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Waking up to breakfast in bed with Kate delayed Tom’s departure for work on Wednesday. Fortunately, she had gotten up early to document the information he requested about the partnership agreement. He arrived in time to see Sid crossing the police department lobby toward the stairs leading up to the building department suite.
Sid said, “Hey, partner. I was beginning to think I’d have to go solo with Leatherman.”
“We need to postpone the meeting for a bit,” Tom said, tapping the notebook he’d picked up from Kate’s house.
“What’s that?”
“Research Katie’s been doing regarding Porter’s suit and other things. I’m not sure what’s in this binder, but I want to review it before we talk to anyone about anything.”
“You get the coffee,” Sid said, heading back to their office, “I’ll call Ben to reschedule.”
Tom scanned Kate’s documentation, which was topically organized and separated by index tab sheets. He put the notebook in the center of the worktable and added a stack of information the detectives had assembled and a stack for statements by witnesses, including those by Frankie and other tip-line callers.
Sid slid his chair over to the table. “You didn’t say why Kate gave you all this stuff.”
“Trying to organize what she gathered, I suppose.”
“Or maybe she found out a lot of little bitty things that she believes in her newspaper reporter’s heart will prove something somehow to someone.”
“Excellent summation. The good news is she has promised ... more or less ... to stay out of the investigation for the time being.”
“That is good news. By the way, Leatherman says he’ll be free all day, we can drop by any time. But if we want to speak to his inspectors we’ll have to wait until later this afternoon when they return to the office.”
“Good. Also, one document Katie gave me isn’t in the notebook. She found it by accident and showed it to me this morning. I made her turn it over to me.”
“You made her? Sorry I missed that.”
“Let’s say I convinced her it was a good idea,” Tom said, handing his partner the agreement and Kate’s statement.
As he read the document, Sid’s what-now facial expression progressed to keen interest followed by alarm. “He went to Kate’s house? Is he crazy?”
“More arrogant than crazy. Don’t worry. Kate knocked him down a notch or two.”
“This agreement could speak to motive,” Sid said.
“I agree. I’m not sure what happened between Jack and Lex, but something caused Porter to go out on his own. Maybe he changed his mind, wanted to come back. Maybe he realized he had a right to one-third of the business.”
“They argued, it got ugly. Sounds plausible,” Sid said.
“We need to go over the scenario some more. Right now, log it as evidence in the skeleton case and put it somewhere safe. I’ll get started on Katie’s tome.”
The detectives each reviewed the notebook, which included the reporter’s interview transcripts and her take-away opinions from the meetings. Another part documented the Chamber of Commerce survey, including Marge’s findings. In addition, Kate provided information from the Fire Chief and others regarding more recent residential fires and offers to purchase property on the lakefront. The next to last section, titled “pure speculation,” lived up to the name. In it she outlined her conspiracy theory involving Allen, Henderson, and Wainright. The final portion of the notebook included biographies of all “conspirators” and information about every business included in her research, linking individuals and businesses and locations in a complex relationship chart.
Tom finished his review and pushed away from the table before returning the last pages to the binder. His admiration for the really cute red-haired girl he met in grade school and grew to love deeply had taken on a new dimension. For one thing, her incredibly convoluted train of thought both horrified and amused him.
“You know what terrifies me?” he asked.
Sid shook his head.
“I see her point.”
“That is frightening, but I know what you mean.”
“If we consider this circumstantial evidence in conjunction with what we have already, we might have a case,” Tom said.
Sid poured himself another cup of coffee and topped off his partner’s. “But a case for what? I see the bribery angle, but can that be tied to her band of conspirators? What are they guilty of? Wanting prosperity for the city? Even wanting personal wealth isn’t against the law.”
Tom countered, “Unless you achieve success by breaking the law.”
After going around a few more times and getting nowhere in particular, the detectives agreed to visit Leatherman, who was surprised to hear about the hotline lead regarding Fortner.
“Brad was one of my best inspectors. Unfortunately, he quit two weeks ago.”
