Loco Motive

by Mary Daheim

  Jax was surprised. “No. So you know them. I can see why you’re concerned. They seem like nice people.”

  “Yes.” Judith tried to sound sincere. “Oh—I forgot that Mr. Peterson told us Trooper Pruitt had been called away. Do you know if it had anything to do with the tavern fight in Scuttle?”

  “No,” Jax replied. “It was about the pickup truck that caused the crash. Maybe they found the driver.”

  “Good,” Judith said. “I assume he had to get away on foot.”

  Jax frowned. “Not if the pickup wasn’t damaged. Excuse me, I still have to do paperwork.” She hurried off to the crew car.

  Renie was leaning against the corridor wall. “Well?”

  “What?” Judith asked. “When do we break into the Zs’ compartment?”

  Judith tried to look innocent. “Do you really think I’d do that?”

  “Of course,” Renie said. She stared at the ceiling. “We’ve already hit Pepper’s room, the Kloppenburgs’, and had a once-over-lightly of the Chans’, the Downeys’, and Wayne’s roomettes. That leaves only…”

  Judith glowered at her cousin. “We’re going to sit, remember?” She marched into their room and settled down on the lower bunk.

  “I’m shocked,” Renie said facetiously, starting to close the door.

  “Leave it open.” Judith picked up her P. D. James book. “We can’t act until Matt gets back from the bar car and everybody’s settled in.”

  “Whew!” Renie passed a hand across her forehead in mock relief. “I almost believed you.”

  “Funny coz,” Judith murmured, opening her book and pretending to read while she kept her eyes and ears open.

  For the next five minutes the only sound besides the train was an occasional “hmm” or “huh?” from Renie as she worked her crossword. “Aha! Aardwolf, that’s what it must be, not aardvark,” she said in triumph. “That gives me an f for the first letter of the ‘sputter’ clue.”

  “Good,” Judith remarked, trying to block out Renie’s commentary while listening for activity in the corridor or the stairwell.

  “Okay,” Renie said after a pause, “‘sputter’ is ‘fizzle.’” She tapped her ballpoint pen against her chin. “The word going the other way starts with zy and has another z in the middle. That’s weird. These repeated letters are driving me nuts. ‘South American insect pest.’ I’ve no idea. I need my dictionary to—”

  “What?” Judith asked, finally focusing on her cousin.

  Renie slid off the bunk. “My dictionary. It’s in my overnight bag.”

  “How big is it?”

  Renie stared curiously at Judith. “My overnight bag? See for yourself.”

  “No. Your dictionary.”

  Still mystified, Renie searched her belongings before finally pulling out three thick paperbacks.

  “Why,” Judith asked, “did you bring along a small lending library?”

  “Three pleasure books, three for crosswords. I need sources for puzzle clues like 1936 Nobel Prize winner for physics and the currency of Botswana. Here.” She held up a thick, well-thumbed paperback. “Big enough to suit you?”

  Judith held out her hand. “Let me see.”

  Renie shoved the dictionary at Judith. “You want the puzzle, too?”

  “Not yet.” Judith flipped to the dictionary’s last few pages.

  “Good grief, the print is so tiny!”

  “I know,” Renie said, still annoyed. “Serves you right. Sometimes I have to use a magnifying glass.”

  “Have you got one with you?” Judith asked. “I can’t read this.” Renie heaved a heavy sigh. “Yes, it’s in my wallet.” She dug into her purse, yanked out her wallet, and unzipped it with an angry gesture. “This is so damned stupid that I…Here,” she said, flipping the small, flat plastic magnifier to Judith. “Would you like some of my credit cards or just the cash?”

  “Shut up,” Judith said, placing the magnifier on the page. “Oh, yes! This is interesting. Let me see the puzzle.”

  Renie sat down again next to Judith. “Here. Keep it.” She tossed the pen to Judith. “Go ahead, finish it. You seem to have taken over.”

  Ignoring the remarks, Judith carefully filled in the empty spaces and handed over the puzzle. “Well?”

  Renie gave a start. “What’s a ‘zyzzyva’?”

  Judith’s dark eyes danced. “Remember? The Zs’ surname.”

  Renie shrugged. “So? I still don’t get it.”

