Murder Welcomes You to Buxley

by Maddie Cochere

  “What about You’ve Got Mail?” Keith asked.

  “Don’t wait for me,” I said as I rushed for the door.

  Behind me, I heard Keith say, “Hey, this feels really warm.”

  I hated leaving a fun evening behind, but I felt in my bones that Susan was in danger. Even if she wasn’t, the chances of Duck getting the phone away from her were probably exceptionally good. If I had an opportunity to stop him from getting away with the phone, I would take it.

  I punched Glenn’s number on my phone. It went right to voice mail. With Sergeant Rorski in the hospital, and Glenn unavailable, I didn’t want to contact anyone else in the police department. Officer Collins and I had issues with each other, and I couldn’t risk his arresting me if I got between him and Duck.

  I drove as fast as I dared to the hotel. The parking lot was cleared of ice and snow better than most, but I still had to be cautious running to the entrance.

  The hotel clerk looked up as I dashed to the counter and gripped the edge. “Susan Raines. I need her room number – fast.”

  “I’m sorry,” the clerk said. “We don’t give out room numbers.”

  “It’s a matter of life and death. Her death. And if she dies, I’ll have you put in jail so fast as an accessory to murder, you won’t know what hit you. If you have plans for Valentine’s Day, you can kiss them goodbye, because you’ll be in jail for a long time.” I took a second to take a breath before raising my voice. “What’s her room number?”

  “She’s in four-ten,” the clerk said.

  I ran to the elevator and pushed four. I pushed it again, and again, and again. I looked around for stairs, but the doors finally opened. I jumped in and punched the button for the fourth floor. I was starting to feel it was too late, and what could I do anyway? I didn’t have a gun. I really needed a gun.

  The elevator doors opened, and I ran down the hall. Of course, her room had to be at the end. I didn’t know if it was a good thing or not when I saw the door to her room was open.

  I stopped for a moment to collect myself. My heart was racing. I held my breath as I tiptoed into the room just far enough to peek around the corner of the bathroom for a clear view of the bed. Duck was on top of Susan with a rope around her neck. She was putting up a good fight, but it was obvious she was no match for him and wouldn’t last long.

  I didn’t know what to do. If I had a gun, I could have shot him. He was a big enough target. I tiptoed back to the door and held it steady with one hand. I used my foot to kick it as hard as I could against the wall. There wasn’t a rubber stopper, and the noise was satisfactorily loud. I did my best Sergeant Rorski impersonation and yelled in a deep voice, “Hey, dirtbag. You’re under arrest.”

  Duck didn’t falter when he saw it was me at the door. He shoved his forearm into my chest and knocked me back against the wall as he ran past and down the hallway.

  I rushed in to check on Susan. She was alive. She had fallen onto the floor and was pulling herself up onto the bed. I ran down the hallway after Duck and, I presumed, the cell phone.

  I crashed through the stairwell door and ran as fast as I dared down to the lobby. Duck was just pulling out of the parking lot when I burst through the front doors.

  My heart felt like it was going to explode – partly from adrenaline and partly from still being out of shape. It was always in the back of my mind that I wasn’t in good enough shape for this job. I would never be able to keep up with someone on foot.

  I jumped in my car and tore out after Duck. He had turned at the first light and was heading downtown. My only hope to catch up with him was if he hadn’t expected me to follow him in the first place.

  Luck was with me as I hit all green lights for several blocks. I didn’t see Duck until the vehicles in front of me turned off the street, and I was directly behind him at a red light.

  There was nowhere to turn. No way to hide. It only took a few seconds for him to see it was me behind him under the bright street lights.

  He hit the gas the minute the light turned green. His motorcycle was fast, but I was fast enough to keep him in sight as he crested the hill that would take him down past the remains of the flea market.

  As soon as I was over the hill, I saw orange cones in the street to keep people from driving into the area. Duck had no trouble weaving between the cones, but I clipped two of them as I barreled through, sending them rolling off to the side of the road.

