Present day
Deputy Richard Mansfield arrived at the sheriff’s office fifteen minutes after the request to return to the station. He approached the night dispatcher Evelyn Hawkins and asked, “What’s up, Evy?”
“Cecil wants to see you in his office immediately,” she replied.
Mansfield walked by Ruth Morgan’s desk and was about to speak when she motioned with her thumb to direct him to Pettibone’s office.
He paused in front of his boss’ door, knocked, and heard the sheriff’s rough voice say, “Come in.”
When he entered the office he noted the Morans sitting in front of the sheriff’s desk and asked, “What’s up, Cecil?”
“Pull up a chair and have a seat. You have a bit of explaining to do,” Pettibone said.
As Mansfield obtained a chair from along the wall, Hank and Helen scooted their chairs to one side to make room for the deputy.
“Deputy Mansfield, I don’t know if you have met these people,” Pettibone said. “They are Mr. and Mrs. Hank Moran from the Moran Investigations Agency.”
“I’ve seen them around the area but I haven’t met them yet,” Mansfield replied.
Hank arose from his chair and shook Mansfield’s hand. Mansfield nodded to Helen, who was seated on the far side of Hank. When both men were reseated, Pettibone continued, “Richard, these people have uncovered some very interesting details relative to the murder of Mr. Leonard Driscoll back in October. It appears that you may have an involvement in Mr. Driscoll’s demise.”
Mansfield replied, “I’ve never even met Leonard Driscoll! How could I possibly be involved?”
“A bike tread imprint that was left behind Driscoll’s truck was photographed by the Shreveport P.D. and Driscoll’s truck mysteriously showed up in front of his house at three the morning after he was murdered. A witness stated that she saw someone who might have been wearing a uniform unhitch the boat and trailer and move the truck to the front of Driscoll’s house. She then heard the sound of a small bike engine leave the area. The bike tread matches exactly the tread on your bike that is parked out back. How do you explain that?”
Mansfield countered, “Cecil, the same make of tires is used on half of the trail bikes in the area. The fact that the treads match is no big deal.”
“Richard, we have a witness who saw you enter the state park on your bike a short time before Driscoll was murdered. That puts you near the scene at just the right time.”
“Cecil, that’s just a coincidence,” Mansfield replied. “I occasionally go riding in the park on my days off. I might have been in the park that day, but I had nothing to do with Driscoll’s murder.”
Pettibone picked up the copy of the note that was left on the Moran’s windshield, placed it in front of Mansfield, and asked, “What explanation do you have for this?”
Mansfield replied, “I admit that I wrote the note and put it on their car.”
“Why?” Pettibone asked.
“I just didn’t like the idea of them snooping around where they have no business,” Mansfield replied. “I didn’t threaten them or anything. I just meant for them to go back home and to leave the police work to us.”
“That act was very childish, Deputy,” Pettibone replied. “The Morans have every right as licensed private investigators in the state to conduct their search for Driscoll’s murderer. They have uncovered a lot of information that will lead to the solving of this case. They will continue to work very closely with this department and share any further information they might uncover with us. Do I make myself clear, Deputy Mansfield?”
“Yes, sir,” Mansfield replied.
“May I ask Deputy Mansfield a question?” Hank asked.
“Go ahead, Mr. Moran,” Pettibone replied.
Hank turned to the deputy and asked, “When you were in the park that afternoon just before Driscoll’s murder, did you happen to hear a man and a woman arguing and then a boat leave the dock?”
Hank noticed a slight discomfort in Mansfield’s demeanor before he answered the question.
“No, I didn’t,” Mansfield replied. “If I was actually riding in the park that day I would have headed directly to the trails and would have bypassed the dock area.”
“You were called into duty the night of the hostage situation at the courthouse. I believe Sheriff Pettibone said the situation was resolved at midnight. Where did you go after you were no longer needed at the scene?”
Once again Hank noticed discomfort in Mansfield when he answered, “I went directly home and went to bed.”
“Any further questions, Mr. Moran?” Pettibone asked.
