BEAUTIFUL DAYS CHAPTER SIX
TEN YEARS AGO...
"World reknowned opera singer Melody Rivers was found dead in her apartment this morning in Paris, France.
Known around the planet as, "the lady with the golden voice", apparently passed away on the way to the
local hospital in an apparent suicide. The world still in shock, the question still remains fresh on the lips of
her fans and the rest of the public at large, what would make her do such a thing?
BEAUTIFUL DAYS
CHAPTER SIX
THE UNTIMELY DEATH OF MELODY RIVERS
"TAXI!"
That's my friend the good DA of our city hailing a cab after our lunch session. A horrible one at that. Possibly the worst lunch I ever had at this place
which had made it's way to my "A" list up until today. I feel like shit though because of the fact that I had been sitting there relatively quiet for the past
45 minutes. Letting him do all the talking which I only heard maybe half of since my mind had wondered off into the well being of Sophie. He finally
flags himself a cab. As he turned toward me, he handed me an envelope. Unmarked.
"What's this?", I asked.
Tickets, he said.
"For what?", I asked.
"The Opera. Some culture for ya!!", he said cheerfully.
"I thought me bein' black was all the culture i needed.", I said in my heavily favored smat
ass fashion.
"Ahhh my friend, but there's more to life, than black,
white, plaid. Great melodies, have no color,
Jake. Heavenly voices, with stories to tell.
That transcend time and space.
Human existence.
It's about passion,
Jake., It's about
the art., said the DA.
"You gotta be so fuckin' dramatic about it?" , I said.
"Hey there's two tickets in here.", I said to him as he
stepped in his cab.
"I know, bring a date.", he said.
"Who?", I yelled as his cab was pulling away.
" I'm sure you won't have a problem finding a date. Just
make sure they love Melody Rivers.", he yelled out the cab
window.
"Hey, that chick's dead!", I yell back.
I read the tickets and it clearly said Melody Rivers tribute. So they got a bunch of opera singin assholes from around the world to pay tribute to her by
recreating some of her famous performances. I don't see how. Melody Rivers had a unique voice before she offed herself. They say she killed herself
due to a broken heart. Me, I blame the heroin.
I make my way back to the station. A sea of people wondering the whereabouts of the Sarge. Me included. I overhear some of the officers saying that
they started searching around his place and he wasn't there. Apparently his daughter who's away at college, called the police, rather concered because
she had missed her late night and early morning phone calls from him. A ritual that has gone on strong everyday since her freshman year. A ritual that
was also said by her dad, If you don't get these calls...something's wrong. Which is what prompted the call to the police. As I head to the back, they are
questioning his landlord. Who looks up at that exact time and happens to see...me.
"That's him, that's the guy!", she said aloud.
"Ok, what the hell did I do now?", I asked.
Turns out, the old braod suffers from altzheimers. She remembers faces, then forgets names. Then, she remembers names, and forgets faces. This day I was the guy who you see his face, but just can't place the name. I drop in on Sarge occasionally and the whole department knows that. Hell
I'm there with a few of the other officers every Tuesday whippin' his ass at poker. So it was no thing to find me at his place at any given time. Just so happens
I brought in the one chick that offed him. Makes me feel like shit even more. The one night this chick decides to remember face, was the one night i wish never took place.
"Oh that's Detective Reed, Ms Cavanagh." , said the questioning officer.
"Oh yea, I heard of you, I think!, she said loudly.
"You at Sarge's house last night, Jake?". asked the officer.
"Yea, I said. But not long. Why? Somethin' happen?", I played dumb.
"Yea his missing." , said the officer.
"Wow.", I said.
I deserve a fuckin oscar for this performance.
"I'll swing by and see if I see anything.", I said.
Anybody go by there?, I asked
Nope not yet., Said the officer.
You have the privilage of being the first., he said.
Exactly what i was counting on.
Marsh Jude's
A red car rolls up out front. Two cowboy booted feet make their way to the ground from the driver's side. Those feet carry a bearded man with dark glasses
to the front desk of the hospital. He looks at the aid at the front desk and says to him...
"Sophie Figgis!"
