by Alexie Aaron
David opened his mouth, thought the better of it and closed it again. He got up and looked mournfully at his destroyed black shoes. He took them off and tossed them across the deck in anger.
“Calm down. Let’s start at the beginning. Tell me what happened.”
David took him through from the ding of the elevator to the moment when the man opened his eyes and sat up. He looked at Albert and tried to guess what he was thinking. “Am I crazy?”
“No. There are reports of strange goings-on here. Screams and moans. Perhaps we have a ghost?”
“Do you believe in ghosts?” David asked.
“No. But I have an open mind. Let’s see if we can find you some clean, dry clothes and get you back on duty.”
David followed him to the employee lockers, and between them, they came up with a uniform that would pass muster if Mr. Stewart arrived early. Albert walked with David through his two o’clock round and then sat the tired boy down at the desk.
“I have to get back upstairs to check on the Seeleys. I’ll bring you some coffee when I return. Write all of this down in the night log,” he instructed.
Albert left the boy to his task and called for the elevator. He thought about what he was going to say to Sissy on the way up. By the time he exited the elevator and was walking down the corridor, he decided he would tell her the truth. He knocked on the door, calling, “Sissy, it’s Albert. Open up.”
The locks clicked, and Sissy opened up the door.
Albert quickly explained what had happened to David.
“That poor boy, what a fright he must have had,” she tsk-tsked. “Let’s make him some coffee. Tea would be better, but boys his age don’t drink tea. Not many men drink tea…”
Albert listened to Sissy as she talked about men, tea and life while she brewed a pot of coffee. She didn’t seem rattled by the tale of the man in the pool. “I came upon a drowned man once,” she said as she spooned sugar into the paper cup she was sending down with the carafe of coffee.
“What?” Albert asked. She had said it so causally that he hadn’t digested the words properly.
“It was in Lake Michigan over by the North Avenue Beach. I was a child. Daddy said the man must have fallen off a boat and drowned, and the waves were just bringing him home. I remember how gray the man’s skin was. His body was fat with bloat, and yet, very flexible. He must have been in the water for some time. I never found out who he was. I think I named him Wally. I used to ask my Daddy about Wally, but he always put me off by telling me it was best to let the dead lie. I thought that was ridiculous as he wasn’t lying; he was floating.”
Albert nodded. He got up, and Sissy once again walked him to the door. He didn’t repeat his instructions as Sissy didn’t have any trouble remembering. If she could remember Wally, she certainly could remember to lock the door behind him.
~
Albert sat with David until he felt that the boy was sound enough to complete his shift.
“I’ve got to get some sleep,” he said excusing himself. “It’s almost three, and I’m replacing you at seven.”
“Go on up. I may be a bit shaken, but I’ll live,” David assured him.
“Call my cell. Put the number in the portable as soon as I leave,” Albert instructed. “We don’t need to be waking Sissy Seeley up again.”
“It’s a good thing you’re doing,” David said.
“Pardon?”
“Staying with the two old ladies,” he clarified. “Not everyone would do this. It’s way beyond the call of duty.”
Albert smiled. “I don’t think of the old dears as my duty. I think of Naomi and Sissy as my friends. As they say, friends don’t leave friends hanging.”
David nodded.
Albert rang for the small elevator, and as he waited for it, he looked the lobby over. As his eyes took in the posh reception room, he noticed how dark the corners were. He would have to speak to Mr. Stewart about this reduced lighting. Tell him that it wasn’t safe. Perhaps Mr. Stewart would loosen the purse strings a little.
The elevator arrived, interrupting Albert’s thoughts. He got in and nodded to David who was watching him intently. The doors closed, and he started upwards. This smaller lift, the one used most by the residents, was decorated smartly. The hand rails and larger buttons that were needed for the older set were surrounded by light wood. The floor of the lift had industrial grade carpet, but it was in a rich brown. The inspection information, along with the safety protocols were housed behind wood framed glass.
