Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 03 - When the Carny Comes to Town (27 page)

Pittsen was a former Ocean Alley resident who was arrested a number of times for alcohol-related charges.  Her face may be familiar because she sometimes sold ride tickets at local carnivals.  She is also the mother of current resident Adam O’Brien.

“Why do you suppose George doesn’t say he and Scoobie rescued you?” I asked.  Aunt Madge and I had read the article together.  “And he called Scoobie ‘Adam.’  No one will know it’s him.

“Undoubtedly how Scoobie wanted it, though I’m surprised George’s editor let him get away with it.”

I reread the article.  “Literal and figurative fireworks?” I said.

“That’s not so bad.  He makes it sound like I run a half-way house,” Aunt Madge said.

Our eyes met. 

“Jolie, what were you thinking?” she asked.

I’d been waiting for this question.  Yesterday Aunt Madge and I had gone to bed about eight in the morning and slept until mid-afternoon.  My sister Renée came down from Lakewood and she and her husband sat downstairs to shoo away anyone who wanted to talk to us.  And they served the afternoon snack to Aunt Madge’s guests.  She wouldn’t hear of her guests leaving.

When we finally got up, I had to spend a half-hour on the phone with my parents assuring them that Aunt Madge and I were all right and that they should stay in Florida.  Ramona and a couple of Aunt Madge’s friends from church brought in supper, and we were both back in bed by nine in the evening.  There was no sign of Scoobie, but I knew he would have gone over what he calls his ‘people quotient’ and wanted to be alone, so I wasn’t worried about him.

The bottom line was that Aunt Madge and I hadn’t talked much about what happened.  Not to each other.  So, here we were on Sunday morning, with her dressed for church and me still in my bathrobe.  And I had to answer Aunt Madge’s question.

“You probably think I wasn’t thinking,” I said, slowly.  “But it seemed so clear.  Marcus, Masterson, said no police.  But as soon as we knew who he was Morehouse started talking about having police look for you guys in town, and I knew they’d want to be all over the place if I took him the suitcase.” 

“And somehow you talked Adam and George into going with you?”

I shook my head.  “No, they were waiting outside the house, well, just down the street.  Not waiting, kind of hiding in George’s car.  I guess he wanted to see what would happen.  Remember, I told you I climbed out your window?”

Aunt Madge pulled me into a hug, and then stepped back to look at me.  “You have to promise me you won’t take a risk like that again.”

“No,” I said.

“Jolie,” her voice was firm.

“First, it won’t happen again.  And second, I won’t let anyone hurt you any more than you’d let anyone hurt me.”

She stared at me.  I could tell by her expression that an idea was forming.

“I’ll make you a deal,” she said.  “You stop behaving so rashly and I won’t let George Winters see any of the photos of you that summer you were three and ran around in just your underwear all the time.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”  I almost shouted.

“Try me.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

THERE WAS A LOT MORE TO learn about what Penny and Masterson had been up to, and I was convinced that she and Turk had probably worked together at least in a pickpocket scheme.  Why else would she have known enough about him to make her follow Turk as Turk followed Scoobie?  As the police left early yesterday morning I’d asked Sgt. Morehouse about this.  His reply had to do with me minding my own business and was quite rude, but he hadn’t had much sleep.  I decided to wait a couple days before I asked again.

Dr. Welby arranged for the food donation day to take place at Mr. Markle’s store on Sunday afternoon of 4th of July weekend.  He was certain some of the many tourists in town would donate.  So even though Aunt Madge had only been safe for about thirty hours, I stood in the grocery store parking lot.  Lance borrowed a pick-up truck on which we hung the Harvest for All Food Pantry sign.

Scoobie had taken two pieces of poster board and strung them together so he was wearing them in the same fashion people used when they stood on the street advertising their business.  On the front and back Ramona had lettered “Ask me about Talk Like a Pirate Day, September 19th.”

