The Last Police Chief
Chapter 3

Copyright© 2018 by MysteryWriter

The email, titled ‘Alien Autopsy’, was waiting for me at Yahoo. I opened it and found the autopsy report on the EM chick, aka Eve, and aka something I couldn’t pronounce. Well the summery was in my in box. The cause of death was a slash of the throat with a sharp knife. The blade was approximately three inches or more. I reckoned it could easily be a pocket knife. Hell I carried a folding pocket knife that size. The one the M.E. mentioned was also serrated, mine wasn’t. I had personally seen a knife which fit that description at the Dollar Tree, so unless the murder weapon hadn’t been cleaned well, it would be of little use. If the killer threw away his Dollar Store type knife, the cops had a less than zero chance of connecting it to anyone, even if they found it.

The less serious injuries were inflicted before death. There were at least ten blows to her body with a weapon like a wooden club. We had known about the beating previously, but we didn’t know about the wooden club. The blows were from different angles and the club sizes appeared to vary. That left me, and probably everyone else to assume there been more than one person using her as a pinata.

She had no signs of being sexually assault. That was a shock to me at least. I thought sure it had been a gang rape. So I had to rethink that one.

Farther down, I read that Eve was two and a half months pregnant. At ten weeks she might have told someone, I thought. That someone could have done it, or should have a damn good idea who had. I obviously needed to talk to Joey. He wasn’t the only one, but he had moved back up to first place on the suspect list.

I went to the skateboard park to talk to him. I got him before Ray found him thank god.

“So Joey, tell me when and where you last saw your girl friend,” I demanded.

“I saw her the afternoon before they found her body. I walked her home and left her a block from the house.” he explained. “Her family doesn’t approve of me.

“Joey think before you answer this one,” I said ominously. “Did you know she was pregnant.”

He looked like he wanted to throw up. He finally took a large breath and said, “She took one of those home pregnancy tests, but she hadn’t been to a doctor yet. So I guess the answer is she told me she might be pregnant. So help me I didn’t kill her.”

“If the cops pick you up son, insist they get you a lawyer. Then don’t say shit till he gets there,” I said. “I’m serious don’t even answer when they ask you how you feel.”

I explained about the mystery Muslim. He didn’t know who it might be. I had read about honor killing, so I knew the kid might be telling the truth. I couldn’t get past that beating. The one with multiple people administering it.

Since I had some new information, which gave Joey a slight break in my opinion, it was time to run ‘what if’ theories. Cops usually work in pairs for a reason. They tend to bounce ideas off each other. I needed someone.

Thia would be a great choice, even if she was a civilian. However there were a couple of reasons why she wouldn’t do at all. One was she had a job that took up her time, and her son needed her, when she was home. Also it wouldn’t be right for her to keep my theories secret from her husband. No matter what I thought of him, he was still her husband. After all it wasn’t a race. Right, I thought sarcastically.

So who was I going to get? I asked myself. I had wasted enough time, so that ordinary people were home from work. It was about that time I remember the Activity room board. I had read it when I passed the pop up church on Sunday morning. There had been a notice of a book club meeting on it.

I took the elevator down to the first floor. I noticed the announcement for a couple of different groups holding meetings inside the room. One of those was an Arm Chair Detective Club. It met on Thursday afternoon. The timing was bad, but it gave me a woman’s name who chaired the club. I was pretty sure she would be willing to help, by being a sounding board, or she knew a member who would be willing to try it.

I dialed her number from the hall outside the activity room. As I secretly hoped Alison Green immediately volunteered after she heard my sales pitch.

Alison proved to be somewhat older than me, but she was attractive none the less. She explained during our ‘getting to know you’ talk that she went to the Spins Club at the YWCA to stay in shape. I explained about my urban hiking plan.

“What a wonderful idea. Could I convince you to allow me to hike with you?” she asked.

“It’s pretty chilly at 7AM,” I said.

