Cooked Goose

told you, he isn’t here.”
    “Yeah, yeah. Just give him the friggin’ message, would you? Do a good deed; it’s Christmas for Pete’s sake.”
    She slammed the phone down, hoping he still had it to his ear.
    When she was walking down the stairs, she could hear Margie chatting away in the kitchen, even more animated than before.
    The moment she entered the room, Margie jumped up from her chair and hurried to her. “ Savannah , I just remembered something else,” she said, grasping Savannah’s arm. “What’s that, darlin’?”
    “I just told Dirk... and he thought it was pretty important... the rapist dude... he was wearing a ring. A big one. When he whacked me on the head, it really hurt.” Savannah led her back to her chair. “That is important. I should have asked you about that. Which hand was he wearing it on?”
    “His right one, the one he was holding the knife with.“
    “What did it look like?”
    “It was big, like a class ring. In the middle was a dark circle and inside that was a big, metal star.”
    Dirk gave Savannah a knowing look, which she returned. “If I give you a piece of paper,” she said to Margie, “can you draw it for me?”
    The girl shrugged. “I’m not very artistic, but I’ll try.” Savannah took a legal pad and pen from the drawer beneath the phone and handed them to her. “Here, just do the best you can.”
    Several minutes later, they had a fairly decent sketch of a man’s ring. With satisfaction, Savannah noted that the style and shape of the ring in Margie’s drawing could have caused the bruising on Charlene Yardley’s face.
    “For someone who isn’t very artistic, that looks pretty good to me,” Dirk said, still buttering the kid up. She beamed, reveling in adult male praise.
    “Do you think it’s a fair representation of what you saw?” Savannah asked her, just making sure.
    “As best I can remember. I was really scared and it was pretty dark... but... yeah, it looks like it.”
    “Great.” Dirk tore the yellow sheet from the pad and studied it carefully. “We’ll have Charlene Yardley and the other victims look at it,” he said, “and see if they remember seeing it, too.”
    Again, the doorbell sounded. Savannah’s two cats, who had just ventured into the kitchen and buried their whiskers in their food dishes, ran for cover.
    “Hmmm... Now whoever could that be?” she said as she sauntered to the front door. She had a good idea who her guest was, and she was in no hurry to let the Big Bad Wolf into her humble cottage.
    “Why, Captain,” she said, flashing him her most saccharine smile, “how nice of you to grace my doorstep with your auspicious presence.”
    Shoving the door open, he barged into the room. “Cram it, Reid.” He paused and glanced around the living room. “Where’s my daughter?”
    Savannah couldn’t resist a little verbal jab. “You must have gotten my message,” she said sweetly. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important.”
    He stared at her blankly for a moment, then glowered, his little piggy eyes squinting even tighter. “Where the hell’s my kid?” he demanded.
    “Well, if you’re going to be snotty about it.” She waved a hand toward the back of the house. “Kitchen. There.”
    He stomped past her, pushing her aside. She considered giving him a karate chop between the shoulder blades, but decided on sarcasm instead. “Do come in and make yourself at home,” she muttered as he marched through her living room and into the kitchen. “Just take off your coat and throw it in the corner. Don’t see why you won’t stay a little longer.” Bloss ignored her and headed straight for his daughter, who was cowering in her chair.
    “What’s this shit about you wrecking your new car?” he snapped.
    Dirk gave a Savannah a look and whispered, “So much for not swearing around minors.”
    Anger replaced the look of fear on the teenager’s face. “Hi, Daddy,” she said dryly. “It’s nice to see you, too.”
    “Is it totalled?”
    “Yes, the car is smashed to smithereens. And I’m fine, thanks for asking.”
    Savannah could hear the pain behind the girl’s sarcasm, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from interfering.
    “I’ve made one damned payment on that car.” His voice rose along with the florid coloring in his puffy cheeks. “One payment! And you’ve already smacked it up! I can’t believe it! What kind of idiot are you?”
    Savannah had had enough. She stepped between the