Cause for Murder (12 page)

"Hello, Dr. Clevenger, I'd like you to meet Private Investigator Tom Casey. He's working with me today."

"Nice meeting you, Mr. Casey.” He waved a hand toward two chairs. “Won't you gentlemen please take a seat."

Dr. Clevenger pulled a file from his side drawer and placed it on his desk. His gaze settled on Detective Williams. “I can't surrender Burke Parker's file without a court order. But maybe I can answer some of your questions."

Williams nodded. “How long had you been seeing Parker?"

The doctor opened the folder and glanced at the first page. “Almost eight years."

"Did he have any major health issues?"

The doctor frowned. “Yes, an enlarged heart, high blood pressure, and showing initial signs of diabetes. Mr. Parker didn't follow my instructions and I could see dangerous problems developing in the very near future. In fact, his death may have come prematurely due to his failure in taking his medications regularly or following his diet."

Williams raised a brow. “Could he have overdosed?"

The doctor sighed. “Unfortunately, yes, it could have happened. Some people tend to think more is better, which can be fatal. Or sometimes they forget they've already taken it and take double doses, equally as dangerous."

"Did Parker have a drinking problem?"

The doctor furrowed his forehead. “I suspected he drank more than he claimed. His abnormal blood work indicated liver damage; his puffy face and slightly jaundiced color suggested cirrhosis. But when I questioned him about his alcohol intake, he swore he only had a glass or two of wine at night, which he'd read was good for his heart."

Hawkman raised a hand. “How did Parker pay his bill?"

"He had to quit his job and go on disability due to his heart, but the fees for his medical services were always paid."

"What medications did you prescribe?” Williams asked.

The doctor checked through the papers and named the heart and blood pressure medications. “I'd just started him on his diabetes medicine and hoped he'd help control it with his diet and exercise. But I should have known better."

Williams removed a paper from his pocket. “The medications you described were found in his room. The bottles have been sent to the lab for testing.” The detective stood. “Thank you for your time, doctor. We appreciate it."

"Did you ever prescribe a tranquilizer?” Hawkman asked.

Clevenger ran a finger down a couple of the pages, then shook his head. “No.” He glanced up. “Why?"

"Just curious. Are you by chance Burke Parker's wife's physician also?"

"No. I've never seen her."

"Why'd you ask about tranquilizers?” Williams asked, as they drove back to the station.

"Just curious,” Hawkman said. “I've been doing a bit of research on medicines and alcohol. Booze reacts with a lot of them, especially therapeutic drugs. Mixing the two can be fatal. It's going to be interesting to see what they find in Parker's body."

The detective pulled into the station lot and parked alongside Hawkman's 4X4. “So you're suggesting, it could definitely show foul play if those types were found in his system."

Hawkman opened the passenger side door. “Not really. If he knew how to order over the internet, he could have purchased numerous medications rather easily.” He leaned against the fender of his vehicle as Williams locked the car. “At least we know where Parker got his money.” Hawkman raised a finger in the air. “By the way, does Clevenger have access to the coroner's report?"

Williams shoved the car keys into his pocket. “If a physician isn't notified at the time of death, he could request to see it. As far as I know, Dr. Clevenger hasn't asked. Of course, he realized an autopsy would be done, regardless of whether we suspected foul play or not. But I gathered all he knew, or cared about was what he read in the paper."

Hawkman nodded. “I got the same feeling."

"Most private doctors don't like involvement with the police. Not good for business."

Hawkman opened the driver's side door of his vehicle to let out the heat. “Keep me informed on the test results."

"Will do,” the detective said, waving as he strolled toward the entry of the station.

The next morning, Hawkman called the Yreka High School and discovered four of the six instructors Maryann had in high school were teaching during the summer session. He'd met each of them during Sam's high school years. If he managed to pull off a meeting, he'd have to be careful approaching Maryann's past, and avoid any reference to Burke Parker's death.

Since classes ended at noon during summer school, he arrived early and sent a note to each of the teachers, asking if they could meet in the lounge at twelve-thirty. He emphasized its importance, promised a short meeting of thirty minutes, and signed it Tom Casey, Private Investigator. The curiosity of meeting with a P.I. might draw them in.

