by Lois Lavrisa
I bent down, then slid my fingers under the loose board, wiggling it up and down in an attempt to loosen it. “It’s not budging.”
“If you don’t mind, let’s both try and pull at the same time.”
“Okay.”
Luiz hunched over me, his chest pressed into my back, his arms around me, with both of us grabbing hold of the floorboard. “Let’s tug at the same time, ready?”
“Yes.”
We both pulled. I grunted with the effort. Heat from Luiz’s body made me flush as a bead of perspiration formed on my forehead. We tugged and pulled. Luiz groaned.
The door flew open.
Cat said, “Are you okay? I heard noise and thought something was wrong. Like someone in here was in trouble.” She looked at us. “But now I see I’ve interrupted something. I’m so very sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” I asked.
Cat shook her head. “I can see that you’re in the middle of, um, an amorous moment.”
“What?” I said. “We are not doing any such thing.”
“You’re not? ’Cause I heard squeaking, like a bed moving. Then I heard grunting and groaning, and now I come in here and you two are all sorts of twisted together on the floor. And you are a bit sweaty.” Cat put on a wicked grin.
Quickly standing up, I patted the beads of perspiration from my face. “Well, we were not having a romantic moment, if that’s what you were thinking.”
Cat shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, you are both single, consenting adults. It wouldn’t be such a bad thing if you were.”
I shot a glare at Cat, hoping she would stop her nonsense. Although the same thought about Luiz had crossed my mind as well.
Luiz stood, brushing his hand on his shirt. “If you ladies will excuse me, I have to get back to work. Maybe we can get a crowbar to pry up that board later, okay, Bezu?”
I nodded. After he left the room, I began to giggle.
“What’s so funny?” Cat asked.
“It’s all sad and silly and complicated and tangled up and good and bad. My life. Mr. Phong’s death. Frank’s mysterious illness. My relationship with Luiz. This old, broken-down, wonderful, falling-apart house. All of it.” I flung my hands in the air. “It’s either laugh or cry.”
“You’re worrying me. Are you sure that you aren’t, I don’t know, like, losing your mind?” Cat raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I do all the time, but then I find it again.” I playfully struck Cat’s arm.
“You and me both.” Cat smirked.
My cell rang. I pulled it out of my dress pocket. “Hey, José.”
“What can you tell me about Frank?” José asked.
“Why?” I asked.
“Since he didn’t get sick from the same poison that caused Mr. Phong’s death, I’m trying to get a handle on what it could be,” José said.
“I’m not sure how much I know about him,” I said into the phone.
“Anything at all,” he said.
“Let’s see. He’s a bouncer at the strip club his girlfriend, Lily, works at. He’s always carrying an Atlas Gym bag. His room has a poster about an upcoming bodybuilding contest. Lily said he’s preparing for one.”
“Stop right there. If that is the case, then that validates it wasn’t your muffins at all,” Jose said.
“Huh?” I said.
“This I know for sure, bodybuilders do not have a grain of sugar or any carbs when they are in training. They only have vegetables and protein to help give their muscles definition.”
“So?”
“So that means if he was truly a serious competitor, he would have never eaten your muffins.”
“Okay, but you already know that from the toxicology report.”
“Yes, but we didn’t test for anything else.”
“Like what?”
“Steroids. I bet he was taking them; a lot of bodybuilders take them to get the muscle bulk they need.”
“Now that I think of it, in his dresser, I found needles and little bottles of something called Equipoise.”
“Bingo.”
“But isn’t it illegal to take those?”
“Bezu, it’s illegal to do a lot of things. Doesn’t mean people still don’t do them. It’s far easier to find a rule breaker than a rule follower.”
I did take in boarders without a permit, and I had gone over the speed limit. I was sure, if I thought about it, I could come up with a list of infractions both big and small. He was right. “Anyway, what now? So what if Frank takes that? Aren’t they just like vitamins, but mega doses?”
