A Gift for Murder

by Capri Montgomery

  Oh yes, she remembered the evil version of Justin. Justin had dipped her long braided ponytail end in the florescent red ink. He hadn’t just done an inch of one braid; he had done them both. She was so lost in the geography test she was taking that she never felt him touch her hair. If their fourth grade teacher, Holy Chagrin, hadn’t looked up from her book and hollered at him she wouldn’t have known. Sadly for her hair, Justin only got caught because he rose onto his toes to dabble the braid that was hanging out the up twister. Her mother had to cut the damage off. She cried about it, but worse thing was, nobody told her he was doing it. They all saw because they all laughed for days after that.

  Justin had come at her again in seventh grade. He stuck the black garden snake in the hood of her sweater. If she had pulled the hood up, which she would have after school was over, that garden snake would have fallen in her head.

  Megan’s lips curled up slightly. That was the one time Merck had stood up for her. The one, and only, time. “Grow a brain, Justin. Back off before she sticks a rat down your shorts in the gym class today.” He had confiscated the snake from her hood and then dropped it out the open side window. Justin having that snake on him meant his bathroom pass was an outdoor trip instead.

  Megan had seen Merck differently after that until he started being just as malicious, if not more, to her as the other children.

  Forgive and forget. She could forgive but she couldn’t forget. Those school years had been full of many tears, too many nightmares and too many invisible girl wishes. If they couldn’t see her then they couldn’t hurt her.

  She had asked Merck last night why he started being mean after he saved her life.

  Merck laughed. “It was just a garden snake, Meg. It wouldn’t have killed you.”

  “But I may have hurt myself and fallen down the stairs. Since my mom was picking me up early after that class for my doctor visit I would have been going down stairs when I pulled the hood up.”

  He had shrugged. “I didn’t know that.” He shook his head. “I wish I could forget all those years of the bad. I learned from them. But to answer your question the more I tried to make them stop the more they thought I liked you. They teased me while they told me I’d be kissing the class red haired mouse and you would eat my brains out. Even though I knew they were wrong I just…peer pressure is an abyss of stupid. I told them I was trying to make you comfortable, like I was your friend before I rattled your cage.”

  Her hair wasn’t red, which meant they still remembered what Justin had done to her.

  Megan had nodded while thinking that’s what he’d done. She thought she had a real friend and she never would have expected him to take aim at her.

  “Truth is,” he shrugged his shoulders. “I did like you. I liked you in more than a just friends kind of way. I thought I’d take you to prom before we even hit high school, but I caved and I broke us. Then you were gone not too long after I started hoping I could fix the past so I let it go.” He laughed. “Then I see you back here in Forest Springs. I came back to this place and so did you. Fate, I guess. Maybe I can fix the past one day.”

  Merck had stopped talking so he could radio the officers sitting in their cars about something hovering right of them and asked them to check it out. The conversation died because he kept looking for danger outside. It was an enlightening night and she was glad they shared it with each other. Of course with Merck on her mind she wasn’t paying much attention to Bonnie at all.

  Bonnie rattled on about the dead man so much before Megan zoned out that she got the feeling Bonnie knew him well.

  “I was falling in love with Sterling and we were going to be married one day.”

  Et tu, Bonnie. Megan looked over the young demure woman. She was small in height and thin in weight but she had a high sitting bun on her backside and men could love the curve of the part of her body she sat on.

  “I almost didn’t date him until he told me he never dated all the women claiming to have dated him. Only one…” she nodded. “He regretted it, too.”

  Only one out of the women who claimed to love him and be more than platonic friends with him? Really?

  “The owner kept harassing him for a date and the other women kept coming up to him at grocery stores and eating places. He and I ate at my place because of that. He was going to turn in his two week notice that day before he clocked out.” She shook her head in sorrow. “That Tabitha Wister was the one he dated and regretted doing too. He met her at the post office. Big boobs, wide legs and a mountain of weight on her body, but he liked her sprit until she got clingy and weird. He dumped her and then she started showing up at the spa almost every single day to try out treatments and beauty products.” Bonnie shook her head, flipping honey golden locks around her head.

  “She was trouble. I think she would have killed him if she could have. He said that she said he could never be with another and keep breathing to do it.” Bonnie twisted her fingers together anxiously. “If she had been in the spa the night they think he was killed I would bet she did it but she was in Whistler until the day they found the body.”

  Whistler wasn’t more than a couple hours away so anything was possible. “Did she know about you and him?”

  “No. I don’t think so because we never went out in public and we tried to avoid each other’s eyes while he was at the spa working while I was visiting. I hate steam room but I would come once a week in the morning for it. It was the only room empty at seven to eight thirty in the morning and it had to heat up first. I would say I had to drop my bag in one of the lockers and use the jacks, too, before coming back up front.”

  Megan laughed. “You spend much time in Ireland.”

  Bonnie nodded. “Just two months but asking for the bathroom was a sure sign I was American. You go there any? Nobody here would know the jacks are the toilets.”

