by V. M. Burns
“Alright.” Jacob picked up the note and tore it to shreds. “I did forge the note.” He flung the pieces in the air. Then he grinned. “However, I have been cleared to return to work, part-time.” He reached inside another pocket and pulled out a different note.
Linda Kay glanced at the note. “It says you have restrictions.” She looked around. “Where are your crutches?”
He rolled his eyes and then reached under the table and pulled out a crutch. “I haven’t mastered this thing yet, and frankly, I find it more trouble than it’s worth.”
“Well, if you want to work, you better master that thing, and don’t let me see you without it.” She shook a playful finger at him.
Jacob sat up straight and saluted. “Ay, ay, Captain.”
Linda Kay laughed. “Stop it.”
We listened to Jacob’s experiences. After a few minutes, he announced that Linda Kay would need to hustle if she intended to make her board meeting.
I stood and started to clean up the table but was stopped when Jacob announced he was fully capable of cleaning up a few plates and ordered me out of the room. I started to protest but was interrupted by a tap on the door.
I turned and saw a young girl I’d noticed working downstairs in the museum’s cafeteria, whom I suspected had a serious crush on Jacob, standing at the door.
“Excuse me, but are you ready for me to clear up?”
Jacob nodded.
The young girl rolled a cart in the room and loaded the dishes onto the cart.
“Lilly, this is Emily.”
She nodded and smiled.
“Emily works downstairs and has graciously agreed to help me out.” He smiled at Emily, who blushed and continued loading the tea items onto the cart with her head down. “It turns out she lives close to my mom’s, so she was able to drive me to work.” He pointed to the compression boot. “Which is a godsend, because this boot makes it virtually impossible to drive a stick shift.”
In that moment, I had a flash. In that instant, I knew why the video about Keri Lynn at the gas station bothered me. I hurried to my office and left the two of them to clean up alone.
Back in my office, I called Red but couldn’t reach him. Instead, I left him a message that I had something I wanted to tell him. I asked if he was free for lunch and told him to please bring the video of Keri Lynn and any crime scene photos of the accident.
After a few moments, he sent a text saying he’d pick me up for lunch.
I forced my brain to think on other things. It took a bit, but eventually I allowed my mind to focus on accounting. I quickly lost myself in figures. The museum’s books had been in bad shape when I started, but I took great pride in knowing things were straightened out to the point that I almost longed for an IRS audit—almost. I imagined a blue-suited bean counter gushing about my balance sheets and financial statements. Perhaps the IRS would even provide me with an award for my services to the accounting world. I was jolted out of my fantasy when my cell phone rang.
I looked at the phone and saw Red’s picture. “Good morning.”
“Good afternoon.”
I looked at the time. “I stand corrected.”
“I’m downtown. I can pick you up in ten minutes.”
Something in the tone of his voice let me know he was in an exceptionally good mood. “You sound happy. What’s going on?”
He chuckled. “Maybe I’m just happy to know I get to see you.”
Heat rose up my neck. “As much as I’d like to believe that, I’m guessing you got some good news.”
“I’ll explain when I see you.” He rang off.
I had just enough time to check my makeup and grab my purse. By the time I got downstairs, Red was walking around to open my car door.
Once I was in, he hurried around to get in the car, and I couldn’t help but notice a certain amount of pep in his step.
He drove to a small barbecue restaurant we’d found while exploring the city. The food was good, but the owners were the real attraction. An African American man whom everyone called Moose and his wife, Renee. When we arrived, Moose greeted us as he always did, with a big smile.
He brought us menus, and he and Red talked football. Moose was a popular football player in college and had even played in the NFL for a year until he blew out his knees. He and Renee met in college but drifted apart. Both got married and started families. Renee had been happily married for over thirty years until her husband died unexpectedly. Moose had been unhappily married for the same amount of time. When he finally, in his words, “got sick and tired of being sick and tired,” he applied for a divorce. He and Renee reconnected at a class reunion. They got married and opened their restaurant so Moose could do what he liked, smoke barbecue. The two men talked football until Renee came over and told Moose to stop bothering us and to get back to the kitchen. Renee was a light-skinned woman with a short Afro. The food was good, but the entertainment came from watching the two of them interact. They were obviously in love, and it warmed my heart to see how they interacted with each other and bantered back and forth.
After we placed our orders, Renee left and promised to keep her husband away so we could enjoy our meals in peace. She gave me a wink and then hurried to take care of other customers.
“Did you bring the video?”
Red reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He swiped the screen until he got where he wanted and then passed it across the table to me.
I pressed Play and we watched Keri Lynn get out of a white BMW SUV. That was when I paused the video. “See, it’s the wrong car.”
He stared at the screen. “What are you talking about?”
“Remember, Keri Lynn doesn’t have a BMW. She has a Tesla.” I watched the light bulb go off and his eyes light up. “Madison said Dallas talked about how much he spent customizing the Tesla for Keri Lynn because she was left-handed.”
Unfortunately, the light bulb went out far too quickly. “Okay, so why is that important?”
