Realtor Revenge is the sequel to Real Estate Games. For the full experience, I suggest you start with Part 1 of Real Estate Games. Or you can just read on and enjoy a quick escape from reality.
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Realtor Revenge
Chapter 5
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Tiffany's was a small diner on main street which had been in business since the 1950's. What appeared to be a retro motif was actually the result of three generations of owners who refused to put money into upgrades. The location was convenient, the food was adequate and the few tourists that passed through town considered it quaint, so it managed to stay in business.
Flanagan and I sat in a corner booth enjoying our coffee as we congratulated each other on our recent success and then moved on to my next target.
"Carson Taylor is the last councilman on the list," I told him.
"Isn't he the guy with the dairy farm that milks women instead of cows? This could get interesting."
"Unfortunately, the farm belongs to his ex-wife. I'm not sure how we link it to Carson Taylor and Janis Moorehead..."
"You two ready to order?" I didn't know how long the waitress had been standing there. Hopefully not long enough to hear our conversation.
"Ham and eggs, over easy," Flanagan said. "With a side of grits if you got them."
She nodded and then looked to me. "How about you Raven? The usual?"
"Yeah, that would be great," I said. "Thanks, Leaky."
Flanagan gave her back side a quick appraisal as she walked towards the kitchen with our order. "Why'd you call her Leaky?" he asked when she stepped out of sight. "Her name tag said 'Angel'."
I laughed. "Nobody's called her Angel since she got knocked up in high school."
"How did a pregnant teenager get nicknamed Leaky?"
"Her boobs. They leak."
"As in milk?"
"Yep."
"Still? After all these years? How many kids does she have?"
"Only three. Her youngest is in middle school."
"And she's still lactating?"
"Apparently so. Whenever she gets excited, her blouse gets two big wet spots."
"How the hell does that work?" Flanagan asked.
"I pump them twice a day," Leaky said as she topped off our coffees. "If you'd like some fresh warm milk in your coffee, I'd be glad to oblige."
Leaky began to unbutton her blouse.
"Uh, no, thanks," Flanagan stuttered. "I uh, I like mine black."
Leaky and I both laughed as the normally sedate policeman turned several shades of red.
"Let me know if you change your mind," Leaky said, not bothering to rebutton her blouse. "The offer's always open, especially for the newest member of the Merryville police force.
"And speaking of offers," Leaky said to me. "I may have something you want."
"From what I can see, you've got nothing I don't already have. And mine don't leak."
"How about a connection between councilman Taylor and your old friend Janis Moorehead?"
"Now you've got my attention. I'm all ears."
"Not here," Leaky said. "Is there someplace we can meet tonight after my shift is over? Someplace private?"
"I could stop by your place." I suggested.
"There's nothing private about three kids in a double wide," Leaky said. "How about we meet at your house?"
I was just about to reject that option out of hand when Flanagan opened his fat mouth and said...
"Great idea. We'll order pizza and I'll bring some liquid refreshment. Is 7:00 okay with everybody?"
"Seven works for me," Leaky immediately said. Then she paused and wrinkled up her nose. "Unless there's some reason you don't want me in your house."
"Of course not," I lied, not able to come up with an acceptable excuse. "Seven will be fine."
Why wouldn't I want a cop car parked in front of my house or the town bimbo knocking on my door. The neighbors surely won't notice. Right.
And while I'm being honest with myself, why am I letting Flanagan make decisions? He's supposed to be a hired hand, not a partner. This meeting should be with me and Leaky and nobody else.
I have got to get control of the situation.
***
Diner at Raven's
Flanagan drove an old pickup truck to my impromptu dinner party. It didn't fit in with the Mercedes, BMWs and Porches my neighbors drove, but was a marked improvement over his patrol car. He also left his cop suit at home, wearing jeans and a clean white shirt. And even though Leaky's tired Chevy would probably leave an oil stain on my driveway, I was sure none of my neighbors would recognize her without an apron and name tag.
'Hopefully we'll eat some pizza, hear what Leaky has to say, and then call it a night',
I thought.
But that's not exactly what happened.
We had just uncorked the first bottle of wine when the doorbell rang. Thinking it was the pizza delivery guy, I opened the door to find my 'across the street' neighbor standing on my front porch.
