“When I interviewed Mr. Henderson, he said Victor had taken charge of his ride and didn’t put up with troublemaking patrons,” Miguel said. “It was a necessary quality for someone operating the roller coaster. If Mr. Henderson had been ready to fire anyone, he said it would have been Jimmy, who was always letting kids ride who were smaller than the height requirement or other things that Mr. Henderson felt put his fair at risk.”
This meant that Jimmy Thompson had stretched the truth to his favor, which wasn’t at all surprising. Rosa had learned it was human nature to do so, especially when one felt threatened.
Miguel gave Rosa a meaningful look. “Mr. Henderson says he’s not going to let Jimmy go until everything has settled down with the investigation—but he will fire him, eventually.”
“This doesn’t completely clear Mr. Henderson,” Rosa said.
Miguel conceded with another shrug.
They arrived at the roller coaster, and Miguel stopped just outside the rope. “Actually, I don’t think Mr. Henderson had the means to do it.”
Rosa wrinkled her forehead at this. Miguel lifted the rope for her to duck under, and he followed her to the other side.
After opening the gate to the control platform, he instructed Rosa, “Go on. Step up.”
Rosa hesitated. Someone had died of electrocution in this very spot last night, after all. But she trusted Miguel and his electrician that all had been restored to working order. She stepped up and then turned to him in question.
“Now, bend down as though you’re going to remove the lower panel like my electrician did earlier.”
Smoothing the back of her skirt tightly to avoid flashing Miguel, something she’d rather not, she followed his instructions. Miguel, ever the gentleman, stepped back so his line of sight didn’t inadvertently line up.
“Okay,” she said. “What now?”
“Picture Mr. Henderson trying to accomplish the position you’re in now. Or actually, don’t bother picturing it, because it couldn’t happen. When I asked him to do the same thing, he didn’t fit. There’s no way he could have squeezed himself into the bottom half of the control platform to manipulate the electrical wires—especially with the gate closed, which he’d need to have done or else someone would’ve seen him.”
Rosa’s mind flashed to the Steak and Shake restaurant. “One too many hamburgers and milkshakes?”
She was rewarded with a single dimple.
“When I asked Mr. Henderson to get in that position, he got a cramp in his leg so painful he had to lie on a bench for ten minutes. He couldn’t have done it without help nor in the short time he would have had while Victor had stepped away.”
If Mr. Henderson couldn’t fit for being too rotund, Don Welks’ height would likely create the same obstacle.
“I’ve also cleared the carnie named Skip Stevens. He was taking tickets on the roller coaster, and the patrons loading the cars had a clear view of him. He connected me with two of them just during the time we were talking today. Finding a dead body shook up the kid. He said it took everything he had to come to work this morning. He didn’t want anything to do with the rides and asked Mr. Henderson if he could sell popcorn.”
Rosa stepped down from the platform, mentally checking Mr. Henderson, Don Welks, and Skip Stevens from her list of suspects.
“Where’s Deputy Diego?” Miguel asked once they were both outside the yellow rope again.
“I’m afraid I had to relieve him of his badge, due to his earlier bout of bad behavior.”
Miguel nodded with a smirk. “I see. Do you plan on reinstating him?”
“Probably. It was only his first offence.”
“Good, because I’m not sure we can solve this case without him.”
Rosa let the word we ring in her head for a moment before adding, “I’ll let him know you said that.”
“You don’t think it will go to his head?”
Miguel and his dimples were trying to lighten things up, but Rosa could only think about how they’d circled back to square one.
15
Rosa wrinkled her nose. “You’re back to looking for a needle in the haystack of a thousand people who visited the boardwalk last night?”
“Not necessarily,” Miguel said. “Mr. Henderson mentioned a carnie who’s working this afternoon that was here yesterday. A Gary McCooey,” he said, motioning his chin towards a huge building. “He runs the tilt-a-whirl.”
As they headed to the ride, Rosa explained how Marjorie had mentioned Gary. “Hopefully we can get my friends off the suspect list,” she said.
“Agreed. I feel like I’m getting different stories from the workers about the animosity between employees. I’m interested to hear what Mr. McCooey says about how Victor got on with his colleagues.” He glanced down at Rosa. “You went to school with the guy. What’s your take on why everyone hated Victor Boyd so much?”
Rosa thought back to that hazy time in her life. “I don’t think he was always the mean bully everyone remembers now,” Rosa replied. “I have vague memories of Victor with a genuine smile on his face and having fun with the rest of the students. But that was wartime and situations could change in an instant.”
Miguel added quietly, “And people.”
Rosa’s throat almost closed out at the implication. She had changed. They both had changed.
“Um, yes,” she managed to mutter. Pressing on, she continued, “Several students I knew during those days had lost parents or loved ones as a result of the fighting. There were times when it felt like every day at school someone would be sobbing at their desk, or their desk would simply be empty. But with Victor, it was different. After his dad was killed, he turned into a terror overnight. It was as though Victor blamed the other students for his father’s death.”
“His father died?” Miguel asked as they neared the tilt-a-whirl building. “You’re sure about that?”
“Yes. Why? The accident made front-page headlines.”
Miguel shook his head. “It’s just .
