A Deathly Rattle

by Diana Orgain

  I breathed deeply and told myself not to freak out just yet. It was a fairly innocent picture, and Jim hadn’t even responded to it. I scrolled down. A text from Jim: headed that way.

  Okay, that could be him saying he was coming to pick up brownies, right? Or, it could be something else…

  Then I see a few texts from Cassandra to Jim – just a bunch of smiley face and winky face emojis. That made my toes curl a bit. I’m all for platonic male/female friendships, but why in the world was this woman sending stuff like that to Jim? That wasn’t appropriate. Then, I read something that I most definitely couldn’t write off as nothing. A text from Cassandra: Hey Sexy!!! You coming by later? ;)

  I think if I had squeezed his phone any harder I would have shattered it. But, I didn’t have time to investigate further. I heard the door to my hospital room squeak, so I rushed to put the phone back down where I had snatched it from. Sexy! Okay, if I had not just been beamed by a car and wasn’t completely sore, there was a good chance I would have marched right up to Cassandra’s room and pulled her hair out. My pregnancy was making me just crazy enough to want to push her out of the hospitals second floor window. I swear, I was ready to claw her eyes out – and, frankly, I wanted to start a screaming match with Jim right there.

  But, I stopped myself as Jim and my mom entered the hospital room. I was training to be a PI. And, there was one thing Galigani had definitely hammered into me. Never make assumptions. I needed proof. Jim and I had a great marriage. I was not about to let my pregnancy brain get me all riled up. I wasn’t going to scream and shout out accusations. Not yet. And, frankly, I think I was a lot like Sarah. Like, billboard in front of your parents’ house Sarah. If Jim was or had really cheated on me, I was going to make sure I had evidence of it more than just a measly little text message. Most importantly, I loved Jim. I loved him so much even in that moment when I was fighting mad. I was not going to let myself believe he would ever cheat on me – not until I had cold, hard evidence.

  “My baby!” my mom yelped as she hurried over to me. “Are you okay? Jim told me one of your clients husbands did this to you!”

  “I’m fine, Mom,” I said and smiled at her. I even smiled at Jim as he sat down in one of the empty chairs in the room with that concerned look he often wore for me. I knew I had a good man there, so it really pained me knowing that I was about to turn our marriage into a case to be investigated.

  Ch11

  As I was finally getting discharged from the hospital, Galigani made an appearance. I smiled as the nurses wheeled me out the front door, Jim and Mom walking alongside us. Galigani was standing out front, sucking on a cigarette. The man nearly ate that cigarette when he realized Mom was walking out with me. I guess she had been trying to get him to quit. She crossed her arms and scowled at him, and he tossed it away. He then smiled at me. “You all right, Kate?” he asked me.

  “I’m fine,” I said. “Glad to be alive. A little annoyed about the car, though.”

  “I just got a call from the station. They arrested our good buddy Bill,” Galigani said.

  “Good!” Jim hissed.

  “Easy, big guy,” Galigani said. “Kate, how are you feeling?”

  “Not bad,” I said. “I’m sure I’ll feel it real bad come tomorrow, though. They’re telling me nothing’s broken, so that’s good. And, the babies are healthy as ever.”

  “Good to hear,” Galigani said. “Because, I want to give you a little sleuthing advice if you’re up for hearing it.”

  “I could always use advice,” I said, and Jim smirked slightly and told me he’d pull the car around.

  I watched him hurry off, and I sighed a bit. I was trying really hard not to let this whole thing with Cassandra get to me. I was trying to be professional, but it was hard. Galigani put an arm across my mom’s shoulder while we waited for Jim. “You need to talk to Bill,” Galigani said. “Feel him out and see if you can get a confession out of him. Right now, it’s not looking good for him – he seems like a pretty obvious suspect at the moment.”

  “Yeah, but the police have him,” I said. “Oh, are you going to let me use one of your contacts?”

  “Nope,” Galigani said, and I frowned. “Ms. Kate, your goal is to one day start your own practice, correct?”

