Tail Gait

May 8, 2015

Twilight’s silver-blue gave the early evening a magical feeling. Venus shone brightly over the mountains, but most of the stars would be more visible later as the last reflections from the sun died.

Harry loved this time of day. The foxes, owls, and other night hunters ventured out as the day birds and animals tucked up for the night. She saw a herd of deer way in the back pastures. Deer kept a hunting schedule somewhere, disappearing in mid-October, reappearing in January. Watching them graze, Harry knew they could wipe out an apple grove, grapes, young corn, and yet she never had the heart to shoot them. What she did have was Tucker, happy to be of service and chase them away.

The horses were in for the night. Their schedule would shift as soon as she felt the day’s warmth would be steady and the night would be refreshingly cool.

Sliding the barn doors half closed, she walked into the tack room, where Snoop was cleaning bridles and saddles, doing a good job.

Tucker, at her heels, ran out again through the front barn doors. “Intruder.”

The cats in the hayloft hurried to the open doors, saw a rooster tail of dust, and noted Cooper’s squad car.

“Let’s go down to the tack room.” The tiger cat headed for the ladder.

By the time Cooper reached the tack room, both cats reposed on saddles. Tucker followed close on her heels.

“Hey,” Coop greeted Harry and Snoop.

“Come on in and sit down.” Harry motioned for her to step inside. “Snoop’s been working with me today.”

Cooper nodded to Snoop, now smelling of saddle soap. “Glad you’re here,” the deputy said. “Let me ask you a few questions.”

“Sit down, Snoop. That old chair will hold you.” Harry pointed to a frayed director’s chair as she took the chair behind the desk.

Flipping open her notebook, Cooper asked, “What made you call Harry, Mrs. Haristeen, yesterday?”

“The guys looking for work crews came down on the mall. They parked up in the lot across from the library.”

“Did you recognize anyone?”

“Yes, Ma’am. I don’t know who the paving crew boss was, somebody new, and I don’t work too much for them, but the landscaping man was Harley Simpson. He’s been picking up day crews for as long as I’ve been down on the mall, eight years.”

“Did he speak to you personally?”

“He did. He said the storm caused damage and they could use extra hands, get stuff on the market faster. The storm slowed them down. We’d be paid the day rate, minimum wage at the end of the day. In cash.”

“Is that the usual arrangement?”

“Yes, Ma’am. No one would work iff’n it weren’t cash. They can screw you with a check.”

Cooper smiled. “I understand.” She did, too.

Harry butted in. “What about withholding?”

Snoop shook his head. “Don’t know about that. At the end of the day I have eight or ten hours, minimum wage. I don’t file income tax.” He laughed lightly.

Cooper smiled a bit, then kept on. “What did you say to Harley Simpson?”

“I said I had other things to do. I’m not getting back in that truck. Maybe like Frank, I won’t come back.”

“Were you on the mall the day Frank took a job with Huber Landscaping?”

“No. I never saw him take that job. Frank would work hard for a couple of weeks, then stop working. He needed more money, I think. He was ready to work, but I didn’t see him take the job.”

“Do you know where he went when he wasn’t working?”

He bent over to pick up a rag he’d been using, folded it neatly on his leg. “Sometimes. He’d go to the library. He’d take long walks to see what was happening downtown. Once or twice he even walked out to Pantops Mountain. Or he said he did.”

“Ever mention anyone he saw or spoke with?”

Shaking his head, Snoop answered, “No. People don’t come up and talk to us.”

“But Frank was famous or had been a star,” Cooper reminded him.

“A long time ago. When he’d let his hair and beard grow, few recognized him.”

“Did you know Professor McConnell?”

“No.”

“Did you ever think that Frank had gone to see him?”

“No.”

“Did he ever go to charities, places where he might be fed?”

“We’d all go down to the Salvation Army sometimes for a shower.”

“Why not more often?”

“They rub the Bible on you.”

Cooper had grown up with that old Southern phrase, so she nodded in understanding. “Anyone on the mall that visited him sometimes?”

“No.”

“Do you know where he slept?”

“Depended on the weather. If it’s clear and warm, we’d curl up anywhere where we couldn’t be seen. If it’s raining, we’d hang out in the parking garages until they threw us out. Sometimes the stairwells.”

“What about when it was cold?”

“The underpass was good. Late at night we could start a fire in a metal barrel and sleep close to it. Until you all would find us, but you didn’t sweep us too often.”

Cooper smiled a bit. “Most times, Snoop, we have nowhere to put you, especially if the jail is full. You’d be surprised at how often the city jail and the county jail fill up.” She looked down at her notes.

“We used to be able to sleep in the post office at night, but not anymore,” he said. “There’s always a cop who comes in the middle of the night.”

“Because the post office is supposed to be open to the public at all hours, the P.O. Boxes anyway,” Cooper replied.

“I know. People don’t want to step over us. In the old days, some were nice. They’d bring food and leave it if we were asleep.”

“Any other places when it was cold or bad weather?”

“We mostly knew where the construction sites were. The ones in town are close, but they’re patrolled. If we could thumb rides out of the city or walk, the new subdivisions were pretty good, although we couldn’t start fires. That’s why the underpass is so good. Nothing to burn except the wood in the barrel.”

“Who would want to kill Frank?”

“I don’t know. The crew bosses, especially Huber’s people, or the big construction dude, they all knew Frank pretty good. Doesn’t mean they wanted to kill him. Doesn’t mean I wanted to talk to them either.”

“Did you ever see Paul Huber or—” She looked to Harry.

“Marshall Reese,” Harry replied.

“In passing. I never spoke to them until I found the letter opener in the truck. I told the crew boss; he called the sheriff’s office. We waited for you all. Mr. Huber drove in. That’s the closest I’ve ever been to him.”

“Did Frank ever mention them?”

He smoothed over the rag again, thought. “He said once that it was easier to work for Huber than Reese. They were at college before he was, but according to Frank, good players.”

“Did he say why?”

“Kinda funny, I mean, I don’t get it. He said Paul Huber was a halfback like he was. He used the term same wavelength. Said Reese was different, defense. Frank said defense people are spoilers. Me, I ran track and field in high school. So I don’t know but he believed there was a big difference.”

“H-m-m.” Cooper considered this. “I never thought about that either.” She looked at Harry. “Your husband played football at Auburn.”

“Did. Wide receiver. When you’re that tall and have good hands, that’s where you go.”

“Did he ever mention this?” Cooper asked Harry.

“You know, he doesn’t talk about it very much except to say he’d rather play offense than defense, no matter the sport.”

“H-m-m.” She turned her attention back to Snoop. “I will try to find you a safe place. Even if it turns out to be jail, trust me. I don’t know if you’re in danger, but you found valuable evidence, you knew one of the victims, and the two victims knew one another.”

“I think I’m safe here if they’ll keep me.”

Harry opened her mouth, but Cooper immediately said, “For now, Snoop. But Harry has such a wide circle of friends, sooner or later someone will see you or know you’re here. I think we’d better be safe than sorry. Give me and the sheriff a little time to find you another place.”

Sensing the interview was almost over, Harry thought she could ask some questions without irritating Cooper. “Snoop, did Frank have any other hangouts?”

“No.” He paused. “Sometimes he’d walk down to the courthouse or old Lane High School.”

“To get out of the weather? Stay warm?”

“That helped, but he said he was looking for chains.”

“Chains,” both women said at once.

“That’s what he said, but he never brought any back.”