  It would have been nice to have a warning sign posted that water in the roadway from the fire trucks the night before had frozen during the day and turned the stretch of road directly in front of the flea market into a skating rink.

  I saw Duck brake, but he was too late and lost control of the motorcycle. He flopped the bike and slid with it across the ice before tumbling over several times when he hit dry pavement.

  I braked as soon as I saw what was happening to Duck, but my squishy brakes went all the way to the floor. I pumped them several times, but by the time they grabbed, I had already hit the ice. I was helpless to control the wild skid that followed, and although the brakes grabbed again when I was over the ice floe, there wasn’t enough time to stop.

  I was horrified when I ran over Duck.

  I couldn’t move. I strained to hear him, but he wasn’t screaming, swearing, or making any noise. I killed him. I would be in jail tonight for vehicular manslaughter. My mind felt as though it had suddenly gone dark.

  My car door was thrown open.

  “Get out of the car, Jo,” Glenn said.

  I was confused. Why was Glenn here? Why was he yelling at me? I looked at him with my brows furrowed.

  He gently grabbed my arm. “Jo, honey, put the car in park and give me the keys. Don’t try to move it.”

  I did as he said. He still had a grip on my arm and pulled slightly. “Come on, Jo. Get out of the car.”

  I stood, and he pulled me close in a bear hug. He whispered in my ear, “It’s going to be all right. We saw the whole thing. It wasn’t your fault. Emergency is on the way.”

  I pulled back and looked at him. “Did I kill him?”

  “No, of course not,” he said. “You might have broken one or two of his legs, but you didn’t kill him.”

  The momentary black fog surrounding my brain began to lift. Glenn tried to keep me from walking in front of my car, but I had to see for myself if Duck was dead or alive.

  His feet were sticking out at an angle under the right front edge of my car. I continued walking to the other side and saw the newly hired officer on the ground monitoring Duck’s vital signs. Sirens sounded in the distance.

  Somewhere deep within me, hysterical laughter started to bubble up. I didn’t dare let it surface. A small crowd was gathering at the convenient store, and I simply couldn’t be caught laughing over a man who might be dying - a man I just ran over with my car.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and sent a text to Jackie that said nothing more than 911 flea market.

  Glenn pulled me away from the car to sit on the same bench Arnie and I had sat on the night before.

  “Can you talk?” he asked. “That’s Duck Hutton, isn’t it?”

  Glenn and his partner had no idea if Duck had a neck injury, so they weren’t able to remove his helmet. I nodded my head and said, “Yes. It’s Duck. He just tried to strangle Susan at her hotel. I chased him, and we ended up here.”

  Glenn looked surprised. “He actually tried to kill Susan? Are you sure?”

  My mind was clear now, and I said with fervor, “I caught him in the act, and if I would have had a gun, we wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.”

  “Why do you think he was trying to kill Susan?” he asked.

  “I’m not entirely certain why, but he went there because he knew she had some of Reggie’s things. Susan found Duck’s phone in Reggie’s coat tonight, so I knew there would be trouble when he got there. I had planned to talk to you about all of this later tonight, but that cell phone must have enough information a
bout his criminal activity that he killed Reggie trying to get it back.”

  “No he didn’t, Jo. He has a solid alibi.”

  “He doesn’t, and I’ll prove it later. You need to keep an eye on him and check his clothing for the phone as soon as possible. Don’t let anyone at the hospital take it.”

  “All right,” he said. “I’ll look for it.” He looked over at Duck. “As soon as he’s moved from under your car, I want you to get in and drive right home. Do you think your brakes will hold out until you get there, or would you rather get a ride and have the car towed?”

  “The brakes are good enough. I just have to remember to pump them. I’ll get them fixed Monday morning.”

  “I don’t want you spending the rest of the evening writing a statement at the station. It can wait until Monday, too. I’ll have someone check on Susan to be sure she’s ok, so don’t worry about going back to the hotel.” He paused for a moment before saying, “I’m still planning on coming over when I get off tonight if that’s ok with you.”

