by Sheri Richey
Conrad had fond memories of his time spent here and looked to see if the entry was still clear. He hoped to make time this spring to fish again. He hadn’t gone since Bing had passed away and he missed the easy relaxation those memories brought to his mind.
The overgrowth of weeds and bushes near the path off the circle showed tire treads pressed into the ground. Conrad turned his car to push through to the clearing. Rolling down the window, he aimed the spotlight at the lake. The front edge of a black flatbed trailer was sticking up out of the water. The lake was too unsettled for his light to penetrate so he couldn’t be sure, but he would bet the trailer full of fireworks had been released down the ramp and slipped into the water.
There were a few different ways he could handle this, so he analyzed his options. This wasn’t his jurisdiction, and he didn’t want to explain why he was here. Even more, he didn’t want to call Bobby.
Ultimately, he chose the one option that kept him out of the limelight and drove to Hazel’s house to wait patiently. When the young patrolman came out, he told him that he might want to check the boat launch area and left giving the deputy just enough information to stumble upon it himself. Heading back to Spicetown, he had one more place to check.
Chapter Three
Conrad’s cruiser floated down Paprika Parkway in silence. He had always loved patrol on the midnight shift when all the good people were tucked in at home and any motion detected was suspect. He missed the stealth-like movements a cruiser made down a dark deserted street. All the bad would scurry away in hiding only to be discovered when he circled back for a second look. Although working nights could bring rushes of adrenaline when things went awry, it was otherwise a calming time for him. He loved both the highs and the lows.
He turned to drift down Dill Seed Drive and saw the new street sign that Cora Mae had quickly resolved. She was a fixer of things. He had worried a little about working for her when she became the mayor. He hadn’t thought she would last, but he hadn’t really known Cora Mae Bingham back then.
Her husband, George Bingham, had hired Conrad, and they had worked well together. Seeing that old fishing hole off Eagle Bay had brought back good memories of Old Bing. He was well liked and had held the position of Mayor for decades before Conrad came to town. He had introduced Conrad to almost every citizen in town, followed by a funny story, a touching anecdote or an explanation of their family tree. Bing had supported Conrad in the decisions he made regarding the police force and became a friend who he greatly respected. He missed his friend.
After Bing’s death, Cora Mae retired from teaching and took Bing’s job as mayor, easily winning re-election at the end of the term. In hindsight, she might even be a better mayor than her late spouse and she was becoming just as good a friend.
Conrad’s headlights lit the driveway to Saucy’s house when Dill Seed Drive met Sage Street. The house was dark, but Saucy’s white truck was sitting in the driveway in front of the garage. Conrad killed his lights as he coasted into the drive behind it. Sliding out of the vehicle without shutting the door completely, he touched his hand to the back runner of the pickup and found it wet. Creeping around to the hood, he put his hand out and felt heat from the engine. The truck had been out tonight.
Conrad flinched as flood lights came on all around the house and Saucy flew out the side door.
“Oh, Chief! I’m so glad you got here. I’ve been hearing all kinds of things out here tonight and I just called Georgie. She told me to turn my lights on and someone would come by and check. You must have been really close. I don’t know why I didn’t have my lights on anyway. I know better. I just wasn’t thinking. It’s such a crazy night and these neighborhood kids are making me a nervous wreck. Did you see anyone? All this popping and snapping, I just can’t take it.”
“Take a deep breath, Saucy. It’s New Year’s Eve, and it’s almost midnight. The noises are probably going to get worse here in a bit, but it will pass. It’s too cold for you to be out here without a coat.”
“I can’t sleep until everything calms down. I wish people wouldn’t set off these fireworks. Aren’t they illegal? Can’t you stop them?”
“We try. We try to answer every call.”
“Why do people like those things? They’re horrible. Nothing good ever comes from them and they scare my little dog to death. I just hate them.” Saucy held up a finger while he slipped in the door and grabbed a jacket. “So, you didn’t see anything when you drove up? I know I heard something out here.”
