Chloe carried two bags of groceries into the kitchen, took one look at us, and smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, now; was it?”
I had stood up when the door opened, “You have more in the car?”
She shook her head, “No. So, tell me what you’ve decided.”
Jan shrugged, and Chloe chuckled. “You don’t see any way you can help us without inviting the law in, and you can’t figure any way to do that without putting us behind bars.”
“Is this room bugged?” I asked only half joking.
“Certainly not, but you two are pretty easy to read. You always were,” and here she looked directly at Jan, “and Sandy and this lady appear to be cut from the same bolt of cloth – you are not likely to become involved in our craziness.”
She sat on a stool, elbows on the counter, and held her face between her hands as she considered her next words. We let the silence stretch out and she ended it with a deep sigh. “I don’t care about jail, folks. I want Charley safe and sound; without him my being free is meaningless; my life is meaningless. You have some official in mind?”
“We’d call Ray Jensen with the FBI; he’s the agent in charge here in the city. We’ve known him for several years. He’s helped us a time or two.”
She raised an eyebrow at that, “You two have a history with the Feds?”
Jan reacted like a proud spouse, “Jim even has a file; it goes way back.”
Chloe smiled and nodded, “That mess in Lake City? That was just before we met you, but we heard all about it. You were famous.”
“I had my 15 minutes.”
Jan wouldn’t let it ride, “On several occasions.”
“Give him a call,” Chloe sighed. “There’s no better time.”
Jensen answered immediately, heard my name, and interrupted, “Call you back as soon as I can.” I knew he’d hung up, and I knew just as well that he’d call when he could.
“He hung up, didn’t he?” Jan asked from her seat at the kitchen table.
I didn’t choose to answer, and she shared her insight with Chloe, “Jim’s never adjusted to the lack of telephone etiquette displayed by his police acquaintances.” She let her chuckle trail off, and I could see Chloe shaking her head at the “inside” joke.
“In the meantime, Chloe,” I said, “Let’s see if we can track down contact information for this Morris character.”
“Right,” she bounced out of her chair and hurried out of the room.
After a few minutes, I caught Jan’s eye and whispered, “You might want to give her a hand.”
She nodded and followed Chloe’s trail into the house.
My phone went off and I opened it to a greeting, “Hello, Mr. Stanton. Jensen here, how can I help you after all this time.”
“Hello, Ray; are you in Seattle at this moment?”
“I am; why?”
“I’m calling on behalf of a Seattle resident who has lost track of her husband – an old friend of mine – and has asked my help in finding him.”
He interrupted, “More ‘n’ likely he’s out and about; she should call missing persons at SPD; they’ll make her wait 48 hours and...”
I interrupted back, “He’s been gone more than 48 already, but that’s not as critical as the fact that this man’s disappearance may have something to do with a criminal enterprise that has been operating across state lines for more than a decade.”
I let it hang there and listened as Jensen collected his thoughts, and then he said, in a more conversational tone, “And who would be involved in such criminal activity?”
“That would be both of them, if I have it right.”
“Where are you right now?”
I gave him the address.
“Sit tight. I’ll come to you, but it’ll have to be after five. We’re doing a booking and arraignment routine in federal court, and that could take some time. As soon as I can hand it off to others, I’ll be there.”
“Without sirens and flashing lights, I hope?”
“Funny. I’ll try to be discreet.”
Chloe sat down at the table just as I closed my phone.
“Did you find it?” I asked.
She held a slip of paper out in front of her, but made no effort to hand it to me. “I have concerns about this, Jim.”
“Okay.”
“This is Eagan Morris, and he’s a pawn broker in Phoenix who has handled our stuff for years. If I give you this, you’re going to give it to your FBI friend and that could be a problem for people who may have done nothing to us. Also, I don’t know how healthy it might be for us if we out this man to the Feds.”
“So how do you propose we convince the FBI to help you without telling them about your business relationship with this man?”
“I have no idea. I just know that in that world, whistle blowers don’t live long.”
I answered the door when Ray arrived, and ushered him into the kitchen where I introduced him to Chloe. He greeted Jan warmly, hug and all, but was very formal with Chloe.
He declined her invitation for a cocktail or even a glass of water.
“Ms. Middleton, according to the registrar of deeds, this house belongs to a Charles W. Delp. Are you his wife?”
“No. We have never been married. We’ve been living as married for more than 40 years, however.”
