Letter to Belinda (35 page)

But when would Lennie not be home, so she could throw it in there without being seen? That was the problem, because Lennie was always at home, unless he was gone to town with her. Hmm. That could work. She could visualize a plausible scenario.
She
could
offer
to
take
him
to
town
to
eat
lunch
one
day,
a
chance
he
would
jump
at.
When
he
gets
in
the
car,
and
she
backs
up
to
go,
she
notices
that
his
shirt
is
a
little
dirty.
(His
shirts
were
always
dirty.)
“No,
Lennie!
That
shirt
is
too
dirty.
Go
back
and
change
it,
and
put
on
some
deodorant
too!”
Of
course,
he
would
do
just
as
she
asked,
and
as
soon
as
he
went
into
the
house,
she
could
jump
out,
pop
the
trunk,
and
throw
the
bag
of
parts
into
the
well.
She
would
be
back
in
the
car
waiting
by
the
time
he
changed
his
shirt.
It was too easy. It had to work. She would get the parts bagged up, and call him tomorrow.

29
 

“O
ur top story tonight, on the Channel 9 News At 6:00, is a deadly residential fire near Laurel Grove. We reported the fire earlier, but now we are told that firefighters have apparently found a body in the charred ruins of the house on rural route 3 near Laurel Grove. The body was badly burned, so identification will be difficult. Speculation is that it is the body of the only resident of the house, but his identity is presently being withheld. The body was reportedly found in the kitchen area of the house. More details will be released when investigators have examined the scene. Cause of the fire is still under investigation, but arson is not being ruled out. A neighbor reported seeing a vehicle leave the house only minutes before it burst into flames, but was unable to identify a make or model of the vehicle.”

As the news anchor moved on to another story, Janice sat horrified in front of the TV, having heard that
‘arson
was
not
being
ruled
out’
, and that
‘a
witness
reported
seeing
a
vehicle
leaving
the
scene
just
prior
to
the
house
bursting
into
flames.’
She knew that
vehicle
was her blue Blazer, with
her
driving it! It was just a matter of time before the police would be knocking on her door. She turned to Rebecca, who had been watching the news with her, and said in a sickly way, “I need to talk to your father.”

“But he’s in England.”

“I know, but I
have
to
talk to him!” Desperate to confide in someone, she broke down in tears, and told Rebecca the whole thing, about taking Penelope to her dad’s house, and what happened afterwards. Rebecca was shocked.

“Mom! That makes you an accessory to the crime!”

“I know, but all I was doing was trying to help Penelope! I didn’t know something like this was going to happen!” Then, in anger, she burst out, “Every time I try to help that woman, it turns out badly! Your father is going to kill me, because he told me not to try to help her any more. But I did, and now this happens! He is going to literally kill me!”

“No he won’t. I have only known him a short time, but I know him better than that.”

“What should I do, Rebecca? Should I call the police, and tell them what I know, or what? Should I just wait and see if they find me out?”

“I would think that honesty is always the best policy. But you are right. You probably should talk to Dad. Do you know how to contact him in England?”

“Yes, I have a number for the Hotel in London, if he’s still there. But it will be an expensive call.”

“I don’t think Dad will mind the cost. Get the number, and we will call him.” As she went to get the number, Rebecca calculated the time zone difference. “It’s a little after 11pm in London, so he should be in his room, but probably not asleep yet.”

“Here, you punch in the number. My hands are shaking too badly.”

“I’ll try.” She punched in the international code for England, then the number for the Royal National Hotel—South. The switchboard operator at the hotel asked for a room number, but they didn’t know it. “The guest name is Travis Lee.”

“One moment.” She rang the room number, and while it rang, she handed the phone to Janice. On the third ring, a sleepy woman answered.

“Hello?”

“Mrs. Lee?”

“Yes?”

“This is Janice. Did I wake you up?”

“No, I had to get up to answer the phone anyway. Is there something wrong at home?”

Not wanting to worry her, she lied, “No, not at all. I just wanted to talk to Travis. Is he there?”

“No, I don’t guess he is back yet. He went to a bar earlier.”

“Is Drew there?”

“No, he went out too.”

“Both of them went out to a bar?”

“No, Drew went out on the town with the girls.”

“Girls? What girls?”

“The girls on this trip with us. They just went out for a little fun.”

Janice was visibly shaken. “Let me get this straight, Mrs. Lee. Travis went out to a bar, by himself, and my oldest son, who is only 16, went out
bar
hopping
with a group of
wild
college
girls
?”

“It sounds a lot worse when you say it.”

“I thought Travis was going to be watching Drew, to keep him out of trouble? And I thought you were going to be watching Travis, to keep
him
out of trouble?”

“I’m sorry, Janice, but I had a long day, and I was bone tired when I got back to the hotel! But at least I know where they went. We are having a great time though.”

“Oh yeah! It sounds like Travis and Drew are having a ball!”

“I’m sorry you think I have let you down, Janice, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. Is there anything you want me to tell Travis?”

“Yes! Tell him to call home immediately, no matter what time he gets in! I will be waiting by the phone!”

“I’ll leave a note beside the phone, in case I’m asleep when he gets back in.”

