Secrets and Revelations (Bellingwood #4) (14 page)

"Read your books," she ordered and then walked with Aaron to the back of the truck.

"I have no idea why this keeps happening when I'm around, but thanks for coming out so fast."

"Polly, I'm going to have to put you on the payroll and charge it out as body recovery. I've never seen anything like this."

"How do I get myself into these situations? All I was doing was driving home from Boone after taking Andrew to the bookstore.
That's all I did!" she protested.

"I can't help you with that. But, I do have a couple of questions before I drive into Bellingwood to talk to her husband."

Polly nodded.

"You and Jeff have spent time with this woman over the last week. Can you think of anything that has happened while she was at Sycamore House that could have caused someone to want to drive her off the road and then spray paint that word on her car? Any of the quilters she was dealing with? Anything at all?"

"She was mean to practically everyone around us, but I don't think I saw anyone so furious with her that they would want to kill her. There wasn't a single person left untouched by her nasty tongue. She was even insulting to the group of kids from Chicago on Saturday and they hadn't done anything to warrant her vile behavior."

"Would any of them want to retaliate? I know they put up with a lot of trash from others, but they also come from some fairly
violent surroundings."

"I can't imagine," Polly said. "They're just kids."

She put her hands up to stop him, "I know. I know. Kids can do terrible things. But Henry's friend knows these kids and has worked with them for a year or more to get them ready to come to Iowa. He's not bringing in hardened gang members, he's trying to stop these kids from getting in that deeply."

"What about Jeff Lyndsay?" Aaron asked.

"Jeff? He wouldn't kill her."

Aaron chuckled, "No, I'm sorry. That's not what I meant. Do you think he'd have a better idea of people she was working with during this quilt show setup?"

"Oh! Sure! You should stop by and talk to him. He's spent more time with her than me and he was a lot nicer to her. For some reason she liked him and put up with him trying to keep her calm."

"I'll probably come over a little later to see him. Could you let him know what I'm asking so that he isn't surprised when I show up?
But, don't tell anyone else about this. I'd hate for it to get back to her husband before he's had a chance to hear it from me."

Two more cars from the Sheriff's office pulled up and Polly asked, "Is it okay if I leave? I should probably get Andrew out of here. He doesn't need to watch them bring her out."

"Sure. We know where you live," Aaron grinned. "I'll be over to Sycamore House this afternoon. Keep the coffee on."

Polly headed for the car door and then stopped, "Aaron?"

"Yes, Polly?"

"Umm, maybe I shouldn't say anything, but the other night when I was walking Obiwan, we went past the bank. It was late and the lights were still on. Someone was arguing inside. I heard it because the door was open. Then, I heard Mrs. Rothenfuss yell something back inside and tell whoever was there that they couldn't do that to her and they would pay.
She got in that car and squealed away. It was probably nothing, but you asked."

"Thanks, Polly. Anything else?"

Polly hesitated and looked down at the ground.

"What is it, Polly?"

"Rachel Devins was at Sycamore House Friday evening and the two of them got into some kind of argument. Mrs. Rothenfuss was so awful to the poor girl, I had to ask her to leave the building. I don't know what would have happened if Billy Endicott hadn't held the girl back. Now, she was helping us with the horses all weekend and never acted like anything was wrong, so I can't imagine she would have done something so horrible, but at some point on Saturday, someone also scrawled the words 'Die Bitch' on a quilt block using lipstick. Jeff thought it looked as red as the stuff Rachel wears, but red lipstick is pretty common. I don't wear lipstick and even I have some."

"Why didn't you call me about the quilt?"

"Because Jeff talked to Marla Singer and they are going to find a way to clean it. She was going to talk to the owner of the quilt before deciding to get you or Ken Wallers involved."

"Did you see any more of Cindy Rothenfuss this weekend?" he asked.

"I wasn't there much on Saturday and no one else was around on Sunday. They were planning to work again about noon today and finish up tomorrow. Some of the judges are coming in on Wednesday before the show starts Thursday."

"If you think of anything else, let me know," Aaron said. "It seems like this is centered around your quilt show. When I see Jeff, I want to look at the quilt."

"You know, last night we were talking about the woman and even Joss Mikkels had a story about how awful she'd been when she was on the Library Board. She tormented kids at the library and she tried to get into the Methodist church choir director's business. I know she is horrible to people at the nursing home. I'd be surprised if you didn't find hundreds of people with motive in Bellingwood."

"You're right. We'll figure it out. I'm not looking forward to interviewing the whole town about this death, but we'll do what we have to do. You go on home and I will talk to you later."

When she got in the truck, Andrew was watching the activity in the cornfield.

"We're leaving, bud. Turn around and put your seatbelt on."

"But, I want to see the dead body," he protested. "They're going to bring her out pretty soon. I just know it. Can't we stay and watch?"

