That Awful Sound: Psychic Detectives - The Joliet Sisters (4 page)

“Zed, quit messing around and get your ass
down here. Zed!” Darrius licked his lips when an object thudded
down the wide staircase.

“You have a gun. Go help your friend before
it’s too late.” Mrs. Forstall’s voice shook.

“What are you talking about?” Charmaine felt
a cold chill spread from her neck down her arms. “Uh, Darrius,
let’s follow Mrs. Forstall’s advice and leave. Now.”

Darrius waved the gun at them. “You two move
over here where I can see you. Close together. Try anything and
I’ll shoot you both.”

They did as he demanded, though Charmaine
didn’t want to stand close to Mrs. Forstall. Not because of the
gun. Something strange and malevolent emanated from the woman. Or
maybe she attracted evil. Dread crawled up Charmaine’s spine making
it hard for her to concentrate enough to read Mrs. Forstall.
Nothing. She couldn’t “see” the woman’s thoughts. Fear blocked
Charmaine’s psychic ability. Mrs. Forstall gripped hers arm with a
hand like biting cold ice.

“We have to get out of here or we’ll end up
like Zed,” she whispered into Charmaine’s ear.

“End up like…”

“Zed, quit actin’ a fool and let’s go.”

Darrius eyed them and aimed at Mrs.
Forstall’s head. He scowled a warning without speaking and darted a
quick glance up the staircase. Then he disappeared into the shadows
and came back holding something. His eyes went wide when he came
into the light.

“What the fuck… what the fuck.”

Darrius howled and threw the object into the
library, frantic to get it away from him. Mrs. Forstall gasped. She
backed up fast dragging Charmaine with her. A bloody athletic shoe
bounced and rolled across the carpet; a foot attached to the ankle
still in it.

And Then There Was One

“Let me get this straight. Two burglars
broke in Mrs. Forstall’s house, and a ghost killed one ‘em. Nothing
left but a few body parts,” Detective Harrison drawled and shook
his head.

“Just a leg, like half a leg,” Charmaine
said. She huffed in frustration. “We’re wasting time. Let’s go get
a killer.”

Harrison, dressed in pullover sweater and
slacks, gave the uniformed officer in the interview room with them
a side-eye. The man hunched his shoulders and said nothing.
Harrison glanced at his watch. “Okay, this happened around
midnight. So what have you been doing? That was…almost two hours
ago. I know because they got me out of bed to come here, for
this.”

“I calmed Mrs. Forstall down and took her to
stay with a friend over by City Park. She didn’t want to disturb
any of her neighbors.” Charmaine bit her lip. “Yes, it sounds
crazy, but you know how she is.”

“Uh-huh, and I’m learning about you, too.
Ms. Joliet,” Detective Harrison said as he stifled a yawn.

“Send somebody to her house, man. It’s a
crime scene.” Charmaine waved her arms.

“We know how to do our jobs. Get back to
your story, and start from part where you helped a known criminal
break into her house.” Detective Harrison crossed his arms.

“I was kidnapped at gunpoint,” Charmaine
hissed at him. “Darrius, Shawntelle’s boyfriend, wanted to make
Mrs. Forstall admit she killed Shawntelle, and he wanted to steal
from her. Zed, his pal, met up with him there.”

“Zed, right.” Detective Harrison looked at
the notepad in front of him. “Got it.”

“We heard a freaky noise upstairs, Zed was
gurgling or choking. I don’t know. His leg came down the stairs
and…” Charmaine shuddered at the image that popped into her
head.

“Just take your time. I know we’ve been over
this already, but you talked a mile a minute. We want to make sure
we got your account straight.” Harrison glanced at the uniformed
cop again.

“Sure. Darrius must have hit the front door
at a dead run. He was screaming his head off, I know that. Mrs.
Forstall pulled me through some French doors in the library.
Darrius didn’t think to take my keys from me. So me and Mrs.
Forstall ran down the driveway. But instead of getting in my car
she kept running. I can’t blame after what we saw. I caught up with
her and managed to get her into my car. There’s a small private
street behind the house. Thank God I didn’t have to back out past
that haunted mansion.” Charmaine blew out a breath and fell back in
her chair.

Harrison started to speak, but a knock on
the door interrupted him. He got up, mumbled to someone, then he
and the officer left. Charmaine resisted looking at the wide dark
glass set into the wall to her left. No doubt cops stood on the
other side of the two way mirror. They were no doubt taking bets on
whether drugs or insanity contributed to her story. She didn’t
care. They’d find out soon enough.

