Lowering my voice a little, I said, “Well, I’m probably the last person that saw Mr. Hoskins in the bookstore. I was there the night he went missing.”
She put one elbow on the table and dropped her forehead down in the palm of her hand. “Oh, Dixie, not again.”
“Yep,” I said, as I took a bite of Tanisha’s world-class biscuit. As soon as it touched my lips, a warm, fuzzy feeling flooded over me. It didn’t quite make up for all the crap I’d been through in the last day or so, but it came damn near close to it.
Judy said, “What were you doing in a bookstore? You don’t read.”
I chose to ignore that statement for now. “After the collision the sheriff’s department had the whole street blocked off while they were moving the cars. I couldn’t get out until they were done, so while I was waiting I went in to look for a book to buy.”
“Did you tell the cops?”
“Believe me, I didn’t have to. I had paid for my book with a check, and it was still sitting there on the counter, so they already knew I’d been there.”
She shook her head. “Dixie, I just don’t know how you do it. I swear to God you can sniff out trouble better than a hound dog in heat.”
I slathered my biscuit with more butter and took a bite. “I know.”
“Did you notice anything weird? I mean, did he seem okay?”
“Yeah, he seemed totally fine.” I was slightly dizzy from how scrumptious the biscuit was, but I forged ahead. “He was a little flustered, I guess, but it was after closing, so I’m sure he was ready to go home. Other than that I didn’t notice a thing.”
“Well, I’m sure they’ll find him. He probably took that cat and went off on a senior citizens cruise and forgot to tell anybody.”
I dropped my fork and slapped my mouth with both hands. “Oh, no.”
Judy’s eyes grew two times bigger. “What?”
I said, “Oh, Judy, I’m a complete idiot.”
“Again, yesterday’s news. What’s the matter?”
“You just reminded me of something Mr. Hoskins said. It was right when I was leaving. He had this bowl of chocolates, and he offered me one and said he was going on a trip. I totally forgot until now.”
“Ha! Well, there you go. I was right. He took that cat and went on a trip. Case closed.”
“I better call and tell her.”
“Who?”
“McKenzie.”
“Who’s McKenzie?”
“Uh, the detective on the case.”
She frowned. “Where have I heard that name before?”
I shrugged. “No idea.”
I finished up my breakfast as quickly as possible, which when you think about it is a sin of the first order, because Tanisha’s breakfasts are like gifts sent down from heaven and should be savored for the small works of wonder that they are, but I wanted to let McKenzie know what I’d remembered as soon as possible, and there was no way I could tell her in front of Judy. Even though she’s my best girlfriend in the world, Judy can spread news like grease on a griddle, and I didn’t want to do anything that might compromise the investigation.
I snuck out to the car and dialed McKenzie’s number and tried to steel myself for whatever mind games she had in store for me. I didn’t get much of a chance. She answered on the first ring.
“McKenzie here.”
I said, “Detective, it’s Dixie Hemingway.”
“Oh, good, I was just about to call you. I’m wondering if you might come down to the station tomorrow. There’s something I want to show you.”
I paused. I hadn’t quite prepared for that. The last time I’d walked into the sheriff’s department was for a hastily arranged meeting with Sergeant Woodrow Owens, who’d been my commanding officer when I was a deputy. I’d gone in with my department-issued 9 mm SIG SAUER handgun secured in its holster, and when I left, it was on Owens’s desk along with my gold, five-pointed deputy’s badge. I wasn’t sure I could deal with going back in there now.
I said, “Sure. When?”
“How’s tomorrow at noon?”
That seemed like a horrible time. I said, “That works.”
She said, “Good, see you then,” and hung up.
I stared at my phone for a couple of seconds and then pressed the redial button.
“McKenzie here.”
I said, “Yeah, you know, I actually had a reason for calling you.”
“Oh, Dixie, I apologize. Things are a little crazy these days, and I’ve got a lot on my plate.”
I said, “That’s alright. I know exactly how you feel.”
“What can I do for you?”
“I just remembered something Mr. Hoskins said to me. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, and maybe it’s nothing, but just when I was leaving he mentioned he was going on a trip.”
There was a pause. “That’s definitely something I’d want to know. Tell me exactly what he said.”
“He had taken my book to the back of the store to wrap it up, and when he came back he caught me ogling that bowl of chocolates next to the register, so he offered me one and then he said, ‘I’m taking a trip soon.’”
“When he said ‘soon,’ did you get the impression that he meant right away?”
“I don’t know. Not really … but maybe. Like I said, he had just handed me my book, and I knew I’d kept him past closing time, so I didn’t want to keep him any longer making small talk about where he was going or anything like that.”
“What else?”
Something in my voice must have told her there was more on my mind.
I said, “I keep thinking about how when Mr. Hoskins came out from the back of the store, he was patting his pockets and looking all around. He seemed a little distracted. I know it wouldn’t explain the blood on the counter, but are you sure it’s not possible he left the shop unlocked because he couldn’t find his keys?”
“Dixie, at this point, anything’s possible, except we can assume that he had opened the store with his keys that morning, and if he’d misplaced them, it would stand to reason that they would have turned up when we searched the store for evidence—and they didn’t.”
I said, “Okay…”
“Anything else?”
I sighed. I could swear she had a hidden camera aimed directly at my personal thoughts.
“I know it’s none of my business, but…”
“Dixie, I’ve learned from experience that just because a case isn’t your business doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t shed a little light on it.”
I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I felt my cheeks blush. I had helped McKenzie with another case not long ago, and it felt good to know she hadn’t forgotten. I said, “Why exactly is it … a case?”
I knew she’d know right away what I meant. When I had arrived on the scene, they’d only just discovered Mr. Hoskins hadn’t come home the night before. McKenzie had said Mr. Hoskins’s daughter had called right before I arrived. So why would they send the lead homicide detective and a retinue of deputies to investigate some bloody paw prints and an unlocked bookstore?
She sighed. “You may remember I mentioned I hadn’t gotten much sleep. A call came in at the station about midnight. A man was driving home from a party and saw someone dumping what may or may not have been a body off the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.”
My heart sank. “Oh, no.”
“Originally I was more or less certain it wasn’t related, but until we know for sure I have to follow every possible lead, no matter how far-fetched it may seem. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s looking less and less insignificant.”
I could tell by the sound of her voice that she was dead serious. The idea that someone could have killed Mr. Hoskins and dumped him off a bridge into the ocean left me speechless. It just didn’t seem possible. He was such a sweet man, I couldn’t imagine there could be anybody who would ever want to hurt him.
“Dixie, one more thing. When you left the bookshop that night, did you open the door yourself, or did Mr. Hoskins open it for you?”
I tried to re-create that moment when he had handed me the book and we were saying our good-byes. “I’m not positive, but I think I opened it myself. Why?”