by Tonya Kappes
“It might be a little tight in here, but we will manage. I’m sure William will be back anytime.” I pushed a strand of my curly hair behind my ear, remembering my appointment at Cute-icles tomorrow and wondering if William wasn’t back that it’d make a good excuse not to go.
“Do you think?” Penelope’s perfectly waxed brows lifted with a bit of hope twinkling in her eyes. “You don’t think he had anything to do with that ranger getting killed?”
“Let’s just say that it doesn’t look good that he had an open fight with Corbin yesterday and the newspaper printed it.” I held the cup of coffee with both hands. “Now that he’s missing, it makes him look there’s something fishy.”
“I’m so worried,” she said.
“Maybe I can help.” I was laying the ground work for my first step into the investigation. “I’ve been able to help the police with a couple cases, so and why don’t I try my hand at finding William?”
When I’d talked to Detective Hank Sharp, I got the distinct impression that Corbin’s death and William’s disappearance were connected. I wasn’t so sure. From an outsider who knew nothing about Penelope, William, or Jamison, and if I’d walked up on the scene yesterday where Jamison had been consoling Penelope, I’d thought they were an item. Of course, my mind went there. This could possibly be two separate cases. Jamison was as in love with Penelope as she was with him.
“Who planned the bachelor party?” I asked. “I mean, it’s not like we get a lot of those here. We are a family campground.”
“Jamison. He said what better way to bond as a group of men than in the woods.” She smiled. “He’s always been so nice to William and wanting to keep the friends together.”
I bet he does, I thought and then thought some more about how Jamison might’ve thought it would be easy to get rid of William in the Daniel Boone National Park after they got him all drunked up. Most accidental deaths in the park had to do with excessive drinking and falling off a cliff. Easy way to cover a murder if you asked me.
“Has William ever been camping?” I asked.
“Are you kidding?” She laughed and took a drink of her coffee. She rubbed her free hand along Fifi’s belly since Fifi had turned over on her back with her little legs sticking up in the air. “We did go to Arizona once and stayed in a tent that had a king size bed, bathroom, and tent service.”
“Glamping.” I winked, trying to keep the conversation light so she’d continue to tell me about their life. “Did Jamison go to that with you?”
“He goes a lot of places with us.” She shifted and didn’t make eye contact.
“I know you said William is the first to get married, but does Jamison have a girlfriend?” I asked.
“No.” She lifted her head, her eyes hooded by her brows. She tossed her head to the side. Her hair flung over her shoulder. “I’m hungry. Do you have anything to eat?”
That was the end of that conversation. Which told me that I’d struck a nerve somewhere, yet I didn’t feel like it was time to question her about Jamison and his feelings for her.
“We do have an hour before we go see Hank at the station, so we can head into town.” I sat my coffee down. “Let me take Fifi out to potty and put some kibble in her bowl.”
“Someone gotta go potty,” she talked baby talk to Fifi and picked her up. “I can help.”
“Sure.” I walked over to the camper door and opened it, walking down the steps to hold the door for them. “She doesn’t need a leash. She’s great at staying in our lot.”
It was the time of the year dusk painted the sky orange around five-thirty p.m. and we were completely covered in darkness by six p.m. The only light in the sky was a sprinkling of stars and the moon. Campers were fascinated how dark it truly was since we didn’t have a big city in the distance to give off light.
“Hi there,” Chuck said as he walked by the camper. Beth was snuggled up to him with a big grin on her face.
“Are you two having a good time?” I asked, hoping they’d say yes and the events of the day hadn’t ruined their trip.
“We’ve had a wonderful twenty-four hours.” Beth bounced on her toes. “Yesterday we went into downtown Normal. We started at the Trails Coffee Shop for a wonderful cup of pour-over coffee.”
“It was tasty.” Chuck nodded.
“You can get some of their really good coffee in the recreation center in the morning.
I pointed to the building in the distance. “Gert Hobson and I are friends.”
They smiled at each other.
“But do you have the muffins from the Cookie Crumble?” Beth asked with a little hope in her tone.
“As a matter of fact, we do. Same place.” It was perfect how I was able to showcase the area’s small businesses.
“I’m so glad we decided to stay.” Beth’s shoulders raised to her ears, her eyes squinted after she smiled.
“Don’t forget we stopped at Sweet Smell Flower Shop because they had the most beautiful bouquet of wildflowers in the display window.” Chuck didn’t look quite as enthusiastic.
As they talked about how they’d gone to the Tough Nickel Thrift Shop and found a rare dish Beth’s mom was going to love, I noticed Penelope had walked Fifi a few campers down.
“Where are you headed?” I asked Chuck.
“We thought we’d just take a night walk and see what was going on down there today.” Chuck nodded towards the front of the campground at the entrance to Red Fox Trail.
“Do you remember the rowdy group of guys who came in after you for the bachelor party?” I asked. Both of them smiled and nodded, which was odd since they were going to leave because of them. “One of the members of the party is missing.”
“Oh, no.” Beth’s brows formed a V. She gave the same worried look to Chuck.
“What do you mean missing?” he asked.
