Free Who Left that Body in the Rain? by Patricia Sprinkle Page B

went down the dirt road. I sent up a quick prayer of thanks for two boys who stumbled across his body sooner than the murderer probably expected him to be found.
    Chief Muggins wasn’t praying. He was rubbing his paws together in satisfaction. “Rain pretty much washed it clean, of course, but if there’s anything to find, we’ll find it.”
    Laura trembled, but she didn’t cry.
    Joe Riddley laid a hand on her shoulder and bent to ask softly, “Where’s Skell, honey? You need him here. Does he even know about all this?”
    Her voice sounded both angry and forlorn. “Last time I saw him was at the restaurant. I’ve tried calling his house and his cell phone, but he’s not answering.” Again she reached for a strand of hair, and this time carried it to her mouth. Only when she caught my eye did she drop it.
    Charlie butted into what was clearly a private conversation. “So he has disappeared.”
    I was glad to wipe that gloat off his face. “He was in town this afternoon, over at Maynard’s wedding luncheon.”
    Gwen Ellen came in just in time to hear me. Hope brightened the color in her pale cheeks. “Then he’s got to be around town somewhere. I was so afraid he’d gone up to Atlanta. He likes to do that on weekends, especially if he and Skye—” She stopped and pressed a tissue to her nose. “The last time Skell saw his daddy, they were fussing. That’s what Skell’s gonna always remember.” She collapsed on the couch, sobbing.
    Chief Muggins stepped forward. “There was a quarrel between your son and his father?”
    “A silly disagreement, that’s all,” Laura corrected him.
    “What about?”
    She heaved a big sigh that showed how dumb she thought it had been. “Skell was late getting to work yesterday, and somebody called Daddy over to the lot for something. While he was there, Daddy sold a car Skell had promised to somebody else. Skell was upset, but he’ll get over it.” She muttered to Joe Riddley, “I told Daddy a hundred times that if he meant to let Skell run that lot, he had to let him do it.”
    Chief Muggins narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips before he spoke. “How upset would you say your brother was with his father?”
    “My brother didn’t kill my dad.”
    Her roar didn’t surprise me. Laura had inherited Skye’s temper, too, but only two things made her lose it: an umpire who made what she considered an unfair call, and attacks on her brother. In grade school she’d beaten up kindergarten bullies who’d called Skell “Bones” or taunted him for preferring music to sports. She had silently endured her mother’s disappointment that “Laura just can’t seem to be a lady—she keeps getting into fights,” without ever telling Gwen Ellen what the fights were about. It was Ridd’s wife, Martha, our emergency-room supervisor, who learned the truth when a rough boy broke Skell’s arm in fourth grade while Laura was out of town playing soccer. “If Sissy had been here,” he’d sobbed angrily, “she’d have beaten that boy silly, like she always does.” I had even heard Laura taking up for him down at the motor company not long ago, when Skye came down hard on him.
    She certainly surprised Chief Muggins. He took a step back and held up his hands. “I didn’t say he did. But we have to investigate all avenues here.”
    Laura blew her nose and glared up at him. “The only avenues I’ve heard you investigate so far lead to Mama, my brother, or me. Seems to me like you need a bigger map, sir.”
    “Laura.” Gwen Ellen checked her softly, then turned back to the police chief. “She doesn’t mean to be rude, Chief Muggins; she’s just upset. But I wish you’d send somebody out looking for Skellton. Laura has tried to reach him a number of times, and he hasn’t answered his phone. His people at the lot haven’t seen him all day long, and a salesman Laura talked to sounded a little upset—”
    “He didn’t sound a little upset, Mama; he sounded furious.”