Murder Mysteries #5

by Waggoner, Robert C.

  They arrived back just in time for dinner. Stacy apologized to Fran who said, "Never mind Stacy, I've been doing this by myself for years. You guys go wash up and let's set the table after that."

  Stacy hurried to help set the table. Rory shuffled back and forth between the kitchen and dining room with plates and utensils. Soon all was ready. Fran brought out a tray of pork ribs with baked potatoes surrounding the ribs. Stacy brought in the steamed veggies and also brought the green salad that was chock full of crab. A bottle of wine was opened by Rory and after a prayer, the cork was pulled and wine poured. Stacy's dinner was the crab salad with veggies. She did have few bites of a rib to please Fran, but for the most part she was not a meat eater.

  After dinner Rory and Stacy were on clean up detail. Father went to his rocking or easy chair and Fran went to take a quick shower. She also changed clothes to rid the smell of kitchen. Soon she was back relaxing in her own easy chair listening to Christmas music. A Scotch pine tree sat in front of the window facing the street. There were only a few presents lurking underneath, but then all were grownups and not kids. After the kitchen was in order, Stacy went to the motor home to fetch the presents for her father and Fran.

  It was decided that due to they being gone tomorrow busy cooking at the restaurant, they would open the presents tonight. Stacy was first and she discovered when she opened her present an Indian blanket made by the Navaho's. Stacy sucked in a roomful of air as she exclaimed, "This is beautiful and I'll cherish for a lifetime. Thank you."

  Stacy had for her father a small Santa and sleigh with the year on it for the mantel at Christmas time. It was well made from Europe. She saw him rub his hands over the fine piece of handmade artwork admiring the workmanship. For Fran Stacy had a set of candlesticks made from brushed silver? She too thought it was fine gift. Rory was sort of left out and he was not expected. However, Stacy had slyly bought him a gift certificate to the gift shop they had been earlier that day.

  Father asked Stacy for an update on the assassin case. It took her most of a half hour to lay it all out on the table for her father who had been the Chief of Police in Bandon for many years. She began her story:

  "Here's a copy of the first e-mail I received from him." She let him read while Rory and Fran hand another glass of wine.

  "I'd say he is trying to climb the ladder to achieve an even status that you've created in solving crimes. He feels like he's as intelligent as you and more importantly, thinks he is cleverer than you are."

  "If you flip the page you'll see my response to him which was made public. We felt he needed to prove himself, which he did. In retrospect, we, or I don't feel any responsibility for prodding him to go out and assassinate someone. What I tried to put across to him was we could talk about this and maybe find some middle ground. Now with the second assassination he's gloating or swimming in his success of forcing hundreds if not thousands to retire. We can't bring back the victims, but maybe we can prevent any others from the same fate. The last page is a letter that will be published after Christmas in the newspapers statewide. Tell me what you think dad."

  Rory brought Stacy a mug of tea to sip on while her father digested the document. Fran put another DVD disc that produced Bing Crosby and White Christmas. Nobody did it better, her mother used to say. A lump rose in her throat flashing back on when she was a kid and Christmas was such a happy time.

  "I think you're asking for trouble meeting this guy. I'm not saying it is overly dangerous but he could come away from the meeting feeling superior. He could venture forth on another cause or vendetta that would no doubt lead to him being a psycho serial killer leaving you holding the bag. People will talk that you failed in your attempt to coerce this killer into therapy. On the political side of things this action gives your boss lady a scape goat. Be careful Stacy."

  "I'll sleep on it and I might add that my boss lady Connie promised me not leave me out in the cold or holding the bag politically. Indeed I must tread cautiously and with forethought. Okay, enough of this for a while. Tell us what's up for tomorrow's dinner."

