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The Ginseng Conspiracy (A Kay Driscoll Mystery)

Page 6

by Bernhardt, Susan


  The events of last night flashed in my mind. I felt so damned guilty. I should have done something, anything. Could I have changed the way this all had turned out? Al knew this was our usual walk we took each day. I had just mentioned it to him a few days ago. He was nearby when Deirdre asked me last night if I wanted to walk today. Was finding Walter's body a little too neat? Did Al leave the professor here for us to find? For me to find? As a warning? Had he recognized me in the vacant store? Oh my gosh! I wanted to scream, but I needed to appear calm.

  Fifteen minutes later, sirens wailed in the distance. It seemed like hours since Elizabeth had made the call. Like a shot, I stood up. The police arrived first. They identified the body as Professor Sherman Walters. Deputy Chief Bill Murphy and Detective Ron Carstairs started questioning us as to the circumstances of our discovery. Of course Bill Murphy, one of the hooded conspirators, would be the first one to show up. Elizabeth did most of the talking. Murphy went off and made a call on his cell phone while Carstairs stayed with us.

  “Carstairs, get this area secured right away,” Murphy said, returning. “The forensic team will be here soon.”

  Ten minutes later, the ambulance arrived with two white-jacketed attendants. Dr. Anders, the county coroner, who I worked with at the free clinic, stepped out of his Mercedes-Benz CLS wearing a lab coat over his suit. He must have been at work when he received the call. He looked tired. Dr. Anders pulled on latex gloves, glanced at his watch, and knelt down next to the body. I watched him as he examined the professor. He turned over the body with the help of one of the attendants. After a brief examination, he stood up, took off the gloves, and went over and talked to the police officers putting the crime scene tape up. I heard him say the words, “accidental drowning.” While the crime photographer took pictures, Dr. Anders looked up at me and came over as I was looking at the body.

  “Kay, you found the body?

  “My friends and I discovered the professor lying in the water. We were on a walk,” I said, looking into his steely gray eyes.

  Dr. Anders shook his head. “Terrible accident.”

  “Accident? Are you sure?” I asked.

  “That's what it looks like to me,” he said, gesturing at the scene by the river.

  I shrugged my shoulders.

  “I did a preliminary exam. It looks like Professor Walters slipped on the rocks near the water, fell, and hit his head, which would explain the contusions on his scalp. He must have landed, unconscious, face down in the water and drowned. His body got caught up on the rocks or the current would have carried him downstream. Of course, Kay, I'll be doing an autopsy to confirm the exact cause and manner of death.” Good, I thought. The toxicology report would show the drugs in the professor's body that were used to knock him out cold in the vacant store.

  “Dr. Anders, I noticed the discoloration on the professor's body. Look, you can see the reddish-blue discoloration of livor mortis on the body which occurs, I believe, around ten hours after death, meaning he would have been walking around here in the middle of the night,” I said. “There aren't any lights in this area. It doesn't make sense he would be down here by the water at that time.”

  Couldn't Dr. Anders figure out this wasn't an accidental death? Did I need to spell it out for him?

  “Kay, I don't have any idea what he was doing here. All I can do is determine if there is, in fact, water present in his airway and stomach and if the lungs are swollen up. If these signs are present, then his death is due to drowning, which is what I am expecting to see. If anything else, like blood in the lungs or a spasm in the larynx shows up, we may have a different story.”

  He sure seemed terse and matter of fact. I walked back to Deirdre and Elizabeth standing a few yards away. Deputy Chief Bill Murphy came over and said, “Ladies, I'm going down to the police station soon. Please meet me there in thirty minutes to give your statements.” He turned to Dr. Anders and said, “Michael, Detective Ron Carstairs will be available to you if you need any assistance here.”

  Ron Carstairs turned to Bill Murphy and asked, “What about searching the area?” My ears perked up.

  “Sure, we will,” Murphy replied.

  Yeah, you bet. I'm sure he didn't mean it at all.

  “We’d better head over to the police station, then,” Elizabeth said.

