The Bloodwater Mysteries: Skullduggery (16 page)

“A what?”

Roni stomped on his foot.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Limp,” she ordered.

Their mothers were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee when Roni and Brian walked in, Roni supporting a limping Brian.

Mrs. Bain started by saying, “This better be pretty good—” But when she saw their dirt-streaked faces and Brian's pathetic limp, she jumped up and ran to him. “What happened, baby?”

Roni wanted to spit out, “Baby?” But she waited until they got Brian sitting in a chair, his mother fussing over him, to say, “He's fine, really, but we barely made it out alive.”

“Out of where?” Nick asked, giving Roni a suspicious look. “Where have you two been?”

“We . . . um . . . well, I was doing this research on the Internet, and then Brian called and—”

“Roni! Focus! I asked you a question.”

“We were solving a crime,” Brian said.

“I should have known,” said Mrs. Bain. “What was it this time? Murder? Genocide? Grand larceny?”

“Attempted murder,” said Brian.

“Fraud,” said Roni.

“Assault and battery.”

“Unauthorized dynamiting.”

“Fraud,” said Brian.

“I already said
fraud,
” said Roni.

“It deserves to be mentioned twice.”

“Hang on,” said Mrs. Bain, holding up her hands. “Slow down. Back up. First things first. Are you two okay?”

Roni and Brian nodded.

“Why were you limping?” Mrs. Bain asked Brian.

“It's kind of a long story. See, a few hours ago I was thinking about bats, and—”

Roni looked from her mom's face to Brian's mom's face as they listened to Brian tell the story. They were both hooked. Now all they had to do was reel them in.

“The Bloodwater County courthouse was built of white granite in the year 1932,” intoned Professor Bloom. He loved the sound of his own voice echoing in the cavernous space. The class had gathered in the courthouse lobby for the class on Bloodwater politics and government.

The professor moved off down the hallway followed by the class, their grubby sneakers and flip-flops shuffling along the marble floor. Bloom could see that they weren't particularly interested in what he had to say. Kids today were brain dead. Why had he agreed to take this demeaning job? Teaching high school students was like trying to swim up a waterfall. He heard a giggle behind him.

Bloom narrowed his eyes and glared at the pack of young fools. Sometimes a good staring down would silence them for a few minutes.

“Now, as I was saying, this is the political heart of the county, and—yes, Eric?”

“Roni and Brian aren't here yet. Maybe we should wait for them.”

“If they are late, that is their problem,” said the professor. “They will have to catch up on their own.”

“I know Roni really wanted to see the jail.”

“
Mister
Bloodwater, we are not here for Miss Delicata's amusement, we are here to learn.” He gave Eric an extra-hard glare, forcing the boy to look away. “Now, as I was saying, this courthouse has been the scene of many famous cases . . .”

The courthouse tour proceeded with no further interruptions from the students. Just as well that Roni Delicata was absent. That girl had been the source of constant disruptions with her frivolous questions. Professor Bloom much preferred his students silent and attentive. Silent, at least.

A small but determined-looking woman wearing a gray suit with an ID badge on her lapel was waiting near the entrance to the prison wing.

“Good morning, Professor,” she said. “I'm Detective Bain.”

“Ah! Detective Bain,” said Professor Bloom. “Will you be escorting us through the jail?”

“Yes. I thought we could begin with the holding cells.” She typed her code into a keypad on the wall. The door opened into a hallway lined on one side with barred ten-foot-square cubicles. “After you,” said Detective Bain.

Professor Bloom walked through the door, followed by his class.

 

Eric Bloodwater sighed and watched the class file through the steel doorway into the county jail. He did not like jails. His parents had both been in jail once, and he was afraid that they would soon be in jail again.

“Hey, Eric! You coming or not?”

Eric looked up and forced himself to smile. “I'm coming,” he said, and he walked into the jail, his shoulders slumped.

The detective was demonstrating how the locks on the jail cells worked. “They lock automatically when the door is closed,” she said. “Anybody want to know what it's like to be in jail? If you're innocent, I promise to let you out.”

Nobody volunteered.

The detective smiled. “A lot of guilty consciences out there. What about you folks?” she said, looking down the hall. Everybody in the class turned to see Roni, Brian and Mayor Buddy Berglund coming down the hall. The mayor was followed by a tall woman wearing a green pantsuit—Roni's mother, Nick.

“Sorry we're late, Professor,” said Brian. “Roni and I had to make a run out to Indian Bluff this morning.”

“Indeed,” said Professor Bloom, scowling.

“Come on, now, doesn't anybody want to experience jail firsthand?” asked Detective Bain.

“Why don't you try it, Eric?” said Roni. “You could use the practice.”

Eric felt his heart go
thump.
He said, “Huh?”

“Oh, for pity's sake, I'll go in,” said Professor Bloom. “My conscience is as pure as driven snow!” Professor Bloom entered the jail cell. “There,” he said, crossing his arms.

Roni stepped forward and slammed the jail cell door.

“There,” she said.

“Ha ha,” said Professor Bloom. “You can let me out now.”

“Ha ha,” said Brian. “I don't think so.”

Professor Bloom darted an irritated glance at Brian, then did a double take.

“Young man, what on earth do you have on your face?”

“This?” Brian popped the black rubber cup off his nose. “Just a little something I found in a cave. Why?”

