TOY CRIME STORY PART 4

 

CHAPTER FOUR

Bunny weaved into the closet, but it wasn’t Bunny. His ears were slicked back, and he wore a pair of sunglasses. A terrible cocaine smirk rested on his face. It was Jack Bunnyson.

“Hey pal,” Jack said. “How ya’ doin’?”

“Jack,” Nightbeat said.

“This whole idea of murder is far out,” Jack said. “I can’t get my melon around it. Can you?”

Nightbeat grimly set his mouth. “I’m trying to, Jack.”

Jack waved his hand and sat. “I’m guessing you want to know where I was when young Joey passed.” He crossed himself and shook his head to the heavens, which were really just glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling.

“That would be helpful.”

“You know, I could probably help you out,” Jack said. “I played a detective once. No, twice. It was the same detective, but two different movies.”

“Would you take medical advice from Neil Patrick Harris?” Nightbeat asked.

Jack laughed. “Hey, ya’ got me there. All right, I was . . . indisposed.”

“Meaning?”

“Well, I think I’m going to have to plead the filth on that one.”

Nightbeat rubbed his eyes. He really needed to speak to Bunny right now, not his other personality. He remembered Bunny had been behind him as Joey’s parents tried to help. While Nightbeat was no shrink, he was fairly certain that Bunny had been horrified by the shock of Joey’s death. He was probably hiding behind Jack right now.

“I don’t care what you were doing,” Nightbeat said. “As long as you weren’t busy murdering Joey, I don’t care.”

Jack Bunnyson’s grin grew wider. “Well, in that case I was snorting down an eight-ball, and I was balls deep in one of Felix’s ex-wives. I don’t know which one. They all look the fuckin’ same to me.”

Interesting. None of the ex-wives had mentioned this. Nightbeat thought he might need to circle back on this later. It was probably nothing, but one never knew. It was unthinkable that Bunny could have done something to Joey. Jack Bunnyson, though? Not so much. He’d need to confirm this information at some point.

“We done here, pal?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” Nightbeat said. “Send in the next one.”

Just before Jack Bunnyson left, Spike burst in. “No time for more, Cock-beater. Joey’s parents just got home.”

Nightbeat let the insult go. If you let Spike know that he’d landed a good one, he’d never shut the fuck up about it. Instead Nightbeat went out into the bedroom just in time to see the toys scattering, already playing dead. Nightbeat lay down and willed himself quiet.