by Rose Pressey
“I don’t want to bother him,” I said.
“He’ll probably be upset if you didn’t call him right away,” Dorothy said.
“I don’t know what to do,” I said.
“You’d better call him,” Dorothy said in her singsong voice. “Oh, but don’t listen to me. What does Dorothy know.”
There were plenty of times when I shouldn’t have listened to Dorothy, but I wasn’t convinced this was one of them. She was probably right, but the doubts still filled my thoughts. I just didn’t want to deal with Jake saying I shouldn’t be involved with dangerous situations.
Morty’s eyes widened. When I glanced over my shoulder, I realized that the decision on whether or not to call Jake had been made for me. Jake briskly walked down the hallway toward me. His intense blue eyes remained fixed on me. Uh-oh. Instead of his usual suit and tie, Jake wore navy shorts and a white pullover shirt. Had I taken him away from his fishing trip? Uh-oh again. Other officers ran behind Jake. I leaned up against the wall trying to get out of the way.
I pointed toward the door. “She’s in there.”
Jake eyed me suspiciously as he headed into the room with the other offices. This was so crazy. More uniformed men came down the hallway. And then I saw the other detective. It was Jake’s boss. This just kept getting worse.
“What do you think they’ll say?” Dorothy whispered.
“I think they’re going to have a lot of questions, Dorothy,” I said.
Jake would probably think that I came here knowing that there was a dead body. That this was something to do with my private investigating. But this time it really had nothing to do with it.
Morty remained speechless. Had he gone into shock?
I waved my hand in front of his face. “Morty. Can you hear me?”
He remained silent. His dark little eyes were focused on the wall in front of him.
“Do you think he’s having a stroke?” Dorothy whispered.
“I think he’s just in shock,” I said.
It seemed like forever before Jake finally stepped back into the hallway. He pulled me to the side while the other detectives made a beeline for Dorothy and Morty. I really wanted to be invisible right now. I knew that Jake’s boss could be relentless with his questioning. I’d been on the receiving end of that and I didn’t want Dorothy and Morty to go through it.
“What is he going to ask Morty?” I asked.
“He’ll just try to get the facts,” Jake said.
“Yeah, well, I don’t want him to be mean about it.”
“He’s just a little rough around the edges but he means well,” Jake said.
“I thought you were fishing?”
“My friend cancelled at the last minute. When I heard about the call here, I knew you had to be involved.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “Hey. Not necessarily.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Now why don’t you tell me exactly what happened?”
I released a deep breath. “I know you’re suspicious of this, but honestly, this had nothing to do with my private investigating.”
“I’m listening,” Jake said, crossing his arms in front of his muscular chest.
His biceps stretched the fabric of the white shirt. Was it getting hotter in here?
“Morty was interested in this condo. The realtor was supposed to meet us here. I don’t know if that’s her in that bathroom or not. When we got here, the door was open. We thought maybe she wanted us to come on in.”
“Of course,” Jake said.
“When we went in Morty went back to check the bathroom size and that was when he found her.”
Jake studied my face as if he was trying to figure out if I was leaving out any details.
“That’s all,” I said. “All the facts right there.”
“I believe you,” he said.
Did he really?
“Did you touch the body this time? Poke it with any objects?” Jake asked.
“No, I didn’t poke the body this time. And that was just that one time.” I held up my index finger.
Jake held two fingers up.
“Okay, two times. Whatever.”
“We’ll get an ID on the victim soon. But I think you’re right, it’s probably the realtor Morty was meeting.”
“Who do you think did this to her?” I asked. “I mean, I suppose it wasn’t random.”
“No, I doubt it was random,” he said.
I swore for a second Jake glanced over at Morty.
“Do you think Morty did this? He can’t see. He has cataracts,” I said in a slightly exasperated voice.
“Does Morty have a valid driver’s license?” Jake asked.
“Yes, he does,” I said defensively.
Whether Morty should have one or not was neither here nor there right now.
Jake raised an eyebrow.
“You’ll have to ask the DMV about why he has one. Besides, we were only in there for a few minutes. How could he possibly strangle that woman without me knowing it?”
Jake raised an eyebrow again. “How do you know she was strangled?”
Chapter 3
“I saw the marks on her neck,” I said with a wave of my hand.
This wasn’t my first rodeo. Sadly, I knew what to look for in a homicide case.
“But you don’t know that for sure,” Jake said.
I scoffed. “The marks on her neck are a pretty good indication, don’t you think?”
He released a deep breath. “Yes, I suppose it is a good indication.”
Just because I was a private investigator didn’t mean that I didn’t know the cause of death.
“Is there anything else that you can think of? Did you see anyone when you were coming up or down?”
I concentrated on the scene, trying to remember any details. “I can’t think of anything that I’m not telling you about the scene. I wouldn’t withhold anything on purpose.”
“Of course not,” he said in a teasing tone. “But you are withholding something?”
I hadn’t been trying to withhold info on purpose. Seeing the man in the stairwell had slipped my mind. It kind of seemed unimportant now, like I had been just jumping to conclusions. Nevertheless, I needed to tell Jake. I recounted to Jake about following the man in the stairwell.
