Imitation of Life

Chapter Six

Joshua rapped on the door for the fifth time. He looked around the empty hallway and shivered at the silence. If he didn't see people down the lobby and outside the hotel, he'd have concluded that the building was completely deserted. No place occupied by a living person had the right to be this quiet.

He thought about Tracy for the first time, and hoped she was faring better than he was.

Joshua raised his fist to pound at the door this time, then stopped himself in time when he heard sounds from within.

Rushed movements. A solid object hitting the ground. Some vile language from an exasperated voice. Then footsteps to the door.

"Who's there?"

For a moment, Joshua didn't know whether to say he was a cop, or to play it safe. A quick contemplation made him decide to stick to the truth.

"I'm detective Joshua Mulligan, ma'am." He answered. "I'm investigating the death of Johnathan Walters and I'd like to ask a few questions."

No reply came from within the room.

"Can I come in, Miss Rigby?"

The silence all around became all the more deafening. Joshua noticed her shadow below the door moving slightly. He could imagine she was also contemplating, thinking about making the right move.

"Give me a minute," was her sudden reply.

Then the shadow disappeared, followed by sounds that depicted rushed motions.

About 5 minutes later, the door crept open. Richard stepped in tentatively, scanning the room quickly. The entrance was a short, narrow corridor flanked by two white-coated walls, with the right side having a large mirror hanging from it. The corridor led to an open space ahead, which was richly lit with a large bed pressed to the wall, two colourful lamps on small cabinets at both sides of the bed, a huge black wardrobe, and a brown furry rug at the middle of the room.

Joshua soon found himself staring around the room in surprise. For a hotel that barely had guests, it looked rather really homely. Exquisite, in fact. Or, maybe it was how the rooms upstairs looked compared to the rooms downstairs.

"You wanted to see me?"

The raw femininity of the voice cut through his thoughts, bringing him back to the room. He realized she'd been sitting on the bed, all this time. Just watching a stranger gawk at her hotel room.

"Eleanor Rigby?" He asked as he regained composure quickly. He noticed her hair was dripping wet, and she had the white woolly hotel robe wrapped around her body. She was in the bathroom, of course. That's probably why she took all that time, he realized.

"Who's asking?" The defensive tone she used was quite intriguing to Joshua. It wasn't borne of fear or anxiety. She just sounded like she wanted to know who the person was so she could beat the crap out of them if necessary.

Amazing.

"Detective Joshua Mulligan." He raised his badge and ID high enough for her to see.

"Huh." She humphed, like she approved of what she saw. She crossed her long legs leisurely, which just made them look longer.

"You do realize that I have nothing to do with John, right?" She said with the straightest face Joshua had probably ever seen.

"I mean," she continued. "We aren't even married anymore."

"I didn't even know he was married in the first place," Joshua admitted. Then he added quickly: "I mean, now divorced."

"Then you must be new around here," she said. She rose from the bed and walked over to the little fridge underneath the suspended flat screen TV. She drew out two cold bottles of beer and walked towards Joshua.

"Sit." She ordered as she extended a bottle to him.

Joshua took the bottle slowly, and dropped on the small white sofa besides the fridge, facing the bed.

Eleanor resumed her position on the bed with an open beer bottle. "So, you said you were investigating his death?"

"My partner and I, actually." Joshua nodded. "But she's busy with other associates of the deceased. So, you're stuck with me."

"Oh, goody." Her tone made her sound anything but excited. She flipped her bottle vertically, spilling its contents into her mouth.

"I promise not to take much of your time." Joshua placed his bottle on the ground and pulled out a notepad from the pocket of his leather jacket. A pen materialized from nowhere, Joshua flicked it open and looked at Eleanor.

She raised her bottle in mock salute and continued to down the liquid.

Joshua took that as an odd green light and cleared his throat.

"Where were you on the 15th of July, from the hours of 6 to 10?"

"Far away from this bloody town, that's for sure." Eleanor chuckled.

Her answer was so abrupt that Joshua was simply not expecting it. At all. He just stared at the woman sitting laxly in front of him, gulping from her bottle. Now he honestly hoped that Tracy was making progress with her targets. 'Cause he didn't know how much he could take.

"Miss," he began with a subtle tone. "We believe—I believe Johnathan was murdered. Even if the whole thing was made to look like suicide. And we don't have much time to find the person responsible. So, I implore you to help. Please. Don't you want to find the person who's responsible for your ex husband's death? I mean, no matter how horrible of a person he was, he couldn't have been that bad to make you this uninterested. Was he?"

Eleanor dropped the empty bottle on the white bedsheet and sniffed. For the first time since he walked in, she began to look more sober. She pushed her hair back and looked at Joshua.

That's when he realized she had tears in her eyes.

"I never said I wasn't interested in helping out," she said quietly. She suddenly looked tired and a lot older.

