The Corpse Was Blind - Chapter 13

Ray Irish Mystery Case File #4

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A ray of morning sunlight slowly crept across the floor to the woman. When it finally reached her face, Cat waved her hand across her face. A moment later, she regained consciousness as her eyes opened in panic. Groaning, she tenderly touched her throbbing cheek.

“Ahh—damn,” she complained aloud.

The woman lifted herself to a sitting position, looking around at the room. Immediately, she realized the coffin was gone. She looked back at the table and noticed they had taken the other body as well.

“Damn it, what is going on?”

Cat got to her feet and went to a mirror hanging on the wall. She scowled at the long scratch and swollen cheek from the man who kicked her. Since the men must have used the coffin to get the bodies out of the building, it left Cat wondered why they didn’t kill her since she was a witness.

She suddenly got nervous at the thought and looked around the room. Cat hurried over to the door and opened it. Looking out at the empty hall, she recognized her predicament. Omar was dead, along with another man as well. Murder meant cops. But if she went to them, there was nothing she could prove at this point.

With no bodies, they’ll write her off as either crazy or involved somehow. After all, Cat went to the police with her lie about Omar raping her. Maybe she wanted him to pay for his insults, but she certainly didn’t want him killed. Worse, those men might place an anonymous phone call to implicate her in the mess.

The three men she saw a few hours before were involved in the murder. While she didn’t know their names, someone in the building should have the information about them. Now, with time to think about it, she realized how close to death she came.

Realizing she might need help, Cat immediately thought of Ray.

I wonder what he’ll want in return?

She quickly dismissed thoughts about sweet talking him into a favor. Irish knew her tricks. He certainly wasn’t shy about calling her out for it. Still, she recognized how he looked at her. However, her pride refused to let her consider the option of sleeping with him.

Cat remained confused about Irish, yet she refused to question herself about the reason. He had a decent look and treated her fairly. When he criticized her, he never called her out as trash, even if she expected it. Still, going to Irish for help without a favor to hold over him left her in a bind, since she never wanted to appear weak. It was something her mother never learned.

The woman shook her head and inwardly chuckled at the idea of Irish with money. He spent cash like a drunken sailor.

Darn it, get your focus, she told herself.

Scanning the floor, she quickly found her purse. Trying to avoid the broken glass on the floor, the woman pulled her thoughts back to her immediate problem.

I need to get out of here!

When Cat got to the front door, she noticed her hand shaking as she turned the knob. Looking around the room one last time, she went to the closed front door and opened it.

Wait, Ray wanted me to help him today!

The sudden thought forced her hand. She glanced at her wristwatch, realizing she was already late to meet him. Even though he was depending upon her, the whole thing was small potatoes. The cheap bastard would complain about paying for her taxi fare from the train station. She glanced back at the phone, then shrugged.

I’ve got something much bigger in front of me. I’ll just apologize when I see him.

With a sigh, Cat touched her cheek again. The fear was gone, replaced by anger at what the short man did to her. As a series of questions formed in her head, Cat decided she would try to figure out this mystery on her own. If she needed Irish for his help, she’d go see him.  

After all, Ray’s a pushover when I show up!

~~~

Concerned about the FBI hanging around his office, Irish spent the night in a fleabag hotel outside of Oyster City. He called Cat’s apartment twice before leaving the hotel. But no one picked up. Now he found himself in a bind.

As he drove to Mrs. Purvey’s home, Ray kept wondering why Cat bailed on him. He could think of a couple of reasons and his anger grew as he went over them. Either she found her a mark to seduce, or she deliberately ignored him. Irish believed in keeping your promise to a friend. He vowed to return the favor to her when she needed help. While he didn’t like the back and forth, the woman had a knack for kicking the legs out from under him.  

He took in a couple of deep breaths, deciding to focus on the bigger problem. How to get those FBI types off his back long enough to get Mary to the golden box? By the time he pulled to a stop in front of the house, he still didn’t have an answer to his problem.

After sliding out of his car, Ray hurried around the house, still wondering what to tell Mary. When he reached the top of the stairs to the apartment, the shamus quickly found he had a bigger problem.

“She’s not up there,” Mrs. Purvey called out from her kitchen window. “I saw her get into a black car with two men about an hour ago.”

By the time Irish got back to his car, he had a pretty good idea about the identity of the men.

Decker and Harvey!

The shamus drove into downtown Oyster City with various thoughts swirling around his mind, none of them good. When he reached Peach Street, he headed to the police station. Ray decided to get Calimeris involved. He had run out of options.

Irish found the detective at his desk. The man gave him a sour look as the shamus walked toward him.

“You’re becoming too chummy for my taste,” Calimeris told him as he glanced around the room.

“Well, I thought I would give you some news about Mary Leigh. It appears she joined with your FBI guys this morning.” Ray said.

He was about to sit down when the police detective suddenly rose and headed for the door.

“Come with me!”

Confused, Irish followed the man into the hallway. The detective went to an empty interrogation room and told the shamus to sit.

“They’re not Feds,” Calimeris stated as he leaned on the table. “Are you sure they took the woman?”

“Sure, the description fits like a glove. So, what the hell is going on?”

The cop shook his head.

“I’m not sure. This appears bigger than we both suspected. The police chief called me into his office, and he wasn’t happy. Seems he called Washington about the FBI stomping all over his territory. Now they’re interested, since they claim Decker and Harvey don’t work for them.”

The detective went to the door and closed it.

“You didn’t hear any of this from me since the chief is having a conniption about it. They’ve got an agent coming in on the train today. I want you with me when I meet him.”

Ray went quiet for a moment.

“I don’t like it,” he finally told Calimeris. “I’m just a two-bit citizen. You can handle the guy on your own as long as you’re wearing that badge. Besides, you have more to go on than I do. I have no idea where they went.”

“It’s not like that,” the cop explained. “We think they might be ex-FBI. This is strictly between you and me, but the chief found out something. During the war, a couple of agents who hunted Nazi spies got overzealous. Hoover got rid of them.”

“Wait,” Ray pulled off his fedora. “Are you saying those two got canned by the FBI? What the hell did they do?”

“Let’s just say they killed a couple of people who had nothing to do with spying. The bureau had to clean up the problem. The chief says they went to work for the OSS who sent them overseas. That’s why this agent is coming down from the bureau headquarters. If they’re back in the states, he wants to know what’s going on. You can bet Hoover wants to know as well.”

“Mary knew them!” Ray cursed aloud. “She’s ex-OSS. They’re her damn partners.”