A Far Gone Night (8 page)

“Caught myself a little lawbreaker, Deputy.
I think we should book him and let him enjoy the hospitality of our jail overnight,”
Doltch
said. He turned to me and said, “Sit down!” I did, leaning forward to keep pressure off my shoulders, which were screaming.

“Thomas, what did you do?” She cocked her head to one side in amusement.

Doltch
said, “B and E, Trespassing on Government Property, and Interfering
With An
Official Investigation, for starters.
Maybe Resisting Arrest.
Let’s go ahead and book him.”

Deputy
Altemier
actually giggled. “Don’t be silly, Stephen. I think a few questions on site and asking Thomas to come by in the morning would suffice. I’ll call Harmon to be sure,” she said, picking up her cell before
Doltch
could protest, and working her thumbs faster than the eye can follow. Ah, youth.

“Harmon, it’s me. We’ve got a situation down here,” she said, and went on to review the events.

“Could you get these handcuffs off me, sir?” I asked
Doltch
, oozing subservience and good manners. I wanted to distract him from the conversation going on between Harmon and the female deputy. I caught
Altemier’s
eye and she gave a little wink and nodded.
Doltch
didn’t see, but he set me loose anyway. I refused to rub my wrists, which were hurting. My shoulders ached, but I didn’t let on.

Doltch
went behind his desk and began filling out paperwork just as Deputy
Altemier
buttoned off her phone. I gave her a better look, the Queen of Accessorizing. She was wearing different earrings, diamond studs, and a bright yellow headband that showed off her dark hair.

“Harmon will be right down,” she said.

“
Sheriff Payne
is coming down?”
Doltch
asked.

“On his way,” she said.

“This is bullshit,”
Doltch
said.

I slumped a little in my chair, suddenly feeling tired. She noticed.

“Would you like some coffee, Thomas?”

“No, but thank you.”

“Coke?
Mountain Dew?”

“Nope.
But you are very kind.”

Deputy
Altemier
came around from behind her desk, over to me. She put her hand on my shoulder and moved it up to the base of my neck, an intimate touch that surprised me but I didn’t resist. In a soft voice she said, “Harmon will be here shortly and we can get this taken care of.” I fought the urge to ask her to rub a little lower and to the left. She drifted her fingers along my neck and moved back to her desk.

Five minutes later Payne showed up.
Furious.
He questioned
Doltch
in a calm voice and told him to go home, that another deputy would be coming in for the end of his shift and the beginning of the next one.
Doltch
got his things together and left, shooting me a scalding look, breaking my heart.

Next, my friend Harmon read me the Riot Act, ripping into me for being nosy where I didn’t need to be, and threatening to put me in jail. Then he settled down and asked me what happened. He was clearly disturbed about the missing body and the ransacking of Dr.
Jarlsson’s
office, promising to send investigators over to the coroner’s office first thing after he went down himself and secured the area.

“That girl’s body will never be found, Harmon.”

“And you know what that means.”

“No proof of the double tap to the back of the head.”

Harmon made a face and slowly nodded his head. “So what do you think they were looking for, besides the body? I mean, if all they wanted was the corpse, and what evidence might be there that she was murdered, why tear up the place? You say that the computer was gone?”

I nodded. “I think, bad as it is, this goes beyond just a murder. I hate to think. Any idea
who
the dead girl was?”

He shook his head. “No missing
persons
reports that come close. All I have are the photographs Deputy
Doltch
took that night.”

“That’s it! I forgot all about the photographs. Couldn’t we just post them all over the place, in Iowa and Minnesota and
Wisconsin.
Wouldn’t someone see her and identify her? That would get our investigation off dead center! I can’t believe I forgot about the photos!”

“Old age,” Payne said. “But you’re right.
My
investigation might just get things rolling so that
my
people can get to the bottom of all this—dead girl, coroner’s office trashed.”

“Are you going to get in touch with Prentice? Were you able to find him to talk to him?”

“That’s another thing. I can’t get him on the phone, just a recording, so I went by his house several times, including odd hours. No sign of life inside, car still in the drive. No sign of Julia, either. I contacted their two daughters and they haven’t seen them.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah, ‘yikes.’
Well, I’ve got some work to do, more calls to make in the morning. We have a situation on our hands, and I want you to stay out of it, except to come in tomorrow and write out a report. We can add it to our collection. You keep this
up,
we’ll have to build a new room just for your crap.”

“I’m going, but I just want you to know that, if I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

“You’re a prince among men, Thomas.”

“And it’s a blessing to be recognized,” I said. “And if I shouldn’t see you before the holiday, I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving, Sheriff.”

“Get out of here,” he ordered.

So I left.

