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.”“Close to a hundred percent?”“There’s a little dab that’s probably true.Once you hear something from five or six different people at different times, you start to wonder.”“And you heard that Frizz and his wife were having troubles? Say, now there’s something new.A married couple having problems.Never heard of that happening before.”Ollie said, “Not just problems.Mrs.Dodson likes the casinos.And on her way to the casino, she buys clothes, jewelry, whatever she can lay her hands on.”Rosswell made a snipping motion with his fingers.“Cut up the credit cards.Problem solved.”“You’ve never been married.You don’t realize how easy it is for a woman to get a credit card if she’s got a spouse who’s working at a steady job.Or vice versa.I could give you a long list of spendthrifts in this county who teeter on the verge of bankruptcy on a daily basis.”“I don’t care about them.I want to know about Frizz.” Ollie pointed skyward.“The worst thing.”Chapter Twenty-nineSaturday afternoon, continuedThe worst thing? That could mean only one thing.Rosswell said, “She’s going to kill him?”“He’s going to lose his house.”There could be worse things than losing your house.Ollie exaggerated on occasion, and this was one of those occasions.People live through foreclosures.Folks don’t live through murder, which is a worse thing than foreclosure.Rosswell said, “What a god-awful mess.How did that happen?”“His wife spent several house payments on the roulette wheel.”Mosquitoes buzzed around Rosswell’s head while he tried reasoning out this mess.Frizz’s wife out of control? This kind of news wouldn’t have been secret for long.One of the bloodsuckers landed on his arm only to suffer the wrath of his hand, smearing its body all over his skin.Where had he been? How had he missed hearing about Frizz’s problem? Wouldn’t Tina have told him something that significant? But that’s why he hired Ollie, to collect info that he’d missed.As best he could, he wiped off the bloody mess.Rosswell said, “And Frizz stole money to cover the mortgage? I don’t believe that.”“The money is still there.He hasn’t spent it.”“Or he hasn’t spent this stash.How long does it take for him to collect that much money? Maybe he’s already used stolen money from an earlier stash to pay the bank.”“I don’t know,” Ollie said.“I also don’t know if he stole the money.All I know is what we saw.And I also know I’m staying out of it.If you want to have a chat with Frizz about his finances, you go right ahead.”A few of the fairgoers walking by inspected Rosswell and Ollie up and down.Rosswell suspected that after noting how dirty they were, maybe the nice folks had mistaken them for gravediggers.At this point, there was absolutely no evidence indicating that Frizz had done anything wrong.Rosswell said, “The money is locked inside headquarters inside the sheriff’s station.Frizz didn’t steal the money.He’s got it in the evidence locker in his office.”“So you say.”They stood there in silence, taking in the Hogfest people enjoying the day.The noise of the fairgoers had lowered to the level of a small riot.“Ollie, you don’t have one single drop of evidence to show that Frizz stole that money.”“If his house doesn’t go on the auction block, then we’ll know the missed payments got made.We’ll also know where he got the money.He sure doesn’t have it anywhere else.”Ollie’s statements rocketed to the stratosphere of fantasy.Rosswell asked himself how Ollie could’ve known the state of Frizz’s finances.Frizz could’ve left his checkbook lying around in headquarters, but even that wouldn’t give a full measure of Frizz’s financial health.Ollie had merely winged a guess.That, Rosswell concluded, was the answer.“You don’t know how much money Frizz has,” Rosswell said.“Your speculation is rampant.”“Yes, it is.It’s also correct.”“And you’re basing it on the gossip you picked up at Merc’s.”“You and I have an agreement.I tell you everything and you don’t ask where I got the info.”“I didn’t ask.”“Yes, you did.”Nadine said, “Y’all don’t know the whole story.”Ollie and Rosswell both whirled around, confronting Nadine.Neither of them uttered a word.She beat them to the punch.Nadine said, “Before you ask, I heard everything.Y’all would make lousy spies.”Rosswell said, “And you know the whole story?”“Whole and entire.”Ollie said, “Spill it.”“I’m not telling you two jokers anything.You’d have it spread all over Bollinger County before sunset.”Rosswell spoke to Nadine without obvious begging or pleading.Or tried to.“The three of us could have a lot to lose if we screw around with Frizz and his personal problems.” Labeling the situation delicate would’ve been a gross understatement.“Stealing,” Ollie said, “is not a personal issue.It’s a crime.” He squeaked.“Judge.”“Yeah,” said Nadine.“What we’ve done or haven’t done won’t give Frizz a free get-out-of-jail card.”Although Rosswell doubted that Ollie or Nadine would bring up Frizz’s possible crimes in public, it was obvious that they were both fishing for something.There were too many people on the square.It wouldn’t do for the trio to be discussing their criminal leanings while standing in the middle of a street fair.Someone might hear them.Rosswell said, “Let’s get inside.” Once back in the sheriff’s station, he faced the two and flat-out asked them, “What do you want?”Ollie said, “I’d prefer never to see the inside of a jail cell the rest of my life.”Nadine said, “I’ve never seen the inside of a cell and I don’t want to.Ever.”“Then what’s the deal?” Rosswell asked.Nadine said, “Ollie, you go first.”Ollie said, “I’ve kept my mouth shut up until now.You go first.” Nadine drew in a deep breath, wiped some of the crud from her face, and said, “Frizz and I are lovers [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]