Mystery on the Tramway Read online

  “Fine, have a look around, second door on the left down the hall. I hope you can find him, I certainly don’t know where he is.” Cherie shrugged her shoulders and fished a cigarette out of a nearly empty pack that was lying on the table.

  “Could you wait just a few minutes until we’re done before you light that? I have asthma.” Gloria asked Cherie.

  “The smokes? Ok, I guess so. Sorry.” Cherie said.

  “I’ll be right back.” Henry squeezed Gloria’s shoulder gently on the way out of the room and nodded to let her know that she was doing a great job interviewing Cherie Gregory

  Henry went down the hallway and looked into the door that Cherie pointed out. The room was small and the drapes were drawn making it dark and smaller. Henry looked for a light switch and turned it on. Nothing happened so Henry stepped to the window and pulled open the drapes. Henry wasn’t quite sure what to expect Todd’s room to look like but he felt that it didn’t look like a typical teenager’s room.

  There was one poster on the wall from the Palm Springs Follies, the annual play starring older performers that was put on every winter in the historic Plaza Theatre downtown. To Henry this room didn’t appear as though a teenage kid lived here at all. He was expecting to find posters and pictures of rock stars taped to the walls, clothes piled on the floor and a large stereo or at least a video game system. There was none of that, this room was bare, utilitarian, and it reminded Henry more of a fallout shelter from the sixties.

  There was a small desk under the window with a tiny desk lamp. On the left corner was a neat stack of scripts for a variety of plays. Henry recognized some Gilbert and Sullivan musicals and a script for the Fantastiks. He opened the drawer to the desk and found three recent Guns & Ammo magazines. He looked through them and in the most recent issue he found one of the pages in the back dog eared to mark it. He flipped to the page and saw an ad for a gun show in Las Vegas. The dates coincided with the dates that Todd and Terrance Quinn had made their trip. So maybe they didn’t go there for a sexual liaison and Wayne was right about the gun shows. He memorized the name and location of the show and then carefully put the magazine back and closed the drawer.

  The bed was made and it looked as though Todd had been in the military. Henry swore he could bounce a quarter off it. He lifted up the mattress and found nothing. A quick look under the bed yielded the same result. He opened the closet and Todd’s clothes were all hung on identical wooden hangers. Jeans, t-shirts, all meticulously hung up and facing the same way. A couple of Aloha shirts, everyone in Palm Springs owned at least one, Henry thought. Everything else was just typical teenage clothing, dark colors all. The top shelf of the closet yielded a number of carefully folded sweatshirts and sweaters and a box of ammunition.

  Hello, what do we have here? Henry pulled the box down to have a closer look at it. There was a rubber band around the box to keep the top on it. The box was half full; they were .45 caliber shells with steel jacketed bullets. These were man stoppers, Henry thought. He carefully put the box back on the shelf and arranged the sweaters in front of it. When he finished, he looked and was satisfied that everything looked as it did when he found it. He closed the curtains again and walked back into the living room where Gloria and Cherie Gregory were still talking on the couch.

  “Hi Henry, Cherie was just telling me about Todd’s success in the Palm Springs High School drama club.” Gloria said looking directly at Henry to see if she could read his face and pick up anything.

  “I saw all the scripts and the poster in his room. It looks as though he was really into the theatre.” Henry sat on the couch next to Gloria.

  “Yeah, he did all that theatre stuff. I told him that he was never going to make any money at that. There are a lot of people who think they can act, but few succeed well enough to make a living. Todd says it’s in his blood, he needs to perform.” Cherie shook her head.

  “Did he plan on going to college to study drama?” Gloria asked.

  “Eventually. He said he wanted to take a year off first to work and save up some money. I do have some college money set aside for him, but I think he’ll appreciate it more if he works for it. I’m letting him live here in the meantime; I’m not even asking him for a contribution to the household budget. He said he wants to go to some performing arts school in the San Gabriel Valley somewhere or wherever. I don’t know the name of it. I think he’d be better off going to a real university or something.” Cherie said.

