The Thirteenth Skull

by Bonnie Ramthun

  “It’s a deal,” Eileen said. “Menus?”

  An hour later Eileen had only to figure out the tabs. She sat down briefly to finish up the last of the six tickets and when she stood from behind the register there was Richard King. He was sitting at the window looking moodily out into the street.

  For a moment Eileen was suffused with anger and embarrassment. She’d never worn daring underwear before and the first time she did, Richard King had to be the one to see it. She shuffled the tickets in her hands, wondering what to do. King took off his hat and rubbed his hands across his forehead and through his thinning hair. His face was turned from her but she could see his shoulders and they drooped with tiredness.

  She had Rosen, her partner. She had her captain, Harben, and an entire police department. King had nobody but his car and a huge territory and two Sundance cops who had too much to do already. He’d never reinvented himself, never left the area and tried to become something or someone else. He’d stayed, and endured. She had to respect that. Even if she didn’t like him, she had to respect him.

  She collected a glass of water, a coffee cup and a menu. She passed out tickets with a smile and a nod, not seeing any of her previous customers. She set the water glass and the cup in front of Richard King.

  “Do you need a menu?” she asked, and when he turned his face to her she was smiling her very best lets-be-friends smile. His face, open and weary, snapped shut like a clam.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked harshly.

  “Just helping out Lisa and Karl,” Eileen said. “I wanted to talk to them, too, of course. Do you want some coffee?”

  “I’m handling this investigation,” he hissed. “You don’t need to interfere.”

  “I’m trying not to,” she said, keeping her expression steady and welcoming. “Do you take your coffee black?”

  “Cream and sugar,” he said. Eileen left the table instantly and got the coffee pot, the cream and a sugar container. She remembered Lucy’s story of sharing water with Richard, how she’d gotten him to be friendly with her. Coffee had to help. Lisa made excellent coffee.

  “Here you go,” she said, pouring a cup expertly to an inch below the brim. “And here’s a menu, just in case. Did you get the autopsy reports back yet?”

  “Yes,” he said. She watched as he took a sip of coffee. Nothing overtly magical happened. He didn’t suddenly smile and break into a Broadway tune and dance around the room with her. But he did, very slightly, shift the tense line of his shoulders. It was a start.

  “How about the meatloaf sandwich?” she asked. “I’ve seen everything here today and that’s the best. Open face, maybe, with gravy? And fries?”

  “All right,” he said, eyes still narrowed. “I suppose you want me to share the autopsy reports with you.”

  “Not really,” Eileen said, writing a ticket. “I want you to get some food in you, and some coffee, and then we can talk a bit if you want. I was just thinking that you don’t have a partner.”

  “I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” King snapped. He took another sip of coffee. Still no Broadway tunes, but Eileen had hopes.

  “City cops all have partners,” Eileen said. “Mine is named Rosen. He’s the best partner there ever was. Really. You’d like him, I bet.”

  “City cops,” King said in a low voice. He hadn’t looked at her after the first glance.

  “That’s me,” Eileen said brightly. “I’ll be right back.” She snapped the ticket onto the short order cook’s window and winked at Karl Olsen, a tall thin man who was cleaning the grill and watching her without watching her. She took a quick coffee turn around the restaurant and then put the pot back on the burner and sat down at the table with Richard. She sighed gustily and pushed her hair back from her forehead. “Hot,” she said.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Look, I’m sorry about last night,” Eileen said. “And I’m even more sorry about high school. That was a long time ago –”

  “It was a long time ago,” King said. “I’ve forgotten all about it. I’m worried about what’s going on at your parents’ ranch. I’m afraid whoever killed Dr. McBride is going to kill someone else.”

  “Me, too,” Eileen said. “So tell me something. Was his heart still there?”

  “What?” King asked.

  “Was Dr. McBride’s heart missing?” Eileen asked patiently.

  King’s expression was answer enough. “I’m not going to discuss it,” he said. “You don’t have a private investigator’s license and you haven’t been assigned to this case.”

  “So it wasn’t missing,” Eileen said, mostly to herself. She’d had about enough of Richard King, that was sure. Karl rang the bell and she fetched his meatloaf, and then refilled his water glass and his coffee cup.

