Secrets of the Spiral Tower (25 page)

“Surely. I can step outside.”

“No need to do that. John and I can go to my father’s bedroom in the back of the house. You may want to find a movie for us to watch later.”

Willow motioned for John to follow her down the hall.  As they entered the bedroom, John grabbed Willow, and kissed her on the lips. Willow pushed back.

“John what’s going on?”

“Willow you know Michael told my wife we were having an affair. I thought I had convinced her otherwise, but Michael kept calling and sending her our travel schedules. She became so distraught that she had a restraining order placed on me and forced me to move out of our house.”

“John, I’m so sorry. Do I need to call her and tell her the truth?”

“Willow, I don’t think that you can say anything that would change her mind. I have to admit, I’ve admired your advertising abilities, for quite some time and I guess I mentioned your name too often.”

“John, that was a mistake.”

“I realize that, but secretly, I wanted to have an affair with you.”

“John, I’m sorry, but that just isn’t going to happen. I like and admire you as a boss, but absolutely nothing of a romantic nature.”

“Willow, that is really disappointing. I could make you very happy.”

“John, I think you had better leave now before this conversation becomes unbearable for both of us. Tony and I can drive you over to the motel.”

“That won’t be necessary. But, if you want to drive me over, I’d like that.”

“John, that is not a good idea.”

“Okay. I’ll leave then. But, you’ll be sorry.”

“John, I don’t appreciate a threat like that. I wish we could be business partners as we have been in the past.”

Willow, that is definitely not going to happen. Your advertising career in New York just got the kiss of death.”

“Come on John. You need to leave my house right now.”

John walked past Tony and tossed him a parting shot. “You’ll be sorry too, bub. I have a lot of contacts in New York, and I’ll use them to ruin your career.”

Tony stood up. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Willow said, “Leave it alone, Tony. John is leaving.”

Turning to Tony, Willow said, “Let’s go to the den. I have no idea what’s on TV, but maybe we can find something interesting.”

Flipping through the channels, Willow stopped on the Turner Classic Movie channel. One of Clint Eastwood’s old movies,
Hang ‘em High
was just starting.

She asked, “Are you a fan of western movies?”

“Not really but let’s give this one a try. I like Clint’s ‘Dirty Harry’ movies best.”

The sun had set and darkness had fallen across 530 Windward Way. After watching the movie and dozing off to sleep several times, Willow said, “It’s time for us to go to bed. We’ve got a big day ahead tomorrow.”

*   *   *

By midnight, Connor had driven in and out of Windward Way a couple of times. He watched the curtains being drawn and the lights turned off. His mind was imagining all sorts of activities going on in the house. A little after one-thirty in the morning, his anger got the best of him. 

He wanted to go inside and confront Willow and her partner, but didn’t want his truck to be spotted by passersby and the city police. So, he drove the two miles to the McKenzie Towing office on the frontage road. After parking his pickup inside the security fence,  he strapped his .22 caliber automatic pistol on his side, checked the magazine to be sure he had plenty of ammo, hooked his twelve inch hunting knife to his side and hopped on his small motor bike. He figured he could
ride the bike over to 530 and never be seen.

After arriving at the home, Connor quietly walked around, looking for an open window. In the very back of the house, facing the Mississippi River, was Rupert’s bedroom. Sure enough, he found one of the large windows unlocked. Using his hunting knife as a pry bar, he carefully opened it and quietly slipped inside.

Opening the door from Rupert’s room to the main hall, Connor was careful not to let the door knob make any noise. Moving slowly, he made his way to Willow’s room. The door was slightly open and he carefully peered in her room. What he saw really set him off. There was Willow and Tony in bed asleep. Tony had one leg on top of the cover and Willow was turned on her right side toward him. It appeared that they were both naked. He flipped the light on startling, Willow and waking her up.

“My God, Connor. What are you doing?”

This woke Tony. He started to get up, but Connor pulled his pistol, saying, “Stay back, bud. Put your hands up.”

Willow screamed. “Get out. I’m calling the police.”

“I’m telling you to stay put or I’ll shoot.”

By now, Willow was standing by her side of the bed and Tony on the other.

“Connor, have you gone mad?”

“No. But, seeing you like this, with this fellow, is enough to make me lose my mind.”

