Mystery on the Tramway

by Albert Simon

  “Yeah, just as long as you don’t need to get a haircut every time you want to talk with him. You can’t go much shorter on the hair.” Wayne was still laughing.

  “I think Mario’s assistance was more of a fluke, I certainly don’t have any long term plans for including him as part of my regular team of confidants.” Henry shook his head.

  “Yeah, unless it turns out he’s right of course.” Wayne suddenly stopped laughing and considered what Mario had suggested about the gun show. “I just thought of something.”

  “What is it?” Henry turned towards Wayne and Gloria and Elliot stopped working and looked at him waiting for an answer.

  “Todd Gregory and Terrance Quinn went to Las Vegas; you thought it was to have an affair because Robert is so sick.” Wayne said.

  “Yeah, I want to go back and talk with Robert about that.” Henry took a sip of his margarita.

  “There is a gun show in Las Vegas every other month. What if they went to Vegas to buy a gun? Wayne asked.

  “Not a bad idea, but which one of them bought it?” Henry asked.

  “Does it matter?”

  “Well, yes and no. It would be good to know if the gun came from there, though gun shows don’t require a waiting period so it will be tough to find out who sold it to one of them. And, depending on which one bought it, it is either murder or suicide.” Henry said thoughtfully.

  “It’s not suicide, I ruled that out the first night, remember; we’d have found the gun in the gondola, it’s hard to ditch a gun with a hole in your head, we’ve already established that a number of times.” Wayne said resolutely.

  “Ok, if it is murder, why does Terrance go to Las Vegas with his killer to buy the murder weapon?” Henry asked.

  “Good point. Ok, let’s look at this from another angle.” Wayne went back to sipping his drink and the women went back to chopping and washing vegetables.

  “Was Todd Gregory into guns?” Henry asked.

  “I don’t know, I already told you that I didn’t discuss his hobbies with the mom. When we talked with her she was pretty upset that he ran away and that the cops were looking for him in connection with a murder investigation. She only said that Todd kept to himself a lot. You and Gloria are going over to talk with her tomorrow, right?” Wayne asked.

  “Yes, I’ll call tomorrow morning and we’ll go and see her at her house. I think she works the afternoon shift at the casino, so I’ll catch her in the morning. I also want to go back to talk with Robert Silverstein, and I think I’ll ask Charles to set that up. He’s been picking Robert up and bringing him to the hospice for treatment. In between all of that, I want to show Gloria some of the sites around the valley. Maybe we’ll take her four wheel drive truck up to Joshua Tree.”

  Wayne furrowed his brow. “You don’t need a four wheel drive at Joshua Tree. Everything is paved, and the Feds would have a conniption if you went off road.”

  “Yeah I know, but it just seems that if you’re going out in the desert you should have a four wheel drive, not that boat of mine.” Henry smiled.

  “Henry, I don’t know you to be image conscious at all. Are you saying that it’ll look better if you’re driving a truck?” Wayne asked.

  “Yeah, something like that. Anyway, we’ll make the time for a trip to Joshua Tree.” Henry finished his margarita and decided he was done drinking alcohol for the night since he had to drive home after dinner. He went into the kitchen and looked in the refrigerator for the pitcher of iced tea that he knew was always there.

  The women finished their salad preparations, put everything into a large bowl and Wayne took the chicken outside to barbecue. While Gloria was in the bathroom, Elliot told Henry that Gloria was wonderful and she hoped that their relationship would be long lasting and happy. The two couples spent the rest of the evening together eating their grilled chicken dinner and a wonderful salad and enjoying their conversation. Just after sunset the four of them went out on the patio and stood next to the pool and watched Fourth of July fireworks go off all around the valley. One of the largest and most impressive displays was just south of them at the new Trump 29 casino in Coachella. Henry stood with his arm around Gloria and was happy that his friends liked her as well.

