Free Torch Scene by Renee Pawlish Page B

the puns. “How’s the detecting going?”
    “Oh,” he said, now giving me a knowing nod. “I talked to some of the neighbors.” He ducked inside and returned with the notepad I’d given him. It was crumpled, and when he flipped to a page with writing, I was amazed that he could read the scrawling on it. “That guy over there,” he pointed to a small apartment complex next door to Willie’s house. “His name is Rusty Householter. He lives on the second floor. He said he saw some lady arguing with Nick a couple of times. He said they stood on the sidewalk yelling and she was really mad.”
    “When was that?”
    “When, yeah,” he muttered to himself as he read his notes. “Once last week, and another time, maybe a week before that. He asked Nick about it, and Nick said that she was his ex-wife. I don’t think Nick liked her because Rusty said that Nick called her some names.”
    “Did Rusty see her with Nick the night of the fire?”
    “No.” He gazed up at me and gave me another knowing look. “I made sure to ask and he said no.”
    “Does he know the ex-wife’s name?”
    “Yes. Nadine.”
    “I’m glad Rusty was a nosy neighbor.” That went over Ace’s head as well. “What else you got?”
    He checked his notes again. “Most people weren’t home or they didn’t see anything, but Mr. Darmody next door said he was coming home from a church meeting and he said someone he didn’t recognize went into Willie’s house the night of the fire.”
    My ears perked up at that. “What time was that?”
    “Hm. Is that a ‘what’ or ‘when’?” Ace blushed and gnawed at his lower lip. “Uh, well, what happened was Mr. Darmody asked me how Willie was doing, and we talked about the fire, and I forgot to ask.”
    “It’s okay.” I suppressed a smile. “I’ll talk to Mr. Darmody. That was good work, Ace. You’re one heckuva sidekick.”
    He grinned. “Thanks. It gives me something to do while I’m waiting to get a job.”
    “How’s that going?” I asked as I opened my wallet and pulled out some bills.
    “Not bad. I got an interview at Home Depot next week.”
    I handed him the money.
    “No, I can’t take that,” he said.
    I pressed the bills into his hand. “Go have a few beers and play some pool, on me.”
    “I’ll take Deuce to B 52s,” he said, referring to the pool hall where we liked to hang out.
    I took the stairs two at a time. Willie was standing in front of the entertainment center.
    “Hey, this movie Sunset Boulevard is pretty good,” she said as she pointed the remote at the TV. “I just finished watching it. That Norma Desmond was craaaazy.”
    “It’s considered one of the best film noir.” I picked up a DVD case with that unforgettable picture of Gloria Swanson on it. “You raided my collection?”
    “I needed to take my mind off things.”
    “There might be hope for you yet,” I said. I put the DVD away and pulled her close to me.
    “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said. She leaned in and kissed me, then nuzzled my neck. Then, I almost fell over when she said, in her best Gloria-Swanson-as-Norma-Desmond voice, “All right, Mr. Ferguson, I’m ready for my close-up.”
    “Hm. Close up definitely works for me,” I said.
    We kissed again. Then I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. We’d only spent the one night apart, but it seemed like I hadn’t seen her in forever. And for a little while, all our troubles faded, and it was just the two of us. Afterward, I lay back and chuckled.
    “What?” She sat up.
    “Whoever ‘they’ are, they’re right.”
    “Huh?”
    I grinned. “Making up really is fun.”
    “Maybe we should fight more.” She cuddled up against me.
    “Did you know Nick was already divorced when he rented the apartment from you?” I asked.
    She cocked her head and gave me a ‘so-what’ look. “How long did it take you to find that out?”
    “Ha ha,” I said. “The point is Nick was saying he was newly divorced as a way to