BLACK in the Box

by Russell Blake

  Into a future without Black.

  For better or worse.

  Chapter 12

  Henry Heung, seated beside an impressive array of closed-circuit television monitors, turned out to be a wiry man in his late twenties with a modish haircut and a pencil-thin mustache. Mary introduced Black and went back to the administrative offices, leaving the pair to their own devices. Black took a seat across from Henry and launched straight into his questions, wanting to get the process over with so he could collect his money and go home.

  “So you’ve been here for three years?”

  “That’s right.”

  “You must like it.”

  Henry shrugged. “It’s a job.”

  Black noted that his watch was a stainless steel and gold Rolex Datejust and smiled. “Not a terrible one if you can afford that.”

  Henry made a face. “This? It’s a knockoff.”

  “Really? I always considered buying one. Can I see it?”

  Another shrug, and Henry held out his wrist for closer inspection. Black studied the watch for a few seconds and smiled. “That’s a good one. Would have fooled me.”

  “I think that’s the whole point.”

  “How well did you know Alec?”

  “So-so. Seemed like a decent guy, but I didn’t have much reason to talk to him other than to complain about all the equipment on the blink.”

  “That fairly common?”

  Henry nodded. “The owner holds off till the last second on everything. Smart for his wallet, but annoying.”

  Black eyed the monitors. “Don’t suppose you have footage of the corridor in the back office, do you?”

  “Nope. These cameras are mainly to prevent theft. They cover the front lot, the entrances, the cash registers, and a few around the store.”

  “Why are those two off?” Black asked, pointing to a pair of dark screens.

  “The cameras are broken. Have been for a few days. Guy’s supposed to come out tomorrow.” Henry rolled his eyes. “Like he was today.”

  “Good help is hard to find, huh?”

  “Always.”

  “What area do they monitor?”

  “Employee entrance and the back lot. That’s why it isn’t a priority for Larry.”

  “Oh, you know the owner?”

  Henry’s eyes narrowed. “Not really. I mean, he comes around and does his thing, but usually during the day. I’ve met him a few times. I should have said Mr. Jacobs.”

  It was Black’s turn to shrug. “Doesn’t bother me.” He paused. “Tell me about Alec.”

  “There isn’t a lot to tell, really. He mostly kept to himself.”

  “You don’t sound like you’re too broken up about the murder.”

  “How am I supposed to be? I’m dog tired, the cops put me through the wringer last night, and now you’re here.”

  “I understand it’s an imposition. But Jacobs – Larry – asked me to do this. So help me out, would you?”

  “Okay, if you want the truth, Alec was kind of a dick sometimes. I mean, he had this attitude, like he was better than everyone, you know? But that doesn’t make me happy that someone took an axe to him.”

  “Why do you think he acted like that?”

  “He gave me crap about being a rent-a-cop a few times, like he was some serious hard-ass ex-army commando or something. But as far as I could tell, he pushed a pencil while he was in the service, so it was just an example of him looking for a reason to feel superior.”

  “I could see where that would be annoying.”

  “Yeah. I mean, Kyle, he’s like seriously hard, you know? Like, he saw action, and you can tell. He thought Alec was full of it too.”

  “Kyle, huh? I guess I’ll meet him tonight.”

  Henry glanced at his watch. “Everyone should be here in another fifteen minutes or so.”

  Black nodded appreciatively at the Rolex. “I really have to get one of those. How much did it cost?”

  “Few hundred bucks. I don’t remember. It was a while ago.”

  “Yeah? Where did you pick it up?”

  “From a guy I know.”

  Black switched back to business and took him through a series of softball questions before returning to the murder and the security monitors. “Did the cops go through the footage last night?”

  “Of course. I burned them a DVD. Not much on it, with the store closed.”

  “Does everyone know where the cameras are mounted?”

  “Beats me. But I’d think so. I mean, it’s not like they’re super stealth or anything. They’re out in the open, mounted to the beams.”

