The Corpse Was Blind - Chapter 2

Ray Irish Mystery Case File #4

Ray waited for the woman to make up her mind. Finally, she turned back to him.

“If I hire you, can you keep them from coming for me?”

The shamus tipped back his fedora.

“Mrs. Leigh, I have to know if you mean the police or the people who did this?”

A grimace came across her lips.

“Both!”

He let out a long breath, his mind filled with warning bells. Ray noticed her expression change. Suddenly, she appeared vulnerable, her blue eyes wanting sympathy.

She was dangerous!

Irish pulled his handkerchief and lifted the box again. Postmark stamp showed the day before.

“How long was your husband missing?”

The woman walked over to the blonde console where she re-arranged the fake flowers sitting in a vase. Finally, she responded.

“It’s been several days,” she looked at her display with a satisfied expression.

“I’m not here to beg for information from you. That can mean anything. How many exact days has he been missing?” His voice growled.

Her sharp glare at him made him toss the box back on the table.

“Someone sent these as a warning.”

He stood and started for the door.

“I came about a missing husband. This is murder. I’ll let you explain it to the cops.”

“NO!”

She hurried over to the door; her hands grabbed him by the wrist as he tried to open it.

“They’ll kill me if I go to the cops.”

Ray was about to ask the obvious question when the doorbell suddenly rang. Mrs. Leigh jumped away like a snake went after her. The shamus paused, then cracked open the door. Two men stood on the porch. He recognized one of them.

“Calimeris, what brings you to the suburbs today?” Irish opened the door to enjoy the police detective’s reaction.

“Irish, what the hell are you doing here?”

Ray glanced back as the woman hurried to the kitchen table. He shook his head and opened the door fully.

“Mrs. Leigh asked me to check on the whereabouts of her husband. He’s been missing for a few days and she’s worried.”

The small detective pushed past Irish.

“Yeah, that’s why we’re here. Are you Mrs. Trevor Leigh?”

Calimeris took off his hat as the woman came toward him.

“Yes, I’m Mary Leigh.”

Her complexion turned pale as she glanced at Irish.

“I’m Detective Calimeris of the Oyster City Police. This is Sargent O’Leary.” The man’s brown eyes showed his discomfort as he nervously moved his hat between his hands.

“Well—there’s just no good way to tell someone bad news,” he blathered out. “I’m afraid we found the body of your husband.”

The detective hesitated, apparently waiting for the woman to react. However, Mary showed him a calm expression. Ray’s read on her showed him a woman fighting to suppress any emotions. He found it more than curious.

“Ah—anyway, we need you to identify the body. Can you come with us?”

“Oh course. Let me get my handbag,” she told them before stiffly walking into a nearby bedroom.

After she closed the door, Ray turned to Calimeris.

“I think she’s in fear for her personal safety since her husband went missing. I’m riding along since she hired me.”

The cop’s chubby cheeks reddened, and he glared at the shamus.

“I didn’t invite you along,” he replied.

Irish grinned.

“Come on, let’s play nice. I’m on your side, detective. How did her husband get it?”

Calimeris let out a long breath as he fumbled in his pocket for a cigarette. The sergeant suddenly held out one for the detective.

“The coroner still needs to determine the cause of death.” He flipped open his lighter and lit the cancer stick. “But I can tell you it wasn’t an accident.”

The man blew a puff of smoke in the air, then nodded to himself.

“Alright, shamus, you’ll come along. The only reason I’m bringing you along is I want you to prepare her for what’s coming.”

The policeman looked over as the door opened.

“I don’t need a woman going to pieces when she sees the body,” Calimeris hastily told Ray.

“I doubt that will happen,” Irish replied.

He noticed Mrs. Leigh gripping her handbag, and he guessed what she held inside. The shamus followed the woman out of the house.

~~~

 The white painted Oyster City morgue stood on a hill overlooking the Chesapeake Bay with a view that home builders would have paid premium to get. Why the dead needed such a glorious view wasn’t the many questions on Ray Irish’s mind as he sat next to Mary Leigh.

As he covertly observed the woman, her demeanor remained remote. Her answers to the detective’s questions remained clipped and precise. Ray judged her as a cold, calculating person who listened by the bedroom door while Calimeris and Irish talked.

When the police car stopped at the parking lot next to Harbor View Drive, the trio got out and followed the policeman into the chilly rooms of the morgue. The main entrance was a circular room with a smooth, marble-like glisten on the floor and the stony walls.

They passed the white-coated receptionist, who nodded at the police detective. Calimeris guided them back to another room where the silence of death hung grimly over the place, enveloping it like turbid fog.

Bright light from the overhead light did not dispel the unholy gloominess of the place. On the marble walls were dull metallic handles which opened the huge drawers of the walls. Arranged vertically in systematic columns like a series of steel filing cabinets which concealed the bodies.

“Which one is it, Karl?”

Karl stepped from the shadows and pointed to a drawer.

“Sixty-six,” the man replied.

Ray did a double take when he got a good look at Karl. The man looked like a copy of one of the Marx brothers, the frizzy-haired silent one. However, this man did not remain silent for long. His thick German accent made him difficult to understand.

“Everyone back zo, I can open za container!”

The man waved them away from the wall. He eyed Mary.

“Fraulein, you relative?”

The woman nodded.

“Ich, it’s bad.”

The screech of the drawer opening echoed in the room reminded Ray of nails on a chalkboard. He noticed Mrs. Leigh’s expression change slightly. The shamus saw the same fear in her eyes when she opened the door to greet him.

This place will do that to people! It’s like meeting death.

The coroner placed his hand on the sheet over the body at the head, then pulled the cloth up to show the grisly face of her husband.

As he expected, Irish noticed the woman’s eyes grow dark and remote at the sight. She nodded, then looked away.

“Fraulein, are you alright?” he said while looking at the policeman for help.

“Mrs. Leigh, is this the body of your husband?”

“Yes, that’s Trevor Leigh.” She looked at the policemen with tears welling up in her eyes. “Can I be alone with him for a moment?”

“Of course,” Calimeris stated as he nodded for Irish and Karl to leave.

While Karl walked back to his small desk hidden in an alcove of the room, Ray went to the door. He watched the woman while Calimeris approached him.

“What do you think?” Irish whispered to the policeman. “Is she your suspect?”

The cop pushed back his hat and shook his head.

“Yeah, she’s as cold as they come. Still, I can’t see her killing him, at least not over money. I already checked with the bank. Not much money there. Her husband was a working stiff. I’ll check about insurance, but I doubt there’s a motive there.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Whoever worked over her husband was a professional. I saw the bruising on the ribs and belly. I just don’t get taking the eyes like that.”

As the cop made his statement, Irish noticed Mary Leigh slip an item from her purse and place it next to the body of her husband.

“Well, I’m sure the coroner will give you more about that,” Irish shook his head at the gall of his client. “Anyway, where did you find the body?”

Calimeris returned his glare at the shamus.

“It’s an active investigation. Don’t get on my wrong side here. The people in the DA’s office aren’t fans of Ray Irish.”

“No need to remind me. I’m just trying to keep my client safe. I don’t guess the police will put a watch on her house, will you?”

The police detective looked back at the woman.

“If she’s afraid, I can send a car by.” He looked back at Irish. “Don’t think I didn’t see the fear she’s hiding. It might be she’s got connections with those who took out her husband. She’s still a strong suspect.”

He headed toward Mrs. Leigh as she left the body.

“And that means don’t obstruct my investigation, shamus!”