The Bogey Man

by Marja McGraw

  “But Chris,” I said, “other than doing your Bogey impersonation, you have to keep your mouth shut and follow my lead. Got it?”

  “This P.I. can follow orders, Angel.” He grinned at me.

  Pete took a deep breath and gnawed on his lip.

  “And you’re not a private investigator.” I didn’t want Pete thinking I was taking Chris seriously.

  Chris stuck an unlit cigarette in the corner of his mouth and gave me a two-finger salute.

  “Ouch!” Stanley placed his hand over his mouth.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Bit my lip.”

  This jealousy was reminiscent of a case I handled when I first met Pete and Stanley. I’d met an archaeologist, one hot looking guy, and Pete had taken an instant dislike to him. The same thing was happening with Pete and Chris, but I wasn’t sure why. Chris hadn’t made any moves on me; the archaeologist had.

  The funny thing is that Pete has the same effect on women that Chris does. Women flock to him like he’s the Pied Piper, and he doesn’t have to lift a finger. Must be his magnetic personality. I chuckled and everyone turned to look at me.

  “I was thinking about something funny.”

  Pete turned back to his report, Stanley eyed his computer and Chris stared at me.

  “I’m going to answer some phone messages and then we’ll leave for lunch. That okay with you, Chris?”

  Nodding, he lifted the hat off his head and set it on top of a filing cabinet. He stood and took off his trench coat, folding it neatly and laying it across the back of his chair. Pulling the cigarette out of his mouth, he held it between his thumb and middle finger with the end that should be lit facing his palm.

  The office was annoyingly quiet until the door burst open and Felicity made an entrance. Her face was red and she was moving with an uncharacteristic stiffness, obviously upset about something.

  Stanley jumped out of his chair. “What’s wrong, Felicity?”

  “The police just left my house. They came to question me because they heard about my argument with Purity. I know they think I killed her.”

  “Did you?” Leave it to Pete.

  Stanley’s mouth dropped open and he held his breath.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Felicity’s head whipped around like she’d been slapped. “Of course I didn’t murder Purity!”

  “I know, just thought I’d ask. I needed to hear you say it out loud. So sue me.”

  “I’ll talk to Mavis and find out how to do that.” At least Felicity hadn’t lost her sense of humor.

  Stanley exhaled loudly. “Leave it to an ex-police officer.” This was Stanley. He wouldn’t dream of calling Pete a cop. His formality endeared him to us all.

  “Now, doll, don’t worry. We all know you didn’t kill anyone.” Chris walked over and patted Felicity on the back.

  Stanley leaped out of his chair, almost knocking it over, and headed for his girlfriend. “I can take care of her. You have other matters to concern yourself with, Mr. Cross.”

  Chris turned and looked out the front window, shoulders hunched. Stanley had rebuked him, even though he’d only been trying to help.

  “Oh, Stan, you know I didn’t kill Purity. What am I going to do?”

  Stanley led Felicity to his desk and pulled over a chair for her.

  Chris turned and headed for his chair. Well, he would have, but that was, interestingly, the chair Stanley had pulled over for Felicity. Chris shrugged and sat on the edge of my desk. Apparently he’d decided not to let either Pete or Stanley bother him.

  The phone rang and Pete picked up the receiver. He listened for a moment before saying, “We can’t represent you. We’re already working for someone else on this case.” He paused. “No, I can’t help you.” He paused again. “If the police think you killed Purity Patton, then you’re…”

  My ears perked up. I saw Chris tug on his ear, a Bogey habit.

  Pete’s voice rose a couple of decibels when he continued to speak. “Well, lady, you can try to sue anyone you want to, but I already have a client on this case, and it would be a conflict of interest to take you on.” I thought he probably would have slammed the phone down, but it was a cordless. He stabbed at the Off button with vigor.

  “Pete?” I held back a chuckle when I saw the tight-lipped expression on his face. “Was that by any chance, uh, Mavis?”

  “That woman should go play in traffic. No one would miss her.” He turned to Chris. “And I wouldn’t mind if you played with her.”

