“Not me.” He grins. “There’s no one in Blue Gil who I care about...like that. Besides, I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Leaving? Oh, right, college.”
“Yeah, I’m leaving right after graduation for preseason football training up at Northern Michigan.”
I suck in a breath and take a small step backward. “Northern Michigan in Marquette?”
A smile spreads over Austin’s face. “Yes, ma’am. Coach helped me get a scholarship, full ride if I can play. Did you know that he played there before Michigan State noticed him?” He doesn’t let me answer. “I figure if he can make that move, maybe Ican too.”
“I’m sure you can, Austin. May I ask you something?”
His footing shifts. “About finding him...” He meets my gaze again. “It’s what everyone wants to know about. Sheriff Manes told me and Paxton not to say nothing.”
“I bet he did.” I take a step closer and scrunch my nose. “I can’t imagine. Was it awful?”
“It was.” His expression changes, and he puckers his lips. “There were all these flies and dead leaves. That ditch is kind of deep. It was warm that day. The buzzing is what got our attention.”
“That’s awful.”
“Those ditches can be like rivers. We’d had a lot of rain and then it warmed.” Austin shakes his head. “He was all crumpled.”
“Crumpled?”
“I don’t know what the right word is. You know, like a tissue you throw away. It came out of the box all straight and when you pull it from your pocket, it’s all gross and balled up.” He pushes his hands deeper. “Sometimes at night when I try to sleep, I remember seeing him, and the Kleenex thing is the best way I can describe him, like he got all twisted.” More shaking of his head. “It didn’t look like him.”
“If it didn’t look like him, do you think maybe it wasn’t?”
“Oh no,” Austin says, “he was swollen and some of his face was gone. But it was him. He was still wearing his wedding ring. His fingers were gross and huge. I’d rather not talk about it.”
“Do you think he was hurt?”
Austin’s eyes open wide. “He was dead, ma’am.”
I feign a grin. “Obviously, but I keep wondering what killed him.”
“They said an accident.”
“What do you take that to mean?”
Austin shrugs. “He wasn’t supposed to die. It happened accidentally, like he fell or something.” He takes a few steps backward. “All I know is by the time we found him, he was crumpled. No wonder Mrs. Coach didn’t want people to see him.”
“Mrs. Gilbert?”
“Yes, right. We always called her Mrs. Coach.” He tilts his head. “Any word on Julie?”
“She’s coming home today. I don’t know if she’ll be ready for visitors.”
“Home is good. I should have stayed at the party. I’m real sorry I didn’t.”
He’s the second man to say that to me. “Austin, you weren’t responsible for Julie.”
“She was so upset about Coach. I should have kept watching her.”
“Upset?”
He inhales, his nostrils flaring. “She...she liked him.”
Liked him?