  Fran said, "Your father and I want to feed some less fortunate residents of Bandon. We can't feed all of them, but we've made it known we can feed about fifty or so. Our new Chief of Police Karen Franks will be there to make sure nobody does any cutting in line or pushing and shoving. When we run out of food, we have fifty gift certificates from the local supermarket to give out. I'll start at around 3 am to put the first turkey in the oven. I've room for two and then we've cut up three more turkey's to put in our convection oven. It'll be a standard turkey dinner with steamed veggies, mashed spuds, gravy, cranberry sauce of course and turkey. Rolls have been supplied by the local bakery and pies come frozen from our supplier."

  "What a nice thing to do Fran. Let's hope all goes well tomorrow." Stacy gazed over to her father who was nodding off after dinner fashion. He'd a small smile as if dreaming of the nice holidays. Looking at Rory she saw a man who had it really bad with whom stared at him. Smiling back he accepted the 'glad you're here' look.

  "I think we'll call it a night Fran. You've to arise early and what time would you like us to come help?"

  "If you were there by 8 am would be lovely. Your father and I can handle it very well. I presume you've all you need for the night in the motor home?"

  "Yes, thanks we're fine. Thanks for everything Fran. You here with dad makes for a nice holiday. He seems so happy. Okay, see you tomorrow," as both she and Rory stood up to leave.

  "Watch your head climbing in," said Stacy as she hoped up the few steps into the motor home. Father made sure the water was hooked up as well as the holding tanks. The shower was gas fired so hot water was readily available. However, Stacy laughed seeing a tall naked Rory standing in a shower space that hardly had room for him to turn around.

  Stacy made the bed ready while he showered. She had told him father said to take a navy shower. Get wet, off the water, wash, on the water for a rinse. Rory was a quick learner as she said, "Hey Super, this isn't bad. We could rent on these and cruise somewhere for a couple days."

  She hollered back saying, "Hurry up slowpoke I'm really getting sleepy." She heard him turn off the shower and he came with a towel around his middle dripping a little water. He had a big smile on his face as if he had been opening presents for a midnight preview of the next day.

  Stacy looked and in the rather dim lighting casting yellowish shadows across his body thought he was indeed a good-looking man. He on the other hand was a little shy not really knowing what to expect. She told him to take a hike as she was too busy being a US Marshall to carry on a relationship. He reluctantly agreed. But now, she seemed in need for his attention. Shyly he turned his back a little to dry off while she made ready for a shower. Walking away she said, "You don't really think you're going to get lucky tonight do you Tall Man?"

  "I'm happy just being with you Super. If you let me, as you say, 'bruise your lips' then Christmas truly has arrived."

  Nothing else was said as shut the bathroom door and he crawled into a rather cold bed. He listened to the sounds of the bathroom and finally she came out wrapped in a towel. She turned the only bed light off. The house security lights cast enough light to see what or where one might be going. He saw her bare back as she sat on the edge of the bed. She ran a comb through her shoulder length hair and then crawled into her side of the bed.

  In a flash she was on top of him saying, "You want to bruise my lips huh. Well I'm ready and I can definitely feel you're ready for much more than just my lips." She lowered her head to meet his hungry lips. A throaty sound escaped her being, as she hungrily met him half way to heaven.

  -19-

  Surprisingly Rory was up and getting ready to go help the Christmas dinner cooks. After a shower, he put on some faded blue jeans and a red shirt denoting Christmas time. Stacy could hear him singing, way off key, Jingle Bells as he prepared to be a Santa helper for the day.

  Stacy really did not want to get up out of a nice
warm bed, but she could see light seeping through the curtains. At last, with a prod from Rory, she hurried to the bathroom and hoped for some hot water left in the small tank. As she hot watered her body, then shut it off to conserve water, she chided herself for not going inside the house for a long satisfying hot shower. Fran and father were long gone and the house was empty. She thought, 'stupid girl is what you are.'

  However, she smiled thinking about last night. For her it was a very satisfying love session that she really desired for the holidays. She also knew Rory was delighted in every way as well.