Willow eased toward Connor saying, “Put the pistol down. Let’s talk.”

“Willow I’m telling you, don’t come any closer.”

Suddenly, Willow lunged at Connor. The pistol rang out. The bullet missed Willow, and hit the window, shattering the glass. Willow grabbed the pistol, forcing the muzzle down.  At that instance, Tony sprang forward, Connor side-stepped, and slapped Tony down. Dazed, Tony fell to the floor.

Willow screamed, “My God, what have you done?”

Connor asked, “Willow, are you hurt? Do you want me to call 911? I’ll get you some medical help. I don’t care about this guy. I hope he is dead.”

Seeing Tony lying on the floor, Willow pushed Connor against the wall, and wrestled the pistol out of his hand. She fired a couple of rounds up into the ceiling.

“Why did you do that? I didn’t want to hurt you. But you didn’t give me a choice. Are you going to shoot me?”

“No, but, you had better get your butt out of my house immediately. Give me that hunting knife.”

“Why did you want to expose our secrets? And send me to prison? I just couldn’t let you do that.”

“Connor, I’m willing to take my punishment. You need to step up, be a man, and face the music.”

“Willow, I’m just not that strong. Our secrets have eaten at me for years. But I cannot lose face in this small town. I have pretended, for years under the cover of McKenzie Towing, to be an upright person. I just couldn’t swallow my pride, and face the public ridicule that would most certainly follow after the disclosure of our secrets.

“Okay Connor. You had better leave now. I’ve got to attend to my friend lying there on the floor.”

“I’ll go. I’m sorry.”

Tony was moving, and appeared not to be seriously hurt.

After Connor left, Willow prepared an ice pack and placed it on Tony’s head. Then she made a pot of coffee. Within an hour, Tony was alert and able to sit up.

It was nearly three AM, when they returned to bed. Shortly thereafter, Willow was awakened by what sounded like a door opening. Carefully, she slipped out of bed, only to be confronted by John standing in the hallway.

Willow was startled, and screamed loud enough to wake the neighbors. Tony woke up, unable to focus, and stumbled to the hallway, asking,” What’s wrong?” 

“Tony go back to the room and lock the door.”

“What?”

Willow yelled, “Get back in the room.”

Standing only a few feet in front of John, she asked, “What are you doing here?”

Grabbing Willow by the arm, John said, “I want you.”

“John this is crazy. You had better leave or I’ll call the police.”

“I won’t let you do that. “

By now, John had pushed Willow to the dining room and saw the pistol and hunting knife lying on the coffee table. He grabbed the pistol, and said, “Get back in the bedroom. If I can’t have you, then nobody else will.”

“John, you’re making a terrible mistake. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Stupid? Let me tell you what’s stupid. It is you and the guy in your bedroom. That’s stupid.”

Trying to calm John, Willow said, “Okay. Maybe I’m stupid. But let’s leave it at that.”

“Oh, no. That’s not enough for me. I have watched you for several years, lusted for you, and now I see you’re shacking up with somebody else. That should have been me, after our night on the town with that Chinese man. You remember? I tried to get to your apartment that night, but you refused. Now it is pay up time.

John waved the pistol wildly, just like a drunken western cowboy.

As he stood with his back to the hallway, John moved closer to Willow. She kept backing away, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tony open the bedroom door, and make a lunge toward John. The pistol fired, hitting Willow in the left chest, slightly above her heart. She fell to the floor as the two men struggled.

John, being a much larger man than Tony, elbowed Tony, knocking him back into the hallway. John fired two shots, both striking Tony in vital organs. Tony fell into the bedroom, landing on the floor on the right side of the bed. He was mortally wounded.

John turned his attention to Willow, as she sat on the floor holding her chest as blood poured out. John picked her up, placing her on the bed. He retrieved the hunting knife, and stabbed her many times, chanting, “I want you.”

Now, John was covered in blood in the midst of two dead bodies. He rolled each in a sheet and placed them in Willow’s Jag. He found her keys lying on the kitchen counter. It was after three in the morning, so he needed to move quickly. By three-thirty, John was headed south toward Port Gibson.

He had no idea where he could dispose of the bodies. Then he thought about the McKenzie warehouse at the Port Gibson Port. It was a spot he and Willow had discussed years before when she was explaining her Father’s river towing business. He was thinking
 I can run the car off the ramp into the river and get a cab or hitchhike back to Vicksburg. That will work.

