Рон Гуларт - Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine. Vol. 39, No. 13, Mid-December 1994

“Were you with her last night?”

Hank looked miserable. “No, er, aw hell, yeah. I was with her. But honest to Gawd, I had her back to her place by one. She didn’t want to stay over ’cause Loretta was comin’ home first thing in the morning. We hung around here, then I took her back to her place.”

“Did you see her go inside?” Hank nodded yes. “Then what happened?”

“Well, I came back here and decided to go fishin’. I’d told Freddy I’d meet him out on the lake by daybreak. I figured I’d just hook up with him earlier. I wasn’t really sleepy, and I did need to get some time in before the tournament.”

“Well, good, then,” I said, relieved. “You and Freddy are each other’s alibis for the time of the murder.”

Hank looked down, scuffing at a patch of grass with his boot. “Patsy, I didn’t find Freddy till around five. He wasn’t in any of our usual places. I looked everywhere. I finally caught up to him at the gas docks. I don’t know were he was.”

This was not good. I left Hank’s feeling more confused than before. Where had Freddy been? Was Hank telling the truth? I was inclined to think so. Freddy was gonna be devastated when he found out Hank had been lying to him for months. How could he ever trust anyone again? We’d never get married at this rate.

It was best not to dwell on that right now. I was gonna have enough trouble springing Freddy from jail. Maybe Loretta had remembered some helpful detail from Eaudelein’s life that could help us figure out just who had done her in. But I wasn’t feeling hopeful when I got back home.

Loretta’s boyfriend Eddie had come over. She’d known better than to let him in, so they were sitting on the porch swing together. Loretta was crying, and Eddie had his arm around her shoulders.

She wiped her eyes and jumped up to greet me as I started up the path. “Well,” she said impatiently, “what did he say? Was he with her?”

“He was with her,” I answered, “but he dropped her back at the house around one A.M.”

“Bullsh...” Loretta broke off abruptly and clammed up.

“Loretta? Do you know something else? Have you remembered something else?”

“No. You didn’t believe him, did you?”

“I don’t know, Loretta. I was kinda hoping he would tell us something that would let your father off the hook, but if anything, he made it more confusing. He said after he dropped your mama off, he went looking for your daddy out on the lake but didn’t find him till five.”

Loretta was scowling. Eddie must have sensed that another storm was brewing because he said he had to get on home. Loretta let him kiss her on the cheek, then watched him climb into his old clunker and drive off.

I went inside, and Loretta followed me. “I’m gonna go off for a little while,” she said.

“You can’t go off now. It’s getting dark.” I didn’t want her wandering across town alone, after dark.

“I wanta go see Tammara.” Tears trembled on her lashes. “She’s my best friend.”

I sighed. Hell, the kid had lost her mama, and her daddy had been arrested, all in one day. If she wanted to talk to her best friend, then why not?

“All right, but I’ll drive you over.” That suited her. “And you can’t stay too long. I’ll run a couple of errands, then come back and pick you up.” Loretta didn’t say anything, just sat quietly for the short ride to Tammara’s.

Tammara was waiting in the front yard. She was a cute, short cheerleader with an attitude. She wore combat boots and little round sunglasses and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. When Loretta hopped out of the car, Tammara wrapped her in a tight hug and began to cry tears of sympathy.

I leaned out the windows. “I’ll be back to get you in an hour,” I called. As I drove away, I saw the two girls sink into a huddle on the front lawn. I decided to go see Minnie, Eaudelein’s sister, and let her know that I’d be keeping Loretta indefinitely. I needed to find out about the funeral arrangements, too.

Minnie’s place wasn’t hard to find. She and the rest of Eaudelein’s family lived in a family compound that surrounded their grandfather’s farm. Minnie was sitting on the front porch of her tiny house with a few other family members. They all stared as I pulled in the driveway and parked. “Hey, Minnie,” I said as I walked up. I didn’t wait for her to respond. “I just came by to let you know we’d be keeping Loretta.”

“For how long?” she asked. Everyone else just stared.

“We’ll figure out the details when Freddy gets out.”

Minnie snorted. “Freddy Buck Owens murdered my sister. He’ll never see the outside of a prison if I have anything to do with it.” She was daring me to get into it with her.

I ignored the bait. “Did you know she was seeing Hank?” I asked.

“Me and just about everybody else in town but you and Freddy.” The group on the porch snickered. This was going nowhere. I could call the town’s one funeral parlor to find out about the funeral. In the meantime, I needed to get to the Piggly Wiggly and buy Froot Loops for Loretta.

It had been exactly an hour when I returned to Tammara’s house. The girls had disappeared from the front yard, so I went up to the front door and rang the bell. Tammara’s mother came to the door looking politely confused. I explained that I’d come to pick up Loretta.

“Oh, well, they’re not here. Tammara left to drive Loretta home. She said they were supposed to meet you there.”

“Maybe we miscommunicated,” I said. “I’ll meet them there.” I turned to leave, then turned around. “Can I ask you one more question?”

“Sure.” Tammara’s mother waited.

“When did Loretta leave to go home this morning?”

“I’m not sure I understand,” Tammara’s mother said. “Loretta wasn’t here this morning.”

“She didn’t spend the night?”

“No, absolutely not. Tammara’s been on restriction all week. She hasn’t been allowed to have company. I only made an exception today because of Loretta’s mother.”

Loretta had lied.

I didn’t know what was going on, but I was beginning to get a picture. I couldn’t wait to get to that girl, but when I got to my place, Loretta wasn’t there.

Maybe Tammara had driven Loretta to see Eddie. I knew his parents, so it wasn’t hard to find his phone number in the book. Eddie answered. No, he hadn’t seen or heard from Loretta. Just as well; I’d thought of a few questions I wanted to ask him without Loretta around to coach him. I grabbed my chance. “Eddie, where did you and Loretta go last night?”

“We went to, uh, well, we were just riding around the square. Then...” Eddie caught up with himself and clammed up. Bingo. The next question I wanted to ask in person.

I raced across town and was in luck. Eddie answered the door. He was startled to see me, and frightened. “Come out here on the porch,” I hissed. He hesitated, looking back over his shoulder into the living room where his parents sat.

“Who is it, Eddie?” his father called.

“Just a friend, Dad.” Eddie quickly pulled the door shut behind him and stepped outside. “I told you, she’s not here,” he said.

“I know, Eddie. I just had one more question. Where did you two spend the night?”

Eddie was flustered. “What do you mean? We didn’t...”

I didn’t have time to waste on whatever story he was trying to manufacture. I had a feeling that Loretta was in danger. “Cut to the chase, Eddie. I know you and Loretta spent the night together. Now, was it at her house or where?”

Eddie gave up. “Yeah, we were at her place. Her mama was spending the night out with her boyfriend.”

“Did she tell Loretta that?”