Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY
6TH SATURDAY

Mike gets up early before anyone is out of bed and throws his briefcase into the car. He drives towards Chilliwack and calls Trudy as he’s driving down Young Road.

“Good morning, beautiful. It’s Mike.”

Carol says, “Good morning, Mike. I’ll get Trudy.” She giggles as she leaves the phone.

“Mike, are you hitting on Cookie so early in the morning?”

“Sorry honey, I thought it was you. Your up, are you?”

“I am now. What you looking for?”

“You, of course. Come on back to bed.” Mike walks around the house and opens the sliding glass doors to the bedroom.

“Mike, where are you? Are you here?”

“Come and see.”

She pushes open the bedroom door and rushes into his arms. Later Cookie gives her the devil for not hanging up the phone but at least it didn’t ring to disturb them. Over breakfast Mike explains that he thinks it’s time to get back on the murder case. Trudy and he plan a strategy. It’s important to find out what the police have been doing, so Mike starts by calling Nina.

“Mike, where are you?”

“How are you this morning? How is Jeff taking the situation?”

“He’s out of sorts, but he’s coming around. It’s hard to tell when he’s so hung over.” She giggles.

“Can you bring me up to date on what’s happening in the murder investigation of Flo Hanson?”

“Oh, they’ve worked on two other murders since then. I recall some mention of trying to get the physical evidence reintroduced into the August trial. I think that’s about all at this time. Are you working on it again?”

“Yeah. I’m trying to find a starting point. The trail is getting cold and it’s going to be hard to put it all together. Thanks for your help. Good morning.”

“Wait, Mike? Are you still there?”

“Yes.”

She whispers, “Can we meet at the restaurant for coffee.”

“Not right away. I’m in Chilliwack.”

“Oh. You’re with Trudy. Is she right there beside you?”

“Yes.”

She whispers, “I thought we might sneak away somewhere. I could use some TLC this morning.”

“I’m afraid it’s too late.”

“You mean she and you have been … I get it.” She giggles, “I guess she’s the one who got it. Damn! We’ll have to wait until Monday at noon. Don’t you forget!”

“I won’t. You have a good day now. Bye.”

He gets off the phone and Trudy says, “She was trying to entice you over, wasn’t she? I could tell you were awfully guarded in what you said. Don’t try to hide anything from me, Michael Claymore.”

“Trudy, you have a suspicious mind.”

“But, I’m right, ain’t I?”

“Yep, your right.”

“What about the RCMP murder investigation?”

“Seems to be shelved for now. There are some efforts to have the coveralls and boots re-admitted to the trial. Otherwise they are busy with other cases.

“Where do we start then?”

“Flo is dead. She was killed for a reason. Either her ex committed the crime in a drunken rage or she was killed to prevent her doing something. What was she going to do? It wasn’t anything with the other hookers that would affect Scanlon’s operations. He’s definitely been cleared of the crime. Rita Harrison could have did it or had it done in a jealous rage. Tony could have done it if he had a reason. Ron Harrison has something to hide besides his penchant for other women. The connection between Tony and the Harrison’s is, I suspect, something to do with drugs. Are you with me?”

“All the way. I think your right there. Drugs are definitely involved and I think they’re involved in Flo’s death as well. I feel the connection. I can’t explain it.”

“You’re usually right. Hmmmm.”

“I’m always right!”

“Right. So what was Flo’s view on drugs? As far as we know, she was strictly against them. Funny she should choose to associate with the Harrison’s or Tony.”

“With the former it was business, even the extra attention to Ron. I imagine he paid her well. She may not have known about Tony’s involvement in the drug trade. She does seem to have spent a lot of time with him, although he doesn’t admit it. I wonder how deep he’s involved in drugs? Can we find that out?”

“Any week day we could go through his house while he’s working. Or we could camp out this evening and observe activities around his house. Maybe catch one of his customers and put pressure on him.”

“Why don’t we do that? We could visit with Marie this afternoon and find out her plans when she’s released from the hospital next week then go over to Tony’s this evening. Monday we can go through his house and maybe visit Rita Harrison. How’s that?”

“Okay, let’s do it. So, what do we do with the rest of the morning?”

“It’s either tennis or me. Your choice.”

After lunch they drive to New Westminster. As they go up in the elevator at the hospital Trudy says, “I guess there will be quite a change in her appearance. I haven’t seen her since we were here over two weeks ago. Has she changed a lot?”

“A lot of the head bandaging was removed last week. There was still a lot of discoloration on Thursday. I expect a lot of that has faded by now. You’ll see.”

They go to the third floor and find Marie in the general ward. She greets Mike with a smile and a wave. Mike smiles back and is surprised how much her natural healthy color has returned to her face. He turns to Trudy who appears a bit shocked and is trying to hide it. Before they cross the room, Trudy whispers, “Her hair. There’s only a fuzz on one side.”

“Of course. It was all shaved off that side for the operation on her skull.” They come up to her bedside. “What are you doing in bed? I thought you’d be up and watching TV or out playing handball?” He grins.

“It won’t be long. I’m really looking forward to going home next week.