Page 8 (2/2)
"I know"
"You&039;re bigger than daddy"
"I&039;gled
A cute little black cat worked its way through the little girl&039;s ankles A blue bell jingled around its neck The cat caht up tobefore I even touched it
"That&039;s Tinker Bell," said the little girl
"He&039;s cute"
"I love him"
"I bet you do"
"Alyssa honey, where are you?" There was a note of panic in the woman&039;s voice
"There&039;s a policeman at the door, mommy"
"I&039;m not a policeman," I said
The door was pulled all the way open and a wo a pair of briefs appeared She was the older version of Ainal version She stared at me with eyes that were too blank, too red, too distant and too dead She was dressed in a gray T-shirt and white shorts that revealed a fading tan
"Mrs Peterson?" I asked
She paused, the white briefs hanging over her hand "Who are you? You&039;re not a policeator," I said "Can I speak with you? About Amanda"
She looked at me some more A minute passed Finally, she turned and disappeared into the darkness of her own home
She left the door open I took a deep breath and followed her in
After asking if I would like a cup of coffee, and with htto do withed froo after the h, but I did not want to empathize too much I did not want to return to the bad placein a thick sofa chair that matched the massive sofa near the fireplace, where Mrs Peterson now sat She reached into her black purse, which sat at her feet like an obedient dog, and reer or two of so dark and bourbony into her coffee
"More er version of Amanda, who trailed in from the kitchen
"Yes, dear Now leave the adults alone"
She did Sort of She grabbed a pink Barbie backpack, plopped on the floor near the rear sliding glass door, and proceeded to re I noted that both were nude
"How can I help you, Mr Knighthorse?" asked Mrs Peterson She was looking down at one of my nifty business cards on the coffee table before her But before I could answer she reat grandfather was Apache Apparently graes"
"I wouldn&039;t call the"
"Yes, ma&039;am But the Native American in me is diluted Mostly, I&039;m German and Welch and a whole lot of man"
She looked up at me and almost suessed the German: blond hair, tall and muscular Would have done Hitler proud"
"I would have done anyone proud, ht have sounded flirty if her words were not e to a corpse speak frorave
"You&039;re here to try to clear Derrick?" she said
"Yes"
She drank from her spiked coffee "So what the hell can I do for you?"
"First of all, I would like to express my condolences"
"How very sweet of you"
"Do you feel the police have found your daughter&039;s killer?"
"You get right to it"
"I&039;m sorry if I offended"
"No I like it No reason to dance around the subject My daughter was torn apart just inches frooddamn animal"
Her voice never rose an octave She spoke in a htly
"Mrs Peterson, did you ever meet Derrick?" I asked
She nodded and looked away She atching Alyssa play with her oddly nude dolls "Call me Cat For Cathy" She continued to watch Alyssa Now Ken and Barbie were kissing in her hands Butt naked
"What did you think of Derrick?" I said
"I thought he onderful Charetic He seemed to really care about Amanda"
"I liked hihtly in the darkened room The upbeat child-like quality seemed out of place, but somehow appreciated At least by h Ah," said her mother quietly Then to me: "Yes He seemed to love her as well"
"But he was not permitted to come around?" I asked
"No Her father had strict rules about her dating African-Aree with the rule?"
"I wanted peace in my house"
"Did Amanda ever come to you about Derrick?"
"Yes Privately, quietly We would often talk about Derrick She hadfor over a year She ht have loved hie"
She didn&039;t say anything
"So you didn&039;t condone her secretly seeing Derrick?"
"No I encouraged her"
She alht then and there Her lip vibrated violently, but stopped when she bit down on it
"Mrs Peterson, you did not conde her to see Derrick"
She turned and faceddown fro herself worked up Before she could unleash some unholy hellfire in my direction, I quickly added, "Cat, I was threatened by an unknown killer a few days ago to stay away from this case The killer, I assuhter It&039;s the only thing that makes sense I believe Derrick is innocent"
She blinked The splotch receded "But you are not backing off the case," she said
"No"
"Thank you," she said "Thank you for trying to help I never believed in Derrick&039;s guilt, but aren&039;t you afraid?"
"I auy I can take care of myself"
And that&039;s when the front door open and Mr Peterson ca I noticed was that both Cat and Alyssa shrank back into theirl disappeared Replaced by so cold and wet, and left out in the rain to die