by Carrie Carr
Stuart nodded yes.
"How do you know Ms. Bell?" Detective Uhler asked.
"We're friends. Actually, we're cousins, and we work for the same firm."
Suspicion covered Detective Uhler's face. "I see."
Stuart sat forward. "I realize I should have come to you sooner, but...Anyway, I was there the night Bruce Colby was murdered."
"In the men's room?" Detective Uhler questioned.
"I was in the handicap stall."
"Did anyone see you?"
"No, but I saw the whole thing. Well, mostly the whole thing."
Detective Uhler was silent a moment. "Go on."
The vivid images were still clear in Stuart's mind. He remembered that dreadful, revealing night of November 22 and transported himself back.
Thursday night, November 22.
Stuart stood in the handicap stall, facing the closed door in front of him. He inhaled the cocaine from the cellophane bag, then wiped his nose and was startled when he heard─
"Bianca, what are you doing in here?" The male voice said.
Right way, Stuart recognized the distinctive voice as Bruce Colby.
"Say, what are you doing in here, BeeBee?" Bianca said.
Just as surprised to find Bianca in the men's room as Bruce, Stuart was stuck and couldn't even think about leaving until after Bianca left. Stuart then returned the cellophane bag to his pocket and listened with a meticulous ear, hoping that neither Bianca nor Bruce would realize that he was in the very next stall.
Stuart heard every word that Bianca and Bruce uttered. "Quit playing around Bianca. Someone's going to see us."
"Not if we're really careful," Bianca said.
"Knock it off, Bianca."
"I have to get you to loosen up, show you how to have some real fun."
Stuart could only imagine what was happening between Bianca and Bruce who were only a few feet away from him.
"What do I have to do? Put you on a leash and walk you in?"
"Get up, Bianca."
"Don't be a killjoy, Bruce."
Though Stuart witnessed Bianca's impressive transformation over the last few weeks, he discovered firsthand how she had graduated to such a high level of raunchiness. She was nothing like the Bianca he knew.
Stuart felt like an eavesdropping Tom as he continued to listen in as the words between Bianca and Bruce became more and more intriguing.
"We can't, Bianca. People are still in this office."
"So, what are they going to do, arrest us?"
Stuart stood there, his ear locked with the stall wall. He heard them move into a stall and he was certain of what would come next. Being so close, he began to feel aroused himself, and though he could not see a thing, his imagination ran full force.
"Take it easy, Bianca."
Several seconds passed before Stuart heard, "This is what you wanted, isn't it?"
"Yes," Bianca said.
Stuart envisioned what they were doing when out of nowhere he heard the voice of a second woman.
"You son of a bitch."
Damn, Stuart thought. "How many people are in this men's room?"
Though Stuart hardly ever worked late, he thought perhaps he should if this was what he could expect every night.
The drama continued and Stuart was uncertain of the newly entered female voice.
"Oh, shit," Bruce said.
Stuart heard someone leave the men's room, but he didn't know who.
"What are you doing?" Bianca asked. "You can't just stop. "What are you going to do? Go after her?"
"I have to."
"You can't just stop in the middle and go after her. Who do you think you're fucking with? You're going to stop what we're doing to go after that bitch? You can't leave me for her. I won't allow it."
"Get a grip, Bianca."
It seemed Bianca and Bruce remained while the other person left, and Stuart felt a chill just being there, so close to the drama.
The heated porn saga had now turned ugly. So much Stuart wanted to peer his head above the stall wall to see what he had listened in on for several minutes, but it was too risky.
One minute of silence and the last word Stuart heard from Bianca's mouth was. "Okay," before she left.
Stuart stood motionless, eager to leave at just the right moment. He heard the click of high heel shoes come through the door. His first thought was that it might be Bianca returning. He couldn't know for sure unless he heard the person's voice.
After debating back and forth, he finally lifted his head above the stall. He could no longer just listen. He needed to see for himself.
Very cautiously and with keen precision, he stood up on the toilet seat and peeped his head over the stall wall. He saw Bruce taking a spill at the urinals. Stuart's eyes panned left, and he saw a woman with a full head of straight blonde hair move towards Bruce.
He couldn't be sure if it was Bianca or not.
Bianca, Camina and Michelle all looked so much alike; it could have been either of them. Then he saw the side of her face.
It was not Bianca.
Stuart had Detective Uhler's full attention as he continued with his story, conveying all that he remembered the night Bruce Colby was murdered.
From what Stuart saw, a blonde haired woman tapped Bruce on the shoulder and Bruce turned around to see her face.
From the bathroom stall, Stuart watched them stare at each other. The woman threw Bruce a punch to the face and it caught him off guard because before Bruce could retaliate, she threw him another one before she kicked him in the groin. Again. And again.
Losing his balance, Bruce fell to the floor, unable to move. Now, Bruce was on the floor, Stuart observing with widen eyes.
The woman straddled herself on Bruce's bruised body and Bruce struggled to overpower her, but it was no use. Moments later, she removed his belt from his pants and wrapped it around his neck. Stuart stared in disbelief, wanting to do something, but was too paralyzed by it all.