“No, but I see you got your stop sign fixed. When did they do that?”
“Oh, yes. The mayor had it put up before I even got home tonight. I was so relieved.”
“You went out tonight?”
“Well, yes. Just for dinner, of course. It’s Tuesday and I always go to Ole’ Thyme on Tuesdays. And the sign was already up when I got home. Can you believe it? She works so fast.”
“Yes, I believe it,” Conrad shifted his feet against the gravel of the drive. “What time did you get home?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe 7:00 or so. It was still quiet outside at least then but it’s been unsettling since about 9:00. I didn’t want to call and bother you. I heard Wink, and I knew he was all the way out at Nutmeg Lane. I didn’t realize you were out patrolling tonight, too. I guess you had to with all the calls and the”
“Saucy, do you always leave your truck out? It’s not supposed to snow tonight, but you never know. You wouldn’t want it to get covered up.” Conrad had always seen Saucy’s truck inside the garage in the past.
“I don’t know why I didn’t put it up tonight. I’m just so rattled with all this.”
Conrad tapped the flat of his hand against the hood of the truck twice. “I’ve got to get going. It’s just about to hit midnight. You get inside and get warm.” Saucy was still nodding as Conrad backed out of the drive.
§
Conrad went into the office on New Year’s Day. There had been a few pity invites for family dinners from patrolmen, but he didn’t fit into those situations. For him there was only work and food. From the size of his belly he thought he needed to go to work.
Checking in with his skeletal holiday staff, he heard all the tales from their New Year’s Eve calls. One boy had been burned by improper handling of illegal fireworks, but there were no fatalities reported so he was happy to put the holiday behind him. The populace would never learn.
He’d been awake half the night thinking about his talk with Saucy but he wasn’t ready to share that with anyone yet, not even Wink. Conrad was surprised by the number of people out walking around town when he drove up, but it was a mild winter day with sunshine sneaking out through the clouds. Quite cheerful for a winter day and a nice change from the solid cloud cover they were used to in winter. Some small businesses were having sales beginning today, and it had drawn a good crowd.
Conrad strolled down Paprika Parkway passing City Hall and saw Cora’s car parked in the back. She was supposed to be off from work today, too. He might try talking to her about Saucy but he had to think on it a bit. Cora wasn’t law enforcement, and she had a different take on things than Wink. Wink would want to call the sheriff and that was the last thing Conrad wanted to think about.
He turned on Fennel Street and caught the rush of cold wind whipping down the sidewalk in front of the Fennel Street Bakery. When a patron walked out, the scent of cinnamon followed behind them. He would just get coffee and think on things a bit more. Pulling the door handle back, the warm yeast aroma of the bakery floated around him and like comfortable arms, it pulled him into the store.
Several of the small counter high tables that surrounded the walls were occupied, and he greeted those he knew but right in the center at a large round table sat Cora Mae Bingham with her glasses on her nose and her necklace chain dangling down while she furiously wrote in her leather binder. She was the queen of note taking and was constantly recording and organizing thoughts. She didn’t even look up when he approached.
“Can I warm up that coffee for you, ma’am,” Conrad said smiling. She was in another world of city planning and he saw he flustered her by interrupting.
Glancing up over the top of her glasses, a broad smile emerged. “Connie! I thought you might wander in here. Get yourself something and join me.”
“I don’t want to interrupt the re-invention of Spicetown.” She was always planning a makeover of every nuance of the town and had big dreams. It had been the topic of many conversations. Perhaps he’d unconsciously expected her to be here, too.
“Nonsense. I’ll just write you right into my plans.”
The warm smile was welcoming, and he went to the counter to order his coffee and maybe a muffin to go with it. Cora ran her fingers through her ginger-colored hair and quickly concluded her last note to herself. The list was endless and she would never run out of things to do.
