by Marja McGraw
“He needs to know. And so do Stan and that detective. We all need to keep an eye on you now.”
I tried to hide my shaking hands, which wasn’t easy since I was holding the photo. “You know, you see this kind of thing in the movies. In the films, the picture would have been tacked to my door by a serial killer. Or a monster with a fetish and a wall covered with photos of me. This isn’t supposed to happen in real life.”
Chris took the photo out of my hand, tactfully ignoring my quivering fingers. “Oh, I beg to differ. We’re not in a movie, and this is real life, but the only monster is the guy who killed Purity. We really do need to let Pete know about this. Whether you know it or not, it seems that you’re making someone uncomfortable.”
I pulled out my one big gun. “Chris, if you tell anyone, I won’t let you work with me anymore.”
“You don’t mean that, do you?”
He didn’t look happy. I couldn’t really blame him, but if everyone knew about the Big Red X drawn across my face, I wouldn’t get any work done. And the bad guy wouldn’t get near me. Well, that had an up side, but I wanted him to feel safe. I wanted him to take one chance too many.
“You may have to go on the lam, Sandi. Hide out for a while. Be less accessible.”
“Nope. I’ve been threatened before. I can handle it. Besides, you’ll be with me. Right?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess.”
The Bogey Man hadn’t thought about being in real danger by spending time with me. This was a new concept for him. He squared his shoulders. “I’ll check with your neighbor and ask if she saw anyone around your house.”
“Good idea. I’m surprised Bubba didn’t scare my caller off. I wonder where that dog is.”
Chris shrugged and headed for Dolly’s house.
Bubba must have heard his name. A very deep woof could be heard behind the house. Walking around the side, I realized someone had closed the gate, something I very seldom do. The elderly women who live on my block all like Bubba, so he wanders the neighborhood looking for handouts. If Animal Control shows up, the women take him in. What a life. I opened the gate and his tail started swinging like a whip.
He followed me back out to the front porch, sniffing the ground as he walked. He followed a staggered scent, so I figured there must have been another animal in the yard. He didn’t appear to be following a straight line up to the porch.
Chris reappeared with Dolly following behind.
Dolly had a puzzled expression on her face. “I didn’t see anyone around your house, but I was watching my soap opera. I didn’t hear anything either. Chris won’t tell me what’s wrong.”
“That’s because I told him to keep it to himself. There’s no real problem, just something I found taped to the door.” I didn’t want Dolly to start worrying.
She climbed the steps and stood in front of me, studying my face. Before I could react, she grabbed the photo out of my hand.
“Dolly!”
“Oh, don’t Dolly me. I want to see what’s going on.” She turned the picture around and looked at it. “Uh huh. I see. And how are you going to handle this?”
“I haven’t decided yet.” This time my sigh was loud, and Dolly gave me a look that said grow up.
She turned to Chris. “So, Mr. Bogey Man, are you going to take care of Sandi or should I call Pete?”
“Both. She won’t let me call him, so maybe you should. I can’t be with her all the time, but I’ll do what I can.”
“I don’t want either one of you to call Pete. Understand?” I was annoyed. After all, this was my business and I’d handle it the way I felt was best. “Have you two forgotten that I’m a P.I.? I can take care of it. I’m not going to let some photo scare me off. I’ve had bigger threats than this and I’m still here to tell about them.”
Dolly handed the photo back to me. “Don’t be stubborn, dear. I think this might be one of those times when Pete should help out.”
Chris nodded his head. “Besides, after we take care of a few things, I have to leave for an appointment.”
“Let me think it over. Dolly, you go home and lock your doors, just to be on the safe side. Chris, you and I will go see Mavis and drop the photos off for Rick. After that I might tell Pete what’s going on.”
Dolly shook her index finger at me. “Don’t forget what happened to Felicity. That eye of hers didn’t blacken itself, you know. And it could have been a lot worse.”
“I know, I know. Don’t push me. I’ll really give this some serious thought. It’s just that Pete can be overly protective sometimes. I don’t want that.”
