Code 61 - Donald Harstad [88]
They showed us two little plastic vampires, a small plastic gravestone, and a large paper bat.
“Where in hell did you get those?” I asked.
They'd found them hanging from the mailbox, and from the gate pillars. One of the women in the Mansion had pointed them out. Probably placed there by local high school kids. Halloween was close enough that the things were probably on sale all over. It was to be expected because of the coverage, I guess. I was glad it wasn't more than that.
“There are pictures of them in place,” said one of the reserves, a man named Vinton.
I was impressed that they'd thought to take photos, and said as much.
“Oh, it wasn't us,” he said. “One of the TV stations from Cedar Rapids had a crew up when we got here. They got 'em on tape.”
Great.
We radioed in when we got out of our car at the Mansion. It was 14:00 on the button. By 14:02 our plan was already in trouble.
Huck greeted us at the door, dressed in a black turtleneck and black slacks and shoes. Appropriate for the day. I noticed the tattoos on her face were gone. She ushered us into the parlor, with an explanation ready.
“I'm really sorry, but Hanna can't join us. She's not feeling very well, migraine I think, and she's lying down upstairs.”
No problem. Although I made a mental note that Hanna might just be the weakest link, and being kept out of reach. Sometimes it bothers me, that I think that way all the time. She could just as easily be having a real migraine.
“And, I'm sorry, but Toby's still taking a shower; he got up late.”
Two down. The two I'd have picked as the greatest liabilities. Interesting.
“That's just fine,” said Hester. “No problem.”
As we seated ourselves, me on the couch, and Hester in one of the overstuffed leather chairs, we were already down from five to Huck, Kevin and Melissa. So much for approaching the group as a whole.
“We would really like to get to the wake as soon as we can,” said Huck. “We feel we should be there for as long as possible.” She smiled, almost apologetically and, I thought, quite sincerely. “Edie's been our friend for quite a while.”
They'd arranged to limit the interview by controlling both the number of individuals present and the time spent. Not bad. I remembered what William Chester had said about them not going to cooperate, and gave him some points.
“We'd like to go, too,” said Hester. “Since Edie was Lamar's niece.” “Of course,” said Huck. “So, then, what can we do to help?”
“Well, for starters,” I said, “why didn't you let us know that Peel was up on the third floor?” I was really eager to see who was going to field that one.
“We didn't know he was there,” said Kevin, “and I don't think it's fair you should assume that we did.” “But you knew he and Edie were meeting up there sometimes, didn't you?” asked Hester.
“Sometimes, maybe,” he said, and made his first mistake. He was looking squarely at Hester, in order to appear sincere, and missed the look he got from Huck, which would have told him to let her speak. As it was, all Huck had gotten out was “Wuh—” before being cut off.
I spoke very quickly. “Sometimes in her room, sometimes the third floor, then?”
“Usually her room,” he said. “That's why we had no reason to suspect him to be on the third.”
I smiled at Huck. Just to let her know that I knew, too.
“But sometimes on the third floor?”
“Sure,” he said, just as Huck interjected, “We really don't know.”
“Anywhere else?” I asked.
This time it was only Huck, who said, “Now, wait. We don't really know those things. We're guessing,” and she shot Kevin a glance.
“Is there a reason,” I asked, “why you aren't letting Kevin speak for himself?”
“I am speaking for myself,” said Kevin. A little too quickly. And, again nearly simultaneously, Huck said, “I am letting him speak.”
I held up my hand. “Just a second. Whoa. One at a time.”
They exchanged irritated looks.
“Let's start again. Why don't you guys just listen up for a second, here, and I'll tell you