Minjie and Jacko were both grinning as they left the dining room and turned into the Courtyard. The grins were the result of their first Anniversary dinner at the Colonial Dining Room. Somebody might guess that after just one year of marriage the anticipation of getting back to their apartment for some amorous adventures might also play a part in their happiness. Maybe so, but this wasn’t your usual one-year Anniversary deal, Minjie and Jacko Bryan were both octogenarians, living at Freedom Village, along with lots of other senior citizens.

But never mind that, they were still happy and both of them loved going through the Colonial Courtyard which isn’t a courtyard. It’s really more of a hidden tropical garden, circled by the walls of the Colonial Building. Minjie loved all the tropical plants, particularly the Ligustrum tree which harbored a bunch of transplanted orchids, including her special one, the last gift from her previous husband. She’d been taking care of it for more than three years now. Jacko, on the other hand, was more of a wildlife guy, so he was into the lizards. The Colonial Courtyard sports the largest lizard collection in all of Freedom Village, and Jacko knew each and every one of them. He had names for some of his favorites, including one small guy he’d named Little Jacko Gecko. Jacko was holding hands with Minjie as they strolled through the garden but was sort of keeping his eye out for Little Jacko.

Both partners had lived at the Colonial for several years before they got the courage to become a couple, so the one-year anniversary was like the end of a trial period, a successful one it would seem. Both would hold on to the memories they had before but were committed to making some new memories that would also be good, just in a different way.

Courtyard stroll completed, they came into the other side of the building by the mailboxes where they were joined by Bren and Bruce Turner, their closest friends. The Turners had eaten in the Concord Dining room tonight, and naturally the topic of conversation turned to food – just like it did every night. They ambled to the elevator and Jacko pushed the Call button then turned back to the culinary conversation.

Bruce: “I ordered the Filet Mignon and Boy, was it ever good. Best steak I’ve had in a couple of months, it was hot but not overcooked for a change! I’m gonna keep ordering Filets while the kitchen’s on a roll.”

Bren: “I should have done the same, but I chose the Buffet tonight. I had a small piece of the Chicken Whatever and a piece of the Snapper. I hate it when my fish tastes fishy, but this one did. The lettuce wedge salad was great though.”

Jacko: “You have to give them credit for making an effort. My pork tenderloin wasn’t all that tender so the server took it back and brought me a better piece. At least we don’t have to do dishes.”

Minjie opened her mouth to say something just as the elevator door opened. Instead of speaking her eyes grew wide and she let out a low moan – as she crumpled slowly onto the settee behind her.

Minjie is on the settee, looking pale as a ghost. Jacko stepped over and grabbed her to make sure she didn’t fall and Bren helped get her seated. Then they all looked at the elevator - a body lay face-down in the elevator in a large pool of blood. Blood was on the walls, blood was dripping down the crack into the elevator well, blood was all over the body of the man – at least it looked like a man.

“Somebody get some help while I check him.” said Jacko.
Bruce headed toward the lobby while Jacko steeled himself to turn the guy over to check for signs of life. He was able to lift the body just enough to see two things:
The poor guy’s throat was cut, and Jacko had never seen the man before. He was definitely not a Colonial resident. Jacko was certain of that, not only because he didn’t recognize the face but also because the guy was probably only in his thirties.

Jacko and Bren were seeing to Minjie who was finally getting some color back in her face when Bruce returned with Sandy, the evening Concierge, and two Security Guards. One of the guards blocked the elevator open while the other called 911. Sandy went to phone all the East wing residents to tell them of the elevator closure. Then everybody, plus a few more residents trying to get to the elevator, stood around waiting for the police to arrive.


~~~~~ o ~~~~

The two couples were sitting in the Betsy Ross Room, huddled around one table, talking about what they’d just experienced. There were a few other residents there also, mostly those with upper floor apartments who couldn’t manage the stairs. They would either need help getting upstairs or would have to get an empty apartment on the first floor. The elevator area was designated a “homicide scene” and blocked off with black and yellow police tape. One lady, Celine something, seemed more shaky than usual, her husband had taken the stairs to their apartment, but she couldn’t manage that in her scooter. Maybe someone in the police would help her to the fifth floor. Or, perhaps management could find her an empty apartment on the first floor for the few days it would take to get the elevator cleaned of all the blood and gore and back in service again.

Patrolman Lewis of Bradenton PD had secured the crime scene and requested that everybody gather in the Betsy Ross room until the Homicide detectives arrived.

Jacko was describing to the other three what he had seen when he partially turned the body over.
“His throat was slashed from ear to ear it looked like. There was blood all over the place except for his face which had hardly any blood on it at all. It almost looked like the face had been cleaned, but there was something written or drawn on it with green paint. Maybe a green Magic Marker.”

“What did it look like, Jacko” asked Bren, “could it have been a drawing of a mask?”

“Maybe something like that, I didn’t really get a good look. I just wanted to get out of there once I saw he was dead. But I really think it was either green printing or maybe some kind of symbols.”

Minjee chimed in – “What’s going to happen now? How long do you think we’re going to be here? I’d really like to get home.”

Both Bruce and Jacko predicted it would be late that night before they returned to their apartments.

