Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date (15 page)

After we
ate breakfast at the hotel the next morning and Lou and I had walked back to my
suite, I looked over my list of other people we needed to question. I wasn't
sure that we could question all of them in one day, and even if we could we
would be tired at the end of the day.

"Lou,
is there anything keeping you from staying here tonight, too?"

"I
guess I can do it. That will give Thelma Lou another day to get to feeling
better, and I packed enough clothes to stay one more night."

"Remember,
if you need to wash anything you can check with Charles Hacker to see if you
can use the apartment complex's laundromat."

"I
was thinking about waiting until Friday night, check out that woman he was
talking about, and see what I think of his taste in women."

"She's
probably some college student who's just being nice to him."

"So,
what have we got lined up for today, Cy?"

"I'm
anxious to check out Phil Pendleton and Patty Moran, the two people who
survived after sending back green cards, while the person each of them dated didn't
fare so well. Also, I'm going to dread every part of this, but I guess I need
to see the three women I met at The Cheesecake Factory, come clean, and see if
I think any of them are viable suspects. Talking to two of the three will be
rough on me."

"Cy,
I understand that it's dangerous to leave your car in a trailer park, so I'll
stay in your van while you go up and question Miss October."

"No,
I'll let you guard my van when I go talk to Sarah Jane Fulkerson."

"That
reminds me, Cy. I don't remember you giving me a report on her. I assume that
she's a looker."

"She
looks a lot better than the other two, but don't let that get back to
Jennifer."

"Oh,
so  you still remember Jennifer, do you?"

"Of
course I still remember Jennifer. I've been missing her ever since we left
home."

+++

Lou went
back to his room to brush his teeth. When he came back I could tell from the
look in his eye that something had happened.

"Out
with it, Lou!"

"Cy,
I got another message. Now I don't think there's been another murder, since
today is Wednesday, but I got a message anyway."

"I
know you had one yesterday, too, but God hadn't been giving them to you
everyday in this case like He did before we retired."

"Do
you think God has retired, too?"

"No,
Lou, I think God is still God, and He's willing to help me with my floods just
like he was Noah. So what's today's message?"

"Doc
Hollywood
."

"Hey!
I saw that movie. The Doc part fits in with this case, because whoever it is has
been using a syringe to kill people, but I don't think we have any
Hollywood
connection."

"Maybe
a pig did it."

"A
pig?"

"Yeah,
wasn't there a pig in that movie?"

"Lou,
you know what you're like when you don't take your medication. Now go back to
your room and pop your pills."

"I'm
not on any medication, Cy."

"Then
that's it. Let me drop you off at a doctor's office and he can see you and tell
you what's wrong with you."

"I
already went. He said I've been hanging out with the wrong people."

"I'm
sorry to hear that, Lou. I know Thelma Lou will take this hard, but boy do I
have a woman for you. Actually two of them. You can take your choice."

+++

We left
the hotel a few minutes too early. I didn't know that we left too early until
my phone rang. The number was blocked, but I was curious as to who might have
my number.

"Dekker
here."

"Lieutenant,
this is Eve Sanchez."

"Yes,
Eve, uh Detective."

"So
not only do you stutter when you meet an attractive woman in person, but it
doesn't go away when you talk to one on the phone."

"Listen,
this is a bad time. Can we talk later?"

"I
was just checking to see if you learned anything yet."

I didn't
say, "
Yeah, not to answer an unknown number on speakerphone with Lou in
the van
."

"I
talked to several people yesterday. I'm talking to more today. I'll call you
tomorrow and we can compare notes."

"That
works for me. And remember, I'm there if you need me."

I ended
the call and prayed silently. My prayer wasn't answered. I turned to Lou and
the Cheshire Cat was looking right at me.

"Cy,
I didn't know that you stutter."

"Oh,
that's an inside joke. She's with Robbery & Homicide here in
Lexington
. See, I didn't know when I met
her the other night that she was a woman."

"I've
got a feeling she's quite a woman, so I think I would realize if I saw her that
she was a woman."

"No,
I mean before she walked up to my van, in the Fayette Mall parking lot, the
part out near
Nicholasville
Road
. Detective
Gruber only told me I would be meeting Detective Sanchez."

"Cy,
this is getting better all the time. Enlighten me."

I swore
Lou to secrecy, which to him meant he wouldn't put anything I said on Facebook
but might share it with someone who would, and then I told him about the two
gorgeous women I saw on Sunday night. I told him that if it wasn't for Jennifer
I could have been interested in either of them.

"Maybe
Jennifer won't mind if you see them, too."

"Maybe
Thelma Lou won't mind if you start something with Bambi Fontaine."

"I'm
not going to start anything with her, Cy. I've seen her. And I don't want to be
her next victim."

"Lou,
we don't know that she's the murderer."

"No,
but I'm sure she's capable of it."

+++

I knew
that Patty Moran worked in the gift shop at the
Baptist
Hospital
, and that more than likely she
would be at work. I decided to drive by there, fight for a parking place,
knowing I wouldn't find one until I drove all the way up on the roof. Then I
was off to see if she could get a break to talk to us.

