First the Thunder Page 23

  The photo seemed oddly out of place in the sheriff’s office. Everything else had an official air to it—the heavy black desk, the sheriff’s black leather swivel chair, the cracked brown leather chair Will was in, the black deacon’s bench against the wall where the coroner sat. Even with a shaft of morning light streaming in through the high window behind the sheriff, the room felt dark and heavy with the solemnity of the office. The framed photograph was like another kind of window, one that opened onto a distant green and airy place.

  “Will?” the sheriff said. “He didn’t have any other reason to be upset?”

  “It was just a rumor he said he’d heard. I have no idea about the truth of it.”

  “What rumor was that?”

  “He wouldn’t tell me anything specific.”

  “Well, what did he tell you?”

  “That Kenny was into something . . . I don’t know. Perverted is the word he used.”

  “Harvey heard a rumor that Kenny was into something perverted.”

  “Right,” Will said.

  “That’s it?”

  “Pretty much.”

  Beside the sheriff’s left hand was a yellow legal pad. In his right hand he now held a blue pen, which he tapped atop the paper, leaving an erratic trail of blue dots. “And you have no idea what kind of perversion it was?”

  “Only that Harvey was pretty fired up about it. I asked him, I said something like, ‘What are we talking about here? You mean he’s fooling around with the kids at school?’”

  “And why would you come up with that out of the blue? Why would you assume Kenny was fooling around with kids?”

  “I don’t know. I guess because . . . we’d been talking earlier about kids. About my Molly first. About how hard it is knowing what to do, what to say to them. She’s been wanting to start dating an older guy, and I . . . I still can’t figure out how to handle that right. And then Harvey was saying how he didn’t know if Jennalee was ever going to want kids or not. But he did. He’d always wanted kids. And I said something to the effect that it seemed sort of odd, her being a teacher and not wanting any kids of her own. So I guess that’s what had me thinking about kids.”

  “And what did he say in response?”

  “He didn’t say anything. Just stood there and looked at me.”

  “And you took that as a confirmation?”

  “I guess I did,” Will answered.

  “You ever hear anything like that about Kenny yourself? Other people talking?”

  Will continued to look at the horses. He wondered if they were wild. What would it be like to ride a wild horse? He bet it would be a blast, if he could do it without breaking his neck.

  Then he returned his gaze to the sheriff. “I run a bar,” Will said.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “People have a few drinks, they talk. I overhear stuff.”

  “And you overheard people talking about Kenny molesting schoolkids? When did this happen?”

  “When did I hear it?” He shook his head. “Too long ago to remember. I guess I figured it was just some loudmouth exaggerating, making jokes.”

  “So you didn’t believe any of it?”

  “I wouldn’t say that, Sheriff. I mean a guy that age, never married and still living with his mother? People are going to wonder.”

  “Sounds as if you didn’t like Kenny much.”

  “I won’t lie and say I loved him like a brother. I didn’t. He just wasn’t a well-liked person, you know? There always seemed to be something a little too slick about him. Reminded me of a lawyer.”

  “You have something against lawyers?” the sheriff asked with a small smile.

  “Doesn’t everybody?”

  Behind him, the coroner chuckled.

  The sheriff said, “And you think that’s why Harvey killed him? Because of that rumor? Or because of the motorcycle?”

  “It wasn’t the motorcycle. That wouldn’t have done it.”

  “The kids then,” the sheriff said. “Were they supposed to be boys or girls?”

  Will went silent for a moment, then said, “Boys, I think.”

  “You think?” the sheriff said.

  “Sorry. My brain is like, shutting on and off right now. Like I said, Harvey didn’t get specific about any of it. So it must’ve been because of that earlier time. When I overheard that guy in the bar. That must be why I’m thinking it was boys.”

  The sheriff drew a small blue circle. Then another one overlapping it. And a third. He said, “So there’s the rumor you heard in the bar a while back. And the rumor Harvey says he heard, but which might not even have been about the same thing. Is that it?”

