The Traveling Corpse (22 page)

“No.”

“Didn't you hear him come in?”

“I take my hearing aid out at night; it's the
one for my right ear. I like to sleep on my left side, and, of
course, that's my best ear. So, when that good ear's buried in my
pillow, I don't hear much of anything. On top of that, I'm a sound
sleeper. So, no, I didn't hear him come in. I don't know when he
came home.”

“Did he sleep in this morning?”

“No. He's usually up by 6 o'clock. He didn't
want any breakfast, just went right out and started washing the
golf cart. Vacuumed it, too. He's done that a couple of times
recently. I guess it's because he's so proud of our new cart. Have
you seen it?”

“Yes, I couldn't help noticing it. I love
that color of blue, and the gray curtains set it off.”

“I can't believe the deputies just came and
took it off.” Kitty stopped, looked at Annie and asked, “Why did
you ask when Karl got up?”

Annie mumbled something about, “Oh, just
wondering if I could help you figure out what's wrong with Karl
these days.”

Kitty seemed to accept that answer without
question, much to Annie's relief. Then she asked Kitty, “Are you
really going to sell your home here and leave BradLee?”

Kitty sighed, “Karl says he wants to move
back to Ohio, that he's tired of Florida. He's adamant. I guess
I'll have to go too. I don't know what's gotten into him. He's like
a different person.”

“When did he start acting differently?”

Kitty bit her lower lip. “I shouldn't say
anything bad about my husband… .” Her voice trailed off. Annie
stood quietly waiting for her to continue. “But I've just got to
talk to somebody. I can't keep this all inside me any longer.”

“Would you like to take a little walk?” Annie
asked, sensing that it might be easier for Kitty to tell something
difficult if she weren't standing in her own front yard. They
started out, and Annie gently directed them towards Memorial Pond.
There were benches there, and they could sit and watch the
ducks—white domesticated one, plus some Mallards, and
Muscovies.

Once Kitty opened up, she couldn't seem to
stop talking. “Oh, Annie, Karl's always had to make sure that I
knew that he was the head of our house. He has to have the last
word on everything—not so much the first years of our marriage—but
he grew more demanding. We have four children. I wanted to make a
happy home for them; so I'd just give in to him to keep the peace.
After a while it was just easier that way. We have a good life—a
lovely home. He was always a good provider. But he has to be in
control. He doesn't like me to have girl friends; so it's kindda
lonely now that the children are grown and gone. As long as I do
what Karl says, life's okay. He lets me go to Hobby Club and play
golf in the Women's League; so I do get out some, but I don't have
close friends like you do. I envy that.”

Annie was so shocked that she blurted out,
“Kitty, we're not living in the 18
^th
century! For
heaven's sake! A woman can think for herself! I don't always agree
with my husband. Most of the time I do, but I'm not afraid to tell
Art if I think he's wrong. It's a give-and-take relationship. I'm
so sorry your marriage isn't like that.”

Kitty pulled a tissue out of her jeans pocket
and wiped away a tear. Annie waited for her to calm down, then went
on, “You say Karl is acting differently lately?”

Kitty nodded, “I don't know if he's so
different, but—well—he's so belligerent.”

“When did that start? Can you tell me a day
or week?”

She anguished, “It was just a little over a
week ago. Something must have happened to him, but he won't talk to
me about it. I don't know what's bugging him.” Kitty started
rambling on about Karl's short-comings, like taking the golf cart
after she'd told him she needed it. Annie listened with one ear,
but to herself she thought:
A week ago. That's probably when the
Board told Karl that they had appointed an assistant to work with
him on Bingo. That's when Karl's troubles began, and he's taking it
out on Kitty.

As the two women walked back to Kitty's
house, Annie asked her, “Can you get him to see a doctor? Perhaps
there's a medical reason for his personality change.”

“I asked him to go. I asked him and asked him
and asked him. I even made an appointment. He wouldn't go. What
else can I do? He's not much on having someone tell him what to do,
especially a woman.”

Annie shook her head. She did not believe
that his problem was medical, but she was not about to say anything
to Kitty about her suspicions. Instead, she changed the subject.
“You always have something pretty blooming in your yard; it's the
prize of the neighborhood. That poinsettia bush at the corner of
your house is huge; it must be five feet tall! It's a treat to see
so many red leaves still on it. And now your jasmine vine is
blooming; it smells wonderful.” Annie stepped closer to another
bush and said, “Spring is coming to Florida; look, your azalea
bushes are almost ready to burst out.”

“And the dogwood will be blooming in a week
or two.” Kitty proudly pointed to a small tree in her yard.

After hugging Kitty good-bye, Annie said
sincerely, “Things aren't going very well for you now; will you
join me in prayer?”

“Thanks. I need it.”

“Good morning, Lord. It's Annie down here
with my friend, Kitty Kreeger. She needs You to walk with her and
hold her hand as she struggles with a family problem.” She motioned
for Kitty to join her in saying the 23rd Psalm:

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters. He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths
of righteousness for his name's sake.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod
and thy staff they comfort me, Thou prepares a table before me in
the presence of mine enemies; thou annointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over.

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.”

Annie hugged Kitty again, then climbed on her
bicycle, still thinking of the power and beauty of the 23rd Psalm
as she rode home.

 

* * *

 

Art came in the house smiling; he'd had low
score in his golf foursome. Annie said, “Well, that is something to
celebrate with a waffle.” She pulled her waffle iron out of a low
cupboard and plugged it in to heat as she whipped up the batter.
Art kept on smiling in anticipation of one of his favorite
meals—homemade waffles with real maple syrup from Wisconsin.

