Murder Mysteries Series six

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  Back working, Fran said, "I must hurry a little Stacy. I'll give you the overview and later we can fill in the details. Pam the daughter married well, but looks down on her parents through her social highness she thinks she lives in. Her loftiness ideas have made her kind of a laughing stock around town. Word has it that the office barely breaks even at the best of times. Few of our lower social classes, which are many, seek insurance elsewhere. She does well with the small percentage of the higher middle classes and the few rich folks around. Agnes tells me her daughter is always putting her down sitting at the dismal gift shop day after day. Holidays are never a family affair, but she never misses one holiday with her husband's family. And of course, Agnes wanted grandkids; but apparently she is barren."

  "Do you recall any recent bad words between the mother and daughter?"

  She hesitated and said, "Oh my yes. Agnes told me Pam came to see her recently fit to be tied. Somebody had told Pam that Agnes told them that Pam didn't have any kids because she was frigid. Agnes told me she said back to her: 'If the shoe fits wear it.' Then Pam shouts back, 'What about father and his girlfriend that everyone knows about but you?' Well needless to say, Agnes was rocked back on her heels."

  "Is there any truth to the two things you just mentioned Fran?"

  "I don't know about the frigid part, but the girlfriend rumor has not been proven or substantiated by anyone that I know of."

  "Let's move to Brody as I see we're getting close to dinner hour," said Stacy.

  "Brody is a real loser in anybody's book. However, you're interested in anything lately or rather recently I suspect. The latest was his trip to Vegas. His father has had to bail him out many times to gamblers holding his IOU's. But in Vegas he'd taken his father's credit card, ran it up to over $25,000. The card company called Cliff and Cliff told them to go prosecute Brody that he wouldn't honor the expenditure. Agnes told me Brody called her crying his eyes out for help. She paid the debt and that brought on a big family fight."

  Stacy was putting the final touches on the bit of salad when low and behold, in walked her father with a small grin on his fact. He said, "Better late than never."

  "Fran retorted, "In this case you can cut up the main dish of braised pork. Flo has already set the tables and Rory has done your usual job of supervising the operation."

  Rory's face turned beet red and Stacy almost fell over laughing so hard. Even Ray, which was very rare, broke his lips apart laughing. Stacy put the rubber tub of salad into the walk-in.

  Stacy said, "It's nice evening so I'm going for a short walk. I'll be back in awhile."

  By now all knew she would go off by herself to think about the case. In her mind, it was similar to a simple math problem that needs putting the figures in the proper order to arrive at the answer. For Stacy it was the proper order of known things to reveal an avenue of pursuit to the eventual apprehension of the murderer.

  Stacy walked out the front door just as the first diners came in. She said good evening and left to walk out to the bluff area to watch the sun set over the Pacific Ocean. A very usual on-shore breeze put a chill in the late spring evening. Stacy had her Gore-Tex coat to ward off the chill. The rain had stopped and now the sun was trying give off its last gasp of light before sinking into the Pacific Ocean. Because it was kind of bright out, Stacy turned north towards the sweeping corner that made an abrupt turn to the east and not far a likewise sharp turn downhill into Old Town Bandon past Sams house.

  But at the sweeping corner on the Beach Loop Road, a nice view of the jetty was had. Looking out over the bluff about four hundred feet above the ocean a nice vista could be seen. The never ending waves crashing against the giant boulders that lined both sides of the jetty to the drunken line of sea stacks were proudly evident to the southwestern coast of Oregon. Some had names attached to by the locals. Names such as, Table Rock, Face Rock, and the list went on down the coast.

  Stacy loved the coast and her family home in Bandon. Even though she lived in Eugene presently, someday she come back home to live out her life. But now she'd a case to solve and the suspects were beginning to rise like cream on milk. She also realized that there was a real possibility of additional suspects entering the arena. She turned and went back to the bluff area as the sun was half way down the horizon casting a lovely red sunset against the clouds.

