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Shandra returned to the ranch at dark. She smiled at the warm yellow light seeping from the windows, welcoming her home. That was the best thing about having Lil for an employee. She always made sure the house was lit up and warm as if someone had been home the whole time.
Sheba ran around the side of the studio and Lil stepped out of the building as Shandra drove her Jeep up to the barn. It appeared all the law enforcement officers had left.
Before she could get out of the vehicle to open the barn doors, Lil was there, lifting the board and opening the big panels.
The lights of the Jeep revealed all the wedding decorations and accessories had been removed and stacked to the sides so she could park her vehicle in the usual spot.
“Thank you for opening the doors and finishing up the cleaning,” Shandra said, sliding to the ground without being slobbered on too much by Sheba, who was happy to see her.
“Didn’t take much. Ted and Naomi had to stay until the police talked to them so we kept busy.” Lil walked with her to the barn doors.
“Do you have all the chores finished?” Shandra asked.
“Yep.”
“Would you come in and have dinner with me? I’d like to learn more about the Kerbys.” Shandra knew an invitation to a meal not cooked on her one burner hot plate would get Lil to come in for a chat.
“I can be there in two shakes of a cow’s tail.” Lil grasped the barn doors, swinging them shut.
“Come on in when you’re ready.” Shandra and Sheba entered the house through the back door.
She set out a pasta salad, a rice salad, and fried chicken. The fare for the reception had been simple food that both she and Ruthie had spent the week preparing and yesterday cooking. It was all in Shandra’s refrigerator, and now freezer, until Ruthie and Maxwell picked it up.
Lil walked through the back door and turned into the laundry room. Shandra heard water running. The woman was washing her hands.
Shandra set plates and utensils for two on the counter along with a glass of wine for her and a beer for Lil.
“You’re going to be eating these salads and chicken for a while,” Lil said, taking the stool in front of the beer.
“I’m sure tomorrow or the next day, Maxwell or Ruthie will come take some of it off my hands.” Shandra sat next to Lil and dished up the salads. “I’d like to hear everything you can think of about the Kerbys.”
Lil put two drumsticks and a scoop of the pasta salad on her plate. “Don’t know much more than I told you already.”
“Did either of them have any brothers or sisters?” Shandra placed a chicken breast on her plate.
“Zelda didn’t. She didn’t have much of a family life. Her daddy was gone all the time and her mother worked a lot.” Lil bit into a leg.
“And Mr. Kerby?”
“He had an older brother. Seems like he went to prison not long after Donald left.”
“What was his name?” Shandra wondered at Mrs. Kerby telling Maxwell there wasn’t an uncle to walk Ruthie down the aisle.
“Let me think. He would have been more my age, but I went to school over in Hafersville. The Kerbys lived toward Warner.” Lil chewed some more on a chicken leg as she thought.
Shandra picked up her wine and sipped. One thing she’d discovered about Lil, if you wanted to know anything, you let her tell it in her own sweet time.
“I think the brother’s name was Orin. I know he was in trouble in high school. He broke car windows and stole things during a basketball game.” She stuffed a forkful of salad in her mouth.
Shandra pulled her phone from her purse and texted Ryan that Donald had a brother who’d been in trouble with the law. “What about their parents? Are they still alive?”
Lil shook her head. “They have both passed. I think before Donald left.” She nodded. “Yeah, that’s why Nattie took Ruthie from Zelda. There weren’t any grandparents to step in and save her from her mother.”
This was different. “Ruthie says her mother gave her to Nattie.”
“Nope. Nattie took her away from Zelda. Told her she wouldn’t get her back until she sobered up and cleaned up.” Lil shook her head. “It never happened. The woman wanted her booze and drugs more than her own daughter.”
Shandra wondered if Lil was thinking of the child she’d lost so many years ago. “Was Nattie a neighbor to the Kerbys?”
“No. They lived in Warner and Nattie lived here in Huckleberry. Not sure how she came to know about Ruthie suffering at the hands of her mother.”
It appeared she would need to do some investigating into Nattie as well as the Kerbys. They finished eating in silence.
When she was done, Lil slid off the stool, washed her dishes, and wandered to the back door. “See you in the morning,” she called before the door clicked shut.
Shandra smiled. The woman was unique, and she was glad Lil was in her life. She cleaned up the food and her dishes with all kinds of thoughts swirling in her head. Why was Ruthie told her mother left her when the Indian woman took her? Did Donald’s older brother have something to do with his disappearance? And was there enough anger in the emaciated Mrs. Kerby that she could pick up something heavy enough to kill her husband?
