Christmas Corpse Caper (5 page)
Read Christmas Corpse Caper Online
Authors: Lois Lavrisa
Actually, I didn’t really want to know.
* * *
As I walked back upstairs, I thought about Kim kissing me and being so nice to me. It sure hadn’t seemed like an act. She’d really seemed to like me. Maybe I should believe her when she’d said that she had nothing to do with Joe’s prank.
“I’m sorry I accused you of plotting against me. I just thought you were in on it too,” I said to Kim back in the office.
“Hmmph.” Kim grabbed her coat. She slammed her desk drawer.
“Please forgive me.” I tried to make eye contact with her.
A loud noise made us both lock eyes.
“Okay, that must be Joe again.” I chuckled.
“Didn’t he leave?” Kim’s voice quivered.
“I’m not sure. But he doesn’t know when to stop a joke. He’s trying to get me all riled up again. Bet he has a camera this time to permanently capture my reaction. I’m not going to let him put one over on me this time.” Pulling my shoulders back, I clenched my fists. “No, I’ll show him I’m no fool.”
“What are you going to do?” Kim set down her coat. “What if it’s not him?”
“Oh, it’s him.” I smiled. Yeah. The jerk.
I marched out.
“Wait for me.” Kim caught up with me. “I don’t want to be alone.”
As I walked I announced—loud, for Joe to hear—”I am so glad I have a black belt. Whoever is here is going to be sorry.”
Kim whispered, “Karate?”
I lifted my shirt to show her my black leather belt.
She whacked my arm.
Even louder I said, “Yes, there’s going to be one sorry person when I get to them. I’m glad I have my pepper spray.” I pulled out my keychain, showing Kim the small pepper spray tube.
She smiled.
The sound of movement inside the Serenity Room made my body tense up.
“Did you hear that?” Kim asked. She hung close to me. Close enough for me to smell her hair. Fruity. Like a smoothie.
“It’s probably nothing. But I’m going in. Stay here.” I held her shoulders.
“I’m going with you,” Kim insisted. “Please don’t leave me.
“I love this, you’re begging me. This is a dream come true.”
“Focus.” Kim held me close.
“What are you up to?” Joe stormed down the hall.
If Joe was in the hallway, then who was in the room? “I thought it was you.”
“Obviously not.” Joe smirked.
Slam.
“What was that?” Joe asked.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
Kim pointed at the door to the Serenity Room. “Someone is in there.”
“Who?” Joe whispered.
“I don’t know. But how about you stay out here with Kim, and keep her safe. Let me see what’s going on. Be ready to call the police,” I whispered back.
“Let’s call them now.” Joe pulled out his phone.
“Not yet. Last time it turned out a vase fell. Give me a second to take a look, okay?” I quietly said.
“Fine I’ll stay here with Joe,” Kim said. “Be safe, Mark.”
Joe and Kim stood in the hallway, across from the Serenity Room door. I gave them a thumbs up, and then put a finger vertically on my mouth. They nodded.
I opened the door. Two chairs were knocked over, and as I looked into the casket, I saw that Mr. Wallace had no jacket on.
At the same time, a muffled weeping came from a closet. I crept over and threw open the closet door.
A woman was inside: Arlene Oldenburg, Mr. Wallace’s daughter.
Arlene screamed.
Joe and Kim burst into the Serenity Room.
“What’s she doing here?” Joe asked as he pointed at Arlene.
Knowing the issues she had with her sister, I had a feeling there was an explanation. I felt the desire to protect her. “I’ve got this under control. I’ll meet you both later in the office.”
Joe said, “Are you sure?”
“Yes. It’s Mr. Wallace’s daughter, Arlene. It’ll be fine,” I replied.
Joe and Kim nodded and then left.
Arlene slunk from the closet, holding a suit jacket. Her face pale and hands shaking, she smelled of liquor.
“Are you going to karate me or do the pepper spray?” Arlene’s voice quivered as she sobbed.
“What? Oh, no,” I said. “What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“Earlier, when I was alone in here, I unlocked the outside door over there.” She sniffed, pointing to back of the room. “I took a chance that you wouldn’t notice that it was unlocked. I needed to get in here when no one could see me.”
“Why?” I asked.
Arlene looked at her father’s casket but didn’t say anything. She hugged the jacket close to her chest.
“What are you doing with this?” I reached for the jacket. “Arlene, please let me put it back on your dad.”
Arlene jerked it away from my reach. “No. I need this.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because this is mine. I’m entitled to it.” Her mouth formed a pout.
“Fine. Let’s have Susan bring another jacket over when she comes to get you. And you can keep this one.” I felt like Arlene acted like a child, but then again, the death of a parent caused some people to revert to their childhood.
“No. Don’t call her,” Arlene shouted, her whole body shaking.
“But I have to.”
“You can’t. I beg of you. Don’t call her,” Arlene pleaded, placing her hand on my arm.
“Okay. Then give it to me, and I’ll fix your dad up. We’ll just act like none of this ever happened.” I moved closer to her.
“You can’t have it.” She stepped back.
“Okay, what’s going on? If you don’t tell me, I’ll have to inform Susan or the police.”
Arlene walked over to a chair and slumped in it. I sat beside her.
“This is my inheritance.” Arlene folded the jacket in her lap.
