I am truly the destroyer of worlds
He was born “Aleksanteri Cjelli”, but hadn’t gone by that name in years. Most people now just called him “Spooky”. In spite of his recent influx of cases, Spooky still found the time to laze around. Currently, he was stretched out inside of his bath tub, cigarette hanging out of the corner of his mouth. The smell of marijuana hung thick above him, a thin line of smoke that rose up and drifted out the open window. He exhaled, sinking further down with a small groan.
Out in the hall, the doorbell buzzed.
“Shit,” He waved the smoke away, snubbing the stick out on the side of the tub before climbing out. “Apollo, can you get that?” He called, wrapping a towel around himself before wobbling slightly as he righted himself.
“I’m not your damn maid,” Was the growl that answered him. “What do I look like, Casper the friendly flippin’ ghost?” He could see the feline shadow of his partner for a brief second before the door opened.
Spooky ran a hand through his hair, making his way to the living room. A timid ‘hello’ echoed from the doorway. The man standing there looked like he couldn’t have been more than twenty-five, a university kid judging by the book bag that hung from his shoulder and the lazy way he had his hair pulled up. Spooky could hear soft music coming from the pair of purple headphones lodged in his ears, it was a wonder he could hear anything with them on. The surprise on the young man’s face was obvious as a nearly naked Spooky came to lean against the doorframe.
“You need something, kid?”
“You’re Aleksanteri, right?” He looked almost afraid to meet Spooky’s eyes.
“That’s what my mother calls me, name’s Spooky.”
“Uh, right-Spooky, then. I need your help. I have a case for you.”
Spooky moved aside and let the young man in, gesturing to the couch. “Make yourself at home; I’m going to put some pants on. Actually, while you’re at it, tell me about your case.”
“Well, my name is Dominic Ward-my aunt is Felicia Ward, and she’s been murdered,” There was a pause, obviously for dramatic effect. Thankfully, it wasn’t lost on Spooky.
“Felicia Ward? The porn star, huh…? Condolences, Dominic.” He pulled up a pair of boxers that he assumed were mostly clean before rooting around for pants.
“Only my mother calls me Dominic, call me Domino.”
“Touché.”
Spooky returned to the living room, kicking away a stray shirt before lounging in a beaten up armchair. He raised a hand as a signal to continue, his other hand already fishing around on the coffee table for another blunt.
“Last week, when the maids were making their morning rounds, they found my aunt shot dead in her bathtub. The police think it was suicide, but she would never kill herself!” Domino’s hands clenched and unclenched in his lap, it was obvious he was nervous. “I’ve heard about you in the papers… You’re a pet medium.”
Spooky inhaled and choked on the sour smoke. “Kid,” this was followed by another bout of coughing. “Medium is such a phony word. Don’t call me that.”
“Fine, whatever you are, you can help!” Domino dug around in his bag before coming up with a picture. “This is her and her poodle Vanilla.”
He leaned over and took the picture, eyes widening slightly. Well, if that wasn’t the dumbest thing he’d ever seen… “Is that dog dyed blue?” Snuffing the joint out, he fumbled around for his glasses. “Anyway, I can’t talk to animals that are still living; I don’t know what use you would have for me.”
“That’s the thing,” Domino withdrew his cell phone, opening up a grisly picture of a dead woman and a shot dog. Spooky recognized the two instantly and sighed, apparently he was going to be of some use after all.
Felicia Ward was an up and coming “adult film” star. She was pleasant enough, considering her trade, and spent most of her off time in her Northern California home. On the drive up, Domino rattled on about how she didn’t have an enemy in the world (with the exception of a few Christian associations) and that she was pretty well liked.
“You seem fond of her,” Spooky said, turning his eyes from the road to regard Domino with a smile.
“She was like a mother to me,” Domino removed one of his ear buds. “After mom died, Aunt Felicia took me in. Most people think porn stars are total sleaze bags, but outside of the studio you wouldn’t have ever known…--We’re here.”
