Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 03 - They Call Me Ace (5 page)

Chapter Eight

“Who are you?” Janet’s expression said she knew the answer before she asked the question.

Hernandez stood casually with one hand on the butt of his holstered gun and the other hanging at his side. He seemed to be studying the visitor.

“I’m Cloene Farmer. Has something happened to Kimmie? Where is she?” She looked at Chris as though she thought he might have an answer. He, in turn, looked to Janet for help.

“Cloene,” Janet said, “there’s been an incident.”

Cloene looked into Janet’s eyes, and seeming to anticipate the depth of the incident, a tear ran down her cheek. “What kind of an incident? Something’s happened to Kimmie, hasn’t it?”

Janet held her hand up, palm facing Cloene, in a
just a moment
attitude and looked at Chris. “I want to talk to your mother. Would you see if you can find her? Hernandez will go with you.” She nodded at the copper.

The two men walked out the door without a word, although Hernandez turned back for a last look at the young woman.

Janet put her arm across Cloene’s shoulders. “Come with me.” She led her into the living room and suggested she sit on the couch.

I stood in the doorway and watched the two women.

“Cloene, your friend has died. Can you – ”

“Kimmie’s dead? How? When? Oh, my God, her parents will freak out. They didn’t want her to move to California.  My parents didn’t want me to move here either.” That was as far as she got before she started sobbing.

Janet sat quietly and let her cry it out for a few minutes. Glancing up, she motioned me into the room. I sat down next to Cloene and began rubbing her back. She turned to me with questions in her eyes. I threw my arms around her and let her cry on my shoulder. She held on tight.

When the crying subsided and resignation replaced the tears, she sat back and rubbed her eyes. “What happened?”

“I was hoping you could tell us something. She was found in the old house next door.”

“Did she fall down the stairs?”

“No, she didn’t.” Janet looked uncomfortable. “Someone murdered her.”

Cloene began crying uncontrollably again, and Janet grimaced.

I placed my hands on Cloene’s face and turned her toward me. “Cloene, Detective Riley needs to ask you some questions. We heard the messages you left on Kimberly’s answering machine. You may know something that could help.”

Cloene took a deep breath and looked into Janet’s eyes. “What do you want to know?”

Janet asked Cloene exactly what happened the night before. “What made you worry about her?”

Kimberly called Cloene around seven o’clock and said she’d been hearing strange noises coming from the house next door. She carried the cordless phone to the back door with her and looked at the house while the two young women were talking.  She told Cloene she could see a light moving around the house, and it looked weird – like it was floating.

That grabbed my attention and held it. That’s exactly what Mikey and Judith had said.

Kimberly told Cloene she was going to check it out and she’d call her back. She never did. That was as much as the young woman knew.

“Had she ever mentioned anything going on at the house next door before?” Janet asked.

“She’d heard noises before, but she figured it was the old house settling. You know how they make creaking noises. Even this house creaks sometimes.”

I mentally raised my eyebrow. Creaky old house noises wouldn’t carry all the way to Kimberly’s house.

Janet asked if Kimberly had ever seen lights at the house before, and Cloene said that as far as she knew, she hadn’t.

“What time did Judith stop at the house?” Janet asked me.

“I think it was around eight o’clock, but you’ll have to ask her to be sure.”

“Judith?” Cloene asked.

“My mother-in-law. She saw a light, too, and stopped to check it out.”

“Did she see Kimmie? Was she okay then?”

I shook my head. Cloene’s gaze fell and she studied her hands. “I’ve got to call Kimberly’s parents.”

“Please let me talk to them first.” Janet asked for their phone number, and Cloene recited it.

Chris and his mother walked through the back door and waited near the doorway to the kitchen.

Cloene’s voice trembled when she said, “Kimmie and I have been BFFs since we were little kids back in Ohio.”

“BFFs?” Chris asked.

“Best Friends Forever,” his mother translated. “It’s something kids use for slang.”

“Oh.” Chris looked like he’d rather be anywhere other than this little house, and I couldn’t blame him. He didn’t handle crying women very well.

Judith walked into the living room and sat down next to Cloene. “Tell me about Kimberly. What made her so special to you?”

Janet and I left the two women alone and walked out to the kitchen.

“Do you need me here?” Chris asked. “I could go talk to my father if you don’t need me.”

“Get outta here, Junior,” Janet said, taking her life in her hands. Too many people had been calling Chris Junior, and I knew he wasn’t happy with it. However, he ignored it this time.

“I wonder what kind of noises Kimberly was hearing,” I said, quietly. “They had to be fairly loud to be heard all the way over here.”

