Mop and Broom: Tales of the Twelfth

Chapter 35

"Kate seems a lot happier now," Broom remarked. "Things seem to be working better for her since Alexis was here. She doesn't have to spend as much time behind her desk."

"That's true," Mop agreed. "Brush told me that she and Rick talk a lot more about the cases in bed again too. That's when the fun starts."

Broom twisted his bristles. "I don't know which one of you is worse."

"Or maybe you just can't accept a good time," Mop retorted. "Of course you probably would like the down side - at least for me. They do it at home so they don't do it here. I'd still rather see it than have Brush tell me about it." Mop's tendrils lifted suddenly. "Oh, wait a minute, that's them coming now. Maybe things are even better than I thought."

Mop twined his tendrils around himself. "Ooh that's great! They're redoing Kate's office and until they're done, she's back in the bullpen."

"Not so great for Captain Gates," Broom reminded him. "She's not coming back. Even if she gets well, she won't be captain here."

Mop swayed against the wall. "Yeah well, I'm sorry about what happened to Captain Gates and I really hope she gets better, but still, that was great. Kate was really turned on by how well Rick handled those girls. She was remembering how impressed she's always been at how good a father he is. That started them talking about little ones again. Then up against the door!"

"You keep twirling your handle that way and it's going to fall off," Broom observed, his loop clacking loudly. "So you got your wish, but it sounded like they left fast because there's a case out there. I wonder what happened."

"Of course you do," Mop returned. "With you it's always the case."

"So what did Board say?" Mop asked.

"So now you're interested in the case?" Broom taunted.

"If it can turn Rick and Kate on, I'm interested," Mop declared. "They're on this one together, aren't they?"

"They are," Broom confirmed. "Board said Rick really likes it. The victim, Declan Markam, is a make-up artist who specializes in monsters. Someone smashed the top of his head and then screwed a couple of bolts into his neck. Doctor Lanie said he bled to death in a few minutes. Rick is getting to meet all the people Declan worked with and Kate accused him of being like a kid with a new toy. Board said she was smiling while she said it, though."

"Praise Cleaner!" Mop exclaimed. "This sounds promising. So who are the suspects?"

"Well as usual, the first one is the wife. Her name is Gilda and she's an actress, or at least she was. She was a horror star in the eighties but as Declan got more and more famous, her career went the other way. Now she's selling laxatives - whatever those are. Rick made a face when they were mentioned. Rick thinks she might have been jealous of Declan's success. Also, Kate had Ryan run her financials and he found an insurance policy on Declan. Ryan said that it expires at the end of the year and won't be renewable because Declan developed some medical problems. His death now, gives her a million dollars. If he'd died later, she wouldn't get the money. Trouble is, she has an alibi. She was on a panel at Super Scream Convention around the time Declan died. Hundreds of fans saw her."

"So who else?" Mop inquired.

"He had an apprentice. That's someone who learns a job by working with someone who's good at it. The guy's name is Joyce Merman."

Mop fluttered a tendril in surprise. "I thought Joyce is a human female name."

"I thought so too," Broom agreed. "Board said Rick thought maybe he was named after a writer. I don't suppose it matters. Joyce told some his friends that he wanted to do more complicated make-ups. He thought Declan was holding him back. He wanted to apprentice with someone else, but no one would take him because they were afraid Declan would get mad. Board said Kate and Rick were going to check Joyce's alibi in the morning."

The cart creaked as Mop rubbed his handle against it. "Dirt pile! That probably means they won't be here, or at least not coming to see us."

"Well you wanted them to work together on a case," Broom replied smugly. "Sounds like they're doing it."

"Espresso says Joyce didn't do it," Mop reported. "Rick was making consolation lattes for himself and for Kate. Rick said Joyce was at a prosthetics class. Espresso didn't know what that is but it sounds like something for fun time."

"Well it isn't," Broom informed him. "It's about replacement parts for humans. You know, like Curtis who works in the archives. I heard him talking to Esposito once. Curtis went to fight somewhere called Iraq and came back with that funny looking curved thing instead of a foot. He called it a prosthetic."

"Oh," Mop responded, disappointed. "Well anyway, it sounded like Rick and Kate are out of suspects for Declan's murder. Rick isn't giving up though. He wanted to go talk to some of the people on that panel with Gilda or just hanging around Super Scream. Kate seemed to think he was just looking for an excuse to talk to horror lovers. She told Rick to have a good time; that she needs to catch up on her captain's stuff."

"Who was that yelling and screaming before?" Broom asked as Mop was returned.

"From what I could hear, that was Gilda Markham, Declan Markham's wife. She was making such a fuss she knocked the bottle off the water cooler. I needed help from New Wet Vac to get it all up." Mop curled his tendrils. "That was nice though. I love the way her motor purrs."

"What was Gilda doing here?" Broom wondered. "I thought she had an alibi."

"I don't know," Mop replied. "L.T. took her into interrogation while I was working. We'll have to find out from Chair later."

"So what did Chair say?" Mop asked. "Janitor left me in Bucket for a while."

Broom rustled his straws in satisfaction. "He said Gilda killed Declan."

"How could she be in two places at once?" Mop queried.

"She wasn't," Broom declared. "She was supposed to be on the panel in full costume as Queen of of the Flesh Eaters, including a mask and a phony voice. "But it wasn't her. She made a deal with her old movie double, Ima Faker, to pretend to be her while she killed Declan. Then they were going to split the insurance money. It probably would have worked, but Rick found her old costume designer, Lucy Lee. Lucy's still working in movies, but she was at the panel. She said Gilda has one shoulder lower than the other. She always had to adjust Gilda's costumes for it. But Ima doesn't. Lucy knew the person on the panel wasn't Gilda.

"Kate put pictures in front of Gilda showing Ima, with even shoulders. Gilda tried to say the costume was padded to disguise her shoulder, but of course Kate had the costume and showed her it wasn't. Also there was DNA on the mask and Kate told Gilda she was sure the DNA would show Gilda wasn't wearing it. Kate also got Ima to make a deal blaming the whole thing on Gilda, and Gilda finally confessed."

"Rick and Kate must have been happy," Mop ventured.

"Chair said Rick suggested a trip to Le Cirque and then seeing how else they could celebrate afterward." Broom admitted.

Mop twined his tendrils. "Now that really sounds promising. First chance I get tomorrow, I'm talking to Brush."

Broom settled tiredly into the cart. "I wouldn't expect anything else."