  What kind of statement was I going to make to Bill Murphy? Was Carstairs involved, too? Bill Murphy had sounded casual about doing a search. Was all of police department involved? Should I speak to Dr. Anders before we left about what I saw in the vacant store? I trusted him. I knew if any evidence still existed, it may not last for long. I decided to keep quiet, not wanting to take the chance that Bill Murphy might overhear what I said. Perhaps later.

  As we left to go to the police station, the photographer packed up his cameras, and the paramedics placed Walters into a body bag. I shook my head. I wish I had done something, anything to prevent his death last night. Deirdre saw me and put her arm around my shoulder. “Tough time,” she said. If she only knew.

  * * * *

  When we arrived at the police station, we were directed into a small windowless room, the walls bare of any features. In the center of the room was a large table with three chairs on each side. A few minutes later, Bill Murphy came in carrying a recorder and sat down at the table opposite from us, the overhead light reflecting off of his shaved head. He placed the recorder on the table and pushed the button to turn it on. “Let’s start at the beginning,” he said, folding his muscular, hairy arms over his gray and blue uniform. “What were you doing on campus this morning?”

  “The three of us walk in the morning during the week,” Elizabeth said.

  He smiled at Elizabeth and asked, “Ms. Sullivan, is this the usual path you walk on Sundays?”

  Deirdre took over. “Usually we walk during the work week, but we were at the Halloween Ball last night, all three of us, and we wanted to talk about it.”

  “Yes, I recall seeing you three at the Ball,” he said, glancing over at Elizabeth. He bit at his lower lip. A gleam reflected in his blue eyes. Changing gears, he asked, “Did you know the deceased?”

  Bill Murphy made me sick just looking at the smirk on his face.

  “I knew Sherman from the college,” Elizabeth said. “I work at the library.”

  “We would see him going to school on our walks most mornings,” Deirdre added. “We must have left our homes about the same time as the professor.”

  “When was the last time you saw Professor Walters alive?”

  “I think it was on Friday morning,” Elizabeth said. “We did see him Friday morning, didn’t we?”

  “Yes,” Deirdre nodded.

  Murphy looked at me with his ruthless eyes. “Yes, we saw him on Friday,” I said.

  “Do you have anything else to say?” he asked me.

  I paused. This was all so unreal. The murderer questioning the three of us. “No, I think you pretty much know everything.”

  “Well that's it for now,” Bill Murphy said, his eyes squinting at me. “Thank you for your time. I'm sorry you had to go through such a terrible shock this morning. Ladies, you can wait out in the hall until your statements are typed up. Sign them, and then you are free to go.” He stood up and walked over to open the door of the room.

  “What about Professor Walters' wife, Mary Ann? Has anyone told her?” Elizabeth asked.

  “An officer has already contacted her.”

  Deirdre and I left the room. As Elizabeth walked toward the door, Bill Murphy closed it a bit. I heard him say, “Ms. Sullivan, if I need further information on this case, I may have to give you a call. If you think of anything additional, please let me give you my number.”

  Elizabeth came out into the hallway where we are waiting, tucking a card into her pocket.

  Deirdre opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Elizabeth said to her, “Let me guess...bad aura.”

  “Yes, he is so far removed from the constructive forc
es of the universe,” Deirdre said.

  “Deirdre...” Elizabeth started.

  I went over to Elizabeth and slipped my arm beneath hers so that our arms locked together. “Come on, Elizabeth.” I did the same to Deirdre with my other arm and said, “Let’s wait outside.” The three of us walked down the long hallway together, arm in arm and out the door, to wait until we could sign the typed statements.

  * * * *

  On the way back from the police station we passed Margaret’s house. Her car was in the driveway. I was surprised to see that she was back from her sister's so soon.

  By the time I arrived home, Phil had already left for band practice. A note on the table said he'd be back in the late afternoon. This gave me some time to think about what had happened. The discovery of Sherman Walters shook me up. With an icy chill still lingering in my body, I ran a bath and sank into the warm water.

