Leftover Dead (8 page)

“He would have made a pretty convenient scapegoat then,” Jack said.

“Exactly. Too young, too inexperienced, not bright enough, and certainly with no influence—he would have been a prime target if someone wanted to frame him for the murder.”

“He also could have done it, you know,” Wanda Nell said. “Although if he had, it seems kind of silly for anyone to go to the extremes of covering it up when they had the killer all along.”

“Maybe, honey,” Jack said. “Maybe he
was
the killer. But maybe someone in town was more afraid of something else.”

“Like what?” Ernie asked.

“Who the girl really was. To me, that’s the simplest explanation. If there’s any way to find out
why
she came to Tullahoma, I think we’d find the key to the whole situation.”

“Maybe she wanted something from somebody here”—Ernie continued Jack’s train of thought—“and that someone wasn’t willing to give it. That person killed her, and Roscoe Lee Bates looked like an easy scapegoat.”

“But if he disappeared, it would be a lot easier for the whole thing to just fade away,” Wanda Nell said.

She, Jack, and Ernie looked at each another. “It’s certainly plausible,” Ernie said.

“But in order to find out what the dead girl wanted here in Tullahoma,” Jack said, “we’re going to have to find out who she was.”

“Yes,” Wanda Nell said. “And how are we going to do that?”

Jack turned to Ernie. “You mentioned that this Bates boy had a mother and a sister. Are they still in Tullahoma?”

Ernie thought for a moment. “I’m pretty sure Mrs. Bates died many years ago. I don’t know about the sister. I seem to recall she married someone local before her mother died, but at the moment I can’t think of his name. I certainly haven’t run across her in a long time, and I have a pretty good memory for former students.” She smiled at Wanda Nell.

“You sure do.” Wanda Nell smiled. “So you taught this girl?”

“Yes, and I think she was three or four years younger than her brother. Her name was Sandra.” She paused. “Sandra June Bates. Her mother’s name was June, I believe.”

Wanda Nell exchanged glances with her husband. “Now I guess we have to track down Sandra June Bates. She’s our only link to her brother, and if we can find her, she might know something about what happened to him.” Jack crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. “But how are we going to find Sandra Bates?”

“First off,” Ernie said, “I’ll do my best to remember who it was she married. Once you have that name, it should be easier. Of course, she could have been married and divorced seven times since then, but hopefully she won’t be that hard to trace.”

Wanda Nell stood up. “Once again, Ernie, you’ve been tremendous help.”

Ernie smiled at her former student. “It’s my pleasure, of course, Wanda Nell.” Her smile faded. “I hate to think of that poor girl lying somewhere nameless, unavenged. If I can do anything to correct that, I’ll be proud to do it.” She stood.

“That’s how we feel,” Jack said.

“Hang on a second.” Wanda Nell was struck by a sudden thought. She stared into space for a moment. “What happened to the girl’s body? Would they have buried her somewhere?”

“Good point, honey,” Jack said. “In big cities, they often keep unclaimed bodies in the morgue for years. But here, well, I don’t know.” He looked at Ernie. “What do you think?”

Ernie frowned. “They might have turned her body over to the state, but I’m thinking that if someone went to such great lengths to cover this all up, she was probably buried in town or somewhere nearby. And probably in an unmarked grave.”

“That’s awful,” Wanda Nell said around a sudden lump in her throat. The thought of such a careless burial struck her as particularly sad. Jack slipped an arm around her, and she laid her head on his shoulder.

“It is.” Ernie’s voice huskier than usual. “She deserves better than that.”

“We have to find her, Jack.” Wanda Nell lifted her head and looked into Jack’s eyes. “And give her back her name.”

“We will, honey. One way or another, the good Lord willing, we’ll do that for her.”

On the drive home from the Historical Society, neither Jack nor Wanda Nell found much to say. Wanda Nell was still gripped by the image of an unmarked grave, and that grieved her.

“Surely somebody, somewhere knew her,” she said, startling Jack.

“Yes. She had a life somewhere else.”

“I wonder why someone didn’t come looking for her,” Wanda Nell said. “Don’t you think it’s strange that nobody did?”

