by PJ Fernor
“Look in that pumpkin if you want the truth,” I said. Muldavey took a step and I put my hand out. “Listen to me. I want you to start looking around for the rest of her.”
“The rest of her?” Muldavey asked.
I moved my hand.
He took another step and looked into the pumpkin.
After letting out a groaning sound, he looked at me.
“Understand?” I asked.
“Understand,” Muldavey said.
“Anything you find…”
“Don’t touch it,” he said.
I walked across the street, Ben right at my side.
“What’s next?” Ben asked. “We’re going to need to really look. Not just Muldavey digging around.”
“I know,” I said.
“Then what are we doing?” Ben asked.
I approached Mrs. Mickels’ porch.
“What did you find over there?” she asked.
“You said you were looking out the window last night? Around eleven?” I asked.
“That’s right. I already told him that.” She pointed to Ben.
“I’d like to hear it too,” I said. “I’d like to hear all of it. That front window… it’s got that clear of a view?”
“Are you saying my windows are dirty?” Mrs. Mickels asked. “Do you know how often I clean my house? I know I’m an old woman and a widow, but don’t you dare think for a second I just let my life go.”
“I never would,” I said. I walked up the steps. “I’m just trying to make sense of how you saw something and didn’t do a thing about it. Last I heard, you were capable and willing to call about anything and everything. So you’re telling me that last night you saw what you claimed to be a murder and you just went to bed?”
“Look at my face,” Mrs. Mickels said. “Does this look like the face of sleep to you?”
“You look tired,” I said. “Stressed. Worried. That’s all part of guilt.”
“Guilt? What do I have to feel guilt over?”
“You tell me, Mrs. Mickels.”
“Hey, can we talk for a second?” Ben whispered to me.
“I’m not sure I like where this conversation is going,” Mrs. Mickels said.
“And I warned you I didn’t want to be back here,” I said.
Ben touched my arm. “Please.”
I tightened my jaw and walked back down the steps.
I walked to the middle of the road and stopped.
“What was that?” Ben asked me. “Give me an idea of what we’re doing here, Allie Down.”
“She didn’t call it in,” I said.
“She said she was scared,” Ben said. “And she wanted to talk to you in person. My guess is she’s known as a pain in the neck and her calls don’t get answered like they used to. Just like with the mayor. She went to him personally.”
“Then he came to me.”
“But she got what she wanted, right?”
“Exactly what I’m thinking here, Ben.”
Ben looked toward the pumpkin. “You’re telling me…”
“You never know,” I said. “She really doesn’t want that parade here. I can tell you this too. Spending a little bit of time with Mayor Jim… it will scramble your brain. That man is annoying.”
“Let me just get this out in the open here,” Ben said. “So I can hear it myself too. You’re suggesting - or at least thinking - that perhaps Mrs. Mickels, in her desire to make sure Mayor Jim’s Halloween parade doesn’t happen, decided to kill someone. And not just kill someone but cut off their foot and place it in a pumpkin. Across the street from her own house.”
“I’m well aware how that sounds,” I said. “Well aware.”
“I’m trying to figure this out logically and logistically.”
“You don’t know what anyone is truly capable of,” I said. “The woman murdered could have been anyone. She could have been caught off guard. I mean, we’ve both seen some things in our careers, Ben.”
“I know we have.”
“This isn’t out of the realm of possibilities.”
“I know that too.”
“She’s got plenty of motive. She’s got nothing but time. We both saw the look in her eyes last time we were here. She’s very protective of her house and her street.”
“Except it’s not her street.”
“Try telling her that,” I said. “So she does this heinous act and puts the pumpkin across the street. Ben. A pumpkin. The symbol of Halloween. A carved pumpkin at that.”
“Yeah, you’re starting to convince me.”
“This isn’t about convincing anyone of anything,” I said. “As much as I don’t want to be bothered with this parade stuff, I also don’t want to be dealing with a murder case this close to the holidays.”
“Again,” Ben added.
“Exactly. Again.”
Ben took a deep breath. “It’s a lot of work, Allie.”
“I’m well aware of that, Ben.”
He looked at me. “Okay. There’s only one thing left to do.”
“Say it,” I said.
“Let’s go ask her.”
Chapter Fourteen
I walked back to the porch and Mrs. Mickels looked all but ready for me. The look on her face told me she was secretly enjoying this. Her worries and fears had finally come to life. And somewhere in the back of her mind she cheered on the fact that perhaps this would be the end of Mayor Jim’s coveted dreams for a parade.
“I have some more questions for you,” I said.
“I’m happy to answer all of them,” Mrs. Mickels said.
“I’ll be right here too,” Ben said, smiling.
He was going to be the nice guy. I was going to be the person who asked the tough questions.
“I’m still trying to understand what happened here,” I said. “You said you saw something. You haven’t said what. You have us here. There’s a pumpkin across the street. And we have a big problem on our hands.”
“You’re welcome that I brought it to your attention,” she said.
“You waited so long though. You know what that makes me think?”
