by Alexie Aaron
He listened to Mia laugh.
“You would. So how about if I call you later… and we could explore the fun of phone sex,” she said, dropping her voice to a husky tone.
“You just made my knees weak, naughty girl,” Ted said pleased. “I’ll make sure to make myself available,” he promised.
“I’ll be counting the hours,” Mia said before hanging up.
Ted looked at the phone again. He scanned the received calls, and aside from the two mysterious caller IDs, everything seemed normal. He put aside the mystery for another time. Burt had added a new problem to be solved in relation to Centipede; he would need all his gray cells to sort that out.
~
I’ve called Vince in to take the rest of your shift and David’s tonight. You’ve got to get some quality rest,” Mr. Stewart explained to Albert as he approached him outside. “I’ll watch the door, he’ll be here soon.”
“I’m not going to disagree with you, sir, but I worry about the cost,” Albert said.
“It’s in the budget,” Clive explained. “You haven’t had a sick day in over three years. The monies have been sitting in an account collecting miniscule interest so why not give Vince some extra strutting around cash.”
Both men laughed. Vince Delcotto, the weekend doorman, was a very confident young man. He didn’t just walk, he strutted like a peacock. He opened the doors with an animated flourish. His lightly accented English added to his persona. During the summer months he worked the downtown hotels, always looking for the opportunity to get a large tip or a liaison with someone in the Windy City’s growing movie industry.
“He’s always looking for a big break,” Clive mused.
“Warn him about the icy steps or he’ll get his wish,” Albert reminded his boss.
“Will do. Now collect your things, go home and get a good night’s rest. The Seeleys have their lawyer looking out for them, also those two investigators.”
“I’ll just stop by, pick up my things from last evening and tell the ladies I will be going home,” Albert informed his boss.
“Sounds like a plan,” Clive said, holding the door open for his doorman to walk through.
Albert nodded to Elaine as he passed her on the way to the elevators. He saw her pick up the phone to call the Seeleys to inform them that he was on the way up. She was a professional; he had to give her that. He just wished she wasn’t so stiff and impersonal with the old dears.
Sissy opened the door and invited Albert to join the group for some sandwiches. She was serving an array of finger foods he had seen the Northside Caterers deliver earlier. Sissy had a red and white picnic cloth spread over the pricey dining table. “We’re having a picnic inside today, Albert,” she explained. “Sit down and join us.”
“Just for a minute. Mr. Stewart has called Vince in and given me the evening off to rest. I better do just that.”
“Mr. Stewart seems like a kind individual,” Audrey noticed.
“Oh, he’s got his problems, but none of them have ever caused him to lose his temper or treat an employee unfairly,” Albert informed her.
“You’ve got good people watching out for you,” Mia said, watching him intently.
“I’ve always been blessed. When my mother took off, my grandmother raised me and my sister. She taught me how to stick up for myself without letting my anger show. She insisted I stand tall when others would try to break my spirit.”
“What was her name?” Mia asked.
“Lord girl, let me think awhile. She’s always been Grandmother in public and Nana at home. Victoria. Her mother named her for an English queen she was impressed with.”
“When did she die?” Mia asked, passing Albert a plate of sandwiches.
“Two years ago. She was at Church doing Pastor Timothy’s books when the Lord took her. I miss that woman. It’s lonely without her,” he admitted.
“She looks after you still,” Mia said.
“You know, I have to agree with you there,” Albert admitted. “Sometimes when I need a hug or a scolding, I feel her. Is that insane?”
“No, Albert, not at all,” Mia said, looking past him at the woman behind him.
“Let’s change the subject,” Albert requested. “What are we going to do about the ghosts that are haunting Naomi and Sissy?”
“That depends,” Alan started, “on whether we can convince Mr. Stewart to let a full investigation take place. Until then, Mia will line the interior of the condo with salt.”
“Salt?” he questioned.
