Then Suddenly Death

A month later....Clerow asked me if I could do him a favor...He and some of the guys who worked for him were doing some light construction on one of the properties he was renting...He had to go out and supervise the work...He asked me if I could drive Corabeth and the kids to Children's Hospital....It was time for them to get their shots..  It was a day when I wasn't actually at the office and I wasn't on a case either...I was just chilling..So I said sure..

I picked Corabeth and the kids up at 8:30 am...Sepia was with me...We drove them to Children's Hospital...

"Thank you so much for picking us up Kevin...Clerow has the only car." said Corabeth..

"Oh no problem at all Corrie..." I said.

"I need a car...with these two kids and Clerow said that he's going to get me one." she said.

"Tell you what Corrie...Next time I bail Rollie Rollerson out of some kind of jam...I'll see what I can do." I joked.

Sepia, who knew what I was talking about...laughed....Corabeth apparently did not...

''It's worked for us quite well Corrie...Sepia and I both owe our expensive cars to Rollie's indescretions and have you seen Ralph Scallion's new car?  Same thing." I laughed...

Corabeth now got what I was talking about...She howled with laughter....

''Rollie better learn to keep it in his pants." she said.

"Well at least after you get your new car." I said....

We all howled with laughter....

We took Corrie and the children to the hospital and we sat in the lobby......Conchita Williams walked by us...She was on her cell phone.. Sepia got her attention.....

"Hey girl....what are you doing here?" she asked...

"Sepia!!!, Kevin.....I should be asking YOU that.....Something I should know?" she asked ,giving me the side eye...

''Uhhhh, er no...we are waiting for Corabeth and the Kids.....Clerow, needed the car this morning, so we brought them here." I said.

Sepia and Conchita laughed.....

"It's a wonder though that I'm not pregnant....He's all over me." she joked...."You workin here?"she asked.

"Yeah...Just started last week....I love it...Pay is great." said Conchita.

"So...when are you two crazy kids gettin hitched?" I asked.

"In a few months....." she said.  She dialed her cell phone again....

"John get a job yet?" asked Sepia...

"Not yet, but he's been goin hard....I'm sure he'll get something.....Funny thing...I've been calling the house phone all morning and he hasn't answered....." she said.

"He's probably out looking for a job.." I said.

"Well I called his cell phone and it's been going straight to voicemail....and I texted him two or three times...That's not like him...My car is in the shop and I need him to pick me up after work." she said.

"Maybe his battery is dead...I'm sure there is a logical explanation." I said.

"Hey...I know it feels good to be away from that nutty guy Dale you brought to our house?" joked Sepia, changing the subject a bit....

"You know...It really had nothing to do with him...I had been trying to get here at Childrens for a while...but Dale quit his job before I left the other hospital." she said.

''Oh Really?" I asked... I hadn't thought of him since that day we had helped them move in...

"Yeah..He quit and moved out of his place....didn't say a word to me." she shrugged...

"Wow...he was nuts about you.....or let's say...just plain nuts.." laughed Sepia....

Just then Conchita's cell phone went off!

"This is probably John......No...it's his brother George." she said.

"Hey George...What's up?   No...I haven't heard from him since I left for work...He was asleep so I took the subway and the bus....I called him too...both lines...I texted him too!...Yes...You drove past our house?  Nobody answered?? Well maybe he's out!!!  What? The car is still on the street?? Really??" Oh okay..I'll
let you know..Okay...Bye." she said and hung up.

Sepia and I both thought that something didn't sound right.......Just then , Corabeth and her two kids came into the lobby...

''Heyyy Conchita..right?" she said.

"Yes....Oh look at the precious darlings.." Conchita said looking at Clerow and Corrie's toddler daughter and baby son...

''Hey look Conchita....I'll take Sepia and Corrie and the kids home...If you haven't heard from John by the time you get off...Give me a call and I'll come and pick you up." I said.

"Oh Thank you Kev." she said.

II-

We dropped Corrie and the kids off...Then Sepia and I swung by Conchita and John's house... I asked several of the neighbors if they had seen John at all today....No one could say that they had seen him....We walked up to the porch...There was mail piled up....The lights were out and there was no sign or sound of a radio, a television or music playing....The door was locked solidly...Yet John's car was on the street...

