rest,” the desk sergeant continued. He shook his head. “Not today, though. Today’s he’s seeing to that mess over there at The Boardwalk.” Another shake of his balding head. “Terrible thing, terrible thing.”
“I need some help,” Tess said, extending the note toward him.
“You got a problem, little lady?” he asked, swinging his feet to the floor and sitting up straight. His light blue uniform was clean except for a tiny coffee stain on his navy blue tie. “What’s the matter, you missing a boyfriend? Nah, that can’t be it. Fellow’d have to be crazy to walk out on a pretty little thing like you.” He smiled at her, obviously expecting her to return the smile.
She didn’t. Standing up very straight, grateful that she’d worn her black heels, she said crisply, “I’m not little. And my problem isn’t a boy. It’s this note.” She tossed the white piece of paper onto his desk. “Someone slid it under my door last night. I need to know what I should do about it.”
He picked it up. “What’s this? A love note?”
“Not exactly. Could you look at it, please?” The emptiness of the station wasn’t very reassuring. Didn’t Santa Luisa have more law enforcement than this? Where was everyone? Did they think criminals took Sundays off, like Chief Chalmers?
She watched as he read the note. Now, maybe he would take her seriously. The note should worry him, shouldn’t it? It had certainly worried her.
But it didn’t seem to worry him. “This thing doesn’t make any sense at all. And it looks like a kid’s handwriting to me. Written in crayon, right?”
“Magic Marker.” Did he think crazy people who wrote threatening notes used only the finest writing tools? “It wasn’t written by a kid,” she insisted. “Don’t you recognize those names?”
“Sure. They’re the kids hurt last night. Devil’s Elbow. Bad business, over there. Terrible accident.”
Tess leaned forward, placing the palms of her hands on his desk. “But doesn’t that note sound like the crash wasn’t an accident? And doesn’t it sound like the person writing it was warning that there might be other accidents?”
The man reread the note, pursing his lips in concentration. When he’d finished, he looked up and said, “I don’t see that here. Where does it say that?”
Impatiently, Tess pointed to the words Who will be next? “There! Isn’t that a warning?”
“Could be, I guess. Hard to say. Could be a joke. Someone trying to scare you. You have a fight with your boyfriend lately?”
Stunned by the question, Tess fought the telltale flush that crept up her cheeks.
“I thought so.” The policeman nodded with satisfaction.
As if, she thought bitterly, he’d just solved the crime of the century.
“Look, miss, I’m not trying to give you a hard time. It’s just that we get stuff like this in here all the time. Young fella gets mad, says things he doesn’t mean, the girl comes in all worried and upset and we have to calm her down. Lots of times, the guy writes notes. Never amounts to a hill of beans.”
“My boyfriend,” Tess said coldly, “would never scare me like this! He would never write a crazy note like this.”
The frown on his face then told her she’d worn out her welcome. “It’s like this, miss. Chief Chalmers has his hands full right now with this Boardwalk business. But soon as he comes in, I’ll give him your note and see what he thinks. You can rest assured that if there’s anything connecting this note with that crash last night, the chief will take care of it. He’ll probably call you. Okay?” And with that, he turned away from her, picking up a sheet of paper and studying it.
Tess knew she’d been dismissed. And she hadn’t accomplished anything.
“Could I have my note back, please?” It suddenly seemed important to have it. That was probably the only way to keep it from sailing straight into the wastebasket the minute she turned her back.
A dubious shake of
“I need some help,” Tess said, extending the note toward him.
“You got a problem, little lady?” he asked, swinging his feet to the floor and sitting up straight. His light blue uniform was clean except for a tiny coffee stain on his navy blue tie. “What’s the matter, you missing a boyfriend? Nah, that can’t be it. Fellow’d have to be crazy to walk out on a pretty little thing like you.” He smiled at her, obviously expecting her to return the smile.
She didn’t. Standing up very straight, grateful that she’d worn her black heels, she said crisply, “I’m not little. And my problem isn’t a boy. It’s this note.” She tossed the white piece of paper onto his desk. “Someone slid it under my door last night. I need to know what I should do about it.”
He picked it up. “What’s this? A love note?”
“Not exactly. Could you look at it, please?” The emptiness of the station wasn’t very reassuring. Didn’t Santa Luisa have more law enforcement than this? Where was everyone? Did they think criminals took Sundays off, like Chief Chalmers?
She watched as he read the note. Now, maybe he would take her seriously. The note should worry him, shouldn’t it? It had certainly worried her.
But it didn’t seem to worry him. “This thing doesn’t make any sense at all. And it looks like a kid’s handwriting to me. Written in crayon, right?”
“Magic Marker.” Did he think crazy people who wrote threatening notes used only the finest writing tools? “It wasn’t written by a kid,” she insisted. “Don’t you recognize those names?”
“Sure. They’re the kids hurt last night. Devil’s Elbow. Bad business, over there. Terrible accident.”
Tess leaned forward, placing the palms of her hands on his desk. “But doesn’t that note sound like the crash wasn’t an accident? And doesn’t it sound like the person writing it was warning that there might be other accidents?”
The man reread the note, pursing his lips in concentration. When he’d finished, he looked up and said, “I don’t see that here. Where does it say that?”
Impatiently, Tess pointed to the words Who will be next? “There! Isn’t that a warning?”
“Could be, I guess. Hard to say. Could be a joke. Someone trying to scare you. You have a fight with your boyfriend lately?”
Stunned by the question, Tess fought the telltale flush that crept up her cheeks.
“I thought so.” The policeman nodded with satisfaction.
As if, she thought bitterly, he’d just solved the crime of the century.
“Look, miss, I’m not trying to give you a hard time. It’s just that we get stuff like this in here all the time. Young fella gets mad, says things he doesn’t mean, the girl comes in all worried and upset and we have to calm her down. Lots of times, the guy writes notes. Never amounts to a hill of beans.”
“My boyfriend,” Tess said coldly, “would never scare me like this! He would never write a crazy note like this.”
The frown on his face then told her she’d worn out her welcome. “It’s like this, miss. Chief Chalmers has his hands full right now with this Boardwalk business. But soon as he comes in, I’ll give him your note and see what he thinks. You can rest assured that if there’s anything connecting this note with that crash last night, the chief will take care of it. He’ll probably call you. Okay?” And with that, he turned away from her, picking up a sheet of paper and studying it.
Tess knew she’d been dismissed. And she hadn’t accomplished anything.
“Could I have my note back, please?” It suddenly seemed important to have it. That was probably the only way to keep it from sailing straight into the wastebasket the minute she turned her back.
A dubious shake of
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