He set the fork for the strudel down and let his chin fall to his chest.
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it for support. “I know this is hard, but did you see anything while you were in the car, Uncle Darling? Did you see the person who killed Gable go inside?”
His sigh was ragged and he covered his mouth to muffle a sob, but he shook his head. “It was snowing like somebody’d dumped a box of instant mashed potato flakes on our heads. But I also had my eyes closed while I listened to the music.” He shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone go inside. I didn’t even see the car he was driving, Hal. I should have paid better attention.”
“So he was driving a car? Are you sure? If you had your eyes closed, how do you know?”
“When he ran past me to get out of Feeney’s, I saw him get into one. I know I did,” he insisted.
My heart began to throb all over again. “Did you see what kind of car it was?”
His round face went slack with frustration under the glow of the twinkling lights in the kitchen. “Aw, Lamb, you know I don’t know cars from a hole in the wall. Now ask me about a brand of makeup, or a dress designer, and you can’t get me to shut my pretty mouth. The only thing I can tell you is it was an older car, without all the finery of the newer models. It was a sedan, maybe dark green.”
Blowing out a breath of air, I reminded myself this might take some patience. “Why does that make you think it was an older car, Uncle Darling?”
“Because it looked dull and rusty, I guess. I don’t know! By then, I was so stunned, so shaking in my pantaloons, I thought I might pass out, Hal. He had a gun. A big, long gun. I had no idea he’d just shot a hole the size of the sun in someone with it!”
His agitation began to make me uneasy and worried. When Uncle Darling gets going, there’s nothing to do but ride out the spiral. I couldn’t afford for him to spiral now.
“I should have zapped that man when I saw him running from the bathroom! Why didn’t I zap him, Lamb?”
Boy, did I know that question well. I also knew the answer. “Because you were scared, Uncle Darling. You can’t blame yourself,” I soothed.
“I froze! That’s why,” he almost howled. “It’s so unlike me, but I froze as sure as I’m standing here!”
“Andrew!” Atticus belted out, his deep voice reverberating around the kitchen as he buzzed in front of Uncle Darling’s face. “You will gather yourself this instant. There will be no meltdowns in my presence. Hal is trying to help you find the person who caused undue harm to your beloved, and we must help get justice for him. Answer the questions and do it like an adult!”
Uncle Darling instantly sat up straighter, even if he glared at Atticus. “I’m sorry, Lamb. You know how wound up I can get.”
I rubbed his back with the flat of my palm and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “I do, but I need you to hold it together for just a little bit, please. Now, let’s see what we can figure out, okay? You said you went inside. Was the killer still inside when you went to check on Uncle Monty?”
He swallowed hard and nodded with a violent shiver. “Yes. I heard them fighting and then…the…gunshot. He came running out just after I came into the store, and he had that gun in his hand, and it was so big, Lamb. I’ve never seen one up close, and I was so terrified, but he paid no mind to me. He just ran out of the store. He’d obviously killed that poor child just after I got into the store, but I don’t understand what happened to Monty. I just don’t understand how he managed not to get himself shot.”
“Did the killer see you, Uncle Darling?” That sent a shiver of unadulterated fear along my spine.
“I don’t know if he saw me, but it doesn’t matter if I saw him because he had on a ski mask. A black, knit ski mask. He was dressed in all black. In fact, he was very chic, something I’d envy if he hadn’t slaughtered that poor boy and hurt my Monty.”
What an odd thing to stand out, but Uncle Darling was like my sister, in that fashion was very important in both their lives, unlike me, who really loved a good flannel shirt and a pair of jeans.
“Chic? How do you mean, he was chic?”
“I know this sounds absolutely crackers for me to have noticed something so random and trivial in light of the fact that I was petrified, but I noticed his trousers were clean and pleated down the front to within an inch of their life. Once a fashionista, always a fashionista, I suppose. Even in the killing fields of Feeney’s.”
“Can you remember any other details like that? Did he say anything? Did you hear anything?”
That was when Uncle Darling almost jumped off the chair, his aging eyes wide. “Hold on…just hold on! I did hear him say something.” He put his fingers to his temples and squeezed.
I held my breath and waited as Atticus asked urgently, “What did he say, Andrew?”
Rolling up the sleeves of his heavy red sweater, he winced. “He said…give me that stupid S…” He paused a moment and bunched his fist in front of his mouth as though he were thinking, and then he yelled, “That SD card! Yes! He said give me that—pardon my colorful language—‘effin’ SD card.’”
Everyone grew quiet until Uncle Darling asked, “What in all of a Gucci bag is an SD card?”
I didn’t know a lot about computers and tech, but I knew enough to know what an SD card was used for. But before I could answer…
“It’s usually what stores the memory in a phone or a video surveillance camera.”
Chapter 4
Underneath the Tree
Written by Kelly Clarkson, Greg Kurstin, 2013
Hobbs’s husky voice gave us the answer as Stephen King grunted his way into the kitchen and placed his thick paws on my thighs for some love. “What makes you ask?”
I’d told Hobbs to let himself in when he was done feeding and walking Stephen King. Somehow, his presence made the task of talking to Uncle Darling less daunting. He appeared to comfort him in a way I couldn’t.
I smiled down at Stephen King and stooped to press a kiss on his broad tan and white head. “That’s what the killer said when Uncle Darling first entered the store. Apparently, the killer was fighting with Gable in the men’s room, and if he wanted an SD card, he probably wanted to erase the video of him being there. The question is, why? I mean, sure, it’s a good safeguard to keep from being identified, but he was masked, and I’d bet my life savings he covered his tracks.”
Hobbs pulled off his rawhide jacket and knit cap, hanging them both on a chair in the dining room before he said, “Mind bringing me up to speed?”
I repeated what Uncle Darling had told us as I got him a beer and popped the top off, setting it in front of him on the kitchen counter. “And that’s where we’re at,” I finished on a grim note.
Hobbs cleared his throat. “First, let me say my thoughts are with Monty, Andrew, and I’m here if you need anything at all.”
Uncle Darling looked Hobbs in the eye and pointed a finger at him. “You, Mr. Dish of a Cowboy, can call me Uncle Darling, and thank you, Presh. You were a huge help to me at the store.”