Harrison came back with another plainclothes
detective. “My partner Detective Young. Okay, keep going. You came
here to report the crime.”

“Well, uh, I went back to the neighborhood
to see if I would find Darrius. I mean cause he was on foot,
right?” Charmaine cleared her throat.

“Oh that makes plenty sense,” Detective
Harrison said with a grunt. “And you didn’t simply call the police
because…?”

“He damn sure didn’t let me grab my cell on
the way out. Pay phones disappeared with horse drawn carriages,
detective.”

“Keep calm,” the second detective said.

“So you didn’t find Darrius on the street,
and you didn’t go back to Mrs. Forstall’s house,” Harrison
said.

Charmaine leaned forward and raised her
voice. “Hello, murderous thing from hell chewed up a dude! Damn
right I didn’t go back. Now explain why you guys aren’t over there
right now.”

“The patrol unit got there twenty minutes
ago,” the second detective said.

“And?”

Detective Harrison and his partner exchanged
a glance. Young shook his head before he left the room. “Mrs.
Forstall answered the door. She was sleepy and irritated. Says she
don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What? But, but… Search the house. She
couldn’t have cleaned up blood that fast. You’ll find traces
and—”

“She wasn’t too thrilled about it, but she
let the officers take a look around. Not one thing looked out of
place. Mrs. Forstall says she fell asleep reading.”

“Get forensics to do tests. They’ll find DNA
from Darrius and Zed. You can search for a match because I know
they have felony records for sure. Then we could…” Charmaine’s
voice trailed off. She blinked rapidly as her thoughts became as
tangled as the vines creeping up Mrs. Forstall’s trellis.

Detective Harrison planted both his elbows
on the table between them. “Look, Charmaine. I don’t know what went
down last night, but cut it out. You and your sister need to find
another game before you get in serious trouble.”

“My sister wasn’t even with me, and I don’t
consider bloody murder any kind of game.” Charmaine slapped a palm
on the table surface. “If you just spent one night in that house,
you’d see.”

“Mrs. Forstall, not to mention my wife,
wouldn’t go along with your suggestion. Trust me.” Detective
Harrison gave a dry laugh.

The door opened and his commander came in
with Detective Young behind him. Young gave Harrison a look.
Charmaine’s psychic skill kicked in. Neither of them had much
respect nor liking for the commander, who was new. The commander,
well aware he didn’t have their field experience, reacted by riding
them hard. His ego barely fit inside the small room with the rest
of them.

“The detectives filled me in on your
colorful statement, Ms. Joliet. Luckily Mrs. Forstall isn’t going
to press charges,” the Commander Murphy said crisply.

Charmaine stood. “Oh hell no! Darrius might
be scared, but he needs to be picked up. Of course at the speed he
left, the dude might be in Canada by now. Nah, he’s got to stick to
the city. Y’all got him on lock down.”

“Ms. Joliet. Get serious.” The commander
shook his head at her.

Charmaine gazed at the three faces around
the room. Harrison heaved a sigh. Young rubbed his jaw as if
thinking. Commander Murphy stared at her as if he wanted her to
disappear.

“
Go out and find the man,
he’s a suspect. She can’t refuse to press charges on a murder. Even
she doesn’t that kind of power or money,” Charmaine insisted.
“Lucky she didn’t press charges on him? What kinda—”

“I meant it’s lucky she didn’t press charges
against you, Ms. Joliet. You admitted going to her house tonight.
That’s trespassing at the very least, if not breaking and
entering.”

“Darius had the code, we didn’t break in,”
Charmaine spluttered. “Charge me? I tried to protect the—”

“Then there’s criminal mischief and filing a
false police report,” Commander Murphy went on in a relentless
tone. “With the story you cooked up, I wouldn’t doubt we could add
possession of narcotics or public intoxication. Should we search
your car?”

“Search my… what the…” Charmaine fought to
gain control and not slap the officious dim-wit. Detective Harrison
put a hand on her arm, which distracted her.

“One of our units picked up Darrius James
twenty minutes ago. He’s not talking. Wants his lawyer. So he’s not
confirming your story either, Charmaine,” Detective Harrison said
softly.

