Tin City Tinder (A Boone Childress Mystery) (23 page)

“Just get on with it,” Cedar said, tapping a foot as she crossed her arms.

I nudged her. “Patience, young Skywalker.”

“It’s easy to relax when your keeping score in a match. But judging, that kills me.”

“And you thought ice skaters had it easy.” I turned my attention to Luigi. “How’re the breathing exercises, Zen master?”

“Americans talk too much,” Luigi said. “I do not understand why she must apologize for the competitive nature of the fair when this is a competition.”

“Good point,” I said.

Dr. K read the name of the third place winner, a girl from ACC for an experiment in using light waves to kill salmonella on vegetables.

“Second place goes to Gretchen Nunzi for—”

The applause drowned out the topic of her experiment.
 

“Gretchen?” I said.

“You sound surprised,” Luigi replied. “Ah, you are good at human remains, Boone-san. At human
beings
, not so much.”

I had to admit he was right. “That’s because bones never lie.”

“Our first place winner,” Dr. K began before she had to pause for a sip of water.

“It’s going to be some guy,” Cedar said. “A girl has never won first place.”

“Girls just won third and second place,” I said. “There’s first time for everything.”
 

“Finally, our first place winner is,” Dr. K said, “
By A N.O.S.E: Using Synthetic Devices for Detecting Compounds,
by Cedar Galloway!”

Luigi and I started clapping and whistling.
 

Then I realized that Cedar was clapping merrily away but not moving.

“Cedar?” I said. “They called your name.”

Slowly, she stopped clapping. “Really? Oh. Yeah. Really?”

“Really,” Luigi gave her two thumbs up. “Good job.”

I spun her around and walked her a few feet toward the stage before letting her go. She seemed to be floating. And when she bent her head to accept the gold medal, her face beamed.

“Sorry you didn’t win a medal, Luigi,” I said as he finished applauding. “I don’t understand why. Your invention is amazing.”

“Thank you, but I could not medal. I was only allowed to enter as an exhibitor.”

“What?”

“Because I am an exchange student. Olympiad is only for North Carolina residents.”

“So if you couldn’t win, why did you enter?”

“To meet hot girls.” Luigi pointed to Gretchen across the patio. “See you later, homely.”

“That’s homey.”

“That, too,” he said as he made a straight line for Gretchen.

After the announcements, parents and guests mingled around the entries to take pictures and try out some of the projects, which had been hands off before the judging.
 

Luigi’s wi-fi PA system was the hit of the fair, but I got to it first and quickly hijacked the signal to Dr. K’s mic.

“Attention shoppers,” I said into the Bluetooth mic, “would the owner of a pink Cadillac please move your vehicle?”

My voice filled the courtyard. On the other side near the podium, Dr. K was speaking to a group of reports. She patted her chest to check the mic. I saw her pull the mic closer to her mouth and speak, but nothing came through the system.

“This is so cool!” My voice reverberated loudly. “Sorry, Dr. K! Just testing.”

“You are like a little kid, Boone. Quit playing around and come on." Cedar untied Chigger from the tree. She walked away, expecting him to follow, but once again, he refused to budge. “That’s weird."

“He did that once before,” I said. “At Red Fox Java. Right before we left the patio. Is he okay?”

“He’s fine.” Cedar stood up slowly. “That’s just his signal. He was trained to sit until the release command.”

“Try it,” I said.

“Fish sticks,” she said, and the dog popped to his feet, ready to go.

“Holy shit!” I remembered who had been standing beside Chigger when he squatted before. “Deputy Mercer? No freaking way!”

“What about him?” Cedar said.

“Let's find Luigi,” I said. “We have an arsonist to catch.”

12

Proving that Mercer was the arsonist might be difficult, but catching the deputy would be the easy part.

Or so we thought.
 

Hoyt had instructed Mercer to meet back at the bandstand after he finished at the Red Fox Java. We could hear Hoyt’s gravely voice twanging over the PA system as we walked to the courthouse green.

