Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 01 - Bogey Nights (30 page)

“Well, I’ve got news, and this one will make your day,” I said.

“What’s up?” Chris asked.

“Alice is no longer among the missing.”

Chapter Thirty-two

“
W
hat?
You found Alice? When? Where?” Chris sounded as surprised as I’d felt when Chance mentioned still being in touch with her old friend.

“She and Chance
still talk from time to time, if you can believe that. I’m going over to Chance’s tomorrow to get the address and phone number.”

“I wonder why Janet couldn’t find her.”

“Because Alice married and moved out of the country. Remember, her social security number wasn’t in the ledger. So all Janet had was her maiden name. And I would imagine that Alice Frye is probably a somewhat common name.”

“It is
. When I did a search on the computer for her, a whole slew of Alice Fryes turned up, but none of them appeared to be the one we’re looking for.”

“I called Janet and she’s going to have someone come out to check fingerprints, but she didn’t think they’d find anything useful
. I’d better call her back later and tell her about Alice. I don’t want to bug her or call her too often.”

Chris returned to the office and his Internet searches, while I wandered out to the backyard to play with the dogs
. I hadn’t been giving them enough attention lately and I felt guilt about it. I’d call Janet later.

Labrador retrievers are called retrievers for a reason
. They love to fetch things and bring them back. Mine each have a favorite toy, so I picked up Sherlock’s stuffed duck and Watson’s thingamajig, which looked like a giant worm and quacked like a duck when you squeezed it, and began throwing them for the dogs. Bred to retrieve birds, both dogs had “soft” mouths and handled their toys gently. However, when we switched to tug-of-war, that all changed. I spent a good half hour playing with them before giving them a break. Giving them a break equates to me resting.

I called Chris out to the kitchen and suggested he take a break, too, so we sat at the table with mugs of coffee in front of us.

“I don’t understand why someone would take those research pages,” I said. “They had to know you could look the information up again.”

“Unless it was a delaying tactic.”
Chris picked up his mug and took a swallow, then added a little sugar. “Or maybe they figure with enough roadblocks we’ll give up and go away. I think everybody in this city realizes how understaffed the police department is, and they may figure old murders would take a backseat to current crimes.”

“It’s possible.”

“Let’s take the dogs for a walk,” Chris said. “I do my best thinking when we walk. Come on.”

“You take them
. I’m tired. They wore me out.”

“Come on.”
Chris took hold of my hand and pulled me up. “By the time we’re done, it’ll be time to go see Freddi. Your reward for going on the walk with me and the dogs will be those old photos.”

“You ol’ silver-tongued devil, you.”
I let him pull me up and we called the dogs inside so we could put leashes on them.

Sherlock and Watson were
loose leash
trained as puppies, and it turned out to be one of the smartest things we ever did. Labs grow big and they grow strong. I’d seen a woman at the dog park pulled down twice because the dog hadn’t been trained. Our dogs walked without pulling on their leashes. I frequently told them what a good girl and boy they were while walking.

The exercise did me good, and it cleared my head
. I actually felt myself relaxing, which surprised me because I hadn’t realized how stressed out I was.

“Chris, why don’t we take a day off?
Let’s go see Freddi and then come home and relax. Maybe we’d think more clearly with a day of rest.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“I’ll call Constance and tell her that we’ll pick Mikey up after school. We can take him with us to
Daniel’s
.”

“Good idea
. We haven’t spent enough time with Ace over the past few days. You know that kid, he’ll enjoy going with us. He’ll feel like part of the team.”

I chuckled
. “He sure likes his new nickname. Mrs. Stanhope is upset because he’s asking the other kids to call him Ace.”

“Mrs
. Stanhope can take a – ”

“Now, Chris,” I interrupted, “Mrs
. Stanhope is an older woman, probably close to retirement. And she’s not used to children in her class having parents who’ve become involved in murder. Besides, she’s not representative of the majority of teachers. Next year he’ll have someone new – someone who’d probably laugh at his antics.”

“Yeah, there is a positive side to this
. I can’t wait until next year, and I’ll bet Ace can’t either.”

We finished our walk and put the dogs in the backyard, making sure they had fresh water
. I gave them each a treat for being so well-behaved, too. Watson licked my hand, and when I squatted down to pet her, she panted in my face. There’s nothing quite like the scent of doggie breath in the morning.

Chris and I turned on an old movie and
decided to bring the dogs inside. Sherlock curled up by my feet, as much as a large dog can curl, and immediately began snoring. Watson decided Chris needed attention, too, and she licked one of his shoes with gusto. I didn’t want to think about what might be on that shoe.

“Would you quit it?”
Chris said irritably, pushing her away. She hung her head and Chris called her back, scratching her back to make up to her. “Just leave my shoes alone, girl.”

We both fell asleep about half way through the movie
. When we woke up, the movie was over, so we had tomato soup and BLT’s for lunch. I gave the dogs each another treat and put them back outside.

While I read a mystery I’d been working on, Chris called a couple of agencies about bands
. We really had to find a group soon.

And
suddenly it was time to pick Mikey up at school. The day had gone by too quickly.

Mikey was excited to find out he was going to see Freddi with us
. “Finally,” he said. “I get to go on a stakeout with you guys.” Chris had been right about our son feeling like part of the team.

“This isn’t a stakeout, Ace
. Freddi is going to show us some photos from the old days.”

“Photos?
Is that all? I thought we were going to do some detecting.” Mikey’s excitement turned into disappointment in a flash.

