Skeleton Key (18 page)

The midget slowly climbed up off the cement and picked his bike off the ground. The handlebars were bent at a crazy angle and the front tire was completely flat. He hurled his bike back on the ground and started flailing his arms in a crazy temper tantrum. Then he did an amazing thing. He started kicking himself in the head, just like Erika explained. Cars were honking as Clay realized that the train had passed and he was holding up traffic. He had thoughts of helping the lunatic little man, but the honking cars made him realize he had no choice but to return to his car and drive away.

“
That little dude is
definitely
terrifying, Erika. Did you see him kicking his own head? I totally thought you were kidding.”

Erika’s eyes were as big as saucers. Finally she smiled. “I have a new protector.”

Clay couldn’t help but laugh, even though he knew there was damage to his car. “There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

“
You have quite an arm there, Rocket. Your baseball players must be very impressed.”

“
Makes you kind of proud that you know me, doesn’t it?” Clay joked.

“
I was kind of feeling that way even
before
I was rescued.”

“
Here’s my report, Chief,” said Officer Verne Gilbert as he handed Chief Hopper a file folder. Hopper had assigned the officer the responsibility of checking into Roberto Gomez’s movements on the night of the train wreck seven years earlier. It was gnawing at Hopper that Logan Payne believed he had seen Gomez at the train station in East Lansing. Was he really there? If he was, what was he doing?

Hopper was disappointed as he flipped through the file folder. There were no credit card purchases, though he did fill up his gas tank at the Durand Shell station at about 6:30 p.m. There were no phone calls to his house or from his cell phone that were suspicious at all. Roberto was not working that evening, so he was available to leave town, but there was no evidence that he had gone anywhere except for Logan’s belief that he saw Gomez at the train station.

He decided to call Clay. They needed to give Roberto Gomez a visit, and Clay’s mind-reading ability could come in handy. Clay and Erika were eating at Uncle Tony’s Pizza Company, while Logan finished up his basketball practice. Hopper invited himself to crash their date.

***

When Hopper arrived, Clay and Erika had already started on their pizzas. They had ordered two-for-one specialty pizzas, a BLT pizza and a Chicken, Bacon, Ranch pizza that Erika claimed Logan liked best. Clay was impressed with the variety of food choices on the menu, including pasta dishes, Mexican food, stromboli, salads, and wings.

Hopper had a seat next to Erika. “You didn’t order The Uncle Toninator? I think I’m hungry enough to eat one myself.”

“
A 28-inch pizza all by yourself? You have a couple of hollow legs? You got here pretty quick. Must not’ve hit a train.”

“
Nope. I think you’re bad luck, Clay. The train gods are picking on you. Did I see that your car window is smashed out there?”

Clay retold the story about the midget, and Hopper got a good laugh out of it. “You wanna file a complaint against the little pest? It won’t be the first, and I’m afraid it won’t be the last. Bet you didn’t know he holds a law degree. In front of a judge, he’s an expert at making himself look like the victim. A regular wordsmith. Another interesting fact is that he claims he’s an heir of one of the circus performers that died in the Wallace train wreck. He says one of the unmarked graves is the burial site of his great grandfather.”

“
Well,” Clay said, “I don’t think I’ll file a complaint—especially if he’d have some sort of advantage in front of a judge—but I have to say the tiny man is hugely unstable. You should have seen him kicking himself in the head.”

Hopper laughed again. “I’ve heard reports of his flexibility, but I’ve never seen it myself. I have to tell you, one of the funniest things I ever witnessed was an incident during the Railroad Days several years ago. He was riding his little bike while holding onto a helium balloon. The balloon was weighted, but apparently not enough that, when he lost hold of it, it started to slowly rise out of his reach. Somehow he stopped that bike, jumped onto the bike seat with his feet, and leaped for the balloon—the little dude’s as nimble as a gymnast. The bike crashed, and he missed the balloon. He landed off balance, but he fell forward onto his hands and did a somersault back onto his feet. The balloon kept slowly rising, so Jasper—that’s his name, by the way—climbed the no parking sign on the side of the street. He got all the way to the top and just as he was reaching for the balloon string, the sign started to bend backward. Jasper was hanging there by one hand and flailing for the balloon with his other one, and the sign was slowly bending until he landed right on his feet on the ground. But that’s not the end of it. Jasper’s pretty handy with a rock, as you’ve seen, so he picked up a small rock from the street and while swearing a stream of cuss words that would’ve made a sailor blush, he hit that balloon with his first throw, and it popped immediately. The weight fell straight down and hit him on the head. You couldn’t make up something like that.”

Erika was giggling, which made Clay smile and laugh himself. “Have some pizza, Luke. We ordered plenty.”

The chief helped himself and then got down to business. “We can’t find anything linking Roberto Gomez to the Lansing train station, but since Logan believes that he saw him there, I think we should go and have a talk, Clay. The longer this case goes, the more questions that pop up.”

“
Just wait ’til you hear what we have to share. We went to visit Dan Duncan. Dan didn’t want to talk, but I read his mind. Luke, what I learned was that Duncan was at the accident scene both before and after the crash. When he was there after the wreck, he specifically tried to find out if Adrian was dead because he claims to have killed two people.”

“
What?” Hopper asked in disbelief.

“
I asked him when he was at the accident scene and what I read from his mind was ‘both before and after I killed two people.’ Without question, he was hiding things and didn’t want to cooperate.”

“
That just doesn’t make sense, Clay.”

“
That’s what we’ve been saying, but he has a motive and opportunity. H
ow
he could’ve killed somebody is the troubling question, especially since Adrian seems to think he died from a heart attack.”

