Death is Long Overdue

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

“ Come on, come on. Pick up!” I hissed into my cell phone as I hit redial and called Juliet for the fifth time. She finally answered.

“ Could the timing be any worse? When I didn’t answer the phone the first four times you called, it was a hint that I might be busy. You know what I mean?” Juliet giggled. I heard music and a man’s muffled voice in the background.

“ I’m in big trouble! Stop whatever you’re doing because I need you to meet me right now! I don’t have time to explain on the phone. Meet me on Oakwyn Street. Velma is parked across from Longfellow Park. Be there in 15 minutes!” I whispered and hung up. I shined the light across the room again. It lit on Huey’s body, and I saw something tied around his neck. Fear knotted my insides as I realized he might be dead from something other than natural causes. I had broken into his house dressed all in black with a bedazzled mask. Great. I needed to get out of the house and fast. I grabbed the library books and took one final glance at the body on the floor. Not wanting to risk the window again as my escape route, I inched my way down the hall until I found the kitchen. The door was slightly ajar. I left the house as fast as my short legs could carry me and ran towards Velma not caring who saw me.

Twenty minutes later, Juliet’s Karmann Ghia convertible pulled up behind me. A moment later, she opened the door and slid into the passenger seat. She looked at me and gave a loud snort. “What the heck is on your forehead? Is that an L?” Her grin grew wider. “And why is it on a mask? Taken up bank robbery as a night job? Hey if you need a few bucks...”

“ Be serious. This is no time to be funny, Juliet.” I snapped. “This whole ordeal is your fault. You said quit being so nice and go live a little. I took your advice and decided to get all those books back from Huey. I created my very own superhero, Super Librarian, to execute Operation Book Snatcher. And that, my dear little sister, is what the “L” stands for.”

“ Um…Phee, I hate to tell you this, but an “L” in the middle of your forehead is what the cool kids say stands for loser.” She made an “L” with her thumb and forefinger and put it to her forehead. “I hope you didn’t drag me away from the most magnificent date ever so I could give you fashion advice. Super Librarian? Operation Book Snatcher? Have you switched from mysteries to comic books? Let me guess. There is an evil super genius with eight arms lurking in the bushes, and you need my help to defeat him.”

“ Huey Long is dead.” As the enormity of what I found in the house hit me, I collapsed back against my seat and burst into tears.

“ Holy crap! You killed him over some freakin’ overdue books! What the...” Juliet looked at me in horror.

“ I didn’t kill him!” I sobbed. “I went into his house to get the books back when he was supposed to be at karaoke. I found him dead on the floor.” Juliet reached into my glove compartment for some napkins. I took them and blew my nose.

“ Whew! That’s a relief. Just a little felony breaking and entering. Not murder. Glad you cleared that up,” Juliet said with only a hint of sarcasm. “So what? You found him dead. Poor little troll. His heart probably gave out from reaching up to pinch too many women’s asses. I assume he had a heart attack. We’ll call 911 and say we came to see Huey. When he didn’t answer the door, we walked in and discovered his body.”

“ I don’t think that he just dropped dead all of a sudden. In fact, I know he didn’t. There was something wrong with him. I can guarantee that somebody murdered him and now the cops are going to think it was me!” I cried harder.

“ What do you mean? Wrong? Tell me what you saw,” Juliet demanded.

“ I was walking across the living room to grab the books when I stepped on him. I looked down and there he was. n***d with his eyes staring up at me and his tongue hanging out and his…” I stopped.

“ His what? So far I don’t see how this is a murder. It sounds like he was walking around in his birthday suit and dropped dead,” Juliet said. “Dead doesn’t mean murdered, Phee. Come back to reality and out of your mysteries. You read way too many books. I think you finally cracked tonight.”

“ I didn’t make this up!” I protested. “I haven’t cracked. I know what I saw! His Mr. Winky was out, and he had something tied around his neck. The whole thing was scary and wrong.”

Juliet furrowed her brow and stared at me. She opened her mouth and closed it again without speaking. She sat for a few more minutes and then said, “I want to see him.”

“ I don’t want to go back in there,” I shivered despite the late September warmth. I hugged my arms around my chest and shook my head. “No way! Whoever killed him might still be in there! You could be their next victim.”

“ I doubt they stuck around after hearing you stumbling over things in the dark. If someone was there, I am sure they are long gone by now. You don’t have to go in with me. I’ll check it out and make sure you didn’t leave any evidence. Once I’m done, we’ll make an anonymous call to the police and voila! Problem solved.”

“ What if you get caught?” I asked. “You are too pretty to go to jail and become Betty Lou Brickhouse’s girlfriend.”

“ I won’t get caught. Give me your gloves and tell me how you got in the house. I’ll be there and back before you can say shenanigans three times.”

“ I went in through the back window, but I left through the door in the kitchen. It’s unlocked and sitting wide open. I’m sure that’s how the killer left, too. I just carried my penlight.” I slipped my kid gloves off and passed them to her. She forced her long thin fingers into my small gloves stretching them past the point I could wear them again. I handed her my light.

“ If the gloves don’t fit, you must acquit!” Juliet joked. She opened the door and slipped out into the darkness.

Twelve long minutes later, she returned and hopped back in Velma. My usually confident sister looked a little paler. Her cocky smile was gone and replaced with a tight-lipped frown.

“ Let’s go,” she said. She took off the gloves and threw them down. She slumped down in the seat.

“ Where to?” I shifted Velma into drive, eased away from the curb and drove down the deserted street.

“ Head to the Quickie Cow,” Juliet replied. “They still have an outside payphone. They closed about a half an hour ago so no one should see us. I think you’re right. Someone killed Huey Long.”