by Ava Mallory
Again, another contradiction from this woman. Didn't she say that she wasn't particularly fond of Lou, but continued working at his restaurants because she needed the job?
"You called Lou? He stayed at your place?" I asked.
She pulled up at a seat at the small dinette table in the kitchen and groaned. "Yes, I was desperate, but he didn't stay long. I forgot all about his allergies."
What was she talking about?
"Allergies?" Come on, woman, tell me the whole story all at once, why don't you?
She laughed. "He's allergic to everything, I swear. We have dogs. He knows that. He could have reminded me that he's allergic to them. When I was still married, that was the only way I could keep him out of my house. He'd start sneezing and coughing like nobody's business. The coughing is what would get to me. He'd cough and, then, wouldn't be able to catch his breath and Mike would always have to save him. It was such an ordeal, but eventually, he learned and stayed out of my house. Between the two of them, I couldn't do anything. They were both coughing, sneezing, and wheezing all the time. It was madness!"
"Wow, sounds awful. Allergies can do horrible things to people." I don't know how many patients I'd seen who had suffered from allergies. It seemed like everyone was allergic to everything these days.
"Anyway, after a few minutes in my place, he finally went to sit outside in his car and watch. I guess, I can be thankful for that. I don't know anyone else who would have done that." Brandi said.
She was probably right. I don't know too many people that would be willing to stay up all night to guard someone's home, especially because the homeowner, or in her case, apartment owner believed that a murderer could possibly be targeting her too.
"Hey, do you have any water or wine?" Brandi asked, already up in search of a glass.
"Water or wine?" I asked, finding this woman more bizarre that I first thought.
"Yes, I should drink water, but I gotta tell you, a glass of wine would do a lot of good right now. Who cares what time it is, right?" I could see that she was on edge. I wondered why it was taking her so long to just get to the point already. Was this some kind of joke? I know it sounded a bit paranoid, but I didn't at all believe that she was here for just a friendly visit.
"I don't have any wine. Sorry. I have juice, milk, coffee - lots of coffee - and water, if you really want that instead." I offered.
"Okay, whatever." She handed me a glass from the cupboards and exhaled slowly. "I'm good with whatever."
I had to hurry this along. The suspense was killing me.
"Is there something that you wanted to talk to me about, Brandi?" I hoped that didn't sound rude, but she was starting to scare me.
Casting her eyes down on the floor, she said, "Yeah. Um, do you think the same person killed Mike and Rollie?"
I wasn't expecting that question. I didn't even know for sure that Rollie had been murdered. There was so much speculation and the police hadn't issued an official statement yet.
"Brandi, I don't know anything about that. Lou himself said that he wasn't speaking about any particulars. I'm afraid that I wouldn't be very helpful." I said.
"Look, here's the thing - you aren't from here. You don't see things the way everyone around here does. All I'm asking is do you think it's possible that the same person could have killed both of them?" Her tone was serious. She honestly believed I had some sort of insight.
"I wish I could help you, but I'm the last person anyone would give any information to." I answered.
She pleaded with me. "You don't understand. No one will help me figure this out. All I care about is my kids and what's rightfully theirs. You see, if there's some kind of serial killer out there, that means that whoever killed Mike wasn't trying to get at my kids' money, but if not, then, someone wanted Mike and that means me and my kids aren't safe."
What was she talking about? I thought Mike didn't have any money.
I sat down on the chair opposite her. "I'm not following. If Mike didn't get any money from his parents, why would someone kill him? Not to be rude, but wouldn't the target be your kids?"
"That's what I need you to figure out. Maybe someone thought he had money." She said.
I thought she was grasping at straws. Her theory didn't make any sense to me and I had a feeling that there were things that she wasn't telling me.
"Brandi, seriously, I don't think I can help you. I don't understand what the theory is that you're running with. It just doesn't make sense to me. You may be right, but I'm just not seeing the connection." I explained.
"I'm begging you, Mercy. There's something bigger happening here and I need you to help me figure out what. I need to keep my kids safe." She was pleading with me. I couldn't let her down, but I honestly had no idea how in the world, I'd be able to help her. She must have forgotten that many people still believed that I helped Eli escape so that he could kill Mike.
"Will you help me?" She asked with tears in her eyes.
What could I do? She needed help. Just because I didn't entirely trust her didn't mean that I wasn't capable of finding something out for her.
"I'll try."
*
I did the only thing I knew to do. I called Charlie. I knew I was taking a risk in calling him about this, but he was the only one with experience enough to tell me how to go about finding out if Mike was murdered by someone with a vendetta or was there someone out there that had other victims in mind.
