A Murder in Mayberry

Part 10/14 Sheriff Nichols Gets Serious

On his way to Riverview Retirement Center that day, two weeks after the teenagers ran away, Sheriff Nichols stopped at Jay's Office Supplies to get some office supplies. We got dead people, he thought. We got missing people. Well, at least I know where the teenagers are, said the Sheriff to himself. His guy in Florida called this morning and said he'd talked to them, well at least the boy, the girl was out and about. His guy told the boy to call his mama. Ren said he would. Thank goodness, she was worrying the teetotal shit out of him.

Sheriff Nichols pulled into the retirement center and went inside to get some maintenance men to help him carry in his supplies. He carried in the drill and his tool belt. He saw Candi and waved at her. She nodded back. He looks good with those tools, thought Candi, kinda sexy. She's cute as ever, thought the Sheriff. I have got to get back in her good graces. He directed the men to Mr. Cropps's room where the Wild Bunch was waiting for him. The Sheriff was going to call this room - Command Central from here on out.

"What's all this? What's this about?" asked Shiela as a parade of men carried in dry erase boards, boxes of files, boxes of notepads, and markers and pens.

"I hope you gentleman don't think you are going to nail something to these walls," said an orderly.

"Go ask Dr. Donna Davis Duncan about it," said Matthew, "Tell her Mr. Jenkins wanted to know, if it was ok?"

The orderly left and did not come back.

Reid repositioned Reuben in his bed so he could see. He had been under the weather, but he livened up with the activity. He began to point his finger and direct the activity. The men looked to him before every move. The finger moved left, then right, then up, then down. Reuben was like a wife telling her husband where to put the new, just delivered couch.

"Time to get serious," said Sheriff Nichols. "Time to solve some crimes. Time to find somebody, and at this point, I don't care who." He cranked up the drill, and he and Matthew and Izito and Reid covered Reuben's walls from ceiling to floor with dry erase boards. The Sheriff handed Shiela a marker, "Start writing, my lady."

"We're back," said Matthew as he looked around.

"Never gone," said Izito.

Reuben Cropps just smiled and made his coughing noise that was his laugh and his cry and any other emotion he needed to make out loud.