At a little past four in the morning, John arrived at the ramp. He stopped the Jag. At the top of the ramp, he removed his belt and tied it around the transmission lever, with the other end hanging out of the window. He placed a piece of stone he retrieved from the shoreline and put it on the accelerator, causing the engine to rev up.

Before putting the car in gear, John plunged the hunting knife into the back of the driver’s seat. When he jerked the belt, the car lunged down the ramp and floated about twenty feet from shore. Then it slowly began to sink.

In a matter of ten minutes, the car was out of sight, underwater, but the headlights were still showing through the murky water. John ran about one-hundred yards across the pavement toward the McKenzie warehouse. Just as day was breaking, John walked up the paved road toward the city. As luck would have it, a fisherman in an old pickup truck, came toward him. John flagged him and asked for a ride to Vicksburg.

The old fisherman asked, “What’s it worth sonny?”

“Name your price.”

“Fifty, but you have to ride in the back.”

Handing the fifty-dollar bill to the old man, John said, “No problem.”

Just before the sun’s rays filtered through the trees, John tapped on the back of the pickup’s cab signaling for the old man to stop.“That is my motel over there.”

John quickly, opened the door to his motel room, took a shower and headed toward the Jackson Airport.  He thought,
this is something I didn’t intend to do. I am innocent. But what have I done? How can I possibly get away with it?

Chapter 21

Five years after Willow’s disappearance, her car was located in the murky waters of the Mississippi River at the Port of Port Gibson. Sheriff Gatlin has determined, due to the letters on the license plate, WIL K MC and confirmed by Connor Peppler, that this is Willow’s car. As the tow trucks pulled the car up the ramp, Sheriff Gatlin calls for a pry bar. He wants to open the trunk. With some assistance from his deputies, Gatlin is able to spring open the trunk. Inside, he finds two badly decomposed bodies, really nothing more than bones covered with mud from the river.

“Sheriff come see,” called out Deputy Nichols.

Gatlin walked around and was aghast when he saw the large hunting knife sticking in the back of the driver’s seat. “Don’t anybody touch anything,” he ordered. “The coroner needs to take over from here.”

Gatlin posted deputies on each side of the car with instructions not to touch or let anyone else get close.  “Keep the reporters away. No need for them to take any pictures yet. They’ll have plenty time for that later.”

Gatlin placed a call to the coroner.

“Hey, Sheriff. What can I do for you?”

“Doug, you need to get to the Port Gibson Port ASAP. I believe we’ve found Willow Kingston McKenzie.”

“Really? I’m on my way. Give me about thirty minutes.”

“C’mon, Doug. You can do better than that. Speed it up. All of the Highway Patrol units are here with me. Don’t worry about a speeding ticket.” 

“I’m on my way.”

Word was spreading and the crowd began to grow. In a few minutes, Woody McKenzie arrived. He cornered Gatlin asking, “What have you found?” 

“Woody, bad news. Looks like we’ve found your cousin, Willow.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not 100 percent, but close. Connor helped us identify the car.”

Woody asked, “Where is Connor?”

“I don’t know. He was here just a few minutes ago.”

Looking around the ramp and paved area, Woody said, “There he goes. Looks like he’s headed somewhere else.”

 Woody thought  that was strange.

“Is it okay if I take a look?”

“Woody, it would be better if you waited a few minutes. The Coroner is on his way. Let’s hold up till then.”

“Okay. But what makes you think this is Willow?”

“It’s her car and there appears to be a couple of bodies in the trunk.”

“Okay. I’ll make some calls and wait on the Coroner.”

Woody called Olga and passed the news.

Connor headed for Vicksburg thinking;
damn I’m in trouble now.
Connor was in a deep trance when he ran off the road into a shallow ditch. He shifted his truck into a lower gear, gunned it, slinging mud twenty feet in the air, and pulled back on the paved roadway.

Shortly, the Coroner arrived and confirmed that there were two bodies in the trunk.

Then Gatlin remembered the rental car that was found at Willow’s house
.
Could this be the person who rented the car?
I need to call the New York State Police and report the possibility we have found Tony Colangelo, a guy who
had been missing for five
years
. Tony didn’t have any family so no major effort had been made to locate a next of kin. His files were stacked away somewhere in New York State’s missing persons bureau.

