Page 42 of Deathmarch
“Died in prison, as it turns out.” Harper had finally checked, not that he thought Allie had lied about it, but so he could officially cross the item off his to-do list.
“The life caught up with him, I suppose.” Frank didn’t look upset. “Never was up to no good. Wouldn’t have thought the daughter would follow in his footsteps. She was a nice kid. I remember her. Used to have a paper route. She’d bring the paper up onto the porch every time it rained. Haven’t had that good a service since she left.”
The paper route.Harper stifled a smile. He’d forgotten that. She used to be out there at the crack of dawn, pedaling her scruffy bicycle and tossing folded papers from her basket. He’d gone with her maybe twice. Back in those days, he was usually up late—usually up to no good. He hadn’t been an early riser.
“Can’t discuss any suspects. Sorry,” he told Frank. “I’m here to ask what you can tell me about the victim.”
Frank huffed. “Chuck was a decent man, I tell you that.”
Harper waited for more.
Frank rubbed his right knee. “We shipped over to Vietnam together. Came home together too. I got married, had three daughters.”
“Heard you might have been in love with the same girl. Any hard feelings lingering over that?”
“For a while, I guess, at the beginning. Then Chuck came around. Anyway, Verna died fifteen years ago. Hardly something we’d fight over at this stage. And Chuck wouldn’t have been happy, married with kids. He knew that. Told me that. Different personality. He was a loner. He liked sitting alone and thinking about stuff. Chuck, he…” Frank shook his head. “Didn’t like to leave the house much. Especially after he retired. He’d go for groceries once a month, maybe out to Eileen’s diner or your father’s pub for dinner once or twice, if he didn’t feel like cooking, and that was that. Just got more and more worried about the world.”
“He became a prepper,” Harper said to signal that he knew already, and Frank wouldn’t be betraying any confidence if he talked about it. “There’s a show about them my mother likes to watch. I caught it with her a few times. Looks like a lot of work.”
Frank nodded.
“Anyone get into that with him? You? Any of his buddies from the old days?” Harper asked. “Seems like something a man wouldn’t want to do alone. Anything bad happens, you want to have someone to watch your back.”
Frank looked toward the window, as if something fascinating was happening suddenly outside on the street. His expression was closed, his body language uncomfortable.
Force and badgering wouldn’t work, not on a man who’d survived POW camp, so Harper decided to wait the guy out. He sipped his soda, set his can on the coaster on the coffee table between them, picked it up again. He used silence as a weapon. Except Frank didn’t crack.
Finally, Harper leaned forward. “Just between the two of us, I think one of his prepper friends might have been involved in the murder.”
Or more than one, the possibility occurred to him as a soft noise behind Frank drew his attention. There was somebody in the kitchen.
“You got anyone back there?” He asked in a casual tone. “Another visitor?” He kept his eyes on the doorway as he shifted so he’d have easy access to his weapon.
Chapter Twelve
“I’ll be in touch with my new schedule as soon as possible. Thank you for being so understanding,” Allie said before ending the call, sounding polite, but angry enough to bite a rattlesnake. Having to cancel her shows for the rest of the weekkilledher. She couldn’t afford to lose the money.
She silently cursed Harper. Then, since she was thinking about the Finnegans, she dialed the pub. She wanted to thank Kennan again for the bail.
“My brother’s doing,” Kennan told her. “He would have done it himself, but it would have looked bad.”
Because he is investigating the case.
“I’m sorry he made you do it.”
Kennan laughed. “That’ll be the day, when my little brother will make me do anything.” He went quiet for a second. “Listen, I had a good talk with him the other day…” He cleared his throat. “I want to apologize. I think my family might have unfairly judged your family, back in the day.”
Oh. Well. That was unexpected.“You were protecting your brother,” Allie said after a moment of startled silence. “You were right to protect him. My father wasn’t a good influence. I’m the one who should apologize. And I do.”
“Harper says you’re not like your father. I believe him.”
“Thanks.”
“It looked bad, you know, back then. Tony had him steal that pickup, then the two of you lit out, leaving him holding the bag. If Captain Bing wasn’t the man he is, Harper would have gone to jail. He’d have a record now. For damn sure he wouldn’t be a detective.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know now that wasn’t how it went down. You had nothing to do with it. Harper told me.”