  9

  By the time connections were made between Brody and the two US Marshalls, it was close to 8 pm. Rory and Stacy drove up the house with lights blazing and the drapes open. No sooner the knock than the door was opened by Brody Keystone. "Come in Marshalls," said Brody stepping back to let them in. Rory saw a rather stocky short man. Stacy saw a man who looked scared and was trying to hide it by acting like a friend had just stop by rather than two investigators who were about to question him about the murder of his father. After sitting down and refusing anything to drink, Stacy asked, "We'll not waste any time here Mr. Keystone with small talk. We want to know your whereabouts not only for today, but the proceeding days that you had contact with your parents."

  Rory saw Brody squirm just a fraction as he formulated what he had for his whereabouts today. He said, "I spent the night, last night, with my girlfriend in Coquille. Her name is Kay Torrent and she works at the court house. After she went to work I decided to take a drive up to Powers to see a friend who used to come into our myrtlewood factory. I left Coquille around 10 am after breakfast at the Palace Restaurant. It was around 11 am when I arrived in Powers. I went to my friends house and a note was on his door saying he'd be gone until noon. I waited until 1 pm and ripped up his note. I drove back to Coquille and played cards with some locals who will verify my presence in a card game."

  "Can anyone testify they saw you between 10 am and say 2 pm?"

  Eyes to the ceiling and a shift in position brought forth a slightly high pitch voice saying, "No, I guess not.

  "We'll need the name or some person who saw you having breakfast at the Palace and names of your fellow card players. Now tell us about your relationship with your parents as of late. Of course you think we're prying into your personal life and you're right about that intrusion. However murder takes the gloves off Mr. Keystone. Before we're through we'll know most all there is to know about you and your family. The best is being upfront and honest. Now if you think you might incriminate yourself, then of course you have the right to an attorney to sit beside you."

  Lord, she knows how to make suspect sit back and take notice, thought Rory as he watched Brody's eyes flittering. A few long seconds went by and then he said, "Okay, you'll discover our relationship sooner or later. I'm a big disappointment to my parents. I'm sick of this wet miserable country. I found happiness in gambling, but I realize I'm no card shark. My addiction has cost my parents many thousands of dollars. My last fiasco in Vegas made me realize just how bad my action was when my father refused to cover my debts. Lucky for me my mother saved my bacon. My father told me to never cast my shadow on the property again. He told me I was on my own and to go get a job like the rest of the world."

  "Do you have an idea what his will might say," asked Rory while Stacy assimilated the last conversation with Brody.

  "No I don't. I assume all goes to my mother now that he's gone. I didn't know until earlier that mom's in the clinic in some sort of coma from the shock."

  "I wonder if you've been to the clinic to see her," asked Rory with a small scowl on his face.

  "No I haven't but she's not awake so why go," he said defiantly.

  "Okay back to your relationship and arguments with your father. Word has it that you were overheard threatening him if he didn't cover your gambling losses. Explain that please," asked Stacy.

  "That is way over blown and I wonder who said it. Never mind. I probably did say something to that affect in my last blow up with him. However, I doubt I said anything about physical harm. You were probably talking to my witch sister about that. Now there's someone who would kill for just the enjoyment of it. I hear from
my friends her husband is not a happy guy because of her spending habits. Mom did tell me that she had to help her out a while back. I also heard from mother that dad was really tired of his kids bleeding him dry."

  Straightening her back with eyes blazing she said, "You know Brody that you're just adding fuel to the fire of motive, opportunity and have almost admitted murdering your own father," shouted Stacy rocking back both Rory and Brody with that damning statement.

  Rory was beginning to wonder where all of this emotion was coming from as she usually was more even tempered and smooth of voice. He was not sure if he liked it or not; but it seemed effective in this case.

