Chapter Six
Hours passed, and in the light of the sunrise, as the first rays of sun cast the desert sands in a scarlet light, Red, the Sheriff, Alex Pacer, and Mater took George's body down from the stoplight cable and took it into Ramone's shop for an autopsy. The Sheriff returned to the puddle and enlisted Lexie's help in collecting samples of the liquids for the evidence drawer in the Sheriff's office.
The samples had been collected within thirty minutes, and while the Sheriff began placing phone calls to crime labs, Lexie settled into the V8 Cafe and watched as Red hosed away the rest of the gas and oil. She felt as if something inside her was being washed away with it, and it left her numb inside.
Word had already gotten around town by then, of this Lexie was certain. This was the first murder in any resident's living memory, even senile old Lizzie's, who probably didn't remember very much anyway. And it wasn't just a murder. The body had been almost completely mutilated, and she wondered how no one could've woken up while the crime was taking place. Then again, she lived in the middle of a desert in a town accessible only by one road and the very few willing to drive through the desert. Ten miles from Radiator Springs, anything could've happened and no one would know.
"I'm gonna need your help again," the Sheriff said, as if he had read her mind.
"Let me guess," Lexie replied. "We're combing the desert in a ten mile radius from town for clues."
"Exactly. I know you do a lot of driving out there, so I have a feeling you'll have an idea of what's off and what's not." Lexie nodded slowly. "I'll take the left half, you take the right half. See what you can do about marking what you find out there, okay?" She nodded again. "You doin' alright, kid?"
"I guess so. This is just so weird. I mean, murders just don't happen in places like this. That's the stuff of television shows and movies, not small towns with stable families, where we all know each other and help each other out. And it's Montgomery, the bastard that's been hunting me down for my whole life, who's behind all this. That car's a monster."
"Maybe driving around looking for clues will help you process all this."
Lexie nodded. "Let's go." She drove out into the desert slowly, her eyes scanning the desert. She spotted two sets of tire tracks leading from Radiator Springs to some distant point in the desert, and she followed at some distance, unwilling to destroy the evidence. After going a few miles, she noticed the first traces of a fluid she couldn't readily identify. She scanned the desert for the nearest bush and left twigs next to the tracks and drops of fluid. As she followed the trail, she left twigs next to the fluid until it just seemed pointless to do so.
After some time spent following the tire tracks and trail of strange fluid, she turned and drove back to Radiator Springs. The Sheriff was at the cafe with some oil, and she said, "Boy have I found something. You've gotta see this."
"We were wondering when you'd get back," Sarge said.
"What've you got?" the Sheriff asked. A moment later, he followed Lexie out into the desert. She led him to the trail of fluid, and they both followed it farther than Lexie had originally. Deeper into the desert, the fluid got thicker, until the two cars stopped suddenly.
Scattered across the desert before them were fluids in puddles of varying sizes and roughly one and a half dozen different pieces of a car. "Oh, shit," she whispered.
"That's evidence if I've ever seen it."
"I think Finn has a camera somewhere on him."
"I'm pretty sure. We're gonna need pictures of this."
"Did we get pictures of where we found the body?"
"I'll have to talk to Finn, but I think that was what he was doing with his one headlight this morning." Lexie nodded. The Sheriff turned and headed back into town, and Lexie stared into the field of carnage. The slashes all over George's body made sense then, and this could've been his cause of death. The numbness Lexie felt earlier paled into comparison to what she felt at that moment: like a frame on wheels, without so much as an engine, just being towed through life by an invisible cable attatched to an unseen truck and lacking control over her life.
Some time later, Finn drove up to the field of debris and fluids and started to take pictures. Lexie only blinked in response. Finn drove to a higher point and took some pictures there. Then he returned to the debris field and pulled up next to her. "I understand that this is something of a foreign concept for you," he said. She blinked. "If you want to talk about it, I hope you know there are cars on your side." She blinked again, and Finn lapsed into a respectful silence.
After a very long moment, Lexie looked over at Finn and whispered, "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
CARS
The sun was half-way to the western horizon when Finn and Lexie drove back into Radiator Springs. Alex drove up to them before anyone could ask any questions, and he gave Lexie a once-over. "You don't look so hot," he said.
"I just figured out how a car died," she replied, more flatly than she intended. "What do you expect?"
"Actually, something like this. Maybe a faint, or some barf. Compared to some other guys I've seen, you're taking this whole murder thing very well."
