"Did you have a nice evening, Polly?" he asked, then knelt down to look at the dog.
"It was a great evening. I'm so glad you were there. Your wife seems very nice." Polly responded.
"Thanks. I love her." He stood up. "Well, I suppose I had better get things opened up. The girls said they were going to be in early today. They want to get this project finished." She followed him as he walked to the stage door, pulling out his keys. "By the way, what do you think you're going to do with all the stuff?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "If we can get it back to anyone who wants it, great. Otherwise, Beryl had a good idea about donating money from an auction to a local charity. Maybe I'll keep a few things to display around here. Who knows?"
He unlocked the door, walked in and flipped on the light. "Would you like some coffee?" he asked.
"Oh! I'll get it," she said and turned around to the counter, pouring out two cups of coffee and carrying them up the steps. Obiwan seemed content to be on the leash with her and until she was more comfortable with him being around, that was right where he was staying. She handed a cup off to the deputy and walked around the room. They were right. Most of the crates were now filled with bags and had been tagged. They might even finish the job today.
Sounds of laughter accompanied footfalls on the floor outside the auditorium and grew louder as Polly's friends approached the stage door. "We're here!" Beryl cried out. Lydia and Andy were with her. "Sylvie will be here after lunch. She's working at the store until then."
It took a few moments for everyone to get their coats off, pat the dog and get their coffee, but before too long they were all working steadily away. The morning passed and after lunch, Sylvie joined them on stage.
"Have you decided what you're going to do with all of this, Polly?" she asked.
"Do any of you have a good idea for a charity? I don't know how much we'd raise, but there are some pretty cool pieces here and if we did an online auction, too, I suspect we could make some decent money." Polly said.
Lydia commented, "You know, Polly. The library is in desperate need of some work. The old building could use help."
Polly perked up, "The library? Of course! Why didn't I think of that! Does anyone else have a better idea?"
Beryl said, "There are always a bunch of things in town that need money. Some of them have better patronage than others. You just need to pick one and do it. Lydia, who is on the library board that we can introduce to Polly?"
"We'll find someone. But, that's a good idea." Lydia said.
All of them worked and chattered about things they found in the crates. Knowing now who had picked the items up made their task more interesting as they attempted to discern why a particular item caught his eye. Today, Polly logged a retainer that seemed to be from some time in the eighties, and a couple of cassette tapes that had been recorded. One of them was marked, "For Mindy. I Love You. Ted." She wanted to put that in a cassette player and see what the poor guy had thought would fill his lady love's heart.
Polly was curious about the single saddle shoe. Lydia thought the things in that crate had to be from the mid-seventies, everyone wore saddle shoes for a while. There was a pair of spats tucked inside a band cap, more t-shirts and a well-worn copy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull that Beryl cackled over. There were a number of books that had been bagged up and logged, some had names on the inside and there were even a few with library card envelopes sealed to the inside cover. Polly couldn't believe she was the curator for such an interesting collection of items. Once they got everything dated, this would be a fascinating look at pop culture from the latter part of the twentieth century.
They worked and all of a sudden, Obiwan barked. It made everyone on stage jump. No one had been paying attention to anything other than their task. Aaron was walking up onto the stage with a grim look on his face.
"What's up, Aaron?" Lydia asked.
He shut the door behind him and said, "We're certain the murderer is working here at the school. The only way to know for sure is to fingerprint everyone, but we can't do that, so we need to get a little creative."
"How do you know that?" Polly asked. Her stomach flipped upside down and instinctively she reached down and picked Obiwan up to her lap. There had been a murderer in and out of her school for the last month or so working in her space and seeing how she lived.
"You also need to know that the coat and t-shirt you found was probably his as well. We matched fingerprints from the girls' purses and some that we found on their bones to an old key found in that coat."
"But, you have no idea who it is?" This came from Sylvie. All of the women had stopped working and set their items back down in front of them. They gathered around Aaron and Stu.
