I looked at the list of supplies I’d need if I had any hopes of pulling this off. Ground beef, pork and beans, barbecue sauce, grated cheddar cheese, and biscuits. Those were ingredients I could get on board with. I didn’t bother looking in the pantry or the fridge. I knew I had some barbecue sauce, but that was it. So it was off to Gary’s Grocery.
I gingerly picked up my keys and eyed the sleeping dogs. Should I wake them up so I could take them with me? I decided against it. The grocery store was only about 10 minutes away. I wouldn’t be gone that long. I’ll bet I could slip back in the house before either of them noticed I was gone.
A quick peek over the couch confirmed that neither corgi had moved a muscle. Sherlock had all four paws in the air and Watson was doing what I called the ‘flying-squirrel’ impersonation: both front legs were tucked close to her sides and her two short back legs were sticking out directly behind her. Both of the corgis were out cold. In fact, Sherlock was snoring.
I tip-toed out of the house, started up my Jeep, and hurried to the store. With my mind still squarely stuck in a kitchen from the 50s, I zipped through the store as though I was on a timed scavenger hunt. One can of pork and beans, check. Ground beef, check. Bag of shredded cheese, done. Tube of biscuits? Wow, there were a lot to choose from. However, I picked one that looked generic enough and tossed it in my cart.
Drinks. What about drinks? I knew Jillian wouldn’t expect me to buy wine. She may enjoy a glass of white wine when in the company of other wine drinkers but for this date, she wasn’t going to have to worry about that. I may need to acquire a taste for the stuff, but not today. I selected a bottle of sparkling grape juice and hurried off in search of other supplies I knew I needed.
Milk bones. Bread. Rawhide chews. Peanut butter. I quickly filled the cart as I remembered various other things that I needed. A brief announcement over the intercom informed me of a sale happening in the store’s small bakery. There was a sale on donuts. A baker’s dozen for only five bucks. My cart automatically veered towards the small bakery in the far corner of the store. However, a commotion outside brought me to a screeching halt.
People were shouting. I even heard a scream or two. I then heard Gary himself get on the overhead paging system to announce that there was no need to be alarmed. The store owner almost seemed glad to be able to announce that the police had been notified.
Have you ever heard an announcement like that and NOT be alarmed? I abandoned my cart and hurried to the outside windows. There were a few people rushing around, pointing frantically at something I couldn’t see. I could also see that quite a few of the store’s patrons had also abandoned their purchases and had made a beeline straight for their cars.
Just then a woman, pulling a wailing little girl behind her, hurried into the store. She was trying to comfort the girl and carry on a conversation with someone on her cell phone at the same time.
“No, honey, it’s alright. Mommy is fine. We’re safe in here. Peter? I’m not going back outside until you get here… No, I’m not being silly. I saw it this time… No, I’m not making that up. I’m not taking Emily anywhere near that mummy.”
My head jerked up. The mummy? It was here?
“Where was it?” I interrupted as I saw the woman take a breath. “Did you get a good look at it?”
The little girl tugged on her mother’s hand.
“Mommy, I hafta go to the baffroom!”
“Emily just a minute. Peter, I’m serious! Hang on a moment. Excuse me? What did you ask me?”
I blinked with surprise. The last question had been directed at me.
“Sorry to interrupt, but did you say you saw the mummy?”
“I most certainly did,” the woman confirmed. “It was just outside, across the street. It saw me watching it and it ran down Main, towards 8th Street.”
“It ran away from you?” I repeated, incredulous.
My faith is the bandaged desperado from the 18th Dynasty just took a major hit. Anger flared. Anger and embarrassment. Vance had been right. Mummies do not become reanimated, no matter how much you might like to think otherwise. Someone was pranking us and that someone needed to be caught.
“Which way did it go?” I anxiously asked.
The woman, more interested in arguing with her significant other than answering my question, ignored me. I looked down at the little girl who had finally stopped crying and was now sniffling miserably next to her mother’s side.
“Do you know which way the mummy went?” I gently asked the girl.
Emily nodded, wiped her nose with the back of her hand, and pointed north, toward 8th Street.
I smiled at the girl, “Thank you!”
I looked north, towards all the commotion. People were running, terrified, in every direction but north. I couldn’t blame them. Every fiber in my being wanted to turn tail and run the other way, too.
Is that what you really want to do?
I paused. It was Samantha’s voice. It had sounded so real that I momentarily thought she might have been at my side.
This fear is irrational, a new voice said. You’re better than this. You know full well there is no way a mummy is responsible.
Great. The voice had switched to Vance’s. Why the hell was I imagining I was hearing voices?
Because you think a mummy came back to life, pal. Stop farting around here and get going. You have a chance to unmask this perp once and for all!
Think about the corgis, my inner voice advised, switching back to Sam’s voice. What would you do if something threatened them?
That was an odd thing for my subconscious to dream up. Samantha had died before I had either of the dogs. She had never known them. I could only assume my imagination was trying to stimulate the senses in an attempt to get me to do something.
Well, it was working.
