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

as a lookout person. Carolyn and Gwen were standing by outside, though it looked like they were waiting to go into the ladies’ room. After Duffy was covered in plastic, Whirley shot Duffy twice with a .22 caliber muzzled revolver he had brought with him—once for him and once for his sister, Mildred Lloyd, better known as Ms. Lacecap. Holt Junior then took the revolver and shot Duffy three times—once for him, once for Sybil, and once for Diantha. He then quickly leaves the room. Holt Junior and Joe become lookouts as Gwen quickly enters, shoots Duffy once, and quickly leaves. Then Carolyn enters, shooting Duffy once, and quickly leaves. Gwen and Carolyn walk back to the bus. Whirley quickly leaves the maintenance room with the gun, locking the door behind him while Holt Junior and Jim are standing around as lookouts. Whirley walks away into the parking lot, but not before he is seen. This is where the snafu in a well-organized clever plan occurs. Holt Junior and Joe walk back to the bus. I would venture to say all this took less than five minutes. That’s why no one saw or heard anything suspicious.”

“So what was the snafu?”

“It was Marjorie Brown and Rebbie Shields. They saw Whirley, though they thought he was coming from the men’s room. They had worked for Ms. Lacecap and were ex-prostitutes. So they knew well the handsome six feet seven inches tall, slender Whirley Lloyd that walked with a pronounced limp. Even in that awful weather, they recognized him.”

“That must have been a shock to somebody.”

“Oh, it was. On the bus on the way home, Marjorie approached Carolyn and probably said something to the effect of ‘Whirley, that son of a gun. What’s he doing now? Rebbie and I saw him outside.’ The person that heard this exchange thought Marjorie said, ‘Where is the gun now?’ Marjorie has a deep Southern playful accent, so I can understand the confusion.”

“So it stands to reason that Carolyn, Gwen, Marjorie, and Rebbie all knew each other?”

“Yeah, they did. I imagine it was a huge shock for Sybil, Carolyn, Gwen, Holt Junior, Joe, and Whirley to find out that there were two passengers on the trip that knew who Carolyn and Gwen were. What are the odds? I imagine the six of them had a quick conference call regarding the unperceivable snafu in their well-thought-out and clever plan, then decided to proceed with it anyway. After the murder has taken place, at the rest area, the same two passengers see Whirley. How likely is that to happen, but it did.”

“Wow. I can’t even imagine planning a murder to that extent only to have two passengers possibly foil the whole thing. Did you ever get in contact with Marjorie and Rebbie?”

“That’s another story. They couldn’t contact me. They were being held captive. The Envyton County Sheriffs are currently rescuing them as we speak. So, I’ll know their story soon. I believe Holt Junior and Whirley kidnapped them to keep them quiet and locked them up somewhere on the Pruitt farm until they could figure out what to do with them.”

“Why did they decide to commit murder now?”

“I can only surmise that Holt Junior seeing Duffy on different Brightness bus trips laughing and enjoying himself while his daughter lay rotting in a grave for almost ten years infuriated him to no end. It wouldn’t have taken much for him to convince the Lloyd family that it was time for them to be the jury and executioner. The Lloyd family knew Holt Junior was Diantha’s father; Duffy never knew this. They were so stuck on Duffy being the murder of Diantha and involved in the murder of Ms. Lacecap that it ate at them and shrouded their judgment. I guess since the tenth anniversary of Diantha’s murder was approaching and the police had not arrested Duffy, they devised an elaborate plan to murder him. They just couldn’t take the strain of the loss of their loved ones. Their loved ones were dead, and the man they believed murdered them was enjoying life, and he even had the audacity to remarry, as they probably saw the whole matter.”

“So sad.”

“Yes, it is. Duffy didn’t murder Diantha. The man who claimed to be his friend did. How sad is that?”

“This is awful. Thank you, Vett, for getting answers for me.”

“You have what you need to begin spinning a story to protect your company. I will give my information to the state police tomorrow before 5:00 pm. So you are not to mention any of this until 5:00 pm tomorrow. Agreed?”

Jackson didn’t say anything for fifteen seconds.

“I agree. And Vett, I won’t be spinning anything. It will be the truth.”

“We’ll see. Please honor your promise to keep this information to yourself until 5:00 pm tomorrow. Can I trust you to do this, Jackson?”

“Yes, Vett. You have my word. You can go ahead and send your final invoice to me.”

“There is no final invoice. The retainer you gave me takes care of everything.”

“I am sorry we are ending our arrangement on such a sour note. I hear in your voice your disappointment in me. Is there anything I can do to make this right?”

“I don’t think so, Jackson. I hope my work meets your expectation.”

“Yes, it does.”

“Then this ends our arrangement. Thank you for the opportunity. Goodbye, Jackson.”

“Goodbye, Vett.”

I hung up the phone and let out a big sigh of relief. I trust Jackson to keep the information to himself as he said he would. I didn’t tell him that I believe Gwen committed suicide because, with Marjorie and Rebbie’s kidnapping, the plan had gotten out of hand. She was probably the weakest link in their plan. And she couldn’t cope with the idea of going to prison. Jackson could figure that out for himself. All I needed now to relax fully was Detective Rivers’s phone call letting me with know that Marjorie and Rebbie are okay.

My stomach growled as I got up from my