“Good question,” Floyd said as Laurie pulled next to his car on the street and turned on the four-way flashers. “I’m just too tired to think it through right now.”
“I’ll give you a call tomorrow when you’re awake. Maybe I can call in a favor and get some preliminary testing on your letter and rope completed by then.”
“No need to call in favors to rush testing on a decade-old case.”
“Don’t worry about it, I have more owed than owing and it’s about time I called in a few IOUs.”
Floyd was reaching for the door handle when Laurie said, “Tell me about Mary.”
“Mary, as in my friend Mary Jungers?”
“Do you have any other significant Marys in your life?”
“What’s to tell? We’ve had coffee and dinner together a few times.”
“Is Mary the reason you’re so tired today? Maybe you had a sleepover?” Laurie asked with a smile.
Floyd’s face colored. “No. We’re not friends like that.”
“Why not? You’re both adults and maybe a little lonely. It’s OK.”
Floyd felt a sudden dryness in his mouth and his collar felt a little tight. Words escaped him.
“Floyd, I know that you’re still grieving over the loss of your wife,” Laurie said, putting her hand on his arm. “That’s OK. But if you have a chance for a deep friendship that may grow to something else, don’t let it slip away.”
“It’s just that…” He paused, unable to articulate the reason.
“Listen to me. I’ve been there. I’ve been too tied up in my job, or too busy, or too worried about how a Caucasian boyfriend would look to my family. I’ve been afraid to open myself up to someone. Now I’m at a point where I’m not meeting eligible bachelors and I’d really like to have someone I love on the other half of my bed.”
“You’re young. You’ll have more chances.”
Laurie smiled. “I heard that Mary is very sweet and a little sassy. She sounds like a delight.”
Floyd stared through the windshield. “She’s good company, but I need to take my time.”
Floyd turned to face her and she saw the tears in his eyes. She picked up his hand and kissed it. “Have you kissed her?”
“Yes.”
“Floyd, I mean have you really kissed her?”
Floyd stared out the front window. “I’m not ready for this discussion.”
“Take her out to supper and give her a real, passionate kiss when you walk her to the front door. Sweep her off her feet.”
“I’m afraid she’ll ask me to stay for breakfast.”
“That would be one of those rare times I’d advise you to think with you heart and not your head.”
Floyd shook his head. “What if…” He paused. “Sex changes things. I don’t want to screw up what we have.”
“God knows that I’m not the relationship expert, but it seems to me that falling in love with your friend is about the best thing that could happen. After all, you’re probably quite a catch.”
Floyd smiled. “I think that you’re patronizing an old man who needs to get some sleep,” he said, getting out of Laurie’s car and unlocking the county car.
Laurie watched him drive away and said to herself, “If you weren’t like a father to me, I’d be competing with Mary for the other half of your bed.”
CHAPTER 20
Sandy Maki was sitting on a desk in the bullpen talking to Pam Ryan when Floyd returned from his trip to the BCA. “Don’t tell me that it’s shift change already,” Floyd said, pouring the dregs from the coffeepot into his Pine City Dragons cup.
“We’re comparing notes on the Roberts’ case,” Sandy said. “It’s going to be quiet this afternoon so I thought I could pick up some interviews or something. Pam was telling me about her conversation with Kathy Tucker.”
Pam picked up on the conversation and joined them.
“Kathy claims she can’t remember anything about the night, but every once in a while she lets something slip that says she remembers more than she’s letting on. She told me about breaking up with Aaron that night while Ken Solstad was in the backseat of the car with Melissa. Kathy said she wanted to get married but Aaron said, no, that Aaron had moved on with his life.” Pam paused, re-running the conversation through her mind.
“There’s something else that didn’t ring true. Kathy’s way too subdued when she talks. It’s like she’s totally numb from the experience or that her reply is over-rehearsed.”
“Maybe she’s overmedicated,” Sandy suggested. “I’ve talked to a few people who’ve been on heavy doses of anti-depressants and they can’t get excited about anything.”
“I doubt that she’s taking any mind-altering drugs,” Floyd said. “Most recovering alcoholics tend to avoid drugs. After going through all the hell of recovery they don’t want to jeopardize their balance.”
“You won’t believe Kathy’s house,” Pam said. “She has no grass in her yard at all. It’s all flowers and bushes. It’s like walking through a garden, and there isn’t a weed anywhere. She has to be compulsive to keep it that neat and weed-free.”
“Do you think she could have a body buried among the daisies?” Sandy asked.
Pam’s eyes grew wide. “I never thought of that.”
“Aaron disappeared in December when the ground was frozen,” Floyd said. “Besides that, Kathy was living with her parents then. I don’t think she bought the house until several years later.
“Here’s a question,” Floyd said. “Would any of the parents have a motive to kill Aaron? We don’t seem to be getting anywhere with the friends, so let’s talk through one layer further up.”
“I guess I’ll check property abstracts,” Sandy offered. “We can nail down the date Kathy bought the house.”
“I talked to Kathy’s mother,” Pam said. “She didn’t think much of Ken and the others. I think she called them a bunch of drunks.”
“I talked to Ken Solstad’s mother, Karen,” Floyd said. “She was much more positive about the friends. Of course, Ken was the bully so his mother might have different picture of the group. Melissa Smith’s mother, Dottie, was very bitter. From her perspective, Ken was a rapist and the others allowed it to happen.”
“It sounds like Mrs. Smith might have motive to harm Ken,” Pam said, “but I don’t know why she would want to hurt Aaron. I’d like to talk to Mike Nelson and Betsy Ring. Something about their alibi of spending the night together on a dead end road is too pat.”
“Hey!” Sandy said, “I just had a blinding flash of the obvious. This took place in December, and that couple said they fell asleep in the car until sunrise. It doesn’t work! They said they slept from the time they left the bar until the sun came up. Sunup in early December is like seven-thirty so they would’ve been in the car for probably seven hours.
“Think about it for a second — it’s probably below freezing, maybe close to zero. If they leave the car running they get carbon monoxide poisoning or run the gas tank dry. If they run the tank dry they have to walk somewhere to get gas. If they turn the car off, it gets cold and they die of hypothermia. I don’t think it happened that way.”
“Well,” Floyd offered, “they didn’t sleep the whole time. Both of them claim Betsy got pregnant that night, so they were generating body heat for a while.”
“You’re way old, Floyd,” Sandy said. “That’s about five minutes of heat when you’re twenty-one. Right, Pam?”
Pam’s answer was a red face.
“Enough of that,” Floyd said. “I want Pam to do follow-up interviews with Mike and Betsy. I can give you the phone numbers and addresses. Sandy, I think you should talk to the parents. Start with the Solstads, and then talk to the Nelsons and Rings. We’ll catch up with the parents at the same time we’re getting their children.”