Bill drove to Logan’s bar, sat down and ordered a beer. He was damn surprised that the bar was open that early, but apparently they had a breakfast special where you could have all you could eat omelets and all you could drink mimosas until noon.
As he sipped his beer and looked around at the other bar patrons he saw a town in the midst of a weird decline, unless they just had not caught up with the rest of the world yet. It really did feel like he was stepping back in time twenty years. The pictures on the wall were of old advertisements that he remembered from when he was a kid.
The people were gawking at him, aware instantly that he was a stranger. He had left the cane in the car and was happy that he could now walk short distances without it. The changes had come rather rapidly lately, but he was sure that it was his sheer force of will more than anything else facilitating this rapid progress. He had to be mobile, especially when someone might be trying to kill him or send him to jail for a heinous crime he did not commit.
As he was sipping his beer and groaning to himself about the lack of WIFI in the bar the door opened and a pretty young bartender walked into the establishment and immediately went behind the bar.
“I’m sorry I’m late Joe. It won’t happen again,” the girl said with so much feeling that she had obviously said the same thing at least ten times this month.
As Bill glanced up at her she caught his eye, and not just because of her stunning figure in the tight jeans and the cut off tank top that showed her smooth, toned stomach and her large, soft breasts that threatened to pop out every time she leaned over the bar ensuring another successful day of tips.
“Hey, handsome,” the woman said. “Can I get you a refill?”
“Sure. Thanks,” Bill said as he handed her his mug and she filled it back up with lager. Bill was used to drinking this early, but he usually did it at home. He had never been a social drinker. It never made sense to him to make yourself dopey in front of people.
“There you go,” the bartender said.
“Hey, have you been working here long?” Bill asked.
The woman looked up at him surprised trying to decide if this was a weird line or not. She decided that he was harmless and flashed him a smile.
“About six months. Why?”
“Do you recognize this girl?” Bill said flashing Daisy’s picture that he had saved from social media onto his phone.
The waitress took one look and immediately recognized her. “Yea, that is Daisy Fox. Everyone in town knows her. Most of the people in here, myself included, were a part of her search party. Why are you asking?”
“Well, from what I’ve gathered she was hanging with a girlfriend of hers one night and as they were leaving Daisy ran into an old friend she knew. They went back inside here to drink and get reacquainted while the other friend went home. That was the last time that Daisy was seen. Are you sure you did not see Daisy talking to someone else that night? Did you see Daisy with anyone?”
“I told the cops everything I knew. I was here and Frank was here. We didn’t see anyone.”
“You don’t have surveillance cameras?” Bill asked.
“Please, we can barely afford to keep that old jukebox working.”
“Well, that’s too bad. That might just be the one thing that could crack this case open and give that girl’s family some justice,” Bill said.
He slapped a twenty dollar bill on the table and walked out the door slowly, just in case lightning happened to strike and stir the woman’s brains again.
No such luck. He went back out to his truck and drove back towards home thinking about what a wasted trip this had turned out to be after all. He expected that even the dumb assed cops in these parts were able to get as far as he had. But it had been worth a shot and he had tried.
Now it was back to the drawing board. He hoped that he was not facing some other disaster when he got home.
Chapter 8
“STORIES OF YESTERDAY”
“That is the kind of bastard old Bill really is!”
Bill had to laugh as Buzz finished off his story with a big chug of his beer.
The evening had been more fun than Bill had allowed himself to have in such a long time. He had almost forgotten once again about everything else and he had almost felt completely normal. Almost, anyway.
Buzz and Joan had invited Teri and him over for dinner when Teri had told Buzz that she and Bill were dating. Bill was a bit shocked by this because Teri had told Buzz without even really discussing it with him, but he decided to go with it and pretend that it didn’t bother him. It made it easier that Buzz thought it was the best idea ever. Neither Bill nor Teri had expected that kind of a reaction. That was when Buzz had decided to invite them both over to celebrate the blessed union or something. Bill had to admit he felt a bit funny about it all. From what Teri had told him and from what he knew about his friend this was very uncharacteristic of Buzz. Bill thought he was hiding it well, but Buzz was probably a little bit burnt that Bill had not asked him if it was ok to ask his sister out. He probably did not care that they were dating and it might have thrilled him since he and Bill had always been like brothers, but it was possible that he was just putting on a really good act. Even with the copious amounts of booze he was consuming though that would have been a really neat trick.
“Wait, so you stole the school’s mascot Bill?” Teri asked.
Bill smiled sheepishly. “Yes, I did it, but it was all Buzz’s idea.”
“Well, of course it was my idea, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to risk getting booted off the team to steal the rival school’s mascot,” Buzz said grabbing another beer from the fridge. Bill saw Joan looking at him disapprovingly.
“Well, they stole ours first and they lost it. Vinnie the Goat—he was our school mascot and those moron’s from Richmond lost him. I always thought they just let him go off in a field somewhere.”