“Salt seems to put up an invisible barrier that most ghosts don’t cross. It’s worked very effectively in most cases. Here the ghosts are in the walls, so I’ll have to line the place with it. Normally we would just have to spread a line across the threshold and windowsills,” she explained. “The bad thing about it is that you’ll still hear them, but they won’t be able to hurt you,” she said, directing her information to Naomi and Sissy.
“Seems like a temporary measure to me,” Albert said.
“It is, but it will let the ladies rest easier knowing the hooligan that has been playing games with them won’t be able to get to them.”
“Why is he doing this?” Albert asked.
“We think that there are two spirits involved in trying to scare the residents out of their homes. They want the building to themselves. Mia thinks it’s to search for something valuable that has been hidden here, without interference from the living,” Audrey explained.
“I get that, but they’re spirits. What could they possibly do with whatever they find?” Albert asked.
“It could be a compulsion. There was a gangster that died trying to steal a yellow diamond from the Field Museum. His moll Shelly wanted it. It’s a beautiful piece. He haunted the place for decades and is still there,” Mia said. She kept that he was there with his heart’s desire, Shelley, to herself. To elaborate on the story would take too long, and she could see that Albert was at the end of his patience.
“But they still can’t possess it right?” Alan asked Mia.
“Depends how powerful they are. But I’m getting the feeling they may either have a flesh and blood accomplice or be working for somebody living,” Mia ventured.
“That’s it!” Naomi announced. “I think I know what they’re looking for. Sissy, remember the case of the missing Masters diamonds?”
“Give me a minute,” Sissy said. “Didn’t a briefcase full of cut stones disappear on the way to Masters Jewelers? They were very famous for their designs when we were young,” she explained.
“If memory serves me, they disappeared about forty years ago. I don’t think they ever found them, or if they did, it wasn’t in the papers,” Naomi said.
Audrey wrote down the information. Her eyes lit up. “I’ll track this down. Do you have any idea how valuable they were?”
Naomi looked at her sister and raised her hands and guessed, “One, maybe, one and a half million.”
“That sounds about right. Doesn’t seem a lot, but in those days a million actually bought something,” Sissy said.
“Yup, it barely will get us through the year now,” Naomi agreed.
Alan smiled at his clients. They had no idea how privileged they were. A million was a million to him. “I think it’s worth looking into, Audrey. Naomi, why do you think they are looking for the Masters diamonds?”
“Because Davos Masters lived here once upon a time,” Naomi told them. He had the whole eighth floor to himself. I think he kept the ice in his safe.”
“The night the diamonds disappeared, there was a party here. Naomi and I were still living in Evanston at the time. Too young and too noisy for the residents of this establishment,” Sissy explained. “But we were invited to the New Year’s Eve party.”
“How can you remember that when you can’t remember what dry cleaners you sent my cashmere sweater to?” Naomi complained.
Albert reached into his pocket and pulled out a small notebook. “That would be Augustine’s ov
er on Delaware,” he told them. “If you want, I could stop and pick it up…”
“No, you go home. I’ll call and have them send it over,” Sissy said, writing the information on her napkin. “I should have known you’d know where to look.”
“No mystery there, I’ve been supervising send offs and accepting deliveries from dry cleaners, caterers, jewelers, you name it, for this building since I started. Mr. Stewart told me to write everything down. I thought it was a waste of time considering the residents had receipts. Well, I owe him an apology.”
“Would you mind letting me look at your notebook?” Audrey asked. “I’ll be discreet.”
“Why?”
“Well, perhaps there’s a pattern of behavior that would point out who may have been aiding or abetting these ghosts in their nefarious deeds.”
“You think it’s someone at this building?” Sissy asked abashed.
“Yes, I do,” Audrey said.
“Why?”
“The evidence speaks for itself. No one seems to have entered nor exited the building who hasn’t been vetted by Albert or one of the other doormen. Mia found indications that the dead guy in Mr. Davis’s chimney may have been in the ductwork below the eight floor before he died. Who lives on eight now?”
