South River Incident by Ann Mullen

long time.”
    “ Bologna !”
Billy was getting hot under the collar. “Something’s going down that he’s not
telling us about. He’s covering his butt. Mark my word.”
    “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s
doing what he was ordered to do.”
    “Jesse, get real! When a
man loves a woman, he’d do anything for her. He wouldn’t let anything or anyone
stand in his way. Trust me, I’m a man, I know these things. Maybe it just comes
back to what I’ve said all along. His job comes first.”
    I had only a few minutes to
think about what Billy had said before the front doorbell rang. I opened it and
was greeted by Sheriff Hudson and three of his deputies.
    “Good morning, Miss
Watson,” the sheriff said. “May we come in?”
    “Sure,” I said. “What can I
do for you?”
    “I need to know if you
recognize this watch.” He held out a plastic bag with EVIDENCE written in big
red letters.
    I took the bag and examined
it carefully. I was surprised to see the watch again. I lost it a couple of
months ago at a restaurant where Billy and I were having dinner. I took it off
to wash my hands in the rest room and accidentally left it on the counter. When
I noticed it missing, I went back to look for it, but it was gone. I hadn’t
thought much about it since. Now I was holding it in my hands, and knew it must
have something to do with this case.
    “Sure, I do, it’s mine. It
has the name Jesse etched on the back. I did that myself with one of those
little plug-in things. Where did you get it?” I asked as I relived the past few
moments spent with Cole. No wonder he had bailed out. The dead woman and my
watch were connected, and he must have known. Why didn’t he warn me? What was
going on? I just got out of bed and the world was already crashing around me.
“You don’t think I had anything to do with that dead woman, do you? I didn’t
even know her.”
    “That’s enough. Don’t say
another word, Jesse.”
    “But I didn’t, Billy. I’ve
never met the woman.” I was close to tears again. “They’re wrong about this. I
don’t know her.”
    “Jesse has identified the
watch as belonging to her. You can either arrest her or get out,” Billy said.
He stepped up into the sheriff’s face. “What’s it going to be?”
    “Nobody’s arresting
anybody,” the sheriff replied. “I just have a few questions I’d like to ask
Miss Watson.”
    “Like I said, arrest her or
get out.”
    “Have it your way, Mr.
Blackhawk,” Wake Hudson said. He and his deputies retreated.
    Billy slammed the door and
glared at me in an uncontrollable fit of anger. The cursing that ensued from
his lips was a product of his native tongue, but I did recognize the words i’na-dv and u-lv-no-ti-s-gi .  It had something to do with a snake and a crazy
woman.
    Mom walked out of her
bedroom and asked, “What’s the matter? What’s all the fuss about?”
    “Ask your daughter,” Billy
said. He walked back to the bathroom and shut the door.
    Claire appeared at the foot
of the stairs and said, “I’m going to fix the kids something to eat and then
I’m going to take them outside to play for a little while. Jesse, what’s the
matter with you? You look awful.”
    Billy came out of the
bathroom in time to hear what Claire had asked. “Cole dumped Jesse because he
didn’t have the guts to stand up for his woman. He could sure use a dose of
reality. In the real world, you stand by the ones you love. You don’t desert
them when they need you just because the going gets a little rough.”
    “I don’t understand.”
Claire looked at me. 
    “Remember I told you about
losing my watch?”
    “Yes, you said you left it
in the bathroom at Robert’s restaurant and when you went back to look for it,
it was gone. What does that have to do with anything? Did someone find it?”
    “The police have it. It
seems it’s a piece of evidence in this case. Billy threw the cops out before I
could get any details.” I gave Billy the evil eye.
    “Jesse,