Death by Derby

by Abigail Keam

  Kelly snarled, “Why did you leave after high school without even saying goodbye? Have you any idea what that did to me? How it shattered me?”

  “It broke me too, but it had to be done.”

  “Why, Asa? Why bring such unhappiness to us both? I couldn’t believe it when I found out that you married that Minor Reasor creep and not me. It crushed my heart. It destroyed me.”

  “Believe me when I say that I have always loved you, but I knew I could never be what you wanted me to be.

  “You wanted a wife and children. You wanted fried chicken dinners on lazy summer afternoons, a four bedroom house by a running stream, and a riding mower to mow the yard. You wanted a normal family life.

  “I could never have given you that. There is a darkness in me that I don’t understand. How could I expect you to? I loved you enough to give you up so that you could have the things you wanted and needed.”

  Kelly was unfazed in his bitterness. “We could have worked things out.”

  Asa shook her head. “We would have gotten married, but in the end I would have left.”

  “No, we would have worked it out.”

  “Do you love your wife?”

  “Yes.” Kelly nodded.

  “Do you love your children?”

  “Of course.”

  “Were you happy?”

  “I was content,” confessed Kelly.

  “You would never have been with me. I was a bird that would have wanted to fly away every day. Our life together would have been too small for me.

  “Know that I love you with all my heart and I gave you up so that you could live the life you wanted. Rejoice in the time we had together. It was precious, but we couldn’t build a future on it.”

  “I love you too, Asa,” said Kelly, his eyes filling with tears. “I have never loved anyone as I have loved you.”

  “You made the right choice when you left me at the hospital. Build a life with your wife and children. Celebrate what we once had and still feel for each other. I will love you until my dying breath, but I am not right for you, my beloved.”

  “Why did you marry Minor?”

  Asa thought for a moment. “I was young. I was lonely. I thought he would protect me, and then when I found out he was the enemy, it was too late.” Asa reached over and clasped Kelly’s trembling hand. “It was never like that with us. Never. Oh, my darling. Please go back to your life and be happy for the both of us. I can only continue if I know that you are safe and well. No tears. No tears. We had our time together.”

  Kelly kissed Asa’s hand and rubbed it against his rough, unshaven face. “Asa. Asa.”

  Asa wrapped her arms around Kelly. They held each other in silence, and finally at peace.

  24

  How did Charlie Hoskins get out of the balloon’s gondola?

  Witnesses saw him get into the gondola at Bowman Field and watched the balloon rise. So how did he get out?

  I pulled out a map of Louisville and found where Bowman Field and Churchill Downs were located.

  Bowman Field was east of Churchill Downs. Directly between them were Seneca Gardens, Calvary Cemetery, and Audubon Park, all three green spaces where a large hot air balloon could settle down. However, Seneca Gardens and Audubon Park were heavily used. A hot air balloon landing in those places would have been seen, and so far no one has stepped forward to say that they had seen a balloon land in either park.

  A cemetery would have fewer witnesses, at least the kind that stand upright and talk, but also less green space to set down a balloon. There was a possibility that Charlie had landed the balloon on a building and jumped out.

  Still, how did he guide the balloon to Churchill Downs?

  I knew my daughter would know how he could have landed it, but I didn’t want to involve her any further in this mess. I really wanted Asa to leave, but she kept hanging around.

  Was it because Minor was still in town?

  I pushed that thought from my mind. Putting Asa near Minor was like throwing gasoline on an oil fire. Those two burned with something unholy and it made me fear for Asa.

  However, I did have another name in my hamper of know-it-alls.

  I dialed a number on my old rotary phone. An answering machine picked up.

  “I know you’re back. I need you. Your mission, should you decide to accept, is to help Shaneika. As always, should either one of us be caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of our actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds.”

  I heard the phone click on.

  “What the hell do you want now?”

  “Hellllloooo, Franklin.”

  25

  “Can’t this toy car go a little faster?”

  Franklin patted his steering wheel. “Don’t listen to the bad lady, Sweetie. You’re doing fine.”

  I tried to get comfortable, but who could in a tiny Smart Car? I had to yell to be heard because the engine was so loud. “We should have taken my car. We’re never going to get to Louisville at this speed.” Spying a car rental business, I grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it, sending the car screeching into the parking lot.

  It took a long time for Franklin to quit screaming. “You could have gotten us killed,” he yelled.

  But I didn’t hear his complaints as I was already out, heading toward the office. A few minutes later, I emerged from the office as a silver Mercedes SUV pulled to a stop in front of me. After signing some papers, I threw the keys to Franklin.

  Franklin reluctantly got in. “I just wanted my baby to stretch her legs a bit.”

  “Consider them stretched. We’ll catch her on the way back.”

  Franklin threw a kiss at his Smart Car and then pulled out onto Versailles Road after spending a long time making his motorized seat go forward, backward, up, then down, forward again, and back up until he got it just right.

  “Come on. Put the pedal to the metal.”

  “I don’t see why I needed to come on this fruitless adventure of yours.”

