Lost Souls by J. Bishop (the giving tree read aloud txt) 📗

know better, Mason.” Mikey walked to a cabinet in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of aspirin. She shook out two tablets, returned the bottle and brought them to Mason. “Here.”

Mason sighed and took them. “Thanks.”

“You know your day’s shot, don’t you?” said Mikey, returning to her seat. “You’re worthless until you get some rest.”

“I’ll be fine,” said Mason, opening his food. “Eating will help. Let’s go over what we know.”

“Why? So you can stare aimlessly and try and stay awake while we talk? That’ll be helpful.” She opened her carton of chicken fried rice.

“Mikey, please. Right now, the only thing sapping my strength is you,” said Mason.

“Now I know you’re tired. You get cranky.” Mikey opened her chopsticks.

“Let him be. He wants to fall asleep in his food, it’ll make for a great picture, which I can share with my friends,” said Trick.

“What friends?” asked Mason.

“Ouch,” said Trick. “You are cranky.”

“Can we please get back to the investigation?” asked Mason. “Before I end up like Cissy–accused of murder?”

Trick picked up a bite of food. “You’d never make it to trial. I’d haunt you to death.”

“Me, too,” said Mikey.

“What trial?” asked Mason. “I’d plead guilty, just to get some rest.”

“I’d haunt you in your cell,” said Trick.

“Me, too,” said Mikey, taking a bite of her fried rice.

“It seems I’m screwed either way,” said Mason, opening his noodles.

“You are,” said Mikey. Chewing, she reached down and pulled out a pad and pencil from her backpack and set them on the table. “But since you insist on acting like you’re capable, let’s go over your interviews, and I’ll let you know what I learned about Lydia.”

“Finally,” said Mason, grabbing some noodles with his chopsticks.

They spent the next hour discussing the talks with Tony and Daphne while they ate and Mikey took notes. Mikey had bought an iced tea, and she sipped from the straw and reviewed her scribbles. “Let’s see what we have here.” She put her cup down. “If we put this into some sort of timeline, then I think it starts last spring with Daphne and Chad meeting at Lydia’s to fix a system crash. Not long after that, Lydia posts that she’s in a relationship.” She scratched her head. “So, does Chad start his fling with Lydia during this weekend?”

“Maybe,” said Trick. He scraped at the bottom of his carton with his chopsticks. “Seems likely.”

Mikey went back to her notes. “Then during the summer, Cissy says Chad is becoming more distant, and their relationship suffers. Her social media reflects that. At some point, she shows up unexpectedly at Chad’s office, but he’s not there and she’s not happy. Supposedly, he’s at a meeting that’s not on the schedule. Could he have been with Lydia?”

“Maybe,” said Mason. He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. “Most likely.”

Mikey continued. “Daphne dislikes Lydia and thinks that Lydia is strange. Believes she’s odd and easily distracted, and maybe has a mood disorder. Also, Lydia doesn’t drive and doesn’t like her picture taken.”

“Don’t forget the temper,” said Trick. “Daphne overheard Lydia’s overheated conversation during their working weekend.”

“That’s right. Lydia’s temper.” Mikey made a note on her pad. “Then comes the company picnic at the end of the summer. Lydia and Chad talk, and then disappear. Cissy looks for him, and sees Chad arguing under the bleachers with a woman, who we assume is Lydia.”

“Makes sense,” said Mason, his head still back against the seat.

“Lydia is angry and leaves when Cissy shows, and Chad says it’s no big deal. Cissy isn’t buying it.”

“Nope,” said Trick. “Can’t blame her.”

“Then Tony posts pics from the picnic, and Cissy replies with a comment directed at Lydia that says ‘I see you.’ She knows now that Chad is having an affair.”

“Wait a minute,” said Mason, his eyes still closed. “Cissy confronted Chad about it. Was that before or after the picnic?”

“Good question.” Mikey flipped through her notes. “I think it was before.”

“It was after,” said Trick. “She’d only suspected before the picnic.” He sipped from a soda.

Mason cracked an eye open at Trick, but then closed it again.

“Okay,” said Mikey, writing. “Cissy makes that cryptic comment, although if Lydia was actually aware of it, no one knows. She’s not very active on social media.”

“There’s still some hope for the world,” said Mason, interlacing his fingers and resting them against his stomach.

Mikey ignored him. “Then Cissy confronts Chad, who doesn’t deny the affair, but won’t tell her who the woman is, and tells Cissy the affair is over.” She paused. “Now it gets interesting. Cissy believes it’s Lydia. Finds out where she lives and knocks on her door. They argue, and she thinks Lydia’s strange, too, which would back up Daphne’s claim that Lydia’s odd and has a temper.”

“Let’s not forget Cissy has a temper, too,” said Mason, his head still back.

After scraping his carton clean, Trick put it down. “You can’t blame her for confronting her husband’s mistress. Most women would.”

Mason cracked another eye open. “I’ll grant you that, but it’s a bold move. Plus, we have no idea what actually happened during that altercation, or what was said.”

“I might have some insight into that,” said Mikey, “but we’ll get to that in a sec.” She flipped a sheet of paper over. “Moving on. Cissy confronts Lydia, who laughs at her. Cissy questions how her husband can sleep with someone who’s crazy, and Cissy questions her own husband’s sanity.”

“Which leads us to Lydia’s background.” Mason lifted his head. “Does she have a history of mental illness?”

“Again, we’ll get to my stuff in a minute,” said Mikey. “Let’s finish this.” She tapped her pencil on the paper. “Just before Lydia’s death, Chad loses it at the office over mashed potatoes, which indicates he’s stressed, and Daphne overhears an argument in Chad’s office between Chad and another woman, whose identity is a mystery. Is it Cissy or is it Lydia? Daphne can’t be sure.” She made a note. “Lydia dies soon after in a supposed accidental drowning,