Chapter 42 third quarter

In early 1983, Betty's 18-year-old eldest son, Robin, also moved into the RV on Red Cliff Loop.Betty said that there are four people living in the family now, and there are too many sundries, so she wants to build a storage room in the garden.Jimmy also thought it was a good idea, but the couple had a dispute over the location.Betty insisted that the storage room be built on the gray brick platform in the back yard.Jimi said that the center of the platform has obviously subsided, and there may be groundwater or other problems, so it cannot be used as a foundation.But Betty was stubborn and turned a deaf ear to Jimmy's words.

On the day the construction started, William Coleman, the husband of the fourth daughter Fali, came to help.He still remembers that Jimmy smiled wryly and said to him: "Anything Betty wants to do, she must do." Jimmy also said that the half-acre garden is so big, he couldn't figure out why Betty chose this small piece of land. . In the spring of this year, Robin was arrested for theft, and Betty and Jimmy paid a large amount of bail for him, and hired a lawyer, Yi Rui Unruth.Yi Rui is also a frequent visitor to the Cedar Club. Jimmy had a niece, Cargi Collins, who worked for JCPenney in Dallas, verifying account information for new clients.On this day, Jia Ji saw a new life insurance application by her uncle on the computer, with an insurance amount of 10,000 US dollars, and the beneficiary was Betty.Everything was fine, except that the address made Cargi feel strange. It was neither the old house in Oak Gap, nor Betty's RV on Red Cliff Loop, but Pike Street in Mosquette.Jia Ji really couldn't understand how Jimmy had such an address. When he called the fire station, Jimmy didn't know anything about it. He said that I already had a $100,000 life insurance, and the beneficiary was Betty, there's no need to reinsure.

Jia Ji immediately went to see the head of the department. The head thought for a long time and said, "Maybe I've watched too many TV shows about crime, but my instinct tells me that this matter is not trivial." "You mean someone's trying to murder Jimmy for insurance." "Maybe not so much, but at least there is this possibility. The applicants for insurance must be people who are close to him and will not be suspected by him. "Since that person concealed the insurance from him, he may have an accident. How about this, you take these materials to see your uncle now, and if Mr. Pitts does not want this insurance, please sign and cancel it immediately, That way we'll be out of touch."

Sure enough, Jimmy canceled the insurance.In hindsight he remembered that Mosquet's Pike Street was the address of Betty's eldest daughter, Faye. Jimmy went home and asked Betty about it, and Betty didn't deny it. She said she thought it was bill payment insurance for the JCPenney shopping credit card.JCPenney also owns a nationwide chain of department stores. On July 3, 1983, Betty and Jimmy took Bobby back to Betty's natal home in Virginia to visit relatives.Robin had just found a job at a gas station and couldn't leave, so she stayed at home alone.Two weeks later, when Betty and his party came back, the house was in a mess.Robin, who is very curious, first rummaged through boxes and cabinets at home and found Jimmy's collection of coins, then drove over speed and crashed Bobby's motorcycle, then drove Betty's truck into a mud pit, and even drove Jimmy's car without authorization. motorboat.On the way to Virginia, Jimmy took the keys to the launch, but Robin cut the ignition and used a cable to start the ignition.Later, Robin didn't do well at the gas station, so he quit his job altogether and stayed at home all day to mess around.Betty and Jimmy were very angry, and left Robin alone for more than ten days, ignoring him.

One day at the end of July, Robin saw Jimmy working in the front yard, so he offered to help in order to reconcile, only to realize that it was Betty who asked Jimmy to build a well-shaped flower bed.The flower bed is 4 feet square, with a 2-foot-high brick base, a 2-foot-high wooden fence, and a climbing frame on the top.Jimmy and Robin worked continuously for three days.Robin grumbled as he worked, saying he didn't understand why his mother had the whim to build flower beds in the heat. August 5th of that year was a Friday, around 9:00 pm, Bobby went out by bike, Jimmy had already gone to bed, and the next day he had to go to the fire station for the morning shift.Betty called Robin to the kitchen on the other side of the RV and told him flat out that she was going to kill Jimmy.Robin asked why, and Betty said, because Jimmy had several insurance policies.

Betty said that she has been afraid of poverty all her life, and she doesn't want to wait until she is old and still worry about money.He also said that if he didn't do something now, maybe one day Jimmy would leave her, and she would end up with a bamboo basket to fetch water in vain. Earlier that day, Betty called Shirley again, but Shirley firmly refused.She said that the last time you killed someone who had abused you, that was more or less acceptable.A good-tempered person like Jimmy, why should he kill him? Robin lived with his father and stepmother for ten years, had just returned to his mother, and to be honest, he didn't know Betty very well.He had heard about Betty being abused by her husband in the past, but during this time with them day and night, Robin never saw Jimmy do anything to Betty.Even if he moved his boat without permission, Jimmy didn't get angry, but just sulked for a few days.