Professor Bloom's face darkened. He thumped his cane on the cell floor and looked at Brian's mother. “Detective Bain, I'm sure you find this very amusing, but I must insist that you open this door immediately!”

“I'm sorry, Professor, I can't do that,” said Detective Bain. “It seems you might be guilty of something after all.”

“Me? Don't be absurd!”

Detective Bain took the black rubber cup from Brian. “Do you recognize this, Professor?”

Professor Bloom sniffed. “It appears to be the tip from a cane.”

“It's the tip from
your
cane,” Roni said.

“Ridiculous!” He held up his cane. “As you can see, my rubber tip is firmly attached to my cane.”

“Yes, but on the first day of class your cane
had
no tip,” Roni said. “You lost it that morning, before class, in the cave at Indian Bluff. It must have popped off when you hit Dr. Dart.”

Professor Bloom opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. All the blood seemed to drain from his face. “You can't prove a thing.”

Detective Bain reached through the bars and snatched the professor's cane. “Our forensics people will examine your cane for microscopic traces of blood or hair, Professor. I wonder what they'll find.”

“I bet you'll also find his footprints in the cave,” Brian added.

Roni said, “You attacked Dr. Dart, and then you blew up the cave entrance so nobody else could go in there. And you tried to trap me and Brian in the cave after we found another entrance!”

The professor backed farther into the cell and sat down on the thin cot. “No,” he said, staring down between his long legs at the concrete floor.

“Yes,” said Roni.

Professor Bloom's head snapped up. “You foolish, meddlesome child. You think you know everything. You know nothing! I had nothing to do with sealing up that accursed cave. And as far as Andrew Dart is concerned, he deserved what he got!”

“And why is that?” asked Detective Bain in a quiet voice.

“All Dart cared about was dead things. Bones and stone tools. The man was a ghoul. He cared nothing for the living plants. If it were up to him, those detestable condominiums would be built down on the river bottoms, destroying countless trout lilies and rare lady's slippers. I could not allow that!”

“So you tried to kill him?” Brian said.

“I was just trying to slow him down.”

“And you tried to kill us, too!” said Roni.

The professor sniffed. “I knew you'd find a way out. And if you didn't, who would miss you?”

“I would,” said Brian.

“So would I,” said Eric.

Roni felt herself blush.

“At least my trout lilies are safe,” said the professor, crossing his arms. “The bulldozers have no doubt already begun construction on the bluff!”

Mayor Berglund cleared his throat. “I'm afraid that is not true, Professor Bloom. There has been a slight, um, delay in the Indian Bluff development. A complication, as it were.”

“A permanent complication,” added Nick.

Roni looked at Brian. They smiled at each other, remembering their early morning meeting with the mayor. Roni had shown him the article she had pulled off the Web, and the mayor had immediately called the contractors and told them the Indian Bluff project had been canceled.

“You mean . . .” The professor seemed to collapse in on himself. “But what about the plants? My beautiful trout lilies?”

Roni, despite all the professor had done, took pity on him. “Your plants are safe, Professor. The condominium project has been canceled. It seems that the Bloodwaters aren't Bloodwaters after all.”

Brian asked, “Where did you get the dynamite to blow up the cave, Professor?”

Professor Bloom shook his head. “I blew up nothing,” he said. “I abhor loud noises. I am a man of peace.”

“Tell that to the judge,” said Detective Bain. “Now, it's time for me to pay a call on Mr. Fred Bloodwater—or whatever his name is.” She clapped her hands. “Class dismissed!”

Roni turned to look for Eric . . . but he had disappeared.

“That was really pitiful,” said Brian. “All the guy wanted to do was save his precious trout lilies.”

“Yeah, by trying to do away with three people, two of who were us.”

“I think it's ‘two of
whom.
' ”

“You sure it isn't ‘two of
which
'?”

“I have no idea—you're the writer.” Brian was walking with one foot in the gutter and one on the curb.
Up, down, up, down . . .

“Why are you walking like that?” Roni asked.

“Why?”

“Because it looks stupid.”

“I don't mind looking stupid.”

“I've noticed that.”

“Hey, you know what was the coolest thing that happened this morning?”

“Slamming the door on Professor Bloom, for sure.”

“Nah. It was the expression on Mayor Berglund's face when you showed him that article.”

Roni grinned. “That
was
pretty cool.”

“I noticed that Eric disappeared as soon as you started talking about the Bloodwaters.”

“Your mom's probably arrested the whole family by now.”

“I doubt it. They haven't actually done anything wrong yet. At least not here in Bloodwater. The mayor froze Bloodwater Development's bank account. Fred Bloodwater never had a chance to make off with the money.”

Brian stopped walking. Mercy Hospital rose to their left. “You ready?”

 

In one way, Dr. Andrew Dart was feeling much better. He was able to recognize the doctors and nurses, he could sit up in bed without his head spinning and he remembered most of what had happened to him at Indian Bluff—finding the cave and the skeleton . . . but he didn't remember much that had happened after that.

But in another way, he was feeling much, much worse. However, it helped that Jillian was sitting next to him, holding his hand, wearing his ring.

“Today is the day, isn't it,” he said.

Jillian Greystone nodded. “The bulldozers were scheduled to raze the bluff this morning. I'm sure they've got it half torn up by now.”