Word Has It (Wordplay Mysteries Book 1) Page 12

  “You should have said something, Betty Sue.” Wanda clicked her tongue and went to make copies of the photo for them to show their friends and neighbors. Then she returned and handed one to each of them. “We can divvy up the north end of Scrub Oak from the railroad tracks to the Ferguson mansion. Should be able to connect with almost everyone in our neighborhood north of downtown over the next two days and nights.”

  The ladies agreed they could at least cover a block or two before dark.

  Wanda felt a bright warmth flow through her. “Wonderful. Thank you. Let’s meet back here at 8:45. And Betty Sue. I’m sorry I got irritated.”

  “It’s okay. I know you are fervent about this. The detail of seeing the man simply slipped my mind.”

  The ladies rose to leave. However, Evelyn lagged. She stopped at the door and turned back to Wanda.

  “But . . .” Evelyn waggled her finger. “We are not going snooping in those woods after dark, right?”

  “No, not tonight. Promise.”

  “Whatcha mean not tonight?”

  Wanda ushered her outside. “Better get going. We only have an hour or so of sunlight left. See ya in a bit.”

  Evelyn narrowed one eye. Then she shook her head and left.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  When the sunset splashed oranges, purples, and pinks on the horizon, the four ladies met back at Wanda’s house. With their group effort, they had already covered half of the northern section of town. Of course, not everyone had been home. They compared notes and checked off the ones they would canvas Saturday morning.

  “I suggest we don’t knock on doors too soon. No earlier than nine. Some people like to sleep in on weekends.”

  “Good point, Betty Sue. Anything weird to report so far, ladies?” Wanda tapped her pen on the kitchen table and cast her glance to each of her friends.

  Betty Sue raised her hand, asking to speak, just as she had drummed into her students for decades. It made Wanda smile and the other two ladies giggle.

  With cast-down eyes, she replied. “Well, I was just being polite.”

  “And I appreciate it.” Wanda patted her arm. “Tell us what you found out.”

  “Well . . .” she wiggled in her chair. “It may be nothing, but the Wickershams live across from Pecan Park, and one night last week, Elsa couldn’t sleep. Blamed it on the pizza.”

  Head bobs and understanding “uh-huhs” spread around the table.

  “She thinks she saw a man walking rather quickly through the park. The moon was half-hidden in the clouds, so she didn’t have a clear view. You know, we should talk to the town council about putting in sensor lights in the trees. The streetlamps only hit the corners.”

  “Good idea. Let’s make a note of that.” Evelyn wrote it down.

  Betty Sue’s shoulders straightened. “And one block up on the same night, the Andrews’ schnauzer kept barking about midnight, which was unusual because it always sleeps with them. Zee says it stood at the top of the stairs as if to warn someone to not open the front door. Her husband was out of town and it unnerved her.”

  “What night was that?” Wanda felt a coldness in her gut.

  Betty Sue’s eyes took on a sadness. “The night before the shooting.”

  “And neither family reported this?” Wanda raised her hands in the air. “Unbelievable.”

  “We’ve become too complacent in this town if you ask me.” Evelyn crossed her arms over herself. “Scoff at any idea of foul play happening in our sleepy community. Convince ourselves it is nothing but our imaginations and go about our business.”

  “Or that it’s none of our business, like my next-door neighbors.” Hazel nodded at Wanda who agreed.

  Evelyn reported that one couple on 9th thought they saw two men hurrying by late one night, but they couldn’t recall the exact date. Recently, though. They seemed to be carrying something in their arms. “And two doors down, those neighbors noticed that a few yard tools had gone missing from their back yard. Thought maybe their teenage son had borrowed them to do some odd jobs for money. He cuts lawns during the spring and summer.”

  “Oh, that must be Jake.” Betty Sue smiled. “He cuts mine, front and back for twenty dollars. Does a great job, too. Nice boy. Always did make good grades.”

  “Does he wear a flannel shirt?” Wanda cocked her head.

  “In this heat? Heaven’s no.”