“So, what committee are you signing me up for?” Conrad pulled out the chair next to Cora. “I’m up for anything. It’s a new year.”
“Well, I have a list of possibilities,” she said anticipating the teasing he would give her about her lists.
“As long as I don’t have to dress up in any silly costume, I’m game.”
Cora read her lists to him of all the many things she wanted to do and he listened intently. A question was coming.
“So, if you could only do two of these things, which two would you pick?”
“You will accomplish more than two things this year,” Conrad said.
“Unless I get hit by a truck, I hope so, but this question is to help me prioritize the list. I never get everything done so I have to work on the most important things first.”
“What would you do if you got everything done?” Conrad pulled his glasses out of his shirt pocket and took the list from her hand to review. It was too long for him to remember everything she read to him. “I don’t see anything about raises for all the police department employees on here.” He smiled as he looked over the top of his glasses at her.
“I consider that a fringe benefit and it’s on my list of things to do with found money.”
Conrad nodded, accepting that this was probably true. She would do something for his people if and when she could. She valued all of them.
“I think I’d put the renovation of the popcorn factory first because it would be revenue generating and then replace the sewer pipe before disaster hits.”
“A practical choice.” Cora took back her list and lifted her glasses from her neck chain. As the waitress warmed her coffee, she shuffled some papers back into her leather folder. “So, how did New Year’s Eve go? Was it quiet?”
“I wouldn’t call any New Year’s Eve quiet, but nothing burned down and we got through it.”
“That’s good news. Pretty sneaky of you to send Saucy to me at the end of the day.” Cora squinted her eyes and wrinkled her nose in mock frustration.
“You’re just sore I beat you to it.” Conrad winked, which made Cora smile and nod in agreement. “You got it done for him though. I saw it later that night. Where did Saucy go when he left your office?”
“I don’t know. I went home, and he didn’t say he was going anywhere. Why? Wasn’t he home last night?”
“Later, before midnight he was there, but I think he was out earlier. Just wondered if he mentioned anything.”
“Nope, not a thing to me. I heard the county had to cancel their fireworks display. The radio mentioned it this morning, but I didn’t catch what happened. Did you hear anything about it?”
“Yeah, I heard it was called off,” Conrad looked around the room for someone to greet or acknowledge. He wasn’t going to spread tales about Bobby’s embarrassing night. Cora would eventually find out on her own. “Saucy was sure jumpy last night,” Conrad said smiling. “Holidays always make him nervous.”
“He’s gotten worse as he’s gotten older. The neighborhood boys taunting him doesn’t help.” Conrad stared across the room when the details of the prior evening filled his mind again.
“I think he has a lot of fears and feels vulnerable being alone. When he was married, he would have run outside and scared those kids off, but now he’s afraid they will retaliate.”
“Did his wife die?”
“No, she just ran off. It’s been probably twenty years ago or more now. I guess they divorced, and she moved away. I didn’t know him well back then, and he never talks about it. Seems like she had a child, a girl, but it wasn’t Saucy’s.”
Conrad glanced at his vibrating phone and saw Wink’s name. Using the call to excuse himself, he paid at the counter and headed back to the office, wishing Cora a good day.
Listening to the voice mail as he walked back, Wink was just calling to invite him over again. Wink wasn’t working today, and he didn’t want Conrad to spend all day at the office. Pizza and football didn’t sound bad, but he wasn’t ready to talk about last night yet, so he thought it best to just keep to himself today. He did want to know whether or not the submerged trailer had held the fireworks. Dispatch should know that much, so he headed back to the office.
Saucy was such a stickler for following laws and rules. Could Saucy have stolen the fireworks? You had to be pretty daring to do something like that and that just didn’t describe Saucy. He had been somewhere though and hadn’t been home long. He had lied about it when Conrad asked, so he was hiding something. He hated fireworks so maybe he just went to the display to complain about them and saw a chance to ruin them. If he was passionate enough about it, he might have done it.