Betty said everything was ready, but Robin was needed to help.She told Robin to go out and find Poppy now, and stay out with his brother for two hours before coming back. "I don't want you there," Betty said.She specifically told Robin to come back alone first. In the RV, the bloody scene two years ago was repeated against the same background.The same bedroom, the same bed, the same pistol taken out of the same drawer... Even the sleeping bag in which the body was wrapped was the same blue outside and red inside.Only this time, Betty turned on a light in the corridor outside the bedroom, so that she could clearly see the blood splattered by the bullets.

As soon as Robin opened the door, he heard the sound of the vacuum cleaner.The blue sleeping bag was piled up in the hallway, and it looked like Jimmy was sitting on the floor against the wall.The mother and son dragged and tugged, and when they went out, the body in the sleeping bag was bumped by the steps, and Robin thought he heard the cracking sound of bones breaking.In front of the well-shaped flower bed, Robin lifted the sleeping bag with both hands, crossed the 4-foot-high fence, and threw it in with all his might. Betty still called Shirley.Around 2 a.m., Shirley's second husband, Jody Simpson, drove her to Betty's house.Shirley was depressed along the way, babbling about how sad her mother sounded on the phone.Shirley said that after Jimmy and Betty had a quarrel, they went to Dallas in a fit of anger, which was naturally a story made up by Betty.Jody knew Jimmy and had a good relationship, and he didn't think it seemed like Jimmy would run away from home.When they arrived at Betty's house, Shirley asked him to wait in the car, and Jody saw Jimmy's car at a glance.This makes even more sense, if Jimmy went to Dallas, why is his car still parked in the driveway?If Jimmy was home, why didn't he come out with two cans of beer as usual, and chat with Jody in the garden for a while?

When Shirley came out of the RV, she seemed to be a different person, talking and laughing arm in arm with Betty.Jody had to admit that he really didn't understand women. Robin didn't sleep well all night, and when he closed his eyes, he saw the blue sleeping bag.When he finally fell asleep, the rumble of the washer dryer was still ringing in his ears.He thought he just dozed off, and when he awoke it was just dawn and Betty was already busy in front of the flower beds.Beside her were several large bags of store-bought peat bog flower bed soil, and a field of red, white and white begonias stood on the ground.Robin suddenly remembered that he had seen these things in the storage room in the backyard a few days ago.

Without looking up, Betty said, "I've got to have an alibi. We'd better treat Jimmy's disappearance as if it were a yacht wreck." Betty asked Robin to take Jimmy's launch a few miles to the 85 Under the Highway Bridge, then abandon the boat and climb up from the pier, Betty will drive there to pick him up.Betty said that she had already thrown Jimmy's fishing photos (fishing license), glasses, heart emergency pills, etc. in the cabin, and Robin only needed to remove the propeller before abandoning the boat, and then scattered all kinds of tools around , so that when people find the motorboat, they will think that Jimmy has a heart attack due to repairing the engine and accidentally fell into the water.

