The Traveling Corpse (23 page)

Art pushed back his chair and strode over to
them. “Are you two alone?” he asked. “Why don't you join us? We can
pull a table up here on the end.”

“Oh, thank you,” Tilley said. “It'll be good
for us to be with others who have some idea of what we're going
through these days.”

Art and Von easily lifted a small square
table and pushed it up beside theirs. As Doc was shaking Tony's
hand, he commented about the logo on Tony's Polo shirt and
commented, “I didn't know you were from Ohio. We are too.”

“I'm not, but I went to college in
Wooster.”

“Really? Our youngest daughter went there
too. Great school; it's not far from where I had my veterinarian
practice.”

“Goodness knows!” DeeDee added. “I tried ta
get our daughter ta go ta school in the South, but she had a
boyfriend in Ohio, and she was not about ta go very far from home.
Later, I was so glad ta have her nearby, and I got so that I jest
loved ta go ta Wooster's football games in tha fall. That huge
marchin' band all dressed out in black an' yellow plaid kilts was a
sight ta behold when they'd come a-marchin' down that long slopin'
walk from tha stadium gates an' down onto tha field with all those
bagpipes a-playin'. Must have had a dozen or more of them jest
a-blowin' their hearts out. Makes ya tingle all over!”

Tony replied, “I've never been sorry I went
to Wooster for my undergraduate work. Got a first-rate education,
and that's where I met Tilley. We were back up there last June for
our 50th class reunion. Tilley bought me this shirt.”

DeeDee admired it and then looking at Tilley,
said, “I jest love those shades of purple an' lavender together
that ya're wearin'.”

“Thank-you. I thought they were pretty colors
too, but I never thought I'd ever wear an alligator on my chest!
But, isn't he adorable? This is my souvenir from a little trip we
took up to St. Augustine a couple of months ago to celebrate my
birthday. We were really impressed by the Alligator Farm there; so
I bought this T-shirt.”

Annie swallowed hard; she didn't think she
could ever use the word ‘adorable' to describe an alligator.

DeeDee was saying, “When our youngest was
here visitin'—she's tha one that went ta Wooster—when she was here
with her family, Doc took us all ta tha alligator farm down below
Miami in the Everglades. He jest loves ta go anyplace where there's
animals.” DeeDee continued, “There was a good long airboat ride
nearby. That was fun; we enjoyed every minute of it.”

Wanda, their favorite waitress, came to the
table carrying a tray full of tall plastic water glasses. She wore
very short denim shorts and a blue T-shirt with the logo ‘The
Shack' emblazoned on it. She was a very pretty young woman who
filled out her short shorts to perfection. Her long blond hair was
caught at the back of her neck in a ponytail. She waited tables
here in her parents' restaurant, was raising her three-year old
alone, and also was going to college. Each term she took a course
or two at the University of Tampa. The school was headquartered in
the elaborate historic old hotel which was built along the
Hillsborough River at the turn of the last century. It was complete
with minaret towers in its Victorian/Islamic architecture. This
unforgettable building was constructed under the guise of railroad
magnet, Henry B. Plant, in competition with Henry Flagler, who was
the railroad genius of the East Coast of Florida.

Wanda's goal was to someday teach in an
elementary school. Her ‘Seniors,' as she called them, always
encouraged her to keep on with her studies; not to drop out of
college. They visited with her a few minutes, and Doc asked how her
love life was going. She bantered back, “Probably as well as
yours!” They all chuckled; then she took their orders.

After Wanda left, Annie asked the Tuckmans,
“I've been meaning to ask you, did Twila wear any other jewelry
besides the heart charm bracelet?”

Tony answered quickly, “She liked jewelry;
she wore a lot of it.”

He turned to his wife, who continued, “Oh,
she would have had her rings on—her wedding and engagement rings,
I'm sure. She had a gorgeous one-and-a-half carat diamond with
baguettes on each side. It's quite distinctive. ”

“How about earrings or necklaces?” Barb
asked.

Tilley paused and set down her glass of water
with ice and a sliver of lemon, “You know, I looked in her jewelry
case. There were some lovely pieces in there, but I didn't think
about what might be missing. Did you, Tony?”

