A Crying Shame: A Jesse Watson Mystery (18 page)

“You are a naughty old broad!”

“She certainly is,” Randy said. “I’m surprised Dad put up
with her all these years.”

“Now you just hold on a minute, young man,” Abby said,
jumping to her defense. “Your father and I have a good marriage even though I
can be a handful sometimes.”

“I know, Mother. I was just trying to get your panties in a
bunch.”

“I hate it when you use that phrase. It’s so disgusting!”

Claire and I laughed at the two of them.

I turned to Randy and said, “Thank you for your help. Things
could’ve gotten ugly. Detective Trainum is a difficult man.”

“That’s why Mother called me,” he replied. “She’s a good
person. She’s also very smart.”

“I can tell,” I said. I looked over at Claire. “Are we ready
to leave?”

“You could stay the night,” Abby offered. “I looked at the
monitors when I went to make those copies and the ground’s covered with fresh
snow. It’ll be dark soon. The roads will be treacherous. What about your family
photo album? Don’t you want to get that?”

Claire and I looked at each other.

“That was a fib,” I said. “That was our excuse in case we got
caught.”

“I bet this day didn’t turn out as you planned,” Abby said.

“That’s the truth!” Claire said. “I’m sorry to hear about
poor Ophelia being murdered.”

“Carl’s going to prison. I can see it now,” I smiled and
said. “Wait until the cops get their hands on him. He was supposed to be such
an upstanding citizen and he turned out to be a homicidal maniac.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” Abby said, looking at me
strangely. “I take it you don’t like the man.”

“You’re right about that, lady.”

“I thought the whole point of coming here was to see if we
could find any clues as to Carl’s whereabouts,” Claire said. “Isn’t that
important anymore?”

“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care where Carl is,” I
responded. “The only reason I wanted to find him was to clear Billy and his
brothers. I wanted to prove that Carl was still alive. Now that point is moot.
He’s obviously alive and well, and off somewhere with his girlfriend, Sherry,
the slut. I wish them well. All I want to do is get back to my family. Let the
police handle Carl.”

“If you ladies don’t need me anymore, I need to get back to
what I was doing before my mother summoned me here,” Randy said as he picked up
his briefcase. He looked over at Claire. “I’ll keep this copy of Carl’s letter
for you just in case something comes up. If it does, don’t hesitate to call.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a business card and then handed it to
her. “As I said, don’t hesitate to call.”

Claire took his card and stuck it in her purse. “I won’t,”
she said. “Thank you for coming over here. We really appreciate it.”

“It was my pleasure.” He smiled at the two of us, kissed his
mother on the cheek, and then started to leave.

“Wait a minute,” Abby said. “Why don’t you stay for dinner,
Randy? It’s late. What could you possibly have to do that’s so important that
you can’t have dinner with your mother and her friends?”

Randy looked at us. “Are you ladies staying for dinner?”

“Of course, they are,” Abby said before either one of us had
a chance to answer. She smiled and walked out into the hallway. “Set the table,
Isabel. We’re having company.”

“Is your mother always this pushy?” I asked Randy.

“She does have a way of getting what she wants.”

I looked at Claire and said, “It’s kind of late, but we did
say we would stay for dinner. It’s up to you, but if we stay, we’ll have to
call home.”

“Yes,” Claire said. “Mom will have a fit if we don’t.”

“Billy won’t be very happy either.”

“Great!” Abby said as she clapped her hands. “Call home and
then we’ll have dinner. Jesse, you can use the phone in the study while we sit
in the parlor and plot our next adventure.”

“You better keep your eyes on your mother,” I warned Randy.
“She’s a troublemaker. I can see it in her eyes.”

“I told you she had the sight!” Abby said as she pointed to
me.

“You’re being silly, Mom,” Randy said. “Don’t mind her;
sometimes she says the strangest things. Jesse, go make your call while I keep
your sister company. Why don’t you go check on dinner, Mom?”

I looked at Randy and then at Claire. Ah, a romance in the
making, I thought to myself. Why not? Claire deserved a nice man, and Randy
surely fit that description. Yeah, and that’s what I used to think about Cole.
I left the three of them deep in conversation as I walked across the hall to
the study. I sat down at Abby’s desk and then picked up the phone. After
several rings, the phone was answered by Sarah.

“Hello,” she said.

