The Road to Wrinkle Ranch

by Nick Russell

  "She's a bit shaken up, but she’s okay," Maddy replied. “I told her we'd have a deputy driving by every once in a while, just to keep an eye on things."

  "I'll make sure I do," Herb promised. "I'd love to have the chance to take that jerk down again. With any luck, he’d try to resist. That would really make my day.”

  Chapter 35

  They had just left the McBride house when the dispatcher called them again and told them the sheriff wanted to see them. Fifteen minutes later they were in the dayroom with D.W., Chief Deputy Schroeder, and Deputy Kimberly Streeter.

  "I wanted you to come in because we’ve got some information that we’re following up on," Schroeder said.

  "What's that, Dick?"

  "We pinged the cell phone records for Lonnie McBride's phone and for Audrey Rittenhouse’s. Kimberly, show them what you found," Schroeder said.

  Kimberly Streeter pointed to a map of the county, with red and yellow pushpins stuck at several locations. "The red pens are Lonnie McBride's phone pings from the night before he was killed until the train wreck. The yellow ones are Audrey Rittenhouse. As you can see," she said pointing to the red pens, "Lonnie was at or very near two different properties that are for sale the day before he was killed, which was a Sunday. It’s not uncommon for a real estate agent to be showing properties on a Sunday, and then it shows him being near home. Keep in mind, these are not exact locations, they’re estimates," she added. “Then, the next morning his phone pinged near his house, and then pinged here, she said pointing to a spot on the map. This is the tower near Marsh Landing Road."

  “That's close to where they found Audrey's car," Maddy said.

  “You’re right," Kimberly told her, then continued, “then there was a ping here,” she said, pointing to a spot on the map, “and then here. Now let's compare Audrey's trips. The day before, on Sunday, she was at home, then her phone pinged in the same area Lonnie was, at the same time. Then she was home, and the next morning guess what? Her phone pinged at the same place or near the same place where Lonnie's was on Marsh Landing Road, where her car was found. And then her phone pinged at the same places Lonnie went to."

  “Which would indicate that they met up someplace on or near Marsh Landing Road, left her car, and took off together," Maddy said.

  "That's right," Kimberly affirmed. “Now, we show both phones on the move again and end here, she said pointing to an area near the railroad crossing.

  Maddy studied the map and pointed and said, “The day before, that Sunday when they both pinged near the same place, it looks like it is the same place where they both pinged together on the day they were killed."

  "That's right," Kimberly said. “I took a drive out through that area, looking for anything, and the only real estate signs I saw were one for some vacant land for sale by owner, about two miles down the road from the railroad crossing, and here,” she said pointing to a place on the map. “This is called Wildflower Estates."

  "What's that?"

  “It looks like a new development with some model homes in it," Kimberly told them. “Nobody lives there, just these six model homes. There was a sign out front for AVA properties and a phone number to call."

  "Okay, so that's the place you think that they were at the night before they were killed, and again the next day?"

  "I'd bet money on it,” Kimberly said.

  “AVA properties? I’ve never heard of that company," John Lee said.

  “Neither have I,” Kimberly said. “I called the number and all I got was a voicemail saying that they were hoping I had a wonderful day and to leave a number and they would get back to me as soon as possible."

  “Did you trace that phone number to anybody?"

  "It was a burner phone that was bought at the Walmart in Perry," Kimberly said.

  "Any chance of finding out who bought it?"

  She shook her head and said, “It was bought over a year ago. Whoever bought it paid cash, and there was no record. And obviously no video from that long ago.”

  “You ever heard of something called AVA properties, Dick?"

  “Never have, D.W. Have any of you?"

  “I looked in the phone book and did a Google search and couldn't find anything," Kimberly said.

  “So what does this tell us?"

  “Well, John Lee, it tells us where they were the day before and where they were the morning that they got killed. If they were messing around,” Schroeder said, “which sure seems likely, this connects them."

  “Something else I forgot to mention," Kimberly said. "All these places where they were individually, or where they seem to have been together, like the area where her car was parked and all that, those are just based on the cell tower pings. But if we do assume they were together, they spent just over an hour and a half on Sunday, and an hour on Monday here," she said pointing again at Wildflower Estates. “There or very close to it.”

  "So they had someplace we know they were getting together to do the deed," Maddy said.

  "That would be my suspicion," Schroeder agreed.

  “Makes sense that it would be their little rendezvous place. Do the model homes there have lock boxes or something like that?"

  "I didn't see any, but didn't really look, to be honest with you,” Kimberly said. “I can drive by and check that.”

  "Did either Lonnie or Audrey's bosses mention this Wildflower Estates?"

  "Not that I can recall, D.W.," John Lee said.

  Maddy shook her head and said, “No, I don't remember them mentioning either place."

