Middle River Murders (16 page)

“If she was a close friend, I bet we would’ve gotten
something out of her.”

“You mean like we could with Cole?” I said to Mom with a
smirk. “I dated him and Claire dated him, yet he never gave up anything. He’d
let us rot in jail before he’d help out with a little information.”

“He did give us a head’s up to stay away from Moon’s house,”
Billy said, giving credit where credit was due.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right there.”

Claire and Randy came down the stairs. Claire was carrying
Maisy and Randy was carrying their luggage.

I say luggage, because Claire never goes anywhere without a
week’s worth of clothes in a suitcase. She taught me that, and Billy taught me
to always carry a duffel bag in my car at all times. It used to be, I’d toss a
pair of jeans and clean underwear in my car and be off, but those days are gone
forever. Now I’ll have to pack like she does.

“I think Maisy’s worn out already,” Claire said, handing her
to Billy. “She’s ready for a nap.”

“Me, too,” I said. It’s not even
noon
and I feel like it should be
four
o’clock
. Talking to the
police wears me out.” I had to laugh at myself.

Billy let us kiss Maisy before he took her to the nursery.

“Mom, are you going to be all right if I leave?” Claire
asked.

“Honey, I’ll be just fine. I have Billy and Jesse to watch
over me, and if that’s not enough, I’m sure I can call in the rest of the
Blackhawk clan.”

“I’m glad to see you still have a sense of humor.”

“I never lost it.”

“We almost lost you and Jesse. That scares the daylights out
of me, Mom. You have to promise me you’ll be more careful.”

“Okay, the next time someone tries to break into my house,
I’ll tell whoever it is they have to go away. My daughter says so.”

“Now you’re being funny. I’m serious. Be careful. Having a
private investigator as a son-in-law has proved to be quite a challenge.”

“Don’t forget about me,” I said. “I’m one, too.”

“Now that really is a scary thought.”

“You didn’t seem to mind when I saved your butt.”

“You’re right about that,” Claire agreed. “You were right
there for me the whole time. You gave me the courage to do stuff I never
thought I’d be able to do.”

“Hey, there’s nothing like the thrill of breaking into a house
and stealing the contents of a safe. I especially liked the part about finding
a dead body in your wine cellar. That was the highlight of the trip.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I’m not, silly. The highlight was meeting Abby and Isabel…
and Randy, of course.”

“I must say it was exciting for me, too,” Randy said. “You
ladies have more guts in you than ten women put together, and that includes
you, too, Mrs. Watson. You’re just as strong as the rest of them are.”

“If you’re going to be in this family, you might as well
start calling me, Minnie. We don’t need any formalities here. We’re just one
big happy family, and we continue to grow. I like that.”

“Okay, Minnie,” he said with a grin. He looked at Claire. “I
guess we’d better go. I’m sure Mom will have a big dinner celebration waiting
for us when we get back.”

“She knows?”

“Sure, she does. The whole family knows. You don’t think I
could keep something like this a secret, do you? Mom knows how I feel about
you. She always has. She’s the one who told me to bide my time. She never
thought Carl was good enough for you. She said you’d wise up one day and dump
him.”

“She was right.”

“She usually is.”

“I adore your mother and Isabel,” I said. “I can’t wait to
see them again. There’s never a dull moment when they’re around.”

“You’ll see them soon,” Claire said.

“How soon?”

“As soon as we set a date for the wedding.”

“You know she has a helicopter,” Randy said. “I wouldn’t be
surprised if she doesn’t get her pilot to fly her and Isabel in and land right
in your backyard just to discuss some small detail, or to chitchat about the
progress of our nuptials.”

“Tell her to come on!” I said. “We’d love it!”

After hugs and kisses, Claire and Randy departed to go back
to
Washington
,
D.C.
to plan their wedding.

“At least, something good came out of all this,” I said after
they left. “Randy got up the nerve to propose to Claire.”

“How about that?” Mom smiled.

“I’m so happy for them.” I looked at Billy. “I hope they’ll
be as happy as we are. Everyone should be so lucky.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Mom said. “Let’s get down to business. Now that
they’re gone, when are we going to Kansas Moon’s house?”

