Away in a Murder

by Tina Anne

  “You know I will.”

  Frankie and I left and walked to work at the park.

  Chapter 9: Relaxing With Dinosaurs

  On the walk to work I decided I needed to put my foot in my mouth.

  “So, you know Pete’s gay, right?” I said to Frankie.

  “Mom!” Frankie stopped and looked at me with an open mouth. Was his face turning red? Did I embarrass him?

  “What? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I really like Pete. I just wondered if you knew.”

  “Yes, I know. How do you know?” He gave me a look that said that he thought I was being stereo typical and because I was his mom I had no idea what I was talking about.

  I gave him a “really” look. Then I went on.

  “Number one; always remember I had a life before you were born. I met a lot of people and did a lot of things you will probably never know about. Nor do you need to know. One of those things involves knowing Pete’s uncle. Who, by the way could be described by the word ‘flaming’. But he was proud to be gay in an era when most people stayed in the closet. And he was my friend. ”

  “And?”

  “And there are a lot of gay men out there. I’ve known plenty of them. I’ve been really good friends with plenty of them. Still am, albeit long distance.”

  “Number two?”

  “Are you blind at work? From my observations and from talking to others I have learned that theme parks seem to be a magnet for gays in general, but the men especially,” I said.

  “How would you know? This is your only theme park experience.”

  “That’s true, but there are people working for us who have worked for the big name parks. I was talking to one of them when the subject came up,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “Joe from accounting.”

  “Oh, yea, he’s definitely gay.”

  “No kidding there’s a picture of him and his husband on his desk. He’s proud of being gay. Which I admire. Any way, we came to the conclusion that it’s because the parks are more open to different types of people. There’s a place for everyone. Maybe it’s kind of like a throwback to the circus.”

  “The circus?” he asked. He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

  “Yes, the circus. People who could not fit in the society of their time could fit in at the circus. Everyone fit in there. People who do not necessarily fit in regular society today, for whatever reason, seem to be attracted to the parks. Everyone fits in somewhere here.”

  “That could be. We certainly have a wide range of personalities. Straight and gay.” Frankie smiled at this. We started walking again.

  “By the way, I almost forgot to warn you about something. A couple of days ago Melanie asked me if she could ask you out,” I said.

  Frankie stopped again. We were never getting to work “What? What did you say?”

  I guess I put my foot in my mouth again. Oops.

  “I told her I didn’t have a problem with her asking you out. I like her.”

  “Mom, are you insane?”

  “Not yet. Why?”

  “You may not have realized it, but she has slept with a new person probably every week. She probably has notches on her bedpost.”

  Whoa, so not the picture I had of her.

  “It’s not a harassment thing is it?” I asked, hoping he’d say no.

  “As far as I can tell, no. She doesn’t threaten people or anything, she just seduces them.”

  “Oh. I didn’t realize she did anything like that. If I had I never would have told her to go ahead and ask. Funny, she doesn’t strike me as being that way. I really like her.”

  “That’s because she acts one way in front of women and another way when she’s alone with a man she thinks she can conquer. I’ve been avoiding being alone with her even though it hasn’t been easy.”

  “Ok, but maybe her asking permission to ask you out is a sign that she’d interested in having a relationship with you.”

  “I doubt it, Mom. Besides, not only am I not interested in a relationship right now, but I am definitely not interested in a relationship with someone who has her reputation.”

  “No wonder her hair was on Al’s shirt, she probably slept with him. Which increases her ranking as the killer,” I said. “Hey, if she gets charged with murder she can’t ask you out from her jail cell.”

  “No, it doesn’t increase her ranking. You have no idea when those hairs got on his shirt. Besides, I doubt she could drag the body. She’s rather skinny.”

  At this point we passed by Frankie’s office. We said our goodbyes and I went out the back door and did my rounds in the park. Everything was looking so good and festive. I was feeling happy just looking at the park. I couldn’t wait for the Christmas holiday celebrations to begin.