  “Okay, that’s enough. Mavis is a pain in the rear, I’ll grant you that. But Chris hasn’t done anything to you.”

  Pete thought for a second. “You’re right. I apologize, Mr. Cross. Stay out of the traffic.” The apology was grudging and sarcastic, but at least he made it.

  “Chris, why don’t you go wait in the car for me? I’ll be out in a minute. I want to talk to Pete in private before we leave.”

  Without a word, he put on his trench coat and hat. He gave Felicity a smile. “Don’t you worry, Angel, we’ll find out who bumped off that dame.”

  He smiled and tipped his head in her direction, and for the first time I noticed that he had a slight overbite, just like Bogey.

  “Isn’t he sooo cute?” Felicity said.

  Stanley dropped his head on the desk, hitting the keyboard, and letters began flying across the screen again. I could hear him mumbling something about cute and angels and dolls.

  I stood at Pete’s desk, feeling clueless. I didn’t know what to say to him.

  “Sandi, can’t you see how much this guy is getting on everyone’s nerves? Can’t you get rid of him?” Unlike me, Pete knew exactly what he wanted to say. “He’s going to cause trouble, take my word for it.”

  “Pete, there’s one thing you haven’t thought about. Chris was at that party, too. He’s a suspect, like everyone else. At least this way we have him where we can keep an eye on him.”

  “Get real. We both know he crashed that party. He didn’t know Purity and didn’t have any reason to stab her. You’re finding excuses to keep him around. You finally found your Bogey Man and you don’t want to lose him.”

  “That’s not true. You’re my real life Bogey Man, my leading man. Chris is only a diversion from the everyday life I lead. I’m not romantically interested in him. But for the moment, I have to admit, he’s making things a little more fun. That’s all.”

  “We’re working on a murder case and trying to protect Felicity. I don’t think fun fits into that equation.”

  “Unless it’s you I’m having fun with, right?”

  “Right.” As soon as the word was out of his mouth, he looked as though he wished he could take it back. Too late.

  “I’m going to The Red Barn. If you need me, I’ll have my cell phone on.” I turned and walked back to my desk, pulled out my backpack and flounced out of the office. I don’t normally flounce, but somehow this situation called for it.

  Apparently Chris took note of the look on my face and decided it would be best to keep a low profile. We didn’t talk during most of the trip to the diner.

  Chris broke the silence first. “I’m sorry if I’m causing problems for you.”

  “You’re not. Forget it.”

  “I only want to learn the P.I. business.”

  “I know. Forget it.”

  “If you want me to – ”

  “I said, forget it.”

  He must have counted to ten before trying to talk to me again. “Do you honestly think Pamela will talk to us?”

  “If she’s not hiding something, then yes. I think she’ll tell us why Jolly was at her house this morning.”

  I pulled into the parking lot behind the diner and parked the car. “Let’s eat.”

  After pushing the Lock button, I slammed the car door and turned to come face to face with Pamela.

  “Oh. What are you doing out here?” I asked.

  “Taking a break. Sometimes I need a breath of fresh air after smelling f
ood all day.”

  I got a whiff of French fried onion rings and understood, although the scent did make my hunger more intense.

  She looked at my car, studying the blue Ford. “I could swear I saw your car in my neighborhood this morning.”

  “Oh? Where do you live?” Did I sound innocent enough?

  Pamela gave me her address. “There was a car just like yours parked down the street.”

  “Why, as a matter of fact, I was on your street this morning. On a case.”

  “Yeah, sugar, we were on a stakeout. Sandi’s teaching me the ropes. So you live over there?” Chris pulled his smokes out of his pocket and stuck one in his mouth. He sounded surprisingly sincere, as though he hadn’t seen her, and playing with the cigarette effectively covered any facial expression that might have given him away.

  The back door of the diner opened and another waitress popped her head out. She was grinning from ear to ear. “Pammy, there’s a customer here who’s asking for you.” She giggled.

  “Who is it?” Pamela asked.

