"I need coffee," said Dickie, sitting down in Mona's kitchen. "And a few cookies. I've been up all night. We solved the case. It just all came together."
"Tell me," said Mona, pushing the cream and sugar toward him.
"William Carter, the first dead guy, was actually Norman Riggs. Those were the initials on the lighter, which must have fallen out of his pocket, when he was dropped over the fence. I still don't know how the team missed it. Anyway, John Mason, was Bobby Dole. We think the woman was Angela Moore. And yes, they are the infamous bank robbers from a few years ago. And yes, they were the three people in the photograph."
"Where's Angela?" asked Mona.
"In the morgue."
"Oh."
"She floated in around midnight."
"Two questions," she said. "One...who is the guy you arrested, and two...who is the guy you found out in front?"
"The guy out in front killed the other two men, and probably the woman, as well. The person who hired him to do so, didn't want to leave any loose ends, so he offed him to cover his tracks. The guy we arrested was one of their get-away drivers for two of their heists. He quit, and was just living his life, but they thought he kept some of the money and they wanted it back."
"Does he actually have some of the money?"
"He does. It's in a safety deposit box. The key is buried in your backyard."
"What?"
"One of the robberies was in this area. Chet, the guy we arrested, took a bit more of his share of the money from that job and put it into a safety deposit box at one of the banks. They were on to him and when he ran through the alley, he stopped to bury the key in your yard because he knew he would remember the big Oak tree. The mastermind behind this fiasco, the guy who killed the guy out in front, was holding Chet's daughter hostage, until he got the money back."
"That's terrible."
"We rescued her this morning. Chet gave us enough to put the so called brains behind the whole thing, away for a long time.
"Will Chet do time?"
"Yes, but since he gave up the others, they'll go easy on him."
Charlie came to the door and Dickie let him in. The cat, looking twice her normal size, ran at him sideways, and hissed. Charlie, walked up to Sugar and gave her a lick across her entire face. The cat froze in horror then, as fast as lightening, she swatted Charlie across the face so hard he lost his balance. Charlie held out his paw and Sugar rubbed her face against it. It was obvious that some kind of a deal had just been made.
"Is the cat staying?"
"Yes. I talked to her servants..."
"You mean the people she lived with?"
"That's what I said. Anyway, they told me I could have her because she was always running away. They were happy they wouldn't have to worry about her anymore."
"And Charlie?"
"He can visit anytime he wants to."
"You're shop is packed, all the time."
"Nothing like a few dead guys to make people hungry," said Mona.
"Do you want to get married?"
"Will you move in here?"
"I don't care where I live, as long as you're there."
The cat gagged and threw up a fur ball.
"Jimi's gonna ask Carla out on a date."
"Good luck," snorted Mona.
"I think she'll go."
"I don't."
"Bet?"
"Five bucks?"
"You're on," he said. "So about getting married."
"Let's go on a date first."
"We've been together for twenty years."
"I know that, but we were little kids for part of that time," she said.
He sat there and stared at her.
"I know it doesn't make sense," she said. "But I have to think about us as an us, not just a you and me."
He continued to stare.
"Do you understand?"
"No. I don't. Not even a little."
"Can we do it anyway?"
"Sure."
Carla walked in and smiled. Jimi just told me about the case. No more dead guys, I guess. He asked me out and I said yes."
Mona took five dollars out of her pocket and gave it to Dickie.
"You thought I would say no?" Carla said, staring at Mona, her eyes wide.
"I did."
"Don't you know me at all?"
"Apparently not," said Mona.
"Anyway," said Carla, Joyce wants to know if you're hiring. She'd like to work here two days a week."
"I'll let you know after I check the money thing."
"She can tell us what Sugar and Charlie are saying."
"Do we really want to know?" asked Mona. "I mean, think about it."
"I have to go to work," said Dickie, standing up. "Thanks for the five bucks," he snickered.
"Sure. Anytime."
Carla took his place at the table, put two cookie together, looked at them, then took a bite. "Are you going to marry him?" she mumbled.
"I'm not even sure what's going on."
"Yeah. Life can be like that, sometimes."
"Life can be like that most of the time," said Mona.
"Yeah. You're right. Most of the time."
THE END
Thank you for reading the story..
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