“The Waterfords, the Emersons, the Beaties and Sweet Cheeks,” Sissy listed.
“All but Sweet Cheeks are away for the winter,” Naomi added.
“Who’s Sweet Cheeks again?” Audrey asked.
“Howard Duff. He used to be a Chicago Bear once. Coached college football for a while,” Albert filled in. “He moved in a year ago. I remember because his trophy case had to be taken apart in the lobby because it was too long for the elevator.” He opened his book and pointed to the page. “He moved in February 10th.”
“You don’t suspect Sweet… I mean, Howard do you?” Sissy asked.
“No, but if you two are friendly with Mr. Duff, you’d be able to get us into his apartment to check a few things out,” Audrey said.
“True, we could do that. He’s always been sweet on Naomi. Most men are,” her sister said.
~
Audrey adjusted herself on Naomi’s couch. She looked at her watch and noted the time, 3:30AM. Nothing good ever happened at that time in her experience. She got up and walked through the apartment, quietly checking that all was well.
The decision for her to stay the night was an easy one. Mia had promised Ralph she would spend the night at his apartment guarding his treasures. Audrey was just there for Mia’s company. The two worked out that Mia would come early to continue the investigation, and Audrey would go to Ralph’s to shower and change for the day. If anything ghost-related happened during the night, Audrey would make note of it, and they would discuss it over the pastries Mia promised to buy the next morning.
Alan seemed reluctant to put Audrey in this position. But after she explained to him that it was all part of the job, he agreed. Sissy and Naomi were happy to have the young redhead for company. Audrey insisted Naomi keep her bed as she would need to get up frequently during the night to check things out.
Not seeing anything amiss, she padded her way back to Naomi’s sitting room and adjusted the cushions of the expensive sofa before settling down to sleep.
Vince walked the lower halls of the building. Nothing seemed amiss aside from the aroma of an expensive cigar he caught when the elevator doors opened on his command. He noted this in the night log.
Chapter Seven
Albert stood guard watching the maintenance men as they knocked down the massive icicles that had formed overnight. He patiently guided pedestrians away from the roped-off drop area. Chicagoans were used to orange cones telling them where they could and couldn’t walk, but a few too intent on their cell phone conversations obliviously pushed by cones, cars and open manholes to get to their destinations.
Bored, he looked around him at the other buildings on the block. It stood to reason that the Uptown stood in the shadow of the giants around it for most of the day and probably was a colder building due to the lack of eastern and western light. He strolled down to the Prairie View and looked back at its roofline. No icicles. The buildings were similarly styled, so architecture wasn’t the reason. Could it be the roof needed an overhaul to manage the snow melt off?
He looked back over at the Uptown with its Art Deco façade and watched as the two workers managed to unseat the large corner icicle. It came crashing down. It exploded on the sidewalk, pieces of ice scattering everywhere. Albert carefully walked over and picked up a shovel and began to scoop up the results of the morning’s work. The sunlight caught the shovel’s contents, and they sparkled like diamonds. No wonder they nicknamed diamonds ice because on this cold, sunny day in Chicago, you wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart.
Maude Abrams added her stack of newspapers to the recycling bin on her way to the pool. She nodded to Mr. Stewart who was talking animatedly on the phone. He caught her wave, stopped talking, smiled, and returned the greeting with a smooth flick of the wrist before turning around and continuing his conversation.
“Must be hard working in a fishbowl,” she said aloud, taking the long hallway to the pool area. She walked into the women’s locker room. She wasn’t fond of the cold, tiled room, especially when it was empty, but its function was met with sterility. Today she wasn’t in the mood for a swim. It was the steam room that attracted her. The cold had put an ache in her bones that she would never admit to those Florida-bound bumpkins. She would bear her pain with dignity and silence. Her second husband Marty Finklestein was insistent that they travel south in the winter. Maude hated it. “Marty, the body needs to go through a hibernation,” she told him.