  Megan nodded. “A year and a half or so. Now tell me about the steam room.”

  Bonnie grinned. “Sterling and I would sneak in there to kiss and make out while nobody was back there. I went on the earlier morning day because nobody booked appointments for that early.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I only almost got caught once. Linda Piker picked an early morning that day and was coming down to the lockers when she saw me coming from the steam room side of the hall instead of down where the lockers were. No big deal because I played it off and I think Sterling came out shortly thereafter but he had his tool chest with him so he looked like he was working on something in there.”

  Megan figured Bonnie took a huge risk. She also knew if Sterling forgot to zip his work pants Linda would notice that. She had heard the woman chattering to the girl next to her in the room the ladies getting ready to go to the rooms they were going to get their spa treatment in.

  “You know you look different. So many sensual curves that are perfectly sculpted. The hair looks good on you, too. It was different before.”

  Megan nodded. Everything was different then.

  Bonnie’s eyes shifted to the unfinished area Megan planned to be an art work section. The more Megan thought of it the more she thought maybe not. The café was enough. It had to be enough because it was what she wanted for always.

  Bonnie complemented the progress of the café before cracking jokes about the city leaders and how dysfunctional they were. How they wouldn’t let anybody bring a new business into town unless it’s one that they can make money off of. Megan was laughing so hard because bonnie was so right.

  Long barrels of laughter lightened up the mood of the week. Two murders and one attack really needed something to lighten the load. Bonnie looked out to the pavement outside and then stood abruptly. “Oh, the detective is coming your way. He is still showing up a lot. Miss Nurse who thought herself too good for Sterling told me she looked back from where she was walking and saw the two of you together. Some may think he likes you. If I wasn’t someone so in love, still, I’d probably go for him. They all really do think he’s completely into you.” She batted
her eyes. “I need to get out of here before he comes in asking more questions when he always says. I will see you later, Megan.”

  Megan thought of Bonnie saying they all think Merck likes her, but if the women didn’t like and socialize with each other why were they spending time talking about Merck and Megan romance? All the women were there the day of the funeral. Some of them had made tart comments, so Megan was sure none of them were unsure that she and Merck were budding something a little more than a connection of just the murder investigation. Unless they were hoping they could con one of them to talk to her about getting investigation details or something.

  Megan’s mind took the B-line and started her to thinking about Bonnie and her words and especially her question about why Merck was called Regal Detective and that nobody knew why as it wasn’t ever a title here. But Megan knew why. Regal Detective Holmes had actually been made a night in England by the Queen herself. From Megan’s memory of history, Merck would be a knight and that glorious knighting originated from the old French. There was nothing title Regal in it but Americans seemed to like butchering cultures and if they just had to do it making a new title, Regal Detective, was a pretty classy way to do it at least.

  Sure, Merck was smart, and he always helped with investigations but she wasn’t so sure what was so special about it; and the Queen seemed to actually knight a lot of people that made absolutely no sense to people outside of England. Or more like to people who did not actually pay attention to English laws. Megan wondered if the Queen would knight a woman. Could a woman actually be knighted? Had any woman ever received the knight honor? Probably not seeing as though knights in armor with swords were centuries ago, and centuries ago men were the only ones picking up swords and fighting wars of protection. Modern-day knight-ship really didn’t have anything to do with galloping up on a horse and saving the King or Queen. The day of Robin Hood was not today. Good movie, though.

  Megan did not really know the real answer to that question of if women could be knighted. The days of the world had changed and women no longer had to ride side horse and sit the battle out. Of course times changing didn’t mean minds changing. So could it happen? She didn’t know, and in so many ways she really didn’t care.

  The good detective who had stayed at her place just last night to make sure she could be okay and made sure the other officers were outside and replaced with new officers when he left wish just find the way he was a knight in covered, mostly covered, armor, decision made by the Queen or not.

  Merck walked inside just as confident as he always seemed to be. He had it in his eyes, that confidence, that you can’t beat me, you can try but I won’t let you, type of stare to anybody standing in front of him. He was confident for sure but he was not as arrogant as anybody would think he would be with other accolades he got around the world for the smart was that he has. Of course she would not to his horror because the last thing she needed right now would be an egocentric detective who does not want, or need, anybody else solving the crime he is on solving. From their first conversation to gather he did make it sound like you wanted her help. But now he doesn’t want her anywhere near the case not even to know what’s going on. Something told her he was probably blaming her that bunny was sitting in her and up and then to café gushing about something he didn’t know anything about and he probably thought it had something to do with his crime scenes. In her that since the laughter had nothing to do with the crime scenes even if the reason she was there did have a little bit to do with it. And if the good detective thought she was going to stop trying to figure things out now he was very much wrong. Somebody that after and there was no way in the world she was going to stop searching for the murderer, or murderers, and the man who attacked her. This was going to be one in case she was not going to stop trying to sort out no matter what he thought she should do.

