Assault and Batter(16)

No reply.

“Okay, I understand, but if you want to talk, call me, okay?”

I was halfway to my Jeep when I heard someone calling my name. I turned to find Gabby hiding in her own doorway as though she was some kind of fugitive. “Get in here,” she said loudly.

It was a direct order, something that I wasn’t all that fond of taking from anybody, but I decided to cut her some slack. After all, she had just lost her nephew. I turned around and headed back, but evidently I wasn’t quick enough for her.

“Are you coming or not?” she asked.

“Give me a second,” I said as I hurried my step a little. “I’m so sorry about your—” I never got the rest of it out, because she interrupted me.

“I know you are, but we can’t just stand around out in the open and gab where anyone might overhear us. Come on inside.”

I glanced around and saw that there wasn’t another soul within a hundred yards of us, but I decided not to comment on that. I did as she asked, and the moment I stepped inside the gently used clothing shop, the door slammed behind me and Gabby slid the massive deadbolt into place.

“You never know who might be lurking out there,” she said.

I studied the woman I’d known for most of my life, and I’d never seen her looking so haggard. Her eyes were usually sharp and keen, ready to pick out the slightest flaw with joy, but there was none of that in her expression now. She was a woman clearly haunted by the loss of someone close to her. “How are you holding up?” I asked her.

“I’m a wreck,” she said. “I still can’t believe that someone killed Jude.”

“I know that you two were close,” I said, “closer than most aunts and nephews.”

“Maybe we knew each other a little too well,” Gabby said sadly.

“What do you mean?”

“Jude knew exactly which buttons of mine to push to get a reaction from me, and I knew the same thing about him. Suzanne, we had a major blowout fight last night about him changing his ways, and I’m afraid we both said things that we shouldn’t have.”

“I’m sure that in the end, he knew that you loved him,” I said.

“I hope you’re right, but my immediate problem is that we weren’t alone when we were bickering. I’m sure some ‘helpful’ eyewitnesses have already told the police chief about our fight. Do you think he’s going to arrest me for murder?”

So, that was the reason Gabby was hiding in her shop. It wasn’t just out of mourning, though I was certain she was doing her share of that as well. She was actually afraid of being thrown in jail for her nephew’s murder. “Gabby, I’m sure that nobody thinks you killed Jude.”

She laughed with clear scorn. “Suzanne, you’re not that naïve. We both know how folks in this town can circle like sharks when they sense blood in the water.”

“That’s not always true,” I said. “There are a lot of people who believe in you.”

“I wish I could agree with you, but we both know that I don’t go out of my way to make close friends. I’m afraid I could count them all on one hand besides you.”

I tried to hide my surprise. Did she really consider us close friends? Sure, we usually got along okay, but she’d never been to my home on a social visit, and I’d certainly never been to hers when I didn’t have a pressing reason in the past, say murder. “If it means anything, I don’t think you killed Jude.”

“I appreciate that, but I need more than that from you. I’m desperate. Suzanne, you’ve got to find his killer.”

I was already planning to do just that, but it might not be smart to tell her that. “I’ll do what I can.”

That’s when she smiled for the first time since I’d first seen her that day. “I knew I could count on you. If there’s anything that I can do to help you, let me know.”

“Well, for starters, you can answer a few questions.”

“Fire away.”

I had to tread lightly. Gabby had a well-deserved reputation for having a temper, and I’d seen it firsthand myself more than once over the years. “When did you last see Jude?”

“Last night around eight,” she said.

“Where were you, at your place?”

She scowled a little. “No, we were in front of the grocery store. I saw him drinking out of a bottle hidden by a brown paper bag, and I scolded him for drinking in public.”

“How did he react to that?”

“How do you think? He started ranting and raving about how he wasn’t a kid anymore, and that he could do what he wanted when he wanted. He also said something that puzzled me at the time.”