Mr. Cooter's Bowling Ball

by Harper Harris

  “Okay, okay. I’ll take that explanation for now.” I sipped on my glass of wine and tried not to think about it too much. “To change to subject, I spoke to Sheriff Cranston today and he told me that they aren’t very far along in the investigation into Lonny’s murder.”

  “I suspected as much. He’s a sweet man, but not a lot of major crimes happen in Appleton. Whenever something big happens, he isn’t always the best equipped to deal with it. But he tries. He really tries.”

  My exact thoughts.

  Ashley finished making dinner and it was like the dogs sensed us about to sit down because the two of them started pawing at the screen door. While Ashley plated our food, I got Shortbread and Biscotti their dishes. Once they were all settled up and eating, I sat down across the table from Ashley and inhaled the scent of the Catfish Cubion.

  “I’ve never had catfish before,” I let Ashley know.

  I’d seen pictures of them. I always thought they looked weird with the whiskers and stuff.

  “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited I get to be here for your first time. Is it weird if I watch you take your first bite? If it is, just tell me and I can look away.”

  I wasn’t expecting her to get that pumped up. I wasn’t feeling too apprehensive since it looked delicious and smelled delicious and I was super hungry. Ashley had never let me down.

  “It’s fine, you can watch me eat it.” I picked up my fork and scooped up some catfish, putting it on to my tongue. I loved the spices. “Oh my god, Ash! This is so yummy!”

  I picked up some more and filled my mouth even more.

  “I’m glad you like it so much.”

  “It’s totally delicious!”

  My mouth was full of food, so I was talking around the catfish, but I was pretty sure I got my point across.

  The two of us ate, me just stuffing my face because I was enjoying the meal immensely. After about ten minutes into dinner, we heard someone knocking at the door.

  I furrowed by brow and asked, “Are you expecting anyone?”

  Ashley shook her head. Hmm… I had no way of guessing who could be out there. I assumed it had to be a friend or a neighbor coming with a question. I got up and checked. Upon opening the door, I found that it was Michelle Harper-Lewis.

  “Mrs. Harper-Lewis! Um, what are you doing here? I mean, is everything okay?”

  If she came to my door, something must be up.

  “Oh, I’m so humiliated to be here. I know we aren’t the closest, to put it mildly, but I’m worried about Cooter.”

  She was worried about Cooter? Curious and entirely surprising.

  “Why don’t you come inside? We can sit, and I can get you something to drink?”

  She nodded, and I led her to the living room. While I was getting Michelle settled, Ashley came out from the kitchen.

  “Who was at the door?” she asked while coming into view. She stopped walking and talking when she saw me with Michelle. “Oh, hello, Mrs. Harper-Lewis.”

  Ashley was more than aware of my fraught relationship with the mayor’s wife. The situation came about because I had defended her in court. Michelle didn’t blame Ashley as much, but she still held a small amount of animosity towards her. But tonight, she was being rather nice. Probably because she came to us.

  “Ashley, I’m so sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”

  “No, don’t worry about it.” I could hear the complete confusion in Ashley’s voice. I probably looked the way she sounded. “We were just having a quiet evening at home. Let me get you a cup of tea.”

  Ash disappeared back into the kitchen. I sat down in the chair next to where Michelle was seated. She wasn’t saying anything, and I didn’t want to waste too much time, so I got the conversation started.

  “Is there something you wanted to tell me?” She nodded and took a deep breath.

  “I’m here because I’m afraid Cooter won’t get a fair shake in this investigation. Everyone in town looks at him as the local weirdo. He can be rather odd but he’s not capable of murder. He’s really a nice guy.”

  I didn’t know Michelle felt so strongly about Coot. I knew they had a working relationship, but maybe they were closer than I originally thought.

  “Did you know he was kicked out of the Army because he refused to fire a gun?” she asked me. “He abhors violence and lives his life as peacefully as possible. I mean, he’s principled.”

  I nodded.

  “I did know about his Army record.”

  I had done my due diligence and anything that was on the record was in my file. It might help, but it wasn’t nearly enough to get Coot off the hook.

  “Oh,” Michelle whispered softly.

  “It’s a helpful fact for his defense, but I need more,” I said.

  Just saying someone wouldn’t do something under normal circumstances was a weak defense. Crimes like this didn’t typically happen under normal circumstances.

  “Can I help?”

  “Actually, there is something you could help me with. I went through Lonny’s and Cooter’s arrest record and I saw that they had been charged with vandalism a few years back. However, the file was incomplete. I also heard that you were similarly charged around the same time. I think knowing what happened might help me put together a defense for Cooter.”

  Michelle’s eyes went wide, but then she went right back to normal. It seemed I surprised her with the information I had, but she didn’t get offended or anything. Just looked into her lap.

  “I didn’t know you knew about that.”

  “I’m just trying to get all the facts. Could you please tell me what happened?”

  She nodded and then looked up at me.

  Chapter Nine

  Thursday

  “Well, it was almost three years ago. Looking back at it, it’s kind of funny, but in the moment, boy, was it a mess. I was doing my sculptures back then too, but Cooter and I didn’t really know each other as well then. We’d spoken in passing kind of, but he liked to keep to himself. Whenever I tried to get materials from the dump, he’d always kick me out. That didn’t stop me though. I just kept going back day after day to see how much I could get away with before getting caught.”