“He has to be in the crowd somewhere,” I told Luigi and Cedar, who had left Chigger with my mom. “Let’s split up. Luigi, get close to the bandstand. Cedar, take the south side of the courthouse. I’ll go north. If you see Mercer, send a group text, but don’t do anything to alert him.”

We spread out.

 
Cedar headed toward the rear of the courthouse, which was also the rear of the stage. She would be close to the girls in the pageant, as well as the sound system. It was a logical place for Hoyt to post a deputy to provide security.

Luigi’s job was more difficult.
 

The area around the bandstand was packed tight with folding chairs. It was almost impossible for a Japanese teen dressed in tight sliver pants, a sleeveless black shirt, and a hairdo that looked like it had be sculpted by a blender to look inconspicuous.
 

I was counting on him drawing attention instead.

The north end of the green was the least populated area. It was on a slight rise, with magnolia trees whose thick leaves gave good cover. I could see the whole area.
 

All I had to do was wait.

Up on the bandstand, Sheriff Hoyt took a cordless microphone from the emcee, who had seconds earlier finished introducing the candidates for Little Miss Allegheny.
 

My phone buzzed: A text message.

Doc: Y R U HIDING IN TREES?

Me: ON STAKEOUT

Doc: FOR WHO?

Me: TOP SECRET

“Top Secret?” Abner said.

I jerked like a fire ant had stung my ass. Abner was standing six feet away, hidden by the same leaves that hid me.
 

“Doc. Geez. How did you sneak up on me?”

“Been here the whole time, getting out of the sun and hiding from your mama. The woman’s meaner than a prison bull. What’re you up to?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me. Not after you slunk up here like a dog hiding a bone. You’re watching for somebody. Who is it?”

“Deputy Mercer.”

“That’s the one that writes all the tickets?”

I explained about Chigger’s sniffing ability. “We turned the dog loose on Eugene Loach, and nothing happened. But then later, he signaled on Mercer.”

“You sure about this?”

“It’s the only lead we’ve got, Doc.”

“Guess we best follow it, then.”

“We?” I protested. “You’re out on bail. Technically, you’re still charged with interfering with an investigation.”

“You want to find the man who killed that woman, don’t you?”

“More than I want to breathe.”

“Then turn your head to the left, Boone, because your suspect is about to walk right by you.”

A hundred yards away, Deputy Mercer scurried down the sidewalk toward the front of the courthouse building.

I tapped out a group text: FRONT COURTHOUSE. NOW!

“Eyes on me,” I told Abner.
 

We jogged behind the tree, then walked to the sidewalk. Turned the corner of the building in time to see Mercer pull a heavy oak door open.

“Hold on,” I blocked the way until the door began to close. “Let’s go.”

We dashed up the steps, slipped inside, and then ducked into an alcove.

“Wait here for Cedar and Luigi.” I whispered to Doc. “What do you think he’s up to?”

“Looking for a place to take a leak?”

“Seriously.”

“At my age, taking a leak is serious business.”

Cedar was the first to reach the front of the courthouse. When the text came, she ran around the opposite side of the building. She was halfway up the front steps before she saw me waving. Luigi came around the building a few seconds later.

“He’s in the courthouse,” I said. “Once we’re inside, stick close to the walls and walk as quietly as you can. The acoustics are terrible, so sound really travels.”

“Boone,” Cedar said, a hand on her hip. “It’s not like we’ve never been in the courthouse before.”

“Oh. Yeah. Sure. Sorry.”

And then we were in.

The first thing I noticed the darkness. It was bright outside, but the overhead lights had been turned low. The next thing I noticed was Mercer’s voice.
 

He was talking to someone.

13

Mercer’s voice drifted down the stairway to the second floor. “Another one? You said the last one was it.”
 

My first step on the polished floors made a squeak. I removed my shoes and moved on down the wall, sock footed. When I had a clear view of the second floor, I motioned for the others to move up to the stairwell.

We kept to the shadows.
 

Waiting.
 

Listening.

“The main goal here is to create an utopian society populated by whites,” said a second man. “His problem is that he needs the money to do it, so he buys up the property along a freeway route and sets his son lose on the historical towns that his father tried to create. He wants to finish his father’s work. So if he has to burn out a few buildings and run off some Mexican squatters, even better. This group of blue haired biddies has thrown a monkey wrench into our plans.”

