Murder Ink

by Betty Hechtman

  THIRTY

  Monday morning, I awoke to the sound of the garbage truck making a pickup. Rocky was asleep on my pillow behind my head again. It seemed like a good sign that he was feeling at home. I was anxious to get going on my day. I was anxious to get my meeting with Camille Parker over with. I was just anxious.

  Getting dressed was tricky. It was important for me to look professional, but I also had that last gym class to take. I wore my usual black leggings paired with a long black tunic on top. It was a little dressy for the dance class, but I was sure it would be fine. I finished it off with a jean jacket and a scarf. My walking shoes would have to do for both. Just when I was about to leave, my cell phone rang.

  It was Evan. ‘I want to hear everything,’ I said, as I grabbed the messenger bag and headed for the door. ‘But I’m rushing for the train.’ As soon as he heard I was going downtown, he wanted to meet me. It was important that we met in person because he had something he wanted to show me. I told him about my schedule, and he offered to meet me after class at the Starbucks near the dance gym.

  I signed off just as I shut the front door. I tried to tell myself to calm down as I walked down the street, but commands and deep breaths didn’t do a thing. It didn’t help that I heard the train arriving just as I’d started up the stairs to the platform. I ran all the way up the stairs and rushed onto the train just as the conductor was about to close the doors.

  I walked the six blocks to the Parkers’ building without paying much attention to my surroundings. And then I was there being ushered in by the doorman.

  ‘At least you’re on time,’ Camille said, when she opened the door. As before, there was no welcoming smile or even a good morning. I followed her into the living room and was surprised to see her daughters sitting on the couch. They appeared to be in their early twenties, and had that polish that came from expensive clothes and a lot of spa time. In other words, they were junior models of their mother. When it seemed she wasn’t going to bother introducing me, I did it myself and told them I’d included them in the book. They looked at me like I was the help. I was actually glad that Camille didn’t make any pretense about it being social by offering me a drink or even a seat. I just wanted to show her what I’d done and get out of there. Maybe a tiny part of me would have also liked to ask her about Luke, but I’d already dealt with the fact it was pointless.

  ‘Let’s see it,’ she said, holding out her hand.

  I pulled out the binder and pointed out the envelope containing the thumb drive attached on the inside. I thought the presentation was quite nice, but she didn’t seem to notice. She flipped through all of the pages first and went back and started to read. I worried how she’d react when she got to the story I’d created from what Mr Parker had said, since the very fact I’d talked to him had set her off. Her face never changed as she went through the pages and it was impossible to read her reaction. She finally got to the end and I felt my heart rate kick up. This was it.

  ‘Well?’ I prompted.

  She glanced at it again and pursed her lips. ‘You stirred up a hornet’s nest,’ she said. I flinched at the cliché but wasn’t going to mention it to her or offer other word choices. She hardly looked in the mood. ‘Mr Parker wasn’t supposed to be involved. I was trying to protect him and now he’s upset with me.’ She scowled and I thought back to what he’d said to me. He’d thanked me for what I’d done. He probably hadn’t meant it and was angry at me, too. I just apologized again and again.

  It calmed her only slightly and she said something about the book would have to do in a dismissive tone. And she handed me a check for half of the agreed amount without comment. What was I going to do, sue her?

  Without even a thank-you or have a nice day, she led me to the door. And then I was in the hall. The only thing I could say was that the job was done. I went down the hall to the elevator wondering how my reduced pay was going to affect my celebration lunch. I’d probably stick to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich when I got home.

  I pushed the button for the elevator and was joined by a woman with several dogs on leashes. I smiled and reached down to give their heads a pat and looked up at the woman as I stood. She looked familiar. ‘Do I know you?’ I asked.

  She looked at me in the same manner. ‘I know,’ she said after a moment. ‘We met at the Pet Emporium.’

  ‘That’s right, you’re the dog walker,’ I said remembering meeting her.

  ‘And you’re the writer,’ she said.

  ‘I guess we’re both here in our professional capacities,’ I said, giving the dogs a nod. I held out my messenger bag. ‘I just delivered the material for a memory book,’ I said, pointing down the hall.

  ‘It’s for the woman who went off the balcony, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘Melissa said you did some work for her family.’

  ‘That’s right. And she told me that you were here the day it happened.’

  The elevator arrived and we got on and it began to go down.

  She nodded and then seemed to be thinking about something. ‘I never put it together until now. I’d just picked up a pair of poodles I walk regularly who live next door. I noticed someone come out of that woman’s apartment.’ She paused to collect herself. ‘And when I got downstairs, she was already on the ground.’

  I was processing what she’d told me. Everyone had said that Rachel was alone when she went off the balcony, but if someone was there, well, it changed everything. At the very least, it meant they hadn’t stopped her and at the very worst had urged her to do it. ‘Was it a man, or a woman? What did they look like?’ I asked.

  ‘I just saw them in my peripheral vision. It could have been a woman, but I’m not sure. The poodles went wild and I was worried about corralling them before they jumped at the person. By the time I got to the elevator, there was no one there.’ Her description didn’t eliminate anyone.

