Annie assured her friend that she could count on her. Then she called to Art, “I won’t have time to make those waffles for you after all. Barb needs me to help her run the league this month, so I’ll have to leave soon for the Pro Shop. Shall we just have a bowl of cereal? I promise I’ll make you waffles tomorrow.”
* * *
After the women got everything organized for the team Scramble, they fell to talking. Barb pointed to a sheet of paper thumb tacked on the bulletin board, “Did you see this, Annie?” The poster told how golf got its name when it was invented in Scotland:
Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden = GOLF
“Do you think that’s how it really got it’s name, or just a joke?” She added, “I’m sure glad we women get to play now. I’m not very good, but I really like being outside whacking that little ball around.”
“You may not drive very far, but you’re deadly with a putter in your hand,” Barb declared. Annie smiled. Then they overheard someone mention the name “Twila,” and they stopped talking and listened intently.
Dolly, their friend from the kitchen, was telling her twin sister, “They haven’t heard from Twila; they don’t know where she is.” Molly asked what Twila’s last name was. Dolly told her it was Thompson. Dolly went on, “Her car’s gone. They thought she was coming home on Tuesday, that she’d be back here for Bingo to help Karl. She’s his new assistant, you know.”
Molly asked who ‘They’ were. “Oh,” Dolly explained. “Twila moved to BradLee because she has family here. Tony Tuckman’s her brother.” There was some discussion among the twin sisters; Molly seemed to be surprised by this relationship. Annie wondered why anyone would find that unusual. So many people moved to BradLee because they had relations living here. She chuckled, thinking it wasn’t safe to make a disparaging remark about anyone to anyone as they might very well be related! She’d heard there were at least twenty-one sets of sisters in the park, and that didn’t include sisters-in-law.
Barb looked at Annie and nodded towards the twins. They wanted to learn all they could, so the two friends moved over next to Dolly.
It was easy to get Dolly talking. She told them that she’d heard that Twila drove to Sanibel Island to visit friends over the weekend. She planned to leave early Tuesday to get back in time for Bingo. Annie and Barb already knew that from Brad, but they kept still. Dolly then told them something they hadn’t heard—that a neighbor thought she’d seen Twila’s car on Tuesday. It was in her carport; then it was gone. Her brother didn’t know whom she visited in Sanibel; she hadn’t said and hadn’t left a phone number. They, the brother and his wife, were beginning to get worried. Annie rubbed her left temple.
There wasn’t time to question Dolly any longer. The golfers began coming into the Pro Shop to sign in and to buy 50-50-raffle tickets, and the team captains came to pay the entry fee—money they had collected from each member of her team.
Verna, dressed in warm woolen slacks and sweater topped with a windbreaker jacket hurried inside the Pro Shop and told them, “DeeDee had to cancel this morning. Her sciatic pain just won’t go away. She’s going to have to have a doctor for it.”
“That’s too bad,” Barb said. “Is she going to an M.D. or Chiropractor?”
“An Osteopath, I think,” Verna answered, “that way she’ll get the best of both!”
Annie leaned across the counter and whispered to Verna, “We’ve got some news for you. Can you wait here after your round? Wait until we finish? We just heard something more about Twila Thompson.”
“And maybe I’ll have some news for you,” Verna countered. “Guess who is subbing on my team? Kitty Kreegah! I’ll see you later; I’ll wait for you here.”
* * *
It was nearly 10:00 a.m. when Barb and Annie teed off on the Blue course. Because of sickness and the cold weather, Barb and Annie’s foursome ended up being a twosome. Barb said, “Hopefully, we’ll have a full team next week. Since there are only two of us, we’ll each have to hit two balls every time—to make up for the two missing players.”
It was a Best Ball event. They could choose the best ball driven from the tee. Then they would both hit twice from that spot, and so on. “This is going to be like playing 18 holes instead of 9!” complained Annie. “We’ll be exhausted when this round is over.”
