The Four Before Me

by E H Night

  Betty smiled into the mirror, appearing happier than she had been in a long time. It was as if a significant weight had been immediately lifted from her chest, and she was suddenly able to breathe deeply again. Since there weren’t any other salons in town, she’d been suffering through the whispers and judgmental glances of her neighbors for months, simply to maintain some sort of a shred of normalcy with her appearance. That month had been the most difficult, especially since Roger had been policing her wine intake. Her newly disheveled state was evidence of her inability to cope well with a sober mind.

  “Thank you. Thanks so much, Alice,” she said with more life in her voice. “I’m always home on Tuesdays. Since the salon closes at 7, do you think you could come by after those shifts?”

  Alice nodded. “That sounds good to me. I’ll just need a little time to gather my things, so I should be there by 7:30 each Tuesday.”

  “Wonderful. I really can’t even tell you how much I appreciate this.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Now, let’s get your hair trimmed so you can get out of here.” Alice parted Betty’s hair into sections and clipped each one out of the way. She placed a hair-cutting cape across her torso, and tied a paper strip around her neck to provide an extra layer of defense against the hair clippings.

  “Hold on one second. I almost forgot something,” Betty said. She lifted her hands up behind her head and fumbled around under the paper strip. After a few seconds, she produced a short necklace and sat it onto the counter in front of the mirror. It sparkled uncontrollably beneath the fluorescent salon lights, glittering like thousands of fireflies. Among the crystals that lined the chain, a light lavender pendant sparkled with a little more modesty.

  “I can’t risk having that get nicked by scissors,” she said while readjusting her weight. “Okay, just an inch all over, at the most. Oh, and could you cut around the ears too? Those pesky hairs keep going wild when I wear my reading glasses.”

  Alice stared at the necklace, her gaze resembling a deer frozen from fear in the street. Between Betty’s newly social personality, the red sink water, and now this, she was absolutely overwhelmed.

  “Yeah, sure...” she said, her voice trailing off as if she hadn’t even listened to the request. “Where did you get this necklace?”

  “Oh, this?” she said, pointing at the roped pile of sparkles. “It was my daughter, Sarah’s. I’ve been wearing it a lot lately.”

  ◆

  The fundraiser seemed to be going well when Alice arrived. Medley’s parking lot, the spare lot, and the plot of bare land next to it — about an acre of grass — were filled with people and tables. It was as if the whole town felt safe enough to leave their homes temporarily to gather around for raffles and homemade pies. Kids ran around with sticky hands and powdered sugar on their faces, while the adults held onto cold beer bottles and wiped spilled barbecue sauce onto their jeans. The sweet smoky smell of pulled pork filled the air, and even Alice had been tempted to try a bite or two. She followed her nose all the way across the lot, and found the food stands.

  As soon as her eyes saw Betty and her multiple crock pots, she felt a hand rest gently onto her shoulder. She turned around to see who it had belonged to.

  “Well, if it isn’t Blake Darrow,” she said, in a teasing tone. “Are you here to show your support?”

  “Damn right, I am. I’ll buy as many funnel cakes as it takes to build a new playground. The other one is so rusty, I’m afraid the slides are going to disintegrate beneath someone one day. Can you imagine the paperwork for that?” He laughed and licked the powdered sugar from his finger tips.

  “Sugar, huh? Are you sure the playground isn’t for you?”

  “Oh come on, Alice. You can’t honestly say that this doesn’t look absolutely amazing.” He held his paper plate closer to her face, and tilted it so she could see the funnel cake better. The powdered sugar moved around as the light breeze hit it, causing it to puff up into the air like smoke. “This is the best thing here. I swear.”

  “I can’t lie. It looks pretty good. I was thinking about trying Betty’s pork though. I keep hearing people talk about it, so it has to be pretty special, right?” She looked over toward the stand again and watched as Betty’s brother, Will, delicately stacked the Wonderbread buns neatly beside one of the crock pots. She wondered if he was always so gentle.

  “Just try a bite first, and see if you still want a sandwich. If you do, it’s my treat. If not, you’re buying us another one of these to split.”

  Alice sighed, pretending to be annoyed with his suggestion, but immediately smiled afterward. She reached her hand out for the fork, but Detective Darrow fed her a piece, himself. She chewed it up, trying not to laugh from the surprise. Powdered sugar dusted her lips, and she lifted her hands to shield her face as she licked it away.

  “It’s good, huh?” he asked, grinning with confidence. “Want another bite?”

  “Dammit. It really is good,” she said, wiping her mouth the rest of the way with her wrist. “Fine. You win. I’ll get us another one.”

  “I knew it!” he exclaimed, seeming more like a child than a police officer.

