time. For tomorrow, let’s interview Elise Lovell. And would you organize someone to do a canvassing of anyone who might have had contact with Manton. It’s pretty sparse out there, but maybe she knew some of her neighbors. And who were the delivery and service people she might have had contact with?”
“I’ll have Brett do that. It’ll be a good learning experience for him.”
“Okay, we’ve got a plan of sorts. Let’s try to get out of here by ten.”
After Sue left, Ray returned to his paperwork. His efforts were quickly interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Sarah’s face came on the screen.
“Ray, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry about last night. I embarrassed myself. I was sort of a crazy lady. I don’t deal well with change, and I’m struggling with our relationship, what’s going to happen with the move. And I’d say let’s get together tonight, but I’ve got to take the new headmaster and his assistants to dinner in town. One of the school’s major benefactors is flying in, and I’ve got to be there.”
“Let’s play it by ear,” offered Ray.
“Okay. I’ll only be here a few days, and then I’m going to Chicago. I’ll try to figure something out. Ray, I do care about you. I’ll call you later.”
“Good,” he responded. The beeping sound indicated that Sarah had rung off.
18.
“Do you want to drive up to that church or do you want to try Reverend Tim’s house?” asked Sue.
“Let’s try the house first,” Ray answered.
Sue parked in front of an aging mobile home. “Wasn’t that car engine hanging from that tree the last time we were here?”
“Hard to say,” Ray responded. “It might have been a different engine. And maybe it isn’t really an old V-8 hanging from a tree.”
“What is it then?”
“Yard art, a post-modern deconstruction emblematic of the end of the industrial age.”
The door of the trailer opened as they approached the porch.
“Sheriff, what brings you?”
“Reverend Tim, I haven’t seen you for a long time. Lots of changes around here. Thought we could have a little talk.”
“Well, come on in, you too, ma’am. I’ll get some coffee going. Place is a bit of a mess. Wife’s off looking after her father. I was down there most of last week. He broke his hip and lots of other stuff seems to be going wrong now.”
They followed Tim into the trailer—the interior as dilapidated as the exterior. The furniture was worn and sagging. A woodstove stood in a small, tacked-on addition off the kitchen/living room. The interior smelled of smoke and stale food.
Reverend Tim seated them at the kitchen table and started talking at them while getting a percolator started on the gas stove. “Well, Sheriff, good that you came looking for me when you did. Another week or two this building and the old church will be gone.”
“How’s that?” asked Ray.
“Reverend Rod wants this and the old church building gone. He says things will look better. He’s buying us a new doublewide. I’m going to put it on some land I own up the road a mile. Sure will miss this place. We’ve been here since we got married, raised kids here. It’s been good.”
He plunked three mugs on the table, pushing one in Ray’s direction and one toward Sue.
“So give me some background, Tim. You had a church and a congregation here. And now there’s that huge building up on the hill and another minister. Fill us in on what’s happened.”
Tim pulled the coffee pot off the stove and filled the mugs. He tossed two frayed hot pads on the worn Formica table and settled in his chair.
“It’s really the strangest damn thing. God has his own way of doing things, but I don’t quite understand what this is all about. I guess I need to learn patience.”
“So what are you telling me, Tim?”
“Well, Reverend Rod shows up one day. I didn’t know he was a preacher. He drives up in a BMW, not a bike, a car. If he’d been on one of those kinds of bikes I
“I’ll have Brett do that. It’ll be a good learning experience for him.”
“Okay, we’ve got a plan of sorts. Let’s try to get out of here by ten.”
After Sue left, Ray returned to his paperwork. His efforts were quickly interrupted by his cell phone ringing. Sarah’s face came on the screen.
“Ray, are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’m so sorry about last night. I embarrassed myself. I was sort of a crazy lady. I don’t deal well with change, and I’m struggling with our relationship, what’s going to happen with the move. And I’d say let’s get together tonight, but I’ve got to take the new headmaster and his assistants to dinner in town. One of the school’s major benefactors is flying in, and I’ve got to be there.”
“Let’s play it by ear,” offered Ray.
“Okay. I’ll only be here a few days, and then I’m going to Chicago. I’ll try to figure something out. Ray, I do care about you. I’ll call you later.”
“Good,” he responded. The beeping sound indicated that Sarah had rung off.
18.
“Do you want to drive up to that church or do you want to try Reverend Tim’s house?” asked Sue.
“Let’s try the house first,” Ray answered.
Sue parked in front of an aging mobile home. “Wasn’t that car engine hanging from that tree the last time we were here?”
“Hard to say,” Ray responded. “It might have been a different engine. And maybe it isn’t really an old V-8 hanging from a tree.”
“What is it then?”
“Yard art, a post-modern deconstruction emblematic of the end of the industrial age.”
The door of the trailer opened as they approached the porch.
“Sheriff, what brings you?”
“Reverend Tim, I haven’t seen you for a long time. Lots of changes around here. Thought we could have a little talk.”
“Well, come on in, you too, ma’am. I’ll get some coffee going. Place is a bit of a mess. Wife’s off looking after her father. I was down there most of last week. He broke his hip and lots of other stuff seems to be going wrong now.”
They followed Tim into the trailer—the interior as dilapidated as the exterior. The furniture was worn and sagging. A woodstove stood in a small, tacked-on addition off the kitchen/living room. The interior smelled of smoke and stale food.
Reverend Tim seated them at the kitchen table and started talking at them while getting a percolator started on the gas stove. “Well, Sheriff, good that you came looking for me when you did. Another week or two this building and the old church will be gone.”
“How’s that?” asked Ray.
“Reverend Rod wants this and the old church building gone. He says things will look better. He’s buying us a new doublewide. I’m going to put it on some land I own up the road a mile. Sure will miss this place. We’ve been here since we got married, raised kids here. It’s been good.”
He plunked three mugs on the table, pushing one in Ray’s direction and one toward Sue.
“So give me some background, Tim. You had a church and a congregation here. And now there’s that huge building up on the hill and another minister. Fill us in on what’s happened.”
Tim pulled the coffee pot off the stove and filled the mugs. He tossed two frayed hot pads on the worn Formica table and settled in his chair.
“It’s really the strangest damn thing. God has his own way of doing things, but I don’t quite understand what this is all about. I guess I need to learn patience.”
“So what are you telling me, Tim?”
“Well, Reverend Rod shows up one day. I didn’t know he was a preacher. He drives up in a BMW, not a bike, a car. If he’d been on one of those kinds of bikes I
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