Falafel Jones - The Kewpie Killer (20 page)

A voice from outside yelled back, “Open the door, this stuff is heavy.”

Eddie opened the door to an older couple. The woman held in both hands, something horizontal wrapped in a brown paper bag. The man carried an upright paper sack. He said, “Eddie, my boy.”

The woman looked down at the gun in Eddie’s hand and asked, “Is that anyway to greet your mother?” She glanced at the man next to her and added, “Your father, maybe, but your mother?”

Eddie stuck his gun in the back of his pants. “Sorry, Mom.”

Eddie’s mom came in, smiled at me and made a beeline for the kitchen. “Come. This is heavy.” I followed and helped unwrap her package.

Eddie’s dad said, “We brought dinner.” He pulled a cabbage from the sack, tossed it to Eddie and said, “Boil this.” Then he pointed at me. “Raquel, right?”

“Nice to meet you Mr. Franklin.”

“Nah, call me Ed.”

Eddie’s mom said, “… and call me Gladys”

Eddie held up his hands, “Mom, Dad, what’re you doing here?”

Gladys said, “I came to see my boy.”

Ed shrugged. “We wait for an invite, we’d never see you.”

Eddie said, “But I’m in the middle of a case. I don’t have time for –“

Ed said, “What? You don’t have time to eat? You gotta eat. Did you eat yet? No, I didn’t think so. We brought corned beef.”

Eddie looked at the kitchen table and asked, “From Brody’s deli?”

“Yeah, called the order in on the way from New Smyrna Beach. Ready to go when we got to town except for the cabbage.” Ed sat in the recliner in front of the TV. Mom’s going heat things up.” He leered at me and said, “Like she always does.” Then to Eddie, “What are we drinking?”

Eddie brought three bottles of Bud Light from the kitchen, handed one to me and one to his Dad. “Dad, how’d you know I was back?”

“Spoke with your friend last night. Wassa matter, too busy to return calls?”

“Mr. Franklin –“

“Ed.”

“Ed, I wanted to explain about last night… the phone call…”

“No need Kid. I enjoyed it. You gave me a laugh. Think nothing of it. So, Eddie, what are you working on that’s keeping you too busy to call your old man… besides your friend here.”

“Multiple homicides, Dad.”

Ed whistled, “No shit?”

“Language, please, Edward.” Gladys called from the kitchen.

“I curse, she gets pissed.”

“Language, Edward.”

“Yeah, yeah. Sorry.” He drank some beer.

“Yeah, Dad, a couple down here and a couple in New York. Raquel’s a big help. She’s the reporter who made the connection and tied the cases together.”

“No sh… kidding.” Ed grinned and looked toward the kitchen. After a moment of silence, he said, “When I behave, it’s like she’s not even there.”

Gladys yelled, “I heard that.”

“So whaddya got, Eddie?”

“Right now, some of the clues seem to be charms from a charm bracelet.”

“Yeah? Mom used to have one of those… back when we dated.”

“Still do.”

“Still do what Gladdy? Have the bracelet or date?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Ed shook his head in apparent disbelief. “She’d put new charms on it for things that meant something to her.” Ed turned to yell into the kitchen. “Gladdy. You still got that thing?”

“Yes, Dear, in the bottom of my jewelry box. It’s one of those things you keep, probably until you have a daughter or die.”

Eddie and I set his table and just as he went to get another round of beer, his mom pronounced dinner as ready. When I tasted the moist, tender, corned beef, I could see why Eddie acquiesced to the visit. The freshly cooked cabbage didn’t smell that great cooking but tasted delicious. We chatted and ate and I began to feel comfortable with Eddie’s folks.

Ed asked me, “So, Debbie, how you like living in New York?”

Eddie said, “Dad.”

I said, “Excuse me?”

“Sorry, I mean, Raquel. You like New York? Not too cold there?”

“I guess you get used to it. It’s only rough in the winter. Doesn’t it get too hot here in July and August?”

“If you’re older and decrepit like me, you like the warmth, besides we get an ocean breeze back home. Ever think of moving South?”

Eddie pointed his fork at his father. “Dad.”

“What? I’m making dinner conversation here.”

“Fine, next topic.”

“OK. How close’re you to catching this killer?”

“Early tomorrow, very early tomorrow, we fly to New York to follow a lead.”

