Madison Johns - Agnes Barton 04 - Trouble in Tawas

by Madison Johns

When we were back in the hallway I said, “I sure hope we get more useful information from the other tenants.”

  “Alex is a brick short of a full load,” Eleanor spat. “It’s a good thing you told him about the ‘old’ thing. I was about to knock his teeth down his throat.

  “I don’t know why you get so sensitive. We are old.”

  “I know that. I just don’t like how he said it.”

  I knocked on the door across the hall next. The door opened a crack and one green eye was visible.

  “We’re private investigators. We’re here to ask you some questions about Raul.”

  A woman opened the door—at least I thought it was a woman. Her black hair was severely pulled back into a ponytail, revealing deep lines in her brow. Bulging biceps and triceps were displayed as she wore a green tank top that was tucked into her camouflage pants. Her feet were concealed in what looked to be army issue combat boots.

  “Come inside ladies.”

  We came in and two German Shepards stood at attention, barking. I hugged El tightly as I focused on their rows of sharp canine teeth!

  “Shut your yaps,” the woman commanded the dogs.

  “Wh-What cute dogs. What are their names?” El asked.

  She pointed to the black Shepard. “His name is Bite Your Junk Off and the other one is Fifi.”

  I swallowed hard. “How sweet. And your name is?”

  “Trish Gunner reporting for duty.”

  I straightened and asked, “Military gal are you?”

  “I was a ranger and I’m anything but a gal. I’m a toned killing machine if my country calls.”

  “So you’re still in the service, then?”

  “Nope. I didn’t pass the most recent psychological review. They discharged me, the bastards!”

  It was then that I saw the weapons affixed to the walls of the living room. Rifles, handguns, and grenades! “I hope those grenades aren’t live,” I said.

  “No. I’m not crazy you know.”

  No I didn’t know. I really didn’t. Tread lightly Agnes, is all I could think. “We don’t mean to bother you. We were just wondering if you knew Raul Perez. He fell down the stairs the other day.”

  “It’s about time someone did the deed,” she sneered.

  “Why is that?”

  “I don’t much care for men, and don’t like it when one bothers me.”

  “Bothering you how?” asked El.

  “Trying to sweet talk me in the parking lot. Offering to carry my groceries to my apartment. Do you think I look like I need anyone’s help?”

  “N-No of course not, but men are just like that sometimes. It doesn’t make him a bad guy unless he did something else to you,” I said.

  “No. I only had contact with him a few times, and I told him to screw off both times.”

  “No reason to wish the man harm.”

  Trish glanced at the clock on the wall. “Is that all? I’m late for an appointment.”

  “Just one more question. Did the police come here and ask you any questions about Raul?”

  “Yes, but I just told them I never met the man. It’s not like I pushed the man to his death.”

  I bit my lip. “Thanks Trish,” I said, making way for the door.

  It wasn’t until the door closed that I breathed a sigh of relief. “That girl had me about shitting my pants,” I told El.

  “I know, me too. She didn’t sound too sad to hear Raul was gone.”

  “She might just be a man hater.”

  “Or lesbian,” El suggested.

  “No reason to think that.”

  “Well, did you see her? I thought she was a man.”

  We wandered to the next door and I was almost worried what I might find behind door number three. El rapped this time around and a red faced stout man with a receding hairline answered the door. “It’s about time you got here,” he said as he pulled us both inside.

  “Oh, you were expecting us?” I asked.

  “I saw another UFO last night. I can’t live through another alien abduction, I tell you. What branch of the government do you work for?” he asked us.

  “The Air Force,” El said with a shrug.

  I rolled my eyes and smiled. “Can we get your name, for the record?”

  “Rob Glasier. I hope you can do something about those aliens. I don’t want to be probed again!”

  “I see. We were wondering though, about Raul Perez. He fell to his death down the stairs a few days ago,” I informed him. “He lived downstairs.”

  Rob bit his nails. “Oh shit. They got him good. I tried to warn him.”

