by D J Monroe
“Sounds like you’re lucky to have her,” Nate said.
“Not really,” Kenny said. “She yells at me sometimes when I don’t pick up my clothes or when I leave dirty dishes in the sink. You know what she never does, though?”
“What’s that?”
“She never tells me who I can’t be friends with,” Kenny said proudly.
“So, are you still friends with Charlie?” Creed asked.
“No, he hasn’t come to see me for a long time and I don’t know where he lives.”
Nate hesitated to ask and then repeated an earlier question. “Do you remember Charlie’s last name?”
Kenny frowned and thought for a long time. And then he smiled and snapped his fingers, “Like yours. Palmer.”
Twenty-Six: Butch Kender
So what do you think?” Creed asked as he and Nate left Kenny’s house behind.
“I think people tend to think of Kenny as being invisible,” Nate said. “Write him off just like the police did when he told them about Adams.”
“Why do you think Charles was hanging out with him, trying to be his friend?” Creed asked. “Pretending?”
Nate shook his head. “Why would he pretend to be friends with Kenny?”
Creed didn’t have an answer for that.
The only thing Creed knew about Butch Kender was that he owned an auto repair shop on the outskirts of Lost Creek. They’d left him a message earlier in the day but he hadn’t returned the call. So, after a quick lunch of BLT’s Creed keyed in Butch’s number, put the phone on speaker and placed it on the table between him and Nate.
Kender answered on the second ring. “Kender’s Garage.”
“Mr. Kender?” Nate asked.
“Speakin’. What can I do you for?” he asked and then chuckled as if no one had ever heard that joke before.
“My name is Nate Palmer. I’m writing a book on the disappearance of my aunt, Tammy Palmer,” Nate said, the lie coming to him easily.
“Okay but I don’t see how I can help you with that,” Butch said, suddenly, not nearly as friendly as he had sounded before.
“I just want to get some insight into her personality. You and she were dating at the time of her disappearance correct?” Nate asked.
Butch took a deep breath. “We’d broken up by then.”
“Really? I thought-“
“Well, you thought wrong. I was already datin’ Milly by that time.”
“So that’s why your car was over on Delaware Street that night,” Nate said aloud, as if he was thinking.
“Yep. I didn’t even know Tammy was at the Petersen’s. And if I had it wouldn’t have made no difference.”
“Why is that?”
“I told you. We’d broke up the day before.”
Creed and Nate exchanged glances. So that might explain why no one knew about the breakup. Explained why everyone else thought they were still a couple.
“Can I ask why you broke up?” Nate asked.
Butch took a long time to answer that one. In the background they could hear male voices, air tools working furiously and the sound of an engine starting. “She told me she liked someone else better than me.”
“So she was interested in someone else?” Nate asked.
“Yeah.”
“Did that bother you?” Nate asked.
Creed knew Nate was pushing his luck but he kept quiet.
“Listen, I’m gonna level with you, pal. Tammy was different, you know. She acted all prim and proper when we were together but now I know why. Turns out, she didn’t like guys at all,” Butch finally said.
“You mean-”
“Yeah, she liked girls. I think she was really hot on that friend of hers. I think her name was Kathy something or other. If you ask me, that’s who you should be talking to,” Butch finished in a rush. “You know how those kind of people are. I’m gonna have to hang up now. I’ve got a business to run.”
“I understand,” Nate said. “Thank you for talking to me.”
“Happy to oblige,” Butch said and ended the call.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, looking at the phone.
“Those kind of people?” Creed repeated.
“Yeah, you know,” Nate said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Deviants.”
Both of them burst into laughter.
They were still laughing when the phone rang. Both men jumped and Nate checked the Caller ID.
“Dr. Petersen,” he said, looking confused.
“Maybe he thought of something else he needed to tell you,” Creed guessed.
“Maybe,” Nate said, tapping the screen. “Hello.”
“Is this Nate Palmer?” They exchanged surprised glances when an elderly woman’s voice came through the speakers.
“Yes, ma’am,” Nate answered.
“Thank goodness you answered. I don’t have much time to talk. Eli is due home any moment,” she said.
Creed thought she sounded terrified. He gave Nate a concerned look.
“Did you have something you needed to tell me, Mrs. Petersen?”
“Yes,” she said. “It’s about that missing girl, Tammy and all of the- All of the bad things that happened back then..”
“She was my aunt,” Nate said.
“I know you’re asking questions, reopening the case and I know you’ve talked to my husband,” she continued.
“Yes, ma’am,” Nate said, looking confused.
She took a deep breath. “Eli wasn’t with me all night at the banquet like I said he was.”
Their eyes met. Creed was speechless and Nate looked as if he’d been blindsided.
“Um, he wasn’t.”
“No. He disappeared for a short time. He told me he had to have a little meeting with the mayor before they gave out the award.”
“How long was he gone?” Nate asked.
She hesitated. “I can’t remember,” she finally said.
Creed had already decided it would have taken more than an hour for Dr. Petersen to get to his house, kill Tammy and then return to the banquet.
