Marja McGraw - Bogey Man 01 - Bogey Nights (5 page)

“Are you sure?” I asked
, releasing my breath.

“As sure as I can be
. I just found a skull. And there are other bones, along with some jeans material. Pamela, use your cell phone and make the call. Let’s all go upstairs. I don’t think we should do any more digging or touch anything.”

I was shocked
. The idea of finding a dead body in the cellar really had been just a joke. Not for one second did I ever think we’d actually find anything. Suddenly the idea of a mystery didn’t sound so enticing.

I saw Sharon reaching for her cell phone and grabbed her hand
. “Not now, Sharon. Wait until we know more.”

I had no doubt she’d been about to call the newspaper to report our find
. “Dead Body Found in Future Location of Bogey Man’s Restaurant” the headlines would read. I held onto her hand a bit tighter, and she finally pulled away and put her cell phone back in her purse.

I opened mine and dialed.

Chapter Five

T
he police arrived just as Mikey and Constance climbed out of the car. Mikey watched the police cruiser, curiosity practically oozing out of his pores.

As casually as possible, I approached my son and friend
. “Uh, Constance, we’ve had a little mishap here. Could you please take Mikey home and stay with him until we get there?”

“You
r last little mishap was a fire,” she said, quietly. “What is it this time?”

“I’ll tell you when we come home
. But for right now, would you get Mikey out of here?”

My son ran
toward the house and I called him back.

“What’s going on?” Constance asked.

Mikey couldn’t hear us, so I whispered. “We found a skeleton buried in the cellar. Need I say more?”

“Uh, no
. We’ll talk later.”

“What’s going on, Mom?” Mikey asked, latching onto my hand.

“Oh, not much really. We’ll talk when Dad and I get home.”

That was the distraction he needed
. He turned to Constance. “Did I tell you that I’m going to call Chris Daddy now? I meant to say Dad. He doesn’t mind at all.”

The two climbed back into Constance’s car and I could see Mikey’s lips moving a mile a minute as they pulled away from the curb
. Constance was grinning.

The police were headed toward the house and I ran to catch up with them.

“Excuse me, officers, but the problem is in the cellar. Would you follow me please?”

“Ma’am, we understand you’ve found a skeleton?”

“Yes, we have.”

They actually looked a little skeptical, and I couldn’t understand why.

“Is there a problem?” I asked.

“Are you sure it’s a human skeleton and not a dog or other animal?”

“Yes, officer, I’m sure. My husband found the skull.”

I could see their interest perk up when I mentioned the skull
. “I’m Officer Seevers and this is Officer Small,” the first copper said, belatedly. “Sometimes people find animal bones in these old houses, so I thought I’d ask. We’ll take a look and then call it in.”

Everyone was standing outside, by the cellar door, and the
cops asked who’d found the body. Chris stepped forward.

“Would you please show us what you found?” Officer Seevers
asked.

Chris turned on his flashlight and started down the stairs, with the
coppers following. I heard him telling them about the coin purse, but the farther away they were, the less I could hear. After a few minutes they came back up the stairs.

“I’ll call it in,” Officer Small said
. “Be back in a minute.”

I turned to Officer Seevers
. “Well?” I asked. “Was it human remains?”

“Yes, ma’am
. We’ll get a team out here to go over the basement. I’ll need to take statements from all of you. You’ll need to stay out of the way and out of the basement until we’re done.” He followed his partner out to the car.

“What do you think, Chris?” I asked.

He spoke quietly. “Before they got here, Big D and I took a good look at the skull. It looks like someone bashed his head in. The back of his head appeared to be crushed.”

I sucked in my breath
. “So we’re talking about murder.” I sounded dramatic, even to myself. I watched the two cops return to the cellar.

“Well, duh,” Big D said
. “I mean, he certainly didn’t bury himself.”

“Good point,” I said
, narrowing my eyes at him. “Now what? And how do you know it was a man?”

Chris turned to me
. “Now, nothing. The police will take over. I’m just assuming it was a guy, but I couldn’t tell you for sure. I hope this doesn’t ruin things for the restaurant going in here.”

“
Yeah. Who’d want to patronize a restaurant with a dead body in the cellar?” I cringed, knowing I might have second thoughts if I were a customer instead of the owner.

“Here’s where I come in,” Sharon said
. “This is
great
publicity. People have a morbid curiosity. They’ll come in droves, I guarantee it. The more sensational the story, the more they’ll want to come here.”

“Ha
! If it’s a morbid story, they’ll stay
away
in droves. The only ones who’ll show up will be thrill seekers. And if his head was bashed in, chances are it’s going to be a morbid story.”

My stomach dropped to my feet as I thought about our business failing
. There just had to be some kind of spin we could put on this that wouldn’t detract from the good food and ambiance we offered. Chris and I needed to brainstorm.

“You and your husband and I need to sit down and talk about this
. Do a little brainstorming,” Sharon said, reading my mind. “We can work this out. I can get my story, and you can get your business back. Trust me.”

“We?
There is no
we
here,” I said.

“Has anyone taken a moment to think about the stiff in the cellar?” Chris asked
. “You realize, of course, that someone was murdered and buried in our cellar. Someone was alive one day and bit the dust the next. Someone croaked, bought the farm, and not the easy way. How many more ways can I say it?
There was a murder committed here
.”

“That body has been there a long time,” I said
. “The house has been vacant, and all you found were bones. This speaks of an old crime to me. We probably wouldn’t be so blasé if there was more than just bones.”

“Yeah,
maybe you’re right. This guy was probably fish bait long before we were even hatched,” Chris said. “But still, he was upright and breathing just like us at some point in time.”

“Cool,” Sharon said
. “I love it when you talk like an old time detective.”

I glared at her
. However, she was right. Chris was moving into his Bogey mode. He smelled a mystery, and an old one at that. As much as I hated to admit it, my curiosity was a little piqued, too. I mean, it wasn’t like we’d found a fresh corpse. I groaned inwardly, feeling callous.

“You know,” Sharon said, “maybe that’s an angle we could wor
k – the fact that it’s an old murder with a vintage P.I. type guy working the case.”

“I’m not working the case, Sharon,” Chris said
. “This is a police matter. Why don’t you hold off until we know more?”

“Well, I’ve got to turn
something
in to the paper. Otherwise the other newspapers will scoop us when they check the police sheets.” Sharon sounded annoyed.

I’d been thinking about the whole situation while Chris and Sharon sparred
. “Here’s a thought,” I said. “You’re way ahead of the other papers because you were actually
here
when the body was found. Can’t you work the story from that point of view? You were here and you’ll have all the latest information first.”

“You know, Pamela, that’s not a
bad idea.” She glanced toward the cellar door and looked as though she was beginning to write the story in her mind. I hoped that would keep her occupied for a few minutes.

“Chris,” I said quietly, “let’s
find out if the police will talk to us.”

He nodded
. Turning to Big D, Chris spoke softly. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but Davey nodded and began talking to Sharon while Chris took my hand and pulled me along behind him.

“What did you say to Davey?” I asked.

“I suggested he ask Sharon to go to dinner with him. That should keep them both busy for a while. Although,” Chris said thoughtfully, “Big D is kind of cream puff compared to that dizzy broad.”

“
Please don’t use the word broad. But a date was good thinking on your part.”

“The term dizzy broad dates back to the ninetee
n forties and – ”

“I know, but times have changed
. You’re not a P.I. and this is a new millennium.”

Chris laughed
. “After only one year we’re acting like an old married couple. You’re getting bossy.”

I smiled
. “I guess the honeymoon is over and you’re beginning to see the real me.”

Chris snorted
. “You think bossy is going to work with me?”

“No, but our marriage is a partnership, so I figure I
should give it a good try.”

By that time we’d reached the
cellar door and a cop was coming up the stairs. He blinked a couple of times before looking at us.

“It’s bright up here after spending time using flashlights in the dark cellar,” he said, seeming to feel like he needed to explain.

“Did you find anything else?” I asked.

“No
. The homicide detective should be here any minute. We can’t really do any digging, or much of anything else, until he gets here. I can’t help but wonder if there’s at least one more body down there.”

I liked this cop
. He was chatty, and that’s what we were hoping for, someone who’d share with us. I couldn’t remember if he was Seevers or Small. Then I remembered he was Seevers. When we’d met, I found it interesting that Small was a big galoot. I rolled my eyes, realizing that I was beginning to sound like Chris. Galoot?

“You mean because of the other slab of cement?” Chris asked.

“Yeah,” Seevers replied. “This may turn out to be an old case, but it could also turn out to be interesting.”

“Did you find anything else down there in the way of clues?” I asked.

“We found … Uh, here comes the detective. I didn’t expect them to send her, but… You’ll have to excuse me.” He turned and walked toward the street to meet a woman in a suit. I’d assumed it would be a man, but this was definitely a woman. And she didn’t look happy.

As they approached us I could hear her complaining
. “I know I’m new as a homicide detective, but you’d think they could give me something juicier than a bunch of old bones.”

She saw us and stopped talking, turning to confer quietly with Officer Seevers
. Approaching us, she held out her hand. “I’m Detective Riley. Before I go down to the basement, would you please tell me what transpired here?” She narrowed her eyes at Chris and gave him a questioning look but said nothing further.

He
curled his upper lip under, leaned back slightly and hooked his thumbs in his pockets, and I knew the Bogey Man would be speaking, not my husband. His explanation was colorful, to say the least, and she didn’t interrupt his story or ask questions.

While she watched him, I watched her
. She appeared to be in her mid to late forties and had short, dark hair with premature beginnings of grey. She looked like she took good care of herself, and she still had a nice, trim figure. She scratched the back of her neck, pulled on her ear lobe and finally crossed her arms while she listened. She uncrossed her arms and pulled on her ear lobe again. I got the feeling that she might be nervous. Maybe this was one of her first cases as a new homicide detective.

Chris finished speaking and she thanked him, turning to me
. “Can you add anything to that?” she asked.

“Not really
. That’s about all we know. There’s a dead body in the cellar of the house we just bought to convert into a restaurant, and I’m not at all convinced this will be good for business. And just so you now, there’s a nosey reporter here who was with us when we discovered the bones. And she’s hungry for a story. She’s a really pushy woman, so watch out for her. Our dogs actually tipped us off that something was down there. Their names are Sherlock and Watson. If there’s anything we can do to help, just say the word.”

Her lips twitched
. I couldn’t tell what that might mean. She put her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat. Had she almost laughed at us? I wouldn’t blame her if she had.

“Thank you both for your input,” she said
. “And thanks for brightening my day. Now I guess I’ll take a look at your basement.” She turned and left us standing by the door to the cellar after turning and taking a good look at Chris.

“Did she make you nervous?” Chris asked
. “I’ve never heard you run your mouth like that.”

“I didn’t know what to say, so I tried to cram it all into one explanation
. She probably thinks I’m some kind of nut.”

Chris smiled his best Bogey smile at me and all was right with the world
. “Come on.” He pulled me forward and we sat down on the top step of the stairs, trying to hear what was going on below us. We couldn’t understand a word.

The police department’s technicians showed up and we moved so they could enter the cellar
. We heard noises and Detective Riley joined us upstairs.