~~~~~ o ~~~~

A couple walked into the Betsy Ross. The woman was maybe in her ‘40s, medium height, and the man was somewhat younger, tall, and dressed casually. Both wore badges. The woman seemed to be in charge as she glanced around and immediately headed over to the two couples and introduced herself,
“I’m Detective Tracy and this is my partner, Detective Franks. We’ve been assigned to investigate this unfortunate situation. I’m guessing you are the Turners and the Bryans, but could you tell us who is who?”
All the introductions got straightened out and Detective Tracy got right down to it.
“We’re going to have to talk to each of you about tonight’s events. We know you’re all probably a little bit tired and upset right now, but the interviews are something we really need to do as soon as possible. We’ll be talking to you individually in Apt 115, right down the hall, but right now we have a question for the group.”

Detective Franks interrupted, sort of gruffly. “You four are the only ones who saw the body. Can any of you identify the corpse?”

All four began to shake their head and try to answer but Franks broke in again.
“C’mon people, this is a serious police matter and it’s against the law for any of you to hold back any important information.”
Franks was glaring at them as he uttered this last sentence.

Tracy was showing an equal if not greater glare toward Franks as she tried to defuse the situation. “OK, we understand you didn’t get a very good look, so we might ask you to try again after the medical examiner has cleaned up the body. That may be tomorrow.
Let’s start the interviews now, so we can get them done and get you folks back to your apartments. Ms. Turner let’s start with you. We’ll go to Apt 115. I’d really appreciate it if you others would not talk about the situation anymore, maybe just talk about your plans for tomorrow, or grandkids or something. I noticed there are restrooms right down the hall. Feel free to go there, but please don’t go anywhere else. ”

Franks broke in again. “Maybe it’d be better if they sat at three different tables, don’t you think?”

Tracy gave him another look! “No, I’m sure they’ll be just fine keeping each other company.”

The two detectives escorted Bren down the hall and all sat down on some card-table chairs which were the only furniture in the apartment.

Tracy led off. “Ms. Turner, I’ll call you Bren if you don’t mind, just to be comfortable. You’re welcome to call me Tracy if you like, or Detective. Would you tell us, in your own words, just what you observed tonight?”

Bren explained that she and Bruce had eaten at the Concord tonight and just happened to meet their friends at the mailboxes when they were returning.
“We were mostly talking about our dinners when the elevator arrived and Minjie almost fainted. I looked over at the elevator and saw the body, but I really didn’t see it very well. Jacko checked on Minjie, then went over to see if the guy was still alive, but he said he wasn’t. Bruce went to call Security, and that’s all I know.”

Franks was still looking irritated, but Tracy calmly said “Thanks Bren. Now I’d like you to think this next question over before you answer. Was there anything about what you observed that struck you as being out of place or unusual?”

Bren thought for a while and said “Well, it seemed to me that we were waiting on the elevator for a long time, like maybe it was up on the fifth floor. And I don’t know if this counts, but Jacko said the man had something on his face.”

Franks quickly said “No that doesn’t count. Just tell us what you actually saw yourself.”

Tracy returned to the elevator timing. “Bren, instead of being on the fifth floor, might it be that the elevator was being delayed, perhaps even on the second or third floor? I noticed that there is a floor indicator above the elevator door, maybe you looked at that?”
“No,” said Bren, “I didn’t notice the floor number thing. Anyway, it’s broken and never shows the second floor. But yes, the elevator might have been held up on a lower floor but I don’t know why it would have been unless . . . Wait, do you mean . . . oh no, I don’t want to think about that.”

