Beautiful Villain

“Good morning,” I say politely. I try to keep the fear out of my voice. Ted’s hair looks shaggy and unwashed. He’s still got the muscles of an athlete, but there’s something else there now. Maybe it’s because he’s been married to long, but it’s almost like the fire has gone out of his eyes. He looks angry, but more than that, he looks tired.

“Hey,” he says gruffly, and he approaches the desk. He places his hands on it and leans over. Instinctively, I lean back to get away. Why are people so comfortable invading the spaces of clerks they don’t know? Yeah, I’m a librarian, and I know pretty much everyone in town, but we aren’t friends. I don’t want him breathing in my face.

“How can I help you?”

“I guess you heard the news, huh?” He says. He stares at me, and I paste a confused look on my face. One of the things about working at a small-town library is that sometimes, people come in just to share gossip. Sometimes they’ll even call on the main phone line just to share gossip. It’s honestly quite strange.

“News?” I ask.

“About Coleman.”

“Who?” I ask, looking down at my computer. I pretend to type something, and then I arrange a couple of papers.

“Don’t you remember?” Ted asks. “A couple years back. The murder?”

“Oh, yeah. Whatever happened to that guy?” I ask, looking up. I cock my head, not willing to give anything away. “I heard he was sent away. Jail or something.”

“Prison, actually, and he’s out now.”

“Oh, well, okay then.”

“It’s not okay,” Ted says. He balls his hands into fists.

“What’s not okay?”

“The fact that he’s out,” Ted spits, and I jump to my feet and move back against the wall. Shit. Why do people do this? He didn’t quite spit on me, but it’s still gross. I’m not exactly friends with Ted, but we aren’t enemies. Still, he’s well on his way to becoming one.

The weird personal space invasion coupled with the fact that Neil doesn’t know who killed Sammy bothers me, and I feel anxiety and irritation start to well up within me. Still, I bite my tongue because I know that soon enough, I’m going to be back home, and I’m going to get to hang out with Neil and tell him all about my day and I’m going to get to hear all about what he discovered.

For now, I continue to play dumb. Who knows? Maybe Ted can provide some useful information, like where he was on the night of the murder or what happened. Does Ted know the killer? Is there any chance?

Could it be him?

“You know,” I say. “I don’t even really remember that night. It was so long ago.”

“It was the night of the game against Wolfton High,” he tells me. “I’m surprised you don’t remember. Then again, maybe you’re younger than me.”

I shrug noncommittally. We’re both the same age. We had math class together for four years, but I’m not surprised he doesn’t remember me. I’m pretty good at blending in, especially when I want to.

“I don’t know,” I say. “I’m not a huge football person. Did you go to the game?”

“Not that night,” he says, shaking his head. “I was supposed to, but…”

His voice trails off. If what Neil said was right, then Ted and Sammy were either involved or thinking about becoming involved. I know Neil was the one who was supposed to meet Sammy to talk about…well, whatever…

Could Ted have gone, too?

Did he know about the old mill as Sammy’s special meeting place?

“Decided not to?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. “I guess it was probably around finals time.” I shrug. “Maybe you had too much homework to have fun.”

“No, it wasn’t that,” he starts to say. “My dad wouldn’t let me go.” He shakes his head, as though it’s the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. “My old man wasn’t exactly a nice guy.”

“The way you’re talking about him makes it sound like he’s not alive anymore.”

“He’s alive and well, but he’s calmed down a lot,” he says.

“That’s good, I guess.”