  Merck sat down on the only other chair sitting in the middle of the floor and the café with one leg crust over the other with his left ankle on his right leg. He sat there addressing her with his eyes and she knew that he was actually sitting there sizing up what seemed to be in front of him when he decided to come into this café. Should she let him know what she was up to, or let him keep guessing and trying to work it out? She had to remind herself that he believed in sticking with her last night so she probably should help.

  “Bonnie came to let you know that she knew who killed Sterling. Or more like she thinks she knows. She thinks the proof of why I could figure out if she’s right and solve the crime because she found out about me and more proof of me has to be buried in some papers somewhere.” Megan chuckled and shook her head. “I was hoping nobody would really figure it out. But I guess I should have known in this town, Forest Springs, you really can’t hide much of anything here.” She watched Merck nod in agreement.

  “I know you are right and you know that I am right when I say that I know you are still trying to figure out the who done it. Your research on this can get you hurt, Megan. I cannot understand why you cannot let this go. I am an expert with being a detective so you can stop trying to be an amateur sleuth just so you can solve the crime.”

  Megan felt her fingers crawling into his hand. He initially asked her to let him know where things were going on. While he asked for it, did he really want her to do it? “I’m not going to stop. And I do know that you can solve this, so solve it. But I cannot make my mind stop thinking about things and linking things together. Add the more I try to stay out of trouble, trouble keeps seeming to keep coming for me.” Megan really did respect the detective but she was who she was in her brain work. The wheel worked just fine, and even if she never wanted to solve anything she always could solve it. She always hated that of other self the right about now she was loving it because right about now she needed to figure out who attacked her and why.

  “Megan,” Merck glared at her as if he wanted to cuff her and shove her in a jail somewhere. There was something invigorating to know she could ruffle the Iron Holmes’ feathers.

  “That’s my name. Miss Porter if you’re nasty.”

  Merck’s cheeks reddened. She loved Janet Jackson’s music and she loved pulling off that nicely naughty line if she could. Nobody thus far had inspired her to go nicely naughty when working like Merck was doing now. She bit her tongue to keep from laughing when Merck stood up, turned his back to her and made adjustments in his southern region. Her Daisy Duke’s shorts for cleaning were a good thing right now. She hated those shorts herself but a useable gift was a useable gift, love it, or hate it.

  “Look, Merck. I did get information on Sterling and his quest for the ladies of the spa, maybe the entire forest.”

  Merck sat put both feet to the floor and leaned his elbows on his legs. “Yeah, what’s that? The women I talked to claimed he was dating all of them.”

  “They might have been, but it would seem Sterling told Bonnie that he only dated Linda and some woman named Tabitha Wister.”

  “The female murdered victim in the spa.” Merck nodded.

  “I didn’t know her name. You never told me, really. But if that was her name, then that is who Bonnie was talking about. She said that he regretted her. On the other end of it I am sure she did first say that Sterling hadn’t dated Heather…so I cannot verify her words on the situation.” She explained it all to Merck. She realized Bonnie could have told her something wrong, but some of it was probably truth.

  “Thanks. I’m not sure if Bonnie is truth telling but I can believe some of what she is saying. A couple of the ladies hated her because they said she was in the wrong place, and Sterling came out the steam room with his zipper down and a far too satisfied look on his face for a man taking care of the maintenance or work. He apparently had to janitor and handyman work.”

  Megan nodded. “I suspected Linda knew about the steam room thing because while Bonnie said she almost got caught I figured she probably did with the daggers some of the women were shooting at her with their eyes. I was sitting of f from
everything when I first got there so nobody really noticed me. Bonnie was there before me, but they took me back first while she sat against the wall filing her nails.”

  Megan started thinking about what Merck had just said to her. “The frozen body in the steam room…”

  “Yeah, it was defrosting in there but it was still mostly frozen solid. Why?”

  “Who has access to the freezer and the steam room before the spa even opens to everybody and after it has closed for the day to everybody other than the employees?”

  “Only one, really. The masseuses, the facial workers, mani-ped crew and hair crew never came in before nine in the morning because they didn’t start until nine thirty. They all ran out when they clocked out.”

  Megan nodded. “I would say Heather Bishop but I don’t think so.”

  “Why not her?”

  “She really did want him; it’s why she kept him on. I saw the dust and dirt behind the chairs in the coming soon waiting room. For a janitor it didn’t look like he had cleaned for weeks. She wouldn’t hurt the man she was lusting over then. She would hurt the woman…like me.”

  “You knew and wanted Sterling?” He groaned on a rough edge glare.

  “No. Sterling is dead and she has set her sights on you. The man was telling me to stay away or I was dead because I think she noticed our connection when you left her to the other officer to question her. I put it together earlier but you’ll have to be the one to arrest her. Arrest him first and break him and he’ll cave on her.”

  Merck looked shocked but she could see everything she said clicking with him. He was the knighted by the Queen Holmes after all. She had also found out that Regal Detective was not his initial title but people teased so much that the mayor who wanted him in Forest Springs created the special title. To be so loved and so wanted had to be a blessing and a curse rolled into one.