  Will put a hand to his face, squeezed the bridge of his nose. Five seconds later he lowered his hand. “There’s also this thing he said to me at Jake’s funeral.”

  “And what was that?” the sheriff asked.

  “It was during that part at the gravesite. The minister said a few words, then they let the casket down, and then everybody walked back to the cars. Except for Harvey. He didn’t seem to want to leave. And I didn’t want him standing there alone, so . . . Anyway, there was just the two of us there. But the thing is, Harvey wasn’t looking down at the casket, he was watching Kenny out by the cars. They were standing out there, Kenny and Jennalee and her mom, and Kenny was laughing about something. Which ticked off Harvey, I guess. He had this look on his face. Like he hated the sight of him. And he said, looking at Kenny, ‘He’s not even a man.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean?’ And he said something like, ‘Jake knew what he was like. That’s why they never got along.’ I tried to get more out of him, but it was no use. But it was clear to me then and there how Harvey felt about him.”

  “I thought they were good friends,” the sheriff said.

  “Years back,” Will told him. “Something happened between them, though. Right before Harvey got married. Kenny was supposed to be his best man, but at the last minute Harvey asked me instead. Kenny wasn’t in the wedding party at all.”

  “And why do you think that happened?”

  “I don’t know anything definite.”

  “But you suspect something.”

  Will shrugged. “I brought it up last night when he was at the bar. All he would say is, he saw something. Back before he got married.”

  “Meaning what?”

  “That’s what I asked. I said, ‘What did you see?’”

  “And?”

  “He just said he planned to find out if it was true or not. Once and for all, he said. Said he had to know.”

  “So these rumors he told you about,” the sheriff said. “The recent ones. How recent were they?”

  “I got the impression it was very recent. Like yesterday or the day before.”

  “Was it kids he was talking to when he heard these rumors? Teenagers? Full-grown men?”

  “Again, Sheriff, I’m sorry. I wish I had asked him more. I mean he was my brother and all, but we never had that kind of relationship. Never probed into each other’s private lives. We just sort of danced around everything. The way we were raised, we all pretty much just kept stuff to ourselves.”

  The sheriff puckered his lips, drew circles on the tablet. “Kenny’s been here at the school for what—fifteen years or so?”

  “Sounds right. Started out as assistant principal. Then principal. Then superintendent.”

  The sheriff nodded. Drew a few more circles. “And what about Harvey’s relationship with Jennalee?”

  “He loved her. More than anything in the world.”

  “Did she feel the same way?”

  “I thought she did. Until Saturday afternoon anyway.”

  “What happened then?”

  “Laci had coffee with her. Out at the mall. And apparently something Jennalee said made Laci think Jennalee was cheating on Harvey.”

  “Do you know what was said?”

  Will shook his head. “She might have told me, but I can’t recall it. It would be better
if you get it from her.”

  The sheriff kept drawing concentric circles on his tablet, extending the circles into a tube slowly rising toward the top of the paper. “And you’re sure Harvey never mentioned having been at the school earlier last night? Before he came to the bar?”

  “No sir, he did not.”

  Now, for the first time, the coroner spoke. “Any chance you noticed wounds on his hands? While he was at the bar?”

  Will turned halfway in his seat to look at him. “Wounds?” he said.

  “Cuts, scratches, abrasions—anything at all?”

  “I didn’t,” Will said. “As far as I recall, he had one hand wrapped around a beer bottle most of the time. Kept the other one below the bar.”

  The sheriff said, “Is it usual for him to show up at your bar around midnight? Especially when the bar’s supposed to be closed?”

  “He said he was walking around town and saw the light on. Knew I was in there doing something.”

  “So is it usual for him to be walking around town at midnight?”

  “Sheriff, I don’t see anything usual about what happened last night. All I know is that he said he was having a hard time sleeping and went out for a walk. I couldn’t sleep either. That’s why I was downstairs going through my books. It’s not usual for me to do that at midnight either.”

