by Marja McGraw
“I called her at work and told her we’d be over,” Dolly said. “What time is it?”
“Close to five-thirty.” I should have called Chrissy myself, but decided I’d take my chances on her being home.
“She’ll be there by now. She said she didn’t have any stops to make after work.”
“What does Chrissy do for a living?” It was something we’d never gotten around to discussing when I last saw her.
“She’s a secretary. You know, don’t you, that secretaries are underrated? Why, if all the secretaries in the world called in sick on the same day, the bosses and businesses would fall apart.” Dolly sniffed. “They should be paid more.” She was sticking up for her single-parent granddaughter.
Remembering my own days as a secretary, I had to agree. “You’re right. Is this something you and Chrissy talked about?”
Before she could answer, we pulled up to the house. Chrissy’s Toyota was in the driveway, and I parked behind her car. There was already another car parked behind hers. It was a yellow Aztec.
“Here we are,” I said. “Let’s go see that little Tammi.”
I turned to Dolly and noticed an odd look on her face.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. Just… Nothing.” She was looking beyond the cars, so I didn’t think it had anything to do with the Aztec. “Oh. I see Ned is here. That car is his pride and joy.” She’d turned her attention back to the nearby surroundings.
“Ted,” I corrected. “I have a feeling it might cause a problem if you call him Ned.”
Dolly studied me for a second and began to chuckle. “Chrissy would have my head for that.”
We climbed out of the car, and I balanced a grocery bag in one hand and Dolly’s casserole in the other.
“Let me take one of those.”
“No, I’ve got it. You go ring the bell.”
Dolly climbed up the steps to the house, and Chrissy opened the door before she could push the button. Two peas in a pod.
“Gramma!” Tammi ran out the door and greeted Dolly with a bear hug. “Come on, Gramma. Come see my new doll.”
The little girl pulled on the old woman’s hand, and Dolly grinned like the Cheshire cat. Click. My mind registered the picture of the child’s soft little hand contrasting with the more gnarled, wrinkled one. Chrissy managed to get a hug in before Tammi claimed her great-grandmother’s attention.
“Good evening, Ted.” Dolly turned a warm smile toward the young man sitting on the couch, making me realize that she didn’t dislike him but simply thought of him as a nerd. He stood and smiled in return. Tammi was still pulling on her hand so she followed the little girl to her room.
Chrissy got right to the point. “Did you talk to Officer Paley?”
“No. He was already out on a call when I stopped by the station. I’m going to talk to Lieutenant Johnson when we leave. I’m hoping he may have talked to Paley after I stopped in last night.”
“Well, at least I know I won’t have to worry tonight. The bum never comes by if I have company. Ted is here, and now you and Grandma.”
Chrissy seemed to have reminded herself that she had company and turned to Ted.
“I’m sorry. I forgot my manners. Ted, this is Sandi Webster, the private investigator I told you about.”
He offered his hand and I walked forward to shake it. He had a firm grip, which impressed me. I’d half expected the old limp fish shake after Dolly’s comments about Ned the Nerd.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” His voice was quiet and soft. His tone was shy. He was a medium-sized man, with medium-colored hair and eyes, and he was quite average in appearance. Not a memorable person. Obviously he had some qualities that Dolly and I didn’t see, but that Chrissy admired.
“My pleasure, Ted.” I reached out and shook his hand. “Anyway, it doesn’t surprise me that the bum wouldn’t show up when you have people around you. These guys don’t want a confrontation, and he’s only going to stop by if you’re home alone. Multiple women would be more than he could handle. And Ted, of course.”
“I’ll be back in a second, honey,” Dolly called to Tammi as she left the child’s bedroom.
She had that odd expression on her face again. “Sandi, can I talk to you for a second? Outside?”
“Of course.”
I followed her out the front door. “What’s up?”
