PAR FOR THE COURSE

PROLOGUE

    As Piper O’Donnell drove her black Mercedes 550 convertible down the tree-lined exit of the Woodlawn Golf & County Club, she took the opportunity to check her make-up in the rearview mirror.  Within moments she would be at home with a drink in her hand reporting the play by play of her spectacular evening to her darling husband, Charles.  Miraculously, her long, blonde hair was still perfectly tucked behind the crisp, white visor and the collar of her pink Lilly shirt brought out the rosy color of her cheeks, just as she had planned.  While tossing and turning late last night, she had agonized over whether to wear her aqua or pink Lilly outfit for the Ladies’ Twilight Nine Hole Match since she'd already worn her favorite yellow Lilly for the Ladies’ tourney the previous day.  It certainly was an important decision for Piper.  That was for sure.  In the back of her mind, she knew her only chance of being noticed lay solely upon her outfit selection since her handicap left a lot to be desired.  Who said the score had to count anyway?  Wasn’t the primary purpose of ladies’ golf to catch up on the latest scandal rocking the tiny suburb of Woodlawn, Ohio?

Not only had Piper been expected to play the full nine holes, she also had no say in the selection of her partners for the match.  Despite the witty repartée that she had exchanged with the resident golf pro, Piper had a feeling he just wasn’t too keen on her vivacious personality.  In fact, she thought he actually enjoyed watching her squirm as she tried to play nicey-nice with the local ladies that he had purposely set her up with.        
                                                  
If only her husband hadn’t taken that supposedly “once in a lifetime job” would she be stuck in this godforsaken place trying to fit into a social set that thought pashminas were a type of camel and Kate Spade was some sort of a gardening expert.  What she wouldn’t give for a mojito on the terrace of some posh New York City café while watching the latest fashions strut past on 5th Avenue!  Too late now.  Piper would have to continue making the best of her awful set of circumstances.

 “What’s not to like?” murmured Piper as she dreamily stared at herself in the mirror while trying to navigate the traffic circle.  Good thing for everyone else on the road that particular Wednesday evening in late April that she lived but only a stone’s throw away from the club.  “It’s amazing how the right outfit can lift a girl’s spirits.”      
 
Surprisingly, Charles’ sleek white BMW 740 was neatly parked in their massive three car garage.  Smiling to herself, Piper took this as a sign that he had returned early from his business trip and perhaps tonight would entail some sort of rendezvous instead of the usual obligatory romp in the hay.  That was, of course, assuming that he really came back to see her and not to sneak in a few extra hours of work from home.  “There’s always hope.”   Quickly, she parked her car next to his and then headed inside.

After taking off her Manolo heels and quickly taking a glimpse at the pile of mail on the kitchen table, Piper opened the refrigerator door and grabbed a Snapple Iced Tea.  “Charles?” shouted Piper.  “Where are you?”  As she took a sip, she noticed that his keys and wallet were strewn about on the kitchen counter.  “Well, he’s obviously here somewhere.  Charles, honey?  Are you upstairs?”

Hoping he was horny and just playing possum, Piper skipped upstairs to prove her devotion to her hubby.  As she took a peek into the bedroom, she saw the sheets were in disarray and there were clothes thrown all over the floor.  “That’s strange.”   Piper knew what a neat freak her husband was since everything in the house was usually accounted for unless of course Piper had been there first.  Guessing this was all part of his devious seduction plan, Piper decided it was best to play along and started unbuttoning her blouse.  “Charles, baby.  I’m home.  Where are you?”  She got no answer.  Hoping to lure him into her web she continued, “I have some whipped cream left over in the refrigerator.  How does that sound?  Want me to go grab it so we can have a little fun?”  Still with no response, Piper continued her strip tease act and headed into the master bathroom.  “There goes my early morning walk,” griped Piper, unless of course, she could speed things up a bit.  “There’s always hope,” she giggled as she made a mental note to call her friend and somewhat of a confidant, Tanya Vance, if things took longer than anticipated.  A girl needed her beauty sleep if she wanted to compete with the younger crop of beauty queens, not that there were a whole bunch that she knew of in this farming town anyway, but better to be safe than sorry.

 As she turned the corner, Piper glanced in the room and screamed.  Lying on the floor in a pool of blood was Charles!  Not knowing what to do, Piper quickly grabbed a towel and knelt down beside him as she began wiping the blood off his face. “Charles, Charles!”  Putting her ear to his chest, she realized that he wasn’t breathing.  Not known to keep a level head in an emergency, Piper started to panic as she cradled him in her arms.  Slowly, his blood continued to ooze from his face despite her best efforts to make it stop as she watched it make a small puddle on the cold tile floor.   “Honey, what happened?” she said aloud as if he would actually snap out of it and answer.  Piper glanced around the room taking in the disheveled bed and discarded clothes and started to gasp for air.  At this point, she noticed that his blood was getting all over her clothes.  “Oh! My! God!” she shouted.  Her body began to shake as despair settled in.  As the minutes continued to tick by, she came to her senses and decided she had to get help.  Gently laying him down so as to not hurt him, she ran to the nightstand and grabbed the phone.  As she tried to steady herself and dial 911, she realized she couldn’t read the numbers due to the steady stream of tears rolling down her face.  Piper had to do something.  Every precious second counted. Throwing down the receiver in angst she shrieked at the top of her lungs, “Piper, get a grip on yourself!”  It was obvious to her that things were spiraling out of control.  Defeated, she frantically ran to the opened window and wailed, “Someone help me!”

            The remainder of the evening was all just a blur for Piper.  Help arrived, as did the neighbors, but to no avail.  The paramedics pronounced Charles dead upon arrival and immediately had to administer Piper a sedative to get her under control.  As they readied Charles’ body to remove him from the house, Piper threw herself across the corpse and sobbed hysterically.  Taking pity on the inconsolable blonde, Mrs. Haigley, the nosy old lady from down the street, graciously volunteered to take Piper back to her house for the night.  Not surprisingly, her friend, Rusty O’Brien, showed up for emotional support after hearing the call on his police scanner, but by the time he arrived, Piper was already gone from the scene.  What started out as just another ordinary day unfortunately turned into Piper’s worst nightmare.