Cas put down his paper and saluted behind Connie's back, winking at Harry.
* * *
About four o'clock at the Pine County Sheriff's Office that day Rhodes was washing down his doughnut with a cup of coffee when the phone rang.
Senior Deputy Rhodes Cromwell was tall, thin, a couple of inches taller than Cas and a dead-ringer for Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Connie always wondered where the doughnut calories went, since Rhodes never seemed to gain an ounce. Not even the venison sausage he and his wife, Mary sometimes shared with Cas and Connie; the plum jelly Connie always sent them when she made it; nor the pastries he consumed with his coffee seemed to stay on that bean-pole frame.
Gaining weight had never been on his worry list. He licked sugar off his lower lip, smiling slightly as he reached for the phone.
"Pine County Sheriff's office, Sr. Deputy Rhodes Cromwell speaking."
After identifying himself he listened. Then the friendly smile on his face froze and slowly began to fade. When Rhodes finally spoke again, his response was gruff but efficient. He broke the connection.
There was nothing left of his smile but worry lines when he dialed the coroner's office.
* * *
At the lake, the Anderson's picnic was a huge success, food, gossip and all. Cas was saved from another tempting helping of strawberry shortcake and ice cream by Miss Mayme's sudden announcement.
"Minnie, your purse is ringing."
Miss Minnie went to dig her cell phone from the heap of things on the lawn chair.
"Can't be any floral emergency," she remarked. "My cell isn't on our cards."
Cas's eyes met hers as they both remembered Rhodes had her cell number. She silently handed him the phone, glancing at Connie.
"Cas Larkin." He stepped away a few paces as he answered.
"Cas, it's me," Rhodes said sounding apologetic. "I hope you've had a good time and enough good food to tide you over the bad news I've got."
All sorts of mental warning bells were sounding as Cas braced himself. Connie could tell even from a distance something was wrong by the change in his posture. She caught her breath and Harry paused too, her chicken thigh held in mid-air. The concern went around the group like a game of gossip.
"I think I'm safe for about the next thirty days, to tell the truth, Rhodes. What is it?"
"We've got a body in the lake. A young female, from what I've learned from the ones who found her. She's still in the water. Clint and his crew from the coroner's office are on their way out here."
"Where are you?"
"At the scene. Over by the swimming and fishing area where the cabins are." Rhodes paused. "I was out here this morning doing a routine check. She must have been here then, just hadn't been seen, even with the cabins rented and people around."
"Where exactly is she and who found her?"
"She's under the fishing pier. A teenage boy found her. The boy had a friend come and look too, before they called me. He's pretty shook up. Body could have washed up from somewhere else on the lake, I guess. She's at the end of that long, wooden fishing pier."
Cas pictured the area. "I know where it is, water was a little high last time I was out there."
"Still is, from last week's rain. The boy said she was just floating there, looked like she was waving to him. I let him call his folks. He's going to wait for you to talk to him."
"Good. I'm coming now."
Cas made his excuses and left. Connie squeezed his hand as he kissed her goodbye. Neither she nor Harry or the Andersons asked any questions.
He parked at the cabin area and Rhodes came to meet him. A boy who looked about fifteen came with him. He looked pale. Sick or just scared.
"Probably never seen a dead body before," Cas thought with sympathy.
"Cas, this is Tate Russell. He's the one who told me about the lady in the lake." Rhodes put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "This is Sheriff Cas Larkin, son."
"Yes, sir." Tate started talking nervously. "I, I couldn't believe it when I saw her. That she was dead." His face scrunched up, somewhere between worried and excited. "She seemed to be looking at me. And when a boat went by out there on the lake, she seemed to be waving." He gulped, shuffling his feet nervously.
"Tate, did you give Deputy Cromwell your address and how you can be reached?"
"Yes, sir. I did."
"All right. Now, just tell me how you happened to find her."
