Distaste washed over the three women’s faces. Urleen spoke. “Why would you want to track him down?”
“Yes,” Norma Ray agreed. “He’s a piece of work.”
“Last time I heard anything about him, he was stealing four-wheelers out of people’s backyards,” Malene added.
So he wasn’t a good guy. Perhaps he was the killer. “Bailey Darsey told me that he might know about what happened to Crystal. She suggested I speak to him.”
“Make sure you’ve had your tetanus shot before you go,” Urleen said. “Else you might catch it from him.”
“You can’t catch tetanus,” I attempted to explain.
“Course you can.” Norma Ray was trying to poke thread through a needle. “Everyone knows that. Tetanus is like cooties.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Norma Ray stuck her tongue out in concentration. “Get in there.”
“If you’d get yourself glasses, you wouldn’t have so much trouble,” Urleen snapped.
“Get off my back.”
“But last I heard about Pete,” Malene said, “he was staying down by the river, next to Leola Vass. There’s a whole bunch of campers down there. It’s like a community—a rough one at that. You’ll want to take someone with you when you go—someone like John, maybe.”
“Thanks for the tip.” I had risen to leave when Malene’s voice stopped me.
“Now, what’s going on about John? You know something about him, Clem.”
I grabbed my purse. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You called him another name the other day.”
“He reminds me of someone.”
Malene glanced at me skeptically. “I think you know more than what you’re saying.”
I shrugged. “Definitely not. Anyway, I need to head out. Thanks for the tip.”
Before one of them could interrupt me, I left the library. The first thing I did when I reached my truck was to dial Rufus’s number.
“Hey,” he said. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” The sincerity in his voice made my heart squeeze. “That was quite a shock last night, what we saw.”
“I know, and I’ve already had to convince Sykes Laffoon that I had nothing to do with it.”
“He stopped by my place already, too.” He sounded angry. “I don’t like to wake up to the wizard mafia standing in my bedroom when I’m in my underwear.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That must’ve been a sight.”
“It most certainly wasn’t,” he said darkly. “Sykes won’t ever do it again, especially once he discovered that I sleep with a jar of magic beside me. I don’t think he wants to risk being hit in the face with a stink spell.”
I laughed even harder. “What? Georgie Boy and Sykes don’t want to be hit by stink? You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Surprisingly, I’m not.” He exhaled quietly. “But you called. Is everything okay?”
“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to come down to the river with me.”