  After rinsing off, wiping a foggy mirror, she ran a comb through her hair. With towel wrapped around her she quick stepped to the bedroom to dress. She too worn jeans and a green shirt rather than red. From her bag she put on some dangling reindeer earrings that were her mothers. Around her neck she added a necklace of real white pearls that were a hand me down from her grandmother to her mother and on to Stacy. Lastly she dabbed on some Estee Lauder Knowing perfume. She loved the slight woody aroma that it gave off. She turned and said to a smiling Rory, "Okay Tall Man let's go have some breakfast. After breakfast I want to see Smiling Sam to invite him to the restaurant."

  "Follow me girl. I know the way to the restaurant for a giant stack of hot cakes and ham. Maybe a half dozen eggs too. I'm so hungry after a night of demanding work," he said walking past her and getting a kick in the backside for his smart remarks. "Wow! What's that delicious smell you've got on. I think you need to put on some orange lipstick to go with that lovely smell. It will drive me crazy all day. On top of that Super you're one fine looking lady," as he stepped to the ground outside the motor home turning to give her a hand down. She smiled at him and when she had both feet on the ground, reached down and gave his crotch a squeeze. They both jogged to the SUV as it was just beginning to rain.

  In the restaurant it was like old times. The staff gave both a hug and a big happy holiday greeting. Afterwards they ordered and looked back outside at the rain pouring down. Stacy was chatting away with an old friend when Smiling Sam walked through the door. He made a beeline for their table. Rory stood up and shook his hand. Stacy gave him a big hug. "I heard you were in town. It's raining so no fishing for me. After you left, crime left too. No dead bodies have been discovered in a coon's age. I'll not regress into our past relationship, but want you to know that I will treasure our time together while on a case forever."

  "I think you were the most scared when you hooked that severed arm off the jetty with you fishing pole. You know Sam that without your help over those grisly homicides we might not have been so lucky to catch the bad guys. Anyway, believe it or not, we were going to come by your place to invite you to Christmas dinner at Fran and my father's restaurant."

  "Your father already called me and also Flo will be there too. I might add the now that your father is back, the folks here in town feel a lot better that he's here. It's not that the new chief is not doing her job, it's that he's so popular all of us feel better when he's in town. Besides, he asked me to help him do some sanding when I'm not busy fishing," Sam said leaning back with a smug look on his rather nice looking face.

  Breakfast came and Sam excused himself to visit some friends at the counter drinking coffee. Even though it was Christmas day, by tradition, the restaurant was open until noon for the locals who were regular customers but had no families. The locals were appreciative of the owners to accommodate morning repeat customers. On this particular Christmas day, one customer was more than happy to be scarfing up hot cakes with ham along with three eggs to enhance the cholesterol.

  "This feels like a coming home welcome Tall Man," said Stacy daintily picking at her omelet.

  "I'll tell you the truth Super, if we could go back like it was a year ago, with you, me and Ben scratching around a homicide looking for the perp, I'd give up a week's worth of eating."

  "That's quite a sacrifice," she said chuckling along with a shake of the head. She was looking at him shoveling the last bits of hot cake into his already chipmunk cheeks.

  With half her omelet on her plate, Rory gazed at it like a starving dog watching a kid in a park eat a hot dog. "Go ahead big guy. It will catch up with you someday. I can see size forty jeans coming very soon now."

  He sat her plate on top of his, poured some left over cake syrup over the top and dug in. "I'll be right back as I want to say hello to the cook," said Stacy.

  Rory forked in the last bit and washed it down with a glass of juice. He wiped his face with a napkin, looked around seeing the place two thirds full. Rory left a twenty on the table and went to pay the bill. Sam was there watching him and he stood up saying to Rory, "I'll catch a ride with you guys if you don't mind."

  "My yes, indeed come right along Sam. Besides look at that rain coming down sideways. I sure hope it doesn't interfere with what is planned. Maybe we'd best stop at the supermarket and clean out their stock of umbrellas."

  "Good idea Rory. However, you know the Sands Motel is just next door so the folks could wait there until it's their turn to eat."

