Page 9 of Head Room
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The first surprisecame when I walked into the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Department office.It and the fire department’s headquarters occupy utilitarian buildings at the back of the same block that the stately county courthouse dominates in front.Parking and a bit of grass separate them.
Deputy Ferrante wasn’t behind the counter.
And the young woman who was there smiled at me.
Should have said the first two surprises, with a smile from anyone behind that counter qualifying as its own surprise.
The third came when she said, “Ms.Danniher, right?Sergeant Shelton said to send you back to his office.”
I did not stammer, but it took me nearly until I was out of her sight, heading to the hallway that led to the offices, to return the smile.
As I passed the office that doubled for observing the now-empty interview room next door, I saw Ferrante handing a younger man in civilian clothes what looked like a written test.
The setup, seen as a snapshot, gave me a job applicant vibe.
Keeping Ferrante occupied earned the guy a passinggood luckthought from me.
At Shelton’s open office door, I held a pose until he looked up.“The woman’s a big improvement over Ferrante for citizen interface.Need to hire more women.”
An infinitesimal narrowing of his eyes recognized I hadn’t acknowledged the surprise of being sent back to his office like an honored guest, unlike his usual greeting.Almost immediately, the recognition expanded, saying my not acknowledging it actually was an acknowledgment.
I tipped my head slightly as I sauntered in and took the chair across his desk from him.It was a remarkably uncomfortable chair, as I knew from previous occasions.I’ve always thought that was deliberate.
My head tip acknowledged his recognition of my not acknowledging...
You get the idea.
And so did he, as his responding head tip showed.
All that head tipping, acknowledging, and recognizing wore us both out, so we sat in silence for a couple beats.
He ended it.
“Enjoyed your lunch, eh.”Not a question.
Not showing off on his part, either.Not in Sherman.From Tullie to Penny to...whoever...to Shelton.Easy-peasy.“I did.Interesting man.Interesting situation.”
He snorted.“Fine for you.We deal in real crime.”
“Give it up, Shelton.If you hadn’t thought there might be something to it, you’d have shut the door on him pronto.”
“I’m working cases that definitely have something to them.Go bother Alvaro,” he said.
Arguing would give Shelton points in our ongoing back-and-forth.
I produced near perkiness to say, “Great.Someone reasonable.”I stood with alacrity.And not solely because it got me out of that chair.
I added a wiggly-finger wave as I exited, which I knew he saw because of the grunt that followed me out the door.
CHAPTER FIVE
I could havegone back to the friendly young woman behind the counter, but that struck me as weak.I turned the opposite direction and went deeper into the building.
And, there, in the break room was my quarry.
Unlike Shelton, Deputy Richard Alvaro gave me a genuine smile of welcome...until he remembered he was Shelton’s protégé.Then he quashed the smile and spoke a noncommittal “Elizabeth.”
