“Ricky,” Nora said. “Ricky the Roadie. What are you doing out of jail?”
“Who are you?” Ricky asked, looking frightened.
“I was there that day, when Wallis was berating you about breaking his guitar,” Nora said. “You were desperate for a job. Interesting conversation you were having.”
“I… that…” Ricky was sweating all over. “That was my agent from New York. I’ve got a CD that I’m selling.”
“Really?” Nora cocked her head. “So you got out of jail and came all the way here into the woods where no one could hear you, just to have a conversation with your agent in New York?”
“Yes,” Ricky said defiantly. “I know you. I recognize you. You’re the chef, right? Nora.”
“That’s me. But not to change the subject… what’s his name? Your agent,” Nora asked. “I used to live in New York. I had friends who were active on the music scene. I’d probably find out about him fast.”
“I… did I say New York? That was my old agent. This guy is from Chicago.” Ricky was still stammering.
“Ricky, drop the act. It’s not cute. You’re barely fifteen, aren’t you? Who were you really talking to?”
“What business is it of yours anyway?” Ricky demanded. “Are you just a snooper?”
“I’m concerned about you,” Nora said. “You seem like a nice kid who just needs a break. I’m trying to help you stay away from the wrong path.”
“I can help myself, thanks,” Ricky said, trying to brush past her.
Nora caught him by the shoulder. “Not so fast. You haven’t answered a single question of mine.”
“I got the right not to,” Ricky said aggressively. “I know my rights. I know I am just a dumb kid to you, but I’m still covered by the law. I’m a citizen.”
“Goodness, you’re touchy,” Nora said. “Look, I’ve got your best interests in mind when I say I think you should go talk to the cops. Tell them the truth.”
“They tried to pin it on me,” Ricky said, rage in his voice. “Can you imagine that? Those dumb hicks tried to say I was the one that killed Wallis. I wouldn’t even mind if I had, and I wanted to, when he got me fired. I wanted him dead. But… I didn’t kill him.”
“No. I know you didn’t,” Nora said.
“I’m weak,” Ricky said angrily. “That’s the problem. I’m so weak. Everyone just thinks they can push me around. That horrible cop, pretending to be kind, trying to get me tangled in my own words. He offered me coffee, then asked me all nice and normal like, if I hadn’t hated Wallis. Of course I said no. He just wanted a yes out of me so he’d have a nice signed confession and one more case ticked off.” Ricky shook his head. “Well, I’m not such a pushover. I got a layer of steel buried under all this flab.”
“Ricky, the cops were just trying to get to the truth. No one wanted to pin the murder on you.”
“Oh yeah? Then how come they made me stay overnight behind bars? I only got free in the morning because they had no evidence to keep holding me. Still, that deputy warned me I better not cross county lines or they’d arrest me. Tried to con me. I’ve been to juvenile once before and I’m not going back.”
“Ricky, calm down,” Nora said. “Come on, calm down now. It’s all right. I believe you. I know you didn’t kill Wallis, but I believe you saw who did.”
Ricky angrily shrugged her arm off. “How dare you!” he shouted. “How dare you say that?” But there was a note of alarm in his voice that Nora could immediately detect.
People were a little bit like a complex recipe. Sometimes they tried to fool you into believing there was no artificial preservatives added to them, but a trained chef could always hunt out the slightest note that indicated otherwise. The true palate could always tell the difference between fresh and stale, and in humans, between truth and lie.
“Why are you lying to me, Ricky?” she asked. “Who are you trying to protect, or extort?”
“I’m out of here,” Ricky said. “And if you try and tell anybody what you heard, I’ll just say you’re a liar. They won’t believe you either. I know what people in town think of you. They think you’ve gone mad, that you’re depressed since your best friend died, and you’re just looking for ways to self-destruct.”
Nora stepped back, unprepared for his violent tongue.
“That’s right.” Ricky smiled. “You’re a freak, Nora. Everyone in town thinks so.”
