“What are you doing down there?” Deb Raymond said as she came in to the kitchen from outdoors. Sissy Boom Boom was on the floor, cringing in the corner. Her nose was wedged between the cabinets on each side and her paws were folded over her eyes.
A blast of cold air came from the front room and Deb looked up to see Ben MacCready leaving. He pulled the door shut behind him and the cold air went with it.
“Did you ask him about the photo album? ’Deb said, pulling off the scarf from around her neck. Her cheeks were still red from the brisk outdoor air.
Liz was still sitting in Sissy’s chair, watching through the front room picture window as Ben MacCready backed the black and white police car out of the driveway and drove off down the street. Deb glanced out the window, watching the policeman go.
“Wh. . What?” Liz said absently, jerking her head up suddenly. She had been thinking intently.
“Did you ask him about the album?” Deb repeated.
“No. I didn’t,” Liz said.” I totally forgot about it.” Then she said,” I don’t know how I would have brought it up to him anyhow. Kinda awkward, don’t you think?”
“Not to a slime ball like him,” Deb said.” I’d’ve just asked him straight out.”
“Yeah, I know you would’ve. But I guess I just don’t have your tact.”
Deb ignored the insinuation.” I sure would like to know who that broad was in that picture with him.”
“I’d forgotten about that to,” Liz mumbled almost to herself, then, she said to Deb.” You know how I said she looked like someone at the hospital?” She didn’t wait for an answer.” Michael was asking me about her just before MacCready came.”
“Mike knows about the girl in the picture?”
“No. I mean about the girl at the hospital. He never did tell me what that was all about. I wonder if. . .” She reached for the handheld phone and punched in Michael’s office number. She glanced at her watch as she listened to the ring at the other end of the line. Mike had probably not had enough time to get back to his office by now, but it was worth a try.
Michael’s secretary came on the line. Liz said,” Hello. Peggy? Is Mike back yet? He left here a little while ago.”
“Not yet, Liz. I don’t expect him back for a while. He was going someplace else after your place. I can have him call you when he gets back.”
“Thanks. In the meantime I’ll try his cell.” Liz hung up and punched in the cell number. His phone was off and went straight to voicemail.” Mike. This is Liz. Call me as soon as you can.” She hung up again and put the hand held back in its cradle.
“What’s going on?” Deb asked.
“I don’t know. But I’ve got a feeling.” She picked up the phone again and said.” Deb, be a peach and hand me the notepad that’s next to the phone in the kitchen.”
“You mean this one?” Deb said bringing a narrow yellow pad. The name Celia Parks was written on it along with a phone number. Liz took it and punched the number.
“Hello. Celia?” Liz said when a voice answered.” This is Liz. How are things?”
“Quiet and boring,” she answered.” I’ve been staying in most of the time. I haven’t seen that man who was watching me since that first time. Maybe I was just jumping at shadows, after all. How are you doing? I hear things have been happening. Michael was here to see me and he told me about them.”
“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, Celia. Michael said he talked to you and he asked me about the other attendant at the hospital, but he didn’t get a chance to tell me what it was all about. I thought maybe you could fill me in.”
“I don’t know much about it. All Michael said was that Shirley Robbins, that’s the other attendant, seems to be missing. No one seems to know where she is. I think Michael thinks there’s something suspicious about it. But he didn’t tell me what it was that he was thinking.”
“Thanks, Celia,” Liz said hurriedly wanting to get off the phone.” Talk to you later. Take care now.”
“So what’s the scoop?” Deb asked.
Liz put the phone down and picked up another lollipop.” You know what I think?” She said as she unwrapped the pop.
“That’s what I’ve been asking you,” Deb said impatiently.
“I think the girl in that picture is the same one from the hospital.” She put the pop in her mouth. Cherry. Yeah things were starting to look up.
“So what?” Deb said.
“So she’s missing, that’s what. And I think our dear chief of police knows it.”
“You think MacCready had something to do with what happened at the hospital?”
“I don’t know what to think,” Liz said.” It hardly seems possible. Not even likely.”
“Maybe what happened at the hospital wasn’t an accident at all,” Deb said.” Maybe you were supposed to die after all. The bags got mixed up and the wrong broad died.”
“That’s silly, Deb. Who’d want to kill me?”
“Ben MacCready, of course.”
“That’s even sillier,” Liz scoffed.” Why would he want to kill me?”
“Who knows about that piece of slime,” Deb answered.” He’s just a mean son of a bitch. He don’t need no reason. Besides, he never did like Joe. Hey. Maybe he’s the one who hurt Joe too.”
“Now you’re letting your imagination run wild. That wouldn’t make sense, either.”
“He got Joe’s job didn’t he?”
“Well, yes. But he wouldn’t kill to get it. People don’t do that over just a job.”
“Don’t kid yourself. People have killed over a lot less. Just look at the evidence.”
“You’re playing cop again, I suppose,” Liz said.” What evidence? ’
“You said yourself, the man that broke in was about MacCready’s size.”
“Doesn’t make sense. He’s the chief of police. He makes a good salary. Why would he turn to burglary?”
“Don’t you see? It wasn’t burglary at all. He was trying to kill you. It didn’t work the first time at the hospital, so he tried it again. Remember, Sissy bit the man? Well when I saw MacCready the next morning he was favoring his right hip. Just about the same place where Sissy got a piece of him. And just now Sissy was hiding from him in the kitchen.”
