Case of the Fleet-Footed Mummy

by Jeffrey M. Poole

  “Do you think I just fell off the turnip truck?” I incredulously asked the teenager. “You’re not supposed to be here, sport. I’m also willing to bet you’re one of the dumbasses that’s been dressing up as the mummy to scare people. Am I right?”

  “I don’t have to talk to you,” the kid snapped.

  “Did you steal the mummy and the pendent, too?” I asked, growing angry. I was still wheezing like an old man but I had forgotten all about how I couldn’t catch my breath because of the simple fact that I had found one of the kids. Drinks are you tonight, Vance. “Cough it up. Where did you hide them?”

  “I didn’t hide anything. You have no proof.”

  I turned to point at Sherlock.

  “He’s my proof. He hasn’t stopped growling at you since he first met you. Sherlock would only do that if he recognized your scent.”

  The kid paled and a look of terror swept over his features. I knew right then that I had hit the nail on the head. This had to be the kid Sherlock had chased back in the high school! For all I knew this was probably the same kid I chased through the woods but lost in the parking lot. You got away from me once, pal. Ain’t no way in hell I’m letting it happen again.

  “So you’re the one,” I mused.

  “I’m the one what?” the kid hesitantly asked.

  “You’re the one that we chased through the school the night of the robbery. Sherlock chased you into the music room.”

  The kid’s face paled even further. For a moment there I thought the kid was going to be sick.

  “Ready to tell me who you are?” I asked again.

  A firm resolve appeared on the teenager’s face. He wasn’t going to talk. In that case maybe I ought to have a little fun with him.

  “If you won’t introduce yourself then maybe I will. My name is Zachary Anderson. That’s Sherlock down there.”

  The kid’s eyes widened. I grinned. Oh, this would work well. The kid has clearly heard my name before.

  “You do realize that I was accused of murder a few months ago, right? They even found a body in my winery.”

  The kid gulped nervously but still refused to talk.

  “Yessir, the body was found behind one of the vats. Death by strychnine poisoning. I’m pretty sure the police will never know. It’s hard to detect.” I knew it wasn’t, and that I was lying my ass off, but this kid didn’t need to know that. “Do you have any idea what strychnine will do to a human body?”

  Beads of sweat were trickling down the kid’s forehead.

  “You don’t know? Oh, no problem. Let me explain it for you. Strychnine is an odorless, tasteless airborne virulent that causes some pretty painful symptoms. It can…”

  At that moment Vance appeared, pushing a second teenage boy out in front of him. This boy, I noticed, had his hands cuffed behind his back. Anubis was less than a foot away, keeping pace with the sullen teenager as though an escape attempt could happen at any moment. A grin appeared on Vance’s face the moment he spotted the kid on the ground. Nodding, he approached and held up a closed fist. I knocked his fist with my own and returned the grin.

  “You rock, Zack,” Vance told me as he pulled a second set of cuffs from a back pocket.

  “You’re off duty,” I pointed out. “Do you usually carry around a set of handcuffs? Or, in this case, two sets?”

  “Still have one more,” Vance told me as he pushed his prisoner over to me. “Hold on to him for a second, would you? Little bastard has tried to slip away three times now.”

  “So has he,” I added as I pointed at my kid. “He wouldn’t tell me his name.”

  “He doesn’t need to,” Vance told me as he pulled the kid to his feet. “I know full well who he is.” The kid groaned and stared at the ground. “Zack, meet Jimmy Nelson.”

  “Nelson?” I repeated as I looked at the kid. “I know that name. Any relation to…”

  “Yep,” Vance cut in, before I could finish. “Young Jimmy here is Captain Nelson’s grandson. And won’t he be pleased as hell to know you’re involved in all of this,” Vance said, giving the kid a firm shake. “Captain Nelson can be quite intimidating. Wouldn’t want to be you, kid.”

  “Oh, please don’t tell him,” the kid begged. “You have no idea how much trouble I’ll get in if grandpa finds out.”

  Vance was unimpressed, “Can’t do the time? Don’t do the crime.”

  “Who’s this?” I asked, pointing at the kid Vance had caught.

