Kill Her Twice

by G A Pickstock

  “You’ll have a hard time proving it. Face it! You’re not the tycoon you thought you were. I’m sorry if your bubble has burst. Admit it; how could anyone from this shit-hole of a town amount to anything more than a farmer?” Kallita snatched her coat and briefcase and made for the door.

  “YOU ROTTEN—!” He lunged across the table, grabbing at her. The lawyer grabbed him and pulled him away.

  “Don’t! It’s not worth it. If all this is true, we’ll get her in court.”

  Horrified at what she had witnessed, Frieda grabbed Kallita by the arm and spun her around; her eyes burned through Kallita’s cold stare. “Someday, I’ll make you pay.”

  * * *

  “…I don’t know anything about her. That is, other than this purse and that a few people in town didn’t like her.”

  Frieda snapped back to the moment.

  “A few! The whole town hated her. I doubt if you could find two people who would have anything good to say about her. A terrible person—a real—rhymes with witch. If you catch my meaning. You found her purse? Where?”

  “In my garden.” Emily went on to relate the events of the past few hours.

  “Kallita-goddamn-Prewitt. I don’t believe it. Decades, I mean at least twenty-five years and she’s back. I just don’t believe it. Do yourself a favour, my dear. Put it back in the ground and forget you ever saw it. Nothing good ever came of Kallita Prewitt, and nothing ever will. I don’t know what happened to her, and I don’t want to.”

  Flabbergasted, Emily sat in silence, trying to figure out what to say next.

  “I don’t understand, what could be so wrong with this woman that returning a purse is such a bad idea?”

  “All I know is this. Anyone who crossed paths with Kallita or anyone connected with her, paid dearly for it. Keep digging, if you want to, but know this: Kallita Prewitt has already screwed you over because as much as I hate to do it, I have to give you three days off because of your performance today. Which is where we were headed, when you first came in here. You know the rules as well as anyone. Further, based on performance from here on out, I might have to rethink my recommendation to the board. So my dear, go home and take the next few days to get your head straight. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

  Chapter 4

  Not many of the condo members could tell you how Audri Seavers became the president of the corporation. It merely happened one day when the previous president quit. Appointed in absentia, and more than a little chuffed that her fellow condo members thought enough of her to proclaim her president, she eagerly accepted the post. She was always sticking her nose into other people’s business and continually quoting the rules and bylaws of the corporation to anyone who would listen. Little did anyone think it would last for over twenty-five years. It wasn’t that she did such a great job. In reality, nobody wanted the job, and after so long a tenure, no one had the heart to take it from her. As long as she seemed willing to do it, the members were content to let her.

  A jumble of thoughts bounced around Emily’s mind as she pulled the red Mustang into her driveway. She was up for promotion, but had she blown it with her preoccupation with Kallita? A three-day suspension wouldn’t look good on her personnel file. This little mystery was deepening with every minute, and the impression forming in her mind confused her. How could someone become so disliked by everyone? She locked her car and headed straight to number 51. Maybe Audri could shed some light on the subject.

  “Kallita Prewitt. My God, I haven’t thought of her in years. I don’t imagine anybody has.” Audri stirred her tea, happy for the distraction and the company. “Sure, you won’t have a cup?” She offered a second time to her unexpected visitor.

  “That seems to be the reaction I get from everyone. No thank you, Audri, I really can’t stay too long.”

  Emily felt uncomfortable in Audri’s house. It was plain to see from the clutter all about, that Audri was a hoarder. The living room was full to bursting with shopping bags and shipping boxes, most of which had never been opened. She had two large screen TV’s at one end of the room and a third, brand new 52-inch still in the box at the opposite end. The coffee table was stacked high with bags of Avon products, and her kitchen fared no better. Small appliances abounded, all in boxes, unopened and unused. Probably replacements for the older appliances already in use. Emily had peeked at a receipt while Audri was making herself a cup of tea. The popcorn machine was three years old, and the seal on the box had never been broken. Audri was a hoarder, for sure.

  “Everybody? Who else have you spoken to? I know a lot of people in this town. Maybe I know them.”

