"Lord Stacy," said Rory, ''you make a good case of it. You know I'd hate to be responsible for an innocent man to spend the rest of his life in prison. What we need is a witness who saw Vicki with Mrs. Southwin in Coos Bay."
"Okay, what are you guys waiting for," said Chief Foreham. "Remember this; once they sentence him and he's incarcerated, it's hard or difficult to get him out."
The motel where she stayed was the lower class that wouldn't ask questions or pay much attention to the guests. The other unknown was where she had lunch. It could have been there she mixed the sleeping pills into Vicki's drink. Lastly was the grocery wholesale warehouse. Stacy took the restaurant portion of the search; Rory took the motel and Ben went to the grocery warehouse.
Stacy had the toughest job as she had to hear from Dorothy where she had lunch on that Friday. To make it seem more relaxed, she went home and changed out of her uniform for casual clothes. On the way to the golf course, she racked her brain for a way to introduce where Dorothy had lunch.
She was still looking for an angle when she pulled into the golf course parking lot. She decided to play it by ear and to sympathize with her husband being in jail.
Stacy found Dorothy in the small kitchen preparing for lunch time. She put on a big smile for her with a cheerful good morning. Stacy said, "Hi Mrs. Southwin, I thought I'd come by and see how you're doing."
"Oh, Stacy; I've never seen you without your uniform. You look so attractive in street clothes. Just a minute and I'll join you for a break."
Stacy found a table and noticed the bartender was the cranky old witch that worked part time when Andy wasn't available. Stacy ordered a club soda with a twist of lemon. She paid the unsmiling woman and sat at the table by the window. The place was virtually empty, but it was still early morning for a lunch crowd.
Dorothy came out wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. She sat down in a plop exclaiming how tired she was. Stacy sympathized with her and said, "How you doing and how're holding up with Andy behind bars Mrs. Southwin."
"Call me Dot. All my friends call me Dot. I'm not doing so good Stacy. Andy won't talk and he won't have a lawyer. What am I to do?"
"I wish I had an answer for that situation. I hope he can make peace with his God. I'm on leave for a few days and going up the coast for some peace of mind. I don't get out often and I thought I'd hit Coos Bay for lunch. Have you any recommendations of a good place to eat on the way up the coast?"
"Well, when I go grocery shopping I usually stop off at the Golden Goose just as you enter town past the big corner to the right. I had a lovely cob salad awhile back. Another place is between Coos Bay and North bend. It has a strange name of Tiger Lilly, but the food is good. Anyway, I'm happy you stopped by."
"Is there anything I can do to make things easier for you Dot," said Stacy.
"You can plead with Andy to put up a fight. Lord knows he wasn't in his right mind when it happened. The lawyer said to plead not guilty due to insanity or something like that," Dot said.
Armed with some leads, Stacy went home, changed back into her uniform, stopped by the station to tell the chief she was hot on the trail to Coos Bay and the Golden Goose restaurant. He wished her luck. Stacy had received a blow up of a picture from the local newspaper of both Mr. and Mrs. Southwin when they began renovations on the Bandon Links.
Stacy parked a little ways away from the restaurant so as not to scare off the customers seeing a police car out front. Inside she found a young woman tending the cash register. It wasn't busy as it was just after 10 am. After introducing herself, she handed the employee Dorothy's picture saying, "Have you ever seen this woman before. She may have been in here Friday the 11th of March."
"Well, she does look familiar, but as to the date, let me check my schedule for that time." She dug out her smart phone and scrolled up her work schedule. "Yes, I was here then. Now let me see……" A waitress walked by and looked at the picture the cash attendant was holding. She said:
"I remember her. You should too Sharon. You ran out the door to her van because she forgot her change."
"Yes, she'd given me a twenty and had around five dollars change coming. She'd ordered take out. I got to her van just in time as she was just leaving."
Stacy's heart was racing, she asked, "Was there anyone with her at that time in the passenger seat?"
"Humm, let me think about that." Stacy handed her a picture of Vicki. "Yes, I remember the passenger now. She had a beautiful smile and was drop dead beautiful."
"Now, this is vitally important ladies. Would you swear in a court of law that you saw these two women together on Friday March 11th," asked Stacy.
"Wow this must be serious, but indeed I would officer," said Sharon Wilson.
"You'll be contacted later to make a statement to the Oregon State Police detective Rory Caltex," said Stacy. "If I'm not mistaken Ms. Wilson, you just saved a man's life." She turned and walked outside with her cell in her hand to call Rory.
Rory and Ben both came to the Golden Goose and met Stacy. The Golden Goose had a small conference room where the four of them sat down to listen to Sharon Wilson's story. By the time they'd finished it was lunch hour. There was no rush to take her formal statement so they had lunch while they waited for the rush hour to end. At a little after 1 pm Rory and Ben took Sharon Wilson to their office for a formal state. In addition, the prosecuting attorney was summoned from Coquille.
