Monsters and Lollipops

by Franklin D. Lincoln

“I wish I hadn’t told you about this, Deb. I should’ve known you’d get all hissy about it. Mac knows what he’s doing and I’m going along with it.” Liz was sitting in her usual chair in the living room. Sissy Boom Boom was on her lap and relishing the petting she was getting.

  “So, now its back to being Mac, again, is it?” Deb snorted.” Just the other day, you were scared to death of him.”

  “Well not that scared.” Liz protested.

  “Not that scared huh? Scared enough to fill your bloomers, that’s all.”

  “That was just the M. S. You know that happens every so often. Besides, so what if I was scared of him then. I’m not now. He explained everything to me.”

  “And you believe him. Any man that would sneak around his wife’s back with that Sadie woman….”

  “You don’t know that for sure, Deb. Why don’t you just give it a rest.”

  “Sure, sure. I’ll give a rest. The next time Ben MacCready breaks in here don’t expect me to keep him from strangling you.”

  “Why on earth would he ever do that? We all know that the intruder was probably the same one that had been breaking into other houses and killed poor Marlee.”

  “If that’s the case, what’s your precious Mac doing about that?” Deb emphasized the word ‘Mac’.

  “I don’t know,” Liz confessed with a half pout.” But I’m sure he’s working on that too.”

  Deb started to say something, but was interrupted by the phone ringing. She picked up the handheld from the end table and snapped gruffly.” Hello. Whadaya want.”

  When the voice on the other end sounded, her face brightened. The fire from her eyes disappeared and the corners of her mouth curled upward.” Oh, Hello Mikey,” she said in the sweetest of tones. Deb was like a radio that could change stations instantly.” How’re you doing sweetie?” She said.” I wanted to come see you, but your old man don’t like Liz on account she has a big mouth.”

  Liz clenched her teeth together. He don’t like you either, Deb, she thought to herself. Big mouth. She should talk.

  “Yeah. Well sure, Mikey,” she heard Deb say.” I’ll give her right over to you.” She handed the phone over to Liz and made a face.

  “Hello, Mike. How are you?”

  “Fine, Liz,” Mike answered.” Sorry about my dad keeping you away.”

  “No. No, that’s all right,” Liz said apologetically, then, thought how that must sound.” I mean, I just wanted to know you were okay.”

  “Well I am,” Mike said.” I should be out of here in a few days.”

  “I’m sorry Mike. This was all my fault. I never should have pulled you into this mess.”

  “Nothing’s your fault, Liz. Besides, it was just an accident. Pure and simple. It had nothing to do with my snooping around.”

  “You’re a good boy, Mike.”

  He disregarded the ‘good boy’ and said,” I did find out that Pruitt had financing from Lew Drum’s bank and Lew knew Pruitt’s wife.”

  Liz was silent for a moment; a bit surprised.” I. . I don’t know what you’re getting at, Mike. Are you saying that Lew Drum is mixed up in this too?”

  “I don’t know,” Mike answered.” It’s just that, Pruitt’s wife put up collateral for a loan, so Lew had to have known them both. It’s just a connection, though. I know of no other involvement. But, apparently Lew never told you that he knew her.”

  “Maybe he didn’t know she was the one who died on my medication.”

  “It was in all the papers. But, I suppose, maybe he didn’t read about it. Did he ever talk to you about it? Or you to him?”

  “Now that you mention it, no. I did talk to Marlee about it, though.” She paused then said,” But Mike, I’m sure Lew had nothing to do with any of this. The poor man has enough troubles of his own.”

  “I’m sure you’re you right, Liz,” Mike said, not sounding convinced.” I just thought I’d run it by you. And I did want to talk to you. I hope you’re doing all right.”

  “Oh, I’m fine, thanks.” She didn’t want to tell him about her ordeal at the hospital and her subsequent arrest.

  “Good,” Mike said.” I’ll let you go for now. I am a bit tired. I’ll keep in touch.”

  “Thanks Mike.”

  “Bye for now,” Mike said. “I’ll call again.” He hung up.

  “Bye,” Liz said softly to the dial tone. She clicked the phone off and handed it back to Deb. Deb placed it in the cradle and stared expectantly at Liz.

  After a moment or two, when no news was forthcoming, Deb said,” Well, what’s up?”

  “I don’t know,” Liz said quietly and half to herself; thinking.” I just don’t know.” Then she shook Sissy awake and put her on the floor. The little pug shook herself off.” I guess it’s time I went to bed.” Liz said.

