Third Degree (A Murder 101 Mystery)

I took a sip of the coffee that I had made before taking out the garbage and retched at its taste. As I poured it down the sink, I thought about my next move while trying to calculate how many days it had been since my last period. Being as I couldn’t do two things at the same time, I went back to thinking about my next course of action. As usual, it involved calling Crawford.
    “Fiftieth Precinct. Homicide. Detective Crawford. Can I help you?”
    His litany of greeting never ceased to bring a smile to my face. “Yes, I’d like to report a murder.”
    “Alison?”
    Dang. Busted. “Yes. It’s me. I just wanted to see how you react to someone reporting a murder.”
    “That’s not funny.”
    “Well, it’s not exactly a murder yet but I’m seriously considering killing Ginny Miller.”
    “Still not funny.”
    “I’m not kidding. That woman is proving to be a giant pain in the ass.” I recounted my latest run-in with Mrs. Miller and her threats and recriminations.
    “You’re not going to lie, are you?”
    “I. Do. Not. Lie.” I enunciated very clearly so that there was no mistaking my thoughts on the subject. Deep in my heart, I knew that saying I didn’t lie was, in fact, a lie.
    He thought for a moment before answering; whether he was considering my declaration of complete transparency or something else, I couldn’t tell. “You could probably get a restraining order against her.”
    Now that was an interesting turn. “Really?”
    “But she’s right. You’ll probably have to testify at George’s trial, if it gets that far. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll plead guilty.”
    I looked at Trixie with exaggerated alarm. I knew that this was the case, but I hadn’t thought that far in advance to the reality of what that meant. “I know.”
    “But you don’t lie, so you’ll just tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”
    “Are you taunting me, Crawford?”
    “No,” he said.
    I was unconvinced.
    “Hey,” he said, changing the subject. “When can we reschedule the meet-and-greet with my parents?”
    “I don’t know. Say, when I don’t have a black eye and I’m in bathing-suit shape again?”
    “When will that be?”
    “Twenty fifteen.” That was a conservative guesstimate.
    “No, seriously.”
    Crawford rarely has time to talk to me while he’s at work, but today? All the time in the world. I tried to think of a way to get off the phone. “Listen. I’ve got to get to school.”
    “Liar.”
    “Can we talk about this later?” I asked.
    “We could but we won’t.” He let out an audible exhale into the phone. “They want to meet the woman I want to marry. What’s wrong with that?”
    Well, when you put it that way, how could I say no? I thought. I immediately got a pain in my stomach. “I have to go.” Before I had a chance to say good-bye, he had hung up. I looked at Trixie who was enthralled by the conversation, or so it seemed. “That went well,” I said to her. She gave me an exasperated sigh and threw her head to the ground. “Not you, too?” I asked. “Are you all turning against me?” She looked up at me from her spot on the floor and seemed to pass some kind of judgment. I stared back at her. “I’m going to school. Don’t eat any shoes.”
    It was hot and sticky outside and I was glad that I had chosen not to wear panty hose under my skirt, a violation akin to heresy at St. Thomas. I’m sure that the nuns who wore long habits had on thick black tights, even in summer. On their heads, they wore bonnets which tied under their chins. Me showing up for school in a knee-grazing skirt with bare legs? A scandal at best. Coupled with the fact that I was wearing a sleeveless top, chances were that I would be fired by day’s end if I didn’t at least put a cardigan over my shoulders.
    My head was pounding from a combination of one too many martinis the night before and the oppressive heat. I should have gone to Beans, Beans for an iced coffee because I was single-handedly keeping the place in business, but I was running out of steam and couldn’t face Greg and his empty store. My choices were limited as to where to get the caffeine I so desperately needed. I found myself at Tony’s, knowing that he could hook me up before I headed to school.
    Tony was standing behind the counter, wiping his hands on his long white apron. The jangling of the bells over the door announced my arrival. “I was worried about you!” he said when he saw me.