By late afternoon they decided to bring Mrs. Southwin in for questioning. Stacy said, as they were all in one office in North Bend, "I have an idea. Mrs. Southwin likes me and maybe I can get her to confess. Otherwise, she might just clam up; what do you think?"
Each looked at each other and all shrugged their shoulders. The prosecutor said, "Why not. We've nothing to lose. If she tries to run let's have some backup though.
At the Nineteenth Hole
It was just 5:30 pm when Stacy, back in street clothes, entered the Bandon Links club house. A few customers were still drinking at the bar. Dorothy was cleaning the kitchen, as usual. Stacy stuck her head in the kitchen door saying, "Hello again Dot. When you're finished I'd like to talk to you one more time."
Dorothy looked up with a surprised look on her face. Stacy smiled and said, "I had a change of plans. I'll wait for you at a table Dot."
Dorothy without her apron came out looking a little puzzled, Stacy thought. She'd brought a club soda for Stacy and a diet cola for herself. She said, "I thought by now you'd be in Newport."
"I did make it to the Golden Goose Dot. I had a wonderful lunch, by the way. Dot," Stacy said with a serious face, "your husband is sitting in jail protecting you from being charged with the homicide of Vicki Strom. The till attendant remembered you very well as you'd forgotten your change. She ran out to the parking lot and through the driver's window of your van, handed you the change. In addition she saw and swears that she recognized by picture your passenger Vicki Strom. I think Dot you'd like to tell me the story please."
A look of anguish and pain ripped through Dot's face and body. Stacy could see that this woman had some mental problems. Stacy first heard, then saw, the can of cola slowly crumple in her powerful hands. She looked at Stacy with wild eyes and said, "You're a clever girl Stacy. I wanted the bastard to rot in jail for what he did to me. Can you imagine a wife finding out her husband has a mistress that is pregnant? And to top it off, he's going to divorce his wife for this young beauty. No way. I worked too hard to be humiliated like that. My parents are upper crust and would be crushed to find out their only daughter was cast away for a young, whore blackjack dealer from Vegas; I'm not a bit sad or remorseful. My problem is Stacy; investigators like you and the rest of your generation are just too damn good for the average or above average criminal."
"I'm very sorry Dot. I hate the cliché 'it's not a perfect world', but men are led by their testosterone brains. Now, if you want to, tell me the complete story as I'd love to hear how one as clever as you almost pulled off a perfect crime."
"No questions Dot. Well, there's one more but to confirm my thinking. I found the broken heel for her shoe up on the new development street. I suppose you put it there for a red hearing?
"Of course," she said smiling smugly. .
"There're police outside waiting to take you away. I thank you for not sacrificing Andy Southwin regardless of what he did," said Stacy.
"I think it's kind of ironic Stacy, when you think about it. I was cooked by the Golden Goose."
The Fourth of July
"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the First Annual Fourth of July Golf Tournament. I'm your host Andy Southwin. At the Old Bandon Links we're proud to say we have a fully booked tournament scheduled with some wonderful prizes that were donated by local and regional sponsors.
On the first tee our 'dew sweepers' as usual are first to tee off. First to hit will be Gladys Wainleft, second is Betty Flowers, third is Lois Long and last but not least, Veronica Stevens. Hit away ladies."
Stacy was standing off to the side enjoying the warmish summer day with Rory Caltex. If nothing else, they silently agreed to be civil and polite to each other. Stacy said, "Andy looks good considering the events that have unfolded since March."
"I'd think it takes a strong person to weather the storm like he has. I understand he's filed for divorce. Dorothy, as you well know, was certified insane. It's doubtful she'll see the light of day," said Rory as Gladys hit a high sweeping hook into the gorse to begin her tournament.
"I was happy Rory to see our townspeople support Andy even though he really isn't a long term resident yet."
Rory started to say something when a vibration tickled his leg. He moved off digging out his cell. He cupped his hands over his mouth and 30 seconds later was back standing by Stacy. "Hey partner, we've got to go; a body just washed up at Sunset Bay. The caller said a spear from a spear gun has pierced clean through the body."
The End
___________________________________________________________
Next up is a twist and turner trying to determine who killed the guy, stuck him naked upside down in a trashcan and then super glued his feet against the back wall of a convenience store.
Superglue Nightmare
Stacy Foreham Novella
2013
For police officer Stacy Foreham, it was a severe let down after the Bandon Links murder that put away an insane woman for life. The days that followed were mundane without interest. She was moping around the police station searching for something to do. Her father, Chief Raymond Foreham worried about his daughter. He'd tried various things to bring her out of the doldrums. Such as, public school lectures; church activities and some law enforcement seminars up in Salem.
However, unknown to Stacy, the action was just around the corner. Rory Caltex, a detective with the Oregon State Police, with an office in North Bend, was about to call her with news of a homicide. But when she first saw the familiar phone number Stacy wasn't too excited as ever since the last homicide case closed, Rory had been trying to become friends with her. Sadly for him, she at only 23 and fresh out of the university; and he at 31, was too old for her. Besides she wanted her work to reside on a professional level not with personal strings attached.