  “Come and see for yourself.” The waitress pulled her head back and disappeared.

  “Well, back to work. See you two inside.” Pamela returned to work through the back door while we walked around to the front of the diner.

  “Good job, Chris. She didn’t seem suspicious.”

  “Truthfully, we were in her neighborhood on a case. I just left out some details.”

  “Well, put on your best Bogey face. We want to dazzle Pamela while we eat lunch. We need to get her to open up to us.”

  “I’m ready. It comes naturally to me.”

  I gave him a quick look.

  “It does. I am Bogey, when I want to be.” He opened the diner door for me and waited while I entered, following behind.

  First impressions. Something was happening. I could hear loud whispering. No real conversation.

  Chris picked up on it, too. “What’s going on?”

  I glanced around the diner. Everyone seemed to be watching Pamela wait on a customer.

  “Come on. Let’s go see what this is all about.” I grabbed Chris’s coat sleeve and pulled him behind me.

  “Ahhh,” I said, walking up to the table. “Joshua King. How are you?”

  “Please, call me Josh. I thought I’d pay Pamela a surprise visit.”

  I let my gaze wander around the diner. “I think you surprised a lot of people.”

  Josh laughed. “Guess I’m a little too visible. It seems like I can’t go anywhere without stirring things up. Would you and your Bogart friend care to join me?”

  Where were my manners? “Sorry, Josh, this is Chris Cross. And Chris,” I said, turning to the Bogey Man, “this is Joshua King.”

  “I know. How ya doin’, man?”

  “Good. Have a seat. I saw you at the party the other night. You’re still wearing your costume?”

  Chris didn’t bother to look embarrassed. “No. It’s not a costume. This is the way I dress.”

  “Ah. To each his own.”

  Chris pulled out a chair for me and I sat down. “Are you sure you don’t mind us joining you?” Maybe I should have asked before sitting.

  “Please do. I asked Pamela if she could take a break and join me, too.”

  I looked up at her. “Can you?”

  “Let me check with the boss.” She appeared to be quite flustered at being part of the center of attention. Her complexion had a pinkish tinge.

  “So how are you holding up?” I asked, turning to Josh. “Everything okay? I’m sorry about your friend’s death.”

  “Don’t be sorry.” He looked flustered. “I wouldn’t wish death on anyone, don’t get me wrong. Especially that kind of an ending. But Purity and I had already called things off. Hmm. I guess I actually did the calling off. Things have been over for a long time. She couldn’t accept that. Whatever I felt for her in the past was long gone.”

  “So do you have any ideas about who might have bumped her off?” Good ol’ Chris. He has such a way with words.

  “Let me rephrase what my friend so indelicately asked. Do have any suspicions about who might have wanted her dead? I’m not being nosey, but I do have a client who has a stake in this.”

  “I understand. I heard that Felicity DuBois hired you. And no, I can’t answer that. Purity made a lot of enemies along the way. When I met her she seemed so sweet and caring, but as I got to know her I found that she was manipulative and only out for herself. She could be abusive when we were alone. Yelling, ranting, and always looking for what she could get out of every situation, every person.

  “The only reason she hung onto me is that she could ride the wave of my fame along with me. She didn’t care about me, the person – just me, the famous actor.”

  “I’m sorry, Josh.” I really was. What a nasty relationship that must have been. And a motive for murder?

  Pamela returned and sat down in the fourth chair at the table. “So have I missed anything?” Her color was back to normal and she had the sweetest smile on her face.

  “Nothing of any consequence.” Josh reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. It was a nice gesture and surprised me coming from this mega-star.

  In fact, I was surprised to see him visiting Pamela at the little diner.

  “Oh, guess what happened.” Pamela’s smile grew wider. She answered her own question before anyone could respond. “That photographer, Jolly, called and asked if he could come see me this morning. He wants to take some pictures of me. He’s doing a special layout for some magazine about blue collar workers, and he’s going to use my photo for the ‘working girl’ part. Isn’t that amazing? I mean, that he’d want to take my picture?”

