Peter Grist - Flashback

“Oh, that man gives me the creeps. You know he asked me out on a date just a few weeks after Ben died, can you believe that?”

“Really?” Ed looked astonished. “No one is that insensitive are they?”

They stared at the door that Rosen had just left by.

“It’s just a thought”, he said, “but did you see how he went into that room. He switched the light on without looking for it. You did too, but you’ve been in there a million times, right? How did he know where the switch was?

“What are you trying to say, Rosen trashed our store room and computer?”

“I’m not saying anything, but… well, he did know where it was, and he seemed pretty pleased with himself when he told us that storage place belonging to the Tribune was on fire.”

“Well he does know the alarm code of all the municipal buildings and whoever got in never set the alarm off, but why, why would he do this?” she asked.

“That Lieutenant is the right question.” He said almost to himself.

“What? Lieutenant?

He was deep in thought but replied, “Oh, it’s just a line from a movie, never mind.”

Linda stared at him, a confused look on her face. After a few moments Ed broke the silence, “Will Smith? Oh never mind. So that’s it then, we can’t do much else can we?” he asked.

They wandered back to the staff room and sat opposite each other in two worn-out armchairs glumly drinking their coffee. Linda looked perplexed, after a few minutes she sat bolt upright. “That’s it!” exclaimed the librarian, “Come on!” She banged her near empty mug down on a side table and almost dragged Ed out of his seat. “What?!” he asked, completely startled by her sudden drive. “I’ve got an idea!” she said with a beautiful sexy smile on her lips.

Linda started to walk back to reception, her turn to be deep in thought, Ed following close behind. Finally, she whispered “Well there is no way the fire at the storage facility is a coincidence. Whoever it is knows we are looking into it. I think we are going to have to be more direct. I think we should go and talk to Buster”.

“Gracie’s dad? Do you think that’s a good idea Linda? What we have to say will sound insane and it’ll only upset the guy”.

“We don’t need to tell him everything; we can leave out the weird stuff. I know Buster, he’s a lovely man, I think he’ll talk to us, tell us what happened back then. He comes in here sometimes so I’ll have his address”. “Won’t he be at work, at the gas station?”

“No, I’m pretty sure he only works the afternoon ‘til late shift. It would be better to talk to him at home, in private anyway”.

Ed looked doubtful. “Will you have his address still; didn’t you lose it with the rest of the computer stuff?” “Oh yes, maybe, but that’s my idea! She replied proudly, “We still have the old registration cards too. I’ll go see”. Behind the counter sat a beige metal cabinet with small drawers from top to bottom. Linda opened the top drawer marked A to C and skipped deftly through the filing system behind the reception desk until she found the B’s.

“Here we go, B… Beechey… Bell… Benedict…… Benjamin! Eugene Benjamin, Got it! 1241 North Acre Road. I know where that is”. She waved the small filing card triumphantly.

“I’m still not sure this is a good idea Linda”.

Worry was etched on Ed’s face. He could see that Linda was getting excited about joining the hunt, her enthusiasm making her eyes sparkle, the disappointment and shock of the break-in already forgotten.

“It’ll be fine, trust me! Your car or mine?” Capitulating to her excitement he gave in. “Okay, we’d better take mine if we want to get there. C’mon”. She thumped him gently on the arm in defence of her car as Jan unlocked the door once more and let them out of the library.

North Acre Road was set in a pleasant if slightly run-down suburb north of town. What had once been classed as the black side of town, but now there were just as many white families living in the area. As Linda gave directions Ed drove. Being on the opposite side of town than the one he had entered he recognised nothing. When she had first entered his car she did a quick look around at the interior, noting the mess.

“Not big on house-keeping then?” she quipped.

“What do you mean, this is modern art, and it’s a work in progress so don’t move anything!” he rebuked. “When I’ve finished this trip I hope to sell this car for a quarter million to some gullible art gallery curator.”

“Oh I can see it now, you mean like Damien Hirst’s dead cow? I think you’ll get more for it than that then.” They both laughed.

“Actually, I do try and keep it quite clean, I give it a good sort out after every trip, but I haven’t had a chance so far, and I wasn’t expecting guests.”

Linda picked up the rubbish from the foot-well and stuffed it into a fast food takeaway bag so that she had somewhere to put her feet then placed the bulging bag behind her seat.

“Ready?” he asked.

“I am now, let’s go!”

With Linda giving directions they headed north. Ed kept looking in his mirror, so much so that Linda asked “Are you okay?”

“I guess. I wasn’t going to tell you but I am pretty sure I was being followed this morning.”

“What?! You’re kidding me?”

“I wish I was but no, I’m not kidding. To be honest it kind of unnerved me a little.”

“Well I think it would completely freak me out. But why, who?”

“I think word has got around pretty quickly about me looking into Grace’s disappearance and someone isn’t too happy about it.”

“Did you see who it was, what they looked like?”

“No I couldn’t, the car had blacked-out windows but I found out later the car belonged to a guy that runs a junkyard around here somewhere.”

“Oh, well that’s ominous, I think we need to start being a little more discrete with our enquiries.”

“Agreed, but I’m also thinking if it is even slightly dangerous you shouldn’t be involved at all, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Too late for that I’m afraid, I’m in for the long haul.”

They were almost on the furthest reaches of the town limits when she finally said “It’s the next turn on the right, just there”. There was no traffic so he didn’t signal, just slowed and turned onto the road. North Acre Road took them on to an estate called Forest Hills, replete with a brick-walled entrance that lasted just fifteen feet on either side of the road. Most of the houses were ranch style and set a little back from the road. Some even had white picket fences but most of the lawns needed tending or were faded to brown. Discarded toys and small inflatable pools lay out front in the gardens that had young families. As the road went on Ed thought the houses looked rougher the further he drove. “It must have been nice back in the day.” He mused.

“It was a Levitt Estate,” she offered. “Folks used to call it Levittown. Identical starter homes but very affordable, and as you said, back in the early sixties they were quite sort after. We are getting close, there’s 1223, slow down a little” said Linda as she peered closely at the numbers and names on mailboxes. “That’s Buster’s house up there, I can see his pick-up, the yellow one”. Ed pulled up by the sidewalk and killed the engine outside of 1241.

“Linda?”

She looked at the salesman, doubt still clearly etched on his face.

“Really, we need to do this Ed, I think he can help”. “I know he’s a big guy but he’s a gentle giant, he won’t bite” she added.

“It’s not that, not at all. I just don’t want to upset the fella.”