Six Strokes Under
Page 23
"I bet if you had some hypnosis, you could remember what Bencher really said," said Laura.
"I don't want to know." In fact, after this week, they'd have to tie me down to hypnotize me. And I'd fight going under every step of the way. Right now I knew as much as I needed to know about my life—except for the future. And that would require a crystal ball, not a headshrinker.
"I followed up with the sheriff's department this morning. Right now, Gary's not admitting anything," said Joe. "But his mother has been talking. Apparently she suspected that Gary was molesting Kaitlin years ago. She knew she should have done something. But Coach was always so hard on Gary; she thought he'd go crazy if she told him what she suspected. So she told herself boys will be boys."
"She knew about the abuse and she didn't do anything?" I said. "That's outrageous."
"But not unusual," said Joe. "People overlook the most incredible evidence in the name of protecting someone else in the family, or themselves, for that matter."
"I don't get it. Why would Mrs. Rupert have joined that kooky false memory outfit if she knew Kaitlin had really been molested?" Laura asked.
"She wanted to protect Gary, but she didn't want Kaitlin to get her father in trouble. She knew Coach hadn't done anything. I guess she hoped Kaitlin would just drop the charges, with enough opposition."
"She's got a forklift load of garbage on her conscience now," said Laura. "How's she going to live with herself?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I have to say, Gary Rupert surprised me. I really had my money on the phony Dr. Turner."
"If Turner didn't kill Bencher," I said, "why was he so intent on scaring me away from his office?"
"He'd mounted such a campaign of harassment against Bencher, he must have worried someone would take legal action against him," said Joe.
"Besides which," said Laura, "he made a darned good murder suspect. He was smart but sleazy and his tactics were just this side of guerilla warfare."
"Hit some short putts now," Joe called over to the golfer he'd been observing. "You want to start the round with the sound of the ball hitting the cup in your mind."
"Now that sounds familiar," I said. "How much is that guy paying you for that canned line?"
"Someday, I'd like to hear more about the session you had with Turner," said Joe, ignoring my teasing. "He's an interesting character."
I nodded, glad Joe didn't have the time to spare now. I was still digesting the ideas he'd raised about my own family. The glass half empty, the glass half full.
"So who put the club in So Won Lee's bag?" asked Laura.
Joe shrugged. "No one's come forward." They both looked at me. We all knew that I had benefited most from that maneuver. Did someone want Kaitlin out? Or me in? I'd probably never know.
On the far side of the practice green, I spotted Jeanine. She wore deep purple short shorts and a matching low-cut tank. She was animated, sexy, and drop-dead gorgeous. Through the crowd, I could just see the baseball caps of two men clustered around her.
"Who the hell is Jeanine talking to?"
Joe laughed. "I may have created a monster. She's got Mike Callahan and Rick Justice fighting over her like it was their last chance at a meal. Or a birdie putt."
"Some girls have all the luck," I said. "I'm off guys for the time being. Hey, didn't I hear someone say something about buying me lunch? I'm starving."
Glossary
Approach Shot: a golf shot used to reach the green, generally demanding accuracy, rather than distance
Back nine: second half of the eighteen-hole golf course; usually holes ten through eighteen
Birdie: a score of one stroke fewer than par for the hole
Bogey: a score of one stroke over par for the hole; double bogey is two over par; triple bogey is three over
Bunker: a depression containing sand; also called a sand trap or simply a trap
Caddie: person designated or hired to carry the golfer's bag and advise him/her on golf course strategy
Card: status that allows the golfer to compete on the PGA or LPGA Tour
Chip: a short, lofted golf shot used to reach the green from a relatively close position
Chunk: to strike the ground inadvertently before hitting the ball; similar to chili-dipping, dubbing, and hitting it fat
Collar: the fringe of grass surrounding the perimeter of the green
Cup: the plastic cylinder lining the inside of the hole; the hole itself
Cut: the point halfway through a tournament at which the number of competitors is reduced based on their cumulative scores
Divot: a gouge in the turf resulting from a golf shot; also, the chunk of turf that was gouged out
Draw: a golf shot that starts out straight and turns slightly left as it lands (for a right-hander); a draw generally provides more distance than a straight shot or a slice
Drive: the shot used to begin the hole from the tee box, often using the longest club, the driver
Fairway: the expanse of short grass between each hole's tee and putting green, excluding the rough and hazards
Fat: a shot struck behind the ball that results in a short, high trajectory
Flag: the pennant attached to a pole used to mark the location of the cup on the green; also known as the pin
Front nine: the first nine holes of a golf course
Futures Tour: a less prestigious and lucrative tour that grooms golfers for the LPGA Tour
Gallery: a group of fans gathered to watch golfers play
Green: the part of the golf course where the grass is cut shortest, only a putter may be used to advance the ball to the hole
Hacker: an amateur player, generally one who lacks proficiency; also called a duffer
Hazard: an obstacle that can hinder the progress of the ball toward the green; may include bodies of water, bunkers, marshy areas, etc.
Hook: a shot that starts out straight, then curves strongly to the left (right-handers)
Irons: golf clubs used to hit shorter shots than woods; golfers generally carry long and short irons, one (longest) through nine (shortest)
Lag putt: a long putt hit with the intention of leaving the ball a short (tap-in) distance from the hole
Leaderboard: display board on which top players in a tournament are listed
Lie: the position of the ball on the course
Out of bounds: a ball hit outside of the legal boundary of the golf course which results in a two-stroke penalty for the golfer; also called OB
Par: the number of strokes set as the standard for a hole, or for an entire course
Pin: the flagstick
Pitch: a short, lofted shot most often taken with a wedge
Putt: a stroke using a putter on the green intended to advance the ball towards the hole
Qualifying school (Q-school): a series of rounds of golf played in the fall which produces a small number of top players who will be eligible to play on the LPGA Tour that year
Rainmaker: an unusually high shot
Range: a practice area
Round: eighteen holes of golf
Rough: the area of the golf course along the sides of the fairway that is not closely mown; also, the grass in the rough
Shank: a faulty golf shot hit off the shank or hosel of the club that generally travels sharply right
Skull: a short swing that hits the top half of the ball and results in a line-drive trajectory
Slice: a golf shot which starts out straight and curves to the right (for right-handers)
Tee: the area of the golf hole designated as the starting point, delineated by tee markers, behind which the golfer must set up
Top: to hit only the top portion of the golf ball, generally resulting in a ground ball
Trap: see bunker
Two-putt: taking two shots to get the ball in the cup after hitting the green; a hole's par assumes two putts as the norm
Wedge: a short iron used to approach the green
Woods: golf clubs with long shafts and rounded
heads used for longer distance than irons; the longest-shafted club with the largest head used on the tee is called the driver
Yardage book: a booklet put together by golfers, caddies, or golf course management describing topography and distances on the course
About the Author
Clinical psychologist Roberta Isleib is the author of five golf lover’s mysteries featuring Cassie Burdette and three advice column mysteries starring psychologist Dr. Rebecca Butterman. Her books and stories have been nominated for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She is a past president of National Sisters in Crime. Her new Key West food critic series will debut in January 2012 written as Lucy Burdette (An Appetite for Murder, NAL.) She can be found at http://www.lucyburdette.com or on Twitter @LucyBurdette, or on facebook: Lucy Burdette author. Read more about the golf mysteries at http://www.robertaisleib.com.
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