It was the next day that Hardy made the announcement to the entire Valley. The last thing Pete was expecting when he woke up that morning was to be called to the Valley center place- the inn. Hardy stood on the counter with Mayor Thomas and Dr. Trent.
"You may be wondering why you've been called here today" he started. Pete glanced around, his stomach sinking as he knew what was coming. Hardy was careful about what he said. Pete kept himself still, Hardy never once mentioned his name, but Pete was so afraid that he would be implicated in it.
We believe Hugh's death was not an accident. Pete tried to keep his eyes low but he couldn't, he had to see the villager's expressions as the words came out. What… what are you talking about Hardy? What are you saying? That…. That he was murdered! Wally's voice shouted out. Hardy what are you saying? the other joined in. The room seemed to become full as everyone began shifting and shouting. As he explained the room was hushed into whispering. So there is a murderer around the valley and you didn't tell us! A man's voice shouted from the back. Kassey?
Hardy is this true?
Hardy tried to answer all their questions.
Galen too?
I thought Galen fell in the river?
How long have you known?
Are we in danger?
Pete glanced around, Takakura was beside him. He stood stoic and silent. Vesta and the like were the same. Pete held still. One question kept coming up among the villagers. Who?
Who would do this?
Is it from someone in town?
No, it couldn't be- they argued among themselves. Slowly, Pete noticed the people seemed further away from each other into their own groups. The mansion folks around the mansion folks, the artist with the artist. Even in their groups, he saw a subtle glance between the look-outs.
We have a suspect. Dr. Trent said, which elicited cries from the crowd. Damn it! Just tell us! Wally's voice emerged from the crowd. But is it someone from town? A voice asked, Ruby possibly.
The suspect is from this town.
A round of gasped echoed. The gasp soon turned to angry shouts. Who is it?
It has to be a man!
Why a man?
Because a woman couldn't possibly kill a child. Its against womanly nature!
It wasn't long before the villagers started pointing the finger. Who the hell are you accusing? Kassey shouted. I saw you wandering around the night Hugh drowned!
How dare you!
"Hey! Silence" Hardy snapped. Pete shuddered at his raspy voice cutting in above the crowd. He nearly jumped when he felt Takakura drop his hand on his shoulder. Takakura was still looking forward when Pete turned his face to him.
As he viewed Takakura's statue-still expression, he saw Rock leaning over the upper railing leading to the second level. Something about just seeing him filled him with rage. Everyone here is scared, wondering who it could be that would kill a child and there he was…just leaning over the railing. Confess already! Just do it! Rock seemed to have noticed him, their eyes met only briefly before he turned away and ascended the stairs. Hardy seemed to have noticed too as his eye watched him.
Hardy explained the rest, in technical terms. Hugh, the gashes in his skull. Galen, the heel marks. The circumstances. When the meeting ended, Pete remained. He had to collect the money from Ruby. She wasn't in the best state, shaky and concerned. Van was in town today and remained by her side. "I can't believe it- Hardy must be mistaken. That sort of thing doesn't happen here"
"But you heard what he said. He explained it in detail" Van made gestures around his head as he whispered. Hugh. "But what are we to do with a killer on the loose? What if he goes after my Rock?" The irony.
"I'm just so scared. I thought something didn't feel right" She fidgeted with her hands. "Oh Pete!" it was clear from the sudden jump in her voice that she hadn't seen him until just then. "I didn't see you there" She muttered. Pete approached her.
"Yeah, I thought I would stay to collect my money" She immediately slapped her forehead, "Oh, I'm so sorry I forgot to collect it this morning with Hardy and the meeting and all"
"No, it's okay. I understand. It's okay, I don't need the money now" he smiled, or he tried to. All this just seemed too sudden. He really didn't expect Hardy to make an announcement. Why now? Well, it's better late than never.
"Who would do such a thing?" Ruby asked again. Van just shook his head and padded his sweaty forehead. "Who knows, just make sure you're safe. Lock your doors"
Ruby was quick to rebut, "But I can't lock everyone in at night"
"Maybe, you can give the residents a curfew"
"You know I can't do that"
"Hmm. Well I hope you won't mind but I don't think I will be setting up shop today" Van apologized, he couldn't pad his forehead enough. It was just then that they all were startled by the sound of something heavy hitting the floorboards. "That sounds like that came from Rock's room" Ruby jumped.
"Rock!" Ruby called up, before she could tell him to keep it down he came flying halfway down the stairs. "What?" He was out of breath. "What are you doing up there?-"
"Nothing" he cut her off last syllable, he ran a quick hand through his disheveled hair. "Well can you be careful up there"
"Yeah, whatever" he quickly ascended the stairs.
"Hey- Rock" she sighed. "He just doesn't listen to me anymore" Van put a heavy hand on her shoulder, "Don't worry, I'm sure when Tim gets back things will go back to normal" She lifted her head, "I hope so"
Tim, her husband, has been out of town for a year or two, exploring for exotic dishes or something like that. Despite, Rock's attitude, he doesn't fight too hard against him. Probably because he got sent to the floor when he talked back once, and the stars just aligned perfectly because Pete happened to be there to see it.
Pete didn't take too much time after that talking with them. The noise persisted upstairs… something dropping? Dragging? It was shortly into some counter-factual thinking on Ruby's part that they thought they heard a shout. They stopped to listen with their ears perked. Another shout then a door slammed.
