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AT AROUND TEN IN THE morning, and to everyone’s surprise, especially Michael’s, Terrell employees began decorating their parking lot with streamers and balloons. Whether it was the actual anniversary or not was beside the point. It appeared the Terrell Office Supply Anniversary Celebration was a go. A video camera caught it, as the proud grin was wiped completely off of Michael’s face. He stomped back inside and let the Woodbury Tile Factory door loudly slam behind him.
As soon as the video hit social media, cellphones and desk phones began to ring all over town. Millie got three 911 calls at the sheriff’s office and had to remind the callers it was for emergency use only. Even so, it was exciting news and it made Millie giggle each time she disconnected a call.
At noon, when she looked at Otis with those pleading eyes he never could resist, he said, “Alright, you can go but be back in half an hour.”
By the time Millie got there, catering trucks from Des Moines had arrived, each filled to the brim with prepared sandwiches, chips, soft drinks, and of course, cake and ice-cream. She ate, laughed with everyone else who thought Jerry had gotten the last word after all, and then rushed back to work.
“Ten minutes late!” Otis grumbled when she walked back in the door.
She hurried to relieve him at her dispatcher’s desk and then sat down. “Any calls?”
“Just Michael. He’s mad about all the cars parked in his parking lot.”
She pulled a wrapped sandwich out of her purse and handed it to him. “Ham and cheese.”
He accepted the food, winked and then headed back to his office. “Ten minutes.”
“Very, very long lines!” she shouted. Millie could hear him laugh even after he closed his office door.
*
AT PROMPTLY 6:45 THAT evening, Ben Coulter drove up in his silver, four-door truck, parked in front of the bookstore, got out, and opened the door for his date. “All locked up?”
“All done. You were right, Mariam didn’t object at all.” Tiffany climbed in and waited while he got in on the driver’s side. “Nice truck.”
“Thanks. I didn’t think Mariam would mind, most of her regular customers will be at the game too.”
“Did you go to Terrell’s?”
“No, but Crazy Eddie called to tell me all about it. He can’t quite decide if it’s Michael or Jerry’s turn to strike next. It must have cost Jerry a fortune to feed half the town, but he sure got the last laugh.”
“That’s what Mariam said. It’s interesting, you know, but with all I’ve heard about bad-boy Michael Woodbury, she seems to adores him.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“Not exactly, but today she felt sorry for him. As far as I can tell, Michael brought it on himself. She just doesn’t see it that way.”
“Have you met my Mom yet?”
“I don’t think so. What is her name again?”
“Nora. She’s been busy lately, but you’ll meet her when she runs out of books.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Before Tiffany realized where she was, they were parked outside the high school stadium, and Ben was opening the door for her. “That was fast.”
“Nothing’s very far away in a small town.” He paid for their tickets and once inside, she knew Ben was right – at least half the town was already there.
After they found a place to sit, she watched the first pitch and then the second before she asked, “Which team is yours?”
“The ones wearing white.”
“Oh.” She scanned the crowd on her end of the horseshoe-shaped outdoor stadium, but didn’t see anyone she knew. Of course, she’d been in town less than a week. She cheered when the home team batter finally hit the ball and then moaned when the man in the other team’s back field caught it. The ball made it to first base before the batter.
A people-watcher from way back, she was again more interested in looking around than concentrating on the game. One face in particular stood out this time and she didn’t especially like the way he was looking at her. Tiffany nudged Ben, and rudely pointed at her gawker. “Who’s that?”
“Alex Woodbury.”
“Really? Michael’s son?”
“That’s the one.”
“He does look a lot like his father.”
“Acts like him too,” Ben said. The next batter hit a home run to the delight of everyone except those who rooted for the other team.
“So which one is Crazy Eddie?”
Ben answered, “He doesn’t hang around sporting events. It’s not his thing, I guess.”
“That’s too bad, I’d like to see what he looks like.”
“Don’t tell his ex-wife, but he thinks your gorgeous.”
Tiffany blushed. “Is that why I see his truck so often?”
“That and he’s the protective type. He says pretty girls are in more danger than average looking girls.”
“He’s right.”
“Is he?”
“You take Kathy Crenshaw. She had a stalker following her that scared everyone half to death.”
“Was she pretty?”
“The kind that turns heads when she walks into a room. My dad caught him though, climbing over the Crenshaw’s back fence. Scary to think he was that close to getting to Kathy. After that, her dad installed more outside lighting.”
“Your dad caught him?”
“Didn’t I tell you, my dad is a homicide detective.”