  “Well, I spoke to Jim Roberts this morning and then my boss, Frieda Gerst. You know Jim of course. Do you know Frieda? Neither of them had anything nice to say about her.”

  “Hmm, I don’t wonder.” Audri sipped at her tea. “Frieda Gerst, now there’s another name I haven’t heard in a while. I thought she moved away when her husband died.”

  “Oh? She’s never mentioned him. We’ve talked many times. I didn’t think she was married.”

  “I guess she isn’t, technically. She’s a widow, after all. Very sad that, very sad.” Audri shook her head, half biting her lip as she reflected on the event. “They were married less than a month, when Klaus, that’s her husband, committed suicide. Something related to his business, I think. There was a lot of flack in the paper about it, and our accounting firm was right in the middle of it.”

  “Your accounting firm?” A puzzled look crossed Emily’s face.

  “Well, the condo corporation’s accountants. That’s how I knew Kallita. She was our bookkeeper. Malignant slag that she was.”

  “Not you too? What makes you say that?”

  “There was always something about Kallita. I could never put my finger on it. It was plain she didn’t like it here. You know she lived in one of these units, not yours, another, further down the street, number 5, if memory serves. I can’t imagine how her purse came to be in your back yard.” Audri gazed out the patio door, momentarily lost in thought. “Yes, very sad. You know, it wasn’t long after I became president here that Kallita simply vanished. Disappeared without any trace or warning. Roy, that’s her husband, he was beside himself. He reported her missing, and for a while, the police thought he might have done something to her, but nothing ever came of it. Poor man, I felt sorry for him.”

  Now we’re getting somewhere. Emily was on the edge of her seat.

  “So, you knew her and her husband. And she disappeared? Surely somebody knew where she went.”

  “Nope, nobody. Not too many would have cared. Nope, here one day, gone the next. Good riddance, I say. Truly was a nasty cow. She went out of her way to make trouble for people. The day she left, she did this town a huge favour.”

  “What about Roy, is he still around? Maybe he knows something.”

  “Roy? Maybe. I think he moved into the country somewhere. He moved out of here about a year after she disappeared. By then, he’d lost everything. His business was failing before she vanished. Too bad too, the diner was a great little eatery, but Kallita drove almost every customer they had away with her attitude. Only the die-hard regulars stayed out of loyalty to Roy. It wasn’t enough. Shortly after she disappeared he had to close. It wasn’t long before the bank took the house back. They let him rent it for a while, but he couldn’t manage it. Seems to me, he moved back in with his parents for a while. Dunno much more. You know you keep askin’ questions you’re gonna hear stuff that might be best left unsaid.”

  “And no one knows what happened to her? Someone must have known.”

  “All kinds of rumours flew around back then. Some pointed fingers at her husband, accused him of doin’ her in, you know killing her. Nobody ever found a body, though, so I guess they couldn’t make that stick. Some said she got sick of this place and left, moved to the city. Toronto probably. I think that’s where she came from. However, she did live here for a while with her first husband. Either way it all d
ied down after a while and nobody really cared. Even Roy, he was upset, worried at first but after a while, he was much happier. Losing the condo didn’t even upset him. He took it in stride, like as though it was part of a much larger plan. Curious really, if you think about it. One thing I do know about Roy, there were no other women in his life. With two kids to look after, he had no time for women, and he doted on those kids.”

  “Wow! Audri, that’s a lot to take in. Jim was right. He said you might know something. Don’t you think that with all the people who didn’t like her, there would be one, at least, who would want to do her harm?”

  “Do her harm! Hell! You’d have to take a number. It’s a long list, and Jim would be right on top. He had more than enough reason to want her dead, or out of the way at least.”

  “What?” Emily was about to make her exit, but this revelation couldn’t be ignored. “He told me he’d never met her.”

  “Never met her! That’s BS. He and Roy grew up together. They were best friends until she stuck her oar in. Jim and Roy loved racing and Jim had his own racecar. They used to go the races every weekend. All of them.”

  “I don’t understand all of them?”

