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

didn't have to go anywhere anyway. The day was mine. No one was
going to ruin it. At least I hoped not.
    I fixed myself
a breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, butter, and jelly, and sat down
to enjoy my creation. No one was there with me. Still I refrained from playing
in my food or licking the egg yolk and jelly from my plate when I finished.
    I had to
spend the day with myself, so I headed to the bathroom to shower and shave, so
I wouldn't look or smell too bad. I got dressed, and added a sweater to my
ensemble. It was a solid red one that Jennifer bought me for Christmas. I
wasn't sure how I was going to spend my day, but ten minutes later someone made
it easier on me. No, no one had left any bodies on my doorstep, nor any clues
on how to solve the murders I already knew about. But someone did knock on my
door. I wondered who would come calling on such a day. I hadn't heard a vehicle
pull up. I satisfied my curiosity, and opened my front door to find, Bob, my
mailman, standing there.
    "I
have a delivery for you, Lieutenant. Something you might want to help you spend
the day."
    I had
forgotten that I had ordered a couple of movies.
    "Well,
thank you, Bob. I'm sorry you have to come out in this weather."
    "You
know what they say, through rain and snow and sleet and hail. Besides, tomorrow
is my day off. I don't think all this stuff will melt before then,  so making
tracks to your house will be someone else's problem tomorrow. Not that you're a
problem. Oh, and on the way over here, I saw Mark. He said he will be by this
afternoon to shovel your snow, but if you need to go anywhere before then to
give him a call."
    "Thanks,
Bob. Would you like to come in for some hot chocolate before you go? I can have
it ready for you in a couple of minutes."
    Bob realized
how cold he was and stepped in. But before he did he picked up the envelope I
had put over the mailbox the night before.
    "Hey,
Lieutenant. Who's this Al Monson guy?"
    "Al
Monson?"
    "Yeah,
it says on this envelope. Al Monson."
    "Oh,
that Al Monson. He's a friend of mine."
    "I
thought I knew everyone who lives in Hilldale. Being a mail carrier and all,
you know. And he lives over on Yardley. My mother lives on Yardley. I'll have
to ask her if she knows him."
    "Well,
Al's a low profile kind of guy. Doesn't mix much."
    "Wonder
why he didn't mail it from his place. I know the guy who delivers over there.
He would have picked it up."
    "Al
was over here a few minutes ago, said he forgot to mail it from his place. Wanted
to know if I'd mail it for him."
    "That's
odd."
    "Oh,
I've mailed things for people before."
    "That's
not what I was talking about. It's not snowing as hard now. I wouldn't have
thought it wouldn't have covered up someone's tracks yet if he was just here a
few minutes ago."
    "Could
have been over an hour. You know how time flies. Bob, why didn't you go to work
for the department? You would have made a good detective."
    "So
far no one's shot at me on this job. Besides, I think I understand now. I think
I know who Al Monson is. But that's okay. You're not married. No one's going to
care if you step out every now and then. And I won't say what Just For You
sounds like. You know what they say. A mailman knows someone better than the
guy's neighbors know him."
    It was
too late to rescind my invitation of hot chocolate.
    "It's
not what you think, Bob. It has to do with a case I'm working on."
    "I
thought you retired."
    "You
know how it is. When you're good someone will always come knocking at your
door. So, do you have any idea how much snow we've had?"
    "I
was talking to Mrs. Edmonds over on Mockingbird and she said her digital gauge
said we've had 11.7 inches so far."
    I
refrained from saying that would cover up a lot of tracks and hoped Bob didn't
bring up the subject again. He didn't. He just put my application in his bag
and smiled at me.
    I tried
to forget about Bob's smile, and wondered if it was too late to sign up for
Meals on Wheels beginning on