A Deathly Rattle

by Diana Orgain

  Ch12

  I really needed a girl’s night out, so I was pretty excited that Paula had decided to drag me out that night. Jim was staying at home with Laurie, getting some much-needed daddy-daughter time. He had been working late at the office a good bit over the past several days, so he hadn’t seen her much. I met Mom and Paula at one of those nice Mexican chain restaurants – a place where Mom and Paula c could get themselves some margaritas and where I could tackle my latest pregnancy craving – nachos.

  We sat down in a booth, and Mom whipped open the menu. She always had the hardest time picking what she wanted to eat at Mexican restaurants because everything always sounded good to her. Mexican food was kind of her vice. This place, while a chain, I was told was incredibly authentic. For one thing, they didn’t sell burritos. That’s normally how you could tell whether or not a Mexican place was authentic or not. I didn’t know, but apparently burritos were Tex-Mex. Not Mexican. Little known cultural fact for you, there.

  “I hope you two don’t mind, but I invited a new friend tonight,” I said. “She just texted me and said she was five minutes out.”

  “A new friend?” Paula questioned. “How dare you – you’re not allowed to have other friends.”

  I laughed, and so did my Mom. “Who is your new friend?” Mom asked.

  “Her name’s Rita. I met her at the police station the other day,” I said.

  “Ah, taking the advice of my boo and making buddies with a cop, are we?” Mom asked.

  I nodded. “Pretty much. She’s the one who IDed Bill and arrested him while he was trying to flee the city,” I said. “And, she took a chance on me and let me work Bill to get a confession on tape. It was pretty easy, honestly. He was ready to talk as soon as he saw me. He threatened me too, so they have that on recording. He’s going to be going away for a very long time.”

  “Good,” Mom said.

  “So, how is the play going?” I asked.

  “Well,” Paula said; she had finally had a chance to attend a performance. The play was running every weekend through the month. I was planning on showing back up for closing night as there would be another party now – something about someone dying at the first one really killed the mood.

  Rita arrived, and she looked positively stunning in her silky black, long sleeved V-neck. She plopped down in the booth next to Paula and stuck her hand out. “Rita Ritz,” she said to Paula.

  Paula smiled and shook the woman’s hand, introducing herself and then saying, “You have the best name, like, ever.”

  Rita laughed. “Yeah, my parents were a hoot. Got a brother named Ricky Ritz. They love their alliterations.” Mom introduced herself while sipping on her margarita. Rita nodded at the drinks. “And, here I thought partying with a pregnant woman meant I wasn’t going to get to have a drink!”

  “Please, we never let Kate stop us from having a little fun,” my mom teased.

  “Plus, she’s going to make us do karaoke by the time this night is through,” Paula said, pointing a finger in my mom’s direction in an accusing manner. “And, if I’m going to have to suffer through that, you better believe I’m going to need to down this thing.”

  Rita nodded, her hair falling down on her shoulders in thick curls. “Good to know. Karaoke, huh? This sounds like my kind of group.”

  “Awesome, so you’re down for karaoke?” I asked.

  “Absolutely,” she said. “They do that here?”

  “Every Thursday night,” Paula said.

  Rita ordered herself a margarita when the server made her way over. We all ordered dinner, and our girls night officially kicked off. We laughed, got to know Rita, and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Halfway through our dinner, karaoke got going, and Mom and Rita scurried up on stage to do a duet together while Paula and I laughed and picked fun at them from the table. The moment allowed a little bit of alone time between Paula and me.

  “So, how is the case coming?” Paula asked, and I shrugged.

  “Could be better,” I said. “A lot of cheaters, and I really don’t like dealing with that. But, like Galigani said, in the PI business that’s one of the most common cases I’m going to get stuck with. So, I guess I got to get used to it.”

  “Probably makes Jim seem like a saint, am I right?” Paula said, and she noticed me cringe. “Something going on with you and Jim?”

  “I don’t know… maybe. A part of me thinks it’s just me being paranoid.”

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “I guess I’m just a little worried,” I said. “It’s probably this case that’s doing it to me.”