Dolly turned on her heel and marched home. I knew that she was irritated with me, and she was worried. I couldn’t blame her. I was more worried than I was letting on.
Bubba must have sensed my mood. He sat down next to me and leaned against my leg. I lost my balance, but caught myself before falling.
I saw Chris trying to stifle a laugh. “That mutt of yours kind of lightens difficult moments, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. He means well.”
~*~
Chris and I walked up to Mavis’s front door with determination. I wanted information, and I wasn’t going to let her close the door in my face. Chris was still my ace in the hole.
I knocked and moved to the side of the door, leaving Chris to talk us inside.
I heard a noise and saw Chris wiggle his fingers in front of the peephole.
Mavis opened the door with a smile as wide as Los Angeles on her face. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bogart, but I don’t know your real name.”
“It’s Chris Cross. We’ve come to discuss the party with you, Doll.”
Mavis actually tittered, tittered, and put her fingers to her lips. “We?”
“Sandi and me.”
Her smile disappeared and a frown took its place. She turned and finally saw me.
“Oh. It’s you.” She started to close the door, but Chris held his hand out, blocking her move.
“Mavis, we still need some answers. Please talk to us,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “Well, come on in. As long as you have Mr. Cross with you, I guess it’s okay.”
We entered and I grabbed a comfortable chair before she could direct me to the one I’d sat on during my last visit. That left the odd little straight-backed chair with a covering and minimal padding for Chris. Watching him try to get comfortable, a useless endeavor, I smiled to myself.
“Now, Mavis, you mentioned that you’d seen my partner and me in the yard, and Traci Marks. Do you remember anyone else?”
She turned and gazed at Chris. “Why, yes, now that you mention it, I saw him walking around the side of the house.” She stopped talking and waited. I had no idea what she might be waiting for.
“Okay, and who else?” Interviewing Mavis was turning into a real job.
“I did think about it after I hung up on… I mean after we got disconnected. There was someone who walked around the side of the house shortly before I saw Mr. Cross, but I can’t remember who it was. There was so much confusion, and everyone had on a costume. It might have been Felicity’s boyfriend, or… I just can’t remember.”
I started naming some of the costumes I remembered seeing that night.
Mavis kept shaking her head. She closed her eyes. “It’s right there. I can almost see him, but as soon as my thoughts get close to him, he disappears.”
“Mavis,” Chris said, “we need to figure out who wasn’t outside during the fire, so who you remember seeing is really important.”
She looked at Chris like a young girl might look at a rock star. Adoringly. I had to concentrate on keeping my gag reflex in check.
Chris pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and stuck it in his mouth. “You said he. It was a man?”
Mavis glanced nervously at the cigarette, apparently hoping Chris wouldn’t light it, but not wanting to say anything. “I don’t really remember. I’m trying, but it just won’t come to me. I know it was someone in a costume.”
“Well, there’s a revelation,” I mumbled.
Mavis’s head whipped around. “What did you say?”
“Nothing, Mavis, I was just thinking out loud.”
“Well, quit it. I’m trying to remember who I saw.”
I sighed, and that seemed to be a signal to Mavis to stop trying.
“That’s all for today. If I think of who it was, I’ll call you. If I’m in the mood.” Mavis stood up, indicating that our interview was at an end.
“Let’s go, Chris.” I started for the door.
“Let me give you my phone number, Chickie.” Chris pulled the unlit smoke out of his mouth and tucked it over his ear. He pulled a piece of paper and a pencil out of his pocket and wrote down the number. “If you won’t call Sandi, call me. If I’m not there, you can leave a message.”
Mavis giggled. “Oh, I will. Call you that is.”
Chris winked at her and gave her that Bogey smile that he imitated so well. He clicked at her out of the side of his mouth, and I headed down the walkway. I couldn’t take it.
Chris caught up with me. “What happened to your people skills?”
“I have none when it comes to Mavis. If I’d stayed another minute she’d have had to sue me for maligning her. Or upchucking on her carpet.”
