Chapter 22

 

I hoped the Sheriff’s car in the driveway would deter anyone from coming to the house, and with a motorboat being dispatched, access from the water was being watched. I felt slightly apprehensive, but with Paddy at the foot of my bed I managed to fall asleep not long after it got dark.

Adele phoned me while I was eating breakfast. She was calling a meeting of the committee which had oversight of the Family Friends program. She said most everyone else was able to attend, even with the short notice. After I told her about the events of Wednesday evening, I assured her I’d also be at the church at ten o’clock. I asked if I could bring Paddy, and she thought that would be fine.

While I finished my coffee, I tried to focus my thoughts on the committee’s tasks. With all the disturbing events of the past week, it was a challenge to think about day-to-day needs of the Leonard family. My mind kept veering off to images of DuWayne chatting with his friends rather than his family, or the deer-in-the-headlights look Sunny had developed. However, I knew we, as a group, needed to find some ways to help Len and the girls get back to normal life as quickly as possible.

Adele was waiting at the fellowship hall when I arrived. She had a large notebook open in front of her on a long table. Another woman, Geraldine Longcore, was filling a carafe from the coffeemaker at a side table. A plate of donuts, some with chocolate and some with pink icing, had been placed on the conference table already, with sugar and creamer packets. Geraldine brought over the carafe, cups, and napkins. I very much wanted to talk with the fourth member of our committee, John Aho, who had been assaulted by DuWayne’s friend Larry. I hoped he’d be there, but I knew he only made it to daytime meetings when he felt things were under control at the service station.

As I was bent over looping Paddy’s leash around a table leg, I saw a man’s feet enter the room, but when I straightened up, it was not John, but rather the bald man Adele had been visiting with the day before. Paddy lay down quietly; he was really getting used to being good indoors.

“Everyone, meet Ralph Garis,” Adele announced. “He’s decided to join our committee, since he has a special interest in one of our families.”

“Oh?” asked Geraldine.

“Ralph is the father of Paula Garis Wentworth. You know, she owns the restaurant where Angelica Leonard wanted a job.”

Suddenly it all clicked. The large young man who had been with him yesterday was probably Frank, Paula’s brother.

Geraldine got right to the point. “I haven’t seen you in church lately, Ralph,” she said sharply.

“We talked about that, Dini,” explained Adele in a rush. Dini was Geraldine’s nickname, although I suspected she didn’t care for it very much. Geraldine was a large, proud woman, and the diminutive “Dini” didn’t fit her. “He’s on the church membership roll, and there’s nothing in the by-laws requiring regular church attendance to be on a committee.”

Ralph leaned forward and took a chocolate donut, while staring intently at Geraldine.

There was more tension in the room than I understood. Geraldine and Ralph apparently were acquaintances, but certainly not old friends. However, the dark mood was broken when John Aho walked through the door, whistling a lilting tune. “I think I can stay about thirty minutes, so if there’s important business to conduct, maybe we could get right to it,” he said. “I’ve got Marie watching the till, but she can’t do any repairs.” He was blond and bony, with a cheerful grin, and wore the dark blue uniform of an automobile service man, and it was well-spotted with grease. He chose a pink donut and filled a styrofoam cup with coffee, black. His hands were fairly clean, but the odor of industrial degreaser wafted through the room.

“Excellent!” Adele said, glad of an easy transition to business. She wrote something in her notebook.

We jumped right into a discussion of the needs of the Leonards. Geraldine was the certified literacy tutor, and she reported meeting once with Corliss. She didn’t call him Len. She indicated that he did have severe dyslexia, and rambled on a bit too long about the details of his disability, but it gave us all a chance to nibble donuts and sip our coffee. Adele asked her opinion of the likelihood of Len’s success. At this, Geraldine said he was motivated, and she had high hopes if he stuck with the program. Then I was in the spotlight a bit more than I was prepared for, but I had seen much more of the family than any other committee member. I explained how close I had become to the girls because of the dog, and told some stories of our time together. When I mentioned his name, Paddy thumped his tail against the table legs.

“And Angelica’s body was found on your property?” Ralph asked. This was the first time I’d been directly asked about the location.

“Not exactly. I’ve been told by the detective not to give out details.”

“The rumor is that the dog actually found the burial site,” Geraldine said. It wasn’t a question, but she was clearly prying for more information.

“People will talk,” I replied evasively.

“I don’t understand why the body would have shown up now, if she was buried seven years ago,” Ralph said, sounding belligerent. “But the paper said it was definitely murder.”

“Did you see the body? Was there a gunshot wound?” added Geraldine, giving up any pretense of being subtle.

“Don’t be silly, Dini,” said Adele. “There was nothing left but a skeleton, according to the news.”

“But a skull could still have a bullet hole in it.”

I recalled overhearing Officer Brown mention knife marks on the ribs, but I didn’t say anything.

“After all, how do they know it was murder?” asked Ralph. “The news article was very sketchy.”

“Can we get back on track?” John put in, looking at his watch.

“Yes, indeed,” added Adele. “Ana, based on your observations, do you have any suggestions of specific ways to help Len and the girls?”

“I do,” I said confidently, glad to take the focus off the murder. “I’ve learned that the girls were raised by Becky to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, to eat a healthy diet. But they can’t get to town to shop very often because Len finds it so difficult to drive. Their refrigerator is at least forty years old. I’m wondering if the church could buy them a new one, and make sure they get to a store once a week.

“Excellent suggestion,” said Geraldine. “I make a motion we do just that.”

“Second,” said John.

Adele called for discussion, but there was none. She followed with, “All in favor?”

We voted, Adele wrote in her notebook again, and just that easily the Leonards had a new appliance coming their way. John said he’d check on prices at several stores, and report back.