They jumped high. "Pete, could you go check on him?" She asked looking concerned. Pete didn't argue and went for the wooden stairs. The noise increased as he ascended higher. It sounded like persistent shuffling behind his door. Nami was standing in the hall, perplexation in her stance.
"Hey Nami, what was that noise?"
She turned to him and scratched the back of her red hair. "Rock's acting like a lunatic" She sighed, a little tremor in her voice. Pete's brow rose. "What do you me-" She cut him off with a quick finger to his lips. The shuffling ceased quickly. "I need to talk to you first" She said. Her finger to his lips wasn't the suggestive position like in the DVDs he's bought from Van. She was really just making him be quiet. She gestured with a nod of her head to the bottom of Rock's door.
His eyes expanded as he could plainly see two shadows blocking the light from under the doorway. He could imagine Rock on his knees with his ear to the door listening. Nami rolled her gusty blue eyes to his brown and nodded to the space behind him. The stairs? He nodded.
[p[She withdrew her finger and brought it to her own lips in signal of silence.
He obeyed and they drifted down the stairs. Ruby stirred their silence. "Hey, thanks Pete for getting him to quiet down" she bowed slightly. He waved to her as they stepped out the door. Before he could ask more of Nami, he was blindsided by the crowd lingering outside Hardy's house.
"Hardy, come on, open up and answer our questions!"
"Stop hiding!"
"We have a right to know who the bastard is!"
He and Nami watched as the villagers banged on his door. "Let's go" She said and took the first steps. He followed her wherever she wanted to go. When she stopped, it was down by turtle pond. The small body of water reflected her form in in ripples as the hot wind brushed through their flapping clothes. "Pete, I want you to give me the full story of what's going on" She said, turning to him fully.
"What do you mean? Dr. Hardy told us everything" Not this again. Finally, when he can safely fade away from the case, she still wants information from him. "You're lying. I knew you were lying back then about something greater in the valley going on. Who else knows?"
"What do you mean? Everyone knows now?"
"'Now' I want to know who knew before this morning. You knew something. Who else knew?" Nami's eyes were stern and direct. "Tell me what happened with Rock" Her expression remained unchanged as her stare made him shrink. "After you tell me what I want to know" her figure was cut in stone and so was her stare. Pete felt unnerved under it. He sighed. What harm would it do at this point anyways?
"Me, Vesta, Takakura, Gustafa, Cody, and Carter"
"Gustafa?" She was taken aback. "How long?"
"'How long' what? That they've known? Since a few days ago I think" Her expression altered with a quick tug of the edge of her mouth. "A few days ago? When did you find out?" Things weren't adding up and he could see in on her face. He exhaled though his nose. "I've known since the beginning. But it doesn't really matter tell me about Rock. What happened upstairs?"
She looked him over a bit and turned back to the water. "Hmm. I remember last time you were asking about Rock too" She left that alone and let it dip in water a bit. He stepped in closer, wanting to hurry this up, and grabbed her by the shoulders. It wasn't too hard. "Nami, this is really important. Was Rock up to something?"
She rolled her head over her shoulders and eyed him. "It's Rock isn't it? He's the killer" The coldness in her statement chilled him enough to release her from his soft grip. "What did he do?" He didn't answer her. She gave an internal sigh. "You never tell me anything. Why do I expect you to? Fine. I'll tell you"
She went on to set up the scene. She was leaving to head down stairs to get some fresh air after the announcement left her mind foggy. She was walking down the hall when she was distracted by the noise coming from Rock's room. The door was cracked wide enough for her to see inside from where she stood. The room was shattered into pieces. There wasn't a free space in the room. Rock was tossing items on his bed around the room, his back was turned to her. She couldn't tell what he was doing as she moved in closer. Somehow, he discovered her.
He spun around so fast, she could barely back away before he was in her face. "What are you doing?" He shouted. "Who are you yelling at?" She responded quickly. "Who sent you to watch me? Was it Hardy?"
This caught her by surprise. "What are you even talking about? No one sent me. I was just walking by and-"
"Stop lying!" He cut her off, "I know why you're here- you want me to confess to bashing his head in!" Nami almost choked in response. Pete was left dumbfounded, almost shaking. "I thought he was drunk or something from last night and with the announcement this morning…I don't know. But I needed to tell someone. You will pass this on to Hardy won't you?"
All he could do was nod as his mouth went dry.
The walk back from Turtle Pond left him in a strange state. He was aware of every shift in his movement. He tried to control himself, to stop trembling. As he forced himself to be still, his shaking became even more unstable. He had to go somewhere. Somewhere safe. The crowd outside Hardy's home dissipated with only two people lingering, Kassey and Patrick.
He knew he had to tell Hardy.
But he couldn't. The night of the investigation came back. Hardy's angry shouts and the way he threw his arms frightened him. He never felt like such a child. He couldn't talk to him now. He knew it was a petty reason when what he had learned was so crucial but he just couldn't. He was too weak. He needed comfort that moment, that instant. Some source of solace.
Before he knew it, he was in Muffy's room. He got passed the No boy's allowed! Sign and was bound in her bed. It was terrible so terrible the way he clung to her frame. She needed the comfort too. The information from this morning was just too much. He suspected that she wasn't in the mood either but they both yearned for the other's safety. They stayed in bed together for a long time, even after they had finished. Soon enough they had fallen asleep. The bar was closed that day so Muffy could afford to stay in. The hours had passed and when Pete awoke, it the room was already bathed in an ocean's moonlight, deep blue yet light. He could only assume it was early in the AMs.