  Brody hung his head as if in shame, but Stacy thought it was a false shame and that in fact he was not unhappy his father was dead. She'd known this family, or at least about them all her life. She wondered where in their lives both of the off spring of Cliff and Agnes Keystone took a dislike of their parents? At Brody's age, he could have received a fine education all paid for and gone on to another city to exercise his chosen field. The daughter, on the other hand, chose to marry for money and now was wallowing in debt up to her ears. Stacy was just very happy she and her father had a close relationship; even though her mother was not there to enjoy the living life.

  "Mr. Keystone, don’t even leave town until this case is settled. I'd like for you to come to the police station tomorrow for an official statement. That's all for now," she said rising quickly walking to the front door with Rory hurrying behind her.

  Once in the car she said, "God Rory he such a detached person who has lost his ability to live life like it could be given his circumstances. And the daughter – isn't she a real piece of work. Talk about pretentious and so smug about her social position, makes me want to throw up. Hey, let's go to the restaurant and have some ice cream. I'm longing for some rocky road. You know, what happened to Ben? He should have been here hours ago. I'll ring him up while you drive," said Stacy reaching for her hand phone.

  "Ben where are you," asked Stacy. She listened and then said, "You've been helping my father do some gluing when we're out busting our rear ends on a murder case?"

  "You didn't need me to interview the son. Your father has all the information we need to build a case from. I've been taking copious notes and now I'm a bit hungry for the long drive down from Eugene."

  Meet us at the usual restaurant Ben. We're pulling in now."

  10

  "You look fresh as a daisy Ben," said Rory. I think when you returned to the coast, the old happy Ben took over from that dismal big city guy we all know," as they sat down at his table.

  Ben saw Rory grinning and decided to play along. "I'm seriously thinking about taking early retirement and helping Stacy's father do some wood working. You guys don't know it but I've been a tree lover since way back when. I know the geographical location of the myrtle wood tree and all of its unique characteristics according to soil content."

  "You're not serious, are you," asked a gullible Rory as his banana split arrived. Ben saw Stacy with her head lowered knowing full well she was grinning from the fable Ben told. She looked up when her rocky road appeared with a maraschino cherry residing on the peak of the ice cream and looked expressionless.

  Ben looked Rory in the eye and said, "Of course I'm serious. What I didn't say was exactly when I was going to retire and join Ray. I've always planned on an early retirement, but I'm not even fifty yet. Ah, here's my cob salad. Okay, tell me what is going on while you eat that wonderful looking banana split."

  Between mouthfuls, Rory gave Ben a Readers Digest condensed version but hit the details about the daughter and son. "The son is virtually worthless as a man lacking any desire for a direction in life. He's an addicted gambler that has reached the point of his parents not bailing him out of his gambling debts. Bad words were exchanged between father and son. The mother saved his skin from a large Vegas debt, but it appears he's reached the end of the rope with his mother's help ever again. Another thing is he doesn’t have any alibi for the time of death and I might add, neither does his sister. Both are on our prime suspect list." Ben watched a scoop of strawberry disappear in two bites and said:

  "You say the victim was murdered by a wood pipe clamp. I wonder was he using clamps like that on his current project or did the killer remove the clamp from its place of storage?"

  Stacy said, "I'm sure he was using that type of clamp on his current project. The clamp was lying across his body after he was killed. It had to be placed there after death. The why is what I want to know? It would seem that the killer was being smug about it and with a taste of irony using the clamp."

  "Are there any other rumors floating around that might throw some light on his demise? How was his relationship with his wife? I know from long ago his competition down the road, Rawlings, always seemed to me a guy who would turn to violence if need be."

  "There is a sketchy rumor that the relationship isn't the best and it's rumored Cliff might have a lady friend, but we think Rawlings is next on our list Ben," said Stacy smacking her lips as she licked the spoon sitting back looking satisfied. Rory had almost finished his giant split and was looking for the waitress with, what looked like an intention of ordering another one! Ben shook his head and went on eating his dinner.

  "You've got me a room on the Beach Loop," asked Ben looking at Stacy.

  "Yup you're all set to take a rest. Let's meet at the station tomorrow around 8 am. I'll talk to Chief Karen Franks who should be back from her meeting with the other police chiefs over in Roseburg.