“And the accusations from those other girls about Eli. None of them were true,” she continued. “He’s always been an upstanding man of honor.”
“Mrs. Petersen, why are you telling me this?” Nate asked, voicing Creed’s thoughts as if he’d read his mind.
“I’m afraid you’re going to find out sooner or later,” she said. Her voice shook more than before and she sounded near tears. “You see, Eli was the mayor’s doctor. Mayor McKenzie had several psychological disorders and Eli always gave him a special shot, some special medication before he had to appear in public.”
“And that’s why he disappeared?” Nate asked.
“Yes to meet privately with the mayor. He did not hurt that girl.”
“Do you have any idea who did?” Nate asked.
“I have no idea,” Mrs. Petersen said, her voice growing weaker.
Nate was silent a few minutes and Creed had been around him enough to know that he was giving her time to say something else.
“Good-bye, Mr. Palmer. Please don’t call us again,” she said.
The line went dead.
Creed and Nate just stood there for a moment staring at each other.
“What do you make of that?” Creed asked as they began walking again.
“I have no idea,” Nate said. “She sounded credible enough but-“
Creed thought about that for a moment. She didn’t sound like his mother did when she was confused or unsure of who she was talking to. His mother sounded much more sure of herself. Mrs. Petersen sounded as if she was almost scared to talk about it even after all of these years.. As if, maybe she thought if she said it aloud, it would be true.
“What do you know about Mayor McKenzie?” Nate asked.
“I believe he’s dead,” Creed said.
“What kind of special medicine would the doctor have given him?” Nate wondered aloud.
“I don’t know much ab
out medications for psychological disorders,” Creed confessed.
Twenty-Seven: Bill Adams
To work off some steam and help him get some of his thoughts in order, Nate went upstairs and began packing some of his father’s books into boxes.
“Need some help,” Creed asked, coming into the room sometime later.
“Sure, see if you can scout out some more empty boxes, if you don’t mind,” Nate said.
“Will do,” Creed said and disappeared.
Nate took a slow, calming breath. They’d talked to almost everyone on their list and were still no closer to a conclusion than when they started. To him, at that moment, most any one of them could have been the reason for Tammy’s disappearance. Dr. Petersen had disappeared during the banquet, supposedly to meet with the mayor. Butch Kender was on the same street but he was visiting Mildred Skinner. Kenny had pictures of Tammy and knew a lot more than everyone thought he did. The only thing that set off alarm bells was the fact that Kenny saw Bill Adams, or at least his car, in front of the Petersen’s that night.
That had to be the key but Adams said he was with Charles that evening and Charles said the same thing.
Creed returned with several empty boxes.
“Where did you find these?” Nate asked, surprised.
“I managed to consolidate several boxes that were only about half full up in the attic,” he explained.
“Good idea.”
“A lot of those boxes are almost empty,” Creed said. “This job might not be as difficult as we first imagined.”
“I don’t know, Creed. There’s an awful lot of stuff in this house,” Nate said, the task at hand threatening to overwhelm him.
“We can do it,” Creed said. “It’ll just take some hard work and we’ll be able to concentrate more once we settle this thing with Tammy.”
“You’re right,” Nate said, smiling at Creed’s optimism. “We’ve only been at this a few days.”
“And we only have one more person to talk to, finish out the notes and see if we can get some kind of closure on the subject,” Creed added.
Nate finished filling the box he was balancing on the edge of the bed, crisscrossed the flaps over the top and sat it on the floor. Then he stood, dusted off his hands and grinned at Creed.
“See, we’ve already emptied most of the shelves in here just this morning,” Creed said, grinning back at Nate.
“I’m ready for a break,” Nate said. “Let’s take a walk and see if we can talk to Mr. Adams.”
“Good idea,” Creed said. “Should we call first?”
Nate shook his head. “Let’s surprise him.”
They both washed the dust off of their hands in the kitchen sink, grabbed a bottle of water and headed out the door. Bill Adams lived a few doors down but this was an older part of town the homes were all on big lots so his house was almost to the next corner. When they turned onto the sidewalk, shoulder to shoulder, the back of their hands brushed against each other. Nate had the overwhelming urge to catch Creed’s hand in his. He thought about the day they had held hands when they went to visit his dad. Back then, he might have been just playing. Now, holding Creed’s hand seemed the most natural thing in the world.
As they walked, Nate went over what he knew of Bill Adams. The man had joined the military right out of high school and spent most of his adult life serving his country. When his parents died, he inherited the family home and moved into the house when he retired. As far as Nate could find, he’d never been married. And from what he’d seen since he’d been back in Lost Creek, Adams spent his time just like he did when he was a teenager, drinking beer, working on cars and hanging out with his friends.
As they approached the Adams house, Nate’s disappointment grew. All he could see was an old blue Thunderbird convertible parked in the driveway with the hood up. Adams’ latest project.
“Doesn’t look like he’s home,” Creed said, stopping at the end of the driveway.
“Maybe he’s inside or out back,” Nate suggested, not wanting to give up too easily. He started toward the wide front porch.