Spooky slowed to a stop, parking in front of a large two-story house. It was old, but regular maintenance had obviously helped a great deal. The two left the car, with Apollo floating not far behind.
“I was away at school when she was murdered.” Domino produced a key from his pocket, gazing down forlornly at the small object. “I guess… This place is mine now. I haven’t been back since the forensics team cleaned up.”
The younger man unlocked the door, opening it before stepping aside. He looked reluctant to go inside, so Spooky took the go-ahead and entered the foyer. Although it was dark inside, he could tell the house was just as beautiful inside as it was outside. Spooky felt around blindly for a moment before flicking the lights on, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the light from the crystal chandelier.
Almost immediately, he sensed something. A chill ran up his spine and he looked around warily, something was definitely here. “You feel that?” He asked Apollo; the spirit looked nervous.
“What?” Domino had joined him, and was looking around. “Feel what?”
“Not you,” Spooky said, walking further into the house. “The cat.”
“No doubt about it, there’s a spirit here.” Apollo led the way up the stairs.
“The cat?” Domino sounded strangely calm.
“Yeah, “the cat”, he’s dead though so I wouldn’t bother looking around.”
The feeling was the strongest in the bedroom, almost like they were being watched. Concentrating on the sensations, he tried to pinpoint where they were coming from.
“Woof,” something said.
“Oh look,” Apollo’s voice was full of sarcasm. “A dead dog.”
“I think I’ve found the dog.” Spooky told Domino; the boy was looking around like something was going to jump out at him. “And stop fussing; it’s not going to jump out of the damn walls or anything.”
“Spirit, I’ve got a question for you-was it murder? Or did your owner finally go off the deep end?”
The spirit of Vanilla floated down to them, timidly. “I don’t think you’re looking in the right place.”
Spooky made to move towards it and it flinched back. “You know who the murderer is then.”
“Th-that’s correct, at least, I think I do...” The spirits of the recently departed were never quite as talkative as one would imagine them to be. Something about their souls separating from their bodies must have been traumatic, because every newly deceased animal he had encountered thus far always looked like it was having some trouble getting its “sea legs”, so to speak.
“Vanilla,” Apollo floated down to eye level with the dog and spoke softly. “I need you to tell Spooky here whatever you know about who killed you and Felicia.”
“The maid,” Was the only thing the small animal said before shimmering out of view.
“That’s just great, we have a shy ghost,” Spooky rubbed his temples and sighed. “Domino, how many maids work here?”
“About sixty, why?”
“Shit,” Spooky said.
The only thing to do now was to look around. He canvased the room from front to back, not really sure what exactly he was looking for. ‘I’ll know it when I come to it,’ he thought as he moved a stack of towels sitting on the dresser. Behind them was a picture of two women, had her arm around the other, both were grinning and giving a thumbs up to the camera. He recognized one to be Felicia ward, but the other person was a mystery.
“Domino, do you know who this is?” Spooky pointed to the younger looking female.
“Yeah, that’s my mom-back when she and my aunt were still teenagers. My aunt loved that picture; she was really hurt when my mom left.”
Turning back to Domino, he eyed him warily. “Domino, what can you tell me about your mother?”
“My mother?”
“Yeah, tell me everything.”
“Well, she was a missionary, so she was gone a lot when I was a kid. She didn’t like my aunt, thought she was a heathen. So when grandma died and left everything to Felicia, my mom didn’t know how to cope. She walked out on my father and me and went to live in Africa; it wasn’t long after that we got word she was killed in a car crash. They shipped the body back and we buried her… But that’s been years.”
The woman in the picture was tall and skinny with light auburn hair; she looked homely compared to her sister, making Spooky wonder if people often had compared the two. She was wearing a white sundress, and no makeup-the only thing to catch his eye was the small pendant around her neck. A silver cross hung from a chain, just above the modest neckline of her dress; and from the looks of it, it was probably pretty expensive.