“No, I don’t believe you mentioned that.”
“Don’t be scared, he’s a nice guy really, and got over trying to frighten my dates away ages ago.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” When she wasn’t looking, Ben rolled his eyes. “Have you told your dad where you are yet?”
Tiffany intentionally ignored the question. “Now that’s something you don’t see in the big city.”
“What?”
“A guy pushing a food cart at a ball game.”
“Does that mean you’re hungry?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes I am. Hotdog or hamburger?”
“Hamburger.”
Food, sodas, cheers and moans, and at the end of five innings with no score for the home team, it started to sprinkle, rain and then pour. Ben grabbed Tiffany’s hand and like everyone else, dashed down the bleacher stairs. They followed the fleeing crowd into the parking lot and jumped into Ben’s truck. As soon as they got in, he reached in the back seat for a roll of paper towels and handed them to her. Tiffany’s hair was soaked and it took several to half-way towel dry it. Ben dried his face and arms, and then reached for a plastic trash bag to put the wet towels in.
“You always come this prepared?” She asked.
“Like you don’t have paper towels and trash bags in your car?”
She grinned. “Oh that.” The windows had already fogged up, so she rolled hers down a little. “So what should I know about you, Mr. Ben Coulter?”
“You should know I’m honest and won’t overcharge you for the repairs.”
“That’s good news. What else? Were you a nerd in high school, a brainiac or the kind that had to beg for a scholarship?
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On which one will evoke one of your stories. I’m a little wary of letting you think I’m like a guy you truly hated in high school.”
She turned in her seat a little so she was facing him more. “I assure you I have nothing against any, or even all three of those classifications, unless you were the lazy type. I wouldn’t believe that of you anyway.”
“Then I confess to being average in sports, scholastics and girls. My interest has always been in fixing cars. I struggled with math, which was never my best subject, but in my chosen field, knowing how to do a few calculations comes in handy. I still have homework sometimes just keeping up with all the new engine parts. I don’t mind. It’s interesting getting to see what’s coming out of the industry next.”
“Average in girls?”
“Okay, I was more of a nerd. You’re not going to ask me about old girlfriends are you?”
“No, I already asked Earl if I would be safe with you.”
Ben was surprised. “He answered you?”
“He nodded, and quite emphatically. Did I tell you he let me rent a bedroom in his house? What a relief. The hotel costs a small fortune and I was about to ask if you would give me a second job changing tires. Beverly’s cooking is heavenly. She made breakfast for me this morning, and...”
“Does Michael know you’re staying there?”
“I’m sure he does by now. I mentioned it to Mariam. Why would Michael care?”
“Maybe because he’s Earl’s son and Michael cares about his father?”
“He sure has a funny way of showing it. Do you know there aren’t any pictures of Earl’s family on the walls? Of course, I haven’t seen all the walls yet, but don’t you find that strange?”
“Not really. Earl doesn’t speak so Michael gave up trying to visit with him. Earl’s other son comes a couple times a year, but he stays at Michael’s house. If I had to, I’d guess Michael and Earl had a big fight right before Earl stopped talking.”
“That must be what happened.”
“Tiffany, don’t believe all the rumors you hear about Michael Woodbury. With all his faults, which I admit are many, he loves his dad. Michael checks on him at least three or four times a day, even if it’s just to drive down main street. If Earl is not on his bench, he calls Beverly to find out why.”
“Does he? Come to think of it, I met Michael when he came to see if his dad wanted a ride home. Michael’s not that good with women though.”
“I’d have to agree with you there.”
“Mariam says Birdie is Michael’s mistress and the cause of all his divorces.”
“That’s probably true.” He pulled the front of his wet t-shirt away from his skin and blew on it as if it would help dry quicker. “What kind of student were you?”
“Average, maybe a little above average. My dad insists I go to college but I wanted to take a year off first. I don’t even know what I want to be yet.”
“Sounds reasonable to me.”
“Everyone is excited about the picnic,” she said. “They’re expecting a blowup between Michael and Jerry, and I sure wouldn’t want to miss that.”
Ben chuckled and rolled his window halfway down, “Neither would I. Know what?”
“What?”
“It stopped raining. It looks like the game was called and everyone else went home.”
Tiffany laughed. “Mind giving me a ride to Earl’s?”
“If you insist.”
It was still early but Ben drove her straight home. After he opened the truck door for her, he held out his hand. Tiffany took it, and walked beside him to the front door.
“You know; not many people my age has seen the inside of this house, though we’ve wondered about it several times.”
“It’s really quite beautiful, although it could use a little updating.”