"Uh, thanks, I think."
"So, do you feel better?"
"I can carry on conversations, so I think so."
"Okay, good. Wanna go for another drive, clear your mind?"
Lexie nodded, and Alex smiled and settled in next to her. They drove through town and down the winding road, slower than they had the previous night.
CARS
Holley settled in next to Mater, and Finn and Lightning exchanged pleasantries over some oil. "Find anythin' about the murder?" Mater asked after a moment.
Finn looked at Mater and Holley. "Have we found anything?" he asked, starting to chuckle. "Sorry, I really shouldn't laugh, but yes, we did find something. Holley, if you don't mind." Holley deployed her two mice and turned on her holographic screen. Mater drove so that he could see the screen, and Finn sent the pictures to Holley to be projected on the screen.
Mater's eyes widened as the pictures of the carnage appeared. "Dad gum," he whispered. "What happened?"
"It looks like our friend George was being gutted alive and really put up a fight," Holley replied.
"Didn't do him much good," Lightning said.
"Obviously."
"Any word from Ramone?" Finn asked.
"Autopsy's not finished yet," Lightning replied, "but I guess this makes sense based on what we know so far."
Holley turned the screen off and tucked her mice away. "What about Alexa?"
"Wait, my daughter's not safe?"
"Not with Montgomery openly killing other cars in small towns," Finn said.
"If your theory is true."
"Do you have any other suspects?" Holley asked.
Lightning sighed. "Can we just focus on protecting my daughter, okay? I don't think I can handle some creep going after her and killing cars to do it."
"Relax, McQueen," Finn said. "Everything will be fine. Somehow."
"Oh, gee, that's comforting."
"It's the best I can give for a very tricky situation such as this one. It isn't as if we can take her somewhere, because Montgomery and his agents have been following her throughout the racing season. Radiator Springs may tactically be the safest place for her, but if we do anything, he will know. That's what makes this much harder than it should be."
"Maybe you should talk to Shorts and Zundapp," Holley said. "You three have been working on this for years, and you're all working closely against deCarteran and Montgomery. I'll stay here and hold the fort."
Finn looked at Lightning and Mater, who both nodded, and then he looked at Holley, who imitated the gesture. "Alright," he said. "I'll be right back. I have a phone call to place." Finn drove off out of Radiator Springs.
He pulled onto the side of the road and turned on his communication system, placing a conference call. "Ja?" Zundapp asked.
"Hello?" Shorts asked.
"Murder, she wrote," Finn said. "Right here in Radiator Springs?"
"Why not L.A. or somewhere where murder is normal?"
"The killer is sending a message," Zundapp said. "Tell us more, McMissile."
"Victim, George Townsend, a personal agent for Montgomery. Prime suspect, Montgomery himself," Finn replied.
"It is definitely a message. Montgomery wants Alexa to know that he's watching her and means business, as the Americans say."
"According to Alex, Montgomery tried, and failed, apparently, to cover up his involvement in the crime, but so many styles are used at once it's hard to tell exactly who he intended to blame."
"Alex Pacer himself, of course."
"What?" Shorts and Finn asked at the same time.
"You do not know? Alexander Pacer is what's known as a messenger, a lemon who floats between the families and negotiates, only rarely delivering offers that other cars can't refuse."
"Apparently Trunkovs don't do very much killing, because he told me the last Trunkov style he'd seen was when he was fourteen," Finn said.
"Trunkovs don't get a lot of lip most of the time."
"One of the luckiest of the Four Families, if you ask me," Shorts added.
"Alright, look, we could move Alexa, but Montgomery and his agents would follow," Finn said. "Tactically, Radiator Springs may be the safest place for her, especially as the tourism season begins to wind down and McQueen's preparing for the Grand Prix, but the safest action for her to take is to go about life as normal."
"Speaking of, Axle told me something about the Grand Prix," Shorts said. "He said he had to talk to me, and he couldn't say why or who told him, but he said something about the Grand Prix being compromised again, I think by Montgomery."
Finn closed his eyes and shook his hood. "Considering his track record, we all need to be represented. Shorts, I'll be in touch with a few mutual tuner friends of ours. Zundapp, I'm sure you know who to contact. Shorts, if you want to send anyone else, let me know."
"Okay."
"Understood," Zundapp said.
"I'll be in touch," Finn replied, hanging up.