“We’re just trying to get the entire story,” Ben said. “That’s all.”
“I’ve told you the story. I walked to the window to check. I always do that. I always check. And I saw…”
“What did you see, Mrs. Mickels?” I asked. “Details, please.”
“I just saw something,” she said.
“Was it a figure?” Ben asked in a smooth voice. “A shape? A shadow? A person? Maybe the pumpkin?”
“Yeah,” she said. “It was a figure. Or a shadow. It was just… something there. I got a bad feeling from it.”
“So now we’re basing this whole thing on feelings?” I asked.
“What she means,” Ben said, being the good guy again, “is that we need to know more. Something bad possibly happened over there. You might be our only witness to it.”
Mrs. Mickels nodded. “Wow. That’s a lot.”
“You wanted this though,” I said. “Right? You enjoy looking out the window. You enjoy trying to get in the middle of everything. So here you are. And without answers, you’re going to put me in a very difficult position. I don’t want to have to continue this conversation elsewhere.”
“Meaning what?” Mrs. Mickels asked. Then she gasped. “You think I did this? Is that what you’re saying? I did this?”
“I don’t think that’s what we’re saying,” Ben said.
“You know what?” I asked. “Time to level this out. Mrs. Mickels, let’s look at it this way. You’ve been fighting with the mayor for a while now. For so many things. He’s planning a parade. You hate the idea of it. We come by to smooth things over. That’s not good enough though. I think we can agree you’ll do anything to protect yourself and your house. The question I have is… how far would you go?”
Mrs. Mickels swallowed hard. “I’m not sure I like where this is going.”
“We have to make sure all qu
estions are asked,” Ben said. “The good news is, if we can get the obvious out of the way, then we can get to work. I hope that makes sense.”
“And what I want to know is exactly what you saw,” I said. “You didn’t call last night but yet you had no problem getting in your car today and driving to the station to stir up trouble. Demanding to talk to me. Dragging us all here. And we find a foot in the pumpkin.”
“A foot…” Mrs. Mickels touched her lips. “A foot… as in…”
“A woman’s foot,” I said. “That’s what we found. And you all but pointed it out to us. What do you think that makes me think?”
I inched closer to Mrs. Mickels.
Ben casually touched my hand, his silent warning not to go too hard on Mrs. Mickels.
“I didn’t hurt anyone,” she said. “I did not kill anyone. I’m just doing my job by reporting issues. That’s all.”
“Are you sure of that?” I asked.
“I think we’re all sure here,” another voice added.
Mayor Jim.
I turned my head and he began to walk up the porch steps.
“I think Mrs. Mickels is a bit of hero here,” he said with his big smile. “Whatever’s going on here, I don’t think it concerns her. Let’s give her a chance to catch her breath while we talk.”
While we talk?
“What are you doing right now?” Ben asked Mayor Jim.
Mayor Jim winked and motioned for us to follow him.
We ended up back in the middle of the street.
“I’m conducting an investigation here,” I said.
“I don’t think she did it,” Mayor Jim said. “I used to be a cop myself, remember?”
“That’s good for you,” I said.
“There’s motive here,” Ben said.
“I think it’s best if we just keep this quiet,” Mayor Jim said. “There’s got to be a way to ease the tension here. You keep looking for answers. I’ll talk to Mrs. Mickels personally and tell her to not say a word. Why bring attention to something like this, right? We don’t even know what this is.”
“What this is?” I asked. “A woman’s foot was left in a pumpkin. Across the street from the woman who wants your parade cancelled.”
“You’re right,” Mayor Jim said. “This looks bad for her. But she won’t budge. Even if she did do it. I don’t think she did it, but let’s say she did. The real punishment can be her keeping her mouth shut while life moves on.”
“You’re worried about the parade,” Ben said.
“No,” Mayor Jim said. “I’m worried about the mental state of this town. To go through something like this again. To start throwing names and accusations out there.”
“As opposed to what?” I asked. “We just pretend nothing happened? It’s just a foot… right?”
“I’m not saying to make light of it,” Mayor Jim said. “I’m saying to look at the severity and the circumstances. That’s all.”
“I think you should not be here,” Ben said. “You don’t need to throw your input around here when it comes to something like this.”
“Sometimes an outside view is best,” Mayor Jim said. “Look at what you have here. Take a step back. Think for a second.”
This really was about the parade.
The things I wanted to say to Mayor Jim right then…
“Look, Allie, you don’t even know where this person is,” Mayor Jim said.
“You mean the rest of the person?” Ben asked.
“Show me then,” Mayor Jim said.
I saw movement from the corner of my eye and Muldavey came running into the street.
“I found something,” Muldavey said.
“What’s something?” Mayor Jim asked.
“A body,” Muldavey said.
Mayor Jim frowned.
I looked at him. “Still think this is no big deal, Mayor Jim?”
Chapter Fifteen
Muldavey led the way for Ben and me.
I looked at Mayor Jim and pointed.
He showed his hands.
“I’m not kidding this time, Jim,” I warned.
He didn’t say a word.
