Murder and Mayhem

by Hamilton, B L

  “Next time I’ll bring popcorn.”

  SEVEN

  Moonlight streamed in through the open bay window as we lay on the bed with the light off, our bodies rippled with moving shadows from the large oak tree outside, my laptop balanced against my knees while I read aloud to my sister.

  *****

  “Would you like to go for a drive into the village?” Nicola asked.

  “A walk around the village would be great. After sitting in cramped quarters for fourteen hours it would be good to stretch my legs and clear the cobwebs from my head,” Danny said.

  As Nicola backed the car onto the road and headed down the hill a blue Taurus pulled out from behind a dark green Blazer and followed.

  Danny noticed a sign at the end of a driveway as Nicola negotiated a sharp hairpin bend. It said it was a private driveway, not a public road. “Seems a bit like stating the obvious,” he said.

  “You would think so but some of the roads around here are extremely narrow and a lot of homes hidden from view so people unfamiliar with the area often mistake driveways for streets–especially curious tourists.”

  “You would think the absence of a street name would be a clue.”

  “Not necessarily. Some of the street signs are a little hard to see. And besides, I think people are just plain curious and want to see what’s up there, hidden out of sight,” Nicola said, grinning.

  “Point taken, you’re obviously a better judge of human nature than me.”

  At the bottom of the hill, Nicola turned onto Cascade Drive and drove down a narrow lane where quaint cottages were set amongst trees, and a silvery stream flowed under wooden bridges and ran beside paths that disappeared up driveways where houses were hidden behind giant redwood trees. The soft riffle of water could be heard through the car’s open windows as it washed over smooth pebbles on a creek bed streaked with moss.

  The sound of running water grew louder as the BMW rounded a bend. Nicola pulled into a cut-out at the base of the falls and turned off the engine. “Cascade Falls,” she said smiling extending both hands.

  Danny opened the door and climbed out. He shoved his hands in the hip pockets of his jeans−and looked around. “This is nice. It’s like something you’d see on a postcard.”

  They stood a short distance apart at the base of the waterfall. Nicola pointed to a narrow path that wound its way through thick undergrowth and disappeared over the rim at the top. “There are a lot of little used trails up there. But you have to be careful you don’t get lost because the water could turn into a raging torrent without warning if there’s a storm further upstream. It might not look like much at the moment but you have no idea how suddenly that could change.”

  Nicola pointed after a blue Taurus as it disappeared around the bend up ahead.

  “Just beyond that bend, Cascade Drive winds up through the forest and becomes little more than a dirt track. It’s a pretty drive in fine weather but not so good in bad. A few hardy souls live there but four legged creatures tend to outnumber the two legged variety,” she said as a shaft of sunlight made its way through the trees and turned the cascading water to quicksilver.

  Danny wandered over to the rail on the other side of the road and wrapped his hands around the old gray timber. He looked at the water spilling out from beneath the asphalt covered bridge and watched it tumble over rocks and ferns as it washed against long tendrils of heart’s ease that grew along the mossy banks flitting between sunlight and shadows. All around was a quiet stillness as a breeze ruffled through the leaves of live oaks and maples and birch trees, and sent leaves dancing through the air.

  The trill of a songbird drew his eyes up to where the sun dripped through the treetops. Danny put his hand up and squinted into the sun and watched a bird glide gracefully through the trees and disappear in the forest canopy. The air was sweet with the scent of something he didn’t recognize.

  “Is it always this quiet?” he asked as Nicola came up beside him and leaned into the rail.

  “Pretty much. Occasionally some cyclists come here but because the road becomes a dirt track it’s mainly just locals. We do get the odd hiker but it’s off the beaten track. They tend to go to Muir Woods or Mount Tam.”

  Danny leaned back against the rail and looked around. “It’s like something out of a fairytale. Isn’t it? I had no idea you lived in such an incredible place. Have you lived here long?”

