Chapter 8 – Murder Mystery
Mosom placed his big knuckles, shoulder-wide, on the wooden desktop and leaned over to look the officer right in the eye. “So far, my grandson and I are the only people who know what I just told you and we won’t be telling anyone but you. If any of this information gets out into the public, I’ll know who leaked it.”
Terry squirmed uncomfortably in his chair. He tired to look away but Mosom held his gaze. “OK Jeremy, we’ll be discreet in our investigation.”
Mosom straightened his back and folded his arms across his chest. “I’ll keep my grandson safe, whatever it takes.”
Terry got up and strapped his holster on. “That’s our goal too,” he said as he reached for his hat and coat.
Mosom turned on his boot heel and walked toward the door. Jackson followed him like an obedient puppy while thoughts tumbled around in his head. “Wasn’t Mosom even going to tell Dad what they knew? Did that mean his parents weren’t going to find out he had disobeyed them the night of the race? Was he really going to get away with it?”
Light snow was falling from the gray sky as they drove away from the RCMP station. By the time they pulled into Luci’s driveway, snow was swirling around them like sugar in a cotton candy machine.
“Stay in the truck,” ordered Mosom as he wrestled the truck door open. Then he leaned into the wind and went to get Jessie.
Jackson thought it was odd that Mosom stood on the step while Jessie got ready to come home. Freezing wind lifted the brim of his cowboy hat and blasted his broad back with ice pellets. Why wouldn’t Mosom go inside to wait? Come to think of it he had never seen Mosom go into Luci’s house.
It seemed like years before Jessie finally walked out the door with a pout on her face. Mosom grabbed her hand and hustled her into the truck.
“Why didn’t you go inside to wait?” Jackson yelled above the storm. “It’s freezing out there!
Mosom slammed the truck door shut and glanced sideways at Jackson while he got Jessie settled. “I don’t want to start any rumors,” was all he said.
Please Jackson, pretty please with a cherry on top, please help us,” Jessie pleaded.
Jackson sat sulkily on the couch with his arms folded over his chest. These pesky little girls were making such a racket he couldn’t even watch his TV show and now they wanted him to join in their baby games. They probably wouldn’t give him much peace until he pretended to help them but he decided to bargain a bit before he gave in. “What will you give me if I do it?”
“I’ll give you a stick of gum,” said Luci. She went over to her backpack and dug some Juicy Fruit out of the side pocket.
“Nope,” said Jackson flatly as he stared at the TV.
“I have a chocolate bar,” said Jessie hopefully.
“What do you want me to do?” sighed Jackson.
“Can you help us find Luci’s dad?”
“What? Why me? What are you talking about anyway?”
Jessie’s voice had dropped to a whisper. “Luci doesn’t know where he is Jackson. And Luci’s mom has been really sad since he disappeared. If we can find Luci’s dad, maybe her mom won’t be sad anymore.” At that, Luci started to wipe tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Why don’t you call a detective or something,” Jackson scowled. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it.”
“The only detective we know is Officer Terry,” Luci said between sniffs. “He came to our house yesterday and asked a whole bunch of questions about the dead man they found in the bushes.”
“He’s too busy solving that mystery to have time to look for Luci’s dad,” said Jessie with an offended toss of her head. “All the grownups seem to be too busy these days so we decided to ask you for help.”
“Doesn’t your mom have any idea at all where he is?” Jackson asked Luci.
“I don’t think so, she’s been phoning everyone to see if he’s there and she starts crying every time she hangs up the phone,” said Luci.
“I think she’s giving up,” interrupted Jessie. “She just sits on the couch and stares at the wall.”
Jackson was sitting on his couch with arms folded across his chest starring at the TV. “Why do you think I could find him if she can’t?”
“C’mon Jackson,” said Jessie pulling a big chocolate bar out of her hoodie pocket, “I’ll give you this one now and another one when we go to town on Saturday.”
Jackson snatched the candy out of Jessie’s hand before she changed her mind. He stripped the paper off and began to wolf it down. “Well, you’ll have to help me get into Luci’s house so I can look around for clues. That won’t be easy because of all the grownups being paranoid about murderers . . . or . . . um . . . I mean, crazy hunters hiding around every corner. They haven’t even let you go play over there since it all happened, Jessie.”
“I can phone you the next time mom and I go out and then accidentally leave the door unlocked,” said Luci helpfully.
“You’re just lucky that Mosom’s been giving me traditional First Nation tracking lessons,” said Jackson confidently as he drooled chocolate onto his chin.
“Austin,” whispered Jackson, “hold that flashlight steady. I don’t want to miss seeing something that could be a clue.”
“How are you going to know it’s a clue even if you do see it?” asked Austin sarcastically.
Jackson stopped, turned around and stared right into the beam of light. “You need to know, that my Mosom took me out tracking yesterday. He’s the best hunter on this reserve and he’s teaching me all he knows.” Jackson wished he could see the super impressed look on Austin’s face but the flashlight blinded him. “Watch me closely and I’ll pass on my knowledge to you,” he finished.
Jackson and Austin stepped over a few Barbies that littered the living room. They carefully walked around Barbie’s campervan and inched their way through to the hall. “Where are we going?” Austin asked nervously.
“Shh!” admonished Jackson in a loud whisper. “You never know when someone could be passing by. This kind of detective work has to be done in silence.”
“Detective work? I thought you were a traditional First Nation tracker.”
Jackson didn’t have to see Austin’s face to know he was being disrespectful. He would have to teach him a lesson soon. Actually, right now was a pretty good time.
“Remember when you got the flashlight out of your pocket?” he asked.
