Murder at Camp (Pineville Gazette Mystery Book 5) Page 3

  Tom shot Dylan another strange look. “Well, Jennifer and I must be going,” he announced. “It’s quite a drive back to town and we have a dinner engagement tonight.”

  “Oh...well, thank you two for driving up here with Dylan. I was certainly surprised to see you arrive.” Stephanie smiled. “Having you here with me today...the first day I can step foot on my own land...is very special.”

  “Of course it is,” Tom told Stephanie in a voice that didn’t sound very warm to Mary’s ears. “Jennifer, shall we?” Jennifer took Tom’s hand. “Dylan, will you be kind enough to walk us back to our car, please?”

  “I won’t be long,” Dylan promised Stephanie. He kissed her cheek and walked away with Tom and Jennifer. Jennifer didn’t say goodbye to anyone. In fact, she walked away as if upset and very bothered.

  “Well,” Stephanie said and rubbed her hands together, “why don’t you girls sit down, and I’ll pour you some lemonade, huh?”

  Mary kept her eyes on Dylan, Tom, and Jennifer. When the trio vanished out of sight, Mary looked into Stephanie’s excited face. “Stephanie, forgive me, but you don’t seem like the type of woman who would marry a businessman.”

  “Yeah,” Betty said, “I thought you would end up marrying a rough cowboy.”

  Stephanie smiled. “I have to admit that Dylan is a little...stuffy. But the truth is opposites do attract.” Stephanie motioned at the lake. “I need the land. Dylan needs an office. I need fresh air. Dylan needs to smell ink. I need an open sky. Dylan needs a roof.” Stephanie kept her eyes on the lake. “I love the land,” she continued. “Dylan and I have agreed that during the spring and summer months I can spend my time here and during the autumn and winter months my time is to be spent in town with him.”

  Mary gave Betty a strange look. Betty shrugged her shoulders. “Forgive me for saying this, Stephanie, but aren’t a husband and wife supposed to live together year round?”

  Stephanie looked at Mary. “Mary, I’ve been searching for love all of my life. Dylan is the first man to ever ask me to become his wife and even compromise with me. A gal can’t ask for more than that, can she?”

  Mary searched her cousin’s eyes and saw a deep sadness that the woman never showed the world. “I guess not,” she said and forced a smile to her face. “I will say you have certainly become more beautiful through the years and shouldn’t have to settle for a love that isn’t complete.”

  Stephanie blushed. “If I’m so beautiful why hasn’t a single man other than Dylan asked for my hand in marriage? I’ll tell you why.” Stephanie motioned at the lake again. “My heart belongs here, Mary, not in a house. Most men can’t understand that.”

  “I can see that,” Mary assured her cousin.

  Stephanie shoved her hands down into the front pockets attached to her dress. “I suppose I could become a housewife...but I would be one miserable gal,” she continued. “A few years ago, I was being courted by a very wealthy banker who thought my hunger for adventure was fun. But then he grew tired of the campfire smoke, the bugs, sleeping on the ground, and went back to his fancy house. I suppose if he would have asked me to marry him, I might have...I’m sure glad that man went away empty-handed.”

  Mary walked over to Stephanie and put an arm around her shoulder. “You deserve more than less,” she promised. “Are you sure Dylan is more?”

  “Yeah,” Betty said in a serious voice. “Please don’t hate me for saying this to you, Stephanie, but that man gave me the creeps.”

  Stephanie sighed. “A gal can’t be picky,” she explained. “Dylan helped me get my camp...and he’s willing to love me. A gal can’t ask for more than that, can she?”

  Mary squeezed Stephanie’s shoulder. “Love has a way of finding the heart,” she promised, clearly seeing that Stephanie’s heart didn’t belong to Dylan.

  “When?” Stephanie asked. “Mary, I’m growing older by the day. I don’t have forever to stand around and wait for love and—” Stephanie caught herself. “What am I doing? Look at me, standing around like a stump when two of my closest and dearest friends are right here with me.” Stephanie beamed. “Listen, girls, I put some food in the chow hall. Why don’t we go get your luggage, get you settled in, and then we’ll go cook us some of the best campfire hamburgers you’ve ever tasted in your life!”

  Betty raised her hand. “Uh...may I potty first?” she begged.