"Andrew. No." Polly gave a pathetic little laugh. "That's awful.
Your mom isn't going to believe that I have you at yet another site of a murder."

"It was a murder!
She didn't just drive off the road? Someone pushed her off the road?"

"Wait. No. I didn't mean that. They don't know if it was a murder or not. I just made an assumption and I shouldn't have
said anything."

"Was there like a bullet in her head or something?"

"No, there was no bullet. At least I didn't see a bullet."

"But there might have been one.
What if there was a sniper driving down the road towards her and just POP, put one right between the eyes?" He snapped his head back and then turned to look at her. "What if?"

"I don't think so. It's time we got back to Sycamore House. People are going to start wondering where we've been."

Andrew looked down at his lap and quietly said, "Maybe there were zombies on the highway and she was trying to dodge them, and then she lost control of her car and drove into the cornfield. If they're not careful, she might turn into a zombie tonight. Don't you think you should call the sheriff and warn him?"

Polly took a breath, "I'm sure they have all of the right things in place to deal with people coming alive as zombies."

"Do you think they cut off their heads if it looks like that’s gonna happen?"

She scratched her head and looked over at him. His grin went from ear to ear.

"Right," she said. "They probably have a whole paranormal team at the coroner's office just to make sure zombies and vampires don't come to life."

He sucked the last bit of soda from his glass and said, "You're pretty cool, Polly."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you know how important it is to have the right people around to make sure that those bad guys never see the night time."

"Oh, okay," she said. "Now, we have to talk seriously for a minute about what you saw today."

"But I didn't get to see anything. You made me stay in the truck and then we left before they brought the body out."

"Andrew, you can't tell anyone, not even Jason."

"Why not?
That's not fair!"

"Because until Sheriff Merritt talks to her family, no one can know what has happened here. As soon as I know that everything has been done, I will tell you and then you can tell whomever you want, but you have to wait."

"Oh, I can wait. Can I tell my mom, though?"

"Yes, you can certainly tell your mom. You can always tell her anything."

"Good."

They pulled into the garage and he immediately went to his desk. His little hand was still clasping the book he'd been reading and she knew he wanted nothing more than to sit down and re-enter that world.

Polly stopped behind him and said, "We forgot to go to the library. Can we do that tomorrow?"

"Sure. That's cool. I have enough books here for a while."
He picked up one of the books and opened to the first page. Polly realized she had just been dismissed. She dropped her packages on top of the dryer, walked through the kitchen and on to the offices.

She knocked on Jeff's door and stepped in, closing it behind her.

"What's up, Polly?" he asked.

She sat down. "I just found another dead body," she deadpanned.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," she shook her head. "Andrew and I were driving back from Boone and I saw that a car had driven into a cornfield. The driver was dead."

"Was it someone we know or just some poor soul who lost control of his car?"

"It was Cindy Rothenfuss and someone spray painted the word ‘bitch’ on her back hatch."

"No way. Get out."

"I'm not kidding.
Sheriff Merritt is going to stop by later today to talk to you. First he's going to the bank to tell her husband, but then he wants to ask you some questions about people she's been interacting with here at Sycamore House over the last week or so."

"Whew! I thought you were going to tell me he wanted to talk to me!"

"I know," she chuckled. "It gets a little scary. But don't tell anyone until he gives you permission to do so, okay?"

"That's fine," he said. "I'm just going to keep working away here like nothing bad has happened.
But, oh hell, we have this massive quilt show going on and she's the one in charge! I hope he lets me tell people soon because I'm going to need a little help here."

"Marla Singer is going to have to take over the whole thing now."

"Sure, but she can't step in until someone tells her that Cindy is dead."

Polly watched Jeff begin to spin out of control and stopped him, "Jeff, it will be fine. Everything is in place, the quilts are
nearly all hung, the judges are scheduled. Stay calm. It won't be anything longer than several hours. You wouldn't have talked to anyone about it in that time frame anyway, right?"

"Right," he said and stood up. He paced the office a couple of times and sat back down. "Oh, this is going to suck. You have to go now
. I have things to think about and plans to make."

He began typing at the computer and Polly took his dismissal to heart and left his office.
She stopped at his door, "It is going to be fine, Jeff."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know."

She quietly shut the door behind her.

Polly walked into the kitchen and Sylvie looked up and said,
"You're back! Are the rumors true?"

Andrew came in from the other door and grinned. "I don't have to be quiet any more
, do I!"

"What rumors are those?" Polly asked her friend.

"Is it true that you found Cindy Rothenfuss dead on the highway?"

"
She was in a cornfield, but yes. Andrew and I were the first people to stop and see if we could help. We couldn't."

"Did he," Sylvie's stricken look passed as quickly as it came on. "Oh, what am I asking? Of course he did.
He’s my boy."

