by B. C. Sirrom
*****
As Bonnie walked through the police station toward Detective Kirk’s office she wasn’t oblivious to the fact that all eyes were turning in her direction. She’d hoped that she would get used to the staring and gaping at some point but, so far, she hadn’t been able to. Still, being the town freak was preferable to living in underground tunnels and only coming out at night as her sisters did. One of the reasons that she’d chosen Anchorage, Alaska was because Valkyries hated the cold so none of her sisters would ever think to come looking for her here – the fact that the city experienced up to nineteen consecutive hours of daylight for months at a time didn’t hurt either, since she was probably the only member of her species on the planet with enough guts to strut among humans in broad daylight.
Bonnie had left her clan because she and one of her sisters had dabbled in a guilty human pleasure that was forbidden among her kind … sex. Over a century ago they’d snuck into the soldier camps of the revolutionary war, seducing warriors that would pleasure them before surrendering their souls. When their clan Mother had found out about what they’d been doing she’d punished them severely, equating a Valkyrie lying with humans to the perspective humans had on bestiality. But Valkyries didn’t have any males among their own species and since the only member of a clan able to bear young was the clan’s Mother, Bonnie failed to see the harm in it. Sex with males was preferable, from her perspective, to the erotic enjoyments that her sisters often shared with each other and, eventually, her lust for it had led her to flee in search of a different way of life.
Detective Kirk was on the phone when she tapped on the glass wall at the front of his office. He quickly ended the conversation and waved her inside.
“See? Bright and early, just like I promised.” She said cheerfully.
“Have a seat.” He instructed, barely glancing up from a yellow notepad as he scribbled something in a hurried mess.
Bonnie did as she was told, perching herself on the edge of a flimsy metal office chair across the desk from him. As she waited she noticed a picture frame on his desk depicting a lovely young and very pregnant woman, smiling with a dozen red roses in her arms.
“Was it a boy or a girl?” She asked, motioning toward the photograph.
“We don’t know yet, she’s not due for another few weeks. Can you please describe the nature of your relationship with Mr. Brown?”
Bonnie stiffened. “We were just friends.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She sighed and sat back a bit farther in the chair. “Walter and I were just friends, but we were also pretending to be engaged.” She admitted.
“Pretending. Why?” The accusation in his voice was obvious.
“Walter was gay, but he was still in the closet about it. His parents are very religious and he didn’t want them to find out so I agreed to go along with the false engagement for his benefit.” She explained.
“And why would you do that?”
“Being … unavailable in my line of work has its advantages Detective. It creates a barrier for my customers and helps them to understand which behaviors are acceptable and which ones are not.”
“And what about Mr. Banks; how well do you know him?”
Bonnie sat back in the chair fully now, stretching her long legs out in front of her. “Geoff and I go way back. I’ve known him longer than I knew Walter.”
“Was he another one of your customers?”
She nodded. “He came into the RedTail about ten years ago, shortly after I was hired. When Walter lost his job on the docks I knew Geoff was looking for some help on his boat so I introduced them.”
Kirk nodded and began writing quickly on his yellow notepad once more. “Can you think of anyone that would want to kill Mr. Brown?” He asked, without looking up.
Bonnie felt a wash of relief; a question like that meant that she was probably no longer a suspect. Maybe that had been Russ on the phone when she’d arrived, confirming her alibi.
“No, not really.” She answered, honestly.
“Did he have any lovers?”
“None that I know of. Like I said, he was pretty deep in the closet so I doubt he would have taken a chance on seeing anyone in a place as small as Dutch Harbor.”
“Do you have any idea why Mr. Brown would have come to Anchorage last week?”
Bonnie shook her head. They’d found Walter’s body in a logging community just outside of Anchorage but he hadn’t said anything to her about coming to town.
“And you didn’t see him while he was here?” Kirk continued, still scribbling on his paper.
“No, I didn’t even know he was in town.”
He nodded and stuck out his hand. “Thank you for your time Miss Hansen.”
Bonnie looked up quickly. “That’s it?”
“Unless you can think of something you’re not telling me.” He fired back.
“No, I can’t … but if you want to give me your card I can call you if I do.”
He’d stopped suspecting her, which was a relief, but a show of sincere cooperation just might make him trust her.
“Absolutely.” He reached across the desk and retrieved a white business card from the silver display that was right in front of her. Flipping it over, he wrote a 10-digit number on the back before handing it to her.
“My office number is on the front and I’ll be leaving for Dutch Harbor this afternoon so I’ve put my cell on the back.” He offered.
She nodded, taking the card and shaking his hand before leaving.