Chapter 7 – Found
1388 Words
Chapter 7 – Found
Mama Rossi
Late Tuesday Morning, October 14th, 2014
Morelville
I found Dale Walters shop easily enough but I wouldn’t have even noticed it or thought to stop there if Faye hadn’t told me too. His building was a non-descript place covered in dust that came, no doubt, from the dusty, pitted parking area out in front of it. When I got up close to the door, I realized it was stenciled with a circular, ‘Dale’s Curios’. Who knew?
Stepping inside, I felt like I’d entered a different dimension. There were odd and unusual things and old, reclaimed things everywhere. They lined narrow aisles on the floor and they hung from the walls and ceiling. In every inch of space, it seemed, something was on display with only enough room for humans to pass and marvel at it all.
A gentleman about my age appeared from a narrow doorway near the back. “Good morning. Can I help you ma’am?”
“You must be Dale, I take it?”
The man didn’t reply directly, he just tipped his head to the side and half nodded.
“I’m Chloe Rossi. Faye Crane told me I should stop here and take a look around.”
The mention of Faye’s name brought a smile to his face, “Ah Faye, sweetheart Faye. Such a lovely woman. So tell me, are you looking for anything in particular?” He spread his hands wide, taking in the eclectic mix of his shop.
“This is one of those, I’ll know it when I see it type of stops, I guess you could say.”
“Well, you’re in the right place for that! Please, take a look around and, if you need any help, just holler.”
As I wandered around, I came to realize that Dale’s shop had more decorative pieces than furniture pieces but there were the odd few handmade chairs here and there. Much of what Faye had called junk were art pieces that were reasonably priced compared to what I’d have paid in the city for similar things, if I had been interested in them.
When I’d worked my way back to the front, Dale was standing at a counter near the door that I hadn’t even realized was there when I came in. He looked at my empty hands and then my face. A look of what I took to be disappointment flashed across his own face but he plastered on a smile.
“I take it you didn’t find anything to your liking?”
“Oh that’s not it at all.”
“It’s not?”
“I liked several of the art pieces here, especially the ones that seem to be make out of odds and ends but that resemble something completely different than their materials.”
His chest puffed out a little, “I make those myself. I call them the ‘Sum of the Parts Collection’.”
“They’re amazing Dale.”
He grinned wide but then c****d his lips to the side and looked me over at the same time as he pushed the glasses that were sliding down his nose back up. “No one from around here ever buys them. They think they’re too expensive, too weird and that I’m crazy.” He scratched his head and went on, “I am a little crazy but that’s what lets me be creative, you know?”
“Let me tell you, I’m going to come back in here. I’m actually shopping to help decorate a house but I need furniture pieces first and then art and décor. I’ll be back here for things to use for finishing touches, how about that?”
That seemed to please Dale because he beamed broadly. Handing me a postcard sized business card, he said, “I look forward to it. Take that along with you, why don’t you, so you can keep my little piece of heaven in your mind’s eye.”
Fifteen minutes later I entered the entirely different, more organized, more refined world of Sharpe’s Antiques. The place was clean and neat but at the same time arranged to be warm and inviting without the feeling of being engulfed in clutter or in the grime of age.
A woman, somewhat older than me, approached me as soon as I’d crossed the threshold. “Hello dear, I’m Lucy. How may I help you?”
“I’m Chloe Rossi; Faye Crane recommended your shop to me.”
“Oh, I know who you are dear. I was at the reception for Kris and Lance and your Dana and Mel. Lovely party, just lovely.”
“Yes, it was. Faye and the girls did a marvelous job putting it all together. But now,” I let out a tiny sigh, “the work begins. Mel and Dana just moved into their own house and, because Mel was living with Kris and her children, she only took what was specifically hers with her. My Dana has recently left a government position that had her living in hotels most of the time so they need everything.”
“Of course they do! I’m glad you came here first.”
I smiled to myself, at ease that I didn’t have to jump to the defense of daughter and daughter in law.
“First things first though; how about a cup of tea?”
###
Tuesday Afternoon, October 14th, 2014
Near Morelville
“It’s Gates; we’ve found him.” The deputy un-keyed his mike and looked out again at the body of Terry Ford floating, facedown, in the pond before him.
Jesse and Steven both stood surveying the scene too. While Gates made arrangements to retrieve the body, they stood beside Jesse’s truck, parked behind Ford’s own missing pickup, and talked between them.
“Look,” Jesse pointed toward the bank, “there’s his pole right there.” It was lying on the bank, a line out in the water with no bobber or other marker in sight. “Bet it’s tangled out there somewhere.” Steven Ford simply nodded.
Gates asked them, “Is this public or private property?”
“Belongs to Chuck Knox,” Jesse said. “Him and Terry go way back. Terry fishes here all the time. He takes bluegill; helps keep their numbers down for Chuck so they don’t overrun the pond.”
Within 15 minutes, Jesse and Steven were relegated to the confines of the truck while Mel’s Deputies swarmed the scene. They watched as two deputies put on waders and went out in an inflatable raft to retrieve Terry’s body from the middle of the still pond.
Once Terry was retrieved, having no other transportation back to his cruiser, Gates climbed back in the truck with the two men. Steven Ford began to quiz him. “So, what do you think Deputy?”
Gates was diplomatic, “Mr. Ford, I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“I appreciate that but I need to know where we go from here. Who will investigate?”
“The Coroner will see to your brother sir if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I’m asking about a murder investigation deputy. What’s next?”
“There isn’t going to be a murder investigation Mr. Ford.”
“Why the hell not?” Jesse asked, jumping into the fray.
“There were absolutely no signs of foul play out there at all gentlemen; no tracks at all and no other signs that anyone else had been there. His line was snagged out in some reeds. It may have snagged and when he waded in to try and free it, he slipped, and...well, anyway, the Coroner is probably going to rule it an accidental drowning.”
“Bull!” Jesse was angry now. “Do you know anything about fishing Deputy?”
Gates admitted that he didn’t fish.
“Well, we both do,” Jesse turned his head and looked at Steven in the back seat, “and we can tell you that something stinks here.” Steven nodded.
Gates, riding shotgun, looked at Jesse driving and then back at Steven too. “Tell me what you see that we don’t see,” he asked.
Jesse blew out a heavy breath, “Look Deputy, someone’s been here; had to be. The ground’s just too dry and firm right now for you to tell it but we know it.” He tossed his head toward Steven Ford in the back.”
The older Ford brother spoke up, “You can’t fish without bait or tackle Deputy Gates. If he was fishing, where’d it go?”
“Yeah, and Terry wouldn’t have gone in the water without putting on his waders. He sure wasn’t wearing them and I didn’t see them in the bed of his truck,” Jesse added. “If the line was snagged, he would of just cut it.” He glanced in the rearview mirror at Terry’s brother for confirmation.
Steven Ford leaned forward between the two front seats, “His waders are probably still sitting by the door where he had them packed up for the trip we were supposed to leave for yesterday morning.”
“His boots are probably there too, ain’t they Steven?”
Terry’s brother nodded.
Jesse continued, “Terry didn’t have boots or waders. He was in his work clothes. He didn’t even have his favorite fishing hat. All of that strikes me wrong.”
###
“Chloe? It’s Faye Crane. Listen, they found Terry. Jesse and I, we’re both home now. When I went by the girls’ house, I saw you out directing Lucy Sharpe’s delivery guys. I’m just dying to know what you bought. Why don’t you come on out to the farm for a nice dinner and a night out of that empty old house? Call me back as soon as you get this message.”
- Writer