“Sarah, this is Jesse. Is everything okay?”

“Everything is just fine,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”

“I thought maybe something was wrong because you’re still
there.”

“I can’t help myself,” she said. “Your mom has kept me busy.
We’re having so much fun with the kids; I didn’t want to leave. We’re going to
have dinner and then the chief and I will be going home. Your mom told us about
the body. I sure hope Claire’s husband isn’t dead... is he?”

“It wasn’t Carl. It was Ophelia Pitman. She’s one of his
associates.”

“Will her death affect my boys?”

“No,” I said. “The scenario has changed and it puts Billy and
his brothers in the clear, thank goodness. Is Billy there?”

“Yes, he is. I’ll go get him. I think he’s in the garage.
Want me to put your mother on the phone? Oh, never mind, she’s feeding Maisy.
Hold on and I’ll go get Billy.” Sarah laid the phone down and I could hear her
talking to someone in the background. A minute later, Mom picked up the phone.

“Tell me everything, Jesse,” Mom said.

“I thought you were feeding Maisy.”

“She’s finished and now she’s sound asleep,” Mom said. “I
love that little girl already! She’s the sweetest thing. Sarah said the body
wasn’t Carl’s.”

“That’s right,” I said. “The body we found was one of Carl’s
associates, Ophelia Pitman.”

“Did Carl kill her?”

“I’d say that was a sure bet.”

“He might be innocent.”

“Yeah, and one day I might ride bareback and naked in
Times Square
.”

“Oh, Jesse… oh, here’s Billy.”

“Hello,” Billy said. “What’s going on? You’re not calling me
from jail, are you?”

“Not yet, but the night’s still young.”

“Carl’s still alive, huh?”

“It looks that way.”

“I’m sorry about that woman.”

“So am I,” I said. “I always figured Carl had it in him to
kill. Listen, if you don’t mind, we’re going to have dinner with Abby, Carl’s
neighbor, before we leave.”

“I’m glad you had her there to help you,” Billy said. He
chuckled. “Your mom told me everything you said when you called, word for
word.”

“I knew she would. Now you can stop worrying. We’re safe.”

“How’s the weather there?”

“I don’t know; I haven’t been outside for a while. Let me
check.” I looked up at one of the monitors. “It looks like there’s a bit of
snow on the ground and it’s still snowing. I’m ready for spring.”

“It’s not far off,” Billy said. “A few more weeks and we’ll
be seeing daffodils.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“It’s snowing like crazy here,” Billy said. “Be careful on
the drive home. You know, it might not be a bad idea to stay the night, and
then drive home in the morning when it’s daylight. Driving in the dark can be
dangerous, and with snow on the roads, it can be twice as bad.”

“I’m sure Abby would love to have us stay with her. I’ll talk
to Claire and see what she wants to do. If we decide to stay…”

“Tell Billy we’re staying the night,” Claire said as she
stuck her head in the door. “Abby already suggested it, so I went to the front
door and looked outside. It would be safer for us to drive in the daytime.”

“Did you hear that?”

“Yes,” Billy said. “Call me in the morning when you leave so
I’ll know when to expect you.”

“I will,” I said. “Before I forget, how’s Brian doing?”

“He’s a wreck. I’ve been doing some nosing around and I don’t
like what I see.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think Brian and Vicki might have had a few marital
problems, but I’m sure he didn’t kill her.”

“Was she having an affair?”

“Jesse, if I didn’t know any better I’d think you had some
Cherokee in you. You’re too insightful for a white woman.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I hate to say it, but I think Vicki had a short-lived fling
with her doctor. I’ll know more after I talk to the receptionist at his
office.”

“Does Brian know about the affair?”

“Not yet, but if it’s true, I’ll have to tell him soon.”

“I thought they were so much in love and had a wonderful
marriage?”

“I guess things aren’t always what they appear to be. Don’t
forget to call me in the morning. If anything should happen between now and
then…”

“What could possibly happen?”

“I’m afraid to think about it, but knowing you as I do, I
wouldn’t be surprised at anything you get into. You have this wild streak in
you, and that’s just one of the things I love about you, but you do have a
tendency to dance with death.”

“Wow, that’s a scary thing to say.”