The coroner and his team began the very careful and painstaking job of removing and preserving the remains. The bones were segregated and placed in individual containers for further inspection.

Doug turned to Gatlin saying, “I can tell you one thing right now. Somebody did a knife job on one of these bodies.”

Gatlin said, “Come on over here. See that knife sticking in the seat back? That may be the knife that was used.”

“Sheriff, you know after you process all of this that I want to examine it, also. Looks like a crime of passion.”

“No problem.”

It took the coroner two hours to remove the remains.

 “At this point, can you tell the gender of the bodies?” asked Woody.

“I’m sure one is female. We will check dental records and probably perform a DNA test to positively determine the identity.”

“Thanks, Doug. I guess there is nothing I can do here. Please contact me as soon as you can, so I can make burial arrangements, if in fact this is Willow.”

“You’ll be the first to know.”

Woody, with a heavy heart, headed back to Vicksburg, thinking he needed to do whatever he could to bring Willow’s killer to justice.
But where do I start? Sheriff Gatlin and his
deputies did a very thorough investigation five years ago.  Maybe I should review thei
r
files. Woody remembered the last conversation he had with Willow and Tony. She
seemed
awfully edgy at the time and he believed it had something to do with Connor
.

Although Woody and Connor had had very little contact in the past five years, Woody felt Connor had something to do with Willow’s disappearance. He didn’t have any proof, just a gut feeling.
I’ll get Olga with her legal mind to help me re-open the search for a killer.

He called Olga, “Honey, what you are doing?”

“I’m on my way to pick up Anne from school. Do you need something?”

“Yeah. I need you to help me review Willow’s police file. Surely there is a clue that has been overlooked. Think maybe we could start tomorrow?”

“Sure, we can. This is a really cold case and I don’t know how much help I’m going to be. Why don’t we revisit the crime scene? I know Mamie has cleaned it many times but we might get lucky.”

After dropping Anne off at school the next morning, Woody and Olga went to 530 Windward Way. This was Mamie’s day to clean up and she greeted them at the front door.

Mamie said, “Mr. Woody, I’ve got some mail for you. I was getting ready to clean the den walls when I removed that picture of you and Ms. Willow. Taped to the back of it was this letter.”

“Thank you, Mamie. We’re just going to look around for a while. Hope that won’t interfere with you.” 

“Oh, no sir. There’s not much for me to do except cook Mr. Rupert a good meal.”

Woody opened the letter and started reading what Willow had written five years earlier. He called, “Olga, you need to see this. Maybe this is the piece of evidence we need.”

Olga said, “Oh, my gosh. Do you know where this cave is?”

“Not exactly, but I’ll bet I can find it. I think I had better let the sheriff in on this. “

“Absolutely. There could be criminal charges coming out of this for Connor.”

“Mamie, do you have a phone directory handy?”

“Yes sir. There is one on that end table over there.”

Woody quickly grabbed it, flipping the pages to the county government guide. Running his fingers down the page, he located the sheriff’s office number.

Picking up his cell phone, he carefully punched in the number.

“Sheriff’s office, how may I help you?”

“This is Woody McKenzie. I need to talk to the sheriff immediately.”

“Good morning, Mr. McKenzie. The sheriff is in court today. May I have him return your call later?”

“No. I’ll go to the courthouse and find him. Thank you. Will you give me his cell number?”

“Surely. It is 601-529-5555. Can one of the deputies help you?”

“No. I need to talk directly to the sheriff.”

“Mr. McKenzie, can the sheriff reach you on the number displayed on my phone?”

“Yes. But, I’m on my way to the courthouse. If you see him before I do, please have him call. I have a dire emergency and I need to talk to him immediately.”

“Will do, Mr. McKenzie.”

Woody’s eyes were wide open and his pulse was racing.

“Woody, take a deep breath,” Ogla said. “Slow down. You’re about to hyperventilate.”

The trip to the courthouse took fifteen minutes, even with Woody running every red light. Since court was in session, all of the parking spots behind the courthouse were taken. Woody turned to Jackson Road and parked three-hundred yards away from the courthouse.

“Come on, Olga. Let’s go.”

