“Stop right there!” one of them shouted with his gun aimed at my chest.
I slowly raised my hands in front of me. “I’m a friend of the homeowner.”
Right on cue, Presley hopped out of the SUV. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing? Is this how you treat people when they call for help?”
“Are you Ms. Calloway?”
“Yes!”
The officer lowered his gun. “My apologies, Ms. Calloway,” he said. “Please wait out here while we clear the house.”
Presley huffed. “The house has already been cleared. I told them that on the phone.”
“Yes, well, we can’t officially say it’s clear unless we’ve cleared it ourselves.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “We’ll wait out here.”
The officers returned a few minutes later, deeming the house clear. I wanted to laugh when Presley rolled her eyes at the announcement. I understood her frustration, but I also understood their reasoning.
Then, we had to wait for the detectives and someone from forensics to arrive before they would let Presley go inside. The detectives asked her to walk through the house and point out anything that was missing or disturbed.
She was in the kitchen near the open pantry talking to Detective McCoy when Detective Pine said, “McCoy, you want to come take a look at this white powdery substance on the counter?”
“Oh, that’s calcium powder. It gets everywhere,” Presley said, oblivious to his new suspicion.
“Calcium powder? Haven’t heard that one before,” Detective Pine said.
“Haven’t heard what?” Presley asked, starting to catch on.
“Calcium powder. Most people say it’s powdered sugar or flour when we find it in the kitchen.”
“Oh.” I watched as realization washed over Presley’s face. “Well,Officer?—”
“It’sDetective,” he corrected.
“I’m aware, but I’m not going to show respect to someone who has none for me, in my home.”
“Is there a problem?” McCoy asked.
“Yes. Your partner is insinuating that the white powder on my countertops is something other than a calcium supplement we give to our pet bearded dragon. In case you all forgot, I am the victim here! My home and safety were violated. I called you for help, and now I feel like I need to call a lawyer.”
“The club has an attorney on standby. I know she’d be happy to assist you. Shall I call her?” I asked.
“Look!” Ariel said as she entered the kitchen. She had her bearded dragon cradled against her chest with one hand, and she was holding a plastic bag with the other hand. “These are his supplements,” she said and shook the bag. A light dusting of white powder floated to the floor. “See. It gets everywhere.” She waved the bag around again.
Squatting down, I ran two fingers through the powder. I stood as I rubbed one finger on my gums. “That’s not coke, fellas,” I said and looked pointedly at the lead detective. “You wanna check me?” I asked and wiggled my middle finger at them.
McCoy sighed. “That won’t be necessary. Sorry for the confusion. If you want to continue looking for missing items, I’ll catch up with you. I need a few minutes with my partner.”
“Of course,” Presley said and ushered Ariel into the living room, with me following behind.
“I think I should call my dad,” Presley said as soon as we were out of earshot.
“Let’s see what happens next,” I suggested. “The club does have a lawyer on standby that we can call if they make the wrong choices in there.”
When the detectives entered the living room, Detective McCoy approached us while Detective Pine continued toward the front door. “Please excuse Detective Pine. He’s needed at another scene. Now, where were we?”
Other than the kitchen and Ariel’s room, the garage and one of the bathrooms seemed to be the only other rooms of interest.