Stuart witnessed the woman strangling Bruce until Bruce moved less and less. Bruce tussled to stop her as she pulled the belt tighter and tighter around his neck until he could struggle no more. In a quick move, Stuart jolted his head down behind the stall wall, his heart racing and his hands shaking after just witnessing a murder. Stuart heard the clacking high heels disappear through the door and inhaled a deep breath as he wasn't sure if it was safe to leave. Finally, Stuart forced himself from the stall, glanced over at Bruce's lifeless body on the floor before making a quit exit.
Stuart finished his recount of the murder and wondered if Detective Uhler believed him or not.
"And that's what happened?" Detective Uhler asked.
Stuart nodded his head. It was because of Stuart's tainted record with the law and rehab that he chose not to come forward. However, when he learned that Bianca was a suspect, that changed everything. He wasn't about to let anything happen to her, and not just because she helped him obtain his job, but because she was family.
"You refer to her as the woman," Detective Uhler said. "Who was this woman?"
Stuart did not hesitate. "It wasn't Bianca Bell."
"And you're sure, absolutely sure because they do look an awful lot alike."
"Positively sure," he said.
"Why didn't you say something before?" Detective Uhler asked.
"Scared I guess."
"So who was it?"
Bianca awakened in Lee's arms on the sofa, her head against his chest as Lee was still asleep. It was only a three-hour nap, but very much needed. Careful not to wake Lee, she eased herself from underneath his arms and glanced at her watch. It was 8:30 p.m. She grabbed a red blanket from the bedroom, and spread it over his body.
While Lee was asleep, she tried her best to reach her sister, Sandy. So much had happened, and she wanted to share it all with her. Bianca stood in front of the hall mirror, in the same position as always, and in a whisper, she called out to Sandy. "Sandy? Sandy?"
When she
received no response, she moved her face closer to the mirror, her lips almost touching it. "Sandy? Are you there?"
Bianca delicately placed the palm of her hand onto the mirror, hoping to somehow energetically summon Sandy's image. "Sandy, it's Bianca. Are you there?"
After several minutes, it was obvious that Bianca's attempts proved futile as Sandy was nowhere to be found.
When Bianca thought she heard Lee waking up, she stepped away from the mirror fast and headed back towards him. When she saw that he was still asleep, she realized that she wasn't quite ready to give up on reaching her sister. For several days, Bianca had attempted to reach Sandy with no success and today was no different.
Desperate to connect with her sister, Bianca removed the mirror from the wall, thinking maybe she just needed to readjust it. Upon replacing the mirror back onto the wall, she heard Lee yawning and as she directed her attention towards Lee instead of what she was doing, the mirror slipped from her hands and shattered into pieces onto the floor. She was certain that all of the ruckus would have awakened Lee, but he was still sound asleep.
A gush of fear swept through Bianca's hands as she quickly bent down and studied the broken pieces on the floor.
This was it.
She had done it now.
She would never see her much-loved sister ever again.
Heartbroken over the broken mirror, Bianca stood at the window and peeked through the mini-blinds. She couldn't believe it. As quickly as Sandy had reappeared in her life, she disappeared just the same.
What was she going to do now?
For moments on end, she pondered the dialogue her sister used. Sandy's favorite question posed to Bianca was always: What are you going to do about it?
Though Sandy was gone, never to return, Bianca was comforted by her sister's words. For all that transpired with Bruce and the investigation, the question to ask herself was the same as if Sandy were there to ask it herself.
What was she going to do about it?
About everything?
About the investigation?
About Lee?
About her past behavior?
About her job?
What could she do to make things right?
Bianca pondered for several moments, almost in a hypnotic trance. Several more moments would pass before she snapped back to reality. When she opened the mini blinds, the night sky stirred up old emotions of the day as she studied the new Buick across the street. Though it looked like a detective's car, she couldn't be sure.
Even after the detectives dismissed her, they were still watching, as if waiting.
What was that all about?
Then it dawned on her. Still, she was a suspect, and until they could prove otherwise, she would be under scrutiny. No longer could she wait like this on display, hoping that everything would resolve itself. She needed to do something, anything. Though it was that same attitude that brought her to this place, it deserved credit if used modestly.
Though Camina was the last person Bianca wanted to share space with, Bianca would confront her and learn what mischievous motives scurried around in that hard head of hers. With all the evidence pointing towards Bianca, she reached a point when she actually believed that she had killed Bruce Colby, but that point passed, and she now knew better.
She was innocent, and all she had to do now was prove it.
In deep thought, Bianca was finishing up the dishes when the phone rang. She picked up fast, not wanting to wake Lee.
"Hey, it's me," Michelle said
"Hey Michelle."
"Are you okay?"
"Considering everything that has happened, I'm all right," Bianca said. "'What about you?"
"I just hope it's over. Wasn't that scary having them ask us questions like that? I never want to go through that again."
"How are you holding up," Bianca asked.
"Just barely, but anyway, I found out why Camina left the office the other day in tears."
"Why?" Bianca was always in the mood for a bit of juicy gossip.
