Alcohol Was Not Involved : A Shallow End Gals Trilogy

by Duncan, Teresa

  They got to Roger’s office and he directed her to a chair and closed his door. He sat across from her and began twirling a pen. Those eyes. “Tell me what information you have.” He was looking intently at her. She didn’t know how to start. All of a sudden up near the ceiling her mom and Ellen were sitting in chairs.

  I said, “Tell him who you are.” Kim started, “My name is Kimberly Troutman and my mom was one of the four women killed in the car accident on December 23rd, the one where one of the kidnapped women was killed.” She waited for Roger to say something. He didn’t, so Kim continued, “This is going to sound strange, but my mom, her friends, and her “boss” in heaven want me to tell you things to speed up your investigation.” Kim exhaled. At least she got that much out.

  Roger said, “What kind of things?”

  Kim looked at him, “Did you get the part where they are talking to me now, dead?”

  “I got that part,” Roger was laughing to himself. The beautiful ones are always nuts, he was thinking.

  Ellen told Kim, “He thinks you are nuts. No worry, we will offer proof if he gets Paul in here too.”

  Kim looked at Ellen, “Paul?”

  Roger turned around to see who Kim was talking to.

  Kim said, “My mom’s boss said you think I’m nuts. They will give you proof, but she wants Paul in here too.”

  Roger was clicking his pen, “How do you know Paul?”

  Kim answered, “I don’t. They want him.” She pointed at the ceiling.

  Roger looked behind him again, “I think Paul would like to meet you.” Ellen told Kim Roger thought she was certifiable … not to panic…she could fix this. Kim wasn’t so sure, and she really didn’t like the look Roger was giving her now. Sort of a pity look. Roger opened his phone and punched a button, “You in the building? Can you come to my office? ….Good.”

  Paul had been around the corner in the conference room and knocked on the door as he opened it. He saw Kim and his eyes twinkled. Roger introduced him to Kim and told Paul to just have a seat. Roger told Kim to tell Paul why she was there. Paul pushed his chin out in his nervous twitch as he looked at Roger. Kim exhaled and rolled her eyes. Roger said, “Kim says her mom, and her mom’s boss are here in the room with us. They have information that can help us with our case. They are going to prove to us that Kim is not nuts.”

  Paul was thinking this should be good. Kim said, “Have both of you felt better and slept better since Christmas Eve?” Paul and Roger looked at each other and then back to Kim. She shrugged and said “I’m just saying what they are telling me to say.” Paul looked around the room….nothing. “Okay, here is another one…Roger, when you were at Joy Covington’s house the dog, Flea Bag, was barking up the tree. My mom and her friends were up there.” Roger laid his pen down. “Here’s one for Paul. You knocked over the out box on an attorney’s desk, so you could read the papers. My mom’s boss put those papers there for you to find. That is how you found out he was married.” Paul stopped smiling.

  Ellen said, “They need more.” The black cat appeared on Roger’s desk, winked at Roger, looked at Paul, winked at Paul, and then disappeared.

  Both Roger and Paul jumped up. Roger said, “Whoa!” It looked like he was going to pull his gun. Kim covered her face and said, “Don’t: shoot: me! I’ve never seen that cat in my life! I don’t even want to be here!” They both slowly sat down again.

  Paul said, “How did you do that?”

  Kim looked at him, “Trust me, I didn’t do that.”

  Then Ellen told Kim, “Ask Roger about his good luck cat, the one that got Devon’s dog going, and Jack to admit he had a dog.”

  Kim looked to the ceiling, “Slow down, I can’t talk that fast.” Paul and Roger looked at the ceiling. “Mom said to ask Roger about his good luck cat that got Devon’s dog barking and Jack to admit he had a dog.”

  Roger said, “Is that the cat that was just here?”

  Kim said, “Yes, that is mom’s boss. She can only show herself in certain ways to mortals. (Kim rolled her eyes) She said you can quit buying cat food. She doesn’t eat it. She buried it.” Kim shrugged, I can’t believe I just said that… it’s hopeless now. She couldn’t believe she was in a police station telling two F-B-I agents this crap. I’m going to jail.