“Well, it depends. Too much and they can cause severe illness. I’m going to have them run a steroid test on his blood sample. I’ll get back to you.”
With that, he clicked off. I went over the conversation with Cat.
“That could explain Frank’s cruddy attitude, too,” Cat said.
“How so?” I asked.
“Have you ever heard of ’roid rage?” Cat asked me.
“No,” I said.
“Some of Timmy and Teddy’s friends were into lifting weights and getting bulky. One of them in particular, Mack, his personality changed the more muscular he got. And let me tell you, Mack began to look like the incredible Hulk. But the boys got worried about him; he was not himself anymore.”
“In what way?”
“Mack became extremely aggressive and hostile. Poor kid.” Cat shook her head.
My eyes widened. “That describes Frank to a tee. So what caused it?”
Cat brushed a hair from her eye. “Come to find out that Mack had been taking injectable anabolic steroids—very easy to get over the Internet.”
“Oh.”
Cat nodded. “So this all makes sense now. I bet you that Frank was doped up on steroids and had some of the side effects from them, like the anger and such.”
“At least he’s nice to Lily. I think he just tolerates me because Lily likes me so much. But Frank sure had a disdain for Mr. Phong, and he wasn’t afraid to voice his opinions on the matter.” My head hung thinking of sweet, departed Mr. Phong.
Cat jumped up. “Oh my goodness. It was right under our noses the whole time. Frank is the killer. He did it.”
I lifted my chin. “What?”
“I bet you that he killed Mr. Phong during one of his ’roid rages. He had access to needles, your poisons, the muffins, and all of that.”
I slanted my head in thought. “It wasn’t a secret that Mr. Phong loved my muffins. Plus, José did tell us that Frank’s illness wasn’t from poison.”
“Hold on a second. I’m looking something up.” Cat tapped her iPhone. “Here it is. I looked up symptoms of steroid abuse. Let’s assume he was over-using them, getting ready for the contest.”
“Uh huh,” I said.
Cat said, “So let’s further assume that he started upping his steroid dosage.”
“Okay.”
Cat looked at her phone. “Symptoms: male pattern baldness, anemia…” She paused. “Oh, here it is, steroid use can cause nausea and vomiting. See? It all makes sense now.”
“It does?” I asked.
“Yes, think about all the information we have so far.”
“Okay.” I began to pace the floor. “So Frank, somehow high or whatever it’s called on steroids, had become so agitated with Mr. Phong’s singing that he tainted his muffins to shut him up.”
“Yes. I bet he injected the muffins with his needles and then gave them to Mr. Phong.”
“I did have quite a few liquid poisons under the kitchen sink. They were not secure or anything.”
“And then Frank possibly accidently overdosed himself on steroids, trying to get ready for the contest. He ended up in the hospital.”
“Then he accused me of poisoning him, making him ill. My, what nerve.” I folded my arms on my chest.
Cat snapped her fingers. “Yes, exactly. He blamed you in order to keep the focus away from him. So we have it all figured out. We cracked this case.”
&nbs
p; “Yes, but here’s a minor wrinkle.” I looked intently at Cat. “We have no proof.”
Cat wiggled her hand in front of me. “Don’t you worry about that. We’ll find it.”
“Where?”
“First we search Frank’s room.”
I smiled. “You know, José mentioned that everyone breaks the rules, and I keep proving him right. What’s another invasion of privacy if it gets a case solved?”
Cat winked. “Now you’re thinking like a detective. Let’s go.”
Chapter Fourteen
I opened the top dresser drawer in Lily and Frank’s room. “This is where I saw needles and bottles.”
Picking up the box of needles, Cat said, “But these all look new and sealed. We need to find used ones. Specifically the ones that have a lethal residue in them and Frank’s fingerprints on the outside.”
I nodded. “That would prove it was him without a shadow of a doubt.”
Cat grinned. “Exactly. So keep looking.”
Cat rummaged around other drawers. I cautioned her to make sure that she put everything back exactly the way she found it. If I was infringing on Lily and Frank’s privacy; the least I could do was be respectful about it.