Betty's troubles this time are because Jimmy is not Wayne after all. He has many relatives and friends, and his disappearance will definitely cause a sensation. And Robin, despite the cruelty and horror of the incident, had to admire his mother's scheming. Betty urges Robin to leave, saying she won't call the police until the launch is in the water. People usually get up late on Saturday morning.When Betty picked up Robin from the Route 85 bridge, there were hardly anyone on the road.Robin said he wanted to go to his father's house for a few days, and Betty asked him to take Bobby with him. On Saturday, August 6, at 8 a.m., Betty called the police. At 8:30, Johnny Marr of the Henderson Regional Police Department and local fire brigade Captain Hugh Daywood arrived at Betty's house.They all knew Jimmy.Betty told them that the last time she saw Jimmy was around 9 o'clock the night before, and Jimmy was going to go fishing at Cedar Lake for the night.Jimmy should go to Schwanson's house first, because the motorboat's engine has some problems recently, and Mr. Schwanson promised to take a look for Jimmy.Betty woke up in the morning and found that Jimmy hadn't returned overnight. She called Schwanson's house, and the other party said that Jimmy hadn't been there.Johnny Marr asked some more routine questions, filled out the missing persons registration form, and asked for a recent photo of Jimmy before he left. At 9 o'clock, Betty called Jimmy's parents and said that if they saw Jimmy, please tell him that she went shopping in Dallas, but she didn't mention the disappearance and the police. That evening, someone spotted Jimmy's motorboat near the Redwood Pier.Lier Smith, the proprietress of the pier, found Betty's house based on Jimmy's fishing photos. She tried no less than 10 times before dialing the phone.At 10 o'clock in the evening, Betty came to the redwood pier.People who were there remember her well-dressed, with her hair neatly combed and her face freshly painted.Betty was very calm, without a single tear.Li Er later told everyone that Betty was a strong woman.When Li'er's own husband died in a shipwreck a few years ago, she cried like a tearful person. The massive search operation began on Sunday, August 7 and lasted 13 days.The main force in this mission is the Henderson Regional Police Department and the Texas Coast Guard.The Dallas Fire Department also dispatched hundreds of volunteers, most of whom were Jimmy's colleagues.Every night and weekend, there are countless people in the lake area volunteering to participate in the search, and many of them drive their own yachts.At most, there were more than 200 boats of various kinds on the surface of Cedar Lake.The Henderson Police Department's interim headquarters for the operation was based in Cambono City, and the Red Cross set up several free food stations along the shores of Cedar Lake.In addition to police and Coast Guard helicopters, the rich in the Lake District also used their own private jets to assist in the search.Many families on Cedar Lake have canceled their scheduled holidays and parties, and competitions such as boating, swimming, and fishing that were scheduled to be held on the lake have also been canceled or postponed. As hope fades, so do people's doubts.No one believed that an engine failure would trouble Jimmy. Some people said that with Jimmy's ability, he could build an engine even if you gave him a pile of scrap iron.No one believed that Jimmy would drown and die. Some people said that with Jimmy's ability, he could swim across Cedar Lake.It was noticed that the date on the medicine bottle in the cabin was two years ago.Jimmy's fishing friends said that Jimmy never took pills and reading glasses when fishing.Jimmy's parents, son and ex-wife believed that the empty boat was deliberately arranged, because all the details did not conform to Jimmy's habits.They also insisted that Betty knew Jimmy's whereabouts and asked the police to force her to confess.Some police experts believed that, given the water temperature at that time, unless heavy objects were tied to the body, the gas in the body would expand, and the body should have surfaced long ago.What especially aroused people's discussion and dissatisfaction was that Jimmy's parents washed their faces by the lake under the scorching sun every day and waited helplessly, while Betty only came to see him in the morning and evening, and accepted everyone's greetings and comfort with a smile. The calm was unbelievable. Captain James Black of the Fire Brigade, who presided over the search, found Jimmy's disappearance very suspicious from the beginning. He once said to people: "I bet if we find Jimmy one day, he will not be in the lake. .” Shortly after the search ended, local newspapers reported that the police had secretly enlisted the help of the mage.A female mage said she saw Jimmy buried near a castle with his face covered in sand.The Coast Guard then searched for the castle along the shore of the lake. They found a stone house by the lake with castle-like turrets on both ends of the roof. The owner of the house allowed them to go in and search, but found nothing.Years later, people remembered that Betty's well-shaped flower beds also had a castle-like style. Another report said that two of Jimmy's nieces, Cargi Collins and Diana Hatch, had driven to visit a skilled mage in Arlington, a city west of Dallas, after hearing about it.Before they could explain why they came, the mage said, "You are worried about a relative. This person is missing, and you want to find him." They invited the mage to the shore of Cedar Lake to perform the ritual, and the mage said, "He is not in the water. Jia Ji and Diana thought that Jimmy was still alive when they heard this, but after the mage continued to practice, he said: "I saw a man in a white shirt fighting a woman." "He is near the water, but I'm afraid He is in the tomb." The last sentence of the mage was: "Mr. Pitts will not be found until July 8, 1985." It was later confirmed that the year and day that the mage said were correct, only the