  Stephanie laughed. “Back down the trail...follow the smell to the outhouses.”

  Betty grimaced. “Follow the smell...oh boy.”

  “We’ll be right behind you,” Mary promised Betty.

  “I’m sure you will,” Betty moaned. She studied the beautiful lake and then painfully turned and walked away.

  Mary smiled at Stephanie and began walking after Betty. “Your daddy had adventure in his blood,” she said. “Uncle Howard couldn’t sit still for a minute.”

  “Europe, Asia, South America, Canada...you name it, he’s been there.” Stephanie smiled. “What can you expect from an old archaeologist?”

  “Adventure,” Mary said. “Let’s not forget that your momma was the same way.”

  Stephanie nodded. “My momma was worse than my daddy at times. I’m just glad that they’re both settled down in Portland.”

  “Do you see your parents often?” Mary asked, watching Betty work her way around a fallen tree that blocked the trail.

  “Oh, once every month I drive down to Portland to visit them,” Stephanie explained. “Daddy is happy that I bought my camp, but Momma is still upset that I decided to live here instead of in Portland.” Stephanie looked at Mary. “Momma wants grandchildren. I suppose I can’t blame her.”

  “I suppose not,” Mary agreed and began working her way around the fallen tree. “But Aunt May should be very proud of what you’re going to accomplish. You’re doing a very wonderful service for children who need love and care.”

  “At the cost of my every dime I own,” Stephanie pointed at. “Daddy offered to help me buy my camp, but I refused. I used the money I earned as an archaeologist to buy my camp.” Stephanie grinned. “I must be the world’s youngest archaeologist to retire.”

  “Why did you retire?” Mary asked in a curious voice as she waited for Stephanie get past the fallen tree. “I thought you were very happy. At least that’s what I gathered from your letters.”

  Stephanie shrugged. “The university that hired me paid well...but never allowed me to do real work. I was never assigned meaningful expeditions and was always at battle with the mainstream teachings.” Stephanie pointed at Betty, who was waiting. “We’re coming, Betty.”

  Mary waved at Betty. “How did you end up in this part of Oregon?” she asked Stephanie.

  Stephanie started walking up the trail. “Chance, really,” she explained. “This camp isn’t located too far from an old volcano. I’m not interested in volcanoes, but I did some research and found out that a Native American tribe lived close to the volcano and I decided to have a little adventure, do some digging, and see what I could find.” Stephanie blushed. “I took a wrong turn and ended up on the camp road. And that’s how I found my camp.”

  “Why did you decide to buy it?”

  “My camp reminded me of better years, Mary,” Stephanie confessed. She pointed around with her right hand. “I spent an entire week alone at this camp before Mr. Shelton showed up and ran me off. During that week I thought a lot about my life and where I was going...what I wanted and—” Stephanie stopped talking when she spotted Dylan appear on the trail. Dylan rushed past Betty in haste. “Dylan, what’s the matter?” Stephanie asked in an alarmed voice.

  “Jennifer...she’s...dead,” Dylan gasped, fighting for air. “She collapsed on the trail. Tom is with her...we need to get the sheriff.”

  Mary stared into Dylan’s panicked face and then ran to Betty, grabbed her best friend’s hand, and waited for the nightmare to begin.

  Mary spotted Tom standing over a silent body that appeared to be sleeping in the middle of the t
rail. Tom raised his head, looked at the four people approaching him, and then focused his eyes back down on his wife. “She just collapsed,” he said in a shaky voice.

  Stephanie brushed past Mary and ran to Jennifer. She dropped down onto her knees and began checking the woman for any signs of life. “She’s not breathing...can’t find a pulse...” Stephanie said in a panicked voice.

  Tom backed up to Dylan, folded his arms, and waited. Dylan, looking worried for his uncle, put his arm around Tom’s shoulder. “Jennifer was a healthy woman,” Tom insisted. “She just...collapsed. You saw her collapse, Dylan.”

  “Yes, Tom, I saw,” Dylan replied. He watched Stephanie bow her head and then looked at Mary and Betty. “Maybe one of you should go find a blanket?” he asked in a miserable voice.

  Betty felt her eyes drop down to the ground and crawl over to Jennifer like a scared child being pulled into a closet. “Oh...my,” she said and then did what Betty always did: She fainted.

