Charlaine Harris - Real Murders

I managed to dab on some makeup so I wouldn’t look like I was going to keel over and yanked my hair back into a ponytail. I pulled on a red turtleneck and navy blue skirt and cardigan. I looked like hell on wheels.

My only goal was to get to the library without anyone noticing me, and find out if there was any chance of putting in a normal day’s work. To my utter relief, there were no strange cars in the library parking lot. The interest in me seemed to have ebbed. The day began to look possible.

I found out at work that Benjamin Greer had called a press conference that morning to announce another candidate would run for the Communist Party in the Lawrenceton mayoral election. The candidate proved to be Benjamin himself, who seemed to be the only other Communist resident of Lawrenceton. I didn’t believe for a minute that Benjamin had any coherent political philosophy. He was getting as much publicity as he could while the attention of the media was still on our town. I wondered what would happen to Benjamin after the election. Would butchering at the grocery store ever be enough again?

Lillian Schmidt told me about Benjamin, and altogether covered herself with unexpected glory that morning. She worked side by side with me as though nothing at all had happened, with the exception of describing his press conference. I wanted to ask her why she was being so decent, but couldn’t think of a way to phrase it that wasn’t offensive. (Why are you being nice to me, when we don’t like each other much? Why is a tactless person like you suddenly being the soul of tact?)

I was pulling on my sweater to leave for lunch, when Lillian said, “I know you don’t have anything to do with this mess, and I don’t think it’s fair that all this has happened to you. That policeman coming to ask me yesterday if you were really mending books with me all morning-I just decided last night that was ridiculous. Enough is enough.”

For once we agreed on something. “Thanks, Lillian,” I said.

I felt a little better as I drove home. I took another route so I didn’t have to pass the Buckleys’ house. Over lunch I watched the news and saw Benjamin having his minutes of fame.

I was off Thursday afternoon since I was scheduled to work Thursday night. I’d been wise to make the effort to go to work in the morning, I found once I was home alone. Though I liked work, usually I liked my time off even more. Today was an exception. After I’d changed into jeans and sneakers, I couldn’t settle on any one project. I did a little laundry, a little reading. I tried a new hairdo, but tore it apart before I was half through. Then my hair was tangled, and I had to brush it through so much to get out the snarls that it crackled around my head in a brown cloud of electric waves. I looked like I’d been contacted by Mars.

I called the hospital to see if I could visit Lizanne, but the nurse on her wing said Lizanne was only receiving visits from family. Then I thought of ordering flowers for the funeral, and called Sally Allison at the newspaper to find out when it would be. For the first time, the receptionist at the Sentinel asked my name before ringing Sally. She was riding the crest of the story, that was clear.

“What can I do for you, Roe?” she asked briskly. I felt she was only talking to me because I was still semi-newsworthy at the moment. I had been hot yesterday, but I was cooling off. The lack of excitement in Sally’s voice was like a shot of adrenaline to me.

“I just wanted to know when the Buckleys’ funeral would be, Sally.”

“Well, the bodies have gone for autopsy, and I don’t know when they’ll be released. So according to Lizanne’s aunt, they just haven’t been able to make any firm funeral plans yet.”

“Oh. Well…”

“Listen, while I’ve got you on the line… one of the cops said you were on the scene yesterday.” I knew Sally had seen the picture of me with Lizanne in the city paper. She was getting too full of herself. “You want to tell me what happened while you were there?” she asked coaxingly. “Is it true that Arnie was dismembered?”

“I wonder if you’re really the right person to have on this story, Sally,” I said after a long pause during which I thought furiously.

Sally gasped as if her pet sheep had turned and bitten her.

“After all, you’re in the club, and I guess we’re all really involved, somehow or other, right?” And Sally had a son who was also a member, who could not exactly be called normal.

“I think I can keep my objectivity,” Sally said coldly. “And I don’t think being a member of Real Murders means you’re automatically-involved.”

At least she wasn’t asking me questions anymore.

My doorbell rang.

“I’ve got to go, Sally,” I said gently. And hung up.

I felt mildly ashamed of myself as I went to the door. Sally was doing her job. But I had a hard time accepting her switch from friend to reporter, my changing role from friend to source. It seemed like lately people “doing their jobs” meant I got my life turned around.

I did remember to check my security spy hole. My visitor was Arthur. He looked as ghastly as I had earlier. The lines in his face looked deeper, making him appear at least ten years older.

“Have you had anything to eat?” I asked.

“No,” he admitted, after some thought. “Not since five this morning. That’s when I got up and went down to the station.” I pulled out a chair at my kitchen table and he sat down automatically.

It’s hard to perform like Hannah Housewife when you’ve had no warning, but I microwaved a frozen ham and cheese sandwich, poured some potato chips out of a bag, and scraped together a rather depressing salad. However, Arthur seemed glad to see the plate, and ate it all after a silent prayer.

“Eat in peace,” I said and busied myself making coffee and wiping down the kitchen counter. It was an oddly domestic little interval. I felt more myself, less hunted, than I had since stopping to help Lizanne. It was possible work tonight would be entirely normal. And I would come home and sleep, hours and hours, in a clean nightgown.

After he ate, Arthur looked better. When I came to remove his empty plate, he took my wrist and pulled me into his lap, and kissed me. It was long, thorough, and intense. I really liked it very much. But maybe this was a little too fast for me. When by silent mutual accord we unclenched, I wiggled off his lap and tried to slow down my breathing.

“I just wanted to do something I would enjoy ,” he said.

“Quite all right,” I said a little unsteadily, and poured him a cup of coffee while gesturing him to the couch. I sat a careful but not marked distance away.

“It’s not going well?” I asked tentatively.

“Oh, it’s going, now that I’ve got the Ratkill thing behind me. Of course our fingerprint guy had to go all over my car, and now I’ve got to get all that stuff off. I’m sure it won’t turn up anything. Melanie Clark’s car was clean as a whistle. We’ve completed the Buckley house search, and a neighborhood canvass to see if anyone saw anything. The only thing the house search turned up was a long hair, which may just be one of Lizanne’s… we have to get a sample from her for comparison. And that’s for your ears only. The murder weapon hasn’t turned up yet, but it was a hatchet or something like that, of course.”

“You’re really not a suspect?”

“Well, if I ever was, I’m not now. While the Buckleys were being murdered I was going door to door with another detective asking questions about the Wright murder. And come to think of it, right before the last meeting, when Mamie Wright was done in, I was booking a DWI at the station. I drove to the meeting directly from there. And Lynn was able to swear for me that the Ratkill hadn’t been in the car all morning while we were riding around knocking on doors.”