The Sleepwalking Detective

Betty Lou and Patsy stood. Betty extended her hand and said, "Thank you for your services. We have matters to attend to. Good bye."

They marched out of the room before Malcolm and Winnifred even rose from their chairs. Malcolm asked for and received a copy of the will. They stumbled out and got in their car.

Winnie said,"That didn't seem right. Add the will and the use of a new lawyer to the list of suspicious things."

Malcolm nodded and said, "Let's go talk to Mr. Trent."

^^^

"Thank you for seeing us without an appointment," Malcolm said.

"No problem. You father and I have been business acquaintances and friends for almost twenty years. Please sit down."

Malcolm said, "Our father passed away the other day."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you looking for a copy of his will?"

Malcolm handed him a document.

"We just came from the reading of his will," Winnie said. "The last couple of months of my father's life have been out of character. He married a woman he'd only known a short while. Then he was in a suspicious car accident. While convalescing at home. he had issues that required him to return to the hospital. There he died suddenly."

"Oh dear. This is dreadful," Mr Trent said. He was truly affected by this news.

"To put it bluntly," Malcolm said. "We suspect foul play."

He ran through the list of items they found concerning and he told him about the wedding bands and school ID. The lawyer took notes.

Malcolm ended by saying, "We have no proof. Can you read over this will and tell us if it's valid? And can you find out if my father's new wife is one of those women who marries frequently and then loses her husbands under mysterious circumstances?"

"I will study the will and I'll assign my best investigator, Paula Drake, to the case. As the wife, she is within her rights to have your father cremated. I suggest you hold tight until we hear from Paula."

"Thank you. What ever the expense, Mr. Trent," Malcolm said.

"I will spare no expense. I will leave no stone unturned. And I will cover the cost. Your father was a good man and I was proud to call him my friend."

^^^

When Malcolm and Winnie returned home, they walked into an empty house. Winnie said, "Where is everyone? All their cars are here."

They heard splashing and laughter and walked towards the sounds. They spied Tony, Patsy and Betty Lou out at the pool. Tony was climbing out in the water. The women were lying out topless.

Malcolm stopped and whispered to his sister, "Let's hang back and watch and listen."

Winnie nodded. She whispered a Sherlock Holmes quote from "The Bascombe Valley Mystery", "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles."

They watched Tony emerge from the pool and shake like a dog. He flipped water on the scantily clad women causing them to raise their arms, scream and protest. He knelt between them, squeezed suntan lotion into each hand and proceeded to rub their bare breasts. The women giggled as he fondled them.

Raquel walked in and scolded all of them, "Have you no shame? Laughing and cavorting about so soon after Uncle Lawrence passed away."

Tony went over to her. The powerful man easily picked up the slender, twenty year-old. He turned her upside-down. He slapped and grabbed at her jean clad ass.

He laughed and said, "Here, let me remove that stick that's stuck up your butt."

"Let me go, you brute."

Raquel flailed about. Her tee shirt slid down her body exposing her braless breasts.

"Look what's popped into view. You have nice titties."

Tony reached for her tanned, bouncing orbs. He grabbed one and squeezed it too hard causing Raquel to scream in pain. "Ouch! That hurts. Let me go!"

Malcolm rushed out of his hiding place and ran up to confront Tony.

"Put her down!" he ordered.

He grabbed at Tony's arms and tried to force him to release the half-naked young woman. However, Malcolm wasn't strong enough to compel the bigger, stronger man to do anything he didn't want to do.

"Ha ha ha," Tony laughed and then said, "The thin man with his pipe cleaner arms thinks he can muscle me."

Tony lower Raquel safely to the ground. Then he grabbed Malcolm, lifted the gaunt, impotent man over his head and tossed him into the pool. It hurt when Malcolm struck the water. He was dazed and started to sink.

Tony, Patsy and Betty Lou laughed and didn't notice that Malcolm was in distressed. Raquel and Winnie saw that the tall man was struggling. They both jumped into the pool and together brought his head above the surface. Malcolm coughed and wheezed.

Tony teased them. "Raquel your shirt has ridden up again and your right boobie is exposed. And Miss Winnie look at you. Your wet shirt is clinging to your chest like a magnet to steel. My that's an impressive pair you have."

Raquel yelled, "Pig!"

Winnie shouted, "Cretin!"

