It wouldn’t. That piece of history was my family secret until my mother passed away. I discovered a letter she wrote to Harris after he was born. At first, I thought Melinda’s husband was Harris’ father.
So, did I, actually. Kayla frowned.
I believe when I was a child, I saw them kiss once. My mother denied it, but I know what I saw. Check out Liz and see what she’s up to nowadays.
I will, thanks. Eventually, all family secrets are resurrected and brought into the light, Mel. Kayla added.
Yes, they all come to the surface when the truth is ready to be heard. I know in my heart this truth is ready to be revealed. With Harris gone, I feel the need to finally deal with everything in the past.
I agree with that statement. Kayla pressed send.
Mel didn’t respond to Kayla after that. She took it as a sign of perhaps this new information might be the shame within the family. “Every family has secrets, and this is a big one nobody wanted to set free. If it’s the truth, and if I could prove it, Liz might be the one who killed Harris and his fiancé.” Kayla rolled this secret over her tongue for a few moments.
Detective Tyler left another text. Okay, got it.
After a few minutes, Kayla called Liz and left a voice message for her. “I have not received the disc yet. I suppose it will be here shortly. I’m worried that it might not get here before I leave New Orleans. Please let me know.” She hung up and heard a knock at the door of her hotel room. “Who is it?”
“Special delivery for Kayla Decker.” The bellhop’s voice came through the slab.
“Just a minute.” Kayla tossed on a rob and hoped it might be the disc. If it weren’t, she would have to wait another day or two for it.
When she plodded to the door and swung it open, in this man’s hand was a clear glass vase filled with twelve yellow roses. Kayla smiled and took it from him. She thanked the delivery man and closed the door behind her. After setting the jar down on a table inside the room, she took the card in one hand, and read it.
These are for you, sweetheart.
Keep up the excellent work.
Dad
Kayla grinned from ear to ear and rushed to her phone to thank her father. He didn’t get back to her, but it was a nice gesture from him. At least someone appreciated the work she was putting into this case.
~~~
Kayla stood near the Mississippi River staring down at the now calm water, not knowing what to expect. Every aspect of the rippling dark blue liquid told her something didn’t fit into this murder. Was Harris related to both Liz and Mel? Whatever the case was, Kayla wanted to solve it and fast. “I’m just not sure what to think about all this. Family secrets and all.” She hushed her voice and pushed both hands into her coat pockets.
“Penny for your thoughts.” Detective Tyler’s voice came up loud and clear behind her. When Kayla turned around and saw him dressed in a dark overcoat, she opened her mouth to speak—no words came out. “I got your text, Kayla.”
“Something doesn’t feel right, detective. Nothing about this murder feels right. What if Liz had Harris killed and took out Mary because she was there too. What if Mel did the same thing? What if Melinda Blackwell is still alive and wanted a piece of that inheritance? Nothing is pointing to either one, detective. I feel totally lost about this case.”
“Occam's razor.” Detective Tyler stood next to her. He glanced down at her with eyes narrowed. “Do you know what that means?”
She twisted her head and looked at him. “What does that mean, detective?”
“The simpler solution is most likely the solution rather than the complex solution. My father taught me that one. He used to say that during my adolescent years. It drove me insane.”
“Sounds complex and a little insane.” Kayla pushed long hair out of her face when a gust cropped up and took it for a ride.
“It’s quite simple, Kayla. What is the simplest solution here? What can be derived from this case after separating all other results out? Can this be simplified into one culprit who killed Harris and Mary?”
“Again, what do you mean?” Kayla dug her cold hands deeper into her jacket pockets and shivered.
“Which outcome seems more rational than the others at this point in time?” Detective Tyler turned to face her as misty white breath exiting his mouth.
“The most rational one is Mel because she lives here in the city, Harris, and Mary were killed here, but Liz could also be the killer because she had the most to lose. She stood to receive inheritance money from her half-brother’s death. At least that’s what Mel told me.”