The door opened on the sixth floor, and he walked quietly down the hall. Before he could lift his hand to knock, Sissy had the door opened.
“How’s the boy doing?” she whispered.
“He’ll be fine. He’s just had a scare, that’s all. Is Naomi still sleeping?”
“Like a drunken sailor. I forgot she snores.”
“I’m going to head back to bed. I’ve got an early day tomorrow,” he explained. “Let’s get you to bed first.”
“Albert, you’re not my keeper. Go. I can find my way back. I think I’ll read a bit in the living room. I’m stuck in a marvelous book.”
“Come and get me if…”
A low moan reverberated throughout the condo.
“See, not pipes,” Sissy hissed. “He sounds like he’s got a three day hangover.”
Albert, with Sissy on his heels, moved to Naomi’s sitting room. The moans were loudest here. He examined every bit of furniture and wall art looking for a hidden speaker and found none. The door to the hall slammed, and the lock twisted. Sissy moved quickly to Albert who put himself in between whatever had shut the door and her.
“Whoever you are, leave this apartment. You have no call to be frightening these ladies,” Albert said sternly.
An agonized scream pierced the air. Beside him. Sissy clung to Albert’s back for the duration of the scream.
Albert, remembering a line from an old movie, shouted above the scream, “If you’re not with God, go!”
The scream stopped, and the door unlocked and opened. Amazed more by what his words had done than the incident itself, Albert felt a bit faint.
“Breathe,” Sissy reminded him. “Breathe or you’ll fall down, and Naomi’s going to be cross if she finds you on the floor on top of me.”
He took in a deep breath followed by several more. “Thank you, Sissy.”
“No problem. So do you think it’s plumbing that’s keeping us up? Or what did Mr. Stewart say: Oh yes, a television show?”
“My, and the management’s, apologies,” Albert said softly.
They heard a thump slide, thump slide out in the hallway. Albert picked up Naomi’s bronze Atlas and motioned for Sissy to get behind him. He approached the open door to the sitting room cautiously, and when he saw what was waiting for him in the hall, he burst out laughing.
Sissy looked around him and said, “Land sakes, Naomi, you gave us a fright.”
Naomi, who was lugging a baseball bat down the hall, looked at the two and grinned. “I was coming to your rescue, but by the time I got to the hall, the screaming stopped. I thought I’d better continue on down this way and see what’s what.”
Albert took the bat from the frail woman’s hands. “My hero. This is heavy.”
“They don’t make them like that anymore. That’s my daddy’s. He used to play before the war.”
Albert did a quick calculation but was puzzled. “Which war?”
“Two! How old do you think I am?” Naomi asked the doorman.
Albert walked over to the sofa and sat down. “You’ll have to excuse me, ladies. It’s not every night that I get serenaded by a ghost and then get rescued by an octogenarian carrying a seventy-year-old baseball bat. It’s too much for my tender sensibilities.”
Naomi and Sissy looked at the large man and started to laugh.
A pounding on the door of the condo caused the sisters to jump. Albert ran to the door, keeping hold of the ancient bat in one hand. He looked in through t
he peephole and was surprised to see Mr. Davis standing there. He opened the door, and the elderly man all but fell into the room.
“I came down the stairs. There’s someone in my room. We’ve got to call the cops,” he said out of breath.
Albert called down to David and had him call the police. In the meanwhile, he settled the man down in the Seeleys’ living room. Sissy poured a brandy and brought it to the gentleman.
“What happened?” Naomi asked the trembling man.
“I woke up to a rumble. I didn’t have my hearing aid so I reached for it and put it in. I heard what sounded like my furniture moving in the music room. I got up and went to see what the hell, excuse me, ladies, was going on. I expected to see my son-in-law had returned and was camping out. What I saw chilled my bones.”
Naomi, Sissy and Albert hung on Mr. Davis’s words. They waited until he had taken a sip of the warming brandy.