"We, a friend of mine and I were out in the water, just swimming and having a good time. And I was going to hide under the pier and splash him, and I dove and went under. Then when I opened my eyes under the water, there she was."
He shook his head, looking miserable. "It was like she was alive and looking at me. I got strangled and surfaced."
"What did you do then?"
"I went and told my friend and he came and looked too, and said I should call your office and tell you. That's when I found the man who rents the cabins and he called your office."
"You did exactly right. Are your parents coming after you?"
"Yes, sir. I was going to stay a little longer." He hesitated, "But, I'm going to leave when they get here. If it's all right?"
"Yes, it's all right. Do you know the lady in the lake, or have you ever seen her before?"
"No, sir. She's a little older than I am, I think, dark hair, and I don't remember ever seeing her before. She didn't have on a bathing suit, she had her clothes on, jeans, I think, and I don't know, some kind of shoes too."
"That's fine. You did well to remember as much as you did, we appreciate your reporting this to us."
Rhodes nodded toward a car coming into the parking area. "Are they your parents, Tate?"
"Yes, sir." Tate immediately looked better, seeing his mother and father coming toward them.
The worried looking middle age couple came to stand before them. They looked to be in their late forties or early fifties, with strands of gray in their hair. The woman's eyes looked over her son before anyone spoke as if checking to see he still had all his limbs intact. The man looked relieved and held out his hand.
"I'm Chuck Russell, Tate's dad. This is my wife, Libby."
"Glad to meet you sir, sorry about the circumstances. Tate is free to go. No reason for him to stay."
Chuck Russell nodded, taking his son's arm. "Let's go home, son." He spoke to Cas as they turned. "We're in the phone book, if you need to contact us for any reason."
"Thank you. And thank you for your help, Tate."
Cas and Rhodes watched as they left the area. Cas turned his attention to Rhodes.
"What did you mean when you said the body was probably out here this morning when you came?"
"I went by the Anderson's cabin on regular rounds this morning, then came here. While I was here just looking around, a little boy pounded on my car door, just to hear the noise." Rhodes smiled, remembering the mischievous little face.
Cas smiled, "Yeah, I know what fun things big noises are. I wasn't born this old."
"His dad picked him up and made him apologize, and when they left he said he'd go wave at the lady in the lake. His dad had some of those snorkeling gear and water masks and things in his hand." Rhodes looked toward the pier. "The body was under water so the boy must have seen her from the shallow water where he'd been playing."
Cas took a deep breath. "I'm glad it was no worse thing he had to see. Remember the older boy said she looked like she was just looking at him and waving."
"Yeah. Well, we'll soon know more, there's Clint."
A white van with Pine County Coroner on the side in black letters turned into the area and came toward them.
"The Russell kid will be all right, I saw you worrying about him, too." Cas assured Rhodes.
"I was just afraid he was going to toss his cookies on my clean uniform," Rhodes admitted, looking self-conscious.
The coroner's van pulled down as close to the water as it could get. Cas and Rhodes walked over to it
as Clint and the two men he brought with him got out.
Clint reached in the back and got out a light weight stretcher. The two men who looked like part-time college help had on bathing trunks and took off their terry robes, tossing them inside.
Rhodes eyed the small crowd. There were several people standing by to watch.
"Doug is coming too, he'll be here in a little bit."
Clint, Cas, and Rhodes followed the two crewmen in bathing suits and stood watching as they waded out and searched the water near the far end of the pier. It didn't take long to find the body in the clear lake water.
"We've got her!"
The cry wasn't loud, but rang out over the water and got everyone's attention. The on-lookers saw a slender young woman with dark hair falling across her face as the crewman surfaced with the body in his arms.
Helping lay the body carefully on the canvas stretcher, Clint looked at her, then at Cas. He spoke softly, though there was no one close enough to hear.
"No visible cause of death, stab wounds, blunt instrument trauma. You getting your hopes up this is a simple swimming accident?"
