forty-three

No way was I going to ask Rebekkah to get on Facebook and help me track down the kids who were with Nathan when he died. Ruth Glazer had warned me off the project. Rebekkah didn’t want me to pursue it. I was up the creek without a paddle. All I could do was ask Robbie Holmes to look into the matter. After Rebekkah ambled back to the refrigerator, I dialed his number.

“Hey, when is Sheila coming home?” I sounded oh-so-casual.

“Probably tomorrow if they don’t put her out on the curb with her belongings in a plastic bag sooner.” His throaty chuckle was warm with his love for her.

“She must be feeling better.”

“Yes, and complaining about the quality of sheets on the hospital bed. I finally went over to her house and grabbed a set of Frette sheets for her. Did you know there’s some nonsense called thread count? It determines how soft fabric is?”

My turn to giggle. “Not until Sheila educated me. Welcome to the posh life, Mr. Police Chief, sir. I was thinking about stopping by and seeing her this evening. Anya and I have been invited to the Detweilers’ farm for dinner. You’ve heard that he’s under house arrest, right?”

“Sure did. You must be feeling better about Detweiler’s situation, what with John Henry Schnabel in his corner and all. You ever seen Mr. Schnabel?”

“Nope.”

“He’s about your height. Wears a polka-dot bow tie. Glasses as thick as cola bottles. Not a lick of hair on the top of his head, only a fringe around the sides and ears. Voice is high and squeaky like a girl’s.”

That was not encouraging news. In my mind, the attorney was bigger than life. “Is he up to this?”

“Shoot, yes. When the Illinois law enforcement officials heard he was on the case, sales of Maalox shot through the roof. You could let a hungry hyena loose in a preschool and have fewer casualties than Mr. Schnabel can cause in a courtroom. His nickname is ‘Blood and Guts’ because he eviscerates his opponents. Already the odds have shifted in Chad’s favor. Although it sure would help it if we could track down the real killer.”

I told him about my conversation with Hadcho.

“Stan is one of my brightest detectives. He’s right. When they made their request, I doubt that our clerk checked to see if Chad’s file has the latest tests or not. I try to keep updated ballistics info on all my officers. Saves hassle when there’s a question of whose bullet did what. Otherwise you need to track down the weapon and it’s usually in an officer’s possession, so that takes a man out of rotation. As for access to spent casings, of course we have a department range we use, but Chad did a lot of his practice at that range over by his parents’ house. The GM, they call it. That’s short for great moraine.”

I misheard him. “Lorraine? Like a woman’s name?”

“No, moraine with an ‘m’ like ‘Mary.’ During the ice age, the glaciers picked up rich soil and brought it along with on their slide toward the equator. When the ice melted, that dirt was deposited throughout Illinois. Actually in four places. The transported soil is responsible for the great farming they have.”

You learn something every day, but only if you keep your ears open and your mouth shut.

“You’re telling me he practiced shooting over in Illinois?”

“Nearly every Sunday. He and his dad would go to the GM and squeeze off a couple of clips.”

My heart sank. Now I had another prime suspect, Louis Detweiler. Was it possible that Louis was sick of Brenda’s shenanigans? That he wanted Chad to be able to marry me and bring a boy Detweiler into this world? All his grandbabies were girls so far.

More importantly, should I share my worries about Louis and Patricia with Robbie?

I decided not to. I really didn’t have enough to go on. Besides, there wasn’t much Robbie could do except call over to Illinois and hope to find a sympathetic ear. The man had his hands full, what with Sheila in the hospital and needing to tie up loose ends from the shootout we’d had at the slough. But I was about to lob another ball in the air for him to juggle.

“What do you remember about Nathan Goldfader’s death?”

“Not much, why?”

I explained about Dodie’s request.

“You sure do get yourself into tough situations.”

“What do you mean? Cherise Landon walked into the store and told Dodie that she was responsible for Nathan’s death. I didn’t ask for this assignment. Believe me, it’s the last thing I need right now. But what can I do? Drop it? If I were Dodie, I’d want closure.”

“You don’t want to be messing in Shep Landon’s business. I can’t tell you why, I can’t tell you all that I know, but trust me, you thought you had problems with Bill Ballard? Shep is ten times worse and Shep has a law degree.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning I’d rather have my throat slit fast with a razor than have someone tie me down and poke holes in me until I bleed to death. That’s how lawyers kill their prey, Kiki. They whittle away at you in court. Shoot, I’ve watched innocent people wreck their businesses, their marriages, and their health dealing with court cases. I’m an officer of the law, and you’d think that I would believe in our criminal justice system, but I don’t. There are too many vagaries that work against a person. Especially if you’re a novice who doesn’t know the system. Did I ever tell you what I hate most about sending individuals to jail? It’s the learning process. They come out better, smarter crooks. They teach each other how to play the system. You and I haven’t a clue.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Walk away. For once in your life, walk away.”