Read Elaine Orr - Jolie Gentil 03 - When the Carny Comes to Town for Free Online

thunderstorm coming in.”  George glanced back at his notes.  “What’s done is done.”
    When neither of us said anything he glanced up.  “Sorry,” he said, taking in our stony stares.  “They figure most people who were at the carnival yesterday aren’t there today, except the workers, and they’re talking to them.  So,” his tone grew cautious, “either of you seen him yet?”
    Ramona looked at her watch.  “I’ll let you guys talk.  I told Roland I’d come back to the store for a bit.  He wants to take his nephew to the carnival.”  She looked at me.  “I’ll be back about six or seven and I’ll bring you a pillow.”
    She left and George looked at me.  “You’re sleeping here?”
    “Probably just tonight.”  I looked away, afraid I’d tear up.
    He stared a moment, then repeated his question about whether we’d seen Scoobie yet.
    “He looks, well, better than I thought he would,” I said.  “I thought his head would be really swollen and he’d be all black and blue or something.”
    “He’s not so banged up?” he asked.
    I thought for a second.  “He is.  His head is bandaged from where they put in a catheter to drain some fluid from his brain.”
    George winced.
    “But it’s not like a huge turban.  He has a bruise on his face, and a puffy eye.”  I thought for a moment.  “You can’t see the back injuries.”
    “He awake?” George asked.
    I shook my head.  “They said once they knew he could hear them and follow a couple instructions they sedated him.  It ’s supposed to help his brain heal faster.”
    George made a couple notes, and I looked at him more closely.  “Did the police tell you what was wrong with him?”  I asked.
    “Yeah, sure,” he said, not looking up.
    “No they didn’t.  You’re fishing, same as always.”  I could feel myself redden and it was an effort not to yell at him.
    He stared at me very directly.  “They said he was hurt in a fall and maybe somebody pushed him.  You know cops keep back stuff.”
    “Because there’s always some total ass who will print it,” I said, regretting my word choice almost as soon as it was out of my mouth.
    Since he wanted to keep talking to me George didn’t show any offense taken.  “I don’t just work here, I live here.  I’m not saying I sugar coat stuff, but if the cops have a good reason to keep something quiet I pretty much go along with it.”
    Too stubborn to apologize I snapped back.  “You’re only saying that because you want something from me.”
    He shut his notebook and stood.  “I’ll see you around, Jolie.”
    I SAW SCOOBIE several more times before Ramona came back with a pillow and a plastic bag of grocery store raw vegetables.  While she was in with Scoobie I ate a few, wishing they were dipped and fried.
    “What do you think?” I asked when she came back.
    “Well, you know he’s just sleeping.  But I watched the numbers on the equipment he’s hooked to and his blood pressure and oxygen level look good.”
    All I’d done was stare at him, and I felt stupid for not looking around the area by his bed. 
    “When my father had a stroke a couple years ago I learned what all those numbers mean,” she said.  Ramona helped herself to a couple pieces of cauliflower.  “I just don’t get who would hurt him.”
    “That’s the $64,000 question,” I said.  “It had to be a long time after the carnival shut down for the night.  People would have been taking a shortcut through those trees to get to the popsicle district.  If he had a fight with somebody there before he went to the boardwalk people would have heard.”  The popsicle district is a part of Ocean Alley with small bungalows painted in vivid colors.  Thanks to Ramona’s real estate agent uncle, Lester Argrow, I appraise a fair number of houses in that area.
    She nodded.  “I thought that, too.”
    “Did you hear who found him?”
    She shook her head.  There was a cough from the area near