Andy and I were standing in the Taco Bell line when Mia called.
"Uh oh." I showed Andy the caller ID and flipped open my phone.
"Yo."
"I've got to cancel on you, Steph."
"What's up?"
"There's an afternoon viewing at Johnson's Funeral Parlor. He requested this morning that we have some plain clothed cops there. I want to be there, just in case."
"Good idea. Mind if I tag along?"
"Sure. How about I pick you up? Where are you at?"
"Eating with Andy. Taco Bell."
She made a disgusted sound. "I'm guessing that you two aren't eating anything healthy."
"There's healthy food at Taco Bell?"
"Only if you search for it. I'll pick you up in a half an hour."
"You sure you don't want to eat with us?"
"Gag me with a spoon, Steph." I laughed and filled Andy in.
"They're still going to have those? I mean, they aren't doing too well keeping the bodies."
"The 'burg is the 'burg. Showings are a must."
We got our food and went to a booth.
"Don't you think something is strange about this case?" He asked me.
"You mean, besides the missing corpses?"
"Well, yeah. Your prime suspect is dead."
"Our only suspect."
"Someone murdered Jack Finney. What if Jack Finney was telling the truth when he said that he was innocent?"
"You think the original body snatcher is still out there."
"Could be." We sat back and finished our tacos.
"What bothers me is, why haven't they caught on to the missing bodies before?"
I shrug. "If they keep the caskets closed, then who would know?"
"Uh…wouldn't it be lighter?"
"Filled with rocks or something?"
"Maybe. That means it has to be an inside job somewhere." Andy was deep in thought when Mia walked into the Taco Bell.
"Um, I think you have some grease here." She gestured across her face looking at Andy. As she slid in next to me, he covertly looked at me and I shook my head slightly.
"Sure, Brookline. How's that stick up your-"
"Fine, thank you. Ready to go?" She looked at me.
"Sure, can you throw this away for me?" I handed her my trash and she took it with a roll of her eyes.
"Play nice."
"She started it." He spoke in a childish voice. I cracked up and Mia looked at us weird when she returned.
"Well, darlings, have fun hunting for crazy people. I'll just be getting back to the daily grind." He flipped a wave and headed out before us.
"I think he gets stranger every time I see him."
"You just get to know him better." I shrugged and led the way to her car.
XxXxXxX
The funeral home was packed for the afternoon viewing.
"I guess crime is good for business."
"Don't say that too loud, you might start a riot." As Mia spoke, I spotted Grandma Mazur. She waved and I walked closer.
"So, you used to be Nicole Burch…" Grandma looked Mia over. "Why did you change your name?"
"My adopted parents gave it to me." She stepped into Grandma's open arms.
"Good reason. I'm here to see if anyone else comes up missing." She spoke to me and gave a little wiggle.
"Who's here?" I tried to find a polite way to ask, 'Who's going to get stolen?'
"Oh, it was Jeanne Anderson's little girl. She had a heart attack." Jeanne Anderson's little girl was Marie and she was actually 58, but who keeps track in the 'burg?
Grandma led the way into the viewing room and Mia went off to the side. I followed Grandma up in the line to the coffin.
"That friend of yours. The deaf one with a really good body. How is he?"
"He's good. He helped me find a skip actually."
"Good, good. I knew he had potential. And how's Andy?"
"Still Andy."
"Is he still single?"
I looked at her sideways. "Yes."
"I thought he was the smart one."
"Too smart."
"Ah." We reached the closed coffin.
"Excuse me, excuse me, please." I looked behind me at the young man trying to move through the crowd to the coffin. He was tall and lean with wire rim glasses. "Excuse me, I need to get up to the coffin."
"That was Marie Anderson's youngest." She murmured to me then stepped forward and started shouting for them to let him through. Grandma Mazur is a surprising woman and the sight of this tiny old woman wearing a bright pink running suit trying part a crowd was almost funny. Except everyone listened to her. The man made his way forward, with tears in his eyes.
"I have to see her. I have to make sure it's her." He whispered to her as he walked past.
"Of course, Jeffery."
I saw Mia moving forward through the crowd, either to stop him or to see what was inside the coffin. I turned with Grandma Mazur and watched.
"Excuse me, young man but that is a closed casket for a reason." A burly cop stopped Jeffery Anderson before he got to the casket.
"Please! I just have to make sure."
"Let him do it." I said stepping forward. I had no idea what I was doing but I had to do something.
"Oh, yeah? Under whose authority?"
"Mine. Go ahead and open the casket." Mia stepped beside me and flashed her badge. Jeffery stepped forward without confirmation from the other cop.
A gasp rang out through the crowd when he lifted the lid. Instead of Marie Anderson's body, David Johnson lay in the coffin. And he wasn't moving.
"Shit," Mia hissed beside me.
XxXxXxX
When I finally made it out of the funeral home, I walked to my car that I had left a few blocks down the street that morning. It was Tuesday and I had class with Lula and Andy. I checked my cell phone for the time and stepped up the pace. I really wasn't in the mood for Tae Kwon Do tonight.
All thoughts flew out of my head when I saw my brand new car. Written in red across the windshield was 'Die!' and sitting on my hood was a head. No joke. My heart freaking stopped when I saw that. I moved closer and saw that is was an older woman. All my tires were slashed. My baby wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
"Damn." I said as I opened my cell. My first call was to Ranger.
"Yo," His ordinary greeting.
"Hey, I have a problem."
"Oh?"
"All my tires are flat and I think someone doesn't like me."
"Where are you?"
"Down the street from the funeral home."
"I'll be there in a minute." He hung up. I was shaking a little when I called Mia.
"What?" She answered her phone. Could she be stressed? Hmm…
"I think I found part of Marie Anderson."
"Where?"
"On my car."