Vintage Wanderlust

Suspicion

When Tala had left the man on the steps the night before, she had not expected to find him there when she returned the next morning. Even more bewildering was how she found him.

She had noticed him from afar and shouted a confused greeting to him. When he didn't answer she had assumed he was sleeping. But, when she approached to jostle him, she had found his limp body well past a revivable state.

Unsure what else to do, she had called Stella frantically, who in turn called the police. After a chaotic few hours, the library had remained shut for the morning, and Tala now found herself planted in the chair of one the private study rooms the library had to offer.

She was racking her brain, trying to imagine any signs the man may have offered to signal his need of help. But, she could recall none. As she stood to head to the kitchennete to make a cup of tea, the door to the study suddenly swung open and Detective Obses entered the room.

The detective placed a folder on the table as they both sat in chairs across form one another. Flipping open the folder, the detective spoke, "I wasn't expecting to speak with you again so soon, Mrs. Whistletow."

"I'd have to agree, dear," Tala replied solemnly.

Taking the initiative, the Detective immediately dived into the interrogation. Staring intently into Tala's aged eyes, the detective began, "Mrs. Whistletow, it appears a lot has happened over the past forty eight hours that seem to link back to you. Can you explain where you were last night and how you came across the body this morning?"

Flabbergasted, Tala squeezed the handle of ther staff and quickly exclaimed, "You think I had something to do with this?"

"Let's work backwords shall we?" but the detective did not wait for a reply. "You found the body this morning. You told one of the officers that you had spoken with him last night. Which is around the same time that we suspect he was initially poisoned. You were at The Viewpoint when Mrs. Trixie Van Spellis was poisoned. And to top it off, we found the discarded apron, with poison residue, worn by her killer, in the very dressing room you were visiting when she died."

Tala leaned more and more into her staff at every word the Detective spoke. By the time she finished, Tala was hunched over it and seemed ready to pounce. The detective observed her with a confident coolness before adding, "Care to explain?"

Eyeing the woman before her, Tala considered everything the woman had said, and finally withdrew herself from the contempt she felt. Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke. "I have a question before I begin. Would that be okay?"

The detective's eyebrow rose, "Depends on the question."

"Have you found anything to tie this to those other murders that have been in the paper."

"Yes, but I am not at liberty to discuss those details," She paused before adding, "Unless you are in the mind to confess."

Tala shook her head, "No dear, but I wanted to make it clear that I ain't been here long enough to commit all of them."

"I believe you are wise enough to know that we've considered an accomplice," the Detective began. But at seeing Tala's head raise in a show of pride, added "but if you are not involved, I believe you may have seen more than you suspect. And if that is the case, I would like to think that you are of the mind to help us catch the murderer before they take another life."

Tala considered the detective's speech and added a final request, "Do you have an open mind detective?"

It was just a quick transition, but Tala had seen the shift in the detective's eyes. A moment of vulnerability as she seeemed to dwell, if only for a split second, on something in her mind. The vulnerability disappeared just as quickly from the detective's haunting demeanor, before she nodded, "It's fairly open. But only to what the truth holds."

Nodding, Tala rested her staff against the table and placed her hands in front of herself on the table. She stared into the detective's intense eyes and began her truth.

"I came here to investigate a crime against nature. As part of my invetigation, I was deputized by an outside authority and sent to obtain information about some individuals that may be part of the crime. The friends I've made here do not know my true intent, but I can vouch for them. They were in the dressing room when the usher left me there. I stayed at Estellovina's home that night. When I left last night, the security guard offered me a cigarette. Of course, I don't smoke so I declined. When I left he was sitting down on the steps reading a piece of paper that had fallen out of his cigarette pack." She took a large breath as she finished.

The detective took Tala's statement in stride and sat in thought once Tala finished. She finally spoke, "If what you are saying is true, I have a few things I'd like to verify. Would you mind looking at a few photos and items?"

Tala raised her fingers in assurance as she responded, "Of course, dear."

The detective withdrew a photo of Stella's dressing room, "Does anything look out of place from when you were in the room?"

Tala clasped the photo in her hands and examined each part of the photo. "Not that I can tell." As the detective started to retireve the photo, Tala remembered the cloth. She patted the table, "Wait, when I was fixin' to go into the room, I saw that cloth outside in the hall. I didn't want anyone to trip on it, so I picked it up with my staff and dropped it while I was in there."

"Is this where you dropped it?"

"No, it was closer to the entrance. I remember Isaac kicked it out of our way."

"Mr. Freemont, your friend who also attended the event?"

"Yes, but he was already with Stella before I came in."

The detective nodded as she put the photo back into the folder and handed Tala a piece of paper in an evidence bag. "Is this the paper you saw Mr. Garcia drop and pick up."

"Mr. Garcia...was the security guard?" Tala asked. The detective nodded to encourage Tala to proceed. "Well, to be honest, I didn't get a good look at it, but it's the right shape. I was more concerned with trying to figure out more about him. I recognized his uniform and thought the other man he was with might be important to my investigation, too.

"There was another man?" Obses asked, whipping out her notepad.

"Oh yes, sorry. I had bumped into him earlier in the day, so he rudely ignored me when I came out. Him and the sec-," Tala paused to update her story. "Mr. Garcia were having a heated discussion before I came out, but I couldn't figure out what it was about with the door shut. Unfortunately, I think Mr. Garcia was getting a little suspicious so I didn't want to keep asking questions."

The detective's pen hovered over the notepad, "What did this other man look like?"

Tala squeezed her eyes shut to draw up the image of the man, "Middle aged, light skinned. Probably about five foot six. He wore glasses and a turtleneck with a tailored coat."

The detective seemed lost in thought for a moment before she started digging through her folder and withdrew a stack of photos. "Do you see him in any of these photos?"

Taking her time, Tala examined each photo before fixating on the image of a man next to a beautiful redhead. She stared intently at the man's blurred face, caught in motion. She widened her eyes as she felt confirmed. "This man. I believe this is him" she said as she tapped his face for the detective to see.

The woman's face twitched in a small show of excitement. Retrieving the photo from Tala's weathered hand, she paused when Tala asked for the detective's intel.

"Im sorry, Mrs. Whistletow, but I'm not at lib-," she paused when Tala gently shoved Gringa's pouch across the table.

'Please, the parchment. I helped your investigation, the least you could do is reciprocat that. Who knows, maybe I can help more once I know," Tala encouraged.

Detective Obses set her case folder aside and opened the pouch Tala had slid to her. Pulling out Tala's deputization papers, she studied them closely, before responding. She finally pushed the pouch back to Tala. "Well, Mrs. Whi- Detective Whistletow," she nodded to acknowledge the correction, "this is what we know."