“I thought about that, but if we get caught withholding evidence everything will be worse. I don’t think we have much choice.” He rose. “I’m really sorry, but I think I’d better just go home. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I love you.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
Some twenty minutes later, at home, Stump dragged his sorry ass into the living room and sagged onto the couch next to Grandma Pauline, who was watching reruns of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” He sighed. “This sucks.”
“You want to change the channel?” she asked.
“It’s not that. Everything is going wrong and I can’t do anything about it.”
Grandma Pauline tapped the back of his hand. “The interesting boys always have important things to do.”
Stump smiled slightly. “You know something, Grandma? You must have been a great teacher. You know what to say to make people feel better. You’re pretty smart too. You knew about your neighbors’ windows; and before that you taught me about party lines on telephones and Jack Ruby.”
She tilted her head. “Jack Ruby? Sounds familiar. Was he one of my students?”
“No, he was just somebody else you knew about.”
She pointed her finger to her head. “My noggin’ isn’t what it use to be.”
Stump held her hand. “You’re still a smart woman.” He laid his head on her shoulder. “You make me miss my mom.”
She wrapped her arm around him. “Would you like to go to the nurse’s office?”
If only he could.
Chapter Seventy-Five
After another restless night, Stump forced himself to get to school, but he simply couldn’t concentrate on his subjects with so many loose ends. It would have been easier if he didn’t have to clear Dixon, who was essentially free as a bird and there was no telling who would take over at Cal-Vista. Mr. Kraft’s family might just leave Dixon in charge. That would make everything worse.
Then there was the unresolved DNA matter and the last City Council meeting. It was just a matter of time before somebody else would have a bad accident. That would be his fault too.
Frustrated like never before, he considered doing something drastic, such as dropping out, or getting his tongue pierced or getting a tattoo, but he wasn’t old enough to do anything cool without permission and Myles was always a buzz kill.
At lunchtime he grabbed a tray of gross school food and sulked into a quiet spot near the corner of the cafeteria. As he picked around the edges, James showed up.
“You better not sit here,” Stump said. ”I’m a jinx.”
James set his tray on the table. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Mr. Kraft’s death was my fault. Everything was fine around there until I got that job.”
“Yeah, that’s a downer.” James nibbled at a bite of the greyish substance the school called chicken. “There’s never any justice for guys like us.”
“I finally got to the point where I could hang Dixon without bringing attention to Maria’s mama, but then I figured out he didn’t do it.”
“Maybe you made a mistake?”
“Naw. They got the time of death pinned down. The dude was following me and Maria when it happened. He couldn’t have got back there in time.”
James gnawed another chunk off his drumstick, leaned forward and whispered. “If you’re the only ones who know, why not keep your mouths shut?”
Stump smirked. “Trust me. We talked about that. All I can do is let the bastard squirm for a day or two before we clear him.”
“Good for you, Dude. At least clamp down on his balls while you’ve got them in a vice.”
Stump sighed. “That’s not all I’ve messed up. I finally found a program that would help everybody in my old neighborhood, but the City Council won’t even let me in the damn room to tell them about it. Do you think I’d look good with pierced ears?”
“Yeah,” James said enthusiastically. “Get those big barrel-shaped ones. I hear they whistle when the wind blows through them.”
Stump smiled.
“It’s another justice problem, Dude,” James said, pointing his drumstick Stump’s way. “You played it straight. Did what you were supposed to do, but those big-government types only listen to old rich dudes.”
Stump nodded and then paused. His body froze before his eyes zeroed in on James. “Say that again.”
James tilted his head. “I said people listen to rich dudes.”
“And that was brilliant,” Stump blurted as he jumped to his feet. “Loan me your keys. I need your car.”
“What did I say? What about school?”
“I’ll deal with that later. Now give me your keys.”
“No way. I’m going with you.” James took another big bite of his chicken and threw the bone in a trashcan as he and Stump rushed out the cafeteria door.
Suddenly, Stump stopped just as abruptly as he’d risen a few seconds earlier, causing James to bounce into Stump’s back. “What the hell you doing, Dude?” James asked.
“You threw your bone in there.”
“Of course I did. What else would I do with it?”
“It was the closest trashcan, but Manuel didn’t do that and now I think I know why not.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Holy shit, Dude. This is big, but we gotta hurry.”
“Okay, but let me go first in case you decide to stop again.”
They rushed to James’s car. “You drive,” Stump said. “I gotta make a couple calls. I just hope we’re not too late.”
“Gotcha. Where to?”
“Cal-Vista,” Stump said as he punched in his first number. Then, “Hello, can I talk to Mr. Irv Wedlock? My name’s Neal Randolph. He knows me.”
Stump listened to the receptionist, then said, “Okay then. Would you have him call me back as soon as possible? I have a big, big scoop for him, but he has to hurry.”
James turned his head toward Stump. Minutes later they parked near the back of the Cal-Vista lot. “C’mon. Follow me,” Stump said as he rushed into the courtyard and then up the sidewalk. “Please be there. Please be there.”
A couple dozen more steps and Stump stopped at a full trashcan. “This is it.”
“What’s going on, Dude?”
