by J. E. Mann
Flicking on the light switch, I held the door open for Rach. She walked by quickly and I closed the door. Our office was small, located above a kitchen supply store. We didn’t need an office, but the times we used Rach’s living room left us searching for a separate place. Something about work and home and Rach feeling she had a position of power in her place. I didn’t care. I liked the idea of going somewhere to work every day. Rach sat down in her chair and I took up my position on the window landing. The bar across the street was dark but it would be hopping in about five hours. Hopefully we would be long gone by then.
“Ok. Do you want to start with the witnesses?” I asked.
Silence from the other end of the room.
“How about the crime scene? I think….”
“Jake,” Rach said in a small voice, “I’m sorry.”
I turned to face her.
“Sorry? About what?”
“When I yelled at you.”
I waived my hand.
“Don’t worry about it. That guy was an asshole. I could have made him answer your questions.”
She shook her head.
“There was no reason for me to act like that.”
“Already forgotten and forgiven. Let’s work.”
She smiled, brushed a strain of her burgundy hair behind her ear, and sat up straight.
“Let’s. The body was discovered by the owner around five a.m. Somebone had gained access to the building and put the body on the stove in the middle of the room, turned it on, and then left. No blood on the air vent, so we can assume he or she was killed somewhere else. No calls to the police to report the body.”
“A lot of empty spaces. We don’t know who got killed, so we can’t speculate on motive. Where the body was found is interesting, makes me believe this was against the business.”
Rach stared at me.
“Why?”
“This was staged. Somebody didn’t want anyone to miss this little performance. The fact that the owner was the first to see it makes me think it was a message to him. From what I saw, he makes enemies going to the bank every day.”
Rach thought for a moment.
“No robbery, nothing missing. The place was locked up according to the night manager I talked to. So, someone was able to get inside in order to put the victim on the grill. The message theory is good Jake. The owner seemed to be proud of his business. Maybe too proud.”
“I don’t know about the competitor aspect though. Sure, these guys know there way around a meat cleaver, but to then graduate from slicing ribs to slicing up body parts? A customer, maybe, but it must have been one hell of an overpriced bill to play easy bake oven.”
Rach drummed her hands on the desk. She was processing everything quickly now.
“It doesn’t have to be a rational reason. David Berkowitz killed people because a dog told him to. That open door bothers me. It suggests careful planning, not a spur of a moment killing. If those cameras had actually worked instead of just being for show, then why put the body on the stove? Why not make it look like a robbery?”
I looked at the people shopping outside the window.
“Rach, we are breaking our own rule here. Speculating. Until we find out who was killed, we are just shooting in the dark. Once we find out who is dead, we might be able to figure out why.”
Rach didn’t respond. She was leaned over her desk, mumbling words. She was in overdrive, that mighty brain of hers pumping fast. I whistled and she looked up, startled.
“Rachel Paige, you know it’s rude to only think thoughts when the other person in the room isn’t psychic.”
She didn’t laugh, just looked at me quizzically.
“Why did that question bother him?”
I swung my legs down to the floor.
“That’s a simple one.”
“It is?”
“Of course. The question you asked assumed that he was a Virgo, when anyone with eyes could plainly see he was a Libra. What question Rach? And who did you ask it of? Share with the rest of the class.”
She shook her head, coming back from being in her head.
“Joshua, the owner. I asked him about his family. He instantly got angry and told me they had nothing to do with this. He went immediately to the defensive, like he knew they would be suspects.”
I leaned forward, interested.
“Problems at home eh? Want me to find out what skeletons are hiding under the coats?”
“Might be a good idea, unless you have something to do tonight.”
I turned back toward the window.
“I am at your beck and call. Besides, I love overtime.”
Rach looked through her notes. “He didn’t give an address. A man like that, he can’t really be hiding. Do you think you can find his address?”
I tapped my chin. “Shouldn’t be hard. Buckstone isn’t a common name so it will be easy to find. If not, I can call a friend for help.”
Her eyebrows raised “A friend?”
I nodded. “Kid by the name of Alonzo. Not much to look at, but his is a model on the keyboard. If I can’t find Joshua in the phone book, I’ll get help from Alonzo.” I sighed.
Better get some food money I thought. Aloud I said “ What are you going to do?”
“Going through the crime scene.”
“Your stomach can handle it now?”
She shook her head. “Mentally. Something about this is just out of my reach. I though by going over the scene again in my head might help. After that, home I think.’
She was perfectly content. Now was the time to ask what we had been doing there the whole time.
“Don’t you think you might want to call Rodriguez and tell him we are working a murder scene?”
Rach looked at me with confusion. “Why would I do that?,” she asked.
“It’s common courtesy Rach. Unless this is a plan to drive him crazy which you know I will be one hundred percent behind.”
“We can help. You know that most cases can be solved in the first forty-eight hours. This one feels like it is going to take a lot longer than that.”
