Page 31 of Death in the New Year

“Good morning,” said Wilson, jogging up the sidewalk.

“Mornin’,” grinned one of the old ladies. “Whatever you’re sellin’, I can’t afford it, but I’ll darn sure listen to you talk.” Wilson laughed, the other two men giving smiles to the women.

“You’ll have to forgive her. I’m Mildred, and these are my sisters, Maddie and Margaret. We live here together.”

“Nice to meet you, ladies,” said Zeke. “We’re trying to find Reverend Sizemore and wondered if you’d seen him run by in the last twenty-four hours.”

“No,” said Margaret with a clucking of her tongue. “Makes me so angry that a man of God, a supposed man of God, made fools of us all. We trusted him, and he’s killin’ folks behind our back, right in our neighborhood.”

“Yes, ma’am. You need to be sure and lock your doors and don’t let him in under any circumstances,” said Wilson.

“Oh, we know,” nodded Maddie. “Don’t you worry. We got a shotgun right next to our beds. Each of us. And we know how to use it.” Trak smirked at the women, nodding.

“Is there anyone in the neighborhood that you haven’t seen in a while?” The women stared at Zeke, confused by the question. “I guess what we’re asking is has there been anyone that you normally see on a regular basis that you haven’t seen? We suspect that the reverend is still finding his victims.”

“My, my, my,” said Margaret, shaking her head. “Some folks just can’t get their heads straight, can they? Let me think now. Have we seen old Joe?”

“Old Joe?” asked Zeke.

“Yep, he’s the daddy of young Joe,” she smirked.

“Of course,” laughed Zeke.

“Old Joe, he don’t get around much anymore, but he used to own a little topless joint down on Bourbon.” All three of the men stiffened. That would be exactly the type of man that he would go after.

“Ain’t seen him in a while,” said Maddie. “A few others. That pretty girl that was rentin’ the room above the garage down the street. She was a dancer, I think.”

“Alecia,” said Maddie. “She was pretty. Had them real firm boobs that men like nowadays.” Wilson coughed behind his hand, trying to control the laughter bubbling to the surface.

“Not all men like that, ma’am.”

“Well, that ain’t what I see. But she was a pretty girl, worked hard tryin’ to help her folks out back in Florida. She was a sweetie too. She’d go to church at least once a week.”

“And where does she live?” asked Trak.

“Blue house down on the corner. She rents the room above the garage.”

“Thank you, ladies,” said Wilson.

“Any time y’all wanna come back by here and show me them pretty legs, I’m all for it,” said Maddie. The men continued to jog down the street, seeing the pretty blue house the ladies spoke of. It was blue, and it was little, but there wasn’t a lot that was pretty about it.

The paint was chipping, the shutters were hanging by a thread, and the front porch had seen better days. Trak stepped up and knocked on the door. An old man looked through the glass and hollered at them.

“What do you want? I ain’t buyin’ nothin’.”

“We’re not selling anything,” said Trak. “We’d like to ask you about your tenant, Alecia.”

The old man nodded, and he heard several locks being disengaged. Opening the door, he waved them inside.

“Let’s go. It ain’t gettin’ any warmer, and I can’t heat the outside.”

“Yes, sir,” said the three men in unison.

“What do you want to know about Alecia? She was a good girl.”

“When was the last time you saw her?” asked Trak.

“Well, now. I guess about six days ago. She paid her rent for January early. Said she got a big bonus from a heavy tipper and wanted to pay everything through next month. She was like that. Often paid me early.”

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