“He files taxes as an individual. You have not filed taxes in years and show no income. You are not listed as a dependent.” He let the unasked question linger before continuing. “I guess I just need to understand your relationship with Mr. Delp.”
“We are partners, Agent Jensen. We’re as married as the law would allow without a license. We have no license and therefore we have no standing as partners in the eyes of the taxing authorities.”
Ray was making notes, but I could tell he was recording her, not her words; I guessed he had taken the time to know all he could from government agencies about her and Charley before he arrived. He finished up and then asked her point blank, “So what’s this business, this criminal activity, I heard about that crosses state lines?”
He listened carefully as she gave him the Cliff Notes version of her life with Charley Delp. He never interrupted and she never deviated, right up to the point where they robbed a home in Las Vegas the previous spring that crossed some kind of line. Again he was taking notes, but this time he was noting dates and places; this was new information to him.
“Ms. Middleton, I believe I need to, at this moment, alert you to your rights. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot...”
She waved him off, “I’ve watched Law and Order, Agent Jensen. I know my rights, and I’ve already come to terms with the part about how you’ll use my words against me in court. I have no time for a lawyer; I need your help to find out if Charley is alive or dead; where he is at least, and, if he’s not dead, how do I bring him home safely?”
“Even if ‘home’ is a prison cell?” Jensen asked with an arched eyebrow.
She closed her eyes and nodded, “Even if.”
When he had everything clear in his mind, and could see how ragged Chloe was becoming, Jensen wrapped it up. “Ms. Middleton, I think that’s enough for now. I have to ask, “Do you have a passport?”
“I do.”
“I would like to take that with me, ma’am. I’m not prepared to arrest you at this moment. I do, however, have to know that my instinct for Christian charity won’t end up with you fleeing the country while I’m trying to help an old friend of my friends.”
She excused herself and left the room. She was back inside three minutes, and handed two passports to the agent. “I brought Charley’s too; a show of good faith, I think.”
“Thank you, ma’am. I know that for all his faults, Jim Stanton doesn’t have friends who are untrustworthy. Even his friends who steal must have some honor, or he wouldn’t bother with them.”
“I know that, too, agent. He’s been our friend for more than 30 years and even though he hadn’t heard or seen anything of us for almost a decade, he was here five hours or so after I called him out of the blue and asked for help.”
“His sticking around after hearing this story just proves my point. Look, I’ll check in with you in the morning.”
I watched him all the way to his car, expecting him to pull a “Columbo” turn with a slap to his forehead and a “There’s just one other thing.” strategy, but it didn’t happen. He climbed into the car with a wave over his head, backed out of the driveway, and drove away.
Jan was alone in the kitchen. I raised an eyebrow in question, and she answered, “Went to her room; said she’d be back in a minute. So, how did that go?”
“I think it went well for Chloe; not so much for Ray. I thought he covered most everything right up to the point where he should have asked her if she had any idea where he was headed when he left last Friday, or if he’d mentioned anyone he might be going to see, or if she knew of anyone else involved with their activities who might know anything. You know, stuff like that.”
“He didn’t ask any of that, did he?” She shook her head in wonder, “Didn’t seem like the Ray Jensen I know; maybe everybody has a bad day from time to time. Maybe his mind was still on the stuff he was dealing with when you first called.”
“I don’t think Ray’s ever had a day bad enough for him to forget the basics. I think he already knows more about this affair than he let on.”
“That was my take, too,” Chloe said as she entered the kitchen. “I think he’s pretty sharp. I’m thinking he didn’t ask because he already knew or because he didn’t want me to be on the record with answers or lies.
“He thinks the world of you two, that’s for sure.”
“He’s pretty high on our list, too,” Jan answered.
“What are we going to do regarding Mr. Morris?” I asked.
“I have some thoughts on that, Jim,” she said with a smile. “I’m thinking that we should have dinner. I think grilled salmon with a good Chablis and a tossed salad with orange, avocado, and kiwi will make a great meal. Will you handle the grill?”
That brought a mean snicker from Jan.
“What? You don’t grill? I thought all real men were proud of their grilling abilities, especially a crackerjack journalist with all those questions.”
“He can start the grill and turn it off if it’s gas; light it and let it burn out if it’s charcoal, but anything else will be up to you or me,” Jan said with a loving laugh. “His grilling skills lie elsewhere.”