Secret Keepers and Skinny Shadows: Lee and Miranda (17 page)

“Excuse me, Harry, so you’re saying you were pretty shook up at what you were seeing?” Lee said.

“Yes. It was the first time I’d been around a dead body.”

“Okay, sorry, go on with your story.”

“I stepped up to the man sitting in the snow, placing my hand on his shoulder I shook him, his head flopped over to the side landing on his left shoulder, it was attached to his body by a small amount of skin and tissue. I jumped back, sucking in air as I did. I could see his neck was cut from behind his ear to almost the other ear. We decided to go back to the squad car, call headquarters, and report the gruesome scene. It was almost more than I could handle.”

“Wait, Harry, didn’t you see anyone out or around the body as you walked toward it?”

“Oh, yes, by the time we got back to the scene after phoning in our report, there were people coming out of their houses. They were pressing close to the victim. We had to keep telling them to get back. Some of them were pretty aggressive, and would walk right up to the body.”

“Okay, go on with your story, Harry.”

“Well, there were houses on both sides of the alley, and the lights seemed to be on in all the homes.”

“Didn’t you think that was odd?” Lee asked.

“Well, not at first. I was so shook up from seeing the murder victim at the time, all I could think about was getting away from him. I guess our minds couldn’t comprehend the gory scene we’d walked into. We were both rookies, please remember it was our first murder scene. We were trained for this but to experience it first hand was something else. After phoning it in, we were told by the dispatcher to go back to the scene and guard it until back up came.”

“I guess I could understand that,” Lee said.

“We stayed in the alley until the detective and his crew arrived. He wanted to know about all the footprints. I told him they were in the snow when we showed up at the scene, walked up to the body to see if the guy was sleeping or drunk, and that’s when we saw the horrible sight.

“We stayed until the detective told us to go back to our nightly rounds. I didn’t hear anything more about the case,” he sighed before continuing.

“There were moments when my curiosity would get the best of me. I’d look up the detectives working the case, and ask about the investigation. The one in charge at the time wouldn’t give me any information. He said if I wasn’t working on the case, it was none of my business. The department ended the investigation three months after the murder.”

“Harry, I have couple of questions for you.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Do you know a Hank Cranston, a black man who ran a bar in Bridgetown at the time Bert was murdered?”

“Yes, Hank is a good friend of mine.”

Lee exchanged glances with Miranda deciding this guy was unreliable because of his connection with Hank.

“He used to run a bar,” Harry continued, “in the Jew Hill district and later moved it down to the Chestnut Avenue area. He did some numbers running once in a while if you think Hank killed Bert, I would say you were wrong. He wouldn’t commit such a crime, but he could have because he was in great physical shape.”

“Someone told us Bert Grayson liked to date black women like Hank’s daughter. They also said he got her pregnant then refused to marry her and Hank was so ashamed he shipped her out of town to live until she had the baby. Which gave Hank a reason to murder Bert,” Lee said.

“Well, that’s an interesting theory, except for one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“Hank didn’t have a daughter. He only had one son, who went on to become a famous football player.”

“Well, that’s the story I was told,” Lee said as he stood and started to pace.

“Harry, would you know if Hank is still alive?”

“Yes, I do know that, he lives in Bridgetown with his girlfriend. They closed his bar down a few years ago for drug peddling.”

“Was Hank working for the police department when Bert was murdered?”

“No, Hank never worked for the police. There was only one black man working for the police at that time and his last name was Harter. Just a little information for you, Lee, Hank only dated white women.”

“Do you know of a Clay and Cain Bliss?”

“Why, yes. They’re both bad news—” He stopped in mid-sentence, paused, and said, “No, I don’t know either of them.”

Lee glanced at Miranda, she raised an eyebrow, while Lee nodded.

“Did you know or know of a Lillian Grace?” Lee said.

“No, I never heard of her, why do you ask about her? Who was she?”

“She was just someone who knew Bert,” Lee said.

“Do you know if the composite picture published in the paper of one of the men who left the bar with Bert the night he was murdered could have been Clay Bliss?”

“No, I didn’t know there was a composite picture in the paper.”

“So I guess you didn’t read about the murder in the paper?”

“No, I was too busy working and making a living to spend time reading the newspaper.”

“Do you know if there was a mafia in Bridgetown?”

“No, as far as I knew there was only a small numbers running gang, and it was rumored that Bert was an enforcer for them.”

“Oh, that’s an interesting bit of information,” Lee said as he took a seat beside Miranda.

“Harry, do you mind me asking how old you are?”

“No, not at all. I’m eighty years old. For your information Lee, I wasn’t friends with Bert. I only knew of him because of the murder. After he was killed I learned of his reputation as a drinker and bar hopper. I do know that no family claimed Bert’s body.”

Lee nodded to Miranda.

“His body was held in the morgue for a couple of weeks and the city buried him in a pauper’s grave. That’s about all I know.” Harry concluded with a sigh.

“How do you know no one claimed his body?”

“A friend of mine in the department told me.”

“Okay, one more question for you, Harry. Did you know of a man named Will Pink, involved in a traffic accident the night of the murder?”

“No, I never heard of him.”

“If I have any more questions, can I call you?”

“Yes, my number is 987-969-7150. Call me anytime.”

“Thank you, Harry, you’ve been helpful. Bye.” Lee hung up.

                   
CHAPTER 32

Present Day

“
I guess our bad mannered first caller didn’t know what he was talking about,” Lee said. “It would seem the only thing he had right was the footprints, but I’m not sure I believe what Harry said either. Can we check to see if he was on the police force and if he’s still alive? That guy could’ve been anybody calling to see what information we’ve come up with. So Hank didn’t have a daughter. Interesting, I think. When he said he was good friends with this Hank, I started to question what he said about everything.” He stood staring out the window, at the light snow falling and, melting as fast it landed on the ground.

