Ring Around the Rosy

by Roseanne Dowell

  He opened the nursery rhyme book and planned his next move.

  * * *

  Unlike the previous morning, when Susan leaped out of bed eager to face the day, today, she crawled out slowly, loathing the thought of leaving this delightful family and fabulous weather.

  Dave didn’t say much on the way to the airport. Susan didn’t care; she was too tired to talk. Rudy seemed exceptionally quite, also.

  “See you back home next week.” Rudy dropped them at the curbside check in.

  “Okay. See ya.” Dave pulled their suitcases out of the trunk.

  “Nice meeting you, Susan. You take care of our boy there.” Rudy teased.

  “Oh, I’ll take care of him, all right.” Susan teased back. “Nice meeting you, too.”

  They arrived home at eleven o’clock. Dave picked up his car from the airport parking lot and drove Susan home.

  “I’m going in with you.” He pulled her bag out of the trunk. “We’ll find out if you have any messages, and I’ll check in with Greenwood.”

  Bella met her at the door, excited to see her, almost jumping into her arms. Even though her neighbor’s son, Todd, fed Bella and probably played with her, the poor thing had still been lonely. She hardly ever left Bella for more than a few hours.

  She snuggled the cat while Dave pushed the play back button that blinked rapidly, indicating she had a lot of messages. Susan’s knees went weak. All the pent-up emotion previous to the Florida trip exploded into renewed fear.

  “Pussy cat, pussy cat where have you been?” followed by an eerie gurgle before he hung up.

  Dave held her as her body trembled.

  The next call his raspy voice said, “Goosey gander, whither do you wander?” He obviously knew she was gone. The last call announced he couldn’t wait for her return. “I can’t work my magic without you to cover the story,” the voice said.

  Dave sat her down and made coffee. “I can see it’s going to be a long day.”

  Curled on the chair with Bella next to her, Susan hugged her knees. All the fun and relaxation of the last couple of days vanished, and reality set in. This wasn’t over. He was out there, and she and Dave both knew he’d kill again. He had to be stopped, but how?

  The police had followed up every lead and turned up nothing. Witnesses were few and far between. The only suspect had been released for lack of evidence. Then there was the matter of the roses. Two wilted, dead roses had sat outside her door when they arrived home. Dave still said he didn’t think it was the killer, so someone else was stalking her.

  There was also a message from Clare, asking her to call when she got in. Her sister had some news. Dave brought her coffee and the phone.

  * * *

  He went into the kitchen and called his partner.

  “I’m back,” Dave said when Greenwood answered the phone. “What’s going on?”

  “Investigation almost complete. I have a couple questions for your girl. Can you bring her in?”

  Dave cringed. “What kind of questions? Can’t you ask her over the phone?” He didn’t like this. Asking Susan down to the station didn’t sit well with him.

  “Just routine, Dave, nothing to get excited about.”

  Easy for Greenwood to say, it wasn’t his girl they were investigating. Dave knew better. Nothing was routine. What could he do?

  “I’ll bring her down later.” Dave hung up without waiting for a response. How was he going to tell Susan?

  “Call your sister.” He went back into the living room. No point in telling about the phone call yet. There was plenty of time for that later. Let her relax for a while. “I’ll be back in an hour. I’m going home to unpack.” He kissed her cheek and left.

  * * *

  Sipping the hot coffee, Susan relaxed and dialed Clare’s number. Clare answered on the first ring. After the hellos, how-are-you, and how-was-your-trip trivialities that Clare didn’t really let her answer, she finally got to the point.

  “I just wanted to tell you about my new client,” Clare said.

  Susan rolled her eyes. Clare was off and running as usual.

  “I love my new job. I never thought working as an accountant would be so exhilarating, Susan?”

  “That’s great.” Wow, she actually got a chance to speak. Not that listening about Clare’s clients was interesting. In fact, she couldn’t think of a more boring job. But then, she never was good with numbers.