“You’d think so. I’m not done talking to Cloene yet, so I’ll see if she knows anything else. I want to talk to your mother-in-law, but I think I’ll talk to Cloene first. You can head home and I’ll talk to Mrs. Cross later.”

“Why don’t you come over for dinner and you can talk to her then?”

“What time?” Janet ate so much fast food because of her job that she enjoyed eating at our house from time to time. And this way she could multitask and take care of two things at once. Eating and talking to Judith.

When we returned to the old house, Max had left. The coppers had talked to him and sent him on his way. Poor guy. He couldn’t seem to list a house that didn’t have a dead body

taking up space.

Hernandez walked back over to Kimberly’s house.

Chris and his dad left, taking Mikey with them, and Judith and I drove home in my Jeep.

“Janet is coming over for dinner,” I said. “She wants to talk to you about last night.”

“Am I in trouble?” She’d asked that question before.

“I don’t think so. She just wants to know what you saw and heard. So start thinking about it. I know you didn’t see anything because you would have told us, but did you hear anything?”

Judith was quiet for a few minutes. “You know, I think I might have heard something, but it didn’t sink in at the time.”

I glanced at her quickly before I turned my attention back to the road. “Okay, so what did you hear?”

“You’ll think I’m nuts. Well, you probably already think that, but this won’t help my cause.”

I laughed. “No, I don’t think you’re crazy. But I do want to know what you heard.”

She didn’t answer me right away, and when she did I thought she was changing the subject. “You know, when Junior – Chris – was a child, he thought I was flighty. I had lots of hobbies and causes. I was always trying something new. I remember once when I made some candles – ”

“I heard about the exploding candles,” I interrupted.

“Yes, I’m sure you did, and I’m sure you heard other things, too. But did he bother to tell you that he had more fun with his mother than any of the other kids? He had a well-rounded life with me around. I kept him busy and out of trouble.”

“Didn’t he have any friends to play with?” I asked.

“Oh, of course he did. And I entertained them, too. Surprisingly, there was only one set of parents who wouldn’t let their son come over to play at our house. They were

wound pretty tight to begin with though. The rest of the parents were happy to have me take care of the kids. I never put any of them in danger or anything.”

“No, just Chris.” I wiggled my eyebrows, making the point that his had burned off.

Judith laughed. “That was his fault. He wanted to see my candles work and he wouldn’t wait for me. And it wasn’t
that
big of an explosion. It was just a little
phhtt
, and then it was over. He was leaning over the candle and he shouldn’t have been. He wouldn’t have been if he’d waited for me.  He’s lucky he didn’t lose more than his eyebrows. I suppose he told you about the glue incident, too.”

I wiggled my eyebrows again. “No, I haven’t heard about that one.”

“In some ways, Chris was his own worst enemy. He was always rushing into things.” She paused, smiling. “I guess he got that from me. Anyway, I’d found a new hobby. I was going to rummage sales, which are the same as today’s yard sales, and buying things like chairs and old dresses and blouses.”

I had to admit that Judith had my attention, but I couldn’t figure out what this had to do with what she heard. “What kind of chairs?”

“Kitchen table chairs. I’d refinish them and use the cloth from the old clothes to create a cover for the seat. I used to sew, so I’d make the cover, stuff it and voila, the old chairs were like new.”

Thinking back to Chris’s story about the dog hair pillows, I had to ask. “What did you stuff the covers with, Judith.”

“Call me Mom. I used the remnants from the clothing and old pantyhose.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “Hmm. Chris told you about the dog hair pillows, didn’t he?” It wasn’t a question as much as an accusation.

“He did.”

“Well, anyway, I decided I wanted to make the covers permanent, so I found a super strong glue. I put some on the chair, and made a ring around the pillow before I turned it over and stuck the two surfaces together. You probably have at least some idea of what’s coming, but I’ll tell you anyway.”

“I’m sure it will surprise me.”

“Okay, so Junior was playing outside. I heard him yell and I knew he’d hurt himself. It seems he sat down on a pile of firewood, and there was a nail in one of the boards. When he jumped up, the board was nailed to his behind. Before I could run outside to see what happened, he came flying in the back door. The board caught on the doorframe and dislodged itself.”

“I – ”

“There’s more. He pulled down the back of his pants and was turning in circles trying to see his rear, and he was crying, and he lost his balance. He fell onto the chair, which I’d just glued, and he stuck. I hadn’t placed the cover on it yet.”

I started to laugh, picturing the Bogey Man in this awkward position.

“Because his accident interrupted me, the glue had dried just enough to latch onto him, and he was so surprised he didn’t jump right up. But
I’m
the eccentric one with the weird hobbies.” She sighed. “We had to take him to the hospital to get the chair removed and he had to have a tetanus shot because of the nail. It wasn’t a red letter day for Junior.”