  Ellen spoke up, “Tell them they will never sort this data in time. Sandy Devon, the attorney’s wife, is being held hostage by him. They can confirm this by talking to Devon’s secretary that he fired on Christmas Eve. He only married Sandy because she is coming into a bunch of money on her birthday, January 13, and then he will kill her.” Kim relayed the message, and Paul started writing it down.

  Paul asked Kim, “Do you have a name for this secretary?”

  Kim looked up, “Claudia something. She was placed there by a temp service in October. She spoke with Sandy, in person, on Christmas Eve morning. She will confirm Sandy is not in Jamaica faster than flight records.”

  Roger looked at Kim, “How do you know about Jamaica?”

  Kim answered, “You don’t get this. I don’t know anything. Think of me as a human telephone. I am just telling you what they are saying.” She looked up at the ceiling, “Mom, can’t you do something?” Roger and Paul looked at the ceiling.

  Ellen said, “Tell them to look at the TV. These are Ginger Hall’s last memories.”

  Kim swallowed, “Mom says she is going to play you Ginger Hall’s last memories on the TV.” They all looked to the TV and the gruesome film played out just like I had seen it before. Kim started to cry, “That was mom’s crash wasn’t it?”

  Ellen said, “They believe you now. They just don’t know what to do with it. We will get them more as soon as we have it. We are working on a couple of things for them. Just see what they say.”

  Kim told them what Ellen said. Roger looked at Paul then back at Kim, “Could you, all of you, (he looked behind him) give Paul and me a minute to digest this, alone?”

  Kim stood up, “Thank God you believe me. I’ll just wait in the hall.” Roger helped her out the door and then sat back in his chair.

  He looked at Paul, “I have to tell you my knees are weak.”

  Paul was as pale as a ghost. “No shit!” They sat for about five minutes. Each time it looked like one of them was going to say something, they stopped and shrugged.

  Finally Roger said, “Let’s check it all out. Maybe we did call in the Heavens.”

  Roger and Paul walked Kim out to her car and asked if they could call her later. She said fine and gave them some background information on herself. As she got in the car and started it Roger tapped on her window, “It took a lot of courage for you to come in today. You have to be still grieving the loss of your mother.”

  She thought he looked like he really meant it. “I am.” She answered. “If you had known mom and her friends in life, this wouldn’t be as shocking.” She tried a small smile.

  Roger watched her drive off. He turned and Paul looked at him, “Uh Oh…I have seen that face before!” Then he laughed so hard he lost his balance and started slipping in the snow. Roger caught him. He was laughing too.

  Ellen and I were in the back seat of Kim’s car, and I said, “That went okay.”

  Kim slammed on the breaks. She was still in the parking lot, “Don’t do that when I am driving!”

  “I’m sorry I thought you saw us.”

  Kim was frowning into the rear view mirror, “Is this what it’s going to be like Mom? We need some rules.”

  Ellen was laughing, “She’s right you know. You just can’t be popping in and out of her life without warning. How ‘bout when your mom is going to talk to you, most of the time, your cell phone will ring with a special tone?”

  Kim was looking at Ellen in the rear view mirror. “She couldn’t figure out her cell phone when she was alive! I know I am going to regret this, but what ring tone do you have in mind?”

  Ellen thought for a moment and said, “How about ‘I am woman‘?”

  Ki
m said no. I said, “I know, ‘Help me Rhonda, Help, Help Me Rhonda’.”

  Kim laughed because that song had a story with us. “Yeah, I guess that will do.” Ellen looked disappointed, but Kim’s phone rang with “Help me Rhonda.”

  Ellen said, “Just testing.”

  Kim asked, “So if that happens, do I answer my phone or just talk to air?”

  Ellen was really laughing now, “Oh gosh, I love this girl! Whichever suits your situation will be fine. If you need to speak to us, just concentrate on that. You don’t need to talk.”

  Kim looked horrified, “Mom can read my mind?”

  Ellen answered, “We have disabled her from being able to read your mind.”

  “Good,” Kim said relieved. You could see the strain on Kim’s face from the morning.

  Just then Betty popped into the back seat with us, “Hi dear. I figured I should introduce myself before you get into traffic.”

  Kim turned all the way around to look into the back seat, “Betty White?”

