Chapter 6

Jodie was helping the girls clean tables after the last lunch rush when she saw Constable McGuyver walk through the front door. Jodie casually wiped her hands on the towel she’d been using to dry cutlery and tried not to look like she was rushing towards the front.

“Constable McGuyver – you’re a little later than usual for lunch. I can still have your favorite made up though. Are you in a rush? Do you want to sit down?”

“I’m actually not here to eat Jodie. And please, call me Chet.”

His soft voice made her feel a little weak in the knees. “What can I do for you then…Chet?”

“I was hoping I could ask you a few questions. Is there somewhere we could talk privately?”

“Sure. Let’s go to my office.”

The “office” was really only a storage room with a desk in it. There was a door that led to her living suite, and a door that led outside, and a whole pile of stuff that didn’t really have a home. Jodie had been trying to get it cleared out so it could be used for a proper office, but had made little progress so far because she couldn’t figure out where to put all the restaurant stuff that didn’t have a home.

“Sorry about the mess,” Jodie said as she reached for a chair for Chet to sit in.

“It’s ok. I need to ask you some questions because I hoped that you might have seen or heard something that hadn’t come out in our investigations.”

“Sure. If there’s anything I can tell you, I will.”

“Ok, first, did you see Cal-Lee Summers at the races?”

“I did.”

“Oh…what time was that?” he asked

“I’m not sure of the exact time, but it was before the races began. He was talking on the phone and he looked happy. He was heading towards the exit I think.”

“Ok…” Chet started writing in his notepad.

“And what about Hank Koostra? The owner of the bar?”

“I didn’t see him. Fawn said she saw him going in the back doors of the office. But I didn’t.”

Chet jotted down some more notes.

“What about Branson Styles?”

“Yes, we saw him before the races started.”

“What about after the races?”

“I didn’t talk to him, but I saw him beside the office, just before we went upstairs to the car. He was talking to Faron, and they were talking in low tones so I couldn’t hear anything, but both of them looked mad. Branson seemed to disagree with Faron because he was shaking his head. Later on, we saw him leaving right before we left.”

“Interesting…” Chet was writing furiously.

When he finished writing, Chet stood. Jodie stood beside him and Chet said, “Thanks so much for your help, Jodie. Can I come ask you a few more questions if I need to?”

“Of course.”

“Well, I need to get these notes on file and I have a few more people to talk to, as well.”

“Ok. Let me walk you to your car.”

As they were walking through the parking lot, Chet said, “Have you seen Branson since the night of the drag races?”

Jodie thought for a moment. She’d only seen him that one time. She was a little worried about telling Chet what she’d seen, but she knew that it might be important. So, she quickly told him about Branson pulling into the parking lot next door last night.

“Can you show me where he pulled in and parked?”

Jodie nodded and guided him toward the spot in the lumber yard’s lot.

Chet looked at the ground and pulled out his phone. He snapped a few pictures of the ground where they could see the tracks.

“And where did he go in the ditch?”

Jodie pointed, “Right around there.”

When she looked, she could see that the long grass was still trampled. Chet followed the faint path into the shallow ditch. He stopped and bent over, looking in the culvert. He reached inside and came out with a cloth. Then he pulled a glove out of his pocket and put it on and reached in again. This time he pulled out a tire iron.

“Is this what he put in there?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Jodie said. “It was really dark.”

“Well, I hope this isn’t it because there’s blood on this tire iron and if it matches up with Justus Callahan’s blood…I can’t say anymore though.”

They walked back to his police vehicle and Chet opened the trunk and pulled out a large plastic evidence bag. He slipped the tire iron inside, zipped it closed, and put it in the trunk.

“Thank you so much for your help, Jodie. Can I assume you’ll keep this confidential while I look into this further?”

“Of course.”

“I really enjoy talking to you. Maybe sometime we could have a cup of coffee?”

“That would be nice, Chet. Stop by the diner any time.”

“Well, maybe somewhere that you don’t have to serve the coffee.”

Jodie realized he was kind of asking her on a casual date. Or was he? 

“Sure.”

“I’d better be off. I’ll talk to you soon.”

Jodie walked back to the restaurant, smiling. Then she stopped smiling because she realized that she might have gotten Branson in trouble. But she saw him put something in that culvert last night. Was it possible it was something else? Or did he put that tire iron there?

She was almost positive that Branson could not have killed Justus. She’d known him since he was a little girl. And her mom – she’d be heartbroken if Branson went to jail. Maybe if she asked him a few questions, she could figure out what was really happening. She couldn’t let Branson go to jail because of what she’d just told Chet.