by B R Snow
Rooster, followed by Josie and Chef Claire, clamored down the stairs then carefully maneuvered themselves around the body.
“Are you okay?” Josie said.
“I think so,” I said, slowly.
“She’s in shock,” Rooster said. “Suzy, sit down.”
Rooster guided me to a chair, and I plopped down and stared around the room still dazed.
“Is he dead?” I whispered.
“Yeah, he is,” Rooster said.
“I’m so sorry, Rooster. But I didn’t kill him.”
“I know you didn’t, Suzy,” Rooster said.
“Thank you for believing me,” I whispered.
“She’s out of it. We need to get her out of here,” Josie said.
“No,” I said. “I need to wait for Chief Abrams. This is a crime scene.”
“Suzy, for once will you just listen to reason?” Josie said.
“I need to wait,” I whispered, looking up at her.
“Unbelievable,” Josie said. “Okay, we’ll wait.”
“Rooster?”
“Yes, Suzy?”
“Didn’t you say there was some sort of tunnel connecting this camp with your other one about a quarter mile away?” I said, starting to regain some of my focus.
“Yes, there is,” he said. “Why?”
“Because I bet that’s where they’re keeping Al and Dente,” I said.
Chef Claire glanced around and spotted the door that was partially open. She looked at Rooster who nodded.
“That’s it,” he said. “There’s a light switch just inside on the right.”
Chef Claire and Josie managed to get the heavy door open. Josie turned the lights on, and she and Chef Claire disappeared down the tunnel. In the distance, I heard the sound of barking, and I smiled. A few minutes later, I heard happy whimpering as Chef Claire stepped out of the tunnel cradling Dente in her arms. Josie soon followed carrying Al who had his front paws wrapped around her shoulders and was nuzzling her neck, punctuated with a succession of affectionate licks.
“Well, look at that,” Josie said. “I guess Al’s finally forgiven me.”
Chapter 10
By the time Chief Abrams arrived, I was sitting in the living area with a blanket wrapped around my shoulders sipping tea. I knew I probably looked like a little old granny sitting in her favorite chair, but I felt like I’d just gone ten rounds with a long flight of stairs and lost. I ached all over and was sure I had several cuts and bruises. But the rapidly congealing blood I was covered in was preventing me from doing a closer inspection.
Josie and Chef Claire were sitting on a couch still holding the dogs. Al and Dente, still basking in the glow of their recovery, had made it perfectly clear they weren’t going anywhere. Rooster was slowly pacing back and forth, deep in thought. Jessica and Jerry were huddled in the kitchen area whispering excitedly. When Chief Abrams came through the front door, he headed straight for me.
“Not your best look, Suzy,” Chief Abrams said. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, nodding.
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” he said, grabbing a folding chair and sitting down across from me.
I started to recount the events, but Rooster held up a hand to stop me. He glared at the cameraman.
“Turn that thing off,” Rooster said.
“Not likely, Bubba,” Jerry the Cameraman said, glancing up from the eyepiece to grin at Rooster.
Rooster smiled and slowly walked toward Jerry. Then I heard a soft snap, and a thud as the camera fell to the floor.
“You broke my finger,” Jerry said, clutching his hand.
“Lucky for you, you’ve got nine left,” Rooster said.
“Chief. Arrest that man for assault,” Jerry said.
“Uh, no,” Chief Abrams said, glancing over his shoulder before refocusing on me. “Go ahead.”
I recounted the events as I remembered them and he scribbled copious notes as I talked. When I finished, he patted my knee and walked down the stairs. A few minutes later, he returned and sat back down.
“Man, that’s a lot of blood,” Chief Abrams said. “Whoever put that knife in him either knew what to aim for, or he got very lucky.” He glanced at Rooster. “I’m sorry for your loss, Rooster. I know you two weren’t close, and that he had his problems, but still.”
“Thanks, Chief. Given some of the choices he made, I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did,” Rooster said, then glared at Jerry. “I said put that thing down.”