  “Frank’s stranger did. But then again, he said he thought it was an older man and could have been Butch McClain.” She stood up. “Look. Let’s create a calendar. I have an extra one in the den. That wildlife preserve sends me one each year. The hubs used to donate to them.”

  She returned and spread the month open. They took turns reporting who had seen what and when. A pattern began to develop, all within the past week since the burglary in Burleson. The four women silently stared at their findings, no one saying a word.

  “I need to show this to Todd first thing in the morning.” Wanda blew a breath upwards toward her bangs.

  “Agreed.” Evelyn and Betty Sue responded in unison.

  Hazel nodded.

  Wanda tore off the current month from the calendar. “I want to make printouts for each of the four neighborhood watch captains. That ought to convince the constituents of this town that we need to get organized.”

  Betty Sue raised her hand again. “Isn’t this going to cast a shadow on our police department? Especially Todd since he has night patrol?”

  Wanda thumped the pen against her cheek. “He can’t be everywhere at once. If these are burglars, they would be making sure the coast was clear before they moved.”

  “True.” Evelyn raised a finger.

  “Even so, I might suggest that he change up his route now and then. He is a creature of habit.” Wanda shrugged.

  Evelyn grinned. “Like his aunt. You taught him well.”

  The other ladies, including Wanda, snickered.

  The meeting broke up and Wanda walked everyone out. She watched as they each disappeared to their own homes. A quiet stillness fell over the town. The time of day that hung, just for a minute, between day and night always calmed her nerves. One by one streetlamps came on, casting their friendly glow to the sidewalks. Somewhere to the east, probably in Pecan Park, an owl hooted, momentarily hushing the cicadas’ rhythmic hums.

  How dare any thugs disturb her wonderful community. A righteous anger bubbled up into her heart. Carl was not right in shooting one of them, but in a way she understood. It was almost self-defense. If he had nicked the guy in the knees, not aimed for the chest, it would have been better. Perhaps the hunter in him whispered that one always shoots to kill, not maim. More humane to the animal. Except the victim had not been a deer.

  Neither had Robert Stewart.

  Could the two really be connected? Robert had bought the resort from Otto. Whose applecart had that action overturned?

  She shook her head. Enough. Time to get a cup of chamomile tea, grab a handful of tea biscuits that she’d brought home from that specialty shop in Fort Worth, and watch the British whodunnit that came on at nine. Pip-pip and all that, as Watson used to say to Holmes.

  A few minutes into the show, a loud bang echoed over the neighborhood. Then another.

  Sophie jumped from her lap and dashed under the coffee table.

  Wanda hesitated, wondering if she should join her pup or grab the baseball bat that she always leaned against the bedside table.

  She saw shadows of people dash across her curtains. Curiosity got the best of her. She peered out onto a small crowd, some still dressed like her, others in pajamas and robes, hovering near her driveway. Evelyn’s head turned toward her direction, and she beckoned Wanda outside.

  Wanda walked as calmly as possible to the curb. After all, as chairperson of the neighborhood watch she had to show decorum under pressure. Leaders always did.

  “What’s happening?”

  Stanley Roberts, who lived with his wife and two kids on the other side of Evelyn, pointed t
oward the park. “Came from over there. We’d just returned from the movies in Cleburne and pulled in the driveway. Family is still locked in the car.”

  The pulsating siren of Todd’s cruiser barreled around the corner and stopped. In a nano second, Chief Brooks screeched his car to a halt, a blue and red light swirling on top of his hood. Both men exited in a well-rehearsed dance, weapons drawn, knees slightly bent, arms extended, one hand flashing a beam of white light through the park in a crisscross fashion.

  The beams revealed a clump sprawled on the ground near the swings.

  Everyone gasped.

  “Is it a body?” Stanley hissed the question through his teeth.

  Beverly Newby swooned, and Frank Patterson huffed to catch her, with Evelyn’s help.

  Todd rushed back to the squad car and began to wind yellow tape around the trees bordering the playground.

  All of the bystanders groaned.

  Wanda stiffened her spine and walked across to meet him.