“He had a few too many to drink and I had put him back in the bungalow, but he must’ve woken up and left. His friends think that he’ll be back, but we are just being cautious, you know?” I shrugged and walked with them so I could get Fifi from Penelope.
“Hey, May-bell-ine,” Bobby Ray Bond, my childhood friend, came shuffling towards us. His baseball cap was on backwards, his blue mechanic overalls were spotted with oil stains, and his hands were filthy. “I hear-d there were some goin’s ons around here today. Dead ranger and missing camper.”
“Dead ranger?” Chuck stopped. Beth gasped.
“Yeah.” Bobby Ray Bond’s nose curled, he nodded. “Found on a trail.”
“Nothing is official on how he died.” I tried to make the situation seem less dire than it really was.
“Do they think there’s a killer here? I mean, I’ve seen movies and there are plenty of places people can hide out there.” Beth’s face was now white as the moon.
“We never said anyone was killed,” I clarified, trying to ease the fear that crossed her face.
“Is that Fifi? Here, Fifi!” Bobby Ray called.
She darted out of the shadow of one of the campers and came running towards us, Penelope lagged behind.
“Penelope.” Beth’s voice escalated. “We didn’t know you and Jamison were staying here. Chuck, look. It’s Penelope.”
“We. . um. . .” Penelope nervously cleared her throat. “My fiancé is the one missing.”
“Jamison?” Beth rushed over to Penelope. “Oh, no. We just had the best time with the two of you. What happened?”
“Well, let me know if you need anything, May-bell-ine.” Bobby loved to use my real name, though I’d not gone by it in years. “I’ve got tomorrow off.”
“Do you think you can look at the golf cart tomorrow?” I asked since Bobby Ray was a mechanic. He’d started working for Grassel’s Gas Station located in downtown Normal just a few days after he’d show up to see me.
He’d seen the article where Alison Gilbert had interviewed me for the National Parks of America Magazine. It just so happened Joel Grassel needed a mechanic and there was none finer tha
n Bobby Ray.
“First thing after my coffee.” He walked on off to the bungalow where he was staying until he saved enough to get a small house in town.
Then I turned back to Penelope.
“Jamison isn’t missing,” her voice trailed off, her chin drew down to her chest, and she fiddled with those pretty, long, pink fingernails.
It appeared that William’s dad and Jamison’s mom – and Fifi and Roscoe - weren’t the only ones to play on the wrong side of the tracks in their relationships.
“We better get on our way.” I gave her a flat look. “Detective Hank Sharp is waiting for us.”
“I don’t understand,” Beth blinked several times in confusion. “I thought you. . .”
“Beth, let’s go.” Chuck obviously knew something was off here.
“Do you understand?” Beth asked him, not letting it go. “Chuck?”
“Let’s go,” Chuck told her in a more demanding voice and grabbed her by the arm to drag her along even though she was fighting and trying to turn around to look at Penelope, falling all over her feet.
“I guess you’re going to want an explanation about that?” Penelope asked me.
I picked Fifi up and picked up the pace on the way back towards my camper.
“Mae?” Penelope walked briskly to keep up with me. “I can explain.”
“Listen here.” I quickly turned around. Fifi started to lick my face. She could tell I was upset. “I don’t have time for games. I’m running a business here. You lied to the police. I thought I had a sad soon to be bride staying with me while they found her fiancé. You are nothing but a liar and I can’t help but to think that you and Jamison had something to do with William’s disappearance.”
I darted off with one thing in mind. Get to the police station and tell Hank my theory.
“Mae, it’s not like that.” Penelope’s voice echoed behind me.
“You’re right.” I stopped at the camper door and jerked it open. I turned to face her rushing towards me. “You and Jamison had a plan all this time to bring William here, get him drunk, and throw him off a cliff. Easy peasy. Best friend comforts grieving bride and they fall in love.” My face contorted. “How convenient. A little too convenient if you ask me. But who is asking me?”
I shrugged. Fifi whined in my arms. I reached over the two small steps leading up into the camper and sat her on the floor inside.
“When Corbin walked up on the two of you getting rid of William, you decided to kill him. Which was perfect because William and Corbin had a very public fight yesterday, making it seem like he’d be the likely suspect to kill Corbin and then disappear.” I had it all worked out in my head and it all seemed logical.
“That’s not true. It’s not!” She screamed, tears streaming down her face. “I love William!”
“But you liked the secret affair with his best friend more?” I asked with disgust. “You know what, I don’t even want to know.” I put my hand out in front of me. “You can tell Hank all of this.”
“I can’t,” she cried ugly. Her pretty face was blotchy, with black streaks running from her eyes and her lipstick smeared. “William will kill me.”
“William?” An evil laugh escaped me. “You killed him.”
“No, we didn’t!” She screamed and fell to her knees. “We were going to tell him after this bachelor party. But he saw us in downtown Normal when he was drunk last night. We were kissing in the town square.” She sobbed. “We tried to stop him. We took off and we couldn’t find him.”
She continued to mutter something through her tears, but I wasn’t going to let her stay with me another minute. I threw some kibble in Fifi’s bowl, made sure she had water, and grabbed my purse.