Nora resisted the urge to hit Ricky, and instead, calmly said, “You’re coming to town with me, Ricky. I think the sheriff’s office will be interested in a chat with you again.”
*****
Chapter 15
Ricky tried hard to escape, but Nora’s grip on him was firm as she led him back into town. The young boy really was weak. Although he was tall, he was skinny enough that Nora could overpower him easily.
No, she thought, he did not have the build of a murderer.
Then again, it didn’t take much of a build to hit someone in the head from behind. A coward’s murder technique, but of course, all murderers were cowards in some way.
“Let me go!” Ricky protested, over and over. “I’ll sue you for a million dollars. See if I won’t! This is an assault!”
“Keep your voice down if you know what’s good for you,” Nora hissed, as they walked through town.
“Hey! Let that kid alone!” a voice called out.
Nora turned around and saw Alan standing there, his features distorted by an ugly smile.
Ricky gulped.
“Alan. You got a problem?” she asked.
“Sure I do,” Alan said. “You’re sheriff, sorry, ex-sheriff’s girl, aren’t you? What are you doing lording it over a poor innocent boy like this? Let him go.”
“I’m taking him to the police,” Nora said.
“They released him already,” Alan said. “Didn’t have the evidence to hold him.”
“Well, maybe I got new evidence,” Nora said. “Get out of my way, Alan.”
“You want to watch how you talk,” Alan scowled. “After all, your boyfriend isn’t sheriff anymore.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Nora said.
“Ooh,” Alan squealed with laughter. He slapped the shoulder of one of his friends. “You hear that, Petey? Sean’s not her boyfriend.”
“Alan, let it go, man,” Petey said. “Leave her and the kid alone.”
“Sure I will,” Alan said. “After I ask my own questions.”
Ricky trembled as Alan approached him, and put a meaty hand around his throat. “Well, how about it, Ricky? Did you murder Wallis? He was a good friend of mine, you know.”
“Let him go,” Nora said. Up close, fumes of Jack Daniels’ seemed to erupt from Alan’s mouth. She pushed at Alan, and he stumbled backwards, then fell on his bottom in the street. His friends, always cultured, broke up into peals of laughter. They pointed at him and clutched their sides, as he struggled to get up.
Nora offered him her hand, and he slapped it aside, moving first on his knees, and then lifting his bulky frame up. “You made a big mistake,” he said to her.
“Ricky, come on,” Nora said, still keeping the tight grip she had on Ricky’s shoulders. She pushed him onwards and began moving up the street.
It was 3 pm and the street was fairly crowded, crowded enough that Alan wouldn’t be stupid and try anything funny.
It didn’t stop him from shouting at her, though.
“Yeah, go on. Go on and try to rescue your little boyfriend. I’ll see him hang for his crimes, see if I don’t. He was always acting so pious, and so are you. I bet this isn’t the first person he’s murdered, either. It was always convenient how you blamed someone for Raquel’s murder. I bet you and Sean set it up somehow.” Alan was babbling now, and his friends surrounded him, trying to get him off the street.
Nora’s face burned, but she refused to turn around.
“Who was Raquel?” Ricky asked.
“My friend,” Nora said. “My childhood best friend. Never mind
what that Neanderthal says.”
“I’m sorry,” Ricky said. “About what he said, I mean. Also, I’m sorry about what I said. I called you a freak and I shouldn’t have.”
Nora looked down, surprised.
“I had a brother,” Ricky said. “He wasn’t my real brother. He died in the foster home we were put in. That’s when I ran away. My point is I know how it feels. Those idiots will pretend to be friends with each other but they’ll never get it, true friendship.”
Nora smiled. “It’s rarer than gold, I think.”
“Yeah,” Ricky said. “I wish every day that I could get Henry back. But I guess… I got to do what he wanted. I got to get rich and get my life together. That’s why I ran away. I ran away to become a musician.”
“Are you good at it?” Nora asked.
“Very,” Ricky said. “I’m the next Zany Motts. I’m the next Elvis.”
Nora wanted to laugh but she looked in his eyes, and saw how serious he looked.
