Columbo Meets the Saints and the Sinners

Chapter 4

Joey walked in, "Sorry, I couldn't stop her." He saw that Julie was crying, he grabbed Abi's hand and walked her out.
"Come on, Abi."
"Why is she crying?"
"You'll find our, later, come on, let's go."
They walked out shutting the door.

Later, Joey was at the Parker's house, they were sitting on the couch, talking about what happened.
"Mary's dead?" asked Joey, in shock
"Yes, she is." said David, upset
"No! How did this happen?"
"The police don't know, but they're going to figure it out." said Julie
Joey got up, "Did you tell your daughter, Abi, yet?"
"No, but we will."
Abi was standing at the doorway of the loving room. Her eyes began to tear, "Mommy, Mary's dead?"
"Oh, Abi, come here."
"No!" She ran off, crying.
"Abi!" Julie got up and ran after her.
"I guess I'd better get going, I hope things get better for you."
"Thank you."
"I'll see you at the funeral, tomorrow."
"Yeah."
"Good bye." Joey walked to the door, slowly opened it and walked out.

The next day, it was the afternoon, the Parker family was at Mary's outdoor funeral, including Joey, some ushers and a few of Mary's friends, some people were crying and teary eyed, everyone was dressed in black.
David spoke, "Mary was a wonderful girl, I loved her."
Columbo walked in, on the funeral.
"I believe you made it to heaven," continued David, "You were a strong Christian, I love you, Mary."
He walked back to his wife.
The ushers closed the coffin and people left.
Columbo walked up to Joey, as he walked away, "Uh, excuse me, sir?"
Joey turned around, "Yes?"
"I'm terribly sorry for you loss."
"Thank you." He turned around and started walking, Columbo followed, "Uh, sir?"
Joey stopped and turned around, "Yes, what is it?"
"Uh, sir, lieutenant Columbo, I'm with the L.A.P.D, I'd like to ask you something, uh, I hope you don't mind, uh,"
"Well?"
"How were you and Mary related?"
"We weren't related, she and I were together,"
Columbo just looked at him.
"As boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Oh, I see."
"Is that all, lieutenant?"
Columbo hesitated, Joey turned around and walked up to his car, while Columbo followed.
"Well, just one more thing, sir, uh, did you and Mary have a good relationship?"
"Yes, of course, we did, you can ask anyone that and they'll say the same thing, now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to be alone." He got into his car and drove off.
Columbo sighed and shook his head.

Later, Columbo was at the apartment building, where Mary was killed. He was interviewing some of the witnesses.
"So, let me get this straight, you saw her fall, but you didn't hear her scream, is that correct, sir?"
"Yes."
"How about you, ma'am?"
"Well, I didn't see her fall, but I did see the body, right in front of me, which scared me."
"And how about you, ma'am?"
"I saw the body fall, it was a terrible sight, to see."
"But, no screaming?"
"No."
"Hmm, if you were falling towards your death, wouldn't you scream?"
"Oh, yes, I would most definitely scream," said a man, "I mean, wouldn't you?"
"Yes, I would, sir, yes, sir, I would. Well, thank you for your time. I think you guys helped me out, well, good bye."
Some of them said good bye and they all split.
Columbo, then, walked into the apartment building and started walking to the elevator, he saw a sign on it, which said: OUT OF ORDER.
He saw a man walk in.
"Excuse, sir, uh do you live here?"
The man lit a cigar, "Yes, why?"
"Do you know how long this elevator has been out of order?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe a year, now, I don't know."
"Thank you."
"Are you the elevator maintenance man?"
"Uh, no, sir," he showed him his badge, "Lieutenant Columbo, sir."
He put his badge back into his coat.
"Oh, sorry, I just wish they'd fix that elevator, I'm tired of walking up and down these stairs."
"Yes, sir, I would be too."
Columbo walked to the stairway, he looked up and started walking up. As he got to the 5th floor, he was breathing heavy. He stopped at the last step of the 5th floor and sighed, then kept walking.
When he finally got to the 9th floor he saw a bench near a wall and sat down on it. He sighed once more.
A woman was coming down from the 10th floor, she saw him sitting there and said, "Tired?"
"Yes, ma'am, I think this apartment building was meant for the fit and physically active people."
"And your not?"
"No," he breathed, "I don't think so."
"Well, good luck getting down, sir."
"Thank you, ma'am."
Then, she left. After he sat there, to catch his breath, he saw a handkerchief on the floor. He got up and walked up to Mary's apartment, bent down to pick up the handkerchief, there were two letters on it: J. C.
He picked it up, with a tissue, he had in his pocket, and looked closely at it, then put it in his pocket.
He opened the door and looked inside, then he walked in. He looked to his right and saw a trash can, full of trash, but he also saw the flowers.
He looked at them confused, then, checked his pocket for a tissue. He grabbed one from his pocket, then picked up the flowers and took a close look at it. He put it back and then got up and saw the typewriter on the coffee table.
He walked towards it and saw there was a piece of paper, with words on it. He took a close look at what it said.
He got up and looked on the other side of the typewriter and saw a filled cup of coffee. He walked to the window and looked out, it was still open. He looked down, it was quite a view, it was also a long way down. Columbo turned around to see a phone, on the wall near the door.
He walked towards it and using the tissue he called, "Lieutenant Columbo, uh, Mr. Parker, would you mind coming to Mary's apartment? Thank you."