Sintown Chronicles II: Through Bedroom Windows (81 page)

I am tired, Shelly thought. Two days without sleep and now this. Who wouldn't be tired?

“The bathroom is around the corner and there's coffee at the nurses’ station."

Shelly nodded as she stretched out on the sofa, resting her head on its arm.

Shelly's eyes fluttered and she sat up abruptly. “What time is it?"

Detective Gilder glanced at his watch. “Four-thirty. We didn't have the heart to wake you."

“I need to use the bathroom."

Lacy smiled. “It's around the corner. I just got back. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

Shelly nodded as she stood, dumping the blanket to the floor. “Black, please."

Just tell them what happened. Give them the details but no background. Cover your ass, Shelly. Be careful, Shelly thought as she tucked in her shirttail, splashed water on her face and dried with a paper towel.

“How's Sam” she asked as she returned to the waiting room.

“Still in surgery,” Detective Spencer replied as she handed Shelly a steaming Styrofoam cup. “There is good news according to the report we received. There are fewer bone fragments to remove than expected."

“And Annie?"

“Someone from the Horry County Department of Social Services is with her. At last report, Annie is sleeping peacefully."

“Mrs. Pond, we need your statement,” Detective Gilder said as he removed a microcassette recorder from his inside jacket pocket. “You don't mind if I tape it, do you?"

“Of course not,” Shelly said as she eased down on the brown plastic cushion. “There's not much to tell."

“Take your time,” Lacy said, opening a notebook and pulling a pen from her breast pocket.

“Sam, Annie and I came to the beach late Friday night. It's a delayed honeymoon."

“How old is Annie?” Lacy asked.

“Two—almost three. Sam is not her biological father, but he loves her very much."

“Who is the father?"

Watch it, Shelly. “I'd rather not say. That relationship ended shortly after Annie was born."

“You have a problem in giving us the father's name?” Gilder asked.

“It doesn't matter,” Lacy said. “We can get it from the child's birth records."

“His name is Boyd Fisher. I haven't seen him in a long time. I think he left the state.” Why the hell did I say that?

“Go on, Mrs. Pond,” Gilder urged.

“We spent the morning on the beach. It was a gorgeous day and Annie had such a good time. She'd never seen the ocean. We all took a little nap and went back to the beach for a couple of hours. We cleaned up, went out for supper and wound up letting Annie spend a fortune on the rides at Kiddyland and we played so many miniature golf courses I lost count."

Lacy smiled as she scratched a note on her pad.

“We returned to the hotel a little after eleven. Annie was already asleep. She didn't wake up when I put on her pajamas. I wanted to wake her so she could brush her teeth...” Tears caught Shelly by surprise. “Sam wouldn't let me. He said he'd make Annie brush six times today to make up for it."

Gilder pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and offered it to Shelly.

She dabbed at her eyes and continued. “Sam surprised me with the idea of a midnight stroll on the beach. I was too tired, but he had already arranged for a babysitter. Oh, God, I wish I had refused to go."

“But you did go. Tell us what happened."

“It was dark—very dark because of the cloud cover. Sam said earlier that the only thing keeping it from being a perfect day was not being able to see the full moon. He wanted so badly for the midnight walk to be romantic."

Lacy nodded and smiled sympathetically.

“We hadn't gone very far when this guy held us up. He had a gun."

“Can you describe him?” Gilder asked.

Shelly shook her head. “Not really. He was short and a little on the heavy side.” Why did you lie to them about that? she asked herself. “No, that's not right. I guess he was about your size, Detective. He wore dark clothing and a ski mask."

“Go on,” Lacy urged.

“He was pissed off that Sam had only fifty dollars in his wallet. He took Sam's wedding ring and watch, and then he demanded my rings. He said my diamond wasn't worth a hundred dollars. He made Sam lie down and said he was going to rape me. He pushed down his pants..."

“Excuse me, Mrs. Pond. Did he undress you or did you do it voluntarily?” Gilder asked.

Her eyes flared. “He said he'd kill Sam if I didn't strip. He pushed Sam's face in the sand and held the pistol next to his head."

“Please go on."

“I lay down in the sand like he told me. He pushed his pants down far enough to get the job done and knelt between my legs."

