Sheena discovered there was a killer in town, over the lunch table. Her mother, Shirley Anne Miller, was the police dispatcher and had taken the call herself. Her mom had all of the gory details, which were not published in the papers. The whole thing made Sheena shudder.
Mother was eating her second peanut butter and banana sandwich, as she told the story, lingering over the more lurid details. Sheena did not feel hungry, as a result. Mother was a bigger woman, with fake blonde hair. She was wearing a pink track suit and getting ready to go to bed. She worked the night shift.
"And then they brought in that gypsy boy and his mother! Well the sheriff was in talking to them for the longest time. I can't imagine what they were talking about!"
Shadrack? Sheena suddenly felt sick. Did the police suspect Shadrack? If they did, it was because they did not know him the way she did. They did not have a connection, like she and Shadrack shared.
"I got to go Mom." Sheena dropped her uneaten sandwich onto her plate and bolted out the door, pausing only long enough to grab an umbrella. The forecast was calling for scattered thundershowers.
"Just watch yourself out there? They let that boy go you know!" Her mother shouted after her.
Sheena jumped on her moped and speed off toward town. She would try the library first, to see it he was there. If he wasn't there, she would try the dinner. Her cousin had told her that his mother worked there now, as a waitress. He would need her support!
Shadrack sat in the dinner, scarfing an order of curly fries, when Sheena walked in. She was wearing the same pair of spectacles, a short checkered skirt and a red blouse. Under her arm was tucked an umbrella. She rushed over to him and laid a hand on his arm.
"Oh Shadrack, I heard that they hauled you into the police station. How unjust!" The entire dinner heard her words, and paused it's activities. She slid in next to him and laid her head on his shoulder.
Shadrack had survived the police questioning without to much of a problem. He was used to the routine. When something was stolen, or missing, or destroyed, you called in the usual suspects, which always seemed to include him. It had shaken him when they showed him the pictures of the victim. His mother had actually throw up on the investigator's desk, which effectively ended the interview.
He pulled over a little in the booth, to get some space from Sheena. "No worries. They were just talking to us about it because it happened out near our place." He patted Sheena's arm awkwardly. "Thanks for the concern though Sheena."
"So," she started, stealing one of his fries. "I'm free and your free. How about that tour of the town I promised you?" She was looking at him with a hopeful expression. From the corner of his eye, he spotted his mother at the bar, cleaning it with a rag and spying on him. She shook her head yes. Thanks ma, he thought.
"O.K., where do you want to start?"
She did not hesitate. "The Historical Society Museum! Your gonna love it." She seemed pleased and excited. Shadrack did not have the heart to back out of it now.
"Sure Sheena. Just let me finish my fries."
Twenty minutes later they approached an old Victorian house, on the corner of Main and Walnut. It had two gables, a wide wrap around front porch and a neatly cut hedge around its entire lot. The siding was painted a creamy white and the architectural details were painted robin's egg blue. Sheena all but dragged him up the stairs, chattering the whole way.
"My great, great, great grandfather build this house with his own hands. It was in my family for nearly one hundred years, before we sold it to the city to make into a museum."