Needless to say, I was still in no hurry to go down to apartment Two Thirteen. My reasons were few, but they were important. And meaningful.

You see, after a couple cups of coffee I was beginning to fully recall what I’d seen after the 2 AM wake-up call from Arturo. And wake-up call like you wouldn’t believe. Not so much the apartment, but him specifically.

Yeah, I’d come down then after he’d called me and met him in the mezzanine. When the police show up in the middle of the night to check out a disturbance, I want to be informed. I like to think I can stay on top of my job. But after the brief hint I’d gotten of what was covering the walls of the junior two bedroom, and how it had shaken my chubby Colombian-Canadian superintendent, I was happy to stay away, and not to mention empty the last three ounces of a bottle of single malt to make sure I got some sleep and didn’t dream.

We both know how that worked out.

So when I stood in front of the elevator with my finger, wavering between the up button and the down button, I was filled with trepidation. You can understand my personal preference, was to head back up to my penthouse for another glass of Glenn.. well any of them, not down.

However, my sense of responsibility was not completely overwhelmed by dread and I successfully down button. I had dreamed of the long past, not the dread present. My subconscious could have been just sympathizing.

Now you might ask, who is this Detective Fingers. Well, his full name is actually Speaks With Fingers. For some reason he prefers the English translation to how his actual Potawaseet name sounds. I think he told me once about how badly we pronounce it or something. Too bad, I always thought his name sounded rather pretty in its native tongue. And yes, we know each other, have been friends of a sort for a few years. I’ve even helped him out a couple times. I’ll explain about that later on.

I was hoping, he wanted me to come down for official reasons, maybe because I’d actually been in the apartment since I’d rented it, not to mention I’d interviewed the former tenant. God, I hope it was just that.

This one, Billingsly I think his name was, Mark Billingsly, unfortunately didn’t give the standard sort of notice at all that he supposed to.

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And the specific reason why, I would know in a few minutes. For the moment, as the elevator hummed it’s way down to the second floor, I just had some vague nasty impressions.

Sadly, It’s not the first time an somewhat shocking death has happened here at 23 Pangbourne, although I’ll be quick to say it isn’t a common occurrence. And hadn’t happened since Emily had the gargoyle’s installed. Although one of these days, I expect those ten pound dropping off there’s is going to crush someone’s skull, and from the number of near misses I’ve ‘enjoyed’ that person could be me.

I thought again over the 2AM wakeup call on the elevator down. I’d gotten a call from Arturo, the building superintendent I mentioned, because the tenants in 211 said they heard something strange, going on next door, well actually they called 911 first, and then when the police got there , since I was dead to the world, metaphorically, they got Arturo up to go up and open the door. On the third call from him, so he told me, I finally answered the phone, pulled myself out of bed and went down myself, to my regret, I might add.

Because unfortunately, the tenant wasn’t answering the door, and these police officers, had a reasonable amount of respect, for private property. That was nice of them.

I had had at least good reason to be totally zonked. An evening with my girlfriend Toni. Now my mother, always wanted me, to find a nice Catholic girl, settle down with. Unfortunately my tendency was for not so nice girl’s, catholic or otherwise. So when my mother met Toni, she was more or less overjoyed. And hadn’t gotten the chance to really know how much my girlfriend was lapsed. A crash just six weeks after that dinner on the 400 put her in the hospital coma where she spent the last eight months of her life.

I suppose the only good thing about that was my mother didn’t turn into the kind of thing you see shuffling along Queen West or flipping burgers at a McWillies.

Although Mary Antonia , sweet, adorable, and a fan of thrash metal, though she was, was having her own problems and current preoccupations. Her grandfather was in the hospital, and didn’t have much hope for recovery from a third heart attack. But that might not ultimately keep him down.

Why I had all these things in my mind as a dropped down a dozen floors, I don’t know? Death always upsets my well-ordered mind. Maybe I just wanted to prepare myself. Maybe I just wanted to keep in mind that it’s not so strange and terrifying and often not even the end these days.

And while I hadn’t considered the consequences and probabilities, her family was going nuts about her grandfather’s impending passing So she needed a night of release, you can read that as sex, and I was more than happy to provide what she needed this time around.

I decided it was best I hadn’t troubled Toni with that wake up call. She didn’t need to hear about it, and need her sleep given the shifts they’ve been making her take.