“Don’t let him intimidate you, Jerry,” Jessica said.
“That’s easy for you to say,” Jerry said, setting the camera on the kitchen table. “It’s not your fingers he’s breaking.”
“Chief, if it’s okay with you,” Jessica said, turning sweet. “Jerry and I need to get going.”
“I’m sorry Ms. Talbot,” Chief Abrams said. “But I’m going to need statements from both of you before I can let you leave.”
“With all due respect, Chief,” Jessica said, “I must say-”
“You know, Ms. Talbot,” Chief said, cutting her off. “One thing I’ve learned over the years is that when somebody starts a sentence by saying with all due respect, it means they don’t have any for the person they’re talking to.”
“Yeah, that’s very interesting, Chief Abrams,” Jessica said, flashing him a quick smile. “I’ll try to remember that. But as I was about to say before you rudely interrupted me is that Jerry and I need to do some editing and get this story submitted in time for the eleven o’clock news.”
“With all due respect, Ms. Talbot,” Chief Abrams said, returning her smile. “That’s not gonna happen.”
“Of course it is,” Jessica said, glaring at him. “This story will go viral within an hour after it runs.”
“Yeah, it probably would,” he said, nodding. “Which sounds like another good reason why you’re not going to run it. At least the video anyway.”
“But the video is the whole story,” Jessica said.
“Yeah, funny how that works,” Chief Abrams said, smiling. “Whatever happened to the written word?”
“Not only don’t you not have the right to stop me from using the story,” Jessica said. “You don’t have the ability.”
“Not only don’t you not? Do your lawyers encourage you to speak in double negatives?” Josie said, frowning. “Jessica, I know you’re a little rattled at the moment, but surely you can do better that.”
“Who asked for your input?” Jessica said, glaring at Josie.
“Hey, if I waited for people to ask, I’d never get a word in,” Josie deadpanned.
“Before I forget, Jerry,” Chief Abrams said. “I’m going to need to take that camera with me.”
“That’s highly unlikely,” Jessica said. “That camera is the property of my employer.”
“It also contains possible evidence about a murder,” Chief Abrams said.
Jerry nodded and inched his way closer to the kitchen table. He casually placed a hand on the back of the camera.
“Jerry,” Rooster said, his voice barely above a whisper. “If you try to remove the memory card from that camera, you’re going to lose a lot more than a finger.”
Jerry took a step back, and Rooster grabbed the camera off the table and tossed it onto an empty chair. Jerry looked at Jessica and shrugged.
“This is unbelievable,” Jessica said. “Incompetent and corrupt. What a delightful combination for a police chief to have.”
“You need to watch yourself, Ms. Talbot,” Chief Abrams said.
“What I’d like to watch is you arresting somebody,” she snapped.
“You know, I am thinking about doing that,” he said. “I thought I’d start with you and Jerry here.”
“What an absurd idea,” Jessica said.
“No, let’s hear him out,” Josie said, leaning forward.
“I can’t wait to get out of this hick town,” she said. “Okay, I’ll play. What are the so-called cha
rges?”
“I thought I’d start with the willful tampering of a crime scene and threatening a police officer.”
“What?” Jessica said. “It’s no wonder people are dropping like flies in this town.”
“Don’t forget trespassing and breaking and entering, Chief,” Rooster said.
“Thanks, Rooster. I forgot those two,” Chief Abrams said, beaming at him. “I assume you want to press charges?”
“I do.”
“Okay, okay. I got it,” Jessica said, sitting down at the kitchen table. “You win. You might as well sit down and relax Jerry. Deputy Fife is obviously going to keep us here for a while. But this isn’t over.”
“No, it’s not,” Josie said. “You still have a dog show to cover.”
“Ah, crap. I forgot all about that,” Jessica said, rubbing her forehead then glancing up at the ceiling. “Get me to New York, please.”