“Sandi, Sandi, Sandi. She’s just a lonely old woman who…”
“Ha! I don’t want to talk about it.”
~*~
We drove to the police station after leaving Mavis’s house. Rick wasn’t in, so I wrote him a note and left it for him with the second set of photos.
It was turning out to be fun cruising around town with the Bogey Man. Between the refurbished car and Chris’s appearance, we got a lot of attention. It also reminded me that we wouldn’t want to use his car for surveillance.
Chris drove me home, saying he didn’t want to be late for his appointment.
“Are you sick or something?” I asked. “You had an appointment yesterday, too.”
“No, I have some personal business to take care of, and I don’t want to be late.”
“I didn’t mean to be nosey.”
“That’s okay.”
We pulled up to my house where I found Pete sitting on the porch, waiting for me. He walked to the car and met us. “Dolly called me.”
Chapter Twenty-five
“Dolly called you,” I repeated. “I figured she would, but hoped she wouldn’t.”
“Let me see the picture.” Pete was all business, and obviously not in a good mood. He turned to Chris. “Dolly said you were all for calling me. Good move on your part.”
Chris tipped his fedora in Pete’s direction. “We’ve got to take care of the goods, pal.”
I cleared my throat and spoke between gritted teeth. “Don’t call me the goods.” I was starting to think that if Pete and Chris ever managed to start getting along, I might not like it. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep them separated.
“Aren’t you going to be late for your appointment?” I asked, hoping Chris would leave.
He glanced at his watch. “I’m okay, Doll. I want to talk to Pete before I leave.”
Pete studied the photo. It was pretty cut and dried. Me in costume, trying to look like Lauren Bacall. Red X covering my face. Pete looking like Bogey with an X-less face. I was the target, not him.
“So, can we talk?” Chris asked, looking at Pete.
Pete took advantage of his height and glanced down at Chris. There wasn’t that much difference, but Pete made the most of what there was. He waited for Chris to speak.
The Bogey Man cleared his throat. “What can I do to help cover Sandi? Stake her out, whatever. I told her I thought she should take a powder, but she’s stubborn.”
“Let’s take a walk,” Pete said, taking Chris by the elbow and guiding him toward the sidewalk.
Bubba had wandered out to see me. I headed for the house and the dog followed me. “What are those two up to? I don’t want them around all the time. I like my privacy.” I patted Bubba on the head, talking to him.
“Yeah, I know. I’d better get used to the lack of privacy if Pete and I are going to get married.”
Bubba glanced up at me almost as though he knew what I was saying.
Stopping, I turned and watched the two men walk down the block. I heard a car pull up and turned back to the curb. Jolly was climbing out of his car, a black Mercedes. Photography must pay well.
“Hi, Jolly. What are you doing here?”
“Sandi. I thought I’d stop and see if we couldn’t put our heads together about the photographs. It probably doesn’t seem that I’ve been very cooperative, but then, I’ve been busy. Anyway, I thought maybe between the two of us we could try to remember what was in the photos.”
“Good idea,” I said. “I should have thought of that.” Being a private eye doesn’t mean I have all the answers. Sometimes I need a little help from my friends. This was one of those times.
I unlocked the front door and Jolly followed me inside.
“Great dog,” Jolly said, patting Bubba’s head. Bubba sniffed Jolly’s hand, as though looking for a treat.
“Bubba, back off. Not everyone has a goodie for you.” I nudged him with my foot and he wandered out to the kitchen, after giving me a meaningful look over his shoulder. A look that said it was his idea to leave the room, not mine.
Jolly chuckled and sat down. “You and that dog make an unlikely looking team. Mind if I take a picture of the two of you before I leave?”
I smiled. “I’d like that. Any chance you’d enlarge it for me so I can frame it?”
“Sure.”
“I appreciate you stopping by, Jolly. Tell me what you recall about the night of the murder.”
