The chief picked Willis and me up around eleven that morning and we headed to the library. There were two computers, each with internet access. I Googled ‘Houston Restaurants’ then punched in ‘paninis’ and ‘Greek’ and ‘organic’ and came up with about twelve results. Only one started with the letters s-u-n: Sunkissed Kafe, on Jett Street, which, when I looked it up on Mapquest, turned out to be a small side street of only two blocks, just to the west of Montrose Avenue, in the trendy Montrose area of Houston.
The chief sank down in the chair next to me. ‘OK, great. Now what? What the hell does this tell us? We know where Diamond Lovesy was when she had a picture taken with some guy who, according to Miz Hutchins, looks just like her daddy. So what?’
I leaned back in my chair, feeling some level of defeat. ‘I don’t know,’ I said, trying to ignore the hint of a whine in my voice.
‘So maybe it’s a relative?’ Willis suggested.
The chief and I both just looked at him. Then we looked at each other, jumped up and headed for his squad car.
BACK HOME
Bess was devastated. She couldn’t believe Logan had said those things! Like the Pughes were some hillbilly family where your mama is your sister and your daddy is a cousin! Is that what the whole school thought? I’m never going back! she thought. I’ll get my GED and go straight to college! she told herself. I’ll let the others make up their own minds, but I’m telling them this! Then had to rethink that. How badly would it hurt Alicia to know that anyone, even just Logan, thought such a thing? And Megan? Well, maybe at first she’d find it funny, but at some point it would get to her, of that Bess was certain. Megan was no dummy. She might do stupid things on occasion – well, more like half the time, Bess amended herself – but she was not stupid!
Bess felt tears streaming down her cheeks as she drove the minivan home. Logan was such a tool to say such things! she thought. And to think she made out with him! Yuck! OK, she thought. He was a good kisser, but he’s an awful person! And I’m not making out again with an awful person! Yet still the tears came. She’d liked him so much. The way his blond hair fell in his eyes when he was studying, or the way his cheeks dimpled up when he smiled. And he’d seemed so sweet, so considerate. And maybe he was a little too tall for her, but they’d fit just right when they were on the sofa. Making out on the sofa. She could feel the same heat that had filled her body from his touch fill her up at just the memory of it. ‘Damn!’ she said out loud. ‘Get over it!’
As she pulled into her driveway, she couldn’t help but notice Logan’s car in her spot.
‘No, it was just Daddy and Uncle Herbert and their younger brother Edgar, but he died in the Pacific. It was all very sad. My grandfather never got over it,’ Miss Hutchins said. ‘Uncle Herbert said it broke his daddy’s heart, and then, when my daddy died too, well, he just went. Right when Mama called about the telegram.’
‘What about cousins?’ I asked.
‘Well, now, Uncle Herbert never had any children, and Uncle Edgar died in the war, so no first cousins. And Grandpa Hutchins was an only child, and his folks were long dead by the time I came to be. I don’t know if they had kin, but I’ve never heard of another Hutchins around here,’ the old lady said. ‘As for Grandma Hutchins, she had a sister, Auntie Christine, but she, well, she traveled a lot, never married, and died young.’ Miss Hutchins leaned into me and whispered, ‘Mama said it was a venereal disease! I had to look that up.’ She straightened and said, ‘But she never had any children.’
And there was a united sigh from her audience of three. ‘Back to the drawing board,’ the chief said.
BACK HOME
‘What are you doing here?’ Bess demanded as she burst in the back door to find Logan sitting on the sofa, with her sisters as bookends.
He jumped up. ‘Man, I’m so sorry!’ he said. ‘Things just come out of my mouth sometimes and I don’t even know it! That was an awful thing to say—’
‘Just leave, please,’ Bess said, her words measured.
Alicia stood up and went to Bess, putting her arm around her and hugging her. ‘It’s OK, Bess,’ she said, holding her at arm’s length and smiling at her. ‘Logan told us what he said. And it’s just about what I suspected was going around the school. But he’s promised he’ll beat the crap out of anyone he hears saying it again!’
‘Alicia!’ Bess said.
‘I told him no,’ Alicia said, ‘but what’s a girl to do when a guy goes all Galahad on her?’
Logan moved closer to Bess and Alicia went back to the sofa. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he said softly. ‘That was an awful thing to say, even if I was just repeating what I’d heard—’
‘That’s no excuse!’ Bess said.
‘You’re right! It isn’t. I’m an asshole. You know it and I know it. It’s just that I’ve been knowing it longer than you have. My assholeness is just new to you, and it takes some getting used to.’
‘I’m not sure I can forgive you—’ Bess started.
