With His Dying Breath (19 page)

             
The visitor left knowing it would have to come back and finish her off. Jenny knew he would be back too because now she knew who the voice belonged to.

             
JJ pushed her dad’s speed dial number. “Dad, I’m at the beauty shop. Jenny couldn’t ID the voice either. She said it sounded like a man’s voice that she knows, but it was a woman calling. Strange, huh? Everybody in the shop said it sounds familiar but nobody, not one soul can identify the voice….yes sir…..okay… no… till seven…then I’m going back to school to pick up a book I need… okay, love you, too!

             
The Exquisite You Salon was practically empty of patrons when JJ arrived a few minutes after four o’clock. She knew most of the ladies and eyed the unknown clients very shrewdly. If she got another call today, she’d be ready. And how do these people get my cell number anyway? She wondered glancing around the room.

             
She noticed Patsy under the dryer and waved as she gathered up dirty towels and smocks for the washing machine.

             
Mrs. Young was out running errands. Stylists without clients answered the phone and greeted the few clients who arrived about every fifteen minutes or so. For a Wednesday, this is very slow, she thought.

             
With all of her normal duties completed except for the towels, JJ retrieved a bottle of water from the fridge and sat in a chair next to Patsy as the stylist combed out her hair. JJ mentioned she was glad they caught the rose tattoo lady.

             
“Who?” she asked.

             
“You know the lady who took my dad’s file the other night. We caught her down at the real estate office.”

             
“We?”

             
“Yeah, well, I was down there looking for Mrs. Young when I saw the rose tattoo on her thumb. I called my dad and the police came on down and nabbed her.”

             
“Why do you call her the rose tattoo lady?” Patsy asked.

             
“She had a rose tattoo on her thumb. Didn’t you ever see the photos the security cam took? There was a really good one as she was leaving the building when she opened the door.”

             
“So are you still helping your dad on the case?”

             
“Well, I’m trying. I know Sammi’s innocent.” JJ heard a loud buzz signaling the towels were ready for folding. “Well, back to work.”

             
Mrs. Young and Anne walked in just in time to close the shop. Evelyn went into the office, and Anne walked over to JJ and asked about the woman in the third chair pointing to Patsy. “Oh, her name is Patsy but I don’t know her last name. She works with my dad.”

“She looks very familiar. I know her from somewhere.” Anne walked over to say hello.

              “Hi,” she said to Patsy. “I’m Anne Jones. I think I met you and your husband’ about two-three months ago. I’m not sure where.” She waited for the woman to speak then said. “Oh, it was at the Brockton’s party a few weeks ago.”

             
“Yes, we’ve been there several times. My husband and Blake knew each other.”

             
“What does your husband do?”

             
“He’s the principal at the high school, well the assistant principal.”

             
“Dr. Early?” JJ asked. “Dr. Early is your husband?

             
“Yes, why so surprised?” she asked JJ.

             
“Well, you’re Patsy and he’s Dr. Early, just never put you two together.” They all laughed except JJ.

             
At seven sharp, Evelyn said, “Let’s go everyone. Let’s get out of here.”

             
“Bye, Mrs. Young. See y’all tomorrow.” JJ ran to her car as it started to rain with dark clouds to the northwest of town.

             
She pulled onto City Boulevard not aware of the red sports car two cars behind. Right smack in the middle Mr. Grumman had said about her dad’s story. Wonder what he would think about me? Why am I worried what he thinks about me anyway? The detectives have not cleared Sammi, Dad’s running out of news, about the case, no new evidence—I have to do something.

             
Normally it would still be daylight since the time changed a few weeks ago, but it was dark and raining and thunderclouds rolled overhead. JJ pulled up in the school parking lot barely able to see except for where her headlights were pointing and when the lightning flashed. “Hmm, not sure about this.” She scanned the parking lot looking for any sign of the security guard.

             
“Where is he?” She pulled around to a side door where he always parked his car. Nobody. She waited a few minutes in case he ran a quick errand. It was pouring rain and she did not want to get wet.               Deciding she’d just go to school a little earlier in the morning and study for her English test during her third period break, she left. She slowly backed out still scanning the building. Her headlights glared inside the windows. She could see no movement. In fact, she could not see anything. Driving slowly around to the front of the school, she saw taillights pulling out of the school parking lot onto the highway. Who is that? She wondered as she pulled in behind to follow.

             
JJ got in close enough to see the Georgia wildlife tag 61BA8 and she could not make out the last two numbers or letters. She retrieved her cell phone to call it in, then thought I’m not Nancy Drew—that is fiction, this is real life. She decided to head on home and look for the car tomorrow in the school parking lot.

             
To her surprise, Chip was waiting in her living room talking to her dad.

             
“Hi. I thought you were working tonight.” She said to Chip.

             
“I am, can’t you tell,” he laughed and rose to greet her.