“We’ll have to wait until after it gets dark,” Billy said as
if this was the plan the whole time. “I’m sure the place will be deserted by
then. The sheriff and his men work fast.”

“Did I miss something?” I asked. “Didn’t you hear what Deputy
Kingsley said? Just in case you forgot, let me remind you. She said the area
was sealed off.”

“That doesn’t mean the police are still there,” Mom said. “It
only means they have crime scene tape up.”

I looked at Mom and said, “Here’s the deal. If anyone goes to
Moon’s house, it’s not going to be you. I promised Claire…”

“Forget about Claire. This is something you and I have to do
for ourselves if we want to survive this terrible ordeal. I don’t want to spend
the rest of my life having nightmares and then waking up in a cold sweat. I
want to know why we were forced to kill that man.”

I thought about Mom’s statement for a minute and then said,
“I see what you mean.” I looked at Billy. “I told you we need a nanny.”

“I’ll call my folks,” he said. “If we’re going to break the
law, I’d rather my kids be with our family instead of a stranger.”

“That’s my man!” I said with a smile.

Nightfall arrived and the three of us were poised, ready for anything. Well, almost anything. To
help avoid detection, we borrowed one of the chief’s trucks. The ten-year-old
Chevy was the color of
midnight
and would make good cover as we hid
between the trees in a patch of woods close to Kansas Moon’s house. Hopefully,
the sheriff and his deputies wouldn’t see us, but if they did, what could they
do? We weren’t breaking the law. Trespassing—yes, but who cares? We’re not
talking about jail time here. I don’t think.

“Can I roll the window down, Billy?” Mom asked. “It’s getting
a little stuffy in here.”

“Only if you promise not to talk,” he replied. “Voices carry
through these woods and we…”

“I know,” Mom said as she rolled the window down. “We don’t
want the sheriff to hear us.”

“I can’t believe we’re sitting here,” I said. “I never
thought I’d see the day I’d be doing something like this. I’m sitting here with
my husband on one side and my mother on the other side… snooping! I just had a
baby and I’m already hunkered down in the woods, again! Oh, and my mother just
recently had a heart attack!”

“I’m fine. The doctor said so. Let’s not talk about it,
okay?”

“Okay, but if you croak on me out here, I’m going to lean you
up against a tree and leave you there.”

“Stop telling lies.”

“I can’t believe we got this close without the sheriff
detecting us,” I said, ignoring her last remark. “I guess it helps that we’re
in a dark colored truck and we’re wearing dark clothing.”

“I hope they can’t see us. Now that my eyes have adjusted to
the darkness, it doesn’t seem so dark anymore.”

“That’s because we’re going to have a full moon soon. It’s
lighter at night just…”

“No talking!” Billy whispered as he rolled down his window.
“You promised you wouldn’t talk! Do you want us to get caught?”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m just so nervous.”

“You ought to be,” a voice outside the truck on Billy’s side
whispered.

Mom and I froze.

My heart pounded as I reached over and grabbed Mom’s hand.

Billy reached into the side pocket of the truck door and
pulled out his gun and rested it in his lap.

Mom and I turned and looked Billy’s way and saw a figure
appear beside the truck.

“Is that you, Rupert?” Billy asked.

“Yes, it’s me, so you can put that gun back, Billy.”

“I thought I recognized your voice, but just in case I was
wrong, I wasn’t taking any chances.” Billy slipped the gun back into the side
pocket of the door. “You’re going to get yourself killed one of these days.
What are you doing out here, Rupert?”

“Probably the same thing you’re doing here. I want to know
what’s in that house. Ain’t nobody been inside since
Kansas
moved in, and now that he’s dead,
people want to know the truth. People been hearing dogs barking inside that
house. They say he puts out bowls of food for them animals. Now why would he do
that if he won’t gonna snatch them up? He was luring them here with the food. I
was thinking that Old Gus might have been here. I was looking for evidence.
Maybe he’s still here.”

“We’re just here to see what’s inside,” Billy said.

“Oh, hello, Rupert,” Mom whispered. “Do you two know each
other?”