“I bet.” When she turned to face him, Ben gently drew her in his arms. He held her for only a moment and then released Tiffany without kissing her. “Good night.”
She was surprised by his restraint and secretly admired him for it. The door was unlocked, so she opened it wide enough so he could peek inside. “Good night. Next time, don’t let it rain, okay?”
“I’ll do my best.” He waited for her to close the door and then went to his truck.
Inside the house, three curtains moved aside just a little – the one downstairs with Tiffany peeking out, the one in the dining room where Beverly watched, and in Earl’s bedroom upstairs. Earl kept his eyes on the truck all the way down the street, and until it disappeared around a corner before he let his curtain close.
*
LATER THAT EVENING, Deputy Rod Keller drove to the address he stuffed in his pocket to see what he could learn about Chuck Hanson, the man mentioned in the Woodbury kidnapping file.
“He’s long gone,” said the woman who came out of her farmhouse to see what he wanted.
She invited him in for coffee but he declined. “I’m looking into the Woodbury kidnapping...” he started.
“Oh. I suppose you found that letter I wrote accusing my step-brother of being in on it.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Can you tell me about that?”
“Well, we’d been fighting over this farm for about six months after our parents died. I say our parents, but it was actually his mother and my father. They’d only been married a year or so when they died in a freak snowstorm on the Interstate. It was a horrible accident – seven cars and two semi-trucks were already piled up by the time our parents hit the back end of the pile.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. Anyway, the place was mine...or rather my father’s and Chuck thought he should get an equal share since Dad married his mother. He wanted it in cash too, which meant selling the place. That’s something I had no intention of agreeing to.”
“You stayed and he went?” Rod asked.
“After a court battle. The judge finally decided in my favor and Chuck drove off, never to be seen or heard from again. I don’t think he had a dime to his name when he left.”
“When was that?”
“Oh, let me think. It was after the kidnapping of course, and the judgement wasn’t handed down until a couple of weeks after I sent that letter to the Sheriff. I was just mad at the time. I don’t really think Chuck had anything to do with the kidnapping. However...”
When she paused, Rod waited, but when she didn’t continue, he asked, “However what?”
“Well, Chuck was tight with Michael Woodbury. I always did wonder if Michael had something to do with that mess.” She dropped her eyes. “Poor baby Tiffany. We searched this property, every inch of it. All the farmers searched their land, but none of us found a thing. By the way, does Michael know you’re digging into this case?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“He’s not going to be happy.”
Rod politely thanked her, got in his car and drove away. Finding Chuck Hanson might help shed some light on the situation, but he wasn’t ready to do a full search for anyone...not just yet. Instead, he pulled off the road and put a note in the notebook he decided to bring along that morning.
For the second time, someone said they thought Michael was behind the kidnapping. Rod wondered what Earl would do if he found out his son was guilty. Michael and his brother stood to gain the most, but what kind of son would do that to his own father? On the other hand, Chuck Hanson lost his lawsuit and then just left town. Was he truly penniless or did he have all or part of the ransom money to take with him. One million dollars in cold hard, unmarked cash nearly twenty years ago could take a man anywhere in the world he wanted to go.
*
WHEN THE TINY SET OF bells rang on the bookstore door Friday afternoon, Tiffany found herself face to face with Deputy Rod Keller. With all the rumors in town about a deputy reopening the case, it wasn’t hard to guess why he was there.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” said Rod as he reached out his hand.
She firmly shook it. “Tiffany Clark.” When Mariam noticed him, Tiffany thought her boss looked a little like a deer caught in the headlights.
At length, she pushed her glasses up her nose and started to the front. “I suppose you are looking for me,” Mariam said.
Rod removed his hat. “I am, if you are Mariam Eggelston.”
“Truly, I have nothing to add to what I told the sheriff all those years ago.”
Tiffany gently touched Mariam’s arm, “Would you like me to leave?”
“No dear,” Mariam answered. “I have nothing to say that you can’t hear.”
“Mrs. Eggleston, I’m curious about Shelley Woodbury. Had you known her before she married Earl Woodbury?”
“Not really,” Mariam answered. “As far as I know she was a newcomer to Blue Falls.”
“Do you know where she came from?”
“Nevada, I think, maybe not. Sorry, Deputy, but it was a long time ago.”
He set his hat on the counter and then folded his arms. “I understand. Mrs. Eggleston, do you think her death was an accident, suicide or murder?”
Mariam’s eyes widened. “Murder? No, I don’t...it could have been, I suppose, but who would want to kill her?”
