Mop and Broom: Tales of the Twelfth
Chapter 13
"Why is everyone so upset today?" Mop asked.
"I got this from Espresso and I don't think he understood it all, but remember when Rick and Kate went to rescue Alexis from that frat party?" Broom asked.
"Yeah," Mop recalled. "They were very upset and Kate had some boys arrested."
"Exactly," Broom confirmed. "So the word is that there was some kind of a hearing. Alexis testified, but none of the other girls came forward and the case was dismissed. Alexis wants to get Kate and Rick to help her build a case that can be, I guess the word was, refiled. She asked for help from Ryan and Esposito too."
"Scary Lady can't like that. She doesn't like them working on things outside their own cases." Mop responded.
"You'd think so," Broom allowed, "but she was upset at the way things went too. She told the detectives they could work on Alexis' case as long as it didn't interfere with their other work and they don't have a body."
"From the sounds going on out there," Mop noted. "I think they might have one."
"Alexis is a suspect!" Broom questioned incredulously. "That's impossible."
"Yeah, but it's what Ryan and Esposito were saying in the Men's Room," Mop reported. "The victim was one of the scuzzballs at the party and witnesses heard her tell him she was going to get him. His name is Skip Murcheson. Scary Lady is going to question her because she doesn't want anyone too close to Alexis doing it. That means that Ryan and Esposito are out and of course so are Rick and Kate, at least until Alexis is cleared."
"Rick must be going crazy, but clearing her shouldn't take long," Broom declared. "There's no way Alexis would murder anyone."
"So Alexis had an alibi?" Mop asked.
"Thank Master Cleaner!" Broom exclaimed. "Murder Board said Lady Doctor worked really fast to determine the time of death. Alexis was at the law library and there were several people who saw her. Lotion on Kate's desk told me Rick just sat there breathing for a few minutes after he heard that. Then Scary Lady came and said that Kate and Rick and Ryan and Esposito are back on the case. Murder Board had a list of other suspects."
"Who?" Mop queried.
"Other girls Skip may have attacked. Lady Doctor is working with Skip's body to figure out what happened. That may help," Broom informed him.
"What's to figure out?" Mop wondered.
"Oh, I didn't tell you," Broom realized. "Skip wasn't shot or beaten. There were no marks on the body. Lady Doctor thought he might have been poisoned. Lotion said Rick was looking at her report and shaking his head. He said he hated to think that one of the girls did it, but it's usually women who use poison."
"But not always, right?" Mop put in. "Wasn't some juror poisoned by a guy?"
"Yeah," Broom agreed. "I remember that. It was before your time, but there was also a talk show host poisoned by a guy. So right now, until Lady Doctor comes up with something else, it could be anyone."
"So have Rick and Kate been talking to the girls Skip attacked?" Mop asked.
"Kate has. I haven't heard anything, but Espresso did. He said Kate was telling Rick she thought the girls would feel more comfortable talking to a woman and asked Rick to stay out of it." Broom explained. "Then vacuum got taken into the lounge to clean up after one of the girls dropped her purse and spilled some kind of make-up on the floor. Whoever cleaned up just put vacuum in a corner instead of putting him back, so he heard everything after that. He said Kate talked very softly, not the way she usually is with suspects. Some of the girls were crying about what Skip did to them. Vacuum didn't have much sympathy for this Skip guy, even if he is dead. He thought Kate was working harder to clear the girls, than to try and find who did it. From what Board said later, she did a good job. None of them were anywhere near Skip in the hours around his death."
"So who does that leave?" Mop queried.
"Nobody, at least from the last I heard from Board," Broom replied. "But Lady Doctor still hasn't figured out the poison. Kate said there was nothing else to go on and told Rick she was going to call it a night. He rubbed her shoulders and suggested a bottle of wine and a hot bubble bath. She seemed all for that."
"Damn, I wish I could see that! I bet the cleaners in their loft have all the fun," Mop complained, "especially in the bathroom. Didn't I hear Rick and Kate talking about a giant Jacuzzi they both fit in, once?"
Broom's loop clacked reprovingly. "There you go again. We're in the middle of a very sad situation here and all you can think about is what Rick and Kate might do in a tub. Maybe by tomorrow morning there will be something else for Kate to go on."
"So what happened in the break room this morning?" Broom asked.
"Well there was a new cop who didn't know how to use Espresso and got milk and water all over the floor," Mop related.
Broom scratched disgustedly against the floor. "Not that! About the case. Was anyone in there talking about it?"
"Oh yeah!" Mop replied. "Esposito and Ryan were. Esposito was talking about how how smart Lanie, that's Lady Doctor, is. She found something that almost no one has ever died from in Skip's system. I think Esposito said it was called baclofen, some kind of muscle relaxant - whatever that is. I guess Ryan and Esposito and Rick and Kate are going to look at anyone with contact with Skip that might use something like that. Ryan and Esposito weren't looking forward to it. Ryan said it sounded like a huge job. Esposito said he didn't think it was worth it for a dirtbag like Skip. I think Ryan might have agreed with him but said they had to do it anyway."
Broom's handle banged against the wall. "This really sucks!"
"Wow, that's not something I usually hear from you," Mop observed. "What happened?"
"Board told me they found Skip's killer," Broom explained. "All the evidence had been taken down and he'd already been erased."
"But that's good news, isn't it?" Mop puzzled. "What's wrong?"
Broom swayed. "It's who the killer was that stinks. He was the brother of one of the girls Skip attacked. The poor guy, Maury, is in a wheel chair, for Cleaner's sake. He takes baclofen because of an injury. He was feeling guilty because he couldn't protect his sister and he has a job at some bar where the frat boys like to hang out. He slipped a bunch of baclofen to Skip when Skip was too drunk to notice. Lotion said Kate thought he didn't even mean to kill the guy, since almost no one has ever died from the drug. He just wanted to make Skip feel weak and helpless for a while, like his sister. But Skip died and now Maury is going to jail. It's not fair!"
Mop ran a tendril over Broom's bristles. "You know, I usually don't hope that the killers get good lawyers, but in this case I do. Some of the ones we've seen around here could probably make a jury sympathetic enough to get Maury off."
Broom rustled softly. "I hope for once, you're right."