  “You’re gorgeous, doll. Why wouldn’t he?” Chris was right.

  “Did he ask you about modeling?” Josh asked.

  “No. Only about a photo for his layout. And it’ll pay enough to help me out with the bills.”

  “Good. If he’d asked you about modeling, then I’d worry that he was coming on to you.” Josh was acting possessive about Pamela already.

  But at least now I knew why Jolly had visited Pamela, and I felt a lot better.

  As if reading my mind, Josh answered another of my questions. “Pamela, I’m glad I met you at the party. You’re so different from most of the women I know.”

  “Is that a good thing?” she asked.

  Josh chuckled. “You can bet on it. I want to see more of you. How about dinner tonight?”

  “I’d like that.”

  The customers in the diner watched, obviously star struck. Here was a highly recognizable box office star sitting in their midst, waiting to eat lunch.

  Apparently the couple had forgotten that Chris and I were sitting at the table. I cleared my throat.

  “Oh.” Pamela stood up. “Break’s over. What can I get you for lunch? Well, I know what Sandi wants, but what about you two?” She took Josh and Chris in with one sweep of her eyes.

  “Would you add an order of onion rings to my lunch?” I asked, after the two men had given their orders.

  “Sure thing,” Pamela replied.

  As the novelty of Josh wore off, people in the diner began to notice Chris. And the buzzing started again. One woman actually came over and asked Josh for his autograph, and staring at Chris, asked for his autograph, too. She referred to him as Mr. Bogart. When she glanced at his autograph and saw the name Chris Cross, she looked confused. Didn’t she know that Bogey had passed on to his reward about fifty years ago?

  While we ate I grilled Josh about Purity. He didn’t add much to what he’d already said about her except that she told him she was pregnant. He knew it wasn’t true because he found her pregnancy testing stick in the trash. Apparently she’d done a backup test a couple of days later and he found that one, too. They told him in no uncertain terms that she was lying. I’d already heard about the alleged pregnancy from Felicity. I’d have to ask Pete if he’d heard anything about the autopsy yet.

  We
finished lunch and Chris and I stood, ready to leave. I’d found out about as much as I could for the moment. Pamela walked us to the door of the diner as though we were guests in her home instead of customers in a diner.

  She placed her hand on Chris’s arm. “I’ll bet that between you and Josh, we’ll see more business tomorrow. Word gets around. You should come back again.” She glanced at me to include me in her invitation. She grinned. “And you should wear your Lauren Bacall outfit.”

  “Not on your life,” I said. “I can’t compete with the real thing.”

  Chris and I talked on the way to the parking lot.

  “You know, Pamela didn’t look quite as glamorous as she did at the party. That uniform didn’t fit, and her hair was pulled back in that ponytail.” Chris was paying attention. “She’s quite beautiful when she fixes herself up, but actually I think I like her natural beauty better.”

  “Apparently, so does Joshua King. He was very attentive to Pamela. He’s a famous actor and she’s a waitress and single mother. I hope he doesn’t hurt her.” Suspicions notwithstanding, I liked Pamela and I no longer believed she had anything to do with Purity’s death. I thought she was a victim of circumstances. She’d been in the wrong place at the wrong time, with blood on her costume. I could imagine what the police were making out of that.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I unlocked my car and drove off, heading for the office.

  “Would you mind driving me back to my car?” Chris had left his old Chevy at my house. “I have an appointment this afternoon. I almost forgot about it.”

  “Sure. You’d be bored with the rest of the afternoon anyway. Pete and I are going to go over some files.” Not true, but it would be nice to talk to Pete without having to watch him stare daggers at Chris. Maybe we could actually accomplish something.

  “I’ll be back on the job tomorrow, so don’t worry.” Chris seemed to be trying to reassure me. It didn’t work.

  We drove in silence for a while.

  “I have a question,” I said. We were nearing my house, and I wanted to ask him while I had his full attention. “Something I should have asked long before now. What do you do for a living? You must have some kind of job, right? Don’t you have to go to work?” I knew I sounded too hopeful, but I couldn’t help it.