  “How so?”

  “Just dealing with Bill, mostly,” I said.

  “Wait, don’t you dare tell me you’re worried that Jim might cheat on you,” Paula jeered. “Kate, you have yourself a great man there. Don’t get in your head.”

  “I know, I know,” I said. “But, Jim… well, he lied to me, Paula. You know that café he has been going to for me to get those brownies?”

  “Yeah?”

  “His ex-girlfriend, from high school, she owns it. He had been going up there and seeing her, and he didn’t tell me. Then, they got into some argument, and she called the cops on him. And, I found… text messages. She had texted him some weird smiley faces, and she messaged him and called him sexy!”

  “Oh, come on, Kate… it’s Jim. Are you sure you’re not just reading things wrong?” Paula asked.

  “I don’t know, and that’s the problem,” I said. “Jim won’t tell me anything. He doesn’t want to talk about this Cassandra person. He’s being so weird. It’s making me antsy. And, let’s be honest, I don’t exactly look like I did when we first got married. I gained a lot of weight with Laurie, and even when I lost the baby weight… well, things sag. Maybe he got worried when he found out I was pregnant again. I mean, it’s twins! With how different I looked after Laurie, can you imagine what twins are going to do to me? I don’t even want to think about it. Maybe Jim isn’t… attracted to me anymore?”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Paula said. “Kate, listen to Paula. Jim adores you. He is a wonderful, wonderful husband. He treats you good. You’re just getting a taste of what it’s like being married to an imperfect human being. He probably got into it with his ex-girlfriend because of just that – it’s his ex-girlfriend. If they were texting, it was probably about your brownies and she was just being a little flirty because, well, they used to date. And, you know what? He might have even flirted back a little because it’s someone he knows and is familiar with and it was all just him being friendly because that’s just Jim. He’s called me gorgeous lady before – in front of you. He’s a friendly guy. But, he’s faithful. I don’t doubt that.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Paula. You’re right. I’m just being… too… Kate.”

  She laughed, and I did too. Mom and Rita plopped down at the table, and we congratulated them on their tipsy cat-screams they called singing. I was having so much fun. I loved Paula so much; she was a great friend, and she must have sensed that I needed a night out. This was just perfect. But, of course, nothing stays perfect for very long.

  Suddenly, Rita ducked behind her drink menu and started grumbling under her breath. “You okay there, Rita?” Paula asked.

  “I just saw my ex,” she griped.

  “Ooh, no,” Paula said. “Need us to chase him off?”

  Rita frowned. “Crud, she sees me.”

  We turned, and I saw the woman from the photo on Rita’s desk. She was of course with someone, walking arm in arm as she strutted her way over. “Rita!” she exclaimed. “Good to see you.”

  “Yeah, you too,” Rita said uncomfortably.

  “Who are you friends?” she asked.

  Rita did a quick introduction, calling the woman Jasmine. Jasmine’s partner just stood back, smiling with this very smug look on her face. Eventually the woman left, and she and the new girl found seats a good distance from us – thankfull
y. “So, Jasmine is the ex?” Mom asked.

  “Yes,” Rita groaned.

  “Is the woman she’s with the woman she, um…” I paused, realizing I probably shouldn’t be revealing too much information in front of Mom and Paula. She likely didn’t want to talk about it.

  “No, that wasn’t her,” Rita said. “I don’t think Jasmine is quite trashy enough to come walking up to me with the woman she cheated on me with.”

  If only. No, Jasmine had something just as trashy in mind. Ten minutes later, Jasmine and her new fling were up on stage singing Constant Craving. I saw Rita tense up, and I know Mom and Paula noticed it to. “Something wrong?” my mom asked.

  “It’s nothing,” Rita griped. “Well, not really. That was our song.”

  Jasmine kept glancing over – that same satirical smirk on her face. “Ooh, I could break that little girls nose,” Mom said. “And, I could do it.”

  “Easy there, Mom,” I said.

  “I think I’m going to just go,” Rita said.