This was more work than Spooky had been prepared to do in one day that much was for sure.
After checking the place top to bottom and coming back with nothing, Spooky was beginning to suspect they weren’t going to get anywhere. At least, not if the dog didn’t talk, something Apollo was trying to fix at that very moment. That left Spooky and Domino to ponder over the facts they did have, which weren’t anything to sing about.
“Maybe we should take a break, are you thirsty?” Domino asked, getting up from his place on the couch.
“Yeah, just water for now, thanks.” Spooky waved him off, and turned back to his notebook. If no one in particular had a grudge against Felicia, it could be random. He hoped to whatever god existed that it wasn’t. Spooky was a private eye, not an entire police department-though, he could (in some cases) go places cops couldn’t without a warrant.
“Spooky?” Domino’s voice broke said man’s thoughts and he looked up, noticing the young man hadn’t returned from the kitchen yet. He heard his name again, louder this time.
“Yeah, cool it, kid-I’ll be there in a second.” He lifted himself up off the couch, wincing when his knees popped, and started towards the kitchen.
The house was equipped with more than one kitchen, the one he was standing in now being the smallest. Though when talking about stuff like that he guessed “small” was pretty relative to the location. Small, in the case of this house, was his entire apartment.
“Yeah, what’s up?” He looked over to where Domino was standing, the kid looked like he’d seen a ghost, and maybe he had, Spooky reminded himself. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for spirits to hang around where they were murdered.
Without a word, Domino lifted up a necklace. A small silver cross dangled from a chain, most of the stones in it were gone, and it appeared to have been chewed up by something sharp and metal. “What the hell is that?” He asked, without really thinking. This was a woman’s home; of course jewelry was bound to be lying around…
Then, it hit him. “That’s not your mother’s, is it?” Spooky asked cautiously.
“It is,” Domino sounded like he was about to pass out. “I don’t know what it’s doing here; we buried it with my mom.”
“Could it be a replica?”
Domino handed the small object over and pointed to the back. “No, those engravings on the back-they’re the dates of her and my aunt’s birth. If Aunt Felicia had one too, she would have told me, at some point at least.”
Spooky turned the object over in his hands, “did you find this in the sink or something?”
Domino looked surprised. “Yeah, but, how’d you know?”
“Looks like it’s been chewed up and spit out by someone with shark teeth; it’s not every day that you throw your jewelry in the sink and mutilate the hell out of it.”
Before he could say anything more, Apollo phased in through the wall behind him. “Spooky, I think you better have a look at this. Vanilla took me into one of the locked rooms where the maids sleep, and I found something.”
The maids’ quarters was separate from the rest of the house, and consisted of a small building, that, in spite of its size probably cost more than Spooky made in six years. The architecture was the same as the rest of the house, if slightly less extravagant here.
“The maids were all released on vacation until the police investigation finishes up. No one should be here, which is a problem, because I don’t have keys to this place.” Domino explained that it was for the privacy of the maids, and kept their relationship with their employer on a basis of faith.
“Lucky for you two, the window over there is unlocked.” Apollo nodded his dark head towards one of the ground floor windows.
Once inside, it was easy enough to follow Apollo through the halls to one of the rooms. The layout was a little like a ski lodge, with one main common room and several small bedrooms branching out in the adjoining hallways. Each had a full bath and a small kitchen, in addition to the larger kitchen on the ground floor. When they reached their destination, Spooky noticed something was off immediately. A suitcase sat open on the bed; it appeared to be half packed.
“Do you know whose room this is, Domino?” Spooky began to look around, using a pencil from his shirt pocket to nudge a few things.
“No,” The young man admitted. “We never kept tabs on our employee’s personal lives. The only digging we ever did was when we hired them.”