“They probably did. But we got them back,” Bill said.
“Remember when they were going to rumble in our parking lot after school that one day not long after that madness because they lost the game by twelve points?” Buzz said. It was so much fun to watch Buzz tell these stories. The man always got so excited that it was in fact hysterical to watch. Buzz was one of those naturally funny cut ups who had won class clown without even trying. And he was a genuinely good guy too. Bill had always felt blessed to know him and to call him his best friend.
“They wanted to do a rumble? What is that like a fight?” Joan asked.
“Yea. They showed up in the parking lot. You see Richmond’s school day started at seven-thirty and ours started at eight-thirty so they got out earlier and when the bell rang at a quarter till four they were waiting for us outside. But so were several cop cars who chased them off and even arrested a few of the unruly ones.”
Teri was laughing her head off at that story. Bill had never really seen her tipsy before and he had to say it made her even sexier. He found himself thinking of several things he was going to do to her body later. But the second he thought of such a pleasurable activity the image of Daisy Fox’s battered and carved up face popped into his mind and he felt the wave of nausea hit him hard.
He did his best to sweep it away and ignore it. He didn’t think anyone could tell what was happening with him or that he was even missing a beat of the story that they were all engrossed in.
“Yea, some little shitter squealed or talked too much to the wrong person and they squealed to a few parents. The parents called the cops,” Buzz said picking up where Bill had left off.
“Of course. There are always some crybabies who don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Teri said.
Bill had to laugh at that; it was one of the few times he had heard her sound like Buzz lately. It reminded him of the Teri of old; she used to idolize Buzz and try to talk just like him when she was ten. It had been adorable. Now it was just kind of funny.
“Those were the times. We got too man
y stories to tell in an evening. It would take a few weeks,” Bill said.
“Well, I’ve got time!” Buzz said.
He raised his beer bottle and they all followed suit. The man was in rare form tonight. Bill knew that Joan worried about Buzz’s drinking, and he had to admit that he did too, but the man always seemed to be in control even when he wasn’t really. That was a fine line that was hard to question or to talk to a best buddy about.
Bill was more of a casual drinker. He hardly ever drank to the point of being tipsy or drunk. He would usually have a couple just to relax and unwind at the end of a long day of work or to enhance a few good football games, but Buzz was like a nonstop party machine. Joan had confided in Bill a few times that Buzz would be somewhat drunk before breakfast on the weekends and that he would drink the whole weekend and go to work on Monday with a severe hangover that he had become very good at hiding.
She had asked Bill to speak to him about it and he’d meant to before the accident. He hoped that Joan did not think that he had forgotten about his promise to her. He had not forgotten. But with everything that she and Buzz both did for him when he was in the hospital he was not about to betray that friendship and attack Buzz about his drinking issues. He was planning to wait at least a month to get everything in order and back to normal. Then he would have the talk with his friend. He hoped that he had a chance to talk to Joan alone tonight and tell her about his intentions. He knew that she was scared to death of losing her husband.
“So, how is the real estate game Joan?” Teri asked.
“Oh, it sucks as usual. The housing market the past few years has been just pitiful. It is definitely not a seller’s market right now.”
“Well, Bill didn’t you say you were looking for something a bit bigger or more spread out?” Teri asked.
“Oh, yea. I’ve been toying with the idea, but I’m not sure when I’ll get around to doing that. Right now I’m just getting back in the swing of things.”
“I guess that business of yours must really be taking off?” Joan said.
“It has been doing really well. I haven’t had a chance to get back in the game and let my customers know I’m back and ready for work again yet.”
“Well, of course. You have to get your feet wet again after all you’ve been through,” Joan said. “I’d take a few months off if it were me.”
“Oh, no. I want to get back to work. I need something to occupy my time with,” Bill said. It was true he had missed his work. “I was just starting to make some real money before the accident. I had been commissioned by Cracker Barrel restaurants to make a bunch of tables and rocking chairs for them to sell and I was commissioned by the Simply Amish furniture stores to hand craft some great furniture based on Amish tradition. I was really looking forward to that.”
“Do you think that they will still be interested? Hope they didn’t find anyone else.”
Bill felt like throwing a plate at Joan right then. He wondered if she realized how annoying what she said had sounded. He doubted it. She was busy with her own issues too.
“I’m sure they will, but I have not called them yet.”
“Well, I will tell you that I have a new listing that just opened up. It is a very similar setup to yours, but it is just way bigger and it has a basement instead of a garage. It is a full, finished basement though. Does that make a difference to you?”
“No, I don’t care if it is a basement or a garage. I’ve worked in both before so I’m flexible,” Bill said. He was starting to wish that Teri had not mentioned any of this to Joan. He was not really interested in a new place right now.
“That’s great. Well, how about tomorrow? Would you like to come and take a look at it tomorrow afternoon?” Joan asked.
