The Corpse Was Blind - Chapter 14
Ray Irish Mystery Case File #4
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Calimeris drove Irish over to Mary’s house on the way to the train station. Pulling to a stop in front of the house, the cop looked over at the shamus.
“Like I said earlier, we don’t have a warrant so you’re helping me by entering the house looking for your client.”
Ray nodded, then grinned.
“It’s not like a cop to let someone break the law. Are you sure you’re not setting me up?”
The detective chuckled as he slid out of the front seat.
“You’re guess is as good as mine.”
With a sigh, Irish got out of the car. After the two men reached the porch, the shamus knocked several times, then looked through the front window.
“Well, somebody’s already been here,” he told the cop as he went back to the front door.
Twisting the knob, Ray opened the door to see the living room was a mess. The last time he was there, everything was in its proper place. Now, the room appeared like a tornado swept through. Drawers remained open with their contents spilled out on the floor. The dining room table held an empty drawer along with various letters and envelopes. Someone ripped open the latest mail and added it to the pile.
“It appears I’ve got a reason to enter this home due to an apparent robbery,” the cop said after giving a light whistle.
Irish went to the table. Flipping through the papers he found a wide assortment of bills along with personal letters. They came from the drawer of a nearby desk.
As he worked, the police detective wandered through the small house. He found nothing but more open drawers with their spilled contents on the floor.
“Someone is looking for a secret!” the cop stated when he came back into the living room.
“What are you looking at?” Calimeris noticed the shamus held an envelope in his hand.
“Found it on the floor. It’s postmarked a couple of weeks ago, but it only had this photo in it.” Ray showed him the photo.
It was a black-and-white picture of a building with a large ‘E3’ painted on the door.
“So, it’s an old Army barrack. Her husband was in the war,” the cop scoffed.
“Yeah, but why is it in an envelope with the postmark from New York and so many years later? It’s the only item here.”
The detective pushed back his fedora and shrugged his shoulders.
“Who knows? It’s got nothing to do with finding Mary Trevor.”
Ray nodded absently as the policeman went to the phone. While Calimeris called the police station, the shamus walked into the kitchen. He looked around briefly and started to leave, then stopped. A thin piece of blue paper stuck to the refrigerator with a magnet imbedded in a bottle opener. The handwritten note caught his eye. He pulled off the paper and looked over the strange poem.
The emperor looked east from his 3rd palace.
He traveled to the forest of flags and green.
Where he found the grand phallus
As he walked, the man stumbled into the yoni fourteen.
When he broke the golden golem who held the secret
The words made the shamus shake his head. The delicate handwriting led him to believe Mary wrote it. But it made no sense. He put it back on the refrigerator, along with the photo he still had. Just as he was about to place the magnet back, he saw number three on the barrack wall. A brief smile came to his face and Irish pocketed the two items instead.
When he went into the living room, Ray noticed Calimeris was off the phone and kneeling on a long stretch of rug that led to the back door. The cop glanced up at the shamus with a serious expression.
“We’ve got blood,” he said.
Irish looked at the spot the detective pointed. He noticed the bloody footprint, nearly obscured by the red color floral print on the rug.
“There’s this,” Calimeris stood.
“And the same left print here.” He carefully stepped along the rug to the back door. When he opened the door, the detective saw a body on the patio sidewalk. Calimeris pulled his revolver and stepped outside. Irish pulled his own .45 auto and followed the policeman. Immediately, he saw the corpse of a man in a blue suit. The body lay face down on the brick sidewalk between two rows of bushes running from the garage. A fedora lay upside down at the top of the dead man’s head. A trail of blood came down one side of the head from a large bullet hole in the back of the skull.
“Crap, there’s another one!” Calimeris stated as he stepped by the bushes.
A corpse lay on his back, partially hidden by shrubbery. Despite the hideous, gaping exit wound from the man being shot in the back of the head, Irish recognized the face.
“What the—that’s Decker!”
~~~
Catherine Bennett entered the cramped office of Edward Wood back at the Beacon’s offices. Her initial attempts to track down the mysterious men who assaulted her in Omar’s apartment did not lead anywhere. There was nothing on the police blotter about any recent deaths or missing persons. Now she came to the one person who might have the ability to help her. Otherwise, Cat was running out of ideas.
“What have you found out about my radio?”
Wood looked up from behind the chassis of tubes and wires with a smile.
“Well?” she asked impatiently.
“Oh, sorry. Did someone hurt you?” His concerned tone caused Cat to lift her hand to her cheek.
“It’s nothing, but I know it’s got something to do with that radio. Do you have anything for me?”
Wood stared at her for a moment, then came back to her question with a grin.
“I discovered something about this.” He wiped his face with the back of his hand.
“I traced back the signal this unit receives. It’s a specific frequency which the military used during the war with these handheld walkies. I hung around late last night and found the signal comes on at a specific time. I’ve not heard the signal again. Still, my guess is it comes from the people responsible.”
A friendly surprise filled the woman’s face at the news, and she drew closer. As she inspected the dismantled radio, Wood showed her a piece of equipment which traced the incoming signal.
“Unfortunately, I couldn’t trace it to a direction yet. I’ll do that tonight.” He looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll need to take this up on the roof and use an antenna. Then, I should get you a direction and maybe an idea of the distance.”
“Oh, that’s perfect!” Cat beamed.
“Well, if—I mean—I could use a hand tonight,” he stammered. “If you’re not too busy…”
The woman noticed his eyes staring at her cleavage and she leaned closer.
“I’m happy to help my friends.”
After watching the man’s face redden, she turned for the door.
“I’m going to get a map for us, and I’ll ask around about known criminal hangouts,” Cat told him as she walked to the door.
“I’ll see you this evening.”
After the woman left, Wood stood there enjoying the smell of her perfume while a brief fantasy played out in his mind.
“No, she’s not like that,” he whispered as he went back to his work.
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