by Tonya Kappes
“Dottie, it’s me.” I placed my mouth close to the door and said, “It’s Mae.”
The footsteps got closer, and the door swung open.
“Dottie.” I gasped when I noticed the dark circles under her eyes and her red hair not up in the usual pink sponge curlers. “I don’t ever think I’ve seen you at night without your curlers.”
She stuck her head out of the door and looked both ways before she reached out and dragged me in.
“Get in here.” She jerked me, making me trip over the threshold and almost sending me flat on my face.
Fifi didn’t even notice. She trotted right on in and headed straight to Dottie’s desk, waiting for a treat.
“Someone broke into my RV last night. They took my gun.” There was a growl in her voice which made me think she was more mad than scared.
My eyes shifted back and forth as I tried to pry open my brain without the help of coffee. In mid-thought, I jerked up to look at her.
“I saw someone in there last night when Ty and I passed your place on our way to the hoedown.” I sat down in one of the chairs at her desk and eased back.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you saw me?” She narrowed her eyes and studied me.
“I…” I stammered searching for why I didn’t say anything. “I thought it was odd and figured you were running late. When I saw you on the dance floor, it completely escaped my mind.” That was no excuse, but it was all I had. “Did you call Hank?” I asked.
“No. After Henry dropped me off and I noticed the camper had been broken into, I went to grab my gun just in case someone was still in there.” Her nostrils flared. “That’s when I noticed it was gone. Bullets and all.”
“Why didn’t you call Hank?” I asked.
“He had his hands full with Jay. I sat here watching out the window to catch him when he came home, but he’s not come back yet.” She gave me information that didn’t sit well with me. “What’s that look on your face?”
“I wonder why he didn’t come home? If Jay wasn’t murdered, there wouldn’t be a crime scene.” I couldn’t help but think about Natalie Willowby at the scene when I left. I didn’t like her and how she had been just a step behind him all night.
Dottie looked out the window, staring intensely.
“There were a lot of people he had to interview at the hoedown, not to mention the report he’d have to write.” She jerked her head toward me. “And Glenda. They’d have to tell Glenda.”
“Glenda?” I asked.
“His daughter.” Dottie blinked a few times. “I wonder if she knows.”
“He had a daughter?” I didn’t even think about his family members. She nodded. “Wife? Other kids?”
“No. He and Paulette only had Glenda.” Dottie let loose a long, dramatic sigh. “Paulette met her a hippie back in the seventies. Peace, love, and all that bull malarkey.” She shook a finger at me. “Believe you me, nearly killed Glenda when her mama ran off like that.”
“Really?” I stood up and walked over to the coffee pot. “What else?”
While Dottie told me more about Jay, Paulette, and Glenda, I made us some coffee. Immediately, the strong aroma tickled my brain to life.
“Paulette came back one time, and she was nuttier than a fruit cake. She was saying how she’d been all over the United States and seen things we’d never believe.” Dottie reached out and took the coffee mug from me. “Said she was livin’ somewhere in Colorado, but it’s untellin’ where she really lived.” She lifted the mug to her lips and took a sip. “She wasn’t as pretty no more. She looked like death eatin’ a cracker.”
The sound of gravel spitting up under tires made us look out the window just as Hank’s big black car passed.
“We need to call Hank.” I took my coffee and moved closer to the window, watching the tail lights go around the lake.
“The swimmer.” I gasped. “I completely forgot about the swimmer.”
“What swimmer?” Dottie stood up from her desk and walked over, looking over my shoulder.
“I couldn’t sleep, and I think someone was swimming in the lake. That’s why I took Fifi for a walk.” There didn’t seem to be anything in the pond now. The top of the pond was like glass and shiny in the moonlight.
Before I could finish my sentence, I noticed Hank’s car had passed his rental, and he was driving back toward the front of the campground. When he stopped the car next to the office, Dottie and I looked at each other.