             
“I hope you’re not arresting my dad for anything?” They all laughed and flinched at thunder and lightning outside, and the lights flickering inside.

             
“No, but I had to serve papers at a house over a block or two. Divorce case. Pretty bad. I saw several small kids.”

             
“Pretty bad? The divorce or the weather?” JJ hung her raincoat on a hat rack.

             
“Both,” Chip said, “The weather’s bad and the divorce makes me sad.”

             
“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you need cheering up?” JJ asked.

             
He nodded and she gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

             
“Much better,” he said. “Much, much better.”

             
He returned her hug, and both kids were laughing and talking about their day.

             
Her dad loved seeing JJ so happy. She had finally met a nice young man.

             
Chip and JJ made a date for the next night, and he returned to the Sheriff’s department. Cain and JJ left to run down a tip that Everett Christian had told him about. He had been at the BelRon plant three days before the fire and learned that every employee and visitor had to sign it. He proposed that the person who planted the bomb possibly signed the log.               Detective Marabell thought it worthy of checking so she retrieved the logs from the plant that morning without needing a warrant. The plant manager was more than cooperative to find the perpetrator who destroyed so many of his employees and their families’ lives as well as a major part of the new building.

             
Cain suggested a review of the names of employees and visitors might lead to a news article. Secretly, he hoped he would find the person responsible for leaving the bomb. However, he did not want to leave JJ alone in the house. A tornado watch box covered all of Bibb County and most of central Georgia, but he was more concerned about the dangerous storm looming overhead the citizens of River Town.

* * *

              “Jaz, let’s go. Jonas Attaway has a locker down in Perry. We’ve got the warrant to open it and take the contents.”

             
“Hilda, you know how bad it’s storming out. Let’s wait till the morning? Let’s call the Houston Sheriff and ask them to secure it for us.”

             
“Can they legally do that if it’s our warrant?”

             
“I don’t know about that. They could put another lock on it.”

“They’d get the attention if there’s something in there.”

“Well, come on, let’s just go and get it over with. What time does the place close?”

             
“They closed at eight. The assistant manager will meet us there. I told her we’d call when we exit the Interstate. They’ve got a combination lock,” Hilda explained as they walked to the parking garage. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up but Jaz, this is the biggest lead we’ve had yet. Let’s just pray it comes through for us.”

             
“Let’s make sure we look for security cameras. See if we can catch him on tape.” Jasper eased the unmarked sedan onto I-75 south.

Hilda asked, “Do we know what he looks like? I doubt he’ll be dressed like he was
at the murder scene.”

             
“Like you said, Hil, let’s just pray it’s a good lead.” They rode in silence until the Highway 341 exit sign, and Hilda placed the call to the storage facility manager.

             
“Oh, shoot, Jaz, Cain Matthews was coming down to look over those logs from the BelRon plant.”

             
“Well, call the station. Somebody else can show them to him.”

             
“Yeah.” Officer Dan Jensen just happened to be on desk duty when JJ and Cain arrived. He had the logs ready, and JJ and Cain got to work.

* * *

              “What are we looking for Daddy?” JJ asked.

             
“Well, hon, I’m not rightly sure. Everett said everybody who enters the plant has to sign in, even the employees. They don’t have the badging system in place yet. You read all the papers for the last few weeks. Check for names that might jump out. Let’s just each take a page until we go through all of them.”

             
“Okay.”

             
JJ and Cain wrote down about twenty-five names between the two of them. Among them was Sara’s dad, several county commissioners, Mrs. Hawkins from the
Monitor
, a few real estate agents Cain knew including the Brockton Real Estate company. Even Blake Brockton had signed in the day of his murder at 9:58 a.m. Cain recognized eight additional names as employees on the list and that was it. Officer Jensen made a copy and before braving the storm back home, they made a trip to Wink’s for a milkshake and some father-daughter conversation about school, work, and Chip. The murder investigation was not mentioned.

* * *

              “Pay dirt!” Jasper exclaimed when it saw the Prius. Hilda immediately called the station and ordered an enclosed truck. Jasper suggested leaving the tarp in place to preserve any fingerprints besides it was pouring rain. While waiting on the car carrier, they found the hidden key. The .38 revolver was on the front seat

             
Per the warrant, Hilda obtained all paperwork associated with the locker. She noticed a contact phone number on the second line.

Two hours later, the
truck unloaded the Prius in the enclosed county impound facility. Crime scene investigators dusted the push button starter for fingerprints, seat adjustment controls and all other solid surfaces that could tell who last drove the vehicle. The revolver tested positively to the bullet lodged in Blake Brockton’s heart. No fingerprints were found on the weapon.

F
riday, March 23

             
“TGIF!” JJ sang loudly as she pulled into the school parking lot. This has been a long week, she said to Sara as they met up outside the school.