  “A couple of years. I love it here. It’s completely different to anywhere else.” Nicola watched a squirrel scamper up a tree and disappear among the branches. “It is nice isn’t it?” When she turned, her bare arm brushed lightly against his and she found herself looking into soft gray eyes that seemed to float above her. Her eyes lingered on his for a brief moment then turned away.

  “Ready to explore a little further?” she asked.

  * * *

  The black BMW crossed the wooden bridge beside Old Mill Park and stopped at the intersection. Nicola checked for oncoming traffic and then turned onto Throckmorton Avenue.

  “This used to be a logging area. Mill Valley had one of the first sawmills in Northern California,” she said as she pulled the car into a recently vacated parking space outside the Depot Café, and cut the engine. At the curb she checked the time remaining on the meter, added some coins and guided Danny down the path to the town square at the back of the café.

  A little further down the road, a blue Taurus pulled into the curb and stopped. The driver dropped a couple of coins in the meter and entered the Café. He ordered a tall latte, grabbed a newspaper from the rack and took it to an empty table by the window that looked out onto the paved area.

  As they walked across the town square, Danny noticed tables and benches sheltered beneath large trees where gray-haired men were engrossed in games of chess or checkers, and people sat with books or newspapers open in front of them while they sipped from take-out cups, and mothers watched small children playing. At the bottom of the square a middle-aged man wearing a brown corduroy jacket and blue jeans was sitting astride a bench seat playing a saxophone. The soulful notes rang pure and clear in the crisp morning air.

  Nicola guided Danny to an empty bench beneath the spreading limbs of a tree and sat down.

  Danny removed his sunglasses and clipped them to the neck of his T-shirt, spread his legs out in front of him, folded his arms, leaned back against the bench and closed his eyes. As the sun filtered through the leaves and warmed his face he relaxed and felt the tension ease from his body.

  He squinted up at Nicola, and tried to read the eyes hidden behind the dark lenses of her sunglasses, and said, “Mmm, this is nice.”

  “Are you tired? Would you like to go back to the house?”

  “No. I’m fine. It’s just so pleasant here.” Danny stretched his arms and laced his fingers behind his head and crossed his ankles. “Don’t worry, I won’t fall asleep. Talk if you want. I like listening to the sound of your voice…”

  The man in the café looked out through the window at a couple of children playing with a ball. He removed his dark glasses and lifted a pocket-size camera up to his eye. The shutter clicked.

  *****

  I closed my laptop, removed my sister’s arm from across my body, tucked the blankets around her and kissed the top of her head.

  “Goodnight, sleeping-beauty,” I whispered.

  * * *

  “Mom!” Our peace was shattered as Cody slumped into the room fresh from the shower, and dropped his nearly six foot frame onto the bed.

  I looked at him and smiled. “Hi, Cody.”

  He gave me a perfunctory glance… and grunted the way teenagers do.

  “Mom, you didn’t buy me any deodorant,” the lanky teenager whined.

  “Cody, we’ve had more important things to worry about than buying you deodorant,” I chastised him. There’s only one creature on earth more selfish than a teenage boy–a teenage girl. There were days when I wanted to lie down on a bed of broken glass, and beg the tanks to
roll over me.

  “We don’t have time to go to the supermarket, Cody. What precious little time we have is spent working on your aunt’s book. Use your brother’s. He forgot to take it with him to Santa Cruz,” Rosie said. She reached out and ran her fingers through his thatch of unkempt hair.

  Cody pulled his head away from his mother’s loving ministrations and screwed his face up in disgust. “Yuk! That stuff stinks like tomcat’s piss.”

  My sister rolled her eyes.

  Unlike her, I was past the eye rolling stage. I’d cut my teeth on a teenage daughter. Compared to her the front line in Afghanistan would be like a stroll through the park in the middle of summer.

  “Cody, well-bred young men don’t use that word!” I told him.

  Cody cast his eyes sideways and crimped his lips. “Sorry,” he mumbled through tightly clenched teeth. Young minds are like sponges–if you train them properly, they’ll learn soon enough.

