Majoring in Murder

Chapter 21

I drove through John's Creek on Saturday, familiarizing myself with the roads in the area, attempting to map out a quick escape route. I was fortunate enough to pass by the house on Hillgate Manor Court just as a woman in a brown Volvo was backing out of the driveway. She was alone. I stopped in the cul-de-sac since the bushes did an adequate job of concealing me from her view until she backed out into the road. When she did that, I waited until she made the turn onto the main street then turned around and followed her out of the subdivision.

She looked to be in her early to mid forties, blonde hair, well dressed, and quite attractive. In an attempt to remain inconspicuous, I made a left onto Medlock Bridge after she turned right. The last thing I wanted was for her to notice I was following and grow suspicious.

My first inclination was to think she might be Mr. Goodwin's ex-wife. Something about her gave me that vibe: nice car, large house, dressed conservatively, both residential addresses in close proximity, and there was no sign of another car. A divorcee living near an ex-spouse didn't seem unreasonable. Maybe Carlo knew that Goodwin dropped off the kids or picked them up here on occasion.

Instead of wasting my time waiting for Terry Goodwin to make an appearance, I thought it might be best if I staked out the entrance to St. Ives Country Club until I caught him leaving. That idea seemed more likely to yield results but also very tedious.

It was eleven thirty, almost lunch time, when I parked across the street so I could watch the entrance closest to Goodwin's house at St. Ives. Being a man with money, I doubted he'd use the club's second entrance, which was farther away, and opt for convenience instead.

I sat in a parking place in the shopping center across from the Country Club's entrance and waited, occasionally looking through my binoculars at each car that exited the gate. It was a long, boring wait. I listened to my Sentra's radio for a while, but had to turn it off after an hour so I wouldn't run down the battery. The only time I took my attention away from the gate was when I walked over to Weezy's Movin' On Up Café, a stupid name for a restaurant, but I needed something to eat since I had skipped breakfast.

When Terry Goodwin pulled through the subdivision gate, I looked at my watch. It was 2:05 PM and not a minute too soon. I threw my sandwich wrapper in the passenger seat and peered through the binoculars at Terry while he waited for the traffic light at the intersection to change. There was a woman in the passenger seat and an adolescent boy in back. I assumed the woman was his current wife and the boy one of his kids, if he had kids. Actually, I had no idea whether Terry had family or not but there I was placing him with a wife and kid. If the boy sitting in the back was Terry's, he looked like he might be old enough to drive himself wherever he wanted to go.

I watched the SUV cross the intersection and turn left, passing right in front of me. The woman in the passenger seat appeared to be older and heavier than the woman I had seen earlier at the smaller house.

He's probably sleeping with the other woman, my gut suggested.

It made sense. Actually, it made more sense than my previous assumption. The other woman was more attractive than the one in the car with him. She had to be his mistress. If so, when did he go there to see her?

Damn! It'd take me forever to figure out his routine.

I didn't want this job to become as tiresome as the job in Marietta. It was frustrating trying to figure out when a mark was going to show up somewhere they were supposed to frequent. I had a life too, damn it! I had studying to do. I couldn't fritter away my time tailing someone waiting for a chance to get close to them when they were alone. I was getting fed up when it dawned on me that Goodwin was traveling down Medlock Bridge Road toward the other house. Was he on his way there? If the other woman was his mistress, then it seemed highly unlikely, but I'd only assumed the other woman was his mistress. Suppose she wasn't and he was going there right now.