“I’m fine,” Vernon replied. “But thank you for asking. Now, what can I do for you lovely ladies on this fine day?”
Later that afternoon, Vernon would go back into his office and rearrange his desk to make room for his new lamp while disposing of the packaging. The last thing he needed was anyone asking who the lamp was from. He would tell them he got it at a craft show, he thought as he started to throw away the notes, and then had a change of heart. He would keep those. He slipped those into the last folder in his desk drawer where he kept some old newspaper clippings. His wife would never look there, he thought as he closed for the day.
34
“Have a seat,” Detective Tilley said as she suddenly became self-conscious. She swivelled her chair slightly to face the chair next to her desk. She had felt fine all day but now started to feel a little underdressed in her plain blazer and dark slacks. Marci Grant dressed in a tight-fighting blazer and pants with her tattered brown driving gloves. She adjusted the chair to face Tilley as she sat down and crossed her long, shapely legs.
“You wanted to see me?” Tilley asked.
“Yes,” Marci replied, but Tilley cut her off before she could continue.
“You know I can’t discuss an ongoing investigation, right?” Tilley’s comment had an air of disbelief about it.
“Oh, it’s not about the case. Well, not exactly,” the real-estate agent replied. “You see, the sale of the Turlingtons’ place fell through when the Blanchards got fed up with the crime scene across the road.”
“I see. But I’m not sure what it is you expect from us.”
“Well, really, it’s the women leaving flowers and the people constantly coming by to see who they are.”
“There’s nothing we can do about that,” Detective Tilley replied.
“I guess I was hoping that you would be close to solving the case so you could remove the crime scene tape or something. I figure once that’s no longer there, the women might stop treating it like a shrine to Charlie Baker’s big Johnson. I can’t see that house selling any time soon with all the commotion going on across the street.”
“I understand,” Tilley replied. “But there’s nothing we can do for now.”
“Well, it never hurts to ask,” Marci said, and she smiled a little. “I’m hoping I can change the Blanchards’ minds somehow. They really like the house and location but not the crime scene across the street.”
“Look, I shouldn’t say this, but we’re working on something that could help us make progress. But I can’t say more than that. I hope you understand.”
“Oh I do,” Marci replied as she stood up.
Tilley stood as well and marvelled at how tall Marci was as she looked up to make eye contact. Marci was a bit taller than Tilley but her heels versus the detective’s flat shoes made her more so.
Marci extended a brown-gloved hand which Tilley shook awkwardly. Marci smiled, and her eyes roamed over Tilley as she spoke.
“I’d ask you to let me know when the tape will be coming down at Charlie’s old place, but you probably can’t do that either, can you?”
“I’m afraid not,” Tilley replied as she sat behind her desk again, watching as Marci walked out of the detectives’ bullpen. Tilley’s phone rang, distracting her from the strange encounter she had just had. She glanced at the display on the phone and recognized the number. It was the reporter from the local paper again, probably wanting a statement still. She wondered how many times she would have to tell him that she couldn’t discuss an ongoing investigation with him. She hit the ignore button on her phone, sending the call to her voicemail.
As Marci emerged from the police station, she couldn’t help but notice a familiar- looking white sedan drive past. The car disappeared into traffic before Marci could confirm that this was actually Trudy’s sedan. Marci knew Trudy’s jealous streak was getting worse but was she following her now? Had it gotten to this point? Marci wondered as she got into her Corvette.
35
Lemkie hesitated as he entered what passed for the Crime Scene Investigator’s tech lab in the police station of the small city of Poplar Falls. At a workbench used for electronics sat a clearly distraught Calvin. Calvin’s expression told him something was seriously wrong.
“What’s up?” Lemkie asked, to lighten the mood a bit, hoping Calvin had some good news for him.