“Sorry I didn’t get a better look at him,” I said.
“Don’t worry. You did all you could. Maybe a little too much.” Jake did that thing where he lifted one eyebrow and gave a lopsided grin at the same time.
That quirky expression of his always made me a little weak in the knees. I wondered if he knew I had tiny hearts in my eyes every time I looked at him.
My attention turned to the other detective talking to Morty. The interaction was making me nervous. I had to step in soon and stop it. Although then I might get myself arrested.
“Don’t you think he’s asked enough questions now? The poor man’s been traumatized,” I said.
“You’re right,” Jake said. “You should get Dorothy and Morty out of here. Let me go get the detective.”
“Thank you,” I said with a wink.
To my relief, Jake went over and talked to the detective. Within a few seconds, the detective had reluctantly let Morty and Dorothy come over to me.
“We should get out of here.” I motioned for Dorothy and Morty to follow me.
“Yes, before they put us in handcuffs,” Dorothy said around a sigh.
Dorothy, Morty, and I finally made our way down the hallway and to the elevator again. We surely didn’t look as carefree and happy going down as we had when we came up. Staring at our reflections was particularly disturbing. Frowns, grimaces, and general looks of fear were what I saw in the mirrored doors. Whose idea was it to add mirrors to the doors anyway? At least creepy guy wasn’t on the elevator with us. We made it out of the parking lot and into the car.
I released a deep breath as I pulled out onto the road. “What did the detective say to you, Morty?”
“He wanted to know exactly what happened. He asked if I knew the woman or had any words with her.”
“It sounds as if he was trying to set you up as the killer,” Dorothy said.
I didn’t want to confirm her suspicions and worry them, but that was exactly what it sounded like to me too. I needed to discuss this with Jake more. I had to let him know that this detective was barking up the wrong palm tree.
I glanced in the rearview mirror at Morty. “What did the agent say to you the last time you spoke?”
“We didn’t say much to each other,” he said. “Other than setting up the meeting.”
“Things will seem better tomorrow, I’m sure,” I said, trying to reassure them.
A couple minutes later, I pulled up to the parking lot of my office and wheeled in beside Morty’s car. Now I hated to leave them alone.
“Are you sure you all will be okay?” I asked.
“Maggie, dear, I have lived many years and have taken care of myself for almost all of them. Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine.” Dorothy patted my hand. “Now you on the other hand…”
“What about me?” I frowned.
“You haven’t lived as long and I worry about you,” Dorothy said as she opened the car door.
“Oh, Dorothy,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I’ll be perfectly fine.”
“Thank you for everything, Maggie,” Morty said. “I’m sorry I made you go with me.”
“It’s not your fault, Morty. Don’t be sorry. You had no way of knowing what would happen.”
“I just hope they find who did this to her,” he said.
“Me too. Jake will figure it out though.” I offered another reassuring smile.
I attempted to ease their fears. Dorothy said they were fine, but I knew she was just saying that to make me feel better.
Dorothy eyed me suspiciously. She probably knew what I was thinking. Never would I let a mystery go without doing a little research myself. I couldn’t help myself. It was something I was compelled to do. Jake wouldn’t mind the extra help. Okay, he would hate it if I got involved. But since when had I let that stop me?
Dorothy and Morty got out of the car. She gave me one last long look before closing the car door. I waved as they walked away. They were just so darn adorable.
Dorothy and Morty got in his Cadillac. Should I follow them to make sure they arrived at their next destination safely? No, that would only irritate Dorothy. I needed to stop treating them like toddlers. They were adults and could take care of themselves. I hoped.
Watching Morty whip out onto the street, making a right, I assumed they were going back to his place. Of course, I’d told Dorothy to take the rest of the day off. I didn’t have much going on, and after the stressful afternoon, I figured there was no sense in her being here for a couple more hours.
I contemplated going to the beach by myself. However, taking the rest of the day off wouldn’t necessarily be a good idea. Yes, it was slow, but there was still work for me to do. Plus, I had to pay bills.
Speaking of business being slow, I’d contemplated maybe doing an advertisement in the newspaper. Yes, that seemed kind of old-fashioned, but nevertheless, I’d gotten some work from that in the past. I was also doing social media. Anything to get my name out there.
Yeah, my tiny office was a bit cramped, but I’d come to love the place now. At first, I’d had dreams about expanding to some big office, but now I thought the place was quaint and charming. It had an old-timey feel to it. And I liked that.
A small metal desk sat on the right side of the room. That one was mine. Dorothy had a similar one on the left side of the room. The few metal files sat against the far wall. I had an uncomfortable metal chair. At some point I really was going to update that, but I’d been so busy that I had just pushed it to the back of my to-do list. I had a nice leather chair in front of my desk for any clients. I’d also gotten a nicer chair for Dorothy. It was one of those big leather desk chairs with the massaging back and seat.
