April Korlein broke in.
“I hope we’ve been able to help you some.”
“We’re just putting together what everyone says and see if we can learn anything from those who were there.”
“Well, I can’t see anyone at the reunion doing anything. We might have wanted to throw Jimmy in the river and sober him up, or hope he’d float away. But I’m sure none of us saw anything. Anything else we can do for you, Lieutenant?”
“No, I guess that’s it. For now, anyway.”
I swear I saw Mr. Korlein flinch, when I added those last three words.
“Oh, one final thing, do either of you know someone named Jennifer Garner?”
Korlein grinned.
“You mean the actress?”
“I don’t know. I just wanted to know if you know anyone by that name.”
“Well, if you mean the actress, I’d sure like to know her.”
April Korlein’s elbow connected with her husband’s ribs about the time Lou and I got up to leave.
“So, you think she looks pretty good, huh?”
“Don’t you, Lieutenant? You’re a man. What man wouldn’t want to spend time with her?”
April Korlein’s elbow was a little harder the second time.
“Now, honey, you know I’m just kidding. Remember how I’m always telling you about how all the guys are jealous of me because I’ve got you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Neither of us said a word until we were safely ensconced in Lightning.
Lou turned to me as soon as he was sure no one could overhear us.
“So, what do you think, Cy?”
“I think April Korlein looks pretty good. And you?”
“Me, too, but I also think she looks pretty married.”
“Maybe not for much longer after those remarks her husband made. Anyway, Lou, I forgot to mention this earlier, but I think Rose Ellen Calvert has the hots for you. Did you see the way she looked at you? Of course she needs a makeover, but not an extreme one.”
“You interested in double dating, Cy. Me and Rose Ellen, you and your next-door neighbor?”
I knew it was time to change the subject.
“Does this make you think about our high school days, Lou?”
“A little. I can remember when you stuck Ruby Hatcher’s pigtails in your inkwell.”
“There wasn’t any Ruby Hatcher at our school, and there weren’t any inkwells, either.”
“Well, Cy, I can remember back when I was prom king.”
“You didn’t even go to the prom, Lou. Neither did I.”
“I know you didn’t. So, how do you know I wasn’t prom king?”
“Maybe because the students at our school were smart enough not to do something like that. By the way, speaking of the prom, I remember going to school the Monday after the prom. Rachel Robinson came up to me and said, “Cy, I was hoping you’d be at the prom. It was the only reason I went. So, you know what I did?”
“Yeah, you asked her out, dated her a few times after that, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, we dated a few times until she went off to college. She was kind of cute with that red hair and freckles. Of course, it wasn’t long after that that I met my Eunice.”
I started getting sentimental, so Lou brought my mind back to the murders.
“You think some actress might be mixed up in this?”
“I don’t know. But from the look on Korlein’s face, I sure hope so. I’ll make sure I Google her as soon as I get home tonight.”
Evidently Lou’s clue of the day had something to do with an actress. I wondered how an actress might figure into our case. It wouldn’t be the first time his clue was a famous person. I’d try to find out how famous this Jennifer Garner was before I let anybody downtown know her name meant nothing to me. At least most of our suspects didn’t know her. Well, the ones who lived way out in the country. Plus, Rose Ellen Calvert, who I assumed was more into books than movies or TV.
I knew Lightning wouldn’t give away any of our secrets, so we talked as we headed to the Justices’ house. Five minutes later, we pulled up in front of our last house of the night.
A pretty blonde-headed woman answered the door, admitted to being Sandy Justice. I told her who we were and that we needed to talk to her and her husband. She told me her husband was on the phone. She seemed a little miffed when I asked her who he was talking to. I was a little miffed when she told me Billy Korlein. She invited us in and I saw George Justice sitting in a chair, talking on the phone. I told him I needed him to get off immediately. Justice was short and thin, and had hair the color that some people would refer to as red, others as blond.
When Justice ended his call, he turned to us and said, “I would ask who’s ordering me to get off my own phone in my own house, but I already know who you are. I also know why you’re here.”
So much for pretending he didn’t know who we were, but also so much for my surprise attack.
Mrs. Justice looked as if she didn’t have a clue what was going on, so her husband filled her in.
“That was Billy Korlein. Jimmy Conkwright and Betty Gail Spencer were killed the night of the reunion. These two gentlemen are investigating the murders. Am I right…? I’m sorry. I didn’t get your names.”
“I’m Lt. Dekker and this is Sgt. Murdock. So, what else did Mr. Korlein tell you?”
“Just that you were over to his place asking him and April questions about what happened that night. We don’t know any more than they do.”
“Sometimes one person may notice something that another person doesn’t. That’s the reason it’s a good idea to talk to anyone who was a witness.”
“You mean someone there that night might have witnessed the murders?”
“They could have, but I’m talking about anything that went on that night. Why don’t I start with you, Mrs. Justice? Tell me all that you can remember about that night.”
“That was a few weeks ago, now. I’m not sure I can remember everything, but I’ll try.”