  “Thank you,” he muttered.

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “The cherry pie is to die for, if you want dessert later.” She gave him what she hoped was a non-grumpy smile and headed over to the kitchen where Lisa Olsen was scrubbing the short order area.

  “Thank you so much,” she said as Eileen sat down in a handy kitchen chair. “You’re an angel. You wouldn’t be interested in a job, would you?” Her face dimpled into a smile.

  “No thanks,” Eileen laughed. “I like what I do just fine.”

  “Your mom and dad are sure proud of you,” Lisa said. “What with catching that murderer who tried to make it look like UFOs did it. And that child killer, too. You were in People magazine!”

  “I should have guessed you’d know about those,” Eileen said, thinking of Richard King and trying not to wince.

  “Sure, Tracy brings all the newspaper clippings to crafts night. We get together and make quilts for the nursing home in Spearfish. We’re all coming down to the Springs for the wedding this September, too. We wouldn’t miss it, not after all this time Tracy’s waited and all—” she stopped, eyeing Eileen. “I’ve said too much, haven’t I?”

  “No, I know all about the grandchildren thing,” Eileen sighed. “I’m surprised they don’t examine Joe’s teeth like he was a good breeding stallion.”

  “Wait until the wedding,” Lisa giggled. “I remember mine like yesterday. My great aunt—”

  “So here’s my question,” Eileen interrupted. Lisa looked like she was going to settle right in for an afternoon of wedding reminiscences. “Did Dr. McBride ever come in here with anyone else?”

  “Sure, he was in here the first trip up here. He had that silly intern, Rochelle something-or-other. They were canoodling like two kids, drunk as could be. Luckily your dad was letting them spend the night at his place. Karl called Paul and he came in and got them and drove them to his place. McBride apologized to us, later, said he was just amazed at the opportunity to excavate such a perfect archeological site. Said he was overcome. I remember he was in here, too, with the crew he brought up. There was a nice roundish lady and another girl, um.”

  “Beryl Penrose and Jorie Rothman,” Eileen said. “Forget about trying to be nice. Be gossipy and catty and insulting. I won’t tell a soul.”

  “Well, okay,” Lisa said doubtfully. She finished the short order table and took off her apron. She stepped into the other room where Karl was busy preparing food for the evening rush. She returned with two glasses of tall lemonade, fresh and pulpy and full of ice. “My reward to myself,” she said, handing a glass to Eileen. “I don’t know why we got into this restaurant-bar thing. But I do have fun, mostly.”

  “So McBride came in with two new girls,” Eileen said, after taking a long drink of lemonade that chilled her to coolness in three delicious seconds. “What happened to the Rochelle girl, the one he was making out with?”

  “She was just an intern,” Lisa said. “And I heard from that Beryl Penrose person when she came in for lunch one day that she was dropped like a stone when Jorie Rothman joined up. Guess she was just heartbroken, but she wasn’t the first one.”

  “McBride was a chaser, huh?” Eileen asked.


  “I guess so, a ladies man, we’d call him in Minneapolis. I thought he had his sights set on Beryl, at first, though Jorie, um, well.”

  “You are remarkably nice,” Eileen said flatly. Lisa looked taken aback, then laughed.

  “Okay, that Jorie girl is just a complete b-i-t-c-h,” she said, spelling the word out in a whisper and flushing an even brighter pink. “She wanted some kind of guarantee that we hadn’t cut the meat and vegetables in the same area of the kitchen, can you imagine? Like vegetables should have their own shrine? And the way she talks, well, you know.”

  “I know,” Eileen said. “Makes it worse that she’s such a pretty thing, doesn’t it?”

  “I guess it does,” Lisa said, surprised. “She’s almost an offense against God. To be given such a gift of beauty and to – step on it, I guess. To be so ugly inside.”

  “Well if I were a chaser – er, ladies man, I’d go after Beryl,” Eileen said. “She’s a sweetie, don’t you think?”

  “Oh, I do,” Lisa said, brightening immediately. “She’s very nice. McBride mostly talked to her, the one night the three of them were in here. Ah, what a sad thing to happen, eh? He was such a nice looking man, full of fun. Maybe a little on the wild side, but he had such a nice laugh.”