“You can tell Hank.” I locked the door behind me and headed to the car. “Are you coming? Or am I going to have to call the police?”
She pushed herself up to stand. Her polished look had become disheveled and broken. Like a zombie, she walked to the car. Her eyes were blank. The pretty as a picture debutante look with perfect makeup and tidy clothes had disappeared.
“Mae, you don’t understand,” she pleaded with me from the other side of the car, breaking the silence as we drove out of the campground.
“I understand just fine,” I told her and gripped the wheel.
Downtown Normal was just a short five or so minutes from the campground, but the police station, where the detectives had their offices, was a little bit outside downtown in the business district and attached to the white courthouse. You couldn’t miss the courthouse. It was the tallest building in Normal and you could see the steeple from afar.
Hank’s car was butted up to the side of the building and I pulled in next to his car.
“Please, let me explain before we go in there.” Her tears had dried and her eyes were wide.
I don’t know what got into me but I decided to give her one shot. Maybe it was the drive over and the fact that she’d finally given me a few moments of silence so my brain could process what had come to light at the campground.
“I’ve been with William since high school. I would have to be some sort of club hosting wife that has to always look perfect. It’s not like that with Jamison.” Her face suddenly lit up after she said his name. “He doesn’t care if I look like this or wear sweatpants. He loves that I eat with my fingers sometimes.” Her shoulders relaxed. “I could live in a shack with him and be so happy, not the mansion William has us living in.”
“Did you kill William?” I asked.
“No.” She shook her head. “We ran after him. He took off. I can’t find him anywhere.”
“Why didn’t you just break off the engagement when you realized you were in love with Jamison?” I asked.
“That’s why I came here. I’d texted Jamison and told him that they couldn’t go through with this weekend because I couldn’t go through with the wedding. I asked him to meet in downtown Normal. I think William saw Jamison’s phone when they were all hiking and he was back at the bungalow sleeping off the booze.” Her chest lifted and she let out a long sigh like it felt good to get all of this out in the open. “It was like he was waiting for us to show up there.” Her fingers started to tremble. “William can be a very determined man.”
“Determined as in getting what he wants?” I asked.
“At any cost,” her voice trailed off. “He’s very controlling and quick to anger. It’s another reason I didn’t break off the engagement yet.”
“What did Jamison say about not going through with the wedding?” I asked.
“He said we’d discuss it after we got back home. He told me he loved me and I told him I loved him. That’s when we kissed and William caught us.” She gulped, licked her lips, and looked over at me. “Jamison and I’ve been together since. Looking for him. That’s when we met the couple from the campground. Jamison and I put on a happy couple face and pretended to be something we aren’t. At least not yet.”
“Do you think William killed Ranger Corbin Ashbrook?” I asked now knowing he can be quick tempered.
“I’d like to think he’d never hurt anyone, but I can’t say he’s never knocked me around.” Her nose flared and she tucked her lips between her teeth as though she were biting back tears. “I’m not sure what he’d do if someone pushed him to his limits.”
The door of the police station flung open. Alison Gilbert bolted out with her camera swinging around her neck.
“Alison,” I opened the door and called to her.
She turned with a quick snap of her thin shoulders. A look of disbelief, rage, and frustration arranged her facial features.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Can you believe they think I’m a suspect?” She jerked her head back, her fists clinched at her sides. “Something about the argument Corbin and I had about the article gives me motive.”
“Good.” There was a look of relief on Penelope’s face. “That means me and Jamison aren’t suspects.”
“Honey,
everyone is a suspect. Including you and your boyfriend.” Alison pinched her lips together.
“My fiancé, you mean.” Penelope wiggled her ring finger in the air.
“No, sugar.” There was all sorts of piss and vinegar in Alison’s tone. “Your boyfriend. I snapped several photos around downtown yesterday for the Out and About section of the newspaper. I got an eyeful and a camera full of photos.” She stuck her hand in the camera bag that was stretched across her body, reached in and took out an inhaler.
Penelope stood there stunned. Her eyes bugged opened as her lashes took long and rapid blinks.
“Seasonal allergies,” Alison said after she noticed me watching her with the inhaler. She shook the bottle before taking a few quick inhales. “Stress too.”
“Why on earth do you think you’re a suspect?” I asked.
“Because I’ve been looking into this drought shutdown. Corbin has been dragging his feet on it. I found it interesting because we all know that he was a by the book kind of guy and he’s never dragged his feet before.” She put the inhaler in her bag and took out a file. “If you go back through the fourteen years he’s been here, this is the first time he let some time pass.” She flipped the file open and pointed to words that really meant nothing to me, since I’d not read the entire report. “Initially I thought it was because he was taking the thriving economy into his decision, but as I started to investigate for the story, he threatened me.”
“He did?” My eyebrows dipped in a frown.
Not that I knew Corbin well, but he did come to the office a few times a week to say hello. What I did know of him, threatening somebody was not something I’d ever think he would do.
“Yeah. He said that if I wrote anything about the drought, he’d see to it that I’d be out of the national park office and out of a job. He’s no different than Ardine.” Her jaw tensed and she shook her head while rolling her eyes. There was frustration written all over her, including her tense stance. “The rangers are located in the same building.”