Sepia studied the car.....

"No keys in it...Just a half drunk cup of coffee and a magazine that's all." she said.

I rang the bell and I knocked on the door....Nothing!!!  Sepia called the house phone and John's cell phone....
Nothing!   I had a bad feeling about this...We went home...

''Kevin...I don't like this...Something feels like ...like..." she said.

"Like what?" I asked..

"Like something evil is amiss." she said.    I felt the same way, but I didn't want her to panic...

"Nah...I'm sure there is a reasonable answer for this...Maybe he went out by foot." I said.

Sepia looked at me funny...She knew that I didn't believe a word of what I'd just said.

Two hours went by and Conchita called us at home....

"Kevin...I still haven't heard from John....I texted him again....I called his cell and I called him at home and he hasn't answered...This is not like him...Could you come and get me?" she asked.

''Sure... I'm on my way." I said.

''Kevin...Can I go with you?" asked Sepia.."I'm concerned for my friend." she said.

"Okay babes...Let's go." I said.

We picked Conchita up and drove to her house...She rang the doorbell and there was still no answer..Finally Conchita put her key in the door and we entered the house...She called John's name out!  There was no answer...

Sepia and I looked around....There was no sign of a struggle ...No sign of any disruption...Everything looked pretty normal....The kitchen was clean....The living room was , as they had left it....No sign that anyone was here at all!!

"Let's look upstairs.." I said.

The three of us walked upstairs....I checked the bathroom and the shower...Nothing...Clean as a whistle....

"Our bedroom door is closed....We never close it." said Conchita.....''Oh My God." she said and put her hands over her mouth....

I walked past both women and tried the door...There was no resistance...It cracked open....And there was John...Under the covers, with one arm hanging down towards the floor...He looked like he was sleeping....But I touched the body and it was cold...and stiff as a board....I felt his neck and his arm for a pulse... There was none...I turned him over to check for breathing...None...John was dead!  I was certain of it...

"JOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...." screamed Conchita ,with a death defying heart curdling yell that still haunts my dreams!!!!!  "Oh no...Nooooo...We were supposed to get married....JOHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN...." she screamed...

Sepia grabbed her and held her tight...as she screamed, trembled and cried...

I looked around the room....There was no sign of a struggle and no sign of any fighting or foul play..No blood, no bruises on John's body at all...If I didn't know better...It looked like he had died of natural causes...

III-

An Ambulance came , as did a police car.... John Edmundson, age 35 was declared dead at the scene....His brother , George was there , along with Conchita, Sepia and I....

The Medical Examiner said to me-

"Looks like he died of natural causes...No bruising on his body....No sign of any kind of struggle...It looks like he died in his sleep...But we won't know until we do an autopsy." he said.

I asked George....

"Does Heart disease run in your family?" I asked...

"No man..Nah...John was as healthy as a bull...We rode Bikes everyday..and we ran laps...John didn't eat red meats ,didn't smoke...Drank a few beers..but he was healthy as a bull." he said.

"John made love to me , like four times last night....and this morning when I was getting dressed, he grabbed me and through me down on the bed and had a quickie with me....He was trying to get some more after I got dressed..but I told him that I had to go to work...He said that he was going to an interview ...a job interview and that he was pretty sure he was going to get this job....That was the last thing he said to me." she said.

"What time was that?" I asked...

"Like six in the morning.." she said.

''So he was alive and up when you left?" I asked.

"Yes.." she sobbed...

"A young healthy guy like that...just dies...It doesn't make any sense." I said to George.

''No it don't...Maybe he exerted himself too much with the sex...and his heart gave out...I don't know." said George...

"Well, we'll wait for the coroner's report." I said.

I wandered back in the kitchen and I just happened to look in the trash can....I saw four empty bottles ...The kind that drugs ...Hospital drugs are kept in...and a needle...That looked very strange....I went in her cubbard and found some zip lock bags...I carefully collected the four bottles and the needle..and put them in the zip lock bags...I tucked them away in my coat pocket.....Maybe...Just maybe...There was a clue here....

(DEFINITELY....TO BE CONTINUED....)