  “That was the only time they were all in here?” Eileen asked. “What about the hunting crew, Howie and his friends?”

  “Haven’t been in here,” Lisa said. “They’re too busy scouting, I guess. And I’m not too proud to say that Tracy’s cooking puts ours to shame. She’s an artist, I’ll tell you. She gave me the cherry pie recipe we use, the topping is so simple but it makes the tartness of the cherries—”

  “I know,” Eileen said. “I could tell it was Mom’s recipe. Mom is a great cook, that’s true. So no one has dropped by for a drink or a chat with the locals? No one –”

  “I need my check, please,” Richard King said from the short order cook opening. Lisa Olsen jumped like she’d been pinched but Eileen merely turned in her chair and observed him coldly. She’d been expecting him to interrupt as soon as he figured out she was in the kitchen pumping Lisa for information.

  “Sure,” she said. “I’ll get it.”

  “I’ll get it, Eileen,” Lisa said. “You’ve helped so much. Can I pay you for your time? We—”

  “Don’t bother,” Eileen laughed, and got to her feet. She smiled at Richard King with her teeth in her smile. “I’ll just keep my tip money, is that okay?”

  “Of course,” Lisa said.

  “I’ll walk you out, sheriff,” Eileen said. “Thanks for speaking with me, Lisa. It was so nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Eileen dear,” Lisa said. She opened her arms and Eileen stepped into her embrace without hesitation. They hugged and Lisa kissed Eileen on the cheek, her lips warm and kind. “See you at the wedding!”

  “Of course,” Eileen said.

  “You don’t need to walk me out,” King said.

  “Of course I do,” Eileen said. “I want my tip. Plus, there’s something I need to speak to you about, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the McBride investigation.”

  “Oh,” King said. “What is it?”

  “Outside,” Eileen said. “This is something between you and me.” She waved at Lisa and Karl as they left the little tavern. The bell attached to the tavern door jingled behind them. The day was still and breathless, hot and bright. Eileen narrowed her eyes against the sizzling heat and took a deep breath of the dusty, sage smell of the air. Even in a town, Wyoming still smelled like sage and dust. She wished for a thunderstorm, for the wet smell of the earth and the look of the sky packed with gray thunderheads. She looked at the sky and saw nothing but hazy blue.

  “It’s hot, and I have work to do,” King said. Eileen almost snapped, right then. He was so rude, even after she’d gotten him food and drink and spoken to him with kindness and respect. She swallowed hard, as though she were trying to get down a particularly large pill.

  “Okay,” she said finally. She looked up and down the main street, which was also Highway 24. There was a gas station and a small grocery and that was it. Two gigantic recreational vehicles were being pumped at the gas station. An elderly man was cleaning one of the vehicle’s windshield with a bottle filled with blue liquid. She could smell the tartness of the cleaning solution all the way across the street. “Here I go. My fiancé, Joe Tanner, works for a defense contractor down in the Springs. The reason he’s up here is that he has reason to believe someone tried to run him off the road.”

  “I’m listening,” King said. He took a wrapped toothpick from his pocket and began to unwrap it leisurely.

  “That someone, or someones, may be a group who have been killing people like Joe for quite a while. He’s a scientist and he does some top-secret work with the defense department. So the reason I’m telling you this is –”

  “Because they might follow Joe up here, is that it?” King said. He put the toothpick in his mouth and chewed it. “What a piece of work you are, Eileen Reed. You come in here and do your best to screw up my investigation, and then you’re telling me your little boyfriend might have someone chasing his back trail?”

  “Screw up your investigation?” Eileen said, at very near top volume. “Screw up what, Richard?”

  “Rick King, not Richard,” King said, eyes narrowed. “You’ve been poking around messing with my –”

  Whatever his words were going to be were lost in the enormous roar of the Mustang. The toothpick fell from King’s lip as the Mustang skidded to a stop on the highway, blowing an enormous cloud of stinking gray smoke into the air.