“Which wraps up this less than amusing
reality show episode,” Murphy added. “I’ve read our files on you,
Ms. Joliet. You should avoid drawing attention to yourself, or your
sister. You both narrowly escaped felony charges just ten months
ago. Not to mention you and Jessi both have a history of mental
illness. She hallucinates, and you’ve been referred to as
delusional; think you can see into people’s minds.”

“Commander, they helped us solve a murder,”
Harrison put in.

“From what I saw they broke a few laws along
the way. Too bad we didn’t arrest them,” Murphy shot back. “Ms.
Joliet, I recommend you and your sister stay clear of police
stations from now on. We may not be through with you yet.”

Charmaine glared at him. “I’ll bet you’re
not.”

“Then you’ve been warned.” Murphy nodded to
no one in particular and strode out.

“Jessi had nothing to do with anything. I
don’t get why y’all keep dragging her name into this.” Charmaine
turned her ire on Harrison and his partner.

“Because she’s given a statement, and she’s
waiting outside to take you home. Let’s go.”

Charmaine blinked at him feeling dazed and
confused. She followed him out with Detective Young behind her.
They went along one hallway, turned left and walked through a busy
duty room. Then she passed through locked doors to the lobby. A
couple of civilian police employees manned a busy front desk.
Police officers came and went. Chairs and three wooden benches
lined two walls. Jessi sat chatting with a woman dressed in a tight
electric blue jump suit. The woman’s eye shadow and blue streaks in
her hair matched the jump suit. Jessi stood when she saw Charmaine
and the detectives.

“See ya later, Sweet Breezy. Give us a call
if you need help. You got our card.” Jessi pointed a forefinger at
the woman.

“Thanks girl,” came the deep throated reply.
Sweet Breezy followed Jessi’s gaze to Charmaine. “Girl, you gone be
alright with your sister on your side.”

Jessi strolled over to them. She wore a
blood red suede jacket with a fake fur collar. The black pencil
skirt hugged her curves, and tall leather boots completed the
outfit. “Umph, umph, umph. I can’t leave you alone for a minute
without you getting into all kinds of mischief. Don’t worry
detectives. I’ll make sure she takes her meds from now on.”

“Make sure to take yours while you’re at it.
We’ve had enough fun with you two for one night. Hell for a whole
month of nights,” Detective Young quipped.

“Screw you, too,” Jessi retorted and stuck
her tongue out at him. She looped an arm through Charmaine’s.
“Let’s go, hunty. I’ma fix you some nice chamomile tea.”

“You want to tell me what the hell is going
on? We should go back in there and make them listen.” Charmaine let
Jessi lead her away from the detectives despite her words. Fatigue
and nerves weakened her resolve.

“Keep walkin’. I’ve got to catch you up. And
explain my plan,” Jessi replied.

Something Wicked

Charmaine did indeed accept the offer of tea
and sympathy from Jessi. They arrived at Charmaine’s bungalow at
three o’clock Wednesday morning. Jessi did her duty checking the
house. Then she stuck around long enough for Charmaine shower and
fill her in. Charmaine described her adventure, yawning through
most of it. Then she fell into bed.

Hours later Charmaine woke up from a
disturbing dream that she immediately forgot. Nothing remained but
remnants of a sick feeling and the echoes of screaming still in her
head. She sat on the side of her bed for a good twenty minutes to
shake it off.

Once dressed, she followed the pulsating
base of music coming from the direction of her kitchen. Jessi’s
best friend Diamond and Charmaine’s pal Scotty sat around her
kitchen table. Jessi shook her hips to the beat as she stirred
something in pot. Diamond grinned encouragement at Charmaine.
Scotty, his beefy arms bulging in a dark green sweater, sipped from
a cup of hot coffee. An online news site held his attention on the
Android tablet propped up in front of him.

“Morning y’all,” Charmaine mumbled. She
rubbed her forehead to massage away a headache.

“Evening you mean. It’s almost four o’clock.
C’mon Jessi. I told you to turn off that radio. You woke her up,”
Scotty spoke loud to the heard over the R&B song.

“I’ll do it.” Diamond sprang up and turned
the volume down low.

“Sis can sleep through a freight train
rolling through the house. She ain’t no delicate flower. Ain’t that
right, sis?” Jessi tossed over one shoulder. “I got some of my
chicken and sausage gumbo. Oh and some of that low fat spread
instead of butter for the French bread. Ugh.”