Not a Monster of a Chance Page 2

  Skye narrowed her eyes. She knew for a fact that those drownings were usually near the dam on the river, or off of a drunken party pontoon boat, not at the swimming beach. What was Wally hiding?

  A reporter asked, "Does that mean you're going to open up the beach today?"

  Charlie, the chief, and Skye exchanged glances. Charlie answered. "We'll be keeping the beach closed for a few days."

  The same reporter countered, "So you are worried that there is a danger?"

  Skye noticed Charlie's heightened color and stepped in. "Of course not. We're closing the beach out of respect for the victim. We'll reopen in a couple of days."

  Wally took Skye by the elbow and Charlie by the shoulder, and escorted them through the mob, back to the Caddy. He leaned through the open window and said to Charlie, "Drop her off and meet me at the station."

  Skye raised an eyebrow when they pulled into the police department. "I thought you were instructed to get rid of me before coming here."

  Charlie smirked. "Just because Wally's got a bug up his butt about you double-crossing him last month when your grandma died, doesn't mean I got to do what he says."

  "Okay. Well, when he kicks me out of his office, I'll wait for you in the car." Skye was afraid that Charlie seriously underestimated Wally's outrage.

  They waved to Thea, the daytime dispatcher, as she buzzed them in, and climbed the stairs to the chief's office. Wally was already there on the phone. He absentmindedly waved at them to sit down.

  Skye sat at the edge of her chair, waiting to be dismissed. While Wally talked, she studied him. The chief was a handsome man seven or eight years her senior. In the midst of a divorce, his usually even temper had shortened, and lines were forming around his mouth and on his forehead.

  He caught her staring at him and ran his fingers through his crisp black hair, ruffling the waves and bringing her attention to the gray at his temples. He slammed down the phone and said, "What did you bring her for?"

  Skye loved being referred to in the third person, but bit back the snappy comeback as penance for her previous sins.

  Charlie snapped, "Because Skye's solved the last two murders in this town. What's your batting average?"

  She didn't think it was possible, but Wally's brown eyes turned colder. They usually reminded her of liquid chocolate, now they resembled a Fudgsicle.

  The men stared at each other. Neither one was willing to blink. Skye took a breath and said, "Wally, I'm sorry about last time. Can't we just forget it and move on?"

  "No." The chief turned his attention to her. "You just don't get it, do you? I can't forgive what you did. Ever."

  Charlie crossed his arms. "You're mad at Skye. I get it. But whatever your opinion of her personally, she's good at working out puzzles. So let's put our heads together and figure out this monster thing out, before Scumble River loses the few tourists we have."

  Skye added softly, "Or before the monster eats someone else."

  Wally stared at her. "You don't believe that monster crap, do you?"

  "No." She felt her face redden. "But that woman didn't just drown. Something pulled her down."

  "Do lakes have whirlpools?" Wally mused out loud.

  Charlie and Skye shrugged.

  "Did you talk to Mark Petty last night?" Skye asked Wally.

  He nodded, then added in a disgusted tone, "After you had already questioned him."

  She ignored his gibe. "Do you think the woman I saw was his wife, Karleen?"

  Wally shrugged, a stubborn look on his face.

  Charlie leaned forward and said quietly, "Look, son, you know it's in everyone's best interest if you cooperate."

  After a long pause, Wally blew out a breath and said, "Yeah. Okay. She owned a bathing cap like the one you described."

  "I suppose it's pretty distinctive." Skye drummed her fingers on the desk. "Or do they sell them around here?"

  "No." Wally answered. "Petty said he bought it for her in Florida last year."

  "Something's been bothering me about what Mr. Petty said last night." Skye chewed on her lip. "He said Karleen didn't like rules, but that she always let him know where she'd be. If I didn't follow rules, would I willingly account for every minute of my time?"

  Wally answered her, "You might, if you thought your husband would beat the crap out, if you if you did otherwise."

  "What?" Her eyes snapped wide open.

  "We've had a couple of domestic calls from the Petty residence. Never an arrest, but Quirk's had to break up fights a few times."

  "Mmmm. Maybe it was suicide." Skye bit her lip. "No, I saw the way she went down. It looked like a vacuum cleaner was sweeping her up. She couldn't do that herself."

  The three sat in silence until Charlie spoke. "Karleen Petty. Why does that name seem so familiar? Do you have a picture of her?"

  Wally flipped open a file folder and handed Charlie a photo. The older man studied it silently before handing it back. "She's been at the motor court, but Karleen wasn't the name she registered under."

  "So why did Karleen Petty sound familiar to you?" Wally questioned.

  "Last week she checked in again, but this time she dropped her purse while she was paying. When I helped her pick things up, I noticed a credit card in the name of Karleen Petty." Charlie smiled without humor. "She saw me noticing and hemmed and hawed something about it being her friend's card, but I been in the motel business a long time. She wasn't the first woman playing house with someone that wasn't her husband."

  "So, Mrs. Petty was having an affair." Skye arched a brow. "Always the same man?"

  "Yeah, nice-looking kid. I'd say at least ten years younger than her, maybe more."

