messing about with Jimmyâs truck?â she asked as she sank down into a chair.
I hitched my behind up on the railing. âBecause thereâs a dead body in the back.â
âOh Jesus, Sherri, did you hit someone with the truck?â
âMan your brain is really full of interesting ideas, isnât it? What do you think happened?â
âI just wondered if you maybeââ her hands made uncertain circles. âWell, I wondered if you ran over someone and then put him in your truck.â She frowned, maybe already seeing how weird it sounded.
âNope. Besides, heâd have to be sleeping on the road for me to run over his head.â
She joined me on the railing. With our eyes on the activity in the yard, I told her about my passenger from hell and how he came to be in Big Red.
âMan,â Marley said, âyou have crappy luck.â
âDonât stand too close,â I advised her. âNever know what might drop on me next and you donât want to get splattered.â
We watched for the best part of an hour as people wandered around doing things we could only speculate about. We did a lot of that. Some people left but not many. Mostly they just seemed to come and stand around talking in low voices, looking up at us sitting on the porch like they were looking at exhibit âA.â A long black hearse from the local undertaker pulled slowly into the circle of vehicles. They got a stretcher out of the back.
And then a flatbed truck broke from the trees along the drive and came towards us. Right behind it the sheriff sped back in.
CHAPTER 12
The âA Oneâ towing truck pulled up towards the bunkhouse and then back into the turnaround.
The sheriff marched towards the porch. âWeâre taking your truck into the lab to do the forensics, testing for prints and such,â the sheriff said from the bottom of the stairs. âAnd weâll need to get samples of your prints to rule them out. Probably be a while before you get the truck back.â
âNot sure if I want it back.â
Sheriff Hozen shrugged. âWell, it will take some time,â he said and turned to leave. âWait,â I called.
He swiveled around and frowned at me.
âHow isââ I started to say âLucanâs wifeâ but changed it to, âHow is April?â
His frown didnât improve. âA little upset. Didnât believe me.â He turned away.
When I heard about Jimmyâs death I hadnât believed it either. Hearing about April brought back that pain. âIs anyone with her?â
âNope,â he said. He didnât even stop walking.
We watched the technicians going about their work. Spreading out from the truck, eyes down, they searched the ground for clues.
âWhat are they looking for?â Marley wondered.
âMaybe theyâre looking for blood,â I suggested. âOr the weapon. Or even signs of someone dragging Lucan to the shed.â
âShouldnât you tell them how the body got in the truck?â
âTheyâre having fun, and theyâd probably do it anyway. Besides, no one listens to me.â
The technicians were starting to pack up when something caught Marleyâs eye. âWhat are all the flowers for?â Marley pointed down to the bedding plants sitting under the tree.
âI was going to plant them for the party.â
âYou were really going all out for this party, werenât you?â
âSeems like it.â
âYou canât have it now, can you?â
âMaybe theyâll find the murderer real quick. It would be all right then to have a party, wouldnât it, if they solved it?â
Marley shrugged. âI donât know.â
âNot like we knew him real well. I never met him. And none of us were involved, didnât even happen here, so it has nothing to do with us really.â âI just love the way you wiggle,
A D Holland
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Unknown