Hideaway Hospital Murders (14 page)

When it came time for their third, fourth
and fifth beers, Carnie acted as waitress. Jake never noticed she
was not really drinking hers. She kept them coming until he was
drunk.

“
I don’t think you were
being truthful earlier when I asked you if you’d ever killed
anybody,” said Carnie.

He grinned at her. “Aw, come on, Honey,
don’t you trust me?”

“
I’m not sure. But I won’t
sleep with a man if I think he’s lying to me.”

“
But I’m not lying. Not
really.”

“
Not really? What does that
mean?” she said.

Jake lowered his voice and looked around the
room and into the kitchen, as though someone else was in the house.
“It was an accident.”

She glared at him, waiting for details.

“
One night I was on my way
home. The old man shouldn’t have been out walking in the dark. It
was after midnight. What was he doing out there anyway?”

“
Did you call the
police?”

Jake didn’t answer.

“
So, you were drunk and you
ran over a man and you just left him there to die.”

“
I was scared. I could have
gone to prison.”

“
How do you know you
actually killed him? Sometimes people get hit by cars and just walk
away,” she said.

“
It was in the paper the
next day.”

“
You’re a murderer,
Jake.”

“
No, no. It was an
accident.”

“
Okay, fine. Let’s change
the subject. How would you like to make some big-time
cash?”

“
Oh, Honey, you don’t have
to pay me,” he said, as he began to unbuckle his belt.

“
Very funny. How does
ten-thousand dollars sound?”

He seemed to sober up a
little. “Sounds
good
. What’s this
about?”

“
Have you ever heard of a
clinical trial?”

“
Sure. That’s where doctors
get a bunch of people to try some new kind of medicine, to see if
it really works. Hey, I don’t want to be no guinea pig. Is that
what you want me to do?”

“
No. What I need is for you
to help me round up some volunteers.”

“
That doesn’t sound too
hard.”

“
The catch is that we’ll
be
forcing
them to participate.”

“
Oh, I get it. You want me
to do something illegal. Well, no thanks. I don’t need the money
that bad.”

“
Jake, I was just kidding.
But, man—I really had you going. You thought I was serious. That’s
funny.”

“
Well, you sure
sounded
serious.”

“
I was just testing you.
And you passed. So, let’s get ready for bed.”

“
I’m ready,” said Jake,
although he was so drunk he could barely walk.

They went into his bedroom. By the time
Carnie had stripped to her underwear, Jake had already jumped onto
the bed, naked.

“
Let’s take a shower
first,” she said.

“
Together?”

“
Yeah.”

Jake hopped up and hurried into the
bathroom. He turned on the shower and waited for the hot water
while watching Carnie. When she slipped the lacey red bra off her
breasts, he said, “Forget the shower. I want you now.”

But she held her hand out firmly. “If you
touch me, I’m leaving right now.”

He stepped back. The shower had begun to
steam up the room.

She said, “Let’s get in,” and pulled down
her panties and kicked them aside.

Jake felt tremors of anticipation as he
pulled back the shower curtain and stepped in. Carnie got in at the
back of the tub.

“
Turn around and I’ll wash
your back,” she said.

“
Yes, Ma’am.

She located the soap dish, picked up the bar
of Dial and began to slowly lather his back. His groin began to
suck the blood away from his brain and other vital organs. His
hands were against the front shower wall for support.

“
If you keep that up, I may
not be able to hold it,” he said.

“
Then you’ll just have to
reload. Okay, now put your arms down at your sides so I can wash
them.”

He would have honored any request she
made.

It was a shame he had rejected her offer.
She really liked him. And she would have enjoyed sleeping with him.
But she had told him too much. And he might talk.

His hands were at his sides and he was very
drunk. He would never see it coming. She would smash his head into
the shower tile as hard as she could. He would offer little, if
any, resistance. And if the first attempt had only dazed him, she
would pound his skull into the edge of the tub until he was
gone.

The police wouldn’t be thinking murder.
They’d see a guy who got drunk and then stupidly tried to take a
shower, slipped down, and busted his head open. Too bad. Another
drunk kicked the bucket. Case closed.

On the other hand, she really liked the big
lug.

“
Carnie? Where are you
going?”

She quickly toweled off, picked up her
underwear, and walked out of the bathroom.

“
Carnie? You can’t leave me
like this. Come back, Honey.”

Chapter
18

“
Maybe I should have waited
until next week to start jogging with you,” said Greg.

“
Why? You’re doing fine.
It’s only your second day. You’ll get used to it,” said
Cynthia.

“
Yeah, but staying up until
after midnight packing and then getting up at 5:30 AM is pretty
tough. Why don’t we skip tomorrow’s run?”

“
Well, I suppose that would
be okay since it’s moving day.”

“
Yeah, it’s gonna be a long
one.”

It was 6:30 AM and Greg didn’t know if his
34-year-old body could endure the second half of the jog.

“
I don’t remember some of
these streets from yesterday.” said Greg.

“
That’s because we didn’t
take this route yesterday.”

“
Good. I’m glad to know my
memory’s still functioning in spite of the exhaustion.”

“
Yeah, I like to vary my
route. I think it’s a little safer.”

“
That’s a good idea.
Especially if you’re by yourself. Hey, that’s Nancy Jo Gristel’s
street.”

“
The woman who missed her
piano lesson last night?”

“
Yeah. Do you mind if we
run down her street?”

“
No problem.”

They turned onto Bowie Street.