             
“You and Chip going out tonight?” she asked.

             
“Yes, I’m not sure what we’re doing. Might just sit home and watch TV.”

             
“Sit at home?”

             
“Sure, I don’t care what we do to tell you the truth. I’m just glad to see him. Do you have a date?”

             
“No,” Sara said. “Think I’ll go out to the airport and hang out.”

             
“Are you going flying?”

             
“No, I doubt it, probably more weather moving through and it’s still too windy for me.”

             
“I don’t like flying when it’s real bumpy either.” JJ said realizing she would have to deal with turbulence to be a pilot.

             
“Me either, but lots of the bigger planes and jets arrive on Friday. Mom’s working till eight so I’ll just hang out with her.” They walked past Mr. Grumman’s office, and he was at his desk. Wanda was sitting on the front row showing too much leg, JJ noticed and did not like it. She stopped at his door.

             
“Maybe we could ride out there, too, and you could meet Chip! I’ll ask him.”

             
“That would be great. I’d like to meet him.”

             
“Sara, do you know that girl talking to Mr. Grumman? Her first name is Wanda.”

Sara
stepped closer for a peek inside the classroom. “No, not really. I don’t have any classes with her. Why?”

             
“She asked me if Mr. Grumman and I were dating. Can you believe that? Acted as if she was going to report us. Report us! For what? She’s trying to start something and get him fired.”

             
“But why? Why would she want him fired?”

             
“I don’t know, probably just being a troublemaker, I guess. She craves attention—good or bad. Look how she’s sitting!”

             
“Pretty raunchy,” Sara said.

B
ut I’ll set her straight if she tries anything.” JJ was fired up to think about it. She turned on her heels and went into Mr. Grumman’s classroom.

             
“Mr. Grumman, how’re you doing today?” Wanda turned and frowned at her.

             
“Hi, Miss Matthews. Do you need to see me?”

             
“I do, in fact, privately. But I can come back if you’re busy,” she said turning to Wanda.

             
“No. I’ve got time before class.” He asked Wanda to step out for a moment. Talk about adding fuel to the fire.

             
Wanda hung out by the door, but JJ whispered so only he could hear.

             
“Mr. Grumman, Wanda is up to something. She asked me if you and I were dating. Can you believe that? I just want you to know to be careful what you might say to her.”

             
“JJ, that’s ludicrous. What gave her that idea?”

             
“Mr. Grumman, every girl in this school has a crush on you.” He blushed. “See how you blush so easily! Girls love that!” She pointed to his face.

             
“You’re kidding me, I know. But thanks for the compliment.”

             
“No, I’m not kidding. You be careful.”

             
He smiled, and her heart fluttered. She was deeply infatuated with Chip, but her crush on Mr. Grumman would last forever.

             
Wanda lurked outside Dr. Early’s office in an attempt to scare JJ. But it didn’t work. JJ simply walked to her locker, got her English and math books and walked into her first period class hoping to get some studying in before the fourth period test.

             
“Yes, Dr. Early,” the math teacher answered the intercom. “Yes, she is… yes sir.”

             
“Miss Matthews, Dr. Early needs to see you for a moment.”             

“See me?”
Maybe Wanda followed through with her threat.

Timidly knocking on the assistant principal’s door, JJ asked, “Dr. Early, you need to see me?”

              “Yes, Miss Matthews, please come in, and close the door.” Mr. Grumman was not in the office.

* * *

              Hilda called the telephone number listed on the storage locker application. A female voice answered.

“Brockton Real Estate.”

              Brockton Real Estate consisted of a downtown office where most of the commercial real estate contracts were negotiated and six branch offices in the central Georgia area for residential sales and listings contracts.

             
“Hello, does this number belong to a particular agent?” Hilda asked.

             
“No ma’am, but I can connect you. Who would you like to speak with?”

             
“I’m not sure,” she said. “What office is this?”

             
“This is the switchboard for Brockton Real Estate in downtown Macon. I can transfer you to an agent in any of our six branches.”

             
“How many agents do you have?

             
“We have twenty in this office and about fifty in our other offices. Is there anyone in particular you would like to speak with?”

             
“What about the one in River Town?”

             
“That office has a managing broker, an office assistant, and ten agents. Would you like me to connect you?”

             
“No, thank you. I’m sorry to bother you.” Hilda disconnected.

Another dead end.
Hilda thought. Guess it was absurd to hope the number would ring on the perp’s desk. She ran the questions through her head. How did that car get to Perry? Was it driven or towed or are there two people involved? Her questions had no answers, none that she could answer yet. Whoever Jonas Attaway is has certainly covered his tracks.

* * *

              JJ was riding an emotional high. She aced her English test, correctly solved an algebra equation in front of the class and received a B+ on her science notebook. Now I get to stare at Mr. Grumman for an hour, smiling to classmates she passed in the hallway. She entered his classroom and took her seat just as the bell rang.

