by Patricia Fry
“No. I don’t think anyone does. He hasn’t shown his face around here ever since Ronnie went missing.”
Once Savannah ended the call with Peg Griffith, she placed another call. “Hi, Craig, are you busy?”
“Well yeah. I’m busy sitting here at the diner having a late lunch. What are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m sorry to bother you. Why don’t you shut off your phone when you’re relaxing?”
“Not a bother, Savannah. What’s up?”
“Well, I just spoke with a member of the Griffith family.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, and I think I have a lead as to what happened to Ronnie.”
“I’m listening.”
“This gal seems to think Gail’s brother, Tyrone, had something to do with Ronnie’s disappearance, only no one knows where he is. The brother evidently left town about the time Ronnie Griffith disappeared, never to be seen again.”
“So she says, huh?”
“Well, yes. Seemed like she knew what she was talking about. Did you find any of this in the old files, or have you had a chance to look at them?”
“Yeah, I’ve been going through that stuff.” He whistled. “What a messy case. No wonder they gave up on it when that politician was found murdered. That was a concrete case—I mean they had a body and a viable suspect. That case made sense. When they found that body, the department seemed to think it was a good idea to pour all of their resources into solving that case, leaving the mystery around Ronnie Griffith’s disappearance a…well, a mystery.”
“So do you think there’s some viable evidence in those old files that they simply didn’t have the time or inclination to follow?” she asked.
“I actually think so, yes.”
“Did you come across Tyrone Allen’s name?”
“Sure did. Well, he and his father were among the suspects. It seemed to be well-known that they had it in for Griffith. They thought he had violated their family member. I guess Gail’s mother was sick. She was bedridden for many years, and the child was pretty much raised by those two from the time she was around twelve. Gail was untouchable as far as they were concerned. When this older man—five years her senior—came sniffing around, the father and brother went into ultra-protection mode. Mr. Allen forbade Gail from seeing him. According to witnesses, they made her life miserable by keeping her practically locked away, and they harassed Ronnie Griffith unmercifully. So the couple decided to run away together. I guess the Allen men caught wind of it, and before the kids could follow through with their plan, Ronnie disappeared.”
He paused, then continued, “According to Gail Allen’s statement, her father and brother tried to convince her that Ronnie had been leading her on—that he never meant all those things he said to her and that he’d run off with another woman. They succeeded in breaking the poor girl’s heart. And the young man, Ronnie…well, he was never seen again, dead or alive.” He added, “I guess her mother died right after that.”
Savannah muttered, “Poor, poor Gail.” She asked, “Craig, do you think DNA technology might help in this case? Is there anything in the file that might be tested in order to reveal any clues?”
“It’s hard to say. I’m not sure what it would tell us if they found Griffith’s DNA on any of Tyrone’s clothes. We already know the Allen men put their hands on Griffith and threatened him. In fact, Griffith filed a restraining order against them a few days before he disappeared.”
“So why didn’t they pursue the case?” she asked defiantly. “Sounds like reason enough right there.”
“The prosecutor evidently didn’t think so.” Craig coughed and cleared his throat as he often did when he was thinking. “Or she didn’t want to think so. You see, she had once dated Dave Allen, who is Tyrone and Gail’s uncle.”
“Oh?” Savannah said, startled. “So it was a conflict of interest.”
“Big time. Yeah, it seems that someone dropped the ball on this case and it didn’t help matters that a body was never found. They shoved it aside for the bigger one involving the politician. When no new evidence surfaced, they never got back to it.” Craig paused. “He could be part of the foundation of our house, actually.”
“Gads, I hope not—now that would be creepy.” She thought for a moment, then asked, “What do they do when they suspect someone’s buried in cement? Is there any way to find out without—you know, breaking up the cement? What about water witching?”
“Indeed, technology has opened new possibilities in forensics, but I don’t know if we’ve come so far that we can find bodies in cement, unless…”
“Unless what?” Savannah asked eagerly.