He just smiled indulgently and said, “You’re just not that fond of shaving your legs, Maudy.”
She hated being called Maudy, but she loved Marty. She put up with the umbrella drinks and banal conversations of the golf widows while he enjoyed fleecing his fellow players on the course. No one looking at the short, bald, fat man ever caught on that he was actually a former pro golfer. It was a secret that lined his pockets and afforded Maude and him a comfortable living.
“Ah, Marty, why are you bothering me now?” she said as she put on her shower shoes and headed for the steam room. She opened the door to the pool deck and padded her way across to the large cedar enclosure. She took a moment to set the controls on the outside of the room before abandoning her shoes and stepping into the moist heat of the wood-lined room. She walked to the far end, pausing only to pour a ladle of water over the stones. She sat down and pivoted so her feet were off the floor. Maude closed her eyes and let the heat take away the pain in her joints.
The door to the steam compartment opened. Maude opened an eye and saw only the swirling steam between her and the door.
“Close the door, idiot. You’re letting the warmth out,” she said as a chilling draft wound its way around her ankles.
A sudden yank on her limbs brought Maude’s head crashing to the wooden-slatted bench seat.
“What the hell is going on here!” she shouted, kicking at the unseen hands of her abuser. She pushed herself up and flailed her arms in front of her, punching and slapping at whatever could possibly be in her way to the open door of the steam room. “Get the ef out of my way. I’m calling management,” she said bravely as she made the entrance to the pool deck. She stomped off towards the emergency phone. “You’ll rue the day you dared touch Maude Abrams!” she shouted.
A push of cold air carried her off her feet and landed her in the deep end of the pool. She came up sputtering but determined to get to the phone and end these monkeyshines. No one ever got away with mistreating Maude, not since the third grade when she landed a punch on the sixth grader that was determined to get her lunch money.
She swam to the shallow end and pushed her way towards the steps. She turned around and saw someone was following her through the water. Scrambling up the steps, she launched herself through the front doo
rs of the pool right into the arms of a surprised young woman.
“Someone attacked me in the pool,” Maude managed.
Mia looked through the glass door to see a black mass swirl upwards and disappear into the ceiling of the room. “It’s gone now. Let’s get you into some dry clothes,” she said, guiding Maude down to the hall entrance to the women’s locker room.
“Who are you? Do you work here?” Maude asked, regaining her composure.
“I’m a guest of the Seeleys.”
“Those crazy broads,” Maude said, immediately wishing she could take her blunt observation back. “Sorry, it’s just…”
“Don’t worry. To each their own, I’d say. I’m Mia Martin. I’m here with my associate Audrey McCarthy. We’re looking into the disturbances the residents have been experiencing,” she explained. Mia walked over and grabbed a few towels from the heated rack and put them around Maude’s shoulders. “Sit down and tell me what went on in there.”
Maude explained and watched as the young woman listened to her words seriously, not what she would have expected, considering Maude didn’t see her attacker. Mia felt the back of Maude’s head and tsk-tsked.
“You’ll have to get this looked at. Your skin is broken and quite a large bump has raised,” Mia reported.
“I can’t go to the doctor’s like this,” Maude said.
Mia looked down at the wet swimsuit and nodded.
“I keep some clothes in locker A. Could you fetch them for me?” she asked, pushing a key on an elastic band into Mia’s hand.
“Be back in a jiffy.” Mia walked down to the locker, opened it up, and although surprised by the amount of clothing and undergarments in the locker, she managed to select the things needed by the older woman quickly.
Maude started to feel a little queasy so she allowed Mia to dress her and take her arm as they exited the locker room. She listened to Mia’s conversation as she talked to someone named Audrey. They walked to the front of the lobby where she saw a concerned Albert outside flagging down a taxi. Another young woman came out of the elevator carrying several coats.