“We found that out when we called your office,” Sid said. “What reason did he give during his exit interview?”
“No interview. His letter of resignation was waiting for me on my desk that Monday morning. It was pretty vague, so I boiled it down to personal reasons.”
“Did you have any issues with him?” Tom asked.
“When I was hired, he’d been with the department for a while, which was a good-news-bad-news thing. Took me a few months to get him used to the different rules and processes.”
“Did he resent that?” Sid asked.
“He seemed to be okay with it. What’s this about? Did Fortner call the tip-line with some claim against the department?”
“We received the information from a subcontractor on one of the jobs Fortner inspected,” Tom said. “The informant claims to have witnessed your inspector taking a bribe from one of the general contractor’s men.”
Leatherman jerked his head up, and his brow furrowed as he rolled his chair back from the desk. He pulled a file from the cabinet and handed it to Tom. “I haven’t even had time to process this. I was hoping he’d call and change his mind. He was a good man.”
“Like you said, it’s pretty vague,” Tom said after reading the hand-written note.
“I take it this accusation against him surprises you,” Sid said.
“Absolutely. Have you substantiated the claim?”
“We’re still investigating,” Tom said. “Had you noticed anything unusual about Fortner’s attitude or performance in the last few months? Did he have any personal problems?”
“I’ll have to admit I’ve been distracted with this building code update and review of Branson ordinances relating to construction. I personally have not seen anything unusual. I’m not aware of any financial issues, although he was divorced a little over a year ago. The rest of the staff may be able to help with more information.”
“Can you list the jobs Fortner inspected?” Sid asked.
“He’s probably had occasion to inspect all of them, but I can get you a list with the number of inspections per job. Is that good?”
“Perfect. And I’d like to take his file,” Tom said.
Sid added, “Please send your staff down to our office, one at a time.”
Leatherman walked the detectives to the customer counter close to Claire’s desk. He leaned toward his secretary and spoke in a low tone. “These gentlemen need a list of inspections performed in the last year. Sort it by project name, please. And another sorted by inspector.”
Tom extended his hand to the department manager and said, “Thanks, Ben. We appreciate your cooperation.”
“Let me know if you need anything else. Claire can be your first interview when she brings you the reports. I’ll send the others as soon as they return from the job sites.”
***
CLAIRE SPENT LESS THAN thirty minutes with the detectives. She had barely met Fortner or anyone else in the department. From her point of view, they were all hardworking and honest guys. Ben Leatherman was a good boss, although it had taken her a couple weeks to get used to his no-nonsense management style. Fortunately, the reports she brought proved to be more interesting.
Sid handed Tom the printout ordered by inspectors, which he had studied while Tom spoke to the secretary. “Fortner worked primarily on Fortune Enterprises projects,” he said.
“Including the one Frankie told us about,” Tom commented.
“It could be a coincidence, but Fortner didn’t do as many reinspections as the other men in the department, especially on Allen’s projects.”
Before Tom could comment one of the building inspectors knocked on the detectives’ door. He extended his hand and crossed the room when Sid motioned him in. “Harry Pine,” he said. “I work for Ben Leatherman. Claire said you need to ask me some questions.”
Sid said, “Have a seat, Harry. This shouldn’t take too long.”
“What’s this all about? Am I in trouble?” Pine asked. His forced smile twitched before disappearing.
Tom shook his head. “Today we are interested in Brad Fortner. You worked with him for several years. Correct?”
Pine seemed puzzled, but relieved. “Yeah, I guess.”
“How would you describe his performance?” Sid asked.
“He did his job okay. I sat in on one of his preemployment interviews. He knew the building codes, but he’d been in the field for less than two years as an apprentice. I felt we needed someone with more experience, but management out-voted me. Still, he came onboard pretty quickly.”
“Seemed like a competent, honest inspector?”
“From where I stood, yes. I’ve never heard a bad thing about him. But, to be honest, I don’t pay much attention to how other inspectors do their jobs. That’s why they pay Leatherman the big bucks. Right?”