  I nodded my yes. “How did you and the new guy see what happened?”

  “The new guy is Officer Winnie,” he said. “Bill Winnie.”

  I smiled and said, “That’s unfortunate.”

  He stifled a laugh. “We were coming out of the convenient store with coffee and donuts.”

  “You are such a cliché,” I said.

  He smiled again, and I caught a glimpse of his dimple. What a long, miserable day this had been so far. I couldn’t wait until later when I could see his dimpled smile on full display.

  “Hey,” he said indignantly. “We were on our break, and this convenient store has the best donuts in town. We had just come out when we heard the motorcycle crest the hill and come racing down the street. Winnie bet me five bucks the guy would wipe out on the ice. Then you came over the hill, and when I saw your brake lights, but you weren’t slowing down, I knew you were in trouble. Duck dumped the bike and did a few somersaults, and then you were right there to run him over and make sure he didn’t go anywhere.”

  I sighed. “All I could think was that I killed him, and I’d be going to jail tonight.”

  Several police cars and two EMT units arrived. Jackie wasn’t but a minute behind them.

  Glenn held my hands in his for a moment before handing my keys back to me. “I have to get to work. It won’t be long before they have Duck pulled out and on his way to the hospital. You go right home, and I’ll see you later.”

  “What about the phone?” I asked.

  “I’ll ride with him to the hospital. I’ll try to get my hands on it while we’re in transit. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

  I watched him walk over to talk with one of the members of the emergency team. The scene seemed much calmer without Sergeant Rorski at the helm. No one was barking orders, and everyone seemed to know instinctively what to do. I felt a bit of pride as it was clear Glenn was taking charge in the sergeant’s absence.

  Jackie dashed over just long enough to get my version of what happened. I made sure to tell her about Susan and the phone and told her to check with Glenn later to find out what was on it.

  A few moments later, Duck was clear of the car and on his way to the hospital. Jackie pulled out directly behind the EMT unit.

  I did as Glenn said and climbed into my car and headed for home. I was too wired to actually go to my home, so I went to Pepper’s instead.

  Without bothering to knock, I let myself in. Pepper was on the sofa - crying. Buck was sound asleep beside her and snoring loud enough to make a lumberjack proud. The carpet around the sofa and coffee table was littered with crumbs and popcorn. Keith and Kelly were no longer in the room.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked.

  “I always cry at the end of this movie,” she said.

  The ending credits were rolling on the screen.

  “How long did Buck last?” I asked.

  “Three pigs, five handfuls of popcorn, one brownie, and one beer – about twenty minutes. The kids watched with me for about half an hour before they went up to their rooms to do their own thing. All in all, I’d say it was a successful movie night.”

  I laughed and flopped down into a chair.

  “How was Susan?” she asked. “Was everything all right when you got there?”

  “Duck was in her room choking the life out of her.”

  Pepper’s mouth dropped open and her eyes opened wide. Buck opened one eye and peeked over a sofa pillow at me.

  “Did I hear that right?” he asked. “Duck Hutton tried to kill someone?”

  I slipped off my coat, grabbed a brownie and a cola, and settled back in my chair to give them the details.

  Buck was speechless when he heard I ran over Duck, but Pepper started to giggle.

  “I know!” I told her. “That was my reaction, too.”

  “I’m not laughing because you ran over him,” she said. “I’m laughing because you ran over him.”

  I knew exactly what she meant. The accident was terrible, and no matter how awful I thought Duck was, he didn’t deserve to be run over by a car. I would have shot him with a gun and never given it another thought, but nobody deserved to be run over by a car. It was the fact that I was the one who ran over him that was tickling Pepper’s funny bone. Some of the predicaments I’d gotten myself into since wanting to become a private investigator had been epic.

  We ended up laughing until we cried. Buck said we were deranged and dragged himself off the sofa and up the stairs.

