Page 32 of The Devil's Advocate

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

EDDIE

The one-story timber house that was home to Patricia Dubois lay on the outskirts of Buckstown just off a stretch of two-lane highway. A dirt track led through the old moss-covered trees to a house with a bowed roof. It had a small living space, an even smaller kitchen and a closet that doubled as a second bedroom. The other bedroom wasn’t much bigger. There was an outhouse around back, which had a toilet and shower.

Given what she had to work with, Patricia, as she insisted we call her, had given the place a warm and welcoming feeling. Throws covered the old couch. It had three cushions. The one to the far right had collapsed as if there was an invisible person sitting on it. The middle cushion also had a large indentation and I could tell this was where Patricia and Andy sat, together. An old boxy TV perched on a milk crate faced the couch. A blanket covered the milk crate, but not all the way to the bottom. The walls were covered with pictures of Andy. Photos of Andy’s first day at school, riding his bike, sitting on his mother’s knee, and more from Thanksgiving dinners to birthday parties. There was very little money in this house, but there was more love than most.

‘Sit down, make yourselves comfortable,’ said Patricia.

Bloch and I took up the couch. With a single lamp lit in the corner, we could just about make out the shape of an old armchair, in which Patricia dumped her apron.

‘Y’all like some coffee?’

The thought of it made me feel a little giddy.

‘I’d love some, thank you.’

Bloch nodded.

Patricia drew back the curtain that separated the galley kitchen from the living room and busied herself opening cupboards.

‘I’m sorry, we out of coffee. Tea okay?’

I hadn’t had coffee for almost twenty-four hours, and I wasn’t getting any closer. Tea would be fine, for politeness’ sake at least.

She came out with two glasses of iced tea. I took the extra sugar, Bloch declined.

Apart from the TV and a sideboard, there were boxes and boxes of old books. Paperbacks, some with their front covers ripped off. Bloch reached into a box on her side of the couch and took out some of the books – romance novels. The box on my side was filled with old detective magazines and dime paperbacks.

‘You both like to read. Andy must’ve gotten the reading bug from you,’ I said.

‘The TV broke when Andy was eleven. By the time I saved up enough to get us a new one, Andy said he’d rather we spend the money on books. And we did. We sit here at night, and we read. There’s nothing good on TV anyhow,’ she said.

‘When did Andy start working at the truck-stop bar?’ I asked.

‘Maybe three, four years ago. I wasn’t happy about it to begin with, but I spoke to the owner, a nice man, name of Ryan, who told me he would look after my Andy. He did, too. Andy never got no trouble in the bar. He swept the floor, washed glasses, kept the place nice and square. He’s a worker, like his momma. He did good, too, and he never let it interfere with his schooling,’ she said, unable to stop her pride in Andy from beaming out of her.

‘Was he close to Skylar?’

A light that had briefly shone from Patricia’s eyes sputtered behind her flickering eyelids, and her brows came together, her lips clamping shut and rolling back to disappear insider her mouth. When she spoke again, her voice was very soft.

‘That poor girl. No, he didn’t talk about her much. Now and again. He talked about Ryan mostly. And the customers. For a truck-stop bar there were a lot of regulars. This town ain’t short on drunks, that’s for damn sure.’

‘Were they friends? Andy and Skylar?’

‘Friendly, I’d say. Not friends. He never met her outside of the job. Not that I know, anyways. But she was good to him. Showed him the ropes at first. Looked after him. Andy can read a novel in a few hours and write a paper on it. But he’s not smart in other ways. He doesn’t do too well with people. Skylar helped with that, because she was real popular.’

‘What did he tell you about Skylar?’

‘She was a clever girl. Kindly. I remember him saying they talked about college, and books. That’s about it. Andy did mention one time that she’d told him she had some boy trouble.’

‘A boyfriend?’

‘I think so. She was always talking to some boy on the phone, or texting him when Ryan wasn’t looking. The staff weren’t supposed to use their phones during their shift. That didn’t bother Andy, he didn’t have a phone.’

‘Do you know the name of this boy? Was it Gary Stroud? That’s who she went out with.’

‘Yeah, that’s him. I’m sorry I can’t say more. I didn’t know Skylar. I regret that now. I went to—’