  “Right…” I said, unsure of where he was going.

  “That means, dear, you need to learn how to make nice with the police for yourself,” he said. “It’s better to work with them than against them.”

  I frowned, thinking of Officer McNearny. I couldn’t stand him, and knowing my luck I was pretty sure he would be at the station. He would do everything in his power to keep me from speaking to who I wanted to speak to. “What about McNearny?” I questioned.

  “Forget about McNearny,” he said.

  “But, there is no way he is going to do me any favors,” I said.

  “Like I said, forget about him,” Galigani said. “I’m training you, remember? And, I’m telling you, forget McNearny. You have got to, well, make some friends! Cops. That’s how you get ahead in the business. Connections. Connections are important, and right now, you don’t have any.”

  “Are you really pulling a sink or swim moment with my daughter?” Mom asked.

  “Pretty much,” he said. “If you start sinking, you know I’ll help pull you up, Kate, but I want you to give this a go without borrowing my connections. Go to the station. Find a way to talk to Bill.”

  “If you say so,” I said under my breath as Jim pulled up with the car. He helped me out of the wheelchair, being as sweet as he could be. He probably would have let me fall over if he knew just how crazy my thoughts about him were in that moment. I really can’t believe how much I had let this whole thing get into my head. “I’ll go by there later. I think I’m going to go home and rest for a little bit first.”

  “Good idea,” Galigani said. “You did just get hit by a car.”

  I moaned at the memory of it. I was okay, so that was good, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t mad about my car being totaled. I said goodbye to Mom and Galigani, and Jim drove me out of the hospital parking lot while I sulked in the passenger’s seat. We pulled into a car rental place, and I was glad to have that taken care of by the time we got home. Kenny was sitting with Laurie in the living room, and she was giggling about some cartoon he had put on the television for her.

  “Kate,” he said, standing up. “Are you all right? Jim told me what happened.”

  “I’ve been better,” I said, plopping down on the couch.

  Kenny got a good look at me and sighed. “You and I have matching black eyes from the same creep… yours looks a lot worse.”

  “She did get stiches,” Jim said. “I have to get to work. Kenny, would you mind hanging around for a little bit longer? I think Kate could use the rest.”

  “I’m here so longa as you need me,” Kenny said, and I thanked him.

  I took Laurie to her room and spent some time breastfeeding her before handing her off to Kenny again. I needed a nap, and I collapsed in my bed. I had no trouble falling asleep despite the aches and pains from the accident. When I woke up a couple hours later, I was surprised that I was not totally incapacitated from my injuries. In fact, I felt refreshed. I picked up my phone to check the time, it was still pretty early in the morning. I also had a text from Paula; she wanted to do a girl’s night that night, and honestly that sounded just lovely after the sort of week I had had. Jim had already left, and Kenny had gotten Laurie down for a nap by the time I made it into the living room. I smiled and thanked him for being what had to be the world’s best nanny.

  “I have to go to the police station,” Kate said. “Would you mind?”

  “I’ve got Laurie, no worries,” he said and smiled at me.

  I thanked him, and I snagged some food from the kitchen before heading out. I was starving. I got into my stupid little rental car, griping a bit and thinking about insurance claims and wondering how that was going
to work – it was attempted vehicular homicide. Pretty sure that would make Bill responsible for replacing my vehicle.

  I had felt pretty confident up until the moment I arrived at the station. I saw McNearny heading inside, and I was suddenly wishing that I had come a lot earlier. “I shouldn’t have taken that nap – I might would have missed him,” I groaned.

  Well, I had a job to do, so I sucked it up and headed inside. McNearny spotted me immediately, of course. “Oh, geeze, what are you doing here?” he groaned as I made my way into the station. “What happened to your face?”

  “I was in an accident,” I said, frowning. “Thanks for your concern.”

  “What can I help you with today?” he asked, sounding smug. It was hard to believe this was Galigani’s former partner.

