Classmate Murders - Bob Moats (ready player one ebook .txt) 📗

needs fumigating. I don't know where else he'd be. Maybe his Mom's house."

That caught our attention. "Where does his Mom live?"

Mick paused, looking like he was having a bad gas attack, and then said, "Somewhere out in Chesterfield. I don't know exactly."

Buck was a bit surprised, Chesterfield was just down a bit from his house.

"Is Alice Stone his Mother?" Deacon asked.

"Her last name is Morgan, that's all I know."

"Anything else you want to say, what about Davey using your van, what for?" I grilled him good, right up to his face.

"He said he had to pick up some package and needed the room in the van. That's all, honestly."

I nodded to Deacon and he removed the cuff.

"I think you should just disappear for a while, Mick, stay away from Davey, if you know what's good for you. We're looking for him for murder, you want to be a part of that?" I pushed.

Mick's eyes grew again and he said he wouldn't go anywhere near Davey.

I opened the door and he shot out. We all laughed. Deacon said I did good, and loved Buck's Slasher part.

"I think I like this investigating," I smiled. I thought about something I had read, the immortal Travis McGee once said 'Don't get hooked on the feeling... investigating can be a disease'.

We locked up, took the keys back, and went to find a phone book.

We found one at a convenience store on the way back up Gratiot Avenue. The highway ran through Chesterfield, which had a lot of big box stores, banks, bars and a few subdivisions. We found, amazingly, two Alice Morgans in the book. I also checked under Alice Stone, but found nothing. We took the first Alice, and ran by her home. The thing about subdivisions that bugged me, was the conformity and similarity of the houses. We arrived at the house, and got out of the patrol car. People nearby the house were watching us, as we plodded to the front door.

We rang the bell, and after a minute or two, a young woman, about thirty, answered. I had placed Deacon up front to add to the air of legitimacy, and I stepped forward and asked for Alice Morgan. She looked a bit worried, then said she was Alice. I apologized for the intrusion, and asked if she knew of an Alice Stone. She looked blank, then suddenly her eyes lit up.

"You mean my Aunt, her name is Alice also," she said. "She married my Uncle a few years ago and we used to laugh about having two Alices so close in the family."

"Great, does she have a son, named Davey?" I asked.

"Yes, she does. What is this about, if I may ask?" she inquired.

"We are investigating a crime and need to speak to your Aunt," I said.

"I wish I could tell you where she was, but she disappeared about three months ago, and we, and the police, have no idea where she is," she said sadly, "They think there was foul play. My Uncle thinks her son did her in. But it's all speculation. Things got weird when Davey's half-sister came into town."

I looked to Buck and Deacon, and then said to her, "Do you mean, Julia Waters?"

"I think that was her name, she came into their lives and the trouble began."

"What do you mean, trouble?"

"Well, from what my Uncle Bob said, Alice thought the Waters woman was a bad influence on Davey. They were hanging together way too much, out at bars and drinking, and there were hints of sexual contact between the two. My god, brother and sister, that's not normal. My Aunt told her she should go away, but Uncle Bob said she kept calling Davey and wanting to see him." Alice related. "Davey finally got tired of what he called their interference and got an apartment."

I said quietly to Buck and Deacon that Julia was priming Davey for the murders. I turned back to Alice and asked, "Do you know where Davey and Julia may be staying? We can't locate them."

"I don't have any idea, maybe at his apartment. I never liked Davey much, he was just creepy acting. I don't even know who his friends are. I doubt my Uncle would either. If it weren't for my Uncle, Davey would be staying at the house. It was Alice's home when she and my Uncle married, he moved in with her. Davey and my Uncle didn't get along too well either, and Davey got his own apartment after his mother disappeared. This will sound morbid, but if anything happens to my Uncle, I'm sure Davey would take over the house. I've warned him to watch out for Davey."

I thought that Davey was too busy killing cheerleaders to bother with his step-father. I thanked her and Deacon gave her one of his cards in case she heard anything about Davey. We left and went to the second address for Alice, to talk to her husband. It was a nice house on a well spaced street, the yard was well groomed and the man was out trimming hedges. We pulled into the drive and he just stared. He looked to be in his seventies, and came towards us as we got out of the patrol car, asking if we heard anything about Alice. I explained that we were on another case, and didn't know about his wife's disappearance, until we talked to his niece. He looked sad and asked what we needed. I asked him about Davey.