  My sister, on the other hand is more understanding. She has yet to reach that stage, but as sure as night follows day–it will come, and when it does she’ll seek counsel from an expert–namely me.

  “Cody, there’s a lot of competition at college these days so your brother needs all the help he can get.”

  Cody gave an exasperated sighed and started to leave.

  “Don’t forget to comb your hair before you go out, darling,” I said.

  Rosie laughed. “The last time his hair was combed was when you bathed him.”

  Cody’s face turned bright red.

  Why is it that teenage boys get embarrassed whenever you talk about bathing them? They seem to forget we were the ones who brought them naked and screaming into the world. When Little Sweetie was born, I was the one screaming loudest! Ahhh…, the fond memories of childbirth.

  “That would have been when he was around six years old. He was so cute then, wasn’t he, Hon? Do you remember how he used to call his little willy a fireman’s hose?” My face crinkled at the memory of that cute little blond-haired angel shooting his hose in the most unlikely of places–walls, cupboards, plants, shoes, even filled his uncle’s favorite baseball cap one time–right before Ross put it on. Those were the days...

  As Cody slinked away I noticed he was all gangly arms and legs and my heart went out to him. “Don’t worry Cody, all the girls will think you’re cute real soon,” I called after him.

  When the front door slammed, the house shook on its foundations. I looked at my sister and shrugged. “Who can figure out what goes through the minds of teenage boys these days?”

  “You’d need a degree in science to work that one out, Bubbie.”

  “Lucky I just happen to have one right here in my back pocket.” I made a show of unfolding an imaginary piece of paper… and pretended to read.

  “And the answer is… Teenage girls!” I looked at my sister and grinned.

  “… and their fathers,” she added, matching my smile with one of her own.

  *****

  They chatted like old friends as they prepared the meal together.

  “Would you prefer Caesar dressing or Balsamic vinegar?” Danny asked holding up containers of each.

  Nicola stopped chopping parsley and looked up. “I’ll leave it for you to decide.”

  “Then Caesar, it is.”

  Nicola watched Danny add garlic croutons to the salad and thin curls of fresh parmesan he’d sliced with a potato peeler. “You look completely at home in the kitchen,” she said.

  “I should hope so. I don’t have to tell you what it’s like living alone. If you don’t do it no one else will.” Danny placed the bowl of salad on the table, and opened the bottle of red wine they’d picked up in the village. “Glasses?” he asked.

  “Second door on the right.” Nicola indicated with the knife she was using. “I just assumed you would eat out most nights.”

  “No, I don’t go out much unless it’s on business. Occasionally I’ll have a beer with the guys after work but aside from that I don’t bother. I prefer to eat at home. I quite enjoy cooking. You should try my devil’s food cake some time–and my light-as-a-feather lemon soufflé is simply to die for.”

  Nicola looked at him strangely. “You are kidding, right?”

  “No, not at all, I took a cooking class some years ago and found I really enjoyed it.”

  Danny removed the blue and white checked tea towel from the waistband of his jeans folded it neatly and placed it on the bench. He pulled the chair out from the table and said, “Your dinner awaits, madam.”

  Nicola put her finger under her chin and dipped in a curtsey. “Thank you kind sir…”

  “As if...,” my sister harrumphed.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Bubbie, I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings–you being the writer and all–but you’d be hard pressed to find a man that would open a door for a lady these days let alone pull out a chair for her.”

  “I disagree. There are still a few gentlemen around these days, and Danny happens to be one of them.”

  “Fine,” she said and gave me a dismissive wave. “But I still think it hain’t gonna wash with Joe Q Public.”

  “Oh yea of little faith,” I said, and continued reading…

  When the evening shadows lengthened and the candles had melted halfway down in their crystal holders they took their coffee to the other end of the room and sat on the chairs that looked out at the garden, now backlit by soft lanterns, as the moon rose in the sky like an untethered balloon.

  Danny looked over at Nicola, like he wanted to say something…but then changed his mind and took a sip of coffee instead.

  “Is something wrong, Danny?”