I
went home after my arrest and mistreatment from Deputy
Doltch
, my assistance and comforting from Deputy
Altemier
, and my interrogation and forced collaboration from Sheriff Payne. After locking my doors, I loaded my shotgun and laid it next to my bed, said my prayers, and went to sleep knowing that my early alert system, Gotcha, was ever vigilant for bad guys in the neighborhood. The sound of her snoring from her
tuffet
assured me that all was well.

That was my Sunday night.

On Monday morning I got up early and went out on my five-mile run in 23-degree cold.
And enjoyed it, getting into a smooth pace, warming up after just a half mile or so, no sharp pains in the knees.
And plenty of time to think about the terrible things that were happening once again in
Rockbluff
, and how I could have sidestepped the icky stuff I knew was headed my way if I had just resisted pulling that girl out of the frigid waters of the Whitetail River. I understood and realized that I could not avoid the future, so I needed to be ready to deal with it, ideally with honor. One must aim high, after all.

I finished my run and let Gotcha out for her duties, then let her back in and fed and medicated her. My four-legged protector and defender taken care of, I fixed myself a light breakfast of sausage links, hash browns, and an eight-egg ham-and-cheese omelet. A big mug of
Baileys
Irish Cream and coffee, half and half, served me well as I sat down at my kitchen table and ate, looking out the window over the river valley below. When I finished breakfast, I let Gotcha polish my plate while I rinsed the dishes and then placed everything in the dishwasher and cleaned the Teflon fry pan. Finally, anticipating the arrival of Ernie and Jan Timmons the next afternoon, I dusted, vacuumed, freshened up the two rooms and bath upstairs, and mopped all the tile and hardwood floors.

The house was clean and shining by one in the afternoon, so I showered and dressed and decided to go have lunch at The Grain and touch base with Lunatic to see if he’d learned anything from his heathen network. I didn’t expect to bump into Liv Olson.

She was seated at the bar, enjoying some frilly sandwich with lettuce fluttering from the sides of the bread. No French fries were visible. It’s sad to see people with unbalanced approaches to nutrition, but there’s only so much one can do by example.

I decided to be bold and sit next to the woman I might have loved and who was shot protecting me from an assassin several months ago.
Never a dull moment in the
Rockbluff
dating scene.
She turned to see who was approaching her space, and when we made eye contact, I saw several expressions in quick succession spread across her lovely face—surprise, warmth,
then
a kind of stoic resolve.

“Hello, Liv. Long time no see.”

She had been conversing with Moon. He inclined his head toward me and said, with great sadness in his deep voice, “Paleface phrasing? ‘Long time no see?’ What kind of language is that?
Injun in movies?”

We both ignored him. She said, “Nice to see you, too, Thomas. It’s been months. Hiding again?”

“The heart is a lonely hunter,” I said, “and typically requires isolation. I thought you would still be in school today. When do classes let out for Thanksgiving?” Liv teaches English at
Rockbluff
High School. She is a petite blonde in her early 40s and looks like she could still be a cheerleader. She is divorced, which initially encouraged me, but turned down my affections for superficial reasons: She thinks I’m a liar and dangerous and not exactly forthcoming about my past. She has moved on to Harmon Payne, fellow divorcee.

“To answer your question, Thanksgiving break begins Wednesday, but I’m taking a couple of personal days to tie in with the holiday. Use them or lose them”

Lunatic said, “What may I fix for you, white eyes? You must be weak with hunger after expending all that energy rummaging through government offices at night.”

I groaned.

“Moon and I were just talking about you and,
shazam
!
,
here you are. What do you have to say for yourself? Is it true? Did you get arrested by Steve
Doltch
in the wee hours?”

“Obviously, you know about that. My arrest was temerarious. And obviously, I did not get tossed in jail.”

“’Temerarious’?”
Lunatic asked.

Without taking her eyes off me, Liv said, “He means his arrest was reckless, or rash.”

“I knew that,” Moon said, “just testing the English nerd.”

“Deputy
Altemier
let you go?” Liv asked. “She can be persuasive, I suspect.”

“To tell the truth, she laughed at Stephen’s desire to put me in jail overnight, then called Harmon and he came right over. He gave me a tongue-lashing that has scarred my self-esteem, then reverted to being a nice guy and asked me a few questions.”

“So what were you doing in
Jarlsson’s
office while the rest of the county was sleeping?” Lunatic asked. “And while you’re making up a story, I’ll get started on your order. You look hungry.” Lunatic turned away after providing a pint of Three Philosophers. He headed for the grill after sliding the tulip glass toward me.

“What do you think of Penny
Altemier
?” Liv rotated her barstool in my direction. Her question alerted me. There was something female going on. I had a wife and daughters once, and I learned things.

There was a definite chill in Liv’s tone, and her eyes suggested an ice storm behind them. Oh. A loaded question; one woman asking me about another woman I had barely met.
Tread softly, O’Shea.

“She seems nice enough,” I said.

“Jeez, Thomas, you really put yourself at risk of character assassination with that one.”

“Why the fishing expedition?
Have you met her?”

