Chapter 3 – Cue it Up-4
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Ray’s bar is a dive in the Northeast part of Zanesville. It isn’t far from the AK Steel mill and its usual clientele is reflective of that. I walked in there in full uniform just about the time Sterling Moon said he was in there the day before. I was hoping to catch the same staff working the same hours. I was also prepared to catch a little flak from the bar patrons. My history there wasn’t a good one.
The place smelled so badly of spilt beer and old, stale cigarettes that my nose started to twitch as soon as I walked in. Surprisingly, it was all but deserted. One guy sat at a grimy table eating fries while another quaffed beer at the end of the bar. The pool tables were empty. I guess the summer heat was even getting to the mill guys used to working in a place where molten hot metal was their constant companion.
Kevin was behind the bar. He’d been the usual bartender at Ray’s for as long as I could remember and probably a dozen years before that. I nodded at him and headed his way.
“Evening, Mel.”
“Kevin,” I nodded again in greeting.
“What brings you in this time?”
“Had a death last night in Morelville. Guy looked like hamburger. He’d been in a hell of a fight somewhere. I have a witness that says he was here last night and saw the victim here.”
“Long way between here and Morelville.”
“I know but I’m trying to figure out who he tangled with between the time he left work and the time he died.”
“Who’s the victim?”
“JD Roberts.”
“Got a picture? You know I remember faces better than names. There’s just too many what come in and out of here to remember all the names.”
I produced a copy of JD’s recent driver’s license photo and an old booking shot from a DUI arrest. Neither were flattering to the man, but they were all I could come up with quickly that had been taken in the last couple of years.
Kevin barely glanced at them. “Yep. He was in here last night. He sat right there,” he pointed a couple of bar stools down from me, “from about 5:30 to just after 7:00 or so drinking beer, then he left.”
“He left? He didn’t play pool or anything?”
“Naw, not last night. It was real slow until later when it cooled off some, like tonight.”
“Did you see him talk to anybody at all?” I was puzzled.
“No. He kept looking around like he was waiting for someone, but no one showed that he had any interest in. He left out of here like an angry freight train, when he left.”
So, Moon lied, but why? “Do you remember another guy – I don’t have pictures – but my guess is he’d be about six feet tall, construction worker tan, crew cut brown hair, seems to know the victim...” I let my words trail off because I didn’t know how else to describe Moon.
“Are you talking about Sterling Moon?”
“I thought you weren’t any good with names?” I grinned.
“A name like that, how could I forget it? Reminds me of that racer, Sterling Marlin.”
“Was Moon here last night?”
“No. Not last night.”
“Does he come in here pretty often?”
Kevin nodded. “A couple times a week, maybe. Lotta’ the time it’s on or right after mill paydays.”
“Why is that?”
He leaned toward me and whispered even though the place was nearly empty, “Those two have been known to hustle a little pool from time to time.”
“Moon and my vic?”
Kevin nodded.
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