“No, not at this time,” Hank answered.
Pettibone turned to Mansfield and said, “Deputy Mansfield, I have half a mind to put you on administrative leave until this investigation is resolved, but I am going to let you continue on your job. One more thing ... stay away from my daughter!”
Mansfield was startled like he had been shot when he heard the sheriff’s last order and meekly replied, “Yes, sir, I will.”
After Mansfield left the office Pettibone asked, “Well, Mr. Moran, what do you think?”
“I think you were correct in letting him continue on his job,” Hank said. “What we have uncovered so far is very circumstantial. However, I did detect a bit of discomfort when I asked him if he heard the man and woman arguing at the park and when I asked where he went after the situation at the courthouse. In my thirty some years of experience in questioning and reading people I can’t say for sure if he was telling the complete truth.”
“You think he might be hiding something?” Pettibone asked.
“There is that possibility,” Hank replied. “I noticed you have pictures of all your personnel hanging up in the department. Do you mind if I take a snapshot of Mansfield’s picture with my cell phone? I would like to show it to someone.”
“If you think it would help go right ahead,” Pettibone answered.
“Thank you, Sheriff.”
Hank snapped the picture of Mansfield’s photograph as they were leaving the station. When they returned to their car Helen said, “I have a feeling I know where we’re headed next.”
“And where is that, pardner?” Hank asked.
“To see Millie Hardwick!” Helen answered.
“Bingo!” Hank replied. “We just have to keep chipping away. I feel certain we are getting close to solving this thing.”
Just then Hank’s cell phone rang and he saw on the display that it was Peter Driscoll calling. “Hello, Peter,” Hank said.
“Hank, I just heard from Leonard’s attorney. As it turns out, Leonard was starting divorce proceedings from Susan. He said Leonard came to see him the Monday before he went missing. He drew up some papers for him to sign and mailed them to Leonard’s house the next day. The papers probably reached Leonard’s house on that Wednesday.”
“Peter, do you happen to know what time of day the mail is delivered to Leonard’s neighborhood?” Hank asked.
“Gee, I did hear him say one time that he gets his mail at home early to mid-afternoon.”
“Then it might have been possible that that Wednesday’s mail arrived at his house after he left for the lake,” Hank said.
“I see what you’re getting at,” Peter said. “You think Susan might have opened the mail from Leonard’s attorney and found out about the divorce proceedings.”
“That’s a possibility,” Hank said. “Thanks for the information, Peter.”
“No problem, Hank. Glad to be of help. How is the investigation going?”
“I think we’re getting real close to solving this, Peter. We’ll let you know the minute we do.”
Helen was able to get the gist of the one-sided conversation and when Hank ended the call she said, “It sounds like we are also going to pay a visit to Susan Driscoll.”
“Not right away,” Hank said. “Let’s talk with Millie Hardwick first, then depending on what she has to say, we may want to get Detective Meyers involved.”
“Should we leave the Bounder here or move it back to Shreveport?” Helen asked.
“I think we should leave it here for the time being,” Hank said. “I have a feeling that we’ll be headed back over here real soon. If need be, we can spend a night at Ali’s. Let’s get a bite to eat and head back to the park for a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow could be a very busy day.”
Before they retired for the evening Hank downloaded Mansfield’s picture from his cell phone to his laptop and printed out two large pictures on bond paper.
It was mid-morning when Hank and Helen pulled into the Driscolls’ neighborhood and found a parking space right in front of Millie Hardwick’s house. Millie must have been observing her visitors’ arrival because Hank had barely knocked on her door one time when the door opened. Seeing Helen standing beside Hank she said, “Welcome back, dearie. Is this tall handsome man your hubby?”
Helen responded with a smile and said, “Yes, Millie, this is my husband, Hank.”
“Well come on in. What brings you back to the neighborhood?” Millie asked.
“We have a photo we would like you to look at to see if it might be the man who dropped off Mr. Driscoll’s boat back in October,” Helen answered.
“Well, I don’t know, but I’ll take a look. Like I told you before it was a very dark night and I couldn’t see much of anything.”