One thing though that I hadn’t been able to wait for was a computer, so I had gotten a laptop. Now I was able to do a lot of my work on the computer. My uncle had had an aversion with new-fangled tech devices. He’d used a good old-fashioned legal pad and pencil, plus the aforementioned metal filing cabinets. He had files from years and years of work, and I had kept all of them. I wasn’t even sure why I still held onto them. They were kind of cool to look through, I supposed. I never knew when I might need them.
I stared at my computer screen, hoping that an idea would come to me. I had to think about the facts that I had, which were few and far between. I’d seen the man at the condo building, but he’d taken off quickly. Of course, I’d never caught up with him. Why had he left in such a hurry? Unless he was guilty of something. No one else had been around when we arrived. And by the looks of the body the victim hadn’t been there long. The man I’d seen in the hallway could have been responsible for this.
I had to find out who he was and why he’d been there. Did he live in the building? I wondered if the condo building had any kind of surveillance cameras. Probably not, but I would have to look into it nevertheless. They needed better security obviously. I’d suggest Morty think twice before moving into that building. He’d probably never want to see the place again now.
I just had a terrible feeling that this woman had gone there to sell the place and ended up dead in a vicious attack. Had someone followed her? I wondered if anyone around had seen anything unusual or suspicious. I could check with people in the area. Also, I needed to find out more about the woman and if it could have been someone who knew her well. Like a husband or boyfriend. Perhaps a friend? Though I wouldn’t call someone like that a friend, more like an enemy. I jotted down some notes and hoped that something else would come to mind.
When my phone rang, I jumped. I supposed the earlier events still had me on edge. Jake’s picture appeared on my screen. The photo was of when we had gone to the grand opening of a new seafood restaurant by the pier. I’d thought he looked great in his red Hawaiian shirt and I’d snapped a photo. He didn’t like the picture, but nevertheless, he hadn’t stolen my phone and changed it yet, so I took that as a victory.
“How are things?” I said when I answered.
“I called to check on you,” he said. “Dorothy and Morty too.”
“Dorothy, Morty. and I are hanging in there. I’m alone right now. I think they went back to his place.”
“Are we still on for tonight?” Jake asked.
We had plans to go to yet another new restaurant in town. I had to admit I was a bit stressed and not sure if I was up for a nice dinner out. Nevertheless, I wanted to know more about the murder case from today. Was that bad of me? Of course, I wanted to spend time with Jake. He knew me well though and he’d probably realize that I was fishing for details about the crime.
“Yes, of course we’re still on for tonight,” I said.
“I hate to ask you this,” he said.
“But you want me to meet you there.” I sighed.
Jake put in a lot of hours. Sometimes he had to leave in the middle of dinner.
“I’m still wrapping up here and it might be a bit before I can leave, and I don’t want to be late.”
“I understand,” I said. “I’ll meet you there at eight o’clock.”
That would give me time to go home and change. Maybe I’d relax a bit before I met him.
“You’re the best,” Jake said.
He probably hadn’t been thinking that earlier when he’d found me at the scene of yet another crime.
“Just remember you said that,” I said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Can’t wait,” he said.
After ending the call, I stared at my computer screen again. I supposed this was doing no good so I might as well take off. I shut off the laptop and then scooped up my bag and headed for the door. Just as I was opening the door, my phone rang again. Was Jake calling back because he was canceling already?
When the screen lit up the number listed was unknown. I was reluctant to answer. If they couldn’t tell me who was calling, then why did I want to answer? Was it some kind of secret? Nevertheless, since I needed business, I figured I should answer the call just in case. More than likely it was just a wrong number. Or someone calling and trying to sell me something.
“Hello?” I said when I answered.
There was no response.
“Hello,” I said again.
Still I got nothing. I looked at the screen and saw that the call was still connected.
“Are you there?” I said with no response.
As I suspected, it was probably just the wrong number, so I ended the call. After stuffing my phone into my pocket, I opened the door and stepped outside into the sunshine. It had certainly been an odd day. But with the next event, I knew it was going to get even stranger.
Chapter 4
I had to deal with a news crew again. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been on the news because of a murder investigation.
A brunette reporter in a blue pantsuit and young dark-haired cameraman stormed toward me as if going into battle. Their weapons, of course, were cameras and microphones. They were after me. Instantly my adrenaline started pumping. There was no place for me to hide other than ducking back in my office, which was exactly what I planned.
I turned around and raced back in the door. They ran behind me. Once the door was closed, I leaned against the wood, trying to catch my breath. They were talking outside, calling out to me. There was no way I would talk to them. Especially with my current appearance. Sweat beaded on my face and my hair stuck to my forehead. I needed a shower and makeup.
How long would they keep me trapped in here? I moved over to the little window next to the door so that I could peek out at them. I hoped they didn’t see me and snap a picture. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic in here.
As soon as I lifted a slat on the blinds, I spotted them right there. Their faces were practically pressed against the glass. What nerve! They’d been trying to peek in the window. I screamed and jumped back. Not before they’d probably caught a picture of me in action. This was embarrassing. I should just go out there and ask them what they thought they were doing.