“It seems that way, Mom,” I said as I let go of her hand. I
was rattled by Rupert’s appearance. I tried to calm down, but my heart was
still racing. “Having someone sneak up on you and catch you off-guard is a
little scary. I was already on edge to start with.” I looked over at Rupert.

“I’m sorry, Miss Jesse,” Rupert said. “I didn’t mean to scare
you. I seen the truck pull up and was wondering what Chief Sam was doing out
here. Then I seen it won’t the chief. You folks don’t need to be out here. Now
that Kansas Moon is dead, people be coming out of the woodwork trying to get
into that old house. They think he had something to do with them missing
animals and they want to see for themselves. He’s different… you know. He can’t
help that he’s strange. He was deprived of oxygen when he was born, or so they
say. He has a sister who comes out here ever so often to check on him.”

“So you’re snooping around looking for your dog, huh?” I
asked.

“Yep! I just want to see if Old Gus was here, maybe find his
collar.”

“Was he?”

“No, he ain’t here, and according to what I overheard the
sheriff’s boys talking `bout, they ain’t found no animals… alive.”

“Does that mean they found dead ones?” Mom asked.

“They found bones and
mementos,
was what they said.”

“Yuck!” I was grossed out at the thought.

“I don’t know exactly what happened to the poor fellow, but
people been talking. They say he was murdered!”

“That’s a lie,” Mom shouted, her voice echoing through the
trees.

The minute the words were out of her mouth, we looked up and
realized we were busted. The beam from an extremely high-intensity light
flashed in our eyes. The light was coming from Kansas Moon’s front yard.

“Let’s make a run for it,” Mom yelled.

“I don’t think so,” Billy said. “It’s too late for that.”

I heard the snapping of trigs and realized that Rupert was no
longer around. He was swift and had managed to escape the long arm of the law.

Within seconds, the truck was surrounded by
Greene
County
deputies, the beam from their flashlights bouncing back and forth. They
encircled us as if we were criminals, ready to flee.

“I knew we should’ve brought surveillance equipment!” I
whispered.

“I didn’t think we’d need anything,” Billy whispered. “This
was supposed to be a simple fact-finding mission, not a long, drawn-out
surveillance job.”

“What about that mini-computer thing you just bought? We
could’ve…”

Sheriff Wake Hudson walked up to Mom’s side, flashed a light
into our eyes and then asked us to please step out of the truck.

We complied. Billy got out of the truck, walked around to our
side and then opened the door. Mom and I crawled out and just stood there like
two little school girls.

Billy put his arms around us and pulled us to him as if to
protect us from the deputies. He wasn’t going to allow anyone to intimidate his
women.

“Okay,” he said. “You’ve caught us, so now what, Sheriff
Hudson?”

The sheriff signaled his deputies and then lowered his
flashlight.

The deputies turned and left.

“I should arrest all three of you!” Sheriff Hudson said. “I
could, you know. I could haul the three of you off to jail and let you stew in
a cell overnight. Maybe then you’ll listen to me.”

“Kansas Moon tried to kill these two wonderful ladies here,”
Billy said. “I think they have a right to know why, don’t you?”

“When I find out, you’ll be the first to know.”

“That’s what you always say,” I remarked, snidely. “What a
load of crap! The victims are the last to know. I think we’ve covered this
territory before.”

“I’m going to have to ask you folks to leave,” Sheriff Hudson
said as nicely as possible under the circumstances. “If you go now, I’ll drop
any notion I might have about arresting the three of you for trespassing.”

“Let’s get out of here,” I said as I reached for the door
handle and then crawled up in the truck. “Next thing you know, we’ll be the
ones in jail.”

“A man tries to kill us, and then you guys threaten to lock
us up,” Mom said, fuming. “What’s this world coming to?” She shook her head as
she crawled up into the truck and slammed the door. “Let me tell you something,
Sheriff Hudson. You need to expose this man for what he was. I can’t have
people saying I murdered this fellow. That’s not true and you know it. I want
satisfaction!”

The sheriff stepped back and didn’t say a word. He watched as
Billy backed the truck up, turned around and then drove out of the woods.

“I can feel his eyes on us,” I said eerily. “It’s as if he
doesn’t trust us to do what we’re told.”