  Wally read from his notes, "Her husband said she was twenty-nine. The people in Scumble River would have been up in arms with a woman that old messing around with a teenager."

  "Very interesting. An abusive husband and a really young boyfriend. What does this all tell us?" Skye studied the ceiling.

  After a long silence both men answered at once, "Nothing."

  Wally added, "It has nothing to do with this drowning. You were there. No one was around. No one pushed her under, or forced her into the deep water. It was an accident."

  "But something doesn't add up," Skye insisted.

  "Accidents rarely do." Wally got up, and ushered Skye and Charlie to the door.

  Charlie drove Skye home. It was past noon, and after eating a hasty lunch, she changed back into her swimsuit. She put a pair of denim shorts over the tank, and laced on an old pair of tennis shoes before hopping on her scooter. It was time to visit the scene of the crime...or accident.

  Skye didn't attempt to get into the recreation club by the front entrance, not wanting to run into either reporters or police. Instead, she made her way to the back, where a metal gate blocked a dirt path. A barbed-wire fence surrounded the property.

  The gate was fastened with a shiny new padlock, and Skye could see no way to open it without the combination. She sized up the fence. Maybe she should just go around front. She was both a member and an employee, and had every right to be on the property. But visions of reporters made the barbed wire seem less threatening.

  Skye carefully stuck one leg through the opening she had created by stretching the wire with her hands. Then she bent over and heaved her torso through. All that was left on the other side was her right leg. She cautiously lifted it and pulled.

  She made it, and with only a few scratches. Skye tried to remember the layout of the club from the map she had seen on the wall in Charlie's office. There were three main lakes. One for swimming, one for fishing and one for water skiing. But, if she remembered correctly, all the lakes were connected by narrow inlets that weren't accessible by the roads.

  Where was the closest one to the swimming area? To the left. She walked slowly, trying to catch a glimpse of water through the trees. After a half-mile, she spotted a glimmer of blue and left the road.

  Tire tracks. Skye caught her breath. Someone
had been off-road here. Could she be right? She followed the trail of flattened grass through the trees until she came to a tiny beach. The sand showed signs of recent occupation.

  Skye picked her way carefully around the marks. Caught in the underbrush was a bright pink rubber flower. And the final clue was two sets of footprints leading away from the water. She smiled and headed back to town.

  Wally sat silently and listened to what she had to say. Without comment, he picked up the phone and issued instructions. Finally, he looked at her and said, "We'll take care of things now. You can go on home."

  Skye nodded, knowing that was as much as she would get from him. It saddened her, because he was usually such a different person. She shrugged as she walked down the stairs. Maybe after the divorce was final, and he'd had time to stop being mad at her, he'd go back to his old self. The one she'd had a crush on since she was fifteen.

  Later that evening, Skye's doorbell rang. Her mother and Charlie were on the steps.

  May was talking as she entered the house. "You were right. Karleen didn't drown. It was all a plot, so she could get away from her husband, and be with her teenage lover."

  "What? How did Wally prove it?" Skye was floored at how fast things had been resolved.

  Charlie sank into Skye's new recliner. "Wally had me look at the high school yearbook. I found Karleen's honey in last year's edition. His name was Joel Hadley. Police showed his picture around at diving shops in Joliet and Kankakee. Sure enough, he had rented equipment two days ago and returned it yesterday."

  "Then I was right. Karleen and her lover planned the whole thing. She made a spectacle of herself with that stupid bathing cap so someone would see her. Then when they had a witness's attention, her lover, using skin-diving equipment, pulled her under. They shared the oxygen mask and swam under water to that little beach I found. Joel had parked his vehicle there, and they went out the back gate."

  "How did they get out the back gate? I thought you said it was locked." May demanded.

  Skye sat next to her mother on the sofa. "That was another tip-off. Why would the padlock be shiny and new? It should be old and rusted. Unless Joel cut the original one off and replaced it with a new one, so no one would notice. Joel must have been the monster that chased the teenagers. It was all a set-up for Karleen to drown, and have her body not found."

  "That's my goddaughter. Smart as a whip." Charlie beamed.

  "Did they find out how he did it?" Skye asked.

  "You stopped looking after you found the spot that Joel and Karleen used. Wally checked the rest of the places where someone could get into the water and swim to the beach area. He found the so-called monster." May sniffed. "It was just an old canoe painted green. Joel had nailed triangle-shaped pieces of metal to the bottom, so when it was turned upside-down, they stuck out of the water like a fin."

  Skye shook her head. "Did they catch Karleen and Joel?"

  "Yeah, they were using a credit card of his that she had signed for." May shook her head. "Those two are a few nuts short of a Payday."

  "Too bad they couldn't charge them with anything." Charlie leaned back and clasped his hands over his stomach.

  "Why?" Skye asked.

  "Think about it." Charlie commanded. "What laws did they really break?"

  Skye narrowed her eyes. "Well...there's got to be something. They caused us all a lot of headaches."

  Charlie sighed. "Too bad you can't arrest people for being a pain the as...er, butt." He put his feet up and closed his eyes. "Of course, if you could, half the town would be in jail."