Madge scoffed. “Theories, hell. I call ’em facts.”
“For example?” Ann Marie asked.
“For example, I know exactly who nabbed and killed poorYvonne—and that other girl too.”
Before Riley could ask her who she meant, Madge was laying intothe sheriff again.
“And from what you said on the phone, you still haven’tarrested him! What are you waiting for? And now he’s sending you crazy notesabout being the Goatman. What’s all that about, Sheriff?”
Wightman’s eyes widened with alarm.
“Now how did you find out about—?”
“Well, it’s true, isn’t it? And what do you make of it? Do youthink he’s gone off his rocker, or is he just trying to scare folks? All I knowis, you’d better go scoop him up right away, now that he’s threatening to do itagain tomorrow night. The note says something about the Goatman being ‘hungry,’the way I hear it.”
Riley could see that Sheriff Wightman was having trouble keeping histemper.
He snapped at the woman, “Now look here, Madge, we’ve talkedabout this, haven’t we? I don’t want you talking to my men behind my back,getting them to tell you things nobody’s supposed to know.”
Madge shrugged and said, “What if your boys like talkingto me? Can I help it if I’m sociable? Running a tight ship and stopping upleaks is your responsibility. I’m just an engaged and interested privatecitizen. I consider it my civic duty to know all the goings-on here inWinneway. There’s too much apathy in this town.”
Struggling to get a word in, Riley spoke up.
“Who do you think killed Yvonne and the girl?”
Madge nodded brusquely. “Why, Brad Cribbins, of course.”
Wightman tried to interrupt, “Now, Madge, we went through allthis—”
Madge kept right on talking.
“Brad was a senior at Pater High School when Yvonnedisappeared—or at least he was until she expelled him. She told me all abouthim. We used to sit right out there on the porch just about every evening,having a drink and talking together. She was a tough disciplinarian as a viceprincipal—tough but fair. She expelled Brad early in first semester of hissenior year, then she disappeared about a month later.”
It was obvious to Riley that this particular busybody had accessto far more than neighborhood gossip. Her interest piqued, she turned to thesheriff and asked, “What can you tell me about him?”
Wightman shrugged and said, “Brad Cribbins was a bad kid—or heused to be. He began vandalizing churches and graveyards when he was nine yearsold. Started stealing bicycles soon after that, then graduated to stealingcars. He got into lots of fights, landed a couple of guys in the hospital. Hestill gets into trouble from time to time.”
“Why did he get expelled?” Riley asked.
Madge started explaining before Wightman could say another word.
“Yvonne told me all about it. Some scared students told her thatBrad had brought a knife to school—and not some nice little Boy Scout job, buta real fighting knife. Yvonne ordered a search of his locker, and sure enough,they found enough knives in there to start his own street gang.” She paused fora moment to be sure she had their full attention. Then she added, “He also hada list of people he had it in for.”
“A list?” Riley asked.
“Yes,” Sheriff Wightman said tiredly, as though he’d been throughall of this before. “Yvonne’s name was on that list. She expelled him rightaway, and she also reported the incident to me. Naturally, when shedisappeared, Brad was at the top of our suspect list. But by then he’d settledinto a janitorial job at a local mall. His coworkers confirmed that he’d beenworking there on the night when Yvonne disappeared.”
Riley’s interest was mounting by the second.
“What else can you tell me about the list?” she asked Wightman.
Wightman said, “You’ll find it in the case file you brought alongwith you.”
Riley opened the folder that she’d picked up off Wightman’s deskbefore they’d left the station. She’d tucked it beside her seat in the car andthen carried it in with her, but hadn’t had a chance to open it. Now sheflipped through some pages until she came across the list. Across the top ofthe sheet was written in large, crude block letters …
FOR TERMINATION
Underneath those two words was scrawled a skull and crossbones.Then came the list itself, with Vice Principal Swenson’s full name at the top,followed by a roster of first names and nicknames:
Buzz, Smitty, Carla, Jerry, Earl, Ally …
Riley’s eyes stopped short on that last name.
“Ally!” she murmured aloud.
Was it a nickname for Allison Hillis?
Riley looked up at Madge and asked, “Did Yvonne ever mentionAllison Hillis to you?”
“You mean the poor kid that got dug up yesterday?” Madge asked. “Ican’t say she did.”
“Are you sure?” Riley asked.
“I’ve got a pretty good memory,” Madge snapped.
Sheriff Wightman said to Riley, “I don’t think the ‘Ally’ on thatlist is the same person as Allison Hillis. She didn’t even go to Pater HighSchool. And remember, we searched hard for any other connections between herand Yvonne Swenson. We didn’t find a thing.”
Riley thought hard and fast. Sheriff Wightman was making goodsense, and she had no doubt that he’d done thorough and competentinvestigations of both disappearances.
But still …
She asked Wightman, “Do you know where Brad Cribbins lives now?”
Wightman shrugged. “Yeah, he lives with his dad over on the farside of town, but—”
“I want to pay him a visit,” Riley said.
Wightman scratched his head.
“Well, like I said, he had an alibi when Yvonne Swensondisappeared, so I don’t understand why—”
To Riley’s surprise, Ann Marie interrupted the sheriff.
“If Agent Paige says she wants to see him, you can be sure she’sgot a good reason. In case you don’t know, she’s kind of a law enforcementlegend. She really knows what she’s doing.”
Riley saw that Madge had a big smile on her face as she staredhard at the sheriff.
Finally, Wightman sighed and got up from the couch.
“OK, then,” he said. “Let’s get going.”
As Riley and her partner got up to leave, Ann Marie winked ather.
She’s trying to get on my good side, Riley realized.
And at least for the moment, Ann Marie was succeeding prettywell.
Riley paused to thank Madge, who was using the