  The car reversed and, tires howling, screamed backwards up the street. It spun to a stop directly in front of them. Eileen looked down and saw that the Mustang was parked neatly between the lines of the parking space. Ted Giometti stared out from behind the windshield at her.

  “Holy shit,” Eileen said.

  “Eileen,” Joe Tanner shouted, leaping from the Mustang. Behind Ted Eileen could see a pale, disheveled Lucy and a happy Hank. Hank had cracker smeared around his mouth and he was smiling, bouncing up and down in his seat and waving at her.

  “Joe?”

  “Gotta go, Eileen, we’ve got to go,” Joe panted. “Get out of here, guys, go, we’ll take Eileen’s Jeep.”

  “Step on it, Joe,” Ted said. “Don’t explain here.” The Mustang reversed out of the parking spot a second later, coming to a smoking stop on the highway like something out of a Hollywood movie. Then the Mustang was gone, accelerating down the highway with engine bellowing.

  Eileen could see the elderly man with the windshield-cleaning bottle, standing stock still and staring down the highway at the disappearing Mustang. She was already fumbling for her keys, trapped down the deep pocket of her khaki pants.

  “It’s them, they somehow got Ted’s airline reservation and they met him at the airport,” Joe was saying. “We gotta go, honey, I don’t know how far they are behind us.”

  “What’s this all about?” King said.

  “What I just told you,” Eileen snapped. There, she had her keys. Her Jeep was parked four slots away. “Don’t tell them where we live, Richard. Don’t believe them if they tell you they’re police, or FBI, or anything. What do they look like, Joe?”

  “The leader is tall and fat, his friend is tall and built like a plank,” Joe said hurriedly. “I don’t know what else to tell you. They want to kill me and I don’t think they’d mind killing anyone who got in their way.”

  “I’ll call you later today,” Eileen said. “Richar – I mean, Rick. Please. We’ve got to go.” She already had her keys in her hand and Joe was tugging at her arm, not gently.

  “I’ll contact your dad later today,” King shouted angrily, as Eileen opened the Jeep’s door and got in. Joe shoved her over and took the keys. She had caught his urgency but she barely had time to get her seat belt out before Joe was reversing the Jeep. Gravel stuttered under the tires as they bounded up onto t
he asphalt of the highway.

  “Be careful!” Joe shouted back as the Jeep screamed down Highway 24.

  “I’m calling your parents!” King shouted after them, his voice already faint in the distance. Eileen looked in the rear view mirror and saw him standing on the side of the road, looking after them, his hand shading his eyes. Then she saw him shake his head and put his hat back on and he turned away.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  “The fat man and his friend met Ted at the airport,” Joe said. “Ted – well, I’ll let him explain later, but he got away and we got away. They followed us but we lost them. Still, they know about your parents’ post office box address and I think they’ll be coming in after me. As soon as they can figure out where your folks live. Oh, God, Eileen,” Joe nearly sobbed. “I put everyone in danger, everyone—”

  “Stop it,” Eileen said crisply. She removed her SIG-Sauer from her shoulder holster and checked the loads. “Put your seat belt on. King is a jerk, but he isn’t a dummy. And these killers aren’t dummies, either. They’ll want to make it look like an accident, which they can’t do with a houseful of people. We’ll be fine.”

  “Right,” Joe said, blinking and shifting his shoulders. He rolled his head from left to right on his neck. “I’m about scared to death, Eileen. I couldn’t tell Ted and Lucy, because we had Hank in the car.”

  “Of course,” Eileen said. She laid her SIG-Sauer on her lap and placed her hands neatly on top of the warm gun. She stared out the windshield and disconnected from the world. In her head was a jigsaw puzzle, white and clean, with pieces named McBride and Jorie Rothman and Bob, the crystal skull. She boxed them up carefully and set them aside and as she put them away a piece flipped over. The pieces abruptly fell together and just like that, she knew. She closed the box anyway. She swept the table clean with a soft cloth, and set down the new puzzle pieces. Ted Giometti. Rapid City airport. Lucy and Hank and Joe Tanner. Sully the angel and her lance. And the fat man, the murderer, the killer.

  “They were in my apartment,” she said, her eyes focusing again. “They found out about Ted because Lucy is in the wedding. Something in my apartment.”