“As far as we know, honey, nobody came looking for her. But the sad fact is, young women—and young men, too, for that matter—go missing all the time, and a lot of them are never found. Some people disappear because they want to, and this girl could have been one of them. Why, I don’t know. But it happens all the time.”

“I guess you’re right,” Wanda Nell said, feeling even sadder. “This sure is a depressing case.”

“Yes. It’s pretty damn awful, all the way around. And I guess that’s one reason I’m even more committed to try and figure it out. For the sake of some nameless, faceless girl.”

“That’s the best reason there is,” Wanda Nell said with a sad smile at her husband.

Jack nodded. “This morning, when Gus told me about it, all I could think about at first was what an interesting subject for a book it would make. But now it’s much more than that. Even though we have no idea who she is at this point, I feel like I have a duty to do what I can to make things right for her.” He shook his head. “At least as right as you can, after all this time.”

Jack pulled his car in behind Wanda Nell’s in their driveway, and for a moment they sat, the motor still running. With a sigh Jack switched off the air conditioner and then the ignition.

Wanda Nell didn’t wait for him to open her door. She got out and followed him up the stairs to the door of the trailer. Jack unlocked it, and Wanda Nell preceded him inside.

“What are you going to do now?” Wanda Nell asked as she set her purse down on the table near the door.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to do some work on this, but if you need me to help with something, it can wait.”

Wanda Nell smiled. “No, you go ahead. I’ve just got some laundry to finish, and I don’t mind doing it by myself.”

Jack gave her a quick kiss before disappearing down the hall to his study. Wanda Nell knew she probably wouldn’t see him for a couple of hours. When he was working, he got so focused he lost all track of time.

Wanda Nell headed for the small utility room close to their bedroom. She switched on the light and began loading the washing machine. Once that was done, she pulled a load of whites from the dryer and began folding them.

As her hands performed a task they knew all too well, Wanda Nell let her mind wander over the events of the day. It seemed like longer, but it had been only this morning when Jack first told her about the case. They had certainly made some progress today, despite the best efforts of someone to cover it all up.

There were still big obstacles in the way, though. Who was the dead girl? And why had she come to Tullahoma? Wanda Nell sighed and stacked a newly folded towel on top of the others she had done.

If they could find Sandra June Bates, and if she knew what had happened to her brother, they might have a good chance of figuring this thing out. If he knew something, that is, and hadn’t been picked at random to be the scapegoat.

If, if, if. Wanda Nell frowned. Too many of them at this point, but she knew that wasn’t going to stop Jack, and it certainly wouldn’t stop her, either. With Ernie Carpenter on their side, she reflected, they surely couldn’t fail. Ernie had the determination and drive to help them see it through.

Before they had left the Historical Society, Ernie had promised to do whatever she could to help. Wanda Nell, struck by a sudden inspiration, suggested looking through the newspapers to find an announcement of Sandra June Bates’s wedding. Ernie said she would look, but she doubted she’d find anything. The Bates family wasn’t the kind to pay for a wedding announcement in the paper, and she didn’t think Sandra June Bates had married a man whose family would have done it, either.

“But I promise I’ll look,” Ernie said, “and who knows? We might get lucky. Or else I’ll finally dredge up the boy’s name from my memory.”

Wanda Nell smiled fondly. Ernie did have an amazing memory, especially for her former students. If she couldn’t remember this one person, he probably hadn’t been a student.

Jack had already mentioned going through the records at the county courthouse, because if Sandra June had been married in Tullahoma County, the marriage license would be on file. He was planning to do it on Monday.

There was no need for Jack to do that, Wanda Nell realized. Her son, T.J., could easily do it for him. In his work with his partner, Tuck, T.J. often did research of this kind at the courthouse. They knew him there, and no one would pay much attention to him. Jack, however, had rarely done this, and if he wanted to keep a low profile for as long as possible on this case, then it would be better to have T.J. do the job.

Wanda Nell laid aside a hand towel and went to the kitchen. She picked up the phone and punched in the number of T.J.’s cell phone.

After three rings, T.J.’s voice came on the line. “Hey, Mama, how are you?”