Stump looked around the courtyard again before he grabbed a loose piece of paper and dug into the can, past the top items, “I got it,” he said, pulling out what he wanted.
“A greasy chicken box?”
“It’s KFC,” Stump said. “I got the idea when we were in the cafeteria and you threw your bone out. Why was he on this side of the complex?”
“Who? You lost me, Dude.”
“I’ll explain it later, but this is evidence. We gotta put it in your trunk.”
James shook his head. “Whatever.”
They hustled right back to James’s car and stashed the trash, after which Stump quickly closed the trunk. “Now I gotta talk to Mr. Connors. Hurry.”
“You’re weird, Dude. You know that?” James said as they rushed around the fence.
Mrs. Connors was out front pulling weeds. “Sorry to bother you, Mrs. Connors,” Stump said, breathing briskly, “but I need to ask Mr. Connors a big, big favor.”
“He’s inside. If I let you in, will you pull this old root out of the ground? You boys are a lot stronger than me.”
“Sure,” Stump said as he grabbed hold of an old vine root of some kind and yanked it out of the ground so hard he almost fell backwards.
“Thank you,” she said, wiping her forehead. “We’re getting too old to do all this work.” She pointed inside. “My husband is downstairs.”
Seconds later, Stump and James found Mr. Connors in the laundry room. “Hi, Stump. How’s the investigation going?”
“They’re not done yet, but it looks like Dixon is innocent.”
Mr. Connors shrugged. “These things can take a whi
le. What can I do for you? You looking for that job, ’cause—”
“Tonight is my last chance to get City Council to help people get their homes fixed up.”
“Oh, yeah. I remember you talking about that. I thought they said they couldn’t help you.”
“They did, but I found two programs where the residents can get grants for the money they need, and I don’t want to give up.”
Mr. Connors nodded. “So why are you telling me all this?”
“If I bring a couple adults to the meeting, especially if one of them has experience with housing issues, I would have a lot more credibility.” Stump wrote some notes on a piece of paper. “These are the names of the programs I mentioned and the people who are in charge of them, along with their numbers. It would mean a lot to me if you’d call them and learn as much about the programs as possible, then come to the meeting and tell the council members what you found out.”
“Me?” he took the paper looked it over. “You really think I can help?“
“You’re the only person I know who they could relate to.”
Mr. Connors looked at James and then back to Stump. “Well, I suppose I could do that for you. It’d be nice to see something good happen to somebody around here for a change.”
“Thanks, Mr. Connors. You always try to do the right thing.“
Mr. Connors nodded. “My offer still stands, you know. If things don’t work out over there, you can always work for me.”
“I might be getting back to you on that, but I gotta go now.” Stump turned to James. “Hurry.”
As they returned to James’s car, Stump saw a blackbird land on the fence at the back of the lot near that ugly scar that somebody made in his paint job. It was as if he’d been slapped in the face. His mind raced to answer a string of questions as fast as they entered his head. He pointed toward the bird. “Dude! We gotta go back over there, and look in Mr. Connors’s dumpster.”
“But we just came from there. Why don’t you make up your mind?”
“C’mon, Dude. This is important.”
Minutes later, “Son-of-a-bitch,” Stump said, knee-deep in Mr. Connors’s trash dumpster. “Just as I thought.”
“What’d you find?” James asked.
Stump wrapped a piece of paper around a four-foot long piece of wood. “This.” He said pulling it out. “Don’t touch it.”
James pulled his hand back as if he was avoiding an electrical shock. “What is it?”
“Just the murder weapon. That’s all.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
As excited as he’d been in a long time, Stump climbed out of Mr. Connors’s dumpster and examined the board he’d just found. “I knew it,” he said to James, “Put it in your trunk. I gotta talk to Maria’s mama before Maria gets home.”
“Next door again? Wait a minute, Dude. Slow down. You’re driving me nuts. Who did it?”
“Manuel. I’ll tell you all about it later,” Stump said over his shoulder as he rushed off. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Yeah, and we’ll probably go next door again.”
Stump rushed into the front entrance of building four and knocked on Maria’s door. Her mama answered with a dishtowel in hand. “Maria’s not here.”
“I know, but I’m here to talk with you, not her.” She stepped aside and let him in.
“I need your help,” Stump said as he hurried into the living room. “You don’t know how much Maria loves you and I understand why. You’re a kind woman.”
“You want a cookie?”
“Not right now. I’m afraid I have a big, big problem and you’re the only person who can help me.”
She slid a cookie his way.
“Please don’t get mad at Maria, but she knew Dixon hurt you and she couldn’t stand it. She believed Dixon did similar things to other women and asked me to find out if that was true, but without making you talk to the police. Only now it’s all blown up.”
“About Mr. Kraft?”
“That’s part of it.” Stump hesitated. Then, “The truth is I discovered that Dixon is Maria’s papa.”
Mrs. Quintana stared into his eyes but it was as if she didn’t care what he knew.
“But now everybody thinks Dixon is guilty, only Maria and I know he’s innocent. I’m going to have to tell the police.”
