8:40 PM, Friday, February 20th
Morelville, Ohio
Mel came out and stood on our little side porch as I pulled into the driveway. I’d called her minutes before I reached the village limits and told her I was on the way and that there’d been a problem.
When she saw me and my blanketed driver’s side window, she went off.
“What the hell happened? I’ve been worried sick. I had multiple missed calls from you and then, when I tried to call you back, my calls rolled right to voicemail and now this.” She waved a hand at my window. “Are you alright? You’re limping pretty badly.”
“I’m fine,” it was just...just a comedy of errors today.” Actually, there was nothing funny at all about it but I just want to get into the house, get Boo settled, get out of my filthy clothes and get warm before I got into what really happened.
As we walked toward the house and Boo spun circles around us, I told her, “I locked my keys in the car with it running. My phone was practically dead. While I went for help, someone broke into the car and shut it off.”
She didn’t buy it, not even for a second. “Why on earth would someone do that? People leave cars running all the time, this time of year; It’s cold!”
I sighed. “That’s only part of the story.” I peeled off my coat and hung it on the back of the door where I always did. “Let me get out of these clothes and I’ll explain.”
She followed me into the bedroom as I peeled and walked. I gave her the shortened version of what really happened leaving out my own little breaking and entering incident.
“Babe,” she started when I’d finished, “you can’t just make wild assumptions like that. You didn’t get a good look at the guy you followed and you don’t really know anything about the agency either. Besides, we have a guy in custody now that looks good for it.”
Hearing that took the wind right out of my sails. After pulling on clean boxer briefs, I sank down on the bed and looped fresh socks over my feet.
Mel rubbed the back of her head absently and just stared at me for several long seconds before speaking. “Not every case we each get ties together. Things just don’t work out that way.”
She was exasperated; I could tell. “This guy you have, you’re sure he’s the one? Did he tell you where Jef is? What kind of proof do you have?”
Now she rubbed her face. No, we don’t have Jef or know where he is. In all honesty, the guy fits the description but our witness couldn’t ID him. We’re holding him for our 48 hoping to crack him and then we’re going to turn him over to Columbus PD on an outstanding warrant.”
“I’ve talked to Hannah on and off today. She’s splitting up with Jamie but, in the process of telling me about that, she told me she saw you at Katie’s funeral; said you were talking to a Jonah somebody there that was a former suitor of Katie’s.”
Mel nodded. “Yeah, Jonah Gingrich. I’ve actually been trying to track him down for a couple of days.”
“You think he’s responsible for something...is he the father?”
“No, and no. He’s a good kid caught in a bad situation. It’s pretty likely that his father Ennis is the one that raped Katie, that’s the rumor, anyway.”
“Oh my!” I let that thought run around in my head for a minute as I rose from the bed, went to my dresser and dug out sweat pants and a t-shirt.
Her tone said a lot. “You don’t think he’s the killer though, do you?”
“No.”
“How stuck are you on this guy you’ve got in custody as being that guy?”
“Why?” She eyed me suspiciously as she took a seat in a chair opposite the bed.
I sat back down on the edge of the bed and faced her and then came clean. “Mel, there’s more than what I’ve told you but the other stuff I know was illegally obtained.”
“Do I even want to know?”
“Just hear me out, okay?”
“Oh, I’m listening.”
I told her about eavesdropping and what I’d heard.
“I’m upset that you put yourself in such danger, number one, the crime aside. Secondly, how much detail do you have? Names, numbers, anything that I can use to corroborate the illegally obtained stuff with legit stuff?”
“I have a phone number, an address and descriptions of vehicles and people. I don’t have any plate numbers or names.”
“Frankly, it’s more than I have or the FBI has. At least. it’s something to work with.”
“Work fast babe. Once they get paperwork set up for Jef, he’ll be gone.”
“It’s out of my hands. Everything you’ve told me is out of my jurisdiction. I’m going to have to go to the feds and I don’t have a clue how I’m going to present this so that my confidential source – you – doesn’t get into a lot of hot water.”