“Remember, they live in a trailer,” I noted. “It can’t be a side-by-side.”

One other item was on our agenda, but that service project consisted only of taking meals to a family where the mother was undergoing strong chemotherapy. Adele said the schedule was already covered for the next two weeks. We adjourned and John rushed for the door, having stayed well past his allotted half hour. I’d had no chance to talk to him at all.

Geraldine picked up her purse, put an extra donut in a napkin, and left quickly, while Adele began clearing up the trash. Ralph approached me. I already didn’t care for his manner, and now he moved close to me. Either he was near-sighted, or didn’t have a good sense of other people’s personal space.

“I suppose you know quite a bit about what happened between Angelica and DuWayne, since you’ve gotten so close to the family,” he said.

I took a step backwards, and he moved right into the space, again standing too near me.

“I’m not sure I do,” I said. “I’m not even sure it’s any of my business. I’ve become very fond of Star and Sunny, but I’m only interested in information about Angelica and DuWayne if it will make me more able to help the girls now.”

“Frank and DuWayne were good friends in high school. We’re not racist.” He straightened importantly. “But DuWayne went off on the wrong track. Frank and I tried to tell him to shape up, or he’d end up in jail. Then he took up playing house with Angie, and started acting as if he were too good for us!”

Apparently, Ralph planned to fill me in whether I was interested or not. Adele closed the kitchen door behind her and interjected, “All set?”

Ralph ignored her and pointed a finger at my nose. I couldn’t understand why he was being so forceful with me. “Those kids are DuWayne’s blood. Be careful you don’t get burned.”

Now I understood. Despite his words to the contrary, Ralph was apparently more interested in warning us about involvement with the girls than in really helping them. Paddy stood and was growling softly. Adele had also heard the important parts of his monologue.

“Really, Ralph! Is that why you wanted to be on this committee? Go home and take your prejudice with you. We’ll get by just fine with only four members.” She grabbed him by the arm and turned toward the outer door.

Ralph glared at her and shook himself free. “I’ll leave, but you mark my words, there’s nothing but trouble ahead for that family, no matter what you do. Hammer Bridge Town does not spawn winners.”

He stalked out the door. Adele looked at me and rolled her eyes. “I should have known,” she said with a sigh. “Here, I pride myself on knowing what’s going on, but I was so eager to have another warm body on the committee that I didn’t catch on.”

“Don’t beat yourself up,” I said, sympathetically.

“I’ll walk you out.” She picked up her notebook.

“OK.” I released Paddy’s leash from the table leg, and he stretched and smiled up at us. At least he was exempt from the problems of human prejudice. We exited, and Adele locked the outer door while I took Paddy to the tall grass behind the asphalt parking lot. When we converged at my car she paused.

“Did you notice Dennis Milford at the service?”

“The detective? Sure. He was keeping a close eye on everyone. I don’t blame him. They say killers often show up at the funerals of their victims.”

“Probably, but he was watching you a lot of the time.”

“Me?” I was incredulous. “I didn’t even know Angelica.”

“Oh, Ana. You can be so dense. I think he likes you.”

“What are you talking about? That’s crazy. He treats me like a block of wood. Well, maybe as if I’m a little brighter than that, more like... a... a... cow!”

Adele was looking sly. “Of course he’s acting that way. A man like that can’t let on that he’s impressed, and attracted to you.”

This was really too brazen, even for Adele, who liked to play matchmaker. “I don’t believe a word of what you are saying. I don’t even want to believe it. The man has nothing on his mind but business, and he’s really gruff about that.”

“I’m just saying... “

“I don’t want to hear any more silly ideas like this. The man was doing his job, that’s all.”

“Whatever you say. I need to get back to the store. Actually, I am able to stay away longer than I used to. Justin’s working out so well I’ve made him a manager, and hired another cashier. Justin is even thinking about switching his major to business. But I hate to leave him more than a couple of hours.”

“I won’t keep you, then. Actually I need to go to Emily City.” I really wanted to get away from Adele and her wild ideas. I opened my car door, and Paddy jumped in.

“Wait,” Adele implored, sensing my desire to leave immediately. “You do need to know something, but I didn’t want to tell everyone. You know how nosy people are.”

I tried not to smile. Adele was nosiest of them all, but she hadn’t needed to ask any prying questions at the meeting. Everyone else had done that, and she had only kept her ears open. “What’s that?”

“Did you see Frank yesterday?”

“Is he the heavy man who was with Ralph?”

“That’s the one.” She glanced around as if suddenly worried that someone might hear, but the parking lot was empty except for the two of us. I was more worried that someone had overheard her wild speculations about Detective Milford. “Such a shame. He used to be the picture of fitness, but he came home with PTSD, and he’s never been the same.”

“From the Army?”

“Yes, Iraq.” She shook her head sadly.

“I saw him, but I didn’t meet him.”

“He couldn’t get away from Ralph for even a minute. But when they left, he slipped me a note.” She placed a piece of paper in my hand.

I opened it and read silently, “Larry Louama was released from prison last week.” I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing. I wasn’t sure how this was important to me.

Adele had more to tell me. “They only sent him away for robbery and assault, but there’s not much doubt that he killed J. Everett Bailey.”

“Who’s that?”

“He owned the Sleep Lodge in Emily City. He walked in on a drug deal going down in one of his rooms and ended up dead.”

“And you think Larry did it?

“Everyone knows he did, but no one could ever prove it. He’s slick as a snake.”

“Why is this important to me?” I asked, doubting her accusation which she didn’t back up with anything resembling a fact.

“My money’s on him as Angelica’s killer.”