On that note the interview ended and the three of them trooped back to the Betsy Ross. Bruce was up next and they went through basically the same procedure again.
Bruce explained his role, he went to the front desk and stayed there until Security drove up and he had requested that 911 be called.

Tracy then asked if he noticed anything unusual about the arrival of the elevator.
“Well, seeing that guy laying there was the most unusual thing I’ve seen in my life!”
Tracy apologized, saying “I’m sure you’re right about that, but I’m really asking about how quickly the elevator arrived, was it fast or slow?”
“Sorry, it just seemed normal to me. I don’t pay that much attention, sometimes it’s fast and sometimes it isn’t. If anything, I’d say it was about as usual.”

They escorted Bruce back, then brought Minjie to the interview room. Minjie had pretty much recovered, she had all her color back and no longer looked shaken. Her story was pretty straightforward. The elevator door started to open and the first thing she saw was an arm flopping out of the opening, then she saw the rest of the body and all the blood. She got a little dizzy and sat down on the settee. Minjie said she didn’t actually faint, but that she didn’t see or hear anything after she sat down. When asked, Minjie said she didn’t notice that it was a man, but thought that one of the others told her.
Minjie also had nothing to offer about the time it took the elevator to arrive.

They had saved Jacko for last, perhaps thinking he had the most information.
Jacko described his actions, that he pushed the elevator Call button, then turned away from the elevator to join the conversation.

“I heard Minjie moan, and saw her sort of slumping toward that stool. So I went over to grab her and when I saw she wasn’t actually fainting Bren and I got her sitting up. I looked back around at the elevator. I saw a body and a lot of blood. My first thought was that someone might need help so I went to the elevator and lifted the upper part of the man’s body to see if he was breathing. I only got it far enough up to see the throat was gaping open, like it had been cut cleanly across. There was blood all over and I was sure he was dead, so I put him back down and went back to check on Minjie. That’s about it.”

Tracy asked, “Can you describe the body?”

Jacko explained that he could see it was a man, he thought about thirty-ish.
“When I lifted him up I saw some green stuff on his face, I thought it looked like printing but couldn’t make out any actual letters. I don’t know what it was.”

Tracy asked if he had touched anything other than the body.

“I might have touched the wall or maybe the door. I really don’t know if I did or not.”

Tracy then asked about the elevator timing, whether Jacko thought it had arrived quickly, or not so quickly. Jacko answered confidently “It was slow. After I pushed the button the conversation went on for a long time before the elevator arrived.”

Franks stood up and stood over Jacko -
“Mr. Bryan, do you know it is illegal to alter a crime scene like you did by moving the body?”
Jacko tried to keep his calm, and said “As I explained, I thought I should see if I could save a life and . . . “
Franks continued “and perhaps you would like to explain how you got that bloodstain on your shirt.”
Jacko couldn’t take this. He said “What’s going on here? I’m trying my best to help you people but you’re acting like I’m a Suspect. Maybe I need to get a lawyer.”

Tracy tried to get control of the situation by telling Franks to ease off a little bit.
Franks continued “Damn it Dixie, this guy knows more than he’s telling us and I think we should take him downtown where we can get some answers out of him. I don’t care if he does get a lawyer, we need information.”

Jacko stood up, as mad as he’d ever been. “That’s it! I’m out of here. I won’t talk to you people any . . .”, turning to Detective Tracy, “Wait, did he just call you Dixie? Are you really Detective Dixie Tracy?” Jacko began to laugh, and Tracy ruefully joined him.
“You’ve found me out, but please don’t tell anyone else, just call me Tracy. I can’t take any more wrist radio jokes.”

“OK,” she said, “interview is over for now, but I’m sure we’ll need to talk again after the medical report comes out. Hopefully the next time will be a little more genial.” With a look toward Franks as she said this.

Jacko joined the other three, and they were okayed to go back home, but of course they had to walk around the first floor to reach the stairs leading to their apartments.

~~~~~ o ~~~~

Dixie Tracy was worrying about her partner as they returned to the elevator. Her old partner was close to retirement and had moved to a desk job about six months ago. So she became a lead Detective, and Detective Franks was assigned to be her junior partner. Truth be told, he was a really good detective, a workaholic, and happy to do even the dullest paperwork when needed. His only problem was a complete lack of tact during interviews. He couldn’t seem to grasp that an interview technique that would be ok on Gang-bangers and Drug-sellers wasn’t appropriate for classy senior citizens. Oh well, maybe he’d learn something from this case before she had to kill him.