  “Then we’re going with,” Pauala said and waved a server down. Paula threw everything on her card so that we could get out of there as quickly as possible. “We’re going to go get some freaking ice cream,” Paula declared, and Rita smiled at her.

  “That sounds just perfect,” Rita said as the server dropped off the check.

  We all scooted out of the booths. Being a fatty pregnant lady, I shoveled a few more bites of what was left of my nachos into my mouth before scooting out of the booth. They all had a good laugh at that. Of course, Jasmine couldn’t resists sashaying over. “Leaving so soon?” she asked.

  “Save it,” I hissed, and I surprised myself at how sassy I sounded.

  Jasmine even took a step back. “What’s your problem?” she asked me.

  “Walk away,” I said, and she did. I had sounded like a evil sorceress with the way the simple command had slipped from my lips, and I’m sure the scowl on my face also had done the job at striking some terror in her.

  We headed out, and Rita started laughing once we made it to the parking lot. “I think you scared her,” she said. “Thanks.”

  “Kate can be scary when she wants to be,” Paula said. “She has her scary mom voice now.”

  I laughed. I suppose I did. Laurie was going through this faze where she liked to hit people in the face. It wasn’t cute. Not even a little. She had actually busted my lip one day. I had had to develop a little bit of a mom voice. I don’t know where she got that from, but it was annoying. I had certainly used my mom voice on Jasmine.

  We headed across the street where there was a nice, family owned ice cream parlor that made some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever had in my life. Maybe I was just still craving sweets really bad. Rita ordered herself a double scoop of double chocolate chunk ice cream, and it looked so good that I got myself the exact same thing and had them add some chocolate and caramel fudge. We sat around half the night in that ice cream parlor laughing and picking fun at Jasmine’s awful rendition of Constant Craving.

  Frankly, I had a wonderful time. And, I had managed to make a cop buddy just as Galigani had instructed. It had been easier than I thought, and I’m really glad for mine and Rita’s friendship. It was still new, so it wasn’t like I was going to ask her for any favors just yet, but by some luck she outright offered it as we were getting ready to leave the ice cream shop. “I got a warrant to search Bill’s house tomorrow. You want to go with?” she asked me. “I know you’re investigating him for your client.”

  “Wow, thanks, Rita!” I exclaimed. “That will help me out so much!”

  “Good,” she said.

  I said farewell to Rita, Mom, and Paula after we returned to our vehicles. I drove home, a little later than I had planned. Jim was already asleep, and he had managed to get Laurie down for bed as well. I wanted popcorn all of a sudden – as if I hadn’t already eaten enough junk food that night. These kids were going to have very serious snacking problems.

  I popped the popcorn and started chowing down, and boy was it amazing. But, then, sitting in my kitchen I suddenly got this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like, someone was watching me. I looked up, glancing towards my kitchen window. I could almost swear that I saw a pair of eyes staring back at me. I jumped up and ran, flipping on my porch lights. No one was out there, but I definitely saw some taillights speeding off. Someone had been watching me through the window. I double checked all the locks in the house and added getting an alarm system to my to-do list. I thought about calling the police, but I was worried I’d come off as some crazy, paranoid woman. Bill was in jail, after all. Who else could possibly be after me?

  Well, whoever had killed Morgan, I suppose. But, other than Cassandra and my own friends and family, who else knew I was working that case? No, I convinced myself I was being paranoid. No one had been watching me. It had just been a long day – right? Wrong.

  Ch13

  I met Rita outside of Bill and Sarah’s home the next morning. Sarah had left the door unlocked for us – more than willing to let us look through the house if her soon to be ex-husband had been up to something sneaky. Sarah was across town taking care of some sort of business she couldn’t get away from. Rita, along with about three other officers, arrived shortly after myself. I had Laurie with me that day, giving Kenny a break since I felt like I had been overworking him for all of these cases I had been on. I figured it was unlikely anything crazy would happen just going by an empty house.

  “Morning!” Rita called to me when I got out of my little mini-van rental and began unloading Laurie.

  “Morning!” I called back. The other officers were still in their cars, moving just as slowly as I was with a baby.

