Body Count

by Lisa D Jones

  “I’ve never seen a house literally in the middle of a town square before”, said Wendy.

  Sheriff Cane smiled slightly and raised his index finger into the air.

  “It actually wasn’t until the early 1920’s that this particular town square was built. The first town square was located about a mile from here. That house was here then but it was in the middle of a field. The population at the time was around two hundred people, total. A tornado struck in March of 1918, wiping out the majority of the town. The building that received the least amount of damage was the Miller family home with only a few broken windows, some missing wood panels, and the rooster weathervane on the roof had only been slightly bent by the extreme weather. Around twenty five people survived the storm and began rebuilding the town, one structure at a time. As a memorial to those that were killed and as a hope for the future, the Miller home was designated as a historical landmark and the current town square was built up around it.”

  He began pointing at a few of the buildings around the town square, giving a brief history of each.

  “Over there is Pop’s Donuts. It’s the oldest business in town that is still in its original location. The oldest business is Buddy’s Pizza, but they relocated to the town square when a spot became available a few years ago. Over there is Jerry’s Flower Shop. Jerry retired a couple of years ago. His daughter runs the place now. Last spot on the tour is the sheriff’s office. It is the second oldest structure in town. Walk with me and I’ll give you a tour of my humble abode.”

  He began walking towards the sheriff’s office, not giving us an option of whether or not we wanted to follow. In front of the building was a plaque attached to a pedestal. The information given on the plaque gave the building’s historical significance and designated the building as a historical landmark, preventing it from ever being torn down.

  “Shut the door behind you please. The mosquitoes are bad this time of year”, said Jared as he entered the building.

  He motioned for us to stay put as he walked to the back, returning almost as quickly as he had walked to the office in the first place. When he returned, his demeanor had changed to a more serious tone.

  “Sheriff Russell from Hope County called and gave me a heads up that you were coming to town and why. Don’t get upset with him about it. He just wanted to make sure someone was looking out for you. I didn’t tell you earlier because I didn’t want anyone in the diner to overhear the conversation. It is a small town, after all”, said Jared.

  “That does explain why he hasn’t been blowing up my phone checking in on us”, I said.

  “I’d like us to share and compare notes on the Carter case, if you don’t mind”, said Jared as he handed me his case file.

  I handed him my file and asked Jessica to play the recording.

  “Listen to this, Sheriff”, I said.

  No one made a sound while the recording was playing. Afterwards, I reviewed his case file while he went over mine.

  “Sheriff Cane, if you don’t mind, I’d like to collect my fees from the client before I close out my part of the case and you make your arrest. If I don’t get paid before I tell the clients what I found, they tend to try to skip out on payment. It’s a very long drive and I’d hate for us to go home empty handed”, I said.

  Jared nodded.

  “I can abide by that. Do what you can to get the both of them here at the same time and I’ll wait to make my arrest after you get your money.”

  I emailed Julian Carter and told him I had the proof. I requested full payment, in cash. I also asked him to bring his wife with him to the sheriff’s office so an arrest can be made without a lot of fan fair.

  Mr. Carter responded almost immediately.

  “He said he will be here with his wife in thirty minutes”, I said aloud after reading his response.

  “That gives us plenty of time to prepare”, said Jared.

  Exactly thirty minutes later, Mr. Carter and his wife walked through the front door of the sheriff’s office. He handed me a small manila envelope. I peeked inside and counted out the cash. It was all there, paid in full.

  “Mrs. Carter? I’m Savannah Hartman. Your husband hired me. I’m a private detective. He suspected that you had been poisoning him with arsenic and I have proof”, I said.

  Julian Carter smiled. Mrs. Carter did too.

  “You’ve got it all wrong, Miss Hartman. I wasn’t poisoning him. He was poisoning me. It’s all him”, said Mrs. Carter.

  “That’s a lie! She knows I’d never hurt her. I’d never try to kill my wife”, said Julian.