At twelve-fifteen, Hawkman entered the teacher's lounge and rehearsed in his mind how he'd broach the subject. He poured himself a cup of coffee from the urn and waited.

Before long, Mr. Phillips, the math teacher, entered and held out his hand. “Hello, Mr. Casey, it's been awhile since I've seen you. How's Sam doing?"

"Just great. One more year and he'll be out of college. Doesn't seem possible does it?"

Mr. Phillips shook his head. “It seems like he just graduated last year. Time really flies."

"Thanks for coming. I appreciate it. I have a couple more teachers I've asked to join us, then I'll explain my mission."

"Sure, I'm in no hurry.” He flopped down on the couch and set his briefcase on the floor beside his feet.

Hawkman turned toward the coffee urn, his back to Mr. Phillips, poured himself some more coffee, reached into his breast pocket and flipped on his voice activated recorder. “Want a cup?” He asked over his shoulder.

"No, thanks. I'm coffeed out."

Soon, Ms. Gardner, Mrs. Cross and Ms. Doyle meandered in, all shaking hands with Hawkman and asking about Sam.

When they'd situated themselves around the room, Hawkman closed the door of the lounge and stood in front of the group. “I've been hired by a large firm back east to do a background study on several students including Maryann Parker. She's a very bright girl and they're looking at possibly offering her a position after she graduates from college. Maryann isn't aware of their interest, as they've been observing her from afar. That's why it's essential you keep this conversation only between the people in this room."

"What sort of things do you need to know?” asked Mrs. Doyle.

"Your honest opinion about this young woman. Is she reliable? Likable? Mostly personal stuff. They know how smart she is, so that's not what they're looking at right now. The person they want to hire has to be congenial."

The four teachers glanced at each other. The women frowned and Mr. Phillips grimaced.

Hawkman rubbed his mustache. “Looks like I hit a sore spot. So what's your opinion, Mr. Phillips?"

"Truthfully, that girl had a hard time getting along with her peers. A beautiful young thing, but she had her problems. Smart, yes. But congenial, no. She never seemed happy."

"Ms. Gardner?"

"I agree with Mr. Phillips. Her conversations always had a cynical touch. Not only with her peers, but also with her teachers. She flaunted her intelligence and turned people off. I definitely liked the girl, but in my opinion she craved attention, just didn't know how to get it."

"Mrs. Cross?"

"I agree with both Ms. Gardner and Mr. Phillips. Maryann was a strange one. When I asked to have her folks come in for a conference her senior year, she wouldn't hear of it. Said they had nothing to do with her future. She'd handle her life and leave her folks out of it. I'm afraid the girl came from a dysfunctional family. And being an only child didn't help. She had no female friends, and came on strong in a suggestive manner toward the boys to the point of frightening many of them away."

"Ms. Doyle?"

Her shoulder's slumped. “It's really sad, Mr. Casey. The girl had so much going for her, but her personality really stunk.” She glanced at the other teachers. “Sorry, but that's the way I perceived her. Very arrogant. Girls and boys avoided her like she had a disease. At first, I thought the females were just envious of her mature figure, flawless skin and long beautiful black hair that hung past her waist. She had flirtatious dark brown eyes and lashes that required no makeup. Many girls would kill for those attributes. But then I noticed the boys stayed away too. A siren with no boys panting after her seemed odd. Then one day I overheard a couple of our young men talking. They spoke of Maryann as evil and wicked.” She shook her head. “Such a shame."

Hawkman shifted his position and took a deep breath. “I want to thank you all for your honesty. I know it's not easy to give a negative report.” He passed a business card to each one. “If you think of anything else, just give me a call. And please keep this meeting to yourselves"

Mr. Phillips sighed and stood. “Don't worry, Mr. Casey. None of us will say anything. These meetings are not fun, but sometimes necessary."

Hawkman dumped his coffee in the sink and threw the styrofoam cup in the trash. Once everyone left the room, he flipped off his recorder and strolled out to his vehicle. Maryann appeared as a devious woman on the exterior. Did she feel that way deep inside or did she have a lot of pain? If so, her outward appearance definitely fooled people. Even Sam said Richard saw her as a cold and calculating woman. As he drove to his office in Medford, he couldn't get his mind off what the teachers said about Maryann.

