Good Cop/Bad Cop. Rebecca Cofer - Dartt
were on Genung Road. He got the bicycle out of the back and slung a knapsack over his shoulder. He usually had a gun in it since he always wanted to protect himself. He had on a dark blue parka with a fur-lined hood.
Joanna turned the truck around and as she drove away, she saw Tony in the rearview mirror, standing up as he pedaled the bike uphill toward Ellis Hollow Road. It was 3:20 P.M. The temperature was ten degrees above zero and falling.
A boisterous crowd of students filed out of Ithaca High School late that afternoon. Excitement and relief were in the air as students looked forward to a long winter break. Shelby Harris and Jim Ciolek talked about their plans to exchange gifts that night as they walked to the school bus stop. He watched her board the bus with Meghan Long.
Shelby and Meghan had become good friends after they started high school the previous year and rode the same bus. Today they ate some of the leftover cookies Shelby had brought to class while they talked about a lot of things coming up—what Shelby had gotten Jim for Christmas, plans they had for the holidays. Shelby invited Meghan to go skiing with them when Jan Colbert came to visit from Ohio the following week. Jan and Shelby were close friends as middle school classmates and neighbors in Ellis Hollow. Shelby said her family would be celebrating her father’s fortieth birthday on a ski trip to Greek Peak on the Thursday after Christmas. Meghan was welcome to join them. Meghan got off the bus at Eagles Head Road. Shelby called, “I’ll call you next week. Have a great Christmas.”
Shelby got off two minutes later in front of her house.
When Shelby walked in the side door through the mud room, Dodie was on the phone with Rita Demerest, a Grey Goose customer who had shopped at the store earlier that day, finding the note on the door that welcomed customers to browse and then ring the house next door to make purchases. Rita explained to Dodie that she didn’t come over to the house because her child was cold and she was afraid of getting stuck in the snowy driveway. Dodie assured Rita she would deliver the wooden Christmas trees and Santas, along with the antique tool chest Rita had arranged to buy earlier, that evening around 7:00 or 7:30 after Dodie dropped Shelby off at her boyfriend’s house.
It had been a frantic day for Dodie. She’d been on the road half the day, going to the bank, picking up gifts, doing a huge grocery shopping for Christmas, and leaving space heaters on Barb White’s doorstep, thinking they could use the extra heat in their high-ceilinged kitchen during this frigid weather.
While her mother talked on the phone, Shelby smiled and gave her a little wave. Then she poured a mug of cider and took it upstairs to her bedroom. She was thirsty after all the cookies she and Meghan had eaten on the bus. Thoughts ran through her mind about meeting Jim that night. She wondered what his reaction would be to the long-sleeved sport shirt she’d bought for him at the mall. And she tried to imagine what he would give her. Then her mind turned to the evening ahead. What should she wear. Probably her dark blue wool pants (it was so cold) and the white angora sweater. Once she decided, she had to find the wrapping paper and scissors. Shelby liked wrapping gifts and for Jim she wanted to take her time and make the package look especially nice. She would make a card for him, too.
Marc Harris had a long trip on the school bus from DeWitt Middle School to Ellis Hollow, but he didn’t mind the ride. He was a sociable kid who liked to joke around with his friends, so the time went by quickly for him. Everyone on the bus was excited and loud that Friday afternoon before winter break. Several of Marc’s friends got off a stop before him and started a snowball fight at the comer of Hunt Hill Road and Ellis Hollow Road.
Marc wanted to get on home. He didn’t plan to do much for the rest of the day since lie had to play in a hockey game in Geneva the next morning at five o’clock. They’d have to leave the house by four o’clock. His dad would be one of the drivers as he often was.
Marc loved to play defense. He knew he wasn’t good enough to skate front line, but he loved the sport and had practiced so he could skate backwards and do crossovers pretty well. It bolstered his confidence when he found out that his coach he’d had the previous year traded a player for him after Marc hadn’t come up in his draw.
Annie, the family dog, was excited when Marc came home. She yelped and jumped up on him, following him around the house until he got the leash and took her outside. Doris Snyder, the Ellis Hollow mail carrier, saw Marc come out of the front door with his dog shortly after four. About thirty minutes later on her route, she noticed a bicyclist in a hooded parka who looked like he was having trouble riding on the snow-covered shoulders of Ellis Hollow Road. He was headed east—in the direction of the Harris home.
About 4:15 Ann Parziale called Dodie to discuss the previous night’s meeting of the Parents’ Advisory Committee on high school athletics. Ann and Dodie were good friends. They invited each other over for lunch often and talked about their kids. Dodie told Ann she would be taking Shelby over to her boyfriend’s house that night to exchange gifts. They said they would talk after all the holiday confusion was over.
After she got off the phone, Dodie slipped on her parka and told Marc she had a few things to pick up for a customer at the shop before it got completely dark. She thought about asking Marc to help her, but the tool chest and other items Rita Demerest had selected weren’t heavy. Dodie went out the front door, yelling to Marc that she’d be back in a minute and would he please bring in the rest of the groceries from the van? As Marc passed the kitchen window he decided to flip on the outside Christmas lights. He saw his mother standing with someone in the driveway facing the shop. Who could that be? He didn’t see a car parked anywhere. It was probably a neighbor who wanted to buy something at the Grey Goose.
Marc left the window and walked through the kitchen to the door that led to the garage, the unknown figure turned from Dodie and started walking toward the house.
One garage bay was open, the side next to the house where Dodie usually parked the van. She hadn’t moved it inside yet, so Marc walked through the garage, and as he slid the v an door open to get a bag of groceries out, a figure in a hooded parka and ski mask walked toward him.
“Your Mom said you had a air pump I could use. My bicycle’s back tire is flat.”
“Sure, it’s in the garage on one of the shelves,” Marc told him. Marc was glad he wasn’t riding a bike on a cold night like this.
Marc Walker, a friend of the Harrises who lived nearby on Eagles Head Road, drove by their house on his way to pick up his son at Caroline School about 4:45 that December afternoon and noticed two people standing in the driveway, facing the Grey Goose. He thought one person must be Dodie and the other he wasn’t sure about—not Marc, because the figure had a ragamuffin appearance.
The sales and marketing departments at Deanco where Tony worked traditionally got together for an office lunch party at holiday time. Eveiyone brought a dish-to-pass and exchanged gifts. Normally Tony left the office during lunch and picked up a quick sandwich to eat so he could spend his time doing other things. A few days before he had made a trip to a Dryden card dealer to pick up 1990 baseball cards to give to an employee’s children as well as a set to give Marc.
The party began promptly. It was a merry and lively scene (only nonalcoholic drinks served) as presents were opened, plates were filled and refilled with good homemade food, and people laughed and talked until quitting time. Cathy Carpenter had drawn Tony’s name for the gift exchange. She gave him a Syracuse University basketball, knowing what an avid fan he was. They were an easygoing group who got along well with each other.
About 5:15 Tony left the gathering and walked out to the parking lot with Bob Morazzi,