“Follow me.” She walked around the side of the house and pointed. “I saw something odd when we drove up, but it didn’t sink in until I was in Tammi’s room. I guess I’m getting old. I should have asked you to check this out when we first got here.”
“What’s that?” I asked, following the direction of her finger. From Dolly’s attitude, I knew to keep my voice down. There was a light at the base of the house. I walked over and checked it out. The old house had a basement with a window frame, but no glass.
“Something isn’t right, Sandi. Chrissy stored a few boxes and things in the basement when she moved in, but she never goes down there. There’s a screened-in back room with a trap door leading to the basement, but her washing machine is sitting on top of it. The faucet for the washer is right by that door, and there wasn’t anywhere else to put it. I was here the day it was hooked up.”
“Go in the house, Dolly. Tell Chrissy to lock the doors while I check this out. And ask Ted to join me out here.”
“Be careful.” She didn’t question me, but she turned to go back inside.
I tiptoed toward the ground level window, and cautiously got down on my hands and knees. Quietly, I inched my way to the window and peeked in. I could see the boxes Dolly had mentioned, and sitting on top of one of them was an empty vodka bottle. I moved closer and had a good view of the whole room. I didn’t see the bum, and nothing seemed out of place. Except the empty bottle.
I took a closer look at the window. It was certainly big enough for a man to crawl through. A nail had worked its way up on the lower edge of the window frame, and I could see a drop of blood by it. The bum had probably cut himself while climbing in, or maybe out.
Someone tapped my shoulder.
“Ahhhhhh!” My heart pounded.
Chapter Sixteen
Jumping up, I turned to find Dolly standing behind me.
“Sorry,” she said. “See anything?”
“Dolly, you scared ten years off my life.”
“I said I was sorry. Take a deep breath and calm down.”
I patted my chest a couple of times, willing my heart to stop pounding. Slowly, it did.
“I didn’t find much. There’s an empty vodka bottle in there, and it looks like he cut himself when he climbed through the window. I want to move the washer and go in for a closer look.” I looked past Dolly. “Where’s Ted?”
“He said he’s got to get back to the office to take care of some work. If you ask me, he was scared that the bum might be around somewhere.”
I heard him start his car.
“Is there room for him to get his car out without hitting mine?”
“He can back around your car.” Dolly had a look of disgust on her face. My expression might have mirrored hers, but I hoped not. I could feel frown lines forming between my eyebrows.
We returned to the house, and Chrissy showed me to the large back porch. Together we unhooked the washer and shoved it out of the way. The door screeched when I pulled it up from the floor.
I climbed down the stairs with Chrissy close on my heels. “Why don’t you stay upstairs?”
“No. I want to see what’s going on.”
Dolly stood at the top of the stairs and watched us descend into the basement.
“Can you see anything?” she asked.
“Give me a minute.” I had no idea what I was looking for, but I believed that the bum had been in the basement. There was no doubt in my mind.
“Chrissy, I want you to go upstairs and call the police. Tell them there’s been a break-in and you want an officer to come out. And take Dolly with you.” Maybe I’d finally have
the opportunity to talk to Officer Paley.
“I’ll be back as soon as I call. Oh, and I’m sorry about Ted leaving. He has such a busy job.”
She left me alone, and I was able to concentrate. The empty bottle I’d seen from the outside hadn’t been there long, I was sure. There was still a drop of liquid on the neck, along with what appeared to be a small amount of blood. I had a sinking feeling that the bum had probably been in the basement when we arrived and left when he heard my car pull up in the driveway.
I also found fresh blood smeared on the inside of the window space where he’d grabbed hold of the frame, apparently to lower himself into the basement.
“They’ll be here soon,” Chrissy said, returning to the stairs. “Guess I won’t come back down after all. This whole thing is creeping me out.” She sounded close to tears.
“Where’s your grandmother?”
“I left her with Tammi. Grandma’s keeping Tammi entertained so she won’t know what’s going on.”
“Don’t you think Tammi will figure it out when the police arrive?”
