A Crying Shame: A Jesse Watson Mystery by Ann Mullen Page B

determined to ruin my
life with Billy. Poor Claire had no idea of what she was getting herself into
by seeing him.
    “Nothing, Mom,” I replied. “Let’s have some of that hot
chocolate.”

Chapter 7
    The day grew late and it was getting close to dinnertime
as the four of us sat and chatted. The kids spent their time rolling around on
the floor with the dogs and not once did they stop to take a break. Billy still
hadn’t returned home.
    “Jesse, Sheriff Hudson’s a good man,” Cole said. “If you’d
give him half a chance, you’d realize that.”
    “I never said he wasn’t. The problem I have with him is that
he’s a man of power and a lot of times they forget their humble beginnings.
Once they get into that position, they use it to push people around.”
    “Wake Hudson isn’t like that,” Claire joined in.
“As a matter-of-fact, I’ve had a few conversations with him since your accident
and I firmly believe he could have handled the situation with Carl, if we’d
given him the opportunity. We never should’ve gone off half-cocked like we
did.”
    “Is that what he told you?” I asked.
    “Yes, it is,” Claire replied. “He also said that the D.C.
Police aren’t too happy with Billy. They believed Carl when he told them it was
okay for the kids to be with him. Now the kids are back home and nobody knows
where Carl is. I guess his friends miss him.”
    “The problem now,” Cole added, “is that Carl hasn’t
resurfaced. It’s been almost a week and nobody’s seen him. He’s nowhere to be
found.”
    “Who cares?”
    “You should care,” Cole said as he stood. He walked over to
the fire and picked up a poker. He stirred the embers in the fireplace and then
threw on another log. He sat down on the hearth. “After Sheriff Hudson called
the D.C. Police to tell them about the return of the kids, they went back to
Carl’s house, but he didn’t answer the door. At the time they didn’t see anything
that was suspicious. A couple of days later, Carl’s boss reported him missing.
He told the police that Carl always checked in regardless of where he was—even
if he was on vacation. The cops were sent back to Carl’s house armed with a
search warrant. When Carl didn’t answer the door, they went in through an
unlocked window. They said there were signs of a struggle.”
    “What kind of signs?” I asked. My stomach churned at the
thought of Billy’s account of the events of that night. He said he had hit Carl
once, and Carl had hit him, but it was nothing.
    “They said a lamp had been knocked over and they found blood
on the floor.”
    “How much blood did they find?” I asked. I was shaking inside
and was afraid of his answer.
    “It was just a few drops, but it was enough for the police to
suspect something. While the blood is being analyzed, they plan to check out
the property he owns. Sheriff Hudson said that he could be hiding out just to
throw off the police and to get back at Claire.”
    “Is Billy a suspect?”
    “I’m sure he will be if the police conclude that Carl has
been, well, you know.” Cole looked over in the direction of the kids and then
back. “He can be placed at the scene.”
    I rose from the sofa and walked over to Cole. I looked around
the room from Mom to Claire, and then back to Cole. “Why didn’t someone tell me
about this earlier?”
    “This is a first for me,” Mom said, looking my way. “I
never…”
    Cole held up his hand. “The police aren’t releasing any
details until they have more evidence. They’re still not sure a crime has been
committed. They did a search of the rest of the house and everything seemed
intact.”
    I was shocked at Cole’s statement. Did Billy know any of
this, and why was Cole telling us about it if none of the information had been
released? He never used to give out details of a case.
    “I don’t believe a word of it. You’re making this up to scare
me.”
    “Why would I do that?”
    I gave him an evil look and then