by Alex Harris
Chapter 16
“Mr. Smith, could we have a word with you? We need to follow up on some information about Ms Jankowski.” Fred spoke ingratiatingly hoping to instill trust and confidence and get what he came after.
“Can’t you see I’m busy? Why don’t you leave me alone?” Smith’s obnoxious attitude surfaced.
“Just a question or two. Where did you camp up near Flagstaff?” Oriole moved forward with questioning.
“What? Where? Ahh... up near Mund’s Park.” Smith stuttered a reply.
“Do you have a receipt from a campground?” Oriole continued to press for answers while Fred took notes.
“No. I camped off the grid. What the hell’s going on?” Smith’s impatience came through.
“When did you leave for your trip?” Fred chimed in.
“I left Friday right after work. Do I have anyone to prove it? No. I was alone. I like being alone then I don’t have to deal with idiots like yous.” Impatience pushed to obnoxious.
“Did Janelle date anyone from the pipe line?”
“Are you thinking I had something to do with her death? Is that it? Let me tell you she’s not my type. Yeah big hooters, but nothing else. Why she was so ugly she’d make a freight train take a dirt road.” Smith started laughing at his own joke, but laughed by himself.
“Mr. Smith. Did you see Janelle this weekend?” Oriole came right out and asked the question they had been skirting around.
“No. I didn’t see her after Friday afternoon.” Stubbornly, Smith almost yelled at the detectives.
“ So if someone says they saw you with her, are they mistaken?” Oriole plied one of the established interview techniques-box the suspect in the corner with what you think happened and see if they bite.
“Who? Who said that?” Smith’s reply was not quite an admission, but pretty darn close. “Where was this supposed to be?”
“I’m the one asking questions here. Would they be mistaken?”
“I’m done talking to you. You want something else talk to my lawyer.” Smith stormed off in the direction of the offices.
“Nellie. He was hot under the collar. Think we can find that person who saw them together?” Oriole took a deep breath to calm herself, while Fred snapped his notebook closed and both headed to the SUV.
“She was all dolled up. She had a date. She ate supper of salad and chicken strips and cheap wine. That wasn’t at home. So we start with Chino and move toward Prescott. We’ll find him/her, them. If it was Smith, Chino’s too small. There’s only like four dinner places that serve wine. So chances are better in Prescott or Prescott Valley. Let’s see if we can pull credit cards on Smith and go forward instead of backward on this. If there are receipts over the weekend, then we can go talk to the bartender or the waitresses.” Oriole used her feminine observations and knowledge to brainstorm out loud a plan of action.
“I agree with you, she had a date and went out and came home. I’ll look through her purse for matches or receipts. Maybe she paid or picked up matches. Maybe you could check for credit cards for her and Smith. Joe, I think Littleton might be able to provide more info given what we have so far. Maybe hit him again? What do you think?” Fred was also brainstorming out loud and falling into his pattern of being in charge without offending Joe.
“Whatever we can do back at the war room let’s do, so we can keep a low profile. The evidence has to be here, so go for it. Let’s see about dinner and a de briefing afterwards. I’ll call Summer and see what we need. Oriole you go on out to the ranch and Fred that red purse will look good with your red, white and blue Western shirt and bolo.” Joe handed out assignments in a low key.
“Hey, Summer, Joe here. What do you need for supper? Milk, bread, eggs, coffee, anything?” Joe had made an effort to help out with the shopping and the expenses since his arrival.
“Bless your heart, Joe Best. It’s a mad house around here with Crimson Ranch needing help and trying to get ready for the rodeo and putting together a sweat for the cousin of Yellowhorse, why I could jump in the lake pull water up over my head. Why not pick up a couple pizzas, some beer, milk’sOK, but bread for sandwiches if y’all need ‘em, and we’re out of Jamaica Blue. Chances are you won’t find it in town, we’ll have to order it. So I guess that covers it. What time do you expect everybody? Oh, let’s have some ice cream. I made a batch of your favorite cookies. Nothing like chocolate mint ice cream with fresh chocolate chip and Macadamia nut cookies.” Summer was pleased that Joe was so thoughtful to pick up supplies.
“You made those just for me. How wondermous. Now don’t let Fred and Chalcey eat ‘em all before I get home with supper. It’ll take me an hour and they should all be there by then.” Joe’s smile carried through his voice.
Summer, with the alleviation of dinner planning, went out to the barn to help with the chores. Chalcey had fed the horses and was mucking the stalls when Summer picked up feed from the hay barn for the rest of the critters. Feeding a pig, a mama goat, 3 dogs, now one cat, that crazy raccoon and five chickens took a while.
“Hey, Summer. Do we need to help feed over at Crimson tonight? When will Joyce be back on her feet?”The kindness and thoughtfulness had rubbed off on Chalcey over the years.
“Joyce will probably never be fully back, so we might have to help Ron here and there. He’s got the ranch part covered. It’s the stuff around the house. I swear that man doesn’t know a pot from a skillet or a glass from a cup and he sure doesn’t know what to do with a mop. Joyce did everything for him. He can’t even figure out how to make coffee. I wrote out directions for him. Tomorrow when I go over to check on Joyce, I’ll see if he had fresh coffee or instant. Let this be a lesson to you for your future-know a little about a lot and a lot about a little. Then you’ll never be solely reliant on anyone.” Summer’s advice brought Chalcey up short.
Chalcey leaned on the poop rake and pondered. “I don’t plan on getting married, so I won’t need to rely on anyone. I’m going to live with all of you. I’m going to college to become a vet so I can take care of animals, then I’ll know a lot about animal medicine. If I need the toilet fixed, I’ll call a plumber. If I need the roof patched, I’ll call a roofer. If I need a lawyer, I’ll call Marlowe. If I need a cop–well I’ll call Mom or Fred or maybe Joe. Then I’ll be self reliant. Will you teach me how to make coffee tonight, then that will be one more thing I know how to do.”
Summer smiled at her great granddaughter’s logic. “Coffee tonight. Tomorrow we’ll deal with the toilet ourselves. I’ll show you a trick or two. If you have a crescent wrench, a sawsall, a drill, a hammer, a screwdriver, a level and a ladder, girl, you can do most anything need’n done. Let’s throw in some lessons on boiling water too.”