In frustration, Hopper was rubbing his hands over his face and, eventually, with his elbows on the table, hid his face completely in his hands. In Hopper’s mind, Erika was still a suspect of some sorts, so he didn’t want to say too much, but what he was hearing was difficult to digest.

Their meal together continued without much conversation. Eventually Erika announced it was time for her to get back to the high school to pick up Logan. Chief Hopper suggested that Clay return the next day, Tuesday, and come with him to visit Roberto Gomez. “I’m gonna need to get my window fixed, but I’ll come as soon as I can tomorrow.”

Clay paid the bill and everyone said his and her farewells. Clay walked Erika to the car, and once he was also seated and buckled in, he grabbed her hand and held it. Erika smiled that beautiful smile of hers and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry we’ve reunited in such trying circumstances, but I’m glad anyway,” Clay said.

“
I’m glad too, Clay. Thank you for being here for me.”

When they made it back to the school parking lot, Clay leaned over and gave Erika a light kiss on the lips. It felt good. He wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do, but he was glad he did it anyway.

Erika looked to actually be blushing, but with tears misting her eyes just a little, she said, “Thank you.” Then she exited Clay’s car and entered her own to wait for Logan. Clay drove away feeling like a school kid with a crush, but it felt good, so it made him happy for the first time in a long, long time.

When Clay got up the next morning, he had his window replaced, made a stop at a store, and then made his way back to Durand to meet with Chief Hopper. Hopper was all business when Clay arrived, and he wasted no time in leaving for the Depot to have a chat with Roberto Gomez. Clay drove separately because he was planning on stopping to see Erika at the Depot offices when they were done with the interview. He slammed his hand on his steering wheel as he watched Hopper drive across the railroad tracks just before the lights flashed on and the arm lowered. Hopper couldn’t help but laugh as he saw Clay waiting for the train, but he waited for him patiently in the Depot parking lot.

They found Roberto in a maintenance shed hanging a long-handled track wrench onto a stout metal peg. Roberto gave a questioning look when he saw Hopper, but still gave a friendly greeting. “Hola, Chief. Hola, Clay. Can I help you with something?”

“
We’re here to talk to you, Robbie. Do you have a minute?”

“
Sure, Chief. I just got done tightening some bolts on the tracks. Next, Morty’s rushin’ me to do some brake work on that engine on the wye, but I can talk for a few. Is there a problem?”

“
No, Robbie. We’ve just been doing some investigating, trying to figure out how Adrian Payne’s body ended up buried in that horse cemetery. The medical examiner is looking into the possibility of foul play, but the original conclusion is that Adrian died as a result of the crash. As you know, the body was never found after the train wreck, yet someone buried him sometime later.” Hopper turned to Clay. “Clay here gave us some information suggesting the body was buried near the tracks, and then someone dug up the grave. Since you work here full time, we were wondering if you knew anything about the disappearance, the burial, or the discovery of the body. Clay has a few questions for you.”

“
Okay.” Robbie looked nervously at Clay.

“
Robbie, could you tell us where you were on the night of the train wreck?”

“
Dios, no…No, por favor
.” Roberto’s thoughts were begging as well as his eyes. “I was home with Stacy and Anna.”

“
You didn’t go anywhere that evening?”

“
They can’t know I was in Lansing, can they?
” Roberto’s hands were shaking and his voice was cracking, but he tried to stay composed. “Not that I recall. It was a long time ago. I know that I was home when the accident happened. We heard the sirens and watched reports on the news. I never left the house.”

“
You seem a little nervous, Robbie. Do you know something that could help us?”

“
I’m gonna go to jail for killing two men. They know
. W
hat am I gonna do?
” Then he had an idea. “Why are you asking me these questions? Is it because I’m Mexican? You figure because of my race, I must be guilty of something. Is that it? You’re no better than Adrian Payne if that’s what you think.”

“
Did you have some problem with Adrian?” Clay asked.

“
Like that he raped my wife?
” Roberto thought. “Yeah, he was always calling me ‘Taco’ and ‘Roburrito’ and making racist comments. He hired me, and then treated me like dirt while he sexually harassed my wife. Yeah, I had a problem with him, but so did everyone else who knew him. He was scum.”

Hopper joined the conversation. “Relax, Robbie, we’re just asking questions. You’ve proven to be a good man. This isn’t about race; it’s about finding answers to some troubling questions. Let’s just back up a bit. You’ve established that you weren’t anywhere near the Depot during the accident. But did you know that Adrian Payne was on that train?”

“
Everyone at the Depot—practically everyone in general—knew about the convention in East Lansing. Of course Payne would be there, and everyone knew he would be on the train coming back.”

“
Did you know that Logan or Morty would be on the train?”

“
No,” he replied. “After the accident, I heard they were passengers.”

“
Did you hear any talk, or see anything that would lead you to believe that Adrian’s body had been confiscated and set aside to be buried later?”

“
Chief, I was just like everyone else. I didn’t know what happened to Payne. I figured he must not’ve been on the train, or maybe he got off somehow.”

Clay interjected again. “Robbie, I have one more question for you. Were you in Lansing on the day of the accident?”

Robbie had his head down, avoiding eye contact with Clay when he lied. “No, I wasn’t.”

“
Logan Payne seems to think that he saw you at the Lansing Depot.”

“
He must be mistaken, Señor. I was at work and then home with my family.”

“
Robbie, we’re still looking to find out what happened that day,” Hopper said. “If you think of anything, please let us know.”