He shook his head, “You know I don't keep
track of stuff like that, but she always wore a lot of
jewelry.”

Smiling, Tilley said, “You're right about
your not keeping track of jewelry. I used to wish and wish that
he'd buy me some for Christmas or my birthday. He just doesn't
think like that. So, I finally learned that if I want a piece of
jewelry I have to say, ‘C'mon Tony, it's time to go to the jewelry
store!' and he'll say, ‘Okay.' Then he gets me something really
nice. Look what he got me for our anniversary.” She flashed an
emerald ring for their approval.

“That is one lovely ring,” DeeDee said with
admiration. “I'll have ta try that routine.” She turned to Doc, “My
birthday's comin' up. I think we should make a trip ta tha jewelry
store!”

Doc rolled his eyes. He looked at Tilley
Tuckman and joked, “You're teaching my wife bad tricks! And,
besides that, she is pulling my leg. I know good and well that she
just had her 60th birthday last month. We made a big too-do about
it.”

Tilley laughed, “Twila's husband loved to
shop; she didn't have to use that ruse. He often brought her
surprises when he came back from a business trip, plus remembering
all the usual holidays. They didn't have kids; so he spent his
money on jewelry for Twila.”

“She had a beautiful ruby ring surrounded by
tiny diamonds on her right index finger when I saw her body. Do you
think she was wearing earrings and a necklace when she … ,”
Annie couldn't speak any more of the question.

“Most probably,” Tilley hesitated before she
could continue, “Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing her
heart-shaped earrings. It's almost February, so I'll bet she wore
them since it's near Valentine's Day. I think she had a gold
necklace with a heart pendant on it too.”

“Will you check on that?” Annie asked. “It
could be helpful to make an identification.” “How about a watch?”
Barb asked.

This time it was Tony who answered by asking
a question, “I wonder if she was wearing Mom's watch?”

“Oh, I bet she was,” Tilley said. “It is so
special, and she almost always wore it when she was going out.
Since she'd just come back from being with friends at Sanibel, it's
a sure bet that she'd have had it on.”

Tony went on to explain that the bracelet
watch band had alternating diamond-cut links and satin-finished
links of gold which made it sparkle. Their father had given it to
their mother on their 50th wedding anniversary back in the 1970s.
“It is a very special piece of jewelry. Now that it seems that
Twila's … .” He couldn't say the word. “It would be nice if I
could have it to give to Tilley and then pass it on down to our
daughter.” He wiped his lips with a paper napkin and said, “It's
horrible not knowing where she is. She was my baby sister, fifteen
years younger than me. I always watched out for her when we were
growing up. Now that she was widowed, I just expected to take care
of her again. We were so happy when she decided to move to BradLee.
But … not knowing where she is or what's happened to her. It's,
it's … .” He couldn't finish the thought.

Everyone at the table ate in silence. Annie
said a silent Sentence Prayer.

 

 

 

 

By Saturday morning, BradLee Park was abuzz
with rumors surrounding Jiggs's death. This most unusual attack and
death caused by an ostrich not only made front page news in
Florida, it was still making national news. Yesterday, the media
only had sketchy news to report, but there was more today.
Reporters called the Andersens from their local weekly, plus the
Tampa and St. Petersburg newspapers, wanting to speak to Art or
Annie. Both of them declined. Annie answered the phone when someone
from NBC's TODAY SHOW called wanting to interview them by remote
from New York City. Regretfully, Annie said, “No thank you.” After
putting the phone down, she said to Art, “That was a hard thing to
do.”

“What was hard to do?” Art asked, looking up
from his newspaper.

“To say ‘No' to being interviewed by someone
from the TODAY SHOW. What if Matt Lauer would have been the one to
ask me questions? If I knew for sure he would be the one to
interview me, I'm not sure I could have refused.”

“You're old enough to be his mother,” Art
teased.

“Maybe even his grandmother!” Annie replied.
“But I can still look.”

“Anyway,” Art added. “If you made the show,
it would be most likely that Bryant Gumbel would be the one who
would do the interviewing.”

