THE DIXIE DETECTIVE AGENCY
CHAPTER THREE
The four tried to clean up the office. Georgia offered to call the police, but Dixie vetoed the idea. “Nothing was stolen, and nothing that happened to Minnie and me would get them a long sentence,” she said. “Lieutenant Kent already knows about our case, but we’ll need something tangible to work on.”
Once the office was in reasonable condition, it was time to get back to the case. “I have a list of artists in D.C.,” Dixie said. “To save time, I’ll go take half and you two take half.” She took a pair of scissors from the drawer and cut a piece of paper in half.
“Two of these are within a couple blocks of each other,” Georgia noted. “We can split up from there and save even more time.”
“Good,” Dixie said. “There’s even a place in Maryland I can check out on my way home.”
Virginia and Georgia were able to check out the first two places together. Only one had heard of Vivian and knew nothing of her beyond that. The next two were the ones Georgia mentioned back at the office. The parked their car by the first of the two. Virginia offered to go into this one while Georgia would make the short walk to the other.
The studio Virginia visited was upstairs from that of a insurance office and in a building that started out life as a small store back when the storekeeper lived above his work. At the top of the stairs was a reception area inside a door which read “Gumm Art Studio”. There was a brief interlude while the receptionist went inside. Virginia was invited into the main room, where her first sight was that of an artist working on a clay sculpture on a table. A cigarette dangled from his mouth. At the other end were two appropriately statuesque young blondes, neither wearing so much as a stitch. Virginia introduced herself to the sculptor. “I’m Frank Gumm,” he said. “Brandy, Sherry, take it easy for a bit.” The two blondes nodded and slid on robes.
Virginia stated her occupation. “I’m searching for a Vivian Halter-Topp,” she said. “She’s disappeared.”
“Is she a magician’s assistant?” Gumm asked.
“No, she’s an art student. She’s also done some work as an artist’s model and I want to see if you knew anything about her.”
“I’m afraid there’s not much I can tell you. You see, I don’t get much in the way of students in here.”
“With Georgetown and George Washington U so close by? I highly doubt that.” As she spoke, Virginia became aware the twins weren’t just hovering about or taking it easy, but slowly approaching. She turned to confront the twins, but Gumm grabbed her elbows and pinned them to her sides. Virginia opened her mouth, and one of the twins stuffed a balled up piece of cloth. She noticed this one had a scar over her left eye. “That’s how you can tell Brandy and me apart,” Sherry said.
Brandy produced a piece of rope and bound Virginia’s wrists, while Gumm produced a bandanna and used it to hold the ball of cloth in place.
“Put her in the store room for now,” Gumm ordered. “Then get dressed and check to see if she has any friends around.”
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Georgia found nothing at the place she looked into, though the people there were polite and offered to look around. The might even do that for a day or so before going on to other things, Georgia thought. She returned to the car to find Virginia wasn’t there. A sure sign something was wrong.
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Virginia’s mind raced wildly in the store room. She knew Georgia would know right away something was wrong and start looking. Virginia’s first reaction was that she should start kicking once she heard Georgia’s voice. After reflection, she realized that it wouldn’t work. Though her feet were free, Virginia’s kicking would only cause Georgia to fall into a trap. No, she had to stay put and hope Georgia would figure out something was wrong and call for back up.
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A brief conversation with Gumm was all Georgia needed to know he was lying. Once downstairs, she took out her cell phone punched up Dixie’s cell phone number. “He’s lying about Virginia,” Gerogia concluded. “She should have been waiting here for me.”
“I’m on my way over there and so is Lieutenant Kent,” Dixie said. “I’ve heard a lot of unpleasant things about Mister Gumm.”
“Okay, I’ll hold tight until you show up.”
Georgia shut off her cell phone. A short time later, she heard footsteps and before she could react, felt a gun in her back. She was confronted by identical twins sisters, dressed in identical white shorts and identical blouses that were tied under their breasts, though there were different styles in the knots and one had a scar over her left. “Upstairs,” the gunwoman ordered.
Once upstairs, Georgia saw Virginia had been taken out of the storeroom by Gumm and seated in a chair. Gumm moved another chair to where it was directly behind the one Virginia was in. Both chairs had simple metal frame work, with plastic seats and backs. Georgia’s wrists were lashed behind her back and she was made to sit in the empty chair. “You know about Vivian, which means you know too much,” Gumm said.
We don’t know enough, thought Georgia.
Brandy and Sherry produced a long strand of rope and wrapped it around Virginia and Georgia before securing it tightly. Next, Brandy bound Virginia’s ankles and Sherry secured Georgia’s.
“Do you think we won’t be missed?” Georgia asked.
“Gag her,” Gumm ordered and Brandy happily complied. Gumm puffed on his cigarette and said. “Missed, yes, but found will be another thing.” He turned to the twins: “Load the incomplete art works into the van. I’ll take it home. That’s probably their car down there. Take it and dump it somewhere. West Virginia might be a good place.”
“There are a lot of flammable materials in this place,” Gumm said as the twins set out to do his bidding. “Paint, paint cleaners, all sorts of things that burn quickly and easily. Not to mention oily rags and such. With rush hour approaching, it’ll take a while for the Fire Department to get here, and the fire should be well along before it’s discovered.”
Virginia grunted wildly and started to struggle against her bonds. “A noble effort, but a futile one,” he said.
Gumm removed some oily rags from a metal container and scattered them around the floor. Several paint stained smocks were also tossed onto the floor. Tubes of paint were opened and laid in special areas. Finally, a quart can of paint thinner was opened and it’s contents poured out in strategic places throughout the studio. He then set it on the floor beside the table where the sculpture, now removed to the van, had stood. He set it so the opening was toward the floor and paint thinner poured out onto the maple floorboards.
Satisfied, Gumm pulled a matchbook from his pocket. Virginia noticed it was from Skivvy’s. “Knowing where this matchbook came from will do you no good,” he said. “You’ll soon be a baked Hamm and Peach flambé”