  The sheriff did not nod or even look up. He continued drawing his tube of circles. From where Will sat, it looked like a Slinky. His favorite toy when he was a boy was a Slinky dog. He would set it at the top of the stairs, give it a nudge, and the dog would tumble, red plastic head over red plastic butt, over and over down the stairs. Sometimes it would land on its feet and sometimes it wouldn’t.

  After a while the sheriff laid his pen down and looked over Will’s shoulder to the coroner. The coroner said nothing, but Will imagined that the man shrugged.

  The sheriff said, “Harvey ever mention anything to you about a USB drive?”

  “A what?” Will said.

  “One of those little removable drives you plug into a computer. For storing files on. Reports, pictures, whatever. He ever mention anything about him or Kenny having one of those?”

  “Not that I can remember, he didn’t. Neither one of us is very handy with computers.”

  The sheriff leaned back, away from the desk. Laid the pen atop the tablet. “What can you tell me about Harvey’s relationship with his mother-in-law?”

  “I can tell you they weren’t close. Not like he was with Jake.”

  “You think he was the kind of man who’d take a hand to her?”

  Will sat there looking at the sheriff, blinking but silent.

  “Will?” the sheriff said.

  “I’m sorry. You just reminded me of something.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “It must’ve been a good two weeks ago,” Will told him. “I guess Harvey went to Louise about the motorcycle. Said he thought he could convince her that Jake promised it to him.”

  “And?” the sheriff said.

  “She didn’t want to hear it. Apparently called Harvey a liar. Said the bike belonged to Kenny and he could do whatever he wanted with it.”

  “This is what Harvey told you?”

  Will nodded. He didn’t know what to do, what to say. There was always the chance of saying or doing the wrong thing. A better-than-average chance. But he had to take it.

  “I guess they got into it pretty good,” he said. “Harvey told her how Jake was embarrassed by the way she babied Kenny and treated him like he was made of gold. Said that’s why Kenny turned out the way he did.”

  “Harvey said that?”

  “Harvey said Jake said that.”

  “And what did he mean by that—‘turned out the way he did’?”

  “What did Jake mean by it? I have no idea. Soft, I guess. You knew Jake—he was a tough old bird. He wanted his son to be like that too. Instead he got a mama’s boy.”

  “And that was the end of their argument?” the sheriff asked. “Harvey and Louise?”

  Will shook his head. “That was when she went batshit crazy on him, Harvey said. Said she threw the glass she was holding, threw it right at his head. He ducked and it smashed against the sink. Then she grabbed a broom that was up against the wall and started beating him over the head with it, and screaming at him to get out of her house and never come back.”

  “Louise took after him with a broom?”

  “I’m just telling you what Harvey told me. Said she chased him outside and off the porch.”

  “Any chance anybody else saw this happen?”

  “I have no way of knowing that,” Will said.

  The sheriff looked past Will again and toward the coroner. Will watched the sheriff’s eyes, the way his frown twitched at the corner of his mouth.

  Then the sheriff asked, “You have any idea what your other brother was doing earlier last night? Say ten to one or so?”

  “Stevie? No idea whatsoever.”

  “You haven’t talked to him about it?”

  “I talked to him twice last night by phone. And I did ask if he knew anything about the break-in at the school. He said he didn’t. The rest of the time we just . . .”

  The sheriff and coroner remained silent.

  “He cried and I cried,” Will said. “None of it makes any sense to either one of us.”

  Another long silence followed.

  Finally the sheriff tore the top sheet of paper off his tablet, not angrily or noisily but with one long, smooth tug on the paper. Then he folded the sheet in half, then did the same a second and third time. Then he leaned to the side and dropped the paper into his wastebasket.

  He said, “You want to ask your brother to come in for a minute?”