  "I don't trust anything Roger Bentley says," John Lee said. "We’ve already caught him lying to us."

  "What was that about?"

  "He was trying to cover for Lonnie going down to Ocala with the other woman.”

  "Kimberly, you're pretty good at details," Schroeder said. "See if you can find out any background on this AVA Properties outfit, okay?"

  "I'm on it," she said.

  "You two, if you think it will do any good, talk to their bosses and see if they will tell you anything about this Wildflower Estates," Schroeder said.

  "I won't hold my breath," Maddy told him. "But we’ll ask them."

  “Okay, get to work, and keep me and D.W. updated on what you find out."

  ***

  The office was closed at Somerton County Land and Homes, a note on the door saying that Roger Bentley was out showing properties and to call him if anyone wanted to set up an appointment.

  Alice Shaw was behind the desk at her office and John Lee and Maddy were both startled when they saw her appearance. Her face was sallow and sunken, it looked like she had not combed her hair in at least a day, and she appeared completely listless.

  "You two again," she said. "What is it now?"

  "Are you okay, Mrs. Shaw?"

  "I'm hanging on the best I can, young lady," she said. “This is just so hard for me. So hard." Then she buried her face in her hands and began sobbing. John Lee looked at Maddy and then back at her. "Ma'am, we hate to impose on you at a time like this, but we just have to ask you a couple of questions."

  "Questions? Why do you always have to keep coming back with questions? Audrey is dead! Nothing’s going to bring her back, and all your questions aren’t going to accomplish anything."

  "We need to find out what happened to her and to Lonnie McBride," Maddy said.

  Alice shook her head and spat, "Lonnie McBride! That worthless… I hate him!"

  John Lee and Maddy were both taken back by the venom in her voice. For a woman who made a point of telling people what a Christian she was, she sure didn't sound like one at that moment. But they both knew that no matter how strong a person’s faith was, everybody had a breaking point.

  “Why do you hate Lonnie McBride?"

  “Because he… because…," She shook her head, then said "Just go away, will you?"

  "Ma'am, we have to ask you a couple of questions," Maddy said. "Have you ever heard of a place called Wildflower Estates?"
<
br />   She shook her head but didn't respond otherwise.

  "How about AVA properties? Is that a company you know anything about?”

  "No. I’ve seen the development driving by, and drove in to check it out, but it must be some kind of exclusive listing. I couldn’t find out anything about it. Just go and leave me alone, would you? Is that too much to ask?"

  Realizing they were not going to get anything more than that out of her, they left. On a hunch, as they were getting in the Charger, John Lee said, “Let’s take a walk down the street."

  Half a block down from the Shaw Real Estate office, they entered another office, and a woman sitting behind the desk looked up and said, "As I live and breathe, it's John Lee Quarrels and Maddy Westfall! How are you two doin’?"

  "We’d be a lot better if we could figure out who killed those two people the other day," John Lee said. "How you doing, Twila?"

  Twila Sharp was a cousin to their dispatcher, Sheila Sharp, and ran her own real estate company. Both John Lee and Maddy had known her all their lives. A few years older than them, Twila was a slightly built woman with frosted black hair that she wore in a bob, with bangs covering her forehead. She shook her head and said, "That's just so terrible, what happened to those two. Gaylee Smith at the grocery store told me last night that they've confirmed it was murder?"

  "That's not official yet," John Lee said. “But it looks that way."

  “I don't suppose the two of you are here lookin’ for a house to buy, are you?"

  “Sorry, Twila, not today," Maddy told her. “But we do need to ask you a couple of questions if you have time."

  The woman looked around the empty office and said "I've got nothin’ but time. Business has been pretty slow."

  “I'm sorry to hear that," Maddy said.

  "Yeah, me, too. If it doesn’t pick up pretty soon, I may have to close up shop and find a job. Anyway, what was it you wanted to ask me?"

  "Have you ever heard of a place called Wildflower Estates? Or a company called AVA properties?"

  Twila thought for a moment and said, "Wildflower Estates, that's out east of town, right?"

  "Yeah, that's the place," John Lee said.

  "I’ve seen it and stopped to look around. I don't know who has the listin’ and I don't know who AVA Properties is either. I had never heard of that one before. I’d sure like to find out because those are some nice-lookin’ models they put up."

  “Any idea how we could find out anything about them?"

  “Let me look, John Lee," Twila said. She worked on her computer for a couple of minutes and said, "A title search shows that Wildflower Estates belongs to AVA Properties, but that’s all I can find. Sorry."

  “That’s okay, Thanks for trying,” Maddy told her.

  “I know that when they were buildin’ the place, I stopped in one time and watched the construction for a while. I got to talkin’ to the foreman on the job, Patrick O'Malley, and asked him who was behind the project. Do you know him?"

