by Curry, Edna
“Sure. Why don’t you give me a call when they’re done?”
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure you’d be available to do it this afternoon.”
“I’ll put in on my schedule.”
I hung up and went back to my coffee. Then I spent a couple of hours on my computer working on my novel. Not many people know about my secret passion. But I steal a few hours here and there to work on it. I probably should be doing housework or something instead, but a gal has to have some special hobby, doesn’t she? Besides, with nobody usually home at my house, it doesn’t need much upkeep. When Chance stays over occasionally, he often brings takeout food, which doesn’t make a big mess. Or we go out to eat. And watch a movie or play a board game or something. Nothing very messy, you know.
I put in a load of laundry, then checked out email and wrote for another hour. Then a lady called. She wanted her locks changed at her business, ASAP, because she’d just fired an employee who’d had keys and she was afraid he’d try to get back in at night and cause some damage. “I should have fired him a long time ago,” she said with a long sigh. “He was pretty mad when he stormed out of here. I think he thought he had a job for life here. That I couldn’t do without him.”
“I’ll be right over,” I promised and made sure I had the right kind of lock in my van. I’d installed the locks she had a couple of years ago, so I glanced in my files for the brand.
I’d remembered correctly. That didn’t take long, and then Lois called to say the cleaners were done and I could change the old bank’s locks again. While I was working there, Chance stopped by.
“I saw your van here, and the bank door wide open,” he said, coming in the open back door. “What’s up?”
I made a face. “I’m trying to air the place out a bit. Between the dead body odor and the strong pine stuff the cleaning crew used, it reeks in here.”
“So, why don’t you work in your van?”
I sighed. “I really need a table for this. It won’t take long.”
He frowned, obviously puzzled. “But didn’t you just change these locks the day they found the body?”
“Yeah, but she’d given out too many keys, so needed to change them again. Company policy, just a precaution, you know.”
“I guess so. But there’s not much here to steal. A few pieces of furniture.”
“True.” I picked up the finished lock and walked back to the door with him.
He watched as I reinstalled it, then asked, “Want me to bring Chinese after work? I’ll be done in an hour or so. Just have to check a couple more pawn shops, then I’m calling it a day. Maybe you can pick up a movie to watch?”
“That would be great,” I said, wondering why he was checking pawn shops. But I knew he’d tell me later if he could, or he’d at least give me a hint to satisfy my curiosity.
“I’ll see you later. I can see all the questions rolling around in that pretty head of yours.”
He laughed, gave me a quick kiss and headed back to his vehicle.
And I finished my job with a light heart, ignoring the smell inside the bank and anticipating a fun evening with Chance.
***
The next morning, Chance spent hours in his office, looking up backgrounds of everyone connected to the case. June, Melanie, the other partners, the new bank owners. The bad loans that John supposedly was responsible for making that got the bank into financial trouble.
John’s financial history….looking for anything unusual besides his salary and usual expenditures. Nothing jumped out at him. Nothing looked suspicious.
Over coffee and sandwiches Deputy Tom had picked up for them, he and Ben discussed everything in detail they knew so far. Chance reported what he’d found, or rather, mostly hadn’t found on his computer that morning. Then he asked. “Are you sure they couldn’t learn anything from the car?”
“Oh, they have the usual stuff: no fingerprints on the steering wheel, so somebody wiped it, or they disintegrated in the water. It was in gear, so it looks like someone started it, then jumped out. The door wasn’t completely latched, so could have been open when it went into the lake. Evidently the momentum carried it into deeper water. It gets deep fast where it went in.”
Chance bit into his sandwich. “The motor probably stalled in the water and with the door open, it would immediately fill with water and sink.”
“Right.”
“If this happened a month ago, there could still have been a bit of ice on the lake hiding it, too. Or it could have been snowing.”
“Yeah, that could have hidden the tracks on the shoreline.”
“Funny nobody saw the car go in.”
“Maybe it was done at night?” Ben rubbed the side of his nose, then drank some coffee.
“That’s my guess, too. Still, it’s a bright red car and almost new. Red is pretty easy to spot, even under the water.”
“But it’s sort of in between seasons. Ice fishing is done, too cold and early for much fishing until the opener next week. They set it on Mother’s Day again. My wife is pissed about that.” Ben made a face.
Chance laughed. “Well, go fishing early in the morning, then take her out for dinner. She likes that, doesn’t she?”
Ben nodded. “Yeah. I’ll bring her flowers with a note promising her dinner out. Maybe that’ll work. Doesn’t Cassie give you grief?”
He shrugged. “We haven’t had any problem with Mother’s Day. She doesn’t think of herself as a mother, yet.”
“Wait till you have kids, that’ll change,” Ben said with a smirk.
“Hey, don’t rush me. We’re only dating.”
“Oh, yeah?” He shrugged, then added, “Did you get the autopsy report yet?”
“Yes, it came through a while ago. Should be a copy in your inbox,” Chance said. “TheM. E. always sends it to both of us.”
“Okay, I’ll read it,” Ben said, gulping some coffee. “What was the gist?”