“Just think about some of the situations you’ve been in. You
picked up a hitchhiker, who turned out to be a crazy teenager with a gun, and
then you’re held captive by a psychotic killer. You had a secret rendezvous
with a pot-smoking, animal-killer, who helped his father cover up the murder of
a young woman, and in the process, almost got yourself buried alive. You…”

“Okay, I hear you. However, in your synopsis of my life, did
it come to your attention that all these things happened to me after I hooked
up with you? I’d never even as much as gotten a traffic ticket until I met you.
I was a good girl… well… maybe that’s not altogether true. Let’s just say that
I’d never been put in harm’s way like I’ve been since I met you. It’s your
lifestyle, and now it’s mine. I guess you’ll just have to deal with it. I can’t
help it if trouble seems to find me.”

“That’s what scares me,” Billy said. “I teach you what I
know, but you don’t apply that knowledge.”

“I just use the information to suit my way.”

“Promise me that you won’t do anything foolish.”

“Like what?”

“Like go next door and snoop around again. You know the cops
will be all over that place now that they’ve found a body.”

“We found the body! That mean, crack-head detective couldn’t
find his way out of church even if he had the preacher leading him out by the
hand. That man’s a hateful person. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll try
to take the credit and then somehow put us right in the middle. He might even
try to say that we did it. No, he wouldn’t be that stupid, I hope.”

“Don’t mess with that detective, Jesse. He might not seem to
be so smart to you, but I can promise you that he has his head together. I’ve
seen him in action. He just wants to catch you with your pants down.”

“That won’t happen! I live by Billy Blackhawk’s rules of
survival. I know not to get caught with my pants down. I learned from the
best.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“I’ll call you in the morning, Billy. Don’t worry about me;
I’m too smart to get caught!”

“That’s what they all say.”

Abby’s invitation to stay the night was a welcomed relief. I
wasn’t looking forward to being on the road late at night with snow pounding
the car windshield all the way home. It’s hard enough dealing with crazy
drivers as it is, and with the weather being so bad, that would double the risk
of an accident. In the morning our visibility would be much better.

“How’s your steak?” Abby asked me.

“It’s perfect,” I responded. “It’s cooked just the way I like
it.” I looked across the table at Isabel and said, “Abby didn’t make you grill
these steaks outside on a grill, did she?”

Isabel and Abby looked at each other and laughed. “No,”
Isabel replied. “We have other means of grilling without having to go outside.”

“I’m sure Abby has a stove with a grill,” Claire said and
smiled. She looked around the table at everyone and said, “Jesse has never been
one to do a lot of cooking.”

“I’m not very good at it. Billy’s trying to teach me, but I
just don’t have the knack.”

“Yeah, but you’re so good at other things,” Claire said.

“Name one thing,” I said, frustrated that I was probably the
only one in the room who didn’t know which fork to use. Why were we given so
many forks and spoons anyway? All I needed was a knife and a fork to eat my
steak… and salad… and dessert.

“You’re a pretty good detective,” Claire said.

“Then why do you give me such a hard time about what I do?”

“I give you such a hard time because I worry about you.
You’re always taking chances. I’m afraid you’re going to get into something and
Billy Blackhawk isn’t going to be able to get you out of it.”

“Billy will never fail me,” I said as I wiped my mouth with
the linen napkin and then placed it on the table. “He’s my soul mate and my
guardian angel. He’ll always be there for me.”

“Now that’s the conviction of a woman who knows her man,”
Abby said, raising her glass of wine. “I’d like to propose a toast to Jesse—a
nice person with a good head on her shoulders.”

“Here, here,” Randy said as glasses clinked.

“You’re not drinking your wine, Jesse,” Abby said.

“She’s going to have a baby,” Claire said, coming to my
defense. “She’s also given up cigarettes.”

“That’s terrific about the baby and the cigarettes,” Abby
said. “The cigarettes will kill you and your child will break your heart.” She
looked over at Randy.

“Don’t say it, Mother,” Randy said. “I’ll get married when I
find the right woman.” He looked at Claire and smiled.

Yep, love was in the air! I hadn’t ever seen that look on
Claire’s face.

“What does your husband have to say about the work you do now
that you’re pregnant?” Isabel asked.

“What can he say? He’s the one who got me started in this
profession.”

“How did that happen?” Abby wanted to know.

We chatted about my job as a private investigator, my soon-to-be
mother status, and eventually, the topic came full circle back to Carl.

“After dinner, I want to have a look at your tapes,” I said
to Abby.