I hadn’t really thought about that, but I wasn’t ready to give up quite so easily. “Well, it proves that Keri Lynn was driving Dallas’s car. He could have easily tampered with the brakes or some other thing underneath the car so the car would careen down a mountain and explode.”
“Maybe he had to take her car in for service.”
I refused to allow Red to dampen my spirits. “I’ll know soon enough. Beau knows the Tesla dealer, and he’s going to ask when the car was last serviced.”
He nodded.
“So, what has you in such a good mood today?” I sipped my lemon water and gazed over the top of my glass at Red.
He reached in his pocket and pulled out an envelope.
I reached across, but he hesitated. “I’m not sure I should show you this. It’s photos from the crime scene. There’s no body, but the car is in really bad shape.”
I took a deep breath and reached across for the photos. The white car was mangled and scorched and barely looked like anything more than scrap metal. I flipped the photos slowly and then flipped through them again. Something flashed across my mind. However, it left as quickly as it came. So I went through the photos again, this time more slowly. “Why would the photos of a burned-out car make you excited?”
“Because your friend from the dog club, Dr. Morgan, has declared the accident to be suspicious.”
I looked up. “Really? Because of these photos?”
He nodded. “Well, partly because of the photos.” He glanced at me. “Plus, there are some weird things going on with the body.” He hesitated.
“Give it to me.”
He shrugged. “The body was pretty badly burned. However, he did find some things that puzzled him.”
I patted the table impatiently. “Spill it.”
He looked around. “He had someone drive the tissue and blood sam
ples to Nashville, and apparently there was some evidence that the body had been drugged.”
Renee brought our food and plenty of napkins. We threw etiquette and silverware to the wind and picked up our ribs with our hands and sucked the barbecue sauce off of our fingers while we talked. The napkins were to protect our clothes from splatters.
“Are you sure you want to hear this?” Red asked. “It’s not exactly mealtime conversation.”
I nodded. “Spill it.”
He shrugged. “The body was burned really badly…too badly. He thinks an accelerant was used. Although if it’s gasoline, then it could have been from the accident. She could have spilled gas on her shoes or stepped in a spill when she was filling her tank. However, the teeth are missing.”
“Her teeth?” I shook my head. “Could that have happened from the car accident? Maybe she hit her head on the steering wheel or if the air bag deployed. I’ve heard those can cause a lot of damage.”
“It could. However, without teeth it makes it really hard to identify the victim. Plus, she doesn’t have any family members we can use to help with identification. So, no teeth and a badly burned body, and when you combine that with the fact he found evidence of frostbite on the victim’s feet…”
I stopped with corn on the cob midway to my mouth. “Frostbite?”
He nodded.
“How does a woman killed in a car fire get frostbite?”
“Exactly.”
I stared at him. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
He nodded. “If you’re thinking suspicious death, then the answer is yes.”
“Does this mean they believe you?”
He nodded. “It means I’m no longer on suspension and we are investigating the case as a possible homicide.”
Chapter 16
The remainder of my day went quickly. At five, Dixie met me downtown. As a native, she knew her way around Chattanooga and was able to find Heather’s address easily.
As it turned out, the address she took me to was relatively close to Jacob’s mother’s home in Red Bank.
We pulled up in front of a small bungalow.
“What’s our story?” Dixie peered out of the passenger window.
“I’m just going to say I was concerned. I heard about the family emergency and wanted to make sure she was okay.” I stared at Dixie. “I should have brought flowers.”
She reached to the back seat. “How about a bottle of wine?” She held up a bottle of moscato.
“You come prepared, don’t you?” I opened the door.
“Just like the Boy Scouts.” She got out of the car and walked around to the sidewalk.
We walked up to the front door. It was a small house in a quiet neighborhood of equally small houses. The grass was overgrown, and there was a week’s worth of papers on the front porch.
We rang the doorbell and waited. When no one answered, we rang it again and followed that up with a knock.
“Ain’t nobody home.”
We looked around to see who was talking.
A short, older woman with an extremely high-pitched voice and a large red wig like the one Dustin Hoffman wore in Tootsie yelled from the porch next door. “Ain’t nobody home.”
Dixie smiled big and walked across the yard. “Hi. My name is Dixie, and this is my friend, Lilly Ann. We’re looking for Heather. Do you know when she’ll be back?”
The woman sat on a kitchen chair. “My name’s Clara. Everyone around here calls me Miss Clara,” she announced in her squeaky voice.
“Hello, Miss Clara. We heard Heather had a family emergency, and we were worried about her,” Dixie said.
The old woman pulled her cotton housecoat closer. “I don’t know nothing ’bout no family emergency. Don’t seem possible, seeing as she ain’t got no family to speak of.” She chewed and then leaned over and spit a brown wad of spittle into a Folgers coffee can.
I recoiled and tried to adjust my face not to show my surprise. Eventually, I pulled myself together. “She told me she was raised by her grandmother.”
Miss Clara nodded. “Yep, that would be Adelaide…Adelaide Morgan.” She shook her head. “No finer woman on this earth than Adelaide Morgan.” Her eyes filled with tears. “Been gone five years now.”
