فصل 02 - بخش 12

2

Ralph barbecued steaks on a grill that was, thanks to his administrative leave, spandy-clean. There was also salad, corn on the cob, and apple pie a la mode for dessert. ‘Very American meal, se?or,’ Yune observed as his wife cut his steak for him.

‘It was delicious,’ Holly said.

Bill Samuels patted his stomach. ‘I may be ready to eat again by Labor Day, but I’m not sure.’

‘Stuff and nonsense,’ Jeannie said. She took a bottle of beer from the cooler beside the picnic table, pouring half into Samuels’s glass and half into her own. ‘You’re too thin. You need a wife to feed you up.’

‘Maybe when I go into private practice, my ex will come around. There’s going to be a demand for a good lawyer here in town now that Howie—’ He suddenly realized what he was saying and brushed at his cowlick (which, thanks to a fresh haircut, wasn’t there). ‘A good lawyer can always find work, is what I meant.’

They were quiet for a moment, then Ralph raised his beer bottle. ‘To absent friends.’

They drank to that. Holly said, in a voice almost too quiet to be heard, ‘Sometimes life can be very poopy.’ No one laughed.

The oppressive July heat had let up, the worst of the bugs were gone, and the Anderson backyard was a pleasant place to be. Once the meal was finished, Yune’s two boys and Marcy Maitland’s two girls drifted to the basketball hoop on the side of the garage, and began playing Horse.

‘So,’ Marcy said. Even though the kids were a good distance away, and absorbed in their game, she lowered her voice. ‘The inquest. Did the story hold up?’

‘It did,’ Ralph said. ‘Hoskins called the Bolton house and lured us to the Marysville Hole. There he went on a shooting spree, killing Howie and Alec and wounding Yune. I stated my belief that it was me he was really after. We’ve had our differences over the years, and the more he drank, the more that must have eaten into him. The assumption is that he was with some as yet unidentified accomplice, who kept him supplied with booze and drugs – the medical examiner found traces of cocaine in his system – and fed his paranoia. The Texas HP went into the Chamber of Sound, but did not find the accomplice.’

‘Just some clothes,’ Holly said.

‘And you’re sure he’s dead,’ Jeannie said. ‘The outsider. You’re sure.’

‘Yes,’ Ralph said. ‘If you’d seen, you’d know.’

‘Be glad you didn’t,’ Holly said.

‘Is it over?’ Gabriela Sablo asked. ‘That’s all I care about. Is it really over?’

‘No,’ Marcy said. ‘Not for me and the girls. Not unless Terry’s cleared. And how can he be? He was killed before he got his day in court.’

Samuels said, ‘We’re working on that.’