The Turtle Mound Murder (22 page)

“If Stinky came here to rob us, why didn’t
he take the necklace? It’s worth a fortune.”

“Maybe he didn’t see it,” Penny Sue
replied.

“Or, maybe, robbery wasn’t his motive.” I
didn’t have to say rape, the look on Penny Sue’s face told me she
understood.

Ruthie shook her head.

“What?” I asked.

“Stinky wasn’t the one who went through my
things,” Ruthie stated emphatically. “His energy is definitely not
on them.”

“Who’s energy is?” Penny Sue asked.

Ruthie turned slowly, considering. A knock
on the front door nearly sent all of us through the ceiling. I went
to the door and opened it. Woody stood there, red-eyed, sneezing,
and unquestionably in a rotten mood.

* * *

“You say that’s one of the men who followed
you the other night?” Woody sat in the rattan chair in front of the
fireplace, while the officer who’d been first on the scene leaned
against the wall.

“Yes,” I answered. “We reported it to Deputy
Moore of Volusia County—”

Woody patted the air, an imperious gesture
Zack used all the time. I’d often wondered if the move was taught
in law school or a genetic male predisposition. Whatever it was, I
didn’t like it. “—Sheriff’s Department. In fact, Deputy Moore may
have his fingerprints.”

Woody chuckled derisively. “The Kraft paper?
I heard.”

My face grew hot and it had nothing to do
with hormones. A wave of anger bordering on rage swept through me,
the same feeling I’d had when Bradford Davis talked down to me at
the divorce settlement conference. I took a deep breath;
backhanding Woody in the mouth was not a good idea. I blew out the
air and forced myself to smile. “Oh, could they lift a print?” I
asked sweetly.

“I don’t know.” Woody brushed me off. He
turned to Penny Sue. “Your friend outside was shot. Where’s your
gun?”

Her mouth dropped open. “He’s not my friend.
Come on, Woody, you can’t think we,
I—”

Woody sneezed and blew his nose. “Please get
the gun, Penny Sue.”

She stomped down the hall. We could hear her
slamming drawers open and shut. A moment later she returned. “It’s
gone!”

Ruthie’s hand flew to her mouth, and for a
second I thought she might throw up again.

“Someone broke into this condo last night,”
I said quickly. Woody gestured to the young policeman, who checked
the front door and returned shaking his head. “The thief jimmied
the lock or something,” I went on. “The back door was open when we
returned from the movie.”

Woody glanced at his notebook and grunted.
“
The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
He stood. “Penny Sue, I
think you’d better come down to my office.”

I jumped up and got in Woody’s face. “You
can’t arrest her. She didn’t do anything. We told you we were
together all evening.”

He backed up. “Really? What was she doing
while you napped on the sofa?”

“Well...”

Woody smirked. “Can’t say, can you? Anyway,
she’s not under arrest. I merely want to ask a few questions.”

I stepped forward again. “Ask ‘em here.”

Penny Sue spoke up, “It’s all right, Leigh.
I’d like to see Woody’s office.”

The neighbors in the two-story condos behind
ours were huddled on their balconies, watching, as Woody ushered
Penny Sue to the police car. With the exception of Al, every
neighbor who’d attended the party, and then some, were present.
Even Gerty, Robert, and the Turtle Patrol were spying from the side
of the building next door.

I have to say I admired Penny Sue’s aplomb:
she looked straight at the crowd and waved. “Good morning,” she
called cheerily. The neighbors scurried away like perverts caught
at a peep show. Then to me, “Becky Leigh, I think you’d better call
Daddy,” she glared at Woody, “and Lyndon, who can vouch for my
whereabouts. Daddy’s cell number is in my address book; Lyndon’s
number is scribbled on a note card in my purse. If you can’t get
Daddy on his cell phone, call the office.”

“Will do.” I scowled at Woody. “We’ll follow
in your car, so you’ll have a ride home.”

“Good.” Penny Sue winked and slid gracefully
into the backseat of the patrol car.

I started the Mercedes and pulled behind the
police car, pointedly edging in front of Woody. Penny Sue was my
concern, not that prosecuting (or persecuting) twerp, and I was not
letting her out of my sight. We took a right onto an almost
deserted, Sunday morning A1A and headed for the center of town.

