Home for the Holidays (9 page)

She opened the cupboards beneath the sink, reached inside for a sponge and then turned the faucet on.  Gloria wet the sponge and began wiping the inside of the microwave. 

They made quick work of the list of duties and moved on.  The only rooms left to clean were the restrooms…and the locker rooms.

Gloria stopped the cart in front of the restrooms.  The women’s restroom was on the left, the men’s on the right.  “Should we divide and conquer?”  That was what Gloria had in mind, but not Margaret.

“Nope.  We work together.  I clean sinks and you clean…”

“Toilets,” Gloria guessed.

Margaret nodded.  “You know I have a weak stomach.”

It was true.  Margaret had a strong gag reflex.  Ruth had the same problem.

Gloria relented.  “Okay.”

After all, Margaret had been kind enough to agree to come along on this unorthodox fact finding mission, with a little persuasion.  Well, a lot of persuasion…but the result was all that mattered…she was here.

Margaret held the women’s restroom door and Gloria pushed the cart inside.  The room was larger than Gloria thought it would be.  The walls were floor-to-ceiling pink tile.  They matched the floor, which was the same pale pink tile.

The room consisted of a row of sinks, three standard-size toilet stalls and one handicapped stall. 

Margaret grabbed the glass cleaner and sprayed each of the mirrors hanging above the sinks.  Next, she tore off paper towels and began wiping the mirrors clean.

Gloria headed to the stall on the left.  She took a deep breath, pushed the door open and looked inside.  It was as clean as could be expected. She squeezed a generous amount of toilet bowl cleaner in the first toilet bowl and moved onto the second one.

All three stalls were in good shape and needed only a light cleaning.  Gloria should have known it was too good to be true. 

When she reached the handicapped stall on the end, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.  It was a mess.  Someone had taken rolls of toilet paper and “teepeed” the inside.  The sink, the hand dryer and the toilet.  Not only that, they had emptied the wastebasket on the floor.

Gloria swallowed hard and cast an uneasy glance at the toilet. 

Margaret wandered over and looked inside the stall.  “The toilet paper exploded?”

“Here, let me help.” Margaret grabbed a handful of the tissue from the wall-mounted dryer.  

Gloria approached the toilet and her heart sank when she looked inside the bowl.  The prankster had filled the entire bowl with wads of tissue and she could tell by looking at it, the toilet was clogged. 

She glanced at Margaret.  “You best move back to sink duty.  This isn’t going to be pretty.”

Margaret’s face paled and she nodded.  “Good luck.”

Gloria positioned a clean, empty garbage bag near the toilet and with one gloved hand, scooped piles of sopping wet paper into the plastic bag.

After she cleared the bowl, she lifted one leg, stuck her foot on the handle and flushed the toilet, all the while praying it would go down.

“Whoosh!”

She opened her eyes. The toilet bowl was clean and full of clear water.  Gloria tied a knot in the top of the garbage bag, peeled her gloves off and headed for the door.  “I’m going to take this out to the dumpster.”

Margaret nodded.  “You want me to go with you?”

The dumpster was in the back of the building and Kim had shown her the door before she headed over to the jail, attached to the other end of the police station. 

“Nope.  I can handle it.”  Gloria headed down the hall.  When she reached the rear exit door, she pushed down on the bar with the tips of her elbows. 

She backed out of the building and noticed there was a keypad above the handle on the outside of the door.  She frowned.  Kim hadn’t mentioned a code to get back in.

Gloria reached out and grabbed the door right before it closed.  She knelt down, grabbed a small nearby rock and wedged the rock between the door and the jamb. 

Secure in the knowledge she wasn’t going to get locked out, Gloria stepped into the brisk evening air.  The smell of grilling burgers wafted in the air and Gloria’s stomach grumbled.

She turned her attention to the dumpster off to the side.  It was directly under a bright street light.  Gloria shifted her gaze to the fence near the back and picked up the pace as she carried her bag of trash to the green dumpster.

She lifted the dumpster lid, swung the bag over her head and tossed it into the bin.  Gloria dropped the lid and headed for the door.

A movement off to one side caught Gloria’s attention.  It was a police cruiser, its engine running.  Pulled up alongside the cop car was another vehicle, the high beam headlights shining right on her. 