“But sometimes Matt Lauer subs for Bryant. I
can only hope!” She continued, “Well, neither one of them was on
the phone. Someone—a P. A. I think she called herself. Of course, I
had to ask what a P. A. is, and she said ‘Production Assistant.' I
think she was just fishing to see if we'd be good to interview.”
Annie put her coffee down, “I wonder if any of the others of our
gang were called? I hope not; this story isn't ready to be giving
out any of the details yet. We don't need to be blabbing on TV.”
She reached for the telephone, “I'll call and check with the
others.”

None of the other three couples had been
contacted by the media. This let the Andersens breathe easier. They
assumed that Sgt. Menendez had been able to keep most of the report
off limits to the press for the time being. However, the Andersens
got plenty of other telephone calls. Friends and acquaintances
called them—some were expensive long distance ones—all wanting to
hear the story from their own lips. Art and Annie had called their
grown children right away; they wanted to let them know they were
fine before ‘the kids' heard it on the news. All their friends and
relatives were concerned, many were just plain curious, some were
downright inquisitive. All wanted details about the fatal accident.
Many asked how they happened to be out on the golf course that
night. To that question the Andersens blithely said, “Oh, we love
to watch the space lift-offs, and you get a grand view from out
there, no street lights.” That satisfied most people except their
next door neighbor; she kept prying. Art and Annie told ‘the
madding crowd' about seeing the ostrich kick Jiggs, but they kept
the rest of the story to themselves.

The phone rang again. Their next-door
neighbor invited them over for supper. Annie declined, explaining
to Art after she hung up, “If the invitation from the TODAY SHOW
was hard to turn down, this one was easy to say ‘No' to.”

Art asked, “Why? Who was it from?”

“Our inquisitive next-door neighbor. We've
lived on the same street with them for two years now. They've
always been polite, but every time I've asked them to go out to eat
or go anywhere, they turn us down. Now, all of sudden they ask us
over for dinner. You know why, don't you? They, or rather
she,
just wants to pump information out of us. If she
invites us later, I'll be glad to go, but I just can't go over
there and put my feet under her table until ‘Our Mystery' is
cleared up. I'm not too good at telling white lies, and I know her,
she'll keep asking me questions, just keep firing them at me until
I let something slip. Why, that woman is so nosey she asks a second
question before I have finished answering the first one! No, I
can't go over there yet. Not until this is all over and done
with.”

 

* * *

 

Art put down his coffee mug and thanked Annie
for making his favorite breakfast. Then he left to do some errands
and get the van washed. Annie put their dirty dishes in the
dishwasher and wiped off the table. While she was cleaning up, she
thought about Karl and how he had cleaned his golf cart, several
times, according to Kitty. She mused to herself that Karl must have
done a very careful job of vacuuming and washing his golf cart for
he didn't seem to be worried about anything. At least, that's the
impression he gave from Kitty's description of him just drinking
his coffee and reading the morning paper.

She thought some more about Karl. She let her
mind play and wondered,
maybe he put Twila's body in a big
plastic trash bag to protect his cart.
She'd seen on TV shows
how police labs can find tiny traces of blood and hair, and she
didn't know what else, but stuff that can link the bad guys to a
murder. So, if he used a plastic bag, it would have protected his
golf cart. Then another idea surfaced in her mind
: if the body
were in a plastic bag, and if the body fell off the golf cart in
that farmer's field, then how did Verna find those threads caught
in that thorny bush?
She absently rubbed her left temple and
sat down in her favorite recliner. She thought some more about a
plastic body bag and realized that the body wasn't in a bag when
DeeDee saw it by the air-conditioning chimneys. Also, it wasn't in
a bag when Barb saw it on the restroom floor; so she chucked the
plastic trash bag idea. She didn't think there had been any
bleeding; so there wouldn't be any blood stains on Karl's cart, and
if he were really, really thorough, she guessed he could have
vacuumed up any red hairs. It was frustrating to have so much
knowledge, yet for all that, it was still too little information.
She couldn't solve ‘Our Mystery' and apparently, neither could Sgt.
Menendez.