Under the Dome

“We cooled it out,” she said, “but he was the one who showed us how. Probably saved even more people from being seriously hurt. I can’t square that with what you found in that pantry. Do you have any idea what the order of the deaths were? Other than Brenda last?”

“Angie and Dodee first,” Jackie said. “Decomp was less advanced with Coggins, so he came later.”

“Who found them?”

“Junior Rennie. He was suspicious because he saw Angie’s car in the garage. But that’s not important. Barbara ’s the important thing here. Are you sure he arrived after Rose and Anse? Because that doesn’t look good.”

“I am, because he wasn’t in Rose’s van. Just the two of them got out. So if we assume he wasn’t busy killing people, then where would he…?” But that was obvious. “Piper, can I use your phone?”

“Of course.”

Julia briefly consulted the pamphlet-sized local phone book, then used Piper’s cell to call the restaurant. Rose’s greeting was curt: “We’re closed until further notice. Bunch of assholes arrested my cook.”

“Rose? It’s Julia Shumway.”

“Oh. Julia.” Rose sounded only a shade less truculent. “What do you want?”

“I’m trying to check out a possible alibi timeline for Barbie. Are you interested in helping?”

“You bet your ass. The idea that Barbie murdered those people is ridiculous. What do you want to know?”

“I want to know if he was at the restaurant when the riot started at Food City.”

“Of course.” Rose sounded perplexed. “Where else would he be right after breakfast? When Anson and I left, he was scrubbing the grills.”

7

The sun was going down, and as the shadows grew lengthened, Claire McClatchey grew more and more nervous. Finally she went into the kitchen to do what she had been putting off: use her husband’s cell phone (which he had forgotten to take on Saturday morning; he was always forgetting it) to call hers. She was terrified it would ring four times and then she’d hear her own voice, all bright and chirrupy, recorded before the town she lived in became a prison with invisible bars. Hi, you’ve reached Claire’s voice mail. Please leave a message at the beep.

And what would she say? Joey, call back if you’re not dead?

She reached for the buttons, then hesitated. Remember, if he doesn’t answer the first time, it’s because he’s on his bike and can’t get the phone out of his backpack before it goes to voice mail. He’ll be ready when you call the second time, because he’ll know it’s you.

But if she got voice mail the second time? And the third? Why had she ever let him go in the first place? She must have been mad.

She closed her eyes and saw a picture of nightmare clarity: the telephone poles and storefronts of Main Street plastered with photos of Joe, Benny, and Norrie, looking like any kids you ever saw on a turnpike rest area bulletin board, where the captions always contained the words LAST SEEN ON.

She opened her eyes and dialed quickly, before she could lose her nerve. She was preparing her message—I’m calling back in ten seconds and this time you better answer, mister—and was stunned when her son answered, loud and clear, halfway through the first ring.

“Mom! Hey, Mom!” Alive and more than alive: bubbling over with excitement, from the sound.

Where are you? she tried to say, but at first she couldn’t manage anything. Not a single word. Her legs felt rubbery and elastic; she leaned against the wall to keep from falling on the floor.

“Mom? You there?”

In the background she heard the swish of a car, and Benny, faint but clear, hailing someone: “Dr. Rusty! Yo, dude, whoa!”

She was finally able to throw her voice in gear. “Yes. I am. Where are you?”

“Top of Town Common Hill. I was gonna call you because it’s gettin near dark—tell you not to worry—and it rang in my hand. Surprised the heck out of me.”

Well that put a spoke in the old parental scolding-wheel, didn’t it? Top of Town Common Hill. They’ll be here in ten minutes. Benny probably wanting another three pounds of food. Thank You, God.

Norrie was talking to Joe. It sounded like Tell her, tell her. Then her son was in her ear again, so loudly jubilant that she had to hold the receiver away from her ear a little bit. “Mom, I think we found it! I’m almost positive! It’s in the orchard on top of Black Ridge!”

“Found what, Joey?”