Gloria couldn’t tell what kind of vehicle it was, but she did notice two things: The second vehicle was dark.  On the front of the vehicle was a yellow, government issued plate.

Her eyes squinted and she glanced at the plate’s ID. There was a set of numbers.  After the numbers were the letters “DED.” Gloria kicked the small rock from the door, stepped inside and pulled the door shut.  “DED, DED,” she whispered under her breath.

She picked up the pace and hustled down the hall.  Gloria pushed the women’s restroom door open. 

Margaret jumped and then clutched her chest.  “You scared me half to death!”

“DED,” Gloria said. 

Margaret’s eyes widened.  “DED?  You mean someone is dead?”

Chapter 10

“No!” Gloria leaned against the door and shook her head.  “When I was taking out the trash, I noticed a cop car parked out back.  Parked alongside the cop car was a dark sedan with a yellow license plate.  It was the kind of plates used on government-owned vehicles.  The headlights were right on me so I had to look quick.”

She went on.  “The license plate.  It was three numbers, followed by three letters, “DED.”

Margaret stuck her hand on her hip.  “I think I can remember DED.”

Gloria nodded.  “Me too. 

The girls finished cleaning the women’s restroom and wandered into the adjoining women’s locker room. 

The room was large.  Several long, low benches ran through the center.  Along the walls were tall but narrow metal lockers.  On the other end of the room were the showers.  The shower area consisted of one large, open shower with two smaller, private shower stalls off to the side. 

It reminded Gloria of the locker and shower rooms they had back in high school where all the girls showered at the same time.  It wasn’t a pleasant experience when she was in grade school.  She couldn’t imagine showering in a large, open area as an adult!

Gloria pulled out her handy dandy “Kim” list and searched for locker room instructions.  “The only thing we need to do in here is make sure the dirty towels are in the towel hamper and there are no empty shampoo bottles or trash.”

Margaret tossed a couple wet towels in the towel hamper while Gloria tiptoed to the showers to make sure the stalls were clean.

After everything was spic and span, they headed back out into the hall. 

Gloria faced the men’s restroom.  She took a deep breath and placed both hands on the outer door.  “Ready for this?”

Margaret drew herself up to her full 4’ 8” frame and squared her shoulders.  “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Gloria held the door while Margaret pushed the cart inside.  The men’s restroom was larger than the women’s, probably because there were more men on the police force than women. 

Margaret eyed the urinals with disgust.  “Ugh.”

Gloria followed her gaze.  “Don’t worry, Margaret.  I’ll take care of these if you clean the sinks and mirrors.”

The girls got to work.  Gloria was anxious to finish this task so they could move on to the locker room.  She still wasn’t sure what, if anything, she would find inside but at least this way she could say she left no stone unturned.

When the girls finished cleaning the bathroom, Gloria pushed the cleaning cart into the men’s locker room and off to the side. 

The layout was similar to the women’s locker room, except this room was even larger.  There was also a large, metal locker tucked away in the corner. 

Gloria’s radar went up.  She stepped over to the locker and studied the outside.  The smaller lockers were numbered.  This one was marked “Authorized Personnel Only.” She wondered whom that “authorized personnel” was.

Gloria rattled the handle.  It was locked. Gloria kicked the bottom with the tip of her tennis shoe. “I wish I knew what was in there.”

The locker sat atop a wooden pallet.  Under the pallet was open space.  Margaret pointed at the open space.  “Dare ya to stick your hand in there.”

“Uh-uh.  I doubt it has ever been cleaned.”  Gloria shuddered as she envisioned a furry rodent nibbling on her fingertips.

Next to the locker was a small handle.  “I wonder what this is for.” Gloria grasped the handle and pushed.  It was some sort of walk-in closet.  She ran her hand along the wall in search of a light switch. 

There was no switch so she swatted at the ceiling as she blindly searched for a string.  Her hand made contact with a small string.  Gloria tugged on the dangling cord and bright light flooded the space.  It was a supply closet full of clean towels, bars of soap, men’s body wash and shampoo. 

Gloria lifted towels and peeked behind the tidy rows of sundries. 