Cas looked somberly at the jeans and soaked walking shoes. "A stranger? By herself, and fully clothed?" He shook his head then shrugged. "We'll see."
"Maybe someone here will recognize her." Clint looked surreptitiously around as he spoke. The closest onlookers showed no signs of recognition, only a sad silence at the loss of life.
No one came forward or answered when Cas raised his voice and asked if anyone knew or recognized the girl on the stretcher.
After a few minutes, Clint gestured and the two crewmen tucked the covering around the body and picked up the stretcher. They headed toward the van. There weren't many people to ask if they recognized the victim and no one else came forward even to get a closer look.
No one, according to the manager, had reported any of their party missing.
Cas walked with Clint to put the body in the van.
"We'll see what the lady from the lake will tell us," Clint said. "Women will generally tell you more dead than they would if they were alive anyway."
"Clint, you're too young to be that cynical."
Clint grinned, he was several years younger than Cas and working with death daily hadn't taken away his sense of humor. Sitting in the passenger side of the van he looked out the window at Cas. "Call me later. As if you wouldn't."
* * *
The next day Cas went by the coroner's office to get a picture of the drowning victim and have a cup of coffee with Clint. It wouldn't hurt to see if Clint could give him a guess at when he could autopsy the drowning victim, or perhaps more information.
Clint had the picture of the drowned girl waiting for him and ushered him into the break-room.
Cas took a long look at the picture Clint gave him before putting it into his shirt pocket. "Can't remember ever seeing anyone who looks like her. Sometimes a family resemblance will help you out."
"You mean like the Jones' buck teeth?" Clint stuck out his teeth and Cas laughed.
"Don't knock it. It helps. The drowned lady is not very old," Cas said thoughtfully. "Maybe Missy knows someone she looks like or someone will report her missing. Our Lady in the Lake has got to know somebody here, or how did she get in our lake?"
"Finding that out is not in my job description, thank God." Clint rolled his eyes.
"No sympathy for the home team, hmm? The only thing we've had reported lately is someone reported finding a canoe, but there's probably no connection with our unidentified lady. And as you say, Lost and Found is not in my job description. I said I'd make a note of it in case anyone asked about one."
"Nothing to do with the drowning victim." Clint raised his eyebrows. "You mean you can tell just by looking?"
Cas winced, "I didn't even look. I'm good, Clint, but I'm not that good. There was just nothing to indicate any connection."
"Yeah. we'll see. The body wasn't in the water very long, I'll be able to get good prints anyway. But surely someone will be looking for her."
Cas finished his coffee and got up to leave. "Let me know if you find anything unusual."
* * *
Cas went by Tim Carpenter's office to show him the picture of the drowning victim.
The County Judge's office was a nice size suite with plenty of room and most of the time, plenty of help. It was also strictly functional in décor. All the Courthouse offices seemed to have the same low budgets and no sign of a decorator. The only bow to beauty for the sake of beauty was an ivy plant on Muriel's desk.
Tim was busy, but he was always busy, and always polite enough to stop and visit a few minutes. He stretched his arms as if he'd been sitting too long and motioned Cas to a chair in his office.
Tim's door was never closed, Cas thought with approval as he sat down.
"Since your office is on my way back to work I thought I'd stop by and see if you know our Lady in the Lake." He pulled out the picture. "Drowning victim, no ID yet."
Cas handed him the picture, noticing how tired Tim looked.
Tim looked at the picture carefully but handed it back and shook his head. "No. Don't recall ever seeing her before. Sorry." He shut an open drawer in his desk and looked at the clock.
"You by any chance going to lunch?"
"Might as well, it's time. Want to walk over to The Smithy?"
"Yes, let's go. Just a minute, though."
Cas waited and heard Tim ask the student clerk to be sure to let him know if Muriel called.
Holding the door for him Cas asked, "Muriel still out?"
"Yes. I'm drowning too, Cas. In paperwork. I may call Connie to help me at the end of the week."