  “Look.” Judith pointed to the word in the dictionary. “Your clue was ‘South American insect pest.’” She paused as Renie read the definition.

  “Oh!” Renie grinned at Judith. “No wonder you wanted to look it up. A zyzzyva is a weevil.”

  Judith nodded. “That’s a huge clue to the puzzle—and I’m not talking about the crossword variety. Now all we have to fill in are the rest of the blanks.”

  “Assuming the Zs aren’t the Zs,” Renie said, curling up on the bed, “who are they? Why did they take off with the Gundys? Are they connected to Pepper? Did they know Willie’s stay was cut short by the accident?”

  “I barely saw them,” Judith said. “I was surprised when they arrived because we should’ve been full, but the Zs implied they knew we had a vacancy.” She made a face. “I asked if they’d gone through the state association. The question seemed to catch them off guard, but I let it pass. They paid cash, so I didn’t ask for ID, and they left early the next day.”

  “Why choose such an odd name? It only calls attention to them.”

  Judith didn’t answer right away. She sat with her head down, unseeing eyes fixed on the floor. “Because their last name really is Weevil?”

  “Wow! A relative?”

  Judith nodded. “Ricky, maybe, Willie’s son. But it doesn’t make sense. If Willie wasn’t Willie, why would Ricky and his wife show up at the B&B? Surely Ricky knew his father died five years ago. They wouldn’t visit an impostor.”

  “Because they wanted to prove he was an impostor?”

  “Maybe, if Ricky was cheated of his inheritance. But why wait five years?”

  “Good point,” Renie said. “Didn’t you tell me the Zs called themselves Dick and Jane? Maybe Willie’s son went by Dick. Ricky is a kid’s nickname.”

  “True.” Judith reached into her pocket and took out the wedding band that Libby Pruitt had found in room two. “The initials are RK and JG. The J could stand for ‘Jane.’ But what does the G stand for? ‘Gundy’? Old Mrs. Gundy called her husband Julius, but the date is 1990, and her name is Bessie, which I assume would be for ‘Elizabeth.’”

  “Or a variation,” Renie murmured. “When did Libby Pruitt find the ring?”

  Judith grimaced. “She found it the same morning the Zs left. But I can’t imagine why they’d go into room two.”

  “Nobody suspicious stayed there during Willie’s visit?”

  “No. I checked the guest register after Libby showed me the ring. There’s only a single bed and everybody who’s stayed there lately seems innocent.”

  “So,” Renie said, “someone who shouldn’t have been in the room lost the ring or deliberately dropped it. Exactly where did Libby find it?”

  “Under the braided rug by the window,” Judith replied. “Phyliss moves the rug fairly often. If…oh, oh. I just thought of something. That window looks over the front yard—where Willie made his first jump. I wonder if Pepper went into room two to watch. It would’ve been unoccupied during midday.”

  “RK and JG don’t fit Pepper’s given first name or nickname.”

  “They don’t fit anyone connected to Willie or whoever died today. The K could be for ‘Kloppenburg,’ but his first name begins with C. Except for being reclusive and what might be dried blood on a pillowcase, there’s no connection.” A sudden thought hit Judith. “Or is there?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Matt Chan diagnosed Mrs. K as having a mild heart attack. How hard would it be to fake one when the doctor has limited resources? What i
f the Kloppenburgs wanted to get off the train? What if they needed a legitimate reason for going to the hospital in Malta?”

  “Not for the food. I get suspicious when they give patients a flyswatter instead of a fork.” Renie shuddered. “I give up. Why?”

  “Wayne told us the body was being sent to Wolf Point for burial,” Judith said. “There’s no rush, since Pepper was going to make arrangements later. Originally, the body was supposed to be taken off in Malta. Maybe the Kloppenburgs didn’t know she changed her mind. They might figure the body would be at the morgue.”

  “Why bother?”

  Judith shook her head. “Maybe they wanted to make sure the body on the one-way train known as the Big Adios really was Willie.”

  Renie yawned. “Maybe we should forget it for now and go to bed.”

  “Not yet,” Judith said. “It’s only nine-something at home.”

