Joan Hess - Maggody And The Moonbeams

"Divide and conquer?" suggested Bonita. "You take one of them and I'll take the other."

"Not just yet. These two are safe here, and Corporal Robarts is at their campsite, watching over the rest of them."

"Boy, that'd make me feel safer than a heifer in a barn with a coyote scratching at the door."

"Mrs. Robarts is in the market for a daughter-in-law with breeding potential. If I send you to her house for questioning, you're likely to end up on the sofa looking at Anthony's class photos and report cards."

"Okay, then what? I can't bear to just sit here when some poor woman's been killed like that."

"Did you bring your dental records? I'm sure Mrs. Robarts would like to examine them. Win any medals in highschool field and track? Swim team? Certificate from the health department that you're free of communicable diseases?"

Bonita floundered, then settled on self-righteous indignation. "Does Sheriff Dorfer know you carry on like this when you're in charge of a murder investigation?"

I stood up. "Beats me. I'm going to the PD to make a fresh pot of coffee, rock back in Chief Panknine's chair, and try to figure out how to proceed. You may come with me if you promise to keep your mouth closed. Your other options are to stay here and have a piece of pie, spend quality time with Willetta Robarts and amateur videos of Anthony starknaked in a wading pool, or go back to the motel and watch pay-for-view porn movies on the TV."

"I could interrogate the witness."

"Not exactly."

"Surely he's sobered up by now."

I told Sarah to stay at the café until I returned, then beckoned Bonita to follow me. While we drove to the PD, I described Duluth's disinclination to remain in jail for any length of time, even under what I had to admit was my watch. She was not impressed.

Les's car was parked by the door. Brother Verber was splayed in a chair, mopping his neck with his handkerchief. Les was likely to be in the back, gawking at the empty cell. I could hardly wait to tell him the whole story.

"So finally you show up," Brother Verber said with his customary eye for technicalities. "I must say I was mightily surprised you weren't here to offer support when I got back from this terrible ordeal. The very minute I went into that cold room and they pulled out the metal drawer, the only thing that kept me from keeling over was my unflagging faith in the Good Lord. I put my hands together to pray like I'd never prayed before."

"But it wasn't Daisy," I said, ignoring Bonita's sudden intake of breath. "It was Norella, right?"

"I reckon so. Daisy had a big of scar on her chin from when she chased me with a shovel and tripped. As for Norella Buchanon, I couldn't help but notice during our counseling sessions that she had a well-endowed bosom."

"And that's what you based your ID on? Her bosom?"

Brother Verber dried his forehead. "Norella's nose was right perky. Perky's hard to miss."

Les came into the room. "You know Duluth's gone?" he asked me.

"Indeed I do. Why don't you and Bonita sniff around town while I take Brother Verber back to the lodge? Duluth may be trying to call someone to come get him. Try the motel lobby, the church office, the café, the convenience store, places like that. I'll meet you back here in forty-five minutes."

Bonita stopped me at the door. "Who's Daisy? Should we be looking for her?"

"She's been dead for forty years, so you'd better hope you don't have much luck." I raised my voice. "Let's go, Brother Verber."

Once we were driving toward the gate, he gave up trying to stanch the perspiration that trickled down his face. I'd always theorized that his brain, as well as his liver, were saturated sponges. Now I had hard evidence, if not proof.

He cleared his throat. "You spoken to Sister Barbara today?"

"All I told her was that you had gone into Dunkicker and then Little Rock to assist us in the investigation."

"That's all?" he said, sounding relieved.

"She wasn't very pleased about it."

"No, I don't 'spose she was," he said, then lapsed into gloomy silence.

I parked next to the blue bus. The girls, including Darla Jean, were stretched out on beach towels covering most of the dock. Big Mac was dog-paddling near the shore, splashing the girls and guffawing when they squealed. Parwell and Billy Dick were tossing a softball back and forth. Jarvis sat well away from the others, gazing moodily at the lake.

"Why, ain't that nice to see our fine upstanding young folks observing the Bible's stricture to rest on the Sabbath," said Brother Verber. "Instead of going to the lodge, mebbe I'll just join them. I might could offer a few words to further inspire them to meditate on the glories of creation. 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell within.' That'd be the Twenty-fourth Psalm, which ain't as famous as the Twenty-third."

"She's watching from the porch," I commented without turning my head. "You head for the dock, you can bend over and kiss your lily-white ass goodbye."

He may have wanted to object to my choice of words, but he could hardly dispute the sentiment. "I meant later," he said huffily, then got out of the car and trudged toward the porch, his hands clutched behind his back. I was mildly surprised he didn't fall to his knees and crawl the last twenty feet like a supplicant approaching a shrine.

I waited by the car until I saw Larry Joe emerge from a path that probably led to the boys' cabin. In that he was struggling with his zipper, I had a good idea what he'd been doing. I leaned against the hood until he joined me.

"Everything okay now?" he asked.

"Not yet. About all I've learned is that the victim was Norella Buchanon-and no, we don't know for sure who killed her. Keep up the good work."

Before he could protest, I went across the lawn to the porch. Mrs. Jim Bob sat on the wicker chair as though it were the first pew in the Assembly Hall. I was pretty sure which one of us had elected herself to cast the first stone.

Her eyes narrowed as I came up the steps. "Have you anything to tell us?"

"We're still investigating. Brother Verber was a big help, by the way. I brought him back so he could rest after the long ride to Little Rock and back."

"What's this about Norella Buchanon? I just happened to be standing outside the kitchen when I heard Estelle and Ruby Bee discussing her. You should have come to me. I could have told you a great deal more than they can about her tawdry behavior. She was the first woman asked to resign from the Missionary Society since Elspeth Caskell took to wearing miniskirts to church."

"But surely, as a compassionate and forgiving Christian, you'll be praying for her-and Elspeth, too."

"Well, of course I will," she said, her lips so tightly compressed that she could barely get out the words. "It's too late to save her soul, but I never abandon hope that a black sheep can be cleansed of sin and be brought back into the flock."

I left her to her ovine beneficence and went into the kitchen. Ruby Bee was flattening dough on a cookie sheet.

"Pizza," she said in response to what would have been my next question. "You found Duluth yet?"

"No, but the victim was Norella. He's probably hitching back to Maggody."

"Unless he's thinking to hang around until he can snatch the boys," said Estelle as she came in from the back patio.

"That may be. I wish there were a way to rattle those damn Beamers into talking. They might as well be aliens. The irony is that I'm the one saying, 'Take me to your leader.'" I sat and watched Ruby Bee start on a second pizza crust. "Just how much food did you bring? Did you loot the SuperSaver on your way out of town? Is the National Guard going to be there when I get back?"

"I had a lot in the freezer, and it's a good thing I did. Once I saw what was going on, I told Mrs. Jim Bob in no uncertain terms that I was taking charge of the kitchen. I could tell from the look on her face that she wanted to argue with me, but she finally just stalked off, saving me the trouble of whacking her with a spatula. It still may happen before the week's out."