“Well, if it was known what part of the slab was poured at the time of a disappearance, for example, you might find a body by driving tubes into the cement and testing for gases related to a decomposing body. But this long after the fact, that might not even be possible.”
“Interesting,” Savannah said thoughtfully. “So when they closed the case, didn’t the family protest?”
“Yeah, but some families aren’t as vocal and pushy as others. The wheel doesn’t always squeak enough to get the grease. Hey, here’s something else that might interest you.”
“What?”
“Well, I found the strangest thing in the evidence box.” Savannah waited for him to continue. He finally said, “A wad of cat hair.”
“What?” she exclaimed.
“Yes, I suppose they used one of those sticky rollers to get this cat hair off Tyrone’s clothing and then they put it into a marked container. It’s not much, but someone must have thought it was significant at the time.”
“DNA,” Savannah said slowly.
“Huh?”
“Cats have DNA too. Dang, it’s probably way too late to learn anything now—cats only lived to be ten or fourteen years old back then.”
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“Well, if they’d acted on it then, they may have been able to test the cat fur and learn what cat or cats it came from.” Savannah asked, “Do you know which of the people involved in all this had cats?”
“Um…no. I don’t think that was an important detail.”
“It may have been the most important detail of all,” Savannah insisted. “Wow, I’m going to see what I can find out. I’ve been told that Mr. Allen hated cats and dogs. But Craig, Ronnie Griffith had cats.” She paused. “Hey, Peg Griffith said Tyrone left town after Ronnie disappeared, so how did they get ahold of his clothes to find the cat hair?”
“Good question,” Craig said. “Maybe he left a jacket behind. Or maybe they detained Tyrone long enough to find the cat hair. I think I read in the reports that they questioned him. That might have been before he left town or went off and died or whatever.”
“Maybe he was killed too,” Savannah said quietly.
“Huh?”
“Well, since the authorities weren’t doing anything, maybe the Griffith family carried out their own brand of justice and killed Tyrone Allen. Gads, Craig, he might be part of your foundation too.” Before Craig could comment, she said, “Hey, the kids are waking up…gotta go. I want to spend some time with them, then I think I’ll visit Gail and see about getting a tour of that grand home of hers.”
Chapter 6
An hour later, Gladys let herself into the house and found Savannah and Teddy playing with one of his birthday toys. Savannah greeted her. “Hi, Mom. Your hair looks nice. You had her cut it a little shorter this time, didn’t you?”
Gladys grinned. “Well, I didn’t ask her to. We got to talking and this is what happened.” She looked at herself in a mirror. “I like it, though. It’ll be cool for summer. What do you think?”
“Looks good. Yeah, trendy.”
Gladys looked at her reflection again. “Trendy? You think so?”
Before Savannah could respond, Lily ran into the room, shouting, “Hi, Grammy,” She held up one of her paper dolls. “Look at Sylvie’s new dress.”
“I love it,” Gladys said. “Is she going to a party in her new dress?”
Lily looked confused. “There’s no party.”
Just then, Gladys heard Teddy fussing. When she saw that he was reaching for her, she smiled and took him from Savannah. He immediately quieted and began grabbing at her glasses. She held onto his little hand, asking, “And what have you been doing while Grammy was gone, young man?”
“He took my paper dolls,” Lily complained. She pointed at the baby’s bouncy chair. “Grammy, put him down. Play paper dolls with me.”
“Now Lily that’s not nice,” Savannah said. “Teddy wants to play with Grammy too.”
“Vannie, have they been outside today?” Gladys asked.
“Just for a little bit. We walked with Rags around the yard.”
“Well, I have something for Maggie. I thought I’d walk it over. Would you kids like to go with me? We could take the stroller or the wagon.”
“Me go!” Lily chirped. She instructed, “Teddy, you stay with Mommy.”
