Kentucky Murders: A Small Town Murder Mystery (18 page)

Chapter 36

Early the next morning, Zack drove into town and swung past his hotel. He circled the block once to make sure the place wasn’t being staked out and, when he was sure it was clear, parked and went inside. He found his room in order. No dresser drawers dumped out, and his mattress wasn’t overturned. He smiled to himself, realizing that this was real life, not some TV mystery movie.

By the time he shaved, showered, and dressed, he still had forty-five minutes until punch-in time at work. He decided to stop by the diner for breakfast.

Another waitress, Sally, was working the tables for the small breakfast crowd as he arrived. Didn’t Kate have the morning shift today? When Sally brought over a cup of coffee and a menu, he asked, “Where’s Kate this morning?”

“She’s off today.” She smiled. “Seems like you would have her schedule memorized by now, Zack.”

“Thought I did.” He shrugged. “I won’t need the menu. Just give me the special: eggs over easy, hot cakes, and sausages.”

“Hungry this morning?”

“Always am.”

She smiled again and went off toward the kitchen.

Zack couldn’t help looking over his shoulder and feeling that he was being watched, even though he was sure he had nothing to worry about. If they were watching him, what could they do in public and in broad daylight?

By the time he had finished eating, he had five minutes before he was due to punch in. He had kept track of the time, not wanting to arrive with the other workers. He planned to be at least a few minutes late, so that Tommy and friends would have time to get to their machines before he arrived. He wanted to surprise them when he showed up, and, at the same time, he wanted to avoid meeting them in the parking lot before work.

Thirty minutes later, he pulled up to Tommy’s machine with his first load. Tommy’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Catching him off guard had given Zack a warm, satisfied feeling. He wanted to keep Tommy nervous. That way, he would be more likely to take the bait later. The other men reacted similarly when they saw Zack for the first time that day. He only smiled sarcastically in return.

The rest of the morning passed quietly for Zack. He would set his trap during the morning break. Hopefully, Tommy would repeat his morning ritual of going directly to the restroom first thing when the horn sounded for break. This would get Tommy into position to overhear Zack’s imaginary phone call with the state police. If Tommy changed his routine, the whole plan would be blown, and Zack would have to make a real phone call to Kate to let her know the whole thing was off.

Zack was waiting when the horn sounded. He watched Tommy shut down his machine and remove his goggles, but Tommy didn’t leave his station.

Zack watched and waited. “Come on, Tommy,” he murmured. The break would only last fifteen minutes.

Tommy lit a cigarette and talked with Bull while still standing near his printer/slotter. Then he turned, dropped his cigarette butt on the floor, stomped it out, and finally walked off toward the restroom.

Zack let out a sigh. He waited for the door to close and then walked up to the pay phone on the wall next to the men’s room door. With his back turned to the door and the phone receiver held to his right ear, he looked over his shoulder and waited.

A minute later, the door cracked open slightly, and Zack spoke up quickly and loudly to get Tommy’s attention so that Tommy would try to overhear his staged conversation.

“Taylor, officer,” he said a little too loudly, and the door stopped its motion, settling back to only a slit from being closed. Tommy was listening. “Yes, officer, Zack Taylor from Michaeltown,” he continued, now in a lower voice. “Well, I don’t really want to go into it over the phone, but I have  evidence of a murder.” He paused. “Yes, I could bring it there so you could examine it.” Another pause. “I did go to the county sheriff, but he didn’t seem to want to help. I figured the state police would be the next stop. Aren’t you?” He had to hurry before someone else walked up. “I’ll explain everything when I get there. I go to lunch at twelve. I’ll have to go by and pick up the evidence. I could be there between twelve-thirty and one. Okay, thank-you. Good-bye.”

Zack hung up the phone and walked toward his forklift twenty yards away. He didn’t look directly at it, but watched the bathroom door out of the corner of his eye.

After waiting about a minute, Tommy came out. Keeping his head down, he walked back to his machine.

The bait was set. At lunch, he would spring the trap.

Chapter 37

Kate’s full bladder awoke her with a dull pain. She hurried to the bathroom, her eyes almost completely closed. When she returned to her bedroom, her body now relaxed with the relief from that pressure, she rubbed her eyes and looked at the red numbers displayed on her clock radio. Her eyes opened wide; she missed a breath.

Eleven twenty-five? Hadn’t she set the alarm? How could she have slept this late? Then she remembered still being awake after three o’ clock in the morning. How stupid could she be? She ran back to the bathroom and stared into the mirror. She looked terrible, but she only took time for a few swipes of a hairbrush, a Listerine gargle, and a splash of water in her face. Wiping her face with a towel, she reentered the bedroom. Putting on her shoes, she thanked God she’d slept with her clothes on. Before running to the stairs, she looked at the clock again. Eleven twenty-nine. Time was slipping away.

She took the stairs two at a time on the way down and found her mother standing in the foyer when she reached the front door.

“Kate, where --”

“I’m in a hurry, Mother. Sorry. I’ll see you later.” She bolted out the door and ran toward downtown.

Chapter 38

It was almost eleven-thirty when Zack drove back to the warehouse to check on the next load. Thirty minutes. Boy, did time seem to be dragging. The other driver, who unloaded the trucks and set up orders to take to the cutting room, was still working on the next load. Zack decided to pick up a pile of scraps that had been gathered and palletized. He scooped them up and took the elevator to the second floor, where the scraps would be cut into box panels. He made the trip several times a day.

