The Traveling Corpse (5 page)

“Don't get your hopes up,” Art warned. “The
screen door doesn't have to be locked if the back door is.”
However, to their surprise, the handle turned when Art twisted it.
How good it felt to go inside out of the cold. Before Art could
find the light switch, they heard footsteps. They held their
breaths, and their bodies went taut. A scary thought flashed
through Annie's mind. She realized that as soon as the two officers
started searching the drawers under the stage last night, then the
person who killed that woman and stuffed her in the big drawer was
tipped off for certain that Annie had seen the body. A cold chill
enveloped her; she didn't feel safe anymore.

But, when the door opened, they both gasped
with relief. From the faint glow of the security light, they saw
their friend, Doc Davis, struggling to get through the door
carrying a big electric roaster. He was as shocked to see them as
they were to see him there at five a.m. on this cold January
morning.

Art stepped over and took the roaster from
his friend. Doc flipped on a light switch and turned up the heat
and then explained why he was there so early. “I've got to get the
meat for the monthly dinner out of the freezer and into a
refrigerator to start defrosting. The dinner's tomorrow night, you
know.”

“We'll be there; we don't miss one of those
dinners,” Art said. “We bought our tickets last week at Coffee
Hour.”

Annie added, “You fellows cook up some very
special suppers.”

“That's the purpose,” Doc said, “good
fellowship, good food, and make some money for the park.”

“Can't beat that,” Art agreed.

“And to make it even better,” Annie
interjected, “we women don't have to cook that night. What kind of
meat are we having?”

“Pork tenderloins. I was going to come over
last night and get the meat out of the freezer, but then that storm
came through and I didn't feel like going out in it. What are you
two doing here at this time of morning? If you're working Coffee
Hour you're awful early.”

“No, Annie's got to check on something,” Art
said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, aren't you going to tell him what
happened last night?” she demanded, but there was warmth in her
eyes and a softness in her voice.

“You tell him, Annie,” said her husband.
“It's your story—all the way!”

“I will,” she said, “but, oh, Doc, I need to
apologize to you. We didn't mean to leave you and DeeDee out of all
the excitement. But, as you said, it was such a nasty evening, and
well, it all happened so fast.”

Doc interrupted her, “What are you talking
about?”

Art answered, “Just listen, Doc. You won't
believe what Annie found
and
lost last night.”

So, Annie began her story of the corpse that
moved. She related her whole mystery, stressing the fact that they
not
talk about it to anybody who wasn't in their gang. She
ended by quoting Shakespeare, “Something's rotten in Denmark,” and
threw a teasing look at her husband whose parents were born in
Denmark. Seriously, she added, “and something's rotten right here
in BradLee! Whoever put that body in the drawer knows that I saw
it; so I'm a little frightened.”

“I don't blame you,” Doc said. “Art, keep her
safe. We can't lose the founder of ‘Our Gang.”

“I'll try,” her husband vowed, “but you know
how independent she is.”

Doc changed the subject, “There's another
mystery—and that's how the two of you got inside the building this
morning without my seeing you. You sure gave me a scare when I came
back into the kitchen and found you inside.”

Art agreed, “I don't know how we could have
missed seeing you outside. ‘Course it was a little foggy out. We
walked all the way around the building trying to find a door that
was open.”

Doc explained, “You must not have seen my
golf cart in the dark and the fog. I parked it on the grass and
came in through the patio. I unlocked the kitchen door, and then I
unlocked the door to the hallway so DeeDee could get to the
restroom. Then I walked outside the building to my golf cart to get
the roaster to bring it back into the kitchen. You must have come
when I was outside for that few minutes. It's a wonder that we
didn't see you.”

Art chuckled, “I think we could make a great
Laurel and Hardy-like sketch out of it if we could get the timing
worked out.”

Annie smiled and shook her head, then asked,
“Did you say DeeDee's here? She's not usually a morning
person.”

“No, she isn't, but her sciatica was acting
up, and she couldn't sleep,” said Doc. “Anyway, as I said, I went
back to get the big roaster. Brad repaired it; he's great about
fixing our appliances. He's always carrying home coffee pots or
roasters that don't work. He likes to tinker on them out in his
garage.”