When Savannah saw Teddy wrap his arms around Gladys’s neck, she said, “I think he needs a little Grammy time, too. You can both go. Lily, can you be a big girl and help Grammy with your baby brother?” When the child started to protest, Savannah said enticingly, “Auntie has Popsicles. If you’re a good girl, I’ll call Auntie and ask her if you can have a Popsicle when you get there.”
“Okay, Mommy.”
Once her mother and the children had left, Savannah made a quick call to Margaret. “Hey, the kids and Mom are on their way over to see you.”
“I know; your mom texted me.”
“I told Lily you still have some of those icy pops we made, or have you eaten them all?”
“No, I still have some. I saved her favorite: blueberry.”
“Great. Thanks. I’ll talk to you later.” The next call she made was to Adele. “Hi, Adele. I’m sorry to bother you again, but can you tell me if Gail’s family ever had cats?”
“What?”
“You know, when Gail was growing up, did the family have cats? Gail certainly seems to like cats; did she as a child too?”
“Yeah, she liked them, but her father wouldn’t allow her to have one. He was kind of a tyrant on certain issues and animals was one of them. There were no animals allowed around there, especially in the house.”
“Interesting,” Savannah said. “Thank you.” Before ending the call, she said, “Oh, one more thing. It seems as though it would be important for Gail to have a phone. It’s so sweet of you to take her calls, but don’t you think she should have a lifeline at hand in case she needs help?”
“Yes, but…”
“I don’t mind getting her one of those prepaid phones.”
“Savannah, I don’t know what to say. That would be wonderful.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of that tomorrow.” She added, “I just think it would be safer for her to have more immediate contact with the outside world.”
“Absolutely. Thank you so much.” Savannah ended the call, then immediately punched in Craig’s number. She was a little surprised when he answered.
“Hi, there, Savannah. What’s up?”
“Craig, about the cat hair…”
“Cat hair? Oh, you mean the cat hair we found in the evidence box? What about it?”
“The Allen family did not have any cats. If they found cat hair on Tyrone’s clothes, it did not come from their home. But we know who did have cats.”
“Uh…” Craig stalled. “Do you mean Ronnie Griffith?”
“That’s right. Craig, Tyrone probably had something to do with Ronnie’s disappearance.”
“You could be right, Savannah. But what can we do about it?”
“You’re asking me?” She thought for a moment, then said, “Craig, it’s possible that Tyrone’s still living.”
“Where, Savannah? Do you know where?”
“Well, no. You’re the detective; don’t you have the means to find out? Don’t you think it’s important to follow the new leads that are coming up and ultimately put that case to bed? Don’t we owe it to Ronnie’s family and to Gail to find his killer?”
Craig chuckled. “If Gail Allen’s family had something to do with Griffith’s disappearance, I doubt she’ll be any too happy to find that out.”
“Yeah,” Savannah said, “unless she already knows or suspects them. Having their awful deed—whatever it was—come to light just might lift a horrible burden from her, and it would certainly give her and Ronnie’s family closure.”
“You’re right, of course.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, Savannah, let me see what I can do about reopening that case. In fact, the cat hair just might be the key to making it happen.”
****
The following morning as Savannah slipped into jeans and a print blouse, Michael asked, “Going somewhere?”
“Yes, the kids and I are taking Gail to get a phone. I walked over to her place yesterday afternoon to check the traps, and I suggested that she really should have a phone. She seemed kind of excited about it, although she said she doesn’t know many people to call anymore. I reminded her that she has her cousin and me. She can contact old friends, make appointments…things like that. But the main reason I think she should have a phone is for her safety.”
Michael nodded. He looked up from where he sat putting on his shoes. “I keep meaning to ask how the trapping’s going. You haven’t brought me any patients in a few days.”
She grimaced. “Yeah, those cats aren’t falling for the yummy-tuna trick. I think Gail is continuing to feed, even though I’ve asked her to lay off for a while.”