  “He’s the one that’s lying”, said Mrs. Carter.

  “Let’s all settle down. Both of you have a seat. You sit here, Mrs. Carter. Mr. Carter, you sit over there”, said Jared as he pointed to two separate chairs on opposite sides of the room.

  “Mr. Carter, between my investigation and the investigation conducted by the sheriff’s office, we’ve come to the conclusion that your wife did, in fact, poison you. However, you tried to poison her first, repeatedly. She knew you were poisoning her drink and switched them with yours every time you tried to poison her. That’s why you were getting sick instead of her”, I said.

  “That’s not true!” cried Mr. Carter. “She’s been trying to kill me!”

  “No, Mr. Carter”, said Jared. “It’s you that’s been doing the poisoning. Your fingerprints are on both glasses. Her prints are only on her glass. She never touched your drink, at least, not this last time. I took the liberty of having the glasses dusted for prints a few days ago during your most recent hospital stay.”

  “It’s true. I would grab your drink then spin the Lazy Susan around so that the drink you poisoned would be on your side instead of mine”, said Mrs. Carter.

  “How did you know?” said Mr. Carter with a sigh.

  “In the fifty seven years we’ve been married you’ve never once made me a drink. Now, all of a sudden, after all of these years, you decide to start? And you just happened to start right after you found out how much I inherited from my recently departed uncle. It made me suspicious, so I kept switching our glasses every time you would bring me a drink. I wasn’t completely sure until you started getting sick – every time you made me a drink.”

  Jared walked over to Mr. Carter’s chair.

  “Julian Carter, you’re under arrest for the attempted murder of your wife. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law”, said Jared. “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I’ve explained them to you?”

  Julian nodded.

  “Mrs. Carter? I’m going to have to ask you to stay put. If it were strictly up to me, I’d let you go, but it’s up to the district attorney. Ladies, please keep an eye on Mrs. Carter for a few minutes, if you will.”

  Jared cuffed Mr. Carter’s hands behind his back and gently led him into one of the jail cells, locking him in. He removed the cuffs through the bars of the closed cell door and made his way back to where we were.

  “Sheriff Cane, we’ll be checking out of the hotel Tomorrow morning and heading home”, I said.

  “Glad y’all came to visit us and our little town, even if it was for business purposes. Make sure you stop by The Blue Bird on your way out of town. Jacey said she has something for you”, said Jared.

  “Will do”, said Wendy.

  We headed back to the motel. I needed to email Claudia with the findings and the notes from the case so she wouldn’t bitch too much when we got back to town. She hates when I drop things on her at the last second. We saw a little pizza place on the way to the motel, so we stopped in for a bite to eat instead of looking for a bar.

  When we got back to our room, the beds had been made, trash had been emptied, and there was a vase of flowers on the table: daisies with a note attached. My heart skipped a beat with a side of panic as I read it: “Compliments of the staff here at the Rai
n Tree Motel. We hope you enjoy your stay!”

  I exhaled loudly with relief and put my hand over my heart.

  “It’s okay. It’s compliments of the motel”, I said.

  “Whew. Okay, let’s just try to get some sleep”, said Jessica.

  Wendy and I nodded in agreement. I put my gun under my pillow and Wendy put my taser under hers. Even though we were all on edge, we eventually drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter 11:

  “On the Road Again”

  THE NEXT morning, we checked out of the motel a little before ten and headed straight for The Blue Bird Café.

  Jacey greeted us with her usual bright, perky smile when we walked through the front doorway.

  “Good morning, ladies! Will you be having the usual?”

  All three of us nodded.

  “Pancakes and strong coffee it is then”, said Jacey. She smiled again and headed off to put in our order. She immediately grabbed the coffee pot and three mugs then set them down on the counter in front of us, filling them to a half inch below the brim.

  “Did you enjoy your stay at the Rain Tree?” asked Jacey.

  "It was very nice”, I said.

  “and it was quiet”, said Jessica.