"If you are asking whether or not he saw anything, the answer is no. I didn't let him get out of the truck and the car was fairly deep in the corn field."

Sylvie sighed with relief and then laughter began to bubble up within her. "I love you, Polly Giller, and I love the way you adore my boys, but it would never have occurred to me they would be exposed to dead people by hanging around with you."

"That's not funny!" Polly exclaimed. "I don't mean to do this."

Sylvie crossed the space between them and hugged her. "I know you don't. I just think it's the craziest thing a mom could ever expect for her boys. They aren't particularly affected by it, so I'm not worried about them. I know that having you around makes it easier for them to process things, but I never would have imagined my boys would know about murder."

She winked at Polly, "Honestly, I never imagined I
would be this exposed to murder either."

"Well, you can put me in that same category," Polly declared. "I'm not a fan. So, how did you find out?"

"Oh, the place is full of people today and everyone is talking about it. Some of the ladies are trying to figure out which of the quilters killed her, some are talking about her husband and there are even some who are whispering about a long-lost lover. Can you imagine? Cindy Rothenfuss taking a lover?"

"Umm. Wow. No. That doesn't seem possible."

"They were standing at the counter whispering loud enough for me to hear about how she used to be in love, but he had left her for another woman. Apparently he got some girl pregnant. But, that's just gossip."

"Jeff is going to be
so mad at me. I told him he couldn't tell anyone and he was really worried about Marla Singer."

"She just got here.
The woman whose quilt was damaged is really proud of it now. She's not mad at all. In fact, she wants to figure out a way to preserve it. People are weird."

Polly agreed with that. She grabbed the packages from the dryer and took them upstairs. After a quick hello to the cats, she took Obiwan back down with her. When she passed Andrew, he looked up.

"Do you want me to take him outside, Polly?"

"Aren't you involved in your book?"

"It's an okay place to stop and besides, if you are paying me to take care of him, I should. Right? Mom asked me if I told you thank you for taking me to Boone this morning. I said yes, but thought I should say it again, just to be sure. That was really cool of you. Thanks."

Polly pulled him in for a hug and heard him say "oomph" as breath rushed out. She let him go and handed him the leash.

"It was a fun morning. We'll do it again."

"But no more bodies?"

"Oh Andrew, I hope not! Don't you think one is enough?"

He got serious and said, "Bodies are cool, but that means someone died and they always have someone who loves them, right?"

She thought about it for a minute. Surely there was someone out there who loved Cindy Rothenfuss. "Right. Someone always loves them and that makes it sad."

"Let's go, Obiwan!" Andrew brightened up and patted his thigh. Obiwan followed him out the door into the garage.

She went back into the kitchen. Sylvie was peering intently at her laptop.

"Andrew's taking the dog out for a walk. You've raised an awfully good kid, Sylvie."

"Huh? What?" Sylvie looked up. "Oh, hi. I'm sorry. I'm working on a paper for class and some of this makes my head spin."

"I just said you had a good kid. Andrew's outside with Obiwan.

"Eliseo is setting up the tables for tonight's dinner. Are you going to be there?"

Polly had to think for a minute. "Dinner? With the boys from Chicago? I don't know," she said. "No one's invited me."

"Well, there will be plenty of food. We're having tacos, burritos and enchiladas. If you don't want to eat in the auditorium, you can always join me in here. I told Eliseo that he's always welcome. Jason and Andrew will be with me."

"I'll plan on it, then. Thanks."

Polly heard sounds in the foyer and decided to investigate. She was surprised at the number of people milling about. They were all looking at the different quilts on the wall and there was a large group clustered around the quilt block with lipstick scrawled across it.

"Did you really find the body?" Adele Mansfield took Polly's arm. Polly had met her the previous fall at a slumber party Lydia hosted when they welcomed Polly to town.
Adele held a special place in her heart since she had also known Mary Shore, the woman who stepped in to raise Polly after her mother died.

"I really did," Polly responded. "But I can't believe everyone here knows about it. It just happened!"

Adele smiled, "You know how things are around here. News travels fast. It didn't hurt that we were all here wondering where Cindy was. When she didn't show up at noon, someone called Marla and she got hold of the rest of us."

"Which one is Marla?" Polly asked.

Adele looked around the foyer and then pointed to an older woman with very short salt and pepper hair. She had on a pair of half glasses and was looking over them at something another woman was showing her. Two men were standing on ladders in front of them, adjusting a quilt on a hanger.

"Would you like me to introduce the two of you?" Adele asked.

"Thank you, that would be great."

The woman took her arm and guided Polly to the small group around Marla Singer.

"Marla?" Adele began.

"Yes?" Marla Singer looked up and realized what was happening. "Oh, hello there!"

