believe him. I do. I figured I’d keep tabs on Freddie for him, see if he shows his hand. So far I got nothing.”
“You think Freddie killed that Porgett woman and Becky Pierson?”
“I didn’t say he killed them, just that he set David up for it.” I said. I considered telling him that I thought Junior was mixed up with drug dealers and about the missing kid, but it sounded too stupid. He was a cop, and my beliefs were based on the word of Gretchen Salle and David Telano, two highly sketchy people, who themselves were probably only speculating.
“Go,” he said, “go get your uniform on, you’ve gotta go down to the lower park for Junior’s welcome home party. I want the Guardian Security Agency to be represented. We need to remind people that we’re part of this community too.”
“Aren’t you coming?” I asked.
“No, I gotta stay up here until Borgano shows up.” He said.
“Thanks for not making a big deal out of this.” I said.
“A big deal out of what? Nothing happened.”
The lower park was crowded with well-wishers, and people offering their condolences to the Junior Pierson and his daughter. It was a bright day and the parents who’d brought their kids were having a hard time keeping them from running around and acting like it was just another summer party. It was supposed to be a show of support for someone who had suffered a tragedy. Frisbee would’ve been in poor taste. People had brought covered dishes and drinks though, and it seemed to me everyone was straining to keep the mood somber.
Junior Pierson sat at the table under the big tree with his daughter. His left arm was in a sling from his gunshot wound. George Loeffler and Reginald Pickley and their wives were also sitting at his table. He was eating a plate of lasagna when I came down, and the other people at his table were eating their food in respectful silence. I was on my way to offer my condolences when Mary Tarletan grabbed my arm and told me I had to have some of her summer squash casserole. I sat down with her and her husband Fred and Mr. and Mrs. Williams. Mary scooped a large portion onto a paper plate for me. The Williams’ were a young couple, and their baby was sleeping peacefully in a bassinet. I complimented Mrs. Tarletan on the food and told them I couldn’t linger too long because I was still working.
“Oh, you can relax a minute or two.” Fred said. “You need food after all, you can’t protect the community on an empty stomach.”
“No indeed.” I said. Whenever I talk to old people I find myself saying things like ‘no indeed’ as if I were a character from Our Town.
“Look at him over there.” Mary said nodding to Junior. “He’s so brave. I don’t know how he can go on after something like that.” Our whole table stared at poor Junior Pierson. “What a terrible shock -and to have it happen here.”
“These days I guess it could happen anywhere.” Fred said, drawing everyone’s attention back to our own table.
“I disagree.” Mr. Williams said. “You know where things like this are supposed to happen. They’re supposed to happen in the inner city. Hell, those people are ready for this kind of thing. It’s no shock to them, it’s par for the course, but here. This place is supposed to be a refuge from that, it’s supposed to be safe.” He shook his head and then looked at me. “Some people in positions of power around here wont even listen to common-sense suggestions.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Some of the security policies should be altered. What happened proves that-”
“Franco right? He’s been talking to the Council?” Mr. Williams didn’t answer. “Well it doesn’t surprise me.” I said. “But let me just say he has his own best interests at heart. I’m sure he would have you believe he came to the Council out of a deep concern for the safety of the citizens of Lakeview, but come on, he’s just using this situation to try to get himself a promotion. He’s an opportunist.”
“He told us some of his ideas and they sounded damn reasonable-”
“Honey,” his wife said, “don’t argue. Let the man eat his casserole.”
“John Marchin has over thirty years experience on the police force.” I tried to keep my voice calm. “He knows what he’s doing, and he’s keeping this place as safe as can reasonably be expected. I mean -should we put up barbed wire? Do you want to live in the green zone?”
“Look what’s happened.” The man said. “I mean, just look at it-” A child was screaming over by the pier, and it distracted us from our conversation. Some kids had been playing there, poking around in the water with a branch. I looked over in time to see the girl fall into the lake and the boy running away at full speed. Mr. Pickley got to the dock before me and was trying to get the girl to calm down so he could pull her out. She was flailing and crying and he and I were both soaking wet before we finally got her up onto the dock. She sat there coughing and retching up lake water.
