Smoke Stack

by Andrew Gruse

  And he knew Julie would work her magic before he got downstairs.

  Julie smiled and sat across from Molly as Molly handed a steaming mug of coffee to Julie.

  “Is Zack coming down or going to sleep? I heard you two were up all night,” Molly said.

  Julie smiled. “He’ll be down. He can’t sleep around the smell of coffee.”

  The rear of the house in that corner, the southwest, was mostly windows, and they viewed Molly’s expansive backyard. It was manicured with several bird feeders, and birdbaths about it intermingled with plots of wildflowers and berry-producing shrubs.

  “Your backyard is beautiful, Molly,” Julie said. Julie spotted a pair of active nuthatches flying back and forth from a feeder, each time snatching a seed or peanut and retreating to a tree or part of the house where the bird hid it for later. Julie wondered if the birds ever retrieved their cache.

  “Thanks. I love attracting birds and butterflies. Keeps me active in the summer. There isn’t much else to do around here, so birds it is.”

  “Oh my God,” Julie smiled, “Zack loves birds. Don’t get him started. He’ll talk your ear off.”

  Molly smiled. “I know. We met a couple of days ago. He told you, right?”

  Julie nodded. “He did. He doesn’t keep anything from me,” she said. “How did you end up here?” Julie picked up her coffee and held it beneath her nose to sniff it.

  “Where do I begin?”

  “The beginning.” Julie was smart and patient. She also was great at getting people to talk. Molly told her how she became a teacher at the Clyde High School, and that got them to the present.

  Zack appeared from their new upstairs residence fully-dressed. The two women smiled at Zack, and he sat next to Julie. Without hesitation, Molly filled a mug with coffee and set it in front of Zack.

  “Do you like cream or sugar with your coffee?” Molly asked.

  Zack smiled and looked at Julie. “Neither,” he said.

  Julie grinned a devilish grin, and Zack understood.

  He sighed. “Did I interrupt anything?”

  “Molly was just telling me how she got here,” Julie said.

  Zack pushed the coffee in front of Julie. Molly saw and looked confused.

  “I’m sorry, did I do something wrong?” Molly asked as if she were at fault.

  Julie smiled. “I’m sorry, Molly. That was my fault.” She laughed. “Zack hates coffee. It’s a game we play. Don’t worry about it. I’ll drink it.”

  Molly smiled after seeing Zack shake his head. “What can I get you?”

  “Bourbon. Neat.”

  “He’ll have water,” Julie corrected him.

  “Where were we?” Zack said, disappointed that there was no bourbon heading his way.

  “How about Sheriff Orbison,” Julie said. “What’s his story?”

  Molly sat back. “Barney?”

  “Yeah. When did you meet him?”

  Molly leaned on the counter with both hands on her mug. “Ten years ago. He’s always been really nice and helpful to me. I think it’s because despite his family living here and owning things like the diner and motel and bar at the end of town, he’s considered an outsider like me, and it’s kind of hard to assimilate when things are like that.”

  Julie nodded. “Zack thinks Barney has a crush on you. Did you ever date?”

  “I know he does. I considered it. I mean, my first couple of years here, I concentrated on teaching, so I didn’t want a social life, but then about eight years ago, I realized I didn’t want to be an old, single teacher with three cats and no life,” she laughed. “But anyway, about the same time, the molesting charges came out with Dick Miller. I hated that man. Such a pig,” she said.

  “Really? How so?”

  Molly crossed her arms. “Well, Barney was courting me, I think, but the child abuse charges happened. It was a big deal. The town drunk was a possible serial rapist, but Barney couldn’t get the proof, and of course, Dick Miller had money and a good lawyer, so he was free on the street. A kid went missing and was found dead in the woods. It was clear the kid was raped and murdered, but there was no evidence to link the murder to Dick. So the serial rapist graduated to murder but was free.”

  “Did you ever meet him?”

  “A few times. The last time I was walking down Main Street. I heard the rumble of his truck; everyone knew the sound of that truck.”

  “You mean the one that drove through Zack and my room this morning?”

