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“Snap.”
“You’re honored,” Nicholls said to Barbara. “Getting Mayor Williams to make you coffee.”
Barbara stared at Rita. “You’re the mayor?”
Rita waved a hand. “Makes it sound fancier than it really is. Mostly paperwork, checking folk are okay. Keeping their gun licenses and food hygiene up to date. I help the chief out here sometimes—and I make a mean cup of coffee.”
Nicholls raised his eyebrow. “Then how come you never make me one?”
“I’m the mayor, honey.” Rita sashayed off, chuckling to herself.
Nicholls shook his head. “Certifiably insane, that one. But the town loves her for it.”
“I can see why,” Barbara said. “She seems like a hard person to dislike.”
She eased herself into a seat, unzipping her bulky jacket. It was warmer in the office, but not exactly toasty.
Nicholls regarded her appraisingly. She had only exchanged one brief email with him, and she wasn’t sure what she had expected. He was probably thinking the same.
“So,” he said. “You have a good journey?”
“Not too bad, sir.” She paused. “My cab driver knew about the boy—”
“Marcus Anderson,” Nicholls interrupted. “The boy’s name was Marcus.”
Barbara nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry, sir. But the point is—the cab driver knew. Got a sister in town, apparently.”
Nicholls clicked his tongue against his teeth. “That’ll be Al Haynes. Sister’s Carol. She works in the hardware store. Yeah, she’s not known for keeping things to herself. But then, this is a small place. People talk. That’s why I’m hoping you can wrap this up quickly.”
Barbara shifted in her seat. “Well, I’ll certainly do my best, sir.”
He sighed. “We’ve not had a killing like this for twenty-five years—”
It was Barbara’s turn to interrupt: “With all due respect, sir, it’s my job to determine what type of killing this is.”
Nicholls nodded slowly. “That it is. But let me just lay the groundwork. This is a quiet town. Sure, we have the usual problems—drinking, drugs. Some of the kids get themselves into trouble every now and then. But we haven’t had a murder here since the Danes boy. Not until they came back…” She saw his jaw tense.
“That would be just over a year ago, that the Colony returned, right?”
“Right. And I’ll be honest with you, Detective, the whole town has been on edge ever since. Worried, wondering why they’re back. Why now? Tensions are running high. A lot of folk aren’t happy about waiting for you to call it.”
Barbara bet her dimply white ass they weren’t. Towns like this always thought the law applied to other people.
“Sir, authorizing a cull is a very serious call. That’s why it happens so rarely. We’re talking about sanctioning the killing of a whole colony—men, women…children—”
“And I’m talking about the safety of a whole town—men, women, children.” His lip twitched beneath the mustache. “The law states that a cull can be sanctioned when a colony poses a threat to human life—”
“I know what the law says.”
“A young boy is dead,” Nicholls continued. “His parents are broken. People need to see justice done, one way or another.”
Barbara bristled. “Well, I’m sure you’ve made people aware that the authorities are far less forgiving about unauthorized culls these days…especially those involving minors. We can’t have anyone taking the law into their own hands.”
And it didn’t hurt to let Nicholls know that she had done her homework. She knew all about Todd Danes’s murder…and the aftermath.
Nicholls nodded. “I’m just letting you know how it is.”
Barbara thought she already had a pretty good idea of “how it was,” but she bit her tongue.
