Disrobed for Death

by Sylvia Rochester

  Herman’s knuckles whitened as he clamped the back of the kitchen chair. “We can’t let that happen.”

  “Then you better hope we find her,” Wesley said. “I can’t have you two riding around in my unit, but we can cover more ground anyway if we split up. Susan, go with Herman and search the Covington Highway and any of its offshoots. I’ll take Pontchartrain’s Lake Front Highway. If you spot her or the car, do not approach her. Hang back and wait for me to get there. I’ll take it from there.”

  “But she might—”

  “I know you’ll want to go to her, Herman, but you can’t. You go charging up to her, and she might just blow her brains out. Could you live with that? We’ve got to be careful how we approach her.”

  “It’ll be hard, but I’ll try. Only you’d better decide in a hurry what to do. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee anything.” Unspoken words darted between the two men. But after a few moments, Herman nodded his head in agreement.

  Susan watched the tendons in Wesley’s neck tighten. Herman had hit a nerve. “What’s done is done, but you try and take matters into your hands and something far worse can happen. Only this time, it won’t be because of something I did.”

  Wesley spoke into his mike and let the dispatcher know he would be searching the back roads around Palmetto.

  “Guess I’ve got my marching orders,” Herman said to Susan. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find her.”

  Wesley drove out of the parking lot and onto the highway then took a right on a secondary road that led away from Palmetto and toward the lake.

  Herman and Susan continued down the Covington highway until they reached Coburn Road where Herman took a left. He slowed to between thirty and forty miles an hour so they could search the woods on both sides of the rural road. Then he would return to Coburn Road and take the next offshoot from it. After covering the gravel roads, they failed to see either Vera or her car.

  “Any suggestions?” Herman asked, traveling once again down Coburn Road.

  “What about her friends? Was there anyone special she liked to visit?”

  “Now that you mention it, I can’t remember meeting any of them. Seems my friends became her friends. That seemed a little odd at first, but she was so easy-going and likable, I didn’t pay it much mind.”

  Along the way, they passed several small churches. One in particular had a mobile sign atop a flatbed trailer parked in front. Black letters against a white background stood out and beckoned to passersby and members of their congregation. Herman mumbled the first four words of scripture. “I am the way.” His brow wrinkled as he gave Susan a sideways glance.

  Vera always said she knew she could go to the Lord with her problems, said that church was her haven.” His chest swelled as he drew in a deep breath. “That’s it! I don’t get why everyone thinks she will commit suicide. Maybe she’s seeking forgiveness.”

  Herman pounded the steering wheel. “That has to be where she is. She was pretty regular about attending Sunday service. Tried to get me to go with her, but I see religion in a different way. My Lord isn’t confined to a building. He’s everywhere, and I can talk to him anytime, and I do. To me, every day is Sunday.”

  “What’s the name of her church?”

  “Plainview Baptist. It’s just off the Old Spanish Trail on Horse Shoe Road. We’re not far from there.”

  “Then let’s check it out.”

  Susan called Wesley, who agreed to meet them and again told them not to do anything if she was there.

  Herman gunned the motor, and they sped down the flat, two-lane highway, bordered on either side by dense woods.

  If ever a man looked down-trodden, he did. Susan’s heart went out to him, but she knew words would do little to comfort him. His life had been turned inside out. He really loved Vera, and she had used him. She was a real live Jekyll and Hide. Susan leaned her head against the window and prayed they would find her alive.

  The landscape rushed by in a blur as the vehicle wound through the piney woods that covered the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. It was spring eternal for the towering Loblolly pines whose bright green needles scoffed at the barren branches of willows, cypress, and swamp maples.

  Ah, spring! It couldn’t come fast enough. By then, maybe the disaster of this winter would soon be put to rest. As her mind continued to churn, she gave a silent chuckle. She had waited so long to get home to the peace and serenity of her quaint little town. So much for that! What other surprises might Palmetto have in store?