  “Did he have any other hobbies?” Henry asked.

  Cherie Gregory thought for a few moments. “No, none that I can think of, drama was his life.”

  “Cherie, I saw some Guns & Ammo magazines in his room, does Todd own a gun?” Henry didn’t know how to phrase that question gently so he just came right out and asked her.

  “A gun? Yeah sure, he has his father’s old .45 automatic. He goes to the Palm Springs Gun Club’s range over on the other side of the Interstate on a regular basis to shoot at targets.” Cherie turned from Gloria to Henry. “You don’t think he shot that man he worked for?”

  Henry ignored her question. “Do you know where his gun is?”

  “No, I know the gun case that he keeps it in is not on his desk, so he must have it with him.”

  “How about you Cherie, do you own a gun?”

  “Yeah, I have a little gun, you know, one of those with a short little barrel that all the old detectives on those black and white TV shows have. But mine is strictly for personal protection. I get off late at night, and sometimes creeps want to follow me home. I’ve never used it though.” Cherie said defiantly.

  “Do you know exactly what kind of a gun it is?” Henry asked.

  “You mean like the model? I’m not sure, it’s a little snub nosed revolver, not an automatic or anything, I’ve had it for years.” Cherie said.

  “Can I see it? Do you have a permit for it?”

  “No, I don’t have a permit. It’s just a little gun. Let me get my purse, I’ll show it to you.”

  Cherie got up and went down the hallway to get her purse from her bedroom. She came walking out moments later with an oversized purse and a surprised look on her face. “It’s not here. I looked through it, here’s my bottle of water, make-up, and everything else is here. My gun is gone; I don’t know where it went.”

  Gloria gave Henry a knowing look. She hadn’t expected the gun to be in the purse.

  “Do you have any paperwork on the gun?” Henry asked.

  “No, I’ve had it so long, I don’t have any paperwork. Dos bought it for me shortly after we got married.” Cherie shook her head.

  “Did you know that Todd went to Las Vegas with his boss?” Henry asked.

  “Yeah, Todd told me about him. There was something not right there, he liked Todd too much and was a weirdo, you know. Didn’t drink beer with the other guys and stuff; he did pay a lot of attention to Todd though. If you ask me he was a faggot.” She balled her hands in her lap. “Yeah, I know he dragged Todd to Vegas. I think he was trying to convert him or something. I tried to stop him but Todd insisted.” Cherie Gregory’s neck had turned red while talking, obviously this irritated her.

  “What do you mean convert?” Henry asked.

  “Well, you know. To that perverted life I’m sure he leads. That guy was a sexual deviant and the world is better off without him.”

  “I’m kind of surprised to hear you say that, I mean this is Palm Springs and it is the twenty-first century.” Henry said.

  Gloria gave Henry a look and shook her head no. She made a motion with her head towards the door and mouthed a “let’s go” to Henry that Cherie Gregory couldn’t see.

  “Mrs. Gregory, thank you very much for your time. We really appreciate you talking with us. Thank you for the iced tea; we can let our selves out.” Gloria was already standing, Henry got up as well.

  “I don’t believe that you guys are really looking for Todd, if you are you’d better make sure that there are no trigger happy cops out there
, there is no reason to hurt Todd. He’s very sensitive and I don’t want you to scare him off. If you find out where he is, you be sure to call me right away.” Cherie said angrily.

  “Ok, we’ll pass along the message and someone will call you right away. Thanks again.” Henry opened the door for Gloria and followed her out.

  Chapter 10

  The air outside was hot and dry as they walked to the car. Henry and Gloria exchanged a look but neither of them said a word. Henry opened the door for Gloria and she left it open while he walked around and then started the car and let the air conditioner run. Gloria turned to Henry to tell him something as a departing jet airplane came overhead very low, she stopped and waited. They house was almost right at the end of the Palm Springs International Airport runway. They closed the doors of the car, the air conditioner was catching up to the heat and Henry made a U turn and headed towards downtown.