Mrs. Quintana barely flinched at Stump’s revelations. “Some of us don’t want Dixon to get away,” he continued. “I know a lady who can help us send him to jail. I haven’t told her anything about you because I promised Maria I wouldn’t, but you would do me a huge favor if you’d talk with her. Her name is Detective Sanchez.”
Mrs. Quintana finally shook her head from side to side, “I don’t like to talk to police.”
“I know you don’t, Mrs. Quintana, but Detective Sanchez is on our side. I promise. My dad told me she’s trying to catch Dixon too, and she’s talked to some of the women who used to live here, but they are just like you. They don’t want to talk to the police either.”
“Dixon does many bad things.”
“I know he does, but somebody has to talk first. Those other women respect you. If you’d be willing to tell Detective Sanchez what you know about Dixon, she can get the other women to talk too. That way everybody can gang up on him.” Stump looked her in the eye but she was difficult to read. “I know you’re worried about being deported, but things have changed—”
She nodded. “That’s what Maria said, too.”
“She’s right. The government is not like they used to be. They don’t deport good people now. That’s why you should talk with Detective Sanchez. She knows about these things and can help you. Honest.”
Mrs. Quintana appeared to be thinking it over, but she wasn’t anxious to speak. Stump needed to raise the stakes. “I don’t want to hurt you or Maria, but I don’t know what else to do. I need your help right away for something else I’m working on for my own mom. I can’t do it unless you help me. If you’ll do that, I can get the newspapers and a TV station to show how bad Dixon has been. Then the police will have to arrest him.”
“I don’t know.”
Stump sighed and decided to use his last power point. “I wasn’t going to tell you this, but Dixon has a college fund for Maria. There’s over twenty thousand dollars in it. We might be able to transfer that money from his name to Maria’s.”
Once again, she was unmoved by his statement. “You knew that already, didn’t you?” he said.
She nodded. “If we turn in Dixon, they’ll take the money away.”
So that was the roadblock. Mrs. Quintana wanted Maria to go to college. “If they take it away we can get her a grant. And if that doesn’t work, I can get her some money from my trust. I have plenty. I won’t even make her pay me back.”
Mrs. Quintana smiled shyly. “You’re a nice man. I saw what you did for your mama. You’ve been nice to Maria too.”
“Thank you. Does that mean I can call Detective Sanchez?”
Mrs. Quintana nodded. “Okay, but she has to come here. I don’t want to go to the police station.”
Stump’s heart nearly jumped out of his chest. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Quintana. I’ll see if I can get her to come here pretty soon. I’m sorry to be so abrupt but now I have to get home to help my grandmother,” he said as he scooted for the door.
She smiled and nodded.
Outside Stump rushed back to the parking lot where he joined James in the car. “We’re making awesome progress, Dude,” he said as he punched a phone number into his cell. “Let’s go.”
“Detective Sanchez here.”
“Detective Sanchez, this is Stump. I know you told me to stay out of it, but my dad said you needed a witness who isn’t afraid to talk to the police about Dixon and I found one. I think Dixon raped her. She said she’ll tell you everything.”
“Really. Who is it?”
“My girlfriend’s mother.”
“Inez Quintana? Great. I want to talk with her an
d the sooner the better. Can you get her over to the police building where nobody will see us talking?”
“I’m sorry but she specifically requested that you go to her house. I don’t know why she was so insistent, but I wanted to make it easy for her.”
“You did the right thing. I can sneak in the back door of her building. I know she’s in building four. What’s her apartment number?”
“It’s 102. Will this be enough to arrest Dixon?”
“It depends on what she says. If it’s as you say, and she agrees to testify, I think I can get other women to fall in line. That would be enough.”
“Good. Then I need a big, big favor from you.”
“I’ll try. What’s up?”
“If Mr. Kraft was killed between seven-thirty and eight-thirty, I know for certain that Dixon didn’t kill him. Dixon was following Maria and me at the time, but I need you to wait until tonight to tell Dixon that I’ve become his alibi. Then you can arrest him on the other charges.“
“That’s interesting. You sure you’ve got the time right?”
“Yes, ma’am. One hundred percent. Maria can verify it too.”
“I guess it won’t hurt anything to let him sweat it out for a while longer. Why do you want to wait?”
“It’s a timing issue. Tonight is the last City Council meeting and I think I can force my way onto the agenda if I can come up with something dynamic to say.”
“Alright. I don’t know how all this ties together, but I know how hard you’ve tried to help the people over there. You can count on me, but keep me posted. I don’t want to get this close and then fumble the ball.”
“Yes, ma’am. I’ll call you just before my meeting. I gotta go now. Bye.”
Stump flipped his phone in the air, and then slapped James in the arm. “I got him, Dude. Dixon’s gonna fry.”
“That’s rad, but why didn’t you tell her about the chicken box and that board we found?”
“I will, but this ain’t the right time. I have to play it out differently.”
James whistled. “I hope you know what you’re doing. What’s next?”
“I’ve still got some more calls to make, but I can do them on my own. For now, just take me back to my bike. I’m going home and acting like nothing is going on. I need you to lie low until tonight when Myles goes to his AA meeting. Then come pick me up and take me to the City Council meeting. I’ll probably bring Grandma Pauline with me.”