THE POOL – Part Twenty The body of Janice Baker was taken to the Little Rock Medical Examiner’s Office where the aneurysm was discovered and then was transported to Ruggles-Wilcox Funeral Home in Arkadelphia. Janice’s sister Carolyn and her family arrived from Iowa, found accommodations at a local motel and waited with Carl at the funeral home for the viewing. When Barney Ruggles and Henry Cornett pushed the casket down the hall and into the viewing room, Carolyn commented, “Couldn’t you have found a nicer casket?” Janice and her sister had grown up with practically nothing but Carolyn had been fortunate enough to marry a well-bred Hispanic architect, originally from Houston who, over the past twenty-five years had grown his firm into one of the most successful companies in the state. They had money and Carolyn had never let Janice forget it. Carolyn and Janice had not been very close the past few years, since Carolyn and Pedro had joined the All Saints Deliverer Through The Word Fundamentalist Church in Christ congregation complete with live snakes during worship, dancing in the aisles and more “tongues” than the foreign language department at Iowa State. Carl and Janice had been to visit one time, several years ago and witnessed Carolyn, dazed and swaying from side to side, run to the front to snatch up a six-foot diamond-back rattler. Standing beside them in the pew was Pedro, also swaying back and forth, eyes closed, mumbling something that resembled Swahili and shaking his hands toward the rafters. Carolyn had jumped around holding the serpent out from her and eventually pulling it in closer to her face. Apparently her faith had wavered when she opened her eyes and got a good look at that triangular-shaped head, darting forked tongue and two-inch fangs which caught her just above the top lip and pumped enough venom into her mouth to kill an elephant! It had stopped the show. Carolyn’s face resembled a basketball by the time they got her to the hospital and she was in intensive care for nearly a week. Praise Jesus. Janice and Carl stayed until she was out of the woods but refused to go back to church with them, where Carolyn was determined to renew her faith with a King Cobra! “It cost nearly $6,000 but if you want to pay for something else, they might take it back for a trade-in. What do you say Barney?” Barney, glanced from Carolyn to Carl and back, “Uh, sure. We can do that. Would you care to come back and look at our displays?” Pedro took Carolyn’s arm while Carl and Henry pushed Janice back to the embalming room. Henry whispered to Carl, “This her sister?” “You got it.” “Money?” “Tons!” “Well, this could be your lucky day; put that six grand right back in your pocket.” “No kidding.” Carl left the foot of the casket and went to the display where Carolyn was rubbing the plush velvet interior of the top-of-the-line solid bronze Presidential… $20,000. She smiled up at Pedro who said, “We’ll take it… along with the Statuary Galvanized 12 Gauge Steel Vault.” Barney smiled. He liked moneyed people. He said, “We can hold the viewing today and the funeral tomorrow but we’ll have to delay the burial for two days. We don’t have these in stock and will have to special order them.” “You can’t get them here in time?” Carolyn was becoming assertive, something she’d learned, a trait that had come in handy when explaining to people the small indention just to the right of her mouth where one of the fangs had so completely damaged the cell tissue that no amount of plastic surgery could correct it. It actually was almost the depth of a sewing thimble, NOT attractive but yet not enough of a deterrent for her to stop handling those snakes. She was up to five copperheads, six water moccasins and one coral. She was a deacon and a leader in the congregation. She even held weekly classes in snake handling! Her faith had finally been restored! “No mam.” “Can’t you overnight them?” “Carolyn, this isn’t Federal Express.” “Where are they coming from?” “Dallas.” Carolyn turned to Carl, “You’ve got a truck. If you left now, you could be back with them before the service in the morning.” Randy and Grace spent the day exploring Little Rock, the market area, the Clinton Library and ultimately hiking Pinnacle Mountain. He’d planned a nice dinner at Arthur’s in west Little Rock and a moonlit stroll… somewhere. “What are we eating tonight?” He rolled his eyes at her and she slapped him on the arm. “I mean food.” “Arthur’s. Are you familiar with it?” “I don’t think so.” “It’s a steakhouse.” “You mean like Bonanza?” “Not exactly. You’ll like it.” “I wonder if we’ll have a visit from the Impress tonight.” They had affectionately nicknamed their ghost. “I’m sure she’s not going anywhere.” The next morning while getting ready to go downstairs, Randy received a text from Wayne: ‘McWhorter house explosion. Call.’ “OH MY GOSH!” “WHAT?” He was already dialing the number. “Not sure.” Wayne answered and told Randy about the explosion, the mass destruction, including the empty house next door which also burned to the ground. “What about Thelma?” Grace flinched. “They’re saying she died in the fire.” Randy had to sit. He brought his hand up to his head and slowly shook it from side to side. “Noo, no!” “What caused it?” “They’re saying the hot water heater exploded but there are some extenuating circumstances too.” “What kind of circumstances.” “Well, the television is saying—” “Wait, it’s on television?” “Oh yeah, it’s all over the news. I figured you’d seen it.” “I haven’t seen any television in two days.” Grace slightly grinned to herself. “Ok, so what about it?” “They’re saying she had some sort of accelerant which caused the heat intensity. The crime lab from Little Rock is, all the TV stations, even one from Dallas. It’s a huge deal.” Randy held the phone out from his head and stared at Grace. He whispered to her, “Turn on the TV.” She looked puzzled but grabbed the remote. “Anything else?” “Well, it looks like there are no remains.” “There are always some…” “They’re saying the heat was so intense, everything was consumed. I’ve been by there. You won’t believe it. All the houses around the property are scorched. Trees on all the adjacent properties are burned. It’s a mess.” Randy was silent again. Poor Thelma. “Ok. Thanks Wayne.” “When you coming home?” “I’ll be back in the office tomorrow but I’m coming home this morning. We’ll start to work on that next job tomorrow.” “Thanks boss.” Randy hung up and Grace was running channels. “What exactly am I looking for?” “The news.” “What’s happened?” “There was an explosion at Thelma McWhorter’s house. It’s completely destroyed.” “And Thelma?” “Gone.” She walked over and put her hand on his shoulder. “She was your girlfriend in high school.” “Yeah, she was, but that was years ago… long before you. We were just kids.” “Then we need to get on the road.” “Yep, you ready?” “Almost.” They finished and started out the door. Grace looked back in the room for a moment and said… “Goodbye Impress.” Brice sat in his home office, his feet propped up, drinking coffee and watching the news. He smiled to himself. Thelma was gone. His wife was gone. And before long, he’d be gone. This couldn’t have worked out better if Clarence Darrow had been in on it. He was tired of his wife, tired of his kids, tired of working and with the exception of the week in bed with Thelma, tired of women. He was ready to “retire.” From EVERYTHING! He’d been socking it away into a nice little bank in the Caymans for the past ten years and soon he would blow this joint and never come back. There was another report from the explosion site and the reporter was describing the intense heat from the fire, talking to the fire chief and the head of the crime lab. It was stated that Ms. McWhorter had died in the explosion and the ensuing fire. A neighbor, Trudy Stewman, reported that she’d been on the phone with Ms. McWhorter, who was in her kitchen, at the instant it happened. She was distraught and they would try to interview her on-air later. Trudy would make that interview because she and Thelma were already plotting… “You have to stay hidden. Everyone thinks you’re dead, especially that arrogant son-of-a…” “It might be hard.” “We can do it. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you need to. I’m gone more than half the time anyway, remember? I’ll keep the house stocked and leave you my car.” “You’ll have to cut my hair and color it.” “That’ll help but for the most part, you’re gonna have to stay out of sight. This is still a small town and people will recognize you. Thank goodness they haven’t plastered your face all over the TV.” “You know, I’d been thinking for some time about a face lift.” Trudy stopped and stared at her friend.” “Really?” “You know I look awful… all this sun and the wrinkles.” Trudy walked over and took Thelma’s hands in hers. “Couldn’t be a better time. And you can use my guy in Dallas. He’s the best. You’ll be out of town and I can take you, leave you in my apartment there to recuperate and when you return, no one will know you. This is perfect! PERFECT!” “Trudy, what am I going to do about my bank account and money and my savings?” “Hmm, good question. If you spend anything, they’ll know that someone is going into your account. I guess this is where you’re gonna have to give me some personal information. Do you have any?” “What? Money?” “Yes.” “I just paid cash for a new swimming pool and backyard… which is now under a ton of debris!” “Anything left? In the bank, I mean?” “I have plenty of money. I’m no millionaire but I’ve got several hundred thousand. Why?” “Because I’m going to have to subsidize you until this all comes out. And until we sue the pants off that bakery man and you DO become a millionaire.” That thought suddenly began racing through her mind. Revenge and money. What could be sweeter? “You do have any attorney, don’t you?” “Yes, but I’ve got no family. In fact, I’ve got no will.” “I guess all that was in the house.” “Well, actually, no… I had put all my important files in the trunk of my car but as you can see, there is nothing left of it either.” They were silent for a few minutes and Thelma broke down again. Everything she owned was in that house, her life, pictures, her mother’s antiques, memories… everything. The sadness that she immediately was feeling was sensed by Trudy who put her arms around her and she said, “I know, I know. We’ll get through this. Don’t you worry. We WILL get through this.” I’ve got friends. He will NOT get away with this.” Thelma’s sadness began to fade and anger began to replace it. She pulled away from Trudy and stared angrily across the room. Trudy smiled slightly and said, “There’s the Thelma I know. Back to the money… if you have no will then you are