  “Wow, did I strike a nerve in there or what?” Henry finally said as they turned back onto Vista Chino.

  “You did, while you were in Todd’s room, she told me a little more about Todd. She is in total denial regarding her son’s sexuality.” Gloria shook her head.

  “So Todd is gay?” Henry wasn’t surprised, that certainly made the bonding that George Margolis had noticed between Terrance Quinn and Todd Gregory not unusual.

  “He probably is, but I think Todd is searching. He has had more exposure to relationships with men than women, but from what I understand he was painfully shy.” Gloria turned to look at him. “Are we going to have lunch somewhere? I’m hungry.”

  “Yeah, I was going to take you to the La Taqueria downtown, it’s one of my favorite places, I like sitting on the patio outside. Don’t worry it won’t be too hot, they have a nice water misting system there and the food is great.” Henry turned to look at her and then turned back to pay attention to the traffic as the light at Indian Canyon turned green.

  “Mexican food sounds good. Cherie said that Todd got into the drama program at high school to overcome his shyness.” Gloria told him.

  “I think that Wayne saw some of Todd’s acting ability when he acted upset the night that Terrance’s body was discovered.” Henry said. They were now on Palm Canyon Drive heading for the main part of town, the street was one way and Henry started looking for a parking place. July is Palm Springs’ off season and though it was the day after a major holiday, it wasn’t busy. He found a parking spot on Palm Canyon in front of the Welwood Murray library.

  “What about this missing gun thing?” Gloria asked as she got out of the car.

  “I don’t believe her. I don’t think the gun is missing at all.” Henry said as he waited for her on the sidewalk. He held her hand as they walked around the corner down Tahquitz Canyon Way to the restaurant.

  “Do you know what kind of gun she had? She kept calling it a little gun.”

  “It sounds to me that she has a snub nosed revolver, probably a .38, it’s the kind that plain clothes cops used to carry because they can be easily concealed. A lot of uniforms carried them as second guns, usually in an ankle holster, but these days everyone uses automatics.” Henry explained as they walked into the courtyard of the restaurant.

  Gloria stopped dead in her tracks still holding Henry’s hand jerking him to a stop. “Wait a second, isn’t that the type of gun that killed Terrance?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Why didn’t you arrest her?” Gloria walked again to the hostess stand near the building’s entrance.

  “Could we have a table for two please, in the courtyard?” Henry told the hostess who smiled and picked up two menus and asked them to follow her.

  “Well, I’m not a cop remember, so the most I could do is make a citizen’s arrest. But I do think I’ll call Wayne to let him know that he should pick her up for questioning.” Henry pulled Gloria’s chair out for her as the hostess put their menus on the table.

  “What’s a uniform?” Gloria asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just now you said uniforms carry them, what’s a uniform?”

  “Oh, cops, especially detectives call officers that wear a uniform, uniforms. Make sense?”

  “Yep, it seems like every profession has its own slang doesn’t it? Do you think she did it?” “Gloria asked.

  “She could have, except she was probably at work that evening. I’ll ask Wayne to check. What I want to know though is if she did it, and Todd covered up for her, why did he disappear? Wouldn’t it be more logical if she had taken off?” Henry picked up the menu as a busboy set two waters, a basket of chips and a dish of salsa on their table.

  “Maybe they’re in this together, she’s diverting suspicion onto her son, he runs away and can’t be found. He probably has her gun and is getting rid of it for her. I have a feeling that they cooked up this whole scheme.” Gloria studied her menu. “What’s good here?”

  “Everything. I love their pork carnitas, if you ask them to put it in an enchilada; you’ll have a great lunch.” Henry reached into his shirt pocket for his reading glasses. “Actually, the best thing here is their margaritas. After that little encounter with Mrs. Gregory, I’m in the mood for one, care to join me?”

  “I’d love a margarita, and you were right about the misters keeping things cool. It’s very pleasant here, and I love this courtyard.” Gloria looked up as the waiter walked over to their table. “I’ll have a carnitas enchilada, and can you make me just one please? Also, I’ll try a blue margarita.” She put her menu down and winked at Henry.