“Thing is, the agent I went to said I’d need cash before I can kickstart my career,” Ricky said. “Plus, I look like I’m only fifteen, so everyone thinks I’m too young to sing.”
“But you’re doing it despite the odds,” Nora smiled.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Look,I promise you I had no hand in the murder of Wallis. Please don’t take me back to the station? Please?”
“You saw something,” Nora said. “No matter how trivial it is to you, and if you were trying to extort someone, I doubt you think it’s trivial. You clearly saw something. So I have to take you to the station. It’s my duty.”
“They’ll throw me in jail and throw away the key,” Ricky said. “That’s what I’m afraid of. Cops are never nice to kids like me. They think we’re scum.”
“Sean’s not built that way,” Nora said. “He’ll help you out. Wait and see.” She bit her lip, remembering it wasn’t Sean anymore down at the station.
“I didn’t see anything, really,” Ricky said. “I just saw someone looking scared, and thought I could get some money out of them. It was a scam. I was just hustling.”
She walked in, with Ricky next to her. The station looked the same as ever - a little messy, with a coffee pot in one corner and an electric fan in another, and three desks lined up in a U-shaped formation.
But the centre desk, where Sean would have sat, was now occupied by a man with a handlebar mustache and aviator goggles covering his eyes. He took them off when she entered and gave her an appreciative look. Sitting on his desk, with his legs just barely touching the ground, was a tough looking man with a cigarette dangling from his lips and a buzz cut.
The man with the goggles smiled at her. “Welcome, Miss. I’m Detective Jason Mars from the state police. This is Officer Rudy Piscalone. We’ve been especially invited here by Mayor Almand after the town got a little… rowdy the other day. We’re Sean’s replacements.”
“Temporary replacements.” Dean Elbert said from the desk next to him.
“You want to go back to doing those files, sonny,” Detective Jason said, a thin warning in his voice. “You go do the files while I talk to this nice lady here.” He got up and came around the desk to meet her. “So. Did this little rat do something? I see his kind all the time in the city. Untrustworthy bunch.” he made a sudden motion at Ricky, and Ricky flinched and shivered. Detective Jason laughed.
“Well, my lady? How may I help you?”
Nora looked at Ricky, who gave her a last pleading look.
“Ricky here was talking to someone in the woods on his phone, trying to extort money out of them,” Nora said.
“How much?” the detective asked.
“Fifty thousand dollars. I think,” Nora said. “Though all I heard him say was, fifty, in unmarked notes.”
Detective Jason whistled. “Well, that’s a fair amount of money. Who were you talking to, kid?”
Ricky remained silent. His lips trembled slightly. “I was just asking a friend for fifty dollars,” he managed to say.
“Lying, hmm? I guess I’ll just find out the truth.” The detective grabbed Ricky by the collar, and then grabbed his phone out of his pocket.
“No! Give that back!” Ricky shouted, trying to grab it back.
Jason backhanded him effortlessly. Ricky went stumbling and crashed against Dean’s desk.
Without looking up from the phone, detective Jason said, “I’ve got you all as witnesses that he tried to attack me, right? I guess that’s enough to put him behind bars for the night. Maybe get him a nice conviction too.”
“No! No!” Ricky was pleading. “I’m sorry. Please.”
“There’s nothing on this phone,” the detective said with disgust, tossing the phone to Dean. “I think the little rat pressed a button and wiped out all the data on it. It’s been factory reset. Did you do that, little rat?”
Nora looked at Ricky, who looked triumphant for about a second before looking frightened again as the detective advanced.
“Don’t hit him,” Nora said quietly.
The detective stopped, turned to look at her. “Eh?”
“Don’t hit him. He’s just a scared child,” she said.
The detective walked over to Ricky, looked down at him. “He’s a kid all right,” he said. “Can’t be bothered to stamp on a rat like him, it only hurts my shoes. All right, kid. Talk before I begin stamping. Who were you extorting?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Ricky began sobbing. “Please, please don’t hurt me, Mister.”