  We went our separate ways when we got downstairs. The sidewalks were more crowded now that it was midday, but I barely noticed as I wondered about the person who’d been there during Rachel’s last moments.

  I had to let the thoughts go when I got to Dance with Me. Besides, what could I do about anything with Rachel anyway? The job for her was over. I was hardly in the mood for a class called A Latin Beat but it was the last one I had left to experience. People were just arriving for the next class when I got to the dance gym. Darcy was at the reception counter, but the woman who subbed for her was checking people in. Debbie was in the front and just setting up. I dropped off my stuff and took out the sheet with what I’d written about her and the questions I had. I wasn’t taking any chances that she’d run off before I could get the information. I’d ask her before class.

  She looked up when I approached. ‘Hi,’ I said with a friendly smile. ‘I thought we could try talking before the class.’

  She didn’t appear sold. ‘I don’t know how much better that will work. When it’s time to start the class, no more questions.’

  I assured her I only needed a few details and asked her a few questions about her background, which she answered in a couple of sentences. I scribbled down her answers and was about to turn to go. ‘When I first came here, I was looking for stories about Rachel – I guess you knew her as Ray. Now that I have the time to ask you about her and it’s too late. I’m done with that job.’

  Debbie shrugged. ‘I don’t know what I could have told you. I really didn’t know her any better than any of the other members.’ She looked up at the clock. ‘Sorry to cut you off, but it’s time to dance.’

  I quickly shoved the papers in the cubby where I’d left my things. I had one of those moments when you feel reminded of something, but you don’t quite know what. And then all of a sudden it made sense. But I was still confused about Debbie’s comment.

  ‘Hey, New Girl,’ Kat said, waving me over as I looked for a space to stand.

  I was glad to see her and stopped between her and Kelly just as the music came up. I struggled with the class. I was
n’t sure if it was that my feet wouldn’t move fast enough to keep up with the steps, or that my mind was elsewhere. When the class ended, I apologized to Kat and Kelly for my clumsiness. I also told them that I’d used Kat’s story in the booklet I’d done for Rachel. I was about to go grab my stuff when I had a thought and asked them about Debbie’s relationship with Rachel, saying that I’d heard from several people that they were close. What Kelly told me changed everything. And now I knew what had happened to Rachel and to me. What could I do? Only in a mystery story did all the characters get together to discuss who did it, and then the guilty party calmly waited for the police.

  THIRTY-ONE

  A new teacher was standing in the front now getting ready for the next class. I took one look at the reception counter and pushed through the people on their way out of the dance gym and sprinted toward the stairs leading to the El tracks.

  I ran up the stairs and through the station. I didn’t have time to fuss with a ticket and slipped over the turnstile, hoping no one was looking. When I got to the platform there was just one person waiting for the train.

  ‘You lied,’ I said. ‘When I told you I heard that Rachel was close to someone at your place, you said it had to be Debbie. You acted as if you didn’t even know who Rachel was. But Debbie just told me that she didn’t really know Rachel. And then one of the members told me that Rachel and you had been inseparable and that she called you DeeDee.’ Darcy looked at me with surprise, then her eyes changed to cunning.

  ‘I was afraid something like this would happen with you. I’ve been watching you fall apart,’ she said. ‘All the stress has gotten you. All your work and so much pressure. You’ve been getting confused. Forgetting that you ordered packages and imagining that you’ve seen things.’ Her voice was hypnotic as she stared at me. ‘You just need to take a deep breath and relax. I can help you.’

  ‘It might have worked with Rachel Parker, but not me. I know how you did it. F. Poppins.’

  She’d been moving closer until she was almost next to me. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re just confused.’

  ‘I know how you used a remote control on my TV from across the street, that you got in my place over the balcony to switch the DVDs and just now I realized you had access to my phone during the dance classes. You had my credit card number from the time I ordered the ballet slippers and you must have figured out how to unlock my phone when you used it to take my picture.’ She stared at me. ‘Why?’ I asked and her face grew fierce.

  ‘As soon as I heard you were involved in their wedding, I wanted to punish you for helping them.’

  ‘So, then this all has to do with Luke Ross?’ I said. And then I remembered that she’d said she was looking for a fresh start after a bad breakup. ‘Were you and Luke a couple?’

  ‘Bingo, you win the prize,’ she said sarcastically. ‘We were more than a couple. We were soulmates. He was the love of my life. But she was like the shiny new thing.’

  ‘Then you were going together when he met her?’ I asked.

  ‘We’d broken up, but I knew we’d get back together. We would have gotten back together if it hadn’t been for her.’ Darcy’s demeanor had changed, and it seemed like she was in the midst of a delusion. I was guessing that she thought with Rachel out of the way, she’d get him back.

  ‘I had to do something,’ she began. ‘He thought giving me some money to start this gym would be enough to settle things. Ha! I started stalking her. Stupid Rachel never even noticed. And when I conveniently took the table next to her at a coffee place, she didn’t suspect a thing. I struck up a conversation and since I already knew a lot about her, made it seem like we had so much in common. I made sure we ran into each other a few more times and suggested we get coffee. I’ve always been good at sizing people up. I figured right away that she was probably unhappy with her curves. As soon as I told her about the gym and how she could get a ballerina’s body, she wanted to join. And then she was my captive audience. She admitted her insecurities and while I appeared to reassure her at first, I used them to smash her confidence a little later. I convinced her that she needed to lose weight, or her husband would lose interest. Then I played mind games with her. It was easy to grab her phone during the class and send texts and order things online.

