by Marja McGraw
Chrissy saw me studying it. “It came with the house. This is a rental, and I don’t know where the landlord got it, but it works. That’s all I care about.”
“I’ll bet it’s worth some money. People love antique stoves and ice boxes.”
“Yeah,” Chrissy said disinterestedly. “So what do you think?”
“I think we’d better take care of this guy before he does something we’ll all regret.” I didn’t like hearing that the guy seemed bolder with each visit.
“When he showed up last night, he seemed to be in a bad mood. He was still rambling, but his tone of voice sounded angry. I don’t think he’s all that old, maybe around your age, but his eyes look old. Real red and watery.”
At least the little sweetie didn’t consider me old, which I appreciated at age thirty-two. “Okay, give me a good description of him.”
“Well, like I said, he’s dirty looking, and he needs a haircut. What exactly do you want to know?”
I was going to have to lead her by the hand. “How tall is he, how much does he weigh, hair color, you know, that kind of thing.”
“I’d guess he’s about five feet, nine inches tall. I’m not good at guessing weight, but I think about one hundred and sixty or so. His hair is dark brown, but it looks close to black because it’s so greasy. His eyes are, well, kind of a milky brown. They’re not clear, and they’re always bloodshot. Does that help?”
“Yes, it does, Chrissy. Did you happen to notice anything like a scar or tattoo, anything that further identifies him?”
She turned her head towards the ceiling, deep in thought. “Now that you mention it, I noticed that he’s got something that looks like a snake tattooed on his lower arm.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s see what’s in this envelope.” I picked it up from the floor where it had remained since we moved to the kitchen.
Chapter Eight
Turning the envelope over, I noticed some writing on the flap.
“He’s written I’m sorry on the envelope. I wonder if that’s because of his bad mood last night.”
“Could be. I can’t imagine he’s sorry for all the trouble he’s caused me, or he wouldn’t keep coming around.” Chrissy sounded bitter. “I can’t even let Tammi play outside by herself anymore. I’m afraid he’ll snatch her. I do have neighbors who’ve been keeping an eye on things for me. Doug, my neighbor, works during the day, and his wife, Becky, hasn’t been well lately. He says she sleeps a lot while he’s at work. But it helps a little to know they’re watching the house at least some of the time. And if things got really ugly, I’m sure they’d help me out.”
“Has the bum shown an interest in Tammi?” Things were bad enough already, but that would put the situation way off the charts.
“No. In fact, he’s never even mentioned her, except when he’s describing things he’s seen me do.”
I carefully opened the envelope, wondering what the gift-of-the-day would be. To my surprise, it was a set of old, hand-embroidered hankies. The last time I’d seen a hankie, my grandmother was carrying it.
“Now where on earth would the bum have gotten those?” Chrissy asked, looking over my shoulder.
“Good question. Maybe they belonged to his grandmother.” The hankies made me uncomfortable. They weren’t food or drink, but something more personal, which made me feel the situation was escalating. I couldn’t help but wish Dolly had told me about this when it first started.
Sighing, Chrissy returned to the stove and poured macaroni into the boiling water. She took a pot out of the cupboard and began making her own sauce for the macaroni and cheese. Pulling a box of wheat crackers out of the other cupboard, she poured some on waxed paper and folded it over the top, using a rolling pin to crush them.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“A topping for the macaroni and cheese.”
“Hmmm.” Didn’t sound good, but you never know. Since I hadn’t had the homemade stuff, I’d withhold my judgment until later.
Chrissy and I chatted while she put the casserole together and placed it in the oven. “It’ll be ready in about twenty-five minutes.” She opened a can of veggies and poured the contents into a glass dish, and placed the dish in a microwave oven. What a contrast, looking from the old stove to the microwave.
She saw my look and chuckled.
I grinned. “We’ve come a long way, baby.” That made her laugh out loud. “My mom used to say that. She said it came from an old TV commercial.”
“I wish my mom and dad were here. My dad would have taken care of this guy.” Chrissy had stopped laughing and looked sad.
“Where are your mother and father, if you don’t mind me asking?”
I could see the young woman’s eyes tearing up. She took a deep breath, apparently to keep herself from crying.
“The day after I had Tammi, my husband was driving my mom and dad to the hospital to see her. They’d been out of town, and Greg picked them up at the Ontario Airport. They were coming down Kellogg Hill, and a trucker fell asleep behind the wheel, and – well, you know. They were all killed instantly.” She didn’t give any other details, and I didn’t ask for any.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Tammi and Grandma Dolly are all I have left. Greg’s parents were never the same, and they moved back East. They keep in touch with Tammi and me, but she’s too much of a reminder of their only son. They simply can’t deal with it.”
“How old are you, Chrissy?” She seemed young to have been through so much.
“I’m twenty-five. Greg and I were young when we got married, and Tammi came just over a year later, and…” She couldn’t finish. I stood up and gave her a hug. It felt like the right thing to do.
The bell went off on the timer Chrissy had set.
“Mom? Why are you crying?” Tammi asked. She was standing inside the over-sized doorless opening to the kitchen.
“How long have you been standing there?” Chrissy asked.
I also wondered how much the child might have heard.
