Chapter Fifteen: Friends' Revelations

Rollins rubbed his head tiredly as he rang the doorbell outside the residence of who he presumed to be of Beverly Ann Stickle.

The door instantly opened and Rollins found himself standing face to face with a young, blonde teenage boy with short, wavy hair.

"Oh, hi. I think my mom was expecting you…you're the cop guy, right?"

"Indeed I am. May I come in?"

The boy nodded. "Oh, absolutely. My mom will be down in a second. She was shocked to hear that you were on your way to see her regarding Jo and Blair. I mean, I've heard of instances where they've been arrested before but I don't think we've ever had an investigator come to see us because they were missing before."

Rollins only nodded again, baffled. "So…you know the two women in question?" He asked.

The boy nodded again. "Yes, sir. They're my friends and former colleagues. I used to work alongside them when my aunt Edna ran two stores here in Peekskill."

At that moment, a thin woman with gray hair came downstairs alongside three younger woman; a slightly plump young woman, a young black woman and a girl with bushy brown hair.

"Oh, you must be Ted Rollins, the investigator from upstate that Mary Ellen told me about. I'm Beverly Ann Stickle," she replied, holding out her hand. "You've already met my son, Andy; these are my friends, Tootie Ramsey and Natalie Green and my ward, Pippa McKenna."

After the pleasantries had been made, Beverly Ann offered Rollins a seat in a chair.

"So, sir, what can we do for you?" Beverly Ann asked.

Rollins cleared his throat. "So, I believe you all know the two women I have in these photographs?" He asked, holding them out.

Everyone's mouths dropped open as they gawped at the pictures. "We do but we're a little confused as why you're looking for them, sir," Natalie replied.

"Well, sometime either real late Friday night or early midnight Saturday, a man by the name of Lee Kincaid was shot and killed outside of the Silver Crown in East Aurora. Witnesses outside the bar saw two women in a red Pontiac GTO convertible leave the scene."

He continued on. "We dusted the car the deceased had been discovered on for prints and through use of an ident-a-kit, witnesses and a computer database of every red Pontiac GTO registered in the state, my department and I were able to track down your friends."

Beverly Ann, Andy, Pippa, Natalie and Tootie stared at each other in alarm and shock.

"So what does that mean exactly? Are you looking for them because you think they killed him?" Tootie asked defensively , narrowing her eyes.

"No, ma'am, no such thing. We just want to question them, that's all," Rollins reassured her.

"Mary Ellen told me she lent Jo her cabin for the weekend and she and Blair never showed…why would that be?" Beverly Ann puzzled.

"Wouldn't have surprised me if they went away to cop a root or something," Pippa muttered. "I haven't known them that long but I could sense the chemistry they had a mile long."

Rollins looked confused. "Pardon?" He asked.

"Oh, Pippa here is originally from Australia. We don't have a clue what that girl says half the time," Natalie informed him, rolling her eyes.

Andy cleared his throat, blushing. "Well… since Pippa and I have started dating, I can tell you that I've picked up on some of her Australian slang."

He then cleared his throat again, looking embarrassed. "Copping a root means sex," he blurted out. "Don't make me repeat it or ask me how or why I know, but that's what it means."

"Huh…and here I thought it meant stealing root vegetables. Boy, was I wrong," Natalie quipped.

Beverly Ann gave her son and Pippa both scathing looks. "We'll discuss, um…'copping roots' later. Right now, however, the more pressing matter are the whereabouts of Blair and Jo."

She tapped her finger on her chin, squinting, deep in thought. "As a matter of fact, Rick called me some time yesterday and told me they were fine," she remembered.

Rollins tilted his head in interest. "This Rick…who would he be?" He asked.

"Um…he's Jo's husband. He's a musician that tours all over the world with his music. He called here looking for her. Saying something about how Jo had called his manager but when he tried to call her back, she never returned his call. I think Rick said his manager had one of those newfangled caller ID devices and that's how he knew Jo had called from home or something…"

Everyone rolled their eyes as Beverly Ann continued to ramble. "But I haven't seen Jo or Blair in days. Then…maybe about an hour so or more, Rick called back, telling me she and Blair were fine and they had only gone fishing and not to worry."