‘Jeez, what’s to forgive?’ Megan said from the sofa. ‘He said a dumb thing! Like you haven’t? Shall I list the dumb things you’ve said this week alone? OK, one—’
‘Stop!’ Bess said, her hand raised like a traffic cop. Turning to Logan, she said, ‘Do they know you thought the sister my brother was, excuse the word, banging, could have been Megan?’
‘Oh, yuck!’ Megan said from the sofa.
‘Ah, no, I didn’t mention that,’ he said, head down.
‘And that you warned me to watch out for my own brother because, and here I quote, “You’re adopted”?’
‘Double gross,’ Megan said, and then laughed.
Bess whirled on her sister. ‘Why are you laughing?’
‘Because it’s so stupid! Jeez, Logan, are you really that dumb?’
‘Yeah, I guess,’ he said, still staring at the floor.
Alicia stood up again. ‘Come on, Bess, Logan’s one of the good guys—’
‘You were just telling me the other night there are no good guys! That they’re all out to get in my pants!’
‘Whoa, now!’ Logan said, finally looking up from the floor, both arms raised in surrender. ‘I never ever tried anything like that!’
‘Not yet!’ Bess shot at him.
‘Yeah, not ever!’ he shot back. ‘I mean, you’re cute and all, but I signed a pledge at my church to stay a virgin at least until I graduate high school, and I have every intention on signing another one after graduation that’ll take me through college! That’s one of the reasons why this thing with Harper is pissing me off so bad!’
Bess just looked at him. ‘You could have told me that,’ she finally said.
Logan’s face began to infuse with color. ‘I told you that I hadn’t … Well, it’s kinda embarrassing. It’s not something I, like, you know, advertise.’ Then his eyes got wide in panic, as he looked around at the three sisters. ‘Please, y’all, don’t tell any of the guys, OK? Please!’
Alicia and Bess looked at Megan. ‘What?’ Megan said. She sighed. ‘OK, I know I blew it when I told the twins about Alicia and Graham, but I’ve learned my lesson.’ She mimed locking her lips and throwing away the key. ‘Your secret is safe with me.’
‘Shouldn’t you be in school?’ Bess asked, turning back to Logan.
‘I told them I had a doctor’s appointment. And I wrote a note from my mom so they believed me.’
‘So,’ Megan said, jumping up. ‘What’s the plan, Stan?’
‘Who in the hell is the guy in the picture with Diamond?’ I asked the room in general. There were two manly shrugs and one small voice saying, ‘Daddy, of course.’
The chief, Willis and I exchanged glances. Did we argue with her? Try to set her straight? Ignore her? Then both guys were staring straight at me, as if I were the only one qualified to handle her. Personally, I didn’t see where I had any qualifications for this particular job. I mean, Chief Cotton was in charge! It should be his responsibility. Then I remembered how he’d handled the ghostly aspect of this business earlier. Let’s just say he was no Henry Kissinger or Hillary Clinton.
‘Miss Hutchins, this may well be your deceased father, you’re right,’ I said, as tactfully as possible. ‘But we have to consider the more likely possibility that it’s someone who’s actually living.’
‘Well, of course you do!’ she said. ‘But don’t you see? That’s exactly what Daddy wants! He wants y’all traipsing around, trying to find some imaginary killer while he sits around the house waiting for his next victim!’
‘You think he’s in the house?’ the chief asked.
‘Well, of course! I don’t have mice! Yet I hear scurrying going on up there day and night!’ she said.
‘Up where?’ the chief and I asked in unison.
‘Why, in the attic, of course.’
‘Have you been up there?’ I asked her.
She shook her head. ‘I haven’t been up there in years. My arthritis, you know.’ The three of us exchanged quick glances again and, as one, jumped up and headed for the stairs.
BACK HOME
‘Logan and I are supposed to meet Mrs Benton at the library at four o’clock,’ Bess said.
‘Harper’s mom?’ Megan asked. Bess nodded. ‘So she didn’t tell y’all anything at this lunch thing?’
‘No, just to meet her at four,’ Logan said, as he and Bess took their places on the loveseat.
‘Think she’ll show up?’ Megan asked.
‘Why would she tell us to meet her there if she’s not going to show up?’ Logan asked, wide-eyed.
Bess couldn’t help finding his trusting nature adorable. ‘To get us off her back,’ she said, patting him on the hand. ‘If she doesn’t show up at the library, and we try to track her down at her home, then maybe Tucker will be there, and we can’t very well talk to her with him around.’
‘She’ll show up,’ Logan said. ‘I betja.’
