by K C Hart
There was only one water tower in Skeeterville, and it was out near the trailer park where Joe and Tubby lived. Even though John sounded calm, he made the trip in about ten minutes, which was ten minutes faster than it normally took.
The water tower was down a little gravel road about a third of a mile off the highway. It was one of the old small towers that had been there ever since Katy could remember. The body of the tower was cylinder shaped, but slightly larger at the bottom than the top. A metal dunce cap perched over the water tower body. Katy realized as they drove down the gravel road that this was as close to the water tower as she had ever been.
John pulled his truck to the base of the tower where both Tubby’s and Joe’s trucks were parked. The moon was almost full and Joe’s head lights were on, making the area fairly bright. Katy could see Joe sitting on the metal ladder going up the side of the tower. Tubby was sitting on the narrow metal framework that surrounded the holding tank at the top. His feet were hanging over the edge like he was planning on being there a while.
Joe climbed down from the ladder and walked around to the corner of their truck. “I’m sorry to bother y’all. I didn’t know what else to do. I’ve never seen him like this before.”
“Don’t worry about it, Joe,” John said, getting out of the truck. “How long has he been up there?”
“At least a couple of hours. He called me about ten and said his life was over. I asked where he was and ended up here.”
John put a foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. “Might as well head on up. Ain’t going to fix anything down here.”
“Mr. John, I need to warn you. He’s been drinking,” Joe said, watching John start the climb upward.
“I figured as much,” John answered, never slowing down as he turned and looked over his shoulder. “I’ve never known a sober man over the age of fifteen to climb one of these in the middle of the night.”
Katy watched as John climbed the ladder and perched on the edge of the railing, about one hundred and twenty feet above her head. Lord, please protect him, she silently prayed. “What in the world brought this on Joe?” Katy asked. “I know we all saw the dead body today, but I never pictured Tubby for somebody who would go over the edge in a crisis.”
“It’s not the body that’s bothering him, Mrs. Katy,” Joe said, shaking his head. “I climbed up there when I first got here. For some reason he thinks Emma was fooling around with Mr. Clay and was somehow involved in his murder.”
“Emma…and Mr. Clay? Now I just refuse to believe that. It’s obvious to everybody how she feels about Tubby.”
“I know, I know,” Joe agreed, shrugging his shoulders, “but he said there was a note by his body with her name on it.”
“A note?” Katy had been staring up at the two men on the tower, but now she turned to face Joe. “Does he mean that pink piece of paper? That has to be what he’s talking about,” she said, answering her own question.
“I don’t know for sure,” Joe said. “All I know is that he said there was a note with her name on it, and when the police figured it out, she would be in jail. He’s a wreck. He said it’s bad enough she was fooling around with a forty-something-year-old man, but he could forgive her.”
Katy listened as Joe explained Tubby’s logic and it began to dawn on her why Tubby had looked so funny earlier on the stage. “Joe, I think I know why Tubby is having a meltdown.”
“Well, do you think you can talk some sense into him? Emma called me looking for him about forty-five minutes ago.” Joe rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “I hate to be dishonest, but I just couldn’t tell her what Tubby was accusing her of. I’ve been there, and it ain’t no fun when the person you love is doubting you.”
“Don’t worry, Joe. I’ll set him straight.” Katy started up the ladder in her flip flops. She had never been afraid of heights, but she had never climbed a water tower by moonlight either.
“Katy! Get back down that ladder, woman!” John yelled when he happened to look in her direction. Katy was already a good sixty feet up. She decided that arguing with John would have to wait until the climb was over.
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Katy, I ain’t gonna let you fall,” Joe said from somewhere below her. “But if you do, I’ll cushion your landing.”
Katy looked over her shoulder toward the ground. Joe was about three rungs behind her, moving up a rung every time she took a step. She slowly continued her progress upward and made it to the top with Joe on her heels. John and Tubby scooted over and made room for them to sit on the narrow perch.
Tubby smelled like a beer keg had been dumped on his head. He leaned forward around John, who sat between him and Katy. “I guess you figured it out, too, huh?” he blubbered.
“Tubby, you are jumping to conclusions,” Katy said, trying desperately to keep her eyes from wandering downward. “That note could have been written by someone else. Your wife is not the only EM in town. Besides, everybody calls her Emma.”
“I don’t,” Tubby said, choking back a sob. “She told me to call her Em on our first date seven years ago. That’s all I ever call her.”
“Aww Tub, that don’t mean nothing,” Joe said, leaning around Katy to talk to his best friend. “You know Emma loves you, man.”
“What if she told that old fake-tanned show boy to call her that, too?” Tubby’s voice cracked. “And how did he end up dead?” He shook his head back and forth trying to shake out the cobwebs. “It’s just more than a man can handle.”
John cut his eyes toward Katy, beginning to get aggravated with the entire situation. “Would you mind telling me what he’s talking about since I seem to be the only one up here who is in the dark?”
“Today there was a typed note that said, ‘You’re going to pay,’ by Rob Clay’s body,” Katy explained. “Remember when I said we found a scrap of paper on the stage?”
“And that’s what brought all of this on?” John glared at Tubby.
