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Murder Mystery Crime and Love - is anything real?
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They have gotten a new puppy that although he is adorable, he is a constant chase and clean. Mark brought him home one day, right after a fight about having more children. Mark thought this would keep Aliss distracted from baby talk for a little while. A golden lab, of course Aliss's favourite. Perfect timing, of course.
Mark is away for a few days and Aliss is alone. MAC is down for a nap. The puppy, they called Goldie, has just chewed up some more papers, from where, who knows but Aliss is chasing him down the stairs towards the gym. The puppy chooses this time to lift leg and pee all over Marks locked storage room door. Aliss chased the puppy away and went to wipe up the pee. As she wiped the door, it came open.
Mark must have forgotten to lock it last time he was in there.
Inside the room, nothing seemed unusual, but Aliss was curious enough to poke around. Cement floors, wooden shelves with boxes and mixed items lined the walls. It was windowless and dark so she turned on a light. At the back of the room was an old office desk and chair. A metal desk with an artificial looking wood mactac surface. On the desk is a lamp. It seems as if this was set up like it was in use.
Aliss's heart was pounding in her chest. What was she doing in here? Didn't she trust Mark? She came around the old desk and pulled out the chair. She pulled open the top centre drawer and found some pens, note pads, paper clips, stapler and other miscellaneous supplies. She looked down the right bank of drawers and pulled on them, locked. Why would this be locked? She looked back in the top desk drawer and found a letter opener. This she used to jimmy the bottom drawer open. She saw this maneuver once in a movie and lo and behold it actually worked!
With shaking fingers, she opened the drawer. Her head was pounding with the pressure, what if she gets caught? Inside the drawer she found files. The same type she saw at his office. She pulled one out and found it to be exactly that. A common looking doctor's file. Why was it here? Why not either at his office or upstairs in the den? She slipped it back in the drawer. In the next drawer she found a credit card statement and a folder with receipts. She didn't know that Mark had this credit card. She thought she had secondary cards on all of his accounts. She peeked through the receipts and noticed that they were from stores all over the state and some were even from Utah and Washington.
In the same drawer she saw a book on vascular therapy. Nothing unusual except why was it here? She felt nervous and excited in her adventure. And somehow a little nausea crept in as well. Aliss was careful to put everything back the way she found it. She examined the lock and pressed it down with the letter opener and pushed the drawer in. Luckily it worked. The lock caught. She hoped that Mark wouldn't notice the fresh scrapes in the metal close to where the lock was. That would be a dead give-away.
Aliss decided to look on the shelves a little more. The ones closest to the desk on the left had Christmas decorations on it and storage bins with clothes set aside for donation. She went around to the far left of the shelf along the wall. It was close to the shelf and just enough room to walk between that and the wall with little room to maneuver. She followed it to the end turned right and found herself close to the door. She then went along the wall to the other side of the room. This shelf went all the way to the end wall. There was a little more room on this side. This wall was shared by the wine cellar in the room next door. She followed this all the way down. When she got to the end she found a door in the wall. A door she didn't know was there. It too was locked. Where did this door go? It was somewhat hidden by the shelved and if you didn't look for it you may not know it was there.
On the shelves she found some sodium hypochlorite, hydrogen peroxide, sudsing bleach, hibiclens soap, betadine and zinc sulphate. All perfectly shelved with the labels facing out.
Outside, a black Audi pulls up. Mark steps out of the car. In his hand is a beautiful bouquet of brightly coloured flowers. He knows Aliss is upset with him. The flowers should smooth things over at least for a while. He is back a day early but he needs to take care of something out of town and has the unpleasant task of telling Aliss that he will be away again, this time for up to a week.
He chirps the lock on the car and uses his keys to open the front door. Downstairs Aliss hears the sound.
Aliss's heart jumps a beat and her whole body comes alive with energy, adrenaline and electricity. She felt like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She had to get out quickly before he catches her! She slips between the shelves and tries to quietly head to the open door.
"Aliss! I'm home early. Where are you?" Mark asks from the front foyer. He hears a bang from the downstairs and quickens his pace to the stairs. "Aliss, what is going on here?" He trudges down the carpeted stairs, around the corner to see Aliss.
She is kneeling at the closed door wiping up the last of the puppy's pee.
"What are you doing, Aliss?" Mark asks her.
"Oh, Goldie decided to pee all over down here. I am just cleaning it up. Puppies, you know." With that she stands and heads towards the laundry room and the sink to rinse out the rags. She prayed he didn't see her hands trembling while she did so.
Mark walks up behind her. "Why are you panting like you just came home from a run?" He asks her.
"I was chasing the puppy. She was running all over the house. In fact, I have no idea where she is even right now." Why is she so scared of the man she calls husband? She felt like her legs were going to give out. Hopefully he couldn't see the faint blush to her cheeks. Her telltale sign of lying that he knew all too well.
Mark seemed satisfied with her answer. He headed back up the stairs saying, "what's for dinner, hun?"
"I didn't know you would be home. I was going to order in for me and Mac." She slipped her hand into her pocket and took out the medical card. One issued to Sandra Jesperson. The one she found on the floor inside the storage room. She knew the name. Heck, everyone in Boseman knew that name. Why did Mark have her medical card and why in the secret office in the locked storage room in their basement?
