The Traveling Corpse (20 page)

Bright red valences, which Verna had made,
hung above the windows. Those in the kitchen had a pattern with
strawberries and ivy. She was a lovely homemaker; she could sew
anything and was a fantastic cook. When DeeDee first met Verna, she
asked her if she had been a Home Ec teacher. Verna laughed, “No,
but thank you for the compliment. I wanted to go to college, but I
didn't get to go. My folks thought it a waste of money for girls to
go on for higher education. Maybe that's why I enjoy going to Book
Club now; I always learn something new. Anyway, Von and I were
childhood sweethearts. We married when I was eighteen, and had six
children, so I had lots of practice cooking for eight every day and
sewing for our four girls.”

The inviting aroma of fresh coffee brewing
welcomed the friends. Verna had her electric coffeepot perking away
cheerily. She had found it at a yard sale shortly after coming to
BradLee and it was one of her prized possessions, for she was proud
of the coffee she served. When complimented, she'd say, “You can
keep your fast ‘Senor Coffee' machines; give me my trusty, old
electric percolatah anytime. I've got three of them—this one, one
at our home up North and one at our camp.”

She had laid out four cloth placemats with a
tiny strawberry pattern printed on them. Her table was set with
small plates edged in red, and her coffee mugs were decorated with
strawberries. A, B, and D joined Verna at her round table. In the
center was a plate piled high with warm doughnuts. “Von was a dear;
he got up early and slipped out to the store to get these for us
before going to the golf course,” she said, pointing to the fresh
doughnuts. “I didn't feel like baking a coffee cake this
morning.”

Before leaving home, Annie had eaten only a
banana and drank a glass of fresh orange juice. She squeezed the
oranges which had just ripened that month from their own back yard
tree. She didn't eat more breakfast, suspecting that Verna would
have a treat for them. Hopefully, it would be one of Verna's
homemade blueberry coffee cakes still warm from the oven. Annie was
disappointed, no homemade coffee cake, but fresh doughnuts were a
treat too.

Verna reported that Von said that people in
the doughnut shop were buzzing, full of talk about Jiggs' death and
also about the missing person report on Twila Thompson.

“Were they putting the two events together?”
the ever-practical Barb asked.

“He nevah mentioned anything about that.”

“This place will be in a turmoil when they
do! Ya can jest count on that, fer sure,” DeeDee said with
emphasis.

“Something's bothering me,” Annie told her
friends, “and I can't figure out what it is.”

‘What's botherin' ya?”

“Don't you think the Sheriff's deputies will
tie up the loose ends now?” Barb questioned.

“I'm not sure. Maybe they wouldn't even know
to question this.”

“What? Question what?'

“Well,” Annie continued, “Why was Jiggs
helping Karl? Or, do you suppose it was the other way around?”

“That's a good question. A $64,000 question,”
DeeDee said.

“Remember when we made out this list?” Annie
pulled the folded yellow-lined sheet out of the pocket of her
jumper. “DeeDee saw a man pull a body from behind the
air-conditioning unit early last Wednesday morning. She said he was
big and had bushy hair. We all thought it was Karl. But, it could
have been Jiggs wearing a toboggan to cover his baldhead.”

“That's right!” DeeDee exclaimed. “It could
have been either Jiggs or Karl. If ya put me on a witness stand, I
could not swear which one it was.”

Annie continued, “And here's another thing,
we figured that Twila must have gone to Old Main to meet with Karl.
Let's review what we know and what we can surmise: If Twila drove
all the way back here that day from Sanibel Island, it would have
had to be noon or early afternoon before she arrived in BradLee.
That's over a three hour drive—maybe four. The early Bingo session
starts at five p.m., but some of the players come long before that.
They feel lucky if they can sit in the exact seat each week; so
some of them come an hour early and play cards to pass the time.
Barb and I always get there by 3:30 to make the sandwiches. Some of
the other volunteers start at least by 3 p.m. So, if she were
killed in Old Main, it had to be when no one else was in the
building. Let's say that Twila got there to meet with Karl around
two o'clock and that she and Karl were the only ones there. That's
when he may have accidentally killed her.”