“I figured you would,” she said.

“You know that if we find something incriminating on those
tapes, Mother, we’ll have to hand them over to the police,” Randy said. “Then
your days of snooping on your neighbors will come to an end.”

“I don’t see why,” she replied. “I’m not doing anything
illegal.”

“She’s right about that, Randy,” I added. “Abby has every
right to have surveillance cameras on her property. It’s part of her security
system. It’s not as if she has bugs planted in people’s houses.” I looked at
Abby. “Do you?”

“Of course, I don’t,” she responded. “But…”

Our eyes were on her as she explained how her system worked.
Apparently, she had a device on her system similar to Billy’s portable snoop
machine. She could hear conversations from all the houses that surrounded hers,
and it wasn’t unheard of for her to listen in on many occasions.

“She does it all the time,” Isabel said. “I told her that one
day she was going to hear something she didn’t want to hear, and then what
would she do? I think they put you in jail for listening in on people.”

I had to laugh at that. “If that was true, Isabel, I’d be in
jail right now. Don’t worry about Abby; she can take care of herself.”

“Thank you, dear,” Abby said as she stuck her tongue out at
her sister.

“Please forgive my mother,” Randy said. “She knows not what
she does.”

“I know exactly what I’m doing.” She gave him a hard look and
then turned to me and said, “Isabel has fixed a marvelous cherry cheesecake.
Would you like some?”

“Sure, why not?” I said. “It wouldn’t hurt me to put on a
couple of pounds.”

“You say that now, but in a couple of months, you’ll wish you
would’ve passed on the dessert,” Claire said. “You haven’t gained any weight as
of yet, but soon you will and it’ll be hard to take off once the baby arrives.”

I looked at Claire and decided to follow her advice. She
still has a nice figure and she’s had two kids. Maybe I’d listen to her.

“I’ll pass,” I said. “But you go ahead and help yourself and
when you’re finished, we’ll go have a look at those tapes.”

“I have something I want to do,” Claire said and then looked
around the table. “But I don’t know what you all are going to think about the
idea.”

“Tell us what it is,” Randy said.

Claire hesitated for a second and then said, “I want to go
back to my house next door and get something out of the safe… if it’s still
there.”

The room was silent for a few minutes and then finally Randy
spoke up. “That’s not a good idea, Claire. If you should get caught, you’ll go
to jail for sure. Not only would you be charged with trespassing, but you could
also be charged with tampering with evidence. They put that crime scene tape up
for a reason.”

“I know that,” Claire said. “I don’t plan to get caught.”

Billy’s recent words rang in my ears.
That’s what they all
say.

True to form, I brushed them aside.

“Before I go along with you, I need to know what’s in that
safe.”

“You can’t be serious?” Randy asked. He looked at Claire and
then back to me. “This is not a good idea. I meant what I said. If you get…”

“We won’t,” Claire and I said in unison.

Isabel stood and left the room. She returned with a delicious
looking cheesecake. As everyone partook in the scrumptious pleasure, I resigned
myself to the fact that after the baby came; I was going to be able to eat
stuff like that.

“What shall we do first?” I asked as everyone stuffed
themselves. “Break in next door or watch Abby’s snooping videos?”

“We don’t have to break in, Jesse; I have the key, remember?”

“Well, we can’t just go up to the front door and let
ourselves in, Claire.”

“I have an idea,” Abby said. “We can create a diversion out
front while you two slip in the back door.” She looked at Isabel.

“Yeah, we can walk outside naked, if that will do it,” Isabel
said.

“I’m not going outside naked, you crazy woman,” Abby said as
if she thought Isabel had lost her mind. “But we can go outside and have a loud
argument. It wouldn’t be the first time.”

“I’m game,” Isabel said.

Randy just shook his head.

“Are you with us or not?” Claire asked him.

“I know better than to do this, but I’m with you. What can I
do to help?”

“I have a better idea,” Abby said. “Isabel and I can dress up
like you two and then leave in your car. The cops probably think you two are
going home soon anyway, so they’ll be expecting you to leave. We can drive
around a little and then when you’re finished, you can call us on the cell
phone and we’ll come back. The cops will be surprised to see us back, but by
then you’ll be finished with your little caper.”

“Mother, it’s not safe on the roads. Besides, Claire’s car is
an expensive one. What would you do if you had a wreck?”