  Molly cringed. “Yeah, that’s scary.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Molly nodded. “It stopped behind me. He got out, walked up to me, and tried talking. I wanted nothing to do with him. He smelled of stale liquor and cigarettes and the worst BO you could imagine. His teeth looked like he lost a fight with a chain-linked fence and coal ash, and his eyes were so yellow. Clearly, his liver was suspended in 100-proof alcohol. If looking at him wasn’t enough to make a person sick, smelling him sure was. Anyway, I walked away, and he grabbed me. I tried to fight him, but he kept grabbing me and saying disgusting things to me.”

  The story made Julie shake. Her own incident with the late Senator Michael Rosler ran through her mind. Guilt, fear, rage, and shame overwhelmed her. Zack noticed Julie tense and rubbed her back.

  “I knew if he got me in that truck, I was going to be raped and possibly murdered. Luckily for me, he was drunk, like usual, and I was able to get an arm free and punch him in the crotch, and when he wouldn’t let go, I grabbed his balls, squeezed and twisted. He yelped like a dog that just got hit by a car, let me go and I ran as fast as I could.” Molly paused and shook off a quick body-shiver to get the thought off her mind. “I went straight to the sheriff.” Molly went silent and drank her coffee.

  Julie waited, and the chill of her own experience slowly dissipated. A pair of Cardinals sat at a platform feeder eating sunflower seeds, and a small bird flitted about the yard. Zack watched a House Wren flit from a wildflower area to another.

  “And then what? Did you date Barney after that? For safety?” Julie asked.

  Molly finished her coffee. “No, I never did date him.” She stopped and finished her coffee. “Are you hungry?” Molly asked. “You two must be starving. How about an omelet?”

  Julie smiled. “Ok, that sounds great.” She looked at Zack and nodded to tell him that was the plan.

  Zack stood from the chair at the island and left the room. He went outside, came back inside, and carried a bottle of Pepsi. He saw the disapproving look from Julie. “It’s either this or bourbon. Since I’m not sleeping, it’s this.”

  Molly stopped, embarrassed. “OH, that’s right! You must be exhausted,” she said. “I’m so sorry. You probably want to get some sleep.”

  Julie laughed it off. “No, I can’t sleep. Look at my hands,” she held one up, and it trembled slightly. “I’m still wired from this morning, and he won’t be able to sleep. Let’s get cooking.”

  The two worked in the kitchen toward making a veggie omelet with whole-wheat toast. Zack stood at the window after being told he’d only get in the way and watched the yard for birds.

  “What happened with Barney? You said you didn’t date him.” Julie asked.

  “Well, the next day I think, Barney went out to talk to Dick and found him dead.”

  “So, Dick, the drunk suddenly found his conscience and ended it all out of guilt?” Zack asked.

  Molly nodded. “I guess.” She let out a slow breath. “In any case, I couldn’t get myself to date Barney after that.”

  “Why not?”

  “I don’t know, Julie. You tell me: isn’t it quite a coincidence that the day after the man attacks me, he turns up dead?”

  Zack turned from the window and sat at the island again. “That is quite a coincidence.”

  “You think Sheriff Orbison did it?” Julie looked at Zack.

  Molly shrugged. “Makes sense. There was not enough evidence to lock Dick up for murder or raping those boys, but
everyone knew he was guilty. I mean, what kind of a sick bastard rapes little boys? Disgusting, worthless human. Whatever happened to him, he deserved it. But still, the day after he attacks the girl the sheriff has a crush on, he’s found with his head blown off by a shotgun? And no one saw, and no one went to that house with the sheriff.”

  I wonder what the M.E.’s report says? I wonder if they even have one. “Oh.” Julie picked her cell phone off the table and started a text. I know exactly who can help me with this. Julie sent a text to Michelle and apologized to Molly. She finished, looked at Zack, who nodded.

  “I just couldn’t get myself to date someone who may have murdered another person, even if that person were the biggest scumbag on the planet, just because of me.” She looked at Julie, expecting a judging look. “You know what I mean?”