             
“Okay, class. Open up to chapter eight. I hope you’ve read it JJ slumped in her seat since she had not read the assignment.

             
He noticed her withdrawal but continued, “We’ve looked at Asia’s influence on the Western world in areas of economy, popular culture, and politics which we learned began through discovery. A curiosity or the voyage of discovery is what leads us to exploits and colonization. This curiosity is what settled the Western world and why Columbus crossed the Atlantic.”

             
JJ could not help it as she wrote ‘boring’ in her notebook.

             
“Today, we’ll look at something some of you will consider controversial but it’s in the book so we have to cover it. Chapter Eight covers religion and mythology in Asian nations and the influence on the Western world. In some nations the cow is sacred or in another, it could be swine.”

             
The class snickered.

             
“We’re not going to debate these beliefs, okay? First, we’ll look at reptiles, animals, or other creatures as symbols in both religious and mythical beliefs. We’re going to run through this pretty quickly.               First we’ll look at the turtle.”

             
JJ perked up.

             
Mr. Grumman continued lecturing, “The Chinese traditionally see the tortoise as supporting the weight of the world. In the photo on page eight zero four, you see the four elephants standing on a turtle’s back? Each elephant represents the four corners of the earth. She looked at the picture and knew she had seen it somewhere before.

             
“Turtles represent strength, longevity and even immortality.” JJ listened intently. 

             
“As the voyage of discovery moved west, so did this symbolism. However, early Christians did not like turtles. They viewed them as symbols of evil forces, those people desiring to harm you.”

             
To harm you? Turtle? Evil?

             
Mr. Grumman’s voice waned as once again JJ’s mind raced to recall what he had said making notes as fast as she could write. Gumdrop’s friend is a turtle. A turtle is an evil force, lives forever – supporting four elephants – symbols. So who is Gumdrop, who is the turtle and who are the elephants? Solving this riddle will solve the case, I’m sure of it and Sammi will be found innocent.

             
She looked up at Mr. Grumman and smiled a big thank you just as the bell sounded the end of the school day.

             
“Okay, class, that’s all for today. Pop test on Monday, so you might want to read Chapter ….,” he said to an empty classroom. “eight.”

             
JJ hurried out of class, and Sara caught up with her in the school parking lot. “JJ, the whole school is talking about your meeting with Dr. Early. What’s going on?”

             
“Oh, absolutely nothing,” JJ confessed. “He’s a little concerned that I’m helping my dad and the police with Mr. Brockton’s murder investigation.”

             
“How did he even know?” she asked. JJ continued walking to her car.

             
“Well, you know Jenny down at the salon, right?”

             
“Just when I see her there.”

             
“I went to see her yesterday. She has quit her job. I think she’s dealing with some personal problems and we got to talking about the investigation.” She reached her VW, opened the door and tossed her books in.

             
“I still don’t understand.”

             
“Oh, well, I’m getting to that. Like I said, it’s no big deal. Dr. Early is Jenny’s uncle. He visits her and checks on her every day and she mentioned to him about my visit. That’s it.”

             
“Oh.”

             
“He’s just concerned, doesn’t want me to bring the investigation to school, you know, talk about it, get students worked up and all. And, I agreed with him.”

             
“So, nothing about Wanda or Mr. Grumman.”

             
“Oh, gosh no. Wanda’s just blowing smoke. Well, Sara, I gotta hurry to work.”

             
“We still on for tonight?”

             
“Haven’t talked to Chip yet. I’ll text you, okay? Something’s come up and I want to work on it right away.”

             
“Okay, Jays, hope you make it!” JJ smiled at her friend and drove away and Sara walked back to catch the school bus.

             
“Oh, the car tag,” JJ said and pulled out her paper where she scribbled 61BA8. She rode slowly through the student parking lot. Nothing. Then she drove through the faculty parking lot. Nothing.

             
Well, probably already left. I’ll look again tomorrow. Preoccupied with the comic strip, she did not notice the red sports car at the traffic light when she pulled into the highway.

             
She needed to look at those comic strips again and called her dad. The call went to voice mail, “Dad I’ve got something very, very important to tell you.”

* * *

              Anne dropped her purse at her station and walked into Evelyn’s office. Normally she did not work on Friday but Alan was spending the weekend with her sister in Atlanta. It was her first day to work since her collapse in the parking lot following Blake Brockton’s murder. 

             
She fell back into the wing chair. “Evelyn, did you know Madelyn very well?”

             
“Yes, yes, I knew her very well. I’ve been doing her hair for about ten years or so. She used to come to my house. She’s really the one who encouraged me to get my license.”

             
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Evelyn.” 

             
“Sorry?”

             
“Not for getting your license,” they laughed.