Ivy Kim (Detective, Austin Police Department)
Chad Randlett (Coroner, Austin Police Department)
Scott Miller (Captain, Austin Police Department)
Lou Taylor (Doctor, Seton Hospital)
Cile Cook (Model, D’Almagro Fashion and Talents)
Bee (Homeless woman)
David Barclay (Customer, Starbucks)
Jeremiah Newton (Customer, Starbucks)
Karsten Bering Blok (Boy Scout leader)
Derick James Wagle (Police officer, Austin Police Department)
Lilly Olesen (Karsten Blok’s ex-mother-in-law)
Marianne Bondebjerg (Karsten Blok’s girlfriend)
Kimberly Cockrill (Captain Miller’s secretary)
Amy Brosette ( Housewife)
Albert Ding (Poet and musician)
Valerie Tyson (Police officer, Austin Police Department)
Princess (Chad Randlett’s daughter)
CHAPTER 45
It didn’t matter what day of the week it was; Austin’s streets were always busy. Ivy rounded the corner at 1st Street, turning onto Congress Avenue. This was another Saturday workday, but she was excited. The information Chad had provided was outstanding. I gotta make sure I get in touch with Captain Miller. He hardly ever works on a Saturday. I better call him.
“Miller!” He sounded like a drill sergeant.
“Boss, it’s Ivy.”
“Sweet Ivy. What can I do for you on this annoying, humid Saturday?”
“I really need to talk to you. I can stop by your house.”
“No need to. I’m in the office. I have assigned a special job for myself today.”
“Great! I’ll be there ASAP.”
She dialed another number. “Could I talk to Doctor Taylor?” She waited while her call was transferred.
“This is Doctor Taylor.”
“Detective Kim here. I’m checking in on Cile Cook. How’s she doing?”
“Detective. Thanks for calling. You know, Miss Cook is doing great. It’s not as bad as we first anticipated. I’m surprised what a fighting spirit this young woman has. It makes such a difference. It’s almost as if her positive attitude works miracles. Even her visitors tell us it’s like she’s a different person now. I’m sure she’s always been nice, but that spirit…”
“I’m glad to hear that.” She stopped outside Starbucks.
“You know, she said to me that in some way it is a relief that she no longer has to be the pretty girl. Who would have thought? She studies biology, thinks about being a doctor. I’m so proud of her!”
Are you proud or in love with her, doctor? “That’s all good news. Tell her I said hello.”
She hung up and stepped out of the car. Starbucks on Congress Boulevard was packed with people, the most diverse group she had seen in a long time. Impatiently, she lined up with everybody else. She knew she could get in front of everybody because of her occupation but never did.
“Did you find him?”
Startled, Ivy looked over her shoulder. “Bee!” Her street friend was in line behind her. She didn’t look as energetic as she usually did. Her clothes were dirty and even stank. “Find who?” She looked Bee up and down. She looks miserable. “Can I get you a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please, and a piece of that banana cake.” She pointed to a big piece in the glass counter. Her mouth was watering; food had been scarce the last day or two. She didn’t feel well.
A man dressed for his business day and waiting for his coffee was bothered by Bee’s appearance and disgusted with the fact that she was asking for food. A small golden name tag on his shirt said David Barcley. “Why don’t you find a job, so you can pay for your own living like the rest of us?”
Tired but still prepared to defend herself, Bee addressed him. “Excuse me?”
“I said, get yourself a life.”
Some of the other customers listening in recognized Bee from their previous Starbucks visits.
Bee looked the man straight in the eye. “What do you know about me? I was given this life because I am the only one strong enough to live it. So don’t judge me because if you were in my place, you wouldn’t survive.”
A few people cheered her. Some even started clapping.
A man reached out his hand to Bee. “Well said. I’m Jeremiah Newton.” He was dressed as if he had just stepped out of The Pirates of the Caribbean, white shirt, a black leather vest, and black pants. He was tall, slim, with shoulder-length curly hair, a beard, and an elegantly curled mustache.
“Thanks! I’m Bee, and I’m hungry!”
“Where’s home?”
“Everywhere.” She looked at Ivy, who pretended not to listen.
“Have you heard about The Homeless Coach?” Jeremiah gave her a business card.
She shook her head.
“If you wanna get a job and a home, this may be a solution for you. They will coach and support you, but you gotta do your part.”
“What’s my part?”
“The desire to get back on your feet, and the effort to follow the coaching.”
“How’ll I do that?”
“You need a sponsor. I’ll sponsor you.”
“You will?”
Ivy noticed how Bee’s eyes teared up.
“Contact them. I have written my name on the card.” He got his coffee. “Gotta go. See you there!”
Ivy and Bee found a table in a corner and sat down.
“Not that I wanted to listen, but I am a detective. That Homeless Coach thing sounds really great. Perhaps you should check it out. Oh, and what guy were you referring to when you asked me if we had found him?”