  “Listen to me going on and on. Sorry, I just can’t help myself. I bet you’re tired. Is Dave still there? How did you like your Florida trip? I hope his mother is okay. How about his family? Did you get to meet them? Tell me everything, unless you can’t if Dave is there.”

  “Clare, my gosh, take a break, already. Your nonstop conversation is giving me a headache. How about if I meet you tomorrow, and we’ll do lunch.”

  Leaning back, Susan hung up the phone.

  Lord, her sister could talk, but at least for a few minutes, she had been able to put the other phone calls out of her mind. Clare wore her out with the continuous babble. Oh, she understood the excitement of a new job, but sometimes her sister went a little overboard. She laid her head back and closed her eyes. She just wanted to think about Dave for a while, wanted to mull over the past couple of days without interruption…

  Dave woke her an hour later, when he sat next to her on the couch and pulled her close. They sat like that with him holding her, not talking. Secure in his arms, his chest muscles rippling against her head as he stroked her hair, contentment and relaxation filled her. She could stay like that forever.

  As usual, the ringing phone disrupted them. The machine answered, and the voice once again spoke. “Welcome home, I missed you,” the voice sounded harsher, more menacing than the last time she had heard it. “I’m working on my next victim. Be prepared.” The phone clicked off, and the dial tone sounded.

  Dave stood and removed the tape. “He’s watching you; he knows your home. We have police stationed at all the phone booths in the area. He must be using a different phone, or we’d have him, and he’s not calling from a cell phone.”

  Chills racked her body. The hair on her arms bristled as goose bumps erupted. The realization she was being watched frightened her. She couldn’t take much more of this. Covering a story was one thing, but he involved her, made her part of it, and she didn’t like it.

  “Susan.” Dave’s voice sounded odd.

  “What?” Susan didn’t like the way he said her name. Something was wrong; she could tell by the way he avoided looking at her.

  “We have to go down to the station. Greenwood has some questions for you.”

  Susan took a breath. “What kind of questions? Can’t he ask them over the phone or come here?”

  “Just routine.” Dave shook his head. “I’ll be with you.”

  * * *

  Dave pulled out a chair and sat down next to Susan in the interrogation room. Officially, he was still a cop, and he wanted to see what Greenwood had to say. The look on Greenwood’s face told Dave he didn’t like it. Not that Dave cared, this was about Susan and he wasn’t about to leave her alone.

  Greenwood set a tape recorder on the table and pushed the record button. “You understand you’re not under arrest and that you’re free to leave anytime, Ms Weston?”

  “Yes.”

  Dave had told her to just answer the questions, not to offer anything more.

  “When was the last time you heard from the killer?”

  “This morning.”

  Detective Greenwood sat up straight. His eyes bored into her.

  “This morning? What did he say?”

  Dave pulled the evidence bag, containing the tape, from his pocket. “It’s all right here. Just like the rest of them.”

  Greenwood looked at Dave. “Fine, but I’m asking Ms Weston.”

  “Cut the crap, Greenwood. What’s going on here?” Dave kicked his chair back and stood.

  “Morgan, either sit down and shut up, or get out.” />
  Dave stood for a moment and glared at him. Finally, he picked up the chair and sat down again. Much more of this, and they were both leaving.

  Susan looked at Dave. He shook his head.

  “He said...” Susan took a deep breath. “He said some kind of riddles. Goosey, goosey gander and pussy cat, pussy cat. Then he said he couldn’t wait for me to come back so he could work his magic.” Susan gulped back tears. “The last one he said he missed me and welcome home.”

  Why the hell was Greenwood asking all these questions? They had the tape. All he had to do was listen to it. What more did they want?

  Detective Greenwood took notes while they talked.

  “You knew Jack and Jill personally.”

  “Yes.” Susan squirmed in her chair.

  Dave drummed his fingers on the table.

  “Do you know anyone who would want to harm Mr. and Mrs. Shipman?”

