A Phillip Canton Mystery - Blood Drive (Hiatus)

04

We pull up to Benny's about five minutes later. It was just after the lunch rush, so the place was pretty bare. I was thrilled to be able to sit at the bar. It's rare I find a seat open. Frank and I choose a spot, and waited for the waitress to bring us some menus.

"Can I get y'all something to drink while you decide?" She was much cheerier than most waitresses.

"Two Coffees." Frank decided to order before I could say anything. He was paying so I decided not to argue. I mean. Who would complain about any free food?

"I'll be right back with that sugar." She winked over at us before walking over to the little coffee station they have behind the bar. She quickly returned with two mugs in one hand and the pot in the other. Within seconds she had placed the mugs and poured the perfect amount in each. "Sugar? Creamer?" She asked us while staring.

"Just some sugar." I had to hop on that like a frog to a fly. Although my new partner offered to pay, I was not going to let him dictate how I drink my coffee.

The woman quickly returned with a bowl of sugar packets. Now that I think about it, that's something that should be readily available on the counter. Frank didn't ask for anything else. He looked to be more interested in the menu.

"I think I'm ready to order."

I was only able to tear into my first sugar packet before Frank ushered the waitress back over. He noticed that I was giving him a look.

"What?" He then gently placed a hand on my shoulder. "Trust me. I know what it is you want."

He was beginning to piss me off at this point. I could deal with him ordering my drink, but I draw the line at food. Unfortunately, we were interrupted before I was able to raise my concern.

"What can I get Y'all?"

"He would like the steak and egg combo. He wants the steak medium-well and the eggs sunny and runny. For me, I will have the whopping pancake combo with an egg on top, and a side of sausage." After jotting down the order, the waitress took the menus.

After she was out of sight, I pulled out my phone. I decided that it was a good time to take a good look at what little info Frank had gotten. Unfortunately, he had terrible handwriting. As I tried to make out what he wrote, I became even more thankful that I type mine. The only bits I was able to make out before asking him for help, was that none of the other occupants seemed to know the woman that well. Either she wanted to seem innocent, or she just wasn't all that social with her neighbors. Regardless, we still had a ton of interviews to do tomorrow. By the time I had decrypted most of Frank's notes, our food was already in front of us.

"One runny cow, and a golden monster stack."

"Before you eat, I just want to mention that I was able to get a little dirt on the owner." Frank grabbed a bottle of syrup from another part of the counter before finishing. "It seems that the owner has a little hierarchy and treats each floor differently."

"That sounds wrong, but I doubt that would have anything to do with the victim's death."

"How so?" I watched as Frank was now pouring syrup on the egg, which then ran down and covered his stack. I thought it was disgusting, but I couldn't say anything due to my dipping steak in egg yolk.

"You can easily rule the owner out. The victim's reactions just before her death show that there is no correlation." I took a large cut of steak with the egg and savored the taste before I finished my thought. "I mean, think about it. Why would the owner want a tenant to die inside their building? Normally, what you told me would place them at the top of the person of interest list."