“So, what’s going on?” Lydia finally asked.
“Here’s a quick recap. Five of us left last Thursday morning around 10 a.m. to get our heads screwed on straight. Well, Greaser and I planned to get Abe out and clear his head. Burt went along with us, said he had to clear his head about something too.”
“Whoa, wait, who are Abe and Greaser and Burt?” She pulled a notebook and pen.
“I’m Greaser, not only am I best friends with Abe, but I’m also his business partner. We own and operated Murphy’s Garage down on Second Ave.”
“Okay, but if you’re business partners why is only Murphy’s name on it?”
“Because I was in the service when he opened it, and when I got out I was going through a nasty divorce. I waited untilafter the divorce before becoming his business partner, or my ex would have tried to take it.”
“Okay, so who’re Abe and Burt?”
“Abe is the club name for Lincoln Murphy.” Jackson grinned when he saw the understanding on her face. They all laughed together.
“Got it. And Burt?”
“Burt’s his real name. Burt Maddison, he’s the president of the club.”
“Maddison as in Maddison, Smith and Maddison. The hottest law firm in town?”
“Yes, he’s the second Maddison, his father’s the first.”
“Wow, and all these years I thought bikers were drug dealers and pimps.”
“Some of them are, our club isn’t like that. Everyone has a respectable day job. And speaking of which...”
“Oh right. So this is Lincoln Murphy’s home?”
“Yes, as I was saying the five of us left from here on Thursday morning. We went across to MA and stayed at Tolland State Park. We left there early this morning and came home. We stopped at each other’s houses and they cleaned up. This was the last stop before we were going to head to the clubhouse. We walked in, Lincoln offered us a beer and said to give him fifteen minutes to shower and change.” He looked at Greaser and frowned. “What did he say when he tossed his keys on the counter?”
“He asked if we smelled something. Abe headed toward the living room with Jackson. Don’t know why you went with him.”
“Because I had to piss like a racehorse and I wanted first dibs on the bathroom.” He grinned when Lydia groaned in disgust. “We came into this room from this direction.” He backed up and walked it. “It was about here that Jackson started gasping for breath, grabbed his throat, and started slamming his fistagainst his thigh. I thought he was having some type of seizure or something. I helped him to the floor, because he was turning blue, screamed for Greaser. He came in, took one look at Abe and began pulling drawers open like a madman until he finally found something and stabbed him with it.
“Burt called 9-1-1. He and Randy, the other club member with us, followed the ambulance to the hospital. Greaser told me about a security system Abe installed a couple months ago. We viewed it and saw what had happened. I called you.”
“What did you stab him with? How did you know what to do?”
“Both Abe and his wife Addy are allergic to cats. Abe’s okay with dogs, Addy’s not. One time I was here with a puppy, not knowing her allergy and she went into shock. Abe gave her an EpiPen injection. After that, I made sure that I had clean clothes on and didn’t bring my dog over. They showed me where some EpiPens were stashed around the house. The bathrooms, bedroom, kitchen and living room. They were there for each other, but they wanted someone to know what to do if one of them needed it, and the other one wasn’t home.”
“Smart, they knew to be prepared. But what happened tonight? What would have set Mr. Murphy off?”
“Abe’s deathly allergic to cats. He smells a cat on a person and he could go into shock. That’s why he doesn’t do the front counter work anymore. He stays in the garage, not that he’s not sociable, he’s very sociable, it’s just that the club members know of his allergy and don’t have any cats. I know I’m confusing you here, but I’m still pissed at what we saw on the tape. Anyway, Abe doesn’t work the counter any more because a customer once brought a cat into the building. He was far enough away that he could get clear of it before he had a reaction. Since that happened, he only goes to the front if no outside customers are there.”
“What’s Mrs. Murphy’s reaction to cats? Is she deathly allergic?”
“No, she just goes into sneezing fits, instant red eyes. Looks like she’d been crying for hours, oh and her nose runs.” Greaser grinned.
“So what happened here?”
“Follow us,” Jackson said, and as they went to the security room, Lydia noted two drawers upended in the living room.
“Looking for the EpiPen?” she asked as she pointed to the mess.
“Yes,” Greaser said, and sat her down in a chair. “This is a state-of-the-art system. It’s motion activated. But if a sensor is tripped, all the cameras are activated at once. If the house is empty, it doesn’t record anything.”
“Understood.” Lydia settled in.