Poking around the bathroom, I found Rogaine. Since Lily had gorgeous, thick red hair, I assumed Frank was using it. A few shirts, including a man’s tank top with the Atlas Gym logo on the front, and several chiffon and lace bras and panties hung from the shower curtain rod. My washer worked, but the dryer had been on the blink, either running for hours never drying the clothes or heating up so much it nearly caught them on fire. I had a clothesline strung in the courtyard. Although I used it, the renters seldom did.
After leaving the bathroom, I said to Cat, “I didn’t find anything except some rather pretty intimate apparel as well as some hair-growth lotion.”
Cat shut a drawer. “That makes sense. Steroids can cause hair loss, and Frank wants to grow some back.”
“Sure, I suppose so.” My shoulders sagged. “But, Cat, so far, real clues are as scarce as hen’s teeth. Not a one. What we have amounts to nothing but pure speculation.”
“I think that you’re wrong. Have faith.” Cat smiled at me. “I do believe we have something—enough to take to the police. They can take it from there.”
“I’m afraid it’s half-cocked. And nothing more.” My chin sank. “The police don’t want a theory of how to solve a crime. They want facts.”
“Hey, cheer up. I have faith that we will find something that will incriminate Mr. Muscle Murder Man Frank. Keep digging.” Cat smirked. “Listen, we only lose if we don’t try. I don’t know about you, but I am not a loser.”
I giggled. “You never fail to amaze me with your unbridled optimism. Thank you, Cat. You are right. As Hattie used to say, ‘Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then.’” I stood straight and lifted my head.
“That a girl.” Cat sifted through a stack of papers. “We need to find one iota of evidence. Even if we have to stay up until the wee hours of the morning.”
I winked at Cat. “I just hope that we can discover something here and not be as lost as last year’s Easter egg.”
Cat tapped my arm. “My, aren’t you full of clever sayings tonight.”
“I am indeed.” I scanned the room. “Something is missing.”
“What?”
My mind raced. What did I remember seeing attached to Frank’s hand, almost as an ever-present extension of his arm? “Frank’s gym bag.”
Cat’s eyes widened. “Yes. Even in the hospital, it sat right next to his bed.”
We locked eyes. I asked, “Do you think that’s the smoking gun?”
“Or lethal needle, in our case,” Cat said.
“Where is that bag?”
“It has to be with him, right?” Cat asked.
“The gym,” I said. “Lily mentioned after they left the hospital that he was dropping off his bag there.”
Then I remembered the floorboard in Mr. Phong’s room. “Listen, before we go, can you help me with something?”
“Sure, it’s not like a few more minutes is going to hurt anything.”
“I need to grab a crowbar first,” I said.
Cat said, “I know I should ask why, but I think instead I’ll just follow you.”
A short time later, we had the crowbar and were in Mr. Phong’s bedroom.
“Luiz and I attempted to get this loose floorboard up, but we were interrupted,” I said to Cat.
Cat held her hand up. “Hey, that was an accident. I didn’t mean to get in your way. Although it did look like you two were—”
“Enough.” I smiled as I knelt on the floor. Cat moved next to me.
“Can you please wedge the crowbar under here while I pull?” I said.
After a few tugs, the floorboard gave way. Several large envelopes were stacked in the recessed space.
Cat plucked the contents out. “These all have Luiz’s company logo on them.”
“Oh my.” My heart caught in my chest. “Mr. Phong was a spy.”
“Really? That is hard to believe.”
I waved my hand. “But all of this is proof. Plus, if he hid it, that means he knew that it was important.”
“Or, wonder if someone else put it here? Or he took it from somebody and hid it from them?”
Stacking the envelopes, I said, “Conceivably.”
“Okay, now what?” Cat asked.
“I have to let Luiz know.”
“Why don’t you open them first to make sure?” Cat asked.
I arched an eyebrow. “No. These may be company secrets, and I want to keep them that way.”