Margaret lifted her gaze.  “The women’s locker room didn’t have this,” she commented. 

It was true.  There was no extra closet full of goodies. 

A sudden noise caught Margaret’s attention.  “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

Gloria nodded.  “Yeah.  Sounds like someone is in the bathroom.”

“Did you put the ‘closed for cleaning’ sign in front of the door?” Gloria asked.

Margaret shook her head.  “I didn’t know I was supposed to.”

The echo of someone whistling filled the locker room.  “Oh no!  Someone is coming!”

Gloria peeked around the corner of the closet and caught a glimpse of a man, naked as a jaybird and holding a towel.

She shoved Margaret inside the closet and yanked the door shut.  She held a finger to her lips.

The whistling continued and even picked up pace.  Through the crack in the door, Gloria watched as the man hung his towel on a hook. He sauntered into a shower stall and pulled the curtain shut.  “We should make a run for it.”

“How will we get the cleaning cart out?” Margaret mumbled.

Gloria frowned.  There was no way they could make it out without drawing attention to their presence.  “I guess we will have to wait for him to leave.”

Margaret nudged forward.  “Can you see anything?”

The only thing visible was the towel and the shower curtain.  Gloria squeezed her eyes shut and prayed he would hurry up.  The man was in no hurry as he took his sweet old time.

Gloria’s foot cramped.  She lifted her leg and shook her foot, kicking Margaret in the shin in the process.

“Ouch!”

“Shh!”

“Stop kicking me,” Margaret hissed.

Finally, the man emerged, grabbed the towel from the hook, wrapped it around his body and stepped over to the lockers. 

It seemed like an eternity before the young cop finished changing into street clothes.  He rolled up his uniform, shoved it in his duffel bag and strolled out of the locker room. 

He turned the lights off on his way out. 

When the outer door closed, Gloria swung the closet door open.  “Let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up.”

Using the light from the closet as a guide, Gloria made her way across the room.  She flipped the main light switch back on, reached for the cart and pulled it toward the exit.  When they were safely out in the hall, she turned to Margaret.  “Did you see anything?”

Margaret stiffened her back. “I’m a married woman, Gloria Rutherford!  Of course I didn’t see anything!”

Gloria rolled her eyes.  “Not the nudist…a clue!”

“Oh.” Margaret shook her head.  “Nope.”

The girls pushed the cleaning cart to the supply room in the back, carried two large garbage bags full of trash to the dumpster and headed out to search for Kim.

The night wasn’t a total loss.  Commissioner Cal Evergreen was in contact with Captain Davies. Gloria guessed it had something to do with Paul.

There was also the government vehicle parked alongside the cop car, after hours, in the back of the station.  Why there?  Why after hours? 

Gloria swung by a fast food restaurant before heading toward Belhaven.  The girls ate in the car and discussed the case. 

“What’s the next step?” Margaret asked.

Gloria needed to do a little research, try to find out who owned a license plate with “DED.” She hoped that perhaps Joe would be able to tell her who had worked tonight’s evening shift. 

Gloria also planned to do a little research on the suspects, although it was tough finding anything on cops.  Their home addresses, their spouse’s names, anything.  Paul would know, but Paul was MIA.

Well, sort of MIA.  He was in Lansing doing who knew what.

Gloria dropped Margaret off at her house.  She backed out of the drive and headed toward the farm.

She pulled Annabelle into the garage, climbed out of the car and exited through the side service door. 

She had remembered to leave the porch light on and it was a good thing. 

A thin layer of snow covered the deck.  She unlocked the back door, tossed her purse on the chair and held the door for Mally.

Mally raced out the door and darted past Gloria.  She was growing accustomed to the snow and frolicked around in the fluffy white stuff while Gloria shoveled the fresh layer of snow off the porch, the steps and the sidewalk.   

Gloria frowned as she thought about her children’s upcoming visit.  She still hadn’t told any of them the wedding might be delayed, hoping against hope she could somehow figure out who was setting Paul up so they could move forward with the wedding.

The case was harder to crack than she thought.  The biggest obstacle was getting close to the suspects.  She knew so little about any of them. 

Gloria thunked the snow off the shovel and propped it against the wall in the corner of the porch.