Ice and Steel

by Alexie Aaron

  “Scientists aren’t supposed to be superstitious,” Cid said smugly.

  “I betcha I could come up with four dozen examples otherwise,” Ted said.

  Cid looked at Ted and shrugged. He picked up a camera and headed to the lobby where Mike wanted to do some interviews with the condo owners.

  Ted let out a sigh. He was bluffing. He would have to struggle to come up with a dozen superstitious scientists’ names if he was pressed, but Cid didn’t have to know this.

  Murphy moved stealthily out of the floor in front of him. Ted watched as the ghost looked around him before speaking. “Big safe. Basement behind oil tanks.”

  “Gotcha. I’ll make note of it. Anything else?” Ted led.

  “Two ghosts. Benny and Skinny, working for a boss.”

  “Any idea who the boss is?”

  Murphy shook his head.

  “I’ll let Mia and Burt know when I talk to them,” Ted promised. “Speaking of, Burt wants you to check out the pool area. Did you bring your trunks?”

  Murphy gave Ted a long look before he shook his head disgusted.

  “Oh, I forgot you’re a skinny dipping kind of guy,” he teased.

  Murphy’s look of disgust didn’t change.

  “Where have people’s senses of humor gone?” he complained. He raised a finger and pointed to his headset. “Wait a moment, he’s here. Okay, I’ll tell him. That was Mia. She asked if you would like to join her on the roof.”

  Murphy nodded and disappeared.

  “He’s on the way,” he said. “Button up, the temperature’s dropping.”

  Burt watched as Mike interviewed the staff. Vince and Elaine hadn’t seen or heard about anything paranormal. There was nowhere they felt ill at ease in the building. Mr. Stewart gave Mike a song and dance about the security of the hotel while asking for help to ease the fears of the residents. Albert sat down with Mike and gave a full disclosure of what happened Monday night in the Uptown. The only staff member left was David. He promised Mr. Stewart to come in half an hour early for his interview.

  David approached the building slowly. He really didn’t want to go to work nor talk to this ghost hunting group. He didn’t want it to get out that he not only believed in ghosts but had seen one in the deep end of the pool.

  Mia and Murphy walked out onto the roof of the Uptown and looked around the back of the building where a small amount of snow had drifted. Mia’s boots crunched through the crusty layer as she explored there. Murphy moved along the edge, making sure Mia didn’t slip and tumble off the side.

  They had worked their way around the air manager for the air-conditioning system when they spotted a thin, long armed ghost that was bent over the edge of the street side of the building.

  David saw the first icicle crash in front of him. He stepped over it only to have another fall inches from his head. He started to run for the building when a larger one exploded in front of him causing him to stop.

  “What’s he doing?” Mia asked as they approached the ghost.

  Murphy leaned over the ledge and saw the thin man slice through an icicle causing it to plummet to the ground inches from the startled boy below. “Dropping ice on the boy down there.”

  “Stop!” Mia cried, rushing at the ghost who was running his knife along the edge, sending a succession of icy projectiles raining downwards.

  David sprinted and just made the door as a deluge of ice bombarded the steps.

  Skinny glared at the woman whom he had missed previously with the mother of all icicles. He shut his knife and stuck it in his pocket and disappeared.

  Murphy tried to follow but was hampered by all the iron in the steel of the girders that held up the Uptown’s ceiling.

  Mia looked over the edge and winced. She no longer saw the boy and prayed he had passed by unharmed by the ice.

  David ran into the lobby, nearly knocking over Vince in the process. He was so winded, he couldn’t form words.

  Burt thought the boy said icicle, but why would that frighten the kid so much?

  The elevator door opened, and Mia rushed out and over to the boy. “Are you okay?” she asked. “I saw you and tried to stop him, but I wasn’t fast enough.”

  David, understanding none of what the attractive blonde was talking about, shook his head. He took a few breaths before squeaking out, “The building tried to kill me.”