On the counter top next to Calvin was a wired and dismantled laptop which Lemkie confirmed to be the one missing from Charlie Baker’s apartment. Dodge still hadn’t disclosed how he had actually acquired the busted electronic device other than he had found it near the Food Emporium. Calvin had been working on the laptop since Dodge brought it in the day before. It had been pretty damaged and the screen had died but an ever resourceful Calvin had been able to get it working again by hooking it to a monitor to start with.
Calvin cleared his throat and took a sip from a water bottle on his desk before speaking.
“It’s Charlie’s computer, all right. No doubt about it.”
“You hacked it?”
“Yeah,” Calvin replied. “I got into his file folders just now, once I got it working that is. Finally. He was either very good with computers or had a friend who is. Either way I’m in now. However, some of the file folders are still encrypted, but at least I know how to hack them now.”
“What did you find?” Lemkie asked as he stood behind Calvin, placing a hand on the computer guru’s shoulder and hovering. Calvin had gotten used to Lemkie expecting him to show him and not just tell him.
The monitor Calvin had wired to the laptop displayed a long list of files. Feeling Calvin’s hesitation to explain, Lemkie asked his next question.
“What are those?”
“More porn,” Calvin replied listlessly. He clearly wasn’t happy about the find.
“A lot more?” Lemkie asked.
“Unless I’m mistaken as to how much is still encrypted, about 132 hours of it,” Calvin replied. “Maybe more, I’m not sure yet.”
“Oh,” Lemkie said, starting to understand why Calvin had looked upset when he entered the lab. Calvin had been sorting and watching videos of Charlie ever since the case began. There were hours upon hours of porn, plus just as much footage of Charlie lying in bed chatting with his most recent conquest. Calvin now had mixed feelings about Charlie because of many of the conversations he’d had to listen to. At first, he had admired Charlie’s prowess, but that turned to dislike. Calvin hadn’t taken Charlie’s sexual addiction (which he had been in therapy for) seriously up until he had to watch the homemade videos that Charlie was making. Although listening to a spent Charlie’s conversations with the women had had an effect on Calvin. He began understanding why many of the women Charlie Baker slept with didn’t hate him; even after they found out he had many lovers. Charlie was a good listener and often offered very wise advice, although that was usually only after a wild round of sex, all caught on camera, sometimes from four different angles.
Now Calvin was faced with over 132 hours of additional video footage to watch. And it would be a painful process, which was why he said he would still have to hack into many of the encrypted files. A fact which wasn’t true, but he needed to buy time. He was exhausted, and the last thing he needed was pressure to go through this new batch of videos in a hurry. He already knew what to expect from the footage. With the bulk of the metadata corrupted, he couldn’t know when the videos were recorded. The best he could hope for was to find something solid to go on in one of the first videos and hope to get a break from watching porn at work. It had sexually frustrated him at first, but now he found himself still addicted and yet sick of watching it. He knew this forced binging was helping him realize he had to do something about his own porn addiction. What he could do he wasn’t sure, but this case wasn’t helping at all.
“Good work,” Lemkie said as he left the room. “Please update me if
you find something important.”
Calvin didn’t reply. He merely sat staring at the monitor with a blank expression. A moment later he felt his stomach churn, which made him shoot out of his chair in a panic. He knew he wouldn’t make it to the washroom, so he fell to his knees before a small open wastebasket full of old electronic parts and vomited into it. Once the heaving stopped, he realized that the wastebasket was made of a metal mesh and didn’t have a bag to contain the whole-grain Cheerios he had just regurgitated. This realization brought on a new set of dry heaves before regaining enough strength to clean the mess he had made. He needed to clean the mess before anyone found out, as it would only give them more ammunition to make fun of him with, and he couldn’t let that happen.
36
Dodge didn’t like to drink caffeine after five in the afternoon, so he sipped his decaf coffee as he skimmed through the newest set of images from the busted laptop in the file on his desk. He looked over the first batch one at a time while glancing at Tilley, who was doing the same, only on her laptop computer. Calvin’s having to hack each encrypted file was taking a long time, so he gave them what he had.
