If Fried Chicken Could Fly (27 page)

Finally Gram said, “That’s the thing I wouldn’t mention to you and Verna today, Betts. I suspected it because of some of Everett’s actions, but I wasn’t sure. Do you suppose Jenna killed Everett because he and his wife gave her up for adoption?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“This is information that needs to get to the police, Betts. Right away. I think you need to tell Jim about the possible connection. I could but it doesn’t matter who tells at this point. Perhaps he can find out more from Everett’s widow. Oh dear, oh dear. I had no idea this was so deep. I thought Everett was just having fun searching for a treasure that he wanted to surprise his wife with. I thought there might be something with Jenna but I was doubtful. I had no idea about the Jerome connection, no idea. Maybe Jerome showed up because one of his descendants was killed not because of the fire.”

My own mind suddenly shifted into overdrive. “But that wouldn’t explain why I see him.”

“Genetics from me, maybe. I don’t know. Call Jim. Call me back if he wants me to come into town. I promise you I didn’t know about the possible connection between Jenna and Everett
and
Jerome. I promise, Betts.”

“I know. I will.” I hung up. “You okay, Jerome?”

“Fine, I’m just trying to remember. You think I’d remember something like that.”

I didn’t remember a lot of things and I was only twenty-nine. Maybe Gram was right; perhaps it was a blessing that he didn’t remember the details of his life.

“What’d he say? What did Miz say?” Jake nudged me again.

“Gram says to tell Jim. And Jerome is trying to remember.”

“What a story this is,” Jake said. “This all has to have something to do with Everett’s murder.”

“I’m going to call Jim and have him meet us,” I said. “Jerome won’t be able to go with us. He can’t get into the jail.”

“I’ll be at the theater,” he said, and then he disappeared.

“Jerome, try your best to remember,” Jake said.

“He’s gone,” I said.

“Have I mentioned how jealous I am of you seeing him while I can’t?”

I pulled out my cell phone.

Getting a hold of Jim wasn’t as easy as it should have been. The jail was shut down for the night and the only person on duty was a woman who answered the phone. I didn’t know who she was or where she was located but similar to what Gram had felt the night of the murder, I was less than pleased with her communication skills. Finally, she said she’d call Jim and have him meet us at the jail. Once
that was established, Jake and I loaded up with information, locked the sheriff’s office, and hurried across the street. We sat on the boardwalk and waited.

“Normally, my night shift crew doesn’t begin working until after the cook-off,” Jim said as he got out of his car. “Sorry it took me a few extra minutes.”

Jim was in jeans and a T-shirt. I couldn’t remember him in such casual dress but I knew we must have attended some of the same barbecues when he wasn’t on duty.

Jake and I had brought Verna’s genealogy chart and the “anonymous” note. Neither of us would say a word about who we thought dropped off the note. I didn’t think we needed to, and I didn’t think Jim would use it against her.

The night was warm and well lit by two large spotlights at the end of the street. Evan, the new fire marshal, and a few of his volunteers had been recruited to set up the hanging platform. Evan, his hands on his hips in supervisory mode, looked our direction as we stood and waited for Jim to let us into the jail. He seemed to pause and stare at us curiously. Once he knew who we were, he waved and then turned back to his crew.

We were mere hours away from the biggest day of the year as Jim unlocked the door and we followed him into the jail.

We showed him what we had, we tried to connect imaginary dots with imaginary lines because, after all, it
must
all mean something.

“That’s not enough for us to arrest Jenna for anything,” Jim said. “I mean, I can ask her some questions but not officially. I could use more evidence than this.”

“Maybe she has a gun,” Jake said. “Maybe it’s been fired recently.”

“I can ask her, but I’ve got no legal reason to get a search warrant,” Jim said. “We’re having the blood from the roof tested, but unless her DNA is in our system for something else, we can’t just ask her for a sample. We could, I guess, but I’d be surprised if she’d give it to us.”

