Murder by Serpents (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (26 page)

“No. Don’t believe so.” Failing in his attempts to read around corners, the mayor adopted a more casual pose, leaning forward in his chair, his hands stacked on his desk. He graced them with his campaign smile. “Can’t imagine why I would want to. Snakes give me the creeps and I am, after all, a lifetime member of the First Baptist Church. I don’t hold with these fly-by-night churches.”

“I’ll accept that, for now.” With a nod, Tony folded the printout and put it on his lap. “Maybe you wouldn’t mind telling me where you were last Wednesday evening?”

“Wednesday?” Calvin’s head reared back so quickly that it was amazing that he didn’t give himself whiplash. His face went red and blotchy and it looked as if he’d swallowed his lips. Stuttering and gasping, he couldn’t seem to catch his breath long enough to answer the question. “I, uh, I went to church, of course.”

“And afterwards?” Tony wasn’t much of a fisherman, but he knew better than to try to set the hook too soon. He made it sound like an idle question.

“I, uh, I was at home, uh, that is I went home afterwards, and uh, there I was, that is, at home.” Babbling, it took him a moment to realize his statement was incoherent. He fell silent at last, but his breathing was still ragged. No longer red and blotchy, his face had turned chalk white.

Tony recognized panic when he saw it, and the mayor was going into full panic mode. Interesting. Lifting an eyebrow, he waited. From the look of things, the mayor would start pleading for mercy, or crying, at any moment.

“I didn’t know him.” Calvin bolted from his desk chair, running toward Wade and the doorway. When he saw Wade’s hand move toward the holstered gun resting on his hip, he raised his hands and stopped dead in his tracks. Craning his neck, he peeked around the deputy, looking into the reception area.

Tony could see that Marigold’s back was just a few feet away from the doorway. Her russet head moved as if she was listening to music.

“Close the door.” Calvin mouthed the words but made no sound.

Stepping inside, Wade did.

It brought the deputy even closer to the mayor. Calvin made no attempt to move. The mayor was the taller of the two but Wade wasn’t short. He was a powerful young man whose hand hovered near his gun.

Calvin flinched and swallowed hard as he half-turned and addressed Tony. “If I swear I had nothing to do with that man’s death, wouldn’t my word be good enough?” Calvin shook as if he had palsy. His eyes were glued to the gun. “Can’t we just leave it at that?”

“Not even close.” Unable to hear clearly, Tony left his chair and moved across the room. He stopped inches away from the mayor.

“Does this have to be spread about? I’d like to keep this private, you know, just man to man.” There were tears in his eyes. He wasn’t talking but he was begging nonetheless.

Tony relaxed. Mayor Calvin Cashdollar had a dirty little secret, but it was probably not murder. “If it’s criminal, everyone will soon hear about it. If it’s just criminally stupid, it will stay in this room.”

The mayor released his breath and went back to his chair. “A man called me at home. He said that he knew I was the mayor and that if I didn’t want the community to learn about . . .” he paused to cough. “A certain, indiscreet meeting I had in Knoxville, that I should get five thousand dollars in cash and he would tell me later how to pay him.”

“Let me get this straight.” Tony couldn’t believe his ears. The ost self-righteous, holier-than-thou prig in all of Tennessee was confessing to an improper liaison. “You want me to believe that you were stupid enough to have an affair, and not just to have an affair, but to have it only sixty miles away from home. Hell, man, you might as well have been fornicating on the courthouse lawn. Have you ever gone to Knoxville and not seen someone you know?”

Shaking his head, Calvin didn’t say a word. His shoulders rolled forward as if to protect his chest. A tear did escape and roll down one cheek.

“So someone saw you and recognized you and thought to make a profit from it and gave you call?” said Tony. What was wrong with the people in this community? Calvin Cashdollar continued to be elected. He’d heard of towns that had elected a dog to the position and was about to decide that they were on the right track.

“That’s right. I didn’t recognize the voice and he didn’t give me a name or a place to meet. He just said to get the money together and expect him to call again.” The mayor managed to get to back to his chair and he collapsed onto it, sending it sliding across the plastic carpet cover. “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“So, did you get the money?” said Wade.

