Eli shoveled clothes around until he found a pair of plaid pajama pants. “Your goons have screwed up my fine disorder.”
“They aren’t my goons, Mr. Elson. My ‘goons’ don’t really do much gooning.”
“So, I’m guessing you aren’t F.B.I. or A.T.F., so I’ll bite.”
“My agency doesn’t concern you.” She looked at the piles of clothing, and a stack of DVDs by the TV in the room.
“You’re not going to confiscate my porn, are you?” Eli found an old sweatshirt and pulled it on.
Lewis moved away from the TV in the room. “Tell me about Bob Fulton.”
“What’s to tell. We went to USD together. We drank more than I can remember freshman year. We both almost flunked out. I found a way to balance drinking and school, and he found a way to balance school and drinking.”
“Isn’t that the same thing?”
“Not quite. You’ll notice for me I put drinking first, and he put school first.”
Lewis glanced out the doorway. Deputies were checking the basement and were going through the kitchen, and all the closets had been emptied. “So, he was a friend freshman year, and you drifted apart because he focused more on school.”
“For what it’s worth, I pulled a respectable GPA.”
“A two point two is respectable?”
“It is a degree all the same. All it does is help me land one or two extra jobs a year.”
“Yes yes, your web design business. You can still make a living on that?”
“Mostly. I have a few other side jobs, but the web thing still pays a few bills.”
“What did Bob major in?”
“Excuse me?”
“Through my research, I’ve found that Bob majored in history, but he sells cars. Why is that?”
“Beats me. The guy is a born salesman, if that helps.”
“Excuse me Agent Lewis, we’ve found no trace of Fulton or Anderton ever having been here.”
Lewis looked back at Eli. “Mr. Elson, would you mind coming to Sioux Falls with us to answer some more questions.”
“Is that a request or a demand?”
“Right now, it is a request.”
Eli sighed. “Okay, let me find some jeans.”
***
Felix walked with purpose, but no matter where he looked, he didn’t see Laura. He knew he should be talking to the captain about this, but he wanted to confront Laura about this. Perhaps it was a prank or a misunderstanding. Laura Black is a rather ordinary name he thought.
“Hey Felix!” Will ran up beside him as Felix continued to walk at a rapid pace.
“Not now detective.”
“Hey, I just need to ask you about your work. Why are you looking into Clayton?”
“The captain asked me to.”
“What’s this business about Officer Black?”
“That’s what I aim to find out.” Felix looked right at Will, and didn’t see the wastebasket on the floor. Felix stumbled forward with the basket snugly on his right foot. Will stopped and tried to help him up. Felix looked to his left. “Hey, there’s the two people she was interrogating. Bartholomew McGillcuddy and Mabel Gravley.”
Mabel looked at Felix. She’d heard her name. Her eyes then darted to the elevator, which had just dinged. The door slid open, and Laura Black walked out, with Jeremiah and Jebediah right behind her.
