Chapter 26
After the group dropped Eddie off at his house, they got on their bikes and rode down the sidewalk. Bill thought about what Ms. Granger told and contemplated on whether or not it was true. If what Ms. Granger said was true, then things were going to get much more complicated and worse. As they drove down the sidewalk, the others looked at each other confused and wondered why they were still seeing Bill's friend, they already got answers from Ms. Granger; why did they need answers from Bill's friend? Ben rode faster until he was next to Bill.
"Uh Bill, why are we still going to your friend's place? Don't we have enough information from Ms. Granger?" he asked confused.
"We n-n-need t-to know if the in-in-incidents in D-Derry are r-r-related t-to the ones in M-M-Maycomb, A-Alabama." Bill explained.
"But don't we have enough information from Ms. Granger?" Ben asked confused.
"Perhaps, but still; it w-w-wouldn't h-hurt to ch-ch-check." Bill spoke.
The group continued to ride down the sidewalks, until they reached a retirement home. They parked at the bike rack, got off their bikes, and went inside the retirement home. When they got in, they looked around and saw a lot of elderly people in the game room. Some were watching tv, others were playing board games, and some were heading to their rooms and some had to have help from their caregivers. Bill and the group approached the front desk. The receptionist was still on the phone and there were still family members checking in to see their loved ones. After a few minutes of waiting, the receptionist hangs up the phone and looks at the kids.
"H-H-Hi. We're l-l-looking f-for Heck T-Tate." Bill explained.
"Bill, is that you? I haven't seen you since you helped your grandmother move out of the retirement home. How are you?" the receptionist greeted.
"I'm good. We're l-l-looking for H-H-Heck T-Tate, is he s-s-still a-alive?" Bill asked.
"Yes, he's still here. He's over there, sitting at that table." The receptionist pointed.
The group looked at where the receptionist was pointing at and saw a old man, sitting at a table and looking out of a window. He was 90 years old, had breathing tubes in his nose, and looked really tired. Bill felt sympathetic towards him as he would never wish that on someone. He looked back at the receptionist.
"Okay, thank you." Bill said nodding.
"Of course, it was good seeing you." The receptionist said; waving.
"Y-Y-You t-too." Bill waved back.
The group walked over to the old man and everyone besides Bill looked at each other confused. How long has Bill been coming to this retirement home and if he had been here, why didn't he tell them? Georgie looked at Bill puzzled.
"Uh Bill, how do you know this Heck Tate?" he asked.
"Yeah Bill, how do you know him?" Mike asked confused.
"He's an o-o-old fr-friend of g-g-grandma and gr-grandpa. Before G-G-Georgie was b-born, I would s-s-see h-him with grandpa and would s-s-sometimes h-hear st-st-stories of his days in Mayc-c-comb Al-Alabama." Bill explained.
"And how would he help exactly?" Stanley asked.
"He u-u-used to b-be a sh-sh-sheriff." Bill explained.
"So he will know about what had happened in Maycomb and what he thought of the murders." Ben guessed.
"Exactly." Beverly agreed.
The group approached the old man and Bill sat in front of the old man while everyone else surround the table, but made room to make sure that they weren't in the way of other people. The old man perked in surprise as Bill gave a warm smile.
"Hi Heck, do you r-r-remember m-me?" Bill asked wondering.
Heck had to clean his glasses than place them back on and looked at Bill again. He was surprised to see Bill, he had grown so much.
"Bill, is that you? I haven't seen you since you helped your grandmother move out of the retirement home, how is she by the way?" Heck said surprised.
"She's fine, M-M-Mr. T-Tate." Bill said.
"That's good, so you still have your grandfather's stutter. What brings you here? I don't think you're here just to see me, right?" Heck guessed skeptically.
"You're right, that's n-n-not wh-why we're h-h-here. We h-h-have a q-question: did you h-h-hear a-about the murder of P-P-Patrick H-Hockstetter?" Bill asked.
"I did, i'm not surprised. I wouldn't even be surprised if the killer was mocking me." Heck signed.
"Mocking you, how?" Ben asked confused.
"I never caught the bastard that kill those people. Speaking of which, why are you asking about that?" Heck asked confused.
"We n-n-need your h-help. Patrick was a fr-fr-friend of m-mine and we h-h-heard th-that this wasn't the f-f-first t-time that something like this happened?" Bill lied.
"That's right, this happened before in Derry and surprisingly, only once in Maycomb." Heck explained.
"Only once?" Ben asked.
"Yes. It was 1932, I think, and a good friend of mine named Atticus Finch had just returned back from Derry." Heck begin.
"What was he doing in Derry?" Georgie asked.
"He had just came back from a business meeting with a prosecutor, he was a lawyer you see. That's when the murders started." Heck explained.