  Lots of questions ran through my mind. What should I do about Sherman’s murder? I never felt more out of control. I had always worked with the police, not against them. Beyond a doubt, what did I know? The professor was murdered and the identity of two of the six people in the vacant store with a third person named John. Who else was involved? Even when the toxicology report showed drugs in the professor's body, nothing would be known about the people in the vacant store.

  Chances are Bill Murphy would run the investigation in the wrong directions, all leading to nowhere. What was needed was some solid evidence. For now, if I came forward, it would be my word again six others, one of those a Deputy Chief of Police and the other a well respected member of the community. Were other police officers involved? And what about the professor? What had been the motivation to kill him?

  After eating a hot pastrami on rye sandwich for lunch, I decided to go over to Margaret’s and see what I could find out from her. I put the costumes into a bag along with her mail and headed over to her house. How could I bring up the topic of the silk gossamer robe in her attic? Obviously she or her husband belonged to the group I saw on Saturday night. Just a few days ago we were having a carefree tea at Marissa’s, and now I viewed her with suspicion.

  Margaret must have seen me coming because she opened the door before I even had a chance to ring her bell. Or was she expecting someone else?

  “Margaret, you're back early,” I said, smiling. “How's your sister doing?”

  “She seemed to be feeling much better than I thought, my dear. We had a nice visit, catching up.”

  “Did you come back today?”

  “Just over an hour ago. I have some business to attend to.”

  “Your package arrived from China.” I handed over her mail.

  “Thank you, Kay.” She placed it on the table beside the door. “You don't have to stand out there with those costumes. Would you like to come in?”

  I stepped through the doorway with the bagged costumes. My eyes darted up the stairs leading to the attic, but then, through the corner of my eye, I saw Margaret watching me, so I turned to face her. “Did you hear about Professor Walters drowning?”

  “Yes, the poor man. How horrible.” Margaret looked somewhat somber but for the most part, uninterested.

  I kept on topic, scanning for any flicker of emotion across Margaret’s face. “Did you know him?”

  “No.”

  “Two of my friends and I discovered his body this morning in the river while walking on campus. Quite upsetting. We just came back from making our statements to the police, to Bill Murphy actually. You must know Bill Murphy.”

  I watched Margaret, how fragile she appeared. She wasn't her usual bold, confident self today. Her chin quivered a bit. Could she be involved in anything this shady? I couldn’t imagine, but how to explain the hooded robes like the one I saw in her attic?

  Margaret changed the subject without answering my question about Bill Murphy. “How was the party, my dear? Which costumes did you choose?”

  “It was magical,” I lied, sounding a bit too enthusiastic. I wiped some sweat from my forehead. Be calm. Calm, my new personal mantra. I should talk to Deirdre about relaxation exercises.

  “I chose this fairy costume for myself and the Sherlock Holmes costume for Phil.” I took them out of the bag, thankful I didn't choose the silk gossamer hooded robe. “Phil looked great as Sherlock Holmes.”

  “He is a handsome man. I remember wearing the costume you chose in A Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

  I smiled. “I thought that’s where it came from.”

  “What did everyone else wear?” A look of interest grew on her face. “Tell me all about the party.”

  We spent time talking about costumes, the imaginative decorations, and whom I saw that she knew. When I mentioned seeing Al and his wife, I saw her grimace. I didn’t understand the reaction, but did not feel it was appropriate for me to ask what was behind it. Continuing on, I talked about what a great time we had, all the time thinking about the frightening events of the nerve-wracking evening. I decided I had had enough. I needed to leave. From seeing her reactions to my mentions of Bill and Al, I could see Margaret knew more about what happened to Walters than she was letting on. I would have to find a way to get more information from her later.

  The phone rang. When Margaret answered it, she didn’t seem too pleased with the person on the other end. I motioned toward the door and waved good-bye. She gave a halfhearted wave back, and I let myself out. I stood outside her screen door for a few seconds.

  “Just got back,” I heard her say. “I couldn't believe it....Why is he coming here?...Do you think that's necessary?”