“Well I would like to try it once anyway,” she said.

“Well then sure, why not. Now about my need for a sounding board?” I asked.

“Oh I’m sure I could help you. There are only three of us in the club at the moment, so I could give it a try first,” she suggested. “Then any of the others who wanted to join us could.”

“Fair enough,” I said. Then I give her a synopsis of the case, as I knew it. I waited to see how well she picked up on minor things.

“So can we get hold of the sister? If anyone knows who the mystery Muslim is, she will know.” Alison suggested.

“I spoke with her, when we were all at the hospital. She seemed pretty level headed,” I stated. It actually brought back to mind that Eve’s sister had been a little too calm, almost unaffected. “She might have been a little too composed.”

“Then the Mystery Muslim would be a good question to break the ice. Then we could move on to her knowledge of the crime,” Allison suggested.

I looked at Alison with more interest. She was a more or less average looking woman. Maybe because of the Spins thing, she had a pretty shapely body. At least for a woman in her sixties. Yes she was just a bit over weight, but hell who isn’t, I thought. It is a curse with people who live a sedentary life. Her hair was mostly sliver with some dark tones. She was the type woman who would get a lot of notice in that environment, and maybe even a normal environment.

“Thanks, I might or might not have gotten around to the sister, but a woman’s ideas definitely help,” I said.

“So, I’ll see you at seven,” she asked as I got up to walk away. “She had chosen the activity room, since it was neutral territory. Maybe the lobby would be better,” was her second suggestion.

“In the lobby at seven,” I agreed.

I returned to my apartment and settled into the M.E.’s report. I sat there for hours trying to imagine what kind of club had been used, and where kids might have access to three of them. I drew a blank even after the hour I racked my brain. It all went back to who the killer might be. Was it a man or woman, adult or child? The amount of violence could have been visited on her by either. I was no closer than before. In my opinion Joey just wasn’t a viable suspect. I had a deep seated opinion that the key to it all was going to be the mystery Muslim. Even so, I needed to explain the sister’s general behavior. The more I thought, the more I could feel that there was something wrong with her reaction to her sister’s brutal murder.

I decided to give it up at ten and drop into bed. I did and awoke once in the night, then slept fine until 6AM. I woke checked out my email, then dressed for the chilly morning. After all that, I took the elevator down to the lobby and found Alison all bundled for the cold.

She was cute for an old lady, I told mysef. We took off and walked from the parking lot into the neighborhood. We went over my route for well over an hour. When we returned to The Haven I was comfortable, and not my usual sweaty exhausted self. It had to do with the slower pace. We actually held a conversation while we walked. More of the getting to know you shit.

“So do you want to come in for coffee?” Alison asked.

“Sure, but I need time to take a shower and get dressed. So why not let me take you for breakfast by the lake?” I asked. I saw the look she flashed at me, so I added. “Sometimes breakfast is just a meal.” The image of a much younger Mica flashed into my mind. Even with that image, I didn’t give her credit for the comment, as I would have if it was breakfast with Thia.

“Okay, but it’s going to take me an hour to be ready,” she demanded.

“Let’s call it nine thirty then. I’ll come down and knock on your door,” I promised.

When I got home I took a shower, and put on a clean pair of jeans. I still had almost an hour to go, so I did some research on the use of round wooden rods in the Muslim religion. That is when I decided that if I got the name of the mystery Muslim man, I would call the police. I would even suggest that in their search for weapons they take a look at the Muslim Cultural Center. That part was due to their condoning of men beating women with wooden rods. It was an accepted practice of the religion in some countries.

When the time came, I rode the elevator down to the 1st floor where Alison’s unit was located. She let me into her apartment to wait until she was ready.

Her apartment was also small, but it had an additional real bedroom, and a larger bathroom. It was a much nicer layout, but I remembered that it was almost a grand more per month. I just wasn’t willing to pay that for a storage room.

