Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date by Steve Demaree Page A
Authors: Steve Demaree
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our
suspects or victims live in the same neighborhood. What kind of clue is
this?"
"Hey,
I don't make up the clues. I just share them."
I hung up,
more confused than I was before I talked to Lou, but that is usually the case.
17
I looked
over the list of the victims. John Ed Caudill, who was the reason Heather
contacted me, lived in Morehead. The other man, Chris Carlisle, lived in Lexington . If those two lived in the same
neighborhood it was a large neighborhood, a well over sixty mile long neighborhood.
The two women were Linda Halliday, also from Lexington , and Becky Flatt, from Frankfort . Again a large neighborhood. Then there was the guy found
dumped with Lou, who had been identified as Roger Wilson. He lived in Winchester . All of the victims had been
injected with the same fast-acting poison, so it had to be the same murderer,
or a couple of people working together. But who was injecting people? Could the
murderer be a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a chemist, or just some psycho who
merely knew where to pick up a large amount of poison? And I still couldn't
figure out who lived in the same neighborhood. But I vaguely remember someone
telling me that so-and-so and so-and-so lived close to each other. I was sure
the cold temperatures had frozen my brain. It was time to move on.
Next I
checked to see what color of card each of the murdered people sent back, to see
if they all sent the same. They did. Green. I was glad I sent back yellow.
Would I be brave enough to send back green next time? And if I did, who would
kill me first, the murderer or Jennifer? After that it was time to see who each
person had dated. Since there were both male and female victims, I doubted if
anyone had dated the same person. Maybe we had a brother and sister victim? I
almost swallowed my tongue when I saw who had dated Roger Wilson. Bambi
Fontaine. She told me she had been to The Cheesecake Factory only one time
before. Could that bad date have been with Roger Wilson? But then Roger sent
back a green card. I looked to see what color of card Bambi had sent back. It
was red. I couldn't picture Bambi turning down anyone. Or could it be that
Roger was more enamored with her than she was with him? Or maybe Bambi only
talked about the men she didn't murder? And then I saw that Roger had dated
another woman, too.
Surprise
number two wasn't far behind the first one. This time I found out that two of
the victims had dated each other, and both of them had sent back a green card.
Did someone happen upon the two of them on their date and murder both of them
there? If so, why didn't the murderer repeat his or her double murder? So,
Chris Carlisle and Linda Halliday had dated and then been murdered.
I was
about to move on to see when each of the people was murdered when the phone
rang again.
"Did
you figure it out yet, Cy?"
"I
have, but I didn't want to brag. I knew it would take you longer."
"So,
I guess you saw the common denominator between the murders?"
"You
mean the fact that each victim was injected in the same way?"
"I've
moved beyond that. I mean the dates."
"I
know all of them dated someone that contacted the agency."
"I
don't mean that kind of date. I mean that all of them were murdered on either
Thursday or Friday."
"I
was just coming to that, Lou."
"And
when you come to it will you tell me why they were murdered on one of those
days?"
"Someone
didn't want to spoil his or her weekend."
"Some
people think Friday is part of the weekend."
"What
about your buddy, the one you rented the chalet with down in the Smokies?"
"When
you read it, you will find out that they can only guess as to the day he was
murdered. They didn't find him soon enough to know for sure."
"I
would think they could narrow it down. After all, you said he hadn't started
deteriorating before you left."
"I
think they call it decomposing."
"That
reminds me, Lou. Did you realize that none of Beethoven's music is around
today?"
"Really,
then
suspects or victims live in the same neighborhood. What kind of clue is
this?"
"Hey,
I don't make up the clues. I just share them."
I hung up,
more confused than I was before I talked to Lou, but that is usually the case.
17
I looked
over the list of the victims. John Ed Caudill, who was the reason Heather
contacted me, lived in Morehead. The other man, Chris Carlisle, lived in Lexington . If those two lived in the same
neighborhood it was a large neighborhood, a well over sixty mile long neighborhood.
The two women were Linda Halliday, also from Lexington , and Becky Flatt, from Frankfort . Again a large neighborhood. Then there was the guy found
dumped with Lou, who had been identified as Roger Wilson. He lived in Winchester . All of the victims had been
injected with the same fast-acting poison, so it had to be the same murderer,
or a couple of people working together. But who was injecting people? Could the
murderer be a doctor, a nurse, a pharmacist, a chemist, or just some psycho who
merely knew where to pick up a large amount of poison? And I still couldn't
figure out who lived in the same neighborhood. But I vaguely remember someone
telling me that so-and-so and so-and-so lived close to each other. I was sure
the cold temperatures had frozen my brain. It was time to move on.
Next I
checked to see what color of card each of the murdered people sent back, to see
if they all sent the same. They did. Green. I was glad I sent back yellow.
Would I be brave enough to send back green next time? And if I did, who would
kill me first, the murderer or Jennifer? After that it was time to see who each
person had dated. Since there were both male and female victims, I doubted if
anyone had dated the same person. Maybe we had a brother and sister victim? I
almost swallowed my tongue when I saw who had dated Roger Wilson. Bambi
Fontaine. She told me she had been to The Cheesecake Factory only one time
before. Could that bad date have been with Roger Wilson? But then Roger sent
back a green card. I looked to see what color of card Bambi had sent back. It
was red. I couldn't picture Bambi turning down anyone. Or could it be that
Roger was more enamored with her than she was with him? Or maybe Bambi only
talked about the men she didn't murder? And then I saw that Roger had dated
another woman, too.
Surprise
number two wasn't far behind the first one. This time I found out that two of
the victims had dated each other, and both of them had sent back a green card.
Did someone happen upon the two of them on their date and murder both of them
there? If so, why didn't the murderer repeat his or her double murder? So,
Chris Carlisle and Linda Halliday had dated and then been murdered.
I was
about to move on to see when each of the people was murdered when the phone
rang again.
"Did
you figure it out yet, Cy?"
"I
have, but I didn't want to brag. I knew it would take you longer."
"So,
I guess you saw the common denominator between the murders?"
"You
mean the fact that each victim was injected in the same way?"
"I've
moved beyond that. I mean the dates."
"I
know all of them dated someone that contacted the agency."
"I
don't mean that kind of date. I mean that all of them were murdered on either
Thursday or Friday."
"I
was just coming to that, Lou."
"And
when you come to it will you tell me why they were murdered on one of those
days?"
"Someone
didn't want to spoil his or her weekend."
"Some
people think Friday is part of the weekend."
"What
about your buddy, the one you rented the chalet with down in the Smokies?"
"When
you read it, you will find out that they can only guess as to the day he was
murdered. They didn't find him soon enough to know for sure."
"I
would think they could narrow it down. After all, you said he hadn't started
deteriorating before you left."
"I
think they call it decomposing."
"That
reminds me, Lou. Did you realize that none of Beethoven's music is around
today?"
"Really,
then
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