  That’s it. He had enough. “Damn it, Greenwood, where are you going with this? They were her friends. She knew all the victims. What does that prove?”

  Greenwood flipped off the recorder. “If you can’t be quiet, Morgan, I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

  “That’s just what we’re going to do. Come on, Susan.” Dave stood and took Susan’s hand.

  “Actually, Dave, I think you better go talk to the chief. I only have a couple more questions for Ms Weston.”

  Dave sat down and glared at Greenwood. “I’ll wait.”

  Detective Greenwood pressed the record button. “You’re sure you don’t know who’s committing these crimes?”

  “Oh, for crying out loud!” Dave jumped up again. “Of course she doesn’t know who committed them. How many times does she have to tell you that?”

  “That’s it! Get out!” Detective Greenwood shot up and stood toe-to-toe with Dave. “I let you stay out of courtesy. Now I’m telling you to leave.”

  Dave shook his head.

  “It’s okay, Dave. Go ahead, I’ll be fine.”

  Dave pulled his chair around, sat back down and crossed his arms.

  Detective Greenwood walked to the door, opened it, and spoke to someone outside. “Please escort Detective Morgan from the room.”

  Two police officers came in and stood next to Dave. The younger of the two slipped his finger around the collar of his shirt and raised his shoulders. The discomfort was evident in his action.

  Dave stood and looked at her. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

  She shook her head.

  “Go see the chief while we finish up here,” Greenwood said in a calmer voice. He closed the door after Dave left and turned back to Susan.

  * * *

  Susan sat forward in her chair. She had never seen Dave so angry. Something strange was going on. Dave knew more than he told her. And she didn’t like Greenwood and his implications. She felt like a criminal. She turned her attention back to him.

  “Now then, are you sure you don’t know the perpetrator?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then can you tell me why you called a phone booth on Liberty and Professor from your apartment on October 13th?”

  Susan sat up straighter. “What are you talking about? I never called a phone booth.”

  “Your phone records show otherwise.”

  “There must be some mistake.” She buried her head in her hands. God, she couldn’t think anymore.

  “Your bracelet was found at the scene of the first crime.”

  “It fell out of my pocket. I already explained this to Detective Morgan. I’m sure it’s in his report.”

  Susan couldn’t help but notice Greenwood’s handwriting. The height of his ’t’ was taller than normal, which showed he demanded respect and expected others to treat him with dignity.

  Darn it, she demanded respect, too, and she didn’t feel she was getting it.

  “That’s just it. It isn’t. So how about if you explain it to me.”

  Susan looked at him. His dark eyes bore into her. She’d had enough.

  She stood up. “Am I under arrest?”

  Detective Greenwood pushed his chair back, stood, and blocked her path to the door.

  “Am I under arrest?” she repeated.

  “Let’s just say I’m detaining you.”

  “For what reason?”

  “Sit down, Ms Weston.”

  “I want a lawyer.”

  “You’re entitled.” Detective Greenwood walked to the door. “Sit down. I’ll be right back.”

  Susan brushed away tears she couldn’t control. She didn’t have a good feeling about this. Something told her she was a suspect. God, where was Dave when she needed him?

  The door opened a few minutes later, and Dave came in. Susan ran into his arms.

  “Come on, we’re leaving.”

  He didn’t need to tell her twice. She followed him out to his car, running to keep up with his quick pace. “Greenwood said he was detaining me.”

  “I took care of it. You’re free to go.”

  Once outside, she broke down. “They consider me a suspect, don’t they? They think I have something to do with these horrible crimes.”

  “I know. I talked to the chief. He suspended me until further notice.”

  “Why? What’s going on?”

  “Tampering with evidence. Chief said I should have booked that bracelet, no matter what I thought.”

  “So what happens now?”

  “It was my call, and I stand behind it. They’ll find out soon enough. Hill sure opened up a can of worms with that article. They think your father’s shooting was connected somehow.”

  “Do you think it is?”

