Letter to Belinda (56 page)

“I missed you too, Dear. I think I might have a contract on my second book, with a clause included that would pay me royalties for future sales of ‘The Relic’.”

“Sounds good.”

“And by the way, just to make it clear, you absolutely do not know where the pirated copies of ‘The Relic” are coming from!”

“Is there a problem?”

“Yes. When I get home, I will terminate that deal, because it could jeopardize this new contract. Besides, now we won’t have to have that deal to get copies of my book. Jester Books can provide us with all we need.”

“What a relief!”

“So what’s going on at home?”

“Oh, nothing much. Same as usual.” (Rebecca rolled her eyes at Janice.)

“Nothing on the local news of interest?” (He was thinking that there might be some news about a certain Federal Judge dead or missing.)

“No, not that I remember. Oh yes there is! Bob Deason is dead!”

“How did that happen?”

“Well, his house burned down, with him in it. And the next day, his daughter, Penelope was arrested and charged with murder, and arson.”

“Wow. That’s big news in a small town. So what was she doing at his house? I thought she was terrified of her dad?”

“I think she went over there looking for her Bible, because she called looking for it, and I told her I took it to his house.”

“So she went to get it and killed him?”

“I don’t know. That’s what the rumor is.” Attempting to change the subject, she said, “The church play went well last night. I was proud of your boys. They did real well. Afterward, I let them ride with Cory down to the Presbyterian Retreat, to hear ghost stories. But after Cory dropped our boys off here at home, he got a speeding ticket.”

“That was a learning experience. Anything else happen?”

“No, that’s about it. How about you? Anything exciting?”

“I’ve seen most of the usual sights. Stonehenge, London, Big Ben, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace. Oh yeah, I signed a book for Queen Elizabeth.”

“Uh-huh.”

“You don’t believe me, do you?”

“About as much as I believe that you sat next to Princess Diana on that flight to Greece!”

“Okay.” Travis knew not to say anything more. But this time he had proof. Angel had saved him a copy of the London Times. It showed him sitting at the same table with the Queen. This would be his trump card.

“I just wanted to check in with you. Mama and Drew said to tell you that they are having a wonderful time.”

“Good.”

“Drew is spending a lot of time with a college girl named Audrey. Don’t be surprised if we see a lot of her after we get back home.”

“What kind of girl is she?”

“She’s nice. Reminds me of Rebecca, except that she won’t eat snakes, insects, or monkey brains.”

“So where is she from?”

“I don’t know. Does it matter?”

“You should be finding out a few things, if she is going to be dating our son!”

“I’m not nosy like you, Janice! But if she’s a smart girl, she’ll be checking out
us!
Know what I mean? There are more crazies hanging from our family tree than you can shake a stick at! Especially on
your
side of the family! What was the name of your uncle that thought he was a reincarnated vampire?”

“Not now, Travis! Besides, Uncle Joe got the mental help he needed!”

“He bit our
dog
, Janice! He was crazy as a rat! And I noticed
you
didn’t want to sit too close to him last Thanksgiving!”

“Are you finished about Uncle Joe?”

“I guess so, but I have made my point. Listen, we are going to Dover tomorrow, our last full day here. I probably won’t talk to you again until we get to Atlanta on Saturday.”

“Okay, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Janice hung up, and Rebecca couldn’t wait to start in on her. “You didn’t say anything about you being hauled in for questioning about Penelope! I can’t believe how you just worked your way all around the subject, without telling him that you were involved!”

“Watch and learn, Rebecca! I spared Travis the worry. He will find out about it soon enough, so there was no need to tell him now. I’m sure there is a few things he’s not telling me too, but I’ll find out about those things later too. They will cancel themselves out. They always do.”

*     *     *

“Everything okay at home?” Lois asked. “I heard you say something about ‘how did that happen’?”

“Bob Deason was killed in a house fire. His daughter was arrested for murder and arson.”

“My goodness! Your father used to commute to work with Bob Deason!”

“I know.”

“And I didn’t even know that he had a daughter!”

“A lot of people didn’t know that. But she was arrested, according to Janice.”

“I wonder if Chester has heard about it?”

“I’m sure he has, if he’s at home. Aside from that, I guess everything is same as usual at home. Listen, I’m going to catch up with Drew, to make sure he stays out of trouble. Be back soon.”

“I’m going to bed.”

*     *     *

As Travis walked up the street to Benny’s Pub, a man hurried past him that he recognized as Dr. Foust.

“Where you headed, Steve?” Dr. Foust stopped and came back.

“Mr. Lee! Did you happen to see Donna come by here with two guys?”

“No I didn’t, but . . .”

“I simply have to find her! She is being so stupid! So stupid . . . !” He was hurrying away as he talked, leaving Travis to wonder what was going on. He shrugged it off and went on to Benny’s.

Inside he found most of their group already there, and everyone was congregated and drinking merrily. He was about to join them when he saw the Professor from Speaker’s Corner waving him over, so he went to see him first. He ordered a round of beers for the professor, and three friends already there.

“Travis, you must meet some of my friends! These are colleagues from the University. I was telling him about the glorious tales from your childhood in Alabama! You simply
must
tell them the one about the opossum in the post box! It is delightful!”

“I would be glad to, but first let me go see my son. He is here with the rest of our group.”

