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Nick sighed—not in a pretty way, but with an aggravated hiss. “Turn that off for a second, Calvin, would you?”
Calvin obliged him, and when the red light went off on the camera Nick started again. “Because we don’t know shit, that’s why. Nobody knows what happened, and nobody’s talking. I’m just trying to do my job here, honey, so if you’re going to blow me off or dick around with my time, just say so now and I’ll be out of your hair. ”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the top of Benny’s rumpled head rear slightly over the edge of the counter.
“I find your candor refreshing, Nick. But if you want me to stand here and tell you the long and sordid story of what we were doing out there and how it all went to hell in a handbasket—”
“Oh, I don’t need all of that,” he interrupted me. “Maybe I exaggerated when I said we didn’t know shit, precisely. Dana Marshall released a statement from the hospital. ”
She had? That was news to me, but I didn’t announce it to him right away. “All right. How about this, then—we’ll sit down and have a nice chat and you can tell me all about what you know, and then I’ll maybe fill in a few gaps for you. But I don’t like the camera. Leave the camera off and we’ll talk. ”
“Deal. Camera’s staying off. Is a tape recorder okay?”
“Yeah, that’s okay. ” M
ostly I didn’t want anyone seeing me on TV. Again I thought of Gary and the little dead girl; and I thought of all the hopeful lovers, parents, and friends who had come before him. They were finding me one way or another, but I wasn’t going to make it any easier for them.
“What about your friend over there, beside the fridge? Does he want in on this, or not?”
So he wasn’t completely blind. That made one more point in the reporter’s favor. “I’m guessing not. Benny?”
“Naw,” He waved from behind the counter. “Y’all go ahead. I’m just looking for the chips. Down here. In these cupboards. ”
“Check the pantry. Up on your left. ”
“Thanks,” he said, and sheepishly rose to fish around behind the pantry door.
“Salsa’s in the fridge. Second shelf. Sour cream’s in the door. ”
“I got it, okay?”
“Okay. Now Mr. Alders—”
“Call me Nick. ”
“Fine. Nick. ” I leaned back in the crook of the couch’s right arm, striking a pose that might have looked open and friendly—though I didn’t really intend it that way. I was making a point to take up as much space as possible.
“And I can call you Eden?”
“Knock yourself out. And let’s start this with you telling me about Ms. Marshall’s statement. I’m afraid I must’ve missed it. ”
He exchanged an eyebrow lift with the cameraman. “Surely it’s not anything you don’t already know. But since you asked, it was mostly typical stuff—it’s a very difficult time for her and her crew, she’s thankful that none of her local volunteers were hurt, and she appreciates everyone’s thoughts and prayers. Nothing you wouldn’t expect. Given the media coverage lately, we were all just confused to learn that they’d enlisted local help. I talked to her and her husband last week, and I got the distinct impression that they always brought their own people along. ”
In the kitchen, Benny dropped his freshly located bag of chips.
I was surprised too, but delighted that Dana had opted to cover for us. She hadn’t needed to lie to the cops on our behalf, but it had been kind of her to do so. We’d been trespassing on federally protected land, and we’d gotten ourselves involved in a murder. I made a mental note to hunt her down and thank her later.
I nodded, half to myself and half to acknowledge I’d heard Nick. “You said she issued this from the hospital? Is she okay?”
“Didn’t you know?”
“No. She got into the ambulance when they took Tripp away, and we haven’t seen her since. I didn’t even know what hospital she was brought to. ”
Nick’s eyebrow stayed aloft. “Not keeping the closest of tabs on her, are you?”
“We were volunteers, remember? It’s not like we’ve got to chase her down and make her pay us. Look, her husband had died and we didn’t know her terribly well. The cops told us to go home. We didn’t want to be in the way. There wasn’t anything we could do. ”
Guilt rays emanated from Nick’s pointed eyebrow. At the time, going home had felt like the only reasonable thing to do. But now I wished I’d asked more questions, or made a phone call or two.