“The dead guy outside the morgue.” Bee spoke as if she was used to bodies appearing at doorsteps.
Ivy almost choked on her coffee. “What do you know? The coroner and my colleagues said it looked like someone had dropped him off.”
“I would say put outside the house like any other garbage bag.” The banana cake hastily disappeared into Bee’s mouth. She took a few sips of her hot coffee. “He’s off the streets now.”
“Who? Who is, Bee?”
“Didn’t you recognize him?”
Ivy remembered Helene’s words, Even with your eyes closed, you can see, and shut out every image around her. The bloody face she had seen the day before in the morgue appeared in her mind’s eye. The blood gradually disappeared, revealing more and more of the corpse’s face. Oh, dear Lord, why didn’t I see that?
“I can tell you know.” Bee stood with the cup in her hand. “Gotta go. I have an appointment with my coach.” She smiled.
“But, Bee. Wait! Who did it?”
“You know better than asking me that. Thanks for coffee and cake.” Bee made her way through the many people and disappeared.
Back in her car, Ivy thought about Derick. Someone has to tell him.
Officer James had still not returned to his job. His counselor found him too emotional, out of balance, and was worried he would relapse.
I owe it to Derick to tell him that Karsten Blok is dead. She found his number and keyed it in. I gotta stop doing this while driving. One day, I’ll end up in Chad’s morgue if I keep on.
She didn’t take time for chitchat and went directly to the reason for her call. “You don’t have to worry about Blok anymore.”
“And why is that?” Derick was taking a walk around Lady Bird Lake.
“He’s dead. Killed.”
“He was a child abuser. A pedophile. A murderer!”
He doesn’t seem too upset about this. I wonder if he’s on some kind of medication. “What is going through your mind, Derick?”
“You don’t wanna know that. Anyway, I’m taking a long walk. Can we talk later?”
“No worries. Just wanted you to know.”
Ivy rushed the rest of the way to the office.
At her desk, she immediately grabbed the phone to call Chad. It would have been better to bring this news to him in person.
When she had called Captain Miller from Starbucks, he had asked her to deliver the message over the phone and then show up in his office. He wanted an update on all the new information Ivy and the team had collected. Also he was anxious to know how it could happen that Lilly Olesen and Marianne Bondebjerg had disappeared from the surface of the earth. Those two women were certainly of interest in relation to Karsten Blok’s death.
How am I going to open up this subject? He’s probably sleeping right now and will be hung over; and the way he reacted last time, I have no idea what he’ll do. Blok is already dead, so he can’t kill him. Thank God. Kill him. Oh no! Oh no! It couldn’t be!
“Chad, I know who he is.” She started after he answered. The detective’s voice shook. “Are you awake? I know who the guy is.”
“I am. Tired though. I was in a nice dream—when they called me from the morgue, they had brought in a homeless guy with an oddly shaped stomach. Most likely something bad he ate from a dumpster.”
“Pretty good chance he’s a veteran. A hungry and lonely one, too!” How can I break this news to Chad? How will he react? “I know. Damn sad so many of them end up this way.”
“Is that a way to thank our heroes?”
“Don’t get me started, Chad. You know how I feel about that. After he had spent his youth in Vietnam, my own dad rotted in the streets until the day when he shot himself. The only time anyone will help pick them up from the street is when they start to smell.”
“Sorry, Ivy. I didn’t mean to…Forget I mentioned it. Who’s the guy? I take it we’re talking about the one with his penis in his rectum.”
“Yep, that’s him. I suddenly remembered why his face looked so familiar. Chad, I really don’t know how to present this to you.” She stopped.
“Just do!”
“It’s Blok.” She paused in anticipation of some kind of strong reaction from Chad.
“Karsten Blok?”
It all came back to him. The moment he was told his daughter Princess had disappeared. The picture of her tiny, abused, dead body lying in the dirt. The very last day, when he said goodbye to her and made the promise to find the one responsible for her pain and punish him.
“I’m happy the bastard is dead!” he said in a clear voice. His breathing was heavy, sounded like he could burst into tears any moment.
“You okay? I wanted to let you know before it leaked out. I’m so sorry for what you’re going through. I can’t imagine. Do you want me to come over later? Go somewhere? I’m meeting with Miller shortly to talk about the next step. Especially, based upon your information from last night.”
Chad straightened up. “I don’t know how I feel. Empty.”
“Call me. Okay?”
Chad disconnected the call before Ivy removed her phone from her ear.
I hate this! Would there be anything in this world that would ease his pain? Putting aside her concern for her friend as best she could, she hurried to the meeting with her boss.
Miller’s office looked very different. It was clean and tidy in a way Ivy had never seen before. As a matter of fact, nobody had seen it like this before. His work space had always been a mess.