Ruthie tried to call Judge Parker as I
drove. Five times she dialed, five times she got:
We’re sorry,
the customer you are trying to reach is not available at this
time.
“Now what?” she asked. “Penny Sue said to call the
office. It’s Sunday. No one’s there,” Ruthie complained.

“Actually, the place is probably packed,
lawyers work all the time; but, the switchboard is closed. If we
call and leave a message, no one will retrieve it until tomorrow
morning. A direct number...” I hit the speaker button and keyed a
number into the telephone handset. The phone started to ring.

“Who are you calling?” Ruthie asked.

The person who’s direct number I knew by
heart, but least wanted to call. “Good morning, Zack.”

“Becky? About time you phoned. I hear we
have an offer on the house. I say we take it; no sense holding out
for pennies.”

“Zack, I’m not calling about the house.”

“What else could it be?” he asked
sarcastically. “Your buddy Judge Nugent has taken care of
everything else. How did you get to him? Max doesn’t have
connections like that. Penny Sue? Was it Penny Sue?”

I suppressed a grin. Zack’s tone told me
that he was furious. Apparently Judge Nugent hadn’t liked Zack’s
explanation about the disposition of our assets. Thank you Judge
Daddy for planting a bug in Nugent’s ear! Unfortunately, I didn’t
have time to savor my rare victory. “Listen, this is
important.”

There was an audible gasp on the other end.
“Not the kids. Ann and Zack, are they all right?”

“They’re fine. I need to get in touch with
Judge Parker. Penny Sue’s in trouble. She’s been taken in for
questioning by the police.”

Zack chuckled. “Questioning? What’s that
dingbat done now?”

The police car with Penny Sue turned into a
parking lot and stopped. I found a parking space not too far away.
“There’s been a murder. Two, actually.” For once Zack was
speechless. “I’m calling from her car. We’re at the police station
now and I’ve got to go.”

“Wait. Where are you? How can I reach
you?”

“New Smyrna Beach. Try my cell phone,
although the reception around here isn’t very good. I’ll call you
from inside, there must be a pay phone somewhere. Please send
someone to find the Judge; he’s fishing.”

“I’ll get him. Tell Penny Sue not to say
anything.”

I sighed. “I’m afraid it’s too late for
that.”

Woody wouldn’t let us talk to Penny Sue, but
said we were welcome to wait in a reception area by the door.
“There’s no need to worry, I’m only going to ask her a few
questions,” he insisted.

I suspected his last statement was meant for
the Judge as much as it was us. “I’ve called a lawyer,” I said.

He folded his arms and assumed a pedantic
stance. “I’m sure you have, though it’s really not necessary. She
hasn’t been charged with anything. I simply need to ascertain the
facts and the whereabouts of her gun.”

“She’s already told you all of that,” Ruthie
argued.

“Forgive me, dear, my memory is failing,”
Woody replied. “I merely want to go over it one more time.” He
motioned to a vinyl settee that looked like an antique. “Stay if
you like, but it’s not necessary. I’ll see that she gets home.”

Ruthie sat down, eyes narrowed defiantly.
“We’ll wait, thank you.”

Woody left. Neither of our cell phones could
get a decent signal inside the building, so I set out in search of
a pay phone. I finally found one next to a vending machine and
called Zack again. He answered on the first ring, a rarity for Mr.
Cool. “The Judge is somewhere in the woods up by Big Canoe. I’ve
sent two clerks to find him. How’s Penny Sue?”

I leaned against the wall and stared at my
feet. How was she? Probably scared to death, even if she’d rather
die than show it. “Who knows? They’re questioning her now.”

“What’s this stuff about two murders?” I
filled him in on the details of the last week. “For chrissakes,
Becky, why didn’t y’all call after the first guy was murdered?”

“Penny Sue swore us to secrecy.”

Zack snorted. “You left it at that? Anyone
with half a brain—”

“I’ve got to go.” Typical Zack: put down
instead of putting up. I wasn’t taking his crap. He would help
Penny Sue—after all, his job depended on it.

“Wait. I’ve talked to Swindal, he thinks I
should come down there.”

My heart skipped a beat. Of all the people in
the world, he was the last I wanted to see. “You? Why?”

“I’m the only senior partner who’s a member
of the Florida Bar.”

No, not Zack. Anyone but Zack. “I think she
needs local counsel. You know, someone with connections,” I said.
The Judge had an army on the case minutes after Penny Sue had waved
the gun around. Surely, Zack could simply make a phone call.
Certainly, someone other than the Judge had contacts in
Florida.

