The Traveling Corpse (16 page)

Annie added, “There's a space shuttle launch
tonight. If anybody asks you where you're going, you can tell them
you're going to watch it from the golf course. If you can get your
husbands to go with you, call me to let me know. I'll have to talk
Art into it.”

DeeDee, always the cautious one, asked, “Are
ya goin' ta tell your sergeant?”

“I suppose I should let them know at the
Sheriff's Department what we plan to do, but I don't know if we'll
get any support or not. I'll call Maria right now. Fortunately, the
sergeant's a lot friendlier than she was at first. I don't get the
feeling that she thinks we are meddlesome old biddies anymore. I
think she respects us and our problem with The Traveling
Corpse!”

Barb blew out some air, “That's a lot to
think about, but we did accomplish a lot this afternoon; now let's
go home and talk it through with our husbands. See if they have any
good suggestions and if they'll go with us. I'll let you know,
Annie, if Brad agrees to go.”

Verna nodded her agreement, and DeeDee said,
“My sciatica isn't going to keep me away!”

Annie bowed her head; the others did too,
“Lord, It's Annie down here with my friends. Thank you for
listening to us and helping us to reason things out. We still need
your guidance, and our husband's support. And please keep us all
safe. Amen.”

 

* * *

 

Sgt. Menendez hung up the telephone and sat
there thinking, drumming her fingers on her thighs. Finally, she
made up her mind. It was time to take this little old woman
seriously. Annie and her friends had hung in there—persevered.
Also, they had gathered some impressive evidence. Now they were
going to go out in the dark of night on a stake-out! Probably a
waste of time. Yet … and yet, in retrospect she thought that
those seniors had been right on target all along.

The best theory, Menendez thought, was the
one about the body being locked in a car at the Tampa airport.
She'd have that report in the morning. Still, she hesitated,
thinking that Annie was convinced that the body may be buried
tonight right in their park. The pretty sergeant drummed her
fingers some more, thinking what to do.

 

* * *

 

 

The house smelled good to Annie when she
opened her side door. Before leaving for DeeDee's house, she had
filled her slow cooker with cubes of beef and raw vegetables. She'd
added seasonings, a few glugs of red wine, and turned it on the
high setting. After washing her hands, Annie mixed up some cheese
biscuits and popped them in her toaster oven. Art came in and set
the table as she dipped the hearty vegetable-beef stew out of her
crockpot and ladled it into her soup bowls which were trimmed in a
blue Delft pattern. They bowed their heads as Art offered the same
prayer he said every evening: “Thank you, Lord, for this food that
we are about to receive. Make us worthy of it, and make us worthy
to follow in Your footsteps. We ask your blessing upon us and our
extended family and friends. And, bless our country and its
leaders. Amen.”

As they ate their supper, Annie told her
husband about the Golfin' Gals productive afternoon. She showed him
the yellow legal-size paper with the list she had made of all their
happenings—anything they could think of connected with “Our
Mystery'. Then she showed Art the second list. This one consisted
of what they knew about Karl Kreeger. After they discussed the
implications, she rubbed her left temple and said, “I know you'll
think I'm crazy to ask this.” Art paused in his eating and looked
at her. She continued, “Art, would you go with me to the golf
course?”

“Honey, I'll go with you anywhere, but it's a
little too dark to go golfing and a little cool for necking.”

“No, be serious. Barb and I talked about this
on our way home. We want to look around that fifth hole on the
Blue. The fence was definitely cut. I
need
you to go with me
to check it out, and Barb's going to try to get Brad to go too. If
anybody sees us and asks us why we are going out there, we've got a
great excuse. There's going to be a shuttle lift-off tonight. We
can always say we're just going out there to watch it. Without any
streetlights around, you get a great view.”

“That will be a plus. And how can I say ‘No'
to my darling Annie with the beautiful violet eyes? But, I do have
one question: Why not wait until morning?”

“Well,” she rubbed her left temple, “It's not
over.” Before he could ask what wasn't over, she hurried on, “The
body. I don't think Karl has buried it yet. I have this feeling
that he'll try to do it tonight.”

Art sat quietly for a moment, “Have you
thought that he might have put her body in her car, driven it to
the airport, parked it, and left it there. If he wiped off all his
finger prints, it would be hard to tie him to it.”

“Yes, we thought of that; Verna brought it
up.” Annie pointed to the line on her yellow pad. “We've already
talked about that possibility. They'd eventually find the body
though. And we don't think it was very smart of him to ask Jiggs to
pick him up at the airport.”

“They say bad guys always make a mistake,”
Art said, then added his congratulations. “Annie, you and your
friends are first-rate detectives!”

Annie smiled and thanked him, but said, “I'm
not at all sure we've solved it. I'm not sure of it at all. What if
Karl didn't put her body in the car? And, I don't think he did
because I think we saw the body in that restroom after he went to
the airport—not before. I don't think he wants that body to ever be
found. And that's why I want you to go with me to the golf course.
If he can hide her body and you guys pour cement over her, then
he'll get away with murder!”

“So you want me to go on a stake-out?”

“Something like that. Barb and Brad too, and,
hopefully, the D and V's too.

“Don't you think we're a little too old to be
doing this?”

“We won't be chasing him; we'll just sit
quietly in our golf cart and watch.”

“Promise me you won't try to tackle him or
anything,” Art said with a twinkle in his faded blue eyes.

Annie was finishing her stew as she
explained, “We girls talked about this a lot this afternoon, and we
don't think Karl meant to murder the woman. We think it was an
accident. We can't believe that he's some horrible murderer who
planned it. It wasn't pre-meditated; it was just an unfortunate
accident. At least, that's what we think.