“I won’t if you talk fast,” the detective said.
“There’s no proof against him, is there?” Nora asked. “The phone’s data is gone.”
“Proof? We got ways of uncovering proof,” the detective smiled. “Your word’s enough for now. Drag him down to the cells, Rudy. Let’s--”
“Stop,” Nora said. “I changed my mind. I don’t think I heard him right. I think he was just talking to his agent in New York. Ricky wouldn’t extort anybody.”
Ricky looked at her, his eyes wide, his entire face trembling with gratefulness.
The detective looked irritated. “If you’re getting sentimental about him, don’t be. His kind is very manipulative. They only talk if you give them a few good…” He smiled. “Well, if you treat them kindly and lovingly, as us policemen do.”
“I didn’t hear a thing,” Nora repeated. “Let him go.”
*****
Chapter 16
Outside, Ricky came running after Nora. “Listen, you saved my life. I wanted to thank you.”
“The officer wouldn’t have killed you,” Nora said. “Hurt you a little, to make you talk, maybe, but not killed you. He’s a policeman, at the end of the day. He’s one of the good guys.”
“The world’s a strange place if those are the good guys,” Ricky said.
“Ricky, if you owe me anything, anything at all, just tell me who it was you were talking to. Who you thought was the…”
She broke off as Harvey and Milly approached.
Ricky had paled as he caught sight of them. As they approached, Nora’s grip on his shoulder loosened, and Ricky shrugged it off and ran away. Nora turned to call out to him, but he’d already vanished. What had gotten into him?
“Got a new admirer?” Milly asked, teasingly, watching him run. Milly seemed irritated to see Nora again. There was a smile on her face, but it rather resembled the bared fangs of a tiger.
Harvey glared after the boy and turned to Nora. “What are you hanging out with him for?”
“I caught him in the woods,” Nora said.
Harvey raised an eyebrow. “Doing what, endangering species with his wanton destruction?”
“Funny, Harvey.” Milly whacked his shoulder teasingly.
“Why are you here?” Nora asked. “Come to see the new cops?”
“Yep,” Harvey said. “I wanted to know, as is my duty if I could help in any way.”
“Harvey just wanted the latest gossip.” Milly laughed. “You won’t be
lieve how he loves to poke his nose into things.”
“Nora knows me well enough,” Harvey said. “Besides, she’s the official town Miss Marple.”
“Old lady who snoops about?” Milly asked. “Don’t be mean, Harvey, she’s not that old.”
“I didn’t mean--”
“You two have a good day,” Nora said, unable to bear it any more. “I’m going to go see how Sean is doing.”
It was the truth, but she had to admit there was a different reason as to why she’d said it.
Harvey stood looking at her a second longer as she walked away from him, and Nora could feel his gaze burning into her.
Why did it have to be this way? she asked herself. All she really wanted was to run back and jump into his arms. Instead, she had to will every particle of her body to walk away from him, and look as neutral as possible when Milly put her arm around him.
As soon as she was away from him, though, her thoughts wandered back to Ricky. He’d run away as soon as he had seen Harvey. Was there a reason behind that?
Was Harvey the one he’d been trying to extort? Or was she reading too much into it?
Harvey’s face, of course, had given away nothing at all. It never did.
*****
Chapter 17
Sean was all too pleased to see her again.
His home was on the large ranch his father had left to him. It was beautiful and wide, with lavender trimmings and a porch wrapping around it. A green garden with neat rows of lemon trees stood in front, and two comfortable rattan chairs were placed invitingly on the porch, with a low stool between them, and a jar of mint lemonade on it.
“Welcome to my home,” Sean said with a smile. “I believe it’s the first time you’ve been? I can give you the grand tour if you’d like, but I warn you, my room’s rather messy.”
“No thanks,” Nora smiled. “I’m fine sitting out here.”
“Well, my mother’s out of town at the moment, and my sister’s in Jackson,” Sean said. “She works there as a lawyer and comes home each weekend. But for now, I’ve got the house to myself.”
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