Murder at the High School Reunion by Steve Demaree Read Free Book Online Page A

these two have been here
since the reunion?”
    “I assume you’ve read about the two people who turned
up missing after the reunion.”
    “Can’t say as I have. See, I’ve been out of town,
visitin’ my daughter and her family. Just got back to town Saturday night,
didn’t go nowhere yesterday. Does that mean you have a good idee who they might
be?”
    “We think so. Was it a man and a woman?”
    “Like I said, I didn’t check. But come to think of it,
I think one of them was wearin’ a dress. Anyways, I panicked for a minute,
didn’t know what to do. Then, I locked the freezer back in case someone came
in, though I didn’t expect no one. I called the principal, but just got a
message. He might be out of town, too. He’s not ’spected to be back ’til next
week. Anyways, I called you guys, then went and walked around the school to see
if I could spot where somebody got in the school while I was gone. Nothing.”
    We talked as we walked. We turned right, walked down
the hall and turned left into a large kitchen. A walk-in refrigerator and
freezer stood against the right-hand wall. The custodian walked over to the
wall, just past the two units, and stopped just before he got to a door that
was on the back right side of the building. He removed a key from a nail, made
sure he had the right one, and unlocked the padlock on the freezer.
    He took off the lock and opened the door, then stood
back so we could see. There were two people lying face down in the freezer,
huddled together. The two were facing away from the door, but I noticed right
away that the one on the right was wearing a dress, and had shapely legs that
certainly didn’t belong to any man. We encountered no smell, but noticed both
frozen people had skin that had a slight red tint to it. Luckily, Lou and I
wouldn’t be around when the bodies were no longer frozen.
    None of the three of us recognized the victims, so I
motioned for the custodian in to step in and see if he knew either of them. He
did so, and then shook his head, indicating that both people were strangers to
him. Somewhat shaken, he stepped back out of the freezer as soon as he could.
    Lou and I let Frank look over the victims first. To
give him privacy, the two of us ushered the custodian out of the kitchen and
asked him for some place we could sit and talk. He led us to his office, near
where we came in. As we were about to enter his office, which was more of a
glorified closet, the print crew arrived. I gave them directions to the
kitchen, then joined Lou and the custodian in his small workspace.
    I motioned for Walter to take a seat. I took the only
other chair. Walter told Lou he could find a chair in the cafeteria across the
hall. Since Lou wasn’t some dumb sergeant, he brought back a chair, rather than
sit in one in the cafeteria. I waited for Lou to return before I began to see
what the custodian could tell me.
    “The name on your shirt says ‘Walter.’ Are you
Walter?”
    “Yep. That’s me, Walter Gillis. I’m the custodian
here, been here three years now.”
    “And were you here the night of the reunion?”
    “Yep. I left on vacation the next day. I was anxious
to get away to see my daughter and grandkids, but I knowed I couldn’t run them
people out of the school until 1:00. They was allowed to stay until then.”
    “About how many people attended the reunion?”
    “I don’t know. I was told there would be somewheres
atween thirty and fifty.”
    “Did you know any of them?”
    “I don’t think so. I didn’t really pay no attention to
none of them except’n for Miss Calvert. She’s the one who booked the place. She
had a couple of other women show up just after she did, but I didn’t know
neither of ’em. I pretty much keep to myself. Better that way. That way nobody
can accuse you of nothin’.”
    “I assume you were the first one at the school. Did
you work all day that day?”
    “Nope, during the summer I come in one or two days a
week to keep up