The Hayloft. A 1950s Mystery

you?”
    “All I know is that the first time you two played nim, she lost and had to run around the school naked.”
    “Naked? Is that what she said? My, that girl does like to exaggerate. Well it’s true, she is somewhat of an exhibitionist, but she was hardly naked. Maybe I should have stipulated that. No, she was wearing a bra and panties. And she did it at night.”
    Barney opened a drawer of a hand-painted dresser and rummaged through some papers. He pulled one out and handed it to me. It was a dark and fuzzy black-and-white print of a girl running while wearing what looked like a white bra and panties. By squinting, I could almost recognize the figure as Natalie.
    “You need to work on your photography,” I said, handing it back to him. “I’ve seen better pictures taken in a girls’ locker room.”
    “It’s not a great shot,” Barney admitted. “That’s why I said she had to run during the day the second time. I was determined to get a better picture of her. Oh well. The best laid plans of mice and men.”
    “But what started this whole thing? Sylvia told me you were hot for Natalie’s bod, and she wouldn’t have anything to do with you.”
    “Story of the life of almost every boy in school. But it’s at least partially true. Last spring she was having trouble with—guess what—math. She led me on so I would help her. Agreed to go with me to the prom. She stood me up when someone else asked her who has the qualification of being taller than I am.”
    “Not Joe.”
    “No. She just started going with Joe a few weeks ago at the beginning of the school year. Anyway, I was pissed off enough that I harassed her. She agreed to play nim with me to get me off her back. If I had lost, I would have had to stay away from her and do something so humiliating I’m not going to tell you about it. She has an imagination, er, unusual in high school girls. The nim game wasn’t the smartest thing she could have done, but then she’s not known for her brainpower.”
    “You mentioned skeletons in Natalie’s closet.”
    “Yes.” Barney looked thoughtful. “Before Joe and before me, Natalie made a play for…Ralph.”
    “Ralph? My cousin Ralph?”
    “The very same.”
    “When did this happen?”
    “The first semester of last year.”
    “And then what happened?”
    “Ralph started going with Ruth.”
    “It’s hard to believe he would leave Natalie for Ruth.”
    “Truth is stranger than fiction.”
    “And it must be difficult for Natalie and Ruth to be cheerleaders together.”
    “Cheerleaders are elected by the students, so Natalie didn’t have much choice in the matter.”
    “You don’t think that Natalie would have been mad enough to push Ralph off the balcony.”
    “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” Barney looked at me with an evil grin befitting The Shadow. “I’m just telling you the facts. I’ll let you do with them what you will. Let’s play chess.”

    CHAPTER 22
    The double funeral for Willie and Dennis Rice was held on Tuesday afternoon. School closed early so that the students could attend. The yellow school buses took them into Carter where the service was being conducted at the old Presbyterian Church on Main Street. The buses had taken students to Ralph’s funeral, too. I drove my car since we didn’t have to return to school.
    I parked some distance away from the small stone church with the spire reaching toward heaven, since nearby street parking spots and the miniscule church parking lot were filled. As I walked toward the church, I spotted Dr. Graves entering it from a block away and wondered what he was thinking about.
    It appeared that the church wasn’t large enough to hold all the students, in addition to the family and friends of the Rices. Every seat inside was filled by the time I arrived at the door, and there was standing room only. The students were being told to stay outside. Anticipating this, a loudspeaker had been set up outside the door, so that those who couldn’t make it inside could hear the service.
    The church had been built right on the street long long ago. I was one of perhaps fifty people, mostly students, who were standing on the front steps and the sidewalk that ran along Main Street. Sylvia wasn’t among them. She had come on one of the buses and apparently had made it inside.
    One reason I had been dreading going to this funeral is because I thought it would remind me of Ralph, even though I hadn’t attended Ralph’s