  If there was one thing I could say about Michelle it was that she was dedicated to her art. A lot of people might not like it, but she wasn’t one to give up.

  “One day when I was hunting for objects, Cooter came out and, instead of kicking me out, he invited me in for tea. I was shocked. Word around town is always about how much Cooter doesn’t like talking to the other locals and he prefers his privacy, so I said yes, and the two of us sat and talked. We talked about art for hours. Apparently, Cooter was also an amateur sculptor like me and that was why he hated it when people just came into the junkyard and took things. He liked having first dibs.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Coot had never mentioned doing any kind of art and I’d never seen anything when I was at the dump. Admittedly, I never went there looking for these things, but the two of us had been getting closer, or so I thought, with our iPod swaps. But it was still early, so maybe he was just keeping it to himself for now.

  “He doesn’t talk about it much. If you walk through the junkyard and look closely, you’ll notice that some of the junk there isn’t junk, but something crafted. It is really well hidden though. It’s scattered about all over.”

  I told myself next time I got the chance, I’d take a look. Seemed like there was always something surprising to learn about Cooter Prescott.

  “But that day, Cooter also asked me about painting. Apparently, he and Lonny were planning to paint a mural on the First National Bank on Pear Street. They’d seen some of my paintings around town and Cooter told me he thought I was even better than John Goodstone. I’ll admit the compliment went to my head a little. I mean, John’s a painting teacher and I’ve always thought of him as the best in the area, but Cooter thought otherwise.”

  That was awfully nice of him to say. I’d never
taken the time to look at Michelle’s other art. Just because she wasn’t a good sculpture didn’t mean she wasn’t talented in other areas. Probably.

  “I was hesitant at first, but the more Cooter spoke, the more it made sense,” Michelle continued. “He described the whole world as a canvas. He said that in no corner of the world should art be forbidden. As artists, it was our job to leave these tangible marks that other people could look at and maybe draw inspiration from or change their day or simply give them something different from the day-to-day. Plus, he said if I helped him and Lonny out, I could dig through the dump anytime, unrestricted access, so I said yes. I did what they asked. Problem was, it turned out the dummies didn’t have permission and all of us ended up getting arrested. But it was really just a big misunderstanding. Lonny and Cooter just wanted to have a mural that they had a hand in starting in Appleton. I thought it was really admirable.”

  I remembered noticing that a portion of one of the bank’s outside walls had been painted with a large beige rectangle. I had never wondered why it was painted like that, but this explained it, so I knew. But…

  “What was the mural of?”

  Michelle giggled. “It was so cute,” she explained. “Lonny came up with the idea of painting a giant cartoon pig with a top hat, lighting a cigar with a hundred-dollar bill.”

  I could see why the bank might not be a big fan of having that on the side of their building, even if it was done well. I wondered what it actually looked like, but that wasn’t my biggest concern at the moment.

  After hearing Michelle’s story, I was impressed, as always, by her combination of narcissism and gullibility. When I first found out the she was involved in the vandalism charge with Lonny and Cooter, my impression of what had happened was very different from the truth. I didn’t even really have a fully formed theory, but it had barely crossed my mind that they were partners in crime.

  It actually made me feel a little warmer towards Michelle. Maybe we just got off on the wrong foot.

  “Thank you for telling me this. I want you to know that I also strongly believe in Cooter’s innocence. I will do everything I can to prove it.”

  “Thank you, Kari! I know a lot of people don’t like him – and I hate to admit I used to be one of them – but, after getting to know him, I realized that’s he’s a real sweetheart. I don’t want him to go down for something he didn’t do.”

  I reassured Michelle one last time. “I promise you I won’t give up.”

  At that moment, Ashley came into the living room with the drinks and some snacks.

  “The tea’s ready. I also got some cookies in case you were feeling a bit hungry.”

  Michelle looked between the two of us.

  “I’m sorry darling, but I have to get going. Thank you for the hospitality though.” And then she completely turned towards me. “Thank you again, Kari. I’m really counting on you.”

  I walked Michelle to the door and said goodbye to her. When I got back to the living room, I found Ashley sitting on the couch eating the cookies she had plated.

  “Hey, Ash.”

  I plopped down in the seat next to her and took a cookie off of the platter. It was chocolate chip, my favorite. We hadn’t finished our dinner, but we were adults and eating desert halfway through dinner was a choice we could make.

  “What did you and Michelle talk about?”

  “She came to tell me that she believes Cooter’s innocent and that she was worried that he would get an unfair trial.”

  Ashley sharply turned towards me with a cookie in her mouth.

  “Really?” she exclaimed, the words coming out a little mumble-y due to all the food in her mouth. She looked really cute, crumbs around her mouth, eyes wide in surprise. I liked this side of Ashley. Usually, she was so put together and graceful. And she still was most of the time, but now that I lived with her, I got to see the little slip-ups.