“Like I said, keep it and I’ll get Susan to bring another one for your dad’s viewing tomorrow.”
“She can’t know about this. After me being cut out of the will because of my betting, she expects me to mess up again. I’ve been in Gamblers Anonymous and haven’t placed a bet in a whole year, but neither Dad or Susan knew that.”
“So, let me get his straight. You were cut out of the will because you gambled?”
“Yes, I was addicted. Not just a gambler, a degenerate gambler.” Arlene fidgeted in her chair. Her voice came out low and quiet. “I’m not proud of it. He was so careful with his money and afraid I’d throw it all away. He just couldn’t bear it if that happened.”
“But you said you’re done gambling.” I put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s great.”
“Yes.” Arlene ran her hand across her lap.
“Okay, then why not tell Susan?” I asked.
“She wouldn’t believe me because I’ve relapsed before.” Arlene turned the coat over. “But I won’t this time. And I only want this so I can pay for my kids’ college.”
“With a jacket? How?” I touched the garment's sleeve.
“Here. Look.” She pulled a nail file out of her purse, and then ran it along a shoulder seam. As she wiggled the file along the edge, the seam gave way. She dug her fingers in and removed three small crystal clear rocks.
“Whoa.” My heart flipped. “Diamonds?”
“Yes, and I think every seam has some valuable gems as well. These are worth… Well, a lot.” Arlene held the diamonds in her open palm.
“Then why would Susan choose that jacket to bury him in?”
“Because it was his favorite. He kept it in the back of his closet and never wore it. He always told us it was priceless to him.”
“No kidding.”
“I thought he must have something hidden away. That’s why I wanted to be alone with him earlier, I’m ashamed to say. And when I felt his jacket seams they were full of small bumps. That’s when I knew I had to come back and get the jacket without Susan knowing. I didn’t think she’d ever understand without ever having kids to raise and support.”
“Why don’t you try to explain it to her, like you just did to me? I’m sure she’d understand.”
“Remember, I’m cut out of the will.” Arlene closed her hand.
“Oh. Yeah.” I felt bad for her. After all it was Christmas. “Maybe, she’ll have the holiday spirit of forgiveness?”
“Maybe. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” Arlene gave a faint smile.
“It sure would.”
Knock. Knock.
Joe peeked his head inside the door. “Is everything okay in here?”
I looked at Arlene and whispered, “You need to get this taken care of with your sister. If not, I have to deal with her or the police.”
“Fine.” She sighed.
“So all is good here? Is there anything I can do?” Joe offered.
“Can you call Susan Wallace, please, and have her meet Arlene here?” I asked Joe.
* * *
After Susan arrived, we left the sisters alone in the office. While we waited in the lobby, I updated Kim and Joe about what Arlene had said.
Fifteen minutes later Arlene and Susan emerged from the office.
“Thank you for everything,” Susan said as she approached me.
“You’re welcome. We’re always glad to help,” I said.
“Yes, ma’am, It was our pleasure,” Joe said, shaking Susan’s hand.
“Please, let us know if you need anything at all,” Kim offered Susan and Arlene.
“Thank you. We’re fine. We’ll see you tomorrow morning. Oh, and I’m bringing another jacket.” Susan put on her gloves. She pointed to the jacket over Arlene’s arm. “We’re taking this one home.”
Arlene said to me, “I guess I’ve underestimated my sister. She’s going to have all the jewels appraised, and then put the money into college accounts for my kids.”
“I’m glad to hear that worked out.” I smiled. “Happy Holiday.”
Right after Susan and Arlene left, the back door buzzer sounded.
“Another delivery? We’re only supposed to have one tonight.” Kim glanced at Joe and then me. “And that one turned out to be a set up.”
“What’s going on Joe?” I asked.
“I… um… forgot to call off part two of your initiation.” Joe ran to the back door, and shouted over his shoulder to us, “Never mind. You guys can leave. I’ll lock up.”
Kim turned to me and smiled. “Thank goodness tonight’s over. I guess you never really had to spend too much time alone here.”
“Nope, I didn’t. Instead, I had a fake corpse, scary noises, and someone breaking in to undress a corpse. So I would say a night alone may be fine after a night like this.” I chuckled.
“Too bad you want to be alone.”
“Why’s that?”
“I was hoping you could join me at the all night diner for a milkshake.” Kim grabbed her purse.
“A date?” I asked, pushing my luck.
“Sure, why not?” Kim walked over to me, opened her purse, and reached inside. “I need to get this out.”
“Nunchucks?” I asked.
“I was going for mistletoe, but I guess I don’t need it to do this.”
Kim grabbed me by the arms and pulled me in for a kiss.
THE END
(If you’ve enjoyed this romantic suspense short story “Christmas Corpse Caper,” and want to read more about Mark Stevens, you’re sure to love the Amazon Kindle bestselling novel LIQUID LIES, a murder mystery suspense thriller
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1.
She was a professional NBA cheerleader for the Chicago Bulls (1985/1986 season)
2.
Being organized gives her the illusion of having control (yeah right, with four kids)
3.
Secretly, she wants to be a beach bum. Okay now it’s not a secret.
4.
If someone hired her to travel the world and write about it -she would pack in today.
5.
She gave birth to her first two children in Sweden with a midwife -sans epidurals. Birthed the last two in the USA -blissfully numb with pain med
s
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