The Wicked Flea

gorgeous guy, stood near us. Since the cause of the stench was clearly not a skunk, the EMTs quickly finished what must have been a mandatory procedure to assure themselves that the victim was beyond help. As they stepped back, yet more people showed up, a few in uniform, most in mufti. No one asked us any questions, presumably because Douglas had talked to the police while he’d led them here.
    “Holly,” Ceci demanded, obviously aiming her voice at our guard, “aren’t they supposed to be questioning us? After all, we found Sylvia! That’s supposed to make us the prime suspects, isn’t it?”
    We hadn’t found Sylvia; Douglas had. Still, after Ceci’s remark about suspicion falling on the person who finds a body, I didn’t want to make myself obnoxious by announcing that she and I had been late arrivals. Instead, I said, “It was Ulysses who found her, really.”
    “Althea won’t like that one bit, you know, not that my sister wishes ill to anyone, in reality, but when you think about it, it’s a cliche, you know, Holly, and not even a Sherlock Holmes cliche, the dog in the night, although Althea would be happier, of course, if a dog had done nothing in the night, Silver Blaze, even I know that one. But finding a body? Althea will be very disappointed. What am I saying? Poor Sylvia! And here I am—”
    The cop turned to her. “You recognize her, ma’am? You know who she is?”
    “Sylvia Metzner, of course,” Ceci replied.
    After the publicity about Sylvia’s altercation with Officer Pasquarelli, half the population of Greater Boston would’ve known the name. In Newton? Without question, the entire police force had heard Sylvia Metzner’s name hundreds of times. The muscles in the cop’s face twitched. “You got close enough to see her, ma’am?” he asked.
    “No.” Ceci was offended. “I recognized Sylvia’s clothes. Those are Sylvia’s shoes and scarf and coat.” She made no mention of Douglas at all.
    I spoke up. “Douglas told us who it was.” I turned to look at him.
    The cop looked at Douglas, too. “That you, sir?” Douglas nodded.
    “So, how’d you know?”
    Douglas shrugged. “The, uh, overall appearance. I just recognized her.”
    “You move the body?”
    Douglas rapidly jerked his head back and forth. As he spoke, his voice climbed at least an octave. “No. I didn’t touch a thing. Nothing. Not one thing.”
    “Strange that you knew who it was, sir. When you didn’t see her face.”
    “Strange?” Douglas asked. “Well, yes. But I wasn’t sure who it was. I wasn’t sure at all.”
     

Chapter 14
     
    The police at the murder scene may have shared my concern about Ceci’s health. She again looked chilled. Or maybe she was just grating on their nerves. For whatever reason, I was encouraged to remove her from the park. As soon as I put Rowdy and Quest in the car and settled Ceci in the passenger seat, my worry diminished. She immediately launched into her usual frenzied chattering. Now, as I drove her home, her focus switched from Officer Pasquarelli to the entire Metzner family, especially Eric.
    “That Eric!” Ceci spoke of Eric Metzner as if Eric were his middle name. “All three of Sylvia’s children were a perfect disgrace. But that Eric!”
    “Were? When was this?”
    Ceci said nothing for all of five seconds. “Thursday,” she admitted. “Now, Holly, I told you it wasn’t right to abandon Sylvia, didn’t I? And I was certainly not the only concerned citizen there.”
    With an inaudible groan, I said, “You obeyed Pythagoras.”
    “Holly, are you all right? No, you’re not! It’s shock. On top of your concussion. Holly, dear, Pythagoras has nothing to do with anything. What I was saying was that after Sylvia was so brutally dragged off by the police, you were just as eager as I was to show your support for her, but you had already taken hours out of your workday and were simply too nice to tell me that you didn’t have time. So after you dropped me off, I naturally hurried down there to headquarters, and I assure you that except for the appalling behavior of Sylvia’s children, it was a deeply moving experience. Quite a few people from the park were there, and they were as horrified as we were at what we’d witnessed. And if I haven’t happened to mention that I showed my support for Sylvia, it’s only because I didn’t want you to feel in the least tiny bit guilty for being unable to help. I have never doubted for a moment that you