  “Do shut up with that complaining. You know I can’t drive long distances. Besides, you know about hot air ballooning.”

  Franklin smirked. “I know a little. My uncle was heavy into it when I was a teenager, but it got too expensive so he had to give it up.”

  “A little is more than I know.” I confided in Franklin about Charlie Hoskins’ balloon exploding over Churchill Downs, but that he wasn’t found in the wreckage.

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “How so?”

  “The idea that Charlie Hoskins could have taken off at Bowman Field and then precisely landed at Churchill Downs is ludicrous.”

  “Why?”

  “Because there is no steering mechanism in hot air balloons. They drift with the wind.”

  “You can’t steer them at all?”

  “Only somewhat. You can change altitudes. That will change the direction of the balloon.”

  “Well?”

  “But you can’t make the wind go in the direction you want even if you change altitudes. That is very unpredictable at best, even if you send a test balloon out first.”

  “Is that done?”

  “Yes, but you are still talking about great odds. And during the most important race day of the year? My goodness. Churchill Downs, racehorse owners, and spectators would have sued Charlie. He would have been arrested. His pilot’s license might have been revoked. It would have been a mess. No amount of publicity would have been worth the chaos he would have to face.”

  “It was a mess with the explosion.” I thought for a moment. “Maybe it was a con.”

  “A con?”

  “Since Charlie wasn’t found, maybe the whole balloon thing was a red herring.”

  “A red herring?”

  “Would you please quit repeating me?”

  “You want me to quit repeating you?”

  Ignoring Franklin, I continued, “His body wasn’t found as Charlie was not in the gondola.”

  “But y
ou said there were plenty of witnesses who saw him get into it.”

  “How can a person get out of a balloon after it’s been released?”

  Franklin yapped while zipping past cars in the left lane. “Every balloon is equipped with drop lines that can be thrown out for the ground crew to use to guide the balloon in landing.”

  “Could someone use a drop line to climb out of a gondola if they were close to the ground?”

  “Again, it would be very dangerous, but I guess it could be done.”

  “What about a parachute?”

  “Wouldn’t work. Hot air balloons don’t get high enough for a parachute to work.”

  “What about a bungee cord?”

  Franklin shrugged. “I don’t see an older man using a bungee cord and diving out of a hot air balloon. Besides, people would have seen.”

  “Would they? That Saturday, people in Louisville were either at Churchill Downs or at Derby parties. Derby Day is the most iconic day in Louisville. Very few people would be out and about.”

  “Perhaps you’re right,” Franklin concurred as he pulled into Bowman Field.

  I went into the office and made up some story about doing a travel blog on hot air ballooning and how I wanted to talk with Charlie Hoskins’ crew since the explosion was so relevant to my story. I swear my nose grew an inch or so.

  The secretary in the office chatted about how she wanted to write her own blog and asked questions about getting started. My nose grew another inch responding, but at the end of my suggestions, the happy secretary pointed to a man tinkering with a small airplane near the office.

  As I went over to the man in overalls, I waved to Franklin to join us since he would know what questions to ask.

  I introduced myself and then Franklin as my assistant. The man, John Turner, turned out to be Charlie’s ground crew headman and he was as bewildered as everyone else. At first he refused to talk with us, but Franklin flashed a hundred dollar bill and promised that everything he said would be off the record.

  “I have talked to every outfit there is–FBI, ATF, FAA, State Police, local police, and some other agencies I’ve never heard of. I haven’t a clue as to what happened except that Charlie never showed up.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “He got in the basket and flew away. Charlie was seen by lots of people.”

  John shook his head. “That’s the problem. We were not supposed to take off from here. Charlie had a new balloon made with a picture of Persian Blue and Charlie’s name on it to use that day. I had rented a parking lot in the industrial part of town on the west side. We had set it up, ready to go that morning, but Charlie never showed up.

  “I called his cell phone, his office, his assistant, his wife. I even started calling hospitals. No one had seen him and everyone assumed he was with me.”

  “And he wasn’t?” I questioned again.

  John shook his head.

  “Was Charlie to navigate the balloon?” asked Franklin.

  John replied, “No, we had an experienced pilot for that. We had made arrangements with the network televising the race that the balloon was supposed to drift near Churchill Downs, they would get a shot, and then we would bring the balloon down. It was a publicity stunt, that’s all.”

  “So the balloon was never to fly over Churchill Downs?” I asked.

  “Good gawd, are you crazy?” sputtered John. “That would have landed us in jail, not to mention everyone on the crew would have lost their license. We would have been banned from every airport in the country except as passengers.”

  “I’m very confused,” I remarked.

  “You and me both,” confessed John.

  Franklin gave us both one of his smug looks. “I think I’ve got it.”

  “Enlighten us,” I suggested.

  “Charlie comes up with this publicity stunt and has a new balloon made. I would say it cost a pretty penny–anywhere from fifty to seventy-five thousand. Right?”

  John nodded. “Sixty is about right.”

  Franklin smiled and continued, “He tells his regular crew that he has arranged a publicity stunt with the network for Derby morning. He gets you to make arrangements to rent out a suitable area to stage the ascent of the balloon.”

