Murder in Mississippi Part 6

I decided the mystery of the attic was too strong to resist.  I was a detective, I had to get my hands dirty and solve things, after all.  But I would have to make this quick; I didn’t want to arouse too much suspicion, especially with people who were already being so kind.  With any luck, there would be nothing up there, just some creaky floor panels and the wind from outside making all the noise.

I looked around to make sure nobody was coming, then I quietly hurried over to the attic, which you could see by the pull string hanging from the ceiling.  I yanked it down and scurried up the ladder that came down.

I was instantly in the dark.  My hands fumbled along the wall, searching for a light switch of some sort.  It was already getting dark outside, so the window on the other side of the room, while large, provided little in the way of light.  As I scrambled for some light, I realized I could no longer hear the moaning sound from earlier, but I COULD hear something else.  Something more visceral.  Something… eating?

My fingers were failing to find a switch, but my face hit a string.  It was one of those old fashioned lights.  I pulled on the string, and the room was suddenly illuminated.  I could see the stairs I came in from.  Nothing of interest there.  I spun around.

To my horror, in front of me was the fattest woman I had ever seen.  That record was previously held by the woman downstairs, Cherry.  But this was a different creature all together.  Cherry was huge, but well proportioned.  She was fat, but upright.  This woman in front of me was the opposite of all of that.  It was clear she couldn’t stand.  She was on a huge bed that sat on the ground with no legs.  Her belly was the biggest piece of her, by far.  I couldn’t even see her knees, just her feet sticking out from under the gelatinous mass.  She was wearing what was assumedly a pink tanktop, one with more X’s than I had fingers, which barely covered breasts that sat flat on top of her belly.  Her face was almost entirely sunken into fat from her neck and cheeks, with only really her mouth being visible.  And the only reason I could see that was because she was eating.  There was a vast array of food sitting her belly in front of her, which she was using as a plate.

“You shouldn’t be in here,” came a voice behind me.  I swiftly spun around to see a man behind me, a young man who was likely around my age, but bigger.  Beefy was a good word.  He was thick all around, which was a miracle in this family.

“S-Sorry…” I said.  “I could just… I could hear her from my room and-”

“This is Daisy, my sister,” he said.  “If my mom saw you here, she would throw a fit.  I don’t really care myself, but for your own sake, I would get out of here now.”  I decided that was a probably a good idea.  He pointed to the stairs behind him, and I nodded.  As I passed by him, I took note of a shoe on my right.  It was a black shoe, which seemed out of place for a house like this, and I exited the attic.

Splashing some water on my face in the restroom, I tried to consider everything I had just seen.  Why was there a girl in the attic?  Was she a disgrace to the family?  Why would Cherry get mad to know I saw her?  Why was she so grotesquely fat?  As a detective, I was used to having questions needing to be solved, but I wasn’t used to them being so bizarre.  Stepping out of the bathroom, I was immediately greeted by Cherry, who grabbed my hand as soon as I was visible to her.

“Detective!” she said.  “Dinner is ready… hmm… you look tired.  I didn’t wear you out too much did I?”

“Of course not,” I said.

“Oh dear.  If you need a break, you can retreat to your room now.  It would be nice of you to join us though.  I’ll leave it up to you.”

I realized that if I skipped the dinner, I may have time to do some snooping on my own while everyone was distracted.  However, going to the dinner may give me some more clues as well.