I sat on the windowsill. “That’s true. But we still have to be invited.”
“He will, eventually.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Rach, remember that argument we had last summer? About even if you know how things are going to turn out, you still have to wait for them to happen? Even if you know the answer, you still have to let people ask the question.”
Her next words did not contain any arrogance, annoyance, or superiority. “But that wastes so much time.”
I pointed at the phone. “You may be smarter than anyone else Rach, but until that phone rings and Rodriguez is on the other end, you have to live in the same time constraints as…”
The phone rang. Rach looked at it and then back at me. She hit the speaker button.
“Hello Ben,” she said.
The voice that came out of the phone was deep and a little surprised. It was also annoying, but I think I was the only one who felt that way.
“Rachel? How did you know it was me?”
“I didn’t deduce it if that’s what you are wondering. Caller ID.”
“Oh,” Rodriguez chuckled. “Listen, I don’t know if you heard, but a body was found at a restaurant this morning.”
Rach smiled. “We were there. Drove by and saw the lights. We took a look.”
More surprise from the phone. “Well…that’s good. Saves me the trouble of taking you back out there. Can you see if you have any insights? It’s early but I get the feeling this is going to be a hard one.”
“Of course. I’ll do some research and see what I can find.” Ben thanked her and hung up. Rach pushed the button and looked at me, a tiny smile on her face.
“No way that just happened,” I said.
“Everything is predictable Jake. All a person has to do is see and remember patterns. After a long enough time, you can predict anything.”
She was the bra
ins and I was the legs. We might look strange, but we caught criminals. I pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
“Hey!”
I looked back at Rach.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t smoke in here?”
I exhaled a cloud of smoke and looked at her pitifully.
“We did. In fact, I decided early today that I was done. Done with killing myself and the cost of smoking. Was going to give it up, maybe even give my life to Christ. Then my boss ordered me to take a smoke break. What was I to do? Disobey her and possibly get fired? Can’t find another job in this economy. So I must continue smoking.”
Her mouth hung open as she struggled to find words. Finally she blurted out.
“I take it back! You are an ass!”
“Been called worse,” I said puffing, “And you can’t tell me that you predicted I was going to do this.”
RACHEL
Jake left almost immediately after he commented about overtime. He really did have a thing for his job; it was enough to make anyone sick. I, on the other hand, decided it was time to call it a day and go home. That's precisely where work couldn't follow me. I considered my solace at home to be precious, a thing Jake didn't quite understand.
I got to my townhouse a good few miles away on the outskirt of the city and threw open the door. After hanging up my coat and dumping all of my belongings on the kitchen counter I settled in the living room. The couches were overstuffed and easy to sink in to. I smashed buttons on the remote until my brain felt like it was going to burst with the mindlessness on television.
Why hadn’t Joshua wanted to answer my questions? It was a curse of the job and I had a strict rule to not let work bother me at home, but today it wasn't working. Jake was supposed to report to me when he got done questioning Joshua or his family, whichever he could get ahold of first. I wasn't sure if I was even going to answer his call yet. Jake had a habit of jumping the gun when he came across obstacles and that was no reason to bother me at home. He might make jokes about me not being able to turn off my brain, but if I thought about cases all of the time, I would go crazy.
Jake is a decent assistant, he always does what I ask him to but had an obnoxious streak to him. He often interrupted and made off color jokes but damn if he didn't get whatever he wanted.
A strange thought about Jake came to my mind; I didn't really know anything about him. He has his own little place to stay that I've never seen, and he smokes, he also gets his job done. I suppose that's all I needed to know as his supervisor, but it felt strange to not really know anything about the only person I work with.
Jake had come to my office about two years ago now. My first assistant had not lived up to my expectations, so I had to let them go. Jake had shown an aptitude for helping me with cases. I had always found it strange that Jake had just been there right when I needed him. I hadn’t been looking to fill the position because I felt better off on my own but Jake had a persuasive nature to him in the beginning. He made me feel like he could be trusted no matter what, and he never broke that unspoken promise. He had been respectful too, but that had only lasted about the first two months. Now he joked with me but he never took the job too lightly.
Life after work is very empty. I normally came home, ate, and watched TV. That's when the ringing of my cell phone interrupted my thoughts. The ringing was so loud that I scrambled to grab my phone from the kitchen counter before my eardrums blew up. Even if it was Jake, it was better than anything I was watching on TV right now.
"That was fast! What did they tell you about the case?" There was a pause on the other side of the line, "Hey sweetie!" I heard finally, it was my mother. Probably the last person I wanted to talk to, but a welcomed distraction from my boredom anyway. "How's it going?" She asked in her southern accent a hint of excitement in her voice. "Same as usual mom, just working another case with uncooperative people, you know how it goes."
"Well that sounds fun, I'm going to be in town tomorrow, think you'd want to hang out?" We hadn't seen each other in almost a month and I didn't want to let her down.
