Peggy Holloway - Judith McCain 04 - Jupiter Returns by Peggy Holloway Page A

I wanted.
    I looked at the paper the te acher had given me, “Emily Goddard?”
    “Up pose stars, lef side.”
    I started up the stairs but before I got half-way up an anorexic looking woman came out of the right side apartment. Her hair, what little there was of it, was dyed pitch black. It was shoulder length and I could see her scalp underneath.
    “You a social worker?” she asked and , without waiting for my reply, she continued. “You need to check on those two. We ain’t seen them for over a week and they have something rotting in there.”
    Now that I was at the top of the stairs, I could smell a smell I recognized. It was a dead body. I had hoped to find her alive. I went back out to the porch and called the police and then Tracy. I was surprised when Tracy drove up, before the police, with John Shepherd in the car with her.
    I ran out and hugged John, “Did you bring Rosa and Jennifer?”
    “Yes I did, Judith. Wait til you see my beautiful daughter. You know she just had her second birthday?”
    “John’s going to be working here in Houston until we catch Jupiter,” Tracy said. “I just picked them up from the airport, took them home and then got your call, so I was close by. Who lives here, Judith?”
    “Bettina’s mother.”
    John and Tracy looked at each other, “Who is Bettina?” They both asked at the same time.
    “The little girl you assigned me to work with, Tracy. She told me her name yesterday and then today I was able to get information about her school and teacher. By the way, she’s in the second grade. She’s small for her age.”
    John spoke up, “By the way, Judith , I’m so sorry to hear about Ben. I loved that man. He was one decent human being.” John said as he wiped his eyes.
    I got tears in my eyes and turned away. Mixed in with my grief was guilt. I had strung Ben along for years before agreeing to marry him. We had so little time together and now he was gone.
    As I was getting my emotions under control, the yard began to fill up with cars. There were two city police cars, a Crown Vic that I assumed was a detective car, and a black station wagon with medical examiner written on the side.
    Introductions were made all around and it was then that I realized that my body guard wasn’t around. In fact I hadn’t seen him all day.
    “Where’s Bert?” Tracy asked just as I was about to ask her.
    “I haven’t seen him all day, come to think of it,” I said.
    Tracy walked to the end of the porch around the corner while dialing her cell phone. When she came back she was shaking her head. “The little shit called in sick but didn’t bother to call until a few minutes ago. I‘ve never liked him. He thinks he’s God’s gift to the human race. I’ll find someone else for you, Judith.”
    “How’s Huck, by the way?”
    “He’s hanging in there but it’s going to take him awhile. At least he’s out of intensive care.”
    We talked while the coroner, police, and CSI people did their jobs. They were coming in and out until finally they brought out the body, in a bag, on a stretcher. By then the media had shown up but couldn’t get past the yellow crime scene tape the police had strung across the yard. They had mikes and were shouting questions but no one paid them any attention.
    The detective I had seen earlier came o ut of the house with the medical examiner. The detective was tall and build so much like Ben, that seeing him from the back made my heart almost stop. The coroner left and the detective came over to talk to us. He looked nothing like Ben from the front. His hair was lighter blond than Mark’s and I noticed the blond hairs on back of his hands. He was wearing a gray suit, gray shirt and white tie.
    Tracy introduc ed herself and John and then me. “Judith is the one who reported the body.”
    He shook our hands, “ Wade Russell,” he said. He turned to me. “How did you come to be here? Do you know this woman?”
    “I’ve never met he r.” I explained