“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 the 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.
“So, Lonny, John, and I were so sick of seeing Michelle’s hideous artwork all over Appleton. If she wasn’t the mayor’s wife, then no one would ever display her stuff. Everyone in town knows this, but no one says anything because it’s what the mayor wants.”
Oh, so Cooter wasn’t a fan of Michelle’s painting… That was a little unfortunate for her.
“So, the three of us hatched a plan in the hopes of embarrassing her enough into stopping. John knew that she was dumb as rock and that the best way to manipulate her was through her massive ego.”
I had to admit, that was true. A little mean and blunt, but true.
“So, yeah, John came up with the whole Art Revolt, the streets are the people’s canvas, artists are the beautifiers of the world, blah blah blah. I fed that nonsense to Michelle and she fell for it hook, line, and sinker. We got her to paint the mural and I guess you know the rest.”
Ooo, that was mean-spirited, but I could understand the desire to bring Michelle down a peg. She definitely thought rather highly of herself even though she hadn’t really earned it. I would wager a guess that people throughout her life just complimented her since she was a part of one of Appleton’s most prominent families and then marrying the mayor added more fuel to the fire because no one wanted to get on his bad side and he’d do anything to please his wife. A vicious cycle. But wait just a second…
“You said John?” I asked and Cooter nodded. “Are you talking about John Goodstone?”
“Yeah, we were all bowling buddies and fellow art lovers.”
I couldn’t imagine John doing something so underhanded. He always seemed so quiet and unassuming. Did he really come up with the entire plan? I wasn’t doubting Cooter’s recount of events, but it was just taking me a bit of time to comprehend it all.
“Interesting.”
“I guess,” he shrugged. “The entire thing backfired, anyway. Lonny and I were ready to sweat out the vandalism charge for thirty days or so. We’d been arrested before and we just didn’t think of it as a big deal, but the oily mayor got involved and made everything go away before any of it could go public. John was livid. I mean, he didn’t even get into any trouble, but he hasn’t spoken to me since. And to top it all off, Michelle was actually ‘inspired’ by the whole thing and now even more of her art is on display in the town than before. And I had to keep my promise to her. There was no way Lonny and I would admit the plan and risk the wrath of the mayor or her. So, she rifles through my dang dump whenever she wants.”
He sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. I found the entire tale to be highly amusing. It made for a great story.
“I can’t believe you guys went to all that trouble and, in the end, it didn’t even work out. I’m guessing you all learned your lesson?”
Cooter shrugged. I was sure they did. Cooter seemed to keep to himself.
“It was whatever. It was meant to be a bit of fun that would hopefully lead to something beneficial for my friends and me. I just try to ignore the statues when I’m in town, so did Lonny. I don’t know what John does.”
I shook my head. I couldn’t be angry at him anymore. Maybe he didn’t want to tell me because he was embarrassed by how much the plan failed. They were actually part of the reason why Michelle had so many statues in town. She was probably living by the motto Cooter taught her – that artists were here to make the world their canvas and such.
I wondered how he maintained the lie now. From the way Michelle talked, she really thought they were friends. She probably chalked up his indifference to his oddness. And he still let her go through the dum
p, a privilege no one else had. I did feel a little bad for her, but she didn’t know about the trick, so ignorance really was bliss for her. In the end, it just ended up being a funny story that I got to hear years after the fact.
I was happy that I got the full story finally and it was a good retold tale, but it ended up not being helpful really. At least I knew that I didn’t have to explore that avenue anymore, but I wasn’t any closer to solving Cooter’s case. I had to go back to the beginning and reevaluate what I knew in order to know where I should go next.
“Well, thanks for the very amusing tale, Coot. I have to get going back to work and all. I promise to come and visit you again soon. Enjoy the coffee.”
He gave me a small salute and I gathered my things.
I was about to leave, but then stopped myself. “I forgot to ask if you liked the playlist I made?”
“I did. You really tuned into my kind of music.”
I got a big smile on my face. I really wanted to impress Cooter and even though he was in jail and even though he had frustrated me to the moon, I still got a bit of excitement from making a great playlist.
I said goodbye to him and then Shortbread and I left.
Chapter Eleven
Friday
After I left the Sheriff’s station, I ran off to work. I wasn’t late or anything, but I didn’t want to waste any time. I was sitting with Shortbread in my office and I had all the files I needed stacked up on my desk. I realized there wasn’t much else I could do concerning Cooter’s case right then.
Maybe Cranston was right, and I should just let the cops do their job. Getting Cooter out of jail wasn’t really a priority. He kind of wanted to be there. Like he said, spending a few days in jail wasn’t such a big deal to him. Ash had been another whole story. Every day there for her felt horrible, but Cooter made it seem like a vacation. I could just work on getting the charges dropped or getting Cooter acquitted, which was the job I actually volunteered for. If I focused on that more, I wouldn’t be so pressed for time and I could actually start working on this in my off hours.
Kari Jacobs Box Set Page 23
