A Long Stretch of Bad Days by Mindy McGinnis
Author:Mindy McGinnis
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-03-14T00:00:00+00:00
Twenty-One
âSo murder is totally a thing that happens,â Bristal says lightly, popping a piece of cheesecake in her mouth post-dinner.
âNice, great segue,â I tell her.
âWhy? What were we talking about?â she asks, genuinely confused.
âWhether eating veal is a moral choice,â Mom informs her, and if Iâm not mistaken, adds a little eye roll to her statement, along with a nod toward Dad and me, who hadâadmittedlyâdone a deep dive into our arguments and counterarguments.
âYeah, we canât afford veal, so I donât know about that,â Bristal says. âBut any cow I eat has technically been murdered, so murder is totally a thing that happens. To cows, and to people named Randall Boggs.â
âYour use of the word technically implies that you think a cow is a living thing with rights, otherwise you would simply say it had been killed,â Dad says, leaning forward on his elbows, obviously eager for Bristalâs rebuttal and moving on to his next opponent.
âHow about itâs dead, and I donât really care how it got that way?â
âFair enough,â he says. âBut what were you going to say about Randall Boggs?â
âUh . . .â Her eyes cut to me, but Iâm gauging the mood. Mom is my barometer, and her hand is steady as she lifts her third glass of wine. Boggs is a safe subject; I give Bristal a nod.
âHis murder is the only one weâve got,â she says, making homicide sound like a precious metal. âBut itâs an unsolved case, and a cold one.â
âItâs a sad thing to say, but I donât think the old man was missed much,â Dad says, leaning back in his chair now.
âNow or then,â Mom adds.
âLive dirty, die dirty,â Bristal says, and both my parents nod.
âWhy the interest in Boggs?â Dad asks.
âThatâs one of my episodes,â she explains. âAnd I just think itâs odd that our only murder is also unsolved.â
âI can understand your thinking, but youâve got to consider the statistics,â Dad says. âA lot of homicides go unsolved, but thatâs not a headline youâll see in the paper.â
âNot the Hometown Henley Headlines,â Mom murmurs into her wineglass.
âAny paper,â Dad doubles down. âThe public likes to believe that justice will always be served. Informing them of how often that doesnât pan out isnât in their general interest.â
A cold ball is forming in my stomach, a reminder of Dadâs comment the other night about the gray areas of life, areas people wander into and never find their way back out of.
âHow many?â I ask, and Dad pulls out his phone.
âYou want a number, or a percentage?â
âA number,â I say.
âFrom 1980 to 2019, in Ohio, over ten thousand murders went unsolved.â
A high whistle escapes from Bristal, and Mom sits her glass down harder than necessary. âI donât know if this is really good dinner converââ
âDinnerâs over,â I say sharply. âWhatâs the percentage on that?â
âThatâs a sixty-seven percent clearance rate,â Dad says, pinching his phone to zoom in on the chart. âThatâs actually not too bad.â
âNot too bad?â I demand. âThatâs thirty-three percent of murders going unsolved! Randall Boggs is one of those numbers.
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