James Andrus - The Perfect Death

There were three priests from the church across the street who supervised the busy community center and wandered around with their collars on more casual, short-sleeved shirts.

After Stallings had been standing there a few minutes, one of the priests approached him. He looked to be about Stallings’s age or maybe a little younger, like his late thirties, but he still had a paternal air about him.

“Can I help you with something?”

Stallings pointed at the table where he saw his father was leading a discussion and said, “I’m James Stallings’s son.”

A smile spread across the priest’s face as he said, “You must be the policeman, Johnny. I’ve heard a great deal about you and your wonderful family.”

Stallings didn’t know what to say so he smiled and nodded.

The priest said, “You should be very proud of your father. Not only has he been able to overcome his alcoholism, but he’s obviously working hard to help others. He and I have gotten very close over the last few years as he’s worked more and more around here.”

Stallings nodded again, realizing he didn’t have to go into the history he had with his father. There was no need to detail the beatings or the rantings that had driven his sister to run away, then come back, never quite the same. He let the priest have his saintly view of his imperfect father.

The group sitting around his father’s table broke up and the priest led Stallings over. He could hear his father say good night to each of the men by name, offering them some little encouragement.

His father looked over, smiled, and stood, saying, “Hello, Johnny, what a nice surprise to see you over here.” He looked at the priest, whom he’d known for several years, then back to Stallings. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend, Johnny?”

Now Stallings knew there was a problem.

It was too early in the morning for Stallings to have so much on his mind. He got into the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet Liz Dubeck early and was sipping on a cup of unsweetened black coffee. He felt a pang of guilt meeting a woman for coffee. It didn’t matter that she was a witness. He was meeting her because he liked talking to her. In addition, he was troubled by his father’s confusion last night. He had talked it over with the priest, who said he hadn’t noticed any previous memory lapses. He promised to keep an eye on Stallings’s father and note any similar incidents. Stallings silently pledged to visit more frequently to make sure it wasn’t anything more than a man who had had a hard life and was getting older.

Liz came through the front door, looking cute, like a suburban mom with a slight edge. He got her a cup of coffee and they sat and chatted, first about her work at the motel, which was funded by grants through the city and the federal government, then about her personal life. Stallings wasn’t surprised she’d been married and had no children of her own. He could see a woman like this spending so much time working with the runaways that her husband had found other ways to occupy his time. He found himself confiding in her about his separation and gave her some details about his kids and how he hadn’t seen Jeanie in three years.

Stallings said, “What’s your plan now?”

“What’d you mean? Like my plan on convincing you to have dinner with me?”

He smiled. “I meant your long-term plan with your job and those sorts of things. You made it sound like you were looking around.”

“Does that mean you won’t have dinner with me?”

This time he even laughed. He could think of nothing he’d like to do more than have dinner with her. Instead he said, “Things are complicated right now. Can I have a little time to answer you?”

“That’s a refreshing attitude from a man separated from his wife. You can have all the time you need.”

He felt like leaning across the table and kissing her on the cheek, but before he could, she gave him a kiss on the lips.

He said, “What was that for?”

“For not realizing what a sweet guy you are.” She stood, straightened her blouse, and said, “When things are less complicated, please give me a call.”

Like the night before, he couldn’t speak. Instead he smiled, nodded his head, and watched her as she turned quickly and walked out of the cafe. He thought about running after her but realized she wanted to exit on her own terms. Instead, he leaned back in his chair and took another sip of coffee as he dug in his pocket for a ten-dollar bill to lay on the table.

As he looked up, a face caught his attention. Staring at him from across the room was his wife, Maria.

It was quiet in the office so Patty used the opportunity to casually take a seat next to Tony Mazzetti’s desk. She knew John was having coffee with Liz Dubeck. She fully approved of Stallings’s informal meeting, hoping it might get the guy’s head out of his family situation. It seemed clear to everyone but him that Maria intended to move forward with the divorce. But poor John could never let anything go easily. It broke Patty’s heart to see someone she cared so much about experience the kind of problems John Stallings had.

Her eyes made an involuntary sweep of the detective bureau. That’s what her secret relationship with Tony Mazzetti had done to her. But the Land That Time Forgot was almost devoid of people except for Yvonne Zuni, working quietly at her desk in her office, and a team of crime scene people collecting any possible evidence left from the fight the day before. It seemed odd to her that they were so worried about errant DNA and fingerprints, but one of the crime scene techs had explained that the state attorney’s office was considering additional charges, which could include attempted murder if the injured detective did not recover fully. She noted that there were no detectives supervising the crime-scene geeks and thought it was a little unusual. But in cost-cutting times like this there was no telling what was important enough to warrant a detective and what wasn’t.

She focused her attention on Tony Mazzetti’s handsome, smiling face. He had a strong chin and his nose had been broken one too many times, but he still had a cute quality to his looks. If Patty could correct anything about her boyfriend’s appearance it’d be his crooked bottom teeth. He definitely would have benefited from a couple of years in braces as a teenager, but it was nothing she’d ever mention.

She even liked the neat mustache he spent so much time trimming and loved to show off on TV.

Mazzetti said, “You okay? You look tired.”

Patty shrugged. “Just a few aches and pains.”

“Maybe you should take a day off and rest up.”

She was shaking her head before he even finished the sentence. “No. No way. Not until we find out what happened to Leah Tischler or find the killer. I think Stall believes there’s a chance she’s alive.”

“Even after finding the belt?”

“He says she could’ve discarded it.”

“Keep dreamin’.” Mazzetti took a moment to really look at his girlfriend. He said in a quiet voice, “You look beat. You sure you’re okay?”

“I’ve been tired before.”

“Fair enough. You have any plans for this evening?”

“I haven’t checked my datebook or any messages on my phone. But I can assume I’m relatively open. What’d you have in mind?”

“I have to check a couple of construction sites down in the south and near Dearwood Park. There’s an Italian place named Gi-Gi’s off J. Turner Butler Boulevard. I thought it might be nice if we ran into each other there about eight o’clock.”

“I’m assuming you visiting the construction sites has something to do with your homicide investigation.”