The aid flashes a look as if to know exactly what he's there for. The aid replies...
"Right this way!"
The bearded man follows the aid down the hall. At the end of that hall, a room. Room 511. Sophie's room. The key slowly enters the lock. The lock tumbles.
The door opens. And Sophie...is..
"GONE?!", said the aid.
The bearded man is furious. He grabs the aid by the collar. Swings him around. Slams him to the wall as he santches off the dark glasses and fake beard.
It's Patch.
"What the hell do you mean , GONE?", he yelled at the aid.
"She was just here a swear too..
And before he could get out GOD, Patch puts six into the aid's chest. In rage.
A block away. Two hooded figures make their way thru a crowd. The walk rapidly. The rain falls faster. They move quicker. The figure in the front pulls the
one directly behind. The front figure, the nurse Olivia. The figure she's pulling...Sophie.
I make it to the basement of Sarge's complex. I wondered how can a woman of Sophie's stature take a man like Sarge, a known fat ass, kill him. and carry
him all the way down to the fernis to burn unoticed. The beauty about being a detective...the answer is simple...
I examine starting at the entrance...
1. a button...
the button was in the shape of a flower. The red suit Sophie wore had flower cuff links. This button was hanging from her coat and fell
as she apparently ran for safety. The button had been ripped off her sleeve as if someone grabbed her arm. It was apparent that she
had been running from something.
2. the bang marks on the wall...
The door was forced open. As if someone rammed thier way in. The lock was still on the door yet the door was wide open. He had
indeed been chasing her for some reason.
3. The scuffs on the stairs..
Scuffs as if some one had been running down the stairway. But some were one on top of the other and one set stops. It is apparent that
Sophie got here first. The larger set stops. The smaller set goes on. They go around to the bottom of the stairs into the dark corner. No
light in that area. Sophie ran in and hid in the darkness. Sarge ran down afterwards. There's a window of time between his and her's arrival
here in the basement.
4. The shovel..
The scoop portion...banged to hell. Sophie armed herself with this. Waited for him to arrive down there. And apparently whacked the shit outta
him with it. The other in..broken off. A trace of blood. She stabbed him with it. In a place that would obviously kill a man. He dropped dead
from the looks of it about three feet away from the fernis. No blood though. On the floor at least. No sign of it only on the end of the shovel.
My thoughts was that maybe she cleaned it up. But even when you clean blood off such a surface as the basement floor was made from...it
leaves a discoloration. Which now brings me to...
5. The fernis...
It's fuckin' hot. I approach. If there is a body in here, first off it would have left a distinct smell. Burning flesh. There was indeed an odor. But more
like you would smell at a welding factory. I open it up. I take a pick axe from the side where the tools sit. I stick it in thinking maybe i'll hit some-
thing. I did. Swishing the metal end around in the fire. I stop to take off my coat and hat. It's so fuckin hot. I stick the seering hot pick axe back in.
It's as if something almost latched on to it. I yank it out...
A skull...
A METAL skull.
I crawl back...I'm shocked. There laying steaming on the floor in front of me was the skull of the man i had known for years as my superior officer. The
metal skull of someone I thought to be as human as I. Melted flesh or flesh like material stuck to one side of the skull. I see this...I quickly say out
loud...
"SOPHIE!"
I haul ass over to Marsh Jude's. From how it looks. I'm too late. I walk in. Guns drawn. The place was turned into BUCKTOWN! Somebody shot up the
whole fuckin buildin'. Aids dead. Nurses. Paitients. I walk over to the pothead aid that assisted me in finding the records. I lean over. I touch his neck.
No pulse. I examine his teeth. His mouth. Hands. He's human. Behind me. Unbeknownst to me at the time, mind you, One of the corpses sat up. Then
another. Then one more. Who enters the room...? None other than Cotton. Then Page. I'm not crazy. I saw these assholes die. The only thing left now is
the inevitable. I'm gonna have to shoot my way outta here. Then the most ironic thing took place...the music playing in the lobby. I noticed the song selection
Son of a Bitch...They're playing Melody Rivers!
END CHAPTER SIX