Sid chuckled. “Would you know why Fortner quit a couple weeks ago?”
“Complete surprise to me, especially not giving notice. You can burn bridges that way. And I was under the impression he needed the job. I hope he found another good one.”
“Does that mean you don’t know where he went?”
“Not a clue.”
Tom asked, “What do you mean he needed the job?”
“The divorce. I heard his wife took the credit cards with her. Word is the cards were maxed out before Brad could even pick up the phone to cancel them. I know he worked another job in the evenings for a while to pay them off, but it was a temporary part-time thing.”
“Does he have friends or relatives who might know how to locate him?”
“I’m afraid you’ve gotten everything I know about Brad Fortner.”
“Okay,” Tom said, standing up. He patted Pine on the back as they moved toward the door. “You can tell Claire we’re ready for the next interview.”
The second inspector confirmed what Pine had said but offered also that Fortner hung around with a fellow gun enthusiast called Stevey or Stoney, but he didn’t know a last name. Each of the two part-time apprentices hired by Leatherman in the past year echoed Claire’s general statement.
Sid volunteered to check out the Stevey-Stoney lead by speaking to a guy he knew at the shooting range east of town.
Tom contacted his friend Gary Wyler to pin down who may have given Fortner the bribe. The detective did not specify a company or project, nor did he tell his friend why he was asking. Based on Frankie’s description alone, Gary gave Tom the names of three men. Two of the men were fairly low-level employees at a couple of the contractors working Branson jobs. However, one was a site manager for Fortune Enterprises. According to the inspection reports provided by Leatherman, the man had worked several projects in town over the past year, including the one at which Frankie witnessed the payoff. Gary said the guy was Allen’s assistant.
Tom was hanging up from speaking to Fortner’s credit card company when Sid returned to the office. “I hit pay dirt,” Tom said.
“I did pretty well myself,” Sid said, taking his notepad from his pocket and slamming it on his desk.
“Did you find Stevey?”
“Brad and Stoney were regulars at the shooting range on JJ Highway near Kirbyville. They haven’t come around for a few weeks. My contact said it isn’t particularly unusual for the two to miss a couple weeks occasionally. Apparently the two frequent the little bar on JJ in the Pinetop area not far from the range.”
“That’s it?”
“Hey, this is the Ozarks. We don’t keep track of our fellow man.”
“What about an address or phone for Stoney?”
“I’m afraid the bar is as close as my friend could get. Like a lot of people, including Fortner, Stoney has a post office box. If the bar doesn’t pan out, we can try the range on the weekend when more members are around. Maybe someone will have better information.”
“We can try the bar tonight. What did you get from the landlord?”
“Landlady is Evelyn Hartman. Her office is in Ozark. Runs several low-end rentals in the area, mostly south of Branson. She had nothing on the ex-wife Sharon who moved out a while ago. Evelyn didn’t care because Brad paid the rent on time.”
“Does Evelyn know he moved out?”
“She does now.”
“Does she have a forwarding for him?”
“The post office box we already know about. None of the neighbors saw anything strange, like a moving van. The place is furnished so Fortner probably didn’t have much.”
Tom said, “I did a bit better than you. I was able to verify our guy paid off his extensive credit card debt. Didn’t take long as it turns out.”
“Hmm,” Sid said.
“Also, I may have a lead on the person who bribed Brad. We can take a ride out to the job site and check him out.”
“Let me guess. The new office complex?”
***
BASED ON FRANKIE’S description, Tom spotted Paul Andrews immediately. The detective observed the man from a distance, then approached a small circle of workers and asked to speak to the site manager. The group simultaneously turned in Paul’s direction. One of the men shouted, “Hey, Paul, someone to see you.”
Andrews waved, then finished his conversation with a crew delivering a load of gravel. Tom waited for Paul to walk toward him, hoping Sid could get a clear photo from the car.
“How can I help you, Detective Collingwood?”
“You know who I am?”
“I’ve seen your picture in the paper a few times. What’s up?”
