Peggy Sue Got Murdered

12

She was standing in a dark room-a warehouse. On her right was a window, covered over by fabric. Only the faintest of light managed to seep through the weave, offering her a dim view of scattered crates, sagging posts. I have an audience , she thought with a sudden flash of nervousness as she realized shadows were moving around her.

A light sprang on, a single bare lightbulb swaying from a wire.

She squinted against the glare, trying to make out the faces surrounding her. There were at least a dozen of them, all with eyes trained on her, watching her, waiting for signs of fear or vulnerability. She tried not to show either.

"So," she said, "which one of you is Jonah?"

"That depends," someone said.

"On what?"

"On who you are."

"The name's M. J. Novak. And this used to be my neighborhood."

"She's a cop," said Leland. "Goes around askin' questions like one, anyway."

"Not a cop," said M. J. "I work for the medical examiner. People die, my job's to find out why. And you've had folks dying around here."

"Hell," someone said with a laugh. "Folks dyin' all the time. Nothin' special."

"Nicos Biagi wasn't special? Or Xenia? Or Eliza?"

There was a silence.

"So why do you care, M. J. Novak?"

Even before she turned to face the speaker, she knew it was Jonah. The tone of command in his voice was unmistakable. She found herself gazing at a magnificent man, towering, with u

"Is it so hard to believe, Jonah, that I would care?" she asked.

"Yeah. Because no one else does."

"You forget. This was my neighborhood. I used to hang out on the same streets you hang out on now. I knew your mamas. I grew up with them."

"But you left."

"No one ever really leaves this place. You can try all your lives, but it stays with you. Follows you wherever you go."

"Is that why you're here? To help the lost souls you left behind?"

"To do my job. To find out why people are dying."

"To do your job? Is that all?"

"And-" She paused. "To warn your lady, Maeve."

Jonah stood stock-still. No one moved.

Then the steady click-click of boot heels across the floor cut through the silence. A shadow, sleek as a cat's, came out of the darkness. Casually the woman strolled into the circle of light where she stood with arms crossed, gazing speculatively at M. J. She was dressed all in black, but in various textures of black: leather skirt, knit turtleneck, a quilted jacket with patches of shimmery satin. Her hair looked like broomstraw- stiff and ragged, the blond strands tipped with a startling shade of purple. She was thin-too thin, her eyes dark hollows in a porcelain face.

The woman walked a slow, deliberate circle around M. J., studying her from the side, from behind. She came around to the front, and the two women stood face to face.

"I don't know you," said Maeve. Then, with that declaration, she turned and started to walk away, back into the shadows.

"But I know your father," said M. J.

"Bully for you," said Maeve over her shoulder.

"And I knew Herb Esterhaus. Before he was shot to death."

Maeve froze. She turned to face her.

"You're a suspect," said M. J. "The police'll be coming around, asking questions."

"No, they won't."

"Why not?"

"Because they already know the answers."

M. J. frowned. "What do you mean?"

Maeve glanced at Jonah. "This is between me and her."

After a pause, Jonah nodded and snapped his fingers. "Out," he said.

Like magic, the circle of people melted into the shadows. Maeve waited for the last footsteps to fade away, then she reached for a crate and shoved it toward M. J. "Sit," she said.

"I'll stand, thank you," said M. J., unwilling to yield the advantage of height.

Maeve, unruffled, propped one black boot on the crate and regarded her adversary with new interest. "Where did you meet my father?"

"The city morgue."

Maeve laughed. "That's a new one."

"He came in to look at a body. We thought it might be yours."

"He must've been disappointed when it wasn't."

"No, as a matter of fact, he was terrified by the prospect. As it turned out, it was someone you probably knew."

"Eliza?" Maeve shrugged. "Everyone knew her. You couldn't avoid it. She'd bum you out of your last dime."

"And your last matchbook?"

"What?"

"She had a matchbook. L'Etoile Restaurant. Had your father's phone number written in it."

Again, Maeve shrugged. "She needed the matches. I didn't."

"What about Nicos and Xenia? Did you know them too?"

"Look," said Maeve. "They were stupid, that's all. Took some bad medicine."

"Who passed it to them?"

Maeve didn't answer.

"You know, don't you?"

"Look, it was a mistake-"

"On whose part?"

"Everyone's. Nicos. Xenia-"

"Yours?"

Maeve paused. "I didn't know. The bastard never bothered to tell me. He just said he wanted to make a delivery, needed a ru

"And you told him Nicos was available."

"I didn't know Nicos was dumb enough to snitch a sample for himself. Pass it to his girlfriends."

"So you arranged it all," said M. J., not bothering to keep the disgust out of her voice. "You do this sort of thing all the time?"

"No! It was a favor, that's all! Old times' sake. I didn't know-"

"That it was poison?"

"He said it was a one-time thing! All he wanted was a delivery boy."

"All who wanted?"

Maeve let out a breath and looked away. "Herb. Esterhaus. He and I, we used to be…"

"I know, Maeve. We saw the photos."

"Photos?"

"You know. All that X-rated posing you did for your good friend Herb."

There was a flash of regret in Maeve's eyes. "Dad saw them too?"

"Yes. He wasn't pleased. Would've strangled Esterhaus if the man wasn't already dead."

Maeve snorted. "I'd like to strangle him myself. For using me."

"Did he use you often? For these deliveries?"

"I told you, it was just a one-time thing." She shook her head. "And I thought he was clean, you know? After he got busted last year, he was real careful to-"

"Wait. Esterhaus was arrested? When?"

"About a year ago. It was small time, a few pot plants in his backyard. I don't know how he squirmed out of the charges, but he did. I figure, the feds stepped in and helped him out. They look after their witnesses."

"You knew he was in the Witness Protection Program?"

"He told me about Miami. When he got busted, that really scared him. He didn't want Miami to find out. And he didn't want to lose his job. Hell, he liked being cooped up in that lab! Me, I hated it. After awhile I couldn't take him either."

"So you left him."

"I wasn't mad at him or anything. I just got bored."

"The police say you're a suspect in his murder."

"They'd say anything."

"You have a better suspect?"

Maeve moved away from the crate and began to pace, weaving in and out of the shadows. "Herb was just your average Joe, trying to make a buck. And trying to stay clean."

"Then why was he stealing Zestron-L? Moving it out onto the streets?"

"He was being squeezed."

"By whom?"

Maeve turned to look at her. "Try the people at the top. The ones who'd like to wipe South Lexington off the map."

"Who, City Hall? The cops?"

"The list goes on and on. People at the top, they look down at us and we're like rats, crawling around in the sewers. And what do people do with rats? They exterminate them."

M. J. shook her head. "Wild accusations won't earn you any points, Maeve."