Killerfind (27 page)

Thinking that Ricky must’ve wanted Rhetta to invest
in the antique truck, Rhetta piped up, “I’m not interested in restoring an
antique truck.” She glanced at Randolph. “What I really want is a Camaro.
Preferably, Cami.” She downed more coffee and glanced around for Krista. It was
going to be a twenty-cup morning at this rate. She wasn’t sure why she
mentioned wanting Cami. She knew that could never be. The car had burned up,
was totaled, and probably already crushed into scrap metal.

Ricky swallowed a mouthful of eggs. “We’re working
on getting that Z28 back, and finishing it up for you, but hey, this is
different. I think we should go and see this truck,” Ricky said, giving in and
joining Billy Dan in a cigarette. She cut her eyes toward Randolph. He was busy
spreading jelly on a biscuit.

“Randolph, would you mind to go and find Krista? I’d
like to get the bill so we can leave.” Rhetta could tell from Ricky’s eye
gesturing that she wanted to talk without Randolph hearing.

Randolph swallowed a drink of coffee, then stood and
peered around the room for Krista. Not finding her, he headed to the kitchen.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Ricky leaned in close to Rhetta and
whispered, “We need to see this truck.”

“It’s in a large shed with a window in it, so it’s
not hard to get a good view of the front end of the truck,” Billy Dan said,
running his fingers through his thick, prematurely silver hair.

“Are we just going to barge in and peer into the
garage? Won’t anyone be there?”

“Like I said, no one ever comes down to the cabin
anymore. My nephew mows the grass and takes care of the place in the summer.”
He tucked the package of cigarettes into his shirt pocket.

“All right, why do we want to see the truck so
badly?” Rhetta felt herself growing mildly annoyed. She was beginning to crave
a cigarette really badly. As grumpy as she felt, she was on the verge of
snatching one away from Billy Dan. Instead, she closed her eyes and willed
herself out of the temptation. The nicotine devil danced on her shoulder and
poked her with his spear.

Ricky answered. “Because the front bumper is scuffed
and dented in a way and with a color that I think exactly corresponds to the
dents on the rear bumper cover and trunk panel of your Z28.”

hetta
bolted upright, the
caffeine
working its magic and jolting her alert. Could her barnfind Z28 have dents put
there by a truck now sitting in Adele Griffith’s shed in Bollinger County? How
could that be possible?

Ricky said, “I’m wondering if that truck may have
been used by the killer to push the Z28 over the spot where he killed and
buried Malcom.” Rhetta was glad that Ricky spoke softly. She didn’t want their
conversation picked up by the locals, or Randolph, who was making his way back
toward the table. “And that it might have been Jeremy who killed Malcom. He
could’ve hidden the truck out here for nobody to ever find. He may have told
Adele that he’d come back and get the truck later.”

“Why would Adele have even called him out here to
pick her up?”

“I haven’t worked that part out yet. Unless….”

Randolph had been stopped by an old friend, and was
busy standing and chatting.

Rhetta went on. “Do you think they could have been
in on it together?” She leaned toward Ricky. “How could we prove that? That
truck’s been in that shed an awfully long time, and now the Cape County
Keystone Kops have my Z28 and all the parts. So that theory isn’t going to be
easily verified.”

Ricky set her plate with the remaining morsel of biscuit
aside. “I doubt if Adele had anything to do with killing her husband, if for no
other reason than she depended on him for income. She’s been near poverty’s
doorstep ever since he disappeared. Well, poverty as compared to how large they
lived before. She bought a duplex, and rents out one side and lives in the
other. She bought that with the life insurance policy she got when Randolph
declared him dead. Up to that time, she got by working as a bookkeeper for one
of the real estate agencies here in town. Riverbluff Realty, I think.”

