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It's a Really Good Knife

It really looked to be a fun day. I had two major things on my agenda – pack up my former boss’ office computer (she has moved to Canada to work remotely), and go to lunch with my current boss for my annual review.

My former boss is the office Art Director, and has a dual-monitor Mac Pro. I was to break it down and pack it up to arrive in Toronto in a week or so.  I had ordered her Mac Pro and wisely kept the original box. No problem there. However, the monitors were older and had no boxes. I had similar monitor boxes though, and could easily modify them for my purpose. After all, I am a handy man with a tool!

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IT WAS Judy Mallord.

“Well.” She said, “This kinda sucks.”

Dave looked at her for a moment. “Are you… Are you English Ben’s girlfriend? You go by the name of Charon?”

Judy rolled her eyes. “Yes on both counts.”

“Are you here alone?” Dave asked.

Judy stared hard at Dave without speaking. She was clearly making some kind of decision. Suddenly, she looked away and dropped her shoulders. “Aw hell. No. C’mon in.” She turned away and walked inside.

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AS THEY WALKED BACK INTO the Gin-Soaked-Girl, Buttercup was surprised to find that the music was even louder, and that the place seemed to have suddenly become very crowded. Dave walked ahead of her and pushed back to the bar. Luckily, nobody had taken their seats. They did not have to wait very long before a different bartender walked up to them wearing a nametag of “Chad”.

Dave ordered two club sodas with a twist this time, and asked about Ben directly.

Oh yeah, said Chad. “He was a mess. I had to cut him off actually. He was in sad shape.”

“Did you see him leave?” asked Dave.

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BUTTERCUP BLINKED. “What? But he was beat up and…”

“Nope, Banhi says that all happened after he was dead. Something about white blood cells, I didn’t quite catch it. No, he died from a heart attack.”

Buttercup stood quietly for a moment. “What now?”

“Well,” said Dave, “if there’s no murder, then there’s no crime. That means Ben’s innocent, so we don’t have to look for him anymore.”

“Oh.” said Buttercup.

“Well.” said Dave, “Let’s go.”

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Bourbon, neat.

SINCE IT WAS STILL FAIRLY EARLY in the evening, Dave dropped Buttercup off at her house so that she could eat dinner and do a little work. He said he would be back after dark, since the bar didn’t open until nine.

“Nine? Nine at night?” said Buttercup. “I usually get to bed by nine. I guess I’ll have to take a nap. Goodness.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” said Dave. “You might want to change, too. I mean, no offense, but that’s not really bar clothes.”

Buttercup looked down at her tan slacks and comfortable blue pullover. “Really? This is just like all the other clothes I have.”

“No kidding? Well, do you have anything darker? Like, black? It’s a Goth bar. You’re pale enough, but you should wear black at least.”

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DAVE CONTINUED TO CAREEN ACROSS TOWN as Buttercup’s head swam. What a day it had been!

“Hey,” said Dave “You thirsty? I need a little coffee or I’ll get the shakes. There’s a place up here on the right that has a drive-through. You want something?”

Buttercup nodded, “Yes please, a coffee would be very nice.”

Dave pulled in and ordered two large coffees. “You want anything in that? Sugar? Cream?”

“No thank you.” said Buttercup. “Black coffee, straight bourbon, and a clear conscience!” She then thumped her fist against her palm in a righteous gesture.

Dave was taken aback; “You drink bourbon?”

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AS THEY DROVE AWAY from the morgue, Dave turned to Buttercup. “I’m sorry about hushing you up like that, but Banhi is a notorious gossip. She’d spread word about the case all over the force.” He then turned back to the road. “I’m… I’m a little worried about your safety. You can put Ben and Harold in the same place the night before the murder, and if Ben knows, he might try something.”

Buttercup thought about this for a moment before she realized she had no idea what Dave had meant. “Like… what?” her voice trailed off.

Dave’s face looked hard. “Here’s the thing; if he killed Harold, and you’re the only witness, it makes sense that he’d want to make sure you didn’t talk.”

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The Morgue

THEY ARRIVED AT THE MORGUE soon enough and parked (very crookedly) in a spot that said “Police Parking only.” As they walked toward the building, Dave spoke:

“Now, we’re here on official business, this isn’t a field trip. Don’t touch anything and don’t go anywhere without me. Also, don’t say anything about the case. You could get in trouble.”

“Oh, I don’t want that! I’ll be good. I just want to see the dead people.”

“Uhhh… yeah.”

They went in and walked to a small window, where a small middle-aged woman sat on a high stool. She was writing in a ledger.

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(Apologies for the delay in posting)

A duck!

BUTTERCUP STARED AT THE DETECTIVE, blinking quickly and wringing her hands. “Killed? Who was killed?”

“Harold Mallord. He was the guy you were listening to. Well, one of the guys. The other guy was English Ben. He hasn’t been seen since the night of the murder and is the prime suspect. Harold was the heavyset one. He used to be a pretty tough customer back in the UK, made a lot of money in the mob. He moved to the States a few years ago to get away from some of his pals  and go straight, but he still did a little dirty dealing now and then. Anyway, someone called us and said he was murdered. We got there about four in the morning and found him dead in the front of the house. Looks like he’d been beaten to death.”

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Now that hurricane season is finally here, and we’ve got a good sized storm headed our way on Thursday evening, it might be a good idea to run over some basic storm prep.

When Fran hit Raleigh in 1996, many folks were unprepared for the blocked roads and 3-5 day power outages. There are a lot of simple things you can do to prepare for a big storm. You’ve got about three days to prepare!

• Make sure you have all of your prescriptions filled.
• Fill your car(s) with gas.
• Charge your cell phones.
• Get some cash from the ATM.
• Make sure you have a portable radio and flashlights.

Go to the grocery store, and make sure you have the following:

• Fresh batteries for your flashlights and portable radio.
• Water – at least 1 gallon daily per person for 3 to 5 days. (depending on how far from town you live). Don’t forget pets!
• Food – non-refrigerated/frozen, at least enough for 3 to 5 days.
• Non-perishable packaged or canned food / juices.
• Foods for infants or the elderly.
• Non-electric can opener.
• Propane/charcoal for the grill
• Paper plates / plastic utensils / trash bags
• Pet food/litter.

There are a lot more things you can do, depending on your level of comfort/crazy, but those things cover the most of it. For way more info, you can go to the national Hurricane Center disaster prep website.

Stay safe y’all!