“So how does Jiggs fit in this puzzle?” Verna
asked, “He had to be involved in it from the first, don't you
think? Otherwise, why would he have been out there digging last
night?”

“The way things have turned out, I think
Verna's right. It looks like Jiggs had to have been there,” Barb
said. “Let's try this idea; say he and Karl were
both
there,
meeting with Twila. Suppose Jiggs is the one who accidentally
pushed her.”

“Oh! That makes sense,” Annie jumped in,
“Then it was Karl who had to help Jiggs, not the other way around.
If he didn't, then there'd be an investigation into her death that
might lead to the whole money skimming bit coming out, and he,
Karl, would have to go to jail!”

“I'd rather go to jail for skimming Bingo
money than for murder,” Barb asserted with finality.

“You're right, but they must have panicked,
and one of them got the idea of hiding her body in the decoration
drawer.”

“It makes sense ta me,” DeeDee said.

“So the two men were in this mess together.
Who knows which one did which?”

“They only had one golf cart,” Verna pointed
out. “Jiggs lives real close to the golf course; he just pulls his
clubs ovah with him when he plays, and he walks the course.”

“That's good to know. Since Karl's golf cart
is so distinctive, we always thought he was driving it. Maybe it
was Karl's cart, but Jiggs was driving it.”

Barb raised her eyebrows and said, “Possibly.
But we know Karl was driving it last night. We saw him and followed
him home, remember? We don't know if he even knew Jiggs was killed;
he might have gotten scared and driven away, just leaving Jiggs
there with the body.”

“Some friend!” snorted DeeDee.

“Or,” Annie said thoughtfully, “he could have
seen the ostrich kick Jiggs. Once that happened, he knew there was
nothing he could do so he took off.”

DeeDee posed a new question, “Do ya suppose
he saw the light from Juarez's flashlight an' that spooked him?”
She looked at Barb and Verna, “Could ya see any light comin' from
the deputy's flashlight from where ya were watchin?”

“I didn't see any light until the car
headlights came on. Did you, Verna?”

“No, but to hide the golf carts from view and
still be able to watch the gate, we couldn't see where Jiggs was
digging.”

Where was Twila's body during all of this?”
Barb wondered.

“Now, that's anotha $64,000 question!” DeeDee
exclaimed.

“We didn't see her body or anything on that
golf cart last night beside Karl,” Barb stated. “And we got a
pretty good look when he backed up to shut the gate. That night
light on the pole was bright enough for us to see the passenger
seat. It was empty and nothing was strapped on the back where the
clubs go.”

“Suppose the body had been on the cart, but
it fell off, maybe when he was hurrying to get out of there. He
might have started up with a jerk and the body fell off, or he
could have made a sharp turn and the lurch threw it off,” Annie
theorized. “Art and I were so busy watching that ostrich charge
that we never looked over in the field. He could have been in plain
sight for a few seconds, and we wouldn't have seen him. Of course,
it was pretty dark. I don't think the deputy looked over there
either. We couldn't take our eyes off that spectacle of the ostrich
kicking Jiggs,” Annie shuddered. “It's a sight I never want to see
again as long as I live!”

“Well,” DeeDee said with disgust, “We're
learnin' that Karl is basically not a very nice man. He's
scary”

Barb added her thoughts, “DeeDee's right
about Karl; he's not the nice man we once thought he was. I think
he was more interested in trying to save his own skin than in
helping his friend. What about this idea? When he saw Jiggs fall
down from the ostrich kick, Karl knew he had to get rid of Twila;
so he just pushed the body out, and took off.”

Her friends looked at her, stunned.

Verna jumped up from the table and said
determinedly, “Barb, you could be right. We need to get ovah there
and look in that field instead of sitting here drinking coffee. I
think we should go ovah there right now. Maybe we can find
something.” She started putting the left-over doughnuts in a
plastic bag.