  “Not the building but a ghost,” Mia explained. “Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee,” she said, motioning to Mike and Cid to follow her. “We’ll all sit down and sort this out. I take it you’re David the night doorman.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I saw something in the pool,” he blurted out, brushing the ice crystals off of his overcoat.

  “I heard that. I saw something in the chimney,” she said.

  “That was you?”

  “Yup.”

  “They’re going to fire me for this,” David said and sat down in a lump. “I’ll not get a good reference. Without it, no building will take me on, and I’ll have to quit school.”

  “David, you think too much,” Mia said. “I don’t think Mr. Stewart blames you for any of this, unless you get a kick out of swimming in your uniform?” Mia asked.

  “No, no, I don’t,” David stammered. “I saw a person in the pool. I thought he needed my help.”

  “So who’s going to fire you for that?” she asked.

  “I guess you’re right. I hope you’re right,” he said earnestly.

  “David, would you mind telling your story to these gentlemen? Then you and I will have a private conversation about your options.”

  David nodded. He saw the camera and panicked. “I’m not. My face…”

  “You look fine,” Mia assured him, feeling guilty. She noticed that the kid was pale and green looking. About what you’d expect after a near death experience. Burt would love the rawness of the interview with David fresh from a paranormal incident. Mia trusted Mike to settle him down.

  Cid focused in while Mike cleared his voice.

  Mia backed out of the room. She turned and walked smack into Burt.

  “We’ve got to talk,” he insisted.

  “I’d really love to, but I have a switchblade-carrying, icicle-throwing ghost on the loose,” she said, sidestepping around him.

  Murphy moved slowly through the building. It was hard to find places where the iron infused steel wasn’t. He noticed that each floor had four metal boxes he assumed were safes attached to the girders. He didn’t blame the residents for not keeping their valuables in the banks. In his day, criminals moved from county to county robbing banks and the trains that carried the money from the big cities. He didn’t understand the greed, but he was a fortunate man and had the farm. What if you had no purpose, no money, and no prospects? What did that do to a man? He pondered these thoughts as he followed the faint greenish trail that the knife-wielding ghost left. Murphy assumed this was Skinny, Benny’s partner, but he needed to make sure. He needed to find out who the boss was. Then, armed with this information, he could help Mia to rid this building of the disruptive, dangerous ghost and possibly free Benny from his master.

  “Ted, please could you connect me to Audrey?” Mia requested as she entered the elevator.

  “Give me a moment. How’s the kid?”

  “He’s shaken up but resolved to be of help. Ted, he could have been killed. I wonder why the ghost targeted him and me.”

  “Could it be that one or both of you are too close to the answer? Or maybe he just gets his jollies out of frightening people.”

  “I think it’s the latter as I haven’t got a clue who’s behind this. I’m hoping Audrey does.”

  “Audrey does what?” Audrey asked.

  “Mia, you are now connected with Audrey,” Ted said.

  “Cool beans. Audrey, where are you?”

  “Sissy’s office. I figured that with all the salt here, I would be able to work ghost free.”

  “Smart cookie. Can you give me a list of the people
who are in residence here?”

  “You want me to print it out?”

  “No, verbal will do.”

  “As you know, Howard Duff, the coach that lives on the eighth floor. Mr. Davis. He’s not here, but he was on seven. McConaughey on two. Sissy and Naomi on six. Maude Abrams, the lady that was attacked in the pool, lives on four along with the toilet paper heir.”

  “Does he have a name? I can’t knock on his door and address him as Mr. Toilet Paper Heir, can I?”

  “That wouldn’t be very Charmin,” Ted said.

  Audrey giggled and added, “He wouldn’t Cottonelle to that.”

  “It would certainly get his Scotts up,” Ted added.

  “Very funny, ha ha. Now wipe those smiles off your faces and get me a name,” Mia said, trying not to laugh.

  “She said wipe,” Audrey said.

  Ted started laughing, and Mia ended up joining in.

  After a few moments, Audrey said, “Edward Jones.”

  “Gee, I was expecting something different,” Mia said.

