Sequestered with the Murderers by Dr. Tanner (books for 8th graders TXT) 📕

a book show,” Gam said as we sat in rockers on one side of Kay.

“We had a lovely day, too. We took a guided tour of the city,” Kay said.

“This is a fascinating city,” Mercy said.

“We took the tour, too, our first year. I do recommend it,” I said.

“That’s a beautiful blouse you have on, Vett,” Kay said.

“Thank you. It’s a birthday gift from Gam. Today is my birthday.”

“Happy Birthday,” Kay and Mercy chimed together.

“Thank you, thank you,” I said.

“Gam, do you play golf?” Mercy asked.

“I do. I love it. My clubs are in the car,” Gam replied.

“Haiden has five tickets left that she is trying to give way for an 11:00 am tee time tomorrow. I’m going, and we need one more person to make a group of four. Kay and I don’t check out until 4:00 pm tomorrow, so this should be plenty of time to play eighteen holes,” Mercy said.

“That is a good time to play. I’m afraid I can’t. Vett has our agenda all planned out,” Gam said.

“Gam, our agenda is fluid. It can be changed. If you want to play golf, I’m okay with it. You brought your clubs with us in case an opportunity presented itself,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Gam asked.

“Of course, I am. Go talk to Haiden,” I said.

“Okay, if you insist,” Gam said, kissing me on the cheek as he rose out of the rocker.

“I’ll go with you,” Mercy said.

As soon as they were out of hearing distance, Kay said, “That was smooth. You have another plan for yourself, don’t you?”

“You don’t miss a thing, do you?” I said, smiling at her.

“Knowing a good mystery when I see one is who I am. Now spill,” Kay replied, with a great big grin on her face.

“I want to work on my case tomorrow, but I promised Gam I would put it aside for the three days we are here. The information you and Mercy provided last night is rolling around in my head, and I need to make sense out of it. I need time alone to do this.”

“I thought I recognized you from somewhere last night. Now I do know from where. You’re that lady investigator from Danville that’s been solving cases the police couldn’t.”

“I am.”

“You’ve don’t good work. Why do people come to you for help?”

“It’s all God’s doing. He sends the people to me. I don’t advertise, nor do I need to.”

“I am so impressed with you. So, tell me, you really don’t have any idea who murdered Duffy?”

“I absolutely do not.”

“Why do you think his murder is connected to the Lacecap Hydrangea Murders?”

I didn’t want to explain my revelations to her. So I said, “Because Sybil and her family believe Duffy was involved in the murder of Diantha. It’s been ten years, and they haven’t received satisfaction. There may be a motive somewhere in their way of thinking. I don’t have another motive at this time.”

“Perhaps, I do,” Kay said slyly.

“What!”

“I’ve got another motive for you. No perhaps about it, I do,” Kay said while moving her rocker close to mine.

“What is it?”

“Cover-up.”

“What do you mean?”

“Holt Pruitt, Sr. has been on my mind since last night. Back in the mid-sixties, he and his son, Junior—this is what Holt Pruitt, Jr. was called—was involved in some type of cover-up involving Ms. Lacecap. Rumor is Junior raped a young girl getting her pregnant. Ms. Lacecap took in the girl or was paid by Holt Sr. to take her in, and after she had the baby, she became one of Ms. Lacecap’s prostitutes.”

“What happened to the baby?”

“No one knows, or at least the rumor mill doesn’t know.”

“Are we talking about the same Holt Junior? I’ve met Holt Pruitt, Jr. He couldn’t have been no more than fifteen or sixteen in the mid-sixties.”

“There’s only one Holt Junior in Envyton County that I know of. He’s a veterinarian and owns a pet hospital on Main Street.”

“That’s him,” I said.

“Holt Sr. was not going to let his son go to jail for rape. He had high hopes for Junior. I don’t know where the rape occurred. Some people say they were on a date when the rape occurred. Others say it was at the high school dance. Either way, Holt Sr. cleaned up the matter swiftly.”

“This sounds so out of character for the Holt Junior I met.”

“Today maybe, but not for a fifteen or sixteen-year-old male, testosterone raging all over the place.”

“I don’t know, Kay. This seems farfetched.”

“Think about it. As long as Ms. Lacecap helped Holt Sr. with the girl and kept her out of the public eye, he used his influence with the board of supervisors to keep her prostitution house in business. Now suppose someone found out about the cover-up. Let’s say Diantha found out and was going to spill the beans. What do you think the Holts would do?”

“Kay, this is just your theory. I don’t know the Holts as well as you do.”

“It’s not about knowing them. It’s about protecting a family, a family who is an upstanding pillar of the community.”

“I concede, I see your point. I’ll think on it.”

“It’s a good theory. I can see the Pruitts committing murder to protect their reputation.”

“I understand, but Duffy does not tie into this,” I clarified.

“What if he knew, too, and now, after all these years, was going to blackmail the Pruitts.”

“Okay, Baby. It is all set-up,” Gam said as he walked back onto the porch, Mercy following behind him.

“We have our group of four. Tee time is at 11:00 am tomorrow,” Mercy said.

“Dinner is about to be served. Let’s go. We asked Haiden to put us at the same table again. Everybody ready?” Gam asked while excitingly rubbing his hands together.

I swear the man could eat twenty-four hours a day and still be hungry, yet he never gains weight. Life was so unfair.

Haiden sat the four of us at a different table than where we were last night. The table was beautifully decorated with the lodging’s signature red roses