“Well, at least we won’t be over-heated on this brisk morning,” joked Barb. “C’mon, drive. Let’s get started so we can get finished.”
* * *
Since the golf course was open only to the women on Thursday mornings, the men who volunteered on the work crew often worked on improvements to the course that day. Their present project was making cement golf cart paths. The women were self-conscious having to hit with an audience, and the men good-naturally kidded them. While they were waiting to tee-off on Number 3, Annie said to Barb, “I thought Art said they were going to pour cement today around the fifth hole. I wonder what happened; why are they digging on Number 3 instead?”
One of the men overheard her and explained, “It probably wasn’t too cold to pour cement, but it was too cold for us old men; we didn’t get enough helpers to come out on a cold morning. There wasn’t any cloud cover last night, and that clear sky let the cold air pour in.”
Where’s Art?” Annie asked; she had expected to see him with the work crew. They told her that he drove the tractor back to the shop to have the blade sharpened. After he dug out the next section for the cart path, he was going to have to go back to Number Five to re-do part of that. One man said he thought those Sand Hill Cranes had torn it up, but another man wondered if it wasn’t the work of a fox because a crane just digs straight down with its long bill while this looked more like someone or something had dug into the soft ground. Annie unconsciously rubbed her left temple.
As they walked to the next tee, Barb said, “We’re getting a lot of wildlife around here besides all the birds. There’s a den of foxes on the Gold and that alligator living in Crescent Pond.”
Annie mentioned, “Von and Verna got to see that American Crocodile in Memorial Pond. That’s a rare sight in central Florida.”
Barb answered, “When Verna said crocodile, I thought she mis-spoke and meant to say alligator.”
“The two animals are similar. I was talking to Doc about them. He gave me a bit of trivia: In case you are ever on a quiz show, you should know that a crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.”
Barb asked, “What about the ‘gator’s tongue?”
“He didn’t say. You’ll have to ask Doc. He did tell me that the croc has a big tooth showing on each side of its head even when its mouth is closed. You don’t see any of an alligator’s teeth when its mouth is shut. Another difference is the shape of its face. The crocs have a longer, slimmer face, and there’s a snout on the end just like a pig’s. They move down through the little streams and waterways; so the croc probably won’t be here long.”
“You learn something new every day!” Barb shook her head. “Look, there’s a pair of Sand Hill Cranes. Those big birds are so majestic.”
Annie commented, “They’ve multiplied in the last few years. I remember when it was a treat to see just one pair of them. They are almost always together in pairs or families. I feel sorry for that one-legged one; he must have lost his mate, and none of the others seem to accept him.”
“Talk about animals in the park—there goes a squirrel.”
“There’s almost as many rabbits as squirrels around. When I ride my bicycle after supper, I see a pair of them in every other yard, it seems. We had to put screening in to keep them from nesting under our air-conditioner,” said Barb.
Annie shivered and said, “One good thing about winter, there aren’t any love bugs flying around. Two months out of the year is bad enough—spring and fall! You have to brush them away when you open the door, or they’ll fly inside the house, and they sure do mess up the front of the car!”
“I could do without those little pale green tree frogs pooping all aroun
d my front door,” Barb complained. “Some women like to collect frog paraphernalia, but after putting up with them leaving their ‘calling cards’ all around my front door, I don’t think they’re cute at all.”
“My favorites are the emus and ostriches. We talked about them yesterday,” Annie said. “Interesting as they are, I sure don’t want to get too close. I hope that fence is good and stout. Those big birds can be nasty. Did you hear DeeDee say that Doc says they can kill you with just one kick? Their legs are really powerful.”
“The emus are quite sociable. Sometimes they hang around the fence watching the golfers, but the ostriches mostly ignore us, never seem to pay any attention to the golfers as far as I can see,” stated Barb. She had a poor second shot, and it rolled near the new bathroom. Barb got a mischievous twinkle in her eye, pointed toward the new building and asked Annie, “Are you going to use it this morning?”
