A Jukebox at The Diner Prequel: "Year of The Cat" An Interlude - Tears of a Clown
A retelling of the detective series inspired by the short story "Miss Jackson"
The Funky Janitor Presents: “Death Wish Blues”
These stories were inspired by the Jesse Dayton and Samantha Fish collaboration “Death Wish Blues”. When I chose this record for the theme, I thought about how I first had a glimmer of hope that such a collaboration would come about.
It happened on May 25th, 2022 on Jesse Dayton’s Gimmie Country Show.
He interviewed Samantha Fish on that show. Two years later I’m still writing about the collaboration I dreamed about over that cup of noodles while listening to Buck Owens's “Made in Japan”.
And now for something you’ll really like.
Previously on Year of the Cat…
“Meet You At The Mohawk”
They hadn’t noticed that the Captain had walked up with a folder and a huge grin because Detectives Norberg and Rumack were cracking up about how Captain Ed had locked himself out on Jenny’s porch during the lightning storm a few days ago.
4th wall moment here. If you haven’t read any other adventures, we’re a little heavy on the Zucker Brothers and Leslie Nielsen movie quotes.
“Captain Ed” is George the Medical Examiner, not the Detective’s actual Captain.
“Ahem. Detectives?” The Captain’s inflection raised the pitch of his voice enough that both Detectives knew another doozy of a case was in his hands.
Neither Detective said anything. Elaine held her hand out for the folder, never looking at the Captain. It was like returning to the dugout after hitting your first home run. They ghosted his pride with silence. The folder landed in Detective Norberg’s hand.
There was a post-it note from the Captain.
“These two have a Death Wish”
Detective Norberg read the report from Kansas City, Missouri Detective Alex James.
“Sara Lee Evans, 39. Released one day ago from North Carolina's women’s prison in Raleigh. Grand Theft Auto, Burglary, Fraud. In and out of prison since she was 18. Known to associate with Robert Ford, 41. Met each other at The Continental Club in 2003. They’ve been married twice. Divorced twice. Incarcerated for the same crime twice. Looks like the third time’s the charm Detective Rumack. Should we plan a wedding or a SWAT party?”
“Looks like the cows are about to come home to roost.” Detective Rumack’s favorite Frank Drebin quote.
“Let’s call Detective James and get an idea of what we’re in for.”
Meanwhile, in Tonopah, Nevada, Robert Ford was just about done hot-wiring this old Ford F-250 that was probably a work truck for the motel he’d been staying at. The lovely Clown Motel. The family that ran it had just been arrested for robbing a bank in Austin, which is where he was headed. Sara was out, and he knew where she’d be heading. He’d just gotten the truck started when that teenage girl staying in the room a few doors down came riding up on her moped.
“Don’t worry, nobody will miss ole Betty. She’s been here since before…”
Jessie trailed off thinking she might have just found her way out of town. For good. Before anyone figured it out.
“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to be going toward Vegas, would you? All I have is a moped and a backpack. I can even chip in for gas and food. Hi, I’m Jessie.”
Robert stared at her for a few more seconds even though he’d already figured out she was the fourth member of that clown family that had just been arrested. Not related though…
“Ok kid, we’re leaving in 10 minutes. Need some help getting that moped up in the bed of the truck? I’m Robbie.” Robbie? Really. Only Sara ever called him that. Must mean something, so he just left it there while he poured the rest of the gas can into the tank as the truck idled better than he thought it would.
Jessie must have noticed him staring at the open hood from the side of the truck as she loaded the moped in a series of moves.
"This truck always runs better than she should. Only been around here a few months, but I bet if she got stepped on by Godzilla she’d still start after.”
“Five minutes, Jessie.”
“Robbie” tossed the can in the back of the truck and put the gas cap back on before shutting the hood. Lighting a Lucky Strike, he waited for the kid.
At a used car lot in Raleigh North Carolina, Sara Lee grabbed the keys of a silver 2006 Honda Accord. It might very well be the most non-descript car she’d ever drive but if it got her to Austin that’s all that mattered. She’d find a better ride once she got there. It was nice to know that the lot hadn’t done anything to improve security since she stole a car from here 18 months ago. She wasn’t sticking around and she liked the poetics of it all. Stealing again from the place that got her locked up. As she turned the key in the Honda she thought of Robbie, and how when she finally caught up with that rat bastard, she was going to finally fucking kill him dead. Forever.
Unless they got married again. Then maybe not right away.
She turned on the radio just as the perfect song for this road trip started to play.
#mayhemensues