The chief sighed and nodded.
“It’s the same at New Life,” he said. “The reverend is always more interested in bringing people in than keeping them out. We won’t be solving this one based on who has access to my crime scenes. But thanks.”
“Chief, there’s something else,” I said. “Did you get my call last night?” I decided that was more tactful than “Why the heck haven’t you returned my last three phone calls?”
He nodded. I looked around to make sure no one else was nearby.
I noticed he did, too.
“You have some relevant information?” he asked, in a low voice.
“Do you know Caleb Shiffley and Ronnie Butler?” I asked.
“Yes.” He nodded slightly. “Both fine young men. I believe they’re seniors this year. Both on the basketball team, in fact. Ronnie is a member of the New Life congregation, and I believe Caleb, like most of the Shiffleys, attends First Presbyterian. What about them?”
“They were the ones who put the skunks in the choir loft. I overheard them talking about it. And the snake here.”
The chief looked at me for few moments, expressionless.
“Yes,” he said finally.
“You already know?”
“I didn’t quite know,” he said. “But I suspected. In fact, I was suspicious of Caleb almost from the start.”
“You were?” I exclaimed. “Why?”
“Caleb helps his father out at the Shiffley Exterminating Service. His father usually assigns him to go deep into the woods to release the animals that are being returned to the wild. The most plausible explanation I could come up with for the sudden appearance of so many skunks was that some of the rescued skunks had not been released as planned over the last few months. And Caleb and Ronnie are inseparable. Have been since grade school. I figured if one was in on it, it was almost certain the other was.”
“So you were just gathering evidence?” I asked. “Before confronting them or arresting them or whatever?”
He sighed.
“Gathering evidence, yes, but frankly, I was hoping when they realized how much trouble they’d caused, they’d both come forward and offer to make amends. But after the duck incident, I had no choice. I was already planning to bring them and their parents into the station this morning. If only I hadn’t waited.”
“So you didn’t return any of my calls because you already knew about them,” I said. “Makes sense.”
“I’m sorry.” He seemed to be wincing slightly. “There was also the fact that I’ve gotten at least a hundred calls over the last day and a half, all from people who were sure they knew who had committed the pranks.”
“Now I feel guilty, adding to the avalanche,” I said. “I probably should have just relayed the information I had to Debbie Anne. Or one of your deputies.”
“Actually,” the chief said. “I suspected, with all the time you’d been spending around the New Life choir, that your suspicions might be a lot more accurate than most, but I wanted to see if I could induce the boys to come clean first.”
“Before I gave you concrete information that forced you to take more drastic action.”
“I was … well, yes. Precisely. I wanted to handle it privately, with apologies to Reverend Wilson and Father Donnelly, complete financial restitution, and a stiff unofficial course of community service to the two churches.”
I nodded. I hoped Josh and Jamie never did anything as stupid as the pranks, but if they did, I hoped the chief was still around to help us deal with it.
“I was wrong,” the chief went on. “I let myself be swayed by my good opinion of the young men. My desire to avoid ruining their futures. If I’d only brought them in after the duck prank, perhaps they’d have stopped, and whatever tragic sequence of events happened here last night would never have taken place.”
“But they didn’t do the duck prank,” I said. “And I doubt if they did this. They did the skunks and the snakes—I overheard them talking about it on Saturday. But they had nothing to do with the ducks. That’s what I was calling last night to tell you.”
Chapter 24
“Didn’t do the duck prank?” The chief looked surprised, and a little skeptical. “Are you sure? And how do you know?”
I relayed what I’d heard in the hallway at Trinity on Saturday, what I’d seen on Riddick’s computer, and then what I’d overheard Sunday afternoon.
“So you see why I don’t think Caleb and Ronnie did anything after the snake incident.” I didn’t realize until I was finishing up my account how much the information had been weighing on me.