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“Touché,” I said. “Let’s go talk to Wormy. And then I’ve got to get home and get showered so I can go into the funeral home. It’s a busy day.”
“I like hearing you call it that.”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“I like hearing you call my house home. It is, you know.”
I gave his hand a quick squeeze and we made our way to Wormy. He saw us coming and turned his back on the fire to face us. His body shook in fine tremors, and I wasn’t sure if it was anger, nerves or the cold that had him trembling.
“Sheriff. Doc Graves,” he said in greeting, nodding to both of us. “What the hell is happening to this place? It used to be safe here.”
“That’s what I’m here to find out. Can I ask you a few questions?”
“Sure, sure.” He relaxed his bunched fists and crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive stance.
“Looks like you got out of bed in a hurry,” Jack said, easing Wormy into the conversation.
Wormy looked down at his clothes and shrugged. “Yeah. I heard the sirens from my apartment. Looked out the window and threw ‘em on when I saw the trucks go by. The fire was already big enough to light up the sky.”
Wormy lived in a little one-room efficiency apartment above the pharmacy. He’d never married, though I knew he’d had a few long-term relationships over the years.
“What time do you normally go into the garage?”
“About six-thirty. Eight on Saturdays. George’s old man told me to go ahead and open up today since y’all cleared it. He said there was no need to piss off the customers just cause George had the bad sense to get his head blown off.” Wormy shuddered once. “Those were his words, not mine.”
“Well, we all know Mr. Murphy’s not known for being warm and fuzzy,” Jack said affably.
Wormy chuckled a little and held his arms tighter around his chest. “Ain’t that the truth. George got it honest.”
“Did you know Reverend Oglesby?” Jack asked, switching topics.
Wormy jerked his head to look at Jack, then me. “That preacher man that got killed? I never met him face-to-face. I’m not a church going man. But I saw him around town every now and then. Seemed to stay to himself from what I could tell.”
“How long have you worked for George?”
Wormy scratched his morning beard. I noticed the dark stains of oil and grease around his fingernails that mechanics could never seem to be rid of. “Going on eight years now, I guess. Mr. Murphy was going to make me manager now that George is gone so we could keep the business running. I’m the best mechanic in these parts next to George.”
“I know it,” Jack said in agreement.
“But now I guess I’m out of a job.” Wormy laughed, but it was the kind of laugh that twisted the knife a little deeper when things were going wrong. “It’s kind of funny, isn’t it? This was the first chance I’ve ever had at having something that was mostly my own and now it’s gone. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers in front of his face, and I winced in sympathy.
“Was George involved in something he shouldn’t be?” Jack asked.
Wormy’s shoulders tensed and then I watched as they slowly relaxed. “I don’t know. He was a strange one. Pretty secretive about his personal life. Even more so after his wife died. Sometimes there were some inconsistencies with the invoices. Cars coming and going that didn’t get documented. But I figured it was because things got busy or he was just doing some side business so he wouldn’t have to report the income.”
“You ever go with him when he got a call for a tow?”
“Nope,” Wormy said. “That tow truck was George’s baby. Didn’t let anyone else drive it.”
“How many cars were inside the bays before the fire started?”
Wormy blew out a breath and chewed on his bottom lip. “Well, I don’t rightly know. Saturday was a little crazy after George got shot. We had a full house when the police came in and shut us down. Most of the people who could took their cars and went over to King George Proper to one of the mechanics there, but there were some cars that couldn’t be driven. So maybe two or three? I’d check the invoices for you, but they’re on fire right now.”
I appreciated Wormy’s attempt at humor, considering it looked like his whole livelihood was now in the toilet.
“Going back to Saturday for a minute,” Jack said. “A white Cadillac came into the garage. Doctor Graves said you went down to help the man.”
Wormy gave me an unreadable look and then turned back to Jack. “I don’t remember his name. He’s come in once or twice before, but he asked for Kenny. Sometimes we get regulars. I let Kenny know he was there and then went to work on a ’98 Corolla. Didn’t notice when he left.”
