Columbo

Chapter 6

It was 10:42 A.M., Columbo finally got to the police station, he came out of his car and ran right in. The sargent was standing there, waiting on him.
"I came here as soon as I could, where is she?"
The sargent pointed over to a corner, where a woman with long, blond, wavy hair, in a yellow dress with black boots, was crying. She was sitting next to an officer, who was trying to comfort her. Columbo walked towards them.
"Lieutenant Columbo." said the officer
"Hey, how's she doing?"
"Not very well, sir."
"I'd be upset too, if I found out my wife was dead."
There was a small silence between the two, while she cried, then, the officer said, "You want to take over?"
"Sure, sure."
She was still crying.
"Hi, I'm lieutenant Columbo, what's your name?"
She was still crying. To Columbo, he felt a little awkward, around her.
"I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am."
She looked at him, teary eyed. "Thank you." Her voice cracked, her crying slowly, started to stop.
Columbo took out a tissue from his pocket and started reaching it out to her.
"Do you need another tissue?"
She grabbed the tissue from his hand, and blew. She stopped crying.
"That's it, there you go." He said, in a calm voice, smiling.
She smiled.
"Wow, you've got a pretty smile."
"Thanks, I'm Laura."
"Nice to meet you, so, what can you tell your daughter?"
"She was a nice, young lady, I loved her so much. She use to live with me in Canada, where I'm from."
"So, you're Canadian?"
"Yes."
"And your daughter?"
"She's half Canadian, half American."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"What happened to her dad?"
"I don't want to talk about it. Let's just say he wasn't good enough for me."
"That's O.K., you don't have to talk about it."
"Anything else, lieutenant?"
"Oh, no, you just take it easy and if you need anything, just ask us and we'll help."
"Thank you, lieutenant."
"No problem, ma'am."
Lieutenant Columbo got up and started to leave when he just realized something, he turned around, started to walk back to her and said, "Oh, uh, just one more thing, ma'am, uh, you know sometimes these things just slip my mind, uh, how long have you been here in the U.S.?"
"I just came here yesterday, I'm not going to stay very long, I'd have to get to Canada in two weeks, from now and I hope I could have the funeral there two. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious, ma'am, I'll, uh, I'll leave you alone, now, I'm sure you need it. I hope I wasn't a bother to you."
"Oh, no, not at all."
"Oh, good, because, sometimes I feel like I bother people and I don't want to do that."
"Well, I didn't feel like you bothered me, lieutenant, it was really nice to talk to you. Well, goodbye, lieutenant."
"Goodbye, ma'am."

It was 11:04 A.M., lieutenant Columbo walked into a restaurant, which was full of people, a waiter came up to him, who was holding a menu, and asked, "How many?"
"Oh, uh, just me."
"O.K., follow me."
They walked to a table, next to a window. The waiter gave him the menu and said, "I'll be right back."
"Oh, that won't be necessary, sir, uh, I'll have a water and, uh, some chilly."
"Alright, I'll be right back."
Columbo looked around and saw Mike, he was sitting at a table at the far right of the restaurant.
Columbo got up and started walking over to him.
"Uh, sir, I have your drink, would you like to move?"
Mike turned around and, to his surprise, he saw Columbo.
"Uh, yes, over at that table, please."
Columbo pointed out to the table Mike sat at. Mike waved at Columbo and said, "Columbo, what are you doing here?"
"Just getting some lunch." Columbo said sitting down, accross from him. The waiter put his drink down onto the table. "I'll be back with your food, sir." The waiter said
"Thank you." Columbo smiled and the waiter left.
Mike already had his food, he had a hamburger with mashed potatoes and a water to go with it. He was almost done with it.
"Isn't this something."
"How's your case going?"
"It's going terrific, you know we found the mother of Jane."
"Really?"
"Uh, huh."
"Here's your food, enjoy." The waiter said, putting his food on the table.
"Thank you."
The waiter nodded, then left, then Columbo started to eat.
"So, uh, who's the mother?" Said Mike, about to take a drink.
"Oh, yeah, uh, her name is Laura Thomas,"
His drink was up to his lips, when he looked at Columbo, with surprise.
"Laura Thomas?" He asked taking a drink.
"Yes, sir, apparently, she's Canadian,"
Mike coughed, choking on his drink.
"Are you all right, sir?" asked Columbo
"Yes, yes, uh," he chuckled, "I know who you're talking about."
"You do?"
"Yes, she and I met, while I lived in Canada."
"Really?"
He nodded, then started to take a drink.
"But we don't know who the father is. Would you know anything about that?"
"No, no, our relationship wasn't sexual. No, not at all."
"I never said that it was, nor did I say you had any type of relationship. I was only wondering-"
"Sorry, lieutenant, I have to get going, I've got a job to get back to." He said getting up.
He grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket and started to put some money down, on the table, when Columbo said, "Oh, no, you don't have to do that, I'll pay for it."
"Really?"
"Yeah, you get to work, I'll pay."
"Thanks."
He put the money back into his wallet, then put it in his back pocket and left.
The waiter came back and asked, "Is everything all right, over here?"
"Uh, where do I go to pay for this?"
"At the counter, over where you walked in." He said, pointing where to go. "Are you done with your meal sir?"
"Uh, yeah." Columbo got up and walked to the counter, with the waiter. The waiter went behind the counter and said, "That will be $5.40, sir."
"$5.40?" He said, with suprise.
"Yes, sir."
Columbo gave him the money, he owed, then left.