Saint Patrick's Day - The Gordonston Ladies Dog Walking Club Part III: A Dark Comedy Cozy Mystery With A Twist (4 page)

“I am sure things will pick up. At least the press has stopped their snooping. I think in a few months, things will be well and truly forgotten,” said Heidi.

Kelly, for a moment, appeared saddened. Tom was nothing more than a memory, yesterday’s news, and his killer was still out there, not that she cared. Not anymore. Not after he had cheated on her. But she still felt a hint of sorrow.

Cindy also felt a tinge of sadness at Heidi’s comments. Carla was now just a memory, and soon she too would be forgotten. Cindy raised her cocktail to her lips and drank.

“Let’s not forget the queers,” said Heidi.

“I am not sure that is the correct way to refer to them,” said Kelly nervously, not wanting to correct Heidi but feeling that she ought to.

“Homos then, faggots, fairies. Whatever. They moved into the neighborhood just before the Taylors did. I haven’t spoken to them myself. Not sure I would want to. It’s unnatural if you ask me.”

Once again, Kelly felt uncomfortable. Surely Heidi knew that Elliott’s two stepsons, Spencer and Gordon, were both gay.

“Well, they seem to keep themselves to themselves,” said Cindy, sensing Kelly’s discomfort. Cindy knew that Kelly probably felt offended by Heidi’s remarks. Later, she would assure Kelly that Heidi didn’t mean it, and that she herself also felt uncomfortable. It was all part of her plan to lull Kelly into a false sense of security and trust, only to pounce when she least expected it.

“Okay dear ladies,” said Kelly as she rose from the picnic table. I have a lunch date with my husband. I shall see you both tomorrow? Same time?” she asked, before calling Biscuit, Grits, and Shmitty to join her.

A lunch date with your husband? You spoiled little bitch. It should be me going on a lunch date with Elliott, not you.

The three dogs bounded over to their mistress, exhausted but satisfied by their morning romp in the park with Fuchsl, Paddy, and Walter.

“Well, you have a great afternoon, Kelly,” said Heidi, hiding her disappointment that once again, she had missed an opportunity to get inside the Miller home.

“Yes, enjoy your lunch with Elliott,” said Heidi, again her smile firmly fixed to her face.

Cindy clenched her fist under the table, unnoticed by either Kelly or Heidi before she spoke. “Yes, have a wonderful afternoon and au revoir, and bon appetite as they say in France.”

Neither Heidi nor Kelly had any idea why Cindy kept speaking in French. Maybe her self-imposed exile had had some strange effect on her, thought Heidi. Kelly thought that maybe she had been taking lessons, and that maybe she intended to visit Paris. She hoped that, if she did, she didn’t stay at the Bonaparte hotel. She couldn’t imagine what would happen if, by some remote and obscure chance, she ever found out about her and Billy.

After confirming that she would join her two friends the next day, Kelly left the park, followed by her two poodles and Shmitty. Cindy breathed a sigh of relief, and the false smile quickly disappeared from her face.

“It must be hard,” said Heidi, “for you, listening to her talk about Elliott. I do understand Cindy, what he did to you was unforgiveable. He should have married you if he had any sense. I always thought that he would.”

Cindy nodded, “I am over it; it took a while, but what can I do? I can’t compete with Kelly, anyway. She is pleasant enough and I am pleased that we invited her to join us,” she lied.

It had been two months since Cindy ended her self-imposed exile, after the day she had opened Billy’s box. Once again, she was a stalwart of the community. Cindy greeted everyone with a smile and a pleasant word. She was no longer the ‘Witch of Gordonston.’ She was ‘good old Cindy,’ and of course it had been her idea to resurrect the dog walking club, as well as her idea to invite Kelly into the club, an idea that had been embraced readily by Heidi.

Heidi knew that Cindy was bluffing, putting on a brave face, and that deep down she not only resented Kelly, but hated her. She wasn’t, though, going to push the subject. She may have been eighty-six, but she had her wits about her. She could smell envy and jealousy, no matter what direction the wind was blowing.