“Dear.” Dottie shoved her free hand in her hair. “I’m a mess.”
“I don’t think he’s going to care.” Both of us shuffled over to the door to let him in. “Good morning.”
He looked between us.
“What are you two doing up at five a.m?” he asked, his body stiff.
“Actually, I got here an hour ago, and Dottie’s been here all night.” I held up my mug. “Coffee?”
“I guess I better if I’m going to hear what’s in that head of yours.” He knew me too well.
“Go on, Dottie.” I encouraged her once Hank was inside and sitting with a cup of coffee. “Tell him.”
“Tell me what?” Hank asked.
“Someone broke into my camper last night while I was at the hoedown. And Mae saw them.” She nodded at me.
“I didn’t see the person.” I made sure to correct her. “I saw a shadow and figured she didn’t go with Henry to the hoedown.”
“I told you I was going with Henry.” Her brows furrowed.
“I know you did, and I saw Henry’s car driving past my RV. When Ty and I drove by—” I gulped when I heard how my words sounded as though Ty and I were on a date or something. I glanced at Hank, but he didn’t seem to care, so I continued, turning my attention to Dottie. “I noticed a light on, which is strange since you turn them off when you leave. Anyways, I thought you’d decided not to come or come later. If I was driving my own car, I would have stopped to see if you needed a ride.”
“Was anything stolen?” Hank asked.
“Yes. My gun.” Her face clouded with uneasiness. She was definitely covering something up, but I wasn’t sure what.
“When did you get home?” he asked.
“What time did we leave the Laundry Club?” she asked me.
“You went to the Laundry Club after finding Jay?” he questioned.
“Yes. Me and the girls weren’t tired.” I decided to leave out the fact about Coke showing up and asking me to help her find out who killed Jay because Hank truly believed he wasn’t murdered.
“You didn’t call the police?” He took the heat off of me and went back to Dottie. Her silence was enough for him to know her answer. “You need to come make a police report.” He took another drink and put the cup on the desk. “I’m tired. It’s been a long night.”
“Did you find Glenda or Paulette?” Dottie didn’t care if he was tired or not. She was going to get to the bottom of that gossip.
“We got in touch with Glenda. She said that she thinks she can find her mom, but it might take a week or so.” He walked over to me and put his arm around me. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” Looking deep into his green eyes made any insecure feelings I had instantly go away. “You go get some sleep and call me when you get up.”
He gave me a kiss and told Dottie to go to the station before he left.
“Did he pull off yet?” Dottie asked.
“Yes.” I looked out the window to be sure.
“We’ve got a problem,” Dottie said.
I turned toward her to ask her what she meant, but she was on the phone.
“Your ex-husband was found dead. I think it’s murder,” Dottie told the person on the other end of the phone.
Ex-husband? Was she talking to Paulette?
An icy chill started at my toes and traveled up and outward. One of those danger chills.
TEN
Waiting on Paulette Russel was like waiting on a baby puppy to be born. It was a mix of excitement, anticipation, and nerves
all wrapped up into one. I was on edge just like I’d been waiting for Fifi to have her puppies. I couldn’t wait until Paulette showed up in Normal. Whenever that was. She’d told Dottie she’d try to hitch a ride.
“Tell me one more time exactly how you know her?” I asked.
In my mind I wondered if I should tell Hank about Dottie knowing Paulette, but I decided to hear what Dottie meant by telling Paulette how they had a problem. What problem?
“She and I have been friends for years.” She walked outside the office with her cigarette case in her hand. I followed behind her. “You don’t have to come watch me smoke.”
“If y’all’ve been friends for so long, why on earth would you say all those mean things about her earlier?” I shrugged and jumped when I almost stepped on Fifi, who had run under my feet to go outside. “I mean, I wouldn’t talk bad about you? Or any of the Laundry Club gals.”