“Thank you.” She hung up without even saying good bye. Rebecca was almost afraid to ask.

“So he wasn’t in his room, huh? Is there something wrong?”

“Wrong? What could possibly be wrong? I could be facing homicide and arson charges, and I call my husband, to get advice, and find out that he is gone out to a bar somewhere, and that my oldest son is gone bar-hopping with a group of college girls! No, what could possibly be wrong?”

“But you left word for him to call you back, so he should be in soon.”

“Yes, unless he gets drunk, and carried home with some British floozy! I’m sorry. You didn’t hear me say that. But when your Dad gets drunk, he could wake up anywhere, and it’s never his fault!”

“Does he get drunk often?”

“No, very seldom, in fact. But I just hate not knowing what’s going on! I called him up to get advice, and to get reassurance and comfort, and what do I get instead? Worries stacked on top worries! I would have been better off not to call him!”

“I’m sorry I suggested it. So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to sit right here and wait on that phone to ring, if it takes all night!”

“So you are not going to call the police and tell what you know?”

“That’s right. I don’t want Travis to say later that I should have talked to him first. Where are the boys?”

“In the garage working on their play costumes.”

“Go tell them that their supper is getting cold!”

*     *     *

The boys were preparing Lazarus’ funeral wrap, by tearing up old sheets and wrapping Chris like a mummy. Joey and Calvin were doing the wrapping, while their friend Cory was testing the color of the red water colors they would put on the mummy wrap
after
the church play, and before they went on their ‘wild ride’ around the county.

“This don’t really look like blood. It’s too light.”

“Add a little blue,” Joey suggested, “Not much, and it ought to look a lot more like blood.”

Calvin asked, “So the three of us will be riding in the cab, and Chris will stay in the casket the whole time?”

“Yeah, that’s the plan. He needs to stay in the casket so he’ll be ready all the time, in case we see a group of kids we want to scare.”

“What kids?” Chris asked. “Everybody’s probably going to be at the Presbyterian Retreat down on the river! Everybody but
us!
We’ve got to put on this stupid play, while they’re down there having fun!”

“All the more reason why we’re doing this!” Joey said. “If we can’t be down at the river, we can at least have fun on our terms! Cory’s got use of his Dad’s truck, and we’ve got a casket! What else do we need?”

“We need someone else to be the dead man!” Chris said. “I don’t know if I can lay in that thing with the lid shut while Cory is driving! I’m likely to be killed!”

“Well at least you’ll already be on a casket!” Calvin piped.

“Being in there is probably the safest place to be, if we wreck,” Cory said. “You have the added protection of the padded casket! Ask yourself this question: Have I ever heard of anyone being killed in a casket?”

“That’s a dumb question!”

“You’ve
got
to be the dead man, Chris! You look the part! You look like death warmed over already!”

“Thanks a lot, Bro!”

“This is going to be so cool!” Cory said. “We’re going to scare the crap out of a lot of people! The chicks are going to be so scared! And when chicks get scared, they want a big hug! I plan to be right there to give them a hug!”

“Yuck!” Calvin said. What’s so great about that?”

“Somebody is coming.”

“Is it Mom?’

“No, it’s Rebecca.”

“What are you guys doing out here?”

“Getting ready for the play. Did Mom send you?”

“Yes, she said to come eat, before supper gets cold.”

“We’re almost done.” Joey said. “Heard anything more about Mr. Deason?”

“Yes, they just had something on the news. They have not identified the body yet, but it’s probably Mr. Deason.”

“Wow. I wonder what happened? He wasn’t so old that he couldn’t get out in time. He might have had a heart attack or something.”

Rebecca wasn’t going to repeat what she had just heard from Janice, so she echoed this thought. “The news said he was found in the kitchen area, so he might have been cooking something, and had a heart attack. It is plausible that a grease fire could burn the house down.

“As bad as the house was burned, he was probably a crispy critter when they found him.”

“Speaking of crispy critters, Mom has fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans for supper. First ones there gets the breasts!”

Chris was the last one to leave the garage, because he had to unwrap himself from the shredded sheets.
I’ll
probably
be
left
with
the
neck
and
thigh,
Chris thought, as he got himself untangled.

*     *     *

Penelope heard the news report as well, when she was dropped off at Vance’s house. Still dressed in her bloody clothes, she almost panicked when she heard that they had found a body there. She knew it was her Dad, because she had killed him, but she was hoping that the fire would burn him up completely, if that was even possible. She wondered if the knife was still in his chest, when they found him. Of course, why wouldn’t it be? She tried to pull it out, but she had shoved it so deep, that the hilt edge of the large blade caught under a rib, and she couldn’t pull it out, so she left it there.

Of course, it was self defense. She drew the knife out of a counter-top holder, and threatened to kill him, if he came any closer, but he wasn’t even afraid of her! He kept walking closer and closer, and telling her that she couldn’t kill him, because he
loved
her,
and wanted to take care of her!
Here,
put
the
knife
down,
Penny,
and
give
your
Dad
a
big
hug!
I’m
so
glad
you
came
back
home
to
me!
It’ll
be
just
like
old
times!
Just
you
and
me!
I
promise
I
won’t
hurt
you!
I
love
you
too
much
to
 
.
 
.
 
.