Page 9 of Be A Detective, They Said. It’ll Be Fun, They Said

I certainly couldn’t understand it. “But she could easily debunk some of the more outlandish tales they conjure up by showing them her wings and her pointy ears.”

Marty cocked her head. “Maybe she does it to feel superior—because she knows what they don’t know? Neerie loves being on top. Maybe it gives her a thrill to have the upper hand. Or maybe, just maybe, she’s lonely. I don’t know why she and Thad divorced, but it’s a transitional period for her. Some divorcees go hog wild with their newfound freedom to help them heal. Some hide away to heal.”

“And some go lookin’ for Bigfoot? I dunno, Marty. Hah! I’m bettin’, she got so involved in this crazypants shit it drove her husband to divorce court.”

Frowning, I wondered that, too. “I’m going to text Naida and ask. I’ve also asked her to come to our office tomorrow morning so we can probe further. I didn’t go terribly deep in the hallway at school. Little ears everywhere and such.”

Nina turned into a dirt parking lot with about four or five cars and a shoddy-looking building with a sign that read: VFW Post 999. Everyone Welcome. Bingo every Friday 6:00 p.m.

Rolling her head on her neck, Nina cracked her knuckles and popped open the car door. “Let’s do this.”

As we piled out, I wiped my clammy hands on my jeans and swallowed hard. I don’t particularly enjoy this part of investigating. I’m not nearly as good at playing a part as Nina and Marty. They’re much quicker on their feet than I am.

I already felt foolish in jeans I wouldn’t ever wear and sneakers that felt foreign to my feet. My imposter syndrome was hard to hide.

As we approached the door, Marty stopped us. “Wait. Isn’t there a secret password to get in or something? So they know we’re really part of the group? They’re not just going to let anyone in. Not after what happened the other night.”

Nina made a snorting sound from the back of her throat. “You let me worry about that. You two stay behind me and let me do the work. I know what a couple of ’em who planned to attend tonight look like. I poked around on their pages. Just follow me and zip it.”

Pulling open the rusty, peeling door, she strode into the VFW like someone owed her money. Leave it to my fearless friend to take the bull by the horns.

She lifted her chin in a nod to a couple of grizzled old men sitting at the gummy-looking bar, sipping frothy beers, their ballcaps pulled down low over their faces.

Pointing to a door that led to another part of the hall, she asked, “Gaggle of lunatics in the house?”

One of the men barked a gruff laugh. “You mean the zippity-doo-dahs, lookin’ for Bigfoot?”

Nina grinned, turning her eyes on the men, her gaze mesmerizing them. “That’d be them.”

Both men, unable to look away, their eyes glued to her face, nodded woodenly. “Yeah…in the back past the kitchen.”

Nina grinned harder, saluting them. “Thanks, gentlemen.” Waving her hand at us to follow, she made her way across the uneven wood floor toward a door, pushing through it.

There was small hallway passing the kitchen and then an open room, where six or seven people sat in a circle with a table of glossy donuts and coffee behind them.

Stopping to listen, she held up a finger to her lips and cocked her head.

They were discussing the events of a couple nights go, around the same time Neerie’d disappeared.

A man with but a wisp of hair on his shiny bald head, dressed in jeans and an oversized jacket, shook his finger, his lips thinning. “I told you, Earl. That Benson was no good. Look what the hell he did! Now we’re all in the shits with the law. I don’t need that kind of crap in my life. They think we’re crazier than bedbugs, out in the woods lookin’ for Bigfoot. My kid’s husband is a cop at the local precinct. They been razzin’ him all day about his nuttier-than-squirrel-shit father-in-law.”

A woman, her short hair choppy and gray, crossed her American-flag-Croc’d feet at the ankles. “Oh, put a sock in it! How was Earl supposed to know Benson was bloomin’ crazier than a sack full of cats, Jody? None of us knew. We met him on the Internet, dumbbell! I didn’t even know if any of you weirdos were real till I met ya. If I had a gun, I mighta brought one, too!”

Earl, a round, chubby man in overalls that had seen better days and a dusty brown cowboy hat curling around the edges, held up a hand. “I banned him from the group, Jody. He’s in the clink now anyway. How was I supposed to know he’d come with a gun and go off like the Mad Hatter? That’s not why we’re here tonight. We’re here to talk about a coupla leads I got since the news broke about our group.”

Nina wasted no time once she heard those words. “Earl’s the admin from the group.”

She sauntered directly up to Earl and without hesitation, put her hand on his rounded shoulder. Several of the people in the group gasped, and yelped a variation of, “Hey! Who are you?” but when she held up a finger and looked each of them in the eye, they quieted.

Tipping his stubbly chin up with her fingers, she captivated Earl’s gaze. “Earl, I need to ask you some questions and you’re going to answer without giving me any flack. Got it?”

His mouth went slack, his jowls trembling as he drove his hands into his overalls. “Uh-huh.”

“Do you know Neerie Lincoln?”

“Uh… Yeah.”

“How do you know her, Earl?”

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