“The sheriff found a plate and two forks in the sink.”
“I remember.”
“Is it possible Mrs. Woodbury had someone over after Earl went to bed?”
Mariam hesitated. “I guess you’ll find out anyway so you might as well hear it from me. There was a lot going on in that house Earl didn’t know about.”
“That you didn’t tell him and didn’t tell the sheriff either?” Rod asked.
“You have to understand; Earl was crushed after Shelley died. Maybe crushed isn’t the right word. Never will I forget how I found him standing in the garden just staring at Shelley’s lifeless body. He looked...you might say, betrayed. Yes, that’s the right word for it, betrayed. I don’t know a thing about how to tell if someone is still alive, but I did try to find a pulse. When I couldn’t, I called for help.”
Mariam swallowed hard before she continued, “He just stood there the whole time while the coroner came and pronounced her dead. Even then, he didn’t move a muscle. They loaded her on the gurney and took Shelley away. I thought we’d lost Earl that day. I did the dinner dishes and went to bed, but I could hear him walking from room to room all through the night. By then, they’d dragged the lake without finding the baby’s body. I tell you, Deputy, nothing in my life has been as awful as that week was.”
“I understand. Mrs. Eggleston, the picture of Shelley shows an unbroken glass sitting upright next to her body. Do you remember touching it?”
“The sheriff asked that too. I don’t think I did, but I could have.” Mariam glanced out the window and saw one of her friends looking at the deputy. Instead of coming in, her friend dashed away, which made Mariam close her eyes for a moment.
“Do you remember what kind of pills Shelley was taking?”
Mariam relaxed a little more, now that the deputy didn’t come across as accusing her of anything – at least not yet. “I don’t. She wasn’t a pill-popper that I knew of, but it was curious that she already had them on hand after the kidnapping.”
Rod considered that. “So you don’t know if they were prescription or something she might have gotten from a friend?”
“No. It was probably two weeks before I went to wash all her bedding and straighten up. By then, even the FBI had gone through everything.”
“Was Earl surprised she had the pills too?”
“Deputy Keller, Earl was in such a sad state, he barely said a word to me the entire time.”
“I see.” Rod started to pick his hat up and then thought better of it. “You didn’t check on the baby that night, correct?”
“I had no reason to. She was old enough to sleep through the night. Both Earl and Shelley made a habit of regularly checking on her, so I normally just went to bed.” Instead of pushing her glasses up her nose, Mariam took them off and laid them on the counter. “I wish I had checked, but...”
Rod nodded. “Have you remembered anything since, that you might not have mentioned to the sheriff?”
Mariam did not hide her annoyance. “The sheriff practically accused me of taking the baby, so I didn’t tell him much at all.”
“But you did hear or see something?”
“Well, it wasn’t much of a noise. It was just a click.”
To Tiffany, Mariam looked exceptionally tired with her glasses off. She went to the cooler, and brought back a paper cup full of cold water for both Mariam and the deputy.
“Thank you,” said Rod. He took a sip and then continued, “The noise you heard, was it like a door or a window being unlocked?”
“No, not like that.” Mariam nodded her appreciation to Tiffany, and then emptied her paper cup before she answered. “It was more like a clink. I didn’t hear anything break, so I thought nothing of it.”
“Could the noise be something like a fork dropping on the kitchen floor or in the sink?”
Mariam’s eyes brighten. “It could have been now that I think about it. My apartment was right next to the kitchen.”
“You didn’t hear any voices?”
“No voices, just that clink.”
“Was that around the time the baby was taken?”
“No one knows exactly what time the baby was taken. All I know is that it was an hour or so before Shelley...Mrs. Woodbury screamed.”
“The report says you were reading a book that night. Mrs. Eggleston, the sheriff looked in your room and didn’t find a book laying out.”
Mariam rolled her eyes. “So that’s why the old goat thinks I had something to do with it. Thank you, Deputy, I’ve always wondered what it was.”
“You weren’t reading a book that night?” he persisted.
“Look around. I’m a neat freak. Putting books away on a shelf is a lifelong habit I have never been able to break. Mrs. Woodbury was particular too, so I put the book away when I heard Earl run down the stairs and come across the kitchen to my door.”
“I see.” Rod set his paper cup on the counter beside his hat.
It was Mariam’s turn to ask a question. “Does Michael Woodbury know you’re bringing up this old case again?”
“Would it bother you if he did?” Rod asked in return.
“Well...no, I guess not, but he’s not going to like you asking questions.”
“Is there anything else you remember about Mrs. Woodbury?”