“If he had reported it right away, called
9-1-1, he wouldn't be trying to hide a body now, would he? No. He'd
be looking at manslaughter, I think is the right term, instead of
murder. What is also wrong is his skimming money. That's stealing.
We think Karl has been skimming money from Bingo. If she, Twila,
that is, died from a fall, and he admits to pushing her; then it
would surely come out that they were arguing. Then the deputies
would keep probing until they learned that the argument was about
skimming money from Bingo. Karl probably excused his sticky fingers
problem by telling himself that he was giving so much time and
effort into Bingo that he deserved some reward. It's just a guess,
of course. So, if he was stealing a little of the Bingo money each
week, he wasn't going to be happy having the Board appoint an
assistant for him. Once she started keeping records and making sure
the money they took in balanced with what they paid out and what
was profit, that would be the end of Karl's reign. He might even
have to go to jail.”

She continued, “Karl had lots of helpers.
They'd total the amount at the end of the games, but no one seemed
to know exactly how much was paid out in expenses. He doesn't have
much of a check or balance system in place. He could do just about
anything he wanted to with the money. We don't think his wife knew
about his stealing. Verna found out that Kitty didn't pay any of
their bills; she hasn't a clue about their finances. When he got
those new things, like the new golf cart, and the new van, he
probably just told her their investments were paying off better
than ever—that they had the money to pay for the new things.

“So, we're guessing that Twila came back from
her weekend at Sanibel Island, stopped home for a few minutes, and
then drove over to Old Main. We know she was at her house because a
neighbor saw her car. We suppose that Twila and Karl were alone in
the clubhouse. If she questioned him about not keeping good
records, he might have lost his temper. She probably didn't back
down to him like Kitty always does. If he lost his temper, he might
have hit her; we don't think he meant to kill her. If she fell and
hit her head on, say, the corner of a table or maybe she fell down
the steps to the stage and hit her head on the metal railing, it
could have killed her. We think he panicked then stuffed her in
that decoration drawer before Bingo began. You know the rest.”

Art sat quietly for a moment, “You girls
certainly have been doing a lot of thinking. You've made up a good
story—a story that makes sense to me, but it would be a lot easier
for him to just put her body in her car, drive it to the airport,
park it, and leave it there. Like I said, if he wiped off all his
finger prints, it would be hard to tie him to it.”

“You're right about that being the easiest
way, but I think he just wanted to hide her car for a while, and
the airport was a clever idea. I don't think the body is in
it.”

“But,” Art said, “let's don't rule that
theory completely out until they find Twila's car.”

“Sgt. Menendez promised me she'd track it
down. Meanwhile, I don't want Karl to get away with hiding the
body. That's why I'm asking you to come with me to the golf
course,” Annie implored. We've got to find the body. No one has
seen the body except Barb and me, and maybe DeeDee. For heaven's
sake! The body keeps disappearing. That's why I need you to go out
on the golf course with me. Please?”

“Do you still think he'd do that; still try
to hide the body?”

“Yes, I do. He's clever. Look how he's
managed to move the body around for two days now,” Annie asserted.
“Please, will you go with me?”

“You want to go check out Number Five,
Blue?”

“Please.”

“Why tonight?”

Because it's getting warmer out. The
temperature's been rising slowly all day. So, if it's warm enough
tomorrow morning, the men will pour the cement. That's why he needs
to bury the body tonight.”

Art thought about it awhile, then said,
“Okay, I'll go with you
if
the B's will go too. It's too
dangerous for us to be out there alone. You say you talked this
over with DeeDee and Verna? Also, we should tell your sergeant what
we're doing. ”

 

* * *

 

 

Annie gathered up two blankets and a bottle
of Zephryhills spring water. Her husband wanted to know why in the
world she was unwrapping two granola bars. “Honey, when you try to
take off the cellophane or whatever these are wrapped in, they make
noise, a loud, crinkling noise. If we are going on a stake-out, we
don't want to give ourselves away, for heaven's sake! A stitch in
time saves nine, you know.”

Art shook his head good-naturedly. “My cute
little detective!” Then he called, “The B's are here.”

It wasn't as cold as the night before, but
still there was a nip in the air. They were glad to put their
plastic side curtains down to keep out any wind. It was a lovely
evening; the stars were coming out but the moon was not yet up.

The Davises and Vigeauxs, who lived closer to
the golf courses, were waiting for them in the golf parking lot.
Speaking very quietly, Annie warned them again about being quiet.
“Stiffle a sneeze or a cough. If Karl hears any human noise, you'll
scare him off.”

Art had another suggestion, “Don't back up
your golf cart because if you put it in reverse, it'll beep. Park
it so you can drive straight ahead in case you have to move during
the stake-out.”

Annie asked Brad, “Do you know who owns the
field with the ostriches? What's the farmer's name?”

Brad nodded, “His name is Gerald Gilbert,
likes to be called Gilly. He's a nice man; he'll co-operate with
you. I told my dad about Barb's seeing what she thought was Karl
Kreeger's golf cart on Gilly's land. I asked dad how he got in
there. Was he trespassing? Dad knows a lot more about all this
surrounding property than I do. He told me that there is a narrow
strip of land that the county owns. Anyone can use it, but it just
looks like it's part of Gilly's property. Karl might have found out
about it when he was on the committee looking to buy additional
land for the new golf course.”

“Do you know where the entrance is?”

“I think I can find it from what my dad told
me,” Brad answered. “Do you want us to stake it out?”

“It would be a good idea, don't you
think?”

Art answered, “I think it's a great idea to
watch that entrance.”

Von took part in the discussion, “If he's got
a golf cart in there, and he probably does, he'll leave as soon as
he buries that … that body. It would be smart if some of us
watch from over there. We can cover more territory that way.” To
his wife, Von spoke, “Okay with you if we go with Brad and
Barb?”

“One place is probably just as dangerous as
the othah,” she answered.