by Dale Mayer
“I know. Losing his wife was a terrible shock that it doesn’t appear he ever got past.”
“Very much so,” she said. “I guess I should be happy that he went so peacefully.”
“You didn’t see anybody around at the time?”
She shook her head. “I heard banging around by the garbage cans. The pickup day is tomorrow, so I wasn’t worried, but I looked out and caught a glimpse of him taking something out. It looked like he was carrying something else back out again, and then I heard a weird thunk, and I looked back out and saw he was down. I came out to check on him and called out to him. That’s when I dialed 9-1-1. I didn’t want to say so on the phone, but I was pretty sure he was already dead.”
“Yes, he is deceased,” he said quietly. “Thank you for waiting and talking with me.”
She said, “I would go inside, but I didn’t want to leave him alone.”
“Not a problem,” he said. “Go on in, and get warmed up. We’ll look after him now.”
She gave him a grateful smile, then turned and headed inside.
Damon turned to Jake, shrugged, and said, “Doesn’t sound suspicious.”
“Well, that’ll be up to the coroner, I guess,” Jake replied.
Just on the off chance, Damon walked over to the garbage can, lifted the lid, and checked inside. He found many old pizza boxes, a bag of kitchen scraps from whatever meals Jerry had prepared over the last few days, and, other than that, just a rolled-up stack of papers. He picked them up and pulled them out, then took a quick look.
“Anything in there to question?”
“No, looks like papers from the store,” he said. “In fact, it looks like tax returns from ten years or longer ago.”
“Well, we better hang on to them, just in case,” Jake said.
Damon tucked them into his pocket and said, “Other than that, the contents look pretty innocuous.”
“Well, that’s better than stuffed full of questionable items.” Jake took a quick look inside, nodded, and said, “Nothing too interesting in here. Mostly pizza boxes.”
“Which goes along with the fact that Jerry was a single old man and wasn’t enjoying life much.” Just then, the coroner arrived, and they stepped back. If it was an unexplained death, it was a whole different story. Damon looked at Jake and said, “I’ll go home and try to grab some sleep tonight. We can always return tomorrow.”
“You do that,” he said. “Let’s hope this isn’t a case for us, after all.”
“Well, it’ll be a case either way, even if it’s only to identify next of kin,” he said. “I hope he left his affairs in order because that’ll be a bit of a mess otherwise.”
“I think he had a lawyer,” Jake said. “I just can’t remember the guy’s name.”
“Oh, right.” Damon stopped, frowned, and said, “I remember hearing something about that too, but I don’t remember who I heard it from. I think Captain Meyer said something about it. Anyway I’ll check in with you in the morning.”
With one final look at the deceased, Damon turned and headed home again. The only thing that bothered him about the whole scenario was the fact that, once again, this was somebody with close connections to Gabby. And that meant three in a row. Thankfully this one looked to be something she didn’t have anything to do with, and, for that, he was grateful.
Chapter Sixteen
If Damon thought Gabby could sleep after that bombshell, he was wrong. She tried to; she tossed and turned in bed and then finally gave it up and sat outside with a mug of hot chocolate, watching the snowfall, waiting on Damon to return. When she saw him drive in again, she waited until he got out of the vehicle and then called out to him immediately. He turned to face her, as she got up and waved at him. “You should be in bed,” he said tersely.
“I would be, but I was worried,” she said.
“Well, you might be worried, but the bottom line is, it looks like Jerry died of a heart attack or at least natural causes. He wasn’t murdered by the same guy who took out your friends.”
She felt all her breath whooshing out of her chest. “Thank God,” she whispered. “I was so worried and feeling guilty.”
“No, it had nothing to do with you,” he said. “One of the neighbors called it in. She saw him taking out the garbage, and then he went back out again. She looked out again after hearing a noise to find him in the snow. He passed away on the spot. I’ve just been waiting for the coroner to come to take care of the body.”
“It’s sad though,” she whispered. “Behind the gruffness, he was such a nice man.”
“That may be, but he’s gone on to the next stage of whatever the hell this life is all about,” he said.
She heard the fatigue in his voice. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to keep you from a warm bed.”
“Well, you get into yours,” he said, “so I know you won’t make yourself sick, sitting up, worrying about things you can’t control. It’ll be a long day tomorrow. I’ll call you when I wake up.”
With that, she had to be satisfied. Still, it was the best news she could hope for. Obviously she’d rather Jerry was alive and well, but, at least, he hadn’t been murdered. He was certainly old and had not been in great health. So it was no surprise if he’d finally had a heart attack or something. It was just sad, like so much else in life was sad.
With that last thought, she crawled back into bed and curled up, feeling more alone than ever. Jerry had always been very friendly and gentle and kind to her, which was more than she could say for a lot of the locals. But then, for the townies, it was hard to separate the transients, the tourists, and those temps just here for a season’s work. She couldn’t really blame them if they held themselves back a little bit, off-putting as it was. That’s just the way of the world; it took time for them to warm up to strangers.
