Murder on the Mainline: another Mike Claymore Mystery Chapters 7 & 8

CHAPTER SEVEN
2ND SUNDAY

“Daddy, daddy. Wake up” Mike feels a weight on his chest and sleepily tries to get an exuberant daughter to ease up her jumping on his torso.

“I’m awake, Jan. What’s all this excitement about?”

“Come on for breakfast.”

“Did your mother send you up here to get me up?”

“Mommy says breakfast is ready. Come on.”

“Tell your mother I’m coming right down. Okay?”

“I’ll tell her.”

Janet dashes out of the room and Mike looks at the clock. He groans. It’s only eight thirty and it’s Sunday morning. What ever happened to sleeping in on the weekends, he wonders. He gets a hot shower and feels better. He dons a robe and joins the family in the kitchen.

Marlene is feeding the kids and getting them around for Sunday School. “It’s nice of you to join us for breakfast one day of the week, dear.” She sounds sarcastic but smiles as he kisses her then pats her rump on the way to the table.

After breakfast Marlene gets the children around and by ten she loads them into the station wagon and leaves. Mike comes upstairs from his office to get coffee and notices Jeff working in his yard. He takes his coffee and wanders over.

“Morning neighbor.” He greets Jeff.

“Hi Mike. Hang on, I’ll get a cup and join you.”

He goes into the house and soon reappears with coffee. They sit on the porch steps talking.

“Marlene take the children to church?”

“Yeah. Don’t know why they had to wake me up to do it.”

“She snarly this morning?”

“No, just edgy. My work takes me a long way from home a lot and she gets jealous, I guess.”

“Uh, I’ve heard her tirade about you sleeping with half the waitresses at every truck stop.”

Mike grins and says, “I guess you have!”

“You’re taking this awfully calmly… or are you boiling inside? Do you want to take a poke at me?”

Mike grins again. “I prefer my way of getting even. How is she this morning?”

A dark look comes over Jeff’s face but he controls his emotions and says, “She’s not too friendly with me right now.”

Mike chuckles.

“You can laugh. You don’t have to live with her. Don’t get me wrong, I love that girl, but she can put a man through hell when she wants to. Right now I’m in the pot and she’s keeping the fire burning under me.”

Nina steps out on the porch in her robe and says with a big smile, “Good morning, Mike.” She steps by Jeff and kisses him then turns to Jeff and says, “I thought you were working out here? Go ahead, I can keep Mike company for a while.”

Mike stands and says, “Don’t get me in the middle. I got enough troubles of my own. I was just leaving anyway.”

Nina pouts and goes back into the house.

He looks at Jeff and says, “I see what you mean. Have fun. You know you brought this on yourself. Why did you ever start that affair with Marlene?”

“I don’t know. It was a day last fall, a Friday. I was raking leaves, for some reason I was home all day. Anyway she wandered over here with a cup of coffee, just like you did this morning, and we chatted about how we never seemed to chum around together any more. She mentioned you were always away on the road and we went into the house to get her a refill and me a cup. Somehow we ended up in bed. I felt really guilty about it for a week or so, but she called me at the office and said she was lonely. I came to her and it became a habit. She’s quite a woman, you know. I guess you know.”

“Nina’s quite a woman, too. She proves the old adage, that good things come in small packages.”

“I know she is but beside her Marlene is like an Amazon. She’s tough and always challenging. Nina is gentle and loving. It has been fun, I guess that’s the word, maybe interesting would be a better way to describe the last month’s.”

“Do you plan to continue? After all, I’ll be on the road again Tuesday. Nina will be working. What’s to stop you if she calls?”

He looks Mike in the eyes and says, “Honestly, I don’t know. With Nina giving me hell at home it will be a strong temptation. Are you planning to start something with Nina?”

“I might. I’ve always liked her and one taste has set me on fire, I’ll admit it. With me too, I’m tempted because of the rough time I’m getting at home.”

“You must have dozens of women just waiting for you on the road. Why Nina?”

“Don’t believe that rumor that truck drivers have women waiting for them all over the country. I haven’t found them yet. Besides, we’re too busy trying to make a buck and keep the boss happy.”

