Love and Suspicion Page 9

  “Over-hard.”

  “Me too.” Beverly cracked a second, a third and then a fourth egg. “It’s not like it was when Earl’s first wife was alive. This place was normally filled with guests and I enjoyed cooking for as many as they wanted to invite. I adored Mrs. Woodbury, but after she passed away, Michael and Jason started to hate me with a passion. They complained about everything, especially Michael.”

  “Who’s Jason?”

  “Earl’s second son. He’s two years younger than Michael and most of the time he and I got along, but when Michael got riled up over something, Jason always took his side. Mrs. Woodbury tried to control Michael and so did Earl, but at the time Earl was a busy man and not home most of the time. It didn’t take long for Michael to get all big and bold. He was Earl Woodbury’s son, the man who owned most of the town, and Michael thought that made him king of the hill.” Beverly gently turned the frying eggs over, put two pieces of bread in the toaster, and then bowed her head for a moment. “None of us knew how sick Lisa Woodbury was and before we could adjust to the bad news of her cancer, she was gone.”

  “Just that quick?” the smell of frying ham was making Tiffany even more hungry.

  “Quick for us, but she’d known about it for a full year. She said it was inoperable and instead of getting sick from treatments that wouldn’t work, she decided to enjoy the life she had left instead. I tell you, I loved that woman and after she was gone, our whole world fell apart. I suppose Michael blamed me for it somehow.” Beverly buttered the toast, brought a plate of food for each of them, and then joined Tiffany at the table.

  “Thank you, this looks great.” Tiffany took a bite of egg and relished the taste.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “What happened after Mrs. Woodbury passed away?”

  “Well, Michael decided he and Jason didn’t need a babysitter anymore and insisted Earl send me away. Earl was so distraught, he let me go just to keep the peace. I didn’t blame him, but with no one to cook for them, Michael insisted he hire Mariam Eggelston. I hadn’t taken a vacation in years, so I went to Italy for a month. When I came back the news was all over town.”

  “What news?”

  “Michael got Pamela pregnant and Earl insisted he marry her. I didn’t get invited, naturally, but I hear it was not a happy wedding for anyone but the bride. That’s where Michael’s son Alex came from, and I have no doubt you’ll be meeting him soon. The marriage wasn’t happy.”

  “So I heard.”

  “That’s right, you work for Mariam. She’s harmless, really, she just loves to gossip.” Beverly paused to take another bite of ham before she continued. “Thing is, the bride wasn’t the only girl carrying Michael’s child – Pamela was just the first to tell Earl. Michael almost talked Jason into marrying the other one, but Jason flatly refused. He’d had enough of Michael’s messes, wanted to attend law school and that’s exactly what he did. He lives in Georgia now, is married and has four children. At least Earl could be proud of one of his sons.”

  “Was Michael’s other baby a girl or a boy?”

  “I don’t know, her parents were horrified and forced her to put the baby up for adoption.”

  “That’s terrible. Does Jason come back to visit often?”

  “A couple of times a year usually. Last year he didn’t come at all.”

  “So the tile factory is not the only thing Earl owns?”

  “These days it is and I think he hangs on to it just to spite Michael, but that’s just my opinion. Earl owned a lot of land, various shops, several of the buildings downtown and made money off the office space he rented out. He was always helping people, giving them a financial hand up when they needed it. After the kidnapping, Earl sold most of his property to pay the ransom money back. Michael was furious and flew into a rage. After all, he told Earl not to pay the ransom.”

  “Wow, remind me to stay out of Michael’s way.”

  Beverly grinned, “That a girl. By the way, my room is right through that door. He doesn’t usually need much, so I just sort of stay out of his way after dinner, but you are welcome to visit. It gets kind of lonely here sometimes.” She finished her last bite of breakfast, laid her fork in her plate and then wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I suppose I should warn you. There might be trouble at the picnic. Some people don’t think much of Michael’s imaginary kingdom or his trumped up rules.”

  “Like Jerry Terrell?”

  Beverly grinned, “You’ve learned a lot in just a few days. Keep your eyes and ears open and you’ll learn a lot, especially from Mariam.”

  “I plan to. Did you like Earl’s second wife?”

  “I didn’t know her well enough to say one way or the other. It wasn’t my place, you understand. I worked for another family until after Shelley died, and Earl asked me to come back.”

  Tiffany glanced at her watch. “I should leave for work soon, but go on. How much do you know about Shelley?”

  Beverly picked up the plates and carried them to the sink. “Like I said, I didn’t work here then and didn’t know her hardly at all. There were rumors, there always are, but I will say this much – I don’t think Earl loved her, at least not the way he loved Lisa. He and Shelley were an odd couple, if you ask me. Just the same, there is no doubt Earl loved that little girl. I think he believes she’s alive somewhere. For his sake, I hope he’s right.”

  TUESDAY, ROD WENT TO work an hour early to talk to the sheriff about the case. Apparently, the sheriff’s wife was finally feeling better. On the table was an array of delicious looking donuts which he helped himself to, made himself a cup of coffee, and then chatted with Millie for a few minutes. Finished with his donut, he knocked on Sheriff Otis Pierce’s closed door.

