Read The Dead Man in Indian Creek for Free Online Page B

gnawed his stick, growling softly, and the woodpecker continued to hammer away. The sun was sinking down behind the trees, and the air was cooling fast. To my embarrassment, my stomach rumbled loudly, reminding me it was time for dinner.
    "So what are you going to do?" I asked Parker as we pedaled slowly home.
    He chewed his lower lip thoughtfully. "Keep an eye on Evans, see what I can find out."
    "You could tell Sergeant Williams," I said.
    Parker shook his head. "We need more evidence, Armentrout." He sat back on his seat, hands in his pockets as we coasted down a hill. "We'll go over to the Olde Mill tonight, okay? I'll come by around nine and get you."
    Before I could say yes or no, Parker turned the corner and sped away toward his house, hunching low over the handlebars like a racer.
    ***
    True to his word, Parker showed up at quarter to nine. Luckily Mom was too busy helping Charity with her homework to notice me leaving the house. Dad didn't notice either; as usual, he was in his study doing something with his computer.
    Before we'd gone two blocks, we heard the clink clink of dog tags behind us. It was Otis, of course.
    Parker glared at him. "How did you get loose?"
    Otis barked and wagged his tail, then ran on ahead, circling back every now and then to make sure we were still behind him.
    "No matter where I go," Parker said, "he tracks me down. I just can't get away from that dog."
    When we got to the Olde Mill, the shop was dark. In the moonlight, the chrysanthemums in the barrels flanking the front door were the color of blood, and the tiny panes of glass in the windows glinted dully. The old-fashioned sign, hand-painted by Pam, creaked as a little gust of wind sent a swirl of leaves dancing across the deserted parking lot. With its stone walls and green shutters, the shop looked like a fairytale cottage, not the sort of place anyone would expect to find drugs or murder.
    "There's nobody here," I whispered to Parker.
    "He lives in the back," Parker said. "Come on, we'll sneak around the corner and look in the workroom windows."
    "Are you sure we shouldn't just go to the police?" I knew I was being a coward, but I couldn't help it.
    "Are you kidding?" Parker stared at me. "Who'd believe us? You know what a model citizen Evans is, giving money to the high school and the library and all. Like I told you, we have to get some proof."
    Then, warning Otis to be quiet, Parker led me around back. Squeezing between a bush and the wall, we edged up to a window and peeked in.
    The first thing we saw was Pam. She was sitting at a worktable cleaning the face of an old doll. At first, I thought she was alone, but after a few minutes Evans came into the room. While Parker and I watched, he put his arm around her. Then he bent down and kissed her, a long kiss, the kind that makes you sick in movies when they show it up close and you can see teeth and lips and neck muscles and stuff.
    Next to me, Parker cursed, the worst words I'd ever heard him say, but I didn't blame him. I felt like swearing myself.
    Finally Evans straightened up. Hefting the doll, he tilted it back and forth, grinning. Pam looked up at him and said something. She was frowning, but Evans just shrugged, patted her head, and laid the doll down on the table. Then he started kissing her again.
    Parker muttered a few more terrible curse words and backed away from the window. His face was pale and angry in the light streaming through the dirty glass.
    At that moment, Otis scared up a cat from somewhere and started chasing it across the gravel parking lot, barking loudly. Immediately the back door opened and Evans was standing there, frowning at us.
    "I came by to get my mother," Parker said, walking right up to him.
    Evans didn't step aside. He stood where he was, blocking the doorway, and Pam joined him.
    "Parker, what are you doing here?" she asked. In all honesty, she didn't look pleased to see us.
    "I was just getting a little hungry," Parker said, "and I was