A flax-colored compact pulled onto the cement driveway of a small blue-paneled house on a nondescript street. Virginia stepped out of the driver’s seat and met Becky Melton on the other side. “Your car is making a funky noise, especially going uphill. I know it’s a bad time to bring it up, but you need to get it checked out. I can do it if you’d like.”
Becky waved off her concern and trudged up the walkway to the front door of her house. “It’s been doing that since last week. The damn tire actually fell off when I went over a speed bump in the Walmart parking lot.”
“You’re lucky you weren’t on the interstate.”
“I know. The mechanic there said the car’s fine though – no damage to the axle.”
Virginia unlocked the door to Becky’s house. “How could it just fall off?”
“Don’t know.”
Virginia helped her friend to the spinach-green futon in the living room. “Can I get you anything?”
Becky buried her fingers in her blonde locks. “You don’t have to babysit me.”
Virginia sat next to her. “I’m not leaving you alone.”
“I won’t be alone for long. Corey’s parents are driving in from Memphis.”
“Where are your parents?”
“Trying to catch a flight back from Cancun. They’re on their second honeymoon.” Becky’s eyes dropped to the Berber carpet. “We never even took our first honeymoon. We were so broke.” She allowed herself a gentle laugh. “Of course, not much has changed.” She looked at Virginia. “You should get to work. I need you to prove Corey didn’t commit suicide.”
Virginia waited a second to respond. “Becky, forgive me for asking this, but are you sure he didn’t?”
Becky jabbed the air between them with her index finger. “I know my husband. He had no reason to want to die!”
“Okay. I had to ask.” Virginia texted Jeff to ask for a ride.
Becky heaved a great sigh. “How did he end up outside that window? He was so scared of heights. When we went to Gatlinburg last summer, I actually coaxed him into taking the Sky Lift. He panicked as soon as it took off. He kept his eyes closed the entire ride and sweated through his jacket by the time we reached the top. We had to Uber down the mountain. I felt so bad for making him do it, and he was completely embarrassed. That’s what prompted him to try getting some help for it.”
“He was seeing a therapist?”
Becky nodded. “He was seeing Randy Graham, a counselor at the Mountain Light Holistic Center.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s kind of a New Age treatment spa. I go there for the yoga classes.”
“I didn’t know you did yoga.”
Becky touched her waist. “I know I’ve gained some weight since I last saw you.”
“That’s not what I meant. I was just thinking we need to hang out more, and that’s something we could do together. I go to this great temple not far from here.”
Becky waved off the invitation. “I like where I go.”
Virginia waited a few seconds for Becky to extend an invitation to her yoga class, but it didn’t come. Her eyes wandered around the tidy and tiny living room, coming to rest on an item of interest perched on the coffee table. “Is that real?”
Becky followed Virginia’s pointing finger to a skeleton of a bird mounted on an onyx base. “Unfortunately. Corey moonlighted as a bone taxidermist.”
“I’ve never heard of that before.” Virginia picked up the sculpture by the base to inspect it. From the ribcage extended wing bones that looked like handless arms, while the sternum protruded from the ribs like the business end of an axe. “Is this a hummingbird?”
“Gross, isn’t it?”
“In a way it’s actually kind of beautiful.” Virginia touched the disproportionate skull and ran her finger over the long beak. “It looks like a baby dinosaur.”
“We agreed Corey could keep one item out here, and I chose the smallest one he had.” Becky nodded toward a white door. “He has to keep everything else in his workshop.”
Virginia returned the sculpture to the coffee table. “He’s talented.”
“Yeah, of all the things to be talented at… At least, we were making some money off it. About four months ago, I got him signed up as a contractor at the natural history museum where I work, providing animal skeletons for display.” Perhaps realizing that she was smiling, Becky pinched her lips together. “Listen to me talking like he’s going to come walking through the front door any minute now.”
Virginia wrapped an arm around her friend, who covered her crying eyes with her hand. The PI let a moment of silence pass before speaking. “Becky, if this wasn’t an accident, do you have any idea who could want to hurt Corey?”