“Yes.” The mayor opened his desk drawer and pulled out a fat manila envelope. “Would you like to count it?” His hands trembled as he offered it to each man in turn. Neither of them touched it.

“When Blossom found a dead man in that car, did you have any reason to believe he was the same man who called you?”

Calvin shook his head in denial. “If I had, I would’ve put this back in the savings account before Doreen noticed that it was gone.” He coughed into a fist. “Lucky for me, she only likes to spend it and prefers to let someone else to do the accounting.”

Tony believed him. No one would make up such a stupid story.

“Do you own any handcuffs?” said Wade.

The way the mayor’s face blanched and then flushed made Tony wish that he had thought to ask that question himself. Calvin’s head nodded the slightest amount.

“I did have.” His long fingers toyed with the manila envelope, tearing the flap into confetti and exposing a fair sized stack of currency inside. “They’re missing.”

“Since when?”

“I don’t know.” The flesh of his face pulled against the bones, making him look like a cadaver. His pale eyes drifted toward Tony’s face before dropping to the star-shaped badge and up to the ceiling. “I, um, ordered them some time ago and left them in my car, because, I didn’t want Doreen to find them.”

Tony could barely hear his last words. “When did you notice that they were gone?”

“After I heard about the handcuffs on the guy in the car, I looked for them and they weren’t under the seat any longer.”

“Why did you look for them?” said Wade. “Did you have any reason to believe they were yours?”

“No.” He lifted his eyes. “I swear that I have no idea what became of them. I haven’t seen them for weeks.”

THE THIRD BODY OF CLUES

Sew together Unit 1’s and Unit 2’s. Place a 2 (flying geese) right side up with the arrow pointing left. Place a Unit 1 onto it with wrong side of triangle in upper right. Sew 1’s to 2’s using 1/4” seam, along long right edge. Open. You should have a 4 1/2” square. Press seam toward 2’s. Sew 48.

Divide these blocks into two equal stacks. Place one stack right side up with arrow of goose pointing left. Place the other stack, wrong side up with arrow of goose pointing down. Using 1/4” seam sew these together along right edge. Press toward 1’s. Sew 24.

Divide into two stacks. Place stack right side up with arrows pointing left and down. Place the other stack, wrong side up with arrows pointing down and right. Pin upper edge to hold center aligned before sewing with 1/4” seam. Center triangles will form pinwheel of fabric (B).

Before pressing, turn to wrong side and use your fingers to pop the threads in the center so that it opens and you can press each side toward unit 1’s. The center on back will look like a tiny pinwheel and will lay flat.

Each block should measure 8 1/2” by 8 1/2”. Make 12.

Tony liked the Okay Bar and Bait Shop. The blue-collar establishment operated more like a clubhouse than a bar. Its regulars were mostly single men with few prospects, monetary or social. They liked to hang out together, watching television, drinking beer, playing pool and having an occasional fight. The Okay had no dance floor, in part because of space limitations, but more because men did not come here to socialize with women. A few women stopped in on a regular basis, but like the men, they didn’t come looking for a date.

Sitting at the far end of the parking lot, away from the highway, the building itself resembled a cube. Its flat walls and roof bore no decorative touches, and the peeling paint exposed more wood than it covered. Kudzu spreading from nearby trees had established a toehold on the west end of the building. By the end of summer it would probably cover that whole section.

Tony had always thought that the front resembled a ghost face, the illusion created by a pair of small windows of black glass that flanked the black steel door. A group of volunteers had constructed a crude deck of rough-cut boards and attached it to the back. Donated plastic lawn chairs were arranged so that the large-screen television behind the bar was visible to those seated outside as well as those inside.

The Okay hadn’t stocked bait for years.

The pay phone dialed from Hub’s phone sat on a short pole, next to the road. From the first moment it was installed, it proved to be popular. Residents of the small houses and trailers nearby walked over and used it rather than pay for home service. Due to popular demand, a second phone had to be placed next to it.

Caroline “Mom” Proffitt took over the Okay when her husband died in a freak accident as he was taking down a dead tree in their front yard. Not quite five feet tall, Caroline had made two necessary changes in the bar when she went to work there. She had her brothers build a platform on her side of the bar so she could see over it. When they finished, she installed a playpen in her new office.