“Let me interrupt one more time, Mrs. Pond,” Lacy said. “The only part of the assailant's anatomy you saw was his penis?"

Shelly nodded, “and the top of his thighs."

“Was there anything unusual about it?"

Shelly slowly shook her head. Boyd was having a hard time getting it up. It wasn't nearly as big as usual, she silently recalled.

Gilder adjusted the tape recorder. “Could you tell from the exposed flesh the assailant's color?"

“He was white,” Shelly replied.

“Please continue."

“He leaned forward to ... to do it. Suddenly Sam hit him."

“With his fist?” Lacy asked.

“No—he sort of bowled him over, like in football. The gun went off."

“And the robber ran away towards the south I believe you told us."

“Yes, but not immediately. First, he pulled up his pants. Then he shot Sam again."

The detectives exchanged glances. “When the assailant left, what did you do?” Lacy asked.

“To tell the truth, I'm not sure. I went all to pieces. I screamed and hollered, but there was no one on the beach to help. Somehow I put my clothes on and ran to the street where I flagged down a patrol car. You know the rest."

Gilder made a steeple of his fingers and rested his chin. “When the gun went off the first time, how far were the men from you?"

“I don't understand. We were all right there together."

He nodded. “Don't you think it strange that you didn't get any blood on your clothes?"

“I haven't even checked, and besides, by this time I was naked,” she replied as she looked down at her body.

Lacy said, “While you were having the pelvic exam, the nurse checked for us. She found no blood on your clothes or your body. Mrs. Pond, are you sure you were not raped?"

“Why would I lie about it?” Shelly asked, her voice rising.

Gilder grinned apologetically. “Please, Mrs. Pond. We're not accusing you of lying. We're trying to help you remember what actually occurred. Perhaps the assailant shot your husband when he protested and then raped you, or perhaps while the assailant was raping you, your husband ran for help and that is when the assailant shot him."

“No, it didn't happen like that."

“The pelvic exam revealed traces of semen in your vagina, Mrs. Pond,” Lacy said.

Shelly stared at her incredulously. “That's not possible. Wait ... Sam and I ... you know ... this afternoon ... in the shower. It
is
our honeymoon, damn it!"

“Of course,” Gilder said. He glanced at his partner. “There's one more thing, Mrs. Pond. Who is Delilah Delight?"

“That's my stage name. I was confused when I signed the admittance papers. It was a stupid thing to do, but it means nothing."

Lacy smiled. “When I was a little girl I wanted to be an actress. Do you perform in plays or movies?"

“I am, or was, an exotic dancer."

A haggard, green clad doctor entered the waiting room. “Mrs. Pond?"

Shelly stood. “This is Detective...” She turned to her seated questioners. “I'm sorry. I've forgotten your names."

“Mark Gilder,” Gilder said as he stood.

“Lacy Spencer,” Lacy said, remaining seated.

The surgeon nodded towards them and returned his attention to Shelly. “Your husband came through surgery fine. He's in the recovery room now."

“Is he going to be all right, doctor?"

“Too early to tell. There is trauma to the brain, of course, but not nearly as massive as we expected. I believe he will survive, but I'm not certain as to the degree of paralysis, if any, he will experience."

“When do you think we can question him?” Gilder asked.

The surgeon shot him an ugly look.

Gilder shrugged his shoulders. “It's my job."

“May I see him?” Shelly asked.

The surgeon shook his head. “Give us three or four hours to be sure he is stable. Then you can visit."

Shelly nodded sadly and sat down on the brown sofa. “Thank you doctor,” she said, “for all you've done."

“It's my job, Mrs. Pond,” he replied, staring at the detective.

Under other circumstances, the surgeon's departure would have been humorous. His operating gown was open and he was otherwise nude.

Lacy stood up and smiled at Shelly. “I think we have all we need. I'm sorry if we seemed to be a little rough on you. At this point in the investigation, everyone is a suspect."

“Even me?” Shelly hissed.

“Even the man in the moon. We'll check with you later, Mrs. Pond."

As the detectives neared the waiting room door, Gilder turned back to Shelly. “One more thing, Mrs. Pond. Don't leave town without notifying us."

