ALL THAT GLITTERS, chapter 1

chapter 24

Chapter 24

Inside the familiar apartment, too many things had changed: Instead of the usual “girls’ get-together,” with Lucky, Sandy, and Michelle, everyone sat in couples. Michelle’s marshmallow-topped mugs of whipped cream sat beside fragrant cheese biscuits that John had “magicked” out of the scant supplies in Lucky’s mom’s kitchen. Terry, quiet but alert, sat on the arm of the couch, next to Sandy.

Lucky was glad that Roger stood across the room, looking into a laptop, watching the video footage they’d all just reviewed: shot by Sandy in short bursts as she and Terry had opened every doorway in the top floor of the building, ranging from an old janitorial closet to a one-room apartment that looked like it had been vacant since the 1970s, and of course the final stairs to the roof access. And what Sandy called the “hidden room”: a long passageway that ran along the back of the building, where two caged pigeons perched with heads tucked down, barely stirring as the light went on above them and the phone camera took their images. Lucky noticed a half-used-up bag of birdseed next to the cages.

“Must smell pretty strong in there,” Roger commented, taking the video back to where the “bird room” light went on. “No windows or anything, right?”

“Funny thing, it didn’t stink though,” Sandy replied. She turned to Terry. “At least, not that I noticed. Did you think so?”

Terry shook her head. “I bet the birds haven’t been there long. I mean, no droppings on the floor, no feathers, no extra dust. Maybe whoever is running the birds just put them there.”

Lucky’s stomach clenched and she set down her mug of cocoa. “That means somebody is coming in and out of the building who doesn’t belong here.”

A murmur of agreement circled the room. Roger angled a hand in the air to show two directions. “Or,” he added, “somebody who belongs here brought the pigeons in. Who has keys, Lucky?”

“There aren’t any,” she admitted. “At least, not to the main building. Every tenant’s office or apartment has its own keys, but the street-level doors are supposedly a fire access. Never locked. Anyone could come in here.”

“Street people?” Sandy wrinkled her nose. “Homeless people show up here at all?”

“Not that I know of. Mostly just people looking for an office who get turned around in the hallways or reach the wrong floor. Even the counselors with offices here seem to have, well, sort of middle-class clients. You know?”

Michelle’s phone vibrated on the coffee table. “Jake,” she said as she reached to thumb the connection on. “Hey, Jake, what’s up? Yeah, the cops took Sean. We’re all in your mom and dad’s apartment. How’s your dad doing?”

She gave a thumbs up to the group. “Right, good. And your mom? Yeah, well, she’s got to be worn out, right? What about you?” She nodded, then said, “Sure, she’s here. Lucky, Jake said he’s been leaving messages for you. Want to talk to him on my phone?”

Roger pulled out his own phone and confirmed that Lucky’s messages had forwarded to him. He held up three fingers to Lucky, who nodded tiredly and took the pink cell phone from Michelle.

“Hold on, I’ll put you on speaker. Okay, go ahead. So, what’s up?”

“You said you needed to know about the gun, right? The one I got for Mom? She says I can tell you, and she said she already knows that means Michelle and Sandy, too. But, like, she says you guys should try to keep it quiet.”

Lucky sat on a dining chair, knowing anything softer would put her to sleep. “So, what was it? Who was stalking Mom? Why didn’t she tell me too, and – did Dad know?”