When Austin didn’t say anything, Jackson continued. “You accidentally pulled a piece of paper out of your pocket along with the flashlight.” Austin still didn’t say anything so Jackson went on. “I picked it up and noticed it was written on a piece of foolscap so I assumed it was written at school ‘cause I’ve never seen paper like that at your house. That means it was either a note Mrs. Osagin wrote for you to take home to your mom, or it was a note a girl passed you in class. You didn’t give the note to your mom so you are either in trouble at school, or you have a girlfriend. How’s that for detective skills?” Jackson said triumphantly.
“What makes you think it was a girl?” Austin asked a little weakly.
“Boys don’t write notes! At least not in our class. So who’s the girl?” asked Jackson as he grinned in the darkness.
“We’re here to do a job, not to discuss my love life,” said Austin as he flashed the light onto a pile of dirty clothes by the laundry room door. “Why don’t you hurry up and look for clues.”
Jackson slowly took a folded piece of foolscap out of his jacket pocket. With great care and ceremony he opened it up and spread it out under the flashlight beam that a horrified Austin still shone toward him.
“What!” Now Jackson was horrified. “Beyonce? You and Beyonce?”
“I-I-It’s not what you think,” stuttered Austin taking a set backward. “She started passing me notes after the Twilight Run. I haven’t been answering them or anything. I don’t even like girls yet.”
Jackson narrowed his eyes and stared at his best friend. He didn’t know whether to believe him or not. He had never known Austin to admit having a crush but . . .
“C’mon Jackson,” Austin said urgently. “We better do what we came for and get out of here before they come back. Are there any clues in those clothes over there?”
Reluctantly, Jackson bent down to examine the clothes spilling out of the laundry room. He sorted though a few pairs of jeans and an old hoodie and . . .
“Austin, I’ve seen this green fabric before. Have you?”
Austin gasped. His trembling hands made the flashlight beam shake weird patterns all over the wall. “Yes, on the dead guy. It’s the same fabric as his jacket.”
“It’s a jacket hood!” Jackson whispered.
“It looks like it was ripped right off the jacket he was wearing!” Austin countered.
“No wonder he looked like a bundle of old clothes when I tripped over him.”
“Jackson, what is the dead guy’s jacket hood doing in Luci’s house?”
“I don’t know for sure but I bet it has something to do with Luci’s dad disappearing the day before the guy wearing this jacket was discovered.”
Jackson breathed in deeply trying to remember something that was hiding in the back of his mind. Finally he let out his breath and said, “I’m not supposed to tell anyone this but yesterday Mosom took me into the field to do some tracking at the spot where I tripped over the dead guy.
He said the guy was running from someone before he was shot. Then Mosom looked over in this exact direction for a long minute. It gave me the creeps when he did that. Maybe whoever was chasing that guy grabbed this hood and tore it off while he was running away.”
Jackson could feel Austin tense up in the darkness. “Why is the hood here in this house?” he asked again. “Did it get torn off here? What would the dead guy be doing here?”
Jackson’s eyes widened as he remembered his grandfather waiting out on the front step in a blizzard. “I don’t want to start any rumors,” Mosom had said.
“It’s all adding up Austin! Luci’s mom must have been fooling around with that guy. I saw his truck spinning out of the driveway a few weeks ago. Maybe Luci’s dad caught him here and tried to grab him but the hood tore off. Then he chased him out to the trees . . . and shot him. That’s why Luci’s dad disappeared. I bet he’s on the run!” Jackson finished.
Suddenly a deep growl sounded out of the darkness. It exploded into loud bark. Jackson dropped the jacket hood and looked around in panic.
“Who’s in there?” said a loud voice. At the same time a huge flashlight beam came from the direction of the back porch.
The boys scrambled into the front bedroom. Austin struggled to open the window while Jackson looked around anxiously for a hiding place. They could hear the dog’s toenails scraping on the linoleum floor in the kitchen. They could hear it panting up the hall. Big boots clumped along behind it.
Austin was out of the window in a flash but it all seemed to happen in slow motion. As Jackson rushed toward the window he spied a beautiful beaded bracelet on the dresser. Without thinking, he scooped it up in one hand and grabbed the windowsill with the other. As he ran across the yard, Jackson glanced back to see the dog trying frantically to scramble over the windowsill after them.
At the end of the driveway, Austin headed off toward his house without a backward glance or a goodbye while Jackson ran toward the creek. He had heard that the old warriors used to run down through the middle of a creek when they wanted to avoid being followed by trackers or wolf packs. He looked at the swaying grass as he ran and was glad to see that he was running downwind from the dog. He ran on through the slippery water until his legs and lungs were burning. Finally he had to stop and catch his breath.
Jackson collapsed on the bank of the creek and rolled over onto his back. The stars swirled above him in the black sky. He felt so small and helpless. Kokum always said to pray when he needed help but he wasn’t always sure God wanted to listen to him. Especially after disobeying his parents and breaking into Luci’s house and stealing a bracelet. But at that moment God seemed all around him in the rustling grasses, the gurgling creek and winking stars. Kokum and Mosom seemed to take time to listen to him even when he had done something wrong. Maybe God would too.
“OK God, It’s me, Jackson. I’m in trouble again but I guess you know that already. What should I do now? Who should I tell what I suspect about Luci’s dad and that dead guy? Whoever I tell, it seems to me that I’ll be in almost as much trouble as Luci’s dad . . . or the dead guy for that matter.”
“I don’t understand what was going on God. Was Luci’s mom really fooling around with that guy? Did Luci's dad get mad enough to shoot him? To tell you the truth, I can kind of understand that ‘cause I’m pretty mad at Austin right now for trying to steal Beyonce from me.”
“I just don’t know what to say to Luci though. I hate it when girls start crying. But then I guess I might cry too if my mom was fooling around on my dad. I just wouldn’t cry in front of anybody . . . except for you of course.”