We moved further down the hallway.
 

The sound of the voices diminished to a hum. We had no choice but to follow them up the stairs. I motioned to the group that they should stay, but Cedar shook her head,
no
.

It was more like a
Hell no
!

I pointed at the wi-fi apparatus I was still wearing. I pressed a button on the chest plate, removed the listening fork from its slot, and pointed it upstairs.

The second man’s voice came through loud and clear.

“When a monkey wrench is in the way, the only recourse is to remove the wrench. Starting with the leader.”

Mom! I thought. They were talking about removing my mother.

“What’s the plan this time?” Mercer said.

“The office of the Registrar of Deeds has some surveys and plait maps of the Tin City property. It would be good if they were conveniently lost.”

“Is that all?” Mercer said.

“No, there’s a second thing. The Allegheny County Historical Society has a little building chock full of important historical documents. The building still uses its original LP heating system.”

“I’ve only got one fuse left.”

“If all goes well, it will be all you need.”

“You said the last job would be the last one, and I could get out of this rat hole town.”

“I miscalculated.”

“I’m sick of playing Barney Fife for you!”

“Alas, until your gambling debts are paid off, it’s a role you’ll be stuck with.”

“Some uncle you are!”

“Great uncle. Now go about your business. I’m due on stage in a few minutes. There’s a Miss Allegheny to crown.” He sighed. “It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it.”

His footsteps grew louder.
 

I waved for everyone to hide, and they slid into the shadows on the either side of the risers as the first footfalls sounded on the risers. I noticed the shoes first. Highly polished black leather Oxfords, merino wool slacks and matching jacket. Light bounced off the fabric, which was clearly tailored.
 

Only one man in town could afford that suit. My suspicion was confirmed with the back of man’s head appeared, a coffered mop of hair trimmed right at the top of the collar.

But the hair was too silver.

His body was too thin and too short.

It wasn’t Trey Landis.

It was his father.
 

“Goddamn.”
 

The words escaped my lips before I could stop them.

Ahead, G.D. Landis stopped in his tracks. His head turned side to side as he listened.
 

“Idiot sheriff,” he murmured as he checked his watch. “The introduction wasn’t supposed to be for another two minutes. You’ve ruined my entrance.”

He stalked down the hallway and to the front door. He pulled a wheelchair out of a darkened alcove, sat down, then drove it to the door. Light flooded the building, and G.D. Landis rolled his electric wheelchair toward the handicapped ramp. If his head turned at that moment, he would have seen the peculiar sight of three college students and an elderly man in with long hair and a straggly beard all hunkered behind a potted plant.

“Mercer’s the arsonist!” I whispered after the door had closed and we were in shadow again. “He’s been working for Landis! The old man has been faking it all along!”

“I knew it!” Cedar said softly.

Luigi shrugged. “I did not.”

“Me, neither,” Abner added. “What’re they up to?”

“They’re going to destroy evidence of the cemetery,” I whispered. "And burn the Historical Society, too.”

“How are we going to stop them?” Cedar asked.

“Y’all three, take Landis. He’s announcing Miss Allegheny in a couple minutes. Keep an eye on him. I’ll try to record Mercer in the act of starting a fire.” I patted my pockets. “Where’s my cellphone?”

“I got a camera,” Cedar said.

“Let me borrow it?”

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“It’s dangerous.”

“It’s my camera.”

Upstairs, there was a crash and the sound of cursing. Clearly, Mercer was a better arsonist than burglar.

“We’ll follow Landis.” Abner snagged Luigi by the sleeve. “You two take Mercer. Be careful! No telling what a cocky bastard like that is capable of.”
 

A few seconds later, the door opened, and they were outside. When the light faded again, Cedar and I dashed up the stairs.

We followed the sounds to the office of the Registrar. I had passed by it several times in the past. It was an old fashioned kind of door: Patterned glass with the names of the occupants hand-lettered in gold and black.
 

Before, the door had always been closed.