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Chapter 17.
I was cleaning up the plant remnants in the front of Smokey's when Ron yelled for me to come inside. His little round face radiated anger like a child who'd just had his favorite sweet stolen.
Whatever I'd done, I thought that retribution surely was going to be fall heavily this time. He was incandescent.
"It's a disgrace!"
I tried to look mystified, understanding and sympathetic all at the same time, hoping one of them was appropriate. The local newspaper was spread out on the bar in front of him. He peered down at the newspaper. My spirits rose. Perhaps I was not going to be the object of his anger.
"Look at that!" His finger stabbed at an article featured prominently.
"He owes me money for a job well done - and then he goes and does this."
I looked at the headline.
'Murderous attack leaves business man unrecognizable.'
The article went on to give graphic details of the number of times the attacker had stabbed and struck the victim. It speculated about the attacker's sanity. The detail of course didn't matter. The victim was the man who'd been with Jennifer at Smokey's and who had wanted to see her again so much. It was the man who was going to come round with a reward for Ron for telling him where Jennifer lived.
The article showed a picture of him before he'd been beaten into a pulp. There was no doubt it was the same man. I went back to my cleaning job feeling sick and left Ron moaning about his misfortune now he was not going to get the reward.
It was happening exactly as Gerda had said. Jennifer's ex. was protecting his property and sending a message to her and to anyone else that was interested. The message was stark and clear. It made me shiver. I wondered if Jennifer was safe and whether her ex. would hurt Tommy or her.
I wondered if I should tell the police but the article had said the murdered man had been found in her front porch. They would already know about her ex. from interviews with her. But I realized that they already knew about him and hadn't done anything to stop him so far. So I decided there was nothing to gain from getting involved and telling them something they knew already. Lastly I wondered nervously whether her ex. knew about me and where I lived.
A hand came down on my shoulder and I nearly jumped out of my skin. It was Ron with a poster.
"You look as if you've seen something particularly nasty! When you've finished cleaning up could you stick this poster on the wall."
Ron had meant to startle me but by playing his stupid practical joke, he made me realize how tense I was. The poster advertised the new show and was starting the next day. Gerda's foxy face stared out at me from behind a fur rug that covered too much of her for anybody to know she had nothing to cover.
I knew that I didn't want her to do it. She was clever and had a great future ahead of her. She was young and could be living a life that would leave her with good memories of great dates and happy times. Instead, Ron was encouraging her to do stuff that would leave a bad taste with her forever.
The lunchtime shift went rapidly and it was sunny so I decided to take an afternoon stroll in the direction of Jennifer's apartment.
Her street was quiet. There was no evidence of the murder except for a red stain on her doorstep. I looked up at her ex.'s room and wasn't surprised to see a 'For Rent' sign in the window.
I rang the bell not expecting her to be at home but she answered the door and stood there looking at me with those huge kingfisher blue eyes that made my soul melt.
"Come in," she said, without even asking me what I wanted. I followed her into her lounge with my stomach churning. It looked tidy the way places look tidy when they are on public display.
"I'm trying to get rid of the lease," she said by way of explanation as she saw me notice the tidiness.
"I heard the news," I said, accepting a seat on the sofa. She sat at the other end wearing a loose cotton dress the same color as her eyes and making my pulse race.
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