When she was finally ready, she looked the same as she had on the hike. I held the door for her, as she walked out to the car. Once she was inside the Rio, I began to talk.

“Did you know that punishing a Muslim wife with a wooden rod was allowed according to Google?” I asked.

“No, I’m not familiar with that religion, but surely that isn’t really widely practiced,” Alison replied.

“How widely does it have to be for a nut to justify the beating of his woman on religious grounds. On our Eve, he could have stepped over the line.” I added.

“But would any jury convict him for that alone. He probably wouldn’t even get indicted, since it would be a violation of his religious freedom.” Alison replied.

“So you know your law,” I suggested as we pulled into the parking lot of the local Mcdonalds drive through. “This wasn’t just a beating.”

“A little,” she said. “I taught history for twenty years in the local high school. Then ten more as an instructor in constitutional history and principles. It was a part time job at the community college. I did it until my husband passed two years ago. Then my daughter moved to New York, and I needed a safe place to build my nest while I waited to die.”

“So we really need to speak to the sister,” I said ignoring the last remark because I didn’t have any comment to make.

Once we were moving again she asked, “You already tried to speak to the boy Joey at school. Do you think you will have any better luck with Eve’s sister?” she asked.

“No I don’t, but she will eventually return to the county Community Center,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot of the town’s water supply and recreational water area.

“But you are in a race with your son in law to prove to his wife who is the better man,” she observed.

It shocked me into silence, so I brooded over my sausage and egg Mcmuffin. It was especially good that morning. I had no idea why, I guessed it might be because of the company, or the lake view while we ate. It was my first time to have breakfast there, but I wouldn’t be my last.

“How about you let me give the sister a try at school?” she suggested.

“You would have to lie to the principal,” I acknowledge.

“I’m not a virgin at that either,” she said.

After we finished breakfast and coffee, I watched her go into the county middle school while I waited helplessly outside. I wanted to be there so badly, but we had agreed that it would make her nervous. I did explain to her that the sister seemed to be in shock at the hospital. That or she was emotionless. I needed her to look for anything in her demeanor that was inappropriate. I waited in the parking lot while Alison went inside.

I emptied the last dregs of my coffee before she exited the school. I was thinking about where I was going to empty my bladder when she arrived.

“Before you tell me about your talk, I have to find a men’s room.” I started the car and drove back to the same Mcdonald’s where I got the coffee. I drove straight there then went inside. After the short stop, I bought a second black coffee for me and a caramel cappuccino for Alison.

Back in he car I asked, “Did she give up a name?”

“Just a first name. He is a friend of her father from work. He is called Ferjal. He is also a delivery driver. Eddie, he is also undocumented, so if you can’t get him for the beating. You can still get him deported.”

“Something the sister said made you change your mind about him?” I asked.

“It’s like you said, she just seems off somehow. Like she knows more about the beating than she lets on. I could never prove it, I just believe it.”

“So you think this Ferjal cat arranged to have his lady friend beaten. But Why?” I asked. “For no longer being a virgin?”

“Yes, but there is more to it. The sister might have joined the people who beat your Eve, to make sure the beating wasn’t so savere that it broke bones. To keep the people from getting carried away,” Alison said.

“So you think her own family administered the beating. Do you think they knew she was pregnant?” I asked.

“I don’t know, I wasn’t sure you wanted to open that can of worms with her. She could let the cat out of the bag, when there was no need to do so.”

“Yeah, that’s what I had in mind,” I lied.

“So we have a working hypothesis,” Alison suggested.

“I have a theory, This ‘Feral cat’ convinced Eve’s sister to arrange the beating. Eve’s sister got the girls to do it, but where would they get the rods?” I wondered out loud. “Maybe Feral cat had access to them,” I continued guessing. I changed his name to something I could remember.

“Eve’s sister can’t give him up without admitting she had a hand in it. That would terrify her. The family might never forgive her,” Alison suggested.

 
There is more of this chapter...

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.