“Yes, I thought I recognized him there in the company of a pretty young lady.”

“I’ll be right back.”

He took his pint of Murphy’s and went to join his group, and realized there was a buzz of excitement. Most of the college kids were already drunk, including Nikki. Drew and Audrey were drinking coke.

“Hey Dad! Did you hear what happened?”

“No, what?”

“Remember Donna, the girl that Nikki told us we shouldn’t be hanging out with?”

“Yes, vaguely.”

“The word is, she met a couple of Jewish guys at the bar, and she left with them. But before she left, she called Dr. Foust and told him that she wouldn’t be on the bus in the morning. She had met British friends, and was going to party with them, and that she would meet us in Dover tomorrow.”

“Were those a couple of guys she knew before tonight?”

“No! Perfect strangers!”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“No, it’s not!” Nikki said. “I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen to me. I was hoping Dr. Foust would get here before she left, but she was already gone when he got here.”

Travis shook his head. “That was really stupid, to leave with strangers. We might not ever see her again.”

“Tell me about it! Dr. Foust got here a couple of minutes after she left, and he was almost out of his mind, he was so upset! He dashed out into the night to find her, but there’s not much chance of that.”

“Yeah, I just saw him pass me on the street, and he did ask me something about Donna, but I didn’t know what was going on. In his state of mind, this could tip him over the edge.”

“Yes, we might never see him again either! I called Fred to tell him what happened, but he said there was nothing he could do. As long as she is 18, she can do what she wants. Fred is on the way here now, to stop Dr. Foust, but of course he is long gone.”

“There is Dr. Cunningham.” Drew said.

Travis called out to him. “Fred, let me buy you a beer!”

“Sure thing! Is Steve already gone?”

“Yes, he is.”

“Well, I hate that.”

“You don’t sound too concerned.”

“I’m not. I learned long ago that you can’t control college kids. They are going to do stupid things. Now Steve is gone out on the city, and is going to run himself ragged looking for her. And Lord help us, the ugly scene he will cause if he
does
catch up with her! I hate that she left like she did, but that was her decision.”

“You’re not going out to find Steve?”

“Hell no! The stupidity has to stop somewhere! This cold beer looks like a good place to start!”

“Listen, I have some British friends over here that want to hear tales about America. Want to join in?”

“Sounds good to me. Come on kids, this could be fun!”

Travis introduced everyone, and they started telling tales. It turned into a long, enjoyable evening of tales back and forth. Even some of the college kids got into the action, by telling their own tales. The beer added up, and Travis was feeling good, but he knew that the next day was going to be rough.

*     *     *

All day Thursday Miranda was at home, watching her new pool fill with water, and contemplating her life. She was also waiting on that inevitable knock on her door, which would be the police, wanting to ask a few more questions about the accident that took Lennie’s life. What kinds of questions would they ask?

‘Mrs.
Monroe,
just
how
well
did
you
know
Lennie
Kellerman?’

And she answered these imagined questions audibly, because she reasoned that it would be good practice to ‘rehearse’ the answers, so see if they sounded believable.

“I didn’t know him well. He was just the retarded man that lives down the road.”

‘Do
you
know
if
any
relationship
existed
between
Mr.
Kellerman,
and
Judge
Rosewood?’

“Lennie would talk to anyone. He was a very friendly man.”

‘Do
you
know
where
Judge
Rosewood
can
be
reached?’

“He’s not at home? Wait a minute, I think I do remember Lennie saying that the Rosewoods were going on some kind of a European vacation.”

‘How
well
did
you
know
Judge
Rosewood?’

“Me? I just know he lived next door. I didn’t know him at all.”

‘Were
you
ever
in
Judge
Rosewood’s
house?’

“No.”

‘Was
he
ever
in
your
house?’

“Not since I have been living there. But I just moved here recently.”

‘So
there
was
no
relationship
between
you
and
Judge
Rosewood?’

“Absolutely not! He was a married man!”

(She realized she used the wrong tense, so she re-worded it. Something she wouldn’t be able to do in a real interview.)

“He
is
a married man! And I resent you implying that there was!”

(No, no! Delete that last statement. Too defensive.)

‘Why
did
you
recently
put
in
a
swimming
pool,
Mrs.
Monroe?’

“I have always wanted a pool. Since winning the lottery, I can finally afford it.”

‘Is
there
something
hidden
under
your
pool,
Mrs.
Monroe?’

“Hidden under my pool? What do you mean?”

‘Mrs.
Monroe,
did
you
kill
Judge
Rosewood?’

“I didn’t know he was dead!”

‘No?
Then
why
did
you
dismember
his
body?’

This
is
absurd,
Miranda thought.
Why
would
the
police
have
any
reason
to
ask
me
any
of
these
questions?
Why
would
they
suspect
me
of
anything?
Perhaps there was a tiny bit of evidence that might make them raise their eyebrows and wonder,
why
is
this
here?
She had cleaned every inch of the Judge’s house, and destroyed all evidence that she had been there. But was there something she had overlooked? Something so obvious that she missed it? All it would take was just one bit of evidence to throw suspicion her way. And once she was a suspect, they would look at her closer, and find something else, and something else. And then would come that dreaded knock on the door, and the questions.

She was going to go stir-crazy if she stayed there another minute. The pool could fill itself. She had to get out and do something, because the waiting was killing her.