  “Will do,” Will told him. He stood, wondered if he should shake the sheriff’s hand or not. Decided no. Then started to turn but stopped for a last look at the photograph on the wall. “Was that taken somewhere out in the Rockies?” he asked.

  “Outside of Grand Junction, Colorado,” the sheriff said.

  “Looks like Heaven.”

  “Probably the closest thing we have to it.”

  Will kept looking. He felt his eyes filling with tears but couldn’t stop them. “Harvey was always talking about the three of us going out there together. Mule deer. Elk. Maybe even bear if we could get a tag for one.”

  The sheriff said, “I brought home a bull elk with a fifty-four-inch beam. Plus a decent bighorn ram. Full curve. One of the best weeks of my life.”

  “I can’t even imagine,” Will said.

  The sheriff stood then and put out his hand. “I’m sorry, Will. My sympathies to your family.”

  Will held the sheriff’s hand for a long time, squeezing hard, did not want to let it go. Then did, abruptly, and strode to the door.

  64

  “You on something right now, Stevie?” the sheriff asked. “You wouldn’t be high by any chance, would you?”

  “Mrs. Wilson gave me an Ativan. From back when her husband passed away.”

  “I saw her sitting out there in the hallway with you. She drive you over here?”

  “Yes sir, she’s a very nice lady. Very nice. Voluptuous.”

  The sheriff’s eyebrows went up. “Do I want to know how you know that?”

  Stevie smiled. “Like pillows,” he said.

  The coroner said, “How long have you been taking that drug, Stevie?”

  “Just this once. It’s nice.”

  “It’s also very addictive. You need to be careful with that.”

  “Mrs. Wilson is very careful,” Stevie said.

  The sheriff said, “You know about your brother Harvey, and Jennalee, and the Fultons?”

  “Yes sir. Will told me. Mrs. Wilson gave me an Ativan because I couldn’t stop crying.”

  “You loved your brother a lot.”

  “Yes sir. We’re all we have.”

  “When was the last time you spoke to Harvey?”

  “That would
be . . . last week sometime. We had pizza and beer at Will’s place. We watched a movie on TV. Will doesn’t have HBO or Cinemax. Even I have that.”

  “Do you remember what the movie was?”

  “Nicolas Cage was in it. I don’t remember the title. He was an angel in a trench coat. He was in Bobby Sue Got Married too. You remember that? He talked funny in that one.”

  “I believe that was Peggy Sue Got Married,” the coroner said. “With Kathleen Turner.”

  “That’s right!” Stevie said. “And now she talks funny! Like she swallowed Darth Vader or something.”

  The coroner stifled a chuckle.

  “Let’s get back to Harvey for a minute,” the sheriff said. “So you didn’t see him at all last night?”

  “Last night? What night was that?”

  “That was Sunday night. The night the high school got broken into.”

  “It did, didn’t it? I remember hearing about that.”

  “Any chance you were involved in it?”

  “In what, sir?”

  “Breaking into the school with your brother Harvey.”

  “Harvey did that? Why would he do that?”

  “Can you tell me where you were last night?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “How about you tell me, then?”

  “I was with Mrs. Wilson.”

  “And where was that?”

  “At her place.”

  “And what were you doing there?”

  Stevie smiled. “She told me to be a gentleman. And gentlemen don’t kiss and tell.”

  The coroner and sheriff looked at each other, both with eyebrows raised. The sheriff said, “We’re talking about the same Mrs. Wilson sitting out there in the hallway?”

  “Only one I know,” Stevie said.

  “And you were with her last night?”

  “All night long.”

  “Is she going to verify that if I ask her?”

  “I’m pretty sure she will,” Stevie said.

  The sheriff stood and walked out of his office. His footsteps echoed down the long hallway with its marble floors and high, rounded ceiling.

  Stevie smiled and gazed at the large framed photo hanging behind the sheriff’s desk. “That sure looks nice,” he said to no one in particular.

  The coroner said, “You brother Will thought so too. I guess we all think so.”