Though I was able to agree with everyone who told me that it was wonderful that Aunt Madge was safe and to sample the baked goods that Monica had organized for the sale, I felt anything but back to normal.  A couple times when people called out to me I was truly startled, and my mind kept traveling back to the walk through the woods when I had been convinced Aunt Madge and I were going to be shot.

I’m smart enough to know that it’s going to take awhile to feel safe and settle back into my routine, but I had not expected to feel so rattled once it was clear Aunt Madge really was going to be okay.  I accepted a sack of canned goods from a woman who works in the records room at the courthouse and barely thought to thank her.  As I loaded it into the pickup truck Scoobie caught my eye.  “You okay?”

“Yes, just still whipped, I guess.” 

By one-thirty the pickup was full and the grocery clerk Mr. Markle said could drive it to the food pantry was behind the wheel.  Lance was in the passenger seat so he could tell the guy where to unload the food.  The rest of us stayed to solicit more donations, and we put them in grocery carts.

Sylvia had refused to wear the pirate hat Lance bought her, so it periodically moved from my head to Ramona’s to Jennifer’s, depending on where Scoobie chose to put it.  My grocery cart was almost full when someone said, “Smile, Jolie.”

I turned, without a smile, and looked directly at George Winters as he took a photo of me in the pirate hat.  “Very funny.  Make sure you take one of Jennifer,” I said, being overly polite.

He gave me an odd look and then went inside the store to talk to Mr. Markle. 

“Miss?”

I turned to see the taller of the two homeless men, Josh I thought his name was, looking at me.  He appeared ill at ease about something.  When he didn’t say anything else I said, “We really appreciate your help today.” 

And I did.  Scoobie had suggested they help, and Dr. Welby had actually tracked them down, since Scoobie was still sore.  Dr. Welby told me quietly that he just followed the sound of the bongo drums, but that he didn’t recognize any of the music.

“I need to tell you something.”  He gestured that we should walk toward the soft drink machine that sits outside the store.

When we got close to the machine I saw Max was standing next to it, seemingly trying to blend in with the store’s brick walls.  “What is it, you guys?” I asked.

“The lady told us not to tell,” Max said quickly.

“The thing is, we didn’t know she was Scoobie’s mother,” Josh said, and he glanced to where Scoobie was pretending his cane was a pirate’s sword. 

“You mean Penny?” I asked.  I was trying to connect dots in my brain, but I wasn’t quite getting there.

“Yeah,” Max said.  “The lady that got killed by the guy who took your aunt.”

Slowly the dots connected.  “Did you guys see something by the boardwalk in mid-May?”

Josh nodded.  “It was really early.  A Saturday, but I don’t know the date.  Joe gives us day-old muffins sometimes, so we were on the bench across from Java Jolt, waiting for him to get there.”

By the steps Scoobie got pushed down.

“We saw this guy coming down the street,” Josh said.

“We didn’t know him,” Max said, quickly.

“Anyway,” Josh continued, “he walked under the boardwalk.  And he said ‘you aren’t dead yet?’”

Max said, “Josh was a soldier, a U.S. Army soldier, so he ran over there, really fast.  I kind of followed.”

“I got under there in time to see him bash Scoobie in the back of the head with a beer bottle,” Josh said.  “It wasn’t in his hand when he was walking, so I guess he picked it up under there.”

“And you chased him off?” I asked, quietly.

“Me and Josh, yeah, we chased him,” Max said, in an excited tone. 

My eyes met Josh’s.  I had guessed when we spoke to them briefly Friday on the boardwalk that Max might have some sort of emotional problem.  Josh almost seemed to be his caregiver.  “You saved Scoobie’s life.”  I felt myself start to tear up.

“We didn’t know what to do, what to do,” Max said.  “But the lady came up, running up.  Well, sort of running.  She was kind of fat.”

“And you think it was Penny Pittsen?” I asked.

Josh nodded.  “We recognized her from the picture in the paper this morning.”  He paused.  “Is she really Scoobie’s mother?”

“Yes, but he hadn’t seen her in a long time.” 