“It was John, like we figured. Two bullets killed him, probably immediately.” Chance grabbed another half a sandwich from the bag.
“That’s what I figured when we didn’t find a gun,” Ben said. “I’ll tell June. I’ve known them for a few years. Should pay my respects, anyway, let her know she can go ahead and plan the funeral.”
“Okay,” Chance said, relieved not to have that chore.
“Did you talk to all the former bank partners yet?”
“Not all of them. I told you about talking to the Bales. I’ll try the Lonns next. They’re getting a divorce, you know.”
“Yeah, I heard. Well, I’ll leave you to that, then.” Ben heaved his long, lanky body out of his chair and tossed his Styrofoam cup into the wastebasket.
***
Since the Lonns were living separately now, Chance decided to first see Irene. He went to their house on Center Street. It was a small, white frame rambler, with a double garage attached. The lawn was green and had been mowed recently, but the flowerbeds only held a couple of red tulips. When he rang the bell, a small, thin woman with short, curly brown hair opened the door. Some yellow discoloring marred one cheek. The remnants of the black eye Cassie had mentioned?
She eyed him suspiciously. He held up his badge. “Detective Chance Martin from the county sheriff’s department, ma’am,” he said, identifying himself.
“I didn’t call the cops,” she said, blocking her doorway.
“I know. I just need to ask you a few questions about John Wattmore, ma’am,” he said. “It won’t take long.”
“Well, okay, then. Come in,” she said and stepped back. “Was that body you found in the old bank building John, then?”
He stepped inside and saw he was in the living room. A worn blue sofa and matching chair sat at an angle to each other and a small TV sat on a stand on the opposite side of the room. In front of the sofa was a coffee table holding some magazines and a plant with blue flowers. “Yes, ma’am, the body was John’s.”
“Oh, dear. I’m so sorry to hear that. Poor
June. She was so hoping he’d turn up okay somewhere,” Irene said. “I must get over to see her again.”
“That would be nice,” Chance said. “I’m sure she would appreciate some support.”
“Have a seat,” she said, waving a hand to the sofa. “Would you like some coffee? I made a fresh pot.”
“Sure,” Chance said. He didn’t really need any more caffeine, but getting him a drink seemed to relax most women and put them more in a hostess mood, which often helped him get answers to his questions.
In a few minutes, she brought a tray with coffee and some chocolate chip cookies and put it on the coffee table, then sat in the chair facing him and poured.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the proffered cup and sipping from it. “Good coffee. Much better than what we have at my office.”
“Thanks. What do you need to know?” she asked.
“Just some background information, if you could,” he said. “You and your husband were partners with the Bales and Wattmores in the old bank, right?”
“Yes, we were. Of course, that’s all changed now.”
He nodded. “Did you know John well?”
She shrugged, “No, not really. I saw him around, of course, at Chamber dinners and Christmas parties. I know June a lot better. We were in a church ladies’ circle together, and worked on various projects there. Like serving lunch for funerals.”
“I see. And your husband, Roy?”
“Roy? What about him?” She sent Chance a wary look as though wondering how much he knew.
“Did he know John very well?”
She shrugged. “I suppose. They worked in the same bank every day, of course. You’re bound to get to know each other that way.”
“Did they see each other outside of work?”
Again she lifted a shoulder. “I really don’t know. Roy used to stop off at the bar a lot of nights. He said to have a beer with the guys. But he never told me who these guys were. Or gals,” she muttered under her breath.
“I understand you’ve separated?”
“Yes,” she snapped, keeping her eyes on her cup. She took another sip, then put the cup down with a clatter. Then she looked at him with a defiant gleam in her brown eyes. “Roy isn’t a nice guy. He tries to make people believe he is, but when the public isn’t looking, he can be downright mean.”
“He abused you?”
“Yes. I covered up for him for a long time, saying I fell or something to explain my bruises and broken bones. But finally, June helped me see that he was never going to change and I’d be better off without him. I got a lawyer and filed for divorce. He’d never have moved out if he hadn’t known I had confided in June and gotten a lawyer. I told him if he touched me again, he’d be in jail. And he knew that would cost him his job, too.”
“Good for you. You should have filed charges against him as well,” Chance said. “And you could get a restraining order against him, too.”
“My lawyer is handling all that,” she said. “I’m letting him worry about it.”
“Good. I hope you had the hospital take pictures of your injuries?” When she nodded, he said, “Give copies of those to your lawyer.”
“I did,” she said. “I…I really don’t want to talk about that, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay,” Chance agreed, sipping more coffee. “Back to John…did you and Roy socialize with the other partners outside of the bank parties?”
“No. Well, I think Roy went to some parties without me after we started having problems,” she said.
“Like at the Bales’?”
She shrugged. “I think so, but I’m not sure. I don’t like Melanie, much. She always treats me like I’m something the cat dragged in, if you know what I mean. So, I made excuses when she invited us. Roy said I was too sensitive, that she doesn’t mean to snub me, but…well, I told him to go alone if he wanted to.”
“And did he go alone?”