All four of them headed out in the minivan at three-thirty, on their way to the library in Codderville. When they arrived they didn’t see the car they’d seen Harper in the day before, but weren’t sure if Mrs Benton had her own vehicle. ‘Should we go in?’ Alicia asked.
‘Yeah, maybe she’s already in there,’ Megan said.
‘Do you know how many cars they have?’ Bess asked Logan.
‘I only saw the one when I picked Harper up that night. But Tucker had that truck. So maybe two?’
‘Maybe we should go in because she could already be in there,’ Alicia said.
After arguing about it for a few more minutes, majority ruled and they left the minivan and went into the library.
The Codderville Library was new, and quite impressive for a small town. Four thousand square feet divided into sections: an adult fiction and non-fiction section with several sets of tables and chairs, a walled-off section for children, complete with puppet theater and lots of smaller-sized tables and chairs, meeting rooms, an audio lending library including a new section for ebooks, and a large area of desks with computers and a few printers.
Not seeing their prey, the kids decided to split up – Bess and Logan at a table closest to the front doors, and Alicia and Megan three tables back from them.
At ten minutes after four, the front doors opened and Mrs Benton came in.
We found a door on the second floor that led to the attic and Willis and I were more than happy to let Chief Cotton lead the way. He even had his gun drawn, just in case. Very little light came through two shuttered windows, but I found a switch and turned it on. Two bare bulbs hung from wires from the rafters, one on each end of the attic, and held what could only be forty-watt bulbs. The attic was huge – covering all of the house, and filled with the kinds of things that can collect after more than one hundred years. There was an old-fashioned, large-breasted dress form, trunks of different styles from different eras (boy would I love to rummage through those – another time, perhaps), old furniture – some in stable condition, other pieces broken to the point of no return (why they were still up there was anybody’s guess), and lots of boxes, sealed and unsealed. But the most interesting object was a twin-sized mattress on the floor, blankets atop it, an unlit kerosene lamp on an upside-down wooden box, an open box filled with bottles of water, crackers, peanut butter, a bag of Hershey’s Kisses and a bag of beef jerky. Someone was definitely living in Miss Hutchins’ attic, the same person who made noises like the pitter patter of mice, the same person who dragged something down the second floor hallway in the dead of night, and the same person who, more than likely, killed Humphrey Hammerschultz and Diamond Lovesy.
BACK HOME
Mrs Benton saw Bess and Logan, nodded to them and headed their way. Alicia and Megan turned their heads away, afraid the older woman might recognize them and bolt. If she did notice them at all, she didn’t react. She sat down across from Bess and Logan and asked, ‘Now what is this all about?’
‘Why don’t you tell us?’ Bess said. ‘We know the baby Harper’s carrying has nothing to do with Logan, so why is she saying it’s his?’
Mrs Benton glanced from Bess to Logan and back again. She smiled. ‘You certainly are trusting of your boyfriend,’ she said to Bess. ‘I’ve never had that luxury.’
Bess’s face turned crimson and she said, ‘He’s not my boyfriend.’
‘Yet,’ Logan said, and put his hand over Bess’s. Bess looked into his eyes and the two were lost for a moment.
‘Whatever!’ Megan said, standing up and coming to the table. ‘Mrs Benton, Logan’s not the father, OK? We know it and you obviously know it. And Harper needs to take back what she said! It’s not fair to Logan – or my sister.’
Megan sat down next to Mrs Benton, while Alicia pulled up a chair from the next table.
‘I’m feeling a bit outnumbered here,’ Mrs Benton said, still smiling.
‘Do you really think this is funny?’ Megan said, her voice rising. She got a stern look from the librarian and several patrons.
‘Of course not,’ Mrs Benton said, lowering her voice. She looked at Logan and said, ‘Logan, I’m sorry. Harper said you were a nice boy, and I’m not sure why she decided to dump this on you. I know it’s not fair and I’ll have her retract her statement. Hopefully, it hasn’t gotten much further than the four of you.’
‘I hope not,’ Logan said, still holding Bess’s hand.
‘So what’s really going on? Who’s the daddy?’ Megan asked.
Mrs Benton stood up. ‘That’s none of your business,’ she said. ‘I’ll take care of this, Logan. And if you see either of my children again, just stay clear of them.’ With that, she turned and walked out the door.
‘Do ghosts eat Hershey’s Kisses?’ Willis asked.
‘Not that I ever heard tell,’ Chief Cotton said. ‘Not into peanut butter either.’
‘Thank God we’ve got a ghost authority here,’ I said sarcastically. I bent down to go through other boxes that were in close proximity to the mattress. After discarding one that held turn-of-the-century baby clothes, I found one with more modern clothing, although it could have belonged to either a man or a woman. Generic T-shirts and blue jeans. Underneath those I found some boxer briefs that led me to surmise that the person sleeping on this mattress was more than likely a man.