"We're becoming more and more certain it was Buddy Landers, but somehow he has become someone else. We don't know when or how that happened. We have no record of him after he left here in the seventies and there are no fingerprints on file anywhere that match to the ones we've got. Since his parents are gone, we've got nothing. But, we have also taken some fingerprints from around here and he's on site.
"Polly, I would guess he's also the one who took your key and tried to get in the front door. His fingerprints were all over that lock.
Polly shuddered. "Alright, I'm not going to complain any more about your insistence that Doug and Billy stay here or that you made me spend some nights at your house. I can't believe he's been so close to all of this. Why would he come back here now? And why would he stick around once the bodies were found?"
"My guess is that he's made his home here and after all these years, he doesn't want to give that up again."
"Oh, the poor boy," said Lydia.
Aaron scowled at her. "Stop it. He killed two girls, two girls that you knew very well. Then, he hid it and got away with it for forty years. Don't you think they should have some justice?"
"But, still. That poor boy. Just think about what he has had to live with. He had to run away and leave his family. When they died, he wasn't around. Then he comes back here with a new name and a new life wanting to be part of a community that he loved all those years and," she sighed, "that poor boy."
This time it was Beryl who scowled at her friend, "Poor boy, my ass. He's my age. He's had forty years of living free while those two girls were dead and their family didn't have the opportunity to watch them grow up and have kiddos of their own. Think about Linda and Sandy. They've missed having a great big family because of him and he wasn't man enough to admit what he did.
"Think about all those lies he told and how many people felt sorry for him and pitied him and helped him. He spent an entire year finishing his schooling with everyone thinking he was some poor lost soul whose girlfriend had run away from him. Poor boy? Not in my book."
Andy was quiet, then said, "We can't tell Linda and Sandy until we know for sure."
Aaron interjected, "We can't tell anyone until we know for sure. The only reason I'm here this afternoon telling you is that I need your help."
"How can we help," Polly was puzzled.
"Nearly everyone drinks coffee around here. We need to identify some cups and get them taken away for analysis. I brought a big box of cookies up from the Dutch Bakery in Boone. They're on the counter. Polly, what if you were to invite small groups of the workers to come in and have some coffee and cookies. We'll change out the trash and at least start limiting the possibilities."
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I can do that! Girls, are you ready to be hostesses?"
"Any way you can separate the cups so I can more closely identify them will be great," he said.
"We're on it big guy," Beryl laughed. "I have an idea." She opened up her bag and pulled out some Sharpie markers. "Let's get busy, girls!"
Polly went upstairs to the bathroom where Doug and Billy were working. She invited the team down for cookies. Jerry Allen looked at her oddly, but it was close enough to a break time, he scooted them out and downstairs, following behind his
people. Everyone was interested in the new dog and between the cookies and petting Obiwan, the time went quickly. She moved around from room to room, gathering Henry's group, then the team putting drywall up and finally the group that was tearing up the yard behind the kitchen.
After each group, Lydia, Sylvie and Andy bagged up the empty cups and put a new bag in the container. When they were finished, Beryl handed Aaron a tablet with marks and names on it.
"I marked each cup, then wrote down who took which cup with which mark. Each bag is numbered and I've numbered each piece of paper." She grinned and with a little bit of a cocky attitude said, "I'd make a helluva detective, wouldn't I!"
They all laughed and Aaron put the bags in a larger trash bag. "Thank you so much, ladies. I'll let you know what we find. Since we only have to do comparison, I'm hoping this goes quickly."
"Well!" Beryl said, "I'd call that a good day. I'm done." She looked at Polly. "You have got to be finished with all of this insanity around here soon. It is certainly playing havoc with my creativity. I keep choosing to hang out here and I need to make better choices. One more day. You get one more day and then I have to get to work! Shall we make that day tomorrow and be finished then?"