“Swindal’s calling someone now, but he
thinks we should personally supervise. After all, Penny Sue is the
Judge’s only child.”

Yes, she was. As much as I detested Zack, I
had to admit he was a good lawyer. If anyone could get Penny Sue
off, he could.

Zack went on, “I can be down there in five
or six hours. There’s a flight to Daytona Beach that leaves in two
hours. Where should I stay?”

As far away as possible was my first
reaction. “There aren’t many hotels here, you’d better stay up by
the airport.”

“That’s the best you can do?” he said
dryly.

“Yeah, I’m not a travel agent.” I stared at
a limp cord, the only remnant of the Bell South directory that had
once hung beneath the telephone. “This place doesn’t even have a
phone book. Besides, the flight probably won’t go, there’s a
hurricane off the coast.”

“I know that; my secretary’s already
checked. They’re not expecting to close the Daytona airport anytime
soon,” he drawled sarcastically. “See you in a few hours.” He hung
up.

I felt sick. Then said a silent prayer that
Lizzie would hit Daytona Beach before Zack did.

* * *

I returned to
the lobby, stewing over
my conversation with Zack, to find Ruthie sitting in the lotus
position, her feet drawn into the chair, palms up, thumb and index
finger touching lightly. Her face was smooth and youthful, the
picture of tranquility.

And, it really infuriated me, although I’m
not sure why. Perhaps because I couldn’t get into that posture if
my life depended on it. Or maybe it was her glowing complexion. My
glow was dim, to say the least, especially right now. It might have
been her tranquility, or my fatigue from having been up all night,
the dirty green walls, the stale antiseptic smell; heck, it might
even have had something to do with hormones—or the fact that Zack
was headed to New Smyrna Beach. Whatever it was, I had an
uncontrollable, albeit childish, urge to disrupt Ruthie’s serene
repose.

“Zack’s coming,” I blurted.

She grinned. “Perfect.”

My mouth dropped open. “Perfect?”

“I asked the spirits for the highest and
best solution for all concerned.”

“Well, the spirits threw you a curve ball.
Zack hardly qualifies as the highest and best. He’s the lowest of
the low.” I sat down, fuming.

Ruthie unfolded her legs and sat up like a
normal person. “He is for Woody.”

“Woody?” Ruthie was talking in riddles and I
was definitely not in the mood for puzzles. “What in the world does
Woody have to do with Zack?”

“Karma.”

That remark incensed me even more. Ruthie’s
abstruse thought processes were typically endearing, however, this
leap was too much like Penny Sue. Penny Sue who was responsible for
Zack coming and our sitting in god-awful hard chairs. “Karma? What
does that have to do with anything?”

“Penny Sue, Woody, and Zack; together again
after all these years. I’d say they’re supposed to mend some
fences. When they were last together, they parted on bad
terms.”

That was true, there’d been a huge scene. It
was our sophomore year in college and a bunch of us from the
sorority had come down to the beach condo. Penny Sue had been
dating Zack, but true to form—out of sight, out of mind—she
immediately met a guy on the beach, Woody, and struck up a
relationship. Woody and Penny Sue were a hot item for all of three
days until Zack showed up unexpectedly. The men had words, almost
came to blows, and Penny Sue told them both off. Shortly after she
got back to Atlanta, Penny Sue took up with Andy Walters, whom she
eventually married, and Zack put the rush on me. Woody had just
faded away. Until now.

“I wish they’d mend fences on their own
time. I’ve had enough of Zack Stratton, Woody, and this whole
mess.”

Ruthie stared into space, her lips twisted
in a half smile. I knew she was thinking about me. Some high,
spiritual truth that I was in no mood to hear.

“I think we should try to reach Lyndon,” I
said, changing the subject. “He’s the one person who can alibi
Penny Sue and put an end to this mess before Zack arrives. Woody
said he’d contact Lyndon; I’ll bet he hasn’t even tried.” Dragging
it out to punish Penny Sue, I almost said. Getting even for the
past. Maybe Ruthie’s karma notion wasn’t as dopey as I’d initially
thought.

“If we hurry, perhaps we can resolve
everything before Zack leaves Atlanta. Lyndon’s phone number is
supposed to be in Penny Sue’s purse. Did you bring it in?”