Like I
predicted, I found no parking places until I got to the roof. I was sure that
some people leave their cars there all the time, otherwise the law of averages
would tell me that sometime I would find a better parking place.  I was
thankful that I wasn't someone who needed to visit the hospital often. As I passed
each car as I kept rising and going to the right all the way to the top of the
Tower
of
Babel
, I wondered if any of those cars
had any bodies in them. If so, they weren't our concern. Lou and I walked down
the ramp and across Level 5 toward the elevator. The two turtles we passed on
the way down arrived before the elevator did. I was beginning to wonder if the
elevator made only two trips a day. Eventually we made it to ground level. Once
there it wasn't that much farther to the gift shop and there was nothing to
impede our progress. We walked in and a woman smiled at us.

"Are
you Patty Moran?"

"I
am. Do I know you?"

"I
don't think so. I'm Cy Dekker, Special Investigator for the Lexington Police
Department."

"What
could I possibly help you with?"

A
customer came in before I could answer.

"Is
it possible for you to get someone to cover for you, so we can talk someplace
more private?"

She
looked worried.

"I
would tell you tomorrow would be better, because I'm off then, but I'll be out
running errands most of the day, so that won't work. But I have someone coming
to relieve me for an early lunch in twelve minutes, if you don't mind
waiting."

I told
her fine, but I refrained from looking at the stuffed animals, flowers, and Get
Well balloons that would stay there until someone decided it was just what they
needed to perk someone up. I motioned to her that Lou and I would wait just outside
of the gift shop. Around fifteen minutes later her replacement arrived and
Patty Moran walked out the door and asked us to follow her to the dining room.
I'm sure that I had walked two miles before we got there. There weren't a lot
of people in there yet, but still Lou and I picked a table in a far corner away
from everyone and waited on Patty Moran to go through the line. Five minutes
later she slid a tray down across the table from us.

"So,
what is this all about?" she asked, just before taking a bite of her lunch.

"Miss
Moran, do you know a man named Ben Connaughton?

She
smiled, careful not to open her mouth while she chewed.

"I
sure do. Met him recently through a dating service. We really hit it off."

She
noticed the grave look on my face, and then asked, "Wait a minute. If the
police are here, there must be something wrong. Is he not who I thought he was?
Please don't tell me that."

"I'm
going to tell you something worse. He's been murdered."

"Murdered?"

It took a
moment for it to sink in, and then her eyes began to water.

"How?"

"I
can't give you too many details, but let me see if I have this right. You two
were fixed up by the Just For You dating service. You went out and were
attracted to each other. Both of you sent back green cards Do I have that much
right?"

"You
do. But I don't understand."   

"I
don't understand, either. Someone is out there murdering people who have been
on dates through this agency, in which case both of them sent back green cards.
Evidently, someone, for some reason, doesn't want people to get together. There
have been a few people murdered lately, and sometimes both the man and the
woman have been murdered. Have you noticed anyone following you, or did anyone
you didn't know visit your house lately, or someone suspicious come to the gift
shop when you were working?"

"No,
but I haven't been home. Ben and I went out on a Wednesday night, just before I
left on vacation on Friday. I was gone all the next week. When was Ben murdered?"

I
consulted my notes and told her.

"That
was the Thursday I was away on vacation."

"Where
did you go on vacation?"

"I
went on a cruise to the
Virgin
Islands
."

"Alone?"

"No,
a girlfriend went with me. We go somewhere every year about this time. Neither
of us are married and we don't like to travel alone. Besides, it's more fun to
have someone to share fun times with. Linda and I go in the winter, so we
always choose a warm place. This was the first time either of us had taken a
cruise."

"Did
you enjoy it?"

"Pretty
much. I'd just met Ben, so I didn't flirt with any men the way Linda did. There
were a couple of nights I was alone for a while after dinner, but I'm a big
girl. I stayed out on the deck and watched the sun go down, then went to my
room to read."

"Is
there anything you might be able to tell us that might help us in our
investigation? Like, was Ben Connaughton your first date through Just For You?"

"He
was. He had been to The Cheesecake Factory before, so he walked me through the
menu, asked me what kinds of food I like, and made a few suggestions. He was
such a nice man. I was hoping to get to know him better."

"Miss
Moran, I don't mean to alarm you unnecessarily, but whoever killed Ben
Connaughton may still try to murder you. Most of the victims were killed at
home. Don't open your door to anyone you don't know."

I stood
up and looked down at the woman. The tissue she had in her hands was no longer
useable. Her face didn't look much better.

"We're
going to catch this person. In the meantime, if you need something, or think of
someone who might be of interest to us, call the department. And you might
consider asking this girlfriend if you can stay with her for a few weeks."

When I
saw that she needed to be alone, I turned to leave, with my lemming close
behind. I exited the cafeteria and wished I had dropped bread crumbs to find my
way out. Lou caught up to me and pointed. Six days later we were back on top of
the roof of the parking garage and no one had stolen my van.

+++

"What
do you think, Lou?"

"I
think she's either innocent, or should be up for an Academy Award."

"I'll
have Sam check to make sure she was on that cruise. If she was, I doubt if she
flew home to murder someone on that Thursday."