I had to know. I had to know once and for all if my fears were founded or if I was being pranked, which everyone seemed to think I was. I had a chance to get some answers and since I knew I was going to report this to Vance, I had to be able to tell him that I didn’t chicken out and run the other way. So I did the only sensible thing I could think of.
I sprinted towards 8th Street, trying desperately to think of what lay in that direction. If I remembered the layout of the town correctly then this street was going to dead-end just past D Street into a heavily wooded lot. I knew the only thing out there was a large manor that had been converted into a hotel. Carriage House Inn & Suites, if memory served. And on the other side of that wooded lot?
The high school.
I ran harder. I briefly thought about pulling out my cell and calling Vance but thought better of it. I doubt I’d be able to wheeze out anything he’d be able to understand.
Zack + jogging = miserable Zack in need of a defib kit.
I made it to D Street. I glanced over and saw the elegant white mansion that had been renovated into a hotel. I was about to head that direction when a loud cry of pain caught my attention. Thankfully it hadn’t come from me. It had originated directly ahead of me. Somewhere within the woods.
I was now convinced I was pursuing the practical joker, and quite possibly, the idiot responsible for the theft of the necklace. Pendant. Whatever it was, I had a chance to apprehend the individual that I was certain either had a hand in the theft or else could point us in the right direction.
I ran into the trees, pausing only long enough to listen for signs of anything else that might be in there with me. Just up ahead, and slightly to my left, I heard a faint cough. As carefully and as quietly as I could, I crept towards the sound. If I could only rein in my own wheezes long enough I should be able to tell which direction I need to go.
A twig snapped loudly nearby. I heard a muffled groan and a figure appeared nearly twenty feet away. Scraps of torn linen flapped in the breeze as the swaying form raised both arms up in proper “undead” fashion and shuffled towards me.
I gasped with alarm. It was the mummy, alright, and the damn thing
was coming right for me! I was right all along! I had to prove it, but how?
A light bulb flashed over my head. I had my cell, which meant I had a camera. At the rate the mummy was moving I had about ten seconds to snap a picture and clear out.
With shaky hands I was able to pull my cell from my pocket, tap the camera app, and line up a shot. I tapped the screen and watched the camera’s built-in video camera start recording the scene. Right about then the mummy froze, hastily turned around, and retreated. In fact, it sprinted away from me, as though I had just lit one of the trailing pieces of linen on fire.
Vance was right. Jillian was right. So were the voices in my head. There was no mummy. It had been a prank after all, and based on the direction in which the impostor had fled, I’d say I had been duped by a high school student. The ‘mummy’ had bolted straight towards the school.
I already had my phone out so I hurriedly called Vance.
“Zack, what’s going –”
“Vance!” I interrupted, trying hard not to wheeze into the phone, “Get to the high school!”
“I’m kinda busy here, buddy. There’s been another sighting of this damn mummy, and I have to –”
“I know! I…” I took a few seconds to take a deep breath. “I chased him to the high school!”
“You what?!”
“I’ll tell you all about it in person!” I wheezed a few more times before I could speak again. I just couldn’t seem to catch my breath. “I’m in the woods by… by… that white hotel. He ran from me, straight… straight towards the high school. You gotta hurry, pal!”
“I’m on my way! I was just leaving the station. Be there in just a few! Do you see him now?”
I crashed through the woods, running as fast as I could.
“N…no. Lost him… he can’t… he can’t be too much farther ahead!” I puffed.
I heard a siren wail in the distance and grow progressively louder.
“Don’t kill yourself trying to follow him. It sounds like you’re about to have a heart attack.”
“B… b… bite me.”
“That’s it. I’m calling for a paramedic.”
“Kiss…” I wheezed, “kiss my ass.”
I emerged from within the trees and stared at the huge parking lot in front of me. The high school had enough room to handle several hundred cars and since it was just before noon, all the students were in session. That meant several hundred cars were between me and the school. I groaned. There were plenty of places to hide.
Two cop cars came roaring around the corner with their lights flashing and sirens blaring. The police cars skidded to a stop and parked in a ‘V’ formation, effectively blocking the school’s one and only exit. Vance came barreling out of the first car, caught sight of me, and rushed over.
“Zack! Are you okay?”
I clutched a painful stitch in my side.
“Y-yeah. I’m good.”
“Where is he?” Vance anxiously asked as he looked at the vast parking lot full of all manners of cars and trucks.
“All I can tell you is that he didn’t make it to the school,” I told him.
“How can you be so sure?” the other officer asked.
“Look how far it is from the edge of the woods there to the school entrance. There’s no way he could cover that distance before I came out. He’s gotta be hiding behind a car.”
“Or his own car is parked in there somewhere,” Vance suggested, eyeing the dozens and dozens of vehicles. “If he was dressed as the mummy then chances are he’s changing clothes as we speak.”
I looked at Vance and put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
“I want to apologize. You were right. You knew all along that this was just some damn kid pranking us. You must think I’m the world’s biggest dumbass.”
Just then a loud bell started ringing in the distance. Almost immediately the school’s front doors banged open and streams of students began pouring out. It was just our luck that we arrived at the school just as the students were released for lunch.