“Well, I am back now. I am fine Heidi, it is all water under the bridge. I was acting like a jealous old maid. I have no hard feelings towards either Elliott or Kelly,” lied Cindy once again.

Heidi concurred with her friend, though of course did not believe her. Cindy may be fooling Kelly but she wasn’t fooling Heidi. Both women sat in silence as they each took a swig from their plastic cups.

Heidi’s gaze, though, was no longer fixed on Cindy. She had spotted movement in the park, and was straining to see who had entered the gate that ran along Gordonston Avenue. The newcomer had unleashed a dog, allowing it to run and join Fuchsl, Walter and Paddy in a game of chase and be chased.

“What in heaven’s name does she think she is doing?” asked Heidi.

Cindy turned to face the direction in which her friend stared, “Who?” she asked.

“That girl, she isn’t a Gordonston resident. She just walked in here and let her dog of its leash. How dare she? I am going to speak to her.”

Before Cindy could utter a word, Heidi stood up and was heading towards the young woman, her face fixed with a stern look. As she approach the girl, who appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and dressed in jeans, running shoes, a cardigan, and spotting a rather short haircut, the encroacher turned to face her. She smiled as Heidi approached. Her pretty and innocent-looking face oblivious to the fury she had just provoked in the old woman, who was now within talking distance of her.

“You do know that this park is for Gordonston residents only?” said Heidi harshly.

“Yes, I do,” replied the girl. “But we are not hurting anybody, and anyway, I only live a few blocks out of Gordonston, in Twickenham. You know there is simply nowhere for us to walk our dogs over there. My dog, Ipswich is his name, enjoys it so much here. Isn’t it wonderful to watch them play together?” Ipswich, a cocker spaniel, along with Fuchsl, Walter, and Paddy were now engaged in another game of chase and be chased and seemed to be having a great time as they played quite happily together.

Heidi knew where Twickenham was, a small neighborhood that bordered Gordonston to the north. It wasn’t a bad neighborhood, but certainly not as exclusive as Gordonston.

“Then you know you are breaking the law. I must insist that you and your dog leave the park immediately,” announced Heidi, unmoved by the girl’s politeness and smile.

“What law?” she replied, her smile slowly leaving her face.

“The law.
The
law, there is only one law.”

“Really?” replied the girl, now taking a defensive stance, her smile now gone, replaced by a look of defiance.

“Yes, leave immediately, before I call the police.”

The girl laughed, “The police? You are going to call the police? I think this park and this neighborhood have had enough of the police. I suggest you sit down, Grandma, before you give yourself a heart attack. Or a stroke, or maybe even both.”

“How dare you speak to me like that? I will have you know I am good friends with the Mayor.”

“So what?” sneered the girl, “Go and get him, fetch the police. Just because you have signs saying ‘Private Property: Gordonston Residents Only’ doesn’t mean you are right. I pay my taxes and I live in Savannah. Who says this park belongs to you? Get lost, you old witch,” said the girl, as she turned her back on Heidi and headed towards the wood -chipped pathway that encircled the park, calling her dog to heel.

Heidi shook with anger. She was furious. No one had ever spoken to her that way before. She stood open-mouthed, practically in shock. She watched in disbelief as the girl disappeared around a corner and behind a tree, undeterred by Heidi’s threats. She needed another drink.

“Well, who is she?” asked Cindy once Heidi had returned to the picnic table and had taken a very large swig of her cocktail.

“She is trouble, that’s who she is,” said Heidi, reaching into her pocket and retrieving her cell phone.

“Who are you calling?” asked Cindy.

“The police of course. She called me a witch, said that it was her park as much as ours. She lives in Twickenham. How dare she? The uppity little tyke, what’s more she resembles an elf, an imp even, with that ridiculous short haircut. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if she is a lesbian--she certainly looks the type.

Heidi called 911 and informed the dispatcher of what had occurred, that there was a trespasser in the park who was being verbally abusive. The dispatcher informed Heidi that her complaint, though an emergency to Heidi, did not warrant a 911 call, and was not a real emergency. After Heidi had barked at the dispatcher and told her that she felt endangered, that she was a good friend of the mayor’s and the former chief of police, as well as being nearly ninety years of age, the dispatcher relented and informed Heidi that an officer would be there shortly and was already on his way.