  “I’ll have a blue margarita as well.” Henry said as he returned Gloria’s wink. “And I’ll have the crab enchiladas.” Henry handed his menu to the waiter who took off towards the kitchen.

  “Ok, so let’s run through this. Todd Gregory and our victim, Terrance Quinn, go to Las Vegas. There, one of them buys a gun at a gun show.” Henry started as he absent mindedly swished one of the chips in the salsa.

  “Wait a minute, how do you know they went to a gun show while they were in Vegas?” Gloria interrupted.

  “Hmm, I didn’t tell you. In one of the Guns & Ammo magazines I found in Todd’s room he had marked an ad in the back for a gun show in Vegas. Wayne told me yesterday that they have one there every two months.” Henry put the chip in his mouth and started coughing. “Whew this is hot, I need my water.” He took a big drink of water and wiped his eyes with his napkin which started tearing.

  Gloria suppressed a laugh. “Did you forget that you had been dipping that chip in the hot sauce while you were talking?”

  “Yeah, I guess I did.” Henry said with a hoarse voice. “Where was I?”

  “Let me sum it up for you while you recover.” Gloria said with a smile as she patted Henry’s arm.

  “Please.” It came out like he was choking, his voice was still not back.

  “Ok, Terrance and Todd go to Las Vegas. Todd is into guns, buys a .38 at the gun show. They come back; have some kind of argument and Todd shoots Terrance with the gun. Todd calls George Margolis instead of the police and changes his clothes and throws out the gloves he wore to prevent powder burns. Then he draws on his high school acting experience and puts on the distraught employee act that Wayne and George Margolis saw. Todd then takes off for Mexico and we all end up looking for him. Does that kind of sound reasonable to you?” Gloria looked away from Henry’s face just long enough to mouth a thank you as the waiter set the margarita in front of her.

  “That sounds like that is the way it could have happened, but why?” Henry’s voice was coming back slowly and he spoke in a whisper.

  “You mean motive? Perhaps one of them came on to the other and advances were not returned or appreciated?” Gloria took a small sip of her margarita. Henry liked the way her lips formed around the straw; he’d have to tell her later.

  “You mean jealousy? Wayne told me two days ago that I was searching through the classics to come up with that, except at that point I was telling him that Robert is the one that committed murde
r in a jealous rage, not Todd.”

  “But it doesn’t make sense. If Todd is the murderer, why go to Las Vegas with the victim to buy a gun? He already owns a .45 caliber according to his mother, why not use that? And, if he made a pass at Terrance in Las Vegas and he was rejected, wouldn’t he be so mad that he would kill him there?” Gloria reasoned.

  “How about considering this angle? Todd and Terrance go to Vegas, they don’t go to the gun show, the magazine that I found was just a coincidence. They have their affair and come back to Palm Springs. Todd tells his mother that he is gay; Cherie doesn’t accept that, gets angry, blames Quinn for “converting” her son and drives to the tram station and kills the guy she thinks did this to her boy. What Wayne saw was not an act, it was genuine. Todd was grieving for his murdered lover.” Henry picked up another chip as he finished.

  “Then why did Todd run? Was he afraid that Cherie was going to shoot him also? He knew that she owned a gun.” Gloria shook her head. She liked Henry’s theory of Cherie being the murderer better than Todd but it still had some unexplained holes.

  Henry thought for a moment while he took a drink of his margarita. “Maybe you’re right. Although, maybe he is upset with his mother for killing his lover and runs off. How about this? Todd and Terrance go to Las Vegas; they do go to the gun show. Terrance buys a gun for a reason that we don’t know yet. They have their affair and return to Palm Springs. Robert Silverstein finds out that Terrance Quinn cheated on him and takes the gun that Terrance bought in Las Vegas and shoots him in anger. Todd is upset – the hysterical act that Wayne saw wasn’t an act, it was real - and runs off.”