Chapter 21
I WENT through the Sunday newspaper rather quickly. There wasn’t anything new on the murders of the two strippers, although the paper was clever in re-hashing the same old news to make it seem like something was happening. More was happening with Odie and Garfield on the comics page, truth be told.
Daisy was snoozing on the couch, and Robbie was nowhere to be seen. The sun was shining brightly through the windows as I walked over to my desk and switched on my laptop. I sat down and did some searching to see if I could find anything online about the murders. There didn’t seem much of interest and certainly nothing new. Google did, however, bring up a link to a serial killer site. I clicked the link, thinking what the hell. I wasn’t doing anything pressing. The site was mainly devoted to Jack the Ripper, but other, similar killers were featured. There was a list of names, some of which I recognized, that one could click on for more information. Belle Gunness, who had murdered over forty people up in La Porte, Indiana, was among those listed. The ones who were never discovered or caught were listed by their crimes. One of these, listed as Showgirl Killer, 1910, caught my eye. I clicked.
The article I read was taken from several sources, mostly newspaper accounts. It told of seven showgirls in Springfield, Illinois, who had been murdered by “a knife-wielding maniac” over a two month period in September, 1910. Then I read a sentence that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
There were some reports that the killer removed body parts from each of the victims. This was viewed by law enforcement officials as copying Jack the Ripper, who had removed several organs from his victims.
I leaned in and scrolled up to read more.
The Ripper had removed the uterus of his second victim, Annie Chapman. The left kidney and part of the uterus of Catharine Eddowes had been taken by the Ripper. Final victim Mary Kelly’s heart was missing when her body was found, and her abdomen had been virtually emptied of its organs. The similarities between Jack the Ripper and the Springfield Showgirl Killer end there, however. Many reports claim the Showgirl Killer did remove body parts, but the liver seemed to be his favorite organ, as his third, fifth, and sixth victims were missing all or part of their livers.
My phone rang. I bookmarked the page and got up. The ringing had disturbed Daisy, who hopped off the couch and growled at the phone. I picked up the receiver.
“I hope you don’t mind me calling so soon after our first date.” It was Nick.
“Don’t mind at all.”
“Then maybe,” he said with a little chuckle, “you won’t mind me asking if you’d like to see a movie tonight.”
Robbie hadn’t been around once I’d returned home last night, nor had he shown himself at any time during the morning. I knew he was either sulking or avoiding me and thus avoiding being yelled at for interrupting my date with Nick. I had already decided to go out with Nick a second time, but Robbie’s behavior made the decision even easier. “Sure,” I said. “I’d love to.”
I LET Nick pick the movie, which may have been a mistake. He chose an action flick, one with a lot of explosions, little plot, and cardboard acting. On the plus side, the popcorn was fresh and there weren’t all that many people in the theater. Nick apparently liked to be approximately two-thirds of the way back from the screen and then as close to the center as possible. Luckily he found seats that suited his criteria, otherwise I’m sure a fight would have broken out. Most of the row was empty, but because of the location of these “optimal viewing” seats I had to plop down next to a skinny teenager with acne, who was stuffing his face with chocolate even before the coming attractions had started.
Nick gestured with the bucket of popcorn. I took a few.
“I’ve been wanting to see this,” he said.
This was the same guy with whom I traded quotes from My Favorite Year? I chomped on some popcorn and decided not to worry about it. Everyone made cinema mistakes. After all, I actually paid to see Keanu Reeves in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still.
The lights dimmed a little for the coming attractions. The kid next to me moved his chocolate bar, and I could now see a familiar figure, sitting two rows up and about seven or eight seats over. He was facing the screen and paying no attention to us, but even in the dim light I could recognize the profile of Robbie Church. The seats around him were empty and no one seemed to be able to see him, but I still felt my temper rise. Was he going to show up every time I had a date with someone? Didn’t he trust me?
The ridiculousness of that thought hit me. My boyfriend didn’t trust me when I was going out and dating other guys. Did I really blame him? I turned to Nick and whispered, “Would you excuse me for a moment?”
He nodded. “You’ve got plenty of time. They usually run about ten minutes of previews before the movie starts. I’ll save you some popcorn.”
He obviously thought that I was going to use the restroom. I got up and pushed my way past the kid with the chocolate. When I got to the end of the row I looked back. Nick was engrossed in what was happening on the screen. Maybe he wouldn’t notice me merely moving a few rows up. As quietly as I could I made my way over to Robbie and sat down next to him. He didn’t shift his gaze.
“It’s times like this that I really wish that I could eat,” he said. “An action movie really needs popcorn to make the experience complete.”
“I’d ask what you were doing here, but I think that’s fairly obvious,” I whispered.
Robbie crossed his arms defiantly. “I wanted to watch the movie.”
“And you just happened to pick the same theater that Nick and I were at?”
Robbie looked around him in mock amazement. “Is Nick here too? Maybe the three of us should sit together. After all, if you’re going to be dating him I should probably get to know him.”
I glowered at him. “You’re being an ass. I told you nothing was going to happen.”
