A DARKNESS PALE

WORK

…Roddy Tot made Irie help him haul junk… Irie felt herself settling down…

Work

Irie slept through Sunday and woke up Monday morning feeling sore, and still mostly settled.

Drinking her first cup she wondered if Toula would approve of Roddy Tot as her new master. The gospel according to Roddy Tot. Her day hauling junk with Roddy Tot had done what movies, or alcohol couldn’t. Work. Roddy Tot promised her more work, enough to fill up her evenings and weekends. In terms of finding herself, she wasn’t sure what else could be done.   

Her stomach grumbled and her phone rang. It was Roddy Tot, saying, “Yo.”

Hearing his voice made her smile. “Hey, I got a question for you,” Irie said.

“We pulled one. Something real. Got a homicide.”

Yes, Irie thought. Roddy Tot would never call her at home first thing on a Monday unless shit was en route to the fan. Roddy Tot was feeding her the address. “I’m taking the truck. You want me to pick you up?”

“No. That’s not far from here. I’ll see you there.”

The clouds were gone. No more storm, no more falling snow. Irie felt bigness. Big things are happening. The taxi carriage was late and she arrived at the scene at the same time as the coroner and his assistant.

“Hi Oscar. Hi Cristal. My partner says we got something real in there.”

Oscar said, “I didn’t realize they had you in the field.”

“We’re still waiting for his new partner to show up.”

Oscar gave a knowing nod.

“Plus,” Irie said, “sounds like we have an actual murder here. That hasn’t happened on my watch yet.”

Oscar said, “Yes. This potentially could be a big mess.”

Roddy Tot came out of the house. “It’s clear in there, ain’t nothing but what’s in the living room. Mind where you step.”

Irie said, “Technically, we were supposed to clear the place together.”

Roddy Tot glared and said, “Uh huh.”

“Okay,” Irie said. “I’m going in with them and take a look. Then we’ll consult. You okay?”

Roddy Tot looked down the street and gave a stoic nod.

Blood spray on the walls. The victim lay on his back on the floor of the living room in a pool of blood with what appeared to be a look of befuddlement on his face. His left thumb was bandaged and there was a cut in his jeans near his groin. Irie didn’t see any other wounds, didn’t see anything that looked like the the murder weapon.

“Arterial, for sure.” Oscar bent down and opened a plastic case. Cristal was snapping pictures.

“It’s been a while since I’ve caught one of these,” Irie said. “How long you think it’s going to take to turn around prints?”

Oscar shrugged. “Gotta be two or three years since I had to deal with anything like this. As you know, all the digital data bases are fucked, so we’re going to be submitting hardcopies to everyone…” He shrugged again.

“Got it. We’re lifting just to cover our ass. Nothing wrong with that.”

“Nothing at all,” Oscar agreed.

She perused some more, careful not to step in blood. When she’d finished going through the whole house she found Roddy Tot still out front, still staring off down the street. People were out of their houses, pointing up at the sky, chattering like chipmunks. Irie was feeling a nervous excitement she hadn’t encountered in a long time. It made her feel cleared-headed and focused.  She couldn’t deny that it felt good.

“Okay,” she said, “Tell me what you got.”

It was like he hadn’t heard her, then he scratched his eyebrow and said, “Body by the name of Clay Nathan, in the living room with a knife slash to the inner thigh, what in my opinion caused all the blood, blood spray too. Probably what did him. Hit that artery you got a garden hose. Do some death dance and cover those walls.”

“I second that assessment.”

“Didn’t see no weapons. But there’s a tool box. Maybe the weapon came from there. Box cutter, something like that.”

Irie waited. She felt like she was waiting too long. “Roddy,” she said.

Roddy Tot snapped back. He looked at her for second like he didn’t know who she was, and could care less. He said, “You also got a mantel that’s busted all to hell. Got bloody foot prints all over the inside. Only looked like one set. Only on the ground floor. Second floor got nothing. Nothing seems to be taken, nothing like that.”

“You’re a natural at this.”

“What I do is notice shit. This ain’t no different.”

“No it isn’t. Anything else?”

“The guy who called it in, name of Deke Crawford. Lives down the block. Works with Clay doing roofing, does this ride share thing was why he was by, saw the body and the mess before he stepped in it. Got out quick. That’s his puke by the front steps.”

“Oh, I didn’t notice that.”

“Uh huh. He called it in at his place. Came back when I was waiting for you all. Said this house belong to Clay and his wife Reba.”

Irie raised her eyebrows. “I wonder where Reba is.”

“Deke told me they got their own lives. Like, they let the other be free.”

“So it’s like an open marriage or something.”

“It’s white. Deke said he sent Clay home early last night cause he fucked up his thumb.”

“You ask him this thoughts?”

“And he was more than eager to share. Said he got no fucking idea. Said couldn’t imagine Clay having a beef with someone cause all they do is work, the dude got no time to socialize or provoke. Said professionally, they do great shit, ain’t got no problems with customers.”

Irie thought about the state of her own roof and said, “Yeah, I bet people are wildly grateful.”

“Something to that effect. Said when Clay rolled into town he had nothing. Said he was a gutter punk. He mentioned he thought the whole thing was weird.”

“Weird how?”

“Dude said everyone knows all you have to do is dump the body in the woods and you’re good to go.”

“Yes,” Irie said. “Yeah, this whole fucking thing is weird. I want to hear what the wife has to say.”

“Deke says she work at the Whole Paycheck in the Pearl.”

“One of us has gotta go over there.”

 Roddy Tot said, “And there’s one other thing. That little ceramic blue fairy.”

“The one on the table.”

“It’s part of a set. Rare shit. I was at a haul a while back, before the last quake. This hoarder lady paid me to get a handle on her living room. Before I went at it, she walked around and picked up stuff she wanted to keep. Real hard for her to do cause she sorta wanted to keep everything. Took a minute. She picked up those fairies. Broke my heart cause they would have been an easy three grand.”

“Those fairies couldn’t come from anywhere else?”

Roddy Tot gave her a look so withering it could have peeled the bark off a pine tree.

“I get it,” Irie said. “I get it. You remember where the house was?”

Roddy Tot closed his eyes and recited the address.

“Alright,” Irie said. So there’s another place to start. Excellent fucking work.”

Roddy Tot still had his eyes closed. Irie waited, but again it felt too long and she became concerned. “Roddy Tot? Roddy Tot, what’s up?”

Roddy Tot opened his eyes. His face had gone placid. He was far away.

“Oh shit,” Irie said. Suddenly, the bite of the cold was unnerving. She grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. “Roddy, oh shit - you’re drifting.”

…Irie investigates the house of the blue fairy, finding another body in the snow…