Just then they heard DeeDee yelling, “Doc!
Doc!” She came running into the kitchen, nodded to her friends,
then burst out, “Doc! I jest saw tha strangest thing! C'mon, y'all.
Help me; he's gettin' away!”

Trusting her, they followed her outside. She
explained breathlessly, “I come outta tha bathroom. I thought I saw
somethin' movin' in tha courtyard jest outside tha bathroom door.
It was dark out an' a little foggy too, so I wasn't sure. Tha
security light's on tha far side of tha courtyard; so it doesn't
give out much light. I couldn't see very well. Anyway, I jest stood
at tha door window an' watched quiet-like. There was somebody
there, that's fer certain. He was bendin' down between two of those
big air-conditioner vents.” DeeDee pointed to the four big sheet
metal funnels. Each was mounted on an air-conditioning unit. The
funnels directed the air out from under the eaves of the roof. “I
could swear I saw a big fella pull somethin' heavy up from behind
that third vent an' carry it off. I was too s'prised ta say
anythin' at first. As I said, I jest watched, quiet-like. Whatever
it was, he threw it over his shoulder an' started towards tha
Shuffleboard Buildin'. You know, they never lock it. I stepped
outside an' called ta him. He mustta heard me, but he didn't even
turn ‘round ta look back at me—jest kept a-hurryin' ta get inside
tha Shuffle Building. That's when I come ta get Doc.”

The four of them hurried to the Shuffleboard
Building. Doc flipped on the lights. Nothing was amiss. They walked
all around and between the 24 covered courts, looking for anything
unusual. The two men checked the storage room then went outside to
look on the far side of the building.

While they were gone, Annie told DeeDee about
finding and losing the dead body. Her Tennessee friend was shocked
and deeply concerned for Annie's safety. Annie felt that her
trusting little friend, DeeDee, believed her story without
question; the first person who had believed her
unconditionally.

The men came back, shivering from the cold,
shaking their heads and saying they hadn't seen anything out of the
ordinary. Whatever DeeDee had seen had vanished without a
trace.

DeeDee said to her husband, “Annie jest told
me ‘bout tha awful thing that happened last night.”

“She told me already. It's hard to believe
something like that could happen in BradLee.”

As they walked back to the kitchen, Annie
reasoned with them, “There's definitely something strange going on!
Something's not right. Don't you see? First, I find a dead woman in
a drawer. Then her body disappears—Alakazam! Like magic; Bingo!
It's gone! Now, this morning before daylight, DeeDee sees something
weird. She sees a man lift something heavy up from behind one of
the air-conditioner units, and then he hustles through the
shuffleboard courts. He doesn't stop or even look back when DeeDee
calls to him. He just takes off, and he's gone!” Annie stopped
suddenly, “Why, think about it; he could have been carrying that
body! DeeDee, do you think it could have been a dead person he was
carrying?”

“It did kindda fall over his shoulder like a
body might. It was the right size fer sure!”

“Oh, DeeDee, thank-you. Thank-you for seeing
that! And thank-you BradLee Park for having security lights so the
courtyard wasn't in total darkness!” said a happy Annie. “Now maybe
people will believe me! I'm not in my dotage yet!”

“Now, don't get carried away,” Art cautioned
her. “We don't have enough facts yet.” But he was beginning to
wonder if maybe his wife really had seen what she said she'd seen
in that drawer. Why shouldn't he believe her? he asked himself. In
all the years he'd known her, he'd never seen her hallucinate. He'd
always trusted her; he should now, he reasoned. He would.

“DeeDee,” Annie asked, “can you describe the
man you saw? You do think it was a man, don't you?

“Oh, it was a man all right. He was big an'
tall. I'm jest sure it was a man. He took big long steps even
carryin' that—that thing—that body!”

“Could you tell what he was wearing?” Annie
persisted.

“Not really, it was dark, don't cha know? But
there was one thing, he mighta been wearin' a toboggan.”