“Not really, although she was a bit different than most folks.”
“Different in what way?” This time it was Rod who noticed one and then another woman who looked in the window and then walked away.
“Well, she wasn’t like Michael’s second wife, Andrea, trying to spend all of Earl’s money as fast as she could. Before the baby came, she got so bored she took long drives. She was always home by the time Earl came to dinner, though.”
Tiffany felt odd just eavesdropping, so when the deputy glanced at her once more, she decided to at least look busy. On a notepad, she began to list the titles and the ISBN numbers of the books that were stacked on the counter.
“After the baby was taken,” Rod continued, “and before she died, did anyone contact her that you know of?”
Mariam took a moment to think about that. “I don’t mind telling you that part made me mad. She had friends and not a one of them came to console her, although the house was full of Earl’s friends and the cops. I cared about her, but making coffee and tea for a house full of cops was about all I could handle at the time.”
“You said she had friends. Before the kidnapping, did she have many visitors?”
“Not that many, but she had women friends who dropped by after Earl went to bed.
“Do you remember their names?”
Mariam wrinkled her brow. “Not right off hand. There was a Charles Hadley who came once or twice a month, but they always went into the sitting room to talk and closed the door.”
“Does Mr. Hadley live here in Blue Falls?”
“No. I had never seen him before Earl married Shelley. She introduced me the first time he came, but he always let himself out and didn’t talk to me. I don’t know where he lived or anything at all about him.”
“Do you remember what he looked like?”
“He was tall and a little on the skinny side. Blond, I think or light brown hair.”
“How old would you say he was?”
“Oh, about thirty, maybe a little older,” Mariam answered.
Tiffany secretly wrote down everything Mariam said about Charles Hadley, and then grabbed the next book. Neither the deputy or Mariam seemed to notice.”
“And you say he came to see her once or twice a month?” Rod asked.
“I could be wrong about how often he came. It’s all kind of fuzzy these days. I remember this much, though, Hadley never came until Earl was not home.”
“Did Earl know about their visits?”
“You’ll have to ask Earl that question,” Mariam answered.
“Would you say Mrs. Woodbury was a good mother?”
“I guess so. It was her first child, so she had books on what to do.”
“After that night, did you help search for the baby?”
“No, I couldn’t bear the thought of finding her dead somewhere. I stayed home with Earl. Somebody had to take care of him while he sat next to the telephone for hours and then days, waiting a call that never came.”
“The call telling him where to find his daughter?”
Mariam nodded. “I’ve never felt so sorry for anyone in my life. I swear I could see that man grow old before my very eyes. After two or three weeks, he tried to go back to work, but he only stayed an hour or two before he came home. I’m surprised it didn’t kill him. He looked so tired and I knew he wasn’t sleeping. Like I said, I could hear him walking from room to room, sometimes all night long. Beverly says he still does that sometimes.”
“Beverly?”
“The housekeeper he has now.”
“I see. Anything else you can tell me?”
Mariam looked exhausted just talking about it. “Only that I prayed the baby wasn’t dead. I still think she might not be. After all, she was too little to identify her kidnapper, so why kill her?”
“What do you think happened then?” Rod asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe someone dropped her off at a church somewhere. Everyone assumes it was a man, but it could have been a woman. Every once in a while, a missing child turns up. It’s possible, now isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Rod admitted. He pulled a business card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. “Thank you, Mrs. Eggleston. If you think of anything else, just give me a call.”
“I’ll do that.”
Rod picked up his hat and was about to leave when he remembered one more thing. “Is it possible Earl’s son Michael was involved?”
Mariam was horrified. “Michael would never do something like that. I watched Michael at Shelley’s funeral and as tough as he tries to be, he actually put his arm around his father when Earl started to tear up.”
“Thank you, you’ve been very helpful.” Rod acknowledged Tiffany with a nod, walked out the door, and put his hat back on.
Not thirty seconds later, Mariam set his card on the counter and was on her cellphone calling someone. “Guess who was just here? That new deputy and he was very kind, not pushy or accusing like the sheriff. See, all my worries were for nothing.”
Tiffany quickly got his phone number off the card and wrote it on the paper. She couldn’t tell who her boss was talking to and it didn’t really matter. The way this town gossiped, it would only be a matter of hours before half the town knew. She decided she liked Rod. He was a no-nonsense cop and didn’t utter even one cliché. Yep, she liked him as well as anyone she’d met so far. Furthermore, she was dying to tell Earl all about it when she got home.
