Chapter54 The Corpse Factor

"Well, I reckon this'll throw a monkey wrench into the works." Sheriff Faulkner stands over Delilah's corpse. "Somebody sure as hell has a heap of shit to explain." "So, what now, Lloyd?" The deputy's crouched down next to the lifeless body. "I myself think it's time to pay a visit to a Steinman." "Think Senator Jackie's up at this hour of the morning?" "Probably not; but, I wasn't thinking about our illustrious Senator." The deputy explains, "Face it, Lloyd; Jack Steinman's a politician…plain and simple. He wouldn't give us the time of day; let alone let us question him about this. And, even if he did; we wouldn't get an honest answer anyway; it's not in him." "So, then who are you suggesting we talk to, Mike?" "I was thinking of his brother…‘Doc' Bobby Steinman…at the Rolling Meadows Sanitarium. After all, Delores was supposedly transferred there a few weeks ago into his charge." "You know something, Deputy; I do believe you just may be onto something." "Why thank you, Sheriff; so kind of you to notice. Now, if we can get away from this schmoozing crap; we've got another problem here." "And, what's that?" "Didn't Beth tell you that Mary said there was a deputy involved with Delilah's murder?" "Shoot; with everything going on, I plum reckon I forgot about that. We've got ourselves a sneaky, little weasel in the ol' chicken coop; don't we?" "Yeah; I guess you could say that, Lloyd. By the way, in the future, you think we could limit the use of barnyard references?" The sheriff laughs, "Sure thing, Mike." He notices Cindy and Professor Rhyies come down the cellar steps. "So; how them folks holding up?" "Pretty good, Sheriff;" the professor answers, "considering what they've been through this evening." Cindy adds, "Yeah; it looks like Chelsea wasn't the only one making the rounds tonight." "What do you mean, Ms. Cindy?" "Well; evidently Mary stopped by Anna's room tonight." "Is Ms. Annabeth alright?" "She's fine, Sheriff; just a little shaken up." "Understandably so. I'm glad to hear she's okay otherwise." "And, how are you holding up there, Kiddo?" The deputy walks over and puts him arm around his niece's shoulder. "I'm fine." She looks down at Delilah's body, "So…are you guys going to call someone to pick up the body, or what?" "As a matter of fact; Lloyd and I were just discussing the dynamics of weasels and chicken coops before the two of you came down." The professor has a puzzled look on his face as he removes his glasses to clean. "Pardon me, Deputy; did you just say weasels and chicken coops?" The deputy chuckles, "Sorry, Professor; didn't mean to confuse you…I was just having some fun with Lloyd. Seriously though; we've got ourselves a situation here. According to what Mary told Beth, there's a good possibility that at least one of our guys may be involved in Delilah's murder." "I can see where that can be a problem." The professor continues wiping his lenses. The Sheriff adds, "Yup; and, we don't know yet how many side-winding rattlesnakes there are mixed up in this mess." The deputy looks at the sheriff, "Lloyd…side-winding rattlesnakes? Didn't I just ask you…" The sheriff cuts off the deputy, "Now, a rattlesnake isn't a barnyard reference. Ain't that right; Professor?" Once again confused, the professor blindly agrees with the sheriff, "He's correct, Deputy; rattlesnakes wouldn't be considered indigenous to your typical, everyday-type barnyard." The deputy looks at the professor and laughs, "Whatever." "Anyway;" the sheriff goes on, "right now, we kinda got an advantage." Cindy asks, "What advantage?" "Right now, Ms. Cindy; whoever's involved with Delilah's murder thinks we have no way of proving the body found in the car wreck is Delores' body. They don't know that we have Delilah's body, and could prove there's some sort of conspiracy going on here." Cindy scratches her head and wonders, "So…what are you going to do with the body? You're not planning on keeping it here…are you?" "Of course not, Ms. Cindy. Your uncle and I just need a little more time to come up with a plan." "If I may make a suggestion, Sheriff?" Professor Rhyies finally places his glasses back on, "Perhaps I can help…at least where the body's concerned. I'm having lunch with a colleague of mine who's come across some information on the institute that used to be here. If one of you gentleman will take me to the university; maybe we could bring her body to the university's forensic department and conduct an autopsy there?" "Professor, that there's a heck of a dandy idea. What do you say, Mike; you want to take the Professor back to the university, while I go see Dr. Steinman?" "Sure, Lloyd." He sarcastically asks the sheriff, "What's the matter, Lloyd; don't you think I could behave myself when questioning ‘Doc Booby'?" "Do you really want me to answer that, Mike?" He smiles at the deputy. "Well that depends;" the deputy smiles back, "what kind of animal reference do you have in mind for me?" "Anyway…so, where are we at now, Ms. Cindy?" "What do you mean, Sheriff?" "With these spirits…who all's left? I'm about ready to go out and get me a scorecard just to keep up with them." "Lloyd's right, Kiddo;" the deputy concurs, "first we find out Mary's not Mary; because the real Mary Howell's still alive. Then, we figured it was Charles; but, that obituary claims Charles Steinman died when he was three from pneumonia. We still haven't come across one shred of evidence proving that Tommy Steinman ever existed. And now, Chelsea Steinman…for lack of a better word…is dead, and out of the picture." "Gone for now." Cindy replies. "Gone for now what, Ms. Cindy?" The sheriff's confused. "Chelsea…she may be gone for now…but, I don't think we've heard the last from her. She was so determined to find Tommy for some reason." "And, what about Tommy, Ms. Cindy; do you believe he existed?" "Yes, I do; but, I have no idea if anything we were told about him was true or not." "And, Charles?" The deputy wonders. "Again; I don't know. The obituary seems genuine enough; but, who's to say the truth behind it is?" "Hold on there, Ms. Cindy. So, what you're saying's that Chelsea may be back; Tommy existed somehow; and, Charles may, or may not have, died at three?" "Pretty much." "Alrighty then, Ms. Cindy; let's suppose…hypothetically speaking of course…that Charles and Chelsea are done though. Then, that leaves us Tommy and the killer; right?" "I suppose." "Well, now; let's say what we heard about Tommy was true…and, he was killed at the age of four…before the killings started. And, let's also go with the notion that the killer's pretending to be Mary." "Okay." "Then who the hell in the tar nations was the killer? And, what does he want from these here folks?"