“That’s part of detecting,” Chris told him
. “It’s not all car chases and skulking in alleys or ducking down in cars so you can watch someone. A lot of it is boring. You have to find clues to solve a mystery. And that’s why we’re going to see Freddi. We’re looking for clues, and her pictures might hold a few.”

I thought Chris was blowing the pictures out of proportion, but Mikey suddenly seemed more interested.

“Yeah, clues. That’s what a good private eye would do,” my son said.

Freddi was delighted that we brought Mikey along
. “I have a grandson about your age, Mikey.”

“You can call me Ace,” Mikey said proudly.

“Ace, huh? Sounds like a mighty fine nickname to me. Come sit at the bar and I’ll find a soft drink for you. Do you like peanuts?”

Mikey and Freddi headed behind the bar, hand in hand
. I’d never seen him take to anyone quite as quickly as he’d taken to Freddi. Fortunately, my son is usually a good judge of character. She showed him where the peanuts were and handed him a bowl to fill. He did so and set it on the bar before walking back around and climbing up onto a barstool.

“Huh
. So this is what a bar looks like.” He glanced around, trying to appear as grown up as possible, nodding his head up and down slightly.

“Well, this is more of a cocktail lounge,” Freddi said, “and you won’t want to hang out in bars when you’re older
. When you’re older, and if you want a drink, find yourself a nice quiet little cocktail lounge, not a dirty ol’ bar.”

“That’s something you won’t be thinking about for a very long time, Ace.”
Chris made that sound like a very definitive statement.

“I tasted beer a
t Danny’s house once, and I didn’t like it,” Mikey said. “I don’t think I’ll probably be a drinking man.”

“Okay,” I said, having heard enough about booze
and bars, “no more beer at Danny’s house and let’s move on to other things. Freddi, did you bring the pictures?” Danny’s mother and I would be having a talk.

She pulled an album out from under the bar
. “Sure did. My grandfather was so proud of this place. He took pictures, wrote on the pages who was in them and included the dates. You should find what you want in here.” She patted the album’s cover before sliding it over to me.

I felt like she was giving me the album and I glanced up at her questioningly.

“I have a dentist appointment that I have to keep, so I’m going to lend you the album. You can bring it back when you’re done.” She smiled. “If you don’t bring it back, I’ll know where to find you. By the way, what’s the name of your place?”

“We’re thinking of calling it
Bogey Nights
,” Chris said.

Freddi thought about that for a moment, appearing to let it roll around in her mind
. She leaned forward and looked Chris in the eye. “I like it. It’s memorable and it suits your theme. And after seeing you, nobody will be able to forget it.”

She picked up her purse and a hat, and walked back around the bar
. Holding her hand out to Mikey, she said, “It’s been a pleasure, Ace. Maybe one night when I visit your parents’ restaurant, you and I can have dinner together.” She plunked the hat on her head at an odd angle and fished in her purse for keys.

“Freddi,” I said, helping Mikey off his stool, “thank you so much for lending these to me
. We’ll take very good care of them. I know they mean a lot to you.”

We walked out together and waited while Freddi locked
the front door of
Daniel’s
.

“I know you will
. Well, I’m off to see that butcher.” She glanced at Mikey. “I’m only joking, son, my dentist is the best one in town. I always feel better after I see him. And he’s my husband, so I get a good discount.” She laughed at her own humor.

Oddly, Mikey looked at Freddi with longing
.

She saw it and bent down to give him a hug
. “What can I say? Kids love me. Since my grandson isn’t here today, you get his hug.”

“I liked her,” Mikey said after we’d pulled away from the curb
. “She
is
like a grandma. A funny one, too. I can’t wait to have dinner with her.”

“I don’t know if she meant that or not, Ace,” Chris said
. “Sometimes people say things just to be polite.”

“She meant it
. I could tell.”

I smiled
. I thought she meant it, too.

***

We spent a quiet evening at home. I cooked for a change, actually happy to get away from fast food for the evening. It was only sloppy joe’s and pasta salad, but it tasted like manna from heaven.

Mrs
. Stanhope had given Mikey his Friday assignment, so he did his homework before joining Chris and me out on the patio. We got out a game and played for an hour before I sent my son up to take his shower.

“Your bags are packed and ready to go,” I said
. “You can look and see if I missed anything you want to take with you.”

“I have a book I checked out at the library, but I know
Grandpa will tease me for bringing a book. He teases me about everything.”

“That’s okay
. He used to tease your dad about everything, too.”

Mikey stole a quick glance at Chris, seemingly wondering how his new dad would react to a comment
about his other dad.

“It’s okay, Ace
. You’re one of the lucky ones. You’ve got two dads. You’re other dad cared for you very much, and so do I. I wish I could have met your real father. I hear he was aces, too.”

Mikey looked relieved
. “I don’t remember him, but if he was anything like grandpa, I would have liked him a lot. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He went into the house and returned in a moment with Freddi’s picture album, placing it on the patio table.

“Thanks, Mikey. We were going to look at those after you went to bed.” I opened the album to the first page.

“I want to see them, too,” Mikey said, pulling his chair close to mine.

We looked through the album together, but we were mostly looking at the old cars, old styles of clothing and people having a good time in a cocktail lounge. I’d never asked Freddi what her grandfather’s name was, but the first picture was of a man standing in front of
Dapper Dan’s
. The picture was labeled, Dan Simon, Proud New Owner. After that, personal family pictures were interspersed with pictures from the cocktail lounge.