“I’m so sorry. Were you good friends?” Dixie asked.
Miss Clara nodded and used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. “Sure was. Me and Adelaide go way back.” She turned and spit again. “I remember when little Heather came to live with her.” She leaned close. “Mother got on the bottle and the state took Heather away. Brought her here when she was knee-high to a grasshopper.”
“So, Adelaide raised her?” I asked.
“Yep. Sure did. Fine young girl she turned out to be too.” Miss Clara held her back straight and sat up tall.
“Do you have any idea where she could have gone?” I asked.
Miss Clara shook her head. “Nope. Ain’t seen her for going on a week now. Which is pretty odd, now I come to think on it. Ain’t seen that there dog of hers either.”
I asked a few more questions, but there wasn’t really anything more Miss Clara could add. Dixie made a friend for life when she offered Miss Clara the bottle of wine.
Dixie took me back to the museum for my car, and we promised to touch base tomorrow after obedience class.
David had left a note that he and Aggie were out with Madison. So I was home alone for the first time since I’d moved in. The house was quiet. I thought about calling Red, but I decided not to. I was a big girl. If I was going to buy this house, then I would need to get accustomed to living here alone. Sitting on the back deck, I sipped a glass of wine and relaxed. I listened to the wind and the birds and tried to listen to my subconscious. Unfortunately, my subconscious didn’t have much to say. I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember was David shaking me and telling me I’d catch cold if I stayed outside all night.
Aggie walked past me and took care of her business. When she went inside, she surprised both David and me by passing my bedroom and walking into the guest bedroom.
I stared at David, who merely shrugged and followed her to bed.
Tuesday was a busy day at work, but unlike most nights when I had obedience class, tonight was a lot easier. Thanks to the fact David was visiting, I wouldn’t have to rush home, change clothes, grab Aggie, and then head to the ETDC building. Tonight, David took Aggie to Pet Haven to pick up Madison. They would meet us at the club.
I brought an extra pair of clothes to work to change into, so I had an hour alone to make it to class. I barely knew what to do with myself. I decided to grab a snack, although I didn’t want to eat too much because we were going to have pizza after training tonight and discuss what we’d found out.
Everyone was at training on time and there was a buzz of excitement as everyone talked about what they’d learned. However, Dixie put a stop to it when she entered with Chyna and Leia and started in on our lesson.
Tonight’s lesson involved practical exercises like WAIT and OFF or FOUR ON THE FLOOR, which Dixie explained was the command for getting your dog to get off your company and keep four paws on the floor. As always, Dixie started by demonstrating each exercise with Chyna and Leia. We all struggled, but B.J. and Snowball struggled more than most.
“OFF! OFF! DOWN!” B.J. ordered, while Snowball danced around on her hind legs.
Dixie walked over. “First, you need to remember to give one command and only one. Let’s try this.” She gave Snowball the command to sit and stay, some of the first commands we learned. As soon as the Westie put her butt on the ground, Dixie rewarded her with a treat from the pouch she wore around her waist. Dixie turned to B.J. “Now, come toward us, but if she starts to get up, then I want you to walk away.” B.J. walked toward Snowball, who immediately hopped up and started to jump. B.J. turned her back and walked
away. Again, Dixie gave the command to sit and stay and B.J. walked toward her. Each time Snowball got up, B.J. walked away. It only took three times. By the fourth time, B.J. was able to stand in front of her dog and Snowball remained sitting.
“That was awesome. She gets the jackpot.” Dixie reached in her pouch, pulled out a handful of treats, and gave them all to Snowball.
We learned early in training that when a dog worked hard to do something, “jackpot” meant a bigger than normal reward.
Dixie watched each of us practice and even used Madison and David as distractions.
“Make sure your dogs know they only get rewarded when they have all four paws on the floor.” At the end of training, Dixie gave us our homework assignments.
Just as she announced the end of class, Beau entered carrying two large pizzas and pulling a cooler.
Around the corner was an office area with a table and chairs. Beau dropped the pizza boxes on the table. Dixie opened a file cabinet and pulled out paper plates, napkins, and cups.
“How are we going to eat with the dogs out?” Dr. Morgan asked as he struggled to keep his German shepherd, Max, from stealing the pizza.
Beau opened the cooler and pulled out a Ziploc bag, which immediately captured all of the dogs’ attention. Inside were several large squares of a foul-smelling meat.
Monica Jill held her nose. “Eww, what is that stuff?”
Dixie smiled. “Liver jerky. I have it specially made for my dogs.”
Beau handed each of the dogs one of the treats, which they took, then lay down and began chewing.
“Well, I’ll be. What’s in that stuff, doggie crack?” B.J. stared at Snowball as she nibbled on the square.
Dixie chuckled. “One hundred percent beef liver. I have a guy who owns a meat processing company. My dogs love it.”
With the dogs distracted by liver jerky, the adults were able to sit at the table and eat in peace.
“That’s pretty amazing. I’ve got to get me some of that liver crack.” B.J. ate a slice of pizza.
“I’ll give you his number.” Dixie took a drink of her Diet Coke. “Now, what did everyone find out?”