“Good point.”
After we nailed down the floorboard, we went downstairs. I called Luiz.
He picked up on the third ring, “Well, hello, Miss Bezu, to what do I owe this pleasure?”
“I have good news for you,” I said.
“Are you accepting my invitation for dinner and a movie?” he asked.
I felt heat rise in my neck. “Cat and I got that floorboard up and discovered some envelopes in the space underneath.”
“Oh?”
“Yes, they have your company’s logo on them. We didn’t open them.”
Luiz loudly exhaled. “When can I get them?”
“I will leave them in the foyer in the top drawer of the mahogany desk. You are welcome to come by anytime to get them. I would offer to drop them off, but Cat and I have to go to the gym,” I said.
“That’s how you keep your incredible figure,” Luiz said.
Again I felt myself blush. “Thank you for the compliment. Actually we are heading to Atlas Gym to try to find something. Not work out.”
Luiz said, “I wish you both luck.”
“Thank you. And I do hope that whatever is in the envelopes is what you were looking for.”
“I cannot thank you enough. Really.”
With that, we said our good-byes and clicked off.
“I can’t help but hear how your voice trembles and rises as you talk to him,” Cat said to me. “It’s cute how your face and neck turn pink, too.”
“It does not.” I felt like a schoolgirl with my first puppy love crush. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes, and I have a great feeling about this. We’re going to walk in, find his locker, get the bag, call the police—and boom, Frank is in jail.”
Gigging, I said, “So that is how it’s going to happen.”
“Yes. Smooth as silk.”
Somehow the churning in my stomach and my racing heart said otherwise.
Chapter Fifteen
Upon entering Atlas Gym, we followed the signs to the locker room.
“Smells like sweat and wet clothes in here.” Cat crinkled her nose. “And testosterone. Loads of it.”
The sound of clinking weights and conversation came from another room.
“What if they ask what we’re doing here?” I said.
Cat said, “Let’s say that our fr
iend Frank left his gym bag here and we offered to pick it up for him. Just leave it up to me.”
“Okay. But I’m getting a little nervous now. It sounded great when we were back at the house, but now that we’re here, I don’t know. I feel apprehensive,” I said. Knots formed in my stomach.
“Trust me.” Cat squeezed my hand.
“I do.” I meant it.
We turned a corner and bumped into a sturdy short man wearing an Atlas Gym tank top. “You ladies need help?”
I shot a glance at Cat. My tongue was tied up.
“Oh, no, thank you. We’re fine,” Cat said.
“By the way, if you’re looking for the ladies’ locker room, it’s the other way.” The man shot a thumb over his shoulder.
“Yes, we must have taken a wrong turn,” Cat said.
The man waved as he left us.
“I thought you were going to tell him that we were picking up Frank’s gym bag,” I said.
Cat shrugged. “I improvised. Annie Mae taught me how.”
“You did just fine. Now let’s just find the bag and get out of here. I’m getting jittery with nerves.”
A minute later, we stood outside the men’s locker room door.
“I’ll go in, see if all is clear, then if it is, I’ll come out and get you.” She gave me thumbs up.
“Gotcha. What happens if you’re in there and someone is coming? Then what?”
“Knock on the door, so I know.”
“But how do I keep the person out of the locker room, so they won’t see you?”
“Improvise.”
“Oh no. I can’t do that.” I wrung my hands. “Please, let’s get this over with so we can get out of here.”
Cat gave me a quick hug. “Cover me. I’m going in.”
It felt like hours, but only a minute passed. A young man approached me. He couldn’t have been more than eighteen years old.
“Are you heading into the locker room?” My voice shook.
“Yes, ma’am, I am,” the young man answered.
“Um, well, you, uh…” What am I supposed to say? Think, think. “You might want to wait a while. They’re spraying for bugs. A big infestation with really huge bugs. Trust me, it’s not a pretty sight. The fumes alone are toxic in there. Give it some time to settle down.”