She remembered seeing the name Charles Hadley on Shelley’s bank statements and now she knew a lot more about him. If Hadley came to see Shelley often, chances are he didn’t have to drive that far, so a search for him somewhere in the state was not out of the question. Indeed, she was eager for her day to end so she could go home.
Instead of going back to work, Mariam put her glasses back on, grabbed her purse, and opened the front door. “I’ll be back in a little while.”
Tiffany nodded. After Mariam was gone, she tore the sheet of paper off the tablet, folded it, and put it in her purse.
*
BEN NEARLY HIT HIS head on the hood of Tiffany’s car when his cellphone rang. He wiped his hands and then answered. “Eddie, what’s up...A package...Is that right? Too bad we don’t have a webcam inside Michael’s office. Thanks for letting me know.”
Ben hung up and then promptly called Tiffany. “Guess what?”
“What?” She was wearing a robe and was just getting ready to hop in the shower when he called.
“Eddie says he heard a rumor that Jerry had a giftwrapped package delivered to Michael first thing this morning.”
Tiffany walked into the bathroom to turn on the water. “Think it will blow up?”
Ben chuckled, “I bet Michael thinks it will.”
“I’ve been watching and you’re right. Michael drives down Main Street often just to check on his dad. He sure is one complicated guy. One minute I think he’s a thug and the next, one of the good guys. I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone like him.”
“Look at it this way, when you finally make it back home you’ll have a Michael Woodbury story to tell all your friends.”
“Indeed I will, and a Mariam Eggelston story, and a...”
“I better get back to work. Later, okay?”
She begrudgingly said, “Okay, if you insist.”
“I’m working on your car.”
“Oh. In that case, get back to work!”
*
IN MICHAEL’S OFFICE, Alex set the gift on his father’s large mahogany desk and then relaxed in the first of three chairs facing it. He waited and waited, but when his father didn’t open it, Alex toyed with a frayed piece of upholstery on the arm rest of his chair. On the wall behind him was a large portrait of his grandfather. Aren’t you a little curious?”
Michael glared at his son. “You open it if you’re so brave. I’m not in the mood to be bitten or injured today.”
Alex scoffed, picked up the package, set it in his lap and waited for something to happen. “Nothing moving inside.” He removed the bow and examined each side of the small box. “No hidden switch or scary wiring.” With that, he ripped the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a blue case and inside the case was a note, and a pen and pencil set with the Woodbury logo on it. Alex kept the note and set the open case back on the desk where his father could see inside.
“Michael,” Alex read, “I hereby declare you the winner. How about we call a truce before this little spat of ours hurts someone?” Alex tossed the note on the desk and then waited for his father to say something – anything at all. Instead, Michael said nothing, stood up, walked to his picture window and stared out. Alex was used to that. Besides, he already had more than enough information to get the rumor mill off and running before the weekend.
*
AFTER ROD LEFT THE bookstore, he jotted down some of the things Mariam Eggelston mentioned, especially about Charles Hadley, in his notebook. He was about to drive away when Millie called on his private cellphone. “What’s up?”
“I need you to do me a favor.”
“Sure, what?”
“The doctor wrote a pain prescription for Nancy’s arm, but I can’t get away to take it to her. Would you mind?”
“Not at all. I was afraid it was worse than she admitted.”
“She wouldn’t let me see it when I was there this morning, but maybe she’ll show it to you. Nancy hates being a burden. I already picked up the prescription and some clean bandages.”
“Great. I’ll swing by.”
In less than half an hour, Rod pulled up in front of the widow’s house and when neither she nor Willie came outside, he climbed the steps and knocked on the door. It took a few moments, but Nancy finally answered. “Willie’s napping,” she whispered.
“And you’re in pain,” he said as he showed her the small white paper bag. “I can see it in your eyes.”
“It’s not that bad.” She opened the door wider so he could come in. “I thought it would be healed by now, but I keep bumping it.” Her cozy little home appeared to have little more than two bedrooms, a living room/dining room area, one bath, and a kitchen. Just like the outside of her home, the inside was neat and clean.
He took the pill bottle out of the sack, set both on the table, and then went to the kitchen. Rod found a glass, filled it with water, and went back to the table. “Mind if I take a look. I’m no expert, but they make us take first aid in cop school.”
Nancy grinned, waited for him to unfasten the lid on the pain pills, and eagerly took one. “Actually, I welcome your help. I’m right handed, and not that handy with my left.”