  Deb had already gone to work, by the time Liz got up the next morning. She had awakened surprisingly refreshed for a change and couldn’t recall any bad dreams from the night before.

  She had poured herself some coffee that Deb had put on before leaving. No matter how put out with Liz that Deb could get, she always continued to take care of her. This morning was no exception and the coffee was as good as ever.

  Liz lingered over her coffee, thinking deeply about all of the recent events. There were so many things going on, she was totally confused. Lew Drum, Martin Callan, Shirley Robbins, the recent breakins, and Marlee Drum’s murder. Were they all connected in some gigantic puzzle or were they all separate incidents? It all seemed so jumbled, just like the M. S. itself, with its bits of scar tissue breaking logical thought into bits and pieces of related and unrelated thoughts. Perhaps the reality of life was no different than Multiple Sclerosis; just random acts and incidences that have nothing to do with anything. Maybe nothing really makes sense anyhow.

  The phone rang before she had finished her first cup of coffee. It was from Roger Callan’s office. The girl had called to tell Liz that the doctor couldn’t get her an appointment with Blakeney or anyone else at the hospital until the investigation of what happened before was done. In the meantime, if Liz still wanted the steroid infusion, she would have to go to the hospital in Rochester.

  Liz didn’t know what to say, but dared not refuse, so she agreed to it. Immediately upon hanging up, she called Ben MacCready and told him what had happened.

  “I was afraid that might be the case,” Ben said.” But, hopefully, we’ve started to make someone a little nervous.”

  “What do we do now?” Liz asked.

  “I don’t know. Just don’t worry about it. I’ll come up with something else. Just hang tight and I’ll get back to you.” He hung up.

  Liz didn’t like that. She wasn’t ready to hang up yet and she felt that MacCready had brushed her off a little too quickly.

  She was beginning to feel jittery. It couldn’t be the coffee, she thought, but she pushed the half empty cup aside anyways. She just didn’t feel comfortable sitting tight as MacCready put it. She had to do something. Talk to someone. She picked up the phone again, checked her directory and dialed the bank.

  “No. Lew hasn’t come in yet today,” the girl at the other end of the line said.” Do you want him to call you when he comes in?”

  “No. No. That’s all right. It’s nothing urgent. I’ll call him another time.” She hung up.

  No sooner had she put the phone down, it rang.

  “Hello.”

  “Liz, it’s me, Deb. Hey, I want to know, if Martin Callan is a bad guy, do we gotta give the tractor back?”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sakes, Deb. Is that all you’re calling about? And is there anybody around you that could hear you? What I told you about Martin Callan is not to be repeated. If it gets out that he’s suspected of anything, it’ll ruin everything. I knew I should’ve told you to keep your trap shut about this.”

  “Well excuse me for not having any brains, dearie. Of course I’m not letting anything out of the bag. How stupid
can you be?”

  “How stupid do you want me to be?” Liz answered with a classic Lou Costello line.

  “Ha. Ha. Very funny, dearie. I’ll tell you one thing, I know who’s on first. Gotta go.” She hung up.

  “Oh, Deb,” Liz said to herself as she clicked the phone off and put it down.” For once in your life, please don’t say or do anything stupid.”

  It had been quite some time since Liz had driven the Cherokee. Today she felt she was strong enough to tackle the job. She had gotten nowhere by phone today and she needed to do something.

  It was colder outside than what Liz had expected, for the sun was shining, but there was a slight wind and the air was bitter with cold. As she drove into the center of downtown, the heater was just starting to kick in. That was the problem with short trips, you were never able to get warm before you got where you were going. But Liz didn’t know where she was going, she told herself without admitting that she was hoping to catch Lew Drum at the bank when he came in.

  “Would you like some more coffee, Ma’am?” Deb said to the blond haired woman in the center booth next to the front window. She held the coffee pot in her hand.

  The woman considered it a moment, then said,” Sure. I guess I have time.” She smiled coldly as if forcing it. Crows feet crinkled at the corners of her eyes and lines appeared on her brow, despite all the makeup, and belying her attempt to appear more youthful than her approaching middle age.

  “That’s what I like to hear, dearie,” Deb said as she poured the coffee.” Always good to stop and smell the roses.” She wrinkled her nose as she joked. “Or should I say ‘the coffee. ’ Ain’t none of us gettin’ any younger.”

  Deb was laughing at her own joke, not realizing that the woman might not like the crack about getting old, but the woman seemed to pay no attention.

