The Pastor’s Daughter: Episode XX

I read many Shakespeare’s plays during my high school days. One of the characters in his plays, the one called Cicero, once said that Nature has planted in our minds an insatiable desire to see the truth. My insatiable desire at this point is to finish this Brittany’s case and, perhaps, take a short vacation. Unfortunately, the case is getting tougher everyday.

By the time I reached my apartment, I had mapped out in my mind what I was going to tell Reverend Waters. I told myself that my best plan would be to be as simple as I can in my explanations. This is because there were angles to this Brittany business that had to be investigated before I could even think of giving Reverend Waters a gimmer of the truth.

I left the Mercedes convertible outside the building and hastily climbed the staircase to my apartment. As I was walking down the hallway, I saw a figure of a man loitering outside my front door. I almost had a heart attack when I recognized the short, broad-shouldered  shape of Lieutenant Ludlum.

He turned at the sound of my footfalls and gave me a look I didn’t like. It was a long stare that was meant to be scary and succeeded in being scary.

“Hello Lieutenant,” I said. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long, have you?”

“Not really,” he said. “I just got here. There’s something I wanted to ask you.”

I fetched out my key, opened the front door and stood aside.

“Come on in.”

He walked into my sitting room very slowly, you know, in measured steps. The way he walked in reminded me of how an undertaker walks into the room where a body is laid out. Now, here’s the funny part: when he moved in, he placed himself with his back to the window. I knew he  did that to make sure that if I faced him, the full light from the window would fall on my face. As a precaution, I decided I will not give him that advantage. So I went over to my desk that stood in a corner out of the light and sat down, making him turn to face me.

“What’s on your mind Lieutenant?” I asked, lighting a Marlboro and trying to keep calm.

He looked around, found a chair and sat down.

“I regret it is now no longer possible to advise the Atlantic City coroner that Brittany Waters’ death was accidental,” he said. “There are several issues that looks suspicious. Because of that, we intend to make a full investigation.”

I kept my face expressionless.

“I’m trying to follow you,” I said.

“Brittany Waters had many men friends,” he said. “I’m sorry to say this, but we discovered that she has been free and easy with her favors.”

“You are just  trying to be polite, Lieutenant,” I said. “So, what is your point here? Are you telling me she led an immoral life? That she was a whore?”

He nodded.

“That’s right.”

“That won’t make Reverend Waters happy. Are you sure of your facts?”

He made an impatient movement.

“Of course I’m sure,” he said. “We, I mean the Police Department, think it is more than possible that one of her men friends killed her. In other words, this is now a murder investigation. The bottom line is that I now have a list of the names of a number of men she knew. Unfortunately, your name is on that list.”

“So, this is your way of telling me that I had sexual relations with her?” I said, forcing myself to meet his eyes. “Because if that is the case, it will give me great pleasure to sue you.”

“I’m not accusing you yet, Mr. Harry. You knew her. I’m just trying to clarify the position. Like I said before, we are convinced that a man she knew killed her. All I need from you at the moment is to tell me where you were on the day of her death.”

I have been expecting this question for a long time, so I already have a ready answer.

“Do you think I killed her, Lieutenant?” I asked in  a voice I scarcely recognized as my own.

“No, I don’t”, he replied. “I am working with a list of all the names of the men who knew her. Against each name, I am writing down the whereabouts of this man at the time of Ms. Brittany’s death. This will save me a lot of time because I only need to investigate those men who can’t account for their movements at the time.”

“That makes sense,” I drew in a long, slow breath. “So you want me to tell you where I was four days ago, right”

“Yeah,” he said.

“I have no problem with that,” I began. “It was the day I began my vacation. My plan was to go to Atlantic City. I forgot to book a room and, finding I had left it too late, I stayed in my house, working on my book. I am writing the biography of Henry Ford.  The following morning…”

“I’m not really interested in what happened the following morning, Harry,” Lieutenant Ludlum said. “Just tell me what happened on the 29^th.”

“No problem,” I said. “I was right here, working on my book. I worked all the afternoon and evening up to three o’clock the following morning. I didn’t go anywhere since I was so tired after putting in all that work.”

He looked down at his black shoes.

“Did anyone  called on you” he asked, hopefully.

“No one did, because I was thought to be in Atlantic City.”

“You did not get even a phone call?”

“No, for the same reason I believe.”

“I see.”

There was a long, awkward pause while he starred at his shoes. Then he looked at me and said, “Well, thank you Harry.”

To say the truth, meeting his eyes was like having a car’s high beam across my face.

He then got to his feet and added, “I’m sorry if I had taken up too much of your time. But you must understand that this is a complicated case. It is only by asking questions and making inquiries that we shall eventually arrive at the truth. You know that anyway.”

“No problem,” I said, aware that my mouth was dry and my hands were clammy.

“If I come across anything that I think you can help me with, I will be in touch with you again,” he said as he moved to the door. Then he stopped to look at me. “Are you sure you don’t want to add anything to what you’ve already told me? I mean, is there anything that may have slipped your mind that might help me?”

“Not at all” I said.

He stared at me.

“I think you should treat this matter seriously,” he said. “After all, this is a murder investigation. I guess the best way to put it is for you to think about it very well,  just in case some idea may occur to you.”

“No problem Lieutenant,” I said. “I will call you if I have something for you.”

“I will appreciate it if you do.”

He nodded and, opening the door, he left. As soon as he left, I stubbed out my cigarette. I then walked over to the window and watched the traffic swirling around my neighborhood. I noticed a few dark clouds in the sky: a sure sign that it was going to be a wet night. I saw Lieutenant Jim Ludlum get into the police car and drive away.

END OF EPISODE XX

P.S. Episode Twenty-One  will be published here next Monday.