  “No,” Mary cried out and managed to catch Betty just as her body began to crumple. “Oh, not now.”

  Dylan rolled his eyes. “Tom, I’ll go find a blanket.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Tom said, looking upset. “Stephanie, stay with my wife.”

  Stephanie raised her head. “There’s a blanket in the back of my truck,” she told Dylan. “You go get the blanket. Tom, you drive into town and get the sheriff and Dr. Jamison,” she said in a defeated voice. “Poor Jennifer...she appeared...so healthy. Must have been a sudden heart attack.”

  “Must have been.” Dylan wandered away with Tom.

  Mary watched Dylan and Tom walk off down the trail with upset eyes. “Maybe Jennifer didn’t die of a sudden heart attack,” she whispered to herself.

  Stephanie stood up and hurried over to Mary. “Is Betty all right?”

  Mary placed Betty’s head in her lap and began fanning the woman’s face. “Betty is prone to fainting,” she explained. “She’ll come around in a minute.”

  Stephanie looked down at Betty and sighed. “Betty was always such a sweet friend to me. When we were little girls she never once said an unkind word to me.”

  “Betty is very dear,” Mary agreed as a powerful, crisp, breeze tore at her hair and then ran off into the deep woods that now echoed with the voice of danger instead of peace. “Stephanie...I think we need to get to town.”

  Stephanie glanced over her shoulder. “Me, too,” she confessed. “Mr. Shelton...it has to be him.”

  “Who is Mr. Shelton?” Mary asked.

  “The man who owned this land,” Stephanie explained in a sour voice. “Andy Shelton...one of the most miserable, meanest, hateful men I’ve ever met. A real rattlesnake.”

  Mary walked her eyes around the woods, searching for human movement. The woods felt creepy, dark, and very dangerous, full of unseen monsters lurking behind damp trees and thick brush. “Stop it,” Mary whispered and focused her mind back on Stephanie. “Stephanie, I don’t think it’s possible that an unseen intruder could have killed that woman. I mean, Dylan and Tom were both present when Jennifer collapsed.”

  Stephanie looked around. “I guess you’re right,” she conceded in an upset voice. “But I wouldn’t put it past Andy Shelton to murder anyone. Why, that man was so furious at me for buying this land...well, he could have ripped the entire state of Oregon in two with his bare hands.”

  Mary slowly and steadily walked into a room in her mind, closed the door, sat down at a desk, and began writing down questions that she needed to ask Stephanie. “So Mr. Shelton owned this land?”

  “Yes, he did,” Stephanie explained and then cast a hesitant glance at Jennifer. “Andy Shelton bought this land in 1942, after the church that owned this land sold off and relocated to a different part of the state.” Stephanie shook her head. “Rumor is Andy Shelton threatened the pastor of the church and forced the church to sell to him.”

  Mary heard Betty let out a weak moan. “Easy,” she whispered.

  Stephanie put her hands on her hips and searched the woods. “Rumor is, Mary, that there’s gold buried somewhere on this land...lots and lots of gold that the American Indians who once inhabited this area mined and then hid when outsiders began arriving and taking their land away. Andy Shelton is a well-known gold hunter. People know he bought this land because he’s wrapped up in some kind of silly tale.”

  “Silly?” Mary asked.

  “Mary, there isn’t any gold buried on this land,” Stephanie explained. “History already proved that a very sneaky Army general, whose name I refuse to speak, stole every ounce of gold that belonged to the American Indians who lived in this area.” Stephanie sighed. “Some silly soldier who was under the general’s command swore that the general only stole half the gold and the other half was buried before the Army arrived.” Stephanie felt a strong wind grab at her hair and sighed. “The general swore he found every ounce of the gold and turned it over to the Army. That was a lie, of course. One of the general’s soldiers later testified in a military court that he saw the soldiers loading most of the gold onto the general’s private wagon and hauling it away, leaving behind just enough gold to please the Army.”

  “How can you be so sure that the American Indians who lived on this land didn’t manage to hide some of their gold?” Mary asked.