  “I need to speak with someone you have in custody,” I said. “Bill Kent.”

  “Why in the world would I let you speak with someone we have in custody?” he questioned

  I frowned. “Well, McNearny, I see that you’re a little late getting here, so I’m going to lay it out for you. The whole reason Bill is in your jail cell is because he tried to kill me this morning.” I pointed at the stitches above my brow. “He hit me with his truck – totaled my car. I need to speak to Bill because, in addition to going after me, he is a suspect in a case I’m working. Now, are you going to play nice, or are you going to continue wasting my time?”

  McNearny huffed. “Well, what do you think?” he smirked.

  “Oh, leave her alone, NAME,” a voice behind said, and I turned around to see a woman in uniform giving McNearny this you-are-such-an-embarrassment look. “Why do you always insist on giving everyone such a headache?”

  I smiled at her, but she just sort of smirked in my direction. From what I was gathering, the only reason she had come to my defense was because McNearny was a mutual enemy. “Can it, Ritz,” he said. “This is none of your business.”

  “Um, actually, Bill is my perp, so…” she rolled her eyes and then looked at me. “What are you wanting to speak to Bill Kent for?”

  “I’m investigating him,” I said. “I’m a Private Investigator, and I was looking into his extramarital affairs, and his side girl wound up dead. Then he went after me and my kids nanny, so, frankly, I think it’s about time I had a face to face with baldy.”

  The woman laughed. “I like her,” she said, and McNearny rolled his eyes.

  “Do what you want,” he snarled and stormed off.

  She stepped towards me and put out her hand. “Officer Ria Ritz. I was the one who snagged Bill trying to get out of town this morning. You were the woman he hit? Kate?”

  I shook her hand. “That would be me,” I said.

  “Sure did piss him off, huh?”

  “Bill or McNearny?”

  She laughed again. “Funny,” she said and then reached up and touched my face. “Poor girl, he really did you in, didn’t he?” When she put her hand down, I wasn’t sure, but I think she winked at me. “Such a pretty face – I ought to knock him around for messing with that.”

  I smiled. She was friendly. “I appreciate it. Listen, I know it’s probably not procedure, but I need to speak with Bill. It’s for my case.”

  Rita poked out her lisp a bit; she seemed to be contemplating. “You think you can get him to state that he was trying to kill you?” Rita asked.

  “I can try.”

  “You lack of confidence in your tone is not convincing me to let you into an interrogation room with him, hon,” she said, removing her cap to place it on the front counter at the station so that she could redo her chestnut brown bun that had started to fall loose.

  “I can do it,” I said.

  “That a girl,” she said, and I swear she winked at me again. I followed her into the back of the station, and I got to say looking at Bill through a two-way mirror made my skin crawl. He was a big, intimidating guy. I hadn’t really seen him up close; I was glad he was handcuffed. “You ready?” Rita asked, and I nodded.

  She let me into the room, and I closed the door behind me. Bill sat upright when he saw me, and a scowl appeared on his face. “You got to be kidding me,” he said and leaned back in his chair.

  I sat across from him, and I just stared at him with what had to be the most pissed off face he had ever seen. He didn’t like the silence. He started tapping on the table. I waited just long enough until the quite started to make us both a little uncomfortable, keeping a straight face the entire time. “I’m pregnant, you know?” I hissed at him, and I could tell this bothered him slightly.

  “Oh…” he said.

  “Twins,” I said. “You know if you kill a pregnant woman, you can add a second murder count to the charges. You would have gotten three if you had finished the job. Does it feel worth it?”

  He scowled. “You were trying to ruin my marriage.”

  “No, Bill, you did that. Sarah came to me because she already suspected something. Now she just has proof. You stopped talking to her. Stopped coming home from work on time. She didn’t need me to put two and two together – she came to me for proof. She already knew. She just wanted something to bring to her lawyer. You did this. Not me.”

  The man banged his fists down on his table. “If I get out of here, I’ll mow you down again. I should have gotten out of my truck and shot you in the head. You and that little pink haired punk you had being your little errand boy. I should have busted him up worse than I did!”