  “Wonderful! I’m glad y’all liked it. I’ll be back in a flash with your order. Just holler at me if you need anything before then”, said Jacey as she walked off towards the back room.

  A few minutes later, the cook rang the bell and yelled, “Order up.”

  Jacey came out of the back room, gathered our meals, and brought them over to us. How she can carry three plates so easily, I’ll never know.

  “Now, don’t you leave here without talking to me first. I have something for the three of you to take home”, said Jacey as she set down the plates.

  Wendy got Jacey’s attention after we were done. Jacey smiled and held up her right index finger as if to say “hold on just a minute” as she went to the back room again. When she came back out a few minutes later, she was carrying what looked like three pie boxes and a disposable drink carrier with three large-to-go coffee cups.

  “No one should leave The Blue Bird Café without having pie. These are apple, peach, and cherry pies and three strong coffees for your car ride home”, said Jacey.

  She set the pies and coffees on the table and told us to have a safe and happy trip home. I tried to pay her for the pies and coffees, but she refused.

  “No ma’am. These are on the house. The Blue Bird Café is mine. These pies, along with all three of your breakfast orders today are on me as a special thank you for getting my husband to leave for a little while. I love that man, but it’s kind of difficult to plan a surprise party for him when he does nothing but stay here all day with me”, said Jacey.

  “When’s his birthday?” asked Wendy.

  “Six months from now”, said Jacey. “That’s how I am FINALLY going to surprise him.”

  I couldn’t help but to chuckle.

  “Glad we could help”, I said.

  Wendy and Jessica gathered up the pies and coffees and headed out to the car. I left a big tip on the table and waved goodbye to all.

  I called Nate from the car to let him know we were on our way home. “Call me when you get close and come straight to the sheriff’s office. Do NOT go home first. Do NOT drop off your friends first. You hear me, Savannah Hartman? The three of you are to come straight here”, said Nate. “NO EXCEPTIONS!”

  “What now, Nate?” I asked.

  “I’ll explain when you get here”, said Nate and he disconnected the call.

  Chapter 12:

  “Welcome Home, Savannah”

  the trip home seemed to take forever. The traffic was pretty much the same I guess, as was the route. We only stopped once this time around for gasoline and a pee break. I guess the “not knowing what Nate wasn’t telling us” part is what made the trip seem to drag on without end.

  I gave Nate a call when we were about an hour away from Hopeville. He not-so-subtly reminded me that the three of us were to go directly to his office the second we got back to town – no ifs, ands, or buts.

  “Is he still not saying why?” asked Wendy.

  “Nope”, I said and put my focus back on the road in front of me. I didn’t want to think about whatever it was that Nate wasn’t telling us (at least not yet). There would be plenty of time for that once we got home.

  It was a little past 3pm when we made it back to Hopeville. There were a few cars parked in front of the sheriff’s office, but Nate’s wasn’t one of them. Since we still didn’t know what was going on, none of us really wanted to get out of the car. I called the main line in the sheriff’s office and Jolynn answered.

  “Stay put with the doors locked”, said Jolynn.

  Deputy Tucker Bradley came outside almost immediately. He looked around nervously then motioned for us to get out of the car. He held the front door open and followed us inside.

  Jolynn was standing behind her desk, rearranging everything in a nervous fashion.

  “Nate will be here soon, Savannah”, said Jolynn.

  “Jolynn, what’s going on?” I asked.

  She briefly looked in my general direction, but wouldn’t make eye contact.

  “Nate will be here soon.”

  She turned around toward the filing cabinets and continued to avoid answering my question.

  I let out a brief sigh then looked at Wendy and Jessica. They had the same expression on their faces that I had on mine. We gave in and sat down in the three chairs that were perched in front of Jolynn’s desk. Nate arrived a few minutes later with Agent Loughlin in tow.