“I’m fine, honey, how about you?” T.J. sounded more and more like his father all the time. She pushed that thought away.

“Pretty good. We’re just relaxing a bit before deciding what to do for dinner.”

“He means deciding which one of us is going to cook it,” Tuck said, his voice surprising Wanda Nell.

“You’d better do it,” Wanda Nell said. “I’m not sure T.J.’s learned enough yet.”

Tuck laughed, a rich, warm sound, and Wanda Nell could easily picture his handsome face as he gazed lovingly at her son. “I don’t know, he’s a pretty fast learner. He’s at least picked up on how to boil water.”

Wanda Nell heard the sounds of a brief scuffle as T.J. recaptured the phone. “Don’t pay any attention to him, Mama,” he said, laughing. “And just for that, he’s going to have to cook dinner
and
clean up afterward.”

“You two are something else,” Wanda Nell said, trying not to laugh. “You be good, and help.”

“Yes, Mama,” T.J. said, in his best good-boy voice. “Now, did you have some reason for calling other than to tell me to behave?”

“I did. I was hoping you’d do a little work for Jack on Monday, if you have time.”

“Sure, Mama, what is it?”

“Well, we’ll give you all the details tomorrow night when you come over for dinner. We need you to look through the county marriage records for us. We need to find out if someone got married here, and who she married.”

“That’s easy enough. They’ve got a lot of the records computerized now. How long ago was it, do you know?”

“We’re not sure.” Wanda Nell thought for a moment. Ernie had said Sandra June was several years younger than her brother, who was nineteen at the time. If the girl had married right out of high school, that would put it at twenty-six or twenty-seven years ago. “Twenty-five years ago, give or take a couple of years, most likely. But we really aren’t sure.”

“They haven’t gotten that far back with the computerized records,” T.J. said, “but it’s still not that hard. I’ll be happy to do it for Jack, Mama. Is he working on a new book?

“He is, and we’ll tell you all about it at dinner.”

“Sure,” T.J. said. “Hang on a minute, Tuck wants to talk to you.”

“Wanda Nell,” Tuck said, “about dinner tomorrow. Why don’t y’all come over here instead? It’s our turn. You’ve cooked for us the past three Sundays, and we ought to be doing it for you. I promise I won’t let T.J. burn anything.”

Wanda Nell heard her son’s voice raised in mock protest. “I guess that would be okay. I do love cooking for y’all, though.”

“We know,” Tuck said, “but it means a lot to both of us to have y’all here.”

“Of course. We’ll be happy to come.”

“About six-thirty?”

“We’ll be there,” Wanda Nell said, and hung up the phone.

“Was that T.J. you were talking to?” Jack startled her. She hadn’t heard him come into the kitchen.

“Yes, it was. Tuck wants us to come over there for dinner tomorrow, instead of them coming here.”

“That’s fine. I thought I’d call T.J. and ask him if he would mind looking at the courthouse for records of the marriage. I don’t think he’d mind, do you?

“He already said he wouldn’t,” Wanda Nell said with a grin.

Jack laughed. “Well, I guess it’s like my mama always said. Great minds are like catfish.”

“They swim in the same channels.” Wanda Nell had heard this one before.

“Exactly,” Jack said, and his slow, sexy smile made Wanda Nell shiver just a little bit.

After a long, gentle kiss, Wanda Nell pushed him away. “You’d better get back to work, and I’ll start thinking about something for supper.”

“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you say—for now, at least.” His smile told her that later it would be different.

Wanda Nell stared after him as he left the kitchen. She was having a hard time thinking about food. She shook her head, trying to clear it.

With a sigh she went over to the refrigerator. Maybe actually looking at the food inside it would help her focus on something else.

She stared at the contents of the fridge. There was some hamburger meat and about half a chicken from a previous meal, as well as some broccoli in the vegetable drawer and a pot of leftover peas.

The ringing of the phone brought her out of her reverie. She shut the door of the fridge and walked over to the phone.

“Hello.”

“Mama, it’s me,” Miranda said.

“Hi, sweetie.” Wanda Nell braced herself. She could tell from the tone in those three words that something was wrong. “What’s going on?”