“There was a big man with shoulders like Albert’s here. He was lifting the Steinway over his head! I shouted at him to put it down. He did that and turned around. Never in my ninety-one years have I seen such a face. He looked like a demented clown. Then I realized he had on a mask. He had to be. No one walks around with a face like that. I backed out of the room and realized I forgot my phone and my keys. I remembered that Naomi said you were spending the night so I came here.”
Albert’s phone rang, and he picked it up.
“The police have arrived. I’m taking them up to seven,” David reported.
“I’ll stay here. Call me if you need me,” Albert said and hung up.
David exited the elevator. The police duo motioned for him to stand back. He handed the entry key to one of the officers and did as he was told. He watched as they entered the condo. They were in there for quite a while before one of the policemen came back out.
“You can come in. There’s no one here that we can see. I expect he took off when the resident did,” the officer explained.
David walked into the apartment and was stunned by the amount of destruction that had taken place.
“The owner…”
“Mr. Davis,” David supplied as he stepped over what was left of a piano filling the hallway.
“Mr. Davis said there was only one intruder?”
“That’s what he said.”
“There must have been more than one. Look over there,” the officer instructed, pointing to the wall of the music room.
David stared at a gaping hole where a fireplace once stood. He headed over there but stopped and asked, “May I?”
“Just don’t touch anything. Here.” The officer handed him a pair of gloves.
David pulled them over his shaking hands as he climbed over the bricks and broken mantle. He stuck his head inside the fireplace and looked up. He reared back and stumbled backwards. “There’s something up there.”
The officer walked over, pulling out his flashlight, ducking under the opening and shining it upwards. “It’s… Lord in Heaven.” He backed out and called, “Carter! You might as well ask for a coroner when you call this in. There’s a body stuffed in the fireplace. Where did you say the owner was?” he asked David.
“Down in 6D.”
“Thank you. Would you mind going down and letting in the detective and the others when they arrive? I would also call your building manager. Tell him that 7A is now a crime scene.”
Albert put down the phone and looked over at the old dears, searching for the right words.
“Go on, spit it out,” Sissy demanded. “We’re waiting.”
“That was David,” he said. “Mr. Davis, the police want to talk to you. Your home has been ransacked, and they found a body stuffed in your chimney.”
“What?” Mr. Davis took his hearing aid out, adjusted it and put it back in. “I thought you said they found a body.”
“Stuffed in your chimney,” Albert finished.
“Well, how the hell did it get there?” he asked irritated.
“That’s what they want to ask you. Someone will be down in a few minutes. Do you have a lawyer?”
“Why would I need a… Oh. I better call my daughter,” he said.
Albert handed him his cell.
Naomi picked up her phone and dialed. “Alan, it’s Naomi. It’s three-thirty. Yes, it’s an emergency.”
Alan pushed the cobwebs out and listened to Naomi Seeley. “Is Sissy alright?” he asked, fearing that Sissy had passed on.
“She’s fine. There’s been a death. There’s a body in the chimney.”
“Say that again.”
“There’s a body in the chimney, and the police want to talk.”
Alan scrambled out of bed holding the phone. “You didn’t kill anyone did you, Naomi?” he asked, worried the woman had gone over the bend.
“Not me. Mr. Davis. They think Mr. Davis killed someone and stuffed him up his chimney.”
“Lord in Heaven, you had me scared. I’m not a criminal lawyer, Naomi. Put Sissy on the phone please.”
“Alright, Sissy he wants to talk to you.”
“Alan, sorry to wake you up, but we really need you to come over,” Sissy insisted. “It’s not just Mr. Davis that’s in trouble but us too.”
“Don’t make any statements. I’ll be there in twenty minutes,” he said.
“We won’t.”
“And Sissy,” Alan said, getting her attention.
“Yes?”
“Don’t let Naomi tell them about killing Ernest,” he instructed.
“Oh, Alan, I fear that’s already out of the bag,” Sissy said, watching Naomi standing at the door holding her hands out to the policeman.
