Café Chocolaté

Chapter XII – Timothy Teller

“I still think he’s the killer! What are we going to do with him, so he doesn’t murder anyone else?”

Timothy saw a fleeting look of exasperation cross Adrian’s face as he looked at Mary Dill. The man shook his head. “We’re not going to do anything with him.”

“I don’t want to die!” Mary’s shriek caused the very building to shiver.

“The rest of us would like to not go deaf!” Ginger’s retort could likely have been echoed by everyone present.

Mary wrung her hands.

Eddie still stood, the paper towel still between his hands, watching each in turn with a kind of horrified fascination. Timothy grimaced.

As if he’s trying to predict his fate.

Timothy decided to break the silence that followed Ginger’s remark. “I agree with Adrian.” He hoped that he got the name right. “We do nothing to Eddie at all.”

“What about our safety?” Mary stared at him, slack jawed.

“What about innocent until proven guilty?” Timothy countered.

“He had the ice pick in his hand!”

“That isn’t proof of anything except that he found it!” Ginger finally raised her voice as loud as Mary’s. “Try to use your brain!”

Mary didn’t seem to heed her at all. She wrung her hands again and opened her mouth to speak.

“Everyone, and I mean everyone, needs to calm down!” Adrian superseded Mary Dill, managing to silence her entirely. He took a deep breath, lowering his voice to a normal level. “We are not doing anything to Eddie. Now, please, everyone find a seat.”

For a moment the group didn’t move, looking from Adrian to each other and back again. Slowly, they began shifting towards the tables and chairs, all but Anna and Renee, who hadn’t risen from their seats. Timothy saw Xavier watching his cousin with some amusement, but he followed directions and sat down, the little girl close to his side. Timothy glanced behind at Anna and decided to reclaim the chair across from her.

Adrian sank into the seat opposite his cousin, but kept his eyes on the rest of the café, waiting for everyone to find a place to sit. Ginger and Eddie joined the rest at one of the tables, Eddie giving his hair a yank as he settled.

Adrian waited and then sighed. He looked around at each face, reaching his cousin last, then turned back to the group. “Perhaps our stint being locked up in the café might go more smoothly if we all get to know each other somewhat.”

“We know some people too much already!” Mary cast fearful eyes in Eddie’s direction.

“Not helpful.” Xavier spoke quietly.

“My thought is,” Adrian continued as if no one else had spoken, even though he obviously heard them, “that we should introduce ourselves. One at a time. Perhaps knowing more about one another would help us to overcome some of our difficulties.”

“Some difficulties can not be overcome.”

Adrian’s shoulders drooped wearily as he looked at Mary. “Without accusing anyone of anything, if we can, please.”

Silence fell like a heavy blanket. A heavy blanket that seemed to smother every sound in the place all at once. Timothy watched the rest of the group fidget, stare down at their nails, inspect their shoes, and otherwise intimate that they hoped someone else would speak first.

Timothy sat up straight in his chair. “My name is Timothy Teller.” He felt like he was living one of the stories he’d heard about introductions in school – awkward, uncomfortable, and what was he supposed to talk about? I’m glad I was homeschooled. “I don’t really know anyone else here, though I recognize most of you. I’m in the café pretty regularly.”

If he should have added anything else, he had no idea what it could be.

“Did you know the dead man?” Kimberly sat in a tight ball, arms tight across her chest, her eyes narrow slits, even her knees somewhat pulled up close.

“No. Actually, I’ve never seen him before today and I certainly hadn’t met him.”

Adrian nodded, but didn’t say anything.

Ginger waved her hand impatiently. “I’m Ginger Thomas. I know who most of you are – even people I’d rather not know – but I’m not on overly friendly terms with any of you.”

Here Timothy thought he saw Eddie sigh.

“I’m Anna Carpentier.” The young woman’s voice made Timothy turn. “I did not know the dead man. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

No one spoke for another moment or two.