As the detectives waited for the elevator, Gilder glanced at his watch. “Six o'clock.” He chuckled. “We go on duty in two hours. You going to try to catch a nap?"

Lacy shook her head. “The sun is up. I want to examine the crime scene again. There has to be some shred of evidence we didn't find last night."

“I agree.” Gilder again pressed the down button. “Let's swing by the station and pick up a couple of metal detectors."

He repeatedly punched the down button.

“That's not going to help, you know."

He ignored her comment. “You think we got the truth from Mrs. Pond?"

Lacy nodded slowly. “Yes, but not the whole truth. I want to know more about Boyd Fisher and Delilah Delight."

The elevator doors swung open.

“Detectives. Wait!"

Gilder propped the door open with his arm as he watched the approaching woman.

“Could you give me a ride to the hotel?” Shelly asked. “I want to check on Annie, change clothes and bring the car back with me."

“No problem, Mrs. Pond."

Shelly stopped at the hotel desk and found the clerk very sympathetic. “If there's anything—anything at all—that the hotel can do, Mrs. Pond, please let me know."

“There is something,” she said. “Sam is in intensive care. They won't let me see him yet, but I want to be there when they do allow visits. I need someone to look after Annie."

“Of course. It may take a few minutes—perhaps an hour, but we'll arrange babysitters for you."

“I'm ... I'm not going to tell Annie the truth. Not yet, anyway. I don't want just a babysitter. I want someone to take Annie to the beach, to lunch, maybe to Kiddyland."

The clerk smiled. “That won't be a problem, Mrs. Pond. Most of our employees are college students, earning a few dollars during their summer vacation. They'll be delighted to play on the beach with Annie."

“I don't have any cash with me. I'll try to get to a teller machine, but in the meantime, can you put any expenses on our hotel tab?"

“Of course."

Shelly smiled her thanks and turned to leave.

“Mrs. Pond, is Mr. Pond going to be okay?"

She looked at the young man and saw the sincerity in his expression. “We don't know yet,” she replied honestly.

Shelly rode the elevator to the fifth floor and, when she opened the door to their room, was greeted by the enfolding strong arms of a large black woman. “Honey,” the woman said, “I'm Martha Banner. I'm so sorry. So very, very sorry."

“Martha, I can't thank you enough for coming out in the middle of the night and helping us out. How's Annie?"

“Prettiest little thing I ever saw,” Martha said. “Y'all must have worn her slap out last night. She's sleeping like a log."

“The hotel is sending a babysitter in a few minutes, Martha. How much do I owe you?"

Martha looked offended. “Honey, the county pays me real good. You don't owe me nothing."

As the loving social worker made her departure, Shelly spotted her purse. She searched through it, found the insurance card and realized the scrap of paper with the needed telephone number must have dropped out of her bra when she was in the examination room. Thumbing through the telephone directory, she found the listing for the Grand Strand Hospital. The friendly operator transferred the call to the business office and Shelly provided the needed information.

She quietly opened Annie's door and looked at the sleeping child, lying in the fetal position with the stuffed Lucky tightly clutched to her chest.

Oh, damn, she thought as she lifted the telephone receiver. What is the Charlotte area code number? 704, she reminded herself.

“Leora? This is Shelly Pond. I know I woke you, and I'm sorry, but this is an emergency."

“Shelly? My goodness, child. What's wrong?"

“It's Sam. He's been shot."

“Oh, my God,” Leora Borders gasped.

“He's in ICU. They think he'll survive, but he may wind up paralyzed."

“What can I do, Shelly? Name it."

“It's Annie. I don't know what to do with her."

“Baby, don't you worry about that little angel. Borders and I will be there just as soon as possible. What time is it?"

“About seven I think."

“And how long does it take to drive to Myrtle Beach from here?"

“It took us five hours."

“If Borders will let me drive, we'll be there in four."

Shelly placed the receiver in its cradle and dropped onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow and letting the tears flow.

“Mommy,” a tiny voice said, “what's wrong?"

Shelly turned on her side and held out her arms. “Come here, baby."

Annie crawled into her mothers’ arms.

“Sweetheart, Papa Sam was in an accident last night. He's in the hospital."

“Is he going to be okay?"

“Sure,” Shelly replied, trying to sound convincing. “It's just going to take some time."