  I said my usual hellos and thank yous to everyone I saw.

  As I walked I passed Jerome and some members of his team; Bob, Charlotte, and Richard. They were pointing at one of the rides and talking. I didn’t want to disturb them, but I was concerned. I said hello from a distance. They all said hello back to me. Jerome winked at me and gave me a thumbs up. I felt better. I knew it was his way of assuring me that nothing was wrong. So, I continued with my walk.

  We were starting to decorate for the Christmas season. It was so cute. There were themed evergreen trees everywhere. There were trees decorated with cowboy hats, boots, and sheriff badges in Frontier Planet. The tree in Magic planet had been decorated with things such as wands, spell books, wizard hats, and witches’ cauldrons. Some of our normal statues of animals, dinosaurs, robots and such now wore Santa hats or elf hats. Some of them even held wrapped packages. The kids were going to love it. The adults were going to love it. I loved it.

  As I walked I came across Nigel. He was sitting on a bench in Mesozoic Planet. This was our dinosaur themed area. It wasn’t restricted to the plants and dinosaurs that lived during the Mesozoic era; we just thought the name sounded cool. Besides the Jurassic period had already been taken.

  “May I sit down,” I asked him.

  “Yea, sorry.” He just looked straight ahead.

  Sorry for what I didn’t know. I sat next to him. He looked very upset. I guessed he was worried about Al’s murder. I sat and waited for him to speak.

  “This is my favorite part of the park,” he said. “I come here when I need to relax. I just sit on a bench and watch people. And dinosaurs.”

  Off in the distance a dinosaur roared. There was a rusting in the trees behind us that was supposed to make you think a dinosaur was watching you. It made me jump.

  “It doesn’t scare me anymore,” Nigel said with a slight smile. “I now know just about where and when the special effects will happen. Which is great. I love to watch the plesiosaur come out of the lake. Especially when the kids get excited and start jumping up and down. And I’m not even a dinosaur fan.”

  I smiled at him. I really liked him. He couldn’t be a killer, could he?

  “I needed cheering up today,” he continued. “Chief Campion came to see me last night about Al Learner being murdered. I don’t understand why somebody would kill another person at all?”

  “I don’t understand actually taking another human’s life, but I do understand being angry enough to,” I said honestly.

  “I can’t believe they used my knife. Why would somebody kill someone else with my knife?”

  “Maybe you should lock your office.”

  “Did that before I came here. After the police finished searching it. Locking my door is really going to throw the cleaning crew off tonight. I’m not even sure they know my office locks.” He chuckled lightly at this.

  “I’d like to see the security footage of that,” I said smiling. Then it hit me. “Nigel, wasn’t there security footage of the murderer taking the knife from your office?”

  “I asked that same thing. Apparently the only suspicious footage was of someone dressed all in black, including a black hooded jacket. Whoever it was never looked u
p, they were probably trying to hide their face. They walked in, they walked out. That’s it.”

  “Damn, I hoped maybe that would save you.”

  “No, I saw the footage and I couldn’t even tell you for sure that it wasn’t me.”

  We sat for a few moments and listened to the dinosaurs. I got to see the plesiosaur come up out of the lake. Nigel was right it was very cool. I smiled as I watched.

  “So, do you have an alibi for the murder, if I may ask?” I said.

  “You may ask. As my boss you have a right to know.”

  “I’m not asking as your boss. I’m concerned about you.”

  He looked at me and smiled.

  “I know, you’re so nice. No, I was at home watching a cheesy science fiction movie. I do love those. And I recorded it on my DVR. So that doesn’t help.”

  “Did you make any calls? Go on the internet? Order take out?” Anything? Throw me a bone here, Nigel, I’m trying to help.

  He looked at me with wide eyes. “Yes, I had pizza delivered. That could help solidify my alibi. Right? I still have the receipt and the delivery man knows me.”