  “But nothing that catches the entrance to the front office?”

  “Nope. No reason to, like I said.”

  “Then whoever killed Alec would have known how to avoid the cameras.”

  “Obviously, since there’s nobody on the tape carrying an axe.”

  “Back to Alec. Was he especially friendly with anyone here?”

  “He mainly kept to his little hole. And of course, I mean, I’m sure Mary told you he was dating Nancy, right?”

  Black didn’t blink. “She mentioned it.”

  “Other than that, he just did his job and kept his head down.”

  “Did he have much interaction with Bethany?”

  “Not really. I mean, I’m not that involved with the day-to-day, you know? We’re all just serving our time here.”

  “You mentioned Nancy. What can you tell me about her?”

  “Not a ton. She’s nice, polite, local chick. Pretty vanilla. So’s Bethany, for that matter.”

  “Did she meet Alec here?”

  “Who – Nancy or Bethany?”

  “Nancy.”

  “Nah. They’d been going out for a while. I think she was the one that got him the gig.”

  “What about Bethany? How well did he know her?”

  “Like I said. As far as I could tell, just work-related.”

  “Anybody here you can think of who’d have a reason to bury an axe in Alec’s back?” Black asked casually, as if he were asking Henry’s favorite color.

  “Not really. That’s why this is a mystery, right? I told the cops the same thing.”

  “Right.” Motion caught Black’s eye on one of the monitors. Two women were strolling past a cash register. “Looks like they’re arriving.”

  “Yeah. That’s Paulina and Tanika. Always early. Not like Bethany…”

  “Oh, she’s usually late?”

  Henry rewarded Black with another shrug. “None of my business.”

  “I gather there are time cards?”

  “Yeah. Cops took ’em. But everyone was already here, if that’s your question.”

  “That was it.” A thought occurred to Black. “Is Alec’s car still in the lot?”

  Henry glanced at the darkened monitor. “I suppose so. I mean, unless Nancy picked it up or something.”

  Black shook his head as he stood. “That’s pretty messed up, Nancy having to find Bethany and Alec, huh? Can you imagine?”

  “Not really. But yeah, it’s hella messed up. Bethany took tonight off. I’m surprised Nancy showed.”

  “People react differently.” Black sighed. “Any chance you can point me to Alec’s car?”

  “I’m not supposed to leave my station.”

  “I think you can make an exception.”

  “It’s a piece of crap red Hyundai. Shouldn’t be that hard to find.”

  Black nodded. “I’ll circle back around if I have any more questions.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Black retraced his steps to Mary’s area, where most of the staff was now gathered. Tanika and Paulina appeared a few seconds later, making the group complete. Matt Dresslin, the other supervisor, stood beside Mary expectantly.

  Mary cleared her throat, obviously uncomfortable speaking to an assembly, and gestured toward Black.

  “Everyone? This is Mr. Black. He’s working for Mr. Jacobs. He’ll be here for a little while tonight
, asking questions. You’re to cooperate fully with him. He’s a private investigator.”

  A tall African-American man at the back of the group raised his hand. “Didn’t we already do this last night? We’re way behind on stocking the shelves. No offense.”

  “Mr. Jacobs felt it would be a good idea to get fresh eyes on the situation, Kyle.” Mary studied the staff for a moment, as if searching for the right words. “Everyone do the best you can. I appreciate how hard this is. Let’s just get through it, okay?”

  There were a few grumbles, which Black ignored as he stepped forward.

  “Like Mary said, I’m here to follow up on Mr. Jacobs’ behalf. I’m not here to make your job more difficult. But there’s been a murder, and everyone here’s a suspect – let’s not forget that.”

  “I got an alibi,” Kyle said. “I was with Tanika. We were inventorying over in hardware. I’m not no suspect. I told the cops all that.”

  “That’s fine. We’ll get to that. And ‘suspect’s’ a technical term, so no offense. But I still need to talk to every one of you. It’s routine.”