  “Come in.”

  “Mind if I pick your brain for a few minutes?”

  Sheriff Pierce closed the file on his desk and leaned back in his chair. “Have a seat.”

  Rod made himself comfortable, and then asked, “Are you aware that part of the file on Shelley Woodbury’s death is missing?”

  “I am. The FBI took the original photos and my notes before I had time to get them copied. They promised to return then, but never did.”

  “Why did they want them?”

  “They said she looked like someone they’d been looking for. I couldn’t get much out of them except that I should be on the lookout for a guy who wore thick glasses and had thin lips. It wasn’t much of a description.”

  “Did you ever see anyone matching that description?”

  “Not in this town, and no one else had either. I insisted they give the file back several times, but the last time I called, the FBI claimed they couldn’t find it.”

  “So they took the photos of her body, the coroner’s report and the death certificate?”

  “And my notes,” the sheriff admitted. “Earl has the original death certificate, but I didn’t have the heart to ask him for a copy.”

  “Do you remember the name of the drug she took?”

  “Sorry, I do not. The coroner died years ago but his files might be in storage somewhere. His name was Howard Birch or Birtchress...something like that. He was from Des Moines and worked several of the counties around here. I could find out if you think it’s important.”

  “It’s not that important, I was just curious. What about her personal doctor? Someone must have delivered the baby.”

  “Dead too, I’m sorry to say. I probably didn’t put it in the file, but I remember him telling me he didn’t have her on any drugs.”

  “I see.” Rod paused to gather his thoughts. “You didn’t find a suicide note?”

  “No, just that blank check she signed, which didn’t make any sense. If it was some kind of message, she didn’t make it plain enough for any of us to understand.”

  “Anybody know why Earl got married again so soon after his first wife died?

  Otis folded his arms. “I can’t think of anyone who knows the answer to that except Earl, and I didn’t ask. I
suppose that a man is still a man, even when he is in mourning for the woman he deeply loved. I suspect she tempted him, he got her pregnant, and tried to set things right by marrying her for the sake of the baby. One thing I have never doubted – Earl would never hurt that little girl and if he did, he would have confessed right up front.”

  “But his wife might have?”

  “Maybe.”

  “So when she died, it was all wrapped up in a nice little ball – mother kills baby, hides the body, can’t handle the guilt, and kills herself.”

  “Could be exactly what happened, only...”

  “Only what?”

  “Who picked up the ransom? I know for a fact she didn’t leave the house that night.”

  “Did she get any phone calls?”

  “No. None of her personal friends came, no one called her, and if they had, we would have told them she was resting.”

  “How did she react when she found out the ransom had been picked up?”

  “You’d have to ask Earl. He’s the one who told her and it was a private conversation. You have to remember we had no real reason to suspect her at the time. It was only after she committed suicide that a few of the pieces implicating her started falling into place.”

  Rod took a drink of coffee that was already getting cold. “Then just to speculate – if she was in on the kidnapping, she could have gone to the door and handed the baby to someone, thus no fingerprints, etc. She pretended to get so upset she had to take something, which she already had on hand, to make her sleep through most of the next two days. Earl woke her up, told her the ransom was picked up and the guy got away.”

  Rod again thoughtfully paused. “Now she knew the other person had both the baby and the money. Furthermore, no call came to assure her everything was right on schedule, so Mrs. Shelley Woodbury knew she’d been double-crossed. She knew she was too weak to withstand the pressure, figured she would end up in prison, and took the coward’s way out.”

  “That’s as good as any theory I’ve ever came up with. Maybe you can prove something one way or the other. I never could.”

  “You were right; Earl has all the keys.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “If he suspected his wife did it, why not tell me after she died? It couldn’t have hurt her, and it might have helped us find his daughter. He didn’t say but I always thought Earl suspected someone other than his wife – Mariam, one of his sons, a business partner, or someone he cared very deeply about. All I know is, Shelley didn’t pick up the ransom herself, so there must have been at least one other person involved, and maybe more.”

  THAT AFTERNOON, WHILE the whole town waited to see what Michael would do to get even with Jerry Terrell, Rod decided to make a couple of unusual stops on his normal route. He’d been to the lake several times, but this time he wanted to see if he could find something the investigators might have missed. After so many years, it was a long shot. The electrical and water hookups in the campground had obviously been improved. The road in and out was well maintained, and the picnic area held several bolted down tables. He gazed at the lake for a few minutes, imagined the divers searching for the baby’s body, and was glad they didn’t find her.

  With nothing more to see, he headed for the junkyard. At nearly eighty years of age, Matt Collier sat in the shade of two large White Ash trees that had grown so close together, it was hard to tell one tree trunk from the other. Even at his age, Matt still hung around the place each day, although his son and grandson currently ran it. Mostly, he dozed off whenever he wanted and fully enjoyed his retirement years.

  He woke up, however, when he heard a car coming down the wide dirt road. “Who’s that?” Matt shouted to his grandson.

  “Looks like that new deputy, Grandpa,” Carl answered.

  “The one that arrested old Earl?” he snickered.

  “Looks like it.”

  Matt stroked his gray beard. “Wonder what he wants.”