  The church sat back a ways from the road. The white, wooden structure with a steeple and cross on top looked freshly painted. A parking area in front provided ample space for members and visitors.

  “She’s there,” Herman shouted. “That’s her Nissan parked beside that black Buick sedan.” Herman pulled onto the shoulder of the road. “I’m telling you, Wesley had better get here in a hurry. I can’t wait much longer.”

  Susan called Wesley, and moments later, his Crown Victoria pulled in front of them. He got out and walked back to Herman’s truck. “Okay, let’s pull into the parking lot…nice and easy now.”

  Herman parked alongside Vera’s car, and Wesley parked behind it, blocking Vera from leaving.

  Immediately, Herman jumped from his truck and headed toward the church.

  “No,” Wesley said. “You and Susan wait here until I can assess the situation. The other car is probably the preacher’s. Maybe he’s talked some sense into her.” Wesley activated his mike and requested backup. “Officers are not to approach the subject. They are to await further orders from me.”

  Susan could tell by the expression on Wesley’s face that he was withholding something. “What is it?” she asked.

  “More bad news,” he said, looking first at Susan and then at Herman. “Dispatch called. New Orleans faxed information on Vera’s daughter. Seems she was no stranger to the police station. Her rap sheet shows numerous charges—prostitution, petty theft, and drugs. She was diagnosed as a schizophrenic but refused treatment. Instead, she took to the streets.” Wesley paused and drew a deep breath before continuing. “Vera didn’t go to visit her daughter. She went to identify her body in the morgue.”

  Herman’s mouth flew open. “That’s enough to send anyone over the edge. How’d she die?”

  “She OD’d.”

  Susan pictured the tiny, gray-headed lady standing all alone over the body of her only child. She could imagine her shivering as the icy chill of the morgue coursed through her veins. Why did Vera feel she had to go through that alone? Didn’t she know Herman would stand by her? And what, if anything, did her daughter’s death have to do with the attempt on Jack’s life? It just didn’t make sense.

  Wesley walked toward the church’s entrance. Before disappearing behind the massive doors, he stopped and held up a hand, his final warning that they had better stay put. Susan had no intention of crossing him at this point. Herman, however, was another question. He was like a bridled horse, chomping at the bit, ready to spring into action.

  The sound of a vehicle caught their attention. It was a police car. Two deputies pulled in behind Wesley and exited their unit.

  Susan waved them over. “I’m Susan Griffin and this is Herman Washburn. We’re friends of the suspect and here with Detective Grissom.”

  The older deputy stepped forward. “Deputy Ryan,” he said pointing to himself, and this is Deputy Mason. Where’s Grissom?”

  “He’s inside. He ordered us to stay here.”

  “How long has he been in there?” Deputy Mason asked.

  “Only a few minutes,” Herman said.

  The deputies walked back to their unit and leaned against the car.

  “Wish I knew what was going on,” Herman said. “I can’t stand this waiting.”

  When the door to the church opened, everyone took a step forward. Wesley came out alone and motioned for all of them to join him. Susan was so hoping to see Vera with Wesley.

  “Vera did talk with the preac
her, but she didn’t confide in him. She said that she needed to talk to the Lord and to work things out privately. He respected her wishes and left her alone. After praying for a while, she told the preacher she was going to visit the grave of her husband. That’s where she is now, in the cemetery behind the church.

  “We’re going to walk around back. I want to talk with her first, see if she’s willing to listen to reason. If not, you, Herman, might be our best chance at getting her to surrender. Ryan and Mason, hang close. She may be armed, but don’t take any action unless shots are fired.”

  After the short walk to the cemetery, Susan spotted Vera leaning against a tombstone in the middle of the cemetery, head down and her hand in her purse. Susan couldn’t help notice how well kept the place was, with flowers atop almost all the graves—a testimonial that the deceased had not been forgotten.

  As they approached, Vera slowly raised her head. “That’s far enough,” she said, exposing part of the gun.

  The deputies drew their weapons.