month was missing by one month. ! On the day the search began, Chaplain Danny Boris of the Fire Department came to Betty's house.His role was to help reassure victims' families. But Betty doesn't seem to need reassurance.When Pastor Boris walked into the caravan, she was drinking tea and chatting with some friends. The next day, Pastor Boris visited again.The first thing Betty said to the pastor was: "If they can't find Jimmy, what kind of compensation and benefits will I get?" The pastor was unprepared for this, and after thinking about it, he should have life insurance and pension.How much Betty asked, Danny Boris had to admit that he didn't know, but he could check it for her. Betty couldn't wait for the priest's third visit.Danny Boris told her that Jimmy's insurance was quite substantial, and Betty could get at least $110,000.I say "at least" because Jimmy died in an accident, so some part of the insurance money will be doubled.In addition, Betty will enjoy a lifetime pension of around $800 a month.Betty asked when the money would be available, and Pastor Boris said that the relevant departments of the Fire Brigade would hold a meeting to decide on the payment of the pension.As for life insurance, Texas has very strict regulations. If there is no body, the insurance company will not pay any compensation within seven years. Danny Boris later testified in court that Betty's reaction at the time could be described as "shocked", "she subconsciously took a step back and covered her half-open mouth with her hand." Jimmy's other fortune was, of course, the Oak Gap house.The family moved to Dallas a few months ago after Jane Pietz found a new job.When a large number of military police and Lake District residents were still busy on Cedar Lake, Betty bought two ferocious German Pinschers to guard the empty house. Knowing that Betty is eager to get his hands on his father's estate, Jimmy's son, Jian Ming, hires lawyer Reed Condon, but the lawyer believes that there is really nothing he can do until Betty takes any concrete action.Reed Condon was one of four local tycoons who used a private jet to join the search. Four months later, the neighbors of Oak Canyon told Jian Jie that Betty was showing people the house.According to Reed Conton's investigation, Betty had indeed hired a real estate agent and listed Jimmy's house for $42,000.Reed Conton immediately submitted an application to the court, requesting that all property under Jimmy's name be frozen until the disappearance of Jimmy Peters is investigated. But Betty still didn't give up.A year later, she forged a power of attorney and sold Jimmy's motorboat for $3,250. In early 1985, the house in Oak Gap suffered another fire.Firefighters found gasoline cans and matches at the scene, and neighbors reported seeing Betty go there before the house caught fire.Although there is no conclusive evidence linking Betty to the fire, the point of arson is beyond doubt.The insurance company refused to pay compensation based on this, and Ren Betty did not make any concessions after repeated negotiations. Betty thought of Iri Unrus, the defense attorney hired for Robin's theft case.Never thought that Yi Rui's interest is not limited to fire compensation. According to his statement many years later, Yi Rui asked his client whether Jimmy had any insurance for Betty, and Betty replied that he didn't know. .Out of good intentions, Yi Rui came forward to find out for Betty that the total insurance premium was 153,000 US dollars, and introduced Betty to the Rupert Law Firm in Taylor City, which specializes in civil law. In February 1985, Rupert & Associates filed a court application on Betty's behalf to formally confirm the death of Jimmy Don Pitts.If there is an official document certified by the court, Betty can get the insurance money immediately without having to go through the long 7 years. This time, Betty was in tears.She tearfully told the story of Jimmy's disappearance in court, telling the judge that in the 18 months since August 6, 1983, no one had seen or heard of Jimmy, and Jimmy had never left any will, so As the legal spouse, she should inherit the entire estate.Betty voluntarily exempted the court from appraising Jimmy's property, because she knew all these figures well, and saved the court from raising questions about Jimmy's other life insurance. Three weeks later, Betty returned to court accompanied by a lawyer.After signing a lot of legal documents, she obtained Jimmy's death certificate as she wished and became the legal heir of his entire estate. Since Jimmy's accident, Robin has been restless and soon left the RV and moved into the place of his girlfriend Jennifer Cook. One day in 1984, when he went back to Redcliffe Loop to visit his mother, Betty began to babble about what happened to Jimmy before he died.Robin interrupts her to say that he's tired of hearing it, and that, in fact, he's always regretted it, and he's always felt guilty about his part in his mother's murder.At this time, Betty said something: "What's the matter, isn't Shirley the same as you?" Robin didn't understand.Betty said, "Shirley helped me bury Wayne." So far, Robin knows that the RV where Betty lives is actually between two graves, one in front and one in back. Robin's mood became more and more depressed, and he began to drink away his sorrow every night.As a result, one day, he told Jennifer these things in a daze.Jennifer was so scared that she didn't sleep a wink all night, and called her grandmother early the next morning. Betty brought a big man with good features but a fierce face to the house.The new boyfriend, Ray Bang, has been in jail multiple times. In June 1977, he was released on bail after serving seven years of a 20-year sentence for manslaughter.Betty met him at the Cedar Club. But Ray Bon was not Betty's only lover at the Cedars Club.There is also a real estate businessman with a family, Kenard Albright, who often hangs out with Betty in a hotel room nearby.One day, Betty made a slip of the tongue after drinking, and accidentally confided to Kinard about Jimmy's murder.