  “It’s BS,” a young man Black recognized from the staff folders as Brent said in a low voice.

  “Yes, it kind of is,” Black agreed. “Look, I’m just doing my job, okay? I know this has been rough on everyone. I’ll be out of your hair shortly. Humor me – Jacobs wants to ensure everything’s been done to protect you all.” Black let that sink in. There was a murderer among them. If Jacobs’ name wasn’t moral authority enough, that would get their full attention.

  “Isn’t that the cops’ job?” a slight Asian woman asked. Black nodded. That would be Kristen Cho.

  “Sure. Like I said, this is a formality. But a necessary one.”

  “Merry frigging Christmas,” a stout woman with sandy-colored hair pulled into a ponytail said.

  “Tabitha, please. You’re to behave with Mr. Black as though it was Mr. Jacobs, is that clear?” Mary warned.

  Grudging nods ensued.

  Mary turned to Black. “How would you like to do this? Maybe hold your meetings in the employee break room?”

  “That’s fine. Although I might want to wander around some.”

  “Of course. Who would you like to start with?”

  Black eyed the group. “Let me think about that for a few minutes.”

  “Very well. Just come to my desk when you’re ready. I have a radio and PA there.”

  The group broke up and Black watched them go. Something about the whole situation was setting his internal alarms off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what. He reflexively tapped his jacket pocket. When he felt his phone, he sucked in a short breath.

  Damn.

  Sylvia.

  He’d forgotten to call her.

  Chapter 13

  Black fished the phone out and eyed the screen. Two calls from Sylvia. Not good. He worked his way to the rear entrance and paused just inside the door as he dialed and listened to the line ring. It went to voice mail. Black hung up and tried again, and after three rings Sylvia answered.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Hello to you too. Sorry I didn’t pick up. I was…busy. With the case.”

  “Of course you were. As usual.”

  “I really was.” The conversation already wasn’t going well.

  “What do you want, Black?”

  “I’m going to be a while longer. I’m calling to see how you’re doing.”

  “Take your time. Take all night. Take the rest of your life.”

  Black closed his eyes. When he opened them, he struggled to keep his voice down. “Sylvia, I know how you feel, but it’s four thousand dollars for a night’s work.”

  “Might as well be thirty pieces of silver.”

  “You know I need the money.”

  “You always need the money,” Sylvia snapped. “You have a lot of needs, and you’re good at making sure they’re met, Black. But you never seem to care about mine. So take your money and have a nice life. I won’t be here when you get back.”

  “You don’t think that’s an overreaction?”

  “To having a nonexistent boyfriend who’s conflict-avoidant and afraid to commit to doing anything that would make me happy? No. I’d say it’s the smartest thing I can do.”

  “Honey, it’s almost Christmas…”

  “I know. The first Christmas of my new life without you and your stinkpot cat.”

  Black cursed silently. “I forgot all about Mugsy.”

  “You ever notice you forget about most things that don’t involve you, you, you? You should be used to it by now. Anyone relying on you finds that out the hard way sooner or later.”

  “Sylvia, come on. Let’s not do this over the phone…”

  “Black, I’m flying home tomorrow. We’re done. It’s over.”

  “What? Sylvia!”

  “You heard me.”

  She waited for him to say he was coming home, not to leave, that they could work it out.

  “Don’t do this,” Black said. “I can’t leave right now, but sweetheart, please don’t do this. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

  Black listened as the line clicked and his phone beeped. “She hung up on me,” he whispered to himself in disbelief. He pressed speed dial as he headed back to the front of the store to retrieve Mugsy from the car. The call went to voice mail.

  He tried again with the same result. This time he left a message. “Sylvia, please. Calm down. Don’t do anything stupid. I mean, rash. Don’t do anything rash. Call me when you get this.” He paused as he neared Mary’s station. “I…I don’t want to lose you.”

  Even as he disconnected, he shook his head at his inability to voice anything more meaningful than his fear of losing her. Maybe she was right to ditch him. Maybe she’d be better off without him.