intestate. However… uh, who is your attorney.?” “Dale Blackmon.” “Really, Dale is your attorney?” “Yeah, for years. He represented my folks before they died.” “We go way back.” “How far?” “Let’s just say this, I gave the child up for adoption. Neither of us wanted it and though his mother never quite got over it, we remained friends all this time.” “I didn’t know.” “Of course you didn’t. Remember, I went to live with my aunt Flossy up in Jonesboro that year?” “I’d forgotten that. That was when your folks were having all that trouble.” “BS! They made that story up to get me out of town so I could have the baby.” “And you kept this from me?” “We kept it from EVERYBODY! No one knew, just me and Dale and my folks and his mother and of course, Aunt Flossy and Uncle Wilbur.” “Well, I guess you do go way back. Can we trust him?” “All the way to the bank!” Randy took Grace home, got her settled and left for Thelma’s. He could hardly get down the street. There were still service vehicles parked alongside the property, in the yard and people out mingling around. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. It was like something out of a movie. The house was literally gone, except for a few boards still standing and a couple of steel posts. He couldn’t see over the destruction to see what the backyard looked like and there was crime tape everywhere. He pulled over in front of Trudy’s house and walked back to the scene. He ducked under the tape and approached Mike Miller, a policeman he’d known for several years, who was writing in a book of some kind. “Heya Mike.” He stuck out his hand and Mike took it. “Hey Randy. Can you believe this?” “No.” “It’s… it’s—” “I know. We’ve been here the whole time. There are still burning embers in the back.” “Can I slip back there?” “Well…” “I’m curious. I put in her new pool just a couple of weeks ago and…” “Sure then, but let me take you. The crime lab is still working. They’re trying to find out just how and why the water heater exploded and if this was actually an accident.” All the business with the hidden cameras was turning around in Randy’s mind but he wasn’t about to disclose any of it to Mike. They stepped over debris around the opposite side of the house, the side away from what used to be the garage and continued toward the back. Randy looked over that direction and said, “I mean, it’s ALL gone. Where’s her car?” “It’s gone too. See that guy over there? He said it’s a wonder it didn’t take out the entire neighborhood.” “So they’re thinking there was foul play?” “Oh yeah, big time! Whoever did this knew about fire accelerant. He said the heat from the blast was over two thousand degrees. This stuff was military grade but they’re not releasing that information to the public, so keep it to yourself.” “No problem.” They reached the back of the house and the yard was just as devastated. All kinds of debris had fallen into the pool, the terrace was cracked and pieces of pavement had been blown out of the ground. It was a mess. He shook his head. He turned and looked back and over to what had been Thelma’s bedroom. Everything was black and still smoking. He was suddenly sick to his stomach, turned from Mike an threw up onto a piece of charred wood. “You okay?” “Yeah, just thinkin’ ‘bout her.” “She went quick. She didn’t feel a thing.” “And they haven’t found… a thing? No bones?” Mike was shaking his head. “Nothin’?” “So sad.” “Look, I gotta get back to work and you’ll have to leave… uh, if you don’t mind.” “Uh, yeah, sure. I understand.” The both walked back out to the front, shook hands and Randy started toward his truck. He paused long enough to let another truck pass by slowly. The windows were tinted so he didn’t know the culprit was passing by to gloat. Trudy and Thelma had taken up positions in two easy chairs before the large picture window in Trudy’s guest bedroom, behind sheers, watching the proceedings across the street and talking about things to come. They had seen Randy pull up and cross the street. “Trudy, I think we need to bring Randy into this. After all, he can be trusted and he knows all about the hidden speakers we found and the hidden cameras we installed. WE INSTALLED!” She all but blurted it out and grabbed her phone to replay the pictures of Brice going into her house and into the garage. She held it out to Trudy who said, “THAT’S IT! WE HAVEN’T EVEN BEEN THINKING! This will nail his butt to the wall. You may not have to go into hiding.” Suddenly all kinds of things were running through both their minds. “True, but I want Randy to know. He’s probably sad, well, I hope he’s sad.” They both laughed for a second and Trudy added, “You’re sure he can be trusted? Until we’ve got all this figured out, it might be better to just keep it between you and me and Dale.” “No.” They were watching him come across the street toward his truck. “Go out and get him.” Trudy shrugged and went out the door. Thelma could see her talking to Randy and then the two of them came in the house. When he saw Thelma, he stopped dead in his tracks. “WHA—? HOW?” He rushed over and enveloped her in his arms. She loved it. “It’s a long story so have a seat and let me tell you about it.” He was smiling from ear to ear and very happy… and in shock.”
Posted on: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 10:50:41 +0000
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