Maggody and the Moonbeams by Joan Hess

Author:Joan Hess [Hess, Joan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Hanks; Arly (Fictitious Character), Police Procedural, Maggody (Ark. : Imaginary Place), Mystery & Detective, General, Policewomen, Women Sleuths, Fiction, Police, Arkansas, Police chiefs, Arly (Fictitious Character), Hanks
ISBN: 9780743202299
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Published: 2000-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Bonita was quiet as we drove toward the cabins. I wasn't sure if she was feeling self-satisfied for having gotten her way, or alarmed because she had.

"Sheriff Dorfer seems to think you've got a career ahead of you," I said, sounding like my mother. If I didn't watch myself, I'd be asking if she had a boyfriend and what his parents did for a living.

"I'm saving my money for law school. I'll have to borrow and beg, and I don't know how long it'll take me to pay it back. But you just watch for me, Chief Hanks -- I'll be a senator from Arkansas one of these days. Maybe the first woman vice-president. Maybe the first woman president. If that doesn't happen, I'll be putting on a robe with the rest of the Supreme Court justices."

"Not gonna mess around, huh?"

"We all have to start somewhere."

I might have been a bit worried about her sanity if she hadn't been so matter-of-fact. She, at twenty-three or so, knew exactly where she intended to go with the rest of her life. I was destined to be the Tomato Mama of Maggody.

"This ought to be it," I said as I turned onto a dirt road.

"According to the directions."

Feeling rather idiotic, I forced a smile as we bumped down a muddy road. "Now when we get there -- "

"You're in charge. I understand that."

My smile tightened. "I was going to say that both of us need to tread carefully. I'll conduct the official questioning, but you watch for anyone who might want to confide in you. Take off that hat, Bonita, and undo the top button on your shirt. Admire their garden. Ask to see the schoolroom. Do your best to talk to the children."

"What do you think's going on, Chief Hanks?"

"I wish I knew. We're going to have to pressure them for an ID so that her next-of-kin can be notified. If she brought children with her, then it's going to be a bureaucratic nightmare. The law dictates that they'll have to go with social services until proper custody can be established. I can't leave them with their 'aunties,' no matter how moonstruck they may be. I doubt I'm going to be the Beamer postergirl." I took a deep breath as I navigated down the road. "And call me Arly, okay? This is not a good time for formality."

I may have expected some small token of reciprocity, but she merely glanced at me and said, "Good idea. We don't want to come in like a couple of storm troopers."

The first cabin we came to was bleak, clearly uninhabited. The next two, however, had clotheslines as Corporal Robarts had predicted, along with picnic tables and well-tended gardens. Three children of indeterminate age spotted the station wagon and darted into the woods. A fourth, too young to do much of anything, eyed us as he sucked his finger, his discolored diaper threatening to slide off his hips.

"We're low-key," I said to Bonita.

"Oh, yeah," she said as I parked beside the cabin.

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