“Tell him how it was signed, Mrs. Katy,” Tubby sobbed from John’s other side.
“It was signed EM, but tell him, John. That could be anybody.” Katy nudged her husband to take a hint.
“Look, Tubby,” John wrinkled his forehead. “I ain’t going to play games with you. You’re acting like a kid when you should be acting like a man.”
“I can’t help it, Mr. John.” Tubby wiped his nose on the tail of his t-shirt and hiccupped. “She’s broke my heart.”
“Listen, boy,” John continued, staring at the younger man, “have you even talked to Emma about this?”
Tubby silently shook his head.
“I didn’t think so.” John turned to Katy. “Honey, is this how I would react if I heard something crazy about you?”
“No, it’s not,” Katy replied firmly. “You would come find me and let me tell you what was really going on. AND,” Katy dragged out the last word for emphasis. “if I was in some sort of trouble, I know you would be there to get me through it.”
Tubby wiped his nose again, this time with his arm. “You’re right, Mr. John. If she was fooling around on me it’s because that old man had lured her into some kind of trap.” He paused and hiccupped again. “I’ve got to help her get out of this mess.”
Joe leaned back out of Tubby’s line of vision and whispered in Katy’s ear. “You don’t really believe Emma was fooling around with that old bird, do you?”
“Of course not,” Katy whispered back. “But we have got to get him to thinking so he’ll get off this water tower and go home to talk to her.”
“I need to go talk to Em,” Tubby announced, right on cue. He grabbed the railing and began to stand up.
“Whoa, big guy,” John said, grabbing Tubby by his shirt tail. “Let’s make sure you’re steady on your feet before we start the climb down.”
The men made Katy climb down the ladder first. When she was safely on the ground, Joe started down in front of Tubby and John behind him. The descent was slow, with Tubby talking the entire trip, but they
made it down without any slips.
“Tubby, you get in the truck with me,” Joe demanded, taking Tubby’s keys from his hand. “Mr. John, will you drive Tub’s truck back to his trailer?”
“Sure, Joe. Katy can follow in ours.”
Katy pulled into the short driveway that ran between the two men’s trailers. She was the last truck in their little caravan. She hoped they hadn’t awakened Mrs. Simmons who lived in the trailer on the other side of the road. The elderly woman had moved in with her daughter Trudy Mae after a dead body had been found in her trailer last year. Trudy had only let her move back to the trailer park about two months ago. The last thing the woman needed was to be frightened in the middle of the night.
Emma let Tubby into their home along with Joe, who felt that he might be needed to keep Tubby’s thoughts on track. John and Katy decided that they had done all they could do with Tubby for one night. Katy told Emma she would talk to her later and made her promise to remember how much Tubby loved her. Emma had looked bewildered but assured Katy that everything would be okay.
Katy climbed into their truck deep in thought. “John, I have to do it,” she finally said after they had driven in silence for about ten minutes.
“Do what?” John asked cautiously, although he already knew the answer to his question.
“I have to figure out who killed Rob Clay…for Tubby.” She looked at her husband out of the corner of her eye.
“And just why do you have to do that?” John asked, never taking his eyes off the road.
“I owe him. He saved my life. I need to help him clear Emma’s name,” Katy answered.
“You don’t really think Emma had anything to do with this, do you?”
“No, not really, but EM was signed on that note. If Tubby is wondering about his own wife, just think about what everybody else is going to say.” Katy paused, waiting for John to reply. “Well, aren’t you going to try to talk me out of it?”
“Would it do any good?” John asked, turning to look at his wife as he pulled into their driveway.
“No, probably not.”
“I didn’t think so.” John unlocked the carport door. “Come on. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. I have had enough excitement for one night.”
Chapter Three
The smell of bacon tickled her nose. Katy rolled over and looked at the clock. How in the world could John get up at six-thirty when they didn’t get in bed until three this morning? Coffee. That’s what it would take to get her going this morning. She slipped her feet in her fuzzy purple slippers and padded toward the kitchen.
“It’s about time you crawled out,” John said, handing her a smoking mug of black coffee. “You act like you were out all hours of the night.”
“And good morning to you, too.” Katy held her Yoda mug in both hands and blew the wisp of steam away. “I’m too old to stay out all night and then be expected to climb out of bed with the chickens.”
“Any self-respecting chicken has been up for at least two hours. But if you really are too tired, go on back to bed. I’ll teach your class this morning.”
Katy slid onto the bar stool and watched as John dropped a couple of slices of bacon and a biscuit on her plate and passed it to her. She was tempted for about half a second to take him up on his offer. “No, I guess I better stay up. Besides, how will it look if Tubby and Emma are there today and I’m a no show?”
“Emma might make it,” John chuckled, sitting on the stool beside her, “but I imagine that Tubby won’t be at church, or anywhere else, before about one o’clock today. He was pretty lit.”
They paused to pray over their food before eating. She said a silent prayer for the young couple before she opened her eyes. They probably had a rough night after Tubby got home.
“I guess I’ll need to stop by the dollar store on the way home and get me a notebook. I need to start writing stuff down.” Katy put a small dab of butter on her hot biscuit, followed by a very large tablespoon of strawberry preserves.