  “Stand down,” Wesley ordered. “Vera, I just want to talk.”

  “Well, I don’t.” Vera voice was sharp and defiant.

  As usual, the elderly woman was smartly dressed—suede boots, jeans, and a black turtle neck sweater under a blazer. But hours of crying had smudged her eye shadow and caused her mascara to run. All the makeup in the world couldn’t disguise the grief etched into her face.

  “Will you talk with Herman?”

  Vera gave a heavy sigh.

  “I’ll take that as an okay, but first, you have to put your gun on the ground.”

  Vera did as he said, but kept the weapon close to her.

  Wesley turned to Herman. “Careful now, just let her know you’re with her no matter what. Whatever you do, don’t judge her. Maybe she’ll listen to you.”

  Herman took a couple steps toward Vera. “Please, honey, I only want to help you.”

  “Nobody can help me…not now.”

  “That’s not true. Let me come a little closer. The others will stay back. I promise.”

  Vera gave a slight nod of her head, and Herman sat down at the foot of her husband’s grave. The rest of them held their positions. At about thirty yards away, they could easily hear what was being said.

  Herman smoothed his beard with his hand and glanced back as if to say everything was under control. It was then Susan noticed the dark circles beneath his eyes. Vera wasn’t the only one who had suffered.

  “You know I love you,” Herman said, “and that I’ll stand by you no matter what.”

  “There’s nothing you can do to help me. I killed a doctor.”

  “No you didn’t. You only grazed him. He’s very much alive.”

  “You’re just saying that.”

  “No, it’s true. I swear.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I meant to kill him.”

  “Why, Vera? We’ve been trying to figure it out. Jack’s sister said you blamed Jack following your husband’s surgery, but that was ten years ago. You never sued the hospital or Jack, and you’ve worked for him ever since. How could you do that if you hated him? Why now? Did it have anything to do with the death of your daughter?”

  Vera sat upright from her slumped position and drew her purse into her belly. “You know about Brandy?” Then her mouth turned downward, and years of heartache swirled in her watery eyes. She moaned like a hurt child. “My baby, my little girl…I’ll never forget how she looked lying on that cold, metal table in that ice box of a room. She had wasted away to nothing. Her skin barely covered her bones.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at Herman. “When David died, I no longer had money to help her. I sent her what I could. Begged her to come home and live with me. But she wouldn’t listen. Now that she’s dead, I don’t even have the money to bury her. If David had lived, she might still be alive today.

  “Can’t you see? When Jack killed my husband, he also killed my daughter… and he had to pay for what he did. I had already made my plans, had it all worked out, when Susan showed up with her story about Clarissa hiring Gary. How wonderful! My idiot neighbor was going to kill Jack for me. But then you spoiled everything when you joined forces with Susan to stop him.”

  “Look at me. I need to know that you still love me.”

  “With all my heart, but it’s too late for us.”

  “It’s never too late to do the right thing. Why didn’t you confide in me?”

  “I was ashamed at having failed to save my daughter.”

  “Vera, your daughter made her choice. All the money in the world couldn’t have saved her. And by all account, your husband’s surgery was a success. You let your grief blind you to the truth. It was just his time to go.”

  Vera rubbed her hand over her husband’s plot. “How could I have made such a mess of things?”

  “We all make mistakes. I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but however long it takes, we’ll get through this. Yes, the D.A. will press charges, but there are mitigating circumstances—your age, your mental state, and if Jack requests leniency, that could go a long way.”

  “You really think he would?”

  “We’ll find out soon enough. First, you need to give me the gun, surrender yourself to Wesley. I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

  When Vera slowly pulled the revolver from her purse, the deputies raised their guns.

  Wesley held out his hands. “Stand down.”

  Herman reached across the grave and took the gun from Vera, who buried her face in her hands and cried.

  Wesley approached. “It’s going to be all right, Vera. Right now you have to go with these deputies. Herman can follow in his truck.”