  “He thinks I don’t know who he is,” Vance told me. “He’s sorely mistaken.”

  “Then tell me what my name is,” the second kid sneered. “Tell me what I’m being accused of. What’s that? You can’t? Oh, yes. I should have known. You can’t prove any of it, so why don’t you just get me to a phone. I’ll be out in no time.”

  “Perhaps,” Vance told the smug teenager. “Perhaps not. Either way, I’ll see to it you’re our guest for the next 96 hours. Except for you, Jimmy. Something tells me your grandfather will want to have a word with you. And for the record, your name is Dean Rupert. Your dad owns…”

  “You can’t hold me any longer than 24 hours,” Dean interrupted as he smirked. “It’s the law.”

  “So you know something about law, do you?” Vance asked, not losing his own smile for even a second. “Then of course you know about murder suspects, right? If you’re suspected of a serious crime, like a murder, then we can apply to hold you for 36 or 96 hours. Would you like to take a guess as to which direction we’re going to go here?”

  The smug expression vanished from Dean’s face.

  “What? Murder? You can’t… we didn’t murder anyone!”

  “We only stole some ugly-ass necklace!” Jimmy added. His face had turned as white as a sheet. “It was Dean’s idea to take the mummy, too!”

  “Shut your damn mouth, Jimmy! They don’t have diddly squat on us. They can’t prove anything.”

  “Whose locker is #151?” I casually asked.

  “Mine,” Jimmy automatically answered. A moment later he was staring suspiciously at me. “Why?”

  Well, that explained why Sherlock hadn’t stopped growling at the skinny kid. It was his locker that he had singled out when we were back in the school. I now knew that he was the one that we had been chasing on the night of the robbery. No wonder Sherlock headed straight for his locker. He must have smelled him. Jimmy had already confessed to stealing the pendent. Was there something else in that locker that we had missed?

  “Well, now we can add possession of a controlled substance to the mix,” Vance added. “We found your stash of weed, kid.”

  “There wasn’t any weed in my locker,” Jimmy argued. “I don’t smoke pot. Never have, never will.”

  “Yet we found several grams,” Vance pointed out. “That’s gonna look bad, Jimmy. If it wasn’t yours then it’s high time to come clean. Whose was it? Was it Dean’s?”

  “I don’t smoke pot either,” Dean bitterly shot back.

  “If it’s not Jimmy’s, and it isn’t Dean’s,” I began, “then whose is it? Could it be the third kid’s?”

  “What third kid?” Jimmy asked, genuinely confused.

  “You think there’s someone else?” Dean added, throwing much of his sneer back into his voice.

  “Were you, or were you not, with a third kid just now?” Vance asked as he pulled Jimmy to his feet.

  “Rick?” Dean demanded. “Leave him alone. He’s got no part in this. Besides, the kids in this damn town are too stupid to pull something like this off.”

  “Alright, let’s go you two,” Vance ordered, pushing Jimmy out in front. “You two have caused enough problems for tonight. I gotta hand it to you two,” my friend continued, laughing as he said so. “You sure had us going. You had the whole damn town thinking that a mummy had come back to life.”

  “We were just trying to have a little fun,” Jimmy sulked. “We didn’t hurt anyone.”

  “What about the guy that was killed?” I demanded. “What about that assist
ant fellow? Ammar? Remember him? How the hell did you manage to mummify a human in only a few days’ time?”

  Both teenagers stopped walking to stare incredulously at me.

  “What are you talking about?” Jimmy asked, confused. “What body are you talking about? We didn’t kill anyone.”

  “Explain the mummified body we found in the maze,” Vance demanded. “That corpse sure as hell didn’t walk in here on his own.”

  “We didn’t do anything to the mummy,” Dean grumbled. “What’s wrong with you, man? Why would you think it walked in here on its own?”

  “Dean, we found a mummified body in this maze just the other night. You’re telling me that you don’t know anything about it?”

  “A real mummified person?” Dean repeated, startled. “You’re kidding.”

