Страница 39 из 55
Joa
‘‘Can we?”
Joa
“And then those boys will have to take it k, won’t they.”
There was a tough ferocity about Je
“Who’s he?” Je
“Never mind,” Joa
“Will I have to stay here in the office until the bell rings?”
“No. You’re corning with me. I have lots of errands to run, and you’ll have to come along.” Joa
Je
“It was in the fourth grade,” Joa
“How come she did that? If he copied your paper, he should have been the one in trouble, not you.”
“She thought I gave him the answers.”
“Even though it wasn’t true?”
“Even though.”
“Couldn’t you prove it was his fault?”
“How? It was his word against mine. Mrs. Fe
“That wasn’t fair,” Je
“Two against one isn’t fair,” Joa
Je
Joa
For the first time, a hint of a smile played around the corners of Je
“Would have,” Joa
They found Nina Evans in the hall. “I’ll take Je
Holding je
“Did you eat any lunch?”
“No.”
“First we’ll go by Daisy’s and split a pasty,” Joa
Daisy Maxwell, the original owner of Daisy’s Cafe, had been retired for twenty years and dead for ten, but the restaurant she started still reflected her initial menu as well as the ethnic diversity of Bisbee’s mining camp origins when miners from all over the world had flocked to Arizona’s copper strikes. Along with the usual standbys of hamburgers and sandwiches, Mexican food, Cornish pasties and Hungarian goulash were featured as daily specials at least once a week. Grits were usually available, upon request, with breakfast.
Between the two of them, Joa
Everywhere they went-in shops and offices, on the street-people stopped them to murmur their condolences and to ask if there was anything they could do to help.
“Most people are pretty nice, aren’t they?”
Je
Joa
It was late in the afternoon before they finally stopped by First Merchant’s Bank. Sandra He
That’s odd, Joa
‘We’ll sit here and wait for Mrs. He
It was several minutes before Sandy He
“I’m so sorry about Andy,” Sandra He
“Don’t worry about it, Sandy. I know how those things work, but I did want to talk to you, one bureaucrat to another, to see if you can help me figure out where that ninety-five-hundred-dollar deposit came from.”
At once the flush returned, and the color of Sandra He
“Told me what?” Joa
Sandy’s eyes swung away from Joa
“Why don’t you go ask one of the tellers for a Candy Kiss, Je
Je
With a shrug, Je
Sandy ducked her chin into her ample breast. “When Andy brought the money in, Joa
“What woman?”
“I don’t know. He never introduced us. Well, that’s not exactly true. He told me her name was Cora.”
“Cora who? I don’t know any Coras.”
“He didn’t tell me her last name, Joa
“But what?”
“I thought somebody else would tell you,” Sandy said miserably. “I didn’t want to have be the one.”
A light came on in Joa
“Yes. And the man from the DEA as well. They asked.”
“Well, now I’m asking,” Joa
“She wasn’t a nice woman, Joa
“Like what?”
“You know, short leather skirt, boots, big hair, lots of makeup. She was laughing and hanging on Andy, whispering in his ear.”
“They came to the bank together?”
“No. Actually, she was here first. She drove up and waited outside. He came a few minutes later. When he got out of his truck, she hurried over to him, gave him a big hug and a kiss and the envelope.”
“What envelope?”
“The one with the money in it. The ninety-five-hundred dollars in cash. They counted it all out together, right here at my desk.”