“She told us she was calling an ambulance, and to go away,” Josh said.  “The ambulance and police came.”

“But she walked away when they came,” Max said.  “She could have told them who did it.”

I wanted to ask why they didn’t step forward, but instead drew a breath.  “I really need you to talk to the police, especially if you think you know who tried to hurt Scoobie.”

“He didn’t just try,” Max said, excited again.

A half smile formed on Josh’s face, but vanished quickly.  “The thing is, the police don’t like us too much.”

“I didn’t take that apple,” Max said hurriedly.  “I just forgot to pay.”

“I’ve forgotten before,” I said slowly.  “I know what you mean.”  I looked at Josh again.

“Could you maybe go with us?” Josh asked.

“Of course,” I said.

“But he’s here, so it’s gotta be today,” Max added. 

I HAVE NEVER SEEN Sgt. Morehouse truly excited before.  When Josh, Max, and I got to the police station about two-thirty and she heard why we were there, Dana Johnson called him to come in. 

“After all this time,” Morehouse said, “we’re gonna get the bastard that tried to kill Scoobie.”

It was indeed Turk the two men had seen.  Morehouse made them describe him, and then listened while Josh explained that yesterday, when he was playing the bongos on the boardwalk near the carnival, they had seen Turk.  Max had become very upset and they left

“We looked for Scoobie,” Josh said.  “He’s pretty good at knowing what to do.  But we didn’t see him until today at the grocery store.”

“And it was his head.  His head that got busted,” Max said.

“Yes, it was.”  Morehouse spoke quietly, apparently thinking.  He turned to Dana.  “I got an idea.  Why don’t you find Scoobie, see if he’ll help.”

“Don’t you think I…”

“No, Jolie.  This is a police matter, a very serious police matter.”  He looked at me with a stern expression, so I looked away.

Dana left, and Sgt. Morehouse got up and returned with two donuts and offered to get Josh and Max coffee.  Both men wanted some, so he stepped out.

“I think they like us now,” Max said, in a loud whisper.

I COULD TELL THAT Scoobie did not like that I had brought Josh and Max to the station without telling him why, but he didn’t say anything.  After a brief conversation, Sgt. Morehouse and he walked into another office and Dana came in to sit with Josh, Max, and me.  She was very good at putting them at ease.

“So,” Max asked after a few minutes.  “You got a boyfriend?”

Dana grinned.  “Even better.  A husband.”

After a few minutes more Sgt. Morehouse stuck his head in and asked us to join him in the small conference room down the hall.  Lt. Tortino and Scoobie were already seated.

“I’m thinking that if we wire Scoobie…”

“No!” I said, afraid of where this was going.

“Relax,” Scoobie said, and gave me an unreadable look. 

“Broad daylight,” Morehouse said, “with Dana and a couple of the other young officers nearby in street clothes.”  He turned to Josh and Max who were sitting opposite him.  “Your help has been really terrific.  Later, I may need to ask you to tell some other people what you saw.”

Josh nodded quietly, but Max looked fearful.

“The thing is,” Morehouse said, “it would be easier for everybody if we can get Turk to talk to Scoobie about this.  May not work…”

“Very well may not,” said Lt. Tortino.  “But worth a try.”

“Will you be able to hear what they say?” I asked.

Morehouse shook his head.  “Real-time listening, that’s TV show stuff.  We’re a small department.  But we will have the tape from the conversation Scoobie has with the guy.”

Lt. Tortino turned to Josh and Max.  “We’d like to pay for a room for you guys for a couple nights.  That way you don’t have to worry about running into this guy Turk while he’s in town.”

“And you know where to find us,” Josh said, quietly.

“Nobody’s going to watch you or anything,” Tortino said.

“We’re free citizens,” Max said, talking fast again.  “We have rights.

Tortino started to say something, but Scoobie interrupted him.  “You do.  And if you stay there I’ll know where to find you, and you and Jolie and I can go to supper or breakfast or something.”  He looked at me.  “Jolie’s buying.”