  “Dr. Tarik’s assistant,” I confirmed, eyeing both boys and wondering what their play was. “Ammar. His body was mummified in true Egyptian fashion.”

  “We had nothing to do with that,” Jimmy assured us. “I wouldn’t even begin to know how to turn someone into a mummy.”

  “Likewise,” Dean mumbled.

  We headed back to the maze, intent on getting out of the claustrophobic corn field as soon as possible when we heard a siren approaching in the distance. Vance cursed silently, shook his head, and checked his watch. He pulled Jimmy to a stop and cocked his head at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “That’s gotta be the slowest response time I think I’ve ever seen. What, did they stop for donuts?”

  I snorted in response.

  “So where’s this necklace, Jimmy?” Vance asked the sullen teenager. “Tell me where you’ve hidden it and I’ll try to put in a good word for you with your grandfather.”

  Jimmy fidgeted from leg to leg. I got the impression that he wanted to tell us something but was afraid of what Dean might say or do. Vance hooked a thumb in the direction of the approaching siren.

  “The deal is off once they get here. Spill, kid. Where’s the necklace.”

  Jimmy sighed and dropped his eyes to the ground.

  “It’s in my locker.”

  EIGHT

  “What the hell did you think you were doing?” Captain Nelson of the Pomme Valley Police Department demanded. He was one of eight people crowded into the small principal’s office inside the high school. “Principal Reezen has every reason to expel you. To expel you both! And what is your mother going to say about this, Jimmy? Would you like to take a guess?”

  “She’d say that you should arrest me,” Jimmy sullenly answered.

  I snorted softly. That was an understatement. The brat needed a serious reality check. From the looks of his livid grandfather, he was about to get it. I glanced around the room from my position in the doorway. Principal Reezen, two officers I didn’t know, the two kids, Vance and myself were all watching a vein in Captain Nelson’s forehead throb so much it was a wonder it didn’t burst.

  “You’re absolutely right. Tell me why I shouldn’t. Right now. Let’s hear it.”

  Jimmy swallowed nervously, “Grandpa, you wouldn’t really arrest me, would you?”

  Captain Jason Nelson’s hands kept clenching and unclenching. The look of outrage he had on his face when he looked at his grandson almost had me feeling sorry for the kid. Almost. I was just damn glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of the interrogation this time around.

  “You are going to tell me where that missing necklace is,” Captain Nelson decided. “Right now. If you have any hopes for this little excursion to stay off your permanent record then you’ll tell me what you and Dean did with that necklace. And... go.”

  “I already told you,” Jimmy whined. “It’s in my locker.”

  “Which number?” Principal Reezen asked, retrieving a familiar ring of keys from within his desk.

  “151.”

  “Why did you steal that necklace?” Vance suddenly asked. “There were plenty of things that looked more expensive than that vulture thing. Why the pendent?”

  Jimmy and Dean shared a quick look and both shrugged.

  “You’re going to do better than that,” Captain Nelson ordered. “Detective Samuelson brings up a valid point. Whose idea was it to take that particular necklace?”

  After a few moments of silence Principal Reezen cleared his throat.

  “Let’s up the ante, shall we? The first person to tell us the truth will face detention rather than expulsion. Who would like to go first?”

  “Okay!” Dean cried. The teenager’s smug demeanor was long gone. “You win. It was Jimmy’s idea. This was all Jimmy’s idea.”

  Jimmy hissed with irritation and refused to raise his eyes from the floor.

  “He said that there was this necklace in the exhibit that was worth more than everything else combined,” Dean frantically continued. “He said that we could sell that thing and make more money than we could ever make in a lifetime.”

  “They knew the pendent was authentic,” I said, more to myself. Sherlock, stretched out on the floor next to me, glanced up at me, raising both ears as he did.

  “What was that?” Captain Nelson asked, looking over at me.

  “They knew the pendent was genuine,” I repeated. “The question I’d be asking them is how they knew that.”

  Vance nodded, “Good point, Zack. Dr. Tarik said that only he alone was privy to the true history behind that particular necklace.”

  Captain Nelson was silent as he considered. After a few moments he nodded and looked back at his grandson.

  “Answer the question, James.”