He took a seat across the small table from her and watched as she carefully peeled the old bandage off the inside of her right arm. She was right, the skin was not broken, but he could see red marks where she’d bumped it. “Let’s try a thicker bandage.” He pulled some burn medicine, some cotton balls, and three packets of sterile gauze out of the bag. Next, he used a cotton ball to tenderly spread the burn medicine on her arm, and then cut the bandage longer and wider than her burn. He tripled the thickness and then carefully taped it to her arm.
It was not until he finished that he noticed a hint of tears in her eyes. “Did I hurt you?” Instinctively, he touched her hand.
“No,” she whispered, “It’s just nice to have someone who cares.”
He smiled. “It’s nice to have someone to care about.” He took a deep breath and then stood up. “Duty calls. See if you can get some rest, and don’t run any equipment on those pain pills.”
She stood up and walked him to the door. “Yes, Sir.”
“Wayne will probably come by to check on you tonight.”
“He always does,” she said. “He’s one of the good guys.” Before he even got down the steps, she closed the door and then curled up on her sofa to wait for the pain medicine to take effect.
*
AFTER ALL THE GUESTS checked out of the Bed and Breakfast and before the bar crowd began to arrive, Birdie sat on a bar stool sipping a soda and talking to Pamela. She chose a cashew out of a dish, put it in her mouth and chewed it. On Fridays she liked to wear a short, red silk dress with matching heels.
“Did you hear about the gift Jerry Terrell gave to Michael?” Pamela asked. In contrast, Pamela preferred blue jeans and a blue blouse.
“Not yet. I’m not answering the phone today.”
“Oh, one of those days. Well, Alex couldn’t wait to call me. Jerry wants to call a truce and sent a very expensive monogramed pen and pencil set to Michael as a peace offering.”
“What’s the catch?” Birdie asked.
“That’s what I want to know. By the way, Jolie moved out this morning. It’ll be nice to have her gone. She’s sweet, but she cries constantly. Was I that blubbery when Michael and I split up?”
Birdie helped herself to another cashew, “The worst case of blubbery I’ve ever seen. Don’t you remember the night we spent out at the lake trying to drown ourselves?”
Pamela laughed, “Is that what we were doing? I was so drunk; I didn’t even know where we were until we woke up still at the lake the next morning.”
“With the worst hangover in history.”
Pamela helped herself to a cashew too. “I remember that part vey well.” She ate two more cashews before she brought up the next subject. “That new deputy is asking questions.”
“I heard.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” Birdie groaned. “We put all that behind us years ago, and I don’t even remember what we said, or why we said it.”
“Neither do I. We were stupid, immature kids at the time, and Michael had all the cards.”
“Just like always.”
Pamela got up, walked around the bar and refilled her soda. “The deputy showed up at the bookstore and asked Mariam about that night.”
“You think she told him the truth?”
“Not a chance.” Pamela said as soon as she retook her seat. “She adores Michael – always has.”
“She won’t adore him if the truth comes out. We both know Michael has more money than he makes working for Earl. He’s up to something and has been for years. We just don’t know what.”
“Someone must know.” Pamela studied the same sad expression she had seen on Birdie’s face a thousand times before. “You should have been the one to marry him. My parents would have let me keep Alex.”
“Way too late to think about that – almost twenty years too late.”
“I know, but things would have turned out a lot different if...”
“Pamela, we can’t change one single second of what happened. Michael swore I was lying and my parents believe him. I’ve accepted what happened and moved on.”
“Have you truly moved on? Tell me, don’t you stay here because you hope someday your daughter will figure out how to find you?”
Birdie slumped. “Look at it this way, if I had married Michael instead of you, my daughter would have turned out just like Gloria.”
Pamela laughed. “How true, how true. Didn’t you ever want more children?”
Birdie puffed her cheeks. “I thought you knew. The birth tore me up inside and the doctor had to remove my uterus.”
“I never even guessed. I’m sorry.”
“So am I. Under the circumstance, I didn’t want more children anyway. You didn’t have any more children either.”
“Michael’s children? Not on your life.” Pamela took a sip of her drink to wash down the cashews. “That’s not the only reason you stay here, is it?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you? I remember a night a few years ago when you said you were trapped here and could never leave. I asked you why and you made me swear not to tell, but didn’t tell me. You just cried and ran up to your room. You wouldn’t even open the door for me. What happened?”
“I was drunk that night.”
“So was I.”
“Pamela, don’t ask me that. I can’t tell you – I can’t tell anyone. I just can’t.”
*
OVER DINNER THAT EVENING, Tiffany filled Earl in on what Mariam told the deputy. Earl didn’t seem all that surprised about some of it, which made Tiffany ask, “You haven’t bugged the bookstore, have you?”
