“Who else has been?”
“All of them. All the brothers.”
“Which ones?”
“All of them!” she screamed, slamming her fist into the table so hard that Buddy’s crutch clattered to the floor.
Lena uncrossed her arms, ready to respond if O’Ryan tried to do something stupid.
“They pretend to be so high and mighty, but they’re just as disgusting as the rest of them.” Again, she snorted, this time sounding more like a pig. “That one had an itty-bitty cock, too. He’d come in about three seconds, then start to fucking cry like a girl.” She used a whiney tone: “‘Oh, Lord, I’m going to hell, oh, Lord, I’m gonna burn with Satan.’ Fucking made me sick. Bastard didn’t care about hell when he was grabbing my head, forcing me to swallow it.”
Buddy paled, his jaw slack.
Jeffrey asked, “Which brother, Patty?”
“The short one,” she said, scratching her arm so hard she left red streaks. “The one with the spiked-up hair.”
Lena tried to think which one she meant. Both Paul and Lev had been as tall as Jeffrey, both with a full head of hair.
O’Ryan kept scratching her arm. Soon, she would draw blood. “He’d give Chip whatever he wanted. Smack, coke, weed.”
“He was dealing?”
“He was giving it away.”
“He was giving away drugs?”
“Not to me,” she snapped angrily. She looked down at her arm, tracing the red streaks. Her leg started bobbing under the table again, and Lena guessed the girl was going to lose her shit if she didn’t get a needle in her arm soon.
O’Ryan said, “Just to Chip. He’d never give anything to me. I even offered him cash, but he told me to fuck off. Like his shit don’t smell.”
“Do you remember his name?”
“No,” she said. “He was always up there, though. Sometimes he’d just sit at the end of the bar and watch Chip. Probably wanted to fuck him.”
“Did he have red hair?”
“No,” she answered, like he was stupid.
“Did he have dark hair?”
“I don’t remember the color, okay?” Her eyes flashed, more like an animal needing to feed. “I’m done talking.” She told Buddy, “Get me out of here.”
Jeffrey said, “Hold on there.”
“I’ve got a job interview.”
“Right,” Jeffrey said.
“Get me out of here!” she yelled, leaning over the table as far as she could to get into Buddy’s face. “Now, goddammit!”
Buddy’s mouth smacked when he opened it. “I don’t think you’re done answering questions.’”
She mimicked him like a petulant three-year-old. “‘I don’t think you’re done answering questions.’”
“Settle down,” Buddy warned.
“You settle down, you one-legged piece of shit,” she screamed back. Her body was shaking again, vibrating from the need. “Get me the fuck out of here. Now!”
Buddy picked up his crutch off the floor. He wisely waited until he got to the door to say, “Chief, do whatever you want with her. I’m washing my hands.”
“You fucking cocksucking coward!” O’Ryan screeched, lunging for Buddy. She had forgotten she was still chained to the table and she was yanked back like a dog on a short leash. “Bastard!” she screamed, going into full meltdown. Her chair had been upturned in the scuffle and she kicked it across the room, then yelped from the pain in her foot. “I’ll sue you, you fucking bastards!” she yelled, clutching her foot. “Motherless fucks!”
“Patty?” Jeffrey asked. “Patty?”
Lena fought the urge to put her hands over her ears as the girl wailed like a siren. Jeffrey was scowling when he stood, sticking to the periphery of the room as he made his exit. Lena quickly followed him into the hall, keeping her eyes on O’Ryan until there was a solid door between them.
Jeffrey shook his head, like he couldn’t believe a human being was capable of acting that way. “This is the first time in my life I actually feel sorry for the bastard,” he said, meaning Buddy. He walked down the hall to get away from the noise. “Do you think there’s another Ward brother?”
“There has to be.”
“Black sheep?”
Lena remembered their conversation with the family two days ago. “That’s Paul’s job, I thought.”
“What?”
“Paul said he was the black sheep of the family.”
Jeffrey opened the fire door into the squad room for her. She could see Mark McCallum, the GBI polygraph expert, sitting in Jeffrey’s office. Across from him sat Lev Ward.
She asked, “How the hell did you manage that?”
“Got me,” Jeffrey told her, looking around the squad room, probably for Cole Connolly. Marla was at her desk, and he asked her, “Did Lev Ward come in alone?”
She glanced out through the lobby window. “Far as I can tell.”
“When did he get here?”
“About ten minutes ago.” She smiled helpfully. “I figured you’d want me to go ahead and call Mark over here to get started before lunch.”
“Thanks,” he told her, walking back toward his office.
Lena offered, “You want me to get Brad and go fetch Cole?”
“Let’s hold off on that,” Jeffrey said, knocking on his office door.
Mark waved them in. “Just getting set up,” he told them.
“Thanks for staying in town, Mark.” Jeffrey shook the man’s hand. “I hear you’ve been enjoying the room service over at the Dew Drop.”
Mark cleared his throat and went back to twisting some knobs on his machine.
“Chief,” Lev said, looking as comfortable as anyone can with their body wired to a polygraph machine. “I got your message this morning. I’m sorry I couldn’t make it yesterday.”
“Thanks for coming in,” Jeffrey said, taking out his notebook. He wrote as he talked. “I appreciate you taking the time to do this.”
“The family is getting together at the church in a few hours to pay tribute to Abby.” He turned to Lena. “Good morning, Detective,” he said quietly, then focused back on Jeffrey. “I’d like as much time as I can to prepare my remarks. This is a very difficult time for us all.”
Jeffrey didn’t look up from his writing. “I was expecting Cole Connolly to come with you.”
“I’m sorry,” Lev said. “Cole didn’t mention anything to me. He’ll be at the tribute. I’ll tell him to come by directly after.”
He kept writing on the pad. “You’re not having a funeral?”
“Unfortunately, the body had to be cremated. We’re just doing a small fellowship with the family to talk about her life and how much we all loved her. We like to do things simply.”
Jeffrey finished writing. “Outsiders aren’t welcome?”
“Well, it’s not a regular service, more a family gathering. Listen-”
Jeffrey tore off the sheet of paper and handed it to Mark. “We’ll get you out of here as quickly as possible.”
Lev eyed the note, not hiding his curiosity. “I appreciate that.” He sat back in the chair. “Paul was against my coming here, but I’ve always believed it’s better to cooperate.”
“Mark?” Jeffrey asked as he sat down behind his desk. “It’s not too cramped with all of us in here, is it?”
“Uh…” Mark hesitated for a split second. Normally, he was alone in the room with the subject, but it wasn’t as if polygraphs were admissible in court, and Ward hadn’t been arrested. Lena suspected that, more than anything else, lie detector machines were just meant to scare the crap out of people. She wouldn’t be surprised to open one up and find mice inside scurrying on wheels.
“Sure,” Mark said. “No problem.” He fiddled with more dials, then uncapped his pen. “Reverend Ward, are you ready to begin?”
“Lev, please.”
“All right.” Mark had a notebook beside the polygraph that was hidden from Lev by the bulk of the machine. He opened it up, tucking Jeffrey’s note into the pocket. “I’d like to remind you to stick to yes or no answers, if you could. We don’t need you to elaborate on anything at this point. Anything you feel needs an explanation can be discussed with Chief Tolliver later. The machine will only register yes and no responses.”