~*~
Ryan walked into the Huckleberry Police Station to start questioning people who had been at the wedding. He felt bad for having them dragged into the station but it was more time efficient than driving to all their houses.
The Treat family, Mr. and Mrs., Maxwell’s two sisters and their husbands, and Chandler, Maxwell’s brother, sat in the chairs in the waiting area.
Hazel, the seventy-something dispatcher for the Huckleberry Police Department, had given them all something to drink. She smiled at him. “Looks like you’ll be taking up space in our building again.”
“Yes. Thank you for making the Treats comfortable. There will be more people showing up, please make them as comfortable as you can.” He walked over to the mortician. “Mr. and Mrs. Treat, would you two follow me, please.” He glanced over at the two younger couples. “Thank you for coming in. Once I finish with your mother and father, I’ll speak with you.” They nodded.
He walked down the hall to the one and only room used for questioning in the building. It had a three by six foot table, chairs, and boxes of records stacked along one wall. The couple entered the room. Ryan followed and closed the door.
“Thank you for coming in. I know this isn’t how you planned to spend your son’s wedding day.”
“That didn’t actually happen, now did it?” Mrs. Treat said.
“No. But, I’m sure once we discover who killed Donald Kerby, Ruthie will be ready to try again.” He’d never asked what the couple thought of their son marrying Ruthie. But it appeared Mrs. Treat didn’t have generous feelings toward her son’s fiancée.
“Did either of you see Donald Kerby before the wedding?”
They both shook their heads.
“Did you see anyone you were curious about being there?” He studied their faces.
“Not curious, but when I took Mrs. Kerby to buy a dress, that my Maxwell paid for, I was surprised she seemed pleased for her daughter.” Mrs. Treat wrinkled her nose a bit.
“Why were you surprised she was pleased?”
“She said after having a no-account for a father, she hadn’t thought her Ruthie would ever stick herself to a man.” Mrs. Treat sniffed. “I, of course, told her my Maxwell would never be as cowardly as the man she chose for a husband.”
Ryan almost wished he’d been a fly on the wall when the two were shopping together. “You were aware that Ruthie wanted nothing to do with her mother?”
“Oh, yes! Maxwell said not to tell Ruthie. It was his surprise.” Mrs. Treat rolled her eyes. “That was one thing Ruthie and I agreed on. Her mother wasn’t worth her time. Who would leave their own flesh and blood for someone else to take care of and never look back? And her living so close by, she could have looked in once in a while or got herself together and took her little girl home.”
He had to agree. Family was family and you didn’t pass your own off on someone else. Ryan centered his gaze on Mr. Treat. “What can you tell me about Donald’s older brother?”
Mr. Treat’s eyes widened. “Orin? You think he killed his own brother?”
“I’m not accusing him or anyone at this point. I’m curious that when Maxwell asked Ruthie’s mom about any uncles to give her away at the wedding, she said there wasn’t any and I’ve discovered there was an uncle.” Ryan noticed Mrs. Treat do one quick head shake.
“Orin was always trying to start something. He followed the goings of the Black Panther movement and thought the few other African Americans in this part of Idaho should stand up for their rights, too.” Mr. Treat spread his hands. “But here, in these rural communities, we were treated just like everyone else. We didn’t see a need to cause trouble for people who had accepted us.”
“Is that why he went to prison?” Ryan had heard of many of the members of the BPP being thrown in jail.
“No. He worked for Mr. Narvel, driving people and things back and forth to Portland and Seattle. He was caught hauling a body in his trunk. The police said Orin killed the man and was taking him somewhere to dump him. Orin never said a word and was sent to prison.”
“Do you remember when this was?” Ryan’s mind was flashing through the Idaho statutes.
“It was about the time Donald left. That’s all I know.” Mr. Treat grasped his wife’s hand. “Do you need any more from us. I’m sure Maxwell will want to talk to us.”
“Actually, he and Ruthie are doing fine. They were at her apartment over the diner about an hour ago.”
“Oh!” Mrs. Treat glanced at her husband. “Then she didn’t run off?”
The woman seemed disappointed.
“No. She was shocked by her mother and her father showing up at her wedding and some things her father told her. She wanted to go someplace and think.” Ryan stood and held out his hand. “Thank you for coming in. Would you send the other members of your family back please?”
The couple nodded as they exited the room.
Ryan texted his sister at the county office to dig up information on Orin Kerby.