Bingo Barge Murder Read Online Free Page B

“Did you see Coop this morning?”
    Rocky looked at me, his oddly beautiful golden eyes big, his mouth full. “Yes, yes I did see Nick Coop, Shay O’Hanlon.” His attention returned to the plate and he shoveled another scoopful in.
    Coop had given me some “talking to Rocky” advice. If he felt safe with me, I could ask him questions and he’d do his best to answer. Conversely, if he felt threatened, he’d answer with a single word. If I was lucky.
    And where was my luck going to land me? I sipped from my straw and swallowed, considering my next words. “What did you tell Coop about Stanley Anderson?”
    His eyes flicked up to me and then to his plate. “I told Nick Coop that Mr. Stanley was lying on the floor in his office. That big bingo marker Mr. Stanley liked so much was on the floor by his head. Gross.” The fork sped to Rocky’s mouth again.
    “Do you know what happened to Mr. Stanley, Rocky?” I asked, adopting his name for the dead man.
    “You must chew every bite twenty-six times, Shay O’Hanlon.”
    Wow. “Uh huh. What happened to Mr. Stanley?”
    The chewing didn’t slow, but some food particles came flying out as he spoke. “Someone bonked him on the noodle and killed him.”
    “Do you know who bonked him?”
    “Must remember to drink when you eat,” he announced, and took a few healthy slugs of his pop, his throat working as the liquid slid down. Then he said, “Nick Coop didn’t hurt Mr. Stanley.”
    “I know he didn’t,” I said softly. “Did someone say he did?”
    Jaw muscles bunched as Rocky chowed down. “The police people asked me about him.”
    I closed my eyes and inhaled, willing my heart not to leap out of my chest. I blinked, then said, “You know he didn’t have anything to do with that, right?”
    Rocky hunched over his plate and shoveled another forkload in. “No way did Nick Coop hurt Mr. Stanley. Nick Coop could never ever hurt anything.”
    “Rocky,” I said very softly. “Look at me.”
    He slowly slid his gaze to mine. I said, “I know Coop didn’t hurt Mr. Stanley. But do you have any idea who might have done this bad thing to Mr. Stanley?”
    Rocky’s cheek twitched. “Lots of people were mad at Mr. Stanley, Shay O’Hanlon.” The beans finished, his attention moved on to the rice. He ate one thing at a time, making sure not to mix the different foods on his plate.
    I sighed. This was worse than talking to a toddler. “Who was mad at Mr. Stanley?”
    Without moving his head he said, “coopmsritabuzzrileyms—,” and trailed off into unintelligible garble as he finished his twenty-sixth chew and swallowed.
    “What?”
    He repeated his words without taking a breath.
    Coop’s name was at the beginning, and a couple of the other names sounded vaguely familiar. Coop had lots of crazy tales about the Bingo Barge regulars, and I figured Rocky’s list had to encompass a few of those bingo nuts.
    I pulled a pen out of my pocket and wrote Coop on a napkin. I showed it to Rocky, and he nodded enthusiastically.
    “Will you tell me the names one more time?” My pen hovered over the napkin.
    He gave me a disgusted look but begrudgingly said, “coopmsritabuzzrileymslavonneandsomebig—,” ending in more gibberish. Then he said very clearly, “Buzz Riley’s a very bad man, Shay O’Hanlon.”
    I hid a grin and quickly scrawled Rita , Buzz Riley , and Lavonne while Rocky slurped the last of the contents in his cup. Coop had told me some run-ins he’d had with Mr. Riley, and he indeed sounded like a first-class ass. What did “some big” mean? A big man? A big woman? A big bingo ball? “Hey, Rocky, what did you mean when you say ‘and some big’?”
    “I am full now, Shay O’Hanlon. Thank you.”
    It seemed my Q&A session had come to a close.
    Rocky chattered as I drove him home. The names he gave me ran over and over through my head. At his boarding house, he opened the door to get out of the truck, turned to me, and reached for my hand. “Shay