As they ate, Annie said, “While you were
playing, we women had a very productive morning.” She told him of
Verna's finding light blue denim threads caught on the Bouganvillea
bush in Gilly's field and then about visiting Tony and Tilley
Tuckman. Finally, she told him of her talk with Kitty Kreegrer.
“Oh, Art, I feel so sorry for Kitty. He abuses her mentally. I hope
he never hits her, but with the pressure he's under, he could snap.
Also I'm sure she has no idea what Karl is up to. She told me that
the Sheriff's Department came and took their golf cart away,
impounded it. She also told me that Karl got up early and washed
and vacuumed the golf cart. In fact, that he'd cleaned it every day
for the last three days now. Isn't that interesting?

“When I was there, he was inside reading the
newspaper just like he didn't have a trouble in the world! He
certainly is a cool one. I didn't really learn anything much that
was new or different from what Verna told us the other day, except
that bit about the cart being impounded and Karl's washing it
first. Wonder what they'll find? Will they find another piece of
the puzzle in ‘Our Mystery'? Or did he manage to wash and vacuum
away anything of importance?

 

* * *

 

 

That afternoon the four couples all had
appointments at the Sheriff's office to take their depositions.
When the gang went out of the park, the Andersens and Bradkowskis
usually rode together because they lived close to one another.
Likewise, Vigeauxs and Davises came in another car as they lived on
the other side of BradLee. When Brad pulled into Art and Annie's
drive, he was behind the wheel of a brand-new silvery blue Buick
Roadmaster. After the Andersens, “Oohed,” and “Ahhed,” over the
butter-soft tan leather seats, Brad pointed out the built-in memory
system that remembered what seat position was comfortable not only
for him, but also for Barb. With just a press of a button, the seat
automatically adjusted to fit whichever one of them was
driving.

“Oh, Art, Honey, this is what we need. You're
taller than I am. I always have to fiddle and fiddle and try to
adjust the seat when I get behind the wheel. This is wonderful.
Let's do get this feature in our next car.” Annie could wish, but
she knew it would be several more years before they would even
think of turning in their 1990 model. By that time, Brad assured
her that she wouldn't even have to push a button to re-position the
driver's seat; in the near future, each key would be coded, and the
seat would adjust to that particular driver. For one who had
learned to drive with a stick shift when that was the only kind of
shifting available on a car, Annie was always impressed with new
inventions that made life easier and easier. However, with the ease
came the frequent warnings to
exercise.
Sometimes life
seemed counter-productive to Annie.

They drove in style and comfort in the new
Roadmaster to the Sheriff's office where they joined the Vigeauxs
and Davises. Sergeant Menendez and Deputy Juarez met with them and
arranged to have each of them, singularly, make a deposition. This
time, Annie remembered to tell of seeing the heart-shaped charm
hanging on the gold link bracelet. Taking the depositions was a
lengthy process. While they waited to take their turn with the
stenographer, the friends discussed the case, endlessly going over
the events, compiling all the data, but they could not answer the
primary question: Where is the body now?

“We know he, or maybe they,” Annie corrected
herself, “did
not
bury the corpse. At least, he didn't bury
it in that unpaved golf path. We know because we were there
watching. We saw the hole being dug, but the only body that ended
up in there turned out to be Jiggs's. So, we come back around in a
complete circle: Where is Twila Thompson?”

“Well, I feel fer certain sure that her body
was in Karl's golf cart, at least for awhile,” DeeDee asserted.

“I think so too, but how are we going to
prove it?”

Collectively they shrugged their shoulders
and waited. At last, each of their stories relating to the mystery
was on paper and signed and notarized. Barb felt better after all
was neatly ordered. She asked Sgt. Menendez, “Will you let us know
when you find anything?”

The sergeant looked at her with raised
eyebrows, “Find anything?”

“On Karl Kreeger's golf cart?”

The sergeant was sympathetic to the request,
but she explained that she had to follow Department procedure
before releasing any data; so no information was forthcoming at
this time. Barb felt deflated. She shrugged and accepted the
regulation.

When all the paper work was finished, it was
after 4:00 p.m., and Verna suggested, “Why don't we go straight to
The Shack for our ‘all you can eat' fish suppah? It's not a bit too
soon; all the restaurants fill up early during these busy wintah
months.” The others were ready to go with her as they usually all
ate out together on Friday nights. The Vigeauxs had grown up eating
fish on Fridays, and although their church no longer required it,
old habits are hard to break. Since they all liked fish, their
friends adopted the ‘Friday Fish' habit, too.

“Well, we've done our duty, giving those
depositions,” Barb declared after they were seated at a long narrow
table in the restaurant, “but we didn't get any reward for all our
trouble.”

Brad asked his wife, “Reward? What
reward?”

“Oh, there isn't any money reward, not that I
know of. I just meant I thought Menendez could have rewarded us
with some information.”

“Yes,” Verna said. “I'd like to know if they
found anymore red hair or some of that blue cloth or, or,
anything.”

Von mused, “They must have been looking for
something like that or else they wouldn't have gone to the trouble
of impounding Karl's golf cart.”

“They probably dusted fer fingerprints,”
DeeDee said. Then another idea popped into her head, “Can a dead
person leave fingerprints?”

None of them knew for sure, but the general
consensus of the group was, “Sure, why not?”

Verna was looking at a menu. She lowered it
and said lightly to her friends, “I don't know why I bothah to look
at this; I always ordah the ‘All You Can Eat' special on Fridays.”
Her seat faced the front of the restaurant. Recognizing the couple
who just entered, she said, “Oh, look who's coming!” They turned to
see Tony and Tilley Tuckman waiting to be seated. Tony had on black
pants and a gold Polo shirt with the logo ‘College of Wooster.
Fighting Scots' embroidered on the left breast pocket. Tilley wore
purple slacks and a lavender T-shirt; on the front was a cutesy
alligator surrounded by the words ‘St. Augustine Alligator
Farm'.