Mop and Broom: Tales of the Twelfth

Chapter 21

"I can't do it. I just can't stand it anymore," Broom moaned, his straws rubbing against the floor.

"What?" Mop asked.

"That thing! There's fur everywhere and it won't sweep up. It just sticks to the floor. Vacuum has been trying too and it's clogging up his brushes. It's just impossible. She needs to get that thing out of here."

"You mean Missy?" Mop inquired.

Broom clacked impatiently. "Of course I mean Missy. Ever since Scary Lady brought that creature in, my work's been in the deep dirt."

"Air Freshener has been complaining too. Janitor's been spraying her like crazy around that box of mess and it hasn't helped much. Then Missy got that fishy stuff Scary Lady's been feeding her all over the floor in the break room and I had to clean it up," Mop added.

"Speaking of the break room, does Espresso know anything about what she's doing here and when we're getting rid of her?" Broom wondered.

"Yeah, he said he heard Scary Lady talking to Kate. Missy belongs to Scary Lady's mother-in-law." Mop swished dramatically. "And you know what goes on between those two."

"I know they don't get along," Broom agreed. "Scary Lady's never been quiet about that."

"Anyway," Mop continued, "the mother-in-law made Scary Lady take Missy while she's off on vacation. She's flying planes while she's gone and Scary Lady said she never stopped reminding her. Scary Lady thought she'd keep Missy at her house, but Missy got into a fight with the dog and scratched his nose. He got afraid of her and wouldn't come out of his corner, so she brought Missy here. She said it was going to be another two weeks."

Broom flopped against the wall. "Those may be the longest two weeks Master Cleaner has ever seen."

"Is there a case?" Mop asked as Broom was returned from the bullpen.

"A big one," Broom declared. "It's the commissioner's nephew Jeffrey Granger. Scary Lady has called for all hands on deck. No one can take a vacation or a day off until it's solved."

"What happened?" Mop queried.

"They think it was a carjacking. He was found face down in the parking garage under his office. He'd been shot in the back of the head and his car was gone. But nobody heard a shot so they think the killer used a silencer." Broom scratched softly against the floor. "They seem to think that makes him harder to catch."

"Why?" Mop questioned.

"Because they think he might be a professional, stealing cars - or killing people - for money. That would mean no motive or connections to the victim. At least that's what Board told me Kate said."

"So what are they doing?" Mop puzzled.

"All the usual things, looking at the victim, seeing who might want to hurt Jeffrey. CSU looked for evidence in the garage, they didn't find any. Ballistics didn't find a match for the bullet either. They have a bunch of detectives sifting through records for similar cases. Scary Lady put Rick on that too, because he reads so fast," Broom added. "She sent Kate, Esposito, and Ryan to Jeffrey's apartment."

"Did you talk to Board? What did they find out about Jeffrey?" Mop asked.

"Esposito said it looked like the guy was totally broke. There were past due bills. His clothes were a wreck and his refrigerator was empty. They found a laptop though. Tory has it," Broom reported.

"Did Rick find anything in the reading Scary Lady gave him?" Mop wondered.

"He thinks he might have. He found some unsolved shootings in New York and New Jersey where a car was taken. He's looking to see what the victims have in common. I think he may be the busiest person out there. Scary Lady is even being nice to him. Lotion said Scary Lady brought Rick coffee," Broom marveled.

"Wow, that is a new one," Mop commented. "Is Kate with him?"

Broom fluttered his straws. "The only juicy detail I can give you is that she came over and rubbed his shoulders a little bit. Then it looked like she was headed for the conference room. Ooh, looks like somebody needs you."

"So did you hear anything?" Broom asked.

Mop swished tendrils still smelling of coffee. "I didn't but Espresso did. Tory and Kate were talking in the break room. They were both desperate for coffee and Tory doesn't like people to bring it into Tech. Tory went through Jeffrey's laptop and found all sorts of gambling sites. That's why he was so broke. Kate said his financials were a disaster too. All his credit cards were maxed out. I'm not sure what that means but it sounds bad. She thinks someone killed him and took the car because someone lent him money he didn't pay back and it was the only thing he had that was worth anything. She said Rick is looking at the victims he found of similar shootings to see if they were gamblers or owed money. I say after all his work, she's going to owe him more than a shoulder rub."

"Of course you'd think of that!" Broom exclaimed, flicking his bristles in exasperation.

"Hey, they've been too busy to give us any action. I can hope can't I?" Mop retorted.

Broom just clacked his loop.

"I hear some excitement out there. What happened?" Broom questioned as Mop was returned.

"Besides a toilet overflowing in the Ladies Room?" Mop asked, flicking a drop of water from his tendril.

"Yes," Broom replied, swaying against the wall.

"Kate was talking to Karpowski. She sounded kind of proud, actually," Mop offered, twirling his handle. "She said Rick found several shooting victims who were gamblers. He and Ryan went through their financials and found money received from the same account. They think it might belong to the guy who lent them money and ordered the shootings. They're trying to get into the account now to see if money was sent to another account to hire the shooter. If they can, they're going to go after the owners of both accounts. Kate said she'd haul them in and see who flips first."

"Well if anyone can make someone flip in interrogation, Kate can." Broom declared. "I've seen it."

"So what's going on now?" Broom demanded. "Besides whatever you just mopped up."

"What I mopped up is interesting," Mop replied smugly. "Scary Lady said the commissioner is coming to congratulate the precinct on solving the case. She said they nailed the shooter and the guy who hired him. They closed all those other cases Rick found too. But I think she must be nervous. She spilled a bunch of milk. She was using me herself."

"I thought that was her hand reaching for you," Broom responded. "It did look a little shaky. There's a lot of commotion out there. Maybe that's the commissioner coming in now."

Mop's tendrils sprawled. "Oh Master Cleaner! What did Board say happened?"

"It was Missy!" Broom declared. "The commissioner came into the bullpen to tell everyone what a good job they did. He was shaking Scary Lady's hand when Missy rubbed against his legs. He started sneezing and then he got red blotches on his face. Scary Lady had to call the paramedics, those guys with the crosses on their sleeves. After they carried the commissioner out, Scary Lady screamed she'd had it. She didn't care what her mother-in-law said. She gathered up Missy and had a uniform carry her stuff. Rick asked her what she was going to do and she told him Missy would spend the next two weeks in a cat hotel."

"Then what happened?" Mop prodded.

"Well," Broom replied, shifting on his bristles, "Board may have been exaggerating a little, but he said after Scary Lady left, everyone in the bullpen started laughing. Then Rick announced that drinks at the Old Haunt would be on the house."

A/N I'll be traveling and I don't know what I'll be able accomplish. I will be spending most of a day in the Montreal Airport waiting for a co-worker to arrive, so I can probably get a lot of writing done. As to posting, I don't know. I'm putting this up early, then I'll see what I can do about the next one.