As he walked by Ivy’s Oils & Organics, he saw Saucy through the window at the side counter talking to Denise Ivy. It seemed an odd place for him since it sold mainly essential oils and soaps, but there was no one else in the store that he could see. Denise lived near Saucy and the neighborhood kids harassed her, too. They called her a witch and said she sold magic potions. She had reported some vandalism around her house. Maybe they were talking about that. Conrad needed to tell Wink to increase patrols in their area for a while.
Walking back to the office, Conrad looked for a newspaper but the sidewalk rack was empty. Maybe there wasn’t a paper printed today because it was a holiday. He wasn’t sure but walked in the side door of the police department and headed for dispatch.
“Hey Georgie. Did we get a paper today? Do they even print one today?”
Before she could answer, she got a radio call and Conrad had to wait. He looked around the office and shuffled papers thinking today’s paper might be covered up under there somewhere.
“What’s up, Chief?” Georgia said when she finished her call.
“Did you ever hear anything more about the county fireworks situation last night? Did they find them? Or did they send any follow-up information out?”
“Nope. I haven’t heard a thing.”
“Okay, thanks,” Conrad said as he headed back down the hall to his office and removed his coat. Surely if they had found the fireworks, they would have released that in the news, even if they didn’t have a suspect. Maybe he’d been wrong and that trailer hitch in the lake wasn’t from the flatbed of fireworks. The next time he got out, he was going to drive out there and see if it was still there.
He took off his coat and sat down at his desk to check online for news.
“Hey, Chief,” Wink said as he rounded the corner of Conrad’s office door with his dog, Hank. “I thought I’d find you here.”
Conrad regretted not calling him back. Hank pulled at the leash to try to reach Conrad. When he nodded, Wink dropped the leash and let him lunge at the Chief for a vigorous scratch behind the ears. If Wink wasn’t working, he had Hank with him and Hank had always loved Conrad.
“Hey. What brings you up here?” Conrad knew the answer, of course. Wink didn’t know what to do when he wasn’t working either.
“Just coming to town for a few things. Did you get my message? Want to knock off this afternoon and watch the game?”
“I just got your
message. I was out getting breakfast. I think I’m going to stick around here most of the day. I don’t really care for either team so I’m going to skip it this year I think.”
Wink nodded and shuffled his feet with his hands in his coat pockets.
“Do they print a paper on New Year’s Day?” Conrad looked up and saw Wink perplexed. “I looked for one on Fennel Street and couldn’t find one. There’s not one in dispatch either. Maybe they don’t print one today.”
“Maybe not,” Wink said. “Did you hear back from Sheriff Bell on that fireworks thing last night?”
“No, didn’t hear anything more.” Conrad didn’t want to go there with Wink. He could always wiggle himself into Conrad’s thoughts and he wasn’t ready to share his concerns yet. “I went home about 1:00am. Anything happen much after that?”
“No, it quieted down pretty quick. Lots of folks went to the county display, and they went home peacefully once they came back. I did see something odd before midnight though that I wanted to run by you.”
“Sure thing. Have a seat,” Conrad said as he removed his glasses and stretched back in his chair, glancing at his coffee maker with longing.
“When you called me and told me what the Sheriff said, I got to thinking. I saw a white truck in the alley earlier that night, but when I went back, it wasn’t there anymore. I thought it odd when I saw it, but there’s nothing illegal about parking. It was that alley off Clove Street, but I can’t remember what time. It was dark, but it was before you called me. I’m pretty sure it was a Ford truck. Did the Sheriff say what make the truck was?”
“No, I don’t even know the source. It may not have been a solid lead.” Could it have been Saucy? The alley off Clove Street ran behind the stores on Fennel Street and Tarragon Street. All of those stores closed at 5:00. Nothing would have been open after Wink’s shift began, but it might be a store owner or delivery coming in after closing.