"What's the matter with her? With Muriel?"
Tim answered as they walked. "I don't know. This is unusual. I don't really remember her being out before, so I don't know what she thinks is usual for sick leave." Tim shook his head. "I didn't want to push, she's been so good and works so hard. But I tried to call her yesterday. I got the answering machine. Twice. I didn't even know they had one."
Cas hesitated. "Maybe her sister put it on to keep Muriel from having to answer it. That would be the logical thing to do, since she's in school all day and Muriel would be alone. Did you leave a message?"
"No." Tim shook his head, looking annoyed. "I chickened out. She'll probably be back soon."
Cas nodded without commenting as they entered The Smithy.
Chapter 3
At home, Connie and Harry were enjoying their visit and having a bite to eat.
"This is my favorite lunch, Connie," Harry smiled as she picked up the other half of her tuna sandwich. "Besides which, there are no dishes to wash." She patted the paper towel in front of her.
"There are better things to do than cook and wash dishes," Connie said. "Like, we can go window shop around the square a little while, and maybe stop back by the library? I've got a couple of books to return."
"Sounds good to me. Since you're not going to run me off for a couple more days, I'll get me a good mystery to read. Is there anything in particular you want to shop for?"
"Not really, but family visitor passes are good for as long as we can stand each other, as Cas says. So get a couple of books if you want to, Harry."
Harry nodded, enjoying her sandwich.
"And I thought you might like to look around the Anderson's Flower Shop while we're out. They have such pretty things."
"I'd love to." Harry took the last bite of her sandwich and got up. "Hand me that glass and let me earn my keep."
Connie handed her both glasses to wash. She picked up the crumbs in the paper towels and threw them into the trash. She hung her shoulder bag over her arm. "We're done!"
Harry picked up her purse and followed her out.
Shopping on the square and the little side streets and shops near it, Connie and Harry both happily eyeballed everything, checked the prices and sale items, and waved to friends who were also running errands and shopping. Bo
th bought light sweaters from end of the season sales.
"I can't possibly shop without going by this place," Connie said as she opened the door to The Secretary's Necessary for Harry.
Harry enjoyed looking at all the strange secretary tools, the things Connie and other secretaries used in their trade as Cas called it. Connie bought a typewriter ribbon.
"Next stop, Miss Mayme's Arrangements."
Harry laughed, "Let's go!" They headed for the Anderson's Flower Shop.
Crossing the square they saw Cas and Tim leaving The Smithy and waved.
"I guess Tim finally decided he had to stop work long enough to eat," Connie smiled after them.
"I think anyone can work better if they take a break. What's wrong with Muriel, did he say?"
"No, I don't think he knows. But it must be a bad cold or maybe an allergy to keep her away from work."
The flower shop's bright colors in the window and the plants outside were a welcome addition to the square. Miss Mayme and Miss Minnie Anderson retired from long teaching careers and opened it, the town's one and only flower shop. Miss Mayme greeted them with hugs as they entered the shop, the little bells on the door tinkling to announce their arrival.
Miss Minnie called to them from her office. "I'm putting on a new pot of coffee, don't let Mayme put you to work," she warned.
"I was just going to ask Connie's opinion on this ribbon," Miss Mayme defended herself. "The wide or the narrow?" She held up both for Connie to see. "And," she added, "It will be a bigger cluster, if it's the narrow?"
Connie and Harry both gave the problem due consideration.
"No." Connie shook her head at the narrow one. "I like the wide one." Connie narrowed her eyes in serious consideration, picturing it with pink carnations or daisies.
Harry held up her right hand, "Second the motion." She laughed. "Now we can browse in peace."
Connie bought a basket and a plastic liner before joining Miss Minnie for coffee. She looked at her watch as she pulled up a chair to the desk to join Harry and the Anderson sisters.
Miss Minnie noticed. "Cas got you on a time card?" Miss Minnie arched an eyebrow.
The Mardi Gras Murder Page 2