“I put my toys away like you said to, and here I am.” She turned to me. “Could I have a hug, too?”
“Of course, you can.” I picked up that little bundle of cuteness and gave her the biggest hug I could without breaking her ribs.
Chrissy wiped away her tears and smiled at the child. “Dinner is almost ready. Go wash your hands.”
“Awwww--”
“Come on,” I said, “I need to wash mine, too.”
She took me by the hand and led me to the bathroom. We washed up together; Tammi giggled when I shook my wet hand at her. Good thing Pete wasn’t here to see this. He’d be having heart palpitations if he saw me being motherly. Marriage was one thing we’d never discussed, and I didn’t think it would be coming up any time soon.
After dinner Tammi disappeared into her room to play while Chrissy and I talked a bit more. She gave me the name of the cop who’d been to her house so many times, and she commented that this was apparently one of his nights off. She thought she’d figured out Officer Todd Paley’s schedule.
I asked if there were specific nights the bum showed up and she said no, except he never came on a Monday or a Tuesday. He’d shown up the previous evening, a Monday, but that was an exception. He’d left the envelope today, but Chrissy said he probably wouldn’t be back because it was Tuesday. She said she hoped he’d return so I could see him, but she doubted it.
“And you think Monday and Tuesday nights are Officer Paley’s nights off?”
Chrissy nodded. So the bum had figured out the cop’s schedule, too. Pretty good figuring for someone who rambled instead of carrying on a conversation. I wondered why, or if, Paley really figured into the bum’s thought process.
The nutcase didn’t show up that evening, as Chrissy had predicted, and before I left I asked for her mac and cheese recipe. It definitely beat the boxed stuff.
“Okay,” I said, preparing to leave, “I want to give you a couple of safety tips b
efore I go. Look him directly in the eyes or he’ll read you as a victim. Don’t let him see he’s scaring you. If he thinks you’re frightened, it gives him the upper hand.
“Secondly, stay alert. Don’t turn the TV or music so loud that you can’t hear what’s going on around the house. I don’t mean you have to sit on the couch and quake in your shoes, but listen for unusual noises.”
Talk about timing, a loud scratching noise came from the ceiling right above my head. I jumped.
Chrissy looked up at the ceiling, frowning. “That’s a tree rat. There are a few left over from when this area was filled with orange groves. I have an exterminator coming tomorrow to get rid of it.”
“Okay.” I stood a little straighter, hoping she hadn’t noticed me jump. “Next, don’t show this guy any sympathy. I realize that it may appear he’s fallen on hard times, but no sympathy.”
“Believe me, I don’t feel sorry for him.”
“The next time he shows up, close the door and call the police immediately. Don’t wait until he’s walking toward the street.”
“Those are all good suggestions, Sandi. It’s kind of hard not to let him see he scares me, but I’ll try.”
“I’ll be in touch with you, and don’t worry. We’ll figure this out. In the meantime, I want you to see if Parks and Recreation or someone else offers a self-defense course in this area. And take it.”
“I will.” Tammi had wandered back in, and the two of them were standing at the front door with me. Chrissy wanted to watch until I was safely in my car. I felt like I was leaving the home of two wonderful new friends.
They waved goodbye before we realized she was parked behind me. She retrieved her keys and made Tammi lock the screen door while she moved her car.
I pulled out of the driveway and, just in case, drove around the block, looking for anyone who appeared suspicious. Nothing and no one. I drove directly to the police station, where I asked for the watch commander.
I introduced myself to Lieutenant Johnson and handed him one of my business cards.
“I’d like to talk to Officer Paley about some calls he’s been going out on.”
“What calls are you talking about?” The lieutenant appeared to be a bit suspicious of me.
“A local woman, Chrissy Knight, is being harassed by what sounds like a Skid Row type bum, and Officer Paley has handled most of the calls. I have a few questions I’d like to ask him. When would be the best time to contact him?”
“He’s off duty tonight. I can have him call you tomorrow night.”
“I’d like to talk to him in person, if that’s okay. What time does he start tomorrow?” I wanted to see the officer’s reaction to any questions I might ask him.
“He’ll be in at about four o’clock. You can see him before he leaves the station.” Lieutenant Johnson appeared to be sizing me up, just as I was doing to him. I must have passed muster, because he almost, but not quite, smiled at me.
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon.”
I glanced at my watch before I pulled out of the parking lot and noticed it was close to nine o’clock. I was tired, worried about Dolly’s family, and ready to go home.
The drive was a long one, but traffic wasn’t as bad as usual. I felt relief when I turned the corner onto my street. Unfortunately, that feeling didn’t last long.
Chapter Nine
Pulling up to the curb, I found Dolly, Stanley and Bubba on the front porch. All the lights were on in the house. Stanley was pacing rapidly from one end of the porch to the other.
“Stanle… Stan?” Would I ever get used to calling him Stan instead of Stanley? “What’s going on?”
“Uh, Sandi, I think you should know there’s something odd about your house.” The expression on his face concerned me.
“Odd? Like what?” He had my full attention.
“He thinks it’s haunted.” Dolly stepped forward, shaking her head.
