Back at the turret, I meandered casually down to the Willahock like I was intent only on savoring the rainbow of plastic debris caught in the muck and fallen branches on the opposite side. I keep my own side clean, though no one in Rivertown notices, except Leo.
Lights still flashed down by the dam, but there were only two now and they were blue. The reds belonging to an ambulance had disappeared, the body snagged and taken away. I went inside to kill an hour on the Internet until it got dark.
Several news sites reported the discovery of the body in a bag at the dam but none offered anything more. Elsewhere, there was nothing new about David Arlin or Dainsto Runney, and nothing at all about Gary Halvorson.
I crossed the hall to the would-be kitchen, put two Peeps – one green and one purple – belly to belly in the microwave and turned it on. In no time they puffed up to more than twice their size and then their round, beaked heads completely disappeared into their bloated bodies. When I shut off the microwave the inflated creatures collapsed into flat green and purple smears that came within an inch of leaking out of the gap at the bottom edge of the ill-fitting glass door. I ate what I could unstick from the bottom of the microwave. The Peeps tasted excellent and the carnage fit my mood.
By now it was dark. I drove to the dam, stopped fifty yards in front of the flashing blue lights and walked the rest of the way.
No cop was visible until I got right up to the cruiser. And even then, no cop was visible. It was Benny Fittle who sat reclined behind the steering wheel, mouth agape, eyes closed, sound asleep.
Dressed in his usual rock band T-shirt and cargo shorts, Benny clattered around Rivertown in an aged orange Ford Maverick as the town’s parking enforcement officer. The town treasurer prized his PEO’s productivity, for Benny didn’t waste time waiting for meters to actually expire. Rather, he wrote tickets based on his intuition that they might flash red before being replenished with coins. In this manner, Benny contributed mightily to the town’s coffers, and for that he was cherished.
I cleared my throat. Benny’s unshaven jowls quivered but his eyes did not open. I cleared it again. This time his right eye opened, but it went first to the Dunkin’ Donuts box lying on the seat beside him. Once it satisfied itself that the box was empty, the eye closed.
‘Wake up, Benny,’ I was forced to say.
‘Huh?’
‘Wake up.’
He pushed his bulk a little forward, but not upright, and gave me a powdered sugar grin. ‘Hey, Mr E, what’s shakin’?’
‘What are you doing down here, Benny?’
‘Keepin’ a watch for who shows up.’
‘What for?’
He yawned. ‘Suspicious behavior.’
‘They pull a body out?’
‘Floater in a bag, pretty banged up. Nobody knows nothin’ yet.’
‘Then why were you assigned to watch the dam?’
‘To see who shows up, like I tol’ you.’
‘You know your lights are flashing, right?’ I asked.
He yawned again and nodded as best he could, being reclined so far back on the tilted seat.
‘Those flashing lights would alert any criminal that an officer of the law was waiting, ready to pounce,’ I said, though the idea of Benny pouncing on anything other than a doughnut was laughable.
He took a long moment to process my observation before summoning the energy to switch off the lights. ‘Good thought, Mr E,’ he said, slumping back.
‘Any identification on the guy?’
‘Nah,’ he said. ‘Just a Jane Doe.’
My mouth went dry, like it was chalked. ‘A woman, Benny?’ I managed. ‘The floater was a woman?’
He tried to nod, gave it up and closed his eyes.
I don’t think I said another word. I only remember concentrating on walking away.