red moon over west virginia - 5. the bait

by jeremy witherington

part 5 of 36

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jeanie decided to wait until a bum, preferably female, came through town, and arrest them for vagrancy or whatever, and then propose to them that she, jeanie, would go easy on them if they agreed to act as bait to entrap pete pickering in his serial killing. it was not the greatest plan, but it was the best she could come up with. and she had a while to wait. meanwhile, pete pickering continued blithely riding around in his pickup, picking up hitchhikers, mostly at night but sometimes in broad daylight or on cloudy or rainy days. and there was another murder. and maria theresa refused to hear anything against pete. just a bum in a beef with another bum, she announced blandly, when jeanie showed her the pictures of the bludgeoned body found beside the highway just inside the county line. then desdemona appeared. she was walking along the road, free as a bird and happy as a hot dog, when jeanie pulled up beside her. going anywhere? she asked. just passing through. got a name? folks call me desdemona. got any i d? no, i lost it back in butte, montana. there was this guy, see - want a meal? i’ll take it. get in. desdemona got in. i got a proposition for you, jeanie said as she started the cruiser up. along with the meal? yes, along with the meal. is the meal nice and hot? it might be one or the other, i can’t guarantee both. br> next