  Betty laughed, “No, I just look like her. I’m kind of like Ellen.” They elbowed each other giggling. This isn’t happening, I heard Kim think. I looked at Ellen, and she winked at me.

  Betty was speaking, “Kim, I think Roger or Paul will probably call you later today. One of us will be available to help you, but in the meantime we have a great deal of work to do. Are you going to be alright dear?” she was patting Kim’s head like a puppy.

  Kim looked at me in the mirror, “Mom, are you sure they don’t think I’m some kind of nut?”

  Ellen answered, “They believe you Kim. They just have never had something like this happen to them before.”

  Roger and Paul had walked back into the building to the conference room which had now pretty well filled up with people. Detective Sal came up to them and said, “You guys must have worked all night to get through all of this.” Roger and Paul glanced at each other and shrugged. The paperwork stacked on the tables was formidable.

  “Not really. There is still a lot that has come over since last night,” Paul answered.

  Sal said, “You must have angels working for you after hours,” and walked away.

  Roger just cleared his throat and said, “Let’s make a couple of calls real quick.” Paul nodded his approval.

  When they got to Roger’s office, Paul said, “I am going to start calling temp services in South Bend. Why don’t you take Mishawaka?”

  Roger asked, “Claudia, right?”

  “That’s what your girl said,” Paul answered smiling.

  Paul got a hit with the first temp agency. He was given Claudia’s full name and telephone number. She had just called to let them know she had been fired. Paul felt that creepy shudder again. “This is spooky,” he said as he punched in Claudia’s number. She answered, and after Paul told her who he was, he told her he was putting the call on speaker phone, so his partner could hear her too. Paul asked, “Have you ever met the new Mrs. Devon? Sandy?”

  Claudia answered, “Yes.”

  “When was the last time you saw her?”

  “I saw her Christmas Eve morning. She was going to surprise Attorney Devon for Christmas by decorating this little house he has. She wanted to have some kind of a private Christmas party or some dumb thing like that. She said he was working so hard, she never saw him. Humpf.”

  Paul asked, “Is he a hard worker?”

  Claudia responded, “Not that I ever saw. Just goes to funerals and swindles old ladies out of their last dime. He is a vile man. I wasn’t around anymore than I had to be. He’s a creep, and I am not saying that because he fired me.”

  Paul asked, “Can I ask why you were fired?”

  “These are his exact words, on the intercom mind you. Your fat ass is no longer needed here. I have just inherited almost enough money to make even YOU look good, so I am going to retire. Consider yourself unemployed. He was laughing.” Paul and Roger looked at each other.

  Roger said, “Claudia, this is Agent Dance, do you remember the address you gave Sandy when she came to see you?”

  There was a long pause. “No. It was written on a receipt for legal services. Who was that? Oh Gosh, I can’t remember.” Roger told her to take her time. “I know! It was that Nettie Wilson. She had paid him for legal services by signing over some little house in South Bend. I think it had been a rental. I bet the niece knows, Joy, something. I gave her the original receipt.” Roger asked Claudia to come in and give a formal statement, and she agreed.

  Paul was the first to speak, “We caught him in a lie about his wife being in Jamaica, and we caught him lying about the grocery store. Not exactly enough to go to a judge.”

  Roger said, “I wish I could see that TV thing again. There is probably something in that background.” He no more than said it, and the black cat appeared on the credenza.

  Paul sat up straight, “I take back what I said about cats.” Ellen made the TV come on, and the memories of Ginger Hall passed over the screen.

  Roger looked at the cat, “Can we do a real slow frame by frame of this?” Ellen was licking her paw and looked at the TV. It was now playing again very slowly. When it finished, Roger looked at the credenza, and the cat was gone.

  Paul spoke first, “Can we work like this, and not go nuts? I mean, it’s great —it’s just…I can’t wrap my mind around you asking a cat to turn on the TV!” Paul looked serious.

  Roger was rubbing his chin and got up to look out the window. It was still very early in the day, and he had a feeling it was going to be a very long one. He turned to speak to Paul, “Do you consider yourself to be a spiritual man?”

