Cold Case Conundrum

by Sharon Mierke

  She wiped her cheeks and blew her nose. “Merlin and I were never close, Mabel. He came over once to say hello and tell me how proud he was of Robert but that’s the only time I’ve seen him. I think he felt I’d made a big mistake in my marriage. I don’t think I’ll have any friends out in that new subdivision. Everyone out there is young. Robert is gone so much of the time I know I’ll always be alone in that big house.”

  “Oh, Ettie,” Flori blubbered. “I’m so sorry.” She wiped her eyes and smeared mascara across her face. Suddenly, her face lit up. “But I know what you can do; you can go to work with your son, the doctor, and have him drop you off at my place. We could have so much fun together.”

  “Flori, are you kicking Jake out because I doubt Ettie wants to spend the day with Jake in the house?”

  “He’ll be ice fishing every day, all winter. You know he does that, Mabel. We can have our breakfast and then come to the shop and have coffee with you.” She clutched her wadded up sodden tissues to her chest. “Oh, it’ll be so much fun.”

  “I think you’re getting carried away. Don’t forget Dr. Campbell doesn’t work from nine to five. Ettie might be stuck at your place until midnight.”

  “Or even later, two or three days can go by and I don’t see him at all.”

  “Oh, you poor sweetheart.” Flori’s waterworks started up again. I swear that woman must unload a gallon of water when she cries.

  “Well,” I said, “I think he does have your best interests at heart, Ettie. Maybe he thinks that having a lot of fancy new things will make you happy.”

  “I was happy out on the farm, Mabel. I told him that.”

  “He probably wants to make up for not being around for all those years while he was studying. Did he ever come home for visits?”

  If I thought she looked sad before, I was mistaken. Now, she looked absolutely wretched.

  She managed to smile a half-hearted smile.

  “Oh, yes, he came home once in awhile. We all tiptoed around, not wanting to upset him. He’d be home for two days and we’d see him for maybe three hours.”

  “Why? Was he studying?”

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t even know why he bothered to come.”

  “But what did he do, Ettie?”

  “He did a lot of sleeping. That was okay because I knew where he was and I knew he was losing sleep because of his classes. When he was an intern, he might come for only one day. He’d arrive at night, go out for the evening, and then go back the next day. He didn’t even share a decent meal with us. My husband was so upset with him. They’d have fights but Robert would always win the argument. All he had to say was, ‘who’s footing the bill?’ and my husband couldn’t say anything.”

  “I’m so sorry. If he came to see you, why would he go out? Where did he go?”

  “I never breathed a word to anyone, Mabel, but I watched one night as he drove away. He didn’t go far - only over to Patterson’s. What could I do? He was a grown man.”

  Flori came to life enough to say, “I know just what you mean. That’s what it’s like having boys. They only come home when they want their mother’s cooking and then they’re gone and never say a word as to where they’re going.”

  “Ettie, do you remember when Mr. Patterson filled that old well in?”

  If she wondered why I asked, she didn’t show it. Perhaps the three glasses of wine made the difference.

  “Oh, I sure do. For years, folks were after him about that well. Not that anyone ever went to visit but we knew it was there and we worried about his own kids. It wasn’t far off the road. I’m not sure why it was there even but it could’ve been dug for cattle or something. So, finally after his wife leaves, he decides to fill it in. Apparently, he tried filling it in himself but couldn’t so he had to bring in a tractor.” She shook her head. “Oh, Mabel, I hate to say it but I think I detest that man. I always worried he’d get angry at us for something and come over and cause us trouble.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “It’s his nature.”

  “Who are we talking about?” Flori asked. It seemed she was back in the land of the living. Her eyes had lost that wine-induced glaze and the crying had hopefully ended.

  “Mr. Patterson, Flori. You know, he’s the man who lives across from Ettie’s farm.”

  “You mean the hillbillies?”

  Ettie, after being so down, seemed to find humor in that so all three of us had a good laugh. It’s amazing how wine can knock you down and then lift you back up so quickly.