When Hank handed the photo to Millie she looked at it a few seconds and then said, “Well, young fella, I can’t say this is the man who dropped off the boat, but he has paid Mrs. Driscoll visits before and after she was widowed. I forgot all about him when I last talked with your wife.”
“Are you sure about the identification?” Hank asked.
“Of course I’m sure,” Millie responded. “I saw him through my eight by forty Nikon binocs that are over there on the table.”
Hank and Helen both turned and saw the binoculars resting upright, ready for use, on the table by the front window.
“Millie, do you remember when you first started seeing this gentlemen visit Mrs. Driscoll?” Helen excitedly asked.
“I may have a little trouble remembering everything so that’s why I write it all down in my log,” Millie answered as she retrieved a spiral bound notebook from the same table that held the binoculars.
Millie paged back through the notebook and said, “Yes! Here it is. It was Thursday, the seventh of October, at five to eleven. He drove a black pickup truck with them tinted windows and pulled right up into her driveway. As I remember now, he had a white envelope in his hand when he went to her door.”
“How long did he stay?” Helen asked.
“Oh, he was there a long time,” Millie answered. “It was at least three hours. The truck was still there in mid-afternoon when I had to take some laundry out of the dryer. When I returned to the front window the truck was gone.”
“Ms. Hardwick, did you make notes in your log of the other times this gentleman paid visits to Mrs. Driscoll?” Hank asked.
“I’m sure I did,” Millie answered as she paged forward in the notebook. “Thursday, October the fourteenth at ten a.m., man in black truck visits Mrs. Driscoll.” Paging a little further she said, “Sunday, October the twenty-fourth at two p.m., man in black truck visits Mrs. Driscoll.”
“Hank, October the twenty-fourth was the day after you and Chip found Driscoll’s body!” Helen said.
“Ms. Hardwick, the information that you just gave us is a great big help,” Hank said. “Thank you very much. I am afraid we have to run off now.”
As they were about to leave Millie said, “There’s one more thing you might be interested in.”
“What is that?” Helen asked.
“It was only a few days after that man’s first visit that Mrs. Driscoll and Mr. Billings started their frequent trips across the street to each other’s house,” Millie replied. “With all this hanky-panky going on in the neighborhood, I’ve been thinkin of findin me a man.”
“Millie, you have an eligible bachelor living right next door,” Helen suggested.
Millie replied, “You mean old Mr. Hamby? He’s way too old for me. Why, he probably doesn’t remember how to do anything anyways.” As she smiled at Hank she said, “I need a younger man.”
“This one’s taken,” Helen said laughingly as she took Hank by the arm and headed out the door.
“Do you want to pay Susan Driscoll a visit since we’re in the neighborhood?” Helen asked when they were seated back in the Honda.
“That might be just a little bit premature,” Hank replied. “I think the best thing to do is to head back to Homer and have another session with Deputy Mansfield at the Sheriff’s Office. By the way, thanks for saving me from that old cougar.”
“As if you needed saving,” Helen laughingly said.
Hank called ahead to Sheriff Pettibone and arranged another meeting with him and Deputy Mansfield at twelve noon. He then called Detective Meyers who had to be located in the police station. He came on the line a few minutes later. “Robbery Homicide, Detective Meyers speaking.”
“Craig, this is Hank Moran.”
“Hank, did you solve our murder case yet?”
“We’re getting close, Craig. I’m calling to give you a heads up. We’ll be talking with Sheriff Pettibone and one of his deputies in about an hour. The deputy seems to have a close relationship with Susan Driscoll. In fact, he paid her a visit the day after Driscoll’s body was recovered. He might try to contact her after our meeting at noon. I think it would be a wise move to have her place watched this afternoon just in case she tries to go on an extended vacation.”
“I see. You think she’s involved with the murder, Hank?”
“It’s starting to look that way, Craig. We’ll know more after today’s meeting.”
“OK, Hank, I’ll put a man on it after lunch.”
“Thanks, Craig. I’ll get back with you after the meeting.”