  “Jim and Martha and their kids, and Roy and Kallita and their kids. They both kept trailers at the race track. They would camp out there on weekends, and Roy would work as Jim’s pit crew. That used to drive Kallita crazy. She hated watching the kids. Martha told me once that Kallita would make sure they were asleep, then she would lock them in the trailer and sneak back into the race on her own. Roy never knew until Martha happened to catch her at it. That’s when the trouble started. She couldn’t handle the kids on her own, and she hated that Roy had an interest that really didn’t include her. So, according to Jim, she put the moves on him, and when he didn’t respond, she accused him of coming on to her. Drove a wedge between him and Roy. More to the point, it split Jim and Martha up. Kallita made some serious accusations, and for some reason, Martha believed it. I don’t think he and Roy have said two words to each other since. I can’t understand Jim denying he knew her. That is a mystery.”

  Overwhelmed by Audri’s candour, Emily sat dumbfounded at the revelation. There had to be a reason Jim had lied to her, but what? Kallita was no threat to him after all, she’d been out of his life for over a quarter-century, and there was no reason Emily would care about his past. So why lie? What could he possibly be hiding? Emily hadn’t known it, but there was a sleuth hiding deep inside her, emerging more and more with every passing moment. This little mystery was fast becoming more than a quest to return a purse. Convinced now that something terrible may have happened to Kallita, she had to find the answer. At least she had to try. Her next move formulated in her mind. Bidding Audri goodbye, she thanked her for her time and an informative afternoon.

  * * *

  A rack of video monitors flickered above Detective Sergeant Colm O’Byrne as he sifted through the paperwork on his desk. Despite all the video security, the only cameras continuously monitored, by a constable, were in the cells. Colm had nothing to do with watching the cameras, but he couldn’t help doing a double-take as he caught sight of Emily approaching the front doors.

  She floated across the parking lot, almost fairy-like in a navy-blue and white print dress. The sun glimmered off her long, auburn hair as the wind blew it about her face. Colm stood frozen to the monitor screen. Not since he’d left Ireland had he been so mesmerized by the sight of a young woman. Only in Canada for a year, he loved working with the OPP, but he missed Ireland, nights at the pub and all the craic, something that they didn’t do in Canada nearly as well, and the pretty colleens. Canadians knew how to have fun, alright, but the atmosphere wasn’t the same. Virtually all the pubs had some form of sports on the telly, and football wasn’t football, it was more like rugby, but not quite. Hockey was good, and he was fast becoming a Leafs fan despite their poor record. He loved cheering for the underdog.

  He’d dated a couple of girls but nobody special. They were OK, sure, but the girls he’d met had different ideas to his own, and he found that he couldn’t tolerate some of their liberal ways. Coming from a staunch Catholic family, some of the values these girls expounded didn’t sit well with him. In one case, he was astounded to hear that his date believed that men and women should share the same public washrooms. Now there was a concept straight from the devil himself. They wound up arguing all night about everything from politics to sexuality, things that are best left untouched when you’re trying to have a bit of fun. The girl on the video camera was a vision out of Celtic lore. Seeing her made him homesick. He needed a better look at this lass.

  Barely five years old, the local Ontario Provincial Police detachment’s new digs boasted the latest in electronic security. The only public access to the building was through the main entrance, which led into a small reception area. A short counter ran the length of one wall. Inch-thick bulletproof glass separated the staff from the public with an intercom system for communication and a pass-through enclosure for the transfer of items from one side to the other. A single wooden door stood to the left of the counter. Several constables milled about, some working at desks while others stood talking with each other. Emily guessed they might be discussing cases they were working on. A young man butted in front of the constable, who was about to serve her.

  “If you don’t mind, Jen, I’ll take care of this, so I will.” Jen gave him a knowing look and stepped aside to allow him through.

  “Good afternoon, miss. What might I be able to do for you now?”

  “Ehm — Good afternoon,” Emily stammered, taken off guard by his thick Irish accent.

  “Can I help you with something?” Colm couldn’t take his eyes off her. God sure had a good day when he made you.