  “Wow,” I said. “You made that way too easy. You’re probably going to be in prison for a while now, Bill.” I crossed my arms. “Murder and attempted murder. It’s not looking good for you.”

  Then he got still. “What are you talking about? I didn’t kill anybody… although I tried.”

  “Oh, didn’t you, though?” I questioned. “Because Morgan isn’t looking too good these days. You poisoned her with cyanide. Took her out to keep your secret just like you tried to take me out.”

  “Morgan?” he questioned, and his eyes got big. “Morgan’s dead?”

  “Come on, Bill,” I said. “Don’t try to play games. You already confessed to beating up a kid and assaulting me with a car. How did you manage to poison those brownies that killed your girlfriend?”

  Bill was shaking. “Morgan’s dead?” he asked again, and his voice was raspy. He was upset – like, really upset. Like, this was obviously news to him upset. “I… I just talked to her a few days ago… told her I wanted to lay low for a while because I thought Sarah was getting suspicious. She’s really dead?”

  I could tell it wasn’t an act. The man was horrified. I suppose even Creepy Bill cares about some people. “Yeah,” I said. “And, you better start talking.”

  “I didn’t kill her!” Bill yelped, his voice cracking. “What happened!”

  “Someone poisoned her,” I said. “Any idea who might would want to hurt her?”

  Bill was just too stunned to even think. He wasn’t going to be any use to me at this point, so I just left. When I exited the room, Rita was standing there along with three other officers and the stations local chief. “Nice,” Rita said and gave me a thumbs up.

  “Excellent call letting her go in, Rita,” the chief said, and he took a moment to thank me for my assistance. I thanked them for helping me with my case as well. It was starting to look like I was managing to pull off just what Galigani had wanted me to do. Make some cop friends.

  Rita walked me to a cubicle in the center of the station, and she sat down and pulled up a chair for me. She wanted to ask a few questions about the case I had been working for Sarah since that was what had gotten Bill all up and arms – just making sure she had everything covered for when this went to court. And, of course, I told her I definitely wanted to press charges.

  While I was sitting there, I took notice of Rita’s desk. There was a picture frame on the corner of the desk, but it was turned down like she didn’t want to look at it. There was a bunch of chocolate wra
ppers in her little trash bin, and tissues with what looked like mascara wiped away on it. I frowned when she looked up from her notebook. “Are you doing okay?” I asked her, and she gave me this quizzical look. My eyes glanced towards the picture frame, and she sighed.

  “Nice observation,” she said and picked it up, looking at the picture. “Haven’t finished cleaning off my desk since my breakup. A lot of mementos.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” I said. “A rough breakup?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “It always is when someone cheats.”

  “Oh, wow,” I said, frowning. “Men, right? That seems to be a theme right now.”

  “Women too,” she said, and she sat the frame down in front of me where I saw a cheesy Christmas photo – Rita and another woman wearing matching Christmas sweaters, their faces squished into the frame of the photo with the other woman holding a mistletoe and squishing her lips against Rita’s flushed cheeks.

  “Oh!” I said. “I guess I shouldn’t assume. I’m sorry. Was the breakup recent?”

  “Three days ago,” she said.

  “How long had you two been together?” I asked.

  “Five years,” she said, and I felt my stomach twist for her when she said it.

  I shook my head. “That’s rough.”

  “Yes, it is,” she said. “I think I need to unwind. I’ve been kind of pushing myself into work, and frankly that’s not healthy.”

  I smiled. “You know, if you need to unwind, I’m doing a girl’s night out tonight.”

  Rita seemed somewhat intrigued. “You don’t know me.”

  “No,” I said. “But, it never hurts to make a new friend.”

  “Didn’t I hear you say you were pregnant?” she asked.

  “It’s going to be a wild, sober girl’s night,” I said, smirking.

  She laughed. “You know what? I’m game. I think I could use a girl’s night.”