Second Grave Deleted Scene 2 (Maggie)

THE SET UP: In the original outline, I had a homeless woman named Maggie show up who basically chants apocalyptic prophesy and warns Charley of impending doom. But I just couldn’t quite fit her in so I ended up deleting this scene, her introduction. (She may show up later, so I might add this scene back in at another time.)

Here, Charley and Cookie are walking to the office, talking about the case their working on.

“Do you mean, as opposed to killing her?” I asked as Cookie rummaged through her bag for a pen.

“I mean…what the hell is that?”

I looked over at the homeless woman asleep in the alley behind Dad’s bar. “That’s Maggie. Or, well, Maggie’s ass.” Somebody had left the barn door open. I strolled over and covered her up. Maggie was handy to have around. She channeled dead people on occasion and gave me some great tips. I’d tried to get her into a shelter, but she wouldn’t stay. Said she needed her freedom. Apparently, she needed a few safety pins as well.

Maggie usually found her way into the basement of my apartment building. I wondered if the landlord had caught her again and run her out.