“I checked out her bank account. Liz is broke, and what she does have, she received from the sale of the items at your store. I looked it up.” Detective Tyler informed her. “Try again.”
“See, you have access to that information, I don’t, detective.” Kayla’s eyes closed and she didn’t know what to think. “Mel lied to me. She was here in New Orleans and had a motive, and if she received the money, we would know it, right?”
“We would know that.” He countered. “I can find out that information easily.”
“And if Mel were close to Harris because they live here in the city together, that would mean she had means and motive. She wanted the money. This is all about the money, detective. I can feel that in my soul.”
“Try again, Kayla. Mel has no money either, at least not since last night. She’s living in the city and works four part-time jobs. Mel splits the rent with another woman who is her roommate. What funds she does have barely cover her rent and a car not in her name.”
“I’ve never seen her drive a car either.” Kayla shook her head and looked up at Tyler. “Mel didn’t tell me she lived with someone. What is the name of the woman she lives with?” Kayla flung her eyes open and stared at him.
“Her name is Melinda Blackwell. She works as a nurse at a local hospital. Why?” Tyler cocked his head to the side and stared down at her.
“Mel told me she didn’t know what happened to her aunt, Melinda. She said they lost touch years ago. What does that tell you about Occam's razor and what does that tell us about who killed Harris Blackwell?” Kayla looked up at him and grimaced.
“It tells me we need to have a talk with Melinda Blackwell. I bet she might have more information than her niece about Harris.” He pulled out his cell phone and called his partner, Detective Bernard. After informing him about what was discovered, he looked at Kayla. “Are you alright here?”
“Double check her bank account, Detective Tyler. It might be something worth looking into.” She felt him drag her up the hill by her arm. “What? Where are you taking me, detective?”
He hung up the cell phone and said, “Come on, we’ll go to their house together.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to get in the way. What if your boss protests?” Kayla’s eyes met his.
“He doth protest much. You are a significant part of this murder case too. I will tell everyone you’re consulting with a certain aspect of it for us, Kayla. We need to have a chat with this Melinda Blackwell.” Detective Tyler held her arm and guided her up the embankment to the car he came in.
“What do you believe we’ll find there, Tyler?” Her question became lost when he appeared to be soaked in thought.
Chapter Fourteen
Kayla sat in the car outside the tiny, white house with its crooked gutter hanging near the front porch railing. Some rungs of the porch railing were either broken or missing as glistening green moss grew around each decrepit entrance step, it sprouted up along the thin, winding broken concrete walkway too. One window facing them was boarded up with water stained wood, and the other near it had olive curtains blowing outward. Creepy wasn’t the right word when Kayla shivered at the thought of entering into this unknown place of refuge.
Detective Tyler made his way up the steps with care and knocked on the front door. When there was no answer, he knocked on the door again. Not one soul pulled open the old door to allow entrance
for the detective. After the third knock, Tyler looked over at his shoulder at Kayla when he pointed at the side of the house where he made his way to.
On the sidewalk, a group of kids rode bikes past the car Kayla sat in. One yelled at the others when they wouldn’t wait for him to catch up. After stopping and wiping his tan face with his jacket sleeve, he continued to pedal after the rest of the kids. A dog trotted after them, and when the pooch came to the yard, it halted and began to sniff around the short tufts of grass. After a few minutes, it hiked its leg and urinated on it. This tan, shaggy dog then raced after the last kid still moving along the sidewalk.
Kayla sat quietly inside the car as droplets of rain began to pelt down over the windshield. The noise wasn’t pleasant for Kayla when she made her way out of the car and along the front walkway of the house with care. Once she was on the front porch, she noticed the wooden entrance door was ajar. She curled her lip to the side and went to push it open when it allowed her entrance into the house.
After looking over her shoulder at the sidewalk, no other human was seen. Kayla wanted desperately to find Mel and ask a few more questions about her aunt. She stared at the door beckoning her to enter, and after looking at the paint peeled home, she decided Detective Tyler had already found another way into this eerie house. After inhaling, then exhaling, she grappled with her confidence and pushed on the front door as it moved inward.
