Mail Carrier 06 - Post Mortem, page 8
“Say,” I tugged the bag across my body before I headed inside to fill the communal mailboxes for all the residents. “When is Jeff’s funeral?”
“Looks like the layout is tonight and the funeral is tomorrow.” He rattled off the times, and the one that I could go to stuck in my head.
“See you at four.” I repeated the time the layout was tonight because I wanted to go and pay my respects to Rachel and Les.
It didn’t take long for me to deliver the mail to the little shops on Main Street, and the Wallflower Diner was packed.
Of course it was.
There was nothing better than a local crime, much less a murder, to bring citizens out of the woodwork. The diner was a great place to sit and hear the gossip or to gossip.
Either way, I was cleared from hanging around, but not without grabbing some of Grady’s favorite biscuits and gravy.
Since they were piping hot, there was no reason not to head over to Little Creek Road when I could deliver the Front Porch Ladies’ mail on my way home, though they’d be a bit crabby about it. When I told them why, they’d be so forgiving.
Instead of walking on the right side of the street where I’d come upon Jeff Faulkner’s body, I hurried down the left side, where there wasn’t a sidewalk, past the woods, in front of the fairgrounds, and up the long blacktop drive to where the school campuses were located pretty far back.
The campus was all the grades combined but spread out over the acres and in different buildings. Grady was the high school English teacher for the seniors.
“Hey, Bernie. Is Bryan out today?” Trish Monroe asked.
She was the school’s secretary and sat behind the counter in the office you had to walk through to even get access into the school. There was a small hallway behind her with doors on each side that belonged to various administrative staff.
Not Grady. His office was located in the workout room, which was in a different building next to the football field.
“No.” I smiled and shook my head. “I had a second and wanted to come see Grady.”
“I think he’s in class.” She pulled the reader glasses up on her nose and typed away on the computer keyboard in front of her. “Yeah. He’s got the AP class right now. Was he expecting you?”
“No. I’ll just pop my head in and hand him the little treat my mom wanted me to give him.” I patted my bag, where I’d safely put the box of biscuits and gravy. “You know his mawmaw.”
Everyone in Sugar Creek Gap knew exactly how much my mother and father loved Grady. Not only because he was their only grandchild, but the fact he was also the football coach, and football happened to be their favorite sport. My mom made sure she kept Grady supplied with good comfort food.
“I just love Barbara,” Trish gushed and slipped the glasses off of her face. “And Barry too.”
“Who doesn’t.” I winked and smiled. “Everyone loves my parents.”
“You go on back.” She waved me on. “I’m sure it’ll be fine this one time,” she whispered like she didn’t want anyone else in the office to know she gave me a pass.
“Thanks, Trish. Have a great day,” I said and headed straight on down to the English department.
When I got to Grady’s room, I took the box out of my bag and lifted it up to the window in the door so he could see I had something for him.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” he asked after he’d hurried across the classroom to crack open the door. “I'm teaching.”
“I came here to drop off some money to the boosters.” My heart rate took a rapid incline when I didn’t tell the full truth to Grady. But I technically didn’t lie. I did need to pay my dues for next year, even though they weren’t due until the next school year. “I had stopped by the diner, and you know Mawmaw. I told her I was dropping off a check to the boosters today, and she insisted I bring you fresh-out-of-the-oven biscuits.”
Grady looked over his shoulder at his students.
“They are working on their entrance papers for the colleges they have applied to, so I have a minute.” My boy’s eyes were focused on the box when he took it from me. “This is going to hit the spot.”
“Why didn't you tell me that you were in the foursome with Jeff Faulkner?” I asked.
He looked at me with a blank stare.
“So this is why you stopped by? That’s good, Mom.” He shook his head in disapproval.
“You love Clara, and if something as tragic as what happened to someone she was just with happened to her, you would definitely be asking her about it.” I knew he was going to get a bit snippy with me, but here he was, and I was going to keep pressing.
“Because of this right here, Mom.” He was talking about me standing here for that reason.
“Is that why you and Julia won’t text me back? My feelings are starting to get a little hurt.” I didn’t realize how sad I actually felt until that moment. “Something’s going on.”
There was a visible shift in his demeanor, as though he wanted to tell me something but was not sure if he should.
“Let me tell you, Grady Butler, I am your mother, and I know that look. I know you better than anyone in this world, so you better tell me if something's wrong.” If he thought I was going to just say, “Have a great day” and walk away, he was sorely mistaken.
He knew it too.
“No, Mama,” His mouth formed an O, and he let out a stream of air that accompanied a long sigh. “Julia is pregnant again.”
My jaw dropped.
That was definitely not what I had been expecting to hear.
“Yeah. Julie is pregnant again, and we're just a little shocked about it. She can’t talk about it without crying. It’s been super stressful the past couple of days.” The dark circles under his eyes showed the stress he’d been under.
“This is joyous news. Why is she crying?”
“Wow, Mom.” He shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe because Clara is still a baby, and we planned on another one when she was much older.”
“This is delightful news, honey. I think that this is great, and you know everything will be provided for.” I could see where he was headed with this.