"Bruce didn't want her to work for him anymore. He broke off their relationship and then had her reassigned."
"Are you serious?"
"Hard to believe, isn't?"
"How did you find out?" Bianca asked her.
"Who else? Rollie? You know he knows everything. Rumor has it Denise wanted you to work for Bruce and Camina knew about it and you can imagine how that played out. Listen, I have to run. Will I see you at the office next week?"
"I'll be there."
Bianca was spellbound by what Michelle said about Camina. Even if it were true that Bruce broke off their relationship and no longer wanted her to work for him, that didn't seem reason enough to kill him.
So why was Michelle sharing this information with her?
Could it be that Michelle was hiding something?
For every minute that passed, the whole situation became more and more bizarre. At this point, Bianca didn't know who killed Bruce Colby.
It could have been Michelle.
It could have been Camina.
Or like Michelle said, it could have been a man dressed as a woman, wearing a wig. Moments later, Bianca threw out all of her suspicions. The killer could be only one person. It wasn't Bianca. It wasn't Michelle, and it was no man dressed in a wig.
Chapter 18
BIANCA STORED THE DISHES AWAY in the cabinet and wiped down the kitchen table. She reminisced about how she behaved over the last few days, and she was not impressed.
How could she have been so childish as to go after Bruce just to spite Camina? And even worse, how could she have run from the police like that, making herself look twice as guilty?
Instead of pursuing someone like Lee who lay fast asleep on her sofa, someone so easy to love, she went after a married man, a man who she held no respect for, who now lay cold in some morgue. Regrettably, she erred to the fullest capacity.
On a much deeper level, maybe she wanted to be a suspect as if it were all part of the ride of adventure. But the ride had come to an end, and she was ready to exit. Her habit of running away came to haunt her in the worst possible way.
Everything she did in the last three weeks was done out of fear.
Fear of who she was.
Fear of accepting her misfortune.
And most of all ─ fear of the future. But she didn't need to return to therapy as her present dilemma proved therapeutic enough.
Bianca glanced at Lee's jacket and Kangol hat on the coat rack and an idea came to mind. She grabbed his coat and hat and tiptoed into the bedroom. After stepping into her black jeans she slid on her leather boots. She stepped in front of the bathroom mirror and stripped off her earrings. She then placed Lee's Kangol hat on her head as she was meticulous about hiding every strand of her black hair. A masculine look was her goal. It was an attempt to elude the police just in case her suspicions of them outside watching her proved true.
She slipped into Lee's jacket and the sleeves were almost too short for her long arms. It proved to be a tight, snug fit, and that was good enough for her. She then grabbed Lee's keys from the coffee table and left the apartment.
Upon reaching the outside of her building, she raised the collar of her jacket and didn't look in the direction of the Buick. She hurled into Lee's silver Jeep and drove off, hoping not to be followed. She traveled down Clark Street, continually checking her rear view mirror to see if she was being followed.
She wasn't.
In just a matter of minutes, she reached Camina's two flat apartment complex. Only having gone to Camina's apartment once when she and Michelle attended a baby shower, Bianca didn't know the exact address, but remembered the building. It was unlikely Camina would invite her up, so Bianca waited in the lobby, hoping a tenant would come in or out of the building and give her the opportunity to hustle upstairs.
Minutes later, a gentleman exited the building with his Labrador. Casually, Bianca entered and made her way up two flights of stairs.
With her hands in her pockets, she stood outside Camina's apartment. She placed her ear against the door and heard the chatter of Camina's whiny voice.
Bianca knocked on the door.
Seconds later, Camina swung the door open. She was wearing a skimpy skirt and top and held a cell phone against her ear. Camina's eyes shot to Bianca. "What do you want?"
Bianca removed her Kangol hat, then barged past Camina inside the apartment.
"I'll call you back," Camina said, right before she disconnected the caller.
With the front door still open, Camina pivoted over to Bianca. "I don't remember inviting you in here. You know I could have you arrested."
Bianca was ready to tell Camina what she really thought of her dirty tactics. "Do you really think I'm going to take the wrap for something you did?" Bianca asked her.
Before Camina could answer, Bianca continued. "I know you put that ring and that belt in my desk drawer."
"Did you come here for a confession of some sort, Bianca? I sure as hell hope not."
"I came for much more than that."
"You don't frighten me, Bianca. I can't believe they let you loose. You might have everyone else fooled by your little innocent act, but I'm not. I know you're crazy, I've known it ever since we were in high school. Look at you. What happened to the blonde hair?"
Camina stepped towards Bianca, and sized her up from top to bottom. "You colored your hair because you wanted to look like me, dress like me. Someone like that is not innocent, and I hope you get exactly what you deserve."
The anger stirred in Bianca's temples, but she said nothing.
Camina backed away slowly and didn't say another word for a long time. "Now get out of here before I throw you out."
Bianca's first response was to leave as she stepped towards the door, but her reflexes came alive and she lunged at Camina, grabbing the top of her hair. It was no surprise when the straight, blonde wig slid off into Bianca's hands. This was something that Bianca had always suspected, but was never one hundred percent certain.