"Is that Leaky's car parked in your driveway?" she asked.
"You know Leaky?" I asked the forty-year-old trophy wife of a recently retired executive.
Before she could answer, Leaky was standing behind me saying, "Evelin, I didn't know you lived in the neighborhood. Why don't you come in for a glass of wine?"
"Just one," Evelin said as she pushed past me. "And then I really need to get George his dinner."
I looked to Flanagan for help, thinking he might know how to get rid of uninvited houseguests, but he was too busy pouring Evelin's wine to notice me.
Evelin thanked him for the wine and then asked, "Are you Raven's new beau?"
"Goodness no," Leaky answered for him. "He's the newest member of the Merryville police department. He and Raven are investigating what happened at last week's Fantasy Friday event at the Dairy."
"Oh my, that was certainly unfortunate. I mean what happened to that poor realtor... I'm sure it wasn't intentional, but Laura really needs to keep an eye on that boy."
"What boy? What realtor? Were you there?" I asked.
"Of course I was. Both Leaky and I saw the entire thing. Well maybe not the entire thing, since we were kind of tied up and busy at the time." Evelin and Leaky exchanged a conspiratory wink before she continued. "But between the two of us, we can probably piece together what happened. Come to think of it, I think Mary Kate was also there."
"She was," Leaky said.
"Well she just lives down the street. I'll give her a call and see if she can join us."
"I'd hate to bother her..." I started to say.
"Trust me, Mary Kate has never in her life turned down a party invitation. Besides, another eyewitness can only help your investigation. Isn't that so Officer Flanagan?"
"Absolutely," my out-of-control hired hand said. "The more the merrier."
"But we only have two bottles of wine," I complained.
"Mary Kate has a well-stocked wine cellar. I'm sure she can spare a half dozen bottles or so."
The next time the doorbell rang, I was sure it would be the pizza delivery dude. But no, this time it was Evelin's seventy-year-old mother wondering where her daughter had run off to.
"Your asshole husband wants his dinner," the wrinkled old woman said to her daughter. "I'm sure not going to fix it for him so you better get your butt home and feed him."
"Not now mom," Evelin said. "Were helping the police solve a crime. Why don't your order him some Chinese?"
"I've got a better idea. I'll stay here and drink wine and we'll let the bastard starve."
Which seemed okay with Evelin, so Flanagan poured Grandma a glass and the party continued.
I let Flanagan answer the door the next time the bell rang, which was a good thing, because Mary Kate needed someone strong to carry a full case of imported wine into the kitchen.
Now that we had three witnesses to what was supposedly a crime that would somehow let us incriminate Carson Taylor and blame it on Janis Moorehead, I was more than ready to hear what the women had to say. But the three participants in whatever happened at the Dairy farm last Friday were all talking at the same time and not a one of them were making any sense.
All I got from their constant barrage of wine slurred words were snippets of information...
"... shot gun..."
"... milk..."
"... charity..."
"...pumps..."
"...misunderstanding..."
I was about to give up and kick the women out when Flanagan interceded.
"Ladies, I know you all have a lot to tell us, but to get to the bottom of what happened last Friday, I think we would be best served by a reenactment."
Despite my pleas of the last half hour for the women to take turns and not all talk at once, the commanding voice of a man was all it took for them to immediately shut up and pay attention... which really pissed me off.
"Leaky, you go first," Flanagan said. "Pretend Raven's living room is where the Fantasy Friday event took place. You said everybody had some sort of station?"
"That's right," she said. "We all had assigned milking stations."
"Good. And how many total stations were in the room?"
"There were six stations but only five were occupied until..."
"Let's don't get ahead of ourselves. Before we continue, I want everybody to help Leaky position the available furniture to make six stations."
Unbelievably, the three bickering women helped each other as they lined up bar stools, an ottoman and a coffee table down the center of my living room. When they were done, you could easily imagine six small cubicles, each barely big enough for a woman on her hands and knees.
"Excellent work," Flanagan said. "Now, assuming the door to the room at the ... what did you call it?"
"The dungeon," one of the women answered.
"Assuming Raven's front door is the door to the dungeon, I want each of you to stand by the station you occupied last Friday."
Like obedient soldiers, each woman took her respective place.
"Evelin, your turn. Besides you three, who else are we missing? Who were at the other stations?"