Free Steve Demaree - Dekker 09 - Murder on a Blind Date by Steve Demaree

ones missing most of their teeth. I hoped I wasn't her last
chance. She seemed nice enough. She continued to grin as I walked over. On the
way over to introduce myself I wondered why in the world I let Heather talk me
into doing something like this. I almost stumbled when, out of the corner of my
eye, I saw Lou, Thelma Lou, and Jennifer, waiting for a table. Jennifer looked
at me and breathed a sigh of relief. I could tell she wasn't worried about this
one as a murderer or someone who would take me away from her the way Calgon
Bath Oil Beads might. Not that I would ever use bath oil beads.  
    I guess
you're Edgar," she said, in a voice that was very much what I expected.
    I was so
nervous I almost corrected her, and then I remembered that the name I put on
the application was Edgar Norman.
    I tried
my best to act the part of the guy I was pretending to be.
    "Yep.
That's me. You come here often?"
    "Nope.
This is only my second time."
    I felt
relieved. She had at least one more shot at finding happiness.
    "I've
been waiting a few minutes, so they ought to have our table ready soon."
    I wasn't
thinking I was any better than she was, but I didn't want to run into anyone else
I knew. So, the less time I spent in that place with her the better. I would
try to think of a way to get even with Lou and Jennifer some other time.
    Neither
of us knew what to say. Goodbye didn't seem appropriate, so I stayed quiet, and
tried not to look at those three smiling people sitting across the way. Five
minutes later God intervened and they called us to our table. I was hoping it
was a table way back in a dark corner, far away from any other tables, maybe
out near the dumpster, but with heat. A minute later, after she sat down and
made an effort to pull down her dress that was several inches too short, I too took
a seat, then looked up and realized that I must have done something to ruffle
God's feathers. There, in a booth, just across the way, sat George and his
wife, and Frank Harris, our medical examiner, and his wife. Frank almost had to
go to work, because they were working on their appetizer and George was chewing
when he looked up and saw me with my date. I looked around, figuring the whole
department was there somewhere, but I didn't recognize anyone else I knew. I
made a mental note to stay away from everyone I had worked with for at least
six months, but I doubted if any of them would forget that night so quickly. I
turned and tried to focus on Bambi, and her bright red lipstick that was
popular when I was a child.
     
     

13
     
     
    "I'm
nervous," I said. "I can't remember what we're allowed to talk about
and what we're not."
    "If
I remember right from last time, we can talk about everything except our last
name, our phone number, and where we live. That guy last time lied to me. He
said he liked Ed Wood movies, but he hadn't even seen Plan 9 From Outer
Space in five years."
    I was
glad I honed up on her interests, and that I'd found two of those awful movies
to watch.
    "Really?"
I replied. "I love that scene in the cemetery."
    "Speaking
of cemeteries, are you really a grave digger?"
    "Yep.
Dig most of them at night. It's easier then. No one around."
    "You
ain't afraid of no ghosts?"
    "Nope.
I'm always through before midnight .
They don't usually come out until then."
    "Well,
no wonder you like Ed Wood movies," she said as she moved on to the next
one.
    After she
started talking about Jail Bait , I decided to change the subject. That
wasn't the other Wood movie I had found.
    "I
understand you like calamari."
    "Yep.
It's good with ketchup. Crunchy and all that. Kind of tastes like you might
think an octopus would taste."
    I was
running out of subjects that might make me lose my appetite, so I changed the
subject again.
    "You
like the food here?"
    "It
was good last time. Especially those two pieces of cheesecake, and that other
stuff wasn't bad, either."
    "What
did you have last time?"
    "I
can't remember. That was a couple of weeks ago.