“Sandra mentioned a secretary who didn’t seem too happy with the questions Gordon was asking. She didn’t know her name, but said she was sort of an Amy Irving look-alike.”
“Penny Ramsey.”
“Did you see any tension between her and Gordon?”
“Hard to say. Penny’s young, so she may have a few remnants of her soul left. Souls don’t last too long at corporate firms, you know. But tension? I didn’t notice. Sandra probably has a better eye than me for things like that. If she saw it, it’s probably true.”
Norm checked his watch, which was the signal for us to move it along.
“Is there anything else?” he went on. “I hate to rush you, but things are pretty busy for me. Gordon’s dead, but life goes on. I’m sure the mine will be asking for a continuance, and I need to be ready with a motion to oppose it.”
“I think that’s all for now.”
“Good.”
We were about to stand up, but Ajax suddenly interrupted. “Hang on. What about Kip and Racer?”
Norm settled back into his chair with a little sigh. “What about them?”
“If you talked to the coroner, then you know the crime scenes are similar. You’re the only person with a connection to all the victims.”
“You think I killed Kip and Racer?” Norm asked, chuckling.
“I think you know more than you’re telling us.”
Norm studied us like a cat debating the physics of a jump from roof to roof. Strangely, when I looked at Norm’s face, I realized that Ajax was right. Norm was hiding something. I narrowed my eyes in apprehension of what he might say. What did he know that he’d kept from us for six years?
“Fair enough,” he replied finally. “I guess I can share this with you now. Not that it’s likely to help you with regard to Gordon’s death. Do you remember what was found in my trailer, in addition to the bodies and the blood?”
I knew. “Liquor bottles. A lot of them.”
“Yes, exactly. A couple of weeks earlier, there had been an overnight break-in at a liquor store way over in Mittel County. The owner was lazy about cleaning out the cash register at night. The thieves took several hundred dollars and a few cases of beer and spirits. Somebody spotted a car peeling away that matched a stolen vehicle here in Random.”
“So what?” Ajax said. “We already suspected that Kip and Racer were behind the robbery. That’s why we were looking for them.”
“Yes, but what you don’t know is that Kip Wells called me. He thought he and Racer were likely to be arrested at any moment and they wanted me as their lawyer. Of course, I was in the middle of the trial in Stanton and couldn’t come home. Kip wanted to avoid the two of them being found until I was back in the county.”
“Norm, what did you do?” I asked, with a chill in my voice.
He shrugged. “I may have mentioned to Kip during our conversation that I was disappointed at not being able to spend time in my trailer because I was away from home.”
“You told them to hide out there to avoid arrest,” I said.
“I did nothing of the sort. That would be illegal.”
“You’re the reason they were there,” I said again, shaking my head with disgust.
“Rebecca, I made an offhand comment about being unable to visit a secluded property I owned,” he told us, still playing lawyer word games. “What they chose to do with that information was up to them. When I got back to Random, naturally I made a stop at my trailer to make sure everything was secure. That’s when I found the bodies and called Darrell. However, to be clear, that’s all I know about the crimes. I have no idea who killed Kip and Racer.”
Outside, Ajax and I lit up cigarettes next to his cruiser.
We both leaned against the hood. He stood close enough to me that his thigh brushed against mine. I was thinking about Norm and what he’d done, so I didn’t bother to move away. Believe me, Ajax noticed. He was smooth, taking his time, not spooking the bronco. After we’d smoked for a while, he slid his arm behind me like a teenager at a movie theater, and soon after that, his fingers began to stroke my hair. Just a casual thing. Harmless. Yes, I should have stopped him, but I didn’t. At that particular moment in my life, I liked being wanted. I couldn’t remember the last time Ricky had touched me with anything resembling affection.
And I know, I know, sweetheart, that’s how it starts. One time you get tired of resisting. One time you let it go, and the next thing you know, your whole life is in ruins. That’s how it happened for me.
Finally, I threw my cigarette into the snow and pushed Ajax away. That was only because I heard the whine of a power saw and spotted Will Foltz inside one of the open doors of Norm’s workshop. I felt a little embarrassed at the idea that Will might have spotted me standing so close to Ajax. It didn’t take much to start rumors around Black Wolf County.
Ajax saw him, too. “We should talk to Will.”
I nodded. “Let me do it, okay?”
“Why?”
“I’ve known Will his whole life. He trusts me. Plus, if Norm sees you talking to his son, he won’t like it.”
I crossed the driveway and went inside the workshop. Will was in the middle of crafting a miniature gazebo, something you’d put in a flower garden. Like his father, Will loved building things. He’d been designing and crafting everything from rolltop desks to built-in bookshelves since he was about ten years old. Ricky and I had rocking chairs on our back porch that Will had made for us as a wedding present.
He was a handsome kid. His physique was burly, but he was sleek, strong, and fast on the football field. His blond hair was thick, with some curl where it covered his ears. What made him irresistible was his high-wattage smile. Will turned on that smile, and high school girls swooned. All of Darrell’s girls were in love with him. A kid with that kind of charm could have become another Ajax if he’d had the wrong personality, but I had never known Will to exploit his good looks. As gregarious as he was, he only dated occasionally. He had too many other things on his plate.
“Hi, Will.”
Like a light bulb, that smile flashed to life. “Hi, Rebecca.”
“That’s a beautiful gazebo.”
“Thanks. I’m making it for Mr. Stedman. His wife always wanted one, and I thought he’d like to have it for her, you know?”
“That’s sweet.” I let him sand and plane for a minute, and then I went on. “Did you hear about Jay’s dad?”
He didn’t stop what he was doing. “Uh-huh.”
“Norm says you and Jay are friends.”
“Yeah, we hang out sometimes.”
“Have you talked to him?”
“Sure. I called him as soon as I heard.”
“How’s he doing?”
“It’s hard to tell with Jay sometimes,” Will replied, eyeing the length of the board. “He keeps things all bottled up.”
“I heard Jay and his dad didn’t get along too well.”
Will rolled his eyes. “That’s the understatement of the year.”
“It wasn’t good?”
“It was terrible. Gordon expected Jay to be just like him, and that was the last thing Jay wanted.”
“What did Jay want?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure he knows. He’ll probably be a writer or something. I tried to tell Jay that lawyers weren’t so bad. My dad’s a lawyer, and he’s one of the good guys. I’ll probably be one, too.”
“When we talked to Jay, he called his father a monster. Do you have any idea why he’d say something like that?”