Page 101 of Head Room

Mike and I shared a look.His autograph-seeker.

“Who is the guy in the background?”Count on Diana to stick with the through-line.

“Kyle Quetcher,” Jennifer said.

“That means nothing—” Mike looked around.“—to any of us.”

“That’s because you guys don’t hang out in the right areas of the Internet.”

“That’s what we have you for.”He grinned.

Jennifer tried to scowl, but didn’t quite pull it off.“Good thing you do.He’s a cop — was a cop — who got kicked out of his department in South Carolina for bad stuff.I just sent a link for a video about him.”

It was billed as an analysis of a “Chickensh** Cop.”The guy did a brief intro, then showed footage from a TV station’s report on a police officer being fired and decertified for multiple infractions.

Apparently, the final straw was taunting a woman driver, saying he was scared of her — trying to invoke officer safety to justify his actions while he dragged her out of her car and slammed her to the ground, as he repeatedly shoutedBoo hoo hoo.

Mike said it well — and far more succinctly than the analyzer — when he said, “Class act,” with vinegar-laced sarcasm.

“That’s awful,” Diana said.

“Oh, there’s worse and that’s from a quick search,” Jennifer said.“I’ll compile the information for you — dates and places and names — for what I’ve found so far and see what else we come up with.My friend’s using his software to see if we can pick up more through facial recognition.”

Mike said, “What I want to know is what he was doing in Sherman, Wyoming.Sure hope it was passing through on his way to Yellowstone with his charming mom.”

“Why are you frowning, Elizabeth?”Diana asked.

“I don’t think Mike’s hope is going to come true.There’s reason to believe this guy is applying for a job at the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Department.”

****

“What?” Diana demanded.“How do you know?”

“I don’t know.I saidreason to believe.I saw him at the sheriff’s department the day before yesterday and it sure looked like he was getting ready to take a written test, under the watchful eyes of Deputy Ferrante.That’s one point.The next day was the lunch and he told the woman he calledMomhe had to go for an interview.That’s a second point.With his background—?”

“Have you told Russ?Or Shelton?”

We all knew that was a reflexive demand on Diana’s part, looking out for her honey, the sheriff.

“How could she tell anyone?We just heard this from Jennifer,” Mike pointed out.

“Of course, of course.Sorry.But now—”

“I don’t know,” I cut in, “wedon’t know anything.We have to report this out before—”

“This is not a story, Elizabeth.It’s—”

“It could be,” Mike inserted.

“—about the welfare of our community.”

“Not yet it’s not.He’s not hired.”I held up my hands, to slow us all down, myself included.

I waited a beat before continuing.

“No offense to Jennifer’s friend, but we don’t know how reliable this software is.First move is to see if these two people are one and the same.Not to mention, if we jump now and there’s nothing to this, whatever credibility we might have with the Cottonwood County Sheriff’s Department—”

Very tactful on my part naming no names, such as Conrad and Shelton.