“We’re trying to find a former city employee, Brad Fortner.”
Andrews glanced down and kicked a rock with the side of his work boot. “Can’t say the name sounds familiar. Frankly, I don’t deal with inspectors much other than to resolve an issue of some kind. You should speak to the job foreman.”
The Site Manager turned and walked toward the unfinished building. Within two minutes the foreman emerged. It took him another two minutes to tell Tom that he knew Fortner and was sorry to see him quit and move away. Brad was one of the few competent inspectors the construction boss had worked with in his fifteen years in the business. Tom handed him a card and asked him to call if he remembered anything else or if he saw Fortner anywhere.
Tom scooted into the passenger side and said, “Let’s go see what Stoney’s up to.”
The detectives were quiet for several minutes, but apparently Sid couldn’t stand it. “What did Andrews say?” he asked.
“He said he didn’t deal with inspectors much, didn’t remember Fortner.”
“That’s probably reasonable. Is that why you talked to the other man?”
“That was the job foreman. He said Brad was a good inspector and he enjoyed working with him. He didn’t know why the guy left town or where he went.”
“Dead end.”
“Maybe not,” Tom said.
“How so?”
“I didn’t tell Andrews that Fortner was a city building inspector. I said he was a city employee.”
***
THE BAR WAS LARGER than Tom expected. A metal and wooden building was sheltered by tall cedars on three sides. The gravel parking lot extended from the front wall to the road and currently accommodated a dozen vehicles—all pickup trucks. “Cold Beer” in red neon lettering dominated the large window next to the door.
When Tom and Sid crossed the threshold, the barkeeper glanced around the room. As if warned by a secret alarm, the customers turned toward the door.
Tom said, “We need to talk to Herman Stonebridge.”
Everyone laughed except the man sitting on the end bar stool. “I didn’t do it,” the man shouted and loud cackles filled the room.
“Are you Stonebridge?” Sid asked.
“Stoney.”
“Can we go somewhere more private?”
Stoney swiveled off the stool and moved to a table. “You fellas want a beer?”
“Maybe later,” Tom said.
“You must be the one who went to the range today,” Stoney said, pointing toward Sid.
“News travels fast.”
“It does in this neighborhood.” He took a drink of his beer, then continued. “I’m afraid I can’t help you much. Brad and I have been friends for quite a while and he said nothing to me, just disappeared. I didn’t know he’d taken off until I saw his house was up for rent.”
Tom asked, “You hadn’t noticed anything odd in his behavior? Anything bothering him? Problems with the ex-wife?”
“Sharon will always be a problem, but I doubt he heard from her once she moved back to her mother’s in Harrison.”
“When was that?” Sid asked.
“Two, maybe three months. She went traveling after the divorce. Brad said she charged things as far away as New Orleans before he could get those cards cancelled. I guess when the ex-husband-well dried up, she returned to Momma.”
“Anything else?”
“I wouldn’t say his behavior was odd exactly, but a few weeks ago he seemed spooked by something. When I asked him about it, he said I was imagining things, so I let it go. Next thing I know, he was gone.”
“When you say spooked, do you mean frightened?”
“More like antsy, like something was out of his hands.”
Sid said, “Maybe it was the credit card debt.”
“No, he paid those off pretty quick. Had an extra job for several months to make sure he took care of it.”
“Do you have any guess where he might’ve gone? Somewhere he used to live or wanted to move? Any friends he might have asked for help?”
“Nope. He was born in Taney County. I don’t remember him discussing any other place he wanted to see, let alone live in.”
Tom pushed away from the table and Sid followed suit.
“Thanks for your help, Stoney,” Sid said, handing him a card. “If you think of anything or see Brad, give us a call.”
“I have to say, you fellas have me worried. I’ll ask around, see if anyone else might know something.”
As they drove back to the office, Tom said, “Let’s see if we can find the ex-wife or her mother in Harrison. And put out a bulletin on Fortner. Start with an identify-and-report. We don’t want him to run any farther than he has already.”