“OK, I get it. Don’t worry, we can’t stay late. It’s a hour and half to get home. Gladdy, how bout we leave after coffee?”

After dinner, Eddie refused his mother’s offer to help clean up. We said our goodbyes then, he and I started the task.

“How come your dad called me Debbie?”

“Who knows why he does anything he does?”

“You really don’t know or you just don’t want to tell me?”

“Unh, I have an idea why.”

I stood up from placing dishes into the dishwasher and waited.

“I used to date someone named Debbie.”

“Someone?”

“OK, I had a girlfriend named Debbie.”

“How long ago?”

“About six months.”

“Is it over?”

“Yeah.”

“So why the big secret? I didn’t think I was the first girl you ever dated. God, at your age, I’d hope not.”

“What’s wrong with my age? I’m not that much older than you.”

“Nothing’s wrong with your age, but I don’t get why me knowing about Debbie makes you uncomfortable.”

“It doesn’t bother me. I thought you’d be the one uncomfortable.”

“Why? Were you engaged or something?” As soon as I asked the question, I could see the answer on his face. Eddie knew me better than I thought. Discovering the guy I’m dating ended an engagement to be married just before we met set off my alarms. Now, I had to know the details.

“How long were you two together?”

“Three years.”

“What happened?”

Eddie sat down at his kitchen table. “Usual, the cop thing.”

“What do you mean? She was afraid of losing you, tired of sitting home alone, tired of the waiting, tired of worrying?”

“Dunno, I guess… maybe a little of each.”

“You were together three years. It took her that long to figure things out?”

“Sort of. Things varied. For a while it would be quiet… then things would pick up again.”

“… and how do you feel about it? Do you miss her?”

Eddie wiped his face with his hand. “I did… at first. Then, I realized… I am who I am and this is what I want to do. If she loved me, she’d understand that. When she couldn’t deal with the job, I kind of knew, she’d never be able to deal with me. It was end the engagement now or file for divorce later. I can’t be someone, I’m not. How about you?”

“How about me?”

“Yeah, if you were in her situation, could you deal with it?”

“The job or the break-up?”

“The job.”

“You’re right. If you love someone, you love them for who they are… and that includes what they have to do.”

“You mean that?”

“Yeah.”

“Prove it.”

I kissed him. “How’s this?”

“For starters?”

“For starters.”

* * *

I felt Eddie’s hand rocking my shoulder, “Raquel. Raquel, you’re talking in your sleep.”

“What, huh? Oh, sorry. Did I disturb you?”

“No. It’s not that. Are you OK? You seemed… agitated. Mumbling… turning side to side.”

I sat up in bed, Eddie’s bed. I took me a moment to get my bearings. “Had a dream. Sorry.”

“Is it about returning to New York? Worried about that Kewpie Psycho coming after you?”

“No, it’s not that.”

“You can stay here, you know. You don’t have to go to New York.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Eddie sat up and put his arms around me. “You want to talk about it?”

“No… yes. I guess so.”

“Whatever you want.” He kissed my forehead.

“I was a little girl, with my Dad… in a rowboat, so early it was still dark out. He loved to fish and just had to be first on the water. I turned down roller-skating with my friends to be with him and I was miserable… cold, wet and sleepy. I sat huddled in the boat trying to burrow inside my sweatshirt with my rod lying on the bottom of the boat.”

Eddie hugged me and stroked my hair.

“Dad reeled in his line and said, ‘I love you and I love that you thought enough of me to come but it’s OK to prefer to be skating with your friends. We all have to do the things that make us who we are… and those who love us will understand.’ Then he put down his rod, grabbed the oars and said, ‘C’mon, we still have time to get to the rink.’”

“What’s it mean, Raquel?”

“I don’t know. I think… all my life I thought I wanted to be a reporter… like my Dad. I love to write so I never really thought about it, but lately, now that I’m doing it, I’m not so sure that it’s what I want.”

“What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.”

We exited the one terminal building at the Waalbroek airport and stood at the taxi line when a voice yelled, “Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo. Yoo-hoo.”

Eddie made a face. “Who says ‘Yoo-hoo’ these days?”

As the yoo-hooing became louder, its source became clearer. A woman rapidly approached us, waving one arm in the air. In her raised hand, keys jingled. Eddie smiled as the woman tried to run in a long pencil skirt she hiked up with one hand to allow a little more leg movement.

