“I wasn’t in the cafeteria when he called. I was out trying to find Duck’s wife. Actually, I was on my way back to the cafeteria. I’d decided to wait until Duck got there.”
“So, you’d gone out by yourself to look for them?”
“No. No. No. Billy Korlein and I were together. Jim Bob Gibbons had been with us, but he went off on his own.”
“And this was after Jimmy and Betty Gail were drinking and had left.”
“I’m not sure. I think it was before. It might have been when they were out at Jimmy’s car drinking. That might have been the reason we didn’t find them the first time.”
“And what might be the reason you didn’t find them the second time?”
“Maybe they were already dead. You seem to know more about this than I do. Where did you find them, anyway? Maybe I can tell you if I saw anyone anywhere near the place.”
“I think I’ll save that little bit of information for later.”
“Suit yourself. I’m just trying to help. Anyway, I know it had to be outside someplace.”
“And how do you know that?”
“Well, I don’t for sure. But when the four of us first went to look for them, after they came back in drunk and we threw Jimmy out, we walked down the hall together, then one of us came up with the idea of looking on both floors at once. So, me and Duck took the downstairs floor and Jim Bob and Billy took the upstairs. They climbed the steps and looked down the hall. They didn’t see anybody. We hollered that we didn’t anybody, either.”
“Did you check all the rooms?”
“They did upstairs. One of them walked down the right side, the other one the left, and they tried every door. All of them were locked. Downstairs there’s not as many locked doors. Only the principal’s office and the counselor’s office. Both of those doors were locked.”
“Did you look in the gym and the kitchen?”
“We did. I took the gym, Duck the kitchen. It took me longer ’cause the gym is a larger place. I had to go up on the stage and check behind the curtain. First of all, I had to find the light switch. After I found it, I realized there wasn’t anyone in there, anywhere. When I walked out, Duck was coming out of the kitchen. He told me they weren’t in there, either. That means they had to be outside someplace. We looked out there, too, but of course it’s a lot bigger area out there. I suspect you found them down by the river somewhere. Is that where you found them, Lieutenant?”
“I can’t say.”
“I knew that’s where they were. Had to be. There wasn’t anywhere else. And if that’s the case, it means it could have been anybody who did it. Probably somebody drunk out on the river.”
We sat there silently for a few minutes, and then Justice spoke.
“Lieutenant, I’ve been sitting here listening to everything you’ve said, but there’s something that puzzles me. Can I ask you a question?”
“You may, but I’m not sure I’m allowed to answer it.”
“How does Jennifer Garner fit into all this?”
Before I could open my mouth, his wife said, “Jennifer Garner? The Jennifer Garner?”
“Yeah, Billy said the lieutenant asked him about Jennifer Garner. But then, what man isn’t interested in Jennifer Garner? There’d have to be something wrong with him if he wasn’t.”
+++
Again Lou waited until we were safely ensconced in Lightning before he opened his mouth.
“Cy, can I go home with you?”
“Why would you want to do that?”
“Well, I don’t have a computer, and it looks like going to your house is the only way I’m going to find out who Jennifer Garner is.”
“Lou, you could care less who she is. You just want to know what the babe looks like.”
“Well, I do have room for a poster on my bedroom wall.”
“You mean you don’t have a picture of Heather there?”
“Nope. Betty Lou, either.”
“Cy, do you have a picture of your next-door neighbor on your wall?”
“I used to until I woke up in the middle of the night, saw the picture, and it almost frightened me to death. At least, while the picture was there, I didn’t have any problem with rats. Now, bats, that’s another story.”
We shared a laugh and then Lightning lurched forward.
+++
It was late when Lou and I left our last suspects of the day. My stomach had been growling for quite some time. We’d eaten our snack and cleaned up on the way to the Justices, and it was past my supper time. In years past, I would have taken out a Hershey Almond candy bar, my staple food, and munched on it, one almond and surrounding candy at a time. But I was trying to turn over a new leaf. I thought I was off the hook with Doc when I went back and met his weight goal, but he wasn’t sure I had conformed, and actually I wasn’t sure, either. When Doc told me I had to continue to lose at least two pounds a month to stay on the force, I knew I had to keep up with my newfound regimen. Sometimes, that would be tough.
