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Sheriff Ourso had just arrived at the office Monday morning, when he saw Michael Redmond, Sr. pull up. Sheriff Ourso assumed something big must be going on for Michael Sr. to be away from his law office. That man constantly thought about work.
“Sheriff, I haven’t heard from Michael and Jill all weekend. They had a big party Saturday night at their house, but Michael did not show up at work today. I figured when they didn’t show up for church on Sunday, they were just recouping from Saturday night, but Michael knew we had a lot of meetings set up for today. They aren’t answering any of their phones and I didn’t see them at their house. Michael’s Mercedes ML430 SUV is gone, but Jill’s BMW 750Li is in the garage.”
Sheriff Ourso didn’t like this one bit. No one had heard from or seen Dylan Robinson and now another prominent couple from here may be missing. “Mr. Redmond, let’s go check out their house and see if you notice anything missing.”
Sheriff Ourso pulled up to the guard shack, “Sheriff Frank Ourso to see Michael and Jill Redmond.”
“Yes, sir.” Sheriff Ourso maneuvered his car through the gates. The Redmonds’ house was the largest one in the gated community. Sheriff Ourso wondered what they needed with all this space. Not only was the house massive, but there was a four-car garage attached to the house with a second story. The landscaping was impeccable. Someone had put a lot of effort into the care and nurturing of the grounds.
Before going into the Redmonds’ house, Sheriff Ourso gave further instructions, “Mr. Redmond, if you’ll unlock the door, I’ll go in first and check things out. Once it is clear, I’ll have you walk around with me to see if anything is missing.”
“Yes, sir, but I went in there earlier and didn’t see anyone here.”
“I just want to make sure everything is safe, sir.”
Sheriff Ourso came back a few minutes later to get Mr. Redmond. “Okay, sir; let’s go see if you notice anything missing.”
They started in the kitchen. “I know they just had a big party, but it was catered. There is no food at all in the house, even the pantry is empty. That’s out of character for Jill. Even though she very seldom cooks, she likes having a few staples on hand for impromptu gatherings.”
Mr. Redmond walked into Michael’s home office, “It looks as if the safe wasn’t touched. I’m not sure how much money Michael keeps on hand, but money and Jill’s jewelry are still in here. It’s hard to say, but I don’t think the house was robbed. I’m not sure what the deal with the food missing is, but where the hell are Michael and Jill. Both of their cell phones are still on the charger. Jill doesn’t go anywhere without her phone or purse, and both are still here.”
They walked out back to Michael’s workshop. “It’s hard to say, but I don’t see any gas cans and it appears that someone has been rifling through the tools and things. I wouldn’t know for sure if anything was missing here, though.”
Sheriff Ourso had a bad feeling about this. “Mr. Redmond, I’m going to send a crime scene crew over here to dust for fingerprints. I don’t like this one bit.”
Sheriff Ourso wasn’t sure what was going on, but they had three people that he knew of, who seemed to have vanished into thin air. “Mr. Redmond do you know who all was at the party Saturday night? I need to talk to them. Maybe they noticed something out of place.”
“I know Heather Vaughn, Maria Henderson, Barbara Swanson, Randy Jenkins, and Stephen and Adele Fisher were all invited. I’m sure they invited more people, but I’m not sure who else. Those two love to entertain, and it’s usually the same group of friends that come over. Most of them have been friends since they were in grade school.”
“Thank you. I’ll go and talk to them. We’ll get this all worked out.”
No one answered at Heather Vaughn’s house. Maybe Sheriff Ourso could catch Maria at her office. He asked the receptionist, “Is Ms. Henderson in this morning?”
“She sure is, Sheriff Ourso; I’ll let her know you are here.”
Maria Henderson greeted him at the front desk. “Good morning, Sheriff. What can I do for you?”
“Did you happen to attend the party at Michael and Jill Redmond’s house on Saturday night?”
“Yes, sir, I sure did, as well as a few of our other friends. Let’s go back to my office, so we can sit and talk.”
She led him back to her office. “I didn’t think to ask you if you would like anything to drink.”
“I’m fine. Michael and Jill Redmond seem to have disappeared. I wanted to see if you noticed anything unusual?”
“Everything had been the same as always. We ate, drank, and talked. The only people that didn’t come were Dylan Robinson and Heather Vaughn. We talked about how Dylan’s family was worried about him. We all figured Heather was on a beach somewhere spending her ex-husband’s money just to piss him off.”
“So Heather Vaughn wasn’t there either?”
“No, she wasn’t. Come to think of it, I don’t remember the last time I talked to Heather. Like I said, we figured she was off enjoying her new found freedom. Her ex-husband is a major asshole. He wasn’t from around here and he moved back to wherever he was from.”
Sheriff Ourso worried if Heather Vaughn was missing or out partying. He’d have to go by Heather’s house and check things out there too.
After knocking on her door and not getting an answer, he looked into the garage. Her car was still there. He wondered why she wasn’t answering her door. There was also a pile of newspapers at the end of the driveway.
“Sheriff, I haven’t seen Heather in a while.” The sheriff turned around to see one of Heather’s neighbors, Pam Harrison, in the yard.
“Do you know if she had planned a trip?”
“She didn’t say anything. If she plans to be gone for a few days, she usually asks me to get her papers for her. She doesn’t want everyone to know she is gone. She is always paranoid that someone will let her ex-husband know. She moved in right after her divorce was final. From what I understand, she sold her other house cheap just to piss off her ex. She really enjoys aggravating him when she can, even if he isn’t living here in town anymore.”
Sheriff Ourso knew without a missing person’s report or extenuating evidence, he couldn’t go bursting inside. “If you happen to see Ms. Vaughn, would you please ask her to give me a call?” Sheriff Ourso slid a note under her door, just in case she was sleeping.
He wondered what the hell was going on around here. It wasn’t like some of these people to just get up and leave.