“Yes, yes, that’s fascinating. Spooky will you quit poking and come look in the damn suitcase?” Apollo hovered over said object, his tail flicking in annoyance.
“Alright, calm down, what is it?” Sitting half tucked into a shirt was an old picture, it looked like it had probably seen better days, but the two smiling girls looking out at him were familiar.
“Excuse me, can I help you gentlemen?”
Spooky and Domino started, looking back towards the doorway, the woman standing there didn’t look happy in the least. She was in maid’s attire, probably in her early forties, and had pulled back black hair and steely gray eyes.
“Spooky, ma’am,” He flicked his wrist and offered her a business card from his shirt pocket. She looked at the paper rectangle with obvious disinterest, but took it anyway.
“Mister Ward, I didn’t expect to see you home so soon.”
“That picture, Miss Mercedes, where did you find it?” Domino pointed to the picture in her luggage, his hand was trembling.
A maid…?
“That’s her.” Vanilla’s spirit had joined them at some point, and now hovered behind Apollo. “That’s Emily.”
“Emily?” Spooky repeated, and the woman’s head snapped up.
“You must have me confused with someone else, my name is Mercedes.”
Domino took a step back, “mom?”
Spooky decided to take the oldest investigative trick in the book: take an assumption and run with it, act like you know where you’re going, and if the suspect is guilty they’ll crack for sure. “You couldn’t stand it, could you?” He held an arm out between himself and Domino. “You couldn’t stand it that your sister got everything you deserved. The porn star, and even your own son liked her more!”
He saw her flinch and continued, “Faking your death was just the start, but you couldn’t leave some things alone could you?” Spooky held up the mangled necklace and her eyes grew wide. “You knew your sister trusted her maids and you used that against her. I’ll admit, even I was fooled at first, but that picture proves it.”
Advancing on her more, Spooky felt like he was pulling off the “bad cop” impression pretty well. The air in the room was heavy with tension, the spring of a bomb clock ready to snap and send everything sky high. “Stop playing games, we have more evidence on you than you can shake a stick at.” They didn’t, but she didn’t need to know that.
It was a long time before the woman at the door spoke again, “she didn’t deserve it… She never had to work for anything. Because she was beautiful and people loved her, she never knew even a fraction of the pain I felt.”
Behind him, he could feel Domino gripping his arm, the kid’s hands felt clammy. He didn’t speak, but it was clear that he was torn between a myriad of different emotions-none of them were probably very pleasant.
“Her soul will burn forever for her sins. I… I did the world a favor.”
A strangled sob from behind him told him Domino finally lost the battle of keeping his emotional wall up. “That’s enough, I’m calling the police.”
Later, Domino and Spooky, followed by the two spirits, sat on the front porch. The sun was going down, and all that was left was a faint orange glow over the mountains. Domino had long since calmed down, but remained quiet. It looked like his bluff had worked, but the consequences were more dire than he first imagined. Leaning back, he fished a cigarette from his pocket and lit it, watching the smoke rise up and out of sight.
“Hey, Domino,” The younger man tilted his head up to acknowledge that he heard him. “One thing is still bothering me, you looked a little calmer than most when I told you there was dead animals floating around.”
“I haven’t been entirely upfront with you, Spooky.” Domino said, reaching over and plucking the cigarette from Spooky’s lips. After a long drag, he spoke again, “I study the occult, and it’s my major at the university. I could have gone to any private investigator; lord knows there are a few who probably have better work ethic-but I came to you.” He handed the cigarette back. “I want to know if you’ll take me on as a partner.”
He hadn’t been expecting that. “You really want to work for me, huh?” Domino wasn’t such a bad kid, and he did need help around the office. “What do you think, Apollo?” The cat only shrugged. “I guess we could keep you around, for a trial period.”
Spooky stood up and dusted himself off, and then turned and offered a hand to Domino. “I’m feeling like tacos, what say you, Domino?”
Domino’s grin was genuine, “only if you’re buying.”