Janet McNulty - Mellow Summers 01 - Sugar And Spice and Not So Nice (10 page)

“Miss Summers, please calm down,” said Detective Reiss.

“I won’t let you question me!” I twisted some more. Finally, two officers pinned me against the wall.

“What’s going on here?” Detective Shorts arrived. He looked at me, Reiss, and the other two cops.

“I don’t want to be interrogated by him,” I repeated.

“Let her go,” Detective Shorts told the officers holding me down. “Now, tell me what is going on.”

“She was arrested for car theft,” said Detective Reiss. “Had a few drinks at Sal’s and is now resisting arrest.”

“Bullshit!” I yelled. “It’s my car and I can prove it, but the cops that arrested me never gave me a chance. And I never told you I was at Sal’s.”

“I learned it from the arresting officer,” said Reiss.

“The hell you did,” I spat. “I didn’t tell them either. But you were at Sal’s and threatened me there.”

“She’s clearly drunk,” said Detective Reiss, “and if you don’t mind, I have a job to do.”

“Give me the file,” said Detective Shorts.

“What?” challenged Detective Reiss.

“Take a look at her,” said Detective Shorts. “She clearly is not drunk. And since she is adamant about not being interrogated by you, little will be accomplished if you try it. Add to the list that she has now accused you of threatening her.”

“You don’t believe—”

“The accusation has been made,” said Detective Shorts, “which puts you off the case; and it won’t be that hard to find out if you and she had a run in at Sal’s.”

“That woman broke my nose,” said Detective Reiss.

“Thank you,” replied Detective Shorts, “for confirming your whereabouts tonight. Leave me the file. You are dismissed. Miss Summers, if you please.”

I went into the interrogation room and sat down. Detective Shorts closed the door. He undid my handcuffs and offered me some water. I wasn’t thirsty. I surveyed my surroundings while I rubbed my wrists. This is not how I planned to spend my night.

“You want to tell me what is going on?” asked Detective Shorts. He pulled out a chair and sat down. “Like, what was that all about?”

“I don’t trust that guy.”

“Neither do I, but you certainly caused a scene.”

“How do you know he isn’t listening?” I asked.

“What?”

“I know that’s a two way mirror,” I said, “and there are cops in the other room listening.”

Detective Shorts grinned. “Can’t fool you, can I? The intercom is turned off. If anyone is in there, they can’t hear us.”

I glared at him. He must have read my mind.

“I’m not lying,” he said. “Now, what is going on?”

“I didn’t steal the car. That car is mine. The registration and insurance are in the glove compartment under my name. My ID is still in the car in my purse. License plate is 5YGM69.”

“Congratulations. Even I don’t know my license plate number. This should be easy enough to clear up.” Detective Shorts went out of the room for a moment. He came back a minute later. “Now,” he said, “tell me the rest of it. Why were you at Sal’s? Why did you break Detective Reiss’ nose? And, why are you afraid of him?”

I sucked in some air. A part of me wanted to blurt out everything. Another part wanted to remain silent. I didn’t know if I could trust the guy in front of me. In the end, I chose to risk it.

“He’s a dirty cop,” I said.

“That is quite an accusation,” said Detective Shorts.

“It’s true,” I pleaded.

Detective Shorts held up his hand to silence me. He walked over to the camera in the room and unplugged it. “Tell me everything.”

Where to begin? “I caught Detective Reiss and Professor Vincent on the university exchanging packages. I wasn’t spying. I was actually working on an assignment for my film class and just happened to notice them.”

“Did you film the exchange?”

“Yes. I think it was drugs.”

“How do know that?”

“I kind of snuck into Professor Vincent’s office and found a bunch of drugs in the bottom drawer of his desk.”

“You do realize that that is breaking and entering,” said Detective Shorts, “and I could arrest you for that.”

“My boyfriend did mention that.” I slumped in the chair.

“Continue.”

“Then my friend Jackie and I came to the public tours that were being held here. We snuck off and followed Detective Reiss to the basement. He took something from down there. I didn’t see what.”

“I’ll have to tell Jack to quit doing private tours of the office. I’m well aware that your boyfriend’s cousin works in personnel,” Detective Shorts finished when he saw my expression. “And then you followed Reiss to Sal’s. Want to tell me why you were following him?”

I groaned. This wouldn’t be good, but I started talking and now was the time to spill it. “He murdered Rachel,” I said. “That girl that was murdered a year ago.”

“I know who she is. I also know that Detective Reiss handled that case.”

“And he was adamant that Tom did it. But he didn’t kill her. I know. I found Rachel’s cell phone in the computer lab. I took it home. I know it was hers because the SIM card in the phone said so. She had captured a video on the camera. It showed Reiss and Vincent raping a girl and then killing her. He looked over and saw Rachel. Must have known that she filmed him and killed her.

“When that guy broke into my apartment, he took the memory card from her phone. He killed her. I was following him, hoping to get proof somehow.”

After my spiel, Detective Shorts stared at me. I didn’t know what he was thinking. He mulled over my statement. “You realize what you just said?”

“Yes.”

“If what you say is true, then that means that Detective Reiss not only covered up a crime, but is guilty of theft, and two murders. Except, you don’t have the only proof.”

“I know,” I said. “I wish I did.”

“Do you still have the phone?”

“Yes,” I said.

Detective Shorts handed me his cell phone. “Call your roommate. Have her bring the phone in. No tricks.”

I dialed Jackie’s number. “Jackie? Grab Rachel’s phone. It’s in my nightstand. I need you to bring it to the police station. And bring my camcorder, too. I’ll explain later.” I knew I had woken her up. At least she was a good sport and didn’t ask me any questions. “She’s on her way.”

A knock sounded at the door. Detective Shorts opened it and talked to the uniformed officer there. I couldn’t make out what was said. “Tell me about tonight.”