  Maybe she’d seen him accurately and didn’t like the image.

  Mary looked up as he neared, startled. He took in again how anxious she seemed, but shook it off.

  “Can you open the front door? My cat’s in the car. It’s way cooler in here.”

  “Oh. Certainly,” Mary said, standing.

  Black noticed she had sweat on her forehead in spite of the air-conditioning. “Are you feeling all right?”

  “What? Why?”

  “You look a little green.”

  “To be honest, I haven’t slept a wink. I think it’s catching up to me.”

  Mary led him to the front entrance and twisted the lock open. The twin glass doors slid aside with a whoosh, and Black marched out to the Cadillac, noting that it had gotten uncomfortably warm while he’d been inside, the Santa Ana wind now hot as a blast furnace.

  Mugsy glared hate at him from the recesses of the cat carrier as he hoisted it with a grunt and carted it back to the store. When Mary saw Mugsy, she smiled for the first time since Black had met her and knelt to look into the crate.

  “Oh, my goodness! Look at you, you handsome devil. Got an appetite, huh?” She looked up at Black. “What’s his name?”

  “Mugsy. It’s probably a good thing there’s plenty of ventilation in here. One of his superpowers is the ability to silently clear a room in seconds flat,” Black said.

  “Mugsy! That’s adorable. Well, if he wants company, he can stay with me,” Mary said, eyes locked on the feline’s bloated face.

  “Forever?” Black asked hopefully.

  “Oh, I wish my apartment allowed pets. He’s a handsome prince!”

  “He’d eat you out of house and home in no time.”

  Mary trailed Black to the office he was using, and he placed Mugsy on the floor. He turned to Mary, who was hovering just outside. “Don’t worry. He’ll be fine. Back to work for me.”

  “Aren’t you going to give him some water and let him stretch his legs?”

  “It was like wrestling a bear getting him into this thing.”

  “I’m good with cats. I can water him and watch him while you’re working.”

  “No, it’s bett
er you don’t risk it. He’s like Hannibal – it’s not safe to get within ten feet of him.”

  “He’s a butterball. Look at those eyes.”

  “You’ve been warned. He’ll be fine in the carrier for a few hours. He’s obviously got enough resources stored to last a month without eating, easy.”

  An odor like rotting corpses drifted from the crate and Black gasped at the stench. Mary smiled and cooed at the obese tabby, and Black left her to admire him. He’d never understand the filthy beast’s allure to the female of the species, but had long ago added it to the long list of things he didn’t grasp about the opposite sex.

  He tried Sylvia one more time with no success as he pushed the rear employee exit open, and then focused on the business at hand. He’d give her another call later if she didn’t return his.

  The Hyundai was parked near a darkened light pole, its lamp burned out. A high-rise silver Dodge Durango was the closest car, whose rack on the roof and the stickers on the back bumper made it obvious that whoever owned it identified as a surfer.

  Black recalled what Henry Heung had said about Larry’s parsimonious nature as he walked toward Alec’s car. He slowed when the pavement glittered as he neared, and proceeded the rest of the way more cautiously.

  Someone had broken the rear door window – safety glass littered the pavement, explaining what had caught Black’s eye. He peered into the rear of the sedan in the dim light, which appeared devoid of anything but a few empty soda cups tossed into the backseat area. He rounded the hood and moved to the passenger-side front door and tried the handle, using the folded handkerchief from his jacket breast pocket so as not to add his prints to the evidence. Open. A glance in the interior revealed that the glove compartment had been rifled through, its contents partially strewn on the passenger foot mat. After eyeing the stereo, Black straightened and returned to the building, the vague sense of unease that had plagued him for the last hour gathering strength with each step.

  Henry was thumbing away on his phone, with his feet up on his desk and death metal pounding from a pair of cheap speakers at low volume, the singer sounding like a demon with a bad case of laryngitis over buzz-saw guitars and bombastic drums. As Black approached, he finished texting and turned the music down.