  Just after eleven o’clock Henry and Gloria said their goodbyes and with promises to get together again soon set off for home in Palm Springs. Once they were on Interstate 10 heading West, Gloria turned to Henry.

  “Henry, I had a wonderful time tonight. Wayne and Elliot are really nice people, thank you for bringing me and introducing me to them.” Gloria leaned back in the seat, she felt good from the margaritas and the wine, not drunk, just good.

  “They are great friends and I’m glad you like them as well.” Henry smiled at Gloria; she looked wonderful to him in the glow of the dashboard lights.

  “Henry, I want to talk to you about something.” Gloria said, turning in her seat to look right at him.

  “Oh, oh, usually when someone starts a conversation that way, the next thing that is coming is not good. What’s wrong?” Henry had a look of concern on his face.

  “Nothing is wrong Henry, in fact everything is right. I wanted to tell you that when I was driving down here yesterday morning I was hoping that we were going to have a good time. Certainly I wasn’t planning what happened early this morning.” Gloria said dreamily.

  “And again this afternoon?” Henry smiled at her.

  “Henry Wright, I’m trying to be serious!” Gloria smiled as well at the memory of the cooling afternoon swim and later picking up their trail of clothing before Charles came home.

  “Ok, I’m sorry, please continue to tell me what you wanted to tell me.” Henry said looking straight out the windshield at the late evening Interstate traffic.

  “Ok, as I said, I didn’t come here with plans to fall, I mean get, I mean, well, gosh, Henry, I was only planning on staying for a couple of days in your guest room and now I don’t know if I ever want to leave.” Gloria said. “Are you mad at me?”

  Henry was quiet for a moment until Gloria fidgeted in her seat. “Mad at you? Don’t be silly, I’m not mad at you at all. Besides, I know exactly how you feel. I was going to ask you if you would spend the night with me in my room tonight. The thought of having you sleep in the guest room so close to me yet so far away would kill me.”

  “Yes Henry, I’d like nothing more than to sleep with you.” Gloria undid her seat belt and slid across to the middle where she refastened the other belt making Henry happy that he had ordered the car with the bench seat instead of the available bucket seats.

  “As far as leaving Palm Springs to go back to Sonora, let’s not make any plans, ok?” Henry asked, putting his arm around her.

  “Ok, I will have to go back there at some point, but let’s not worry about that now and let’s enjoy the time we have together.” She rested her head on his shoulder the rest of the way home.

  They arrived back at Mel Avenue close to midnight, where Charles’ car was already parked in the garage. Gloria went to the guest room and got what she needed for the night from the bathroom and moved it over to the other side of the house into Henry’s master suite. They decided to move the rest of her stuff the next day, they didn’t want to make too much noise and wake up Charles. They crawled into Henry’s bed together and chatted for an hour before they fell asleep holding each other.

  Chapter 9

  It was later than usual and already light out when Henry jumped into the pool. Gloria was up at the same time, and as Henry started his swimming laps while she was in the kitchen making coffee. When the coffee was ready, she poured herself a cup and carried it outside. She sat at the table where she had sat not even twenty-four hours ago and watched Henry swim. A lot had changed between the two of them in that short time span. She smiled to herself as she watched Henry in the water. Henry was a very fluid swimmer and his movements looked easy and relaxed to Gloria as he swam up and down neatly making kick turns at each end.

  She had jus
t finished her first cup of coffee when she heard his watch start beeping in the water. Henry swam to the side of the pool where she was sitting and stood up, taking off his goggles and setting them on the side of the pool. Gloria held her cup upside down to show him that it was empty and she pointed at him to ask him if he wanted some as well. He shook his head no and beckoned her towards him with one finger. She smiled her big smile and left her robe behind on the chair and jumped into the water and into his arms.

  They climbed out of the water as the full sun hit the pool and Gloria wrapped her robe around herself and went into the kitchen while Henry picked up his towel from the chaise lounge. He was sitting at the table when she came back with two cups of coffee.

