Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 05 - Oh Holy Ghost

by Janet McNulty

  Chapter 2

  Morning dawned like it always does. Groggily, I sat up in bed and stretched hoping that last night’s events wouldn’t come back to haunt me. A part of me began to believe that I had imagined the whole thing. It would be difficult to move a body down a fire escape so quickly. But it felt so real.

  Throwing the covers off, I crawled out of bed and headed for the bathroom. As usual, Jackie looked picture perfect, by the time I stepped out of the bathroom with soggy hair. I dressed quickly, downed a cup of coffee, and prepared to leave for work.

  “I think the tree has enough stuff on it,” I said to Jackie as she added more ornaments.

  “You can never have too much stuff on a Christmas tree.” She put one more ball on it before stepping back to admire her work. “Looks good. Ready to head to work?”

  “Yeah.” Turned out we both were scheduled to work the morning shift at the Candle Shoppe.

  “You still down in the dumps? Get over it, Mel. You should be glad that there wasn’t a body. It means no one died.”

  She had a point. I grabbed my keys. “Let’s go.”

  The Candle Shoppe had its usual customers as we walked in. I put my stuff under the counter and proceeded to help customers.

  Mr. Stilton had decided to start a new line of scented oils. He had contracted with a supplier thinking that the oils would go perfectly with the warmers. He must have guessed right because I had just sold three cases of them. But a good day of sales meant I stayed in a job, so I wasn’t complaining.

  The steady flow of customers took my mind off of last night’s events. Maybe I did only imagine that a woman was killed. No body, no crime. The bell above the entrance jingled as the door opened and closed. I ignored it thinking that it was just another customer coming in to get a last minute Christmas gift. A shadow crept across the counter as I busied myself with the cash register.

  “May I help you?” I asked without looking up.

  “Yes, Miss Summers, you can tell me again exactly what you witnessed last night during the parade.”

  I knew that voice. I knew that tone. “Detective Shorts,” I said looking up, surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  “I need to ask you some questions,” he replied.

  “Is there a problem?” Mr. Stilton had come out of his office to haunt the main floor.

  “No, Mr. Stilton,” replied Detective Shorts, “I just need to ask Miss Summers a few questions about an incident she witnessed last night. It will only take a moment.”

  “Very well,” said Mr. Stilton.

  I followed Detective Shorts outside. “What is this about?” I asked. “You know as well as I that there was no body.”

  “That isn’t true anymore.”

  I gaped at the detective. “What?”

  “Early this morning a fisherman at the river hauled in the body of a woman, matching the description you gave me last night, as part of his morning catch.”

  So a woman had been murdered.

  “What I need to know from you is exactly what you saw. Tell me everything again.”

  I thought back to the parade and my mad dash up to the apartment. “It’s like what I said last night. I was in the parade riding on the float and I happened to glance up. The shade to the window was open and I saw a woman being choked by a man.”

  “Are you certain that it was a man?”

  “No,” I said, “The murderer’s back was to me. I did not get a good look at him or any discerning features.”

  “Do you know what he wore?”

  “A black trench coat and a hat.”

  “Baseball?”

  “No, it looked more like one of those old fashioned hats from the movies. But the murderer seemed to be about the same height as the woman, maybe a little taller.”

  “But you can’t be certain.”

  “No. I was looking up.”

  “When you and your friends went up to the apartment did you see or hear anything?”

  “No. You know that. There was nothing. Literally nothing. No sign that anyone had been there. No noise. Nothing.”

  Detective Shorts sighed. “Alright, Miss Summers, I think that will do for now. Don’t go anywhere in case I have more questions.”

  “So the woman you found was choked to death?” I asked stopping the detective in midstride.

  Detective Shorts turned around and looked at me. I must have been too eager in my question. “No. You are not getting involved.”

  “I can help,” I pleaded.

  “If you get involved I will be forced to arrest you for obstruction of justice,” Detective Shorts warned. He left.

  I went back inside to finish my shift only to have a peppy voice stop me. “What did the detective want?” asked Tammy jumping with excitement. “Was it about what you saw last night?”

  “Not now, Tammy,” I said.

  “Come on. Spill,” said Tammy.

  “This isn’t the time,” I said.

  “Come on, Mel,” Tammy tugged on my arm.

  “Okay, yeah, it was about last night. They found a body matching what I saw last night. Now please let it go.”

  “Oh, wow! Do they know who did it?” Tammy followed me throughout the store chatting excitedly wanting to know what I knew and what the cops knew.

  “Enough, Tammy!” I whirled on her. “Look, I don’t know what they know. And this isn’t the time to talk about it.”

  “Are you going to get involved?”

  In a way I was already involved. “No.”

  “Why not? You’ve solved a few things before. Yes, I know about it. It certainly explains why you keep running out of here. Come on, I can help.”

  Tammy’s pleading eyes reminded me of a few moments earlier when I had said the same thing to Detective Shorts. Knowing I was not going to be rid of her, I thought of a way to placate her. “Perhaps you can help. But, you need to wait until I ask for it. Don’t go blabbing around town about this. It has to be a secret otherwise the real killer will know we’re onto him.”