Both Lou and I were tired, so we refrained from talking about the case or Jennifer Garner and made plans for the next day.
“Lou, I’ll probably be a little late in the morning.”
“Oh? Exercising a little more or sleeping a little later?”
“Neither. I need to call Sam and see what he can find out about these people. Then, I want to Google Jennifer Garner to see if I can find out what today’s clue means.”
“Did you say Google or ogle?”
“Maybe both. It depends on what she looks like. Anyway, I want to see if I can find something on the computer that will tell me what our clue means. And of course, I plan to exercise, fix breakfast, and read my daily devotionals before I come, so I expect I’ll be a few minutes later than usual. I’ll call you before I leave the house. So far, all I have planned for tomorrow is for us to go where Betty Gail Spencer worked and see what they can tell us about her and her relationship with her husband. Also, I want to check to see if Mrs. Edwards is still around. If so, I want to see her and try to get her to tell us what she can about that girl that died in the wreck twenty years ago. So far, it looks like someone’s motive either has something to do with that wreck, or something that happened at the reunion. I’m leaning toward the latter, since I don’t think this thing was premeditated, but then I want to see if anyone knew that Jimmy Conkwright was coming to the reunion.”
“I would think that Rose Ellen Calvert knew, since she took care of the reservations.”
“I think we’ll end up seeing most or all of our suspects again, as we learn more, but probably not until after we hear from Sam.”
I dropped Lou at his place and then rushed home to fix myself some supper. I wasn’t in any mood to cook, so I opened the refrigerator and took out some shrimp and cocktail sauce to make myself a shrimp cocktail. The shrimp weren’t large, and according to the container, I could eat ten of them. I could’ve eaten twenty of them, but I wasn’t going to revert back to the old Cy. Not yet, anyway. I had a tray full of carrot sticks, celery stalks, sliced green and red peppers, and some cherry tomatoes. I filled my plate with them, and added four olives to my display. As soon as I poured a glass of water, I was ready to eat. I knew I was too tired to Wii, but that was okay. I would make up for it the next day.
Curiosity had the best of me, however, so I went to the computer and Googled Jennifer Garner. I could see how Korlein and Justice were enamored with her. I didn’t know a woman could look so good. The next morning I planned to find out more about her. But then, the next morning was still several hours away. It was time to go to bed. And dream about Jennifer Garner, and any other beautiful women who might be future clues. On the way to get ready for bed, with my thoughts still fixed on Jennifer Garner, I realized that sometime, somewhere, she too went to high school. I wondered if she was a cheerleader, the prom queen, and whatever else she wanted to be, and how many of the guys hit on her. I thought back to my days at Hilldale High. We had some nice-looking girls there too, but I don’t think any
of them became famous.
Chapter Fifteen
I woke up the next morning feeling better than I did the night before. I sat up, remembered what I had planned for the day. I didn’t know how long it would take to talk to the people where Betty Gail Spencer worked, plus see Mrs. Edwards. I picked up the phone book. Mrs. Edwards was still listed, and at the same address. I figured she’d be up in age by now, and would be home during the day. I would soon find out.
In the past, I stumbled to the shower to wake up. That was before I started exercising. I had no idea if the Wii Fit would make me sweat in January, but it sure did in July. Also, I’d heard that a body should eat something before exercising, so I took a few minutes to read my daily devotionals, and then headed to the kitchen.
I’d settled in on oatmeal, bacon, and scrambled eggs most days. On occasion, I fixed an omelet, but omelets take longer than scrambling eggs, and I wanted to leave as much time as possible for working on the case. Once I ate, I dashed to the computer. Jennifer Garner was waiting for me. The night before I’d clicked on long enough to see what Garner looked like. I now knew that my blind date was worth every click I could muster.