As DeeDee carried her plate to the sink, she
said, “I think that's a grand idea. I jest hope those deputies will
still appreciate us tryin' ta help some more.” She turned to Annie
and Barb, “One of ya girls can ride with me if ya want ta leave
your bikes here.”

“The othah can go with me,” Verna offered.
“I'll leave a note for Von to let him know where we are.”

“I'd like to leave a note for Art on his golf
cart. It'll be in the parking lot by the Pro Shop.”

“Ask him to call Brad, please,” Barb said to
Annie.

 

* * *

 

Yellow tape blocked the area around the scene
of last night's accident. The tee for Number Five was off limits.
An enterprising Golf Ranger, eager to keep the course open in this
very busy winter season, asked the deputy to pull up the men's and
women's ball markers. He planned to push them in the ground further
away to make a new tee. However, Joe Juarez refused, saying, “I'm
sorry, sir, but nothing can be moved until the site is cleared by
the Sheriff's Department.” So, the Golf Ranger drove to the Pro
Shop, found a new set of markers, went back, and pushed them into
the ground. This kept the fifth hole open for play.

The yellow tape also ran along the fence
where the ostriches and emus were usually penned. When the four
senior women pulled up, Deputy Juarez and Sgt. Menendez were both
there. The two officers walked over to the senior women. Menendez
asked in a kind voice, “And why am I not surprised to see you
ladies here this fine morning?”

“We, ah, we wanted ta see it in daylight,”
DeeDee offered as explanation.

“And this afternoon,” the sergeant said with
authority. “I'd like you all to come down to the Department. We
need a deposition from each of you
and
your husbands. You've
been an important part of solving this crime. We need to get it all
down on paper.”

“But,” Annie hesitated, “it isn't solved, you
know. You don't have the missing body. And there had to be a body
or else why was Jiggs digging that … that grave?”

“You're right, Mrs. Andersen. I know there
are some big gaps before this case is closed. Since you've been
right on target all along, got any ideas? We can use all the help
we can get.”

DeeDee looked at Annie. When Annie smiled
back, her friend began explaining, “Well, we been talkin', an'
Annie told ya last night that she thinks both Karl and Jiggs were
takin' turns diggin'. Only one at a time came over here ta dig. Tha
other one stayed in tha field. We think he rested and stayed with
tha body while tha other one was digging.”

Annie took over the story, “We mentioned last
night that Jiggs and Karl Kreeger were built very much alike. They
almost look like twin brothers, not their faces or hair, but their
height and bodies. And last night, they were dressed so much alike
that in the dark we didn't notice the difference between them,
especially since they both wore knit stocking caps. But, I think I
told you that they didn't move exactly alike. Remember how one man
would dig for awhile, then he'd go through the fence? But he didn't
stay there long enough to rest. It looked like he just came right
on back and started digging. You know these guys are in their late
sixties. Digging is hard work, even in this sandy soil. I don't
think one man could keep it up for half an hour or more without
resting. No, it had to be that both of them were digging, taking
turns and resting while the other one used the shovel.”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” Sgt. Menendez
nodded and Juarez did too.

“Can I go in the field?” Verna asked. “The
big birds are gone. It's safe now, isn't it?”

“Yes,” Deputy Juarez answered, “Gilly moved
them out early this morning. We've walked over the land once, quite
thoroughly.” He turned to his superior officer and asked, “Do you
want to add anything, Sarge?”

Menendez hesitated a moment then revealed an
interesting fact, “I don't normally share information, but you
seniors are so involved that I'll tell you, in fact, I'll show you
what we found.” She reached in her pocket and pulled out a plastic
bag containing a small blue comb.

Annie's violet eyes lit up as she said,
“That's just the kind of comb that Karl always carries in his back
pocket.”

“Ya are so right,” DeeDee exclaimed. “That
man is so vain ‘bout his wavy hair; he combs it a lot, ‘specially
in front of any man who is bald or nearly bald.”

“I'll bet it fell out of his pocket during
his mad dash out of that field last night,” Barb reasoned. “We know
he was in there since we saw him drive out, but if you can prove
it's his comb, then that's another link tying him to this mystery.
Will you be testing it?”