  “We’re not at home and we move into our next time zone soon, which means it’ll be…what? Almost midnight?”

  “Correct—for once.” Judith stood up. “Let’s check the Zs’ roomette.”

  “Ohh…” Renie sighed. “Sure, why not?”

  The vacant corridor conveyed an eerie silence. Only the last two rooms were still lit up. Judith didn’t know who occupied them, but wondered if the passengers were still in the dome or club cars. Maybe they’d made friends, an added pleasure of train travel. Unless, she reflected, you ended up getting sued for thirty million bucks by someone in your sleeper car.

  The overhead lights had dimmed as the cousins moved on to the next sleeper, where the Zs had been staying. “B5,” Judith whispered.

  The roomette was dark and the door wasn’t locked. Apparently neither Jax nor Mr. Peterson had yet verified the couple’s whereabouts, on or off the train.

  Renie switched on one of the roomette’s lights. The beds were as pristine as Jax had left them. Judith found three magazines, but none with names or addresses. The two overnight cases were the same ones the Zs had brought to Hillside Manor. Both were unlocked. The cousins didn’t hesitate to open them and inspect the contents.

  “Clothes,” Judith said. “Toiletries. Makeup. Nothing of interest.” Renie had the same result with Dick Z’s case. “I can’t find anything about the cases’ owners. It’s as if the Zs made sure nobody could trace them.”

  “They had a reason,” Judith said, putting the case back where she’d found it. “Did the Zs know the Gundys were on this train? Dick Z told me they’d boarded on the other side of the mountains because they drove over the pass for the scenic view. Did they learn the Gundys were on board?” She looked around the roomette. “I don’t see any Amtrak info. They must have it with them. No outerwear either. When the Zs hustled the old folks out of the dining car, they came back here, supposedly to get the old folks’ coats. But the Gundys were in coach—the opposite direction from the dining car. I barely glimpsed the foursome by the motel. Everything happened so fast. Maybe the Zs took their own outdoor gear for themselves and the oldsters. Nothing incriminating was left behind.”

  “Maybe there wasn’t anything,” Renie said. “They couldn’t predict the brawl and the gunshots, which is why the Gundys were so upset they let themselves be taken off the train.”

  Judith thought for a moment. “What if the Zs knew there’d be an incident? The brawl might’ve been a setup.”

  Renie was dubious. “You’ve speculated that the pickup wreck was contrived. I can buy that, but no one knew how long we’d be in Scuttle.”

  “Why not? There aren’t many towns on this route.” Judith leaned against the wall. “If I’m right about the accident being planned, who’d be able to drive the pickup and time it so the truck wouldn’t be damaged, but the trailer would?”

  Renie smiled slyly. “Willie or someone of that ilk.” She suddenly tensed, peering through a slit of open space between the closed curtain and the corridor window edge. “Shhh! I hear someone,” she whispered, turning off the light.

  Judith moved to the bed. “Lock the door, get under the covers.”

  Renie complied with the first order, but balked at the second. “I can’t get the ladder in place that fast.”

  “Then hide under the bed.” Judith slipped under the covers.

  “Oh, for…” With a big sigh, Renie got on all fours and crawled out of sight. “We don’t know who’s out there. It could be anybody.”

  “Shut up. I can hear them talking…”

  The door slid open. Judith tensed.

  “What the hell?” Wayne Fielding said under his breath.

  “Close it,” Pepper said, also in hushed tones.

  Peering out from under the bedclothes, Judith saw the couple beat a hasty retreat—and quietly close the door behind them. She caught only a few words before they passed out of hearing range.

  “I don’t get it,” Pepper said. “What did they do?”

  “Don’t ask me,” Wayne replied. “Maybe we don’t want to know…”

  Judith got out of the bed; Renie crept from underneath it.

  “I thought I told you to lock the door,” Judith said, disgusted.

  “I did,” Renie asserted. “Did you lock it after we came in?”

  “No. Are you sure you didn’t?”

  “Ah…” Renie made a face. “Maybe. I assumed you didn’t want anyone barging in on us.”

  Judith’s shoulders slumped. “You unlocked it when I told you…never mind.” She remade the bed before speaking again. “Is anything out of place?”

  Renie scrutinized the roomette. “No.”

