HIGHWAY HOMICIDE (12 page)

“It’s a man’s watch, Judy, silver colored. I was just c
hecking my bag to make sure Patti had picked up all my lucky charms. I don’t give a damn about the dabbers, I can always replace them. But my charms are priceless. I even won the Jackpot with them last night.”

You sure did hit the Jackpot last night,
Iona, Judy thought. Not too many people come home to find a dead body on their doorstep, but as Iona paused to take a breath, Judy said, “Did you touch it, Iona? The watch, I mean.”

“Of course I touched it
! How the hell do you think I got it out of the bag?” Iona snapped. “Anyway, why shouldn’t I touch it?”

“Fingerprints,
Iona,” Judy said patiently. “The watch may have belonged to the man who killed Forrest Appleyard.”

“Oh, yes, I see,”
Iona said. “Well, I guess Patti must have touched it too, then, when she picked it up. Do you think it could an important clue then, Judy?” Iona said, with a note of excitement creeping into her voice.

“Probably. So don’t touch it any more, okay? I’ll ask Almost to swing by and pick it up. He’ll probably want to take fingerprints from both you and Patti as well.”

Although they’d never felt the need for a fingerprint kit in their kind of policing, with two fresh murders in the community, the Burlington crime scene team had insisted on leaving one with them.

“Anyway,
Iona, how are you feeling this morning after your ordeal of last night?” Judy heavily emphasized the word ‘ordeal’, knowing Iona would want to milk this episode for as much gossip mileage as she possibly could.

“How the hell do you think I feel?” the old lady snapped. “That man could have killed me as well just as easily, you know.” Actually
Iona had no idea how close to the truth that statement of hers was.

“Well, the way I heard it,” Judy said, “Your screams would have scared Godzilla and King Kong away.
But I’m glad you weren’t hurt too badly. A few little scrapes and scratches, Doc said. So that’s good, isn’t it?”

From
Iona’s point of view, it wasn’t good at all, and it wasn’t that she’d wanted to be more badly hurt, of course. In the old lady’s boring life, this incident could’ve had her as the star of the local ladies’ gossip mill for days to come. But now, with Doc telling everyone she’d only gotten a few scratches, she wouldn’t be able to elaborate too much on her tale at all.

She’
d already told Carl, when he took her statement, that she’d seen this huge man running away down her driveway. Carl had nodded patiently, wondering how the hell the old dear could have seen
anything
, when she was sprawled face down in the snow.

The fact that there were no footprints in the snow on the driveway other than her own didn’t do too much to verify her stor
y either. You could even add the fact it was dark too, because the old biddy wouldn’t waste good money on lights either.

Anyway, he thought with a grin, it was his job to take statements just as they were given. Later on, he could easily sort out the truth from the obvious fiction, although he still hadn’t decided yet what to do about the claimed sightings of UFO’s over on
Belvidere Mountain.

Right now though, it wouldn’t hurt to let the old lady have her spot in the limelight, her fifteen minutes of fame. In a place like Cooper’s Corners, the whole pulse of the community revolved totally around the local gossip. There was always the question of who was doing what to whom, and everyone else wondering how and why they were doing it!

Judy called Almost and asked him to drop by at Iona’s place, to pick up the watch and to take Iona and Patti’s prints.

“By the way, Almost, Carl said to agree with everything the old girl tells you. He said for you to just try to nod your head wisely and whatever you do; don’t get yourself into an a
rgument with her. Carl said if you do, you don’t stand a hope in hell of winning it. So don’t embarrass yourself by even trying and Almost…” Judy said.

“Yes, Jude,” Almost replied.

“Don’t forget the damned watch and don’t put your sticky fingers all over it, there’s a good boy.” Judy grinned, as she clicked off before he had a chance to respond. She just loved needling her two boys, as she called them.

At around noon, Carl asked Almost to man the station house phones. He explained he wanted to take Judy over to Lisa’s place for lunch in return for the delicious meal she’d made for Erica Caspar and him. Almost agreed readily since he’d enjoyed two enormous pieces of Judy’s apple crumble himself that evening.

As Carl and Judy walked into the diner, Carl spotted old Doc Wayland sitting by himself.

“Mind if we join you, Doc?” Carl said, as they both slipped into the booth opposite him without waiting for a reply.

“Sure, help yourself,” Doc replied. “You’re here now anyway.”

“We can leave if you’d rather,” Judy said, starting to rise.

“Just park your butt, woman. Glad to have the company, y
ours at least, anyway.”

“Gee, thanks, Doc, you’re all heart,” Carl grinned at hi
m. “But actually, I’m glad you’re here because there’s something I’d like to run by you. In spite of the fact you don’t want my company, I do value your opinion.”

“Thanks, Carl, but you’re still paying for your own lunch. I would, however, be delighted to buy lunch for your lovely companion.” Doc said gallantly.

“Oh, cool it, you old goat. You’re old enough to be my father,” Judy laughed.

“From what he was telling me the other
night, it’s quite possible he
was
your father,” Carl grinned. “He told me he was responsible for almost half the births in Cooper’s Corners.”

“
Really
, Doc!” Judy said, raising her eyebrows.

“Deliveries, Judy
, just like I told this idiot. Anyway what is it you want my opinion about?”

“I’ll tell you just as soon as we’ve ordered. Hey, Lisa, can we get some service over here?” he called.

Lisa sauntered over and slapped menus down in front of him.

“Do you know how to get your service faster in this diner, Carl, just like Doc here does?”

“Nope, I don’t. How does he do it? Magic, was it?”