The pooch came back in the front room, her tail wagging. She had heard them talking about her.
“That could have been a coincidence. He could have hurt himself some other way. Yet Sissy doesn’t seem to like him much.”
“That makes two of us,” Deb said.” He did say he hurt himself at an accident site the day before. You know when that girl was killed.”
“That’s right. There was an accident that day,” Liz mused.” We never did hear who she was, and Ben was evasive when I asked him about that. I wonder. . . .”
“Wonder what?”
“Oh, nothing. Besides, all this talk is ridiculous anyhow. Have you been reading my Nancy Drew books?”
“Nah, I wouldn’t read that crap.” Deb answered.
Deb was silent for a bit, thinking about the possibility. After a few moments she said,” What about the other break ins? You think he did that too? Surely, you don’t think he killed Marlee.”
“Nah. He just took advantage of it. After the first break in, he just figured everyone would naturally assume it was the same burglar. He missed at the Hospital and took advantage of the break in at Drum’s to try again.”
“But he wasn’t even at the hospital.”
“Ah, but maybe he has a girlfriend there. Maybe he had her set up the infusion bag with something that would kill you.”
“Nonsense. The hospital determined that it was a reaction to my medication that killed the Pruitt woman. I’d had it several times and had no such reaction.”
“What if there was something else in the bag that time? Like a poison or something.”
“The hospital would have discovered it.”
“Maybe they did. You never
heard of a cover up?”
“You’re just imagining things, now, Deb.”
“Yeah? Well then, you tell me what happened to Shirley Robbins?”
Amalgamated Concrete Delivery did not look like a thriving business from the outside. The entire site including building and parking lot probably covered less than an acre, fenced in by a high chain link fence. Three strands of barb wire were stretched above it to keep trespassers out. It was in a rundown neighborhood bordering the southern fringes of Buffalo, just below the thruway. The building was a squat one story building, almost square in shape. Its cinder block walls were dingy from grime and age.
Four concrete delivery trucks were in the back lot. Two were obviously parked and out of service for the time being and the other two were loaded with concrete. Their engines were running and the giant drums were turning, keeping the concrete moist and porous.
Michael Porelli parked his car next to a red Porche near the entrance to the building and went inside. The inside was rundown and furniture was sparse.
“You must have an appointment to see Mr. Pruitt,” the snip of a young girl at the reception desk said, not too politely. She was thin and short. Her dark hair hung straight, neck length.
“Just tell him Vinnie Porelli’s attorney is here,” Michael said.” He’ll see me.”
The girl stared at him.” No he won’t.”
“Just buzz him,” Mike said sounding secretive.” He’ll see me.”
The girl grimaced, then picked up the phone receiver and pushed a button on the console. She turned away from Michael and spoke into the phone. Her head nodded a few times during the short conversation. She hung up and swung around to face Michael. She glared angrily. She didn’t like to be wrong.” He’ll be right out,” she said.
“What the hell!” Arnold Pruitt shouted as he came storming around the corner of his battle scarred old wooden desk. He was a short middle aged man with a lot of flab hanging over his belt. A black goatee on his round chin matched his greasy hair and the bushy drooping mustache that spread out beneath his fat cheeks. His dark eyebrows were just as bushy and his arms that protruded from the rolled up sleeves of his denim shirt were covered with dark hair.” You said Vinnie sent you. And here you are asking me all theses questions.”
Mike cowered back a little in the wooden straight chair he was sitting in, before Pruitt’s desk. He didn’t retaliate at first. He just let the man rant.
“It’s none of your business, if I decide not to sue the hospital. You have your nerve coming in here and making insinuations. If you hadn’t said Vinnie sent you, I never would have let you in.”
“I never actually said Vinnie sent me,” Mike said.” I only said that I was Vinnie’s attorney. I didn’t know for sure that you even knew Vinnie. I just thought that considering the business you’re in, it was quite possible that you two were. . .”
“Connected,” Pruitt said.” You think I’m mob, just because I’m in construction?”
“Well, I could ask my father.”
“Go ahead. He’ll tell you we’ve had business before, but that’s all. I do a lot of work for all kinds of businesses.”
“You’ve had contracts with Amity Hospital?”
“Of course. They need concrete when they build.”
“Is that why you’re not suing the hospital.”
“I never said I wasn’t. Who told you that?” Arnold Pruit came back.
Mike didn’t answer the question directly. He said,” Seems to me, most people wouldn’t take their wife’s death so lightly that they wouldn’t want to seek retribution from those responsible for it.”
“What are you saying? Can’t you see how broken up I am about this. My wife meant everything to me.”
“Sure,” Michael said.” I can see that. I’ll bet her money meant even more.”
“What money? We’ve been near broke for over a year now. Business has been bad.”
“Then that four hundred thousand dollar policy you took out on her last June, should help out a lot.”
“Are you saying I had something to do with my wife’s death?”
Mike didn’t answer and Pruitt continued.” How could I? I wasn’t even there. Besides it was an accident. The hospital screwed up.”
“Maybe you knew someone there who could help with the accident. Maybe you know a Shirley Robbins.”
Pruit stepped closer, his massive fists balled, fire in his eyes.” That’s enough punk. Get out of here! Now! And tell Vinnie I’ll be seeing him real soon.”
*****
Chapter Twenty
Monsters and Lollipops Page 21