“I followed Reiss to Sal’s,” I said. “I had a misguided notion of getting him to incriminate himself. He saw me and grabbed my arm.” I showed Shorts my arm. He studied the bruises there and made a note. “I broke his nose when he wouldn’t let go and called me a slut.”

Detective Shorts laughed. “I’m sure he liked that.”

Twenty minutes passed and I answered a few more questions. Another knock sounded at the door. Detective Shorts opened it and took a brown paper bag from the uniformed officer. He came back to the table and opened it pulling out Rachel’s phone. “Your friend doesn’t waste time.”

He opened the back of the phone and took out the SIM card, placing it in his phone. Sure enough, it came up as being registered to Rachel. He put the card back in Rachel’s phone.

“I’ll take this down to the tech guys as evidence. I’m not going to lie to you, Miss Summers. Reopening the case won’t be easy. You made a serious accusation that cannot be proven at this point. You broke into a professor’s office, so I’m not sure how I can get a warrant. I’ll try. You can file harassment and assault charges against him.

“As for Detective Reiss, I need hard proof of everything you mentioned before I can charge him on anything. He won’t bother you about tonight. He was off duty at the time and it would be too much to explain.”

“What about a confession,” I suggested.

“He’s too smart for a wire. And don’t get any stupid ideas.”

His glare made me glad that he was on my side. “It was a thought,” I said, weakly.

“Now, you have a bunch of friends out there, one named Tiny, who are all willing to swear that you were with them tonight. They are also willing to swear that Reiss assaulted you and that it was Tiny who broke his nose. You have interesting friends. And good ones.

“Also, your car checks out. Your ID and registration were in there as you said.”

Detective Shorts helped me file harassment charges against Professor Vincent. Afterward, he took out the memory card of my camcorder.

“I suggest you keep a low profile,” said Detective Shorts.

“I want to know how my car got reported stolen,” I said.

“So do I.”

The detective led me to the lobby. He made sure my things were returned and that all charges would be dropped so that nothing appeared on my record. When I left the building, Jackie threw herself at me.

“Mel!” she screamed as she hugged me. “What happened?”

“When you go after something, you don’t mess around,” said Tiny.

Jackie backed off a little. I hadn’t told her about Tiny yet.

“Someone reported my car stolen,” I began. “The cops didn’t believe my story so they arrested me. Then that Detective Reiss tried to have me brought up on charges of assault against a police officer.”

“Bastard,” said Tiny.

Jackie drove me home. I knew I’d have to get my car from the impound in the morning. It was already around 4am. Another night lost without sleep.

Chapter 11

After getting my car from the impound lot, which cost me about a hundred bucks, I went straight home. I stayed there with no intention of going out. In fact, I wanted nothing further to do with murder, creepy college professors, cops, bars, loud music, or spying on people. As far as I was concerned, my days as a sleuth were done. Only one problem remained: Rachel.

She spent the weekend badgering me about how I had promised to help her catch her murderer. I understood her frustration, but she didn’t seem to understand that I could be seriously injured. I had already been attacked by a college professor, a man whom most people would trust. Now I was probably on the hit list of a detective who only wore the badge so he could hide his illicit activities behind it.

Greg was a darling. He cooked me dinner twice and even served it to me in bed. I had certainly picked a good one for a change. Jackie’s eyes burned with jealously at first. She still had trouble finding a reliable boyfriend. Greg smoothed things over when he cooked a meal for all three of us. I relished every minute of it.

Monday came like it always does and with it I had to go to work. Luckily, the Candle Shoppe didn’t get any odd customers. Only the regulars came. I was glad for a quiet day. It allowed me a chance to do the Halloween display. I spent the day rearranging shelves in the window. We had a huge assortment of candles for the holiday. I picked through candles shaped like skulls, candy corn, pumpkins, black cats, and ghosts. I laughed at the ghosts. If only people knew that ghosts didn’t look like that.

After arranging the candles, scented warmers, and candle stands, I sprinkled Halloween confetti around it. Then, I added some cotton to make it look like everything was wrapped in a spider web. After I had finished, I stepped back to admire my work. Perfect, I thought. Hopefully, people would buy the stuff. Mr. Stilton ordered a bunch of it, which now overflowed in the back storage room.

I glanced out the window like I normally do from time to time. Detective Reiss stood on the other side of the street watching me. An ominous feeling welled in my stomach. He knew that I was aware of his crimes thanks to my stupidly letting him know that.

I backed out of the window, watching him as he casually strolled down the walk. A sudden awareness that I had painted a target on my back engulfed me. A part of me wished that I had never met Rachel.

The next morning, I got up early to be on time to my film editing class. I found a seat in the back and hoped that Professor Vincent had forgotten about the incident in the computer lab. I shrunk down in my seat when he walked in with other students. Gradually, people filed in and took their seats.

“Welcome class,” said Professor Vincent.

I had to hand it to this guy: he was very good at pretending to be normal. I just took notes and pretended to not remember anything from a few days ago.

Professor Vincent droned on and on. I had managed to block out everything as I automatically took notes. Then, it went silent. I looked up. Tiny and his friends stood in the doorway. Oh no, I thought, this could not be good.

Everyone stared as the bikers strolled into the classroom. They each sat in an empty seat. I started packing my stuff.

“Excuse me,” said Professor Vincent, “but this is a class and you don’t belong here.”

“We’re your new students,” said Tiny.

“Registration ended a month ago,” said Vincent.

“Not for us,” said Tiny. He glanced around the room. All eyes were on him. “Class is dismissed for the day.”

I didn’t need telling twice. I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. Everyone else followed. They read the signs. They knew that a bunch of bikers showing up in class like that was not a good thing. I hung just outside the door to listen.