  “It’s funny, isn’t it, how Mr. Patterson suddenly filled in his well and moved out of his house right after his wife left? Don't you think that’s odd?” I said.

  Both women looked at me as if I were insane.

  “No, really,” I said. “Stop and think, your wife wants to leave you so you drive her to the bus station; within days, you move your children out of their house into an old beat up trailer that you decide to buy out of the blue, and then you cover in your old well that was sitting like that for years. You don’t think that’s very odd?”

  They both looked at me with blank looks.

  “Am I the only one who’s concerned about this? Don’t you see that something isn’t right?”

  “Mabel,” Flori said. “People do all sorts of strange things. Remember when Mr. Macy decided to sell farm machinery on his front lawn?”

  “I know, Flori, but this doesn’t follow the man’s personality. Mr. Macy was nuts to begin with. Old Man Patterson is not a caring person. He would not move his family out of their house just because there were memories of their mother there. That’s being sentimental. Patterson is not a sentimental person. And why suddenly cover in a well?”

  “How do you know so much about him? It’s not like you ever met him. You’re the one who always tells me not to judge people by what others say about that person. Shame on you, Mabel.” Flori looked triumphant.

  Ettie had a strange look in her eye. “You didn’t happen to go over there when you went out to see the boys, did you?”

  Flori’s triumphant look turned to terror.

  “Mabel, please don’t tell me you went out to the Patterson place.” She looked heavenward and closed her eyes. “Oh, woe is me! Mabel is going to get killed.”

  “Flori, for goodness sake, I’m not going to get killed. If Paul Patterson wanted to kill me, he would’ve done it when I was there.”

  Both yelled out in unison, “You were there?”

  As I told my story, I’m not sure if they were horrified or simply intrigued.

  When I was finished and after several seconds of silence, Flori announced, “Well, I’m glad it’s done and over with. You’ve got it out of your system and now you can stay home and inside the house for the winter.”

  “But don’t you see? There are things that have to be settled. Things that just don’t add up. First, we have to find Carly and Brady’s mother. We also have to figure out why Robert is going over to Patterson’s all the time. And, I think we should find out why Pa Patterson has been living in a trailer all these years when there’s a perfectly good house sitting on his property.”

  “Maybe,” Ettie said, “it’s because the house is probably filled with rats.”

  “I’m sure now it is but not years ago.”

  “I think we should concentrate on finding Carly’s mother,” Flori said.

  “Really?” I stared at her, hardly believing my ears.

  Flori shocks me at times. One minute she can be horrified at what I do and the next, she wants to join me.

  “Out of everything you said,” she continued, “that’s the only thing that makes any sense at all. So where are we going to start?”

  “I think we should start with the person who witnessed Doris Patterson getting on the bus.”

  “I don’t think you said who that was.”

  “Amos Grimm.”

  “Amos?” Flori started to laugh. “He doesn’t remember what he did an hour ago. Good l
uck with that.”

  I shrugged. “Well, it’s worth a try. We’ll start there and then we’ll get Nathan using his skills on the computer. How does that sound?”

  Flori turned to Ettie. “You’ll get used to this,” she said. “Mabel is always conjuring up some sort of mystery.” She gave her a sweet smile. “We just go along to keep her happy.”

  “Flori, I’m right here. You don’t have to talk as if I didn’t exist. And, I don’t conjure up anything. You know that in every mystery I’ve ever been involved in, there has been a murder.”

  “Well, I’m sure there isn’t one this time, Mabel.”

  “I hope not, Flori."

  But I won’t be convinced until I see Doris Patterson, face to face.

  Chapter Twenty Two

  I wasn't quite sure where Amos Grimm spent his days. Or, his nights for that matter. I wasn’t even sure where he got the money to drink. He always seemed to have some though. In many ways, I felt sorry for him. Years back, he was a respected businessman. I remembered the little office he had above the post office. People came from all over to get their tax returns done. He helped many entrepreneurs who were starting out. If someone wanted to know how to invest his money, he went to Amos. It’s hard to pinpoint his downward spiral. One day it seemed he was on top of the world and the next, he was lying in the gutter.

