Valerie Wolzien - This Old Murder

The producer snorted. “I headed for the nearest bar and got drunk.”

Sam frowned. “You went down to Gallagher’s?”

“If that’s the name of the fake Irish place down by the fiveand-dime, the answer is yes.”

“Good description. It’s owned by a man named Smith. He calls it Gallagher’s because he wanted people to think of it as that friendly little Irish place on the corner, but the name is the only good thing about it,” Sam commented.

“Yeah. He serves off-price brands while claiming they’re top-shelf. But it did the trick. I was plastered.”

“And when did you return here?” Sam asked.

“I came back this morning. And she was gone.” Bobby Valentine put his head in his hands. “I was hung over. For a moment, I wondered if I was going mad. If I had imagined the entire thing. That was wishful thinking, I guess.”

“There was no sign of her here this morning?” Sam asked.

“None.”

“What about the wig?” Josie asked.

“What wig?”

Josie pointed. “That one.”

They all stared at the blond wig, which was still, despite the fight, sitting on the exercise bike.

“It wasn’t there this morning,” Bobby said.

“You might not have seen it,” Sam suggested.

The other man seemed to consider the question. “I think I would have. I came in the door and I looked around. Frankly, I felt like shit. Not just the hangover, but I was terrified of seeing Courtney again. Her body, that is.” He stood up and walked over to the doorway. “I didn’t come in any farther than I needed to be to close the door behind me. And, frankly, I didn’t even look around until I had the door closed. Then… Then, frankly, I was thrilled to death that the body was gone. I told you. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought I was dreaming or seeing things. And when I realized she was really gone, I got out of here as fast as possible.”

“But you came back-” Sam started to say.

“Are you sure about the wig?” Josie asked at the same time.

“The wig. I really think I would have noticed it from here.”

“Why did you come back this evening?” Sam asked.

“Wait a second, Sam.” Josie got up and stood by Bobby Valentine’s side. “You didn’t move from this spot?” she asked.

“No. I’m sure of that.”

“And Courtney was sitting… placed… whatever in that chair last night?”

“Yes.”

Josie frowned and then walked over to the chair he had indicated.

“Why did you return here this evening?” Sam repeated his question.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about her. About Courtney. She appeared and then disappeared. I… I wondered if she would do it again.”

“You thought she might come back?” Josie had been circling the chair and she stopped to ask the question.

“It might sound stupid, but I didn’t know why she was here in the first place.” He shrugged. “So I thought it was possible that she might come back.”

“But she didn’t.” Sam’s voice was flat.

“No. Her hair did, though.”

For one horrible moment Josie thought Bobby Valentine was going to giggle.

Then he put his head in his hands and began to cry.

JOSIE AND SAM waited patiently for Bobby Valentine to recover his composure. Then…

“Why did you call me?” Josie asked.

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Bobby Valentine glanced over at Sam. “Did you hear about what Courtney said about Josie?”

“That if something happened to her, I would know about it-or something like that,” Josie explained.

“Yes. Yes, exactly. Do you know what she meant by that?”

“I haven’t the foggiest.”

“Are you under the impression that she meant something sinister?” Sam asked.

“What do you mean?” Josie asked him.

“I’m asking if it was a ‘If I’m found dead, Josie Pigeon is the person who killed me’ type of comment,” Sam explained.

“Yes, it was,” Bobby Valentine answered.

“Wait a minute! How did that subject come up? Do you chat about murder during casual conversation? Or was Courtney obsessed with her own death?”

“It was weird,” Bobby Valentine admitted, walking over to the wig and looking at it carefully. “I mean, you’re right, Courtney was not the type of person to contemplate her mortality. It was the first day we were here on the island. She was slightly hyper-”

“What sort of hyper?” Sam interrupted to ask.

“You know, excited. Frankly, I thought it was this place.”

“The trailer?”

“Yeah, she’d been wanting a customized trailer for years and years. She’d planned it and talked about it. Everyone who knew her had heard about how much she wanted something like this. And then it was finally hers.”

“It meant that much to her?” Josie asked.

“Yes. This type of stuff meant the world to Courtney.”

“So you were talking about the job or whatever,” Sam prompted again.

“Yes, and somehow the conversation turned to people dying.”

“Like accidents on the job?”

“No. Maybe. I really don’t remember. I was surprised.”

“I should hope so. After all, Courtney was accusing Josie of a future murder, after all,” Sam said.

“Well, that’s true, of course. But I was surprised that she knew Josie Pigeon. It was the first I’d heard of a connection between the two of them.”

“Really? She didn’t mention knowing Josie when this whole thing began?”

“No way.”

“Do you happen to remember when you first heard about Island Contracting?”

“A few months ago.”

“From whom?”

“Courtney, I think.”

“Do you think she could have known about Josie for a while without mentioning her?”

“Definitely. Courtney only told me what she wanted to tell me.”

“And who did Courtney hear about Josie from?”

“No one seems to know the answer to that one.” Josie answered Sam’s question.

“Maybe we could go through her papers and find out?” Sam suggested.

“Ha. You didn’t know Courtney. She was a disaster when it came to keeping records. Drove me nuts,” Bobby Valentine said.

“Josie has the same problem. Must have been something in the water when they were growing up,” Sam said with a smile.

Bobby Valentine looked as though he didn’t believe it. “You two don’t seem to have all that much in common. That librarian lady said you’ve always been different.”

Josie frowned. She had just had a thought that seemed significant. But the idea of Naomi Van Ripper talking about her like that had driven it right out of her mind.

Everyone stood around without saying anything for a few minutes. Then Sam asked another question.

“Do people ever pay or give things to get on the show?”

“No way. We’re not a sleazy operation. If that has happened, I can promise you that I knew nothing about it.” He looked over at Josie. “You didn’t offer anyone anything to be on the air, did you?”

“Of course not! I wouldn’t do that even if I could afford to, which I can’t.” She yawned. The adrenaline was subsiding and she was beginning to realize just how exhausted she was. “I’ve got to get up early tomorrow. And I’m only going to get…” She glanced at her watch and gasped. “Four hours of sleep if I leave right now. Which is what I’m going to do!”

“God, I had no idea it was so late,” Bobby Valentine said, looking down at his Swiss watch.

“I gather that wig is significant,” Sam said.

“Courtney never appeared without one of them on.”

“If no one objects, I’ll just take it home with me,” Sam said, using one finger to pick up the wig.

“Fine with me-” Josie’s comment was interrupted by a yawn. “Sorry.”