  “Oh, Mary,” Stephanie said in a tired voice, “the general who raided this area and killed over two hundred innocent people died in 1875, nearly a decade after the Civil War ended. From 1877 to 1908 every gold-thirsty man in the country has explored this land, searching for gold. In December 1908 a man named Christopher Milkins bought this land, turned it into a retreat. The land stayed that way until 1920. In 1920 Mr. Milkins died and left the land to the Olive Leaf Baptist Church. Pastor Paul Whitfield turned the retreat into a summer camp for poor children and the camp officially opened in 1925. The camp stayed opened until the summer of 1934. Due to financial problems the camp was unable to open in the summer of 1935 and stay closed until Andy Shelton bought the camp. But, as I mentioned, rumor is Andy threatened the pastor into selling the land.”

  Mary made a few mental notes. “Andy Shelton must be very wealthy,” she pointed out. “You own hundreds of acres, including the lake.”

  “Andy Shelton might have been wealthy at one point in his life...I don’t know,” Stephanie told Mary, “but he fell very far behind on his property taxes.” Stephanie glanced around with weary eyes. “Andy Shelton’s inability to pay his property taxes was his downfall,” she explained. “Judge Milcore gave Andy two weeks to pay his bill. Andy came up short and yesterday Judge Milcore officially and legally turned ownership of this land over to me.”

  “Stephanie, you didn’t tell me any of this when you called me two weeks ago,” Mary pointed out.

  Stephanie looked down at Mary. “My daddy always taught me to think positive,” she explained. “I knew Judge Milcore would rule in my favor, Mary. I knew this land, and this camp, would become mine.” A weak smile replaced the worried frown on Stephanie’s face. “I felt it my heart that this land was going to become mine, Mary...so deep in my heart. Sure, the price was steep, but I managed.” Stephanie soaked in the beautiful woods. “I...kinda lied to you,” she confessed. “You see, Daddy helped me buy my land. But Dylan doesn’t know that. I’m...too ashamed to tell him the truth so I made him believe I used the money I earned teaching at the university to buy my land. I...get the feeling that Dylan doesn’t believe me, but he’s never backed into a corner. I don’t know why I lied to him. I suppose I allowed my silly pride to step in. I’ve always been an independent woman, Mary, but I couldn’t afford the price attached to my land. I was forced to asked Daddy to help me...and Daddy was so sweet and didn’t hesitate for one second. Daddy understands what this land means to me.”

  Mary saw Betty’s eyes flutter open. “Easy,” she whispered.

  “Mary?” Betty asked in a weak voice.

  “You fainted, dear,” Mary explained and nuzzled Betty’s hair away from her
eyes. “Everything is okay.”

  Betty opened her eyes. She looked up at Stephanie, stared at the woman a second, and then moaned. “The camp...oh, we’re still at that awful camp.”

  “I’m afraid so,” Mary confirmed.

  Betty closed her eyes. “I fainted because I saw...a dead woman, right, Mary?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  Stephanie looked at Jennifer. “The poor woman is dead,” she told Mary and Betty. “I suppose she died of a sudden heart attack.”

  “Heart attack?” Betty asked.

  “What else could it have been?” Stephanie asked. “When I was a little girl, I went on an expedition with my daddy. We traveled to a very hot location in the African desert.” Stephanie folded her arms. “Daddy was determined to prove the area of the desert we were in had once been under water. He had heard that a ship was buried under the desert sands from the local people and set out to find the ship.”

  “What does this have to do with Jennifer?” Mary asked.

  “Oh...I do get off track, don’t I?” Stephanie apologized. “The point I’m trying to make is that I saw one of the men working for Daddy drop dead on his feet, just like Jennifer here. Daddy said the man had died from a sudden heart attack.”

  Betty carefully raised her head off of Mary’s lap. “A heart attack...is better than murder,” she said and reached behind her back and pulled a twig away. “This ground is very hard, Mary. Please, help me stand up.” Mary helped Betty stand up. Betty rubbed her back and then brushed earth off her dress. “A heart attack means the poor woman wasn’t murdered, right?”

  Stephanie searched the woods. “I want to believe Andy Shelton is somehow involved...but I suppose you’re right, Mary...he can’t be. I have to believe that poor Jennifer died of a heart attack.”

  Mary patted Betty’s left hand and then cautiously moved over to the lifeless body lying on the trail. She bent down and studied the silent face. As soon as her eyes landed on Jennifer’s face terror struck her heart. “Stephanie, does a heart attack do this to a person?”