“Fabian. Fabian Smith.” That gentleman nodded to the assembly as if he bestowed an honor with the knowledge of his name. “I didn’t know the unfortunate man either, though I believe I saw him in here once last week.”

The woman beside him seemed to wilt in her chair. “I’m Renee Allen. My husband used to come here frequently. I’ve only begun in the last couple of months. I had never met the dead man either.”

“What made your husband stop coming?” Ginger seemed to be trying to piece some memory with the current events.

Renee opened her mouth to reply, then closed it again. She shook her head. “It has nothing to do with our current circumstances.”

Ginger raised an eyebrow, but didn’t press the question.

“I’m Kimberly Liath.” The gray-haired woman didn’t unfurl from her curled-up position. “I’ve seen the man before. I think that he lives the next street over from me. But I’ve never met him. He used to walk the neighborhood twice a day with his little pipsqueak of a dog.”

Timothy wondered at the woman’s tone. Heartless comes to mind. Not in the cruel way. Just… literally no heart whatsoever.

Xavier smiled just barely. “I’m Xavier Nowak, as Adrian mentioned earlier. I’m his cousin – and this is my first time in the café, so I don’t even recognize any of the rest of you. To the best of my knowledge, I haven’t met nor seen the deceased at any point before I inspected the corpse, though I believe that I noted that someone sat in the corner before the explosion.” He looked down at the little girl cowering beside him. “This is Monique.” When the girl poked a finger into the stuffed animal she held, he added with a smile, “And Mr. Pickles.”

Mary Dill wrung her hands. She sat on the other side of Renee, pushed a little ways from the table. “I – I’m Mary Dill.” Everything that she said resembled a whine. “I certainly have no idea who the poor, murdered man was and have no idea why anyone would want to kill him!”

Eddie seemed to realize that he alone remained to introduce himself. He glanced uneasily over at Ginger and shifted in his seat. “Eddie McIntyre. I’ve worked here for a few years. I started before Ginger. I – I did see the dead man last week. He came in and worked at his tablet all afternoon. I never spoke to him – then or today.”

“As I said earlier, I’m Adrian Terrence.” The tall man spoke before Mary could send a rebuttal in Eddie’s direction. “I come here all the time. I don’t recall ever meeting or even seeing the unfortunate victim before today either.”

A brief silence followed, but Kimberly snapped it. “Wait.” Her rough tone grated on Timothy’s ears. “Ginger. She didn’t say whether or not she knew the dead man. She conveniently left that out of her introduction.”

Eddie stiffened.

“I didn’t hear it listed as a requirement.” Ginger leveled her eyes at Kimberly.

“Did you know him or recognize him then?” Fabian had turned around in his chair to look at the waitress.

“What does it matter to you?” Her eyes became mere slits. “What are you trying to prove?”

“Just answer them, Ginger.” Timothy could barely hear Eddie’s whisper.

She only looked at him.

“Come on.” Timothy decided to try. “If you know who he is, just tell us. Then we can stop referring to him as the ‘dead man’ and use an actual name, which sounds far more respectful.”

Ginger turned dark eyes on him. For a long moment, she stared. Finally, she turned to face the general group. “He came in last week. I gave him his order. He sat at the booth over there all afternoon.” She hesitated, but added, “His name is Gary Bradshaw. I saw his name when he paid with his card.”

Timothy frowned. Gary Bradshaw. The name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure why. Lord, how are we all stuck in a room with a dead man and a potential murderer? This is not how I thought my day would go, when I woke up this morning.

Mary Dill started speaking again, distracting him. “The only people who remember seeing that man before are the waiter and waitress.” She paused significantly, despite the tremble in her voice. “They’re in on it together!”

Ginger leapt to her feet, nearly vaulting the table, but Eddie pulled her back just in time. “You’re a liar!”

“It’s true!” Mary Dill screamed at the top of her lungs. “Look at her! She wants to kill me!”

Ginger obviously started to retort, but the words died in her throat as the child beside Xavier suddenly burst into tears.

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