Polly laughed. "Well, I'm sorry! If I'd known we were cramping your style, I would have," she paused, "done nothing differently." She went on. "I'll be here tomorrow if you guys want to finish up."
Beryl hugged her, "I'd have done nothing differently either. But, one more day. That's all it's going to take and we'll be finished with that stuff."
Andy said, "It's been interesting, but I'm tired of looking at other people's stuff, too. I'm ready to be finished. Tomorrow is a great idea."
"Me too," Sylvie said. She looked at her watch. "Oh! I told the boys we could have tacos tonight. I suppose I'd better get home and start cooking. I don't know what my schedule is, but if I'm free, I might bring the boys over with some video games. It would be good for them to get out of the house."
Lydia said, "Well, sure, then! No one in my life has anything going on. Nine o'clock?" Everyone nodded, then she asked Polly, "Are you doing anything for supper tonight? We'd love to have you over?"
"No," Polly said. "I think Obiwan and I will stay at home. Now that my things are in the apartment, I can turn the television on, sit around and play on the internet, turn on my music or sleep in the living room on the couch!"
"Alright then, I'll see you all in the morning!" Then, they looked at Stu, who stood there shaking his head. "I'll talk to Aaron tonight. I doubt that I need to be here any longer. I will leave a hard drive and SD card with Polly and unless he sends someone up, you guys are on your own. Just keep the door locked until then, okay?"
"Whoops! Sorry about that," Polly said. "Oh, we could have gotten ourselves in trouble!"
Everyone closed down their work and left for the evening. Polly took Obiwan outside again and as they walked around the yard, she watched cars taking off from the lots. Then, she saw Billy and Doug walking toward her.
"So, we were wondering," Doug asked as they got closer, "what would you think if we brought our friends back and hooked up to your internet and played games tonight?"
"Oh!" she replied, "You like my school?"
"Yeah," he said. "It's great. There's all that space and all those plugs we've put in the walls. We'll bring pop and food tonight, you don't have to supply that. But, can we put stuff in the cooler?"
"Absolutely. Obiwan and I will be up and down. Have fun!"
"Thank you! You're the best! And, we're bringing pizza in. You can have pizza with us if you want."
"Cool. I'd love that." she said. "See you later."
The two boys went tripping along back to Doug's car. Obiwan and she walked around the creek for a little while longer as the sun went down and then went inside.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Getting up early wasn’t quite as easy as she’d hoped, but since most of the workers were planning to be at the school to catch up, she started moving. Marvin had cleaned up the coffee pot and gotten it ready last night before he left, so all she needed to do was turn it on. The kids had played games until after midnight and she wasn't sure what she would find downstairs, so she opened the kennel to a very happy Obiwan and they went for a long morning walk. Polly was glad the weather was still fairly mild. She wasn't afraid of the cold weather; Boston had its share of bitter temperatures, but this was a nice way to spend an early morning. The stars were out and she was still thrilled by the fact that she could see them again. They walked across the highway into the park, greeting one other jogger who was out with his dog. Obiwan got very excited to see someone his own size, but the jogger waved and ran on down the road. After forty-five minutes, she and Obiwan found themselves back at her front door; he was still bouncing with anticipation.
"It's going to take a lot to wear you out isn't it, little guy. Alright, let's get things going. She went back to the kitchen and turned the coffee maker on. The kids had done a great job cleaning up, she saw that the trash can was filled with pizza boxes and empty bags of chips. Other than that, the place was clear. Obiwan was bouncing at her feet.
"Oh, that's right. I should probably feed you first. Alright, let's go, Obiwan," and they went out and up the stairs to her apartment.
Polly put food in his dish and while he was eating, figured that was a great time to take a shower. When she came out, he was sitting in the doorway of the bathroom waiting for her again.
"Really? I can't get over this," she said and reached down to pat his head. He leaned into her hand. "Yes. I know. We're the best friends on earth." She bent over and picked him up, snuggling her face into the nape of his neck. "I'm so glad you're here."