“Probably. At least, she’ll know something is going on. Maybe I can keep her from knowing the bum was in the basement. We’ll bring the officer in through the back door. Grandma Dolly put a movie in the VCR and turned the sound up.”
Chrissy and I left the basement and walked out the back door, around the house, and out to the driveway to wait for Paley.
“Chrissy, what’s going on?” A man walked over from the house next door.
“It looks like that bum climbed down into my basement. The police are on their way.”
“Fat lot of good that’s gonna do. They haven’t done anything yet. Hell, they couldn’t find an elephant in your front yard.”
“Now, Doug, they’ll take care of everything.” Chrissy didn’t sound too convinced of what she was saying.
“Who’s this?” He nodded in my direction.
“Sorry. Sandi Webster, this is my neighbor, Doug Wilson. Sandi is a private investigator. My grandmother hired her to help me.”
“Hello, Mr. Wilson,” I said.
“What’s she think she’s gonna do? Little thing like her wouldn’t be any more of a match for this guy than you are.” He had turned toward me and was looking me up and down in a way I found amusing. He pursed his lips and turned away, shaking his head.
It was my turn to look him up and down. What I saw was a guy around thirty, maybe five feet, seven inches, and already growing a paunch. He looked like he probably enjoyed a couple of beers every night – actually, quite a few. Taking in his messy brown hair, I was tempted to ask him if he’d just gotten up from a nap.
A police car pulled up in front and I quickly conquered my temptation.
A cop climbed out of the car, and I asked Chrissy, “Is that Paley?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“Officer Paley,” I said when he walked up to us.
“And you are?” He turned his gaze from Chrissy to me.
“I’m Sandi Webster, Chrissy’s friend. And a private investigator. We need to talk.”
“Later.” Short and not so sweet. “Mrs. Knight, what’s going on this time?”
I didn’t like his tone of voice.
“I’ll tell ya what’s goin’ on.” Doug stepped in front of Paley. “What’s goin’ on is that you better catch this guy before I do. Why, I’m afraid to let my wife work out in the yard since this guy started comin’ around. I’m a taxpayer, and that means I pay your wages, and I wanna see some results. And fast.”
Officer Paley sighed. “Mr. Wilson. Go home. I’ll take care of this.”
“Sure ya will. I’ve seen how you take care of things, buster, and – ”
Paley took a threatening step toward Doug. The neighbor turned and left, mumbling to himself. “Damn cops, always…” His voice trailed off as he left the yard.
“Okay, now what’s going on?” Paley had his hand resting on his flashlight, and he was frowning.
“We believe the bum who’s been bothering Chrissy spent some time in her basement this evening. There’s an empty vodka bottle sitting on a box, and there’s a little blood on the window frame. It appears that he was waiting for her, but when I pulled in he decided to leave. Or it could have been when her boyfriend arrived.”
“Blood?”
“It looks like he cut his hand or something on a nail when he crawled through the window space.”
“Let’s take a look. Mrs. Knight, show me where this basement is.” Paley turned from me and concentrated on Chrissy.
“I want to go in through the back door so my daughter doesn’t see what’s going on.”
“Officer Paley, we need to talk.” I placed my hand on his arm to keep him from walking away from me.
“Later.” His tone of voice told me he was not a happy camper, and I wanted to know why.
Chapter Seventeen
“No, we need to talk now.” Continuing to grip Officer Paley’s arm, I realized this man could be quite elusive if he wanted to be. Not unlike the bum.
“Webster is it? Ms. Webster, I’m going to take a look at that basement. When I’m done, we’ll talk.” He pulled his arm away from me and headed for the rear of the house.
I followed behind him, not about to let him out of my sight. My instincts were kicking in; they told me something wasn’t right with this guy. I wanted to know what it was. I also wanted to see how he’d handle this situation. He’d have to deal with more than innocent little Chrissy. This time Paley would have to answer to me. Yeah, like he’d worry about me. Well, I could be a real bulldog when I needed to be.