  “Is he your friend?”

  “No. I mean I order pizza from them about once a week. He knows me for that reason. Plus I give a generous tip.” He looked a little embarrassed about it.

  “It could help if you have the information. Call the Chief and tell him what you thought of. But don’t tell Marlowe I suggested it. He might get mad at me for interfering.”

  “I won’t. I understand why they found my card in Mr. Learner’s wallet. I mean I was his contact here at the park; of course he’d have my card. What I don’t understand is why the killer used my knife. Why mine?”

  “Probably to set you up,” I said.

  The group of engineering people I saw earlier walked by. Nigel and I said hello to them. We made small talk for a few minutes and then they were on their way.

  “I’m amazed at Bob,” Nigel said.

  “Why is that?”

  “Well, he’s one of the people who were demoted when you and Frankie took over. He’s now working for Jerome who used to work under him. But, he doesn’t really seem mad.”

  “Hopefully he’s not,” I said. “We tried to put people where they were best qualified. Besides, we hired an outside company to do the evaluations. Frankie and I really had no say in the matter.”

  Nigel looked at me. “Not everyone saw it that way. I think they are all ok with it now, but then some people were pretty mad.”

  “I can understand that but it was nothing personal. We had to do what was best for the company.”

  “You don’t have to tell me. I get it, but then again I kept my job. But it may have been personal to them.”

  “I can see that.”

  “Just like taking my knife was personal to me. Misty, why my knife?”

  “To set you up, Nigel. Plain and simple.”

  “Ok, but couldn’t they have selected something else from my collection? I have knives of less value in there. They had to take the oldest one I had. My great grandfather was the original owner of that knife. It was very old. In fact it wasn’t even sharp any more, you know that. . It was hand carved for him from the bone of a whale. I think it was even considered sacred.”

  “I guess the killer had no sense of value. Or history.”

  “If I would have killed Mr. Learner, that’s if, I wouldn’t have used my own knife. And certainly not that one. I wanted to pass it down one day.”

  “Do you have kids, Nigel?” I asked.

  “Not yet. I have to find the right woman first. She hasn’t appeared yet.”

  “Ok, well, let’s clear you of murder charges first. Then maybe you’re Miss. Right will come along.”

  “Yea, hard to get a date when you have a murder charge over your head.” We both smiled at his little joke.

  “Yep. And this is a pretty small town. Whoever doesn’t know your knife was used will by day’s end.”

  From a distance we heard the day’s opening ceremony. Every morning we chose a family from those who were waiting at the gate. The family got to announce over a microphone that Adventure Universe was now open. In return they got a few surprises including being the first ones on the ride of their choice, a free photo package, and one free quick serve meal per person. Oh, and a rather cool certificate with their name on it.

  “Well, we’re about to open. I guess I’d better get going to my office,” he said.

  We both stood up. We walked together back to the administration building. As we walked we pointed out the various Christmas decorations that we liked. Once we entered the back stage area we said goodbye and went to our separate offices.

  Chapter 10: Investigation or Burglary? You Decide

  Once in my office I turned on my computer. While it warmed up I grabbed a Dr. Pepper from my mini fridge. I sat down at my desk and tried to concentrate on the day’s business. I responded to emails and attended a meeting. But focusing was difficult. Al’s murder kept popping in to my head.

  At lunch time I let my secretary, Della, know that I was going to take an extended lunch break. She said she would rearrange things if necessary. She was the most efficient person I knew. I was grateful to have her. In the beginning she had a hard time getting used to my weird schedule. She was used to bosses who worked the general nine to five, Monday through Friday. There was nothing about a theme park or me that was nine to five. I worked as early as seven a.m. and as late as midnight. I could work for ten days straight then take three days off. My hours depended on what I needed to do. And sometimes on my desire to be there.

  At lunch time Frankie and I walked from the park, past the house, to the hotel. As we walked I told him what I’d learned during my conversation with Nigel.

