Last Chance Harvey-Part 11 (Blogophilia 32.11)

Silently, Jim motioned the officers in. Jerry sat with a beer stopped halfway to his mouth, looking like he saw a ghost. Detective Williams suppressed a grin at the sight. The scene was out of all the best mystery books. They had never seen them coming.
"I hope we haven't interrupted dinner."
Heads slowly shook in unison. Jerry turned off the music and fetched chairs from the closet, placing them on the opposite side of the table. The detectives walked along the sides of the room, making mental notes of possible hiding places. Satisfied there were no surprises, they sat and began the process.
Petite, with coal colored hair and matching eyes hidden behind thick rimmed glasses, Sgt. Angela Lopez was the image of a professional. Behind the façade, however, was a street smart woman who had seen a lot in her career. Ray Williams was the was her polar opposite. The sandy crew cut belied his military background. The rather large gut said he didn’t like to train. But neither Jerry or Jim were willing to take him in a fight.
With a voice like fingernails on chalkboard, she stated why they were there.
"We are following up on a request from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. They want to speak to Ms. Schffier about a boat transaction she was involved in." She pulled a sheet of paper from her notebook. "They have reason to believe she has been in this area. Do you know her?"
Jim looked intently at the paper. It was a mugshot from 2012. The zombie like figure with mascara stained eyes and darkish red hair done up in a messy bun. She resembled a sad clown. He wondered if it had been her first arrest. He slid the paper across the table to Jerry.
"We met her a couple of times, didn't we Jerry?"
Jerry put down his beer to look. Scratching his ear, he handed the paper back to the detective.
"Yeah. Nice girl. But she hasn't been around here in six or seven months.
"Excuse me," Sgt Lopez turned toward Jerry. "I didn't get your name."
"Jerry Holden."
"What do you do for a living, Mr Holden?"
"Boat mechanic at the Marina." Jerry grinned. Lopez wasn't bad looking and there was no ring on the hand. He bet she was a zoo in bed. Of course, this was no place to find out.
"And Mr. Herrington, your work is?
The answer came out a little too sarcastic.
"Retired. Got hurt working on a freighter and got enough settlement buy this place and cover my bills. I really don't know why this..."
Detective Williams spoke up.
"You knew Harvey Lloyd, right? Ms. Shiffer was his partner and we have reason to believe she might have had a part in his death. Can you tell us exactly when you saw her last?"
Dejectedly, he sighed.
"The last time I saw either them was at a party on the houseboat a couple of days before they left town."
Sgt. Lopez looked up from her notebook. "Do you remember the name of the boat?"
"It was called “The Last Chance Harvey." Annoyed, Jim took a long drink. "It was a 44 footer he lived on down here at the Marina. The Monday after the party was when Harvey’s indictment came in. He left and I assumed Corinne went with him."
Making direct eye contact, Williams asked the next question.
"And she never came back?"
"No. It didn't occur to me she hadn't until about month later." Jim paused. "A few of us asked around, but nobody every did anything."
Sgt. Lopez’s eyes were dark pools through the thick lenses. The next question was softer.
"You liked her, didn't you?"
Jerry piped up.
"We all did. Harvey treated Corinne like a two-bit hooker. She deserved better."
"And, Mr. Holden. When was the last time you saw them?"
"The day after the party. I was working in the next slip when she came to get something out of The Harvey. Said she was going to Miami for a few days." A pause. "She did looked scared when I asked if she was going with Harvey. She wouldn't answer."
Scribbling intently, Lopez asked a question they weren’t expecting.
"Did either of you date her?"
A wry smile passed over Jim's face. "A couple of casual dinners when Harvey was out of town. Nothing intimate."
We were together, I forget the rest. The thought echoed and Jim glanced toward to floor. Sgt Lopez picked up on it.
"And you regret that."
"Yeah."
"Are there any relatives you know of?"
The answer came a little to quickly. "She never talked about family."
"Never said anything about her background?
"Her Dad was a drunk and her Mom beat her. She left home at 17 to become a Boat Bunny, drifting up and down the East Coast."
"Boat Bunny?"
"A girl who hangs around docks."
Lopez and Williams looked at each other. This was all the information they were going to get. They rose in unison and shook the men’s hands.
“Well, I think we have everything we need for now. If we need anything else, can we come back?”
Jerry smiled.
“Certainly. We aren’t going anywhere.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Topic-Gerard Villegas
Pic Rebecca Grusendorf
Pic guesses: Before and after, Three of a kind, Growing up, Friends, Back to the labs.

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