Alan Cook - Hotline to Murder

There was more information. The police had talked to the building guard. The guard claimed he had escorted Joy out to her car and seen her get into it. But he had not seen her drive away. She was an honor student and a member of the Bonita Beach High School volleyball team, one of the best high school teams in the country. Among other volunteer activities, she worked at the Central Hotline, the news reports said.

Who would do such a thing? There were a lot of weirdoes out there-stalkers, rapists. The murderer must have been lying in wait for Joy. Someone who knew where the Hotline was located? Listeners were supposed to keep its location secret, but there were so many of them. Word must leak out-to family, friends. And from there, to whom?

A noise downstairs told Tony that Josh had arrived home from his job. He worked in the television industry, which allowed him to start late in the morning. Of course, he got home late, also, but that was fine with him because he didn’t like to go to bed. Tony could follow Josh’s progress in his head. First he would open the refrigerator and take out a can of beer. Then he would scan his mail, neatly separated for him by Tony. After that, he would come upstairs to change his clothes. A clump clump clump told Tony that Josh was right on schedule.

Tony was prepared when Josh poked his head into the doorway and said, “Tony, baby, I’m awfully sorry about the girl. I found out about it when I got to the station. We had a ton of people covering it. I meant to call you on your cell phone, but I got tied up.”

“That’s okay,” Tony said. Josh was always meaning to do things he never got around to doing. Actually, Tony was glad he hadn’t heard about Joy until tonight. It would have completely ruined his day. “I suppose there isn’t anything new that’s not on here.” He motioned toward the computer screen.

“Not much. Autopsy pending. My guess is that she was raped.”

“Is that confirmed?”

“Not yet, but why the hell would a guy drag her into the bushes and tear her clothes off if he wasn’t going to rape her?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you know her? She was a real babe. We got a picture of her from her parents.”

“I knew her slightly.” Tony wasn’t going to tell Josh that she had been here at the townhouse, swimming in the pool. Josh would complain that Tony had excluded him. That’s exactly what Tony had done, of course, making sure that Josh was out of town on the weekend he had volunteered to hold the class here.

“Do you know what she was wearing?” Josh asked, as if he were revealing a scandal. “Short shorts, skimpy top. No underwear. If a girl’s dressed like that, she’s asking for it.”

“It was a warm night. And maybe the killer took her underwear with him. Maybe he has an underwear fetish.” Tony was heating up. “Where do you get off, anyway, saying that she was asking for it? That’s antediluvian thinking, Josh.”

Josh backed away in mock surprise. “Sorry, Noodles. I forgot that you’re a born-again feminist. Working for women. Working with girls. Listening to their problems. You’re pussy-whipped, that’s what you are. You’re not the Tony I used to know who could pick up a girl on the street just by smiling at her and then would dump her with a frown. Now I bet you tell them you feel their pain.”

Usually, Tony would have had a fast comeback for Josh, but he was in no mood tonight. He stood up and said, “You have exactly three seconds to get out of this room before I throw you downstairs.”

It was doubtful that he could throw the larger Josh anywhere, but Josh knew his temper and was smart enough not to aggravate him further. Josh backed out of the room with his arms up in a gesture of surrender and went down the hall to his own room.

Tony was driving to an appointment when his cell phone rang. He pressed a button and said, “Tony speaking.”

“Hi, Tony,” a female voice said. And after a pause, “It’s Carol.”

Carol? Why was his ex-girlfriend calling him? He felt the same thrill she had evoked in him when they were dating and he saw her or heard her voice. Then he became wary. “Hello, Carol.”

“Can you talk? You sound distracted.”

“I’m driving on the 405. I don’t like to talk on the phone when I’m driving.”

“Is there a better time when I can call you back?”

No, there wasn’t a better time. If she had something to say, he wanted to hear it now. He went into defensive mode. “I’m late for an appointment, but I can talk to you for a minute.”

“That’s big of you. All right, I guess I deserve that. Anyway, Josh called me. He’s worried about you.”

Josh called Carol? That got Tony’s attention. Josh and Carol got along like cobras and mongooses. Or was it mongeese?

“Josh is worried about me?” That was reflection. He was using his listening skills in ordinary conversation. Perhaps, if he had mastered these skills when Carol was his girlfriend, she wouldn’t have dumped him.

“He says you’ve changed. He says…well, he didn’t explain it very well, but he doesn’t think you’re the same person you were.”

“Maybe that’s an improvement. As I recall, you didn’t like the old Tony.”

“You know better than that. It’s just that…”

She hesitated. The old Tony would have interrupted at this point. The new Tony used silence as a tactic, waiting her out.

“It’s just that you didn’t seem to respect my feelings.”

Feelings. Now he knew a lot more about feelings than he had. Maybe that’s what Josh didn’t like about the new Tony. Josh was not known for his empathy. But calling Carol was potentially a mistake on Josh’s part. If Tony and Carol had stayed together, Carol would have moved into the townhouse and replaced Josh. Although Tony hadn’t gotten around to telling Josh that.

Where was this conversation going? What did Carol want? Should he get his hopes up?

“Tony?”

He changed lanes to pass a slower car. “I’m still here.”

“You were quiet for so long I wasn’t sure. What I was wondering is, would you like to…uh, well, get together and talk some more?”

He was tempted to say, talk about what? Haven’t we talked about it all, ad nauseam? Or at least he had listened while she talked. Well, sometimes he had argued. Sometimes he had let his mind wander. He didn’t want to be the bad guy now. He also didn’t want to get hurt anymore. He said, “When would you like to get together?”

“What are you doing this evening?”

“I have to go to a meeting.”

“Oh. I’m going out of town on business tomorrow. I won’t be back for several days. I hoped we could see each other today. What time is your meeting?”

“Seven.”

“When will it be over?”

She was starting to act as if she owned him. Again. “I’m not sure.”

“May I ask what kind of a meeting this is?”

He didn’t want to get into that. It would require too much explanation, which he didn’t owe her. Maybe if he said it fast. “I-I joined a Hotline. The meeting tonight is for all the listeners.”

“Josh told me about your foray into the Hotline. He also said the Hotline closed down. Because the girl who was murdered worked there.”

“I think it’s going to start up again.”

“Josh said you listen to people talk about their problems. But if you can listen to other people’s problems, why couldn’t you listen to my problems?”

Josh was talking too much. And Tony didn’t have an answer for Carol. He looked at his watch and said, “Carol, I’ve gotta run. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

He broke the connection before Carol could say anything more.