As one, Art and Annie questioned her with
raised eyebrows, “Wearing a toboggan? How do you wear a
toboggan?”

Doc roared with laughter. “Guys, you don't
know how to talk East Tennessee, do you? I'm sure I don't know why,
but in East Tennessee, a toboggan isn't necessarily a sled; it can
be a knitted cap. You wear it in the winter. DeeDee taught me that
the very first winter I met her—that was some 40 years ago at
Auburn University.”

Surprised, Art said, “I didn't know you went
to Auburn. How did an Ohio boy get that far south?

Doc said with pride, “One of the best
veterinarian schools in the country!”

Annie looked at her husband, “We do learn new
things everyday—‘Another day; another dollar'!” Then she turned to
DeeDee, “I am so glad you saw what you saw this morning—a big man
wearing a knitted cap, or as you call it, a toboggan. I wonder how
that fits our puzzle? Oh, by the way, could you make out any
color?”

“Naw, it was too dark out. Everythin' jest
looked darkish, an' remember there was still a little fog.”

“It's a wonder,” Annie mused, “that Art or I
didn't see him. If we'd pulled in the courtyard just a few minutes
later, we'd probably have seen it, too.”

“I don't think he'd have picked up that
body—if that's what it was—if you'd been ‘round. I don't think he
wanted anyone ta see him,” DeeDee reasoned.

They had been walking back to the kitchen as
they talked. Art flicked on more of the bright overhead kitchen
lights and looked around. The Bingo clean-up crew had left
everything neat and tidy, just as was expected of them. They'd
swept the floor in the big room as well as the kitchen; so he was a
little surprised to see a crumpled tissue on the floor of the hall
near the entrance to the hallway and restrooms. He pointed to it
and asked, “Did any of you drop that tissue?”

“Never use them,” Doc said. “What about you,
DeeDee?”

“Tha box I'm using now has a pink design in
it; that one's all white.”

“I don't think I dropped it,” Annie added.
“Why do you ask?”

“Don't you think it's odd that there's a
crumpled tissue on the floor? If the Bingo crew swept up as
carefully as it looks like they did, why is there a Kleenex left
here? We're the first ones in here this morning.”

“Maybe the security guard came inside and
dropped it,” Doc suggested, then continued. “The volunteers' shift
lasts from 9 to 11 o'clock; then the paid security guard comes on
until 5 A.M. He's the one who checks the buildings and locks
up.”

As Art picked up the crumpled tissue, Annie
noticed a bright smudge on it. Pointing, she said, “Look at that,
will you? That's a lipstick blot—bright red—so you know that a
woman used it!” Then an idea came to Annie, and she asked Doc,
“Who's doing the park security now? Is it a man or a woman?” Doc
said he was sure it was a man. “So,” Annie said, “then we know this
wasn't dropped by the male security guard. This could be proof that
there was a woman in here after the Bingo clean-up crew
finished.”

“You don't suppose he had his girl friend in
here, do you?” Doc chuckled.

“It's a possibility,” Annie agreed with a
smile, “but I doubt it. I suppose we could check it out.”

Art started to throw the used tissue in the
trashcan, but DeeDee stopped him, “Wait! Don't throw it away, Art!
I think we should keep it. It jest might be evidence!” She opened
kitchen drawers, looking for something to put it in. Finding a roll
of aluminum foil, she tore off a piece and wrapped up the
tissue.

Doc laughed at the women, “We've got us a
real-life Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watkins here!”

Annie defended her friend, “DeeDee's right.
It may be evidence. You never know what's important. I do know
something weird happened here yesterday. And DeeDee just saw
something very strange outside. There is definitely something going
on that is
not
normal. I'd sure like to know who moved that
body. It
was
moved, you know. And I'd like to know why it's
traveling. Oh!” she rubbed her temple, “this is all very confusing!
How do detectives keep everything straight?”

“In all the detective shows,” Art said, “they
carry a notepad and write everything down.”

“That's not a bad idea,” Annie said. “I'll do
it when I get home.”