  “Ladies, Agent Loughlin, let’s take this into my office”, said Nate. Loughlin just stood there, waiting. Nate unlocked his office and Agent Loughlin motioned for us to go inside ahead of him. He followed us into the office and shut the door behind him.

  “I know you’re wondering what this is all about, so I’ll get right to it. While you ladies were out of town, three more corpses were left about with daisies and notes attached to them. The first one was Alex Henderson. Savannah, he was propped up on the porch, sitting against the front door of your home. The second was Ralph Gander. Rick found him hanging from the tree in his and Wendy’s back yard. Ralph had been gutted and hung up by his feet hog style to drain the blood from his body. The notes for both were the same: ‘For Savannah’ on the outside. The inside read: ‘I’ll kill a new one for every day you’re gone. I’ll teach you a lesson for leaving’. The third one was different”. Nate’s expression softened. “Savannah, the third one was your friend, Isaac. He’d been beaten to death with his own prosthetic leg and left in your office, sitting in your chair. Keith found him yesterday morning. We found Isaac’s wheelchair down the street, close to Babe’s. It looked like it had been run over. I’m so sorry, Savannah”, said Nate.

  I tried, but I couldn’t hold back the tears. Of all people, why in the world would someone kill Isaac? He was the sweetest old black man! He was an Army vet and lost his right leg from the knee down in Vietnam. He always called me “Sugah” for some reason although I’m not really sure why.

  The first time I’d seen Isaac was a few years ago outside of my office building. He was playing this fantastic jazz music on his saxophone. He had his case open on the ground but wasn’t getting much by way of tips. I told him he’d be better off moving down a bit and sitting outside of Babe’s Coffee Shop. He told me he was new in town, so I walked down to Babe’s with him. Well, I walked, he didn’t. I pushed his wheelchair after I helped him pick up his saxophone case.

  When he and I got to Babe’s, I introduced the two of them. Once he played his sax for the Morgans, they were hooked. Babe immediately insisted that Isaac play his saxophone outside of his coffee shop. He thought it made the perfect atmosphere for his customers, so ever since that day, Babe had encouraged Isaac to play there daily.

  I hadn’t seen Isaac in a while, but, to be completely honest, I hadn’t even thought about it unti
l now. I’ve been so wrapped up in other bullshit, I just didn’t realize it. How could I not notice that Isaac hadn’t been around? My mind trailed off in my grief. I couldn’t help but to think of the horrible things that may have been done to poor old Isaac by this deranged lunatic. I’ll get this son of a bitch just for you, Isaac.

  “Miss Hartman, your house and your office are both crime scenes. You will not have access to either one until my office gives the go ahead”, said Agent Loughlin.

  “What about my house?” asked Wendy.

  “Yours hasn’t been cleared yet either”, said Nate. “Claudia said she wants all of you to stay with her and Keith for the time being. Savannah, I think it’s best if you leave your car here. I don’t want to make it obvious where you’re staying. I called Rick, Claudia, and Keith. They will be here shortly to pick y’all up. Tucker and my new deputy, Kelly O’Banion, will follow the six of y’all to Keith and Claudia’s house. That’s all I have for now. Anyone have any objections? No? Good. If you do, tough shit.”

  The conversation came to a complete stop in the small lobby when Nate opened his office door. Keith, Claudia, and Rick were standing there, impatiently waiting. They had obviously been talking with Jolynn, but now they were silent and had their eyes locked on us.

  “I briefed these three yesterday”, said Nate, gesturing towards Rick, Keith, and Claudia. “Feel free to fill them in on the rest of the details that we discussed here today. Be safe. I’ll check in on you in the morning.”

  Chapter 13:

  “Stay Out of the Kitchen”

  no one said much of anything on the way to Keith and Claudia’s house. Tucker and Kelly followed close behind us in the squad car. There were no gas station trips, no grocery store excursions, no beer runs - nothing but a straight shot to their home. Keith parked in the driveway, but none of us got out. Tucker and Kelly parked at the curb then walked up to the driver’s side window.