After I stopped laughing, I asked, “So what does this have to do with what you heard in that old house?”

“I just wanted you to know that I’m not really crazy. Sometimes it’s just a matter of circumstances.”

“Okay, I get it. Now what did you hear?”

“Someone was whistling very softly. I honestly don’t think it was my imagination. And the tune was
Beautiful Dreamer
. Doesn’t that strike you as odd?”

“You bet. If someone had just committed a murder, why would they be nonchalantly whistling in the first place? And it seems kind of twisted to be whistling that particular tune.”

Chapter Nine

Judith fixed dinner, which consisted of some mini meatloaves with barbeque sauce in and on them, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. I put the salad together.

While she was cooking, Sherlock and Watson followed her around the kitchen, and while we ate dinner they held a vigil, one on each side of her chair. I started to put them outside, but Judith stopped me, saying they were okay where they were. They watched her with adoration in their eyes. For once we ate at the more formal table in the dining room. With the addition of Janet, there wasn’t room for all of us at the kitchen table.

When the telephone rang, Sherlock didn’t even try to race for it. He knew something smelled very, very good, and that’s all he cared about. Judith made enough mini meatloaves that Sherlock and Watson each got a half of one with their dinner after we people were through eating.

“Fickle dogs,” I said under my breath. “You never watch
me
with that look on your face.”

Janet overheard me and laughed. She had a chocolate-colored Labrador retriever at home and understood. She’d

arrived just in time to eat, after finishing her investigation at the old house. We ate, we talked, and Janet asked Judith all the questions my mother-in-law might have the answers to. Unfortunately, she didn’t really know anything other than she’d heard someone whistling softly.

“It did sound like a man whistling though,” she said.

“And what difference is there between a man and a woman whistling?” Janet folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.

Judith shrugged, but insisted it sounded like a man. “It was a deeper whistle, like a man’s voice would be.”

“Uh huh.” Janet’s tone sounded like she might want to make that determination herself, even though she hadn’t heard the whistler.

Janet left, Judith and Chris Sr. retired to their motor home, and Mikey went to bed without even arguing, which surprised me. He must have been tired. Chris and I finally had some time alone.

We leaned back next to each other on the couch and Chris took hold of my hand. “Quite a day,” he said. “My mother wears me out.”

“Yes, it was quite a day, and your mother wears me out, too, but I like her. I think she can probably be a lot of fun. I just wish I had half her energy.”

“Yeah.”

I turned my head and smiled, looking into Chris’s hazel eyes. “She told me the super glue story.”

“Figures.”

“That’s all you have to say? I never noticed any glue scars.”

“No scars. What could I possibly add to that story, cupcake? Even as a kid it was embarrassing. Can you imagine being pushed into the emergency room with your pants down and your butt glued to a chair? Not a pretty picture. Thankfully my mother draped a towel across my lap.”

Picturing the whole thing in my mind, I smothered a laugh and let it go.

“At least we won’t be involved in this murder,” I said. “It’s all up to Janet. We don’t have to lift a finger.”

“Like Mikey said, we have a track record. How much you wanna bet something will happen to drag us into this case?”

I yawned. “Nope. No bet. Why don’t we go to bed and get a good night’s sleep. Then if someone drags us into the case, at least we’ll be more alert.”

Chris squeezed my hand. I heard thunder off in the distance. The storm was going to hang around, at least for the next few hours. Maybe the sky would be clear by morning, along with our pessimistic attitudes.

~ * ~

Chris and I would have slept in except for three things – Mikey, Judith and Chris Sr. Well, make that five. Sherlock and Watson wanted in on the action when Mikey came to wake us up and let us know that my in-laws were waiting downstairs. They launched themselves onto the bed and nearly broke my knee in the process.

My nose twitched after I sat up and pushed the dogs off the bed, and I realized I could smell bacon frying. Maybe having Judith around wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

I took a quick shower and headed downstairs. Chris was already sitting at the kitchen table talking to his father.

“Can I do anything to help?” I asked, standing next to Judith.

“Not a thing.” She paused. “I take that back. Can you make these two dogs back off a little? I keep tripping over them.” She tossed each dog a bite of bacon.

“Well, that’s not going to get rid of them.” I pursed my lips before I shooed the dogs outside, irritated that they were so attentive to my mother-in-law. Maybe it was just the novelty of someone new throwing little tidbits to them. I

didn’t usually give them table scraps, and Judith was making a habit of it.

After checking their water and putting the dogs’ breakfast outside, Mikey and I set the table while Judith prepared French toast. My son gave his grandmother the same adoring look as the dogs, and I rolled my eyes. “Son, why don’t you bring in a chair from the dining room?” I knew the five of us could squeeze in at the kitchen table.