“You think?” Billy said as he snickered. “Why would he?”

Mom and I just looked at each other. We knew Billy was right.

“As many times as we’ve forced the sheriff’s hand, he has no
reason to have confidence in us. He knows we can’t be trusted to mind our own
business. He knew we were coming here tonight. Isn’t that what we were told?
Maybe we should’ve waited until just before daylight.”

“What do you think about that?” Mom fussed as we rode down
the bumpy road.

“Yeah!” I retorted. “I can’t believe we have to go home
empty-handed. I thought for sure we’d get a chance to go inside and look
around. Once the sheriff and his men had left, we could’ve ransacked the
place.”

“They probably already have. We’ll see. Remember, the night
isn’t over, yet.” Billy said with a smile as he continued to drive down the
road.

“What do you mean?” Mom asked him. “Are we going back,
Billy?”

“I’m not giving up that easily.”

“All right!” I said as I slapped my leg. “I knew we’d make a
good team!”

“Does that include me?” Mom asked.

“I guess it does.” I looked at Billy and smiled.

He smiled back.

“The family who snoops together, stays together,” Mom said.
“I love it. We’re a team!”

“Heaven help us all!” Billy said as he shook his head.

“But wait a minute. According to Rupert, everyone thinks
Kansas
was murdered. I can’t have them
thinking that. They’ll think I’m a killer.”

“It’ll all come out once the media gets a hold of the story,
Mom. Don’t worry. We’ll be vindicated with the residents of
Dogwood
Valley
.”

“You say that now. Just wait until people start looking at us
funny. They’ll think we’re killers. People will treat us differently when they
find out we killed a poor, retarded man. Isn’t that what Rupert implied, that
Kansas
was retarded? We’ll never live this
down.”

“Why haven’t we heard anything on the news about his death?”
I looked at Billy.

“This is a small town,” Billy answered. “The process moves
slowly, unlike rumors. They spread quickly. By tomorrow the truth will come
out. Our phone will be ringing off the hook. The press will surround us like a
snake in the grass, if they aren’t already at our house. Maybe we should call
home.”

“I’ll call and check,” Mom said as she pulled out her cell
phone. She punched in the numbers for the house and waited.

A thought occurred to me as we rode. Now I know why the
medical examiner had called the sheriff, Spider—because like a spider’s legs,
the sheriff has arms stretched out in every direction. He snared us like a
rabbit in a trap. We never saw it coming. I also came to the conclusion that
the M.E. was probably called Snake, because his presence was like the bite of a
poisonous snake—death was his business. The next time I had a chance, I’d ask
the sheriff about it.

Mom closed up the phone and said, “I’m worried, Billy. No
one’s answering.”

“Try again,” he said.

Mom opened up the phone and tried again. She frowned as she
closed the phone a second time. “Something fishy is going on. You know your
mama would answer the phone if she could. Maybe we should pack it in for the
night and go home. I’m worried.”

“I am, too,” I added, looking at Billy.

“Okay,” he said. “We’ll go home and see what’s happening, but
I think everything’s fine. You’re both upset and your imagination is getting
the best of you. If anything was wrong, someone would’ve called.”

“That might well be, but I’m worried. I have a funny
feeling.”

“Me, too,” Mom added. “We can always come back tomorrow
night.”

I looked at Billy and he looked at me.

I didn’t tell Mom, but I knew Billy and I wouldn’t sleep
until we had satisfied our curiosity about Kansas Moon. We’d never let this
wait another day. If evidence was to be found, the first twenty-four hours were
critical. We might find something the police missed. It is possible. I’d tell
her that later for future reference, but for now, she needed to know that
everyone at home is safe. She also needed some rest. She was beginning to look
haggard. We all did.

Mom must’ve called the house twenty times before we turned
onto
Bear Mountain Road
. By then, all of us had a case of
the nerves. We knew something was amiss.

Sure enough, as soon as we turned onto the road to our house,
up in the distance, we could see a yard full of vans with their antennas
extended, and other cars with the local television station’s logos on the side.
The press had surrounded the house. The minute we pulled up and parked, the
media assaulted us. They hurled questions at us as Billy tried to keep them at
bay long enough for us to get inside.