Murder Of A Snake In The Grass (6 page)

“No, an alien.” Justin wasn’t one to pull his punches. “Of course a person. There was a man laying on the steps.”

“Did you know who it was?” Skye asked.

“I didn’t get a look at his face, but…”

“But?” Skye pressed.

“He was dressed like Daniel Boone, and I think he had a silver pickax sticking out of his chest. As soon as I saw that, I pushed Frannie back, and we got the hell out of Dodge. We drove right over here.”

“Why didn’t you go to the police?” Skye looked at each teen in turn.

Both rolled their eyes.

Justin snorted. “Yeah, like that’s what
you’d
do.”

Last spring the boy had caught Skye trying to break into the funeral home, and he loved to remind her of her folly.

She hated being hoisted on her own petard. “That is exactly what I would do … in most cases. Why come to me?”

Frannie answered, “We were afraid. Besides, they’ll listen to you. Chief Boyd has a crush on you.”

Skye ignored that last bit. “How about your parents?”

Justin hung his head. “Ms. Denison, you know my parents can’t handle this. They can barely handle picking out
what to order on the pizza—when they remember to get dinner.”

Skye nodded reluctantly. Justin’s father had a severe physical disability, and because of it his mother had sunk into a deep depression. The boy was pretty much raising himself. “Why not your dad, Frannie? He’s great in a crisis.”

“He went to Kankakee with a friend. It’s his meeting night for the veteran’s association,” Frannie said. “Maybe we should go out, and you could take a look before we bother the police. We kind of thought it could be someone playing a joke on us.”

“Oh, no.” Skye shook her head. “Even if it was a prank, Chief Boyd would lock up all of us if we disturbed a crime scene. We have to call him right now.”

“That sucks!” Justin jumped down from where he’d been sitting and headed for the door.

Skye blocked his exit and said with a straight face, “If the world didn’t suck, we’d all fall off.”

There was a moment of silence, then Frannie giggled and Justin snickered. The tension had been broken, and Skye felt safe leaving the kids and heading for the phone. As she dialed, she tried to remember who was dispatching tonight. Her mother, May, worked part-time as a police, fire, and emergency dispatcher. If she was on duty, the situation would take twice as long to explain.

Skye was relieved to hear another dispatcher’s voice answer her call. “Hi, Thea? It’s me, Skye. Is Wally there? Sure, I’ll wait.” She stretched the cord as far as it would go and peeked into the great room. Luc was sitting on the couch, trying once again to pet Bingo, but the feline was having none of it. Simon stood staring out the French doors at the fog-shrouded river.

A few moments later the dispatcher came back on the line. “Wally’s not here, but I got a hold of him just now. Hang up. He’ll call you in a second.”

Skye followed the directions, wondering why she
couldn’t just have telephoned him. She had his home number.

The shrill ring startled her, and she fumbled with the receiver as she answered. “Hi. No, I’m fine. Yeah, I’d say it’s an emergency.”

“You sure this can’t wait until morning?” Wally’s voice sounded garbled.

Skye frowned. Had he been drinking? “Look, if you’re busy, Roy could probably handle it. I only asked for you because you get so mad if you think I’m keeping secrets.”

Her relationship with Wally had always been complicated. Though they’d never been more than friends, there had always been an attraction between them. When they first met, she had been a teen and he in his early twenties. Years later, when she returned to Scumble River, he was married. Then last summer his wife had divorced him, he and Skye had resolved a long-standing argument, and a more intimate relationship had become a possibility. So far, neither of them had acted on the opportunity.

“Just tell me what’s happened.” Now his voice sounded resigned.

What was wrong with him? Should she ask? Skye shook her head. She had other things to deal with first. “You remember Frannie Ryan and Justin Boward from the Lorelei Ingels case, don’t you?”

“Yeah. What have they done now?”

“I think they’ve found a dead body in the park.” Skye pulled up a seat and told Wally the teens’ story.

“Shit! I’ll be right there to pick those kids up.”

“Wait a minute.” Both Frannie and Justin were trying to talk to her at the same time. “What did you guys say?”

Frannie answered for them both. “Ms. D., can’t you come with us?” The girl no longer looked sixteen; her pale, frightened face could have passed for twelve.

“Sure.” Skye’s thoughts flew to the two adults in her living room. No way was Luc staying alone in her house.

Making up her mind, she spoke back into the phone. “Wally, we’ll meet you at the police station. The kids want me to stay with them, and I have a problem I can’t leave here, so I’ll see you in ten minutes.” She hung up before he could protest.

Next, Skye poked her head into the great room. “Simon, we’ve got a situation.”

He came striding into the kitchen. “What is it?”

She summarized what Justin and Frannie had told her.

“Would you like me to go with you and the kids?”

“No, you’d better go get the hearse and meet us out there. This sounds like a job for the county coroner.”

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. “What will you do with him?” Simon nodded toward Luc, who had been standing in the door listening intently.

“He’ll have to leave.”

“But, darlin’, I have nowhere to go.” Luc came into the kitchen and took her hand.

Frannie and Justin were watching this drama from the doorway of the utility room with avid faces.

“Go to your motel. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Skye ordered.

“I don’t have a hotel room. Everything within thirty miles is booked because of your blasted bicentennial.”

“Okay, we can’t figure this out now. I need to drive these kids to the police station, and it looks as if you can either come with me or drive around in your car.” Skye herded everyone toward the front door.

Luc’s expression was a cross between dread and confusion. “Why can’t I wait here? This doesn’t involve me.”

“Because I don’t want you here alone. Just come on.” Skye got everyone outside and over to her car. “Kids, get in the back. Luc, take the front seat. Let’s move it.”