“
Do you know the address?”
said Cynthia.

“
No, but I think it’s at
the end of the street.”

When they reached the dead end, Greg said,
“That’s it.”

“
Are you sure? How do you
know it’s not that one?” Cynthia pointed to the house across the
street.

They stopped in front of her driveway.

“
See that car? It’s the
only ‘59 Plymouth Fury in town. Check out those fins. Her husband
kept in tip top shape for forty years. He had it completely
restored back in the ‘80s. But since he died it’s beginning to show
its age. It has pushbutton automatic transmission. Very weird, but
cool.”

“
I’ve never heard of that,”
said Cynthia.

“
But, wait. That’s
odd.”

“
What?”

“
She told me she always
parks it in the garage at night—to protect the paint
job.”

“
Maybe she just
forgot.”

“
I’m gonna knock on her
door.”

“
But, Greg, it’s too
early.”

“
Nah. She gets up by 5:00
AM at the latest. She used to practice piano when she couldn’t
sleep—until the neighbors complained. And her lights are on, so she
must be up. I just want to make sure she’s okay. She might have
forgotten to take her Alzheimer’s medicine. She could be
disoriented.”

They walked onto the front porch and Greg
knocked while Cynthia looked through the partially opened
drapes.

“
Greg, come here and look
at this,” said Cynthia.

“
What?”

“
On the carpet, beside the
piano—is that a pair of glasses?”

“
Yeah. Looks like she
dropped them. Now
that’s
a problem. She’s blind as
a bat without those glasses.”

“
There’s a light on in that
other room too. Probably the kitchen. Maybe she’s in
there.”

They walked around to the side of the house
and up the driveway to the little porch at the kitchen door. Greg
began to knock. The curtains on the door window were made of a thin
material. They tried to see through it.

“
It’s really hard to tell
for sure, but do you see something on the floor?” said
Greg.

“
Like a body?”

“
I’ll call the
police.”

Greg pulled out his cell phone and dialed
911.

As soon as he had finished and hung up,
Cynthia said, “We’re being watched.”

Greg looked across the street and saw the
man in his robe. He was just standing there, staring at them.

“
I want to talk to that
guy.” Greg walked down the stairs.

Cynthia followed him.

The forty-something year-old man had walked
out to pick up his newspaper when he saw Greg and Cynthia. He must
have thought they were up to no good, thought Greg.

“
We think something
happened to Mrs. Gristel,” said Greg.

The man said nothing, but continued to stare
at them.

“
Looks like she’s on the
floor in the kitchen. And she’s not moving.”

Still no response.

“
She takes piano lessons
from me. That’s how I know her.”

“
Nurse,” said the
man.

“
Nurse? What do you mean?”
said Greg.

“
Nurse came to take care of
her. I thought she must feel bad.”

“
When did the nurse
come?”

“
Yesterday. Or today. I
thought she must feel bad. I eat spaghetti. My favorite. And garlic
toast. Nurse come.”

“
I see.”

The man’s wife walked out to meet them. A
half-smoked cigarette barely clung to her lower lip. “Don’t pay him
no mind. He ain’t right in the head.”

“
Nurse came,” said the man,
to nobody in particular.

“
We think your neighbor,
Mrs. Gristel, is in trouble. I called 911.”

“
That’s too bad,” said the
wife. “Come on, Bubba. Let’s get you back in the house.”

“
Uh, Ma’am, do you mind if
I ask him another question?” said Greg.

“
It’s a waste of time. But
go ahead.”

“
Bubba? Do you mind if I
call you Bubba?” said Greg.

“
Just ask the question,”
said the wife, stomping her cigarette butt into the
grass.

“
Did you remember what kind
of car the nurse was driving?” said Greg.

“
White.”

“
Okay, good. But did you
notice anything else about the car?” said Greg.

“
Ecstasy. Ecstasy on
car.”

“
See? I told you,” said the
wife. “Come on Bubba. You ain’t doing nobody no good out
here.”

Bubba and his wife walked away and went into
their house.

Greg and Cynthia could hear the wife yelling
inside. “How many times have I told you, Bubba? Never go out of the
house! Now, sit down and shut up!”

“
Nice couple,” said
Cynthia.

Greg smiled and shook his head.

A patrol car pulled up in front of Nancie
Jo’s house, and Greg and Cynthia walked over to greet the
officers.

“
Are you the one who called
911?” said one of the officers.

“
Yes, Sir,” said
Greg.

“
What’s your name,
Sir?”

“
Greg Tenorly. And this is
my girlfriend, Cynthia Blockerman.”

The two policemen said hello to Cynthia.
They all started walking toward the house.

“
Y’all don’t live in this
neighborhood, do you?”

“
No. We were out for a jog
and I decided to check on Mrs. Gristel. I’m her piano teacher, and
she didn’t show up for her lesson last night.”

“
Are we talking about the
old woman who lives here?
She
takes piano
lessons?”

“
Yes, she does,” said Greg.
“So we knocked on her door.”

“
And I saw her glasses on
the floor,” said Cynthia.

“
So, we went around to the
side door and saw what appeared to be a body on the floor,” said
Greg. “We couldn’t really tell for sure—it’s hard to see through
the curtains.”

Greg and Cynthia followed the officers to
the side door and watched one of them try to look in. He checked
the doorknob to see if it was locked. Then he stepped back and
kicked the door several times until it broke free.

They stayed outside and watched the officers
go in.

In less than a minute, one of them walked
out and said, “Yeah, she’s dead.”