ashamed she did not follow her training by being more observant. Helpless was one of her feelings at the moment.

  “I wonder if this has anything to do with that case I am working on?” Lil was just throwing things out for discussion, but she was looking directly at Joe. He was standing in the middle of the group but still looking in the direction in which the car went and not really paying attention to Lil.

  “Lil, didn’t you just leave that girl a voicemail message?” Joe asked firmly.

  “Yeah,” she said. “I did it last week when we decided to come to the beach. She has not responded yet, but I haven’t checked my messages today. Why?”

  “Because I think that was her message,” Joe continued. “I think that car had a New York license plate.”

  “How the hell could she have gotten all the way here in that short of a time? Do you think she wanted to kill us, or just scare us?” Lil said. Nevertheless, she was really scared now. What was going on? Was it really the doctor’s daughter who had tried to kill her and Joe? Why? What did she possibly want?

  Lil felt the need to get right back to work on the boxes, and she needed to do it now. That was the only way she could get to the bottom of this. She was determined to find out how the hell this could have happened. This case was getting much too close for comfort.

  Chapter 42

  1945 Warsaw, New York

  Gus woke up in a disturbed state. He reflected on what he had heard about Phillip, something about lawyers and doctors, and wanted to find out just who those so-called ladies who occupied the booth behind him were. As he thought about it, he decided it was just too much to handle in one day. He was truly conflicted about how to structure his day. His routine was usually easy to decide, but now he was torn between investigating his future son-in-law and proceeding with the murder investigation to which he had been assigned. The father in him was really coming out.

  Gus went downstairs, ate breakfast and thought about it for a while over a cup of coffee.

  “Good morning, Gus,” Max said. “Hope you slept well. Gynnie will have breakfast ready in just a few minutes. Would you like to look at the newspaper?” He noticed that Max was being very courteous today.

  “Thank you, Max,” he said. “Yes, I would like to see the paper.”

  “I heard from the Chandlers that they had the opportunity to meet Jacqueline the other night,” Max said. “I am sure they were impressed with her. Did she mention to you if she had a good time?”

  “Oh, why I suppose so,” Gus said. “She is quite smitten with Phillip, and I suppose that meeting his parents was the next logical step in these things. But, she did say she got quite ill after drinking some brandy that Louise gave her. You wouldn’t know anything about that now would you? Since, I assume the Chandlers get their liquor from you and Gynnie.” Gus did not feel like beating around the bush today.

  “Oh, my. Well no, of course I would not know about that. I think I need to, I should check on breakfast, to, I mean with Gynnie. I will be right back. Please excuse me, I will check on the kitchen.” Max nervously excited toward the kitchen. Gus was paying attention.

  “Gynnie, Gus just told me that Jacqueline got sick off of some brandy that Louise gave her the other night. Now you tell me right now what is going on. Did you give Louise some? Did she give it to Jacqueline?” Max stood there with his hand on his hip waiting for an explanation.

  “Not knowingly...oh, God, I hope we didn’t accidentally give them a jar, but, yes, I suppose it is possible. We really need to be more careful with those jars! We should have had them all tested right away...Oh my, is Jacqueline alright?” Gynnie wiped her hands on her apron waiting for Max’s response.

  “I believe so. I’m sorry for being suspicious, I just don’t trust Louise completely, she has always been a bit sly. I’m sure it was an accident though. I will make sure to take a good sniff of all the jars down in the cellar. I have a pretty good nose when it comes to the stuff, but I was almost certain we had gotten rid of all of the bad jars. Clearly I was very much mistaken.” Gynnie and Max came back to their guests. Gynnie brought a tray loaded with breakfast foods.

  “Thank you, Gynnie.” Gus explained the previous evening’s events to Gynnie and turned to Max. “You know, Jacqueline seemed more impressed with Phillip’s generosity because he bought her a lovely dress and matching jewelry from a boutique in town. It was a mighty lavish gesture from a starving law student.”

  “A dress, you say,” Max said. “That must have come from the boutique on Main Street, Fraleigh’s. Nice place. It is run by a nice young lady who grew up here and doesn’t really have to work, her family left her in good shape. But, she loves the shop. Oh, what is her name?
” Max asked, rubbing his forehead trying to remember. “Oh, yes, it is Doris something-or-other. I never can remember her last name.” Max continued to talk about Doris’ last name and her parents, and also the fact that Phillip was anything but poor, but Gus had stopped listening after he heard the boutique name.

  Gus waited until he knew the store would be open and walked in. Jacqueline was right. It was upscale for this small town. He was certainly not a fashion expert but was well aware of the New York City style of clothing. The dress shop had everything a woman could desire and more. He made a note that there was no men’s section, so he had to improvise, which, because of his profession, he was very good at doing.

  “Good morning, sir,” Doris said. “Welcome to Fraleigh’s. Is there anything I can help you with? Are you shopping for that special someone?” Doris liked the look of Gus, he was neatly dressed and clean shaven. She thought she had gotten a whiff of some high-dollar cologne, and she was intrigued. Doris did not see a wedding ring on his finger.

  “Why, thank you kindly,” Gus said and tipped his hat. “I am just looking for now. You are correct, I am searching for something. You will be the first to know when I find exactly what I am looking for.” He removed his hat and meandered toward the back of the store, pretending to be looking at the jewelry.

  The door chime sounded as the front door opened. Doris excused herself from Gus and rushed to welcome the new customer.

  “Good morning, Doris,” a female voice said. “May I have a word?” Doris grabbed the customer’s elbow and escorted her to the far side of a dress carousel. It was her intention to get the customer as far away from Gus as possible.

  “What are you doing here, Cynthia?” Doris asked in an angry tone. Gus positioned himself so he could hear their conversation. Doris had her back to him, so she was oblivious to his eavesdropping.