Tilley was still trying to get Dodge to talk about the busted laptop. Ever since Lemkie broke the news about the Panty Bandit’s fingerprints being on the laptop, Dodge had been abnormally quiet. This was unlike Dodge to go quiet about a lead in a case. Especially one they figured would most likely remain unsolved unless said thief struck again. Yes, the pilfering of women’s underwear had stopped, but people still felt uneasy about the fact that the Panty Bandit was still out there. Tilley knew that Dodge knew something now. It was obvious but she couldn’t tell why he was being quiet about it. Was he trying to cover something up?
“You know the difference between men and women?” he asked.
“You trying to be funny?” Tilley asked as she sipped her regular coffee. Dodge may have wanted to avoid too much caffeine at this late hour but Tilley wasn’t worried about it. Plus, a quick trip to the gym would take care of any extra zest left over for her.
“No, no. I mean this case about a man who slept with all these women. I mean, not all men are like that, you know.”
“Are you trying to tell me all men are not pigs?” Tilley quipped, in an obvious tone of sarcasm. “I mean, I know Stella was in love with Charlie. She never came out and said so, but, come on.”
“I hear you,” Dodge replied. “And Sadie Cross, too. She said that after sex, she and Charlie would talk for hours.”
“Hours?” Tilley asked.
“Hours!” Dodge replied. “She said he was an amazing listener and even gave good advice.” Dodge chuckled. “After sex she said, when he wasn’t a horny bastard anymore.”
Tilley guffawed. She wasn’t sure when Dodge had spoken with Sadie again, and between that and the Panty Bandit prints she had to wonder what else he might be hiding.
“And so this makes you say that not all men are dogs?” Tilley replied.
“Well, I meant that most men can separate sex and love.”
Tilley spun her chair around and faced Dodge. She kicked her feet up on the desk nearest to her and sipped her coffee.
“Okay, so you’re telling me that because a man can separate the two it doesn’t make him a dog?” Tilley asked. “Help me out here, because I’m really confused,” she said, smiling.
“Well, I mean that sex is lust-based; simple animalistic urges,” Dodge replied. “Making love is an emotional connection and so not the same as pure sex. I mean, sexual urges are the birthplace of kink and erotica.”
“What are you babbling about?” Tilley responded with a large grin as she leaned back in her chair.
Dodge put his feet up on his own desk and sipped his coffee before continuing on his late-night wisdom-filled rant.
“Well, it’s true; when I was married and in love.” Dodge paused and sipped coffee. “I was in love, you know. Anyway, we never had regular sex; we made love. We used to massage each other and cuddle.”
Tilley’s smile widened.
“I never pictured you as the soft, cuddly type,” she said with a laugh.
“When you really love someone deeply, it changes you,” Dodge replied in a serious tone. “But that’s all behind me now. We’re divorced.”
“Anyway, I’m not convinced that Charlie Baker could separate love and sex,” Tilley replied. “I’m not convinced he knew what love was.”
“You might be right about Charlie, although Sadie seemed to think he was pretty great.”
Tilley turned around and shut down her computer as she spoke.
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“What?”
“You mean who,” Tilley replied.
“Who what?” Dodge replied, even though he knew she wanted to know what he knew about the Panty Bandit. What he suspected but had yet to confirm. Only, Dodge suddenly realised he didn’t really want to know. Not anymore anyway. It would be pointless now. If he was right, it would be pointless. Although, as a detective a part of him needed the closure. But he needed some time before he would be able to tell his partner. He wanted to be sure.
“I forgot to tell you what happened this afternoon,” Dodge said in an obvious attempt to change the subject.
Tilley, frustrated with Dodge’s refusal to share what he knew, said nothing in reply but let him go on instead.
“That Leblanc woman I interviewed.”
“The one in the old videos from the hard drive?” Tilley asked.
“Yes. I was asking her questions when she got mad at me,” Dodge replied. “She got red in the face, yelled at me, and then stormed out.”