We trooped in through the back door, and I explained the washing machine situation to him. He glanced at the washer, where the connections were located, and the trapdoor. So far, Paley wasn’t impressing me.
“You can see where the intruder left his bottle. And there’s blood on the window frame and the bottle.” I knew I was repeating myself, but I wanted to make sure he checked it all out.
“Thank you.” He sounded like he was ready to stuff my mouth with a rag to shut me up.
I was liking Paley less and less. Why wasn’t he taking this more seriously? The bum had actually been in Chrissy’s house, even if it wasn’t the main part; the basement was close enough. You’d think he’d want to catch this guy, if only to get the jerk out of his hair.
“Can you see anything?” Chrissy called down the stairs.
Officer Paley took a deep breath, as though trying to hold onto his temper. “I can see what Ms. Webster was talking about.” He said my name as though it were a dirty word.
What was his problem? I’d worked with plenty of cops, and they didn’t all like dealing with a P.I., especially a female P.I., but this one made me feel like he had a grudge. My next question was, a grudge against what? Or whom? And why?
Paley turned out the basement light and returned to the open porch. He closed the trapdoor and shoved the washing machine back into place, leaving the hoses disconnected.
“I’ll write up a report about this and keep an eye on your place tonight. And I’ll drive through the surrounding streets and watch for the guy.” He glanced at me. “Guess we’d better get him off the streets.”
“You guess?” I asked, incredulously. “Let’s go outside and talk. Now!” I was borrowing my mother’s no-nonsense attitude. It seemed appropriate. This guy was being too blasé about Chrissy and Tammi’s safety.
I opened the back door and stomped outside. Officer Paley followed suit.
“Officer Paley, do you realize that Chrissy and her little girl might be in real danger here? And you’re acting like it’s nothing. This is not normal. That bum is after something, and I – you – we need to find out what it is. And we need to do it soon. He’s actually been in her house. And every time he shows up at her door, he’s more aggressive than the last time. Something – ”
“Ms. Webster. I fully realize the seriousness of this situation. And, believe it or not, I’m not takin
g it lightly. I’ve searched for him each time she’s called the station. He disappears without a trace before I arrive, each and every time.”
“I know, but – ”
He held up his hand to silence me.
“I’m doing everything I can. If you want to work on this, too, then by all means, do so. I can’t stop you. But if you get in the way of my investigation, I’ll stomp all over you. Do we understand each other?” His mouth was tightening, and he’d begun to purse his lips.
“Oh, yes. I understand you perfectly.” My back had stiffened and my hackles were up. “Will you share your investigative information with me?”
“No. Suffice it to say, there isn’t much information. The guy shows up at her door and disappears before I arrive. There’s not much to investigate. I will have the bottle checked for fingerprints. That’s about all I can do for the time being. If you have any suggestions, I’d like to hear them.”
I thought about suggesting a DNA test, but with Paley's attitude I was afraid the bottle might not ever see the light of day again. Realizing that it would be rude to make other suggestions I had in mind, I said, “I’d like to request an extra patrol for Chrissy’s house. And if anything happens to her or Tammi, you’ll be seeing a lot of me. Do we still understand each other?” I have to admit that it’s difficult to be too aggressive when you’re five foot three inches and arching your neck to try to look into the eyes of someone who’s at least six feet three inches tall. But I did my best.
He turned and left without saying another word. This tall man’s physique matched his height. He was quite muscular. It didn’t impress me. His light blonde hair was cut way too short for my taste – it was similar to a military cut, making him appear practically bald. He had the stereotypical blue eyes that most people associate with light hair. And, yet, there was something quite youthful about him. Something about him reminded me of a little boy. A spoiled child. Maybe it was the pursed lips. It made him look like someone who wanted his way and frequently got it.
“Jerk,” I said under my breath. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was calling me under his breath.