“We could try the drink cup trick they do on television all the time. Make her take a drink of something and then steal the cup,” Jake said.

“Inadmissible, probably,” I said, though I wasn’t totally sure.

“It’s okay on TV,” Jake said.

“That’s television,” I said. “However, and though it still might be inadmissible in court, Jenna’s a smoker. She can’t smoke in the bar, but I’ve often seen her go out back on her breaks. I’ll bet we could find a butt we could use. Still maybe not admissible, but at least we might know.”

Jim sat forward in his chair. “Betts, Jake, thanks for the information and the ideas, but leave the police work and evidence gathering to us, please. You’ve already had too much drama out in that alley. We will look into this, but you have to remember to be careful. Got it?”

Jake and I looked at each other, silently wondering what else we could say. Suddenly, the jail door opened again and Cliff walked in. He nodded but didn’t say anything.

“We’re taking this seriously,” Jim said. “I promise that I have listened to every word you’ve said and we will look into it. We’re on board now with the theory that Everett’s murder might have something to do with an old outlaw’s hidden treasure and I might buy into something about his adopted daughter being involved—if Jenna is his daughter.”

I looked at Cliff as he pulled up a chair and sat next to Jake. He was probably curious about the middle-of-the-night emergency but he didn’t interrupt. Jim would fill him in later.

“Thank you for bringing this to us,” Jim said.

Something suddenly felt off. It took me a second, but I realized why.

Jim still thought we were here only to turn the glaring light of guilt away from Gram. He didn’t think we were lying, but he probably thought Jake and I had spent hours poring over documents in the archives, trying to come up with something that would make someone else look guilty. We’d searched for some little thread and built it into something we thought was substantial.

I fought an urge to stomp my foot and exclaim that we weren’t just trying to throw them off the killer’s scent but instead get them headed toward the real killer. I could see the look in Jim’s eyes. He would look at what we’d brought, but I didn’t think he’d take it seriously.

And maybe I wouldn’t either if I were in his shoes.

Old treasures, dead bank robbers, contortionists, fake gold coins hidden in a tombstone, potential descendants who might not know about their ancestors anyway. It was only getting more outrageous, not less.

It was outrageous, but it was also connected—I was sure of that. As sure as I was of anything.

“Thanks, Jim, Cliff,” I said as I stood. I encouraged Jake to stand with me. He did, but only hesitantly. As he reached for the jail’s doorknob, a pair of handcuffs fell to the floor, the same pair that had fallen the night Gram was arrested.

I turned and looked at Jim. “See, we didn’t touch them.”

They didn’t say a thing as we left.

“That wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be,” Jake said as we walked across the street again.

“No, but maybe they’ll give it some consideration,” I said. “Maybe they’ll find something.”

“Should we go search for a cigarette butt?” Jake asked with half enthusiasm.

“Nah, I do think they were right about us having experienced too much drama. I don’t have much desire to hang out in the alley again especially at night.”

I looked at the goings-on at the end of the street once more. Though it was lit, the alley would still be shadowed and mostly silent. Tomorrow—no this— evening now, the entire town would be hopping, including the alley. People ventured back there all the time, mostly just out of curiosity.

“Maybe later, tonight—it’s that late, or early, I suppose—after everything’s over for the day,” I said as I peered at the theater. It looked like the doors were open.

“Betts.” Jake waved his hand in front of my face. “Where did you go?”

“Sorry. I think we should be done for now. Have you written your poem for opening day festivities yet?”

Jake laughed. “I’ve written a number of versions. Need to finish it up when I get home. I think it’ll mention ghosts and treasures, though. Write what you know and all.”

“Go home. Write, get some rest, and I’ll see you later.”

“You’re going home, too?” Jake asked as he followed the line of my vision and looked at the theater.

“Absolutely.”

