THEO
BUD BURST THROUGH the door, turned Imogene’s sign to CLOSED, and said, “We’ve got a problem.” Then he reached across the counter, grabbed the telephone, and repeatedly tapped the connector. “Lucy?” He tipped his Stetson back on his head and looked at me with an expression I knew well: whatever he found was bad.
“Bud,” Imogene said, “I saw a—”
Bud raised his finger to his lips, motioning for her to wait a minute. “Lucy,” he said into the telephone. “It’s Sheriff Grearson, connect me with the Portland Police, will ya.”
He turned to Imogene and me, held his hand out, and told us to hold on for a few minutes.
Then he slid a piece of paper from his pocket, handed it to me, and said, “Mean anything to you? . . . Yes,” he said to the phone. “Still holding.”
“It’s a confused quote from Isaiah,” I said, “but otherwise, no. Where’s it from?”
“Crime scene,” he said. He tucked it back in his pocket.
“Someone came into the church earlier,” I whispered. “Scared Immie to death—”
Bud held his hand up. “Yeah, Lucy, I’m here.”
Imogene lit a cigarette. Mrs. B took a swig of hootch, and Pearl plucked the ends off green beans in a rhythmic motion, dropping them into the metal bowl beside her stool. The snapping sounds filled the otherwise quiet store.
“Yes,” Bud said. “Captain . . . wait . . . Lucy, dammit girl, hang up.” He waited a moment. “Captain, we’ve got a murder scene down here in Manzanita.”
Imogene’s eyes bulged. Mrs. B steadied herself against a shelf and Pearl stopped snapping the heads off beans.
“I’ve secured the scene,” he continued. “Locked the house, and I got someone boarding up the windows, and posting signs.” He looked at us all and mouthed Oz. “No, I haven’t seen the truck in a few weeks now.”
“No,” he said lowering his voice. “I don’t know who they were.”
Imogene clung to Bud’s arm. “They?” she whispered.
“I’ll wait at the property,” he said. Then he looked at me while talking to the captain. “Tell them when they get to Manzanita to go to the purple store on Laneda Avenue and ask for Father Riley.” He looked at me, I nodded. “No,” Bud continued. “There’s only one store in town. They won’t get lost. Then Father Riley can show them how to get to Marge Hildy’s.”