"Omigod! Omigod, Marie, come take a look at this!" Renee was stabbing her finger frantically at the screen.
Marie wandered over. "Holy shit."
Renee swung around toward her. "Isn't he that guy?" Marie nodded. He looked different in the orange jumpsuit, not as handsome, and he had an unfamiliar lost look in his eyes. But there was no question it was him. When the camera zoomed in, she could see the little half-moon scar on his left cheek.
The screen went backed to the anchorman, who Marie knew was supposed to be fatherly. He sure didn't look like her father, though. Making his serious face, he filled them in on the details.
What can you do when you learn you've escaped death by this much? Marie ordered another drink.
Ray put out his cigarette and pushed the fresh glass across the bar. "How many did they say it was?" he asked. "Seven? Eight?"
Marie shivered and took a long gulp. Ray lit a new cigarette and passed it over to her. She took it without looking and inhaled hard.
Renee hopped down from her stool and put an arm around Marie's shoulder. She had to reach up a little; Marie was several inches taller, especially with her new, wide-heeled shoes. "Are you okay?" Renee crooned. Marie nodded mutely and watched the dust motes fall through the shafts of light that came in through the little windows. Through the heavy air, a few words drifted over from the TV: ". . . nude torso found floating in a canal last Tuesday. The victim has not been identified. . ."
Marie finished off her drink and Ray gave her another before she even had to ask. Renee disengaged herself and sat down again. Ray got her a glass of Budweiser.
On the screen, the announcer had switched on his smile. He was telling about a chimpanzee that had disrupted a Boston to San Francisco flight. The weather girl cracked a joke, and Marie wondered how long it took her to get her blond hair so perfect every day.
Ray smoothed down his mustache. He did that a lot, like maybe he had to keep checking to see if it was still there. "So how come you didn't let him drive you home that night? Could you tell?" His finger crept to his face again.
Marie shook her head. "I just wasn't ready to leave yet. He seemed okay, didn't he?"
Renee nodded. "Yeah. I thought he was cute. He was real polite, too. Maybe they got the wrong guy."
Ray snorted. "Weren't you listening? They caught him with a breast in his glove compartment. That's real hard to explain away." Renee had no answer to this. They both looked at Marie, expecting her to have a response, but she remained silent.
Renee looked at the Miller Time clock and wondered if her kids were home yet. Maybe she should call and check on them. J.B. hadn't been feeling that good when he'd left for school that morning. No, she decided, Crystal would know what to do if her brother was sick. She turned to the bar and traced designs in a little puddle of condensed water.
"You know," Marie said loudly, making Renee jump a little, "maybe we should call the cops. Maybe I could help with the, uh, investigation."
Ray nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I bet you could. Like maybe he picked up all the women in bars, and you could tell them that."
Marie motioned Ray for the phone and he passed it over. She paused with her finger over the keypad, though. "Do you think I should dial 911? It's not really an emergency, is it?"
The three of them thought about this for a minute. Then Renee jumped up again and began waving her arms around. "Hey! I got a better idea. Why don't we call the news guys? They could come and interview us, and we'd be on TV." Automatically, she checked her makeup in the mirror behind the bar.
Marie put the receiver back down and stared at the phone. It was covered in greasy fingerprints. It looked like evidence of a crime. She looked up at Renee, who was still smiling, and at Ray, whose eyebrows were drawn together quizzically. She watched him smooth his mustache again.
"Bring me the phone book," she ordered. She hoped
she'd have time to fix her hair before the cameras arrived.