While she dressed for the day, she set him on her bed. The first thing he did was to race back and forth from the base to the headboard, and then he burrowed under her pillows and stuck his head out at her, panting the entire time. "If you get too used to this bed, I'm going to feel guilty every time I put you in the kennel," she said. "Alright, it's time for me to find breakfast. Let's go."
They went downstairs in time to open the door when she heard it chime. Obiwan barked at Leroy, Ben and Marv, who all stopped to say good morning and then went up to begin working. Henry was pulling into the lot out front and Polly waited at the door for him.
"Good morning!" she called.
"Good morning to both of you!" and as he approached them, he knelt down to stroke Obiwan's head.
"That's how it is going to work, isn't it!" declared Polly.
Henry looked up, confused.
"I will stand here and the dog will get all of the attention. It's over for me now, isn't it!"
"Well, I suppose I could pat you on the head when I say hello. It seems a little odd, though." Henry retorted.
"Uh huh. Your guys are already upstairs. They just got here."
"Terrific," he replied, "we're going to finish laying and sanding the wood today in the front apartment and at least get a good start on the back apartment. I might have them haul your boxes to that corner of the hallway by your kitchen, if you don't mind."
"Oh, sure! I hadn't even been over to check things out on that side."
"Don't worry about it. We'll get them out of the way and then you should be able to dig through them whenever you have time. I wanted to get as much wood put down today as possible so we could start finishing it early next week."
"Thank you, Henry. I appreciate all the work. One of these days we'll have to sit down and figure out what you project the end of some of these projects to be. I'm going to have to start thinking about timing on the next steps. There's a lot to process on before I can start advertising an opening date."
"Maybe we should go out for dinner some evening soon. I'd love to take you to a little place I know over in Ames." he said.
"That sounds great."
"Time to get started," Henry said and he bent back down to rub the happy puppy. Then he went upstairs.
Polly and
Obiwan wandered out to the kitchen. She thought about baking something for the guys who were working today, it only seemed fair, since they were working on Saturday. Her laptop was upstairs though and most of her recipes were in there. She was going to have to buy some more technology around here soon. The only recipe she could confidently bake from memory was chocolate chip cookies and that didn't feel right this morning. While she thought, she sliced two pieces of bread and dropped them in the toaster, then poured a cup of coffee.
Her toast popped up and she buttered it, thought about it a minute and said, "I've got plenty of time. Let's go back upstairs and enjoy the new apartment. There's no reason to sit down here by myself. She and Obiwan went up the stairs, unlocked her apartment, completely ignoring the sounds coming from across the big hallway, went in and curled up on her sofa together. She watched mindless television while snuggling with the puppy. "This is the life, little guy," she said. "This is the life."
At nine o'clock they went back downstairs. She grabbed a blanket for Obiwan. He had fallen asleep on the stage yesterday and she couldn't bear to see him be uncomfortable, "Good heavens," she thought, "I'm going to be one of those pet owners." Then she giggled and thought, "and I love it."
She unlocked the stage door and turned on the computer when she heard shoes click-clacking across the hall. Soon, Beryl and Andy came in. Sylvie followed close behind them with her two boys, Jason and Andrew. Andrew squealed when he saw the puppy and ran up to him, only to be stopped by his mother's firm voice, "Andrew. Stop."
He stopped, but not before startling Obiwan, but Polly had a close rein on his leash.
"Slow down, Andrew," his mother said. "Go very slowly and ask Miss Polly if you can pet the puppy."
By now, both Andrew and the puppy were wiggling in their attempts to get to each other.
"May I pet the puppy, please?" the little boy asked Polly.
"You sure can," she said, as she knelt down beside the two of them. "Just go slow and let him sniff your hand first, like this." She put her hand out in front of Obiwan's nose and he slobbered all over it. Andrew's hand was right in there beside hers and collected some of the slobbering tongue's action.
All Roads Lead Home (Bellingwood) Page 25