“If I lived through it, I’d buy her a new one. Stop being
such an old fuddy-duddy, Randy. Where’s your sense of adventure? Remember, I
was born in
Maine
; I’ve driven in worse weather than
this mess.”

“You were much younger then.”

“You’re really trying to make me mad, aren’t you? It won’t
work, so you can just forget it. If Claire says it is okay for me to drive her
car then what do you care?”

He threw his hands up in the air and said. “Far be it for me
to worry about your safety. Do what you want to. You don’t need my permission.”

“Then it’s settled,” Abby said. “Let’s do it before I lose my
nerve.”

“I doubt if that’s going to happen,” Isabel said.

“Let’s go dig out a couple pairs of jeans and get ready,”
Abby said to Isabel. “I’m sure I still own some.”

“Y’all go get dressed and Claire and I’ll clean up the
table.”

“I’ll go to the study and see what’s on the monitors. We need
to know for sure if the cops are out there,” Randy said. “I’ll scope out the
area and let you know what I find.”

“You don’t know how to operate my stuff,” Abby said. “You’ll
mess up something.”

Randy got up from the table and headed out of the room.
“Don’t be silly, Mother. I was the one who helped set up most of your stuff.”

“But I’ve had more equipment installed since then.”

“I’m sure I can figure it out.”

Claire and I cleaned up the table while Randy went to the
study and Abby and Isabel went upstairs to get dressed.

“You never did answer my question about what you wanted to
get from your safe,” I said to Claire as we carried dishes to the kitchen. “I
sure hope it’s worth it, because we’re getting these innocent people involved
in our plot. I’d hate to see any of them go down if we make a mistake.”

“As long as we can get in and out of the house without
getting caught, we won’t have a thing to worry about. It could be a little
difficult.”

“That’s what worries me. I could do it without hesitation,
but I’m not so sure about you. You have a tendency to freeze up in traumatic
situations.”

“It won’t happen this time. I can promise you.”

“Whatever is in that safe must be really important.”

Claire didn’t say anything.

“Okay, I’ll trust you on this one, but it better be worth
it.”

Fifteen minutes later, Abby and Isabel came down the stairs,
dressed in jeans and pullover sweaters. With our coats on, the two of them
could easily pass for me and Claire.

“Here, put on my knit cap,” I said to Isabel. “It’ll cover
your beautiful white hair.”

“I can tell that you’re a P.I.,” Isabel said. “You tell a
good lie.”

“That’s my job.”

Claire grabbed her stylish, expensive felt hat and silk scarf
and handed it to Abby. She helped Abby put it on and showed her how to cover
her face with the scarf.

“If anyone should see you, they’ll think that you’re covering
your face to protect against the snow flurries.”

I looked at Isabel and said, “I’m sorry, but the only thing I
have is this wool toboggan. I’m not into stylish clothes like my sister. I wear
what’s practical and affordable.”

“That’s okay,” Isabel said. “Abby has a scarf, I’m sure.”

“I’ll get you one of mine,” Abby said.

Claire looked over at me and said, “They remind me of us.
They’re sisters, yet they’re so different.”

“If they were alike, they wouldn’t be any fun,” I joked.
“Look at us. We love each other and would stand together through thick and
thin, but we couldn’t be more different if we tried.”

“That’s a sweet thing to say,” Randy said as he walked out
into the hallway where we were standing. “I have some good news, and I have
some bad news. What do you want first?”

“Just lay it on the line, Randy. We can handle it,” Claire
said.

I looked at her and smiled. I was so proud of my sister. I’d
been jealous of her most of my life, and a little while back I had finally come
to realize that I should’ve spent more time just being her sister and less time
coveting her lifestyle. She didn’t have the perfect marriage like I had
expected; instead, she did the best she could to have the life she wanted.
Sometimes they don’t go hand-in-hand. I was hoping the incident with Carl at
their wedding was a fluke, but I realize now that when a man acts like that, it
only gets worse. She’s dealt with his bad behavior long enough. It was time for
her to take control of her life, and if whatever was in that safe could help
her, I was willing to go the distance to make that happen. The hell with Carl
Benson—he doesn’t deserve forgiveness from Claire. He belongs behind bars, or
in the belly of a big old grizzly bear. Too bad we don’t have any of those in
our neck of the woods. We do, however, have black bears.