  Danny shook his head. “I was just noticing the way your hair shimmers with the moonlight shining on it.” But he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer. He knew he’d just have to take the bull by the horns and come right out and say it. He placed his cup on the table, rubbed his hand across his mouth, folded his arms…and unfolded them…

  *****

  I shut-down my laptop and put it to one side. “Time we hit the road my little sugar-plum fairy.”

  “What is it that Danny’s so worried?” Rosie asked.

  “You’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Can’t you tell me, before we leave?”

  “Not a chance, kiddo. But don’t worry it will all be waiting right here for you when we get home.”

  “But, I’d rather know now so I’ll have something to think about while I’m being zapped by aliens dressed in white coats.”

  “And spoil the surprise! Just grab your stuff and let’s get moving I don’t want to be late for Judge Judy. The segment they previewed on yesterday’s show looked a real doozy.”

  EIGHT

  When we walked in the room Rosie smiled when she saw her friend, Linda hunched over a magazine.

  “Oh, look, Bubbie, there’s, Linda.”

  As we strode down the room, people shuffled chairs to make room for us next to our new friend. As we passed Mr.Takamura he jumped to his feet, bowed twice, climbed onto the chair and reached for the controls.

  “Judge Judy, Channel Five, C.B.S.”

  “Thank you, Mr. T. You’re a real gem.” I gave him the thumbs up and headed down the room.

  “Hi, Linda,” Rosie called to her friend.

  “Err… Hello.”

  “How are you doing, Linda?” I wanted to know.

  Linda’s eyes had a nervous edginess to them as she looked around the room.

  “I’ve got something to tell you,” she leaned in and whispered as though imparting a great secret.

  Not before time, I thought, but instead said, “Have you found a good place to hide a body?”

  Linda blushed and nodded. “Well…Umm… I... I think so… Yes.”

  “You do? And, where would that be, Linda?”

  Linda chewed nervously on her bottom lip and then said, “I thought maybe those hills behind San Quentin Prison. No one ever goes up t
here,” she added grimly biting her bottom lip so hard it left indents.

  “I wonder why that would be,” I muttered under my breath.

  “You do realize there aren’t many trees around there, Linda. So there wouldn’t be much cover while you bury the body,” Rosie said.

  I leaned back, folded my arms and watched the master at work. It was a sight to behold.

  “I know,” Linda conceded. “But if we buried it at night, no one would ever know.” Linda looked at Rosie, then me, then Rosie again. She was obviously waiting for nods of approval and smiles of congratulations on a job well-done.

  Rosie patted her on the knee and said with a vacuous mouth. “Don’t you think the security guards would be just a wee bit suspicious of someone digging holes behind the prison in the middle of the night? You know…, the ones in the towers carrying machine guns with night-vision and telescopic lenses?”

  Linda gasped. Then she coughed and spluttered. I watched her eyes widen and her face turn red.

  “Ohhh… I. didn’t think of that,” she stuttered.

  “Don’t be too discouraged, Linda. We all make mistakes. I’m sure you’ll come up with something…eventually,” I said patting her other knee.

  Linda fidgeted and started to gnaw on her thumb. I decided to offer her some motherly advice so she wouldn’t think the day had been a complete loss.

  “A couple of good suppositories should take care of the worm problem Linda.”

  *****

  …Danny decided the best thing to do was to come right out and just say it.

  “Nicola, do you remember the last time we talked on the phone I told you I had to drop by a friend’s house and pick up some bike parts.”

  “I remember you saying something about it. Why?”

  “Well, Joe–that’s his name, Joe lives in San Rafael on Lucas Valley Drive and has some Harley parts I need to finish the project I’m working on and seeing as we’re leaving for the East coast in the morning it’s really important I get hold of him tonight.” Danny picked up his coffee and took a long drink, wiped his hand across his mouth and said, “Joe is moving to Texas in a couple of day so if I don’t catch him tonight I’ll miss him completely, and I really need to get those parts, otherwise I’m going to be in a real fix. I’ll only be gone a couple of hours,” he added.