“You say ‘please’, just like he always does.
And that’s something that
you
should learn to do, Carl Berger. Didn’t your mother teach you anything at all?”

“Yep, she taught me to appreciate really good cooking. That’s why we
’re here, so can we order now?
Please.”

“He got you with that one, Lisa,” Judy laughed, and she gave Lisa her order.

Carl said, “And I’ll have my usual,
please
, Lisa,” Carl said

His ‘usual’ was a steak Hoagie with extra mushrooms and fries.
Lisa made the best ones he’d ever tasted.

“You done ordering and flirting with Lisa now?” Doc asked.

“Uh, huh,” Carl said. “I just got to thinking about this guy, David Gates, the guy from out on the highway who stole Lisa’s car. Actually, we were all thinking about him,” he added, glancing at Judy who just raised her eyebrows. Doc smothered a smile. Judy had very eloquent eyebrows, he thought, and whatever they’d come up with had obviously been her idea.

“It doesn’t matter which way I look at it,” Carl said, “none of the evidence adds up to him killing the girl out there on the highway. Being there, yes, there is no doubt about that, but killing her, no, I
don’t think so. Jude thinks there had to be someone else involved, otherwise how the hell did he and the girl get out there?”

While they were waiting for Lisa to prepare their meals, Carl an
d Judy went over everything they had so far on David Gates. They told him about Gates’ car being found in Burlington on the same day he’d apparently stolen Jack Finlay’s old tractor. Carl also mentioned Gates’ house had burned down in Rutland just a few hours before the Buick had been reported as stolen locally here.

“The guy just can’t be in two places at once, Doc, can he? And only someone who was out of his mind would be dressed the way he was in
the winter time. Lisa said he was soaking wet as well. She said he
must
have been out of his goddamned mind to have stolen her car. Her words, not mine, Doc, but I agree with her completely.”

“It’s a common belief that
all
murderers are out of their minds, so don’t let the way he was dressed fool you any. I think I would be much more concerned about his motive, though, if I were you.” Doc said.

“The onl
y motive we can come up with so far was his girl friend, the dead girl, had left him for someone else.” Judy offered.

“You know, Judy, I was just telling Almost that
my
girl left me for someone else, years ago. So would that make me a suspect for a murder as well then, Carl?”

“Don’t be so silly, Doc,” Judy chimed in. “You would never do anything like that, would you?”

“Don’t be so sure, Judy. Jealousy and revenge are awfully powerful motives. Probably the most powerful ones there are, apart from money.” Doc said.

“The other thing,
of course,” Carl said, “is the impossibility of him being in two places at the same time gives him a pretty airtight alibi as well. If he was stealing cars in Cooper’s Corners, he couldn’t possibly be leaving his own car in Burlington or burning down his own house in Rutland. And why the hell would he want to do either of those things?”

“I think you’
re completely overlooking something here, though, Carl,” Doc said.

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“If you know for sure he’s still in
this
vicinity, could he be responsible for Forrest Appleyard’s murder, perhaps?”

“Yeah, of course that’
s a possibility, Doc, but what would be his motive?”

“You said
this Gates fellow’s girl had left him for someone else, Carl. Could that someone else have been Forrest Appleyard, do you think? I just told you jealousy is one of the most powerful of motives.”

“So, you’
re telling me that no matter what the impossible circumstances of this case are, you still think he killed his girlfriend and Appleyard as well?”

“No, Carl, that’s
not
what I’m telling you. I’m just suggesting one possible scenario, that’s all. Something for you to chew on for a while, and if you decide you don’t like it, then you can spit it out again.”

“That’s all very well, Doc, and it is maybe a possibility but I agree with Carl. I just can’t see how any of this could have happened without there being at least two, or maybe more, people involved. Not unless this guy is really David
Copperfield
instead of David Gates! In any case, Gates, for some reason, looks like a red herring to me. A distraction. Something to have us running around like chickens with our heads off, while the real killer goes off on his merry way. He’s just got us on a wild goose chase, Carl!”

“Makes you wonder if George Phelan’s got a hand in this some place then, does it, Jude?” Carl said.

“No, not really. I wasn’t suggesting George at all. We all know that George is a royal pain in the ass, but I really don’t think he’d ever be a part of something like this. But I think someone else is pulling our strings.”

At this point, Lisa arrived at their booth with a pot of coffee.

“If you guys are going to keep using my diner as a bloody office, Carl Berger, I’m going to start charging you rent.”

“Just think of it as
your contribution to community safety,” Carl said sweetly, and then added, “And quit your bitching, woman. We’re paying for our food, aren’t we?”

“You’d better!” Lisa said as she gave him a playful slap across the back of the head, grinned, and went back behind the counter. Her younger sister brought coffee cups and cream over for Judy and Carl.

“I also can’t help feeling that this guy Gates is more of a victim than he is a perp, even though I haven’t even met him.” Carl said.

“By the way, Doc,” Judy asked, “How is Errol Cook doing? Is he going to be okay?”

“No, Judy, quite frankly, I don’t think he is. The hospital is going to keep him in for a few days. Drying him out a bit might help in one way, but I seriously doubt it. It looks as though he’s going to have a tough time ahead of him. A really tough time. Even tougher if he has to stay sober.”

“So, do you know what’
s wrong with him then, Doc?” Carl asked.

“Would my answer have any bearing on this case of yours, Carl?”

“No, of course not,” Carl answered, “He’s not a suspect or a witness or anything. I was just interested, that’s all.”

“Then I can’t discuss his medical status with you, Carl. You know tha
t, but I will tell you he’s very, very ill and just leave it at that.”