It wasn’t like he was setting the world on fire with his teacher salary or even the few bucks he picked up for coaching. Even though Julia had a salary being Mac’s secretary-slash-assistant, I knew it would be hard for them.
“I’m not sure our income can support a family of four.” He said everything I’d heard in my own head. “The farmhouse still needs some updates, and trust me,” he put out the free hand without the box, “we are so grateful you gave us the farm and the house. No mortgage really helps, but—”
“But nothing. I remember when you were a baby. Your father and I barely scraped by, and you know Mawmaw and Peepaw gave us that land and house when you were a baby. You are so strong. You have a very level head, and you’re good with money.” I put my hand on him, and I could see the worry had nearly brought tears to his eyes.
“There’s no need to worry. You have to have faith that everything happens for a reason. This baby is going to be a blessing and blessed beyond your imaginable dreams.” I was going for the gusto pep talk. “You and Julia will forget about this little blip about being unsure what life will look like, but you’re going to love it. What I’d give to go back to your Little League days.”
“Little League? You made me do golf, and I hated it.” He broke into a smile, telling me everything was going to be okay.
“Listen, I’ve got to go. I’ll call Mawmaw after football practice to thank her.” He gave the box a little shake. “And Mom, thanks. I should’ve known you’d make everything feel good.”
“I love you and Julia. And both those babies so much.” I made sure to include the new addition to the family. “Call me.”
“I will.”
“Wait.” When I stopped him, his body stiffened. His head faced the direction he was going, and his chest expanded.
“What, Mom?”
“What does STEM mean? STEM program?” I had to know before I let him go.
“Science, technology, engineering, and math.” He gave me a quick hug before he disappeared back into the classroom, leaving me with a huge smile on my face and walking on cloud nine. When I bumped smack-dab into Marion Hemming, I found myself helping her pick up the books I’d knocked out of her hands.
“My goodness, Grady sure does make you proud,” she joked. “That big smile on your face.”
“I’m so sorry, Marion,” I groaned out the apology. “Sometimes I get lost in my own thoughts.”
Science, technology, engineering, and math. Science, technology, engineering, and math.
“It’s okay. You’ve done a mighty nice job raising that boy.” She wasn’t the first person to tell me so.
As a mother of a grown child, it felt so good to hear those words.
I suddenly realized Grady hadn’t even told me what I wanted to know. I hadn’t picked his brain about the foursome and Jeff.
“Science, technology, engineering, and math,” I muttered.
“What about STEM?” She pointed to herself. “I’m part of the STEM team.”
“I heard Les Faulkner won the grant.” What I said made her shoulders slump and her body relax.
“Terrible. Not that he won.” She reached out and touched my arm. “It’s wonderful he won because it’s not a local grant. It’s international. Very competitive. We are very proud of him.”
“That’s amazing. I don’t have any questions right now, but if I do, can I call you?” I asked.
“Absolutely.”
“I’m glad I ran into you.” I pulled out my wallet from my mail carrier bag. “I want to go ahead and pay the dues for the booster for next year.”
“Goodness, those aren’t due for another six months.” Marion tilted her head, a curious look on her face.
“If I don’t do it now, I’ll forget.” I leaned over and whispered, “Menopause is making me forget the silliest things.”
“Oh, girl, I’ve been there.” She jerked her head to the side. “Come on in the library and follow me. The yearbook staff is putting on the final touches for this year’s book, so all we have to do is put in the graduating things.”
“Funny you should ask about yearbooks.” She jogged my memory about what Elsbeth Clark had said about Jeff Faulkner being bullied. “My mom and dad came across my old yearbooks, and we laughed so hard. I seem to be missing one though. Do you keep records of past years?”
“Oh, yeah. We have a full shelf dedicated to them. They go as far back as the thirties.” Her voice got quieter as we walked into the library.
“After I write out my check, I want to take a look before I leave if that’s okay.” I wanted to make sure I wasn’t breaking any more rules than I already had.
“Of course. Take your time.” She lifted her armful of books. “I’ve got to get these shelved, so just put your check on the reference desk. The yearbooks are along the window wall.”
“Awesome. Thank you.” I couldn’t wait to scribble out that check and get over to the yearbooks, where I was most certainly going to look up the year Jeff Faulkner would’ve been in school and exactly which student in his class had the name of Beefy.
And you couldn’t imagine my surprise when I found a photo of some kids on a playground with their names listed below.
Bruce “Beefy” Kline.
I took a picture of it with my phone camera.
Chapter 11
The more I seemed to hurry along my route, the more my customers seemed to know I was busting it to get finished.
It never failed.
Everyone was outside in their yard when I was making my way around the subdivision. It was like they all wanted to know what I’d seen. Apparently the newspaper had ID’ed me as the mail carrier who found Jeff Faulkner, when actually that credit went to Rowena.
All the small chitchat didn’t bring me any more clarity on who just might’ve been Jeff’s killer, nor did any of the gossip. It was the same I’d heard over the past twenty-four hours, which made me believe that some of it had to be true.