The soggy trio exited the pool and headed to the house. Winnie said, "Let's go to my bathroom. I have clean towels."

By the time they got there, Malcolm was feeling better although he still took a seat on the edge of the tub. Winnie handed out towels. The women immediately rubbed their face and worked to dry their hair.

Raquel said, "Thank you Malcolm for coming to my rescue."

He blushed because he had bungled the job. He smiled weakly and said, "Thank you for rescuing me."

Raquel gave him a smile that indicated his effort, even though unsuccessful, was worthy of praise.

"Ugg. I can't stand wet clothes," Raquel said and she began to pull them off. Soon she stood naked and unashamed before them. Beads of water coursed down her fit body. Strands of her blonde pubic hair formed a pathway that allowed the water to drip off her body.

Winnie and Malcolm stared at her firm, beautiful body. She said, "Don't you guys want to get out of those cold and clammy wet clothes?"

"We're shy," Malcolm explained. "You see, we were the kids picked on at school. I was the guy stripped down to my tighty whiteys and pushed out into a crowded hallway. People pointed at me and laughed.

"Winnie, was the poor soul who only had a towel to covering herself because the cool girls stole her street and gym clothes when she went to the shower after gym class."

Winnie said, "You seem like a nice person, but we've been fooled before. We don't get undressed in front of someone we don't know well without trepidation."

Raquel took a towel and she dried herself.

"It's sad that you've been bullied and teased," Raquel said sincerely. "I understand your anxiety. Please know I'd never do anything to hurt you. I'm pretty nonchalant about nudity these days, but its only because I just spent three months naked in the jungle with one hundred strangers.

"Believe me, on my first day there I was a basket case. I can relate to how you feel. I was certain that everyone would be staring at me, judging me and pointing out every flaw. I hope I can earn your trust."

She wrapped herself in a towel, gathered her wet clothes and went to her bedroom.

^^^

A couple of days later, Malcolm and Winnie found Raquel in the garden reading a Hardy Boys book. Malcolm said,

"We're going to see our father's attorney. There were many things that happened in the last couple of months of our father's life that were out of character with the man we knew. He has been looking into them for us."

Winnie made the effort and reached out to her. She said, "Will you accompany us? It would be beneficial to have a friend present."

^^^

Malcolm, Winnie and Raquel sat down with Mr. Trent.

He said, "Let's start with the will. It is a proper document. There are no obvious grounds to overturn it. Like all Virginia wills involving a husband and wife, it can be nullified if the parties were not properly married or if it is proven in a court of law that one party is responsible for causing the death of the other party. Speaking plainly, you cannot kill your spouse and expect to profit by that crime."

There was a knock at the door. An attractive woman in her thirties entered. She had beautiful silver hair. She was pre-maturely gray, but it was such an attractive color, full and rich, that no one felt sorry for her. You were jealous of the silver fox.

Mr. Trent said, "Ah good. You're right on time. Everyone this is my investigator, Paula Drake. Paula, this is Malcolm and Winnifred Clunk and their friend Raquel.

Greetings and handshakes were exchanged. Then Mr. Trent said, "Paula, I understand your trip to Texas bore fruit. Tell us what you uncovered."

"The people in Gun Barrel City had quite a lot to say about the Beets family."

Paula began placing 8 x10 inch pictures on the table. Six were enlargements of Texas driver licenses and one was of the school ID Malcolm had found. Paula pointed to pictures as she spoke.

"This is Daisy and here is her sister, Sara."

"They both look like Betty Lou," Malcolm observed. "Same nose and brown eyes."

"Yes," Paula said. "They look like they could be twins, but actually Daisy is three years older."

Paula pointed to a photo of a man and said,

"Daisy's was sixteen when she married Jimmy Bob Beets. They had one child, Patsy. Jimmy was a drunk, a brute and a jealous, possessive man. Rumor has it, he got drunk one night and beat and branded his wife and daughter on the ass.

"He told his drinking buddies he used a branding iron he'd made himself. He said it had a Texas star with a "J" inside. He said, it smelled like seared beef and frying bacon when he put his mark on them.

"A couple of days later, his fishing boat was found empty, float out on Cedar Creek Reservoir. He was never seen again. Some thought he went fishing, got to drinking and drowned. Others though Daisy finally stood up for herself. No one thought it was a great loss. Daisy got a small insurance policy and was able to buy a better mobile home.