  ‘I kept making her doubt herself and she became more and more fragile. I convinced her that everyone was against her and that she could only trust me. Once she’d told me about what happened to her mother, that she’d had a breakdown and overdosed, I knew what I had to do. I just had to convince Rachel that she was the same and that there was only one way out.’

  ‘I know you were there when she went over the balcony.’

  Darcy made a face at me. ‘I told her that Luke had found someone else and was going to desert her and how humiliating it would be. She was leaning against the barrier on the balcony. She looked over and then she jumped.’

  ‘I don’t believe she jumped,’ I said. ‘Luke told me about the unsent text on her phone that said: I need help. He’d taken it as referring to her mental state and that it was a suicide note. But that’s not what it was, was it? She was trying to call for help because she felt threatened by you. But she never got to send the text. You pushed her, didn’t you?’

  ‘I kept on hammering at her and she started to argue. I couldn’t wait any longer, so I pretended to be going to give her a hug and pushed her over the side instead.’

  Darcy stared at me, locking onto my gaze. ‘But then you understand, don’t you? You know what it feels like to be all alone in the world. Your mother died, your father died. You can’t manage a relationship. You can’t manage to write another book. You’re worthless, you have no reason to keep on going.’ She was saying it in that hypnotic voice and much as I tried to fight it, it was feeding into all my insecurities.

  I didn’t realize it, but she’d been subtly changing her position which instinctively caused me to move as well. She was facing me and my back was to the edge of the platform.

  ‘All you have to do is let yourself go. Let yourself fall. It’ll be over in an instant.’

  I knew she meant landing on the third rail. It carried the electric power for the El and one touch and I’d be fried. Just as I saw how precarious a spot I was in and tried move, she made a push toward me. I braced for the hit, but before she connected someone grabbed my arm and pulled me away. Darcy teetered, tried to regain her balance, and tumbled off the platform. There was a loud noise that sounded a little like thunder as she landed on the electrified rail.

  I looked up to see who my savior was.

  ‘Evan!’ I said with surprise. At that moment, a voice from the other end of the platform yelled, ‘Freeze.’

  THIRTY-TWO

  A transit cop stood poised to shoot me with a taser gun. ‘You people who think you can get away without paying.’ He shook his head with disgust and started to say something about arresting me just as he looked over the platform and saw Darcy laying there. Evan held up two tickets and said he’d paid for both of us. ‘It looks like that’s immaterial now. I’d say that’s a worse problem,’ the officer said as he reached for his cell phone.

  Everything became a blur. There were sirens and then a herd of cops and first responders all over the platform. I felt sorry for anyone planning to take the El because everything ground to a stop while they investigated the scene. Evan and I were separated, and we each got our own cop caretaker. I lost track of him as I was taken down to ground level. A mobile command post, which was really a big RV made into a portable police station, was parked under the tracks.

  I was led into a tiny windowless space with white walls and bright lights. It was unnerving to sit on a bench that had a pair of handcuffs hanging off of a bar across it. I instinctively started to massage my wrists. A detective in a suit and tie closed the door behind him and sat down across from me with a pad and paper.

  ‘You just want a statement from me, right?’ I said. I didn’t wait for him t
o answer, but told him the simple facts that Darcy had tried to push me off the platform, but lost her balance when I was pulled out of the way and ended up falling herself.

  The detective looked me in the eye. ‘There must be more than that. Why don’t you tell me the whole story?’ I suddenly felt very uneasy. I knew from writing my mystery that that was the kind of thing cops said to suspects.

  I did my best to lay it all out for him, but it sounded convoluted and I got a lot of details out of order. I tried to explain what Darcy had done to Rachel and to me. Switching DVDs, messing with the television and the sweater I never ordered. Even without using the word gaslighting, it sounded crazy.

  The detective wrote it all down without comment and left. It wasn’t clear if I could leave or not and I had a feeling that was intentional. The afternoon dragged on and I sat in the cubicle alone, worrying. Would they think that I had pushed Darcy? Even if Evan told them what had happened, it might not help. They could think we were in it together. Me and Evan as a gang of thugs? Really?

  I began to fret that I didn’t have my things. I’d run out of Dance with Me without even getting my purse. Just when I was starting to think about who I’d call with my one phone call, the detective came back in.

  I closed my eyes expecting the worst. My distress must have been pretty obvious because the detective said, ‘Hey, it’s OK. You can go.’

  I started to say, huh? but stopped myself. I didn’t want to delay leaving the small space by even a second. I was out of there and on my way to the door of the command post before I could blink twice.

  The afternoon had morphed into evening and the sky was a translucent blue. Evan came outside a moment later. We both looked around like astronauts who’d just dropped back on earth. I heard the squeal of a train above which meant the El was running again. The street was clogged with people on their way home from work.