“And I told you that I just wanted to see the movie. If you’ve got guilty feelings about cheating on me, don’t take it out on me.”
“I haven’t cheated on you,” I hissed. Someone shushed me. I ignored them.
“You want to.”
“No, I really don’t. I’d rather have sex with you, but that’s not going to happen. If it helps, I’m not going to have sex with Nick, either. I just want to get to know him. I told you I wouldn’t do anything unless I cleared it with you first.”
On the screen, another trailer started. Robbie finally turned to look at me. “The thing is, you’re assuming that this not having sex for a decade thing is only a problem you’re going through.”
“No, I don’t assume that. We tried to have sex shortly after you died.” I stopped and swallowed. That’s not a sentence you want anyone to overhear. “If you’ll recall, each attempt failed miserably. You can’t summon up enough energy for something like that. It’s just not possible.”
“Not with a human, at least,” he said, holding my gaze.
That made me pause. Repeatedly. “You mean… you can have sex… with… another ghost?”
He made a face. “Of course I can! And let me tell you, I’ve had offers over the years. I mean, come on. Look at these pythons.” He flexed his muscles. “Remember that ghost in that house on Pennsylvania Avenue, when you were doing that missing person case? He wanted me bad. And did I cave? Nope. I thought of you and told him to fuck off.”
I frowned. “He was an annoying little twink of a ghost that you couldn’t stand anyway.”
“Beside the point. I turned him down.”
I looked around me. A couple a few rows up were looking back at me every few moments, obviously wondered who the insane guy was sitting there talking to himself. I sighed. “We’ll talk about this tonight, okay? I’m going to go back and sit with Nick and watch the movie. I’ll see you at home tonight.”
“I don’t get to see the movie?”
I ignored him and made my way back to my seat next to Nick. As I sat down he turned to me. “What was that all about?”
“I was just checking out that seat. Seeing if it was a better view of the screen.” Okay, it was a lame excuse, but what else was I going to say?
I could see that Nick wasn’t buying it. “You were talking to yourself.”
I smiled. I was glad the lights were dim so he couldn’t see me blushing with embarrassment. “I’m afraid I was being a very bad moviegoer. I was talking on my cell phone.”
“I didn’t see the phone,” he said as someone shushed us.
“See how good I am? You didn’t even notice.”
Nick probably would have gone on, but luckily the movie started. As the opening credits began to flash across the screen, I looked over. Robbie was gone.
ROBBIE was on the couch waiting for me when I got home. Daisy was next to him but jumped up and came over to greet me at the door. I bent down and scratched behind her ears. She licked my hand. The place seemed ungodly quiet. I set my car keys on one of my bookshelves and went over and sat down next to Robbie.
I knew he had something he didn’t want to tell me. After ten plus years with someone, even when most of those years that someone was dead, you get to know their moods. I didn’t know exactly what was on his mind, but I knew it went deeper than a wish that I wouldn’t fuck around with anyone else. He was acting so unlike himself, and I had been too wrapped up in my own worries to even notice. Robbie was nibbling on his thumbnail, something he always did when nervous. I reached over for his free hand. He exerted enough energy to make it solid enough for me to hold. We sat in silence for several minutes. I could tell he’d been crying, but Robbie was one of those guys who don’t admit to ever crying. I’d learned long ago that if I saw tears running down his cheeks it was best just to pretend they weren’t there.
“You know I love you,” I said.
He nodded.
Suddenly it all fell into place, and I knew what was bothering him. “Who was it?” I asked.
He sniffed and cleared his throat before speaking. “There’s this guy down the street. He died in a boating accident a few years ago when he was nineteen. You’ve seen him a couple of times. He likes to walk around the park at night.”
“Gary?”
Robbie nodded. “I don’t know what happened. We were just hanging out. Talking.”
“When was this?”
“Back in February.” Robbie sighed heavily. “I’m so sorry. It was just the one time. I was going to tell you, but….” He trailed off.
I squeezed his hand. Robbie closed his eyes and let out a sob. I leaned over and tried to hug him, but I guess his energy was waning. He wasn’t solid enough to touch any more. My arm went right through him, and he vanished from my sight.
“It’s okay,” I said aloud. I’m pretty sure he could still hear me. Daisy came over, and I picked her up and held her close. I let a few tears of my own fall.
ANGELA was nice at first, excited that she actually had an admirer. When Caleb had knocked at the dressing room door he had imagined that Angela would be there alone, but she shared the room with several other girls. They graciously exited, though, to allow Angela some time with her gentleman caller.
Caleb lost his nerve, though. He got nervous and said too much. He told her he used to watch her at her house in England and that he’d followed her trail from London to Paris. He could see that his words worried Angela. Her manner grew cold, and she politely thanked Caleb and asked him to leave. Panicking, Caleb started speaking quickly, trying to show Angela his love was true. He said he wanted to marry her. She looked at his worn coat, his pitted walking stick, and his battered hat, and she laughed.
That made Caleb very angry indeed.