“I am not,” Annie declared. “I’ll suffer before I go back in there today after what happened yesterday.”
Barb laughed and walked over to pick up the ball. Then, for no reason that Annie could figure out, Barb jerked her head. Annie moved closer to her. In almost a whisper, Barb said, “Look straight ahead. Then casually look over in the field where the emus and ostriches are. There’s a little shed over there. I think there’s a golf cart almost hidden behind it.”
Annie pretended to be looking at the big birds. Then as she looked down into her golf bag to pull out her #3 wood, she said to Barb, “You’re right. There is a golf cart parked behind that shed, and did you notice that the rain curtains on it are gray? Who do we know in the park that has gray curtains?”
Barb looked at her friend and said with a question in her voice, “Karl Kreeger?”
“Um-hum,” Annie said through pursed lips.
“But that isn’t in BradLee! That’s some farmer’s field,” protested Barb.
“Exactly,” retorted Annie. “And just why would Karl Kreeger be trying to hide his golf cart there? That is strange. C’mon, tee-off just like we didn’t notice it.”
They turned their backs to the big birds and hit their balls; hitting twice to make up for the two missing players on their team. The sixth hole paralleled Number 5. As they walked, heading back toward the big birds, the women tried to see the golf cart. It was gone. Annie wanted a better look; so she said to Barb, “Gosh, you know what? I think I have to use that bathroom after all!”
Barb looked at her with surprise, then realized why her friend had changed her mind. They both went into the toilets. When they came out, they casually walked over to the fence, again pretending to look at the birds. Annie walked along part of it. “Barb, come here!” she ordered in a low voice. Barb saw that Annie had turned her back to the fence and was trying to get Barb to take a quick look at the fence. It was cut. Clearly, this was no accident. “Now, how did that happen, do you suppose?”
Barb was afraid to examine it closely in case they were being watched. “I’m afraid to bend over and take a good look at it, but I think you’re right. I think it has been cut. Who do you suppose would do that? Do you think it was …?” She hesitated to say Karl’s name. “Why would he do that? You don’t suppose he was going to …”
Annie finished the thought, “To bury the body under the cement path? Like I said before—that would be a great way to hide the body permanently.”
“I just hope he’s not watching us. Let’s get out of here.” She tugged on Annie’s sweater.
“You know what this implies, don’t you?” Annie asked.
“Yes,” her friend said with dismay, “we’re assuming that Karl Kreeger has a body and that he is trying to hide it, probably under that golf cart path so it will be covered with cement.”
“We’ve got to stop him. If he can do that, we can never prove that there ever was a body,” Annie lamented. They had been talking as they walked to the seventh tee. “I don’t much feel like finishing this round, but I suppose we should. Didn’t Verna say she was playing with Kitty Kreeger?”
“Yes. You know we’re all alone out here. Right now, I wish some of the work crews were here or even a foursome of men pushing us to play faster. But the men aren’t allowed to tee-off for half an hour after the Women’s League plays because the women playing on the last team to tee-off kept complaining that the men were crowding them—almost hitting them with their long drives.”
“And since it’s so cold out, some of those avid golfers probably won’t be out this morning. Do you suppose Karl was waiting out there? He’d know there would be that space of time when no one would be on the course. The ground’s so sandy; it’s easy to dig down in it. It wouldn’t take long to dig a shallow grave in this sandy soil; not like some of the clay soil we had back home.” The women hustled to Number Seven. “I think we scared him off.” Annie’s mind was on Karl Kreeger; she dubbed her drive.
* * *
Verna was waiting for them in the Pro Shop. She had a big smile on her wrinkled face; her blue eyes were dancing, and she waved a wad of dollar bills at them, “I won! I won the fifty-fifty raffle,” she almost squealed in delight. “I don’t think I’ve evah won anything before in my life!”
“That’s great!” Barb congratulated her. “How much was in the pot?”