“Doesn’t she know that she’s preventing the cats from being helped—that she’s prolonging the whole process? You should be in and out of there within a week or ten days. You gals don’t have time to dillydally with that project forever.”
“Yeah, but she can’t stand to see her kitties go hungry, even when she knows it’s for their own good. In reality, those cats are so well fed that they could live off their own fat for a week. I’ll try to make her understand and see if she’ll be more cooperative.” She thinned her lips. “That woman has a mind of her own.”
Michael shook his head, then asked, “Hey, did she ever fess up to what happened last week? I mean, you and Craig thought she was attacked. Do you still think so, or did she fall like she claimed?”
“I keep forgetting to ask Craig what they ultimately determined. We’ve been working on a much older case.”
He tilted his head. “What older case? Not the one involving Iris’s ghost.”
“Yes, actually. Craig and I found some new evidence—at least we think it might be evidence. He may open the case of Ronnie Griffith’s disappearance.”
“Wow! That could be interesting.”
“Yes.” She put her hair into a ponytail, kissed him, and scooped up Teddy, who’d been crawling around on the floor after Buffy. Savannah petted the part-Himalayan cat, then blew raspberries on the baby’s neck. “Come on, little one, let’s go see what we can scrounge up for breakfast.”
“Hi, Mommy! Hi Daddy!” Lily said when they walked into the kitchen. The three-and-a-half-year-old rushed to Savannah, pinched Teddy’s feet playfully, and made faces at him.
He giggled.
Savannah leaned over and puckered for a kiss from Lily. She gave the child a smooch and asked, “Want to go shopping with Mommy today?”
“With my purse?” Lily asked brightly. “And my money? Can I buy a toy?”
“We’ll see about that,” Savannah said. “We’re going shopping with a new friend.”
“Who?” Gladys asked.
“Gail.”
“Oh, the gal who lives in the basement of that dilapidated house?”
“Yes.” Savannah brightened. “I hope to go inside today. I’m curious to see it.”
Gladys nodded. “Yes, that could be interesting.”
“Are you taking Rags?” Michael asked.
Savannah looked at him. “Hey, not a bad idea, actually.” She frowned. “Although I don’t want to take him shopping.”
“When are you leaving?” Gladys asked after everyone was seated around the table and they’d started eating.
“Around ten.”
Gladys reached for one of Teddy’s chubby little hands. “Why don’t you leave him with me? He doesn’t like to go shopping.”
Savannah raised her eyebrows. “But you have book club today.”
“No. Carol cancelled—her kids have been sick and she said she’s exhausted. A couple of other gals weren’t sure they could make it, so we decided to cancel this week.” Gladys smiled. “I haven’t had Teddy to myself in a while.”
“I know what you mean,” Savannah said, hugging Lily. “Miss social butterfly, here, demands a lot of attention, doesn’t she? Teddy has to take a backseat sometimes.”
Gladys kissed the baby’s hand. “Not for long, I don’t imagine. He’ll come into his own and take the reins from his sister soon enough.”
“Don’t be too sure,” Michael said, grinning at his daughter. “I think Lily will always rule the roost.”
Savannah laughed. “But yeah, Mom, if you’d like to entertain Teddy, that would make shopping a whole lot easier. And I’m sure Lily will enjoy having a little one-on-one time with me. Thank you.” She reached for a piece of toast. “I can get him bathed and dressed…”
“No, no,” Gladys said, “that’s part of the fun of spending time with him—the splashy bath. I love his bath time.”
“Okay. I won’t take that pleasure away from you.” She smiled. “He is a cute little porpoise in the water, isn’t he?”
Savannah’s phone chimed. She looked at the screen and answered it. “Hi, Craig.”
“What are you doing today?” he asked.
“I’m taking Gail to buy a phone. She really should have a phone.”
“That’s nice of you. Will you have a chance to snoop around in her house?”
“Maybe. I hope that’ll work out. What’s up with you?”
“I have an assignment for you.”
“What?” she asked, hesitantly.