  Alice shook her head and dug around in her purse for her wallet. She really enjoyed seeing Detective Darrow let loose like this. It was as if he became a completely different person without his uniform on. While she still enjoyed being around him when he was working, she also liked seeing his goofy more-human side. He seemed vulnerable with sugar on his shirt where his badge would normally rest, and it made her feel more comfortable standing so closely to him. He wasn’t Detective Darrow with vanilla on his breath — he was just Blake.

  They headed toward the funnel cake stand and the scent of grease hit Alice’s nose. These sort of places always smelled so dirty, but so delicious at the same time. She bit her bottom lip as the smell grew stronger, anticipating more sugary goodness.

  “Almost there,” she said, turning her head to see if Detective Darrow was as excited as she was. After all, this had been his idea, technically.

  “Oh,” he said, staring off in the other direction. He stopped walking. “Looks like Sheriff Gray decided to stop by.”

  “Sheriff Gray? What’s so bad about him?” she asked, curious as to what he could have done to deserve such a reaction.

  “Well, there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s a good guy, I guess — a good sheriff. I just didn’t want my toes to be stepped on this early, you know? With the county stepping in to look into the case, my hands are a little more tied than before. They’re going to expect me and the guys to follow their rules now.”

  “Oh, well, it’s good to have some help though, don’t you think? The more eyes looking into things, the better.”

  Detective Darrow shook his head. “They’re going to rush it. I guarantee it. Something’s going to be missed or overlooked, just so they can go around with proud looks on their faces. All they care about is telling everyone that they saved the day. The wrong people have been arrested for things like this before, if you want my honest opinion.”

  “Try to stay optimistic. I’m sure they’ll do fine.” Alice said reassuringly. She had confidence that more resources meant better results. In her mind, Detective Darrow just wanted to solve things by himself and was projecting his insecurities. “Just do your thing and answer to him later.”

  “That’s the plan.”

  Sheriff Gray nodded and approached them. He held a paper plate with two pulled pork sandwiches and a generous pile of coleslaw on it. There was confidence in the way he walked, almost intimidating in a way. While barbecue sauce dripped all over everyone else’s hands, he managed to stay clean by cutting into his sandwich with the side of a plastic fork. He ate it as gracefully and emotionlessly as it could be eaten in such a setting.

  “Darrow,” he said, tilting his head down before turning it to Alice. “Ma’am.” He took another bite from his fork and chewed it slowly, smashing most of it into a small mound in his cheek.

 
“Sheriff,” Detective Darrow replied, tilting his head in the same way. “I didn’t think you’d be wandering around here today.”

  “I didn’t either, but I thought it’d be a good chance to talk with some of the towns folk to see if anyone has anything they’d like to say. People tend to open up to new faces more quickly than the ones they have to see every day.” He cut into one of his sandwiches again.

  “Hopefully you find what you’re looking for. As for the two of us, we’re on the hunt for another funnel cake. It was good to see you, Sheriff. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around a lot more.”

  “Same to you, detective. Enjoy yourselves.”

  The men nodded in unison, and turned away from each other. Alice wondered if she had just witnessed the equivalent of a male cat fight, but resisted asking any more questions about the topic. She had been enjoying Blake’s sugar-coated personality up until then, and wanted to savor it for as long as she could. There was no reason to allow such a simple encounter to leave a bad taste in their mouths.

  Chapter 13

  “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”

  The red light on the answering machine blinked at Alice when she entered the kitchen. She’d been terrible about checking her messages ever since moving to Wintersburg, but she felt like she might as well sit and finally listen to them. Her body was tired, and her mind was even more exhausted. The light vanished from the machine as soon as she pressed the button. Slowly, she sank down against the wall, letting her bottom hit the floor. With her knees pressed up to her chest, she inhaled deeply, freeing her mind of all other distractions.

  There were a few annoying messages from telemarketers at first — some trying to sell her on the latest Get-Slim-Quick scheme, others trying to convince her to join in on the newest and very obvious pyramid scheme. Edna had even called to see if she needed anything. After a quick message from Tiffany, asking if she had any free time for a girl’s night out, she heard Detective Darrow’s deep voice playing back.

  “Hey Alice. It’s Blake. There’s a little bit of news about Jessica that you might be interested in hearing. Anyway, give me a call back whenever you get this. Buh-bye.”

  Click.

  Alice stood up quickly, and grabbed the phone. The cord was in knots as usual, but instead of taking the time to un-twirl them, she just stood very close to the wall, practically allowing her hair to tangle in with the mess as well. Detective Darrow’s phone number was hammered like a nail into her memory, and she pushed the seven digits without even thinking.

  The phone rang several times before it went to his voicemail.

  “You’ve reached Blake Darrow. I’m unable to answer the phone right now, but if you leave me your name, number, and the reason you’re calling, I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a good day.”

  “How… formal,” she thought, humorously. “The harder he tries to be serious, the goofier he comes across.”

  The line beeped, and she hung the phone up instead of leaving a message. She figured that he was probably just busy with work, and he’d end up calling her back again when he was free anyway. There wasn’t really a need to go back and forth leaving each other vague messages every few hours.