  “I guess I was too, but that’s the name Mr. Stewart gave me,” Audrey explained. “Mr. Jones moved in right around the same time Howard did. They bid on the same condo. Howard won.”

  “I was thinking of paying him a visit,” Mia said and pressed four.

  “Wait for me. Remember rule number one,” Audrey said.

  “I’ll be waiting in the foyer of the fourth floor,” Mia informed her. The doors opened on four, and she stepped out and looked around her.

  The fourth floor residents didn’t put as much money into their entry as the sixth floor women did. It was clean and sterile. One lone chair stood sentinel across from the elevators. Mia sat down and winced as the chair had no give to its cushion. Mia got up, picked up the chair and looked at the underside, vowing never to purchase anything from the manufacturer of this torture device. The elevator opened behind her. Expecting Audrey, she said, “This is a piece of crap.”

  “I imagine it is,” Mrs. Abrams said. “I wanted a bench to set my groceries on, but the others thought a chair would be best. This was the compromise.”

  Mia set the chair down slowly. “I thought chairs were for sitting.”

  “You would think that, wouldn’t you? Are you waiting for me?” Maude asked.

  “Actually Audrey. We are going to introduce ourselves to Mr. Jones.”

  “Good luck. He’s been here a year, and I have yet to see but a blur of the man as he goes in and out. Damned unfriendly neighbor.”

  “He could be shy?”

  “Talks to himself, and I think he’s got insomnia. I can hear him roam the halls at all hours. Most of us seniors have problems sleeping very long. You see, it’s the arthritis that gets us. It’s just too painful to lay in bed for long,” she explained.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Mia said. “How do you maintain your health without a good seven hours of snooze time?”

  “Cat naps. Speaking of, I’m going to fix myself a hot toddy and fall asleep in my chair listening to music.”

  “Sweet dreams,” Mia said. She watched Maude Abrams walk down the hall to her condo.

  The elevator door opened, and Audrey walked out. “Mr. Jones is in 4C.”

  Mia looked at her friend and didn’t see any signs of her suffering from Burt’s rejection. Mia had decided to continue her investigation independently of Burt. She let Ted know where she was at all times, so if Burt wanted to know what she was up to, he could ask Ted.

  “How are you doing?” she asked Audrey.

  “My feathers are ruffled, but I decided to put this behind me. As I said, I’m a professional business woman and…”

  “I’ve heard that one recently,” Mia interrupted. “You obviously have thicker skin than I do. Anyway, here we are. Do you want to do the honors or should I?”

  Audrey smiled and knocked on the door of 4C. There wasn’t an answer. There wasn’t a sound coming from the apartment.

  “Perhaps he stepped out,” Mia said. “Let’s go down to two and see if Harvey McConaughey is in.”

  “Sounds like a great idea,” Audrey said and started off down the hall.

  Mia waited a moment and thought she heard a sigh coming from 4C. She raised an eyebrow and followed Audrey down the hall. Mr. Jones was in, but he wasn’t answering the door. Maybe she would ask Elaine to call up and see if the man would be able to give them some of his valuable time. But for right now, Mia would give the man his privacy.

  Harvey McConaughey, aged seventy-seven, was a tall, willowy man dressed in a sweat suit topped with a ratty cardigan. The apartment was sweltering hot, but the man seemed to be suffering from a chill. As Mia began peeling off layers of clothes, Harvey explained, “I sit still for so long in front of the computer that my body heat drops. My nurse complains that she has to wear a summer uniform all year round.”

  “I guess that’s a hazard of being a writer,” Audrey said. “I love your books.” She turned to Mia and said, “Mr. McConaughey writes the most brilliant mysteries. He’s got a Chicago based detective that will make you rethink how you look at life. He’s very…”

  “Obnoxious,” Harvey filled in. “He is more an observer of life. He likes to put his two cents in whenever he can.”

  Mia watched the man’s face as he talked with Audrey about his detective. The character was so real to the man. Mia wouldn’t be surprised to see the detective standing there in the background, feeding the author the story, word by word.