Just then a Matsqui Police cruiser pulls up into Mike’s drive. He says to Jeff, “I’ll be right back. I have to get something for Ken. Do you know Ken Dryden?”

“I don’t think so.”

Mike goes over and greets Ken. They go in the side door together and Mike leaves him in the kitchen while he gets the packaged jack knife he had found in the gravel pit from his office. He brings it back to Ken.

“I hope they can lift some prints off this. If they can prove one of your arsonists was on the scene where the car was burned, it’ll help your case. Good luck with this one.”

“Thanks, Mike. This might work. I’ll let you know.”

They walk back out to the cruiser together. Then Ken leaves and Mike walks back over to Jeff’s.

“Some insurance fraud business. We’re trying to catch them, not do it ourselves.” He grins and Jeff breaks out laughing.

Mike studies the other man for a moment then says, “I been thinking. Why don’t we make the women happy and swap wives tonight. You could come over after the kids have gone to bed. I could then go to your place. If we set the alarms for about five AM, the kids won’t ever know and the neighbors won’t be up yet when we both go home. We won’t get much sleep but the women should be easier to live with. Am I crazy? What do you think?”

“That might not be a bad idea. Let’s see what Nina thinks. I’ll get her.”

“Hold on. Why don’t we surprise them? We could set up a signal to indicate when everyone has gone to bed then get up to supposedly go to the bathroom, rush over to the other house and go back to bed. They won’t even know until the fun begins. Now, how can we signal each other.”

“The porch lights. We’ll turn them off just as we’re going to bed so when the lights are both off we can change any time. I can see your light from our bedroom. If we both strive to go to bed about the same time, it should work.”

“What time do you and Nina normally go to bed?”

“Oh, around eleven.”

“Yeah, I guess Marlene goes to bed around twelve. I’m not sure because I often work late in the office or I’m not home when she goes to bed. I could try to get her to bed by eleven but she may decide to stay up reading till midnight.”

“Hmmmm, I could try to get Nina to stay up till eleven thirty or so then watch for your light to go out. After you turn your light out I will give you twenty minutes then I’ll come over and meet you at your side door. How’s that?”

“Do you know your way to our bedroom in the dark?”

“Oh yes.”

“Of course you do. Marlene sleeps on the right hand side of the bed when you’re standing at the foot of it. How about Nina?”

“She sleeps on the same side. She may be asleep when you get here. Will you wake her?”

“Won’t know that until I get here, will I?”

“I really don’t want to know what you two will be doing. Are we doing something idiotic? What if Nina calls the cops? Shit, she works with them. Maybe it’s not such a hot idea. Do you want to call it off? Maybe we should discuss it with her first.”

“Do you think Marlene will call the cops?”

“Of course not. She’ll be delighted. Oops, sorry.”

“You let me worry about how Nina will react. It’ll be all right. You’ll see. There’s Marlene now. I’ll see you later.”

Mike goes over to where Marlene is getting out of the car. She says, “I see you talking to Jeff. You guys aren’t fighting, are you?”

“No dear, just chatting about work. Want me to pick the kids up after Sunday School?”

“Can if you want.” She goes into the house and Mike follows her. She busies herself putting together food for lunch. Mike goes to his office and pulls out the list of suspects in the murder case. He studies it and tentatively crosses Robert Hanson’s name off. He calls Trudy with his cell phone.

“Feel like doing some leg work for me today?”

“I can think of other parts of my anatomy I would rather work for you today. What you got?”

“I need addresses on these suspects and any additional information you can dig up. Got a pen?”

“Hang on. Okay, go ahead.”

“Ron Harrison, POCO Realtor, married. Got it?”

“Yep, who else?”

“Jay Scanlon, POCO cab driver, single. Okay? And Anton Vanuetche, may be under Tony Vanuetche, CPX truck driver, single. Lives in either POCO or Port Moody. Can you get away on Tuesday? I’ve got a run and it will probably be a two dayer. Calgary for a start.”

“It may take some doing but I’ll get away. Len going with us?”

“I imagine so.”

“Okay.