  “Aunt Wanda, keep back. This is a crime scene.” He pointed over his shoulder with his head to the huddle of onlookers. “That goes for all of them, too.”

  “Do you know who it is?”

  “I do.” He stopped and pushed his hat back off his forehead. “But I can’t reveal that yet. I can tell you it is not anyone who lives in Scrub Oak. You can spread that around town if you want.”

  She ignored the edge in his tone. “And Carl is still in jail. So, someone else must have killed this guy.”

  He huffed into his collar. “Not true. Seems he figured out how to escape about an hour ago.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Wanda edged back over to the group of concerned neighbors. They all hushed their mumblings when she got within earshot.

  “What did Todd say?” Evelyn stepped forward to greet her. One by one the others encircled her.

  Being the center of attention unnerved her, but a sense of pride acted like a yeast in her heart, causing her courage to rise. Suddenly there was silence, as if the whole world hung on her next sentence.

  Her senses became magnified. The streetlamps seemed brighter, the shadows harsher. The peach hand lotion Evelyn often used hit her nose. So did the dryer sheets Frank used. And a bit of the aftershave from Stanley mingled with residuals of Beverly’s musky gardenia perfume.

  “Okay, there’s been another murder.”

  Everyone gasped, sucking the oxygen from the huddle.

  Wanda held up her hands and pumped them to calm their nerves. “But it’s not anyone who lives here in Scrub Oak. That’s all that Todd could say for now.”

  “It’s another of those burglars, isn’t it?” Frank growled the question. “I knew it.”

  “There is something else. It seems Carl Smithers escaped from jail tonight. I think we all need to go home and lock our doors.”

  As if she had said, ready, get set, go the crowd scattered, sprinting to safety. All but Evelyn.

  “Can I come stay with you?”

  “Sure, Evelyn. Of course. Bring Tweety. Sophie won’t bug her.” Tweety was her parakeet.

  “Come with me?”

  Wanda wrapped an arm over her shoulder and the two strolled up the wide driveway that separated their properties.

  Evelyn’s door stood wide open. Her friend halted so abruptly, Wanda had flashbacks of playing Red-Light Green-Light.

  Why was Wanda associating people’s moves with children’s games? Because a body lay on the playground? She shook the thought away. “He’s not going to be in there, hon. He made a dash to the woods or railroad tracks. Come on.”

  “You certain?”

  “Of course. Carl isn’t stupid enough to be trapped inside a house.”

  She heard Evelyn push a sigh of courage out her cheeks and edge up onto the porch. Wanda joined her as the two of them peered into the house.

  Evelyn’s cell phone screamed back at them, playing “This Is the Way We Go to School.” She reached for it. “Betty Sue. Hi, yes we’re fine, but, wait until you hear . . .”

  Wanda harrumphed.

  Just like that, Evelyn was over it. Wanda unhooked Tweety’s cage from the stand and motioned to Evelyn. “Let’s go. You can borrow one of my gowns and I have an extra toothbrush.”

  Evelyn nodded as she continued to fill in Betty Sue, who, it seemed, had already begun to dash over, via 11th Street. A longer way around, but it meant she avoided the park all together.

  The two waited for her at Wanda’s. In the meantime, Wanda texted Todd. I may have some information for you. Been polling the neighbors to see who saw what.”

  A thumbs up and then a frowning face emoji came back as his reply. She sighed and went to plug in the coffee machine. It was going to be a long night. Maybe she should pop some kettle corn, too?

  The three women decided to pass the time watching the home improvement channel. They all agreed on which one the house-hunting couple should buy. It wasn’t the one they chose, however. Evelyn sat back and folded her arms. “Idiots. That bungalow was a much better value.”

  “With less renovations needed, even though it was more expensive.” Betty Sue shook her head.

  Wanda sat forward. “Maybe that is why Robert Stewart bought the resort. Already fully staffed. Recently renovated. It may have seemed to be a great deal at the time.”

  “Why not make it public knowledge, though? It’s not as if Otto’s name brought any fame to the place.” Evelyn scooted up on the sofa cushion and grabbed another handful of kettle corn.