  Stacy felt a little guilty not going to the police station and use her old white board to begin the analysis of the case. Instead they went home where they found her father working in his workshop. Stacy thought he looked tired and indeed he was from a long day of both physical and mental strain. Losing an old friend is not easily forgotten. Ever since the idea of a woodworking shop had tickled his fancy, Ray had bounced it off his old friend Cliff. Cliff had told him that he'd be swamped with work in the first six months and probably wished he'd never started crafting wood projects. He smiled thinking that Cliff was right on the money.

  Some of the old pearls of wisdom came back as he ran his hands over a freshly sanded piece of myrtlewood. He knew his daughter and Rory were watching him, but they could wait while he remembered Cliff telling him to feel the wood he was crafting. He said woodworking is an art and no less of a value than oil paintings. The wood is warm and almost alive Ray, he would tell him. Now, nothing but silence would be heard down south at the wood factory that formally was the central attraction of the tourist trade up and down the coast. But, be that as it may, life moves on and he looked up at his super sleuth daughter and smiled.

  "Welcome back dad," said Stacy. "A trip down memory lane is what keeps us going. We've gathered a lot of information and I thought it best if we wait until Karen returns before using her station for a situation room. Dan's at the motel not far from the restaurant and James says Karen would be at the office tomorrow. We'll leave you to your memories and call it a night."

  "A fresh start is always good Stacy. You know at first I wanted to find the killer in the worst way, but now – it scares me to realize it's somebody I know very well. It's remote that a stranger killed him. Motive? The usual I suppose: greed, jealousy, envy, hate – well you pick one and we'll soon see who it fits to. I too am going to hit the rack. Good night."

  In the motor home next to the shop, which is where Stacy and Rory stayed when visiting, Rory said, "You know Super, investigating a homicide is very stressful. Especially like this case. We know or know of each suspect or person related to the crime. The only one we don’t know is that renter guy downtown. I'd like to put him on our 'first thing' list tomorrow. What are you thinking about for a plan tomorrow?"

  Stacy was stripping down to take a shower while thinking about what Rory had asked. He could see she was mulling it over and like in the past, would come to a well thought out plan to keep the investigation at the le
vel it required. "Let me was off the grime of the day Tall Man and I'll tell you fairly soon. I love this motor home, but the shower is so small and the hot water doesn't last for long."

  "I agree and tomorrow I'll ask your father if we can put a water heater in his shop and run the water pipes to the motor home. I've more money than I know what to do with anyway," he said sliding into the table and opening his laptop.

  "Now that's news to me. A guy like you that eats so much has to watch his budget, I'd think," as Stacy closed the door leaving him to check his mail and tend to his office business in Beaverton.

  It wasn't long before Rory heard the door open and her steps to the bedroom. A few minutes later she was back in sweats and her towel wrapped like a turban around her short hair. Rory looked up and asked, "Any hot water left?"

  "Are you kidding me; of course there isn't any hot water left. You'll have to wait until morning," she said looking at his smile wither away knowing now he would have to put thoughts of loving aside for awhile.

  "Okay, so what have we got on our murder plate from tomorrow?"

  She slide into the seat across from him and said, "First we have breakfast with Ben and then across the street to meet with Karen. I'll ask her to use my old office for our investigation. I'm sure she will cooperate. However, you know Tall Man I've a funny feeling about her. With that rumor she likes her spirits and seems to be a loose woman, bothers me a little. But that is only a rumor; I hope.

  Next we check on Agnes and what her condition is and then we'll go see this renter dude that Sam told us about. After that we need to see the girlfriend over in Coquille and also check at the Palace Café to see if Cody had breakfast there. Ben needs to go see Cody and have him get a read on the gambling son. After Ben checks out Brody, then he will go see the other myrtlewood factory family Walt Rawlings et al. Other things to check on are Pam's cell phone that took a bath and let's dig around for some dirt that she might have been swept under the rug."