Earl chuckled and shook his head. Beverly served each a piece of apple pie and joined them at the table. “No need to. Mariam’s been saying these things for years, just not to the sheriff. He probably knows too by now.”
“First I’ve heard of a Charles Hadley, though,” Earl said.
“Me too,” Beverly agreed. “That deputy must be a real charmer if he got her to tell him something she’s never said before.”
“He is, and cute too,” Tiffany confessed. “I spotted a couple of checks Shelley made out to a Charles Hadley last night.” She took a scoop of ice cream and put it on her pie. “Do you know if anyone took pictures at Shelley’s funeral. It would help to know what he looks like.”
“I can find out,” Beverly said.
“Great.” Tiffany tasted the pie, nodded her approval to Beverly and then asked, “Mind if I take this with me? I’m eager to get started.” She waited less than a second to hear any objections before she picked up her dessert plate and headed upstairs.
After she was gone, Beverly placed a call.
“Beverly, what can I do for you?” the man asked.
“Did you take any pictures of Shelley’s funeral?”
“Probably, I took all kinds of pictures back then. Why?”
“Earl would like to see them.”
“I’ll see what I can find.” He paused. “It’ll cost you, though.”
“In money or information.”
“Information, naturally. You’ll tell me first if old Earl starts talking again, right?”
“Right.” Beverly grinned and disconnected the call.
*
ON HIS DINNER BREAK, Rod stopped at the restaurant to get iced tea and a hot roast beef sandwich to go. After giving his order to the waitress behind the counter, he went to wait in a window booth.
“Boy are you in trouble,” a woman said in the next booth.
Her back was to him, and he wondered how she even knew he was there, until he looked up and saw a large, curved corner mirror. The woman looked to be in her late sixties and when he spotted her, she lifted a hand as if to wave. He waited until the waitress set a tall paper glass of iced tea in front of him. “How so?” he asked as he tasted it and decided it needed sugar.
“Michael is as hot as a hornet’s nest over you digging the case up again. I bet he’s in his office right now trying to think of a way to get you fired.”
“You’ve known him a long time?”
“All his life. His mother and I were good friends. Now you take his brother. No two brothers are as different as Michael and Jason. Jason was always the attentive one. He sat by his mother’s side for days before she passed, but not Michael. Oh, he bounced in and out from time to time, but it was Jason who read to her, chose soft music for her to listen to, and let her sleep when she could. I would give anything to have a son like Jason. Of course, after she died, Jason struck out on his own and rarely comes back to visit.”
Rod took the lid off his tea and poured sugar in the paper glass. He was about to say something when the waitress approached the woman.
“Emma, you want anything else?”
“Another cup of coffee and the check will do nicely, dear.”
“You got it.” With few customers to care for, the waitress was back with a pot of coffee and Emma’s check in no time at all.
As soon as she was gone, Emma looked at the deputy in the mirror again. “You want to know about Michael, spend a little time at the Bed and Breakfast outside of town. That’s where he hangs out when he’s not married. Ask for Birdie. She knows all there is to know about Michael and then some.”
When the waitress brought his lunch, Rod thanked her and then looked up at mirror again. “Thanks for the advice.”
Emma was not done talking yet. “The way I hear it, the company is not doing that well these days, but it doesn’t keep Michael from spending a ton of money. Of course, no one tells Earl. Just the same, everyone knows Michael has a cash cow somewhere, but nobody can figure out where.” Emma sipped her coffee for several minutes before she said, “Funny thing, I could have sworn I saw Michael’s brother in town that day.”
“The day of the kidnapping?”
“It couldn’t have been, though, the Sheriff said Jason was in Georgia the whole time. Jason didn’t even come to help search for the baby. He came for Shelley’s funeral, though. – you know, to support his father.”
“You sound like you found that a little odd.”
“Jason hated it when Earl married Shelley even more than Michael did, so yes, I was surprised.” Emma grabbed her check, finally scooted across the seat to the end of the booth, and stood up. She turned to face the deputy. “I’d really like to know who kidnapped Earl’s daughter – a lot of us would. Suspicion is a terrible thing and when you don’t know, you end up suspecting all sorts of people. Some deserve it, but most don’t. I said some things back then I’m not very proud of. We all did, and once said, we can’t ever take it back.” She nodded, went to the counter, paid her bill and left.
As soon as Rod got back to his cruiser, he picked up his notebook. On his list of possible suspects, he crossed Mariam Eggelston off, and added Jason Woodbury. Next, he made note of Michael’s mysterious cash cow.