I sat down in front of the computer, eager to give Garner my full attention. Besides, I needed to allow my food ample time to settle before I Wiied. I learned a little about her and looked at all the things the actress had appeared in. Four of them stood out; Alias, The Invention of Lying, Catch Me If You Can, and The Pretender. I didn’t know whether this was important or not, but she was married to some guy named Ben Affleck. I wasn’t sure if he too is an actor, or if his family is the one that owns the insurance company that uses the duck in its advertising. See, I don’t watch TV, and I haven’t been to the movies in years. I don’t watch sports either, so I’m clueless when it comes to entertainment.
I sat there mulling over my possibilities. Was God trying to tell us something which had something to do with one of those four movies or TV shows in which Garner appeared? Alias was easy enough to understand. That meant that one of our suspects was not who he or she said they were. If that was the case, that made it easy. All of them knew each other except for the current custodian. It would have to be him. I planned to have Sam check on him. Oops, I’d gotten so involved in looking at Garner that I almost forgot to call Sam. I’d make sure I did that before I left.
It was time to move on. Obviously someone had lied to me. Maybe a whole lot of someones. Which meant that several of them were in cahoots or they were protecting themselves or others for some reason other than murder. If the first turned out to be the case, my guess would be some or all of the guys who were at the reunion. At least three of them seemed to be close knit.
“Catch Me If You Can” told me that someone had been playing games with me. While I’d had that happen before, I hadn’t run into anything on this case that indicated that. “The Pretender” meant that someone was pretending to be someone whom they were not, or pretending that something happened that didn’t happen. This sounded more in line with the “Alias” suggestion. I decided not to take any more time thinking about them at the time, so I wrote them down, so I could see what Lou thought of our possibilities. I’d spent enough time with Jennifer Garner. It was time to make myself look more appealing in case I ever ran into her.
After the first few days, I had no trouble doing the aerobic exercises on the Wii. Well, I had no trouble doing the Step exercise, even the Advanced Step. But hula hooping and running were a different story. If I attempted to do either of them, I would huff and puff for a minute or so after I quit. And that was if I merely attempted to do them one time. There was no way I was in shape to repeat either of them. The strength exercises were even worse. I still didn’t attempt any exercise where I had to get down on the floor. Instead, to get myself in shape, I practiced falling toward and pushing myself away from a wall. I hoped that would help make my arms strong enough to support my body. I was told I needed to rotate between strength and aerobic exercises, but where was I to get the strength to do the strength exercises?
+++
After I’d run so much hot water over my aching muscles that the water was no longer hot, and I had stumbled from the shower and managed to dress myself, I went to the phone to call Sam Schumann. Each time Lou and I worked on another murder investigation I called Sam to do any legwork that I didn’t have time to do myself. Sam was the best at what he did, and while I wouldn’t want him to know it, he’d been quite helpful to Lou and me over the years.
“This is Sam I Am dining on green eggs and ham. I’m Sam the Man, the cop who assists all other cops from A to C, and from E to Z.”
“Very funny, Sam. Well, I’m one of the cops from A to C, as in Cy.”
“I thought you were one of the cops from D to D, as in Dekker, as in the one letter of the alphabet I don’t have time to help.”
“Sam, if you don’t cooperate over the phone, I’ll just come over there.”
“Won’t do you any good. I’ve already eaten. Some of us have been up for hours.”
“Some of the rest of us have, too.”
“Is there a barking dog in your neighborhood, or did your conscience got the best of you? Huh, Cy?”
“Listen, Sam, it’s time for you to go back to work. I’ve got some people I want you to check on.”
“When I heard that a couple of bodies were found the other day, I put paper beside the phone. I knew you’d be calling, so, shoot, just as long as you have only a couple of suspects.”