"Sure I think I can work something out."
"Ok sounds great," she said before she started in with a barrage of questions.
"So how's Jake? Is he still your assistant or have you pissed off another one yet?"
"Mom! Jake is doing fine and I don't think I could ever piss him off. He's too nice to get mad at me." I huffed like a child. "Really mom? Really? You know for a fact that I fired my first assistant."
“Remind me why that was again? Something about throwing away important mail or…” she trailed off unsure of what the real reason was.
“She was stealing my checks mom! I also think she was stealing my identity. Remember when the fog machine and those five hundred balloons showed up at my doorstep? People thought I was insane!”
I had an inkling that my mom was snooping. She was investigating her own child's life because she didn't want to just come out and ask what the current situation was. "Sorry, was just wondering." She finally replied distracted by something in the background. "How are your friends? Have any new interests lately?” I calculated how to answer these questions without being mean and hurting her feelings.
"Haven't heard from anyone lately. I don't really have friends and all. People normally pass me by unless they have Facebook. That's the only form of communication I get these days. Can't really say the people there are friends." I was instantly a little upset upon telling her this. My life really was sad for only being twenty-five. "No new interests either. I haven't started any new drawings or paintings lately. There just hasn't been any time lately with all the crime in the area."
"Oh? Drawing and painting wasn't what I meant by the way," she trailed off and I felt myself blush. There just were some things that should never be discussed with parents. This was one of them. "No mom, no new love interests. I'll not be having any of those. They just, don't understand my job and no one likes me."
"You'll find someone someday hun, they will just show up and you won't know what to do with yourself," she pushed. My mom really felt that I needed someone to occupy the empty spaces in my life. I was deemed anti-social by my parent’s standards and they hoped I would change one day. We talked for a few more minutes and I already had another missed call, probably from Jake.
After prying the phone away from my ear and ending the call with my mom I checked my voicemail.
Sadly, it was not Jake. Detective Rodriguez had left a voicemail wanting to know what the new information on the Ghangis K restaurant case was. He could wait; I didn't even have all of the information yet. I had to wait for Jake to get back with me before disclosing anything. In his voicemail Rodriguez had shared that the victim had been identified as male. That would be helpful eventually, once we narrowed things down.
After a long evening, I sat down to start a new artsy piece; I decided to sketch an altar, the most striking image of the day. Hours passed and my phone never made a sound again. "Where are you Jake? What's going on?" I said to myself before falling asleep that night.
JAKE
“Five dollars for a burrito? Are you crazy?”
The Hispanic cart seller just nodded. I grunted, laid down a five and took my late dinner over to the park bench. Almost midnight, and Alonzo still hadn’t shown. I glanced at my phone and decided not to call Rach. She was probably asleep by now anyways. And what did I have to tell her? Nothing. All of my informants knew jack shit. Apparently Genghis K and its piece of shit owner were just in the food business, nothing shady about it. This night was just getting longer and longer. If Alonzo didn’t show up soon, I was going to have to talk to the police about where Joshua Buckstone lived. That quarry would certainly be relied to Detective Rodriguez and I needed that like a hole in the head.
A car pulled up to the curb, and then raised seven inches off the ground as Alonzo staggered out. He was a big man, probably pushing four bills. I swear baby elephants didn’t weigh as much. He walked toward the burr
ito wagon when I yelled his name. He turned, saw me, and began shaking his head.
“Alonzo, get over here. I got food.”
He kept shaking his head. My voice became threatening.
“Get over here. I’ll drag you if I have to. Might take me a couple hours, but I will.”
Alonzo dropped his head and lumbered over.
“Man,” he wheezed, “Why you gotta talk to me like that?”
“Like what?”
“Disrespectfully.”
“Who’s here to hear me Alonzo? You may have three people hiding behind you. Sit your sensitive ass down.”
He did, eyeing the burrito the whole time. I slid it over to him.
“What’s in it?”
“Like you care. Got a job for you.
His first bite almost took half the burrito. He nodded.
“Got a name and I need an address. Joshua Buckstone. Owner of a restaurant named Genghis K.”
“Never heard of it.”
“I find that hard to believe. If you do go there, you might be the only thing keeping them in business. Crime scene, 187.”
He stopped chewing.
“I don’t want to get involved in no murder, J.”
“You ain’t a suspect, victim, or witness. All you are is the yellow pages.”
The burrito was gone. Alonzo pulled out his smartphone and began pushing buttons. My guess was that he could find it in less than four minutes. I might be hard on the kid, but the truth was I didn’t know shit about computers. Rach did, but she said that computers slowed here down. That and the fact that where we would have to go was probably illegal. Alonzo didn’t care about the legal aspect. He loved computers and the info they provided. I didn’t think we would break any laws tonight. Joshua wasn’t some criminal trying to disappear, he was a businessman. Shouldn’t be too hard to find.
“Got it,” Alonzo said.