Dr. Warren pushed me aside and kneeled next to the girl, putting his hand on her back and pushing her forward gently, to help the water come out. Then someone behind me started screaming and there was a moment of panic among the people who had gathered on the pier. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but finally I saw it. Submerged just below the surface of the murky water was the bug-eyed corpse of Freddie Divos.
SIXTEEN
Ten-year-old Beth McGinley had been badly traumatized by her swim with Freddie. She was wrapped in a blanket, sitting at one of the picnic tables surrounded by adults trying to calm her. She took ragged breaths through clenched teeth. I radioed a 223, which is a call for outside police assistance, and requested that all available security get down to the lake. Nelson arrived first because he’d been close by at the meetinghouse. I was telling him what happened when John came down in a plain blue Chevrolet with Borgano driving. Borgano took a look at the body in the water and radioed for assistance from the coast guard.
When police cars began arriving, Bogano told Nelson and John and me to get off the dock and help set up a perimeter. It was obvious that he did not consider it the scene of an accident. Reyes arrived around the time that the coast guard boat got there, and I watched her and Borgano hail the boat and direct it toward Freddie. The coast guard guys got a line around him and hauled him up out of the water. There was a horrified gasp from the crowd as the body was lifted into the air. People tried to usher children away from the sight, but quite a few watched the whole spectacle with fascination. The coast guard boat swung the body over the pier and lowered it gently. Reyes unhooked the line and she and Borgano began inspecting the body.
From where I was standing with John and Nelson I could see everything. Freddie was wearing a tank top undershirt and tan slacks and his skin had turned a bluish gray that contrasted sharply with his black chest hair and moustache. One of his loafers had come off, revealing a brown, lacy sock that almost looked like a lady’s stocking. It seemed like a ridiculous thing for a corpse to be wearing. The bandage on his hand from where his pinky had been reattached was swollen with water and coming apart.
People from town stood around not knowing what to do. Junior Pierson and his daughter had slipped away, and Beth McGinley’s mother had taken her home. The question of what exactly had happened was batted around among the onlookers, until for some reason the idea that it was a suicide took hold and I heard it repeated whenever anyone asked.
After the coroner carted the body away, Borgano and Reyes began taking people out of the crowd for questioning. They were talking to the boy who had turned up the body with a stick, when Meredith Divos arrived. “WHERE IS HE?” She screamed at a policeman guarding the yellow tape. “WHERE’S MY BROTHER?”
Reyes and Borgano looked over with interest. She spotted me and pushed a couple of people out of the way to grab onto my arm. “Ben!” She said. “What happened, where’s my Freddie?”
“I’m sorry.” I said. “Really, I uh, the coroner just took his body away.” She shrieked and fell to her knees, still holding my arm. I knelt beside her and put my hand on her back. “Please,” I said, “come s
it on a bench. Don’t sit on the ground there, please.” I gently tried to pull her up, but she wouldn’t move. A semi-circle formed around us, watching Meredith sob.
“Miss Divos?” Reyes said, pushing through. “I’m detective Reyes, I’m sorry about your brother. Ben, do you think you could help Miss Divos up?” I nodded and tugged at her limp frame, and she finally got herself up. “Miss Divos, you’ve had a terrible shock-”
“Wh-what happened to Freddie?” She asked.
“Apparently he drowned.” She answered. “I’m very sorry for your loss.”
“He was only forty eight years old. I… what was he doing in the lake?”
“We’re not sure Miss Divos, we just don’t know what happened yet, it’s too early. Ben, is there a place Miss Divos and I could be alone?”
“Yeah,” I said, “you could use the office in the guardhouse. I’ll take you up there if you want.”
“No, I know where it is.” She said. “Come with me Miss Divos.” Meredith let go of my arm and latched onto the detective’s, walking weakly beside her to her car.
I told John that we shouldn’t leave the side gate without a guard at a time like this, and that I could go watch it. He thought about it for a minute before he agreed. I took the golf cart that Nelson had come in and headed up the hill. I hailed