  She slumped back down to the floor, and resumed her exhausted looking position. The stress of the day coursed through her body like resistant bacteria, causing her thoughts to go septic. She thought of Betty, and then she thought of the necklace.

  “Why had Betty been wearing it? That’s not something that Sarah would just leave behind. She wore it in every single picture that I came across so far. It was practically a part of her. Dead or alive, shouldn’t she still be wearing it?”

  Thoughts conflicted in her head. Betty, while strange and unstable, didn’t seem like a violent woman though. Surely, she wasn’t the type to murder anyone. She didn’t seem like a thief either. After all, she’d immediately admitted that it was Sarah’s necklace when Alice had asked about it.

  “Maybe Sarah really did forget it? Maybe she just gave it to her mom as a parting gift, or something?”

  It still wasn’t adding up, but it also wasn’t raising enough flags for her to dwell on the topic — at least, not at the moment. Alice yawned and rested her head heavily onto her arms that had been crisscrossed over her knees. As soon as the tense air left her lungs, someone knocked excitedly on the front door.

  She jumped up, startled.“Who on earth would be here right now? The sun’s already gone down.”

  She looked at the time on the clock before making her way out of the kitchen.

  8:47

  “Ugh,” she said out loud as her feet traveled into the living room. She reached for the door handle and opened it without checking the window first. She almost always looked to see who was outside before answering, but she had been a little absent-minded at that moment. The door swung open and bright flaming hair greeted her from the porch.

  “Tiff! What are you doing here?” she asked, excitedly.

  “Hey, you didn’t call me back, jerk.” She said, laughing at her own statement as she punched Alice lightly against the shoulder. She stepped forward.

  Alice was used to having Tiffany make herself right at home, so she just moved out of the way. There was no need to formally invite her inside.

  Tiffany waltzed over to the refrigerator and looked inside it with a disapproving expression on her face. She closed the door and turned back to Alice. “I’m starving. Want me to get a pizza for us?” she asked, already heading toward the phone.

  “I don’t think I have a choice, do I?

  Tiffany shook her head and dialed Kirt’s Pub. She almost immediately started placing an order. “Yeah, I’ll just have a large pizza with extra cheese. M-hmm. For pick up.” There was a brief pause, and then she resumed talking. “Twenty minutes? Okay. I’ll be there then!”

  She hung up the phone and turned to Alice again. “Let’s hop in my car. We’ll grab some sodas from Medley’s on the way.”

  “Okay, I have to find my purse real quick —”

  “My treat. Just leave it here.” Tiffany grabbed Alice’s keys from the counter and headed back toward the front door.

  Alice followed behind, and waited while she locked it for them. This was all starting to become a weekly routine, and she actually enjoyed the assertive company. It kept her out of her head. It kept her living.

  Tiffany, with her poor manners and carefree spirit, welcomed Alice into her life like a small-town pub welcomes the same old beer-loving faces into its doors. Sure, both were somewhat brash at times, but they always knew what you needed in that moment — whether it was a friend, a shoulder to lean on, or just a familiar environment to be around. She was always there for Alice when she needed someone or something. She was a true friend — something that Alice had been really missing in her life for a long time.

  ◆

  Kirt’s Pub was loud and rowdy, especially for a weeknight. Pitchers of beer were sitting carelessly on top of the edges of both of the pool tables, practically begging to be knocked over by any one of the sweat-covered people who had been sloppily smashing into each other like wet balls of dough. The air smelled like a mixture of old draft beer and the musty onion-tinged stench of either body odor or onion rings. It was difficult to tell the difference. Alice’s eyes became irritated, and they watered as she and Tiffany cut through the crowd.

  They sat down next to each other in a pair of stools. Fortunately, there were several seats available since the crowd mostly seemed to prefer dancing and swaying into one another at that moment. The air was slightly less funky smelling from where they were seated, but it was still ridiculously damp. That was to be expected though.

  “What can I get for you ladies,” Kirt’s voice said, seeming to appear almost out of nowhere. “We’re all out of cans, so it’s just bottles or draft tonight.” He shifted his weight onto one of his hips and dabbed at his forehead with the rag that he’d been using to wipe down the bar-top. Tiny beads of sweat glistened across
his skin, reflecting the various colored light bulbs all around, causing him to slightly resemble the Lite-Brite toy that Alice had wanted when she was younger.

  “That’s fine,” Alice said. “We’re just here to pick up a pizza tonight.”

  “Actually, hold on a second.” Tiffany turned to Alice and had excitement written all over her face. She twirled her hair in her fingers, as if she was trying to curl each of the little pieces with the heat from her hands. “What if just ate here? We can order a few beers and let loose a little.”

  “So, what was the point of picking up sodas on the way over then?” Alice asked, a little confused by the sudden change in plans.