"She married again to the same kind of man. This one." She pointed to a photo. "His name was Wilbur Mason. The beatings resumed. Daisy took out a bigger insurance policy on husband number two. When he was killed by what appeared to be an accident, she cashed in again.

"Daisy had no luck with men. Husband number three was just like the others. Charley Finley was a good old Texas boy more interested in hunting, fishing, whoring and drinking than working and taking care of his family. He too disappeared suddenly in their first year of marriage."

Paula said. "I actually met Charley. He said he loved Daisy, but that she could be an ornery woman when drunk. She scared him so badly, he ran off to Mexico. The final straw was the night she threatened to cut off his penis for kissing her sister. He claimed is was an honest mistake. They all had been drinking. He entered the trailer after smoking a cigarette and he came up behind a short, brown hair woman he thought was his wife. He cupped her breasts and kissed her on the neck. Unfortunately, it was her look-a-like sister, Sara.

"Daisy yelled "What the hell are you doing with my sister?" She came at him with a knife shouting, "I'm going to cut your pecker off". He showed me the scars on his forearms and stomach where she slashed him. He left her and went to Mexico. He figured since his manhood was intact, and unlike her first two husbands he was not dead, that he'd made the right decision.

"Charley couldn't help boosting that before he left town, he did have sex with Sara. It seems they had a strong connection, each was tired of being bossed around by Daisy. They screwed just to stick it to Daisy. He only came back to town after the fire killed Daisy. What fire you asked? That's the story about husband number four. Daisy married Harry Tucker next."

Paula reached into her briefcase and pulled out copies of Daisy's four marriage certificates. She placed them on the table and continued.

"The townsfolk were not surprised when gun shots were heard up at Daisy's place. The police arrived to find her trailer consumed by fire. Two bodies were found inside, a man and a woman. Authorities were pretty sure the man was husband #4.They recognized some tattoos they found on the less charred parts of his body.

"The woman was thought to be Daisy. She was the right size and it was her trailer. Identification was difficult. She had no known tattoos. She'd never been arrested or in the military so her fingerprints weren't on file. Not that fingerprints or visual identification was going to be of any help given the state of the body. Dental x-rays were the best option; however, Daisy hadn't been a regular visitors to the dentist so that avenue of identification wasn't available either.

"The theory the police put forward was that a domestic incident escalated and led to the death of Daisy and Harry."

Paula spread out some photos of the burnt bodies and trailer. Then she continued,

"During the investigation, the police discover the body of an adult male and a unique branding iron in a shallow grave in the backyard. The thinking is they found husbands #1.

"The daughter, Patsy, was gone and so was Daisy's only living kin, her sister Sara. Sara's car was missing. It seems they both left town that night. No one knows where they went. The police put out an all points bulletin. The car was located at a Dallas train station. From there , they would have access to buses, planes or trains and could easily leave the area. The police figure the aunt gathered up her niece and, for reasons unknown, left the area."

Everyone was quiet thinking and studying the photos. Malcolm said, "'It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important."

"What?" Mr. Trent said confused.

Winnie said, "He's quoting Sherlock Holmes. What is it Malcolm? What have you seen?"

Malcolm grabbed the driver's license photo of Sara and the photo of the burnt bodies. He pointed to each and said, "There. In both photos the woman is wearing a distinctive silver necklace. See the figure of a galloping mustang?"

He grabbed the copy of Daisy's driver's license and placed it beside her sister's. "Look each woman is described as 5' 2", brown hair and brown eyes and roughly the same weight."

"Oh!," exclaimed Winnie. All eyes turned to her. She said, "The police suspect that Daisy was killed and Sara drove off. The women were like twins. It would be extremely difficult for the police to tell the difference between Daisy's burnt body and Sara's."

Raquel sat up straight and said, "Yes. Maybe the police got it wrong. Perhaps Sara, who we know owns a necklace with a mustang, is the one who died in the fire and Daisy and Patsy drove off in Sara's vehicle."

Paula said, "Maybe history repeated itself. Daisy could have caught her husband and sister fooling around, killed them, set the place on fire and skedaddled with her daughter."

"If that were true, Mr. Trent, would that help us?" Malcolm asked.

"It could. It sounds like Daisy is still legally married to Charlie Finley and therefore her marriage to your father is void." Mr. Trent turned to his investigator and said. "Paula, did Charley Finley divorce Daisy?"