  Paul didn’t hesitate with his answer, “Very much so. We see the worst mankind is capable of. I couldn’t do this if I didn’t believe in something. I don’t think it is logical that spirit or souls just die with the human vessel. There has to be a greater meaning in the scheme of it all.”

  Roger thought about Paul’s answer and decided that was probably why they worked so well together. Paul’s views mirrored his own. Roger said, “I think what I find most difficult about all of this (he waved his arm toward the TV) is being faced with what appears to be Devine Truth. I can’t explain what happened in here this morning, but I feel extremely privileged. I don’t want to mess this up.”

  Roger looked at Paul who simply said, “Amen.”

  Roger’s phone rang and he picked up and said, “Send her in.” Paul almost looked afraid. “It’s not Kim.” Roger laughed, “It’s Ginger Hall’s supervisor from the hospital. I think she is the person that brought us the paper bag.”

  Paul just nodded and said, “I am going to make some calls to get the address of Nettie’s old rental, starting with Joy, just in case.” He left Roger’s office as Jenny Camp got to the door. Roger rose to meet her and introduced himself. Jenny started with how terrible this had all been for the staff at the hospital. Ginger was thought well of by everyone.

  Roger said, “I am assuming that you are the person who left Ginger’s belongings here for us?”

  Jenny nodded, “Yes, I don’t know if anything there will help, but under the circumstances, well, I know the police are really stressed over all of this.” Roger thought she seemed like a very warm and caring person. Exactly what he would expect from a nurse.

  Roger got his notes out on Ginger and said, “We are still working on determining the last time Ginger was seen. A Mr. Davis at the hospital said she had put in for Christmas time off, and the last day he knew anyone had seen her was December 13th. Does that sound right to you?”

  Jenny got a small calendar out of her purse. “No, actually I called Ginger in to work on Friday, Dec. 16th for a few hours because we were shorthanded. I did let her leave before shift end though.”

  Roger was taking notes, “Was there any particular reason, or do you remember, why you let her leave early on Friday?”

  “I know exactly why I let her leave. She had grown pretty close to an elderly woman who had spent quite a bit of time wi
th us over the last year, Burna George. She didn’t have many visitors at all. Anyway, Ginger got some great news on Friday from Mrs. George’s attorney. Burna had left Ginger a bunch of money. She asked if she could leave to meet the attorney in the parking garage to sign some papers.”

  Roger looked at his notes from a couple of days ago and turned his big calendar around for Jenny. “This Friday, the 16th? You are positive about the date that Ginger got the news about inheriting from Burna George?”

  Jenny looked puzzled by Roger’s reaction. “I am positive. I took the call at the nurses’ station myself. That lawyer identified himself and asked for Ginger. I got her, and she started crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said Burna had died. Then Ginger got excited and said Burna had left her money. Ginger asked to leave to meet the attorney in the parking garage. I even noted in my little book here that Ginger earned five hours for Friday, left at 4:30.” Roger thanked her and asked if she could please furnish a formal statement to one of the detectives before she left. She said sure. He walked her to an empty office to have an officer take her statement and went looking for Paul.

  Roger found Paul in the conference room surrounded by a couple of detectives pouring over a large map. Paul looked up and declared, “I’ve got an address!”

  Roger said, “I’ve got Devon telling Ginger that Burna died a day before her body was found.” Paul and Roger stared at each other and smiled.

  Just then Roger’s phone rang. It was Detective Ed Mars, “Roger? I’ve got something here, I am not sure what to do.”

  Roger asked him to wait while he put him on speaker. Roger asked the ‘room’ to be quiet, and then said, “You’re on speaker in the ‘room’.”

  Ed resumed speaking, “I followed Jack Simpson to his worksite this morning, and a neighbor let me park in their driveway. I had a great view of his truck and the door to the building. Lots of construction vehicles there. A black Lexus 430 pulls up next to Jack’s truck, and some guy in a hoodie reaches in the cab, takes out some papers, and throws some junk in the back of the truck. I got a plate number. Then I walked over. Because of the light snow last night, everything in the back was snowy except a roll of rope and a partial roll of duct tape. I bagged ‘em, but I think you want them. Oh yeah, I ran the plates on the Lexus, and it belongs to Judge Ashley Tait.”