If he took his time, he could stretch this run until almost lunchtime. Ten or fifteen minutes later, he stopped to talk with another worker before driving his forklift back onto the elevator for his return downstairs. He got back to the ground floor with only five minutes left until the lunch horn. He drove to the area where the forklift was normally parked, shut it down, and got off.

When his head turned to look toward the archway that led through to the cutting room, Tommy’s head snapped in the other direction. He’d been watching Zack.

---

Tommy had no choice now. The game had to end once and for all. He watched Taylor climb down from his forklift and look toward him. Tommy knew that Zack wanted to sneak out of the factory when he wasn’t looking, but Tommy wouldn’t let that happen.

---

Kate arrived at the sheriff’s office at eleven thirty-nine, according to the wall clock. She hoped that twenty-one minutes would be enough time to convince the sheriff to go out to Max’s and hide the car before Zack and Tommy arrived. She doubted that it would be enough.

Inside, the office stood empty. No one sat at the sheriff’s desk; no one waited behind the bars of the three cells along the wall. Then she heard a soft voice coming from the radio room. Of course, Mrs. Pollard was manning the radio. She answered telephone calls and radioed patrolling officers. She would be able to call the sheriff.

Kate hurried over and stepped through the open door leading into the small room.

“Sure, Fred. I’ll let him know when he gets back,” she said into the phone.

Kate cleared her throat to announce her presence as the older woman hung up the receiver. Her gray-haired head turned at the sound, and she tipped her glasses down on her nose, looking over them. “Well, hello there, Kate. I haven’t seen you in ages. You’re still as pretty as ever.”

Yeah, sure, Kate thought.

“How’s that new boyfriend of yours the town’s been buzzing about? Have you set a date yet? You know, I was glad to hear you broke up with Tommy. Too wild, that one.”

Kate ignored the questions. She had no time to be polite. “I’m looking for the sheriff. It’s important.”

The woman’s smile faded. “He’s out on patrol right now, but if it’s an emergency, I could call him on the radio.”

“Will you please?”

She reached down and pressed the transmit button. “Sheriff, come in. Kate Jenkins is here, and she says it’s an emergency. Come in, please.”

She called three times, but received only static in reply. “He must not be in his car right now.”

Kate glanced at the clock. Eleven forty-six. “Do you think he would stay away from his car for long?”

“It’s a little early for lunch, so there’s no telling where he is. He has a handheld, but he sometimes forgets to turn it on or to let me know when he’s taking a break. I could keep trying.”

“Yes, yes, please.” She glanced at the clock, as the second swept past twelve. Time had run out to make it to Max’s before Zack. “Look, would you write this down?” Mrs. Pollard readied a pencil. “Tell the sheriff to get out to Max’s place as fast as he can, you know, in the woods near the factory.”

“Yes, that was a terrible thing,” she said. “Him getting beaten to death like that.”

“This is important,” continued Kate. “Someone else could get killed if he doesn’t hurry. Got that?” Mrs. Pollard nodded, and Kate ran out.

A block down, she darted into her father’s store. He stood behind the counter, waiting on a customer.

Kate ran up. “Daddy,” she called, ignoring the woman who was paying her bill. “I need the car.”

Her father stopped what he was doing and looked at her, his eyes narrowed and the corners of his mouth turned down in a frown. “Kate, can’t you see --”

“I know, Daddy.” She turned to the woman, “I’m sorry,” then back to her father, “but this is very important. The keys. Please?” She held out her hand.

He shook his head and reached into his pocket. Lifting out a ring containing six keys, he handed them to Kate.

She snatched the keys away, and without a word, ran toward the back door and the alley where her father parked his car.

Chapter 39

As usual, the workers began preparing for lunch a few minutes early, in anticipation of the horn. They stopped feeding corrugated sheets into their machines, and started straightening up their work areas, just waiting for the horn to power down.

By the time the horn had died down, the last machines were winding to a halt, and the whining and chopping sounds were replaced by the hum of twenty different conversations, as workers made off to their favorite lunch spots. Most of the crowd headed toward the lunchroom, while the rest went toward the parking lot to sit in their cars or vans and down six-pack liquid lunches before returning to work. If Frank ever caught them, they’d be out on street looking for new jobs.

Zack joined the stampede moving toward the lot. He tried to blend in to make his act more convincing for Tommy. Glancing back, he could see Tommy at the rear of the group.

When the tight bunching of men had squeezed out the door, the group thinned out, with the men branching in different directions. Zack wondered if Tommy would bring reinforcements or come alone this time. As he climbed into his car, he spotted Tommy talking with one of his gang members.

What was that one’s name? Jesse? Yeah, that was it. Would Jesse be coming, too?
He started his car and slipped it into gear. While pulling out of his spot, he looked over at the two men again. Tommy said a few more words, looked toward Zack, and then turned and trotted off in the direction of his truck.

Had they been arguing? He thought he’d seen anger in their faces as they spoke. The fewer people who came, the easier it would be.

So, Tommy was coming. His plan was going according to schedul
e
that is, if Kate was doing her part.

---

As Kate pulled her father’s car to the end of the alley that opened onto Main Street, the sheriff’s police cruiser passed by on its way to the station.

Kate laid on her horn.

The sheriff pulled to the side a half-block down and swung his head out the window, looking back in Kate’s direction.

Putting the gearshift into park, Kate shut off the engine, got out, and ran down the street toward the sheriff, her arms waving.

---

Max’s road was only one curve out of view of the factory parking lot, so when Zack turned off the main road, he couldn’t see for sure if Tommy was tailing him. He decided quickly that it wouldn’t look good for him to wait at the entrance to the woods until Tommy came around the curve. He just had to assume that he knew exactly where he was headed.