  They were enjoying the birds singing in the trees and shrubbery and Henry pointed out the little hummingbird that visited the hibiscus. Suddenly Pierre came trotting out, reminding them that they were not alone, and demanded that someone pet him. Gloria picked the little dog up and held him on her lap as Charles came walking out to the pool with a cup of coffee. The three friends sat at the table enjoying the morning chatting about everything except the tramway slaying.

  Near ten o’clock Gloria excused herself and walked through the French doors to Henry’s bedroom to take a shower and get dressed. Henry started telling Charles that they had decided that Gloria was going to stay with him on his side of the house instead of in the guest room, but Charles held up his hand as he started explaining and told him that first it was none of Charles’ business; this was Henry’s house after all.

  Secondly, he told Henry that he couldn’t be more pleased. Charles told Henry that Gloria was a wonderful woman and a very good influence on Henry. He could tell that Henry was much calmer and he was willing to bet that his blood pressure was way down as a result. Henry told Charles that he didn’t have a blood pressure problem, but Charles said he meant that metaphorically, not medically.

  Charles told Henry about his afternoon and spending the holiday with some good friends that owned a condo at the Mesquite Country Club in town. Henry passed along Wayne and Elliot’s greetings and told Charles that they wanted to know when he was going to come back by. Charles complained that Indio was so far, after all it was thirty minutes at the other end of the Valley, but that he would make the time to go see them. Soon, he promised.

  Henry went into his bedroom to take a shower just as Gloria was heading out in her robe to the guest room to get the rest of her clothes. Henry helped carry her things to his room and made room for her in one of his closets. He decided to go into his office before showering, from where he called Mrs. Gregory. Cherie Gregory said she was home, but that she needed to be at the casino by one. She said if they came over in an hour, she’d have time to talk for a while. Henry said he knew where the house was on Verona Road, it was only a couple of minutes from Mel Avenue.

  As he got up from his chair he suddenly realized that he should have checked with Gloria before he scheduled an appointment in an hour. He had no idea how long it took her to get ready. He walked into the bathroom where she was putting her make-up on. He told her what he did and apologized. She told him that getting ready within an hour was no problem she could be ready sooner than that. Breathing a sigh of relief, he jumped into the shower. As the spray of water hit him, he was beginning to realize more and more that Gloria McCann was a remarkable woman.

  They took Henry’s Grand Marquis and left the house. At the end of Mel Avenue they turned left on Via Miraleste, a right on busy Vista Chino and then left on Farrell. Henry pointed out that the Solé Day Spa that he had visited when he was looking into the Rex Thornbird murder was just up ahead. Its owners were a really nice couple originally from Chicago who had invited him to come back for a complimentary day visit. He had not yet taken them up on their offer - he told Gloria after his visit there that he realized how nice his backyard was, since it and the spa’s grounds were not that much different. He made a right on East Verona and they parked in front of the Gregory house.

  The house was a simple mid-century, one level ranch with a tired paint job and a lawn that needed mowing. There was an older Toyota Camry parked on the driveway, it hadn’t been washed in a while and the passenger side rear door was a different color than the rest of the car. The front bumper was missing and the windows had a film that looked as though its regular driver was a heavy smoker. The front door of the house was opened by a worn out looking bleached blond, pony tailed woman in her late thirties who might have been pretty before alcohol and smoking ravaged her skin.

  She looked as though she was dressed for work in a short black skirt, black stockings and a top that was so tight that Henry wondered how she could breathe. It was obviously designed to get tips from men gambling at the casino since she nearly spilled out of her shirt. This is somebody’s mother, Henry thought, and was embarrassed for Todd Gregory.

  “Mrs. Gregory, I’m Henry Wright, this is Gloria McCann, I called earlier.”

  “Come in, come in.” Cherie Gregory said and waved them into a dark house that smelled of cigarette smoke. “Please call me Cherie.” She pointed to a name tag that she had pinned to her blouse near her cleavage. It read ‘Cherie, Gallup, NM’.

