Not that I would have taken one.
“What can I do for y’all?” he asked.
“I knew Crystal,” I answered. “I’m sorry about what happened to her, and I wanted to ask you a few questions.”
“Why?” Wylie said in his bullying tone.
“Because someone stuck a knife in her,” I snapped, “and if it’s up to Tuney Sluggs, it’ll be declared an accident.”
“Well, I’ll tell you right now that I was here,” Pete said.
“We understand that you used to date her,” Rufus said.
Pete paused and wiped his eyes. Wylie went over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
“This has all been real hard for my cousin,” Wylie said.
“I’m sorry,” I explained. “We only want to help.”
“They’re magicks,” Wylie said to Pete as if that said everything.
“Hasn’t been magicks in this town in years,” Pete said, eyeing us with awe. “That’s pretty darn cool. Can you show us some magic?”
Why was it that when Pete said the wordmagic, it made us sound like magicians at a show?
“No,” Rufus said. “Tell us about Crystal.”
“For a long time I thought she was the love of my life,” Pete said, his voice filled with remorse. “Yeah, I knew she had a reputation, but I didn’t care. She was starting up her own house renovation business. Did y’all know that?”
“We did,” I mumbled.
“I bet she would have been great at it.” He wiped his beer can over his eyes to get rid of the tears. “If she’d been given the chance, you know.”
“She was always real talented,” Wylie added.
“She was.” Pete drained his beer and tossed the empty can on the floor. Then he grabbed another one and popped the top. “Where are my manners? Would y’all like one?”
I waved his offer away. “No, thanks.”
“I tried talking to her when she came back into town,” Pete said.
“He did,” Wylie said.
“But she didn’t want to have anything to do with me.” Pete hung his head. “All I wanted was for us to talk. But Crystal wouldn’t give me the time of day. I even went to her house to try to get back together. We got into an argument.”
“Those two were meant to be joined,” Wylie told us. “They were like Romeo and Juliet.”
Star-crossed lovers? “You know they both die in the play,” I said.
“I don’t know nothing about no play. I just seen the movie,” Wylie said.
“Okay.”
“So that was the end of it,” Pete said. “I haven’t seen her since that night. When I found out that someone killed her, I was so upset that I started drinking beer. It just ain’t right. But I tell you what, whoever did it took a light from this world, and I’ll never forgive them for that.”
I didn’t know about anyone really taking a light from the world, but obviously he had cared for Crystal very much. My heart ached for Pete. From the fatigue on his face and the sorrow in his eyes, I didn’t think he’d had anything to do with her murder. I was just sure of it.
Wylie clapped Pete’s shoulder. “He’s been sick to death ever since all of this started. He just has been. It’s been something awful for him. I never seen my cousin so bad off.”
