The Phone
by D L Kaiser
The last thing Gregory
touched before he was murdered was a phone.
It was a prissy little thing, bought for his wife. He had it in the library, which was too small
for his tastes. He rarely spent any time
there, just to pick out a book and leave.
It was strange that it was the last place he would look at before he
left this realm.
Caroline bounced into the
room with her ponytail swaying and her mouth crunching down on an apple. The doorbell rang.
“Mom! Doorbell!”
“You can get it.”
“Fine.” Sigh. Stomp Stomp
Stomp.
“Mom. Package for you!”
“Fine.” Sigh.
Adrienne Moore walked her
petite frame downstairs to the foyer table and opened the package with
scissors. Inside was an antique looking phone, black and gold. But it was clearly not an antique. Just a cheap knock-off.
“Mom, it is so cute!”
“Yes, it is. It would go great in our living room wouldn’t
it?”
“Sure. Let’s set it up right
now!”
“Okay.”
So they connected the wires
to the wall and phone and tested it out.
“Works great!”
They went back to their
normal routines when the phone in the living room rang out.
“I’ll get it!” Caroline
answered. No voice, just silence. She hung up.
“Who was it dear?”
“No one. Some creep who
wouldn’t talk.”
The phone rang again ten
minutes later.
“I will get it this time
Caroline.”
She picked up the phone, said
hello and listened. The voice was almost
a whisper.
“Be careful. There is a murderer on the loose.”
Adrienne slammed the phone
down. The doorbell rang out, startling her.
There at the front door were
the police.
“Ma’am. We have some unfortunate news for you.”
“Come in.”
The police told Adrienne and
Caroline about their great uncle, Gregory Moore, who died the night before.
“How did he die?” Caroline inquired.
“Caroline!”
“It’s okay ma’am. Actually, we were coming to that. We need to ask you some questions. “
The police proceeded to ask
them about their uncle and his relations, and if they got along.
“So far as I know
officer. Are you saying there is foul play?”
“We can’t reveal that at this
time. Thank you for answering our
questions.”
They left, leaving Caroline
and Adrienne feeling uncomfortable.
“Mom, why would anyone kill
Uncle Gregory?”
The doorbell rang again. Adrienne opened the door after asking who it
was.
“I am Maxwell Armstead, the
executor of your Uncle Gregory’s will.
Allow me to express my condolences ma’am.” He handed her a card with his name and
address on it.
“Thank you. Won’t you sit down?”
“I suppose you would like to
know what this is about. So I will cut
to the chase. Your Uncle Gregory had no
children, as you know, and you will inherit his estate. It isn’t much, but there is some property and
some of his antiques.”
“Thank you for letting me
know.”
“I will leave you to your
mourning, and let you know when we can proceed.”
The attorney arose, and then
turned back to face her.
“Oh, I wanted to ask. Did you by chance receive anything recently
from him?”
“No. I haven’t heard from my Uncle in several
months now.”
“Thank you, and good day.”
He left without saying
another word.
“Mom, why did you lie to
him?”
“What?”
“The phone was from him.”
“Oh, I guess I didn’t think
it was important.”
“Uh huh. Why don’t I believe you mom.”
“Okay, for some reason, I
just don’t trust that lawyer. Why would
he have come to us in person? That is
not normal. Usually lawyers call you and
arrange a meeting time in their office.”
“So do you think there is
something odd going on?”
“Yes. I think so.”
Just then the telephone rang
in the living room.
“Mom! None of the other
phones are ringing in the house!”
The both stared at the phone
until Adrienne gathered her bravery and picked up the receiver.
“There is a killer on the
loose! You must get to someplace safe!”
“Uncle Gregory?” Adrienne recognized his voice and began to
shake.
“Go now!”
The doorbell rang again. Caroline tiptoed up to the peephole and
turned around and signaled to her mother.
“Caroline. Go upstairs to the safe room.”
“What?”
“You heard me. NOW.”
Caroline ran upstairs. Adrienne followed her. The doorbell rang again. Soon after there was breaking glass, and the
intruder crashed in through the door.
“Mom! It is that lawyer
guy!”
They both watched the
monitors on the small screens that revealed each room. The safe room was made of cement and had a
metal door that was hidden behind a large painting. The only way inside was by a small key, which
each woman wore around their necks, and a combination lock that only they knew how to open.
They watched as their
intruder broke vases and smashed valuables in their home, clearly looking for
something.
“Hello, 911? This is Adrienne Moore at 456 State
Drive. We have an intruder. I think he may be armed!”
Minutes passed. The man was yelling for them.
“I know you have it! Turn it over to me, and I will leave you
alone!”
Suddenly he stopped before
the telephone. He grimaced and grabbed
it. There was a huge crash. The police
broke in and caught him.
Adrienne and Caroline
gingerly stepped out of the safe room.
“Ma’am. Do you know about these?”
The officer held the phone up
and it was busted. There were diamonds
all over the floor.
“The base of this phone was
loaded with diamonds.”
“No, I got that in the mail
today, and I plugged it in and used it like a regular phone.”
Caroline ran to the garbage
and got out the box and postage wrapper and gave it to the police as proof.
“We will have to confiscate
this until this matter is cleared up.”
They both nodded in stunned
silence.
Two days later, they found
out about the diamonds being stolen from Gregory’s home. Gregory had them insured and stored in his
safe. Maxwell Armstead, alias Ricky
Tuttle, made friends with Gregory and observed the combination one night and
placed them in the phone while Gregory was in the kitchen. The only thing the police could not figure
out is how the phone was mailed to Adrienne and Caroline, and also how it could work because there were no electronic wires inside.
But they knew. The ghost of their uncle had other plans.
But they knew. The ghost of their uncle had other plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment