Chapter Ten
The Ransom Police Department was in a small building made of grey cinder blocks, located two blocks down and two blocks over from the spot on North Beaton Street where Lulabelle Mackenzie had been shot.
Sally Ann parked her wagon in an empty space on the side of the building and we walked in together. The air inside was tepid, getting cool but not terribly comfortable. A police officer sat at a desk by the front door, reading the newspaper. He was thin, with blond hair, and his blue uniform was slightly too big.
“Hi, Sally Ann,” he said, and smiled. “Who’s your friend?” He grinned back at her.
“His name’s Carey Lovett, Lucas.” She put her hand on my arm. “Don’t pay any attention to Lucas, Carey, he’s been trying to date me ever since I started high school.” I laughed, and so did Lucas. He stood up and shook my hand.
“Pleased to meet you,” I offered.
“Oh, a Yankee!” he crowed, hearing my accent. “Has the sheriff heard about this?”
“Oh, shut up,” Sally Ann told him, and pulled me past the desk and toward an office. The door was open, and on it the words, “James Martin, Sheriff” were stencilled in black.
“Hi, daddy,” said Sally Ann as we walked in. He got up from behind his desk to offer me a handshake and her a peck on the cheek.
“What brings you down here, honey?” he said. “Sit, both of you.” We sat in the chairs facing the desk and he sat back down after we were settled. “It’s too hot out there to do much of anything, so I was just finishing up some reports before calling it a day.” The clock above him read 5:30.
“Carey had a little problem he wanted to tell you about.”
“What is it?” he said.
“It’s kind of embarrassing,” I began, “telling you about it, but here goes. I was reading the paper yesterday--” I told him all that had happened, including the incident at the bakery. He listened politely and was about to say something when Sally Ann broke in.
“So I thought we could come down and get your opinion on things. Whoever punched Carey has to be mixed up in something, and I knew you weren’t getting anywhere with your investigation so far---”
Sheriff Martin looked at his daughter sternly. “Now I wouldn’t say that. We have some leads, but I have to say that what you’re telling me is a surprise. The blacks in this town don’t have a lot to complain about, but they treat us as if we were the enemy.
“I was out to Lulabelle’s house yesterday, asking questions, and I got next to nothing. Of course, they were pretty upset over the whole thing, but still, you’d think they’d be more cooperative.”
Do you know anything about her brother?” I asked him.
“Not a thing. Do you know him, honey?” he asked Sally Ann.
“I just know of him,” she replied.
He called out to Lucas to come into his office. “Lucas, check the files for a Raymond Mackenzie, would you? We’ll wait.”
Lucas went out to check, and we resumed talking. “Carey,” said the sheriff, “even though you’re from up north, your family is here, so I’m going to treat you like one of us.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I’m not sure you’ll thank me after you’ve heard what I have to say.” He leaned forward in his chair and put his hands on the desk. “We have a police department in this town for a reason. The people of Ransom pay their taxes for us to take care of them. Nobody needs a kid like you running around playing private eye!”
“But daddy,” Sally Ann began, but her father put up a hand to signal her to stop.
“What happened to you today should teach you a lesson. People don’t always want other people asking questions, for whatever reason. Many’s the man with something to hide, and you may never know it unless you ask the wrong questions.”
I felt flushed in the face with embarrassment.
“You’ve been punished enough without my help,” he continued. “Now, what are we going to do about this?”
Lucas picked a good time to come back. He stuck his head in the doorway and said, “Nothing on Raymond Mackenzie, sheriff.”
“Thanks,” said the sheriff.
Sally Ann had been about to burst, and her words finally came out. “Daddy, if you think I’m going to sit
here and let you chastise this nice young man who was only trying to help, you’re wrong.” Her father looked
at her with an attempt at being stern, yet I sensed pride behind his eyes. “I was the one who told Carey to come down here,” she continued, but I interrupted her.
“I came of my own free will,” I said. “What I’d like to know is, can I help? Maybe with my connections I could learn something you couldn’t. As you said, my family has roots here, and I have some black friends who might be more willing to talk to me than they would to you.”
He looked at me for a minute, then said, “You two do a good job of interrupting me, I’ll give you that. I was just about to suggest making you a sort of unofficial deputy for this one case. We sure could use the help around here.” He lowered his voice. “Lucas isn’t exactly Sam Spade.” Sally Ann giggled and I smiled. I was beginning to like Sheriff Martin.
“What would you like me to do?” I asked. He thought for a minute.
“You may be onto something with the brother. Do you know anyone who could help you find him? Without knocking you around, that is.”
“There’s a lady who cleans house for my grandmother named Coralee. I don’t know her last name, but I’ve been told she knows an awful lot about what goes on on the black side of town.”
“The white one too, I reckon,” said the sheriff. “That’s as good a place as any to start. Why don’t you talk to her in the morning and see what you can find out.”
“Great!” I said, and noticed Sally Ann grinning at me.
“Now, it’s about time for me to get going. All this detective work makes me hungry. Would you join us for dinner?”
“Thanks, but I’ll have to take a rain check. I need to get home to my grandmother and see how she’s doing.”
“Good enough,” said Sheriff Martin. “Why don’t we make it tomorrow night?”
“I’d like that,” I said, and Sally Ann added: “So would I.” She was giving me that look again that made me feel like I could do anything.
“Daddy,” she said, “I drove Carey down here to see you, so why don’t I run him home and tell mom you’ll be right along.”
“Fine, honey,” said her father. He offered me his hand and I shook it, trying, but failing, to match his grip.
“It was a pleasure talking to you, Sheriff. I hope I can help out. And I won’t say anything about what happened at the bakery--for now.”
“Oh yes, we kind of forgot about that. I think that’s best. We can take care of that in due time, don’t you think?”
I laughed and agreed, and Sally Ann took me back to my car.
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