Ricky slid her cup aside and shook her head, and
held her hand over her cup to signal Krista she didn’t need a refill. “Anyhow,
knowing Jeremy, if he was the one who killed Griffith, he could’ve conjured a
reason to come and get Adele so he could leave the truck there. Remember, the
two families were pretty tight. If we can get to the truck, I’ll scrape some of
the paint from the front end and bumper. I can match it, unscientifically of
course, to your car. I’ll get Custom Fabio at the Custom Fab shop to scan the
paint. He can tell me what type of paint, and what model car it comes from. The
paint they used back in the day was much different than paint is today.” Ricky
began gathering up her cigarettes and phone and stuffing them into her tiny
shoulder bag.

“Custom Fabio? That’s his name? Is that a joke?”
Rhetta stared at her friend’s small purse. How could the woman possibly fit
anything in there?

“Not at all.” Ricky’s ponytail bounced under her
ball cap when she shook her head. “He calls himself Custom Fabio. Although he
resembles Eddie Murphy more than he does that gorgeous model, Fabio. Custom
Fabio wears his long hair in dreads and he has three gold teeth. I think his
real name is Fablonzo.”

“What’s the plan?” Rhetta asked, fishing money out
of her purse to leave a tip. Randolph had already picked up the tab for the
breakfasts and was headed to the cashier. Luckily, he was out of earshot when
Ricky laid out her theory.

Ricky leaned in close to Rhetta and whispered. “I’ve
scoped it out. Billy Dan and I peered in the window. That’s how I saw the
scrapes and paint chips on that truck. They are a totally different color. I
can crawl in through the window, snatch some paint scrapings and hoist myself
back out. Thing is, what will Randolph say?” She jutted her chin toward
Randolph, who’d paid the cashier and was heading back to the table.

Rhetta whispered, “We can’t tell him. He’d never
allow us to break and enter, especially after what happened out at Jeremy’s
barn.” Ricky nodded her agreement.

Billy Dan groaned. “What will we do with Randolph?”

“I’ll think of something by the time we get there.”
Rhetta joined Randolph who was waiting for them by the front door and slipped
her arm into his. They led the way into the sparkling sunshine and nearly empty
parking lot. She didn’t have the vaguest idea how to get him to turn his eyes
away while they broke into yet another building.

The four stood outside, next to three vehicles.
Ricky and Billy Dan had driven separately, so they debated which vehicle to
take to the cabin on the back country roads. Randolph suggested they all ride
together in the Artmobile.

Ricky solved the problem. “Billy Dan, why don’t you
lead the way, and let Randolph follow you in his truck? I need to take my truck
anyway. I have a few groceries in there and I need to get them into a cooler.
I’ll make a quick detour to my campsite.” Billy Dan nodded, unlocked his Ford
Ranger’s door, and slid behind the wheel.

Ricky continued. “Rhetta why not ride with me? My
campsite is close to where we’re going. We’ll meet the guys at the Griffith
cabin. I know where it is.”

Randolph’s window glided down noiselessly. “That’s
fine, I’ll follow Billy Dan, and that way no one will have to drive anyone back
into town.” He waited for Billy Dan to pull out on to Highway 34 before
slipping in behind him.

Rhetta slid into the passenger seat of Ricky’s two
door Ford 150 work truck. There was no back seat, and no groceries on the front
seat. She raised an eyebrow at Ricky.

Ricky grinned. “I had to think of something. Billy
Dan whispered to me that he could take the long way to Whispering Pines Lake.
We should get there ahead of them, and have time to nab the paint flakes off
that truck and get out of the shed before they get there.”

Rhetta high-fived Ricky. “That’s what friends are
for!”

icky
slid behind the
wheel of her little truck. Rhetta snapped her seat belt on, and they set out on
Highway 34. By now, Rhetta couldn’t spot either Billy Dan or Randolph.

Ricky must’ve noticed Rhetta peering around.
“They’ve already pulled off on The Old Dump Road. That winds around and comes
out at Whispering Pines Lake. But we’re going to have to step on it, to get
there before they do.” With that, she veered on to a dusty, narrow gravel road.