"What h-h-happened?" Bill asked.
"When Atticus went to Derry, he took his two kids with him, but when they came back, I had a gut feeling that something was wrong." Heck explained.
"Why did he take his two kids with him?" Stanley asked.
"He was a single father, his wife was dead and his nanny was out of town for a funeral. The first victim was Mayella Ewell, a poor, white girl that lied about being raped by a black man named Tom Robinson. Because of that, he was killed while trying to escape from prison. Mayella was found in the woods the same way Patrick was found, that's how I was able to identify them." Heck continued.
"Did y-y-you e-ever figure out how th-th-they w-were killed?" Bill asked.
"No, not really. Her body was so clean and undamaged that even the best doctor we had couldn't figure out how she died. Some thought it was natural causes, but others said it was murder and that animals ate her body. I knew something was fishy, that's why I ruled foul play." Heck explained.
"Were there any suspects?" Beverly asked.
"Well, there was one. Arthur Radley or "Boo" Radley as some of us called him. Two years ago, he killed Mayella's father after he attacked Atticus's children; don't tell anyone this but I wrote that he killed himself. The second victim was Braxton Underwood." Heck answered.
"What did he do?" Georgie asked.
"Besides being a racist, nothing much really. Braxton was found dead in his office, his body was nothing but bones; only his clothes and hair was left on it. That's when the number of suspects changed." Heck continued.
"How many w-w-were th-there?" Bill asked.
"Well, there was the few angry residents he pissed off, Boo Radley, and then…Atticus's young daughter, Scout Finch." Heck answered.
"I'm sorry but, why do you think she did it?" Mike asked confused.
"When she came back, Scout was different. It was like, she was new to the town and that Scout had changed or had came back as someone else. There was a motive for both murders, but the third one confirmed my suspicions. The third one was Cecil Jacobs, a classmate of Scout Finch. I could understand why she would kill Mayella Ewell and Cecil Jacobs, but I couldn't figure out why she would kill Braxton Underwood. The cases stumped the whole town, even the entire police force. After a while, the case went cold, no one knows who the killer was, to this day." Heck finished.
"And Scout never got i-i-into a-any trouble?" Bill asked.
"Well, I did question her, but somehow, she didn't remember anything from when she returned to Maycomb and the day after Mayella's murder." Heck explained.
"Is there a-a-anything e-else you can t-t-tell u-us? Maybe where Scout Finch lives s-s-so w-we can t-t-talk to h-her?" Bill asked politely.
"I'm afraid not, Scout Finch is dead, along with her brother, Jem Finch and their father." Heck said.
"Was she m-m-married? M-Maybe we could t-t-talk to her f-f-family." Bill suggested.
"If she was married, then I never heard about it. I'm sorry Bill, but this is all I got." Heck said sadly.
"Okay, th-th-thank you M-Mr. T-Tate." Bill said politely.
"Of course, it was nice seeing you, Bill." He said smiling.
"You too." Bill replied.
He got up from the chair, scooted it back under the table, and then waved goodbye and started to leave the retirement home with the group behind him; well, except Georgie. He pulled the chair and got on it.
"Would it be okay if we come back here and hear more stories about Grandpa?" Georgie asked.
"You must be Georgie, your grandma has often talked about you. I'd like that very much." Heck smiled.
"Thank you, goodbye Mr. Tate." Georgie thanked.
He also waved a goodbye at Heck and got off the chair and followed the group out of the door. When the group got on their bikes and rode down the road. The group was silent throughout the trip and Bill was lost on his thoughts. If what Bill heard was true, than they were dealing with a enemy worse than anyone they have dealt with. The facts matched up; the events in Derry and Maycomb matched, meaning that Pennywise could travel anywhere in the world. Mike was unfazed about what he heard about Mayella Ewell, he was aware of the racist history and prejudice in the south; frankly, this wasn't news to him. Ale looked down and had a dark look.
"I hate racists, they're scum, you know?" Ale spoke.
"You're not the only one." Mike said sympathetically.
"Ale, I thought you said fear demons don't kill kids, Cecil Jacobs sounds like he died when he was a kid." Ben said confused.
"They don't, unless those kids were bullies and that there's no hope left for them." Ale explained.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Georgie asked.
Bill was unsure, but he knew that there was one more place to find answers. He looked at Georgie.
"Lets pick up Eddie a-a-again, th-then h-h-head f-for the shed. I have p-p-pictures I w-want to sh-sh-show Georgie. Georgie, d-d-do y-you th-th-think that you c-could r-r-recognize anyone if I sh-sh-show y-you ph-ph-photos?" Bill asked.
"Yes, I think I can." He said certain.