Finally, she came to a stop in front of Eddie and I said, “Hi, Mom. Nice to see you.”

“Oh, I was afraid I was going to miss you.” She fussed with her skirt making sure it lay flat. “The second I try to leave that office is the moment everybody wants something… Detective Franklin.” She held out her hand.

He took it. “Good to see you again, Ms. Flanagan.”

She made a dismissive wave, “Please, Isobel.”

He mimicked her gesture. “Please, Eddie.”

“Mom, why are you here?”

“Missed you, darling. Can’t a mother see her daughter? When you have your own kids,” Mom turned to Eddie, “you’ll understand.” Then back to me. “After seeing you every day,” she threw her arms up, “now, I don’t see you at all.” She shook her key chain. “C’mon, the car’s double parked. Good thing I’ve got Press plates. Where we going?”

“We… are not going anywhere. Detective Franklin and I have work to do.”

Mom raised her left eyebrow, stuck out her lower lip and tilted her head to the right.

“Mom!”

“Did I say anything? Detective, did I say anything?”

Eddie picked up our bags and laughed, “C’mon, Raquel. Some cab drivers are even worse.” He winked at Mom and she glowed back at him.

After we settled into Mom’s Mercedes, she started the car and asked, “Where to?” I realized I didn’t know the answer.

Eddie said, “I’d like to check into a hotel. Make sure there’s a bed for me tonight.”

After Eddie put me up, I couldn’t let him spend money on a hotel. He should stay at my place except for the fact I didn’t have one anymore. I wanted to invite him to a hotel at my expense but my mother was listening and it would be awkward. Mom added to my problem when she said, “Nonsense. You’ll stay at the house, plenty of room for the both of you.”

Eddie said “Thank you, Isobel.” If I wasn’t sitting in the back seat like a little kid, I would have kicked him for accepting her invitation. Now, I had to stay with her too.

Eddie asked her, “So, how did you know our flight was in?”

“Dear, if a woman doesn’t have any contacts at the local airport, she’s not a reporter.”

“One of your Book Club ladies works at the airport, Mom?”

“Darling, effective networking is essential to a newspaper woman’s career. Barbara checks the incoming passenger list for me daily. You never know when a celebrity is trying to sneak into town. She’s incredible, can tell you the pseudo name for any actor you want. Oh, the phone. Wait a minute, Honey.”

The ringing sound coming from the car stereo system stopped when Mom pressed a button. “This is Isobel.”

“Ms. Flanagan. This is Anita at Blanket Security. An entry alarm sounded in your home. When no one answered your home phone, we notified the police. Are you all right?”

“Uhh, yes. I’m fine.”

“Good, may I have your password please?”

Mom told Anita the password “Raquel” and completed her call. She had just enough time to say, “Damn,” and the phone rang again.

Mom said, “I hate car phones,” pressed the button and took the call.

“Isobel, are you all right?”

“Yes, Bill. I’m fine.”

“Your address came on the Police scanner… I, we were worried…”

“I’m fine. I’ve got Raquel in the car. We’re both fine.”

“Good.”

“Do I need to remind anyone that this story doesn’t belong in my paper?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

By the time Mom finished assuring Uncle Bill we were indeed fine, and he convinced her the break-in wouldn’t appear in the paper, we were home. A police cruiser and a K9 unit sat in the circular driveway. Mom parked behind them and an officer came from the front porch to greet her.

“Ms. Flanagan?”

“Yes.”

“Alarm company contact you?”

“Yes.”

The cop nodded and took a pad from his pocket. “There’re signs of forcible entry on one of the rear second floor windows. There’re no sensors on those but the intruder tripped the motion detector inside.” He scratched under his hat with his pen. “We don’t see too many second story entries except in apartment buildings. Any event, you’ll need to tell us if anything is missing.”

Mom and I went into the house. Eddie followed. Everything on the first floor looked untouched. On the second level, Mom said her room, the guest rooms, the baths and the closets all seemed as she left them. When we entered my room, it was different. I saw dresser drawers only partially shut, things on the floor and an open closet door. I walked into the closet and spotted an empty space on the shelf where I kept my camera bag.

“My camera bag is missing.”

Eddie picked something up from the floor with his pen. “Is this it?”

“Yes.”

“It’s empty except for a flash, and some lens cleaner.”

“No memory card?”