Slap Comics

Recap- “After a fiery Inferno takes the life of his mentor. A simple cartoonist is compelled into an investigation that implicates his father. This leads him to his father’s partner and his beautiful assistant who tell him his father left town weeks ago. As hope seems to vanish, the assistant comes to his door with confession that she killed Ray”

I am not sure how long I stood there at my door. It may have been a few minutes, possibly an hour. Who knows it could have been days. All I know is that my mind was swimming with the possible things that this woman was capable of. That includes slitting my throat. The crazy thing after her confession I may have wanted her even more. I decided to invite her in and find out the truth. 

I asked if she wanted to sit. She nodded and sat on my couch. As she crossed her legs I was praying for a “Basic Instinct” moment but was sorely disappointed. I asked if she wanted something to drink. She said that water was fine. After giving her the water, I sat across her, a little afraid to sit next to her on the couch. 

I start by asking “What’s your name?”. She hesitates at first and then says “Ellie…Ellie Monroe”. I process this and ask “Ok, Ellie. What did you mean that you killed Ray?” She shifted a little in her seat and looked nervous. She then said “W-Well I didn’t kill him per say I just led him to people that I believe killed him”. I thought about that for a moment and said, “What type of trouble was Ray into?”. She looked at me with those big brown eyes and said “Counterfeiting and Money Laundering. I introduced him to a guy named Lenny. Ray was in a bind and needed to score some cash for some debt”. This bothered me. This didn’t sound like the Ray I knew. The guy who was like a father to me. Why didn’t he tell me any of this? 

“How did you know Ray?” She finished her water and turned to me “I met him at his art shop in Brooklyn. I would go there every other week. I paint landscapes on my days off. I was told that he had the best stuff and that he was the most knowledgeable. We got to talking and we became friends.” 

If this woman wasn’t perfect enough, she is also an artist. 

“We became close and soon enough I would tell him about Vito and that I was his secretary. He seemed to know the type of person Vito was and he didn’t seem phased by it.”  She continued “One day when on one of my visits he seemed to be going over his books and he seemed upset. I ask, ‘What’s wrong’ and he said that business wasn’t great and that he was in massive debt. I asked by how much? He said 20 large. He asks me about if there is a way to get a loan from my boss. I told him he should stay from Vito at All Cost. He seemed desperate so I told I heard that one of Vito’s associates was looking for an artist. A counterfeiter. He seemed open to the idea, gave him Lenny’s number and things seem to be going great. Then things started to go sour”

I had a bad feeling about this and asked, “What happened?” She shuffled a bit on the couch and started “Word came that what Lenny was doing was behind Vito’s back and that anyone involved was going to be dealt with. I initially didn’t understand what that entailed but after getting the news about Ray I have a good idea. 

I sat there wondering what to say next. After a while I spoke. “So, what’s next? Are you going to the cops?” 

“No. I have no evidence, physical or otherwise. I need to go over Ray’s ledger in his apartment. It may have the evidence we need. I can’t get it myself because I feel that I am being followed”. 

“I can get it for you if you want, then we can go the cops together” I said a little too eagerly. 

“Maybe” she passed me something from her pocket. “This is the key for Ray’s apartment, you know where he lives right?” 

“Sure, but the question is How do you know where he lives and have a key?” She got up and fixed her skirt and said “Well I just happen to be Ray’s Widow”

To be continued…