“I hope you don’t mind me taking over your kitchen, but with you and Junior being involved with food and spending so much time at the restaurant, I thought you might like a little break.”

The adoring look had finally worked its way around the room and onto my face. “Works for me. Just let me know if I can do anything to help.”

While we ate breakfast, I asked if there was a plan for the day. The restaurant would be closed until Tuesday, so we were open to anything.

“If the police will let us, I’d like to take another look at the old house,” Judith said.

All eyes turned to her in surprise.

“You would?” I hadn’t thought she’d want to go back there after finding a dead body.

“I would. I kind of like the old place, and I’d like to explore it a little. Can you call your friend and ask about it?”

“Sure. No guarantees, but I’ll see what she says.”

Chris kicked me under the table. I turned toward him, and he gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. He didn’t want us to go back.

I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly.

He turned to his mother. “You know, Mom, that poor old house is ready to fall down around your ears. I don’t think you should go back there.”

“Well, Christopher, it’s a lot sturdier than you’re making it out to be, and I’m sincerely interested in seeing it

again.”

Not Chris, not Junior, not Bogey Man. Using his given name was a sure parental sign that he’d gotten on her last nerve.

“You’re sincerely interested?” he asked, ignoring the signs. “You wouldn’t actually think about buying that place, would you?”

“I’d think about it,” she replied, “but mostly I just want a closer look at it right now.”

“You’re kidding,” Chris Sr. said.

Judith gave him a warning look and he showed his tight-lipped smile. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing at the moment. All I could do was wait and see.

“May I be excused to go play with the dogs now?” Mikey asked. I wasn’t sure if he was defusing the storm that was brewing or not. Could he be that intuitive?

“As soon as we clear the dishes off the table. You can help me. Your grandmother did the cooking, so the least we can do is clean things up.” I stood and started collecting the dishes and silverware. Mikey helped, and we had the table cleared off in no time.

Judith and Chris Sr. left us to it and walked out to their motor home, heads together and chatting quietly. I couldn’t help wondering if they were talking about the old house.

After the kitchen was clean, Mikey ran out the back door to play with the dogs and Chris followed. I called Janet to ask her about the house.

“We’ve done everything possible there, so if the Realtor will let you back in, I have no problem with it. Your mother-in-law is quite a character.”

“Isn’t she though?” I thought eccentric might be a better word, but that was just me.

“She told me she needs to go back to the house and climb up and down the stairs three times to ‘ward off the murder cooties’. Those are her words, not mine.” I could hear

the smile in Janet’s voice.

I laughed. “She didn’t mention it to me, but my best guess is that’s just an excuse to go explore the house in more detail.”

“You’re probably right. I kind of like her though. She’s funny.”

“That she is. She was trying to say she’s genuinely interested in the house and – ”

“Do you mean she might want to buy it?” Janet sounded surprised.

“Well, I know she loves a project, and that house would definitely be a good one. I’m not too sure Chris Sr. will go along with it though.”

“To each his own. Hold on a sec.” I could hear someone talking to Janet in the background. “Gotta go, Pamela. I’ll talk to you later.”

We hung up and I called Max to ask if we could look at the house again. He sounded happy about my request, and I figured he’d be thrilled if Judith wanted it. At least she already knew the home’s past – and present – so it wouldn’t be an issue.

I walked out to the motor home and knocked on the door. Judith must have been standing right next to it because she opened it immediately.

“Okay,” I said, “we can go through the house again.”

“And this time we won’t find any dead bodies.” She gave a slightly theatrical shiver.

“Not this time.”

She turned to Chris Sr. “Do you want to go with us, sweetie?”

I didn’t hear a reply, so I figured he must have waved her off.

“When can we go?” Judith asked.

“As soon as I take care of a few things around the house. I need to talk to Chris and make sure he’s okay with

this. Mikey will want to go, too. Don’t forget, he figures the old house is a mystery that belongs to you and him.”

Judith put her hands on her hips. “What if Chris doesn’t want you to go?”

“He won’t care. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out he wants to go with us. He hates to miss a good puzzle. Of course, remember that the dead body isn’t our mystery. The
house
is.” I thought I should probably make my point before we left.

“Oh, that young lady is a mystery, all right. What was she doing there, and who killed her? Since she thought she’d be going right back home and left the door open, she must have accidentally caught someone in the act of committing a crime.”

“Yeah, but what was the crime? Stealing from an old house? I wouldn’t think that would be a reason for murder. I mean, the family left the old woman’s furniture and a lot of things there, but none of the antiques look valuable enough to steal.”