Reluctant to answer, but then curiosity prevailed, Rory said, "Stacy, we've got a suspicious death in your neighbor. We got a call from a small convenience store south of Bandon about 5 miles on 101. The information is sketchy as the person calling was fairly shook up. It seems she went out back to dump some trash and found a body sticking head down in a garbage can. She also said the shoeless feet were stuck against the side of the building. I'm in my vehicle now and if you've nothing to do, I'll pick you up in 20 minutes."
"I'm ready. I'm so bored I could investigate a dead cat. See you soon," she said. While she waited, she reflected on her University of Chicago criminology degree. Indeed she was heavily recruited by the FBI and other agencies. But, she decided to spend a few years at home with her father learning police tactics on the street level. There was always time for changing and or relocating.
She alerted the chief to what and where she was going. He told her to be careful. "There're some rough folks that live that way. Nothing major but drunken brawls, petty thievery, and some drug abuse. The 'God father' is a guy by the name of Slim Perkins. Nothing that goes on in that area, where the Beach Loop Road comes out to 101, that he doesn't know about."
"I'll keep that in the front of my mind chief." Stacy hurried to the restroom and ran a comb through her short blond hair. Other than a pale red gloss on her full lips, she wore no other makeup. By the time she'd finished, and picked up her black homicide bag, Rory was in the parking lot waiting for her. He knew better than to honk his horn as she'd blasted his redneck attitude on the last case to last a life time. He was on his best behavior with her. He accepted the fact she out brained him, but in his own way, he had some experience to draw from.
Stacy got in the back as Ben Razor, Rory's partner was riding shotgun. Ben was a quiet man, but always thinking. He saw things others didn't. He told Stacy a good morning as they drove off south quickly leaving town. It was the middle of August on the southern Pacific Ocean. However, even in August one needed a light windbreaker to ward off the onshore wind just a few miles away. Be that as it may, the day was clear with a bright sun shining down on the ubiquitous cranberry bogs that make Bandon so famous. Stacy was proud of the cranberry industry as they drove past the bogs that had been there for more than a hundred years.
Rory said, "Stacy, are you listening. I said, do you know much about the little store we're going to?"
''A little bit. It's been in the Perkins family for as long as anyone can remember. At one time it did a lot of business selling groceries and gas. Also they had fishing supplies. But like a lot of mom and pop stores, towns offered more goods at less price. The last time I was there beer, soft drinks and junk food was about all you could hope for. It still stays open late for beer and such things. I guess a member of the Perkins clan called the crime in."
"Well, we're here," as Rory pulled into the large gravel parking lot. "Let's go see what we have," said Rory.
Stacy had her black bag with her. She already had on latex gloves in preparation for crime scene work. A young woman was standing at the southern corner of the building with one arm wrapped around her chest and the other hand covering her mouth as if to keep from screaming. As the investigators approached, she pointed to the east, or behind the building. All three made sure they didn't track up the crime scene so they walked in each other's foot prints.
True to the caller's word, two hairy legs stuck up out of a plastic garbage can with the bottom feet stuck against the wood wall. All three police officers stayed back waiting for the pathologist Dr. Marsha Stone to arrive. Meanwhile from a distance Stacy used her smart phone and took some pictures of her own. Rory and Ben were interviewing the young woman. After the picture taking Stacy carefully looked around the area noting everything. The back of the buildin
g was a receptacle for any and all cast away junk. There was everything from used coolers, tires and old boards, just to name a few things she witnessed. She heard a few roosters crowing some distance away.
Off in among the coastal pine trees she could see a few old houses stuck here and there. She was fairly sure this was part or the whole of the Perkins property. The feeling she got was one of foreboding, along with just making her skin crawl. She broke from her reverie when she heard the voice of Dr. Stone approaching with her assistant. Stacy moved closer and gave a friendly wave to Dr. Stone. The investigation began with the picture taking as usual.
With her sharp eyes, Stacy looked closely at the trash can from the bottom up and its relationship to the other cans. There were four trash cans total. There were two plastic and two old metal rusty looking cans. One plastic had a lid and the plastic can with the body sticking out had its lid carelessly thrown aside. She thought what a mess for fingerprints. However, if one of the Perkins families had a record, then prints would be readily discovered.
Once the pictures were complete, the assistant fetched a short step ladder to let Dr. Stone have a closer look at the feet against the wall as to what held the feet upright. When the step ladder arrived, Dr. Stone had a tool in her hand from her bag. She climbed two steps up and stuck the tool between the foot and the wooden wall. "It appears as if it's glued to the wall," she said while trying to pry the foot away from the wood. "I think its super glue as it seems to be tearing the skin as I pry it."
Murder Mysteries Page 6