  “Out of fear of rejection by the community maybe? People didn’t know him, other than the fact he was rich and Aurora had snared him in her neatly manicured claws.”

  “Wanda. Meow.” Betty Sue clucked her tongue.

  “I know, I have to work on my attitude toward her. Y’all are right. She is a widow just like we are. We should invite her over for Sunday dinner.”

  “Let’s have it at my house.” Betty Sue gave Wanda a sidelong glance. “Evelyn lives next door to you so it’s like being on the edge of enemy territory.”

  Evelyn hooked a thumb in Betty Sue’s direction. “She has a point.”

  “Great idea. And perhaps, during dinner, we can figure out a way to slip in why Robert bought the resort in such a hush-hush manner.”

  Her friends rolled their eyes and groaned.

  An hour later, a very exhausted looking Todd knocked on her back door and then let himself in. “Aunt Wanda? I saw the lights were still on. Oh.” He halted in the hallway when he noticed the three of them in the living room.

  Wanda motioned him to join them. “We decided three’s company in this case. Safety in numbers. Kettle corn?”

  His frazzled expression changed into a tired grin. “No, thanks. A cup of coffee would be nice.”

  Wanda rose and he raised in his hand to stop her. “I’ll get it. I know where everything is.”

  “Nice boy. You raised him well.” Betty Sue smiled.

  “He came out of my sister’s womb that way. I can’t take any credit.”

  They hushed when they heard his footfall returning and waited until he had eased his bones into one of the side chairs with a guttural groan.

  “What can you tell us?”

  Evelyn and Betty Sue both shot her a glare, but Wanda ignored it.

  Todd set down his mug. “Not much, Aunt Wanda. We emailed the fingerprints and mug shot to Fort Worth. They have the state database so hopefully they can positively I.D. the victim. Naturally, he had no identification on him at the time.”

  “But you said you knew who it was.”

  He held up a finger. “I only meant that we had a good idea.”

  Wanda decided to let it slip. For now. “And Carl?”

  “Still at large. The County Sheriff has called in the Texas Rangers to help in the man hunt. They’ll find him.”

  “Wait.” Wanda rubbed her temple. “How would Carl have gotten a deer rifle?”

  Todd shoved his hat back off his forehead. “Who told you that?”
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  A smirk eased over her face. She couldn’t help it. “I heard the shots. I know what a deer rifle’s discharge sounds like.”

  Todd leaned forward, his hands pressed to his knees. “And what were you doing at the time?”

  “Watching a mystery on TV. Earlier that evening I’d been canvassing the neighbors along with Betty Sue, Hazel, and Evelyn. You see, Frank told me he saw a guy with a flannel shirt carrying away some fire logs from the Buckley’s.” She then told him about the man that the Wickershams lady saw a few nights back.

  “The vic wore a flannel shirt.” He took off his Stetson and massaged his temples. “Okay. You may as well know. I didn’t exactly lie when I said the vic wasn’t a resident of Scrub Oak.”

  “But . . .?” Wanda tilted her head toward him.

  “He once lived here. I remember him. He was a legend of sorts. The guys would point to his picture in the hallway, you know where the class photographs are hung in chronological order?”

  The three women nodded.

  “A real thug, always in trouble with the principal. The notorious bad apple of the school who dropped out of sight. They used to make up stories about him to scare the cub scouts at campouts.”

  “Who?”

  “Tommy Reynolds.”

  “What? But he was one of the boys in Colton’s gang, which means he’d have been born around in 1968. Right, Betty Sue? That is what you calculated.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “So?” Todd narrowed in on Wanda’s face.

  “He’d be in his early fifties by now. Similar in age to Butch McClain.”

  “That’s right. But his legend lives on. Scrub Oak’s own James Dean.”

  Wanda furrowed her brow. “But the report at the police station stated the other burglars were younger.”

  “Reports can be mistaken. The CCV cameras were a tad out of focus. They judged the age by the build and gait of the men they caught on film.”

  “Meaning a man in his fifties who had kept in shape could resemble a thirty-year-old.”

  “Exactly, Betty Sue.” Todd sighed.