  He did own a small house a block off Main Street. Usually if Bob Crackers was cutting grass along the street for the town, he would quickly go in and cut Amos’ grass too. People didn’t mind because otherwise it could become quite an eyesore. I’m sure it was horrific enough watching Amos staggering in at all hours, day or night. Reg used to take him to the police station and let him sleep it off if he was causing any problems. Sometimes it was for his own safety.

  Well, I had no other place to start so I headed for Amos’ house. It was an overcast sky but there was no wind so it was actually quite pleasant. The streets were abandoned except for one car and one half-ton truck in front of the Main Street Café. The only sounds I heard as I walked were the gravel crunching under my feet and about a dozen crows having a convention in an old dead tree down the street.

  As I approached the house, I could see Bob hadn’t been in to do any grass cutting. It was a small white stucco bungalow with green shutters on the two windows facing the street. The stucco was chipped and breaking off in several places and the shutters were hanging at half-mast, half attached to the house and half hanging towards the ground. There was a chain-link fence surrounding his front yard, and weeds were growing merrily in and out and through the wires. The gate was gaping wide open.

  Weeds had obviously overtaken it so it was not opening any wider or closing. I slithered through and walked up the walkway. No one had used the front door in years so I walked around to the side door. There were four rickety steps leading up to a landing that had seen better days. I’d say back in the fifties. I stepped gingerly up to the door.

  After knocking three times, our town drunk opened the door. Amos looked a mess, or as my father would have said, ‘like the wreck of the Hesperus.’ I was now having second thoughts about this interview but it was too late to turn and run.

  “Mabel,” he slurred. “This is a surprise.” He grabbed onto the doorknob to keep from tipping over.

  “I imagine it is, Amos.”

  “Didja come fer a drink? I got a fresh bottle of gin.” He cackled. “I know you like gin.” Amos’ teeth were all there but they were so yellow it was hard to tell.

  “No, I don’t drink at nine in the morning.”

  “You should. Ish fun.” He let go of the door, swayed precariously for several seconds, and then grabbed the knob again.

  “I only came over to ask you a question, Amos. You’d better answer fast before you end up in a heap on the floor.”

  He was trying hard to focus on my face. He blinked several times before saying, “Queshons? I don’t know anything about that.”

  “No, I haven’t asked the question yet. Here is the question: did you see Doris Patterson when she got onto the bus that night many years ago? Doris was Paul Patterson’s wife. Do you remember her?”

  I was sure I saw his eyes suddenly clear but if they did, they clouded up quickly. “I don’t know nothing about that. You mind your own damn business, Mabel. You’re an old busybody.” He swayed backwards but managed to reach out and grab the doorknob again. I heard a thud as the door slammed shut and as his body hit the floor. I stood up to the door and peered through the dirty window.

  “Amos, are you all right?” I yelled. I could see his crumpled heap on the floor. He didn’t move but I knew it was more from drunkenness than hurting from the fall. I was sure he’d slept off many of his drinking episodes on the floor so I wasn’t too worried. I pushed the door a few inches and peered in but the smell made me close it quickly. Besides, I was sure I could see his chest going up and down so I knew he was breathing.

  His answer bothered me because I was sure he knew what I was talking about. Why would he say that he didn’t know anything about it? He was the witness. He saw her getting on the bus. Or, did he? Was Amos lying? Why would he do that? Why would Amos lie about seeing Doris Patterson getting on the bus? The only reason I could think of was if Paul Patterson had something on Amos. Blackmail?

  Or, if he paid Amos to lie.

  Or, perhaps Amos was so drunk he really didn’t know what I was talking about. There was that look on his face though. For one brief moment, I was sure his brain cleared.

  On the way home, I went around by the library to say hello to Charlie. He was in his usual spot.

  “Hi, Charlie,” I said and waited for a reply.

  “Why did you go to see Amos?”

  Can't put anything over on Charlie.