  “Have you seen anyone lurking about, possibly in the parking lot?”

  “The aliens take human form all the time. They do that to trick us. Three nights ago Raul was arguing with an alien in human form, a tall one.”

  “How can you be sure he was an alien?” El asked curiously.

  “Because his eyes were red. They can’t change the color of their eyes even in human form.”

  “If the aliens wanted to abduct him, how come he ended up at the bottom on the stairs?” I asked.

  “They might have decided he wasn’t a worthy specimen.”

  “What kind of spaceship did they arrive on?” El asked.

  “It looked like a Hummer, but it could fly. I saw it hover over the garden before it took off like a rocket.”

  “Have you ever discussed aliens with Raul before?”

  “Of course I did, but he wouldn’t believe me.” And without batting an eyelash, he added, “The other tenants think I’m nut.”

  Not much of a stretch. I think he’s nuts too.

  “We’ll monitor the situation, and don’t worry, we won’t let the aliens get you,” El said.

  Rob glanced at the clock and exclaimed. “It’s almost time for the UFO Files. Do you want to watch them with me?”

  I walked to the door. “Thanks, but we are needed back at the base.”

  “I thought they closed the Air Force Base in Oscoda?”

  “That’s what everyone thinks,” I said with a wink as we left.

  When we in the hallway I couldn’t hold it back any longer. I leaned into El in a fit of laughter. “Can you believe that guy?”

  “I-I know,” El snickered. “Alien abduction my rump roast.”

  We stared at the last door, neither of us wanting to knock, but I finally did. It took a good deal of pounding before the door opened. An old lady with white hair answered the door, her sunken brown eyes looked up at me expectedly. Her mouth turned down into a frown. “You didn’t have to pound my dang door down, dear,” she said. “It just takes us old folks time to get to the door.”

  “I didn’t mean to. We’re here investigating the death of Raul Perez. He lives—”

  “I’m perfectly aware of who Raul is and what he does for a living. It’s no wonder he died like that. It was awful the way he ordered Hal around like that all the time. These walls are mighty thin you know.”

  “How long have you lived here?”

  She counted on her fingers and then answered. “Twelve long months.”

  “How on earth do you manage those stairs?”

  “Well, I don’t. I have been here ever since that daughter of mine brought me here.”

  Oh how sad. That made me mad enough to spit nails. “How do you buy food?”

  “I don’t. Meals on Wheels brings me meals, and that lovely kid Alex next door runs errands for me.”

  “When you say you knew what Raul did for a living, you mean caring for Hal, right?”

  “Among other things. He had a strange man visiting him, but he never came inside. They met in the parking lot. He drove one of those military vehicles. I can’t remember what they call them.”

  “A Hummer?” I asked.

  “That’s it, dear. They’re up to no good is all I know. What kind of men just sit chatting in a parking lot?”

  “If you never left your room, how do you know what kind of vehicle he drove?”

/>   She opened the door wider and led us inside, walking to a large window where you could see the parking lot clearly, with proper eyewear that is. Suddenly cats, like five of them of various colors and sizes, surrounded us. “Wow, you certainly like cats,” I said. “I have one myself.”

  “They keep me company.”

  “I have a dog,” Eleanor said. “A weenie dog.”

  “How sweet. Dogs are okay, but I’ve always been more of a cat person.”

  I cleared my thought and changed the subject. “Was Raul mean to Hal Peterson?”

  She ran her fingers through her curls. “He did raise his voice at the old man. He deserves to be treated with some dignity.”

  “I see. Can you think about anything else Raul was doing that might be of interest?”

  “No, but I’ll be sure to call you if I can think of anything.”

  “And your name is?”

  “Just call me Bessie,” she said with a smile.

  We left and I promised to come back for a visit sometime.

  Once we were back in the car I went off. “What kind of daughter would just leave her mother in some apartment where there are stairs like that? It makes me so angry!”