Creed followed and stood behind Nate as he knocked.
No answer.
They were just about to leave, when Adams appeared just outside his open garage door. “Can I help you?” he asked, wiping his hands on a blue shop towel. And then he looked surprised. “Creed Autry? Is that you?”
“Why yessir, it is,” Creed said, hurrying down the steps, extending his hand.
“I haven’t seen you for a while,” Adams said, his smile genuine. “How’s your mama?”
“She’s hanging in there,” Creed said.
“Well, give her my best, would ya?”
“I will,” Creed said. “You remember Nate Palmer, don’t you?”
“Yes. You look so much like your dad,” Adams said as he and Nate shook hands. “Aren’t you working over in Charlotte at a big newspaper there?”
“Yes,” Nate said. He wasn’t about to try to explain that he was no longer employed. “Grandpa left the house to Dad and Dad asked me to clean it up and get it ready to sell. So, here I am.”
“Your Grandpa was a good man,” Adams said. “I spent a lot of time in that house growing up.”
“You and half the neighborhood kids from what I understand,” Nate said.
“True.”
“You and Charles were best friends, correct?” Creed asked.
He nodded and looked away. “He’s pretty bad off from what I hear.”
“He is,” Nate said. “Hospice has been called in. They’ve just given him weeks to live.”
Adams shook his head, the silver hair curling over his forehead. “I should go see him.”
“Probably a good idea,” Nate said. “Sooner rather than later.”
“I just hate seeing him like that, you know,” Adams attempted to explain. “It was either all or nothing with him. He was all in or all out and that was whether it was football or girls.”
Nate and Creed nodded. Nate had already decided to just let Adams talk and only ask questions when he needed to clarify something. Nate chuckled. “I understand he was quite the lady’s man back in school.”
Bill smiled, a faraway look in his eyes. “He was, indeed. Girls just couldn’t resist him and I can’t blame them. He was a good looking guy. Big, muscular, athletic. He and Kender made quite a team both on and off the football field, if you know what I mean.”
Bill grinned and winked.
Both men nodded again and Nate finally decided to bring the subject around to the night Tammy disappeared.
“I’m working on a little project myself,” Nate said, nodding at the car in the driveway.
“A car?” Adams asked, sounding interested.
“No, I’m writing a book about the family,” Nate said and took a step backwards when Adams lit a cigarette, the smoke coiling above his head and then disappearing in the early afternoon breeze.
“Gonna write about your Grandma and all the crazy stuff she got into?” Adams asked.
“What kind of crazy stuff?” Creed asked.
“She really got into that séance stuff after Tammy-“ Adams came to an abrupt halt. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have brought that up.”
“No, it’s fine, really,” Nate assured him.
Adams nodded, took a drag on his cigarette and squinted at them through the smoke.
“I was wondering if you had any thoughts on the matter.”
“You mean the woowoo stuff?” Adams asked and then immediately held up one hand. “No disrespect meant.”
“I understand,” Nate said. “But if you know anything-”
“Just that she had seances up in that attic room trying to contact Tammy. One night me and Charles slipped up there when she was gone. She had something like an altar with pictures of Tammy and candles and such. It was creepy.”
“We’ve been told she contacted psychics and such,” Creed said.
Adams shrugged. “It was pretty sad really.
She was just so desperate to know what happened to Tammy. It was the not knowing that took its toll on the whole family.”
“What do you remember about the night she disappeared?” Nate asked.
Adams thought for a moment. “It was summer. Charlie and I were here working on his car all evening. Well, I was working on his car. He was drinking beer and talking about girls.”
“Not quite the mechanic you seem to be,” Nate said with a smile.
“Not even close,” Adams said. “Oh, he was great to go get things when I needed them but I did most of the work.”
“So you were working on his car-“ Creed prompted.
“Yeah and he was right here with me all night except when he took my car to make a beer run,” Adams said.
“You were driving a red Camaro at that time, right?” Nate asked, thinking of what Kenny had told them.
“Yeah. Man, I loved that car,” Adams said, looking wistful.
“And you let Charles drive it that night?”
“Yeah. And he was gone way longer than he should have been.”
Nate had a dozen questions but something made him keep quiet and let the man talk.
“Where did he go?”
Adams shrugged. “Said he went over to Mildred Skinner’s house and took her for a ride. He was just trying to show off for her. It didn’t do him any good. She was really hung up on Kender. Married him right after that.”
Nate waited to see if he added anything more.
“Anyway, the cops were all over the place after they realized Tammy was missing, questioning everyone. Luckily, Charlie and I were each other’s alibis so they pretty much left us alone,” Adams said.
Nate nodded.
“Charlie hunted for her for a long time. Never found a thing.”
“What do you think happened to her?”
Again the shrug and he kept his eyes on the toes of his boots. “I don’t think she ran away like the cops said. But I can’t imagine who would have killed-“
“No one else can either,” Nate assured him.
They made small talk for a while longer but it appeared that Adams had no more information. Creed and Nate thanked him for his time and started back up the street toward the Palmer house.