  Rita nodded towards them. “Lazy,” she said, and I giggled slightly. “Oh, what a cutie!” Rita said and started making silly faces at Laurie until she cooed at her.

  “Thanks,” I said as we made our way towards the house, the other officers closely behind. We all spread out, searching the house for anything that could further convict Bill. We already had him confess to attempting to kill me and beating up a teenager, but he had yet to confess to murdering Morgan. He was outright denying it, and frankly he was our primary suspect at the time.

  “What about Sarah?” Rita asked while I was snooping through some drawers in the couples living room.

  “What about her?” I asked.

  “Could she have killed Morgan?” she asked.

  “I mean, it’s possible,” I said. “But, from what I could tell when I showed her the pictures of Bill and Morgan, she was pretty shocked by it all. She also acted like she had no idea who Morgan was. And, I believed her. It seemed like legitimate surprise. And, I didn’t show her the pictures until after Morgan had been killed, so it’s not like I tipped her off and then she went and killed her. Plus, Sarah seemed kind of like a fragile individual. I don’t think she would have had it in her to kill someone.”

  We spent hours in that house, and frankly we didn’t find anything condemning. We looked through Bill’s emails and phone. And, we checked every inch of that house. We certainly found evidence of his affair – a pair of underwear stuffed in his pillowcase that had probably been left behind, a picture Morgan had sent him on his phone, and a few other things here and there that Sarah probably had not yet found. We took pictures of the evidence we found, but it wasn’t anything that would convict him of murder – just of being a creep. “You still think it was Bill?” I asked.

  “I do,” Rita said. “He was willing to kill you to keep his secret. And, he beat up a kid. It sounds like he really wanted this secret to be kept. He was a creep, but he didn’t want to ruin his marriage either. He was desperate and very violent. He could have resorted to murder.”

  “But, it’s just like you said, Bill is violent,” I said, bouncing Laurie in my lap as I made myself at home on Sarah’s couch. “He assaulted Kenny – bruising up the kids face. And, he rammed me with a car. If he wan
ted Morgan dead, poisoning doesn’t really fit his style. Plus, our killer poisoned a plate of brownies. Cassandra was almost killed and could have even been the intended target. Or, it could have been anyone at that party. Maybe Morgan was just collateral damage, and we’re looking at this thing from the wrong angle?”

  “If our killer hadn’t been after Morgan, then we’re at a loss,” Rita said. “We have a list of everyone who was at the party, and it’s extensive. There’s the bakery workers, the actors, the stage crew, the playwright, and several friends and family members of anyone related to the show. We have no way of knowing who the intended target had been if it wasn’t Morgan.”

  “The only thing we can do, it seems, is narrow it down,” I said. “Maybe instead of trying to convict Bill, we should be trying to prove his innocence?” Saying that literally made me throw up a little in my mouth.

  “Prove his innocence?” Rita questioned. “That creep tried to kill you.”

  “Yeah, and I’m going to be very satisfied to see him go to jail for that, but even though I can’t stand the creep, I don’t want to convict him of something he didn’t do. If we can’t prove he’s guilty, maybe we should see if we could clear him of the crime instead of wasting our time on him. Like you said, there were a lot of people at that party. Bill wasn’t there, but he could have poisoned the brownie’s at the bakery, and dating Morgan he probably had access to it. But, wouldn’t it make sense for the killer to have been there? To try to make sure his intended victim ate the brownies?”

  “Yes, unless our killer didn’t care about collateral damage,” Rita said. “But, you’re right. I’ll go back and speak with Bill again. See if he has an alibi for the night Morgan died and anytime leading up to then when he could have poisoned the brownies. It’s not like we found any chloroform in the house, and the man works in an office. Not like he has easy access to the stuff. So, maybe you’re right. We may need to re-evaluate where we are choosing to focus our efforts.”

  “While you’re chatting it up with Bill, I’m going to call Sarah again. Go speak with her and see if she can give us any insight on Bill. And, I’ll go by the bakery to talk to the employees there as well. Maybe jog some of their memories and see if they remember seeing anything that day leading up to the party,” I said, and Rita nodded.