“Mean things? I did no such thing. I told the truth. That’s what’s wrong with people nowadays. They think when you tell the truth, you’re speaking your mind and talking negative about someone. I don’t say nothin’ about someone unless I’d say it to their face.” Dottie snapped open the case and took out one of her smokes along with the lighter. She put it in her mouth and flicked the lighter.
“What did you mean about having a problem?” There was no beating around the bush with Dottie. She and I both had always been up front with each other since the day I rolled the RV into the campground.
“That gun.” She swiveled her head toward me. Her eyes darkened. “It was Jay’s.”
“The gun they found on him?” I questioned since it only made sense the gun was his.
“The gun stolen from my place.” Smoke blew in front of her face, clouding her reaction and mine.
“And how did you get the gun?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to the question.
“Took it.” She wrapped her free arm around her waist and continued to puff away. “Me and Paulette took it from his stables.”
“Please don’t tell me you stole it.” I ran my hand over my face, afraid to look at her. Her face told me I was spot on. “Oh no. You stole it?” I gasped.
“Paulette said she didn’t get half of nothin’ in their divorce. So it was part of her half, and she said I could have it.” Dottie snorted. “She really does deserve half.”
“You said she took off. Why should she have gotten half?” I waved my hands in front of me. “That doesn’t matter. What matters is that you have a stolen gun, and it just so happens to be Jay Russel’s. Who is dead,” I told her in case she’d forgotten. “By a bullet that knocked him into the electric fence.”
“It wasn’t me. I was at the hoedown, and someone came in and took it.” She could spin it anyway she wanted to, but if the bullet came back as one from the gun she stole, then there’d for sure be a problem. “He wasn’t murdered anyways.”
“Then why do you think you and Paulette have a problem if the gun can’t be traced to his death?” I asked.
Fifi came running back. She bounced up on her hind legs and planted one front paw on my shin, the other folded over.
“The money?” I asked and picked Fifi up, nestling her in the crook of my arm. “What money?”
Dottie took one last draw off her cigarette before she bent over and snuffed it in the gravel. She stood back up and rolled her shoulders back. Her eyes drew up and down my body as though she were assessing me. The sun was starting to rise over the national park. The light and dark pink sky gave a warm glow around Dottie, making her red hair soft and angelic. She was no angel.
Her mouth twitched side to side. I could see the wheels in her mind rolling around.
“You ain’t gonna tell your boyfriend?” Dottie must’ve had a big secret if she was bringing Hank into this. “It could be a reason Jay didn’t hurt himself.”
“Then we should tell the cops if not Hank.” I couldn’t live with myself if we let someone get off free with murder.
“Then I ain’t telling you.” She twisted around and put her hand on the knob of the office door. “If Paulette wants to tell you, then she can.”
“I want you to tell me.” I was going to have to promise not to tell Hank, which went against my moral compass of keeping secrets from a person I love.
“Can’t. Not if you’re going to tell Hank.” She jerked the door open and walked in.
I sucked in a deep breath. The clean, fresh air filled me with a peace. Or maybe it was just curiosity that made me want to agree to Dottie’s terms. Either way, I had to know.
“Fine.” I walked into the office and stopped in the middle, facing Dottie’s desk. “I promise not to tell Hank. For now.”
“For now?” She stared at me from over the computer monitor.
“Here me out.” I put Fifi down. She scurried over to the empty dog bowl. “You don’t think Jay hurt himself do you?”
“Nope. That’s why I called Paulette.” She clasped her hands, sat back in her office chair, and rested her hands on her belly.
I grabbed a cupful of kibble and poured it in Fifi’s bowl. It’d keep her occupied while I finished my conversation with Dottie.
“Hank and the coroner’s office think so.” I walked over to the coffee pot, grabbed the carafe, and refilled our mugs. “I’m not sure what money you’re talking about. I’m good at figuring crimes out.”
