Chocolate Girls with Golden Hair (23 page)

Detective Uhler drew his handkerchief
from his pocket and cleaned his glasses. After a long drawn out
silence, he asked, "Ms. Bell, would you mind removing the towel
from your head?"

Bianca's eyes lit up in fear. "Why?"
She tried to come up with an excuse for why she couldn't remove the
towel, but nothing came to mind.

After several moments, Detective Uhler,
impatiently said. "Just remove the towel."

His insistence frightened her even
more. "I just washed my hair, and I'm susceptible to colds." After
she heard what she said, she wanted to kick herself for such a lame
excuse, but she needed to say something. "What if I
refuse?"

"Ms. Bell," Detective Lane said, before
Detective Uhler cut him off. "Is there something you don't want us
to see?"

Bianca touched her towel to make sure
it was firmly in place and tight on her head. "No, it's not that. I
would just rather not."

"Is your hair blonde?" Detective Lane
asked.

"It's not naturally blonde. I colored
it blonde recently."

"May we see it?" Detective Uhler
asked.

Bianca didn't answer.

Detective Uhler closed his note pad.
"Listen, Ms. Bell. Bruce Colby was murdered last night and we have
good reason to believe it was a black woman with blonde hair. We
have already questioned the two other blondes at your office who
fit the description of the black woman seen coming from the men's
room. Now, it wouldn't be smart to question a third person without
ever seeing the color of his or her hair. That's one of the main
reasons we're here."

No longer could she avoid the
inevitable. She reached for the towel, about to undo it, when her
cell phone on the kitchen counter rang. It startled her so much she
almost jumped from her seat.

It could not have come at a more
opportune moment, a moment to separate herself from them and their
antagonizing questions and requests. Bianca glanced over at the
phone and stood up. "Excuse me," she said, before she made her way
into the kitchen and picked up the phone. She kept an eye out for
the detectives as it would only be a matter of seconds before one
or both of them would rear their nosy bodies in after
her.

"Hey, Sunshine," Lee said. "I called
your job. They said you didn't come in today. What's going
on?"

Her first response was to say the word
everything, but instead she wore a false front and avoided his
question. "Hi, Lee." Just as Bianca feared, as soon as Bianca
greeted Lee, Detective Uhler came into the kitchen and stared at
her. She moved the phone away from her mouth and covered it with
her hand.

"I'll be off in a minute," she said to
Detective Uhler.

"Take your time," Detective Uhler
said.

"Who was that?" Lee asked.

"Lee, I can't talk right now, but I'll
call you back."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine."

As soon as Bianca abruptly ended the
call, she noticed Detective Uhler, observing the overflowing empty
wine bottles in the garbage. With all the idle time she spent at
home that morning, she never once bothered to take out the trash,
and it was too late now.

"Do you drink, Ms. Bell?"

"Sometimes."

Sometimes was definitely an
understatement, and she could tell by the expression on his face
that he knew it.

Out of nowhere, Detective Lane hurled
into the kitchen. "I think there's something in here you should
see," he said to Detective Uhler.

Bianca's heart pounded so fast she
worried it would just stop, which would have suited her just fine.
But she was not that lucky. She tried her best to stay positive.
She inhaled a deep breath, hoping they would return to the kitchen
and thank her for her time, but she would have to be a moron if she
believed that was ever going to happen, not in this lifetime or any
lifetime to come.

Less than thirty seconds passed before
Detectives Uhler and Lane returned to the kitchen. They wore stern
looks on their faces as if they had just seen a ghost, a telltale
sign that it was not good. No one said a word, especially not her
as the part of her brain for speech failed to function due to fear.
Detective Lane eased his hands into his pockets, while Detective
Uhler stepped towards her. "Did you color your hair this
morning?"

Instead of answering his question,
Bianca swallowed hard, hoping that Detective Lane might answer for
her. How could she have been stupid enough to color her hair back
and draw this insurmountable attention to herself?

"Ms. Bell?" Detective Uhler
said.

"Huh?"

"Did you color your hair this
morning?"

"Yes."

"Could you remove the towel from your
head?" Detective Lane asked.

Unable to avoid the inevitable any
longer, Bianca removed the towel from her head and her damp black
hair fell to her shoulders. Only two seconds elapsed before
Detective Uhler responded. "We'd like for you to get dressed and
come with us."

Could this really be happening to her,
or was she dreaming? Right about now those graves at St. Lucas
Cemetery were looking pretty appealing.

"Why? I answered your
questions."

"Please, get dressed and come with
us."

Panic and fear oozed from every inch of
her being as she stepped back, wanting to avoid going with them at
any cost. "Why do we have leave? Why can't you just ask me
questions here, like you did before?"

Detective Uhler exhaled a long
whispering breath as if to say this debate is over. Finally, she
resigned to the fact that she had to go, and there was nothing she
could do about it, at least not at that very moment
anyway.

Though she had recently been arrested
before for shoplifting, it was different now. She was being
arrested for murder, and that was no small pill.

"Okay. I'll get dressed," she said,
then proceeded to head out of the kitchen. She then stopped and
turned to face Detective Uhler. "I don't suppose I have time to
blow dry my hair, do I?"

The smirk on Detective Uhler's face
said it all, 'absolutely not.' She figured there was no harm in
asking.

Less than two minutes passed when
Bianca came from her bedroom. She wore jeans and her hair was
pulled back into a neat ponytail. When she grabbed her keys from
the kitchen counter, she wondered if they might handcuff her. After
picking up her coat form the sofa, she asked, "Are you going to put
handcuffs on me."