Within moments students were everywhere. There was no way we were going to be able to find the mummy impersonator in the midst of at least a hundred students milling about. All he had to do was ditch the mummy getup – if he hadn’t already – and disappear within the multitudes of students. Several students had even started their cars and were trying to leave the parking lot. Horns began blaring.
“What do we do?” the other officer asked, giving Vance a helpless look.
“Dammit,” Vance grumbled. “That guy could be anywhere now.”
“We should search the cars,” the cop suggested. “If it was one of the students then we should find his costume somewhere in one of these cars.”
The line of cars was growing. More horns sounded angrily. Vance turned to me.
“Did you see the guy in the parking lot anywhere?”
I sadly shook my head, “No. Wish I did. From the way he was running, and the direction he was headed, he had to be going this way. However, I don’t have any proof.”
“We have to let them through,” Vance groaned, turning to look at the angry faces of the students. “Come on, Dyson. Move your car.”
Once the flow of traffic had been restored Vance met my eyes and nodded towards the woods. The other cop had already left a few minutes earlier, including nearly a third of the vehicles that had been parked earlier.
“I let the guy slip through my fingers,” I groaned. “I could’ve had him, Vance. I can’t believe we were thiiiis close to catching our friend the mummy.”
“We nearly caught a kid that was dressed up as a mummy,” Vance corrected.
“What difference does it make?” I asked. “Either way you look at it the guy responsible for this whole mess is gone.”
“Not necessarily,” Vance contradicted. “I think what we have here is just a couple of stupid high schoolers trying to have some fun. I think the last thing he expected was to have you come tearing off after him.”
“So what?” I argued. “It means you’re right. There’s no mummy. I was a fool to think otherwise.”
“Welllll…..”
I turned to give Vance a disbelieving look.
“What? What is that supposed to mean?”
Vance shrugged and studied the ground. I coughed a few times but he wouldn’t look up. Had something happened to change the detective’s mind? I was missing something. I tapped on Vance’s shoulder and kept tapping until he finally looked up and swatted my hand away.
“What’s happened?” I reiterated. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“I think you’re right, bud,” Vance all but whispered. “I think you’ve been right all along.”
“About what?” I asked, confused. “It’s just a guess but I’m pretty sure the guy we’re looking for is a student.”
“The guy we’re looking for is over 3,000 years old,” Vance corrected, still refusing to meet my eyes.
“Wanna run that by me again?” I asked, certain I had heard that wrong.
“The mummy did this.”
“I was running after a kid, who freaked out once he saw that I wasn’t spooked. There’s no mummy involved at all.”
“Forget about the damn kid,” Vance snapped. He quickly looked around to make sure no one but me could hear him. “Look, Zack, there’s something I haven’t told you yet.”
“I’m listening. What’s up?”
“They’ve ID’d the body,” Vance told me.
“The mummified dude?” I swallowed nervously. “Alright, who is it?”
“They took DNA samples from the body,” Vance whispered. “While the tests aren’t quite complete they did find a likely match, Zack.”
“Who?” I asked.
“It was a match to Fadil. Mr. Ammar Fadil.”
I nodded, “Ammar. That’s Dr. Tarik’s assistant. I’m really sorry to hear that. Why haven’t they completed the DNA tests yet?” I asked. “The lab can’t be that busy, can they?”
“A proper DNA analysis can take several weeks, pal. I had the lab put a rush on this and am damn glad they managed to give us something.”
“If you say so,” I said, unconvinced.
Exasperated, Vance pulled me to his car. He pointed at the passenger seat as he slid behind the wheel. Confused, I slid into the seat.
“What’s the big deal?” I asked. “Look, I’m sorry it was that guy’s assistant, but at least they can’t put any of this on Tori, right?”
“You’re still not getting it,” Vance crossly said as he pulled away from the school. “That body is – or was – Ammar Fadil, Dr. Tarik’s assistant. With me so far?”
Growing annoyed, I nodded.
“Okay. Think back a couple of days ago to the night of the robbery. Do you remember what Dr. Tarik said about mummies? And how long it takes for a body to become dried out like that?”
“Desiccated,” I quietly murmured to myself. My eyes widened. I was starting to see where my friend was going with this.
“Zack, he said it takes a minimum of 35 days for a human body to turn into kindling. We both saw Ammar several days go. Dr. Tarik says he last saw his assistant the day before yesterday. There is no way for a human body to become that thoroughly desiccated, unless…”
Vance trailed off and I swallowed nervously.
“You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?” I asked.
Vance angrily shook his head, “Even if I think I know what you think I think you’re thinking, then you still can’t deny the obvious.”
I held my hands up in a timeout gesture.
“Wait. You threw in way too many ‘thinks’ in the same damn sentence.”
“You can’t overlook the obvious,” Vance explained. “There’s too much evidence to suggest otherwise. There’s simply no way a human body can look like that in only a few days. I think… well, I mean, the mummy must have…”
“How the hell did I become the Devil’s Advocate?” I demanded, confused and bemused at the same time. “I’m the one who thought the mummy was real, only to learn it was a fake. Now you’re telling me that you think the mummy is real and is responsible for killing Ammar? How?”
Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy Page 10