And to prove it further, I let him walk me to my car. I got in and drove toward home. I pulled off on a side street and waited five minutes until he drove by going in the direction of his house. And then I went back into town.

Jerome had said he’d be in the theater. I figured the doors had been opened to prepare for the big day. Maybe live people were inside cleaning, maybe Jim found someone to run it.

Whatever. It looked like I could get in, and for a reason I wasn’t sure I understood, I wanted to be there.

I parked in front of the theater, which was about a half block from the hanging platform in one direction and a half block to the jail in the other direction. It looked like Jim and Cliff had left, too, but anyone who happened to look this way would see my car.

“Isabelle, right?” Evan approached. His shaggy blond hair glowed with the artificial light and I remembered how he’d looked with his head in the school’s ceiling: like he had a halo.

“Most everyone calls me Betts.”

“Everything okay after the fire?”

“Yes. My brother got everything cleaned up. We have a couple missing ceiling tiles, but he said he’d have those replaced soon.”

“Good to hear.” Evan looked around. “We’ve got a pretty big day ahead of us, huh?”

I laughed. “Yes, as quiet as it is at this moment, you’ll be shocked at the amount of people we’ll see soon. It’s very fun, really.”

“I’m looking forward to it. I’ve never had the duty of putting up a hanging platform. So far, Broken Rope has been full of surprises.”

“And it will continue to be, I’m sure.”

Evan laughed, but it was a sad laugh. I remembered his history and was suddenly sorry for him.

“So, what’re you doing down here this time of night?” he asked.

“I never sleep well before the cook-off. I saw the theater doors were open. I’d like to take a look around. Have you seen anyone coming or going?”

“I don’t think so but I haven’t been paying attention. The doors are open though, so someone might be doing something.”

“Evan, we could use a hand,” one of the workmen called from the other side of the street.

“Nice to see you, Betts. Tell Missouri hello for me,” he said before he turned and hurried to the platform.

The light from inside the theater seemed to beckon me inside. I looked around to see if anyone else was watching me and then went to look for Jerome.

He was right inside the door, looking at the pictures, Belinda’s picture to be exact.

“Jerome?” I said quietly as I approached.

“Isabelle, hello.” He tipped his hat, but his eyes went quickly back to the picture. I suddenly wondered why I’d never told him to call me Betts, like I did the rest of the world.

“What’s going on?” I asked because I had no idea what other question to ask.

“I remember her,” he said, a smile tugging at his mouth but not making it to his eyes. “We were in love, deeply.”

“Go on.” A thrill zipped through my system. Were we finally going to learn that final piece of the puzzle? I looked at the picture and the impossible pose. She was lovely and didn’t have Jenna’s rough edge. Belinda and Jenna were a couple generations apart, but the genetics had carried well.

“I was dying.”

“What?” The zip fizzled. This was sad news even if it wasn’t timely.

“I was dying. The doctor told me I had the cancer. Belinda and I were together, but we kept it a secret. She owned this place. She’d run out on her mean SOB of a husband, run from back east, just like I had. She was legally married and worked with her father until he died. We couldn’t get married. Shoot, we couldn’t even let on that we were together. When she told me she was with babe, I begged her to run away with me, told her we’d go somewhere where no one could ever find us again. Maybe there’d be an ocean, maybe there’d be a desert, but we’d be together. I almost had her convinced when the doctor told me I didn’t have much longer to live.”

“Oh, Jerome, that’s so sad.”

“It’s why I robbed the bank. It’s why I stole the money and then the gold. It was a lot of gold, Isabelle. I knew I was going to die and she’d be left with a young’un. She didn’t know what having the baby would do to her body, do to her reputation, but she wouldn’t be able to do this for a while. I was going to die, there was no doubt. She’d be left alone with the babe.” He nodded at the picture. “She owned the Jasper but mostly made money on her own act. I had to do something to make sure they would be provided for. I ended up dying much more quickly and with less suffering than the cancer would have brought.”