  Stacy came walking up with a smile that all would agree captured a very lovely young woman with a strong personality she had established. "I'm ready if you two handsome men are."

  Bandon sits next to the Pacific Ocean. The Coquille River exits through the jetty almost a stone's throw from downtown. Highway 101 leaves the ocean going south from Bandon and does not rejoin the coast until about fifty miles down the road at Port Orford. Just west of town an old road, namely The Beach Loop Road hugs the bluff area next to the ocean. In recent years the Loop Road has attracted new motels and restaurants overlooking the spectacular ocean shore dotted with giant sea stacks.

  Next to a new motel, Fran and her husband Gilbert owned a large two-story house right on the bluff. After Gilbert passed on, Fran continued to live there by herself. She had been the cook at the Senior Center for years. That is where Ray Foreham caught her eye one day as he came in for lunch. They seemed two peas in a pod, as Flo Medders said, after a few months of searching for a way to put their intended relationship on firm ground. It seemed a good fit for both of them. One thing led to another and one day they were a couple shacking up at his place.

  They decided to convert her old house into a restaurant that served nothing but good home cooking. Ray Foreham was also a fine cook. Unfortunately the good cook part did not follow the bloodline to Stacy.

  Now after a trial of spending winters in the Southwest, they gave that idea up and came back to Bandon. Ray had his myrtle wood shop where he made furniture. Usually the restaurant was closed during the fall and winter so he could make wood products. In the spring and summer, the restaurant was open for business.

  Stacy and Rory, with Sam riding shotgun, parked away from the restaurant in an area designed for parking that over looked the ocean from a steep drop off. A short three minute walk put the three volunteers at the door shaking off the rain. The wind was blowing the rain sideways making a racket against the giant plate glass window in the dining room. Because of the intense storms slamming the Pacific Coast in Oregon, a special thick glass window was installed for safety. However, with so much rain it was hard to see the angry ocean with its large waves hitting the giant sea stacks sending spray over fifty into the air.

  However for folks born and raised on the coast this was not an unusual storm at all. As a matter of fact, nobody said anything about the weather. Stacy with eyes for a place never seen did a walk around a structure built right after World War II. The wood was mostly vertical grain Douglas fir, including the heavy beams. The roof was hand split Red Cedar shakes. The moldings were Sitka spruce. The tables were recently made from maple, as were the chairs. Stacy loved the walls, as they were hardwood panels of white pine to offset the dark Douglas fir. The floor was redone in oak from Northern California.

  The lighting was old fashion brass attached to the walls and overhead two large fans slowly circulated the air with small yellowish lights that were variable stren
gth from a wall knob. Very nice she thought. Also, it was really tasteful, as she walked into the kitchen area to see her father and Fran. She found them both busy preparing for a dinner rush. "Merry Christmas Fran and dad. What can I do to help. Rory is busy chatting with Smiling Sam, but I can drag him in to do whatever needs to be done."

  "I had planned to make a fruit salad Stacy. First thing is to run a tub full of water to wash the fruit. While it's filling up, you'll find the fruit in the walk-in. We'll use apples, bananas, a few oranges and grapes. The apples will need dicing and the bananas sliced. The oranges can be quartered. I'll add the mayo and other secret ingredients later," she said smiling at her soon to be stepdaughter. Nobody knew at that particular time was Ray had proposed to Fran last night on Christmas Eve.

  Stacy went to work after putting on her apron and hollering for Rory to lend a hand. Smiling Sam followed to the kitchen and found a chair to sit on out of the way. Everyone knew Sam was a talker and nobody ever thought he was obnoxious in his constant chatter. He had a smooth voice that lacked any irritating sounds. Besides he had a vast amount of interesting stories to talk about. Rory loved the guy and encouraging him to keep up the chatter.

  Rory rolled up his sleeves of his red shirt, put on his apron and went to work washing fruit. Father was cutting up the turkeys for the convection oven. Fran was making sure everything was being taken care of. She smiled while sipping a cup of coffee watching her new family at work.