His long-deceased mother would worry herself sick wondering if her only son Scott would find a job. Not one single day during school had he managed to submit his homework without some kind of unwanted personal touch. Strawberry marmalade, egg salad, and Coca-Cola had been his favorite personal marks. His classmates had already in first grade nicknamed him Sticky Scott. Ivy knew about her boss’s previous life as Sticky Scott, something he had revealed to her in confidence during a holiday party.
I’m sure Kimberly has had a lot to do with this, but I better give the German shepherd the credit.
Two nice chairs in front of her boss’s desk were ready to be broken in. Miller waited for her to take her pick.
This is confusing. Does he actually want me to sit in a chair when I talk to him?
Her boss noticed Ivy’s confusion and secretly enjoyed it. “For heaven’s sake! Have a seat, Ivy!”
With both hands reaching palms-up into the air above her head, she said, “Which one? Why did you have to bring two chairs in?”
Miller demonstrated his best Santa Claus laugh while he leaned back in his new, black leather recliner.
“Jam-bam! One step at a time, okay?” The detective looked around in the totally redecorated office. “Remember,” she said with a smile, “for years we have been sitting on cardboard boxes and lawnmowers. The other day I had an interview in an impossible yoga pose on a purple mat on the floor. I don’t even know how to use a chair anymore!”
“Do you care to show me that pose, detective? Did your feet touch your ears?” Miller’s laughter was loud, and the few people outside his office stopped for a moment to ponder if their boss was all right. Rarely did they hear this much laughter at one time from him. “Sit down in that chair!” He pointed to one of the chairs.
Ivy sat. “It feels awkward,” she said.
“You look awkward!”
Ivy felt the armrest with her hands. The fabric was soft, and she liked the feel.
Miller noticed and was pleased with her reaction. Kimberly had done well.
“Well, I’m introducing chairs again. You gotta admit they are pretty comfortable.” Miller pressed a small button on the armrest, which immediately made the chair lean back almost in a sleeping position. He sent out a loud-pitched scream.
Now it was Ivy’s turn to laugh.
He managed to pull the chair back into a more presentable position and put on his bossy face. “Well, this isn’t a furniture fair, so get to the point, Detective.” He would always use her title whenever he needed to manifest his own position.
The detective updated the captain about the developments in the different cases and, in particular, the fact that several of the people involved had a connection to this Japanese masseuse.
Her boss slowly leaned back, not wanting another unexpected experience with his new chair while he listened.
“That’s the whole story so far. I’m sorry, but I just have this feeling…”
“Female intuition?” He couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, continue.”
“I’m just saying, it can’t be a coincidence that the entire town is going nuts.”
“It’s the time of year. It’s hot—freaking hot—and no rain for the longest time. And to tell the truth, this city houses its fair share of nuts. Time to build a wall and keep them out. Just like they do in Arizona where this Albert Ding has this house.”
“I’m sure this Mrs. Brosette from West Rim Estates would have agreed with you, Sir.” She put on a determined face. “The one who was run over by her husband.”
“How’s that?”
“Well, apparently this Mrs. Brosette totally supported this huge Berlin Wall we built to keep the illegal South Americans out of our wonderful land of opportunity.”
“Berlin Wall? That’s in Germany.”
“I know, and so should you.”
“Why?”
“You’re German!”
“I’m American. My parents left Germany during World War II. I was born here!” He sat up ramrod straight in the chair. “I’m an American!” He paused. “That wall was built to stop people from leaving the country. By the way, the wall is torn down.”
“There you go; that’s exactly my point. It doesn’t work.”
“Illegal immigrants are illegal. That’s why we use that word.” Miller felt clever.
“Right or wrong—now tell me, boss, what would you do if your family, your kids were starving? No bright future, only a repetition of your own pathetic story of a life in poverty? I tell you, you wouldn’t be able to see my ass for my shoe leather getting me out of that shit hole.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, that’s exactly how simple it is! Just think how many children and young people we could help get a better start in life if we spent the money on educating the kids in South America rather than buttering bricks on top of bricks. The illegal immigrants are not running away from their country. They are running towards finding a way to survive.”
Miller’s eyebrows were raised as he took in the lecture from one of his detectives. “We do help people in South America.”
“And when has a wall ever built stronger connections?”
“Okay, enough, Ivy. You are not convincing me. Meeting adjourned.”
“But what about my trip to Arizona? I need to go there now. And Valerie, too. I’m sure we can get answers to many of our questions there. I just have this feel—”
“I have already approved it. Kimberly most likely has your tickets ready for you.”
“When did you do that?”
“After we talked on the phone.”
“What? So why did you put me through all this?”
“Who put who through what? I’m the one who has been listening to your political campaign speech. Run for office if you wanna change the world!”
Bee Yourself 
