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JOSEPH RETURNED TO the station with the suggestion that he look for any unsolved murders in the towns the circus had visited over the past few years. Grimes didn’t like that idea, until he was told that Stanley French might have been the last person to have seen Deborah Higgs alive.
Sargent Edwin Grimes placed his glasses on the desk in front of him and lean back in his chair. His ample girth caused the seat to squeak a protest. “Where did you hear that?” he asked.
“I heard it from somebody who was at the Timber Getters last night,” Joseph said. “We’re going to need to investigate that..”
“Fuck.” Grimes took a deep breath and shook his head. “Is your source reliable?”
“No, it’s Ed King,” Joseph said. “Makes it even more important to check up on it and stop rumours before they start. If we can conclusively rule him out as a suspect to begin with, there’s not going to be any problems with the Frenches.”
“Rupert-fucking-French’s going to yelp, no matter what.”
“Rupert-fucking-French is going to have to grow up then,” Joseph snapped.
“Don’t let anybody hear you say that.” Grimes laughed. “I’ll send Sandy to the Timber Getters.”
“I’ll go to the site office,” Joseph said.
“To see Rupert?”
“He won’t be there on a Thursday,” Joseph said. “I want to ask Graham Tyson if he saw anything suspicious about the circus last night.”
“Talk with whoever’s in charge of the circus while you’re there,” Grimes said.
“Already did,” Joseph said. “He’s going to give us a list of where they’ve been for the last few years, complete with dates, sometime tomorrow, once they’ve erected their big tent.”
“Been busy?”
“Someone’s killed a woman in our town,” Joseph said. “What’s the doc have to say about her?”
“She was raped before she was killed. She has the bastard’s semen in her, and... well... it wasn’t likely to have been consensual. Anything else you’ve found out from your mysterious source?”
“The source isn’t that mysterious,” Joseph said. “It was the circus owner. He was in the lunch bar, and was in the Timber Getters last night.”
“And how did he know about all this?”
“He had a fortune teller with him this morning,” Joseph said.
“And you believe that shit?”
Joseph shrugged.
“You be careful about what you say to that woman of yours. She can’t go spreading stories about.”
“I don’t think she—”
“I’m not saying she did. I’m saying she shouldn’t. Now get to the site office and talk to that security officer, and that pretty receptionist.”
***
GRAHAM TYSON was waiting in the visitor’s car park when Joseph pulled in.
“I was wondering how long it’d take you to come here,” he said.
“You got some answers for me then?” Joseph answered as he stepped from the patrol car.
“Spoke with all my boys when I heard,” Graham said. “Nobody saw nothing, and old French has us watching that circus pretty close.”
“What I thought,” Joseph said. “I spoke with the circus owner earlier. If there was anything suspicious he’d have been more...”
“Cagey?” Graham asked. “You know that’s how they make their living? Deception?”
“That’s why I’m here, talking to you. How did you hear?”
“It’s all over town,” Graham said ambiguously.
“What I thought.”
“Be nice to her,” Graham said. “Her heart’s in the right place.”
“Nobody else here that I should know about?”
“Old Rupert bangs his secretary on Thursdays. You’d know that already, wouldn’t you?”
“Not officially,” Joseph said. “Officially I’m surprised he’s not here.” He went to the main office.
Marie was sitting behind her desk when he came in. “Joey?” she said as he came in the door.
“Can I speak with you for a while?” he said.
“What’s wrong?”
“I think you know.”
She bit her lip and looked about. “I guess there’s nobody coming,” she said. “Can we make it quick?”
Joseph beckoned her to come outside.
She did.
Once outside, Joseph looked about for anybody who might overhear.
“Don’t worry,” Marie said. “The office windows open on the other side of the building.”
“I just had some old guy talk to me about Stanley French,” he told her. “Said he was likely the last one to see the dead girl alive.”
“Well then, do you believe me now about Kasey?”
“Like I said, Kasey’s free to come in and make a complaint.”
“And like I said, she’s not. What do you think will happen to her if she does?”
“We can’t do anything without a complaint,” Joseph looked about again. “There’s enough shit about the Frenches at the moment. If we’re going to find who—”
“And you think Kasey’s life isn’t important?”
“You saying she’ll end up dead, like Deborah?”
“Was that who it was?”
“I didn’t say that,” Joseph said. “I don’t want to hear that anywhere until it makes the morning newspaper.”
“Don’t be so... get out of here!” she snapped at him. “I don’t want—”
“I don’t want to hear that you’ve been speaking about police business to anybody,” Joseph said. “I want to be able to trust you.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t be anywhere I can hear any police business from now on.”
“Marie,” he looked at her.
“No! Don’t bother me again and I won’t bother you.” She turned and strode back inside.
Joseph followed.
“Unless you have further official police business here, I believe our conversation is finished, Constable Ringer.”
“I’ll see you this evening?”
“I believe you’ll be too busy for that, and I believe I’ll be too disinterested.” She took her position at her desk. “Do you have any other business, Constable Ringer?”
“No, I don’t, Miss Schwartz.”