That’s what I couldn’t wait to find out, and so I was happy to see Vince Caldwell standing in his front yard waiting for me to pick him up.
“Sorry. I had to run home and let Buster out when I got the car.” I had no time to deliver the mail to the Laundry Club Ladies, but what was a few more hours?
I loved that Vince brought his old badge to help me figure out what happened with Jeff, but I realized he could probably get in trouble for that. So instead of letting him use it, I would make sure to step in when I felt I needed to.
“If anyone gives us any problem for being here, I’m gonna flash my badge,” he told me.
“Okay,” I haphazardly agreed when I had an altogether different plan when we pulled into the country club parking lot.
It was filled, and we had to park next to the kids’ mini golf.
“Richard and I used to bring Grady here when he was little. Richard loved golf.” I pushed the car into park and kept my stare ahead of me. I could see Richard now. He was hunched over Grady, who had no interest in golf. “I guess he was meant to be the Sugar Creek Gap Grizzly mascot.” I laughed.
“Nonetheless, it is a sweet memory.” Vince was so mindful when I brought up the past of how sensitive I was about it since it was bitter and sweet.
“It was a great memory.” I found myself often smiling at the good memories more than feeling sorry for myself about the bad ones these days, which told me I was doing a good job putting it all in the past. I rarely found myself pretending to do so lately.
The front of the golf course clubhouse had a large water feature and fountain. The sun’s rays reflected off the blue tiles, causing the water to glisten.
Laughter from the various outside tables along the wraparound porch filled the air from the golfers who were enjoying cocktails and food. Most of them I recognized but really didn’t know. The only reason some of their faces were familiar was because I was their mail carrier and on some days they’d be home.
Vince and I headed into the entrance of the club. Huge rugs bearing the name of the country club underneath our feet gave it such an upscale quality.
“Hi, do you have your member ID?” the young woman at the desk asked. She wore a pink golf shirt with the club logo on it.
“Actually, I am here to pick up some of the items I left behind from the Sugar Creek High School fundraiser. It’ll just be a minute.” I gestured toward the hall where the conference room was located.
She looked down the hall and then to the phone, like she was about to call someone.
“I’m sorry. I’m so busy that I’m not able to escort you.” The buttons on the phone that was sitting on her desk were lighting up. “But you can go on back and hurry up. We don’t allow non-members to roam the hall.”
“No problem. We will be out of here so fast, you won’t even see us leave.” I threw that last bit in there just in case we ended up leaving from a different exit. The kitchen had already crossed my mind, since I’d been inside of it and there was an exit door in there.
Vince and I didn’t dillydally. We shuffled past her and down the hall toward the conference room.
“What fun was that?” Vince asked after I pulled him into the empty conference room. “I didn’t even get to flash my badge.”
“You didn’t need to.” I looked around for anything that could have possibly been left behind from the fundraiser, and there wasn’t anything there but a few pieces of confetti in the shape of golf clubs, from the silent auction table.
“What are you doing now? We aren’t here to clean.” Vince didn’t budge from the door.
“I am picking up something just in case someone asks why we are here.” I didn’t have time to explain my brain. I knew we were on borrowed time.
“I don’t think confetti is a good alibi for snooping. Call me old or senile?” He joked about his age. “I’m sticking to the plan to find the caddy who had Jeff’s foursome and see if he overheard anything or saw anything.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, happy to see that Vince had gotten us back on track. I followed him out the door. Both of us looked down each side of the hallway. “You go down that hallway, and I’ll go back down the other one.”
“Sounds good. Text me if you find the employee area for the caddies. Or I’ll text you if I find it,” he said before he went down the hallway.
I, too, was like Grady. Not a big fan of golf and truly never understood anyone’s love of it. So the whole idea of there being a place just for caddies was truly intriguing, and I wondered if they gossiped like the wives of the men they carted around. Or possibly heard women gossiping as they golfed.
I hurried past the restaurant and passed by several doors with office plaques on the outside. One of them was Ranger Slater. I slouched a little more and slightly turned away when I passed by so they wouldn’t see me.
At the end of the hallway, I looked out the window to see where the golf carts were stored, and I could see there was some flurry of activity behind the clubhouse in what appeared to be a barn-style building with golf carts lined up one after the other. A few of the young men were walking around with bags of golf clubs strapped over their shoulders.
I looked up and around for an exit sign and pushed open the door to find stairs that would dump me out on the outside of the building, much closer than leaving from the front door and around.
On my way over to the building, I sent Vince a quick text like he’d suggested, letting him know where I was going.
The first young man I saw didn’t appear to be out of high school, and I was going to take advantage of that.
“Don’t you go to Sugar Creek High School?” I asked the young man. He was polishing a golf club. He set it down next to him and looked up at me.
“Yes, ma’am.” His eyes squinted from underneath the baseball cap with the country club’s logo. He and the others wore similar outfits, no doubt their work uniform.
“You are…” I shook my finger, and when he didn’t bite to tell me, I snapped my finger and acted as though I was really trying to remember his name.