  I guess we are different that way. “I do, believe it or not.” Julie looked at Zack. He looked at the floor. I wonder if Zack is thinking the same thing I am. He never told me, but I know he killed Senator Rosler. “Orb told us that six kids went missing and only a couple were found dead and a little girl escaped but never could identify who or where. Were there other kids that escaped?”

  Molly nodded. “There were nine that I know of if you include the kids from Hobby and Earlsville. One escaped. And then, until Derek, at least here in Clyde, it all stopped when Dick Miller, the vilest piece of garbage I’ve ever known, died. That’s not a coincidence. It makes me sick just thinking about it.”

  “How long has Weber been the coach here?”

  Molly thought. “Um, I think he started a couple of years before I did. I think he got this job right after college. He played football, coached there a year or two, and then got this one.”

  Zack nodded and wished he had rum or something to mix with the Pepsi. After being awake for over twenty-four hours, it was time for a drink and to sleep. “The missing kids coincided with Weber being here?”

  Molly stared at Zack. She and apparently no one else had ever considered that. “Shit. I think so.”

  “Did he ever show any interest in you?” Zack asked.

  Molly shook her head. “Believe it or not, I actually asked him out once. He said no.”

  Julie laughed. Molly added cut-up veggies to the omelet. “Why? What kind of a guy wouldn’t want a woman as gorgeous as you?”

  Molly put down an empty bowl and looked at Julie with a strange look.

  “What? What does that look mean?”

  “A single guy in a small town rejects an offer to date one of the few single women in this town. You tell me, what kind of a guy would do that?” To Molly, it was rhetorical.

  Zack shook his head. “One that prefers little boys.”

  Molly shrugged with a look over her shoulder as she spun to the sink. “You never heard that from me.”

  CHAPTER 24

  The storms returned to Clyde by mid-day. After breakfast, the three cleaned and went to a room behind the kitchen that Molly had built on as a four-seasons room. With the three outside walls all windows, she could see almost her entire backyard without having to deal with the elements.

  “It’s so beautiful back here,” Julie said as she nestled into a comfortable plush chair. Julie watched the restless Zack. Sitting around and talking about the history of Clyde wore on his nerves. None of it helped to find Derek Willows, and the seventy-two-hour window had passed.

  Zack stood and stared out into the yard but wasn’t watching anything.

  “Cost me a fortune to add on, but it was worth it,” Molly said. “I spend a lot of time out here in the spring, summer, and fall.” She looked at Zack. “Do you see anything, Zack?”

  Zack heard his name and spun around. “What? Oh. Uh, no. How old was that Dick Miller guy, do you know? Were he and Weber in the same class about?”

  “Gosh, I don’t know,” Molly said.

  Zack looked at Julie. “Jules, I’m going to call Michelle.”

  “I sent her a text.”

  Zack nodded. “I’m sorry. I can’t sit still. I have to do something. I’ll be right back.” He left the room and disappeared upstairs.

  The worry in Julie’s eyes was apparent, but she said nothing. She took a deep breath, looked at Molly, and forced a smile. “Cases like this do that to him,” she explained.

  “Is he,” Molly trailed off, not sure if it were her fault or if there were something she could do.

  Julie shook her head and smiled wider. “Oh no, Molly. It’s not you. That’s the way he gets. It makes me worry, but you shouldn’t. So, now that it’s just us girls tell me about the school. What’s going on there? I did some research the other day and learned a lot about the history here. It seems like some major changes are coming.”

  Molly laughed. “You mean since it’s ash?” She shrugged. “I have an early spring break this week, thanks to that. Who knows where I’ll be teaching next week.”

  “What about the long term? Doesn’t sound positive,” Julie said.

  Molly shook her head. “You know what? That is a discussion that will need alcohol. You want a mimosa? That sounds deliciously decadent right now.”

  Julie smiled. “Sure. That does sound good.”

  * * * *

  Zack was on his phone the second he entered the bedroom designated for him and Julie. She answered on the second ring.

  “Good morning. Dre-Zack Detective Agency. How may I direct your call?”

  Zack smiled. “Funny, Michelle. Real funny.”

  “I got the text from Julie. Are you calling to see if I did it yet? Are you going to yell at me?”

