Free Bats and Bones (The Frannie Shoemaker Campground Mysteries) by Karen Musser Nortman Page A

excuse to meet his daughter and maybe find out a
little more about the Schlumms’ relationship. In spite of Richard’s comment
about the husband always being a likely suspect, she had a hard time believing
that was the case here.
    “I’m going
over to Dave Schlumm’s. I left our thermos with him this morning and I’ll see
how he’s doing,” she said.
    “Whoa,”
Larry said. “After what we just learned about him? I’d better go.”
    Frannie
counted off on her fingers. “It’s broad daylight, I’m not going inside, his
daughter’s there, and I’m much pleasanter than Maeve. And Jane Ann will go with me. No one argues with her.”
    “I can go,
too.” Donna said.
    “I don’t
think that’s a good idea,” Frannie said. “They’ll think we’re ganging up on
them.”
    “I’m pretty
good at asking questions, though.”
    Frannie
thought, ‘nosey, you mean?’ and then felt a slight guilty twinge thinking of
her own intentions but stood her ground.
    “I’m just
going to get my thermos and see how he is,” she said.
    As Larry
stood, arms crossed, at the edge of the road watching, the two women headed
toward Dave Schlumm’s camper. The RV sat perched on its wheels and jacks, still
closed up, air conditioner humming on the roof. Frannie mounted the steps and
knocked. The door opened a crack and the young woman who arrived earlier peered
out.
    “Yes?”
    “I’m
Frannie Shoemaker. My husband and I sat with your dad earlier today. I think I
left my thermos here.”
    Jodi opened
the door wider. Her bleached blond hair stuck out at angles—possibly an
intentional hairstyle, but more likely a result of unconsciously using it to
deal with her grief.
    “Come on
in.” Her voice was faint and raw.
    “We don’t
want to intrude,” Frannie said. “The thermos should be right there on the
counter by the door.”
    Jodi glanced
over and spotted the thermos. She reached for it and at the same time started
to step out the door. Frannie backed off the steps. As Jodi emerged, she pushed
the door closed behind her. She stepped off the steps and handed them the
thermos.
    “Thank you
for helping Dad today,” Jodi said.
    “How’s he
doing?”
    “He’s
sleeping.” Jodi sighed. “This is really hard.” Her voice caught. “I’m going to
miss my mom so much. She won’t get to see Aaron, my son, graduate from college
or her granddaughters even start high school. It’s so unfair.” Tears were
rolling down her cheeks now.
    “I know
what you mean. I lost my mom recently too, although not unexpectedly like this.
I’m sure this is hard on your dad too—he will miss her a lot,” Frannie
said, prodding a little. “He seemed very much in shock this morning.”
    Jodi took a
deep breath. “Yeah…he will. They hadn’t gotten along very well lately, though.
Dad has such a temper, sometimes I didn’t know how she tolerated it.”
    Frannie and
Jane Ann looked at each other, hiding their surprise. Dave hadn’t appeared to
be the one with the temper.
    Frannie
said, “Your dad said your mom loved this park a lot.”
    “She did.
The only thing that really made her mad was when people abused it and didn’t
follow the park rules.”
    “Jodi, if
your mom was leaving the park in her car last night for some reason and she saw
something suspicious, would she have stopped and left the car or called the
authorities?” Frannie asked.
    “Oh, she
would have tried to handle it herself. She would get so mad at people breaking
rules that her emotions would get the best of her.”
    “Well, let
us know if there’s anything we can do,” Jane Ann said. “We’re down in sites 15
and 17. It must be extra difficult to be isolated like this, with no friends
and family around.”
    Jodi
nodded. “My brother and sister-in-law should be here tomorrow. Hopefully, the
police will let us leave soon.”
    “Mr.
Bonnard said there would be a memorial service later,” Frannie said.
    “Yes, she
wanted to be cremated. We’ll have a