  “So far so good,” replied John.

  “Since you hired a pilot, I assume Charlie was going to arrive only to check on the balloon and then head over to Churchill Downs where a reporter would be waiting to interview him when the balloon came into view.”

  John looked at me and then at Franklin. “You make it sound so simple. Yeah. Yeah. That’s exactly what was to happen.”

  “But Charlie never arrived to give the go ahead, so you did not release the balloon,” I said.

  “Finally, someone who gets it,” declared John, the lines of stress on his face suddenly disappearing.

  Franklin continued, “So Charlie doesn’t arrive, you don’t release the new balloon, and then you look up and see Charlie’s old balloon in the sky.”

  “I about messed in my drawers,” confessed John. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  “So what happened then?” I asked.

  “I called Bowman Field and the manager tells me that Charlie set up his old balloon there and lifted off in it.” John looked distressed again. “It was suicide. A very dangerous flight plan. To get to Churchill Downs, he would have to go over the expressway, and depending on the air currents, he could possibly drift too close to the airport. Nobody in his right mind would have chosen that way.”

  Franklin pursed his lips. “And yet he made it to Churchill Downs.”

  John shrugged. “I don’t know how Charlie managed it.”

  “Then the balloon exploded,” Franklin uttered.

  “Yeah, it went down in flames. We could see most of the explosion from where we were. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I prayed and I’m not a praying man. I’m just so glad that no one else was hurt.”

  I looked askance at John. “So you think Charlie is dead?”

  “Of course. If he was in that gondola, he died instantly, I hope. I’m going to his memorial this Saturday.”

  “Which is where?” I asked.

  While John was busy giving the details of Charlie’s memorial, Franklin went into the office. By the time he came out, I was already waiting in the Mercedes and was nodding off.

  “What did you find out?” I asked.

  Franklin gave me that smug look again. “I know the how, but I don’t know the why. That’s your department.”

  “How can there be a memorial when there is no Charlie?”

  “Apparently Charlie left instructions with his lawyer detailing what to do if and when he passed on. Everyone thinks he’s dead, so the lawyer is having Charlie’s memorial.”

  “How convenient,” I muttered. “Are you going to spill on the how?”

  “Maybe during lunch, which you are going to buy and then only if you spill why you are so interested. Charlie Hoskins was nothing to you,” stated Franklin, revving up the car.

  “That’s easy. I will be happy to buy you lunch and I can tell you why right now. It’s because Minor Reasor is on this case.”

  “And who is Minor Reasor?”

  “Asa’s ex-husband!”

  “Get out!” exclaimed Franklin, slapping me on the arm. “This is getting better and better. You are going to tell me everything, and I mean everything, Josiah.”

  I didn’t resist. I was tired of secrets. I was tired of tiptoeing over Asa’s past. For some reason Asa was staying in town.

  Was it to help Kelly?

  Was it to help Shaneika?

  Was it to exact revenge on Minor?

  Was it to start up with Minor again?

  For once I wanted Asa to leave town. I feared whatever she was up to was going to blow up in all our faces.

  And what about Goetz? What was he doing talking to Minor–an ATF agent? What connection did those two have? They talked as if they were old acquaintances.

  I needed to talk t
o someone who wasn’t involved, who could help me see through all the smokescreens. I was too rattled by Minor being in town to think straight. Franklin had a keen mind. If anybody could untangle this massive web, he might be the one.

  26

  We stopped to grab something to eat. As soon as Franklin picked up his turkey sandwich, he gushed, “I want to hear all of the misery. Don’t leave anything out.”

  “Don’t gloat so, Franklin. It’s unseemly.”

  “Spill it all, or my lips are sealed about what I’ve learned.”

  “You know that you’re a pain.”

  “Is that the pot calling the kettle black? Let’s not squabble.” Franklin reached over and pinched my arm. “Give!”

  “Geez, what a little monster.” I rubbed my arm. “Let me get my thoughts straight.”

  Franklin twisted his mouth in agitation. “Come on. You’re stalling.”

  “I have to start at the beginning. The very beginning of my downfall, and Asa’s too.”

  “I’m listening,” cooed Franklin gleefully.

  “For years, Brannon and I flew high. Our careers were going in the right direction–up. Brannon was making lots of money with his architectural firm and together we bought some land and developed it. That’s where we made our big money.

  “Along the way, Brannon refurbished Lady Elsmere’s house and through her, we knew everyone in town. We were invited to all the best parties, and I was on all the important boards in town. We were happy, or so I thought.

  “I think things started slipping when Asa left home right after high school. She didn’t say goodbye to Kelly and I think that bit of selfishness created a crack that got bigger and bigger as time went on until it was a chasm that we all fell into.”

  “You blame Asa?”

  “No, I don’t blame her, but I think one action creates a reaction, which creates another reaction until it snowballs.” I shook my head, brandishing a potato chip. “Or maybe each person is allotted only a specific time for happiness and when it’s up, it’s up.”

  “So what happened?” asked Franklin before biting into his sandwich.