“Yes, I
have,
a couple of months ago when Harmon hired her.”

“And…?”

Lunatic returned from the grill where my lunch was sizzling on the hot surface and my fries were burbling in hot oil. He said, “Olivia is reluctant to evaluate a woman from a younger generation.”

“She
is
young,” I said. “
A mere child, as it were
.
Seems friendly enough.
She actually winked at me over at Holy Grounds the other day when Marty introduced us.”

“I suspect she did. She seems to be attracted to older men.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“I think I hear your order calling,” Moon said. “I must take my temporary leave.”

Just then several customers came into The Grain. One of them was Sheriff Payne, who came up to the bar and stood between Olivia and me.
Again.
I nodded at him and she smiled at her steady guy, but the smile was lacking something.
Warmth.
But maybe it was the weather.

“Let’s grab a booth,” he said.

Liv slid off her barstool in a manner I can only describe as “reluctant.” Something was going on between them and it was not quite chummy enough to rise to the level of “cordial.” Good.

“Have a nice lunch,” I said.

“You’re invited, too.” Payne sounded distracted, maybe even worried about something. Surely, he was about to tell me. From his expression, I suspected it wasn’t going to be good. At least I could look at Olivia, which is a good thing.
Very good.
Especially up close to each other in a booth.

They sat on one side and I was on the other. No one said anything, but when Lunatic brought my two Loony Burgers, fries, and a fresh ale (although I hadn’t finished the first one)
,
Harmon invited him to join us. He set down my food and made a signal to Rachel Bergman, his fifty-something chief waitress, she of the flaming red hair and proclivity for patting me on the backside now and then. I like it when women pat me on the butt. She nodded back. I scooched over and Lunatic squeezed in beside me.

I finished my first ale and started in on the second one, cautiously dipping one thick, lemon-peppered, garlic-salted French fry at a time into the stainless-steel vat of ketchup that came with the order. Liv had brought her sissy sandwich with her, and her Perrier. I looked around the table and thought if someone wanted to paint a picture of us and name it “Apprehension,” it would work.

“What is it?” Lunatic asked, putting his big forearms on the table top between us.

“If it weren’t for bad news I’d have no news at all,” Payne said, echoing the old
Hee
Haw
staple.

“Deputy
Altemier
has resigned to start her own escort business?” Olivia said.

Payne raised his eyebrows and projected a bit of anger in Olivia’s direction. He said, “I can’t find any sign of Prentice or Julia, but you knew that. It’s like he’s disappeared into the ether or something. Not only that, the photos of the deceased girl are not to be found, not in our evidence room, not in any files, not in any desk drawers or under the coffee pot or in any of the patrol vehicles.”

“No body. No photo. No Dr.
Jarlsson
,” Moon said, shaking his head. “This dead child becomes more and more obscure.
Very sad.”

“More bad news,” Payne muttered. “Since we can’t find Prentice, we don’t know if he took the girl’s fingerprints. We couldn’t find any in his office or exam room.”

“Isn’t it routine to fingerprint the deceased as part of the autopsy?” I asked rhetorically.

“I’m sure Prentice fingerprinted the girl, but we can’t find any record of the fingerprints,” Harmon said.

“So how are we going to identify this girl if no one’s reported missing, we have no body, no photo to distribute and now no fingerprints?” Liv asked.

“We need something personal to I.D. her,” Payne said.

A thought flashed into my mind, a fairly rare occurrence for me, so I couldn’t ignore it. I said, “I might have something.”

Immediately I had everyone’s attention. By the way, it was nice to see Liv looking at me with something other than indifference. Payne looked skeptical. Lunatic was looking straight ahead, so I couldn’t read his expression. I heard that he had a facial expression in 6
^th
grade but was immediately chastised for it by the ruling elders of
Anishinabe
Nation.

“What?” Payne asked.

“I have a copy of the Medical Examiner’s memorandum. You do, too, Harmon, and remember how jumbled and scattered and error-filled it was?”

“Yes, not typical of Prentice.”

“And remember how he said there was no jewelry, but that there was a tiny earring? That’s a clear contradiction, and so is the memo itself with all those misspellings and errors and the illegible signature. I think he was trying to tell us something that he could sneak by whomever it was looming over him to make sure he falsified the report.”

“Falsify the report?” Lunatic and Liv asked at the same time. I was amazed they hadn’t heard, seeing as how Payne,
Altemier
, and
Doltch
had all heard my theory the night before in the Sheriff’s Department.

“How falsified?”
Liv asked. “Cause of death?”

“You might as well know,” Harmon said, squirming in his seat. “Thomas here swears that the dead girl has two bullet holes in the back of her head. That she was murdered.”

Liv slumped in her seat and I could feel Moon squirming just a little bit next to me. Then he said, “Prentice said suicide. She’d have to be strong willed to commit suicide by shooting herself in the head.
Twice.”