Bill paused a moment. “Sure. I’d love to. Thanks, Joan.”
He felt Teri’s hand squeeze his tightly. He could not help but feel that secretly she wanted him to have a bigger house too. He wondered what was going on inside that pretty mind of hers.
***
Joan had been right. The house she was showing him on Sycamore Street really was just like his other house, but it was bigger and it had a patio and a nice big basement. He had to say that he was really impressed.
Joan took him through the downstairs and then the upstairs and he did not see any major flaws in the place at all. The floors were all carpeted, which would be nice in the winter, the painting was a dark cream color that he actually really enjoyed as well. He had never thought too much about the color of a house and the overall feel of a place, but he was actually enjoying the excitement of walking through a new house that could possibly be his.
But he was not in the market to buy right then. He had made that perfectly clear to Joan and also just because they were friends did not mean that he should feel obligated to buy from her or be rushed into any sort of decisions like that. He did not have to say that to her so explicitly; she understood it all just fine.
The final stop on the tour was the basement and Bill had to admit when he stepped inside the cozy full basement he felt that he had found the perfect place for him to set up his shop. It was twice the size of the garage he was using now and it was far more luxurious. It was empty right now, but he could already envision that a corner of it could be set up as a miniature man cave with a nice couch. He envisioned him and Buzz hanging out down there all the time just being guys while the women folk were upstairs chatting about whatever it was that women chatted about. Bill had never really paid that much attention to what women said to each other. He was suddenly under the realization that if he did that then he might understand women just a bit better.
“So, what do you think?” Joan asked.
“I have to be honest and say that I do love the place. And you were so right about this basement. It is pretty much everything that I’m looking for, but it is out of my price range at the moment. But I do now have an idea of what I’m really looking for.”
“I understand the position you are in, Bill, but I wouldn’t be doing my job if I did not advise you that if you sit on this place and wait until you think you are ready then you will not get this house. It will be totally gone.”
“I know. I appreciate the heads up about it, though. I will try, ok? It is absolutely perfect and I’d be stupid not to want it, but right now I think I’d be stupider to buy it.”
Joan smirked good-naturedly, but Bill could tell that she was a bit miffed that she had lost out on a sale. He hated to see that and he was hoping that she would not take the opportunity to talk to him about Buzz while she had him alone. She was usually pretty good at reading people and understood emotions and behavior far better than he did.
“Ok, well suit yourself, but speaking as your friend I think you are crazy to let this baby pass you by,” Joan said as she walked up the stairs.
Bill stood at the bottom giving the basement a last glance around until Joan turned the light off. The only light remaining was the sliver of light shining down from the kitchen at the top of the stairs.
Maybe Joan was right. Maybe he should have jumped on this baby while he had the chance because he was going to blink and it was going to be gone. That was for sure. They both knew that but Bill just could not bring himself to commit to the place so soon. Especially, with everything that was going on at his house—
He saw something.
It was a small chunk of wall that chipped out across the room. The light from the kitchen coming down the stairs was shining perfectly on to that chip. He had seen that chip before. It was right above Daisy Fox’s head when she was being murdered. He remembered now being distracted by it enough that he had missed the most gruesome scenes of the decapitation.
That was the same chip. Bill walked across the empty, dark basement and looked at the chunk of missing wall. He did not see anything, but he knew that he was not dreaming and he was not jumping to conclusions. This was real. This was happening.
Daisy Fox had been
murdered in that basement.
Chapter 9
“BENEATH THE SURFACE”
Bill held the black light in his hands that he had picked up at the hardware store. He had never owned one before, but in pretty much all of the true crime novels that he read a forensics geek had swept over the area where a murder had been committed with a black light. He was sure that the ones they used were a bit different than the one that he had picked up at Value Hardware, but he had to make do with what he was able to get his hands on. He was not going to wait a week for it to get to his house from Amazon.
Daisy Fox had been murdered in that basement in that house on Sycamore St. He had no doubt about it. As soon as he arrived home and burst through the door he played the DVD again, fast forwarding to the place in the video where he could plainly see the hole in the wall above Daisy Fox’s head. The blood was being splattered all over the wall with vicious blow after vicious blow with what appeared to be a crowbar after she had already had her face carved up like a Jack O Lantern.
That was the same chip in the wall. He was not really sure whether or not it had occurred when Daisy smacked her head against the wall or if it had always been there, but it was the same exact mark.
Bill felt a tinge of excitement beginning to burn up and down his legs into the lower part of his spine. He was just so ready for this all to be over. He may have found everything he was looking for by sheer accident. If he could prove that the girl had been murdered there then he might be able to trace who might have had access to the place.
It was a vacant house and Joan said that it had become her listing recently but it had actually been on the market for a while. Yet, she was still trying her high pressured sales tactics on him, who was supposed to be one of her nearest and dearest, and telling him that he was going to lose the house if he didn’t put in a bid immediately.
Final Cut Page 7