He massaged his jaw, appearing deep in thought. “Well, of course I was taking a lot of photographs, which means I had my eye on everything that night. I don’t really remember anything out of the ordinary, except…” He paused.
I held my breath.
“When Purity left I saw Jason Redman giving her a look that could kill. Of course, she did step on his hand. Joshua gave her the same look. Come to think of it, so did Mavis. I guess facial expressions don’t carry a lot of weight in this instance.”
“What about the pictures?” I asked. “There must have been something or they wouldn’t have been stolen.”
“Yes, the pictures. That reminds me. I heard that Felicity’s boyfriend took some pictures, too. Were you able to get your hands on those?”
“Yes, but there wasn’t anything noteworthy in them. And the ones he took during the fire were all of the scarecrow.”
“Too bad. I thought maybe those would help.” Jolly sat quietly for a moment.
I waited.
“Honestly, I don’t recall anything of consequence in the photos I took. They were just a bunch of shots of people in costumes. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
“I know you never developed the scarecrow photos, but can you recall who you took pictures of during the fire?” I held my breath again.
“No. Initially I couldn’t even remember taking those, but it finally came to me. I was snapping one after the other outside. There was a lot of action with the fire, contrasting with the night and all, but I wasn’t paying attention to who was in my view finder.”
I studied Jolly. “Please excuse me if I sound rude, but why did you stop by if you don’t remember anything?”
“I know it sounds silly, but I didn’t feel like I was doing enough to help. I thought maybe if we put our heads together that one of us could spark a memory in the other one. Does that make sense?”
“It does, but we don’t seem to be doing much sparking here.”
“You have to understand, Sandi, that when I’m looking through the camera, basically it gives me tunnel vision. I don’t really see the overall picture. However, I’ve tried to think about what I saw when I wasn’t shooting.
“I remember seeing Joshua King and Jason Redman talking in whispers not long
after Purity left. They almost looked conspiratorial.”
Sitting forward on the couch, I asked, “And what else did you see?”
“I remember seeing someone peering in the window. I think it might have been that Bogey character.”
“Do you mean Pete, who was dressed like Bogart, or do you mean Chris, the one who actually looks like him?”
“I mean the one that resembles him, not your partner.”
“What else?” I had the feeling Jolly could turn out to be more observant than I’d given him credit for.
“Let me see. Just before the lights flickered off and back on, I overheard Mavis telling someone she’d heard a rumor about Purity being pregnant. I didn’t see who she was talking to because I was focusing the camera, but I heard her. That big-mouthed witch didn’t care who heard her.” He stopped, as though he’d spoken out of turn.
“It’s okay, Jolly, I know about that.”
He looked relieved. “I guess it doesn’t really matter now that Purity is dead anyway. Too bad the killer didn’t take out Mavis instead of Purity.”
I tried not to look surprised, but didn’t pull it off.
“Well,” Jolly said quickly, “you’ve met Mavis.” He seemed to think that was enough of an explanation.
“Unfortunately, I have. She’s really a piece of work, isn’t she?”
Jolly laughed. “That’s an understatement. She was going to sue me for… Never mind. It doesn’t really matter. I don’t think there are too many people that she hasn’t threatened. Say, do you think she could have done it? I mean, she was caught with her hand on the knife.”
“How did you know that?” I asked.
“Before you all left that room, everyone knew. Word spreads fast, especially in a small gathering like that one. And if it involves Mavis, people delight in spreading the gossip.”
“I see. Can you remember anything else?” He was always on the lookout for a good shot. In my mind that meant he was constantly looking around. Who better to see what was going on? At least when he wasn’t behind the camera.
“Not much of significance.” He spoke slowly, as though thinking, and then stopped talking and looked directly into my eyes. “Yes, there is one more thing. After Purity stormed out of the party, I saw Traci Marks make a beeline for the rear of the house, toward the kitchen and the back door. A couple of minutes later I saw her run past the front window. Her head was swinging from side to side, kind of like she was searching for something. Or someone,” he added dramatically. “I’ll bet she was looking for Purity.”