Charlie would be my only key to possibly gaining access to Eli. By now, Eli should have been transferred to the county lockup. I didn't know much, but I hadn't heard that he'd been accused of Rollie's murder too, so that brought me a little comfort. I couldn't believe that no one else, including his family had stepped in on his behalf. Where was his family in all of this?
After a few moments of back and forth between Charlie and me, he finally agreed to see what he could do about locating Eli for me. He wasn't happy about it, but he was willing to try to find some information, as long as I agreed not to go prying in places that my nose didn't belong. Whatever that meant!
“All I can do is make a phone call for you. I'm not guaranteeing anything. I don't have a relationship with these police officers. They don't have to tell me anything, so don't get your hopes up. Once I leave town, you're on your own, Mercy. I don't know that I'll be able to hop on a plane to bail you out of the trouble you get yourself into.” Irritation was evident in Charlie's voice. He hadn't come here to help me investigate new angles. He came here to stop me from investigating this case, but at this point, I couldn't. There were too many unanswered questions and too many fingers pointing at me, not to mention a young man that I believed was innocent.
Charlie asked, “What is it with you and this kid? Why is it so important to you that he not be the one involved? He's a troubled kid. Did you ever consider that he may be the one who is responsible for these crimes?”
I didn't know how to answer his questions because I wasn't sure myself. Something about Eli, convinced me that he wasn't the kind of person that could commit murder.
“I don't know. A gut feeling, I guess. I can't explain it.” I answered.
“So, you think that someone is just going to let you waltz in and speak to this kid? Mercy, if they suspect you had anything to do with his escape, I doubt they'll let you see him and, if they did, they'd record your every word to use against you.” Charlie explained, but those weren't things I hadn't considered. There was no reason for anyone to let me do anything at this point, but it was worth a shot, I thought.
“Charlie, did you ever feel compelled to want to find something out for yourself? That's what this feels like. I don't care if they think I did something. Eventually they'll find out that Amy was the one who had loosened his restraints and that Lou is the one who had failed to secure the exit door.
Wait a minute!
“Charlie, what if Lou is the murderer?” I asked.
Lou had proven that he could be an intimidating guy, but di
d he intimidate Mike too?
“He's a cop. You and your crazy theories! You can't go around suspecting everyone. First, you think it's one person, then, you think it's the next. If you ask me, I would be hedging my bets on the dog lady. This is why I keep telling you to mind your own business.” Charlie said.
“I know. And?” I asked.
Charlie hesitated and I understood it, but I thought the idea was worth contemplating. Brandi had said that Lou and Mike had a complicated relationship. I couldn't imagine that Mike would have been happy that Lou had been written into his parents' will. That alone should have caused strife.
“Charlie, think about it. Lou inherited a lot of money. Mike must have been angry about that. Maybe, they had an argument and things got out of control.”
“Was there evidence of a struggle? What did you see when you walked into the guard house?” Charlie was finally willing to consider the possibility that Lou could be the one responsible for Mike's death.
I thought back to the moment I walked into the guard house. Mike sat with his head down, his back turned to me. His food was spread out in front of him. Papers were neatly piled on the desk and some were attached to a clipboard. Nothing out of the ordinary came to mind.
“If you mean was there blood on the floor or chair, the answer is no. The office was actually pretty neat. The only things that didn't belong besides me were the bags of food that were on the desk.”
“Bags? Okay, so he was eating a good meal, then, what happened?” Charlie asked.
“It was hardly a good meal. It was a giant sandwich, filled with everything and anything you could think of and a bag of donuts. I mean tell me, who eats a bag of donuts in one sitting?” When I'd knocked the stuff down off the desk, I distinctly remember picking up a large plastic bag, filled with small round donuts.”
“Okay, so he was eating a meal – an unhealthy meal. When did you join the calorie squad?” He asked.
“I didn't. You asked me to tell you what I could remember and that's what I remember because I took the time to pick up every morsel of food he had in there and he couldn't be bothered to help.” Apparently, I was still angry about how rude he had been.
Charlie laughed. “You really need to learn to let things go. On another note, it's very likely that he was already dead, so if he would have gotten up to help you, you probably would have gone running for the hills.”
I really hoped he wasn't dead when I was with him. The thought of that gave me chills.
“Do you think you could get him to tell you how Mike died?” I asked, crossing my fingers.
Sighing heavily, Charlie said, “You're killing me, Mercy. You want me to ask the man you just accused of murder how he killed his victim or victims?”
“Yes, please.” I begged.
Chapter Thirteen
Watching Charlie leave, left me feeling all alone in the world. After meeting with him to discuss what he'd learned in his conversation with Lou, I had no idea how to proceed.