  “I wanted to ask him about Doris Patterson. Do you remember her, Charlie?”

  He nodded.

  “Did you ever see her?”

  He shook his head. “They came to town in an old truck. Everyone made fun.”

  “Oh, I remember that too. They were very poor, Charlie. People shouldn’t have laughed at them.”

  “People laugh at me too.”

  “They shouldn’t.”

  “Mrs. Patterson never got on the bus.”

  I stared at him. “What do you mean, Charlie?”

  “Amos said she did but I could see when the bus came and went. She wasn’t there.”

  “Are you sure? That was many years ago.”

  Charlie was beginning to rock back and forth so I knew it was time to leave. As I walked away, I heard him say, “And neither was Amos. Amos wasn’t there.”

  I now had two witnesses to prove that Doris Patterson did not get on the bus that night. My only problem was that neither one would be considered a reliable witness.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  After lunch, I called the police station and Scully answered. It was Jim’s day off so he was in charge.

  “Mabel,” he said. “Jim will be here in the morning. He said he didn’t want anyone calling him unless it was an emergency. Is yours an emergency?”

  “Well, it’s waited for about thirty years now so I guess it can wait a day longer.”

  “Thirty years? You got more information about the Patterson case?”

  “Are you calling it a case, Scully?”

  There was a pause. “Don’t quote me, but I consider it one. It will always be a missing person case as far as I’m concerned. Unless we find Mrs. Patterson, that is.”

  “Scully, that’s exactly how I feel. I doubt we’re going to find Mrs. Patterson anywhere. Charlie says she never got on the bus that night and he says Amos wasn’t even at the bus stop. Now, why would Amos lie about that?”

  Another pause. “That’s interesting, Mabel, but you know we can’t use Charlie as a witness.”

  “But it doesn’t mean we can’t check into it. Besides, you know Charlie’s right, don’t you? He remembers everything.”

  “I’ll run it by Jim, Mabel. Keep
it to yourself for now, okay?”

  “Why hasn’t anyone been looking into this before?”

  “Obviously no one questioned Amos back then. Don’t forget, Mabel, he wasn’t the same Amos. People used to respect him.”

  “I know but it seems strange that the case went cold and no one ever bothered to reopen it.”

  “I guess because everyone forgot about it until Dr. Campbell showed up. All of a sudden, you were wondering where he got all his money and that sort of got the wheels turning.”

  “You mean there are wheels turning?”

  “Yep, Jim’s been trying to get a search warrant to check out Patterson’s place again. The last time was when Mrs. Patterson disappeared. Nothing was found then but we might find something now.”

  “Like what, Scully?” I asked but I knew what he was going to say and for some reason, I needed to hear it.

  “Now if this new information is right, we might find a body. That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “By the way, Scully, what’s Jim doing that’s so important he can’t even answer his phone?”

  Scully started chuckling. “Oh, he’s found himself a friend, Mabel. Someone who’s also very interested in solving crimes. That’s all I can tell you because if I gave out any more information, I’d lose my job.”

  “Jim has a girlfriend? That’s wonderful. Can you give me a hint, Scully? I won’t breathe a word, I swear.”

  “No, Mabel. You didn’t hear anything from me. I’m sworn to secrecy. Besides, I don’t think it’s at the girl friend stage yet. Maybe he’s just hoping. As soon as he gives me the go-ahead, you’ll be the first to know.”

  That was a bit of a setback to my nearly perfect day.

  However, I was very excited about the information that Charlie gave me. He’s never been wrong and it hurts me that people don’t realize how smart he really is. Some folks aren’t comfortable with someone who’s a little different.

  I was happy for Jim though. It was hard to imagine him with a wife. Perhaps, it was best that Scully was sworn to secrecy. I was already getting ahead of myself. After all, he could turn out to be like Nathan and chicken out. I have to stop going from first date to wedding bells. It’s just as you get older, you tend to speed everything up. I told Flori one day that I stopped buying green bananas but she never did get the joke even after I explained it.