Her husband interrupted, but I asked him to be quiet until it was his turn. His wife seemed to be waiting for something. I told her to go ahead, tell me what she could remember, and I’d ask any questions that might fill in the holes.
“Well, as you probably know, it was our twenty year high school reunion. Ours wasn’t a big school, so there weren’t a lot of people there that night, but most of us made it. It was fun at first, and then Jimmy came in. It had been a while since I’d seen him, or even thought about him, but I recognized him. I’d hoped that he’d changed, but he didn’t seem to be any different, except that he looked older, like the rest of us. I remember my mouth flew open when I saw him. George looked at me, then turned and looked in the direction I was looking. He was next to me, so I laid my hand on his arm and said, ‘Now, George, calm down. Let’s see how Jimmy acts.’ George said something like, ‘Murderers like him don’t change.’”
Mr. Justice opened his mouth to defend himself. I silenced him before he could start, and directed his wife to continue.
“Well, it wasn’t any time until Jimmy came over to me and April. We were cheerleaders in high school, and Jimmy said something about us doing a cheer just for him. I was thinking, I bet my husband has something just for you. George stood up, and was about to get in Jimmy’s face when Jim Bob Gibbons stepped in and pulled Jimmy away. I can’t remember much else, except that Jimmy lost interest in me when Betty Gail Spencer showed up without Duck and didn’t ward off Jimmy’s advances. Anyway, at some point, Jimmy left with Betty Gail right behind him and they came back a few minutes later. It was obvious both of them had been drinking. I remember somewhere in there Jimmy tried to pull me to the dance floor, and the rest of the guys threw him out of the cafeteria. A couple of times my husband and some of the others went looking for Jimmy and Betty Gail. One of those times was after Duck showed up. George called him and told him what was going on. When Duck got there, the guys went looking for Betty Gail.”
“Do you remember which guys?”
“Not really. I know that George and Billy were two of them, because April and I started talking about what might happen if they found them. We were worried, thought about calling the cops, but we decided to wait until our husbands came back.”
“And how long before they came back?”
“I’m not sure exactly. It probably seemed longer than it was. I know before they came back to stay, a couple of times one of them poked his head in to see if Jimmy had come back.”
“Weren’t they concerned that Jimmy might come back when they weren’t there and try something with you?”
“No, because before they left, all the guys got together and some of them volunteered to stay in case Jimmy came back.”
“Mrs. Justice, do you know whether or not anyone else left the cafeteria while your husband was gone?”
“Several people did, but just to go to the restroom. They were all back really quick.”
“What about Rose Ellen Calvert? Did she leave?”
“I know she left once, right after Jimmy left. I’m not sure if it was the first or second time he left. I think she left one other time. I know one time she told us she had to go to the restroom, but I can’t remember when that happened. It could have been early or late.”
“Did all the guys come back at once?”
“No, but there wasn’t much difference between when they all got back. At least I don’t think so.”
“And what did your husband have to say when he got back?”
George Justice tried to interrupt again, but again I silenced him. His wife didn’t seem to notice and continued with her answer.
“Just that they didn’t have any luck finding Betty Gail, and they didn’t run into Jimmy either.”
“Did you believe him?”
“Of course! Anyway, the school is small enough that we would have heard them as loud as they would have been.”
“What if they saw Jimmy, sneaked up behind him, and bopped him on the head?”
“I imagine Betty Gail would have screamed.”
“Not if they bopped her at the same time.”
“Lieutenant, I know you don’t know us very well, but the men I know would never bop a woman on the head.”
“Not even Duck Spencer, if he was mad at his wife?”
“I don’t know Duck as well as I do some of the other guys, but we’ve been around him some. He and George are good friends, so George would know better than I would, but I don’t see him doing anything like that to his wife.”
“What about if Jimmy Conkwright or Betty Gail Spencer made someone good and mad?”
“Well, they say that all of us are capable of murder if provoked. I guess anything is possible. I just don’t believe any of us murdered anyone.”
“Well, someone there did.”
When I made that statement, neither of the Justices had a thing to say.
“Let me ask you something else, Mrs. Justice. What can you tell me about Miriam Van Meter?”
“The mystery girl. Now, there’s a name I haven’t heard in forever. She just wandered in from out of nowhere our senior year. Well, we were seniors. She was a freshman. Usually seniors and freshmen never have any classes together, but I needed one more class to graduate, and since my other classes were hard, I opted for a nice, easy class to fill out my last requirement. Miriam was in that class. We were given an assignment where we were to pair up with another student and give a report in front of the class. Miriam seemed to be the class outcast, because of the way she was, and the rest of them were all friends, so, as it turned out, Miriam and I were the last two without a partner. I suggested that I come over to her house or she come over to mine to work on the project. She finally agreed to come to mine. Well, she came over one afternoon, right after school, and we did the work we needed to do, and then she left. Not long after she left, I remembered that I needed to ask Miriam something before the next morning. Miriam had told me that she was Mrs. Edwards’ niece, and was living with her. Well, I didn’t really know Mrs. Edwards, but I knew where she lived. My mom drove me over there and planned to wait on me, because what I needed would only take a minute. Well, I knocked on the door and Mrs. Edwards came to the door. She told me Miriam didn’t live there. When I told her, Miriam had told me that was where she lived, she said something funny. She said, ‘Oh, Miriam, I thought you said Mary Ann.’ I didn’t want to cause a scene, but the next day I made it a point to seek out Mrs. Edwards’ daughter, who was a junior at our school. She told me that evidently some friend’s daughter was out of district and wanted to attend our school, so her mother agreed to pretend that the girl lived there. I tried to find out who it was, but Carrie Edwards had no idea.”
