19
Three faces stared at her, more with disdain now than disbelief, as if Carson hadn’t even managed to spin them a good tale. No Oscar for her. She stared back. She’d told them all of it calmly, in a clear timeline. She wondered how they’d be looking at her, what they’d say, if she’d told them the truth, all of it. Without doubt they’d cart her away to the funny farm. She waited. She became aware Mr. Vampire was staring fixedly at her, like she could be a tasty blood donor. She looked at his thin fingers, nails too long for a man, and tried not to shudder. He really was white as new sheets, and his black-framed glasses magnified his eyes. He cleared his throat, but didn’t smile. So he wouldn’t show his fangs? He said in a surprisingly deep voice, “Ms. DeSilva, you’re Portuguese, is that right?”
“What? No, I’m an American. And like most Americans, my ancestors came from elsewhere. In my case, my dad’s parents came from Portugal, thus my Portuguese last name. And I’m Dr. DeSilva. Are you from Copenhagen, Mr. Denmark?”
He blinked at her, gave her a rictus of a smile. “You’re very fast, Ms.—Dr.—DeSilva. Are you a medical doctor or an academic doctor?”
“My field is journalism. I’m thinking about writing an article on police behavior in small towns. What do you think?”
“We’re not here for your sarcastic comments, missy,” the sheriff said.
Mr. Vampire only blinked again, a habit, she supposed, and gave her another pained smile. Again, he didn’t open his mouth. Fangs were a real possibility. He gave a small nod, said to the sheriff, “May I question her, Booker?”
“Feel free, Tommy.”
His magnified eyes focused on her. “Tell me why you came to Gaffer’s Ridge, Dr. DeSilva.”
“I came to interview Dr. Alek Kuchar, a Nobel Prize–winning physicist. Perhaps you’ve heard of him?”
“Oh yes, he’s something of a hermit, I understand. Now, let’s speak more about what you think you heard Mr. Rafer Bodine saying as he was walking toward you. It was more like mumbling, wouldn’t you say? Not really speaking aloud, not in the middle of Gaffer’s Ridge, in a public place, in front of a grocery store, actually confessing to kidnapping? Don’t you think that sounds a bit hard to believe, Dr. DeSilva? A bit far-fetched?”
Well, yes, actually. She kept her voice smooth and controlled. “Nonetheless, he was talking to himself, not mumbling, and I heard him clearly.”
Was Councilman Denmark looking at her neck? Was she getting hysterical?
“And you said you and Special Agent Hammersmith had never met until you screamed for help, when, you claim, Rafer Bodine drew a gun on you?”
“Yes.”
Griffin saw the pulse in her neck pounding. He said, “Let me add that when I ran into the house, she was already poised to take a run at him with the pipe, to save herself.”
Calm, calm. “I would have tried, yes. But if Agent Hammersmith hadn’t come, there’s no question in my mind Rafer Bodine would have shot me, probably buried me with the three girls.”
“All right, boy, since you think it’s your turn, you can start at the beginning, too. Like with who you claim to be.”
When Griffin finished repeating who he was and what had happened, he said, “Maybe you can get Rafer to tell you where he buried the girls. Even if he doesn’t, you have enough, Sheriff, to investigate him thoroughly. You can find out if Rafer Bodine has an alibi for the dates each of the girls went missing. You can ask if anyone ever saw any of the girls with him, whether he knew them. You can begin at his house, in his backyard. If you don’t have access to a cadaver dog, the FBI can help. The FBI can also assist you in the investigation, with all our resources.
“Even now, that house is open, unsecured. Rafer could have some of his friends destroying important evidence right now. I’m sorry this man’s your nephew, but you are the sheriff, and that means you can’t ignore the facts.”
“Your facts,” the sheriff said, sitting forward, his hands now fists, “they’re ridiculous accusations, nothing more. And she’s not claiming he actually admitted to murdering the girls, are you, missy?”
“No, not in so many words.”
The sheriff smiled, said to Griffin, “Ah, I’m beginning to see what might have happened here. She was obviously in Rafer’s house with him, don’t know exactly why, but I imagine the two of them may have been having an argument, don’t know about that, but I’m having trouble not yelling at her myself. If you are an FBI agent, you probably misunderstood and broke in. Rafer must have fired his gun in self-defense when you came at him, all physical like that, in his own home. If there’s a crime here, it’s that you broke in and assaulted him.”
Carson looked ready to rise out of her chair and leap on him. Griffin grabbed her hand. He said, “Whatever you may think, Sheriff, you have a lead on the three missing teenage girls now. You have a suspect.”
Councilman Denmark cleared his throat. “Sheriff Bodine, may I give you my preliminary thoughts?”
The sheriff nodded. “Go ahead, Tommy.”
Mr. Vampire sat forward, his hands flat on his bony knees, and cleared his throat. “There are some serious accusations flying around here about Rafer. There appears to be no proof of anything, except those accusations. I have to agree with the sheriff. We know Rafer, but we don’t know you two. Are you who you claim to be, or are you lying con artists of some sort? I think Judge Pinder is going to have his hands full with you.”
Fayreen patted Mr. Vampire’s bony knee. She put down her pen, sat forward. “I agree, Booker. Listen to me, you young yahoos, Rafer’s a lovely boy, always has been. High spirits, sure, he’s a Bodine, the boys and girls in the Bodine clan are all high-spirited. But what you two have accused him of, it shows me you didn’t do your homework.”
“What Fayreen is saying,” the sheriff interrupted, “is that if you had a brain, you’d realize your accusations won’t cut it, not here in Gaffer’s Ridge. I think that’s enough for now. We’re going to check out your stories, and we’re going to wait for Judge Pinder.” Sheriff Bodine rose. “Thank you for coming, Tommy. As for you two, our deputies are going to make you feel at home in our cell.”
Griffin said, “May I have my one call first?”
“You already had your call back at Rafer’s house,” Sheriff Bodine said, and he smiled.