  “Got it,” said Tammy.

  “I mean it,” I told her.

  “Don’t tell anyone. I got it.” She darted off to assist a customer.

  “Mel?” Jackie pulled me aside. “What did the detective want?”

  I took a quick sweep to make certain no one listened to us. “A body was found this morning at the river. It was a woman. The same woman I saw murdered last night.”

  Jackie placed her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide in shock. “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Oh my God, Mel, I’m so sorry I doubted you. You’ve never been wrong about these things before. But without any sign of a body I just thought—”

  “Don’t worry about it,” I told her. “Look, we should get back to work.”

  “Later then.”

  Several hours later Jackie and I clocked out. Even though it was only five thirty, it felt much later as the sun disappeared behind the horizon. We strolled down the sidewalk toward a local place to grab something to eat. Amidst the Christmas music playing on outdoor speakers and the different Santa Clauses asking for donations for the Salvation Army, we made our way to our destination. The crisp air smelled fresh with an invigorating scent that I always enjoyed.

  The crowded restaurant gave us the promise that it would be a good place to eat as we had never been there before. We wormed our way through the throng of people to the man waiting to take names for those wishing to be seated.

  “Two please,” I told him.

  He scanned the list of tables. “I think I have a place for you guys if you don’t mind being seated in the back.”

  “No, that’s fine.”

  “This way.” The man grabbed two menus and led us past rows of tables and booths to a small two person booth near the restrooms. He set the menus on the table and waved us in. “Your server will be with you shortly.”

  “Thanks,” I told him taking my seat.

  “Isn’t Greg meeting us?” asked Ja
ckie as she took her coat off.

  “No. He had to work tonight. He’s been pulling a lot of extra hours to pay for tuition next semester. Besides, one of his coworkers is out with a bad case of the stomach flu and he volunteered to fill in.”

  “That was nice of him.”

  Yeah, but he said he needed the extra money.”

  “Don’t we all,” mumbled Jackie.

  “Says the woman who bought a new pair of boots yesterday.”

  “Hey, I needed them and you know it. The soles on my old pair fell off.”

  I grinned at her. Jackie had a wealthy uncle who sent her money every month. She never talked about it and preferred to keep it a secret. I didn’t care. She didn’t flaunt her money or live extravagantly. And besides, she’s bailed me out many times, so I couldn’t complain.

  “Hi. My name is Reya and I will be your server tonight,” greeted the waitress as she came up to us, “Can I start you off with something to drink?”

  “Oh, I’ll just have water,” I said.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Jackie piped up. “We will both have Cosmos. And I want your double bacon cheeseburger with extra cheese and extra bacon.”

  “And you?” the waitress turned toward me.

  I hadn’t even looked at the menu. Glancing quickly, I just picked the first thing that caught my interest. “I’ll have your Chipotle Pasta dish.”

  “Excellent choice.” The waitress bustled off. I had to hand it to the woman being able to handle a hungry crowd and maintain a smile.

  “Cosmos?” I said to Jackie, “Those are five dollar drinks.”

  “Don’t worry, I got the bill. You’re a broke college student.”

  “But Jackie—”

  “Mel, it isn’t going to kill you to accept charity once in a while. Besides I’m your best friend and what are best friends for? So, what are you taking next semester?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. I hadn’t thought about it too much and still had some time before I needed to register. Though registration usually happened before the previous semester’s end, this university did allow returning students to register up through the first week of January. Very convenient if you had to make up classes or had a professor that took his time tallying up grades. “Actually, I might not take any classes next semester. I kinda burnt myself out last semester.”

  “You could take one or two classes.”

  “I thought I would do an independent study. It will complete one of my graduation requirements and give me more flexibility schedule wise.”

  “That’s an idea. Now, what are we going to do about the murdered woman?”

  I hadn’t thought about that either. Jackie’s eager expression told me she had every intention of solving it. “Well, I don’t know. I guess we could start at the river since that was where she was found.”

  “How will you know the exact spot?”

  “The paper will probably say something about it tomorrow and I’m sure it will be marked by crime scene tape. It shouldn’t be too hard to locate. The difficult part is not getting caught.”

  “Tomorrow at six am. It’s a date.” Jackie sipped her drink that the waitress had dropped off moments before.

  “I think I’m a bad influence on you.”

  “We should take Tiny with us,” said Jackie. “Unless Greg can make it.”

  I frowned. That was the problem when your boyfriend picks up a bunch of extra shifts in addition to his own; you never see him. “No, he has to work early and won’t get off until late at night. It’ll be nice when this week is over. Maybe then I’ll get to go out with my man.”

  “Oh, it isn’t that bad, Mel. That flu has been knocking everyone out.”

  “I’ll call Tiny when we get home.”

  Our food arrived. I watched in awe as Jackie crammed the top part of her bun on her burger and then took a huge bite. Grease trailed down her chin. “Where do you put all that?” I asked her.

  “Oh, someplace,” said Jackie through her food. “My mom says it will all go to my ass someday, but until then I am going to enjoy this burger. The cheese is so creamy. I love it.”