Gabby closed her eyes, sure that she probably still wouldn’t sleep, but, when she opened them again, she heard birds and saw the sun up. She was surprised to see it was as late as it was. She got up, took a look outside, and, seeing the fresh snow everywhere, she wished with her all her heart that she could go up the mountain. But she didn’t have her board back. She headed into the kitchen to put on the coffee, and then her phone rang.
Picking it up, Damon asked, “What are you doing up already?”
She looked at the phone, frowned, and then the realization hit, and her heart sank. “Shit,” she said, “I forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
“Forgot that I don’t have a job to go to,” she said. “How foolish is that?”
“It’s a habit,” he said. “You shouldn’t feel bad about it.”
“Maybe, but right now it feels pretty crappy.”
“You could always go back to bed.”
She looked at the bed she had yet to make and shrugged. “I might have a nap later. I’m still feeling pretty tired, but now I’ve got fresh coffee.”
“Fresh coffee trumps everything, right?”
“Yes, it does,” she said. “Well, almost everything. Honestly, right now, I’m a little worried as to whether I’ll actually get a paycheck for the time I’ve already worked.”
She heard him sucking in his breath. “Good point,” he said. “I’ll try to find the lawyer who’s dealing with Jerry’s estate. Let’s hope everything is straightforward and clear.”
“I hope so,” she said. “That would be terrible if it wasn’t.”
“On many levels. Anyway try to have a good day,” he said, and he hung up.
She sat here, watching the snow twinkle outside, wondering what was on tap for her. She needed a job, and she needed it bad. If that meant washing dishes, that meant washing dishes. Not her favorite but whatever. As she considered potential places to apply, her phone rang again. She looked down to see it was Wendy. Surprised, Gabby picked it up. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Wendy said, her voice a little hesitant. “I thought maybe I could catch you before you went to work.”
“O
h,” she said, “you haven’t heard the news then.”
“What news?” she asked in confusion.
“My boss, Jerry, had a heart attack or something last night,” she said. “He didn’t make it.”
There was stunned silence on Wendy’s side. “Oh, my God,” she said. “We’re just beset with bad news right now, aren’t we?”
“There doesn’t seem to be any end to it, no,” Gabby said quietly. “I know that he was ill and wasn’t doing all that great, and he was pretty depressed. But I didn’t expect this.”
“So you no longer have a job?”
“Not only do I no longer have a job but I’m not sure that I’ll get paid for the time worked,” she said.
“Oh, my God,” Wendy said, her voice rising. “Is there anything you can do about that?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I have to wait to talk to the lawyer or whoever is handling the estate and see if that’s something that can still get paid to me.”
“They should be able to. It’s not fair otherwise.”
“Yeah, but life hasn’t exactly been all that fair lately,” she said, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice. But, despite her best efforts, her tone still had an edge to it.
“I know,” Wendy said, “it’s been a really weird winter.”
“I had such high hopes for our fun getaway winter. That one winter holiday before I buckled under the endless drudgery of the lifetime of work that faced us.”
“And I was right there with you,” she said, “but, since we got here, it hasn’t been what we thought at all.”
“And I wonder why,” Gabby said. “It’s just so frustrating. In some ways the beginning of the season was absolutely terrific. We got lots of boarding in, and we had a great Christmas, and then what happened?”
“Well, a bunch of things on my end,” Wendy said. “I lost my job, couldn’t find another one, and hooked up with Meghan.”
“Right,” Gabby said, wincing at that. “That was before Christmas though, right?”
“Yes, all of that happened before Christmas, but so close to Christmas that the impact hadn’t really set in.”
“So have you talked to your parents lately?”
“Yes,” she said. “They sent me enough money to get through the month.”
“Wow,” she said, “that’s lovely of them.”
“It really is because I know how they feel about this misadventure of ours.”
“And I’m sorry,” Gabby whispered, wondering how she had missed so much happening in Wendy’s life. “I didn’t realize they felt so strongly about it.”
“That’s because I didn’t tell you,” she said. “That was my fault.”
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” she asked.
“Well, I can tell you, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be nonjudgmental about it.”
At that, she whispered, “Oh, God, Wendy. I feel like I failed you at every turn.”
“No, you didn’t,” she said, “but we’re definitely not the same people we arrived as.”
“Maybe not, I don’t know,” Gabby said. “It just seems like everything has gone so wrong.”
“That’s what I mean. It just didn’t turn out the way we thought it would. So we must move on with the times.”
“Well, I’m not sure what that’ll mean for me,” she said. “I’ve got to get another job really fast.”
“Well, there’s always housekeeping or restaurant work.”
“I know. I’ll spruce up my résumé this morning and start sending it out this afternoon.”
“Well, I was calling to see if you wanted to do lunch today,” she said. “I thought I could come at your lunch break.”
“Well,” she said, “as I’m no longer even working, I don’t have a lunch break anymore.”
“Right,” Wendy said. “Do you want to meet somewhere then?”