“Eighty dollars; so I got $40! The othah half goes to the golf league. Isn’t that fun? Bathing suits are on sale now, and I’m going to use this to buy a new one,” Verna stated.
The women moved into the lounge. The heat was switched on, and the room was comfortable after the chill outside. They pulled three upholstered chairs close and began sharing their morning experiences. Annie and Barb told Verna about seeing what they thought was Karl Kreeger’s golf cart in the field with the ostriches. They could only speculate why the fence was cut.
Verna was shocked, “You don’t think he was… ?” her voice trailed off. She couldn’t say the words that expressed the idea that was forming. They were all thinking the same thing: Karl Kreeger is a nice man. We’ve known him for several years. Men like Karl don’t murder someone, do they? And then try to get away with murder?
Verna shook her head. “This is too much. Do you really think that was Karl’s golf cart in that field?”
“We don’t know what else to think,” Barb said. “It’s the only one we know of around here that has gray rain curtains. And it looked new, didn’t it, Annie?”
Annie nodded in agreement. Verna said, “I have some news for you, too. I told you that Kitty Kreegah was subbing on our team? I got an ear full! She is so put out about her husband! She was really on his case! Seems she’d told him earliah that she needed the golf cart this morning for golf, but he, at the verah last minute, had some cock-and-bull story about why he needed it and just took off in it. So, she had to drive their car ovah to the course. Anothah thing: She doesn’t want to move to Ohio; she loves living in BradLee, but she says Karl just told her they were moving out; that he didn’t want to live here anymore! She doesn’t know what to make of him. Wondahs if he’s going through change of life or something?”
Barb and Annie were stunned.
“There’s more,” Verna continued. “Wednesday morning, a friend, Olivia, I think it was, picked Kitty up to go play Scrabble. Olivia forgot something, so she had to swing back to her home. Kitty says on the way she was surprised to see her golf cart parked in the carport of an empty house. She knows the people who live there; they’re Canadians. The man isn’t well, and they had to go back to Canada because of his health insurance. Kitty said she was so upset, but she didn’t say anything to Olivia. Kitty told me she just knew it was their golf cart because it was blue and had the gray rain curtains, and they were down and all zipped up tight around the sides. Since they were on the late side, she didn’t have time to stop and look at it.
“She also said that she asked Olivia to drive her past that house after the Scrabble game was over, but the cart was gone by then. She doesn’t know what Karl’s up to. She wondahs if he’s getting Alzhei
mer’s or something? He’s acting so strange!”
As she stood up to leave, Barb put into words what Annie was thinking, “Or maybe he’s gotten himself in big trouble and is trying awfully hard to cover it up.”
Verna struggled to get up from the low chair, “Oh, dear, it’s getting hardah and hardah to get out of a comfortable chair. This getting old isn’t for sissies!”
The other two laughed and agreed that ‘Golden Age’ was a misnomer. Annie suggested that they all stop at DeeDee’s on the way home to see how she was feeling.
“I’d like to, but I’m hungry. It’s past noon, and Brad will wonder where I am,” Barb said. “Let’s go after lunch.”
“I almost forgot,” Verna countered, “I have Book Club at one o’clock. I’ll have to skedaddle. Von’s out delivering Meals On Wheels so I don’t have to get lunch for him. Book Club’s ovah about 2:30. How about if I just meet you girls at DeeDee’s about then?”
They agreed. Annie offered to call DeeDee to tell her they’d be coming to see her that afternoon.
* * *
Thursday Afternoon, 2:30 P.M.
Barb and Annie saw Verna pedaling her red bicycle towards them. She was wearing a red cardigan sweater. “How she does love the color red,” Annie commented. “Verna likes red more than I like blue, and that’s saying something!” They waited for her to pull into DeeDee’s carport, put her kickstand down and angle the front wheel to steady the bike. Then they knocked on the door.
The Traveling Corpse Page 10