  Deb was still basking in the euphoria of her own little joke, when suddenly, her face turned grim. The corners of her mouth turned downward and she set her jaw.

  “What the hell. . ?” She said aloud to herself. She pulled the coffee pot quickly back from the cup, not noticing that she almost spilled some it.” What’s she doing?” She was still asking herself as she gazed through the plate glass window at the passing traffic.

  Liz had just driven by in the Cherokee. She tried to tell herself she was mistaken, but as the vehicle passed by, she checked the license plate. It was Liz all right and she was up to something without telling Deb.

  It could mean only one thing, Deb told herself, without saying it aloud. She put the coffee pot on the table and headed for the door. On a coat and hat rack next to it, she retrieved her motorcycle jacket and helmet.” Hey, Morris,” she shouted to the small oriental man behind the counter.” I gotta go. I’ll be back.”

  She had the door open and was on her way out, when her boss, Morris Wong shouted.” Hey. You can’t do that. It’ll be lunchtime soon.”

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be back.” The door slammed behind her.

  Liz turned the Cherokee into the parking lot at the back of the bank. She noted right away that Lew Drum’s car was parked in his reserved spot. She drove on past and found three empty parking spots in a row. Good, she thought. Her parking skills may not be so good anymore. She wheeled into the middle spot, parking diagonally across it with her left rear wheel overlapping the line to her left and the front right wheel overlapping the line to her right.

  She turned the engine off, swung the door wide open and reached for her cane. She was just placing the bottom of her cane on the pavement and hanging onto the metal hand rest she had had installed to help her slide down from the seat. Her left leg was hanging half way to the ground when a black and white police car rolled into the parking lot and stopped almost, but not quite behind her.

  Ben MacCready rolled down his window and said,” Liz. What in the world are you doing out here? And on your own? Should you even be driving?” He shut off his engine as he spoke and got out of the car.

  “You want to see my driver’s license, Officer?” Liz said sarcastically with annoyance.

  MacCready ignored the attitude.” What’s going on Liz?” He said with concern.

  “I don’t know, Mac,” Liz said shaking her head.” I just needed to do something. I just couldn’t sit around doing nothing.”

  “And…. . ?” MacCready waited.

  “I wanted to talk to Lew. That’s all.”

  “What about?”

  “Do I have to tell you everything? Is it any of your business?”

  “Probably, if you’re messing around in an investigation. Then, yes. You do have to tell me everything.”

  “Well, if you must know, Michael told me that Lew knew the Pruitt woman. You know the one that died at the hospital when my infusion bag was switched. I just wanted to talk to Lew and find out if he knew that’s who it was. He never said anything to me about it.”

  “And you wanted to know if he was deliberately hiding something?”

  “Not really.” She didn’t seem to be convincing herself.” But I just wanted to be sure.”

  “I understand,” Ben said.” Michael told me too. He asked me to check into it. That’s why I’m here.” Then he added,” And I’m glad I got here when I did. I don’t think you should be here. Now if you are up to it, I think you should go on home. But if you’re not absolutely sure you can drive back by yourself, I’ll drive you. I can always come back later. I’ll see that the Cherokee gets delivered back to you.”

  “Really, Ben, I’m not helpless. I’ve got M. S. , I’m not dead. Of course I can drive myself. I got here didn’t I?”

  Ben nodded.” I just don’t want you to be a danger to anyone on the highway. It’s my job.”

  “Well, go do your job and I’ll take care of myself. She turned herself in the seat to sit square behind the steering wheel and brought her cane up and passed it to the passenger side. She slammed the door as hard as she could, to show her irritation.

  MacCready grimaced. Liz started her engine and shifted into gear. MacCready jumped back into his car and drove forward, just barely out of her way as she applied the gas with a heavy foot and shot the Cherokee backward across the spot where Ben had been parked and halfway across the parking lot. She cranked the wheel. Shifted into drive and squealed the tires as she peeled forward and shot out into the street, turning left and cutting off another car from her right that had to brake suddenly to a screeching halt.

  Ben MacCready shook his head with exasperation as he watched her go in the reflection of his rear view mirror.

  Deb hardly throttled down the engine of her red Honda as she turned off the highway into the parking lot of Martin Callan’s farm equipment dealership. She whipped the handle bars sharply to the left and slid the bike sideways to a halt infront of the entrance.

  In one smooth motion, she had turned off the ignition, shoved the kick stand down, leaped off the machine and darted inside, without first checking the lot to see if the Cherokee was in fact there in the parking lot.