Like Jimmy Conkwright, no one seemed to like Miriam Van Meter, and everyone seemed to agree about her, but this was the first time anyone had volunteered that all was not right with her. She might need some looking into.
I turned to Mr. Justice, who seemed to have turned reticent.
“So, Mr. Justice, what have you got to add to what your wife told us?”
“The way she told it, it looks like all of us guys were murderers. It wasn’t that way at all. Jimmy got out of line, and we did the best we could to see that he didn’t cause any more trouble. None of us saw Jimmy or Duck’s wife other than when we were in the cafeteria. So, that let’s all of us off.”
“How does that let you off?”
“We were together the whole time. Unless you’re insinuating that we all chopped him to death. Her, too.”
“I’m not insinuating anything. But we have had three people tell us that the four of you separated after you left the cafeteria.”
“They must have meant after Jimmy left the first time.”
“No, they were talking about the second time.”
“Well then whoever they are they’re lying.”
“Even your own wife said you didn’t all come back in together.”
“Well, we might not have done that. It’s possible one of us might have stayed out in the hall. Oh, yeah! I remember. I think Billy and Duck might have stepped outside for a smoke.”
“Was this before or after the two people were murdered?”
“How do I know? I didn’t kill them.”
“Maybe someone who makes an excuse to smoke a cigarette waited until you’d left and then ran into Conkwright and Mrs. Spencer and whacked them to death.”
“Didn’t nobody do no whacking. At least none of my friends.”
“This time I believe you, because neither of the victims was whacked to death, but someone did murder them, and it was someone at the school who did it. Only four of you left the cafeteria.”
“That’s not true. Almost everyone left at some point. Maybe someone who left to go to the restroom did it. Or what about the janitor and his friend? They could have done it anytime.”
“Do you figure they did it together?”
“Could be. How would I know? Or what’s to keep someone from outside the school, someone who didn’t attend the reunion, from sneaking in and murdering them.”
“You mean someone who just happened to be in the neighborhood and looked up and said, ‘There are two people who need to be murdered. Why don’t I go do it?’”
“No, but someone could have driven by when Jimmy and Duck’s wife were outside at his car, recognized Jimmy from way back, saw that he was drunk, and decided to get even for some old grudge.”
“You see someone driving down the road?”
“You act like it couldn’t happen.”
“Well, it does seem a little farfetched. They would have to have great vision in the dark to recognize Jimmy Conkwright.”
“Not if he was at his car. He always drove some kind of red Corvette. I don’t know anyone else around here who’s ever had one. It could’ve caused someone to slow down, spot Jimmy, and then kill him. Of course, they would have to kill Duck’s wife too, so she wouldn’t tell on them. And by the wa
y, it wasn’t all that dark when we threw them out.”
“So how do you know they were ever at Jimmy’s car?”
“I don’t. But they went somewhere. And I don’t think Jimmy had any liquor on him when he came in the first time. I think he had it all planned. He would either lure some old high school flame away, or he’d bring it in later.”
“But Conkwright and Mrs. Spencer came back in after they were at the car, if the car was where they went to get something to drink.”
“And they could’ve gone back out to the car.”
“And maybe they stayed in the school.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but I know their bodies weren’t found near the car.”
I’d been careful not to tell anyone where we found the bodies, in case someone might let something slip. So far, no one had. Then, I remembered I did let it slip once.
“Mr. Justice, tell me about your phone call to Duck Spencer.”
“Not much to tell. Duck and I are pretty good friends. I knew he wouldn’t like his wife running around with Jimmy Conkwright, so I called him to let him know what was going on.”
“And when was this?”
“I can’t remember if I called him after they left together the first time or the second time. I just remember I called him, let him know what was going on. He told me to try to get his wife away from Jimmy. I told him I didn’t think I could. Then he told me he’d be there as soon as he could. It took him longer than he thought it would. Turns out that storm we had earlier knocked down a tree across his road, and he had to run down the road to get the old janitor to bring him in his boat. He called me back after he ran into the tree, told me to hold the fort, and he’d get there as soon as he could. That was when he told me he was going to check with old man Spickard, see if he could bring him in his boat.”
I’d talked to several people. None of them mentioned anything about anyone’s phone ringing. Either no one heard it, no one remembered it, or no one thought it was important.
“And did you leave the cafeteria again when Spencer called you back?”
5 Murder at the High School Reunion Page 10