John handed her a napkin as the red strawberry gel slid down her chin after she bit into the biscuit. “I have been thinking about this,” he said. “I know you’re going to look into all of this, whether I agree or not, so I figure we better lay down a few ground rules.”
“Okay. Ground rules. Shoot,” Katy said, trying to look perturbed as she sipped her coffee and stared at her husband. Actually, she was surprised that he was giving in so easily.
“First of all, never, and I do mean never, go anywhere without your cell phone.” Katy nodded in agreement as she took a bite of bacon. “Second,” John continued, “you tell me everything. I would think that would go without saying, but after last year I figure it needs to be said.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. I’m a little older and a lot wiser now.” She took another bite of the biscuit. “Anything else, boss?”
“Yes. If this thing starts getting too dangerous, you are out.” John looked Katy in the eye as he said this last rule. “I am not going through what we went through last year.”
“Deal.” Katy took the last bite of her biscuit and washed it down with the final sip of coffee. “Here, eat this bacon and quit worrying.” She slid her second piece of bacon over to his plate. He hadn’t even started eating yet.
“Where you headed?” John asked as Katy padded back out of the kitchen.
“Shower. Then I need to read back over my lesson before church.”
Katy looked out across the packed sanctuary from her vantage point in the choir. Nothing like a little murder and scandal to pack in the flock. Her junior high girls had already heard everything about the murder that was common knowledge. They didn’t know about the guitar string being used to strangle Mr. Clay. The sheriff must be keeping that quiet.
The stragglers, who were a no show for Sunday school, were still coming in as the choir stood to sing. John was in their usual place on the back row. He would save her a spot. She looked around but didn’t see Emma or Tubby. They had been coming pretty regular for the past couple of months. She hoped that they wouldn’t drop out now. Now was when everybody needed to draw together.
Katy listened as all the choir members around her began to sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.” Her smile and feeling of joy made her raise her head toward the vaulted church ceiling when all the voices blended together. Joe Phobs’s strong voice could be heard from among the men on the back row. At least he made it this morning. She had pondered over last night’s events while waiting for her Sunday school class to arrive this morning. She was thankful that Joe and Tubby trusted her and John enough to ask them for help, even if being a good Samaritan meant climbing the Skeeterville water tower.
After the sermon, as Katy was trying to leave, she was bombarded by several of the older ladies of the church who were in search of information about yesterday’s events. Katy and Misty were the only two people who attended this church regularly that were at the band meeting yesterday. Joe and Tubby had started coming more, but the old ladies probably felt more comfortable picking the women’s bones. The Bluegrass Babes went to a church across town and Katy wasn’t sure about the twins from The Rough Edge Boys. That group was made up of men in their early twenties. She didn’t know any of them at all.
“I heard that it was one of his girlfriends,” Mrs. Henley told Katy and anybody else who would listen.
“Well, I’m not surprised,” chimed in Mrs. Dawson. “That man has been wild ever since he was a little thing. His mother, bless her heart, never could do anything with him when he was young.”
“Now ladies,” broke in Clara Fortenberry, usually the voice of reason, “do you really want to speak ill of the dead right here in the Lord’s house?”
Katy bit her lip to hide her smile as the other two women clammed up from the soft-spoken rebuke. “What I would like to know,” Katy said, to break the awkward silence and get the ladies on a different subject, “is how The Moonlighters got enough votes to be in the Battle of the Bands.”
“Y’all hav
en’t figured that out yet?” asked Mrs. Dawson, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“What do you know, Mrs. Dawson?” Katy asked as one eyebrow inched its way up.
“Well, I would tell you,” she started, “but I wouldn’t want to be gossiping right here in the Lord’s house, you know.” She turned and glared over the rim of her glasses at Clara Fortenberry.
“Oh, look,” Katy pointed across the women’s heads toward the back foyer. “John’s waving at me. I better run.” She squeezed out of the pew between the three women and made a bee line for the backdoor.
John and Todd were just outside of the entrance talking with Pastor Scott. Katy walked up and wedged in between her nephew and her husband. “If any of the old ladies come up wanting to talk, do not let them corner me.”
The three men grinned at Katy. “What’s wrong?” Todd asked, nudging her with his pointy elbow. “Seems like I remember you telling me one time that they were harmless.” He winked at the other men. “What happened? They pecking you a little too hard?”
“Well, they’re not harmless,” Katy snorted. “Mrs. Dawson will go for the jugular.” She looked at Pastor Scott, only slightly embarrassed. “Sorry. Guess that wasn’t very nice, but they do act like biddies sometimes. I know they all have big hearts, but those beaks can get mighty sharp.”
The pastor smiled. “Believe me, I understand. I have been in that pecking line quite a few times myself.”
John grabbed Katy’s elbow. “Well, I hate to leave such good company, but if we’re going to get a seat at the fish house, we had better leave.” He paused and looked from the pastor to his nephew. “Would either one of you like to join us?”
“No thank you,” replied Pastor Scott. “We’re eating with my in-laws today.”
John turned again to his nephew. “Come on, Todd. You might as well join us. I know Katy is just busting a gut to talk to you.”