"Johnathan was a lovely soul, with an exceptional mind and a huge heart. Everyone he came across was blessed by his contribution to their life. He never saw an opportunity where he could help to change someone's life for the better and didn't take it. Hundreds, if not thousands of people, can readily testify to his acts of philanthropy."

She wiped her nose with the sleeve of the robe she wore, and gave a little cough.

"He was such a good, good man. And I felt like I didn't deserve to be with him. Yes, we dated for a long time. And finally got married when we thought it was the right time. But the feelings never really left. That feeling you get when you don't think you're not good enough for someone you consider as very special to your heart.

"Eventually, those insecurities ate me whole. I demanded for space, felt like things were going too quickly and I needed to breathe. Being the loving, understanding man he is, he did afford me the space. Thinking it'd help me. Well, it didn't. It got worse, we weren't even on talking terms. Then, we got divorced soon after."

It wasn't the kind of interrogation Joshua had intended. But he couldn't stop now. Besides, one can never predict how these things would go. Joshua simply wrote down as much as he could.

"After we went our separate ways, the communication ceased as well. We were like total strangers, but even worse. I felt like he'd hated me and wouldn't want anything to do with me. So I kept my distance. Until a couple of weeks ago when Shawn called me to contact John."

Joshua's head shot up. Shawn? Jonathan's mystery friend?

"How did you know Shawn?" He asked, narrowing his brows.

"He was Jonathan's best friend in highschool. Their friendship was one that took them til the end of his life." Eleanor choked a bit as she finished her sentence.

"And you all attended the same highschool?"

"We all did. Chesterfield Springs high school was our starting point."

"Tell me a bit about Shawn." Joshua insisted. He sat forward with his notepad in one hand and pen in another.

Eleanor closed her eyes and tilted her head to one side, and appeared to be thinking really hard.

"It's been years since I saw him, so my description might be a little off," she finally said. "But, from what I remember, I believe I can try."

"Go ahead."

Eleanor kept her eyes closed for a while, then she finally opened them.

"His full name is Shawn Hector Zachary. He moved into Chesterfield Springs over thirty-five years ago, and started attending the high school about two years after he came. He was the typical popular kid that everyone wanted to tag along with. The girls drooled over his cute eyes, pink lips, messy reddish brown hair, and most importantly his charisma.The teachers loved him, the students wanted to be him, even the seniors that ignored the rest of us thought he was cool enough to hang out with. On top of that, he was incredibly intelligent as well. The complete package."

Joshua could imagine what it was like walking down the crowded hallways during recess, having everyone look at you either with admiration or envy. Having friends just because they want to hang out with you. Getting invited to the popular kids birthday parties and whatnot.

Yeah, he was all about that life. Then the real world took over.

"So how did you meet Shawn?" He asked, bringing himself to focus on the matter at hand.

"Through Jonathan. They were already really close friends when I came into the picture. Shawn, being as bold as he's always been, started asking me out. On several occasions, actually. This one time, he even had a member of the singing club compose a love song for me. Just so I could go with him to the prom." Eleanor laughed. Joshua smiled as well.

"Eventually, he noticed how Jonathan started behaving towards me, how he found it difficult to speak correctly or boldly whenever I was in the room. He gradually realized that the shyest boy he knew had fallen for someone he was chasing for fun. And what did he do? He stopped. Stopped asking me out, stopped pestering me with notes inside my locker and stuff. Knowing how shy John was, he decided to help him to win me over. Sure most of Shawn's advice paid off, but I just loved how despite his confidence issues he made the effort to tell me how he felt. That's what made me fall for John. And now . . . . " She sniffed again, this time her voice cracked.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Miss Rigby." Joshua began.

"Call me Eleanor, please. I insist." She sounded more stable than a few seconds ago. She sat cross legged on the bed and smiled at Joshua.

"Right. Eleanor." Joshua nodded and looked into his notepad briefly.

"I said I wasn't going to take much of your time." Joshua reminded her. "So, in fulfillment of that promise, I've got two questions left."

" Fire away, detective."

"Okay." Joshua gazed into his book, then asked:

"Do you know where Shawn is now? How come he did show up for the funeral of his own friend?"

Eleanor sighed. "I'm afraid he's the only one that could give you that answer. Like I said, I have seen him in a long time."

"But he called you to contact Johnathan," Joshua said, flipping the pages of his notepad over.

"Yes, but that was it. When I told him John wasn't returning my calls, he simply disappeared."

"I see." Joshua scribbled some more.

"Now for the final question." He sat up straight and looked Eleanor dead in the eye.

"Do you have any idea of anyone who'd want to hurt Johnathan? In any way?"

Eleanor's face suddenly turned pale. She looked like she was going to be sick.

"John was simply a good man. Anyone wanting to hurt such a person is the spawn of Lucifer himself. And I hope, with all my heart, that they get what they deserve."

Joshua completely agreed. So much so that he almost gave her an ‘amen’.