The Tale of Ms. Maddie: The Final Chapter
While I admit that the beginning of our investigation into Ms. Maddie’s disappearance was bungled, it’s important to add that we were able to solve the case, and rescue Ms. Maddie, which imparts to us some form of redemption.
Livia, the foul mouthed gymnast, was quickly ruled out as a suspect. She had been with her parents when Ms. Maddie disappeared, and her father was able to confirm this. We were getting nowhere, and Ms. Maddie had been missing for nearly a week. We feared we’d never find her alive – if, indeed, foul play had even occurred.
Unfortunately, my team and I were sent reeling back to square one when it was discovered that the ex-boyfriend Livia spoke of – who had allegedly had sexual encounters with Ms. Maddie – turned out to be none other than Bodhi Barnes, the handsome and somewhat arrogant surfer.
Mr. Monroe, Livia’s father, was the one who disclosed the young man’s identity to us. I had met him at his downtown loft, which was sad in appearance. Red brick walls surrounded the large interior, and the hardwood floors were scratched and worn thin. The kitchen was bare, with the exception of a tremendous pile of used to-go containers – which may have explained why Mr. Monroe was so paunchy.
Something else that I noted was that the only signs of life in the apartment were a few basic items; a recliner chair, a television, and a wide bookshelf that housed a few books and a rather large DVD collection.
Mr. Monroe explained that he and his wife were in the midst of a divorce, and that – on the afternoon in question – they had held a family meeting to discuss the family’s future. Livia could not have been at the school when Ms. Maddie vanished, as she had been there with them – at this private family affair.
Interestingly enough, our discussion was interrupted – several times – by faint thumping sounds.
“Damn neighbors!” Mr. Monroe exclaimed.
He checked his watch again and again, as if he had somewhere to be, and then he walked me to the entryway.
“You should be talking to Livia’s ex-boyfriend, Bodhi Barnes,” a tinge of red filling his round cheeks. “That boy’s a real piece of work.”
We had just caught Bodhi in a lie, and I was aware of that, but I wasn’t convinced that he was guilty. It was a stroke of luck that we were led back to him, on the other hand, because it was my second interview with Bodhi that literally led us to the culprit, and to Ms. Maddie.
Bodhi had, indeed, been talking to Ms. Maddie on the phone that day, – which we knew – but the call had been cut short. He was not sure why she’d hung up so abruptly, but this had happened before, and it was normally because a student or one of the faculty members had walked in on her during their intimate conversation.
The case finally started to break when Bodhi insisted that we take a closer look at Livia’s father. According to his statement, Mr. Monroe had met Ms. Maddie at a parent teacher meeting some years ago, and he was completely smitten with her.
Over the years, this ‘crush’ developed into an obsession. Ms. Maddie had told Bodhi about it, but it was to be kept confidential. Since Bodhi was seeing Livia at the time, he had no real way to share the information anyway – lest he be caught in his own affair!
As I listened to Bodhi, my mind replayed my meeting with Mr. Monroe and his bare, unkept, apartment – the to-go containers, his preoccupation with his watch… and the thuds that we had heard.
Upon doing further research, we were able to find out that Mr. Monroe’s obsession with Ms. Maddie was the cause of his divorce. He’d been sneaking out at all hours of the night, hellbent on following Ms. Maddie’s every move. We also discovered, after talking with ‘Mrs.’ Monroe, that he had actually arrived late to the family meeting on the afternoon in question.
At 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, exactly one week after Ms. Maddie vanished, we received the green light from our superiors and we entered Mr. Monroe’s apartment. The DVD collection – which contained years of video surveillance of Ms. Maddie – was confiscated as evidence, and Mr. Monroe was taken into custody.
In a small room, that contained nothing but a small chase lounge, Ms. Maddie sat – blindfolded and bound… and she was ever so relieved by our arrival. Case Solved!
THE END
I’m relieved too! I am happy that I finally conjured up the energy to finish the Tale of Ms. Maddie. The image was fun too. I had a good sample to work off of for Mr. Monroe, and I recycled the old Ms. Maddie and added a blindfold and hand ties.
At first I thought of removing the coloring from the paunchy old man, but I though it was kind of interesting to have him stand out at the forefront like he does.
Anyway, that’s about all. The story is over and our fumbling detective was able to solve his very first case. Time to celebrate!
I hope you enjoyed!
Until later,
-Janet
A Sprinkle of Faith 