“If you’re looking for spiritual intervention, I think you’re looking in the wrong direction, Jessica,” Josie said, pointing down at the floor.
We heard a knock on the front door and Freddie, our local medical examiner, stepped inside trailed by two paramedics pushing a stretcher.
“Hi, folks,” Freddie said, glancing around then settling on me. “Are you okay, Suzy?”
“Hey, Freddie,” I said. “I’m fine.”
“I take it that’s not your blood,” Freddie said.
“No, it’s not mine.”
“Good,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Where’s the body?”
Chief Abrams pointed at the stairs.
“Go ahead and have a look,” Chief Abrams said. “But don’t move the body before the state police get here.” He glanced at the two paramedics. “Sorry, guys, but I’m going to have to ask you two to wait outside for now.”
The paramedics nodded and headed for the door, but left the stretcher behind. Freddie headed downstairs, and Chief Abrams stood and looked around the room.
“So, this man and woman left through the front door just after the lights went out?”
“I think so,” I said, glancing at Chef Claire and Josie. “Right?
“Yeah, I think so,” Josie said. “But it all happened so fast.”
“Do you think they had time to stab Rooster’s brother?” Chief Abrams said.
I thought hard for a moment, then looked around at my friends. All three of them seemed to be pondering the question as well.
“I think so,” Rooster said, eventually.
“Me too,” Josie said.
“And your cousin?” Chief Abrams said.
“I can’t believe it, but I completely forgot all about him,” Rooster said, glancing around.
“Do you think he could have gone out one of the back doors?” Chief Abrams said.
“I guess it’s possible,” Rooster said. “It’s was dark and pretty hectic for a while.”
I had forgotten about Coke Bottle as well. Then I remembered hearing the sound of someone running down the stairs.
“I think he went downstairs,” I said. “And the door leading to the tunnel was partially open.”
“He probably used the tunnel to get over to the other hunting camp,” Rooster said.
“Is there an access road over there he could drive out of?” Chief Abrams said.
“Yeah, there is. It’s pretty overgrown, but if you know your way around, it’s not a problem.”
“Do you know what kind of car he has?” Chief Abrams said.
“No, I wouldn’t have a clue. I haven’t seen either one of them in about a year,” Rooster said.
“Well, he hasn’t gone far yet,” Chief Abrams said. “We’ll get some roadblocks set up as soon as I find some cell coverage.”
“I’m sure Coke Bottle hasn’t gone very far at all,” Josie said.
We all looked at her and followed her eyes to the top of the stairs. A pair of thick-lensed glasses was sitting on the floor.
“You think your cousin carried a spare set of glasses?” I said.
“I seriously doubt it,” Rooster said, shaking his head. “That would require common sense and a bit of foresight.”
“He wouldn’t try driving a car without his glasses, would he?”
“You’ve met the man, Suzy,” Rooster said. “What do you think?”
Chief Abrams scribbled a note on his pad and then focused his attention on Jessica and Jerry.
“You two feel like explaining how you just happened to show up here?” Chief Abrams said.
“No,” Jessica said.
“Okay,” Chief Abrams said, jotting down another note.
“What did you just write down?” Jerry said, massaging his hand.
“Oh, that’s nothing. I just added accessory to murder as another potential charge.”
Jessica snorted. She noticed Jerry staring at her.
“Relax, Jerry. He’s just trying to scare you.”
“Well, it’s working, Jessica,” Jerry said, then turned to Chief Abrams. “We followed them from the restaurant.”
“Black SUV with tinted windows, right?” Chef Claire said, stroking Dente’s head. “We thought it was a government car.”
“Most people do,” Jessica said. “That’s why I bought it.”
“Why did you follow us?” I said.
“I saw you huddling at the restaurant like a gang of conspirators and figured something was up. And since we were done at the restaurant, we had the rest of the afternoon free,” Jessica said, shrugging. “It looks like my journalistic instincts were right again.”
Josie snorted.
“And you just decided to let yourself in?” Chief Abrams said.