Again she lifted a shoulder. “Probably. For the past year or so, he’s been just coming and going as he pleased without telling me anything. That’s another reason I wanted out. Not much of a marriage anyway.” She lifted a napkin and wiped away a tear.
“I’m sorry to have to ask this, ma’am, but do you have any idea who might have wanted John dead?”
She glanced up at me and laughed. “Only half the people he did business with at the bank, Detective. He was a hard man to deal with. Only gave loans to people who didn’t need them.”
***
Next, Chance called on Roy Lonn. He’d tried seeing him at the bank, but they’d said he had the day off and gave Chance his address in the new development on top of the hill.
Roy opened the door of his apartment and scowled when he saw Chance.
“So, what did she do, charge me with assault?” he demanded with a harsh laugh, waving him inside and closing the door.
The apartment was new and so were the few pieces of furniture in the living room they entered. A brown leather sofa, an end table and a large flat screen TV were the only furnishings. The walls were bare and some boxes sat along one wall. Typical bachelor pad.
“Should she have filed assault charges?” Chance asked, following Roy to the sofa.
He laughed. “She doesn’t have the nerve,” he said, but then muttered under his breath, “But her lawyer might.” He picked up the remote and muted the sound on the sports program he’d been watching, but left the video running, so he could keep watching it.
“I just want to talk about John Wattmore today,” Chance said, purposely leaving the matter of assault charges open. Let the damned fool worry a little. He hoped Irene’s lawyer was a good one and would make Roy pay for his lousy treatment of his wife.
“What about John? I heard they found him and his car, too, right?”
“Yes, we did. So we need to know, when was the last time you saw John?”
Roy shrugged and frowned, thinking. “I guess it was the day the regulators swooped in and demanded everyone’s keys, then sent us all home. Then I got a call saying I could work at the new bank if I wanted to. But I only have a job, now, I’m not a partner anymore,” he said bitterly.
“But John wasn’t hired at the new place?”
“No, I heard they already had a loan manager, so didn’t need another one. So John was out.”
“You didn’t talk to him about that?”
“No. I guess we all sort of blamed him, because he made those loans. And they said too many bad loans were the reason we were in trouble.”
Chance raised an eyebrow, watching Roy’s face. “Do you think it was his fault?”
“Hell, I don’t know. Didn’t have any idea we were in trouble.” Roy lifted a shoulder again, then picked up an open can of beer from the end table and drank, then asked, “Hey, I didn’t even offer you one. Want a beer?”
“No thanks. So, you don’t remember seeing him after the move to the new bank?”
“No. The new management had a special company come in and move everything…the safety deposit boxes and everything from the vault, all the records, everything. They took over all of it. We were just told to come to work in our new offices.”
“So some of the employees got jobs and some didn’t?”
“Right. It just depended on who they could fit in, I guess.”
“You didn’t own the building?”
“No, that was the Wattmores’. We just leased it. I suppose June will sell it now. If anyone will buy it after there was a murder there,” he said with a grimace.
“How do you know it was a murder?”
Roy’s head snapped around. “I heard he had two bullets in him and no gun was found. What else could it be?”
Damn the small town grapevine. Of course that would get around.
***
On his way back to his office, Chance remembered he was out of batteries for his flashlights. He stopped at the hardware store and headed back to the aisle where he knew they kept the display of various sizes. As he neared it, he saw
Lou and Melanie Bales’ gardener there, twirling the spinner of batteries.
Maybe he could ask him a few questions without them around.
“Hi, you’re Carl, the Bales’ gardener, aren’t you?”
Carl’s head snapped around. “Oh, it’s you. You’re that police detective who was out at the Bales’, questioning Melanie, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Could I ask you a couple of questions?”
“I don’t know nothin’ about who killed John,” he whined. “I don’t know nothin’.”
“That’s okay. I just need a little background information.”
“I ain’t supposed to talk about stuff to anybody. Melanie said, what we do at our parties is legal and private. It aint nobody else’s business.”
“That’s true, Carl. I’m trying to find out who John talked to and where he was in the last days before he died. That’s all. Did you see John at any of Melanie’s parties?”
Carl shrugged. “Sure. He came to several of them. His wife only came to one, then she chickened out and made them leave.” He laughed. “Didn’t want to get naked, I guess.”
“I see. But John came again alone?”
“Sure. He liked to play around like I do. The more women, the merrier. Lou’s ex, Sylvia, came, too. Melanie pretended that was okay with her, but she doesn’t like it.”
“Oh? Do you know why?”
“She’s afraid Sylvia wants Lou back, of course. They got it on like they really liked it, too. Course, they’d had lots of practice, being married and all.”
“So you watched them?”
He shrugged, then laughed. “Hard not to notice others in a room full of people going to it, you know. Gives a guy a hard-on, just thinking about it.”
“John got it on with various women there?”
“Sure, we all did. But he seemed to especially like Sylvia. She’s really stacked, you know? Tall, long blonde hair, and boobs out to here.” He cupped his big hands out in front of his chest. “Could really wiggle, good, too. I did her a few times, but she always seemed to go back to John.”
“Do you know Sylvia’s last name or where she lives now?”