  “I’ll post bail as soon as the judge sets it,” Herman said. “In the meantime, I’ll hire the best lawyer I can find. Like I said, we’re going to beat this.”

  Wesley contacted dispatch. “The suspect in the Evan’s shooting is in custody and en route to the jail. Cancel the BOLO and recall the officer at the hospital.”

  Before the deputies could take Vera away, Susan put her arms around her and held her close. “You have lots of people who love you. Don’t forget that.”

  The deputies led Vera to their unit and helped her into the back seat. Herman climbed into his truck and followed the police unit.

  “Do you think she has a chance of avoiding prison time?” Susan asked.

  “It’s a possibility,” Wesley said. “I’m sure Jack’s input will carry a lot of weight. I’m also sure he’ll be glad to know it’s all over.”

  “I really hope he’ll help her.”

  “Me, too. Looks like you’re left without a ride, so I’m stuck with you as a passenger. Think you can behave yourself?”

  She grabbed his belt and pulled him close to her. “I’ll try and restrain myself.”

  “Hey, lady, do that again when I’m off duty.”

  His kiss set her head to spinning. Why was it every time his lips touched hers, the world ceased to exist?

  Cruising down the road in the Crown Victoria, Susan thought about Vera riding alone in the back of the police unit. She had to be terrified, wondering what she would face. “Is it really over?” Susan asked.

  “Hey, you’re the psychic. But as far as I can tell, it is.”

  “Then why do I still have an uneasy feeling? Was there something I missed, something else I could have done?”

  “You’ve got to quit second guessing yourself. You stopped one killer, but there was no way you could have known Vera was on a mission. Revenge is a terrible thing. Thank goodness she’s a bad shot.”

  “What about the money. Are you going to report it stolen? I’d hate to see Herman arrested for having someone steal the money from Gary’s place.”

  “If I bring up the money, I’ll have to explain what started my participation in this investigation, and the department would think me nuts for sure. They don’t believe in hocus pocus and things that go bump in the night.

&nbs
p; “The way I see it, the money is where it will do the most good, with Melanie. But from now on, I don’t want any more secrets between us, no matter how dire the situation. And I don’t want you playing policeman.”

  “I promise.”

  When they arrived at the hospital, Wesley parked at the main entrance in a place designated for hospital personnel. After all, he was on official police business. The smell of disinfectant greeted them. When the elevator doors opened, Wesley recognized the deputy getting off.

  “Were you assigned to Jack Evans?”

  “Shortest assignment I’ve ever had,” he said. “Headquarters called and said I was no longer needed, that the suspect had been apprehended.”

  “She’s on her way to booking now. We were fortunate she surrendered. Who’s with Mr. Evans?”

  “His sister and another woman.”

  Susan pushed the button to the elevator, and the deputy continued on his way.

  Jack’s floor had lots of foot traffic—visitors, and several nurses and orderlies milling about the nurses’ station. Susan imagined they were all anxious to give special attention to one of their own. One of the nurses carrying a tray with gauze pads, ointments, and hydrogen peroxide scooted in front of them and abruptly stopped in front of Jack’s opened door. The tray hit the floor, and the nurse screamed as a shot rang out. Grabbing her upper arm, she fell across the doorway.

  “Anyone else?” a woman shouted from within the room.

  The sharp and belligerent voice made Susan’s blood run cold.

  “That’s Clarissa!”

  Chapter 20

  “Officer requesting backup…Lakeside Hospital, room 421,” Wesley said into his mic, his voice low. He kept Susan behind him with one arm and held up his other hand, signaling to hospital personnel to stay back.

  Clarissa continued to rail. “You gave me a pittance to live on, you creep. Did you expect me to be grateful? With you dead, I could collect on your insurance policy, so I hired Gary Bozeman. But that sleezeball tried to scam me. He took the last of my money then said someone stole it from him. Like I believed that! I warned him if he didn’t come through, I’d hunt him down, and he’d wish he’d never been born.