Рита Браун - Pawing Through The Past

"I wish I knew." Murphy ran her paw over her whiskers, nervously.

"We know one thing." Pewter moved toward the door. "Whoever this is, is fast, cold-blooded, and wastes no opportunities."

"We know something else." Tee Tucker softly padded up next to the gray cat. "The murderer wants the attention. Most murderers want to hide. This one wants everyone to know he's here."

"That's what scares me." Murphy solemnly pushed open the door as the humans from both reunions piled into the highly polished hallway.

39

Harry could hear the wheels of the gurney clicking over the polished hall as Diana Robb carted away Rex Harnett's body. Her stomach flopped over, a ripple of fear flushed her face. She took a deep breath.

"Damnedest thing I ever saw," Market Shiflett said under his breath.

Harry and Market walked into a classroom only to find Miranda, Tracy, and others there from the other reunion. The two cats and dog quietly filed in. Mrs. Murphy sat on the window ledge in the back, Pewter sat on Harry's desk, and Tucker watched from just inside the doorway.

Within moments, BoomBoom entered. "After all our hard work. Twenty years ruined."

"Really ruined for Rex," Harry said, but with no edge to her voice.

"Well . . . yes," BoomBoom said after a delay.

Susan ducked into the room. "Most people are filing back into the gym. Cynthia Cooper is herding us in there. I guess we'll be questioned en masse."

"Lot of good that will do." BoomBoom ran her forefinger through her long hair. "The murderer isn't going to confess. After all, any of the men could have killed Rex." Because she didn't protest that the murder had nothing to do with the reunion, meant she'd accepted the fact that it was connected.

"So every man is a suspect?" Harry's voice rose in disbelief.

"Girls, this won't get you anywhere." Miranda's lovely voice shut them up. "Whatever is going on presents a danger to everyone, but we can't let the killer erode the trust we've built over the years. The way to solve these heinous crimes is to draw closer together, not farther apart."

"You're right," Susan said.

"What if one of us were to see the killer? How long do you think we'd live?" BoomBoom trembled.

"Not long," Pewter answered.

"Let's not give way to fear," Market advised. "Hard not to, I know."

"Maybe the person who did it got away. That's why Cynthia and Rick want us in the gym, to count heads." BoomBoom allowed herself a moment of wishful thinking.

Tracy leaned toward her. "Whoever did this is in the gym."

"Come on then, let's get it over with." Harry marched out of the classroom.

"Come on." Mrs. Murphy tagged behind as Pewter and Tucker followed, too.

"If there's a killer in there, I'm not going." BoomBoom's voice rose.

"You're safer in there than you are out here." Miranda put her hand under BoomBoom's elbow, propelling her out of the classroom.

40

"Class of 1950 over here." Sheriff Shaw indicated the left side of the gym. "Class of 1980 to the right. Who has the rosters?"

"I do." Miranda stepped forward with her attendance list.

Rick took it from her hand. "Coop, go down the list with Miranda. Meet each person and check them off."

"Right, boss."

"Okay, what about 1980?"

"I've got it." Bonnie Baltier walked back to the table, picked up the Xeroxed sheets, and walked back, handing them to the sheriff.

"You stay with me. I want you to check off each name and show me who the person is. Use a colored pen. You've already got them checked off in black."

"Anyone got a colored pen?" Baltier called out.

"I do." Bitsy stepped forward, handing Bonnie a red pen. "E.R. is a member of this class and he was with me in the parking lot at the time of the murder," she told the sheriff.

E.R. called out, "Bitsy, don't bother the sheriff."

Chris Sharpton moved up alongside Rick. "It's not my reunion."

"Well, it is for now. Sit down." He pointed to the check-in table. "I'll get to you last and then you can go home. I assume you want to go home."

"Yes," she nodded slowly.

"All right." Rick walked with Bonnie. "One-two-three."

As they worked their way down the line, Harry observed how differently people deal with authority. Some classmates answered directly. Others exhibited attitude, not at all helpful under the circumstances. The doctors in the room felt it necessary to behave like authority figures themselves. A few people were intimidated. Others were clearly frightened.

As they neared the end of the list, Hank Bittner asked to go to the bathroom.

"You'll have to wait until I'm through with this. Another five minutes. We're almost at the end."

Bob Shoaf called out, "Don't forget Fair Haristeen."

"I sent an officer out to find him." Rick's voice remained even. He felt as if he were a teacher with a room full of misbehaving children. In a way, he was.

"We're also missing Dennis Rablan." Bonnie scanned the familiar yet older faces. "Hey, anyone seen Dennis?"

"The last I saw, he'd come out of the bathroom," Harry spoke up, and a few others corroborated her statement.

"Did he walk down the hall? Go outside for a breath of fresh air?" Rick tapped his fingers against his thigh. He held on to his temper but he was greatly disturbed. Dennis might be the witness he needed-or the killer. However, there was a lot of commotion. People don't expect murder at their high-school reunion. And they don't think to keep track of one another.

"Tucker, you stick with Mom. Pewter and I will scout around for Dennis," Mrs. Murphy ordered the corgi.

Pewter was out the door before Mrs. Murphy finished her sentence.

Since the class of 1950 consisted of forty-six people, Cynthia had finished the name check and was taking down whatever information the attendees might have. Nothing useful emerged since all of them, including Tracy Raz, were gathered in the cafeteria for the welcoming ceremonies.

"Boss"-Cynthia crossed over to Rick-"we can let them go. At least, let them go back to the cafeteria."

"Yeah, okay."

Cynthia dismissed the class.

Martha Jones of the 1950 class said to a squatty fellow, bald as a cue ball, "I'm not at all sure I want to go back to the cafeteria."

"There's safety in numbers," he replied. "This is their problem, not ours."

As the last member of the class of 1950 filed out, Cynthia joined Rick.

"Let's divide them into groups of ten." He lowered his voice. "I don't think I can hold them here all day. The best we can do is-"

Hank Bittner interrupted him. "Sheriff, the five minutes is over."

"Go on." Rick waved him off. "Everyone else stay here."

Fair Haristeen passed Hank as he made for the men's room, stopped in front of the one cordoned off, then turned heading in the other direction, toward another bathroom.