  “I agree, Agnes. I wonder if we can help the old girl out.”

  “Like how?”

  “I don’t know. Report her daughter to the authorities.”

  “El, there isn’t any law against abandoning your elderly mother or dumping her in a nursing home, but there should be.”

  “Besides Bessie, the rest of the tenants are plumb crazy in my opinion.”

  “And it seems like both the alien freak and Bessie both saw a Hummer in the parking lot.”

  “At least both of them didn’t see it hovering over the garden,” El said with a smirk.

  Chapter Nine Ten

  El and I piled back in the station wagon and drove back towards US 23. “Trish’s comment about Raul is bothersome.”

  “Why would she say she wasn’t the one who pushed him down the stairs. It makes me wonder if the opposite is true.”

  “I wonder if she was irritated enough by him to have done the deed. It just seems it should take more than that.”

  “True, Aggie. Maybe we should jot her name on the board.”

  “What board?”

  “You should buy one of those dry erase boards so we can write suspects names and such. That’s what they do on CSI.”

  “Great idea. I also picked up a laptop so we can do Internet searches.”

  “Wow, we’re real investigators now.”

  ***

  Hours later we were back at El’s with a magnetic white board we had affixed to the living room wall. I scribbled Raul’s name at the top under the header, ‘Victims’.

  “Aggie, why on earth did you write victims?”

  I raised a brow. “Since when have we ever been on a case where we only have one victim?”

  “You’re right. Forget I asked.”

  On the left side of the board I wrote ‘Suspects’ and next to that ‘Possible Motives’.

  “Add Hal’s name first, Aggie.”

  “We’re trying to clear his name, remember?”

  “Yes, but until we do, he’s still a suspect,” El insisted.

  I nodded and wrote Hal Peterson, and under motives I wrote: credit card fraud.

  “So you think Hal wanted Raul dead so he could steal his credit card?” Eleanor asked.

  “That’s why I don’t think Hal did it. Sure people might think he did it to cover up the theft of the credit card, but how long could you cover up the fact you used a dead man’s card?”

  “Too bad Trooper Sales found that card, otherwise they would be hard pressed to prove that one.”

  “I still think Hal’s name would have come up. It’s better to just let it be out in the open.”

  “I just hope we aren’t implicated is all.”

  “We only just found out. I can’t see a charge like that sticking.” I paused, wanting to move this forward. “Let’s finish up with Hal so we can move on. He was seen arguing with Raul and some might argue that he wanted his freedom. That maybe if Raul was out of the picture Hal would be free to live his life the way he chose.”

  “I don’t agree with you there, Aggie. Without Raul, Hal might be sent back to the nursing home.”

  “True, another good reason why Hal didn’t do this.”

  “Plus, how can they prove Hal did it?”

  “Exactly, I’m sure they’ll use a timeline, but it’s circumstantial evidence if you ask me.

  “Mildred was also there,” El reminded me.

  I added Mildred Winfree under Hal’s name. I had mixed feelings about her. “She was there too, but I don’t see any motive she might have.” I put a question mark under motive for Mildred.

  I next added Trish Gunner’s name as a suspect. “She made an odd statement and she had a possible motive because Raul had bothered her in the past.”

  “So she says. I’m just not sure it’s enough to want a man dead.”

  I added ‘Alien’ next.

  Eleanor burst out laughing. “You can’t be serious? You really think an alien did it?”

  “No, but that’s what Rob Glasier believed.”

  “He’s also fruity as a fruit bat.”

  I added Rob Glasier’s name with a big question mark under motive. “He lives there so I think he belongs on the board.”

  “I doubt he did it though,” El said. “How about Alex, then? He knew him too and he lived there so—”

  “He never made any weird statements about Raul.”

  “No, but how did he know about Raul if the police never spoke to him?”

  “We told him, remember?”

  “Yes, but still, put his name up.”

  I added Alex’s name and under him I added Bessie, expecting El to interject.

  “What did Bessie do?”