  “Yes, I hope so.” Emily placed the old purse onto the counter. “I want to talk to someone about this purse that I found in my back yard. I think it belongs to someone who might have gone missing a long time ago.”

  “So you’re after wantin’ to turn it into the lost and found then.” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “No, not really. I want help trying to find the owner. You see, I have checked around. The owner of this purse seems to have disappeared over twenty-five years ago.”

  Grand! Colm rubbed his chin as he thought. She’s gorgeous, sure, but she’s not too quick. Twenty-five years, and just how does she think we’d be wanting to deal with this? Not wanting to dismiss her completely, after all, she was easy to look at, he elected to complete the paperwork for the purse himself, instead of giving it to the constable to handle.

  “Right, well then, if you’ll come in through this door on your left,” Colm pushed the button to release the lock, “we’ll get the paperwork done, and then we’ll decide where to go from there.” He took the purse from the pass-through and led Emily to a room in the back of the building.

  * * *

  Emily shivered, rubbing her shoulders and arms vigorously to keep warm. For some reason, the room seemed colder than the rest of the police station. Starkly furnished, it finally dawned on her that Colm had ushered her into an interrogation room.

  “Sure, we won’t be disturbed in here,” Colm sat in front of Emily placing a pile of forms and papers on the table.

  “Is this an interrogation room?” Emily shivered again, “It’s freezing in here.”

  “Aye, they keep it that way so the suspects don’t get too comfortable, don’t cha know.”

  “Am I a suspect?”

  “Well, now, that remains to be seen.” Colm smiled as he shuffled his papers to find the right form. “Have you been doing somethin’ you shouldn’t now?” He looked up from his forms, with a roguish grin.

  Emily liked him. He’s gorgeous and that accent, oh my God. Tall, dark hair and fit, she could almost see the muscles in his arms through his suit jacket. His piercing blue eyes captured her’s as he spoke. Trying to keep it all business, she tried not to smile back.

  “I do
n’t think so. Just digging in my garden, and asking a few questions.”

  “Right then, let’s get this purse business sorted out. Let’s start with your name, and where do you live?” He began writing as Emily related the details of the past twenty-four hours.

  “I think I’ve everything I need. I might need to ask you a few more questions. Just one more thing for now, though. This purse is over twenty-five years old; it’s an old piece of leather that nobody would give a second thought to, so why all the fuss?”

  Emily countered, “Why not? By all accounts, the woman who owned this purse was not well-liked. She lived in my neighbourhood, and I find her purse buried in my backyard with everything she owned still intact. That’s a mystery in anyone’s book. And isn’t solving mysteries your job?”

  Colm laughed, “Well, you sure have me there. I promise I’ll try to find out whatever I can about this Kallita. Maybe we can give this back to her.” He lifted the purse and his paperwork and stood to leave. “Let’s get you out of this room before you freeze to death.”

  “Will you let me know what happens?”

  “Aye, I will.” You can count on it.

  Chapter 5

  Audri couldn’t wait for Emily’s taillights to disappear. No sooner had she turned the corner, Audri rushed down to number 31 to confront Jim. Her curiosity was too great; she had to know why Jim didn’t reveal his relationship with Roy and Kallita to Emily. She hammered on his door with the palm of her hand.

  “Audri! What the—”

  “I’ve got to talk to you.” Audri pushed her way inside. “I understand Emily asked you about Kallita Prewitt this morning.”

  “Ya, so?”

  “Why did you lie to her? She told me you said you didn’t know Kallita. We both know that’s a lie.”

  “Kallita Prewitt! Again, Jesus I can’t get away from her. As far as I’m concerned, she’s dead and that’s how I want to keep it.” Jim ushered Audri into the kitchen. “Sit down, I’ll make us a coffee. You know that woman screwed up my life for a long time, long after she pissed off or whatever she did. It took me three years to get back with Martha. That bitch poisoned Martha against me so bad I damn near killed myself over it. And you know, I don’t even know why Martha took me back. Even after she did, she would toss that skank in my face every now and again.”