  When Margaret started to turn in my direction, I left and walked down her sidewalk toward the street. I wished I knew who Margaret was talking to and what the other person was saying. As I reached the front of Margaret’s yard, I saw Dr. Anders' car approaching. Perhaps I should talk to him about what I saw and find out what he thought. I waved to get his attention, but he must not have seen me. His mind was probably elsewhere. He looked tired this morning. He always worked so hard and with such dedication for the free clinic.

  I walked back home, thinking about Margaret’s involvement in all of this. She said she just came back this afternoon. When Phil and I walked back from the Ball last night her car wasn't in the driveway, where she had to park because of Earl's two vintage cars in the garage. She wasn't one of the six in the vacant store, but she had the same robe as the others wore up in her attic, which meant she had to be connected somehow.

  Phil came home around five o'clock while I was making chicken parmigiana for dinner.

  “You wouldn’t believe what happened,” I said, and I proceeded to tell him about discovering Walters. “He drowned. They say it's an accident.”

  Phil looked up from his folder of guitar music. “And you just saw him last night in the vacant store?”

  “I'm impressed you remember that.”

  “I’m sorry, Kay. I know how it upset you. I wonder if they will need a band for the wake?”

  I just shook my head, something I seemed to do a lot of, as of late. Phil went back to arranging his sheet music.

  Chapter Six

  Monday, October 31

  Halloween finally arrived after the harrowing weekend. On our walk this Monday morning, we saw lots of excited, boisterous children waiting to climb onto the yellow school buses in their Halloween costumes.

  “Look at all these kids,” I said, surveying the throng of monsters and movie stars. “They're already bouncing up and down!”

  “I don’t know how the teachers will contain all that energy,” Deirdre added. “It doesn't look like they can wait to start their school parties any longer.”

  “Pity any teacher trying to get work done today,” Elizabeth said, looking unenthused at the scene.

  “Why even bother? It’s Halloween. Today is about having fun,” I said. “All they're going to think about is trick-or-treating tonight anyway.” As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I thought back to our Halloween party Sa
turday evening and the murder.

  The last of the buses with their open windows rolled past us, carrying their noisy passengers. The street grew silent, but an after-image of the children's excitement remained burned in the air.

  When I arrived home from walking, Phil was packing up his things for class.

  “I just finished making breakfast for you.” He took out a plate of pumpkin spice pancakes and maple sausages he kept warm in the oven for me. “Surprise! I hope this is a good start to a better day. I know how tough your weekend was. I’ll come home straight after class. It shouldn't be any later than eight o'clock.”

  “Thanks. This is great,” I said, glancing at the plate of yummy-looking pancakes and sausages he put in front of me. “Did you get a chance to eat?”

  “I inhaled a couple of the pancakes that didn’t come out right. Don’t have a whole lot of time. This morning I'm bending the ribs of my guitar. It’s tricky. A lot of the students have cracked theirs and had to start the whole process over, thicknessing new wood.”

  I felt so smug whenever I thought of or used the word thicknessing. I had learned from Phil that all it meant was thinning the wood to the correct thickness, but why say that when you can make music, plucking the word thicknessing off the tip of your tongue? “Good luck. I hope you don't crack any ribs.” I hugged him.

  “I think I just felt one crack right now.” He gave me a winning smile.

  After finishing the last of the sausages and pancakes, I decided I would be skipping lunch today. I poured myself a second and then third cup of coffee, spooning in two sugars, and thought back to the professor’s death. So much to think about, so much to consider, and I had so many questions.

  It seemed my scare the other night was turning out to be the beginning of a full-fledged murder mystery. I knew I needed to tell the authorities about the professor, but who could I trust to report it to? I thought about my friend, Thom Harris, a boyfriend from my college days who I had become reacquainted with while working together in Boulder on a case. After reestablishing our friendship, our families spent much time together. He was an FBI agent who worked out of the Denver office. I could contact Thom. He would know about the procedures and could advise me. But first, I needed to find some solid proof to substantiate my accusations. What could he or any state police do without proof? Until then, I would have to leave him out of the loop.

 

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