Page 79 of Snow River

The door swung open and there was Grant.He was the kind of youngish guy that you might forget you saw, the kind witnesses could never describe.“White man with brown hair, average height, average weight, maybe in his thirties, not sure I could identify him in a lineup.”He wore jeans and a flannel shirt open over a t-shirt from a summer music festival.A quick glance told Bear that his feet weren’t particularly small.

“Hey Bear.I’m sorry I missed my shift, man.I’m sick and I didn’t want to spread it around.Didn’t Oil Can tell you?”

“No, he didn’t mention it.”

“Oh.Well, he must have forgot.”He gave a nervous laugh, then transformed it into a cough.A real cough?Bear couldn’t tell.“No phone service.Sorry.You should go, I wouldn’t want you to catch this.”

He coughed again.Bear waited, silent.As a cop, his best weapon had been his patient silence.Suspects, like everyone else, got uncomfortable around silence and tended to say too much.

“I think it’s that virus,” he went on, his words tumbling over each other.“The one I kept hearing about.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Been coughing like crazy all morning.”He coughed again to demonstrate.

“That virus doesn’t cause coughing.”Bear took advantage of the moment to step inside.“And that’s not a real cough.”

Grant stepped back nervously.“You shouldn’t be here, man.Oil Can doesn’t like strangers coming in here.”

“Not a stranger.Oil Can hired me to investigate.”

As Bear stalked toward him, Grant backed away across the floor, which was still stained by the residue of the red syrup.

“Who are you, Grant?You’re not in Firelight Ridge by random chance, are you?”

“What?What are you talking about?”As he backed up, he nearly stumbled over a ball of yarn trailing from someone’s tote bag.

Bear kept going until Grant took refuge behind an ancient armchair with the stuffing coming out of it.Bear didn’t like it because he couldn’t see what Grant was doing with his hands.But what could he do from there, throw cotton fluff at him?“How did you know Rita Casey?”

“I didn’t…I mean, I barely knew her.”

Bingo.Grantwasconnected to Rita.“You hung out with her at the Wagon Wheel, didn’t you?Then you came with her to Snow River.Were you with her when she was killed?”

“No!We…we got separated.I couldn’t find her.These woods are confusing if you don’t know them.I looked for her but ended up hiking my way out.”

Bear studied the guy, who seemed, to his cop’s eye, to be telling the truth.“Why’d you come out here, the two of you?”

“She wanted to do some watercolors.”

And…there he went with the lies.

“Bullshit.Why did you rig up that dress at The Fang?”

“Dress?What are you talking about?”Grant shoved his shock of brown hair out of his face.Bear almost believed him.Almost.

“Why’d you miss work today?”he demanded, taking another step toward him.The intimidation seemed to be working.“It’s pretty clear you aren’t sick.What are you planning?”He spotted a backpack leaning against the wall.It was stuffed full of high-tech snow gear.“Going for a hike instead of doing your job?”

“I am doing my job,” Grant hissed.“Here’s my notice.I quit.I was only there for information anyway.”

Ah ha.“So the truth comes out.You’re a fraud.”Bear crossed his arms over his chest.“Let’s say I believe you.What sort of information are you looking for?Here I am.Ask me anything.”

“You don’t know anything important.I figured that out pretty quick.”

Bear ignored the insult.“What were you hoping I knew?”

More confident now, Grant barked out a laugh.“I can’t believe you were ever a cop.You haven’t gotten anywhere in this case, have you?Fucking pathetic.”

Interesting that he knew Bear had been an officer.It wasn’t hard to find that information, but to even bother, he must have made an effort.Why had he done that?“It depends on what case you’re talking about.Rita Casey’s murder isn’t my case.Nancy Butcher, that’s another matter.”

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