  Working in the yard a short distance away, Matt’s son stopped what he was doing too and joined the others. Three sets of eyes watched Rod park, get out of his car and walk to them. “Matt Collier?”

  The old man feebly raised his hand. “What’s up, Deputy?”

  “Nothing serious. I just came to ask a few questions.”

  “About what?”

  “About the Woodbury kidnapping.”

  Matt let out a slow whistle. “Before you ask, me and my son searched every inch of this place looking for that baby. We even searched long after the FBI left. They seemed more interested in who took the money anyway. I would have given anything to rescue Earl’s daughter, but we never found a thing, ain’t that right, Buddy?”

  “That’s right, Dad.”

  Matt quickly continued, “Earl Woodbury gave me the money to start this place when the bank wouldn’t loan it to me. It took years to pay him back, but I finally made my last payment a couple of years ago. Upset me to the bone to think the scumbag kidnapper used my place to hurt Earl and his family. Upset me to the bone and it wasn’t something I got over in a hurry. I’m still not over it!”

  Matt’s son added, “There wasn’t a regular customer that came into the yard after that day, that we didn’t suspect took part in the kidnapping. They certainly knew which lights to shoot out, that old dog would have let them tie him up, and they knew how to walk out through the back without tripping over something. We fenced it in after that.”

  When Matt’s grandson brought another chair, Rod was happy to sit down so the old man didn’t have to strain his neck looking up at him. “Did you suspect one more than any of the others?”

  “We came to the conclusion that the guy with the money wouldn’t show up here again anyway, and all of our regulars were accounted for,” Matt answered.

  “Unless,” his son added, “he didn’t want to look suspicious by not showing up. We kept a list of names if you want them. Old Jeb died, but most still come to buy parts or sell scrap metal.”

  “I might be interested in the name of anyone who moved away within the year or so later,” said Rod. “Do you recall any of those?”

  Matt, hung his head and for a moment, he looked as though he’d fallen asleep. Abruptly, he lifted his head and said, “Been eighteen years. I’ll have to think about that a while.”

  “No problem, take your time.” Rod said. “You and your family had been in Canada the week before on vacation, is that correct?”

  “It is.”

  “Did you leave anyone in charge while you were gone?”

  “No, we don’t get much business around the 4th, so we just locked everything of value up and left the dog loose to scare strangers away.”

  “Who fed the dog?”

  Matt looked to his son for the answer. “Dad, didn’t Harry Charles promise to feed him every day?”

  “That’s right, it was Harry Charles, but he’s not your kidnapper, Deputy. He was only twelve or thirteen at the time. He didn’t take the money either - he was terrified of being here in the dark of night. Said the place was spooky.”

  “Did you notice anyone in town spending more money than they normally could?”

  “No, and we would have heard if they had,” Matt answered. “I’ll say this much though, he sure picked the right weekend, what with all the strangers in town for the 4th.”

  Rod propped one ankle up on his other knee. “Can you show me where Earl left the money?”

  “About right where you’re sitting – in plain sight the FBI said. No moon, no lights, and the suitcase vanished with FBI agents hiding around every corner. Thing is, Deputy, how hard would it be to hide behind these two tree trunks, use a grab hook of some kind, and pull the suitcase to you? This old oak tree was wide enough even back then to hide a full grown man...or woman. I’m not one bit surprised the FBI didn’t see him.” Matt looked away. “I just wish I’d been here to beat the stuffing out of him.”

  Rod slowly stood up. “Thank you, y
ou’ve been very helpful.”

  “You think you can catch him after all these years?” Buddy asked.

  “Probably not, but I’m going to give it a try. “Rod reached out and shook Matt’s feeble hand. “If you think of anything else, just leave a message with Millie.” He took a business card out of his shirt pocket and handed it to Buddy.

  Before he got back in his car, Rod took a long look around. New equipment had obviously been added, and for a junkyard, the place looked very well organized. He tipped his hat to the three men still watching him, got in, and then left.

  The instant he was out of sight, Buddy pulled out his cellphone. To the person on the other end, he excitedly announced, “You’ll never guess what! The new Deputy is looking into the kidnapping!”

  NOT LONG AFTER TIFFANY returned to Earl’s house that evening, shared dinner with her hosts, and went to her room, Ben called.

  “I was wrong about the softball game,” said he in that deep voice she hoped to hear a lot more of.

  “How wrong?” she teased as she slouched in one of the sitting room chairs. “Wrong game, wrong opponents, or...”

  “Wrong night. I thought it was Friday, but it’s Thursday night instead. You still want to go?”

  “I do. What time?”

  “The game starts at seven.”

  Tiffany sat up straight. “Uh oh, I have to work until seven.

  “Just ask Mariam to let you close up early. She won’t mind.”

  “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

  “Good, I’ll pick you up at the bookstore at 6:45”

  “You’re on.” She was careful not to shriek with delight until after he hung up.

  WHEN ROD ARRIVED AT the office at the end of his shift, Wayne Griffin was sitting in a chair with a grin on his face waiting for him. “Class Fifty-two felony, huh?”

  Rod returned his smile and went to the computer to log out. “You heard about that?”