Jessica sighed loudly.
“Yes, we were approaching the house, and we heard people talking. Then the lights went out, and we heard a scream. In my business, that means breaking news.”
“Did you see two people running out the front door on your way in?” Chief Abrams said.
“No, but we heard them,” Jerry said. “I think they headed for the woods.”
“This entire area is in the woods, idiot,” Rooster said. “That’s why I built it here.”
“For the peace and quiet?” Jessica said.
“Yes.”
“Well, judging from today’s events, I guess that didn’t work out too well, did it?” Jessica said, smiling.
Then we were all startled by a loud crash outside the back of the camp. Rooster frowned, then shook his head. Al and Dente worked their way even closer to Chef Claire and Josie.
“It’s okay, guys,” Chef Claire whispered.
“What the heck was that?” Chief Abrams said, his hand on his holster.
“Take a wild guess,” Rooster said. “Toss me that flashlight, Josie.”
Rooster opened the door we’d come through earlier and stood at the top of steps shining the flashlight outside into the darkness.
“Unbelievable,” Rooster said, staring out. “How the heck did he manage to do that?”
“Your cousin drove into a tree, didn’t he?” Chief Abrams said.
“Yup, he sure did.”
“Is he hurt?” Chief Abrams said.
“It doesn’t look like it, but give me a minute,” Rooster said. “You want him cuffed?”
“Yeah, it’s probably not a bad idea,” Chief Abrams said, tossing a pair of handcuffs across the room.
“I’ll be right back,” Rooster said, then headed down the stairs.
We listened to their muffled exchange, then heard Coke Bottle cry out in pain a couple of times. Then Rooster walked back inside massaging his hand.
“He’s cuffed to the steering wheel,” he said to Chief Abrams.
“Thanks. I’ll deal with him later.”
“I knew I should have brought Titan,” Rooster said, still massaging his hand.
“Who’s Titan?” Jerry said.
“My German shepherd,” Rooster said.
“Does he bite?” Jerry said.
“Only when I tell hi
m to.”
“Can I go get cleaned up, Chief?” I said.
“Sure. Go ahead,” he said, nodding.
“You’ll find some clothes in the big bedroom.”
“I doubt if any of your clothes are going to fit me, Rooster.”
“No, there are some women’s clothes in there,” he said.
“Really?”
“Hey, I have a personal life.”
“So I’m beginning to discover,” I said, getting up out of my chair and walking toward the bathroom.
“You’re just going to let her wander off by herself?” Jessica said.
“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Well, I just thought that someone who earlier today said that she’d love to bury a kitchen knife in the chest of the person who stole those dogs would be a woman you’d want to keep a close eye on.”
I stopped and glared at her across the room. Jerry was staring down at the floor, but Jessica gave me her best fake smile. Luckily for her, I wasn’t within reach of any cutlery. Then I noticed Chief Abrams giving me a strange look.
“If you don’t believe me,” Jessica said. “Just check the tape.”
Chapter 11
I took a sip of wine, then winced and glared at Josie.
“Hey, take it easy, Thumbelina,” I snapped. “That hurts.”
“Don’t be such a baby,” Josie said.
After we’d gotten home, I’d discovered a large splinter buried deep in the back of my shoulder. Rather than finish my Thanksgiving with a trip to the emergency room, I’d asked Josie to get it out. Now her patience was wearing as thin as my tolerance for pain. But the scalpel and tweezers she was using to dig the object out had momentarily taken my mind off the bumps and bruises I’d sustained falling down the stairs.
“Hang on,” I said, draining my wine glass and holding it out for Chef Claire to refill.
“Okay, that’s all of the splinters,” Josie said, setting the tweezers down on a small metal tray. “But I had to cut you to get them all out.”
“No kidding.”
Josie laughed.
“You’re going to need a few stitches,” she said. “But be a good girl, and you’ll get a lollipop when we’re done.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll stick with the wine.”