  For a small person, she took long quick strides through the showroom and was within a few feet of Callan’s office in a matter of seconds. As she approached, she saw the four bottom prongs of a quad cane protruding into the doorway, its length angled up toward the visitor’s chair in front of Callan’s desk and just out of sight from the doorway.

  “Liz,” She shouted excitedly as she practically slid to a halt in the doorway.” You can’t do this………. .” She cut it off in mid sentence. Martin Callan was staring up at her with surprise. There was an elderly man sitting in the vistor’s chair. He was portly with gray hair and bushy gray mustache. His hands were clamped over the top of his cane. Through the thick lenses of his wire rim glasses, he also stared at her; a stunned expression on his face.

  Deb froze in place. For once in her life she was speechless. Her eyes darted back and forth from one man to the other. Her eyes widened and she murmured,” Uh…oh,” under her breath to herself.
<
br />   “Deb,” Callan said sharply after a moment of composure.” What’s going on here? What’s the meaning of this?”

  “I……uh. I……,” she stammered.” Uh…. I dunno. Uh…. I mean…. . I dunno.” She was still glancing from one man to the other. Then as if suddenly recovering from the shock of her mistake, she tried to cover things over by saying.” I… just thought Liz was here and I wanted to stop her.”

  “Stop her? Stop her from what?”

  “Uh. . I dunno. I mean, she was going to send the tractor back. And I still want it?”

  “Send it back? Is there something wrong with it?”

  “No. No. It’s fine. It’s. . . it’s just that she thinks we shouldn’t spend that much money after all.”

  “She told me, she could afford it,” Callan said.

  “Oh…yeah. sure. She can afford it. She’s got lots of money. Only…. only she doesn’t…. , can’t use it just yet.” Deb felt like she was blubbering incoherently, and she was. This sounds so lame and stupid, she thought to herself.

  “Can’t use it?” Callan exclaimed. He glanced at his customer who still looked very confused. A wary expression spread over Callan’s face and his eyes darkened. He pushed himself to his feet and said to his customer,” If you will excuse me for a moment Mr. Boggs. I’ll be right back.”

  He came around the desk and grasped Deb by the arm, practically pushing her backward through the doorway.” Let’s talk about this, Deb,” he said sternly as he guided her away from the doorway.

  His grasp was hard and Deb’s arm hurt from the pressure. She saw the rising anger in him and the hard set of his jaw. Somehow, Deb no longer felt like the spitfire she often pretended to be. In light of what Liz had told her about Martin Callan, she was genuinely scared.

  When he had ushered her into another office and shut the door, he released his grasp on her so suddenly and forcefully that she stumbled backward a step, bracing herself against the front edge of a desk which prevented her from falling.

  “Now what are you talking about?” Callan demanded.” What’s all this about money she can’t use.”

  “Well… it’s like this.” She was stalling; trying to think fast. What to say? Then it occurred to her and she said.” She’s got money, Joe gave to her a long time back. Before his accident.” She tried not to emphasize the word accident, knowing full well it was not.” He put it where she can’t touch it.”

  “Why was that?”

  Deb could see that she had really piqued his interest now. Maybe she was onto something.” I don’t know,” she said.” Maybe he just wanted it to last for her.”

  “I don’t think I quite understand you.” There was a sharpness to his voice and his eyes had a grim menace to them.

  “I. . I really don’t know anything else. Really I don’t.” She was arching her back over the desktop now as if trying to move farther away. Her eyes were wide and round.

  “Deb,” Callan said softening his voice and taking a different tact.” Are you afraid of me?”

  “No. No. Why should I be afraid of you?”

  “Well, you are acting awfully strange.” He stepped back a little to appear less threatening.

  “Uh… caffeine buzz,” she blurted.” Too much coffee. I keep drinking the bottom of the pot. At the restaurant you know. Before I make a new brew.”

  “I really do think you ought to cut back a little.” He forced a smile.

  Deb tried to force a smile back, but couldn’t.

  “I take it Liz doesn’t know you’re here?” Callan said.

  “No. No. Just like I told you. I thought she was already here and I came to stop her.”

  “Should we call her now?” Callan suggested.

  “Gosh, no. I wouldn’t want her to know I came here and made such a fool out of myself.” She straightened herself, becoming a little less stressed.” I just wanted to keep her from sending the tractor back. You won’t tell her will you?”

  “Trust me,” Callan said flatly.” I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

  *****

  Chapter Twenty Eight