After stepping inside, Kayla yelled, “Hello, Mel. Are you here?” Not one voice bounced back. “I hope no one else is here like ghosts.” She widened her eyes and pretended the scent of musty wood and old beer didn’t penetrate her nostrils with feet moving over creaky wood with caution.
The entire house was decorated with cobwebs, dust, and spilled drinks. Not one area had not been touched by these items. The smell is what slammed into her first, it was dusty and musty, and Kayla thought her nose would fall to the stained carpet below her feet. It was as if hell itself came in, stayed the night, and decided it was too much for it too, so it left a mess behind.
A darkness fell over the house when Kayla took each step with care over the worn carpet, she thought each pace might give way under her weight at any second. Everything screeched and groaned. Her hand reached out, and she attempted to flick on a light switch, no light was working. She slipped into the dining room and glanced around with a dining table heaped with clothing, costume jewelry, and numerous pairs of shoes. A quizzical look crossed her face when she saw the ornate rectangular table with only two chairs.
On her left was a bathroom not brilliantly lit, but brightly painted with a screaming green. Kayla took one step into it and noticed a dirty pink tub with a moldy duck shower curtain hanging over the side near the fractured linoleum yellow flooring. The toilet was green with a white toilet seat, and the pedestal sink was pink with hairline cracks surrounding the entire bowl. Toothpaste lined one side of the sink’s interior. That same musty smell seemed to permeate from this room too. Every wall had a fist-sized hole in it, and Kayla could barely make out what was behind the wall. When she heard a squeak coming from the room itself, she hurried out of there and headed into the kitchen next to the bathroom.
The four-cabinet kitchen was made for only one person and had no dishwasher. It had the smallest kitchen sink in the world, smaller than the bathroom bowl. Cracked counters were formed of stained dark wood and Kayla could hardly make out what was sitting upon those counters. Splintered black and white tile lined the ten-foot area of the floor. When she peered out the window sitting over the kitchen sink, all she could make out was a bush hiding the view just outside smeared single pane glass.
Kayla exhaled with her head on a swivel, and slowly she walked over the ripped, stained carpet leading to the bedrooms. The one furthest from the front door was the first one she entered. The door was closed, and when she gripped the handle in her hand, it turned easily. After pushing it open, only a bed and clothing were seen strewn over the hardwood floor. Her eyes laid upon a huge mirror glued to the wall facing the bed and it revealed how tiny this room truly was. The closet doors were no longer there, and every wall was painted a dark cream color. Kayla covered her mouth when she spotted dirty dishes sitting on a side table with flies buzzing around them.
She hurried from the room and tried to inhale fresh air. It was difficult to achieve inside this elderly home that had not seen a new coat of paint in decades. Every window had been nailed shut, and Kayla thought her breath would evade her when she brought a sleeve to her mouth and breathed in. After feeling like she could carry on through the rest of this small home, it appeared more extensive on the inside, until she spied a room dead ahead. Her feet slowly took her to it, and she stopped before entering the hall leading to it when she thought a sound was heard in the room.
This bedroom door had a hole punched into it, and when she approached, Kayla attempted to push open the door as it groaned on rusty hinges. It came to a stop half-way where she looked into the dimly lit room and waited for her eyes to adjust to the faint light. When they finally revealed to her a single bed with ruffled brown sheets, a small blue dresser sat against one wall, and various shoes scattered over the floor where a blanket was crumpled in the middle of the floor.
She leaned over the blanket and lifted it to show no one was hiding beneath it. Only stained carpeting glared up at her with red and charcoal tinges. It appeared lived in when Kayla went to the dresser and spotted a picture of Mel with a woman she recognized as Melinda. “She does live here.” A noise from somewhere in the short hallway made her jump in place, and when she hurried to the bedroom door and hid behind it, a tickle erupted in her throat.