"He's evil, that's all I'll say. Him and his slut of a sister. You cops should arrest them for incestuous fornication. My dear Alice is missing, and I think the two of them know what happened." I could see his eyes welling up, he took a handkerchief out of a back pocket and wiped. Then he blew his nose with it.

"We were just wondering if you may know where they would be staying?" I asked.

"I have no idea and don't care, long as they stay the hell away from me," he barked out angrily.

I didn't think we'd get anything more from him. We gave our sympathies and then took our leave. Back in the car, I looked at the addresses of the references from the apartment manager, and then looked at my watch. It was now around 4 P.M. and we hadn't accomplished much in finding our prey. Some good leads, but nothing concrete.

We decided to call it a day and headed back. The ride was quiet, we each in our own thoughts. When we arrived, there was no one in the yard, I got a little panicky, jumped out of the car when it came to a stop, and ran to the house. I was amazed to find about twenty people all crammed into the living room, watching Penny's show that was recorded earlier. Penny saw me, and came over giving me a kiss and grinned. Buck and Deacon came in behind me, saw what was going on and joined the group to watch the show. Buck said to Penny, that it was interesting to see the finished product and was thrilled when he saw a shot of himself on the screen. Everyone screamed and yelled whenever the camera caught a glimpse of him. Deacon said next time he would sit out front.

Penny laughed and whispered in my ear, "I have my first fan club. Luther is the president and some girl called Mouse, is the vice president. The station is going to be running old shows after today, while I'm gone, I guess they didn't want Phil doing the show. Any luck with whatever you went off to do."

I took her out to sit on the porch and told her of our adventures. She said that she couldn't believe what I had told her about Davey, he had seemed so nice. I said that you couldn't trust anyone now days, except me, I added. She looked happy and contented and I put my arm around her as we just sat there taking in the sunshine.


*

Chapter Fifteen

I called my Mother and explained that Penny had invited me to visit with her family for a reunion and I had called my brother to fill in for me for a few days. She was all thrilled that Penny said hi to her on the show. I told her since we were going to be out of town, they would be running past shows. She said to say hi to Penny, then we hung up. I relayed the message to Penny and we got up when everyone piled out of the house. People were chattering to her about the show and the guest, especially the women, who were interested in the beauty products. I had to back off before I got swept up in all the estrogen.

I went to Buck and Luther, they were just standing in the yard talking, and Luther held his hand out to shake mine. I did.

"That's some woman you got here, real classy and smart," he drawled. Were all the people I came in contact lately, from the south, I wondered?

"Thanks, I think I'll keep her," I grinned.

Buck piped up, "Yeah, but she'll get smart and drop you for me." He laughed. "Luther and I were just discussing our plans for guarding my fortress tonight. Penny should sleep well with us on duty."

"So, will I." I said under my breath. To them I said, "I don't think we should have any problems from the crazy siblings, unless they followed us here from the studio. No way they could know where we are."

Buck concurred, but said we shouldn't get careless about it. Remember they found the safe house with Grolich. I agreed.

Penny had finished with her admirers as they wander off to start foraging for food. She came to me and excused us from Buck and Luther, and pulled me toward the house. She took me into her new bedroom and pushed me back on the bed. I humorously protested, but not for long.

"We're not going to do it," she whispered breathlessly, "not with my fan club so close. I just want a little lip action to remind me why I like you." She bit my lower lip gently and pulled. I moved in for the kill and we rolled around for about twenty minutes. We rested and then she dozed off on me. I didn't know whether to be insulted, or cuddle my poor tired little girl. I took the latter.

After a bit, I slid my arm out from under her, and went out to the front lawn again. I asked the nearest person where Buck was, she said he and Luther went to get pizza. I was a bit ashamed I wasn't there to help, but knowing Buck, he wouldn't care. Besides, he was the one still employed, I was near broke. The two of them drove back in from New Baltimore, with a pile of pizza boxes, enough to feed the army camped out on the lawn. Everyone was whooping and hollering so loud it must have woke Penny, she came out. Buck handed her a paper plate with a couple slices of pizza, and a beer, and accepted the kiss on his cheek she gave him. He just smirked at me. I grabbed some pizza and some beer and plopped down next to Penny. After