“Well, some of my suspects are couples, but I’ll start with a couple of the single ones. See what you can find out about Walter Gillis. He’s the custodian at the county high school. He hasn’t been here long, and I don’t think he knew either of the victims, but check him out, anyway. See where he came here from, and why he came here. See if he knew either of the victims, or if he knew anyone in Hilldale before he moved here. Also, see what you can find out about the retired custodian, Earl Spickard. He’s been here a long time. He doesn’t seem to have been able to have done in the victims, either, but check him out nonetheless.”
“I’ll do that. Bye, Cy.”
“I’ll ‘bye, Cy,’ you! Keep writing! Next check out Rose Ellen Calvert. She works at the library. She was in charge of the reunion. If possible, I want to know if she knew that Jimmy Conkwright was coming to the reunion. See what you can find out about her. She went to school with the victims.”
I continued reciting names until I’d given Sam the names of all the people I had questioned so far.
“Now, what were those names you gave me after the custodian? My pen ran out of ink and I couldn’t write the rest of the names down.”
“Very funny, Sam. One other thing. Supposedly, Conkwright still had a lot of his dad’s money. See if you can find out how much he had, and who inherits. I guess that’s it for now. And no hurry on this. Noon will be fine.”
“Cy, I promise you I’ll have everything by noon. I can’t make any promises as to which day. One question. Do you want me to feed you this a little at a time, or all at once?”
“How long do you think it will take you to come up with all of it?”
“Oh, probably two or three days.”
“You can just wait. We still have people to question, and then Lou and I will mull over what we know so far.”
“Mull over. Is that another way of saying you’ll hang out at your house, order good fattening food, and eat it in front of Lou who doesn’t eat that stuff anymore?”
“Well, I do mull better at home, Sam. Oh, one other thing. I’m curious about something. Do you know who Jennifer Garner is?”
“Do I know who she is? I have all the DVDs from that TV show. I’m still upset they canceled it.”
“What about movies? Have you seen any of her movies?”
“Every one of them.”
“What if it’s a bad movie?”
“If she’s in it, it’s not a bad movie. Listen, Cy, does she have something to do with this case? If so,
I’m your leg man.”
“She’s only involved indirectly.”
“Cy, you know she’s married to Ben Affleck, don’t you?”
“I’d heard that. What do you think of him?”
“Oh, some of his movies are good, but she’s much easier on the eyes. Back to his wife, when she gets involved directly, let me know. Also, another Jennifer that I’d be happy to help out with, Jennifer Aniston. She floats my boat, too.”
I wish he had used a different description. My thoughts immediately went back to my rowboat experience, but I did think another excursion would be better if I had a woman with me. Unless that woman was my next-door neighbor, but then I never think of her as a woman.
Sam and I continued our folderol until I realized that I had places to go, people to locate. We hung up, and I rushed to use the information I’d gotten from Sam. I Googled Jennifer Anniston. I misspelled her last name, but Google knew who I wanted. A few seconds later I realized that I haven’t been watching enough movies and TV shows. I wondered what other beautiful creatures I’ve missed out on. When I have more time, I plan to call Sam back and ask him. Well, after I’ve gotten tired of my two Jennifers.
Chapter Sixteen
“9-30-55.”
Those were Lou’s first words as he got in Lightning and buckled his seat belt.
“I think your watch is a little slow. I’ve got 9:42.”
“I wasn’t giving you the time, Cy.”
“Then, what are you doing, Lou? Giving me your locker combination after all these years? Or did you rob a bank a while back and you’re letting me know where the money is in case you keel over before I do.”
“Those numbers are today’s clue.”
“And we still haven’t decided what yesterday’s clue means. God seems to be getting a little ahead of me.”
“Cy, I hate to break this to you, but God’s always well ahead of you. Besides, you’re the one who says these messages come from God. You may be right. Like I said I don’t hear any voice, just a thought. But just in case you’re right, do you want me to tell God He’s moving too fast?”
5 Murder at the High School Reunion Page 11