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here in Bluff Falls?”
    Charlie shrugged. “I suppose so. Don’t see much of a reason for me to stick around.”
    Perez went over to Charlie and put a hand on his shoulder. “Trust me when I say it might be best to move on. I know it’s hard to find out that someone you care about is gone, but the sooner you put this behind you and get on with your life, go back to work and your normal routine, the better.” He felt Nikki’s eyes on him, but he ignored the stare that was just as judgmental as his had been only moments earlier, when he’d glared at Nikki and Charlie.
    “I’m kind of between things right now,” Charlie admitted.
    Perez bristled at the sound of it. The last thing the town needed was another homeless drifter, a jobless mooch, messing with the locals. He regarded the man a little closer and realized he was certainly dressed for the part.  “If you’re looking for a job, I know Williston always has jobs available, as long as you’re willing to work hard. The oil business isn’t easy.”
    “Uh…” Charlie said looking awkward. “I’m on medical leave. Can’t say work is really what’s on my mind.”
    “I’m sorry,” Nikki said, leaning forward in her chair again.
    “It’s okay,” Charlie said smiling.
    “Maybe heading back home and getting some rest is the way to go then,” Perez said. “We can give you a lift to the bus station if you like.”
    Charlie looked down at the table and clicked his tongue. “I’m not really sure if bed rest is necessary for a brain tumor, Officer. I been thinking that I’d like to get out and see has much as I can instead of lying around waiting for the inevitable.” The tone in the room changed as Charlie slid back in his chair and stood up slowly.
    “Oh. I-I’m sorry,” Perez said. “I didn’t know.”
    Charlie shrugged. “It’s okay. How could you have known? Bad things happen to people sometimes. I just wanted to see my friend while I had the chance, but I guess bad things happen all over.”
    Perez and Nikki looked at each other, both at a loss for words.
    “Um,” Charlie said, “I was wondering if y’all have any idea where Kay was staying? Maybe it would make me feel better if I could help out with cleaning up her personal items.”
    “We normally leave that to family,” Perez said. He could hear his own voice trail off, his mind still on Charlie’s brain tumor, then wafting to thoughts of Elsa.
    Charlie shook his head. “She doesn’t have any. I suppose I’m about all that’s left of who she used to be.”
    Hamill looked back and Perez and shrugged. It felt like some kind of horribly grim Greek tragedy: dead friend, brain tumor, no place to go.
    “We’ve got no official place of residence noted,” Perez said, “but the lot manager of a trailer park down from where Kay was found said she’d been seen around there over few weeks prior.”
    “Oh, okay,” Charlie said. “Well, I know this sounds weird, but do you think you’d mind having someone drop me off where Kay was found? Please?”
    Perez and Hamill agreed that it would be okay. It was somewhat of a strange request, but Perez didn’t see any harm in it. The guy did seem broken up about things when he talked directly about Kay, and he hoped showing him the crime scene would give him the closure he needed to take the hint and move on. As far as Perez was concerned, the sooner Mr. Charlie Kelly left Bluff Falls, the better.
     

Chapter 5
     
    The sun had nearly set by the time Officers Perez and Hamill dropped Charlie off at the lot where Kay had been found. It wasn’t so much that he’d lied to them about his relationship to her, as he hadn’t considered himself any other way. He hadn’t seen her in nearly a decade, and that day at the carnival was the longest time they’d spent together. Still, it’s a man’s job to do something about it when something so careless, so senseless happens.  Kay had gotten strung out and Charlie decided that, as much as any