“This is your car?” Luc asked, his gaze roaming along the huge aqua ’57 Bel Air’s tail fins.

“Yes, and I don’t want to hear any comments.”

On the short drive to the police station, Skye explained
what was going on to Luc. She was thankful, though surprised, when he offered no opinion and asked no questions. Had he really changed that much? This was not what she would have guessed would be his reaction to the news she had just shared.

Wally was waiting for them in the PD’s parking lot. As Luc got out of the Chevy, the chief’s eyes widened. “Who’s this?”

Skye took a deep breath. “This is Luc St. Amant. He needs to wait here.”

“Why?”

“We’re trying to figure out a place for him to spend the night. The motels around here all seem to be full.” Skye was evading the real question.

“How do you know Mr. Amant?” Wally persisted.

“St. Amant. Never mind that now.” Skye gestured to the teens. No way was she explaining about Luc in front of them. “Shouldn’t we take care of this other matter first? I’ll tell you all about it later.” To Luc she said, “Get on the phone and find somewhere to stay. Try Joliet and Kankakee.”

Wally lifted an eyebrow but acquiesced and escorted Skye, Frannie, and Justin to his squad car without further questions.

As she buckled herself into the passenger seat, Skye gave a silent prayer of thanks. Since her mother wasn’t on duty as a dispatcher tonight, she had a little more time before having to explain Luc to her family. Now, if the gods were really kind, neither May nor Uncle Charlie would be listening to their police scanners.

S
kye glanced over at Wally. He looked odd, rumpled—had they gotten him out of bed? She checked that the kids had their seat belts fastened and then stared out the windshield. They were driving west on Maryland Street. The windows of the few stores and offices lining the street were dark. There were no cars, people, or signs of life. After the recent bicentennial crowds, it was almost as if Scumble River had been evacuated.

As they neared the river, tendrils of fog began to cover the asphalt. A few yards farther they crossed the bridge by the Up A Lazy River Motor Court. Park Loop Road came immediately afterward.

Wally eased the squad car onto the dirt path and asked, “At the bandstand, correct?”

“On the steps.” Justin leaned forward and spoke through the wire mesh dividing the front and back seats.

Scumble River Park was a small finger of land that extended into the river for about a half mile or so. It was accessible by car only from Maryland Street. Pedestrians could cross the footbridge that extended from the apex of the Up A Lazy River Motor Court parking lot. The park was also approachable in all directions by boat. The bandstand was located at the farthest tip of land.

The squad car crept slowly down the lane, with the river
to the left and the park to the right. The fog had thickened, reminding Skye of curdled milk. They passed the darkened carnival area where the silhouettes of tents, trailers, and thrill rides looked like the remains of an ancient civilization. Not a single light shone through the darkness. Skye frowned. It seemed early for the crew that operated the carnival to be settled for the night.

An expanse of trees and picnic tables, their contours muted like an impressionist painting, slid slowly by. Skye silently urged Wally to drive faster. She felt a sense of urgency she couldn’t explain.

Finally, just before the road circled back toward Maryland Street, the outline of the bandstand slowly materialized. It was a wooden structure shaped something like a wedding cake but open on all sides. Down a short gravel walkway, the park rest rooms glowed under a vapor light.

Skye turned to look at the teens in the back. “Tell me again why you two were out here.”

“We already told you. I had to use the bathroom.” Frannie crossed her arms and huddled in a corner of the seat.

Skye knew they weren’t telling her the whole story and didn’t hide her skepticism. “This is pretty far to walk to use the rest room.” If they weren’t having sex or doing drugs, and she believed them when they said they weren’t, what in the world would bring them so far from the carnival?

“There was a long line, and I had to go bad.”

Wally stopped the squad car by the side of the road. Through the fog, the bandstand was just barely visible. “All of you, stay put. Understand?”

Three heads nodded, watching in silence as he got out of the cruiser. Skye’s gaze never left him as he walked toward the open-walled building, obviously being careful where he stepped. She held her breath while he paused. All hope that the kids had seen something other than a dead body vanished when Wally grabbed his radio and started to talk.

As soon as other officers started to arrive, Wally put
Skye, Justin, and Frannie in separate vehicles. Skye had been stuck in squad cars before, while other crime scenes were being processed, and she knew it would be a long night.

At first she tried to see what was going on, but since the fog hid most of the action, there wasn’t much to watch. At least she was dry and cool. The poor men—Scumble River had no female police officers or EMTs—working outside had to be sweating in the heat and humidity.

“Skye, are you all right?” The muggy caress of air from the open door and Simon’s concerned voice startled her awake.

“Yes, I’m fine. Do they know who it is?”

“It looks like Gabriel Scumble. I did my duty as coroner and then let them take away the body.”

“Who would want to kill a complete stranger?” Skye struggled to sit up and gather her thoughts. She’d been dreaming about her days as a Peace Corps volunteer in sunny Dominica. Luc’s reappearance in her life must have stirred up her memories of the past.

“The police will have their hands full with this one,” Simon said, not quite answering her question.

She opened her mouth to ask one of the thousand queries running through her mind but closed it without speaking. Considering that Simon hated it when she got involved in murder investigations, and that Luc was waiting at the police station, she decided to tread lightly.

Before she could think of a safe subject, Simon said as he closed the door, “I’ve got a couple of things to finish up, then I’ll see you at the police station.”

Oh, no, did that mean Simon would have a chance to talk to Luc before she could get there? That couldn’t be a good thing. She was gnawing on her thumb, worrying about what the two men might discuss, when Justin climbed in the back seat.

Wally slid in behind the wheel and said, “I’m going to drop Justin off, then take you back to the PD.”

“Where’s Frannie?” Skye felt a momentary panic that something had happened to the girl.