“What did you say to get her so upset?”
“I asked her if she had been aware that he was seeing other women during their own affair.”
“And?”
“She got mad and said, ‘He never promised me a rose garden’ and stormed out.”
Tilley laughed, and Dodge felt the tension ease between him and the partner he was keeping in the dark.
37
Dodge was in a little earlier than usual and, while having his first morning coffee, he sat at his desk in the bullpen of the Poplar Falls police station. He sat there in sheer disbelief as he watched the surveillance camera footage from the Food Emporium on his laptop. He had heard that the video had been uploaded to YouTube almost as soon as the police officers had settled everyone down. He wondered who had done it, watching the video for the second time as he waited for Tilley. She was in the process of getting a briefing from one of the officers on the scene and she didn’t know about the video yet.
The footage showed Sadie Cross, who had rounded the corner of aisle eight pushing a small but half-full shopping cart while mouthing something with an unpleasant look on her face. Dodge wished there was sound to the video as he watched a none-too- pleased Stella Rubbin carrying a partially loaded hand basket come from the aisle behind Sadie.
The women looked to be exchanging harsh words as they made their way to the checkout line. Stella seemed a little unsteady, a result of being inebriated at the time. She mouthed something to Sadie and, in reply, Sadie took a long English cucumber from Stella’s basket and angrily shook it in front of the busty black woman’s face. Stella staggered back a step and, in a swift motion, tried to knock the vegetable out of Sadie’s grasp but only succeeded in breaking it in half instead, sending the top half flying. Sadie threw the broken cucumber at Stella, missing her intended target but grazing her cheek in the process. Stella grabbed the large bulk bag of gummy bears from her shopping basket and swung it at a flinching Sadie, who blocked it with a raised arm. The swinging bag of soft candy Stella was planning to soak in vodka burst open and its contents scattered.
The blue-haired young girl at the cash register froze in place as she watched, holding a foil-wrapped stick of butter that she was about to scan and ba
g. Her customer, Geraldine, the wife of Pastor George and an original member of the Naughty Knitters Club, flinched as she watched it all unfold. She flinched every time one of the women took a swing.
Geraldine grasped the blue-haired cashier’s arm and spoke. The blue-haired girl then dropped the butter and grasped the phone next to her cash register. Dodge wasn’t sure if she was calling 911 or the store manager. Geraldine and the cashier watched as the pair of women then began grappling with each other. The young cashier set the phone receiver down on the counter and ran around the cash register as if to try and stop the women. The young girl stopped a few feet away from the pair of women who were now rolling on a bed of gummy bears while pulling at each other’s hair. The cashier touched her face where she still had a scar. She would later tell an officer the scar was of a piercing that had once been torn out in just this sort of altercation, which is why she changed her mind about getting involved.
Geraldine dug through her large purse and took out an old cell phone. She fiddled with it and then put it to her ear as she watched the store manager come running. On camera, he looked to be shouting something and began prying Sadie Cross off a subdued Stella Rubbin, who was now trying to crawl away from the smaller, usually demure little woman who sat atop her, screaming and slapping at her.
As the store manager struggled to pull the women apart, uniformed officers arrived, which seemed to take the fight out of Sadie as she allowed the manager to pull her off the crawling Stella. Stella was now scrambling away as she shoved gummy bears she had collected off the floor into her mouth as she sobbed. The manager and Sadie stumbled backward and collapsed against a rack of potato chips near the cash register, a few of the bags bursting open and scattering potato chips with the gummy bears.
When the video clip ended, Geraldine was on the phone frantically talking to someone as the blue-haired cashier’s arms were flailing about while she spoke to the manager, most likely explaining what had transpired. Each uniformed officer was tending to the women who, moments before, had been locked in battle over what Dodge assumed was the late Charlie Baker. The YouTube clip went to grey and ended just as Tilley arrived. Before she could utter a single word, an excited Dodge spoke as he hit play on the video again.
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