Despite Ruby and Hanks' pleas to go home and take some time off, I couldn't bring myself to give up just yet. Something was compelling me to stay here and continue my fight to learn the truth.
My plans for the day were to pay a visit to the county jail and see if Eli could help fill in the gaps for me and explain why he would have confessed to something he didn't do. No matter how I arranged all the varied stories, I couldn't find one single connection between any of what had happened and Eli. Nothing that would make me believe that killed either man.
Lou had been more than happy to disclose a number of details about Eli's checkered past to Charlie, but remained tight-lipped about Rollie's death. With all the news stories and countless rumors around town about what took place, no one really knew for sure what had happened. It was all wild speculation and downright crazy theories.
I hadn't been able to make contact with Karen to express my condolences. Her family and friends created a virtual impenetrable shield of protection around her and the police presence was enormous. Right now, she had the safest place in town.
It amazed me how vastly different Mike's family was treated following their equally devastating loss compared to the way Karen and her family were being treated. What a difference a hefty bank account can make even following a tragedy!
I was beginning to understand why Brandi had asked me to help her figure out what happened. It was pretty evident that with everyone's attention focused on Rollie's murder, there weren't many people left to look out for her and her children.
When I'd packed my clothes for this assignment, it never occurred to me to pack jail appropriate clothing.
“What does one wear when they visit an inmate?” I mused, looking through my closet filled with scrubs, sweatpants, yoga pants, and the dress I had to buy for Mike's disastrous memorial service.
With no other options and no chance of me venturing out for a jail shopping adventure, I chose the least child friendly scrubs I had and hopped in my car to make my way to the jail. I just hoped that once I arrived, they wouldn't decide to keep me.
*
“What are you doing here?”
I would have thought that just being inside of the jail would have made me nervous, but what actually rocked my nerves was the sight of Eli being escorted in shackles to visit me in the small, dank visiting room.
He scowled at me as he waited for me to respond to his question. “Well? Why did you come here?”
“I wanted to speak to you.” I said meekly.
“Well, here I am – chained like a dog, so I don't go crazy and kill you.” He snapped.
His words may have been angry, but his eyes weren't. I don't know what had gotten into me, but I still only saw a young man, begging for attention, when I looked at him.
I cleared my throat. “I just had some questions for you.” I looked at the guards. “It won't take that long.”
After the guards firmly secured his chains to the floor mounted iron rings, they took a few steps back to allow us the semblance of privacy. That didn't prompt Eli to change his stance though. He remained closed off, not wanting to speak to me, yet tolerating me at the same time. He was the epitome of mixed signals if I ever saw one.
“Well, you're here, so you might as well get it over with. I already told the cops, so I really don't know why I need to tell you too. Do you get some kind of pleasure out of listening to good-for-nothing punk kids confessing to all their sins?” His voice broke as he spoke, softening the steely resolve he pretended to have.
I took a deep breath, weighing how to broach this subject. Although he knew what it is I wanted to ask, actually asking the question somehow felt like a betrayal, but I wasn't quite sure to whom. I didn't honestly want to believe he killed anyone.
“Well?” He asked again, looking me directly in the eyes.
“The police said you confessed to the guard's murder.” My voice shook.
He sneered. “That's not a question. Try again.”
“Did you?” I asked, bracing myself for what I was sure would be the scariest moment of my life.
He laughed. “Yep.”
My throat went dry. I hadn't thought this out thoroughly. Now, what was I going to say?
He started cackling, causing the guards to move in closer to the table. He snapped at them. “I can't kill her. I'm chained to the floor, remember?”
Why was he so cocky? What had happened to him?
“You okay, ma'am?” One of the guards asked.
I glanced at Eli's face. His lip quivered, but when he noticed me looking at him, he quickly bit his lip to stop the slight movement. He was lying. I knew it!
“I'm fine,” I told the guard. To Eli, I said, “Tell me the truth.”
Fighting tears, he said, “I shot him, okay. I killed him, just like Benetto said. I did it.”
He called for the guards to take him back to his cell. I sat in stunned silence. I should have better prepared myself for this exchange. It hadn't gone at all like I planned. Eli ha
d to know that I knew the truth. Why would he do this? Why would he say these things? What was he running from?
The guards escorted him out just as they'd brought him into the room. Eli's face hardened into a dark stare as the door shut behind him, separating him and I. He glanced over his shoulder at me as I watched him. The look he gave me confirmed he was no murderer.
*
It had been two days since I'd heard anything from anyone at the hospital. Amy's call surprised me.
“Hi! We're resuming a normal schedule and I just wanted to let you know. You and I are scheduled to work together tonight and we don't have to worry about staying away from the police holds. We don't have any right now and, if new ones come in, there shouldn't be a problem.” She explained.