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Lane put her thumb and fingers back on the bridge on her nose and squeezed. "I'd just as soon get it over with. I promise. The vomiting is all over." She said hoping it was the truth.
They walked into theater 17 and she sat in the first row. Detective McGuire stood. "You were here alone. Is that right Ms. Parker?" He looked at her. She was beautiful. Surely, she had a husband, significant other, boyfriend in her life. Why was she at the movie let alone anywhere alone on a Saturday night?
"Yes."
"Do you usually see movies alone, Ms. Parker?" She sat just looking at him for a minute. What the hell was that supposed to mean? That she didn't have any friends? That she couldn't get a date even if her life depended on it? Well, she thought, I do have friends and I can get a date ... well ... I do have friends.
"Actually, most of the time, I see movies with a friend who's currently out of town." Her head hurt, and she thought this guy was a bit of a jerk. A jerk doing his job, but still a jerk. "Look, Detective McGuire, I see at least two movies a weekend, sometimes more. I usually sit in the top row. I have a small bag of popcorn and a large Diet Coke. Sometimes, I splurge and have Milk Duds." Her outburst didn't faze him.
"I see. Do you always sit through the credits?" She wondered what on earth her movie going habits had to do with the dead guy.
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." She was pinching her nose again.
"That's rather unusual, isn't it? Sitting through the credits I mean."
She closed her pale blue eyes. Suddenly it was 1977 again. It was the year Lane turned 13, the year her life changed forever. Fu
She opened one eye at a time and peered at him.
"I suppose it is. I was on crutches for a prolonged period as a teenager; it was just easier for me to sit still until everyone else left the theater then. It became a habit."
It had become a habit. One she'd never broken, but she'd have stayed for the credits on this movie anyway.
Detective McGuire sat in the seat next to her.
"I see. So you must have thought it was odd that the man was still sitting when you got up to leave."
"I guess you could say that. At first, I thought maybe he'd fallen asleep although I didn't know how anyone could have fallen asleep in there considering the volume level, so I bent over and tapped him on the shoulder. I couldn't get him to stir, so I shook him a bit. He slumped forward, and I saw the blood on the back of his neck. I took out my cell phone, dialed 9-1-1, and told the kid who was cleaning to get the manager."
"I see, well that's all I need for now." Detective McGuire stood up.
"Did you give all of your information to the uniformed officer, your name, address, and phone numbers?"
"Yes." She said thinking that she'd given them everything but her shoe size. She a made a mental note: never find another dead body. She followed the detective into the lobby area and stopped at the concession stand. She squinted to look at her watch. It had been an hour since she'd taken the sinus pills and they hadn't even dulled the pain. She asked for another bottle of water as she reached into her purse, pulled out an envelope, opened a cellophane sleeve before she tilted her head back slightly, and poured white powder on her tongue.
The detective was more than a bit curious. Surely, the woman wasn't taking a hit of a controlled substance right in front of him.
"What is that you're taking?' She handed him the red white and blue envelope. "BC Fast Pain Relief" was written on the front. He turned it over and read the active ingredients. Aspirin, caffeine, what on earth was salicylamide? "Give me your keys. I'll drive your car home and have one of the uniformed officers follow us in my car." She reached into her purse and handed him the keys. Just what I need, she thought, a dead guy, Stomp, and Detective McGuire.