"He said he just left. I bet he never got around to doing the paperwork to end their marriage because he thought she was dead."

Mr. Trent said, "Daisy doesn't sound like the type of woman who would go through the process required to get the court to dissolve their marriage after he disappeared. Paula, will you check and see if they are still legally married?"

"Yes sir."

Mr. Trent rubbed his chin and said, "We need to verify that Betty Lou is actually Daisy."

Raquel said, "It seems we need to get a look at her ass."

"What? Why?" Mr. Trent asked.

"The branding!" Malcolm said. "Excellent thinking Raquel. If her bottom bares the mark Jimmy Bob gave his wife, that would conclusively prove that the woman we know as Betty Lou Clunk is Daisy Beets.

Paula said, "The Henderson County police department have the branding iron. That would cinch it."

Mr. Trent asked. "Do you think one of you could get a look at Betty Lou's backside?"

^^^

The next day Malcolm huddled with Winnie. They could see and hear Betty Lou, Patsy and Tony again drinking and having fun at the pool. Malcolm said, "How are we going to see her butt?"

Raquel walk up to the siblings and said, "Are you willing to do what it takes to expose a killer? Even if it's uncomfortable for you?"

"Yes," they both said.

"Good. Come with me and follow my lead."

"What's the plan?" Malcolm asked nervously.

"The plan is simple," Raquel explained. "Everyone gets naked."

Raquel marched over to the pool. Her friends reluctantly followed. Raquel said, "Hello, are you ready to party?"

Tony said, "Absolutely."

"Born ready," Patsy answered.

"I hope you can keep up the Clunks. Today is their biggest party day of the year," Raquel said in a taunting manner.

"Honey, I can drink and party circled around these uptight squares," Betty Lou said derisively.

"See Malcolm," Raquel said. "I told you they would be up to the challenge."

She started taking her cloths off and said, "They were telling me today, July 14th, is National Nude Day. They celebrate it every year by getting naked, getting drunk and having a hell of a good time.

"They didn't think you guys were up to it being timid country folks from Hicksville, Texas. I told 'em. I was game. What about you guys?"

Raquel was now nude. She pirouetted around showing everyone her tanned, tight, naked body. She had cute boobs. They were like little ski slopes. Her nipples were tilted up to the sky. Her bush was as pretty and blonde as the hair on her head. When she faced the Clunks, she mouthed, "Get undressed."

Tony appreciated the bare beauty in front of him. He surprised her by stepped up behind her and cupped her tits.

"Oh!" she exclaimed being caught off guard. She didn't like being groped by the cowboy, but rolled with it and said, "Emmm. That feel good. But naughty, naughty. No touchy, touchy unless you are going to join me in celebrating National Nude Day."

She spun out of his grasp and faced him. He was salivating and eager to fuck this naked bitch. He shucked off his swimsuit and his expanding dick bounced into view. He stepped into her and enveloped her in a bear hug. His dick pressed into her stomach as his lips smashed into hers. She had to endure a few kisses and unwanted caresses, before she managed to escape.

Then she said gamely, "Tony was embraced the spirit of the day. What about you two?" Raquel asked Betty Lou and Patsy.

She turned around to check on Malcolm and Winnie. They had been stalling. Their fears were controlling and paralyzing them. She told herself, "I need them on-board or my plan to see Betty Lou's butt is going to fail. Sorry guys, It looks like I have to force your hand".

Raquel said, "Tony, let's get everyone into party mode. I'll undress Malcolm. I need you to undress Winnifred. Will you do that for me?"

She gave him a big kiss and then looked him in the eye. She asked again, "Okay?"

He nodded and grunted his agreement. He moved towards the tall, buxom brunette. Raquel went to Malcolm and she chastised him. "You guys said you'd do what's necessary."

"Sorry," he responded and he took off his shirt. She didn't know or trust the extent of his courage so she knelt in front of him and pull off his shorts and underwear. His limp penis popped into view. She gave it a quick glance. It was longer than she expected.

"That's more like it. Go set up the tequila shots," she said turning him about and giving him a playful slap on the ass as he went towards the bar.

Winnie was frozen with fear. Tony grinned at her like the innocent, fresh meat she was. He roughly removed her clothes. He had her naked in no time. His hands were all over her superior melons. A tongue soon followed. Winnie was petrified as Tony sucked and manhandled her boobs.