‘Whatja got there?’ the chief asked, squatting down next to me.
I showed him the clothes as I tossed them on the floor, going for the bottom of the box. There was a Dopp kit there containing the usual items one would find in such a place: deodorant, shaving cream and a bag of Bic razors, aftershave, a bar of soap and a wash cloth, fingernail clippers and a toothbrush and toothpaste. At the bottom of the kit was a red velvet sheath. The chief reached down and picked it up, lifting the flap at the top of the sheath and pulling out an old-fashioned straight-razor.
1972
Chet had a car, of sorts. An early sixties Plymouth Valiant that smoked and sputtered but still seemed to get the job done. Edgar didn’t have much to say – he couldn’t see himself regaling his son with tales of prison life. None of his stories ended well. Chet talked a bit. About his girlfriend who he’d just dumped because she’d caught him with her sister and said he couldn’t do that. Chet broke up with her because he thought she wasn’t being fair. Edgar understood completely. But then, Chet told him, the sister had decided she didn’t like the way he’d treated his girlfriend, saying he cheated on her.
‘Hell, man,’ Chet explained to his dad, ‘I’m the one who cheated? Shit, she was just my girlfriend! That bitch was her sister! She’s the one who cheated, donja think?’
‘Sure,’ Edgar said, staring out at the streets of Biloxi, marveling at how much the town had changed.
‘So I said, “Hey, bitch! I wouldn’t fuck you with a ten foot pole anyways!” And she goes, “Yeah, you and what army?” And I go …’ Chet said, while Edgar tuned him out, thinking, he might have my face, but he’s got his granny’s mouth! If ever there was a person who could talk your ear off it was that old bitch.
They got to the facility where Edgar’s wife was housed after a fairly short twenty-minute ride. It was weird to think of her as his wife – but as far as he knew she still was. Of course, it had been hard for him to think of her as his wife when he was living with her, too.
The facility was a large, state-run place, red brick and institutional, with an unmanned gate that they easily drove through. Once inside Edgar found himself in a no-frills room filled with patients milling about, some just wandering around, some talking to themselves, others sitting in chairs and staring out the windows. A couple of men played forty-two at a table in the center of the room, and three women appeared to be putting together a jigsaw puzzle at another table.
Chet walked up to a counter, behind which stood a nurse in a starched white uniform. ‘Hey, June,’ he said, grinning big.
‘Well, hey there, Chet!’ the woman said, smiling up at Edgar’s son’s handsome face. Edgar couldn’t help thinking, that’s the way women used to look at me.
‘Did your mom know you were coming?’ the nurse asked.
‘Nope. Surprise visit. This guy’ – Chet said, pointing over his shoulder at Edgar – ‘says he’s my dad. I wanna see if Mama recognizes him.’
The nurse his son called June looked Edgar up and down, then shook her head. ‘Rita always says you’re the spitting image of your daddy. I don’t see it.’
‘Me neither. But he says mom’s got a mole—’ He turned to look at Edgar. ‘Where’d you say?’
‘On the right side just under her belly button as you’re looking at her,’ Edgar said.
The nurse nodded her head. ‘Well, that’s true. She does have that. How come you don’t look like Chet?’ she asked Edgar.
He shrugged. ‘Got in an accident,’ he supplied.
She shrugged. ‘That’s a shame. The world needs more pretty men like Chet here,’ she said, coming around the counter and squeezing Chet’s arm. ‘I’ll go get your mom,’ she said, heading for a door.
‘You ever knock boots with that?’ Edgar asked Chet.
Chet made a face. ‘Jeez, are you kidding? She’s gotta be like thirty! Naw, not my type. ’Sides, I like really big ta-tas.’
Edgar nodded his head. ‘Always been partial to that myself.’
Chet led Edgar over to a grouping of sofa, loveseat and easy chair, no two items matching, and they sat down. It took only a few minutes for the nurse to come back. And there she was, Rita, the pretty girl with the crossed eyes that he’d cheated on every chance he’d got. She was still cross-eyed, and, Edgar had to admit, still pretty – for an old woman. At least she didn’t look like her mother.
Rita saw Chet first and a grin spread across her face. ‘Hi, baby-boy,’ she said, moving toward him. Then she noticed the man standing next to her son and stopped short. Her mouth dropped open and she stood there for almost a full minute. Finally, she ran up to Edgar and threw her arms around him. ‘You’ve come back!’ she cried. ‘I always knew you would!’