  “Yeah, apparently she’s kind of friends with Cooter. And Lonny. The three of them got into a spot of trouble a few years back after they decided to paint a mural on the First National Bank, but, surprise, they didn’t have permission, so everyone involved got arrested.”

  Ashley gasped rather loudly, her eyes managing to get even wider.

  “No way! The mayor’s wife got arrested! How come I never heard about this? And with Lonny and Cooter? This should have been in the news! Recorded in the town’s history books! Taught in our schools for generations!”

  I knew Ashley was being overly dramatic on purpose and it was hilarious.

  “Maybe they didn’t have to go that far, but the files were incomplete on Lonny and Cooter’s arrest record. I think the whole thing was swept under the rug because of Michelle’s involvement. Apparently, when she was arrested, the mayor barged into the firm, demanding that someone defend his wife. I wish I had been there to see it.”

  I wasn’t sure if I would have jumped at the chance to take that case but being a mere observer would have been enough.

  “So do I. So. Do. I,” Ashley emphasized, laughing.

  Ashley and I finished the plate of cookies so I was too full to finish the Catfish Cubion.

  “Ugh, Ash. My tummy is too full to finish the delicious meal you made. But it was so yummy…”

  “Don’t worry about it. We can keep it for leftovers. It’ll keep. Trust me.”

  Of course I trusted her. I’d need to make Ash dinner one of these days, or rather, learn to cook and then make her something. She was always cooking for me, even before I moved in with her. I’d have to scour the cookbooks to see if there was anything I could whip up.

  Also, I had the information I wanted concerning the vandalism. It came to me a lot easier than expected, not that I was complaining. It saved me a good amount of time. Tomorrow, I could go back to Cooter and catch him off-guard.

  He also knew about how fraught my relationship with Michelle was, so that’s probably why he thought it would be cheeky to recommend talking to her or Lonny. After her visit, I wasn’t sure if the two of us were still on bad terms, but it looked like with her opening the lines of communication, things might have been on the road to improvement.

  But back to Cooter, if I were to guess, I’d think he didn’t expect me to actually be able to get the details from her. I bet he thought I’d never be able to figure it out and come back knowing things that I wasn’t supposed to know.

  Ooo, I was going to give him a piece of my mind! I didn’t want to come across as overly smug or bitter, but I loved smashing people’s expectations. Cooter was about to get a whole lot of surprise for his next meal. I was getting just the tiniest amount of glee from the thought.

  Chapter Ten

  Friday

  It was finally the next morning, the morning I got to confront Cooter. I woke up and glided through my morning routine. Brushed my teeth, washed my face, quick shower, got dressed, breakfast, let Shortbread do his business, whatever else was needed and then out the door. I decided to stop by the Appleton Café to pick up two cups of coffee for Cooter and me. Ted could see the extra pep in my step.

  “What has you in such a good mood today?”

  “Oh, Theodore, I just woke up on the right side of the bed this morning, I guess.”

  He took my weird answer in stride, nodding with a slight smile on his face. He made me my two cups and bid me a goodbye.

  I got myself over to the jail and once again found myself in the back. Cooter was asleep when I walked in and I quietly put the cups down. Shortbread followed my lead, staying quiet himself.

  I tiptoed over to the bars and then, once I was there, took the pen I had in my pocket out and loudly ran it along the bars while yelling, “Hey, Cooter! Wake up! It’s your lawyer!”

  The poor guy woke up with a start, almost falling off of the bench he fell asleep on. I chuckled to myself, enjoying the bit of hardship I was putting him through.

  “Jesus, Kari. What was that for?”

  I didn’t get straight into it, instead, I picked up t
he cup of coffee I brought for him and handed it over. Cooter hesitantly took it from me before taking a slow sip.

  “Thanks, but, once again, what was all that noise for? I’m guessing you could see that I was asleep.”

  I still wasn’t talking, but rather moving around until I was sitting down, coffee in hand, taking a few sips of my own. I stared at him for a little longer, wanting him to squirm a little.

  Once a look of discomfort passed over his face, I narrowed my eyes and said, “Well, Cooter. I had a very interesting talk with Michelle Harper-Lewis last night. We were talking about things and other things and, somehow, we got on to the topic of you. And once we got to talking about you, a few shenanigans came up, namely that little vandalism charge that you, Lonny, and Michelle all shared.”

  I watched as Cooter listened to me talk. He barely flinched as I went on and on, but that didn’t discourage me. His silence was enough to tell me that he was not expecting this.

  “Anyway, Cooter,” I began accusingly, “why did you waste my time with running around going after this vandalism charge when you knew that it wasn’t even that big of a thing? If you had just come clean and told me what the whole thing was about, it wouldn’t have drawn so much of my attention.”

  My anger was finally coming out. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. At least Cooter looked a little sorry when I started getting worked up.

  “But now I’m curious,” I said. “What was the whole bank mural thing about anyway? What was your and Lonny’s endgame with that?”

  I was worried Cooter might clam up again. I did come at him with a lot of force, but I was angry. I could have been following other leads if he didn’t send me on that wild goose chase.

  “I’ll tell you because I can see you’ve really been doing your best for me and I feel kind of bad now.”

  Yes, finally! Mission accomplished.