Part 10 (1/2)
I got out of the car, and he recognized me immediately. His face seemed to relax as he walked past the dog. I felt something unusual under my feet and looked down. The driveway near the trailer was covered with flattened, aluminum cans.
”Poor man's asphalt,” Zack said, approaching the car. ”I ain't seen you in a c.o.o.n's age, Joe Dillard. What brings you out here?”
I introduced Bates. ”We need to talk to you about something,” I said. ”It's important.”
”That d.a.m.ned gravy eater,” he said.
”Beg your pardon?”
”Turtle. I oughta know better than to open my mouth around him. Might as well write it on a billboard.”
”Mind if we come in out of the rain?”
”There's barely enough room in there for me. How about I sit in the back of this fine automobile the sheriff's driving? As long as you promise not to arrest me.”
”Promise,” I said. ”Hop in.”
As soon as Zack was settled in the back seat, I turned around.
”No point in beating around the bush, Zack. Turtle says you saw something on the lake Sat.u.r.day night.”
”I didn't want no part of it,” he said, ”but it's been eating at me. In my sleep, you know? I keep seeing it in my sleep. That's probably the reason I told the gravy eater. I knew he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself, and I figured y'all would be coming around sooner or later.”
”What did you see?”
”I saw a man dropping a body into the lake off the back of a big house boat.”
”Tell me about it.”
”I dropped me a few catfish jugs near the bank in this little cove not far from my place around midnight. There were still some crazies out on the lake, but it had thinned out quite a bit. Right around five in the morning, I headed back out to check on them. The house boat was anch.o.r.ed in the cove, but I didn't think nothing about it. I picked up the first jug, and then I heard some b.u.mping and banging on the boat, so I looked over, and I saw a man dragging something. Couldn't much tell what it was at first, but then he hoisted it overboard and it splashed into the water. It was a body. A woman's body. She was naked.”
”How close were you?”
”Maybe ten feet. I was in my canoe. I just sat there and stared. I didn't really know what to do. The man didn't notice me. He went back inside, and then somebody fired up the engine and the boat pulled out of the cove. I paddled over to where the girl went in, poked around a little with my paddle, and found her a foot or so below the surface. I pulled her up, but she was already dead. There wasn't nothing I could do for her, so I just let her slide back into the water. When I started to paddle out of there, something b.u.mped my boat. It was another girl. She was dead, too.”
”Why didn't you report it?” Bates asked.
”I don't exactly have fond memories of dealing with the law,” he said. ”And if I'd reported finding those bodies in the lake at five in the morning, who would've been your first suspect?”
Bates nodded, but didn't answer.
”Did you get a good look at the man?” I said.
”It was dark, but the moon was s.h.i.+ning off the water and the running lights were on. I could see him.”
”Would you recognize him again?”
”I reckon I would.”
”What did he look like?”
”Gravy eater like turtle, only this one eats his gravy by the bucket. Lard a.s.s. Dark-haired.”
I looked over at Bates. ”Show them to him.”
”Let me ask you a question,” Bates said. ”You ever heard of John Lips...o...b..”
”Don't reckon I have.”
”Nelson Lips...o...b..”
”Not that I can say.”
”Andres Pinzon?”
”Nope. Why?”
I'd called Bates as soon as I heard from Turtle, and he'd had his investigators put together three separate photo lineups: one that included John Lips...o...b.. one that included Nelson Lips...o...b.. and one that included Andres Pinzon. Bates pulled a manila envelope from the glove compartment and handed the line-up that included Nelson over the seat to Zack.
”Recognize anybody?” Bates said.
Zack pored over the photos for a couple of minutes.
”Never seen any of them,” he said, handing the lineup back to Bates.
Bates repeated the process with the line up that included Andres Pinzon. Nothing. Finally, he pa.s.sed the line up that included a photo of John Lips...o...b..to Zack. It took less than ten seconds.
”That's him,” Zack said, tapping the sheet with a thick, calloused finger. ”That's the gravy eater I saw.”
I felt my heart accelerate. ”Let me see, Zack.”
His finger was resting on the photo of John Lips...o...b.. I looked at Bates, who appeared to be more worried than excited.
”Are you absolutely sure?” I asked. ”No doubt in your mind?”
”Not a bit. That's him.”
Bates handed him a pen. ”Circle the photo and put your initials on it,” he said.
”Would you be willing to get up on a witness stand and repeat this in front of a jury?” I said.
Zack hesitated. ”You think it'll come to that?”
”It might.”
He took a long breath. ”Well sir, that's the man I saw. If I have to, I'd swear an oath on it.”