  “Mia’s not a big reader,” Audrey explained. “But she’s a great investigator.”

  Mia coughed, embarrassed by Audrey’s praise. “I have an advantage, unlike Nancy Drew here who uses research to ferret out an explanation.”

  “And so what brings you two detectives to my humble abode?” Harvey asked.

  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there seem to be a few unsettling events occurring to and around the residents of Uptown,” Audrey started.

  Harvey listened to her explanation quietly. He didn’t speak until she was finished. “I’ve heard a few bumps in the night, but I put them down to my overactive imagination. I’m sorry to hear about Maude’s attack though. Are you sure it’s paranormal in nature? The steam could have hidden her assailant.”

  “You have a point there. We’re not sure. Except, whatever or whoever it is doesn’t show up on the security cameras,” Audrey said.

  Mia watched as the author pondered this.

  “You can avoid the cameras if you know what you’re doing. I’ve tested this out for my character a time or two,” he admitted. “I’ve even entered and exited this building without Albert, David or Vince seeing me.”

  “How do you feel about diamonds?” Mia asked, testing Harvey for his reaction.

  “I love them. They are excellent reasons for my character to enter into a case. I have to be careful these days though. The blood diamonds have put a stink on using them as a plot device. But old diamonds like the ones that went…” he stopped and explained, “Did you know that a briefcase full of diamonds went missing from this very building forty years ago?”

  “We heard that rumor,” Audrey hedged.

  “It’s more than a rumor,” Harvey said. “I researched the case, and they never found the Masters diamonds. They never turned up on the market. They are gone.”

  “How would you know? They didn’t laser engrave the diamonds at that time, did they?” Mia asked.

  “No, but Masters had a detailed list of the cut stones, their clarity, flaws etc. To this day, not one of the stones has turned up, to my knowledge.”

  “Couldn’t they get around it, recut the diamond?”

  “Why? It would decrease the value, and besides, the diamond consortium would know if a load of stones suddenly arrived on the market. They maintain that the stones are still missing,” Harvey said animatedly.

  “We think the diamonds are still in the building,” Audrey informed the author.

  “No.”

  “Yes. We th
ink that the dead body they found in the chimney of 7A was probably someone searching the safes of the condos looking for the diamonds when he met his end.”

  Harvey looked at Audrey wide-eyed. Mia sensed his excitement was being held under control but just barely.

  “Land sakes alive. This is so great. I want to help if I can. I have a ton of material,” he got up and walked over to a filing cabinet. He pulled out a tattered pocket file and handed it to Audrey. “This is my research on the Masters diamonds,” he explained. He clapped his hands together. “Borrow it. Keep it as long as you need to. This is so exciting!”

  Mia really didn’t know what to make of this man. Part of her wanted to put an ungloved hand on him but feared what resided in the mind of this mystery writer. How would she be able to tell a real memory from the memory of a plot line?

  “Thank you, Mr. McConaughey, I’ll get this back to you promptly,” Audrey said, getting up.

  Mia stood up and followed Audrey to the door. Harvey leaned over as she passed him and whispered, “You’re the one that can see the ghosts, aren’t you?”

  “You’re very observant,” Mia replied.

  “It’s my job,” he said.

  Audrey and Mia left the apartment cognizant that Harvey McConaughey was watching them all the way down the hall to the elevators.

  When the doors shut, Audrey turned to Mia and asked, “What do you think?”

  “I’m not sure what to think. He knows a lot about the diamonds and getting around the cameras, but if he were guilty, would he be telling us this?”

  “Could be him putting himself in the red herring position, knowing I would pick up that he was a red herring and not suspect him. Or he’s genuinely innocent.”

  “I don’t know what’s more confusing, your explanation or why the diamonds might still be in this building,” Mia mused.

  They got off the elevator at the ground floor. Mia walked over to Elaine and asked her to call up to see if Edward Jones would consent to see them.