Part 24 (2/2)
”More off than on,” Butch said, shaking his head.
”Why the h.e.l.l do you have a gun?” Susan demanded. ”What is going on?”
”I think I have an idea,” I said, my mind working everything over.
They both looked at me.
”Butch killed George,” I said.
Susan gasped, but Butch stayed silent.
”No,” Susan said. ”That can't be true. You wouldn't do that. Butch?”
Butch didn't say anything.
”I was asking you about your alibi,” I said to Susan. ”Back at the float. Did Butch call you after that conversation?”
She blinked several times. ”Well, yeah.”
”Guess he overheard most of our conversation,” I said, glancing at him.
Butch shrugged.
”But that doesn't make any sense,” Susan cried. ”Butch was my alibi. I was with him the night before you found George in the freezer.”
”The entire night?”
She thought for a moment and then her face paled. ”No.”
Butch's mouth twitched at the corners.
”I broke up with him,” Susan said quietly. ”I told Butch that I didn't wanna see him anymore.”
”Because you were still pining for George,” Butch said, frowning.
”So we argued for most of the night,” she continued. ”He didn't want to break up. He wanted to keep seeing me. He was mad at me. But our relations.h.i.+p was . . . is . . . over. I thought I finally got that through to him. And then he finally left. It was early morning.” She nodded slowly. ”It was sunrise. It had taken me the entire night to get him to leave. He didn't want to go, but he finally did.”
The pieces of the puzzle were sliding together.
I looked at Butch. ”You really don't wanna make this worse for yourself.”
”That's why I have the gun,” he said, grinning. ”I'm no dummy. I'm going to make it easier for myself. So you don't need to waste your breath and go all Law and Order on me.”
”Was it an accident?” I asked, trying to buy myself some time to think about how to get out of this mess.
”I don't know what you're talking about,” he said, raising his eyebrows. His smile said otherwise.
”You really killed George?” Susan asked, incredulous. ”Sweet George?”
”Let's remember your sweet George was in love with sweet Matilda,” Butch said, frowning. ”He was not in love with you, which you were too dumb to see.”
”How did it happen?” I asked.
Butch was ignoring me, though, focused on Susan. ”Your sweet George wanted nothing to do with you. He told you to take a hike.”
”Stop,” she said.
”He couldn't stand you,” he continued. ”He told you he didn't want anything to do with you.”
I couldn't fault George there.
Susan bit her lip.
”But me?” he said, pointing his own finger at his chest. ”Me? I've been there for you. Always trying to help you out. Do whatever you ask. And what thanks do I get?” He shook his head, disgusted. ”You tell me we're done because you want to try again with George. Only George is already in love with someone else and has absolutely zero interest in trying anything again with you.”
The pseudo-love triangle was making my head hurt. It seemed as if Susan had tried to replace George with Butch and, while that hadn't worked for her, he apparently had taken to the role.
Maybe a bit too much.
”I even went to check with him for you,” he said, frowning like he smelled something rotten.
”You did what?” Susan asked.
”I went to make sure there was no chance he'd get together with you,” he said, waving the gun at her. ”You were all broken up that he'd told you to stop bothering him and, stupid me, I thought I'd go tell him he'd hurt you and maybe that might change his mind. Even though you'd just told me we had no future. Because I'm that nice.”
The way he was waving the gun around and talking, Butch seemed anything but nice.
”So you went to tell him about Susan's feelings for him?” I asked, scanning the arena and the grandstand.
We were still alone. The parade must have stalled out completely and I imagined everyone in the town was trying to sort out the commotion.
”Yeah,” he said, annoyed. ”I left her house after she told me we were through and went right to his house. Woke his dumb b.u.t.t up to tell him he was pa.s.sing up a great opportunity with Susan.”
”And what'd he say?”
”He told me to get off his property,” Butch said, narrowing his eyes. ”I thought that was rude.”
”George was never rude,” Susan said. ”He didn't have it in him.”
”Whatever,” Butch said. ”I didn't like the way he dismissed me. He wouldn't even listen to me. I mean, I was trying to do the guy a favor. So I wouldn't leave.” He chuckled. ”He didn't like that, either, but he couldn't do anything about it.”
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