  “You’re not the only one who’s been busy. Pete learned that Melanie’s DNA was on a certain part of Al’s body,” Frankie said. He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me as if I didn’t understand.

  “According to what you told me her DNA has been on lots of people’s bodies. How’d Pete learn about that, anyway?”

  “Don’t ask. He has contacts. That’s all I’ll say.”

  “Enough said. So, her DNA was on a private part of Al’s body.”

  “So that means she had to have been with him close to the time of the murder. Otherwise he would have showered it off.”

  “Well, that’s disgusting but interesting. Especially when you add the fact that they were an item once,” I said.

  “Yea, but I just don’t see it. She doesn’t strike me as the killer type. But we’ll talk more later.”

  The killer type? What was that? Someone who looked psycho all the time? We all had the potential in us to kill if necessary. Certainly if someone tried to harm any of my kids or grandkids I could kill them if I had to. Did that make me the killer type? I’d have to have that discussion with Frankie later.

  We had arrived at the hotel’s steps. I looked up at the building and still could not believe that someone had once used this massive building as a house. We climbed the steps and entered the lobby. William was there to greet us.

  “Misty, Frankie, how are ya’ll doing?” he said.

  We each shook hands with him. He pressed something in to my hand. I slid it into my pocket without even looking at it.

  “I was told you come to see what they’d done on the second floor. The front desk told me to make sure no one disturbs you. Oh, and security told me them cameras on that floor ain’t working right now. So be careful.” He winked as he said this.

  “Thank you, William. I greatly appreciate your assistance,” I said.

  “Ya’ll follow me. By the way them construction guys are on their lunch break. They just went now. Should be gone for maybe an hour.”

  We walked up the steps to the third floor together. When we got to the top of the stairs William said, “I’ll let ya’ll know if anyone comes near.”

  “Thank you,” Frankie said,” but isn’t this unchristian
like behavior?”

  “Ya’ll are tryin’ to find that man’s killer. Tryin’ to right a wrong. Besides, you saved Jerome once. We owe you.”

  I smiled and winked at William. He assumed a guard like position at the top of the stairs. Frankie and I turned down the hall. We stopped at the room Al was using and I unlocked the door with the key that William had slipped to me.

  We certainly had given Al a great room. There was a mural of clouds on the ceiling. It had a border around it that framed it very nicely. The portions of it that were painted in gold had real gold in it. It also had a wonderful view of the lake that sat behind the hotel. I could see using this as my bedroom. It would be so cool to wake up to that view every day.

  We shut the door behind us. Then we closed the curtains just in case.

  “I’ll take the bathroom. You take the bedroom,” Frankie said. He handed me a pair of rubber gloves. I raised my eyebrows at him. “I got them from the cleaning supply closet at work. We don’t want to leave any fingerprints.”

  He was right. Smart boy. Marlowe’s men had already searched the room, but what if they came back and found our fingerprints here later? He’d be really mad at us. I’d rather keep Marlowe on my good side.

  I took the gloves and began my search of the bedroom. First I tried to look under the bed. I forgot, it’s a hotel. Hotel beds are always on a platform. You couldn’t hide anything under there if you wanted to. So I moved on to the night stands. Nothing in them, under them, or around them. I mean no personal items at all. Did Marlowe take everything or did Al not bring anything?

  Next I turned my attention to the dresser/entertainment center. It seemed to be empty of clothes, except for a few items that I assumed Marlowe didn’t think were important. I looked in the drawers. Under the drawers. Behind the drawers. Then when I flipped the bottom drawer over I saw an envelope taped to it. I opened the envelope and slid the contents out. I didn’t want to remove the envelope so Marlowe’s team could stumble on it later. I wasn’t sure how they’d stumble on it, but I’d try to make sure they did.

  I looked through the sheets of paper. It was a list of some kind. The names and descriptions were typed but the rest was hand written. It looked like this: