Return to Murder

by John Osipowicz

  Leaving the house of mirth, Todd had enough background on Gino to make him a suspect. The violence plus the irritation at anyone intruding into his yard could have been the combination that caused him to pump those bullets into Billy when he found him slumbering in the junk car. Lucy and Gino had already been divorced the night of the shooting, so she had no idea where he was that night.

  Todd decided he would do some surveillance of Gino’s new residence for a couple of nights to see if he had any kind of entertainment activities. Perhaps Todd could interview some of the people Gino hung around with now in his new freedom from Lucy.

  For two nights it was work, come home, and lights out two hours later. No other people showed up at the house. The third night, though, the house was dark when Todd drove up for his normal surveillance vigil. Gino was out somewhere. Todd thought he would wait for a little while to see if Gino showed up. If not, he might have to start following him from work to see if he met any buddies.

  Todd was rewarded an hour later, when Gino’s car parked in his designated spot on the street. A tall blonde girl got out of the passenger side and began walking up to the house with her date. However, they got only halfway up when it seemed they began arguing. Todd was too far away to hear anything, but not too far to avoid seeing Gino slap the girl twice, then grab her hair and begin pulling her toward his front stoop. This was not going to end well.

  Todd had to break his cover. He rushed up to the couple while Gino was still hanging on the girl and trying to get his house key out.

  “Gino, this date-night is over,” Todd said pulling his grip away from the girl’s arm.

  “What the hell! It’s you.” No more words. Gino tackled Todd and they tumbled down the steps and began rolling down the grass. Todd got one last roll and ended up on top. Two punches knocked Gino out.

  The girl was still huddled on the porch. Todd ran back up. “Ma’am, I want to see you get home safely. I’ll call a cab for you.”

  “That would be great. This was the first date I had with this guy. I met him in a bar a few days ago. We went to the same place tonight. It was pretty boring. He bought himself enough drinks, but didn’t seem to want to often refill my glass. Then he invited me in. I didn’t seem to have a choice because he wouldn’t take me home. Then walking up, I told myself I did have a choice, and so I told him I wasn’t going in. That’s when he started getting violent. If you hadn’t showed up, I don’t know what I would have done. In fact, what why did you show up? You don’t seem part of this neighborhood.”

  “That’s a long story. Let me call this cab; then I’ll go down and handcuff Bozo down there and put him in my car to take him to the jail. But I’ll wait with you until the cab comes.”

  Gino still hadn’t regained consciousness after Todd did the handcuffing, so he dragged him to the car and flopped him onto the back seat. Then waiting with the girl whose name was Marjorie, Todd asked her about the bar the two of them had been at.

  “It’s called the Schooner, all sorts of ship replicas inside.”

  “Did Gino talk to anyone else while you two were there?”

  “Yes, there was a friend of his already there, Barton somebody. That was irritating also because Gino spent most of the night talking to Barton and not to me. Apparently they had gone to school together. Listen, again I want to thank you so much. That will be my last date with Gino. In fact, I’m not going to that bar anymore. From what he and Barton said the both of them go there all the time, and that’s about it for their spectacular entertainment night.”

  “You could press charges against Gino.”

  “No, way, the guy would find some way to come and get me back. In front of his house, he erupted like some kind of animal.”

  “That’s all right. I can jail him for his assault on me. That will keep him in there for a few days. Ah, there’s your cab.”

  Ten minutes into the drive to the jail, Gino woke up. “What the hell kind of thing is this, copper? You beat me up, and now you’re probably going to drive me to a cell.”

  “You’re right about the cell, but I’ll tell the truth about the fight.”

  “Well, we’ll just see who is believed.”

  Todd was the one believed, and a half hour later he was going to pay a visit to the Schooner bar. It still was a couple hours before closing time.

  Marjorie had described Gino’s friend, Barton. The bar was crowded but there was no sign of anyone with dyed green eyebrows, a thick mustache and a New York Jets football cap. The guy had told Marjorie that he did the eyebrows purposely that way because the color matched the Jets’ jerseys. Apparently Barton had gone home.

  Todd knew that the Jets were scheduled for a summer pre-season game the next night on Thursday Night Football. Two big-screen TVs at the bar would seem to insure Barton’s attendance there the next night unless he had tickets for the game.

  And yes, less than 24 hours later, there was the green-browed guy sitting there with eyes riveted to the screen. There was no seats available next to him so Todd wedged his way through the crowd to stand behind him. He was careful to talk to Barton only during commercials. For a few minutes Todd talked about the Jets, then he switched to the fact that he knew Gino.

  “I feel sorry for you if you know that guy.”

  “I don’t know him that well. Why do you say that?”

  “Even in high school the guy was a loose cannon, always getting in fights. He has a short fuse. If he sees something he doesn’t like he attacks it. Sometimes I even get a little scared of him.”

  Finally it was halftime on TV, and Todd admitted how he knew Gino.

  “I’m not surprised you’re thinking he could have done that murder. No, I wasn’t with him that night. I remember the date because we were going out drinking to celebrate a big sale he had made in the yard, but then he said he had to work late to organize something there. The guy was a nut about that salvage yard. He’d keep rearranging things as if he was on national television. The odd thing I remember, though, was when I heard about the murder and I asked Gino about it, he wouldn’t talk about it.”

  “Why was that unusual?”

  “Anything that happened in that yard, anything at all, stray dogs getting in, or young kids trying to steal stuff, he would talk my ear off about it. He was so in love with that area. It’s like some guys will talk about their sexual exploits; he was like that about his salvage yard. I guess it was the one thing he had achieved in his life. But about that murder. Nothing. I asked him a couple more times about it, and he got angry at me telling me to shut my yap.”

  “I appreciate the information, Barton.”

  “No problem. It looks like the second half is about to start. Those Jets were pathetic so far. They’d better get better, or it’s going to be a long season.”

  Todd was pretty sure that Barton O’Malley would testify to his friend’s unusual silence if things ever got into a courtroom.

  CHAPTER FIFTY ONE

  However, in the next few days Todd could find nothing else to link Gino to murdering Billy Jessup. A good thing was that Todd had received no phone message from Marjorie. He had given her his cell number in case Gino tried to retaliate against her for that aborted date night. No news was good news. It seemed that Gino had moved on.

  Todd also had moved on. At least, so he thought. While he was in Calypso, he had been attracted to Nancy Skylar. After some initial interest he found her becoming a suspect, so he cancelled out his wishes that they see each other. That’s why when he answered the door late at night at the beginning of the next week, who should be standing there but Nancy herself.

  “Nancy, you’ve come pretty far from home for a possible story. Also, I have no story to tell you. I still don’t know who killed Billy Jessup, much less any of those victims in Calypso. But come in anyway. It’s good to see you.”

  She accepted Todd’s specialty drink—really the only one he knew how to make—a long island iced tea, and after he grabbed a beer from the fridge they settled d
own in the only room he had other than the bedroom and bathroom. She sat buried in the sunken couch with the broken springs, and he comfy in his recliner. Anyone else who would have dropped in would have had to stand because that was the only furniture he had. He’d once had a big stuffed chair, but termites had gotten into the wood part of it, and he had to junk it.

  “Are you just passing through, Nancy, and decided to stop and see your friend?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “That’s cryptic enough. What do you mean?”

  “I might as well say it. I’ve come to see you personally. I keep thinking about you, Todd. I want to be with you. I think you feel something toward me. It’s dumb that we’re not together.”

  Todd was taken aback. There was definitely a rush of emotion on her part. He had to admit, at least to himself that he had feelings for her. But he couldn’t do it and jeopardize the case. He had to be firm about it.

  “Nancy, I just can’t do it. Not while you’re still a suspect in the case.”

  “Todd be honest, how strong a suspect am I?”

  “Nancy, I will say you are not at the top of the list. I have three or four other people in mind. In fact, just recently here I found someone who could have murdered Billy to begin the case.”

  “So we can’t see each other because you won’t jeopardize the almighty case?”

  Todd was tempted but he shoved those thoughts away. That’s right, Nancy. At least for the moment we can’t go out with each other. I’m sorry you had to come all this way to find that out. How are things in Calypso?”

  “We finally have a new sheriff, sent to us from Indianapolis. Ryman Fletcher is his name. But he’s a kid, just past twenty-one. He has a lot of enthusiasm but no experience. Those murders will never be solved.”

  “If I find any connection between Billy’s death here and the murders in Calypso, I will come back to help.”

  “All right. It was foolish for me to come. I’ll start back. You take it easy, Todd.”

  “Wait a minute, Nancy. You look exhausted. You’ve just driven over six hundred miles.”

  “If I get weary, I’ll stop at a motel.”

  “Nancy, you’re staying here tonight. You get the bedroom, and I’ll have the recliner. This is a very comfy chair, and I’m already tired. I won’t have any trouble falling asleep.”

  “Todd, I’m a nuisance just showing up here and bothering you. I have to leave.”

  “Nonsense. You’re staying. Get whatever bag you brought.”

  “I didn’t bring any bag. Maybe I knew you’d reject my idea, and I’d turn around and go back.”

  “I never throw away any clothes. I still have some of my sleeping clothes when I was thinner. I’ll go put them on the bed. They won’t fit exactly, but at least you’ll have some comfort.”

  “O.K., as long as I can get a few hours of sleep. I’ll be gone real early before you go to work. I appreciate getting some rest. I think I’m also distraught because there is still a murderer loose in Calypso, and we’ve got a kid who looks like Justin Bieber trying to handle the situation.”

  They talked for the next hour, and then Nancy went into the bedroom. The bathroom was across the hall from the bedroom so Todd out in the main room need not disturb Nancy there.

  As usual they’d had no problem in conversing. Todd knew he and Nancy were compatible and he was still attracted to her. As soon as he could solve this damn case, he was going to take a ride to Calypso to talk Nancy into coming back to live with him in Philadelphia.

  He fell asleep instantly, and it was one of those dreams where he was aware he was dreaming. He and Nancy were lying there naked after a very satisfying time. They were talking about marriage. He awoke suddenly fully aroused. “Whew, that dream was too real,” he mumbled to himself, pulling up his blanket tighter.

  He thought he heard a sound. He squinted through the darkness. There was someone in the room.

  “Nancy?” Todd said tentatively.

  She came forward into full view. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said. For Todd the sleeplessness wasn’t the problem. Nancy was totally naked. She stood there quite unabashed and said, “Your clothes didn’t fit too well.”

  Later Todd thought back on it. If he hadn’t had that dream, he wouldn’t have already been aroused, and the night might have ended differently. As it was, for the next two hours Todd joined Nancy in the bedroom and all was bliss.

  What was not too blissful was the state of his mind after she left to go back to Calypso.

  He sat on his recliner, where the sex had started, and upbraided himself for a full hour that he had been so stupid to not control himself. It could be argued that any naked woman could have been tempting, but Nancy in full view was voluptuous. Todd’s body had made the decision for him. At least that’s what he told himself, but his conscience begged to differ. YOU ABSOLUTELY KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING, it angrily said to him.

  Oh well, life goes on. After two days he stopped criticizing himself and got back to trying to solve the case. Part of him was basking in the delight that possibly he had found someone he could spend the rest of his life with. That part vanished when just by accident a day later he happened to be having lunch with Merry Krismas.

  Despite now being the CEO of a very successful moving company, Merry had retained her art gallery, hiring people to run it. She had called Todd early that morning asking a favor.

  “I’m in a little bit of a bind,” she said. The girl who takes the morning shift at my gallery called in sick just five minutes ago. My other girl is on vacation this week. The two guys I have for the afternoon shifts can’t be there in the morning. Thus, my store is just sitting there with no one to run it. In the past I’ve driven over and did what I used to do, manage the store. However, I have a crucial meeting in ten minutes with the union rep. for my drivers. The union is threatening a strike. I was wondering of you’d drive over to the gallery, stand behind the main counter for only a couple hours before I can get there. I don’t know who else to ask. Maybe I feel we’ve become buddies.”

  “Buddies we are. I’ll be glad to do it.”

  “As it turned out, Merry was an hour later than she thought she’d be. Todd actually made a sale of a painting. Merry had instructions next to the computer of how to do credit card payments because of so much transitory help. Often she hired college students whose lives were always in flux. For Todd that morning, every now and then someone else came in to browse, but that one was the only sale.

  During a time when no one was in the store, Todd walked around looking at the paintings. He started contemplating two or three possibilities to buy for Nancy on her upcoming birthday. They’d had no communication since that night in the bedroom, but now she was on Todd’s mind more regularly. Could it hurt to buy her a painting? Maybe Todd was going overboard. This case had to be solve first. He did not purchase a painting.

  By the time Merry arrived, she said the guy for the afternoon shift would be there in thirty minutes. “I think I owe you a lunch,” she said. “When Devin arrives, we can go to a sandwich shop down at the end of the block. After all, you even sold a painting.”

  “The painting sold itself. You have real talent, Merry. Have you done much art lately?

  “No, the moving business is definitely on the move for WE-PACK.”

  “How about that strike?”

  “It still could happen. We settled a couple items at the meeting this morning, but it’s that wages thing. With the minimum wage rising each year, the drivers feel they’re being underpaid, and I’m beginning to think they’re right. I’m going to sleep on it, but I think I’m going to give in to their demands.”

  At lunch Todd asked Merry about any boyfriends, but she said she hardly had time to take a shower each day, much less begin a dating regimen. “I’m not that old, Todd. I still have time.”

  Todd wondered about himself. Did he have time, or was Nancy the one?

  “You look lost in your thoughts, Todd.”

  �
�I’m just thinking about relationships, how people get together.”

  “Maybe it’s better I’m not dating. I could get caught in something that may be hard to get out of. I remember Billy saying that the main reason he left Calypso to come to Philly was because of a relationship that wasn’t working out well.”

  “It seemed when he met you, things worked out well.”

  “It did. I think because we both respected each other’s freedom. The girl in Calypso, he said was the exact opposite of me. Things went well for a few months, but then Billy wanted out, or at least he wanted time to think about it. This woman did not agree. She began stalking him, showing up everywhere he was without any warning. He was being smothered, and he actually moved so there could be physical distance between them. That didn’t deter her. Billy said that even when he was doing his I can live on $200 a month thing, she showed up at the salvage yard where he was temporarily sleeping. She wouldn’t leave. She said she’d stay with him there, but he finally got rid of her.”

  “Some people I guess just don’t get it,” Todd said.

  “And you’d think this lady would have greater common sense. She had worked for a big city newspaper as a reporter. She had gotten out of the small town and seen the world.”

  Suddenly wheels were turning in Todd’s mind.

  “Would this big city have been Chicago?”

  “Yes, that’s what he said. She was there for a couple years but couldn’t take being away from him so she came back to Calypso. So then, like I said he had to move away.”

  “Todd, you’re not finishing your sandwich.”

  “Suddenly I’m not too hungry, but thanks for the lunch and especially the company.”

  The part of the sandwich he had eaten seemed stuck in his throat. When Todd had gotten suspicious of Nancy because she might want revenge for Ma and Walt making fun of her about her reporting error, he had shied away from any more suspicions because he couldn’t connect Nancy to the Billy Jessup murder. Here was that connection. She would not let Billy go. Todd might never know what happened that night, but a scenario could be that Jessup and she argued and Nancy simply shot him, then made it look like some random event in the night. The coroner had told Todd it looked as if Billy’s body was staged that way to appear he died in his sleep.