Chapter Three
Mia looked across the table at Audrey in disbelief. “You’re telling me Alan Jefferies is taking on criminal cases now? I thought he was just an estate lawyer.”
Audrey took a sip of her wine, savoring the fruity flavor before continuing, “He is, and he isn’t. He has these clients, Sarah and Naomi Seeley, who’ve been with him from the beginning,” she explained. “Anyway, they had an ex-husband die in their home a few years back. Alan handled the situation, and now they think he’s up to defending a neighbor of theirs that is under suspicion of murder. He’s, according to Alan, a gentle soul in his nineties. The whole situation is bizarre at best.”
Mia was entranced by the tale Audrey was relating to her. She was glad she had invited Audrey to come house sit with her. She arrived at Ralph’s early, and the two women decided, since it was such a nice sunny day, although cold, to go out for lunch. They walked down to a favorite bistro of Ralph’s and secured a table next to the fireplace. The warmth of the fire combined with the glass of wine had eased away Mia’s stress.
Audrey felt sorry for the sensitive. Mia had to not only fight the early morning traffic into the city but deal with the undead drivers that moved along Interstate 55 weaving in and out of traffic. Mia normally could tell the difference between the solid cars and the ghostly propelled vehicles, but at the speed they were traveling, she couldn’t really be sure and had a few close calls avoiding the ghosts.
“He awoke to find a large man in a mask lifting up his furniture, tossing it around. The little old man fled to the Seeley condo to wait out the arrival of the police. When the officers were checking out his apartment, they found a body stuck up in the chimney.”
“Okay, go back. Why would they even look up the chimney?” Mia asked.
“According to Alan, the fireplace was destroyed, and the night doorman was looking around and found it.”
“What’s the doorman doing there?”
“He let the cops in.”
“Oh. So how’d Alan get involved again?”
Audrey brought Mia up to date on the late night phone call and Alan’s arrival on the scene just before Naomi was going to be carted off to jail.
“Why would they take Naomi?”
“Oh, she’s convinced she killed her ex – she didn’t, a stroke did - and told the arriving officer that she was g
uilty of murder.”
“Poor Alan, what a mess,” Mia said, stabbing her crab salad with a fork.
“Anyway, he explained the situation to the patrolman, and he let Naomi go. But they did take Mr. Davis into custody. Alan followed them down to the station, called Davis’s daughter and will be arranging bail if necessary.”
“How can they arrest Mr. Davis?” Mia said. “It seems they are moving a little too quick for my taste.”
“You and Alan are of one mind. He’s making sure that the older man is properly cared for. His clients, the Seeleys, insisted. If he is charged, then Alan will hand the case over to an experienced trial lawyer.”
“I’m sure Alan is up to the challenge,” Mia said. “You and he still seem to be pretty thick.”
“Hold on. Just friends and colleagues. We are on a few of the same committees. I’m not interested in Alan.”
“Does Alan know this?” Mia asked.
“No. I’ve tried to be unavailable. I mentioned Burt in passing but…”
“It’s none of my business…”
“Exactly,” Audrey said, stopping Mia from giving her advice.
“No problem. Let’s move on,” Mia said. “I was thinking that we should look into buying you a coat this afternoon.”
Audrey marveled at how Mia could let the subject of her and Alan drop so easily. If the shoe was on the other foot, Audrey wouldn’t have given up so easily. She would have nagged Mia until she spilled her guts on how she really felt about Alan and Burt. “It’s just that Burt isn’t giving me a settling down vibe,” Audrey blurted out.
Mia looked across at her friend. Clearly she wanted to talk about her dating life. “I’m confused. Is this my business or not my business?” Mia asked.
“Shut up. Talk to me. How was Burt with you?”
“I’d rather not say. We weren’t together that long. If I were you, if you have any questions about your and his relationship, ask Burt a direct question. He, like Alan, can’t read your mind.”
“Oh, I’m not ready to discuss that with Burt,” Audrey protested.
“Then don’t. You’ve just hooked up, and there’s no sell by date on your getting serious, is there?”