“Haunted?” Glancing at Dolly, I came close to grinning, but caught myself before the smile crossed my face.
“Haunted.” Although Dolly was a natural born worrier, she also had a no-nonsense personality. It was real life that made her worry, not spooks.
“Why would you think that?” I glanced from Stanley to Bubba. “And how did you and Bubba end up together? I thought he made you nervous.”
“He does. I only let him in because he wouldn’t quit knocking on the door.”
“Knocking on the door?” This story was getting better and better.
“You know, with his paw.”
“Ah. Okay, so what about this ghost?”
“Well, I was working in the office, and Bubba started acting peculiar. He began to pace and whine, like something was upsetting him. He kept walking to the bottom of the stairs and sniffing, and then he’d come back and whine at me again. He seemed to want to go outside, which was fine with me.” He glanced at the dog and pursed his lips, taking a step away from the big animal.
“Okay, so Bubba was whining and you were perfectly happy to let him outside. Then what happened?” I had a feeling Stanley was going to dramatize this as much as possible.
“I left the office and headed toward the kitchen to let the dog out, and then I heard it. A loud noise, like a crash, coming from the attic. Bubba whined louder and began scratching on the back door. He really wanted out. I opened the door and he ran like a scared rabbit.” He graced the dog with a disgusted expression. Bubba was the absolute picture of innocence, looking Stanley squarely in the eyes.
“Between the dog and the noise, I was truly anxious, and decided to go upstairs to see what had caused the sound. I stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a baby crying. It sounded eerie, like an echo. There was another crash.” He took a deep breath. “I would have gone home, but my keys are in the house.” The tic in Stanley’s right eye was out of control.
“I told him I’d go in and get his keys, but he said it wasn’t safe.” Now Dolly was beginning to sound disgusted.
“Stan, something like that happened last night, and Bubba reacted pretty much the same way. When I checked the attic, a box had fallen over. That’s all, no ghost.”
“Okay, but what about the baby crying? What about that? And there were two crashes.”
“Well, it is an old house, and the baby crying could have been creaking noises.”
“Huh-uh! Creaking and crying don’t sound anything alike.”
“Stan, I don’t know what it was, but I do know there’s a logical explanation. I’ll figure it out and let you know. Okay?”
“Okay, but I think I’ll come over during the day tomorrow. I don’t want to be here after dark until you figure out what it could be.”
Bubba stood and moved toward Stanley, who stepped in the other direction. “Leave me alone, you… You chicken, you.” The little man waved his hands at the dog, trying to shoo him away.
I sighed. “Come on. We’ll get your keys, and you can go home and get some sleep.”
“Sandi?” Dolly took a step closer to me.
“Let me take care of Stanley and Bubba, and then we’ll talk.” I knew Dolly wanted an update on her family.
I started through the front door and stopped suddenly when I saw paper clips spilled all over the floor. Stanley walked right into me. Bubba, behind Stanley, followed suit and almost knocked both of us over.
“Enough, you two. This is not a haunted house. And what are these paper clips doing all over the floor?”
“I dropped them when I ran out the front door,” Stanley explained. “I was in a hurry. I’ll clean them up, Sandi.”
“Never mind. You go find your keys while I take care of it.” I started scooping them up and dropping them into the box they’d come in, which was also lying on the floor. Stanley headed for the office to retrieve his keys.
“Good grief. A grown man and a huge dog, and you’d think they were both three-year-olds. When I get to the bottom of this, they’re both going to feel like fools.” I foun
d myself grumbling.
“I already do.” Stanley was standing at the entrance to the hallway.
“Sorry, Stan. I didn’t mean anything. Me and my big mouth.” I hadn’t meant for him to hear me, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. I honestly cared about him. He’d been a good friend during the relatively short time I’d known him.
“No, you’re right. I work for a private investigator, and I should have done what you would have done. I should have investigated the noise and come to a logical conclusion.”
“Honestly, Stan, it’s okay. I’m just tired and cranky. This new case has me upset, too. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know what I find out about the house.”
“Are you sure? I can go upstairs with you to see what’s there. You’re probably right; something must have fallen over. That dumb dog made me nervous. And right after the noises, the doorbell rang. That’s when I dropped the paper clips and ran outside. Dolly was at the door, and she graciously stayed here until you came home.”
I suddenly realized just how upset he was. Under normal circumstances, his first reaction would have been to ask why I was upset about the new case and offer to listen to the story.
“No, you go on home and I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Wait. How can you come over and work tomorrow? What about your job?”
“Oh, the company takes a one-week hiatus every year, and this is the week. They say we’ll be more productive with the break, but I believe that the owner wants a vacation without having to worry about what’s going on while he’s gone. Remember? I explained that to you a couple of weeks ago. I’ll be free to help every day. That’s why I was able to work today.”
Oh, goody! I thought. A whole week of Stanley and Bubba. How exciting. Setting my sarcasm aside, I knew I had things to do away from the house anyway. Uh oh. This attitude was out of character for me. I was more upset about Chrissy and Tammi, and more tired, than I realized. I knew better than to become personally involved in my cases, but I couldn’t seem to help myself with this one.
“I’ll be back tomorrow.”