Natalie and Tootie both nodded. "Yeah, Rick called everybody to reassure us Blair and Jo were OK; that he had spoken to Jo," Tootie piped up. "And that was pretty much the last time any of us had spoken to Rick."

She then looked thoughtful. "You know, when those two left and practically ditched us, I'll admit, I was a little pissed off they didn't invite any of us with them. I mean, we've all been friends since practically forever! Then I was glad."

"How so?" Rollins asked curiously.

"Well…if you knew those two, they used to butt heads all the damn time. Almost immediately after they first met, they hated each other. Tootie and I always used to wonder when they would just admit they had feelings for each other and get it over with," Natalie admitted.

Tootie, Pippa, Beverly Ann and Andy all nodded their agreement.

"Yeah. I think even a blind man could see their chemistry," Andy replied. "Their relationship has always been weird to me."

"When Rick told us they left on a fishing trip together, I was actually secretly hoping they'd finally do us all a favor and hook the hell up. What Jo is doing, married to Rick and what Blair is doing, dating that loser Casey, I'll never know. Hopefully they're doing what Pippa said…rooting or whatever, fake heterosexual relationships be damned," Natalie said, chuckling wryly.

"But if Jo and Blair supposedly hooked up, how did this bloke end up getting carked and what do they have to do with it?" Pippa mused. "I obviously haven't known them as long as everyone else, but I can't imagine them trying to physically harm anybody."

Andy sat next to his girlfriend on the couch. "Pippa's right…that doesn't make sense," he said.

"You obviously know what 'cark' means, too, huh, loverboy?" Natalie asked, teasing.

"Yeah…it means 'die'," he said, giving Natalie an annoyed look but he started blushing again.

Rollins rose from the chair he was seated in. He had all the information he needed. Except for a few small things.

"I'd like to know about the boyfriend of your friend, Blair. Casey, is it? Who is he?"

"Casey Clark, Blair's pathetic excuse for a man. He's also the director of the Center where Jo works," Tootie informed him. "Blair owns that place but from how he treats Blair, you'd think he calls the shots. He treats Blair like shit and he's a horrible person!"

"Is there a way I can find him?" Rollins questioned.

"The scumbag lives in Blair's mansion on the other side of town," Natalie disclosed. "The more upscale side of Peekskill."

"I'll need his address. I'd like to ask him a few questions…since it's obvious we can't find Mrs. Bonner's husband at the moment. I just need to ask Mr. Clark a few questions."

Beverly Ann handed him a slip of paper with Blair's address and home number on it.

He then rose from his seat and nodded at everyone. "Ladies and…gentleman, it was nice to meet you all. Thank you for your time." He then left the house.

"Do you think we need to call Blair and Jo's parents and let them know what just transpired?" Tootie asked after Rollins had left.

Natalie gave her a look. "Uh…hello! A state investigator wants to question Blair and Jo about a guy they may have seen get killed in the parking lot of a bar in upstate New York…what do you think?"

"Something's not adding up, though," Andy replied. "If Jo and Blair just went on a fishing trip, why was that man here, questioning us about them regarding some guy's death if other witnesses said they saw their car leave? Rick never mentioned anything to us about a man getting killed when he called."

Everyone sat in silence.

"It's quite possible he doesn't even know," Pippa hypothesized. "What if they never told him?" She then asked.

Tootie rose up from her seat. "There's no way in hell Jo or Blair have anything to do with this! I don't wanna hear it! There's no fucking way! They're our best friends!"

"No one's saying they did," Andy said.

"Well, hopefully they didn't. I can't see either of them doing harm to anybody," Beverly Ann replied.

"I wish one or both of them would pick up the phone at least! Doesn't it seem strange Jo would have Rick tell us she and Blair are OK?" Tootie questioned.

"I think we can all concur that something weird is going on. In the meantime, none of us have any definite, concrete proof that Jo or Blair are guilty of anything other than just going on a vacation. Let's just wait and see what happens first," Natalie pointed out.

Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Now…there's one thing I'd like to discuss after we call the Warners and the Polniaczeks," Beverly Ann requested, turning to Andy and Pippa. "Has there been any copping of roots in my house?!"