I picked a rock up and tossed it in the lake. I watched the ripples in the water fan outward, growing larger, with each ring less intense as the rings widened. It had been safe living my life in the large rings toward the edges. I’d gone everywhere and had had a lot of different experiences, but I really hadn’t been an integral part of anything. Now that I lived in a tight-knit family in a tight-knit community, I felt that center ring better represented my life. My influence with those around me was much more limited, but oh so much more intense and meaningful. I had people I loved and people who loved me. People I depended on as well as those who depended on me. Living in the center of my own ring of influence was a new experience for me. One I valued greatly, but also one that, at times, terrified me.
Perhaps, I decided as I stood at the edge of the lake, I was getting ahead of myself. Cass had asked me on a date. A single date to a community activity. Surely, one date wouldn’t cause a rift in my little ring. Surely, the curse wouldn’t kick in unless I actually married and bore children, an act I’d sworn never to do.
When I arrived at Paisley’s, I knocked on the door. She answered after only a few seconds.
“Callie. What are you doing here?” She looked delighted, yet surprised.
“I’m here to ask you and your grandmother if you would like to come to our place for a BBQ out on the lawn this evening. Gracie is doing ribs and slaw.”
She grinned. “I want to have ribs and slaw. I was going to come over and help with the garden anyway. Come in, and I’ll run upstairs and ask Grandma.”
“Is she feeling poorly today?”
She shrugged. “No worse than usual, but she has to manage her activities, so she doesn’t become too tired.”
It made me sad that Paisley was in a position that required her to be so mature for her age. Managing a grandmother’s activities and making sure she had a good breakfast to start the day was not the sort of thing a ten-year-old should have to worry about. Paisley didn’t seem to mind, and most of the time, she appeared to be a happy kid. I supposed that having so much responsibility as a child would help her to be successful as an adult.
By the time Paisley came back down to report that her grandmother would like to come for dinner if someone could come by with the car and pick her up since she didn’t feel like walking, Paisley said she was ready to come to our place and help with the weeding. As we walked along the lake together, I brought up the fact that Tom had the paddling boat just about ready to launch, which earned me the biggest grin I’d ever seen.
“It will be so fun to be out on the lake,” she said. “We can row around and look for fish.”
“Do you like to fish?” I asked.
“I don’t like to kill them, but I do like to look at them. And the ducks and geese as well. Soon, they will have babies to watch. I love this time of the year.”
“Me too, sweetheart. Me too.”
“Gracie said I could help her pick out the flowers for the deck. I can’t decide whether to pick yellow or red.”
“Maybe some of each,” I suggested. “It seems to me that yellow and red would go together just fine.”
“My friend, Jolene, is going to plant daisies in her yard. She told me they were her uncle’s favorite, so she is going to plant a whole bed full in his memory.”
“Are you talking about Uncle Bobby? The uncle who was shot?”
She nodded. “Jolene said they still haven’t found who shot him, but I think it was the guy Uncle Bobby had been trying to avoid because he owed him money.”
I narrowed my gaze. “How did Jolene know about the friend her uncle owed money to?” I asked.
“She told me that he came by the house when she was over at Bobby’s while her parents were in Vegas. She said he was really scary looking. Like one of the bad guys on TV. She said he had a tattoo of a snake on his neck and a gold tooth right there in the front where everyone could see it.”
I stopped walking, placing my hand on Paisley’s arm to slow her down. “Was Jolene there in the room when her Uncle Bobby was talking to this man?”
She nodded. “Jolene told me that she was in the living room watching a movie with Uncle Bobby when someone knocked on the door. Uncle Bobby went to answer it. He tried to close the door, but the man with the snake tattoo pushed his way inside. She stayed in the living room the whole time, but the room is open to the entry, so she saw and heard the whole thing. She said the guy wanted what was owed him. He didn’t say what was owed to him, but Jolene assumed money since her uncle liked to gamble. Jolene told me the man with the snake tattoo was really mad and really loud. It looked like he was going to hit Uncle Bobby, but then Bobby said something about his niece being there, and the man stopped. Jolene said he leaned in and said something in Bobby’s ear and then left. Jolene said she was really scared, but Uncle Bobby told her not to worry about it. He said he just needed to get something the guy wanted, and once he gave it to him, everything would be okay. After that, he took her out for ice cream.”
“And then?” I asked. “Did the guy come back?”
“No. She didn’t see him again. Uncle Bobby did ask her not to mention the visit to her parents. He told her if she did, her mom might not let her come to his house to visit anymore, and Jolene really liked to visit Uncle Bobby, so she kept quiet.”
“But she has a reason to think this man might have been the one to shoot him?”
“No. I didn’t say she thought that. I said, I thought that. I remember Jolene telling me about the man who came by Uncle Bobby’s and thought it might have been him that killed him.” She paused and looked out toward the lake. “I’ve been thinking about things. Wondering. I’m not sure why exactly, but ever since Jolene told me what happened to her uncle, I’ve been wondering who in our town would shoot a man in the head.”
“Does Jolene think the killer is the man with the tattoo as well?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Jolene is out of town, so I haven’t seen her all week. I guess her parents didn’t want her to be here until they find the person who shot Bobby.”
“I guess that makes sense. Did you tell anyone about the man with the snake tattoo? Cass, maybe?”
“No. I didn’t tell anyone. No one asked me.”
“Do you think Jolene told anyone?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I told you, I haven’t talked to her since the first day after the shooting. I guess something happened to make her parents worry, so they all left town and went to see the grandparents.”
I wasn’t sure how accurate Paisley’s timeline was, and I really had no idea if the fact that Bobby owed something to the man with the snake tattoo was important, but I did know I was going to call Cass once I got back to the house.
After making sure that Paisley was settled in with Gracie, I headed into the house and up to the attic. Alastair followed behind. Once I’d opened the window to let in some fresh air, I pulled out my cell and dialed Cass’s number.
“Good morning. It’s nice to hear from you this morning.”
“First thing before I forget, Gracie is grilling ribs tonight. You’re invited,” I jumped right in. “Second of all, I just picked Paisley up from her house, and she told me about a man with a snake tattoo who visited Bobby at some point before his death, looking for something Bobby owed him. I thought it might be important.”
“I’ve already spoken to Snake. Bobby lost a gold pocket watch worth about fifteen hundred dollars he inherited from his grandfather to Snake during a poker game, and Snake had come by the house to collect it. That’s the exchange that Jolene overheard.”
“The man’s name is Snake?”
“The man’s given name is Theodore Puddle, but he goes by Snake.”
Theodore Puddle? I supposed I’d go by a nickname as well. “So, you don’t think he killed Bobby?”
“I don’t. Snake is a scary-looking guy. It seems that is intentional on his part. He runs an illegal high stakes poker game in the area, and I suppose the image he projects like a man who means business helps with his ability to collect what is due him. I know he’s gotten into a few physical altercations in the past, but as far as I know, they’ve all been minor skirmishes to make a point. I have no reason to believe he’d kill anyone.”