“What about when he said he knew the Blisses, then in the middle of the sentence said he didn’t know them?”

“Kid, it’s getting late and I’m tired, it’s been one busy day. With this much interest I can’t wait to see who contacts us tomorrow.” He moved toward Miranda put his arms around her and nudged her body against his. Her cheeks were glowing. Her lips were an inch away from his. He could smell her lipstick.

“I agree, Lee, and I’m going to bed as well. As soon as you let go of me.” Pushing him away she turned to walk up the steps.

“Don’t pull away, Miranda.”

“Get that out of your head, Lee, it isn’t going to happen, at least not tonight.”

“Oh, so you’re leaving me hope.”

“No, not at all. I’m only trying to let you down in a gentle way, but I’m a woman and you never know, I might change my mind at any time. Good night, Lee.”

Lee was left standing in the room with the exhilarating smell of her perfume penetrating his mind.

Alone in his room he was thinking about Miranda how beautiful and distant she was. Or was it all an act? Maybe she’d had her heart broken and didn’t want to take a chance again. He walked over to the sliding door and stood staring at the outline of the tall mountains in the distance against the clear star filled sky. Shivering at the eerie look of daylight from the moon as it lit the expansive manicured lawn back to the black forest, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up. A quick glance at his watch told him it was midnight, yawning he took one last look at the night scene.

What’s that?
He was trying to get a better look with his eyes riveted on what he thought was a tall figure stepping out of the tree line.

He moved to the other door that didn’t have a screen. The figure looked like a man walking in the direction of the house. He rubbed his eyes.
Focus, eyes, focus
. Maybe it was a deer, but it looked like a man picking his way toward the house. With the lights off in his room the figure couldn’t see him.

There, he moved again.
It was a man, now he was running toward the house.

Lee stepped back into the shadows of the room, his eyes followed the interloper up the steps. The ski mask only revealed the nose, eyes, and mouth. He pulled on the door handle, but it didn’t budge, when he looked down to jimmy the lock, Lee made his move to the door. The burglar must have caught the movement in his peripheral vision and glanced up.

Lee grabbed for the door at the same time flipping the outside light on, in one powerful jerk he opened the door with such force it almost broke the glass. Lee bounded onto the deck but the intruder was already halfway to the woods.

Running hard and fast in pursuit he was soon out of breath. Ten feet away from the intruder his lungs were burning, stopping he bent over resting his hands on his knees and sucking air.

His eyes were riveted on the man who stopped suddenly at the edge of the woods. On instinct Lee started to run for him again. The stranger smiled and disappeared into the black forest. By the time he reached the woods his chest was aching and his heart was racing. Sweat was rolling down his face. He stopped at the entrance to the woods staring, not knowing the path that the intruder seemed to know so well. Lee thought he might be standing in there looking back with a smirk on his face. As Lee turned to walk back to the house he saw a light on upstairs in the mansion. He had a quick glimpse of Miranda’s black outline standing at the window, then she disappeared.

Lee walked back toward the house, he paused to look up and saw Miranda standing in his doorway then she moved out onto the deck.

“Lee, what’s going on? I heard all this noise, then I saw you running toward the woods.”

“We had another visitor. It happened that I couldn’t sleep and as I stood in the dark looking out at the night I saw this figure come out of the woods. He came up to my door, tried to open it, when I jerked the door open he took off like a speed racer. I chased him to the edge of the woods, where I stopped thinking, it would be foolish to follow him into the darkness.”

“Did you get a look at his face?”

“Oh, yes he had on a ski mask and dressed like a ninja. But I got a good look at his teeth and his eyes. A lot of help that will be. He seemed to be familiar with the woods. He didn’t hesitate to run into them.”

“Well,” Miranda said, “you never know.”

“But he made one mistake,” Lee said.

“What was that?”

He held up a set of keys and smiled.

                                  
CHAPTER 33

                                          Present Day

“
This guy is persistent,” Lee said, “if nothing else.”

“Yes, he is, if it’s the same person. Lee, what kind of vehicle do you think the keys fit?”

“I don’t know, but he must have had a long walk back to where he came from.”

Lee rolled the keys around in his hand thinking about who this person might be, while trying to figure out what kind of vehicle the key would fit.

“There’s no symbol on the key chain.”

“Hopefully when we go out there in the morning the vehicle will still be there, but if I were him, I’d get it out tonight. He must have someone working with him. The question is, who and why do they want the letters? I’m assuming the letters. What else could it be?” Miranda said.

“Come on, Kid, we should try to get some sleep. We have another busy day ahead.” Lee put his arm around Miranda’s tiny waist as they walked up the steps leading into his room. He stopped, and turned toward Miranda.

“Kid, will you be okay? I mean, you’re not afraid to go back to bed by yourself, are you?”

Miranda backed up a couple of steps with a sleepy smile.

“Lee, you wouldn’t be trying to take advantage of girl at a time like this, would you?”

Lee moved toward her and wrapped his arms around her warm body. She didn’t resist. He stared into her eyes. His mouth was an inch from hers. He closed his eyes as the sweet smell of her perfume filled his mind. In that moment nothing else mattered. It was exhilarating. His heart started to race when her soft voice broke the silence.

“Not tonight, Lee.” She pushed him away with a gentle touch.

Jolting him back to reality, he smiled, touched the tip of her nose with his finger.

“Hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.” He watched as she walked away toward the stairs. He stood and listened for the faint sound of her bedroom door closing.