“Look,” said Cindy, “she is leaving.”

Heidi turned her head to watch as the girl and her dog exited the park from the same way she had entered. She looked over towards Cindy and Heidi, a wide grin on her face and waved.

Cindy raised her hand to wave back.

“What on earth are you doing, Cindy?” asked Heidi.

“Waving at her?”

“Why?”

“Because she waved at us.”

“She was being facetious and rude, she was being flippant. If I were twenty-years younger, I would slap her face. Typical, the police are late as always. I thought the police in Savannah were meant to be good? I feel a complaint about their tardiness could be in order,” said Heidi, her anger growing as she checked the time on her watch. It had only been two minutes since she had called 911, but to Heidi, that was not acceptable.

Five minutes later, a police car pulled up to the east entrance of the park and parked opposite Elliott and Kelly’s home. The officer entered the park and made his way towards Heidi and Cindy, but not before he was first greeted by Paddy, Walter, and Fucshl, who sped towards the police officer. The policeman petted the dogs and approached the two old women sitting at the picnic table.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked, smiling at both women. “I had a report of a trespasser who was been threatening and abusive, where is he?” He asked, scanning the park.

“She left,” said Heidi harshly, “and if you had been five minutes earlier, you would have caught her red-handed. She shouldn’t be in here, this is a residents’ only facility.”

The police officer shook his head. He was tired, and it had been a long morning. He didn’t have time for this.

“Did she attack you?” asked the officer.

“Yes,” said Heidi, “she verbally attacked me. Called me a witch,” Heidi took a sip of her drink.

“But she wasn’t violent?”

“No, she was rude.”

“Did she threaten you?”

“No, but if I see her again, she will regret crossing me.”

“Did she use abusive language towards you?”

“She called me a witch.”

“But she wasn’t violent?”

“I already told you she wasn’t. “

“It’s just that I was told that there was a violent man in the park who was threatening an old lady. You are aware that there were a few murders here a few years ago? We take things around here pretty seriously, especially with the mayor living nearby.”

“Not seriously enough it seems. You were very slow getting here, you let her get away, and for your information, I am a very good friend of the mayor’s.”

The officer turned to Cindy, “Did you see or hear any of this ma’am?”

Cindy shook her head. “She waved though, the girl, as she left. She waved at us.”

The officer took a description of the girl and said he would drive around the area, but there was really nothing he could do. Heidi, as he departed the park, turned to Cindy, “You know, I don’t think he wrote anything down at all. I think he was just pretending. I should have taken his badge number. Totally incompetent.”

Cindy shrugged. She really wasn’t that concerned about who did and didn’t use the park, but she played along with her old friend’s annoyance, as she always did.

“You know I spotted a hobo, a homeless man in here a few days ago,” said Cindy, “He was filthy looking, with long hair and a beard covering his face, and he stunk. I think he may have spent the night in here, sleeping.”

Heidi looked appalled. “Well, this has to stop. We can’t have the homeless using this as a place to sleep, and we can’t have outsiders just wandering into the park willy-nilly, thinking that they own the place. No, we need to act. I think it’s time to gather the residents’ association for an emergency meeting, maybe even organize patrols of the park. I, for one, am not letting this lie.”

* * * * *

Meredith Keyes was annoyed. Her encounter this morning with the old witch, the one who had patrolled the park and threatened to call the police on her, had not only upset her, but had also inspired her to do some investigating. On her return home, she had immediately contacted a close friend, an attorney, and had asked him to investigate the legality of the Gordonston Residents’ claiming that ‘their’ park was indeed just for them. She paid her city taxes, and those taxes went towards the upkeep of parks and open spaces. Who did that old ‘park Nazi’ think she was? Well, she had started a fight with the wrong person; Meredith Keyes was not going to take this lying down. Ipswich had every right to enjoy the park as much as other dogs. It was simply ridiculous.