Mom raised her two boys and a fair number of her current customers with love and common sense. All customers had to give her their keys when they arrived and were given a claim check if they felt they needed one. Most of the men didn’t bother with them but a couple supplied their own markers, just for fun. No one complained about Mom’s policy, and anyone who didn’t get his keys back got a ride home.

Her nickname provoked a fair number of jokes combining her with Pops Ogle. The probability that Pops would have a stroke if he ever walked into a tavern made the whole scenario priceless. A few beers contributed to the entertainment value.

In contrast to the faded exterior, the interior received regular scrubbings, keeping it spotlessly clean. Powerful air filters removed any smoke as soon as it was exhaled. As Mom often explained, she wasn’t going to tell her customers not to smoke, but that didn’t mean that she had to breathe the stuff.

“Hey, Mom.” Tony greeted Caroline. He wished every bar had the same key policy and had told her that many times. “Can I have my regular?”

“Hey, to you too, Sheriff.” Caroline’s greeting sounded warm and genuine. “You want a drink, you give me those keys.” She laughed at her own joke as she handed him a tall glass of ice water.

At this time of the day, there were only a couple of customers in the Okay, and they weren’t drinking. Perched on the edge of a pair of wooden captain’s chairs, the two watched a soap opera on the television. Clearly irritated by the two making distracting noises, they frowned and glared. One cleared his throat loudly and uncrossed and recrossed his arms.

Mom and Tony moved to the side.

The only other person in the bar was a young black man cleaning the wood paneled walls. Tony recognized Daniel, Ruth Ann’s baby brother. When Daniel spotted Tony, he ambled over to visit.

Tony grinned and slapped the young man on the back. “I didn’t know you were working here, and I would swear your sister has told me every other move you’ve made in the past few years. How’d you enjoy Army chow?” When Daniel enlisted, he had been a little overweight and now he looked extremely fit.

“Not bad.” Daniel laughed. “I’ll bet it was better than the stuff the Navy was eating.”

Once a Navy cook, Tony shook his head in mock despair. “You out of the service now?”

“Yeah, and I don’t start at the University until summer and Mom said she needed some help.” His voice lowered. “She didn’t tell me that I would have to scrub the walls or I might have re-upped. She might be tiny, but she’s ruthless.”

They all laughed at that outrageous lie. Tony could remember seeing Daniel doing odd jobs for Mom from the time he grew strong enough to lift a bucket. She had been one of his most vocal fans when he played sports in high school, sitting side by side with his mother and sister. His picture hung on the “sports wall,” along with those of every other local athlete who ever played any game well.

Tony drained the water from his glass. “Were you both here last Wednesday night?”

“I came here after church.” Mom propped her elbows on the bar. It looked like it took all of her willpower not to ask why he wanted to know. “It was a quiet night and I went home about ten.”

Daniel nodded. “I came in about two to clean and tend bar while Mom went to church. A few regulars came in and ate and watched the tube for a bit. They were mostly gone when Mom got here.”

“Anybody come in that you didn’t recognize?”

He rubbed his chin as he thought. “It doesn’t seem like there were any strangers. You know, all the guys sat together and talked. After they left, nobody else came in here so we closed early. Why?”

“Can you see the pay phones from behind the bar?”

“Real well in the daylight.” Mom waved him onto her platform. “Not as good later on. Even though there are lights on the poles, they usually cast funny shadows on everything. At night everyone looks as short as me and their faces get all distorted.”

“Damn, you are short.” As tall as he was, Tony had to fold himself almost in half to see the view that Mom would see. In the lot outside, he saw Wade photographing the area. “I know your phones are always busy, but did you notice any unusual activity or someone you don’t know hanging around? Someone getting calls? Anything odd at all?”

Daniel and Mom watched Wade for a few moments and then looked back to Tony.

“I’ve been gone so long that I don’t recognize everyone who comes here any longer,” said Daniel. “There was a couple of guys I didn’t know out there but nothing that I’d call suspicious looking.”