“You know what? Actually I was thinking, uh, why don’t you come here?” she said impulsively. “I don’t have much for food, but a little bit is here. I’m sure we could rustle up an omelet or something,” she said. “Hang on.” And she got up, walked over to the kitchen, and continued, “Lots of coffee is here. If nothing else we can always have a sandwich and coffee.”
“Well, I’ll see,” she said. “I’m totally okay to come wherever you are, as long as it’s on a bus route.”
“Actually I’m not all that far away,” she said and gave Wendy the address.
“Well, that’s walkable,” Wendy said in delight.
“Yeah, and it’s a gorgeous place. It’s a suite above a garage, but it’s high-end and quite luxurious,” she said wistfully. “I wish I could stay.”
“Any chance of them letting you stay?”
“I don’t think so. I’m here basically as a charity case because of the murders.”
“Ah,” she said. “Well, that makes sense. You really don’t want to push on people’s largess.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, I might run past the deli on the way,” she said. “I’ll pick up stuff for sandwiches.”
“Perfect,” she said. “I’ll see you around noon then.”
“Right. Get that résumé of yours brushed up, so you’re not in the same spot I was in,” she said with a note of humor. “Unfortunately for you, you don’t have a family to bail you out.” On that note, Wendy hung up.
Gabby stared down at the phone for a long moment. “It’s unlike you to say something like that,” she whispered. “Kind of hurtful.”
But it was also the truth, and maybe she and Wendy would have been better off if they had spoken more truth. Seriously, at this point in time, it was well understood that Wendy had friends and family to help her out when things got tough, whereas Gabby herself did not. She’d been alone most of her life, even when she was part of an adoptive family. And being alone hadn’t been the easiest either. But she’d grown a whole lot more backbone and had learned to stand on her own two feet. Right now, if she needed money, there was only one way to get it, and that was to get a damn job. With that in mind, she grabbed her laptop and sat down to revise her résumé.
*
In the office that morning, Damon walked over to see Jake already sitting there. “You’re in early.”
“Yeah,” he said, “couldn’t sleep much.”
“Sorry. I actually slept. Not long enough but, hey, it’s something,” said Damon.
“I hear you,” Jake said. “What we really need is to get some action going on these murders.”
“I was afraid last night the bookseller would be another one.”
“We don’t have too many deaths as a rule here, but those two mutilations have really shaken the community. They’re looking to us to solve this,” Jake said quietly.
“Sure they are,” Damon said, “but it’s not like we’re shirking our duty.”
“No, but we’re not getting the answers either.”
“Well, that’s troubling. But where will we get the answers from if not through the locals?” Damon asked.
“And nobody seems to have anything to offer. We have no forensic evidence, no sign of forced entry, no plausible motive that we can come up with for these two women.” With real concern in his voice, Jake continued, “The odd thing is, they’re all connected to the three who are still alive, because they all lived in the same apartment, but nobody seems to have anything helpful to offer.”
“No, you’re right,” Damon said. “I was afraid when you called with the bookseller that it would center around Gabby again.”
“You’re getting pretty chummy with her, aren’t you?” Jake asked.
“Not on purpose,” he said.
“You better watch it though,” he said. “When you think about it, the captain won’t likely be too happy if you end up having a relationship with her.”
“But is she … a suspect?” He sat here and thought about it. “She has no motive. She has no priors, other than being at the first crime scene. Bes
ides, she was talking to me on the phone at the time of that murder, and I heard the animal noises going on in the background, and it certainly wasn’t her voice.”
“I know. I know,” Jake said, “and she wasn’t there at the time of the second murder.”
“Right, so I hardly think she’s a suspect. She could be a victim or at least be on the victim list.”
“But what’s the purpose of killing these young women?”
“I don’t know, Jake. I don’t know,” he said in frustration.
“Well, you damn well better find out soon,” a harsh voice said from the doorway.
Damon looked up to see Captain Meyer walking in.
“Do you know how many times I get stopped in a day by people asking if we have any updates?”
“Well, do you have any?” Damon asked. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”
The captain glared at him. “Well, you’re supposed to,” he said. “Forget about a dead old bookseller with a bad heart and get your ass on the street and start asking who had a motive for killing these women.”
“We have been,” Jake protested. “So far there’s nothing.”
“Well, get out there until you find something,” he roared. “I sure as hell don’t want to be the one stuck trying to explain why the hell we haven’t solved it.”
“It’s not a case of why we haven’t solved it, but, if we have nothing to solve, then we’re stuck.”
“I don’t want to hear it,” he said. “Find another angle, work another thread, but get at it!” And, with that, he stormed off to his office, slamming the door behind him.
“Wow,” Jake said, “I haven’t seen him in a stew like this before.”
“No,” Damon said, staring at the office door thoughtfully.
“This case seems to have really gotten him screwed up,” Jake said. “Did you go through those old case files?”
“I haven’t found the time yet,” he said. “I’d love to go home and do it now though.” He checked around and asked, “Is there anything else on deck?”
“No. I’ve got a few more coworkers to run down and to talk to about the two victims,” Jake said. “If I find anything, I’ll call you. Why don’t you run home and see if you can find anything in those files?”