  “I have to go,” I said. “I want to take a shower and be ready for Glenn when he shows up.”

  Pepper went all middle-school on me and made ooh and ahh noises about my date in the middle of the night. I told her to hurry up and run upstairs to her own date before Buck went back to sleep. She laughed and shooed me out of the house.

  I ran across the cul-de-sac. I slid about three feet once I hit my driveway, but I managed to stay upright.

  It was twenty minutes until two when I climbed into bed, freshly showered, dressed in my sexiest nightgown, and wearing a new perfume Pepper had talked me into trying – Hopeless Desire. I hated the name, but the fragrance was heavenly. Glenn would be here within the hour, and I was ready for a couple of wild hours with him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The smell of fresh coffee and bacon, coupled with sunshine streaming in through the windows, woke me. The clock on the nightstand jolted me with its eight o’clock face.

  I scrambled out of bed, slipped into my slippers, grabbed my robe, and raced down the stairs.

  Glenn stood at the stove frying bacon and stirring scrambled eggs.

  “Why didn’t you wake me when you came in?” I asked. My disappointment was loud and clear in my voice.

  “Good morning to you, too,” he said with a smile. He walked over, slipped his arms around my waist, and pulled me close for a kiss. “I did try to wake you. I nibbled your ears, gave you soft kisses, and I may have even touched you inappropriately a few times considering you weren’t awake. I’m sorry, sweetie, you were dead to the world. After what happened last night, I thought it was best to let you sleep.”

  “Thanks for nothing,” I pouted.

  “I’ll make it up to you,” he said. “I promise.”

  He took his broad smile back to the stove to finish making breakfast. I dashed out into the bitter cold to see if I could spot my newspaper and was met with a miracle. For the first time in years, it was on my front porch.

  “Brrr,” I said as I walked back into the kitchen. “Is this freeze ever going to end?”

  “It’s supposed to be above freezing today. I’ll salt your walk and driveway for you. It’ll be a good day to get rid of a lot of the ice around here.”

  I began laughing.

  “What’s so funny?”

  I shoved the newspaper across the counter toward him. Jackie’s article about Duck’s motorcycle accident was front page news. The accompanying photo was of my car with duck’
s feet sticking out. It had been taken at an angle to make it look as though the car was completely on top of him a la the house on the witch in The Wizard of Oz.

  I read the article aloud to him while he made toast and plated our food. Duck had two broken ribs, a broken arm, and one broken leg. Jackie didn’t share any of the details as to why Duck and I had the accident, but she used the incident as a cautionary tale to the residents of Buxley to be wary of the excessive amount of ice still on many walks and in parking lots. I felt sufficiently chastised as she also warned of the dangers of ignoring the orange cones the city workers had placed in several locations around the downtown area.

  Glenn set my breakfast in front of me and refilled my coffee cup before sitting down to his plate.

  I took several bites and asked, “Why does food always taste so much better when someone else makes it?”

  “Someone else always makes your food,” he said.

  “That’s true,” I said with a smile. “I guess this tastes so good because it’s in my house, and it’s not from a box or a bag.”

  He laughed, but he quickly changed the subject.

  “I hope you don’t mind. I took a look in your murder room last night. You have some interesting information in there.”

  I wasn’t sure if I minded or not. This was the first time Glenn had gone into the room without asking permission.

  “I was hoping to discuss some of it with you today,” I said.

  “I already told you I thought you should cut Curt Hendershot loose. His stolen car won’t turn up. And your Johnny Wyler case is closed now that he contacted his mother, right? So that leaves Lois Graham and her cheating husband. No leads on that yet?”

  “Nothing yet, but I’m on him all day tomorrow. At least until six o’clock. That’s my deadline to get proof to her one way or the other.” I waited for him to mention Reggie’s murder, but he didn’t. “Did you look over the information about Reggie Jones? Did you see the log from Mickelson Foods on the night she was murdered? The handwriting on the log doesn’t match Duck’s handwriting.”