She knew it must have seemed to them
like she wanted to be handcuffed, but that wasn't the case at all.
She was just curious.

"I don't think that will be necessary,"
Detective Uhler said.

Bianca stood between Detectives Uhler
and Lane at the elevator. She didn't understand why they couldn't
continue their investigation at her apartment. What difference did
it really make whether they were at her apartment or somewhere
else?

With sweaty palms and knots in her
stomach, Bianca felt a neurosis coming on. She fished for an idea
of how to avoid going with them, then it hit her. "I forgot my
purse."

Detective Uhler didn't say a
word.

"Is it okay if I get my purse?" she
asked them.

Detective Uhler nodded.

As she strolled towards her apartment,
Detective Lane followed behind her.

Bianca stood at her door, grabbed her
keys from her pocket and fumbled with the lock, pretending to have
trouble with the key. "I don't know what's wrong with this
key."

Detective Lane stood firmly behind her.
He was no doubt eyeballing her with a careful eye while Bianca
continued her fake fuss with the key.

"What are you doing, Ms. Bell?"
Detective Lane questioned.

"I'm having trouble with this
key."

As soon as she finished her last
sentence, the ding of the elevator was just the moment she needed
to make a run for it. She lunged down the hallway, headed for the
staircase, listening to the thumps of Detective Lane trailing
behind her. She flung through the stairway door, leaped down two
flights of stairs, all the while Detective Lane was fast on her
trail. She reached the sixth floor, swung the door open and zipped
through. Almost out of breath, she rammed into a young woman who
carried two garbage bags, knocking her off her feet.

Without a moment to catch her breath,
Bianca picked herself up fast. "Sorry," Bianca said to the woman,
before she continued down the hall. She managed to gain a tiny
distance from Detective Lane, just enough time to make it to the
staircase at the opposite end of the hallway.

As Bianca jetted through the door, the
perspiration drizzled from her forehead, but she didn't look back.
She mounted a flight of stairs, opened the door to the seventh
floor and rushed through, not knowing how much longer she could
continue to run. She sprinted into the garbage chute and pulled the
door shut behind her.

She stood completely still. As she
wiped the sweat from her forehead, she tried desperately not to let
a breath escape from her mouth. She failed to think through her
impulsive plan to run and she didn't have a clue as to what she
might do next.

A minute passed since she stored
herself in the garbage chute, and a tinge of hope leapt into her
heart as she moved her ear to the door.

Maybe she lost them.

For the first time, her heart slowed
down to a more normal beat. With her ear to the door, she only
heard silence, but she was afraid to move.

Maybe it was a trick.

Maybe they were just waiting for her to
make a move. Then it dawned on her that if they knew where she was,
surely they would have come for her by now. It wasn't like they
were afraid of her.

Who would have thought her journey of
adventure would have taken her to a place like this?

Hiding out in the garbage chute.
Immobilized, she listened to the sound of her breath. With nothing
to look at but the wall in front of her, she would wait a little
longer before she opened the door. After several minutes, she put
her ear against the door and heard nothing. She then placed her
hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it. As soon as the door
opened, the sight of Detective Lane was staggering as he stood with
his gun drawn on her. She inhaled a deep breath, and her instincts
caused her to pull the door shut. Without a moment in between,
Detective Uhler swung the door open and yanked her out by the
collar.

Bianca's eyes bulged and her face was
flushed as Detective Uhler's eyes met with hers. "Now, about those
handcuffs," he said to her.

Detective Lane slapped the handcuffs on
her fast, which pinched her wrists. Luckily, she was handcuffed
from the front, in lieu of behind her back. It wasn't until the
handcuffs were completely fastened on her wrists that she
understood just how guilty her actions made her look as she behaved
like a fugitive. If ever there was a time to dial down the
craziness, now was the time.

When would she learn to handle things
in stride without always acting out? This was a lesson that came a
little too late. When God was handing out brains, she failed to get
in line.

When they reached the police station on
Addison and Halsted, Bianca wondered if they would escort her to
lockup, but, lucky for her, they didn't. Instead, they escorted her
into a room for further questioning.

In the small antiseptic room with dim
lights, she sat across the table from Detectives Uhler and Lane.
She was still handcuffed and her hair was still wet. Bianca sat
quietly, praying that she would not be charged with the murder of
Bruce Colby. Even still, with each silent moment that passed, her
spirit turned a darker shade of blue, waiting and anticipating the
worst.

Finally, Detective Uhler pulled out his
note pad. "Ms. Bell, why did you run?"

She didn't answer his question.
Instead, she peered down at the handcuffs on her wrists.

"'Could you remove the handcuffs,
please?"

Detective Uhler glanced over at
Detective Lane, as if he was considering her request. "You're not
going to try and run away again, are you?" Detective Uhler
asked.

"No." She was still trying to catch her
breath from all the running she did earlier.

Detective Lane rose from a sitting
position, seized the key from his pocket, stepped over to her and
removed the handcuffs. He then stood at a short distance from her,
his hands in his pockets. Bianca rubbed her bruised wrist with a
humble look on her face. "When do I get to make my phone
call?"

"Don't worry. You'll get your phone
call," Detective Uhler said to her.

"May I have some water
please?"

"No, you may not," Detective Lane
said.

"I thought detectives were supposed to
be nice people."

"Who told you that?" Detective Lane
asked her.