Finally. He shut up.
I jogged to the other side of the street where there was a narrow, overgrown sidewalk.
The pumpkin still sat in the same spot.
Muldavey pointed. “Right through there.”
“How far?” Ben asked.
“Hundred feet or so,” Muldavey said. “There’s a small clearing. She’s right there.”
“She?” I asked.
Muldavey nodded. “Yeah. She.”
My eyes moved toward Ben as he looked at me.
“Let’s go,” he said.
He took the lead, stepping through the thick brush, attempting to make somewhat of a path for me.
The ground was damp and covered in fallen leaves.
The bright colors of the autumn season were in full effect.
And there I was - once again - tracking down a murder scene.
Ben growled as he stepped on a large stick, breaking it.
“Careful there,” he said and pointed down. “Looks like a small hole. Don’t twist your ankle.”
I reached with my hands and balanced myself as I stepped over the hole and up onto the thick branch that had at some point in time fallen off a tree.
Ben pushed through more thick brush and paused for a second. “Watch your face, Allie Down. This is getting thick. I hope Muldavey remembered where he came from.”
“I trust him,” I said. “Just keep going. A little bit more and it should open up.”
We continued to walk and sure enough, just as Muldavey said, the thick brush let up and there was a small clearing. It wasn’t a manmade clearing. Just a spot where there was a little bit more breathing room.
Ben saw her first. He let out a groaning ahh sound.
I quickly move to his side so I could see for myself.
When I saw the woman on the ground, face up, her eyes open with the glazed over stare of death, I looked up. I took one deep breath and nodded.
“Look at her throat and wrists,” Ben said to me.
I stepped to my right and began to assess the scene.
The woman had blonde hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. It looked like she was in exercise clothing. A purple and white zip-up long sleeve top. With holes for her thumbs at the ends. Her body was twisted a little in a dead and stiff position. There were some leaves and sticks on the lower half of her body.
I looked at Ben again.
I wasn’t sure if she had been meant to be covered up or what.
Or maybe whoever did this heard a noise and got scared and ran off, unable to finish covering her up.
That didn’t explain the foot in the pumpkin thing though.
Why cover the body up knowing the police would look for her anyway?
My eyes moved back up her body to the wounds.
I crouched down and put my right hand over my mouth.
She had been cut at her throat and at both wrists.
I leaned forward a little to look at her neck…
“Is that real?”
I stood up and turned to find Mayor Jim a few feet away.
“What are you doing here again, Jim?” I growled.
“That’s real,” he said, staring at the woman. His eyes went even bigger than when he saw the foot. “That’s a body… a woman’s… body…”
“You need to go this time,” Ben said. He turned to face Mayor Jim. “For good. For your own good.”
“I can’t believe this,” Mayor Jim said. “That’s a dead body.”
A second later, Muldavey appeared. He looked right at me. “I was talking to Mrs. Mickels… I’m so sorry…”
“Mayor Jim needs to leave,” I said to Muldavey. “Guide him back to the road. Get him a drink of water. And get him out of here.” I looked at Mayor Jim. “Right now, Jim. This is not a joke. Okay?”
Mayor Jim nodded.
He took
deep breaths, his cheeks puffing out like a squirrel with a mouthful of acorns.
“Come on, Mr. Mayor,” Muldavey said.
He gently put a hand to Mayor Jim’s back.
Mayor Jim turned, still taking deep breaths.
“That’s a dead body right there,” he said to Muldavey.
“I know it is, sir,” Muldavey said. “Let them do their job.”
“Maybe that’ll teach him a lesson,” Ben said.
“Yeah… what I want to know though is who wanted to teach this woman a lesson.”
I looked at the woman again.
The cut on her throat was ear to ear and visibly deep. That cut alone would have been enough to end her life. I assumed the wrists were for insurance. Or a message.
Then again, the foot was the message. I wasn’t sure what that message was yet…
“There’s not a lot of blood,” Ben said. “I’m wondering if she was moved here.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was just starting to think the same thing myself.”
Ben and I looked around.
“We’ll have to figure out from where,” he said. “Maybe Mrs. Mickels isn’t so crazy after all.”
“She would have seen or heard something more,” I said. “If a car or whatever parked out front of her house. Whoever did this came in from another angle. We’ll have to canvas the entire area.”
“Of course,” Ben said. “Once we get rid of the mayor, we’ll have Muldavey come back. This is going to be very busy here, Allie Down.”
I nodded. “Yes, it is.”
My eyes moved down to the woman again.
I noticed her right foot sticking out from under the brush that had been thrown on her. It looked like a running shoe. Almost the same color purple as her top.
“Ben,” I said. “Move the brush a little…”
I pointed.
Ben found a long stick and began to push the brush away.
He then let out a groan again and looked at me.
I shut my eyes.
I almost didn’t want to look.
But I had to.
I opened my eyes and saw… the woman’s left foot. In a running shoe. Attached to her body.
Which meant…
Ben finished my thought for me. “There were two women murdered.”
Chapter Sixteen