  Zack exhaled. “I said I was sorry. Actually, I need you for something different right now. This town is whacked if you ask me. There’s like 9 people that live here, and half of them are pedophiles. It’s bizarre.”

  Michelle chuckled. “I love it when you combine gross-generalization and over-dramatic estimation. I haven’t forgiven you yet, by the way. And Ronald is about to dump me because you have been demanding all of my time. So, why did you call this time?”

  “I can’t find the kid. I’m thinking the worst. It just started raining again, and other than a large parcel of the haunted forest, I don’t know where to look for him.” Zack went to the window and watched the rain blow sideways. A strong gust of wind pelted the raindrops against the windowpane.

  “What about the sheriff? That’s his job, isn’t it?”

  “He’s more lost than I am,” Zack said. “Plus, I’m not sure yet of his allegiance.”

  “Uh-oh, you thinking another bad cop?”

  Zack hesitated. “I don’t think so. I think this guy is a good one. But the town is way different than we’re used to.”

  Michelle was silent.

  “Listen, I’m sure I could do this, but you know how I hate research,” Zack said. “Can you get me the history of that loser Tim Weber from here in Clyde. I need to know if there are any connections between him and another loser named Dick Miller. About ten years ago, when kids started to go missing here in Clyde is what I’m hoping for,” he said.

  “What kind of messed up town did you find? Jesus Christ, Zack,” Michelle said. “On it. You want to know what else I found?”

  “Please. I’m sorry about Ronald the FBI Guy. Explain how I am. Maybe he’ll relax.”

  “I did. Ron thinks I should quit and find another job.”

  Zack silenced. It felt like a dagger pierced him.

  “Don’t worry. I already told Ronald you owe me way too much for me to quit now. Maybe in ten years or so. Anyway, here’s what I got from Derek’s computer. Derek was in love with the coach but is now suspicious of Weber’s motives. Weber got Derek the scholarship. Derek is suspicious that Weber only did that to keep Derek quiet about their affair that started when Derek was thirteen. Zack, the kid has been molested, you understand that right? And Weber has used his position to effectively brainwash Derek to get him to do whatever Weber wants whenever he wants. Disgusting is a very tame word to use.”

  �
��I met the guy yesterday,” Zack said. “I got a bad vibe from him and almost beat his ass.”

  “Be careful. People like him are dangerous when cornered. But Weber lied to you about being at Truman State. He never got an interview. The college’s athletic department told me he never was on their radar and never got a first look.”

  Zack watched outside the window. “Interesting. Did he tell Derek he turned down the job at state?”

  “Yes. Weber told Derek about a couple of other jobs, but I checked, and they were all lies. He was manipulating that poor kid, I think, just to get his jollies off. I almost want you to beat him half to death. Anyway, Derek has this all cataloged chronologically deep in his computer. He may have been preparing to expose the rather illegal relationship they had. It’s very detailed. He even describes how Weber made Derek keep a relationship with a girl named Brittany for appearances.”

  “I think Brittany benefitted from that arrangement anyway,” Zack said.

  “Side action, I’m guessing,” Michelle said. “Derek went to the high school to meet with Weber. He sent a text to Brittany at 10:17, saying he wouldn’t take long. That was the last text he sent out, and you know the phone disappeared thirty-five minutes later.”

  “You have him saying that’s who he met?”

  “Not in the text, but in his computer diary, it’s in black and white, Zack. Unless Derek composed this diary to destroy Weber’s life, it’s all right here.”

  “Maybe Derek told Weber his plan, and Weber stuffed him in an oil drum before the school burnt down.”

  “That’s rather disturbing, even for you.”

  “Kind of a vibe around here.”

  “Zachary, Jules told me you feel guilty about some guy dying in that farm fire. She thinks you believe you could have saved him.”

  “What else does she tell you?”

  “More than she used to. I checked, Zack. The coroner there said the guy, Bertram Johnston had a heart attack and likely was dead long before the fire. The coroner is the son of the Mayor of Clyde. Convenient, huh?”

  Zack was silent.

  “I also tracked the widow and the family to a town called Woodstock, Illinois. You want to talk to them?” Michelle waited. “Zack, are you there?”