Becky nods and turns back to me. “Thanks for being here, Jillian.”
“Maybe I should do it more often.” Oddly, for the first time since coming back,I mean it.
While Becky goes inside to gather her things, I turn to Hank. “Who found Marty?”
His expression becomes animated, a combination of tasting something sour and shock. “Mrs. Coach and her parents. Joey was in the car.” He spits on the ground. “Seriously fucked up.”
I recall seeing her in Lawton. Country Road 62 is a back road to that destination. “Why would...? How did she...?”
“There’s a memorial set up out there. You know the kind, a cross and flowers. From what I heard, she and her folks went out there to take some of the things people left at the high school. Mr. Needham called her to let her know they were going to clean it all up before classes resumed today. So, they took a carload of flowers, teddy bears, and other shit?—”
I wonder how I missed the memorial when I went to Lawton the other day. My mind goes to the high school principal. Needham has had that position as long as I can remember. The man must be in his eighties. Probably not, but he has always seemed old.
My empty stomach twists as I interrupt, “And found Marty’s body. Oh, how awful.”
“Yeah, especially with how they found her.”
“What do you mean, the asphyxiation?”
Becky is back with her purse. “It’s more. I didn’t tell you because it’s gross.”
“What?” I look back and forth between the two.
“Remember how I said the coach’s body was messed up because he sat outside so long?” Becky asks.
I nod.
“The sick bastard who killed Marty suffocated her,” Hank says. “Plastic bag secured around her neck.”
“I heard that,” I reply. When they both look at me, I add, “Sheriff Manes spoke to our family last night, because of Julie. He said asphyxiation with a plastic bag.”
The two of them look at each other and back to me. It’s Becky who speaks. “Anyway, we assumed it was birds or some shit...the reason Coach’s eyes were gone.”
My nose scrunches and my stomach drops. “Yeah, what does that have to do with Marty?”
“No eyes,” Hank says.
“Oh my God. Who told you this?” The sheriff didn’t mention that.
“I heard it from Parker Owens,” Hank replies. “Considering his connection, he’s reliable.”
I tilt my head. “Name is familiar.”
“Younger than us,” Becky says. “He and Hank are friends, play on a softball team together. Anyway, Parker’s been dating Annabelle Ford for a few years.”
The deputy.
Echo asked about a connection. There it is, both Craig’s and Marty’s eyes were removed.
“You said a bag was over her head to suffocate her?”
“Yeah,” Hank says.
“And her eyes were gone?” Before they comment, I ask, “Was the bag still present?”
“Well, I didn’t see her,” Hank answers.
Pictures conjured in my imagination cause the bile in my empty stomach to move upward. “If the bag killed her and her eyes are gone, her eyes were removed before she died.”