  I dug my fork into my pasta nibbling with a little more dignity than Jackie.

  We finished our meal in relative quiet since we were both too busy savoring our meals. Once finished, we stacked our dishes on the table and left. The cold night air struck us the moment we stepped outside reminding us that winter was here to stay.

  “Good evening ladies,” said a well-dressed gentleman. He handed us some campaign buttons with his face and slogan on it. “My name is Randall Hopkins and I am running for the city council. How are you two this evening?”

  “Fine, thanks,” I said taking a button.

  “Are there any pressing issues you would like to see discussed at future city council meetings?”

  “Uh, no. I hadn’t thought about it much,” I said, feeling sheepish.

  “Oh. Well, what do you think about the Charity Ball next week?” asked Randall Hopkins. He winked at Jackie, who for some reason could not stop smiling at him. Tell me she wasn’t getting a crush on him.

  “I heard about that,” blurted Jackie. “They did one last year and it was a huge success. All proceeds go to the Children with Disabilities Fund.”

  “You know your stuff. That’s right. Last year we raised nearly $25,000 dollars which was all donated to the Children with Disabilities Fund. The fund gives money to families with disabled children to assist them in affording education and medical care for their children.

  “The ball is next week. Tickets are on sale for $10 if you two ladies are interested.”

  “We’ll think about it,” I said taking his flyer.

  “Do that. I hope to see you there and remember, ‘change is just around the corner’.”

  Change is just around the corner? What kind of dumb slogan was that? I hated election year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for democracy. It’s just after a while I get tired of all the political ads. Besides, I just want my degree so that I can start on my dream.

  “You were eyeing him,” I whispered to Jackie. “I mean, you were really checking him out.”

  Jackie’s cheeks turned red. “Well, he is good looking. And he’s not that old.”

  “Yeah, well, it looked as though he was checking you out as well.”

  “You think so?” Jackie glanced back to where Randall Hopkins handed out more flyers to people.

  “Jackie.”

  “What? I can look you know. Besides, he’s not married.”

  “And you would know this because…”

  “His biography was in the paper this morning,” replied Jackie, “He’s been on the city council for the past two years and is running for reelection. The Charity Ball was his idea and has donated a lot of money to charity groups and organizations. He has also helped small, locally owned businesses around town. So he seems to be an upstanding citizen.”

  “You’ve been reading up on him.”

  “No. Maybe. Let’s go in here. I want some ice cream.”

  “You just ate,” I said as I followed her into the local ice cream parlor.

  Chapter 3

  It was still dark when I awoke the next morning. Dressing in warm clothes I went to Jackie’s room and knocked on her door. “Jackie, you awake?”

  “Go away!”

  “Rise and shine sleepyhead.”

  The springs on her bed squeaked as she rolled over.

  “Hey, we have a crime scene to investigate.”

  “MMMPPPHHHH”

  A knock sounded at the door.

  “You ready?” said Tiny as I opened it.

  “Yeah, Jackie’s still in bed. I need to wake her up.”

  “Say no more.” Tiny pushed past me heading for the balcony just outside the living area. “Hey, fellas,” he called, “We need an alarm clock up here.”

  Immediately the roar of over a dozen motorcycles filled the parking lot outside overwhelming my ears.

  “Okay! Okay!
I’m up!” Jackie stormed into the living room. “Do you have to wake the whole neighborhood as well?”

  “Oh, they’ll get over it,” said Tiny. “Nice jammies.” He grinned at her as she stood there in here pajamas of hearts and rainbows.

  Turning scarlet, Jackie closed her robe and dashed to her room slamming the door. Five minutes later she walked out fully dressed and ready to brave the cold.

  We followed Tiny and his gang in our car; that way we could have some heat. The crime scene area appeared abandoned, much to my relief. I did not want to have to explain to Detective Shorts why I disobeyed his orders, again.

  Flurries of snow swirled around us as we trekked across the frozen ground. The solid surface of the river made me wonder how anyone could go fishing here.

  “Some people like ice fishing,” said Sombrero to my unspoken question.

  “Where should we start?” asked Tiny.

  “Start around here and just wander up the hill a bit,” I said. “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for, but Detective Shorts said the woman was found here. Look for anything that doesn’t belong.”

  “Can do,” said Tiny. He gave further instructions to his gang having them split up into groups.

  Jackie checked the river bank while I wandered around alone. Starting at the markers that indicated where the body had been found, I moved outward. My boots crunched on the icy leaves and left tracks in the light dusting of powder snow. Vapor escaped my nostrils with every breath I released. Flashlight in hand, I shone the light on the ground allowing it to fan out. Nothing.

  Specks of light formed in the eastern sky telling me that the sun would be up in half an hour. I didn’t want to get caught out here in daylight. As everyone looked around in their prospective areas, I moseyed further and further from the group. I felt the need to go in a certain direction. My feet led me away and before I knew it, I was no longer within sight of my friends. Without realizing it, I had allowed myself to be pulled from them.

  Still there were no signs of anything unusual. No broken limbs on the bushes. No sign of anyone having come through here. I turned around to head back.