  “I told you, grandpa. Don’t call me that. I prefer Jimmy.”

  “Better get used to James, kid,” Vance quipped. “That’s the name that’s gonna appear on your arrest record.”

  “Alright!” Jimmy exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. “It was me, okay? I was behind the whole damn thing! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “You’re also the one who stole the Egyptian Exhibitions’ mummy?” Captain Nelson began. He was trembling with rage. “Do you have any idea how badly this reflects on PV? Why would you do this, Jimmy? Don’t you have a single brain cell in your skull?”

  Jimmy scuffed the toe of his foot on the linoleum-covered floor.

  “What did you do with the mummy?” Principal Reezen asked. “Where have you two hidden it?”

  “We didn’t do anything to it,” Jimmy insisted. “It’s still safe. At least it was the last time I saw it.”

  “The last time you saw it?” Vance repeated. “Where is it, kid? This town is full of freaked out people. We need to make a show of retrieving the mummy and showing everyone that there’s nothing animated about it.”

  “Good point,” Captain Nelson conceded. “Jimmy, where is it?”

  Jimmy sighed, “It’s in the maze.”

  “At Fanny’s Farms?” Vance asked, amazed.

  “Yeah. I didn’t want that creepy thing at my place, and Dean didn’t want anything to do with it, so it was up to me to hide it. So I figured I’d stash it at the one place where no one would be surprised to find it.”

  “How could someone not be surprised if they came face-to-face with an actual mummy in the maze?” Principal Reezen asked, confused, as he turned to Vance. “Do you know?”

  Vance shrugged. He didn’t know. However, I did.

  “The maze is decorated for Halloween,” I reminded everyone. “There are already gravestones, giant spiders, fake caskets, and all manner of things around every corner in the maze. It wouldn’t be surprising at all to see a mummy in there. In fact…” I trailed off as I remembered seeing a mummy propped up like a scarecrow during the chase through the maze. I looked around the room to see everyone staring at me. “I think I know where it is. When Sherlock and I were chasing after Jimmy here we came across a mummy propped up like a scarecrow. It was near the scene of where we found that mummified person. Do you remember, Vance?”

  Vance’s head fell and he groaned.

  “You
found the mummified body?” Captain Nelson asked, his voice dropping dangerously low. He took a few moments to glare at Vance before turning back to me. “You and your dog? Interesting. I don’t recall you mentioning that in your report, do you, Detective Samuelson?”

  Vance shot me a dark look, “Uh, no sir.”

  Captain Nelson gave me a speculative look before dropping his eyes down to Sherlock. He smiled at the little corgi and shook his head. He walked over to Sherlock to give him a congratulatory pat on his head.

  “That’s a good boy.”

  Sherlock looked up at the captain and panted contentedly. The police captain looked back at me and nodded.

  “You’re certain you’ve seen the mummy?”

  “I’m no expert,” I told the captain, “but that one looked eerily authentic. Sherlock hesitated long enough to give the thing a second look, if it helps.”

  “Roger that. Very well. Jones, take Stidwell and check it out. If it’s the real thing then bring it back here.”

  Both of the cops who hadn’t said a thing up until this point nodded. They exited the small office together. Captain Nelson then pointed to the two sets of handcuffs that were on the principal’s desk.

  “If either of you would like to avoid adding these to your permanent collection of jewelry then you’re going to tell me about the unfortunate Mr. Fadil. Now, if you…”

  “Who?” Dean interrupted.

  “Mr. Ammar Fadil,” Vance clarified. “Dr. Tarik’s assistant. He’s the one who was mummified. Is any of this ringing a bell?”

  “Why would you think either of us had anything to do with that?” Dean demanded.

  “We didn’t kill that guy!” Jimmy added.

  “Then how is it the location you chose to stash the mummy was in the same area as where we found Mr. Fadil’s remains?” Captain Nelson asked. “Jimmy, I can’t help you unless you’re willing to help yourself. You need to come clean. How are you and Dean involved? I personally would like to believe that you aren’t responsible. However, you are going to have to convince me. If you want my help then you have to help me.”