Kayla physically pushed the feeling down and back into her lungs, but her organs screamed to cough. She was losing the fight when the cough hit her and forced itself outward. The weight of it moved up and out as it shattered the silence around her. Kayla couldn’t hold it back now, and when she tried to stop it, the coughing from the dusty home couldn’t be contained.
“Kayla, is that you?” Detective Tyler’s voice came into the room, and when he pushed the door almost closed, she gagged and moved toward him. When his arm wrapped around her and pulled her out of the bedroom, Kayla was finally gaining her voice back once outside the room.
“This house is filthy, Tyler.” She held onto her mouth with one hand and was able to halt the cough progression before it disrupted her again.
“Yeah, no one is here. At least from what I can tell.”
“Did you check every room?” Kayla took five steps and entered another bedroom. That was when she saw Mel lying on the floor with a knife held in her hand. “Tyler, call an ambulance. Mel is in here, and she’s bleeding.” She rushed to the woman’s side and shook her with both hands. “Mel, wake up. Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Tyler pulled out his cell and called the paramedics.
“Mel, please wake up.” Kayla continued to move both hands over Mel’s arms to shake her awake. She groaned, and that was when Kayla nodded. “She’s alive, Tyler. Mel is still alive.”
“Yes, please go outside, Kayla. The ambulance will be here soon.” His voice was filled with anxiety, and when Kayla refused to leave, Detective Tyler repeated his words in a stronger tone.
“I’m going. I’m glad to be out of this dusty place.” Kayla raced to the front door and was outside waving down the EMT when they pulled up and quickly got out of the vehicle. A paramedic female came to the door and headed inside as Kayla stood on the weathered porch thinking about Mel and her condition.
Detective Tyler met her near the door and stepped outside. “She’s going to be alright, Kayla. Mel has superficial wounds on both arms. It appears she attempted suicide.”
“Oh, no, Tyler. Why would she do that?” She observed another paramedic race past with a bag over his right shoulder. “There is no way Mel would have attempted to harm herself. I cannot buy that whatsoever.”
“I don’t know, Kayla. Mel was lucky this time.” Tyler disappeared inside the house
when his partner pulled up in his car.
Without looking at the man, Kayla fled to Tyler’s car and got in after pulling her hair back. Her eyes stared down at her hands, and when she spotted blood on them, she squealed and tried to wipe it off when she saw Tyler slowly strode to the car. When his eyes took in the sight of Kayla frantically doing something, he ran to the car and flung the passenger door open. Blood soaked his eyes when he reached into the back seat and dragged out a towel for her to wipe with.
“Are you okay?” He kneeled near her with rain pouring over his head. “It’s okay. It’s just blood, Kayla.”
“I know. I feel for Mel and what she’s going through.” Kayla looked up at Detective Bernard who motioned for his partner to approach.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” Detective Tyler closed the car door and swiftly turned around to see paramedics pushing a rolling bed into the house.
“What is she doing here?” Detective Bernard demanded with anger boiling over.
“She’s consulting. Please let this be for now. We have a woman with detrimental wounds coming out and it would be in our best interest if she experienced calm detectives.” Tyler diffused the situation with his soothing words.
“Okay, but no more, Tyler. I mean it!” Detective Bernard stomped to his car, climbed in, looked back at Kayla, and drove off at a high rate of speed.
Kayla rolled down the window and yelled, “He’s mad, isn’t he?”
Tyler held a hand up before him when the EMTs carried Mel out and began to roll over cracked concrete to the ambulance where she was loaded into it. “Please ensure she arrives safely. I will meet you there in a bit.” Detective Tyler let the paramedics know his intentions. “Roll up your window, Kayla.” He shook his head and jogged to the driver side where he yanked the door open and got in. The slam of metal on metal shook Kayla.
“Now what?” She was still clutching the towel with both hands.
Kayla's Chronicles- Will Travel For Murder Page 16