We rushed into the hospital...went to the front desk to get a pass....the nurse told us that Thankful had passed on soon after we left...she went into a coughing spell and her heart just gave out.
Tammy and I just stood there with tears in our eyes. As we walked out of the hospital, we saw the coroner pull up. We went to the car and just sat there for a while....silently. We had both just lost a sweet friend.
Tammy asked ,"What do we do now?" I started the car and said,"We do what Thankful told us to do....we get the evidence to the FBI." Tammy agreed and we went straight to Thankful's house.
In a few minutes we were in Thankful's driveway. We got up to the porch and I had a strange feeling come over me...like a chill. I put the key in the door and it just pushed open....I know I locked the door when we left.
Tammy walked in with me...she was holding my right hand with both of her hands...we were both scared but knew we had to do this. Tammy screamed and put her arms around my neck as we saw the body on the kitchen floor. It was Harvey Kremble....it looked like he had been shot in the head with Thankful's shotgun...a large pool of blood was under his head.
Before backing out with Tammy...I noticed that oatmeal was dumped near Harvey's body....damn...the killer had the evidence! I also notice a strange burnt smell...kind of like when dad fixed our wrought iron gate with his torch...it was faint but it was there.
Tammy waited on the porch while I called the police. As soon as I finished, I ran out on the porch to Tammy. We just stood there holding each other until the police came.
It wasn't long until the cops showed up...Officer Joe Blankenship was there first....Officer Joe said,"Tommy...you keep showing up at murder scenes...what the hell is going on?" I briefly explained to him about Thankful and how she had given me a key to feed her cat.
More cops came along with Detective Don Croze. He gave Tammy and I a strange look as he stepped in the door. Joe asked us a few more questions and Detective Croze came out with plastic bags....he told Offer Joe,"I guess we had the wrong Kremble...the knife and green string were in his pocket....I'll have to go back to the hospital and question the old piss tossing woman...she must have shot Harvey when he came to kill her?"
I saw that Tammy began to speak when I squeezed her hand hard and gave her a "NO" look. We knew that Thankful hadn't killed Harvey because we had just been in the house a few hours earlier getting the tape.
I told Detective Croze that Thankful had just died. He just looked at me...holding back a grin and said,"Well...I am Thankful she cleared this case up...you kids need to get on home."
