Page 38 of Ride the Lightning

“Get it, honey,” Marla said from a rocking chair on the porch. Betty barked twice from her perch on Marla’s lap. “Miss Thing agrees.”

They’d been so wrapped up in one another that neither had heard Marla come out of the house.

“You must be Avery,” Marla said.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, sounding pleased that she’d heard of him.

“You’re as cute as a button. No wonder you have the big guy tied up in knots.”

“Okay,” Jonah said, cutting her off before she could say more. He looked back at Avery. “Can I call you later?”

“I’ll be pissed if you don’t.”

Jonah reluctantly released Avery and took a few steps back.

“It was nice meeting you, Marla,” Avery said. The French bulldog barked sharply. “And you too, beautiful Betty.” He raked his eyes over Jonah one last time before getting in his car.

Jonah waited until Avery drove away before returning to the porch. He flopped down in the chair beside Marla and began rocking.

“Attaboy,” Marla said proudly.

Jonah laughed. “Ready for lunch? I have plenty of leftover barbecue from last night.”

“No, thank you,” Marla said. “I think I’ll just head home. I think I’ll make some soup before conquering my mighty to-do list.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you? I’m pretty handy.”

Marla patted his knees. “I know it, baby, but it’s notthatkind of list. And besides, you’re already tackling my number one priority. Knowing you’re doing all you can for Earl has helped me far more than the medicines my doctor has prescribed to keep me comfortable. The little nap in your recliner was the best I’ve slept in weeks. I will never be able to thank you enough.” She stroked Betty as she spoke. “Well, I’m giving you this incredible dog to look after you when I’m gone, so maybe we are even.”

“Your friendship is the only thanks I need,” Jonah told her.

“Boy, don’t you get all maudlin on me. There’s no time for that,” Marla said, rising to her feet. “I have one more favor to ask.”

“Name it.”

“Drag my heavy-ass valise over to my house. Lord, why I packed so much for a weekend in Atlanta is beyond me.” Marla smiled wistfully. “It was worth it.”

Jonah wanted to ask about the visit with her family, but he didn’t want to pry. Instead, he stood up and said, “I’m surprised Amos’s old car made it to Atlanta.”

“Her paint might be fading, but her engine purrs strong under the hood. Kind of like Amos.” Marla cackled and slapped Jonah’s arm as she passed by him. “Come along now. You have work to do and supercomputers named Marla to build.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Once Jonah got Marla settled, he returned home and got busy ordering the parts he needed to transform Stella 2.0 into a Marla the Magnificent instead. Afterward, Jonah planned out his interview strategy for the next day. There were only five people on the list, so he should easily knock out those interviews in one day and hopefully find out more about Earl’s family.

He had time to kill and decided to visit to the Carnegie Library on Henry Street. Jonah headed to their genealogy and history section to look through theirSavannah Morning NewsObituaries Index, which dated back to 1913. As he suspected, the newspaper didn’t publish an obituary for Earl Ison. His family had rejected him, so they wouldn’t have gone through the effort and expense to place an obituary notice in the paper. They would’ve quietly buried their shame along with Earl. He switched to the digital copies of news publications.

The library had millions of statewide newspaper publications for their patrons to view, spanning from 1786 to 1986. They proved to be an excellent source of information about Bo Cahill’s alleged crimes. Jonah noted the names of Bo’s family members in his phone, then went back to looking for any information about Earl. He only came across one small article in a Fulton County press that was published the day after the construction crew discovered Earl’s body. The heading read:Local Man Found Dead by Construction Crew. It listed Earl’s name and age but didn’t provide the name of the men who’d found him. That information was also omitted from the official SPD case file.

It made sense that the police didn’t release the men’s names to the media, but to not even document the file? Why?

It was presumed the perpetrator chose the kill site because it was relatively secluded since all the homes in the subdivision were still under construction. What if there was something more significant about the site? Did the cops look for a connection between Earl and the men who found his body? What about the men who owned the construction companies working in the subdivision? There would’ve been several subcontractors involved. If Milton and Morrissey spoke to them, they didn’t note it in Earl’s file.

Again, Jonah wondered if the detectives were lazy, incompetent, or corrupt.

When his stomach started rumbling to protest his lack of attention, Jonah glanced at his watch and was shocked to see it was almost six. He’d skipped lunch, thinking he wouldn’t be at the library long, but he should’ve known better. He had a lifelong habit of skipping food in favor of exploring.

“A boy can’t chase his dreams on an empty stomach,” Granny had said nearly every day before school. Jonah had never cared for anything heavy on his stomach first thing in the morning.