  “Don’t move,” Judith said sharply.

  “What?”

  “You’ve got a Post-it note on your butt.”

  “Why would I do that? I know where my butt is. I can actually tell my ass from a hole in the ground.”

  “You must’ve gotten it stuck to your slacks under the bed,” Judith said, removing the small piece of paper. “Well, well. Take a look.”

  Renie read the hand-printed words aloud. “‘Chester Gundy, b. 04/07/36.’” She looked at Judith. “Who’s he?”

  “I’ll tell you who I think he is when we get back to our room.” Despite the train’s rocking motion, both cousins hurried through the sleepers until they reached their compartment.

  Judith sank onto the lower bunk. “I suddenly recall Mrs. Gundy asking her husband where Chester was. Mr. Gundy said he was in Wolf Point, where else?”

  “As if Chester never went anywhere?”

  Judith considered Renie’s comment. “I’m not sure. The Gundys, especially Mrs. Gundy, seem muddled.”

  “Okay,” Renie said, “if Pepper is a Gundy, she must be related. Why else would she be checking on the Zs?”

  “Right. She and Wayne were surprised to find the roomette occupied. Therefore, they must’ve known the Zs took off—with the older Gundys.” Judith studied the Post-it.

  “Chester, born in 1936. He may be her father and the senior Gundys’ son. Where do we go from here?”

  “If only we had a laptop, we could check it on the Internet.”

  “Somebody must have one,” Judith said. “I’ll bet Matt does, but their roomette was dark when we went by.”

  “Too bad Emily didn’t swipe one of those.” Renie leaned closer to the window. “The clouds are moving away. You can see the full moon.”

  Judith was surprised that she could also see some of the softly rolling landscape. “It’s beautiful. Is this farming country?”

  “I think so,” Renie said. “Wheat and cattle ranches. There’s a grain elevator. And a house. No snow.” She studied her Amtrak guide. “The Fort Peck Dam is around here. There used to be an air base, but it was closed several years ago. The Milk River runs through the town. Lewis and Clark thought it looked like a cup of tea with milk poured into it, but it’s that color because of glacial—”

  “Shut up,” Judith snapped. “We’re slowing down,” she noted.

  “This must be Glasgow. How long will we be here?”

&nb
sp; “Not long. It’s another small town on what’s called the Hi Line that the Great Northern built through virtually unpopulated territory a hundred—”

  “Shut up! All I want to know is how long we’ll be in Glasgow.”

  “We’re almost stopped,” Renie said. “The station must be on the other side of the train. I can’t see anything but more grain elevators.”

  Judith stood up. “I’m going outside to call Joe. He’ll still be up.”

  “You won’t have time, you could get a bad connection. He might be going to bed early. Their flight tomorrow morning is at eight…”

  Judith didn’t hear the rest of Renie’s protests. She grabbed her jacket and moved into the corridor. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, no one was in sight. The outer door was shut, but she was undaunted. As she grasped the handle, the train began to move again.

  “Damn!” Frustrated, Judith felt the train pick up speed as it passed a closed farmers’ market, a vacant baseball field, and the serpentine curves of a murky river. Cursing herself for not moving faster and wishing Renie had stopped blabbing, she headed for the steps. Female voices floated down the stairwell. Judith recognized Maddie and Tiff before she actually saw them.

  “You!” Maddie exclaimed from the next to the last step. “What did you do with our pictures?”

  Judith took a deep breath, regaining her aplomb. “I kept them.”

  “You’re a thief!” Maddie moved closer, her expression menacing. “We’re calling the cops.”

  “Go ahead.” Judith remained calm. “You trespassed. I have a witness.” If Mother can remember who I am, let alone the so-called Santa elves. “It’d help your cause if you told me why you lied about the rental and came onto our property to take photos without permission.”

  Maddie and Tiff exchanged quick glances. “You have no proof,” Maddie finally said. “We wanted pictures of the neighborhood before we talked to the rental agent. People in real estate do that all the time.”

  “Then,” Judith said, “let me see the other photos, especially the ones of the rental and the rest of the cul-de-sac.”

  Maddie’s blue eyes flashed with anger. “We don’t have them here.”