  “Random act. Not connected at all. I tried to tell them that. But once the Riverdale Rag connected you in their stories, it just made the Chief more curious about all this.”

  “What can we do?” Susan was beginning to rue the day she got this assignment. How was she going to prove she had nothing to do with those crimes? Why were they taking it out on Dave? The whole thing had turned her into a blubbering idiot. “Oh, they think I made a phone call to that phone booth outside my apartment.”

  “What are you talking about? What phone call?”

  “My phone records show a phone call to the phone booth. I have no idea what they’re talking about. It has to be some mistake.”

  “That doesn’t even make sense. Even if you were involved, who would you call at a phone booth?”

  * * *

  Dave stayed until two in the morning. He hadn’t told her the chief said he shouldn’t have been taken in by a pretty skirt. The scene with the chief wasn’t pleasant. It surprised him they didn’t throw him off the force. The chief knew him better than that. He never let his heart rule a case, and he didn’t this time. Unfortunately, the chief didn’t believe him.

  He looked at Susan asleep in his arms, picked her up, and carried her to her bed. She woke up when he pulled back the covers. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He kissed her cheek, and she turned over and fell back to sleep.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next morning, sunlight filled the room. Susan had forgotten to pull the shades again. For a moment, she thought she was back in Florida, but all too soon reality sunk in. She checked the time.

  Ten o’clock, she never slept that late. Darn it, now she’d have to hurry.

  She untangled the blanket from her legs and got up. Bella stretched lazily next to her.

  While the coffee brewed, she showered, dressed, and called Clare to let her know she was running late.

  After finishing her coffee and feeding Bella, she was on her way to meet Clare before eleven. She wished they had called Kate and had her meet them, too. It wasn’t often all three sisters got together for no special reason. She thought about her sisters and the fun they used to have, but then Kate moved to Fremont after John jilted her. Poor thing couldn’t handle all the sympathetic looks from everyone.

  Kate said it was an opportunity she had to take. Someday, she wanted to st
art her own quilt shop. Managing the one in Freemont taught her a lot and allowed her to get away pretty much any time she wanted now. Susan hated the idea that Kate still settled on managing instead of owning. But that was Kate. When John dumped her, she lost her confidence. How did a man do that to a woman? How did a woman allow it to happen? No one was going to control her life, especially a man. Not even Dave.

  That’s why she had to cool it with him. Things were getting too heated. She enjoyed his company, but she was definitely relying on him too much. She liked Dave, really she did. Heck, she was falling in love with him. But her job came first. Always had, and she wasn’t about to change that now. Not for anybody.

  Okay, so her heart betrayed her. She still had her head, and that said no way. Going to Florida with him made her lose sight of that. That was a mistake. But they were back now, and she was going to throw herself into work with a vengeance. She would enjoy Dave’s company while he was around, but no way would she live her life for him.

  Even Clare let Steve have everything his way, and look what happened to her. Susan couldn’t take that chance. When she decided, or if she decided to take the plunge, she’d have her career to fall back on.

  Memory of the police station suddenly surfaced. Dave had gone to bat for her, even got suspended because of her. She owed him something, but not her life. Right now, she didn’t want to think about last night, about the interrogation. She just wanted to enjoy the day with her sister.

  She turned off highway 91 and found the restaurant. Once inside, she settled into a booth, and ordered a strawberry daiquiri. Not the smartest thing to order on an empty stomach, but after yesterday, she needed something.

  Darn, why did she keep thinking about bad stuff? She was supposed to be here enjoying herself. She looked around the restaurant.

  Waterfalls, lit from behind, splashed behind glass on the walls, palm trees stood in the corners, and fern hung from the ceiling, creating a tropical atmosphere. It reminded her of Florida and Dave. Drinks were served with roses, orchids, and other tropical flowers instead of the usual orange or lemon wedges. Neat place, Susan decided. Hopefully, the food was as good as the atmosphere and the prices. She looked at her watch. It wasn’t like Clare to be late.