Maryann watched her mother pick at the lunch she'd prepared. “Mom, I thought you liked chili dogs?"

"Oh, I love them. I'm just not hungry."

"You've got to eat something before you go to work. I can tell you're losing weight, you're nothing but skin and bones."

Lilly pushed the plate away. “I've got a lot on my mind. Just put it in the refrigerator and save it for Frank.” She slumped back in the chair. “By the way, have you had any luck in finding employment?"

She shook her head. “No. You're right about this hick town, it doesn't have much to offer. Any openings are taken by the residents. But I've got a little saved and a job waiting when I get back to the university, so I should be okay for the summer. And don't change the subject, Mother. What's worrying you?"

"I've been thinking about how stupid I've been by not reporting Burke's beatings.” She let out a long sigh. “Now I can't protect Madukarahat. But Burke scared me so much with his threats, I feared you'd be taken away."

Maryann pointed a finger at her mother. “Mom, you're letting your imagination get the best of you. How do you know Maduk had any thing to do with Burke's death?"

Lilly stared at her daughter, tears welling in her eyes. “Just from some of the things he said."

Maryann slapped her hand on the table. “Mother, think about it. If Maduk had killed Burke, he'd have used his knife. I believe Burke died of natural causes. The idiot probably overdosed on his own medications. The test will show it and we'll all be cleared of any wrong doing. If not, you and I will be the first they put under scrutiny. And I don't think that's going to happen."

"I wish I felt as certain as you do. Unfortunately, you told the young Casey lad about Maduk. Now it will be all over the community."

Maryann covered her face with her hands. “Yes, I probably did a dumb thing, but we're just speculating about Burke being murdered."

"Then why are they doing all the testing?"

Maryann rose from her chair and paced the room, wringing her hands. “I don't know. Maybe it's just police procedure when they find a dead body."

"Maduk thinks otherwise. He thinks they suspect murder."

"He's just guessing. Just like we're doing."

Lilly shrugged. “I hope for all of us you're right. When this leaks out, I'll probably lose my job. Then what will I do?"

Maryann narrowed her eyes and stared at her mother. “We'll leave this horrible place and find somewhere else to live. We should have gone a long time ago. It's been hell growing up here."

Bowing her head, tears trickled down Lilly's cheeks. “I know it's been hard on you. And I'm sorry for the pain you've suffered. All I can say is you were born out of love."

Going to her mother, Maryann put an arm around Lilly's shoulders and gazed into space. “I know. But please try to eat. Let me warm up your food, so you'll have some energy for work."

Sam found the drop cloths in the garage and stuffed them into a big garbage bag, then tied them down in the bed of the truck. He looked over the interior paint colors and thought they ‘d be quite attractive for the rooms of Mrs. Parker's house. He needed to check with her and find out whether she'd like the outside or the inside painted first. It made no difference to him, except they'd need a whole day for draping the furniture, removing pictures and shelves off the walls. He figured doing a couple of rooms at a time would be best and he could do the preparation without Richard's help. Maybe Maryann would lend a hand. Even though he hesitated about working beside her, he wanted to get this job finished so he'd have some of the summer left to play. He hoped she'd remembered to water the sod.

Jennifer helped Sam gather up paint rollers and other supplies he needed from the storage shed. She handed him some paint hats and several rolls of masking tape. “I hope you haven't taken on a bigger job than you can handle. The way things are going, you're not going to have any free time left to fish or ride your new bike before you have to return to school."

"The house is small. It won't take long. If I can get things prepared before the weekend, Richard and I can get most of the inside painted in a couple of days."

She patted him on the back as he climbed into the cab of his truck. “I admire what you're doing. I hope Lilly and Maryann appreciate your efforts."

Sam shrugged. “I think Mrs. Parker does. Can't tell about Maryann."

He arrived at the Parker home about one o'clock. Lilly's old station wagon sat under the carport and the sprinklers were watering the new grass which appeared healthy. He noticed flowers had been planted in the pots that lined the front porch.