The Entirely Fabricated Story of Lizzie Nickerson

Chapter 28

"I had a hunch about that Tuttle guy," said Tarpick. "I told you that after we interviewed him. The guy rubbed me the wrong way."

Frazier was pretty sure that Tarpick said nothing about suspecting Tuttle but he nodded, hoping he could steer the conversation in another direction. If his partner had the slightest suspicion that Frazier had turned to Lizzie Nickerson for help, and it was she who was responsible for Tuttle's arrest, there'd be no coming back from that one. So, with a synthetic grin, and a tranquil voice he said, "It looks like your posture is a little straighter, Mitch. Is your back feeling better?"

Tarpick shrugged. "Why didn't you tell me you were going back for a second interview? I'd have relished telling that reprobate that he hadn't hoodwinked me."

"With your back issues and all, I just kinda figured–"

"Did you get a new lead or something?" Tarpick wouldn't let it go. "Did a witness come forward?"

Frazier leaned forward to tie his shoelace. "Just like you said. After reading through the case file again, I got a hunch about Tuttle. That's all. Nothing more than a hunch. I thought maybe if I leaned on him a little, he'd crack. And he did. I got lucky, I guess."

Tarpick shook his head. "That case went cold two months ago. And yesterday, you and that ogre, Ott took a ride out to Tuttle's place and what do you know? He spilled the beans. It's like something you see on one of those corny TV shows. Something smells a little fishy, you get my drift?"

After hearing his partner utter, "Hoodwinked, spill the beans, corny TV shows, smells a little fishy, and catch my drift" Frazier wouldn't have been surprised if Mitch followed it up with "Gee willikers" or "see you in the funny papers." It's like the guy had been preserved in a hermetically sealed container in the 1920s and was only recently set free in the modern world.

"What can I say, partner?" said Frazier. "It's like that time we circled the block because you had a bad feeling about that guy getting into his Buick."

"What guy?"

"Norton maybe? I think his name was Norton. The guy that jumped bail."

"Oh, yeah. Leo Norton." A slight smile appeared at the recollection.

"Intuition, right?" said Stoudemire. "Same with Tuttle. After fifteen years of being a cop, sometimes you gotta go with your gut. Don't overthink it, you know?"

Tarpick nodded but his expression didn't go along for the ride. 

........

When Sonya turned off the water in the sink, she heard a light tapping at the door. She dried her hands on a dish towel and answered the door where she discovered Nikki Patterson.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you," said Nikki.

"No, you're not," said Sonya.

"I was wondering if Lizzie was available."

"Available?"

"The boys and I have some questions about some of the items in my dad's apartment and I thought maybe she might be able to answer them."

Stripped down to her underwear, Lizzie stood in the hallway just outside the guest bedroom.

"Hi, Lizzie," said Nikki with a little wave.

Lizzie didn't respond.

"Lizzie," said Sonya. "Put on some clothes."

"Oh, geez," she said. "What do you think I was doing? I heard my name and it interrupted me."

"I'm sorry to interrupt," said Nikki.

"As soon as she's dressed I'll send her down."

"If I'm not interrupting anything."

"If I wasn't interrupted," said Lizzie, "I'd be dressed by now."

"She'll be down in a minute," said Sonya with a soft smile. She closed the front door and turned her attention to her niece who ducked into the bedroom.

"Lizzie, that was rude," said Sonya when she entered the bedroom.

"What's so rude about telling the truth? That doesn't even make sense." She zipped up her jeans and reached for her T-shirt.

"Mr. Gibbs' daughter came up here to ask you for help and now she feels like she interrupted you."

"She did."

"Well, you didn't have to say that. Now she feels bad."

"Why does she feel bad?" She pushed her arms through the sleeves and her head emerged, her hair in even greater disarray.

"Didn't you see her face?" said Sonya. "She was smiling and then when you said she interrupted you, she looked sad. You must have noticed that."

"I'm not good with people's faces. You know that. I guess she looked sad but I didn't know it was because of me." Lizzie began lacing up her sneakers, her fingers not entirely coordinated with her brain.

"We need to work on that," said Sonya. "You need to do something with your hair before you leave this apartment."

Lizzie heaved an aggravated sigh. "Why are you so worried about my hair?"

"I'm not going to argue with you. We don't have time to try to untangle it. Let's see if we can put it in a ponytail or something."

"Oh, geez. Then they'll be able to see my ears."

"Everybody has ears."

"I don't like people staring at my ears."

"It's better than them staring at your wild hair."

"Why is it better?"

"You need to trust me on this." Sonya grabbed a brush from the desk and approached her niece.

"It's gonna hurt. I know it." Lizzie backed away. "You're gonna pull my hair out."

Sonya put down the brush in exchange for a wide-tooth detangling comb. "This is the best I can do, Lizzie. Let's get this over with."