Grabbing Woody by the hand, Olga said, “Slow down. I’m sure we’ll have to wait outside the courtroom. We can’t go barging in while court is in session.”

“I know, but I want to stand by the door so I can grab him when he comes out.”

“Okay. But you need to calm down, collect your thoughts, and be sure no one else overhears your conversation.”

“My thoughts are collected. Where is the letter?”

“Dear, I’ve got it right here in my purse. Take a deep breath and relax.”

Holding Woody by the hand, Olga tried to slow his pace, but Woody kept pulling hard just like the Budweiser Draft horses in the beer commercial.  Entering the courthouse, Woody picked up the pace and skipped up the stairs to the second floor. He walked to the double doors leading to the courtroom and peered through the half-moon glass, searching for the sheriff.

Olga sat on the long bench situated along the wall and invited Woody to join her. He was pacing the floor and breathing heavily. Again, Olga patted the seat next to her, inviting Woody to join her. But his heart was pounding and he wasn’t about to slow down. Back and forth he paced the marble floor, each time peering through the glass into the courtroom.

After a couple of minutes, the deputy posted by the door asked, “Sir, may I help you? You seem awfully agitated. Are you involved in this trial?”

“No, deputy. I’m not the least bit interested in this trial. I need to talk to the sheriff immediately.”

“Sir, he is going to testify and it may be an hour or so before they take a break.”

“An hour? I can’t wait that long.”

Hearing the conversation, Olga said, “Woody, it has been five years. An hour at this point won’t change anything.” Taking him by the hand, she said, “Come on. I need to get you a cup of coffee. You’re going to have a heart attack.”

“Olga, I can’t leave.”

In a stern voice she said, “Yes, you can. We’ll come back before an hour has passed. Anyhow, we might want to alert the coroner that his services may be needed later today.”

“Now that’s a good idea. Maybe we could get the coroner and sheriff together. But you know I want to drive up to the tower and see if I can locate the cave.”

“No, Woody. You don’t need to go there alone. Let’s get everybody together and go as a group. The sheriff may not want you to go in the cave at all. Let him do his job without any interference.”

“Olga, I know you’re right. But, you have had bad vibes about Connor for some time, just as I have. And I’m sure you want to nail him, too. Thank you for keeping me under control.”

“Woody, at this point, we must be sure everything is handled properly. If a court trial comes out of all of this, we certainly don’t want to put ourselves in a position of causing a dismissal due to the inadmissibility of evidence.”

“Olga, I just love it when you talk in those legal terms. Really, I just love you for who you are.”

Olga said, “Let’s go to the 61 Coffee Shop. It will do you good to relax for a few minutes.”  

Reflecting back five years to the night Willow and Tony were killed, Woody said, “You know, Olga, I didn’t sleep well that night. I just felt uneasy, but didn’t know why.”

“Oh yes. I remember that night also. You got out of bed after midnight and I found you sitting in the den with the TV on, but the sound muted. I could tell something was weighing heavily on your mind. You remember I fixed us some green tea; we sat there sipping the tea and snacking on those milk chocolate cookies. It was breaking day before we went back to bed.”

“Yeah. But I never went back to sleep. So I got up earlier than usual and went to the office. On my way that morning, I had this thought of going to Willow’s. But, knowing she had a guest, Tony, I decided to go straight to my office. It was about mid-morning before I learned about the crime scene at Willow’s.”

Olga and Woody drank three cups of coffee and exchanged small talk with the cafe owner. Finally, Woody said, “Olga, it is time to go back to the courthouse.”

“Okay Woody, but try to remain calm.”

Arriving at the courthouse, Woody was told that the court was in recess and Sheriff Gatlin was in his office.

Woody grabbed Olga by the hand and pulled her across Grove Street to the sheriff’s Office. Woody stopped at the receptionist counter asking, “Where is the sheriff?”

“He’s in the jail. Let me call him.”

“Thank you.”

Soon Gatlin appeared, extending his hand, saying, “I understand you want to see me.”

“Sheriff, I’ve got some important information for you.”

Motioning for Woody and Olga to follow, Gatlin said, “Come into my office.”

Woody said, “Olga, give the sheriff the letters.”

Sheriff Gatlin sat motionless as he read.

“Damn. Where did you get these?”