It was a fact I wished wasn’t true. Over the past year, I’d gotten myself into a few pickles that included murder, theft, and other unlawful deeds where I had to use my keen sense of sleuthing to help the police along with clues. Not that Hank wanted my help. No way. He’d tried many times to tell me to keep my nose out of his business and job. It wasn’t how I operated. I’d seen too much injustice in my life and wanted to make sure no one I loved had it in theirs. Including Dottie.
“You tell me what you are worried about. Money and all. Then I’ll help you figure out what you need help with. You and Paulette. I’ll help try to figure out your problem.” I put air quotes around the word problem since that was what she’d said to Paulette. “If we don’t find the outcome you want, then we drop it.”
I watched as Dottie nodded at what I’d said. She knew I was good at finding things out and how I didn’t stop until I got to the bottom of things. I’d proven myself many times, and she’d been right there with me even when she’d gotten herself mixed up in a murder.
“Me and Paulette aren’t for sure, but we believe Jay has over six hundred thousand dollars hidden somewhere in the stable.” She rolled that off her tongue like it was every-day talk.
“Excuse me?” I eased down in the chair as the shock ran through my body, making me a little weak in the knees.
Money was the last thing I had thought I’d hear her say. I was thinking it was an affair. Another woman. Cheating in a contest or competition with his horses. Anything other than money.
“Money,” she repeated.
“Yeah.” I blinked several times. “I heard that.”
“Then why did you ask me?” She snarled.
“I don’t understand. Why would he hide this money?” I stammered around the words as I wrapped my head around hiding cash.
“He stole it from the Normal Bank and Loan.” She mentioned it like it was just a normal conversation.
“Am I going to have to pull every little bit of information out of you.” I scooted to the edge of the chair and put my fist on top of the desk. “Or are you going to tell me what you are talking about?” I was tired of beating around the bush. Especially one that was worth six hundred thousand dollars.
“Years ago the Normal Bank and Loan was robbed. The police never found the robbers.” She sat back up in her seat and rested her elbows on the desk. “We were kids. I’m talking years ago when we were in our late teens. I ran around with Jay, Lee, Paulette, Brooke, Brownie. It was rumored Brownie and Jay had done it.”
“Did they?” I couldn’t wait to get to the answer or the rest of the story.
>
“According to them, no. Lee said he didn’t know anything about it, and they were together during the time of the robbery.” Her chest inflated as she took a deep breath through her nose and slowly went down as she let it out in a steady stream through her mouth.
“Paulette still thinks he had it?” I asked and watched Dottie slowly nod. “She was married to him. Wouldn’t she know?”
“Well, you’d think. You’d have to ask her about that. All I know is that she has reason to believe he did it. He was the robber.”
“How did you get involved now?” I asked.
“Paulette came back to town for a brief time after she’d left. She stayed here in the camper with me.” Dottie licked her lips. “She told me she was here to find that money. She needed the money, and he didn’t give her a dime from their divorce. She up and left and all that, leaving everything behind. You’ll have to ask her about that. That’s when we went to the stable and stole the gun.”
“How long ago was this?” I asked.
“Five years ago.” She shocked me with the time frame.
“Five years? I thought you said brief time.” I recalled she said Paulette had come back to town.
“It was brief. She left twenty years ago, only came back five years ago.” Dottie’s story gave me more questions than answers.
“Why now? Why didn’t she come back years ago?” I knew I was asking Dottie questions she didn’t know.
“I didn’t ask. She told me about the money, and I was curious. Even said she’d give me a cut.” Dottie wiggled her brows. “You remember what this place looked like when your husband…”
“Ex, now dead,” I reminded her.
“You remember how Paul ran this place.” She said the only name that still sent an arrow through my heart.
Not because I loved and missed him. It was the fact he’d completely changed my life as well as hundreds of others, which made me feel guilty even though I had nothing to do with it or any knowledge of it.
“I needed money to keep this place going and live myself.” She took some more sips of her coffee, leaving me deep in my thoughts.