Becky shook her head. “Corey was a gentle man. No one had any bad feelings toward him, at least not personally.”
“What do you mean?”
“His work put him at odds with some people – through no fault of his own. Corey moved up the ranks pretty quickly. He was such a hard worker, devoted to his job. Frank Belcher, his direct report, used to be Corey’s boss, and he was none too happy when Corey was promoted over him.”
“Did Corey say if he had threatened him?”
“No. No, not at all. Corey didn’t even tell me any of that. He didn’t like to bring work home with him. Darren, his boss, told me about the issue with Frank.” Her head bobbed forward. “Whoa.”
“Are you okay?”
“I took a sedative to calm me down, but it wasn’t working, so I took another one before we left the building.” Her head bobbed again. “Now it’s hitting me.”
Virginia jumped to her feet to help Becky to hers. “Let’s get you to bed.” She walked her to the bedroom and sat her on the edge of the double bed. “Do you need any help?”
“It’s all right. I can undress myself.” Becky began unbuttoning her blouse. “I’m just going to sleep.”
“Can I get you anything?”
Now in a bra and panties, Becky slipped under the covers. “A glass of water?”
“I’ll be right back.” Virginia headed into the kitchen and filled a glass from the faucet. As she turned from the sink, a voice startled her and loosened her grip.
“Someone asked for a ride?”
“Jeff! You scared the hell out of me.” Virginia’s eyes dropped from her partner in the kitchen doorway to the shard-strewn puddle at her feet.
“Sorry about that.”
“You could’ve knocked.”
Jeff shrugged. “The door was unlocked.”
Virginia retrieved another glass from the cupboard. “I’m getting this for Becky, and then we can go. Can you help me with the cleanup?”
“Sure thing.”
While Jeff unspooled some paper towels, Virginia filled the new glass and left the kitchen. Before she reached the bedroom door, she heard the light vibrato of Becky’s snoring. She slipped inside, placed the glass on the nightstand and exited, closing the door behind her.
When she returned to the kitchen, she saw wet paper towels over the broken glass but no Jeff. She walked through the living room to the front door and looked outside, but her partner wasn’t there or inside his car. She turned around and scanned the living room. “Jeff?” she whispered without a response. Her eyes zoomed in on the open door to Corey’s workroom.
She found Jeff inside wandering around the two metal work benches and four shelving units in the room. Scattered about on the various surfaces were dozens of animal skeletons – some mounted and others in pieces.
Virginia whispered, “Jeff, what are you doing?”
“Did you really think I’d pass up a snooping opportunity? This is our victim’s house. It’s our obligation to look around. And man, this guy was into some freaky shit.” Jeff held up a mounted skeleton of a bobcat. “I didn’t realize he made these. This is what Bobbie looks like underneath. I don’t know, but I don’t like thinking about her like this.”
Virginia took the skeleton from him and returned it to the shelf. “It’s not freaky. Well, not entirely. Corey sold these to the natural history museum for extra money.”
“We saw a possum skeleton in his office and some voodoo-esque thing made of chicken bones. Must’ve been a prototype.” Jeff closed in on a waist-high box covered in black cloth. “I wonder what this is.”
“Don’t touch it,” ordered Virginia, but she was too late.
Jeff pinched the black fabric and lifted it from the box. Both PIs gasped and jerked back. Strung up inside the glass-topped wooden box was the half-decomposed body of a housecat. Crawling over and throughout the carcass were hundreds of brown bugs with pale, speckled bands around the middle third of their bodies.
Virginia pointed at the box. “Is that… Is that a tabby?”
“And this isn’t freaky?” Jeff took a picture with his phone.
“Cover it back up. I’m going to check on Becky before we leave. And can you please clean up the glass in the kitchen?”
Virginia left the workroom for Becky’s bedroom. She pushed open the door and saw her friend now sleeping on her side, facing the bathroom on the other side of the room. Virginia was about to close the door again when she noticed something purple covering the back of her friend’s right shoulder. She stepped forward to examine it and gasped when she realized it was a large bruise in the shape of four fingers.