  “Thank you, we really appreciate the time you’re taking to talk with us.” Henry said as he looked around the house. The home had never been opulent even when it and the furniture were new and now looked as tired as its occupant. The drapes were open but the windows were covered with the same film as those in the car, giving a hazy view of a backyard that was covered with gravel. The air felt as though all the windows had been closed for a long time. There was some cool moist air coming in through some undersized vents, Henry thought he could hear an evaporative cooler rumbling on the roof. The Gregory’s must have had some money at one time; it appeared as though all of this furniture was bought in the late eighties and nothing was acquired since then.

  “Would you like some iced tea?” Cherie Gregory had left them standing in the living room and walked into the kitchen.

  “Sure, that would be nice, no sugar, just a little lemon if you have it.” Henry said.

  “Let me come and help you.” Gloria added, following Cherie into the kitchen.

  “How long have you lived here?” Henry asked as he heard them putting ice cubes into glasses.

  “Dos, that’s Todd’s father, and I bought the place in 1989. Todd was about to go into kindergarten and I didn’t want him to go to a school on the base. I didn’t like Twentynine Palms and I wanted to live here in town. Dos didn’t like the commute to the base from here, he always complained, but I like Palm Springs.”

  “The schools in Palm Springs are good, you made the right choice for your son. How come your husband, ex-husband, sorry, didn’t like it, was it just the distance to the base?” Henry asked, he gently sat down on the couch, it was old and had obviously seen a lot of use, but he found as he sat down that it was sturdy.

  “Dos wanted to be close to his Marine buddies, Palm Springs is over an hour’s drive from the base, he didn’t want to do that drive twice a day for the sake of his son being in a good school.” Cherie said sarcastically.

  “Is that what led you to divorce him?” Gloria asked gently.

  “No, the sonofabitch decided he wanted to be a Marine more than a husband. He never gave up drinking with his buddies after work.” Cherie said bitterly, she was calm when they first walked in but was getting angry at the memory of her ex-husband.

  “So he didn’t spend much time at home?” Gloria asked.

  “No, in fact he didn’t like being here, he always came home late, that friggin base was his life. When he was a child, Todd wasn’t into baseball, or sports and their relationship wasn’t like most other fathers and sons.” Cherie Gregory was bitter about her ex-husband’s behavior.

  “How come it took you that long to divorce him?” Gloria was sensitive to this issue. Her husband had been in the Navy. When he retired and came ashore, he decided that he didn’t want to be marr
ied to Gloria anymore. She found herself divorced in her mid-forties with two grown children.

  “You know, for a long time I was fooled. I thought the bastard was just having beer with the other Marine instructors after work. I know it’s a stressful job and the guys like to unwind. Then I found out that he was humping some secretary out at the base. Apparently she wasn’t the first. I confronted him with it and the bastard said that was the way it was. He told me that if I didn’t like it I could leave.” Cherie was angry at the recollection.

  “Did Todd visit him regularly after you split up? Did your husband have visitation rights?” Gloria asked.

  “It wasn’t very regular. He did come down to pick him up on occasion, but Dos had the girlfriend of the week and I didn’t like Todd being exposed to that. I mean I dated too, but my relationships lasted a little longer than a week. Most of the time anyway.” She finished with a wry smile.

  Henry shuddered inwardly. With a drinking Marine as a Dad, and a casino floozy, he couldn’t think of any other word, for a mother, it was a wonder that Todd Gregory had gotten through high school and was able to hold down a job at all. “Mrs. Gregory, Cherie I mean, do you mind if I look at Todd’s room while you and Gloria talk?”

  “Don’t you need a search warrant?” Cherie asked.

  “Well, Gloria and I are not with the police, we’re just helping them out. But if you’re more comfortable if we looked around with a search warrant, we can do that. I just want to see his room to determine if it will help me find him. I’d like him to come back to you safe and sound.” Henry explained.