"This is Polly Giller, the owner of Sycamore House and Polly, this is Marla Singer, our now fearless leader."

"I know who you are, Polly. My granddaughter is part of the Literacy Competition."

"It's nice to meet you. How are things coming here?"

Marla's shoulders slumped. "I didn't expect to have to be in charge of this again so soon. I thought that if I ever got another chance, I would at least have some time before the big event."

Adele chuckled, "Three days isn't enough time to get your mind wrapped around all of this?"

"Fortunately Jeff called me Friday night and told me what was happening with Cindy. I began digging into the event over the weekend and spent time with him here on Saturday."

"Did Mrs. Rothenfuss even show up on Saturday?" Polly asked.

"She was here for a while in the morning, but she kept looking at your office. She asked Jeff what time you planned to return and when he didn't know, she finally couldn't stand it. She gave me a bunch of orders on how things were supposed to look and bolted out."

Polly hung her head, but couldn't help giggling. "I can't believe I scared her like that. She didn't act like anything scared her."

Adele commented, "Most bullies can't stand being told off. They are so afraid of everything that they get mean so their fear doesn't show. When you
backed her down, she didn't have anything left."

"I feel terrible," Polly said, "but I couldn't put up with her being nasty to people who didn't have the power to stand up to her."

"I don't think you need to worry about it anymore," Marla Singer remarked. "She's not."

She turned back to the men on ladders, "I'm sorry, I need to make sure these get finished. It's nice to meet you, Polly."

Adele drew Polly back, "I hope you don't worry. Someone needed to tell that nasty woman off years ago. Maybe if they had, she wouldn't have been so angry."

"Thank you, Adele."

"Now, you go on. I'm going to look at a few more of these quilts and compare them to my own work."

"Which one is yours?"

"Oh, they haven't hung it yet. You'll see it later."

"Thank you again."

Polly poked her head into the office and was surprised to see that Henry was in the Conference Room with Roy Dunston and Sheriff Merritt. She stopped at the door and looked at him questioningly.

"Come on in, Polly," he said. "We've got a little bit of a crisis going on."

"Another one?"

Aaron Merritt turned around in his chair to look at her. "At least you weren't involved in this one, Polly."

"Hey!" she protested. "I wasn't involved in the other. I just showed up at the wrong time. And wow, you made it here in a hurry."

"Henry called and told me what was going on. My team will take care of the accident site. I can be here for a bit. I needed to talk with Jeff and Marla anyway. Since everyone seems to have made Sycamore House their central location, it works fine for me."

Roy Dunston looked awful. His forehead was furrowed, his eyes looked worried and his face was drawn. Henry didn't look much happier.

"What in the world has happened?" she asked.

"Two of the kids are gone," Henry quietly said. "They took the Foster's truck."

"When did they leave?"

"Early this morning. Mrs. Foster talked to them last night as they were going to bed and everything seemed normal. When they got up, the kids and the truck were gone."

She sat down beside him. "Oh, Roy. I'm so sorry! They have no idea what happened?"

"Mrs. Foster called me right away. I've checked with a couple of their friends and no one knows why they've left. I'm hoping they find their way back without any problem."

"Do you think they'll come here?"

Roy shook his head and dropped it into his hands. "I don't know. I just don't know. These two were the boys I was most worried about. I went out to the house on Saturday morning and everything was fine. They were having fun and seemed to be excited. The Fosters are great with them and I didn't dream they'd leave."

"We have good people looking for them," Aaron assured him.

"They have such an aversion to the police, I'm really afraid they'll do something stupid if they see any of your vehicles."

"All we can do is look."

"I know this is a stupid question, but don't all those boys have phones?" Polly asked.

"I've called several times this morning. The calls ring through, but they're not answering.
I don't know what to think."

"Do they have families in Chicago you can call?"

Roy pursed his lips. "Not really. We're their family. They live with their moms, but those women don't know when these kids are even in the house. One of them, well, there's no better way to say it. She's a prostitute. The other isn't much better, but she has four younger children to worry about and Jaleel is on his own. Calling their homes won't help me, but I did try."

Aaron stood up, "I have a call," he said and stepped out of the conference room. In a few minutes, he returned.

"We found the truck. They're in Boone. At least the truck is in Boone. The boys aren't with it, so now we're looking for them."

"That was fast," Roy said. "At least the Fosters will get their truck back."

Aaron grinned. "You're in small town Iowa. People have more of a tendency to pay attention to trucks that are out of place. They parked it in a parking lot on the south side of town. We'll check the restaurants around there, but it's been there all morning. Highway 30 is just down the road. Who knows where they've gone."

His words caused Roy Dunston to slump even lower.

"We'll find them, buddy," Henry said.

"I'm just so damned disappointed. In all the years I've worked with these kids, nothing like this has ever happened."