  “She wasn’t surprised Raul died that way for one. That’s an odd statement. She also believed that he was mean to Hal so that might be her motive.”

  “That frail woman. She barely walked to the door. You saw her, Aggie.”

  “Look, I know none of these people are viable suspects, but we have to start somewhere.” I next wrote down, ‘mystery man in Hummer’.

  “Or alien,” El laughed.

  I next added the mystery man we saw at Fuzzy’s. “I wonder if he was the same man in the Hummer?”

  “But he drove a black sedan, remember?”

  “True, but maybe he switched vehicles.”

  “You’re fishing here, Aggie. We have no reason to believe that both men are one and the same.”

  I nodded and put another big question mark under the motive column. “I guess that’s all we have.”

  “It’s not much to go on,” El said. “How on earth are we gonna find the man we met at Fuzzy’s or the man in the Hummer? Maybe you should ask Sheriff Peterson if he could do a background check on our suspects.”

  “I can’t ask him and he can’t do that. They watch things like that. He’s not on the case and a deputy in Saginaw got into trouble for doing unauthorized checks that were not related to his job.”

  “Plus he’s running for sheriff.”

  I stretched. “I’m hungry. How about lunch at Hidden Cove?”

  “Sounds great!”

  We left, and when we walked into Hidden Cove that Clay Barry was there with his God-awful mother. El and I squeezed through the round tables that were packed tighter than I remembered as we made for the mahogany bar. I glared at the leather swivel barstools. They were too high for either of us to sit in. It made my hip hurt just thinking about it!

  I flagged manager Jimmy Baxter down, who looked more rattled than usual. He swiped his nearly all wet dark hair back. “Hello Agnes and Eleanor,” he greeted us. “What brings you ladies in today?”

  “Lunch and a few questions.”

  “Of course. Let’s chat at a table.”

  “Did you add more tables in here?
”

  “I sure did. What with the upcoming election it’s been busier than usual.”

  We wandered to a table against the wall and I sighed as I slipped into the padded leather chair. This is the busiest pub near East Tawas. It was actually situated between Tawas and Tadium. “What I was wondering was, if you know if anyone in town was asking about Raul?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “Any strangers in town that you can recall?”

  “Are you kidding me? We have so many tourists coming and going in here that I can’t keep track.”

  I knew it was a stupid question. “Have you noticed any Hummers driving through town?”

  He scratched his head. “Sorry, no.”

  “Did you know Raul Perez?”

  “Not personally. He came in here a few times with Hal Peterson, but I never met him. Of course everyone knows ole Hal. He’s not the type you’d forget.”

  “Why is that?”

  “He’s so loud and spouting off about anything that comes to mind.”

  “He’s definitely like that.”

  “How was he getting along with Raul?” Eleanor asked.

  “They were arguing about Hal wanting to go to the casino, but I overheard Raul tell him it wasn’t going to happen.”

  I leaned forward. “When was that?”

  “Last week. Is it true Raul died?”

  “Who told you that?”

  “The police haven’t officially released information yet, but they said on the news that they are investigating a local death, and Dorothy Alton let it slip when she was in here earlier. You can’t keep anything a secret for long in a small town.”

  And how right he was. “Did they happen to say on the news if it was a homicide or not?”

  “Suspicious death was how they put it.”

  “I see. I’d rather not say if it was Raul.”

  “It has to be or you wouldn’t be here asking question about him. I hope it wasn’t a homicide. I hate the thought of another dead body showing up this week.”

  “What? Another dead body… this week?”

  “Yes, earlier they found a body of a woman at the beach.”

  “Did she drown? Wash to shore?”

  “I don’t know. I just heard it is all. It wasn’t on the news so— ”

  El and I scrambled up and headed for the door. We hopped into the wagon and off we went. We arrived at the beach minutes later and police tape was across the parking lot of the public beach. I parked and we made our way under the police tape, but we only took a few more steps before Trooper Sales stopped us.