Rhetta rolled up her passenger door window against
the cloud of red gravel road dust, and turned on Ricky’s air. “Spill it,
sister. Why did Billy Dan take you out to Adele’s cabin?”

“I told Billy Dan about finding the body. Billy Dan
knew I’d been seeing Jeremy. He never asked anything about me and Jeremy, but I
volunteered the details.”

Rhetta said, “The details?”

“Some of the details. That’s when he told me about
wiring up Adele’s cabin. We weren’t far from it so we drove past it. We stopped
and peeked into the shed.” She glanced at Rhetta. “You know, Jeremy and I were
breaking up. I discovered a lot about him that I had never suspected. ”

Rhetta nodded. “Such as?”

Ricky took another right turn on to an even narrower
road, one that went partially through a creek bottom. She pointed to a cluster
of trees inside a small area enclosed by an ancient wire fence. “There’s a
Union Soldier’s grave over there. Billy Dan told me about it.” She slowed the
truck as they passed over a road filled with boulders the size of Kentucky.

Rhetta turned to Ricky. “You’re stalling.”

They angled up a creek bank and the road improved.
Ricky continued. “The night of the pool party, I overheard Jeremy talking smack
to Anjanette. He was overdrawn in his construction account, and dear mother
didn’t want to give him more money. He threatened her. I’m not sure what that
was about, and I don’t know with what. At the time, I didn’t make much of it,
except that I pegged him then and there for a first class loser. We fought when
I caught him with his pants down. I split.”

Ricky kept one hand on the wheel and rummaged through
her purse with the other. “I wonder if he was blackmailing his own mother.
Maybe Anjanette is the one responsible for killing Malcom, and somehow Jeremy
knew that?” She found her cell phone. She glanced at it, and returned it to her
bag. “No signal,” she muttered.

“Or, what if Jeremy is the one who killed Malcom and
Anjanette knew it, but never turned him in?” Rhetta glanced at her own cell
phone. “No Service” displayed where bars and 3G should have been.

Ricky nodded slowly. “But who killed Jeremy?”

“My money is on Mylene Allard. She told me she hated
Jeremy, and she called me to meet her at the barn that night. She might have
been setting me up. Why, I don’t know. If I ever see her again, I plan on
asking her.” Rhetta sat back against the seat and sighed. “I just don’t know.
It’s too confusing. The two deaths are related. We need to figure out who hated
both Malcom Griffith and Jeremy Spears.”

Ricky held up her hand and began raising a finger at
a time as she ticked off her list. “First, there’s Anjanette. She probably
hated Malcom for not leaving Adele when he found out she was pregnant with
Jeremy.” Another finger popped up. “Next we have Mylene Allard, Malcom’s
daughter, who hated Jeremy, and was probably really ticked with her own father.
Maybe enough to get into an argument with him and kill him accidentally. Or on
purpose. From what you’ve told me, she’s a pretty rough character.” A third
finger. “There’s Adele Griffith. She couldn’t stomach Malcom fooling around
with Anjanette, so she offed him.”

“Offed him?” Rhetta asked. “You sound like you’ve
been watching too many movies.”

Ricky laughed, but without any trace of humor. “I
didn’t like Jeremy much either, but I sure didn’t kill him. Even though Sheriff
Reasoner hasn’t cleared me.”

Rhetta took up the list. “We have Anjanette, Mylene,
Jeremy, and Adele. Who can we rule out?” Now it was her turn to tick off
suspects. “I think we can rule out Anjanette because she loved Malcom. Also
Adele. Even if she knew her husband was fooling around with Anjanette, she
still loved him and needed his income. I think Jeremy makes a good suspect in
Malcom’s death. Maybe he’d been blackmailing Malcom and they got into a fight.”

“Malcom owned that property back then. So it’s
possible Jeremy went over there.” Ricky nodded. “That makes sense.”

Rhetta turned to Ricky. “Who is the common
denominator to both dead men?”

They replied in unison. “Mylene Allard.”