  "Yeah, I know Patrick," John Lee said. "What did he have to say?"

  "Not much at all. Shoot, I’ve known Patrick since we were kids. He was the first boy that ever kissed me, in the hallway outside the gym at the seventh grade dance, and he's never tried holdin’ back on me before. But he made it pretty obvious that he couldn't talk much about what was goin' on there. Tell you the truth, it kinda hurt my feelings. I thought Patrick and I were friends. But I guess business is business, and he said he wasn't at liberty to discuss anythin’ about the project."

  “What do you know about Lonnie McBride and Audrey Rittenhouse, Twila?"

  She shook her head and said, "I didn't have any use for neither one of them."

  "Because of the competition?"

  "No, that don't bother me. Everybody's got to make a livin.’ I don’t expect to sell every piece of property in Somerton County. But they would both do anything to make a sale or anything to screw another agent out of one. They were both all in it for the money. I know that sounds crazy, ’cause we all work for money, right? But those two? They thought they were better than everybody else and I didn’t like either one of them. They’d lie, cheat, and steal or anything else it took to close a deal."

  “Off the record, do you know anything about a relationship between them, Twila?"

  Twila wasn’t one to gossip like her cousin Sheila, but word gets around in a small town. She shook her head and said, "Only the same rumors everybody's been spreadin’ around. I don't know if any of it's true, but if you were to listen to it, it sounds like they were more than just competitors. She leaned forward and lowered her voice even though no one was around and added, “A lot more!"

  They thanked her for her time, and as they were leaving, Twila said something that took them both off guard.

  “As long as we’re off the record, there’s somethin’ else you maybe ought to know, and this isn’t just rumor or gossip.”

  “What’s that, Twila?”

  “Alice Shaw wasn’t just Audrey’s boss. Or at least she wanted to be more than her boss.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Either they had somethin’ going on together, or else she wanted them to. A couple of months ago, Audrey sold a house I had listed. It was an MLS listin’ so any agent could show it and write up a contract on it. There was some paperwork that needed to be signed by Audrey and I walked down to Alice’s office. It was past closin’ time, but her car was parked out front, so I walked in. Alice and Audrey were havin’ an argument in the back room.”

  “What were they arguing about, Twila?”

  “I don’t know what started it, but Alice was saying something like, ‘I love you. Please stop seein’ him. It’s killin’ me.’ And then I heard Audrey telling Alice that she didn’t own her and she’d do what she damned well pleased. Then Audrey came out of the backroom and walked right past me like I wasn’t even there. Didn’t say a word.”

  “What happened then?”

  “I called out to Alice, told her I had some paperwork for her. She never came out of the back, just told me to leave it on her desk and go away.”

  Chapter 36

  "That sure complicates matters, doesn't it?"

  “Yeah, it does,” John Lee agreed. “Do you suppose we should go back and talk to Alice again and get her side of the story?"

  “I guess this does explain why she’s so shook up about Audrey dying, doesn’t it?"

  “I think so.”

  By the time they got back to Shaw Real Estate, the lights were off in the office and the door was locked.

  “Should we see if she’s at home?”

  “Not yet," Maddy said. “I think we need to figure out how we’re going to approach her about all this. Right now she's pretty distraught and I don't know if we’d get anything out of her anyhow.”

  “All this raises the question, could Alice be the one that pushed them into that train?"

  "It crossed my mind, John Lee. What do you think?"

  "A jealous spouse is darn sure a good suspect," he told her. "Darcy McBride has a solid alibi for where she was, and we know Sonny was out on his milk route that day. I’m wondering if we should have Kimberly ping his phone records for that day, too. Just to be sure.”

  "I just can’t see Sonny killing Audrey, no matter what she might've done," Maddy told him. "He worshipped the ground she walked on.”

  "If she betrayed him, maybe that was just too much. But what I'm thinking is, besides a jealous spouse, how about a jealous lover? Or someone who wanted to be a lover?"

  "It’s sure a possibility.” Maddy looked at her watch and said, “Oh shit."

  "What?"

  “You know today is Dixie's birthday, don't you?"

  "No, I didn't."

  “Yeah, the three of us are supposed to get together, me and Dixie and Beth Ann. I'm supposed to meet them at Dixie's house in like 45 minutes."

  "It's late in the day,” John Lee said. “Want me to drop you off at home so you can get changed and get
over there?"

  "Yeah, if you would."

  "No problem,” he said, steering the Charger toward Maddy's rental house.

  "I’d invite you to come along, but it's a girl thing."

  “No problem. Tell Dixie I said happy birthday."

  “I will. What are your plans for tonight?"

  John Lee sighed and said, "I guess I need to talk to Paw Paw. I'll be honest with you, Maddy, I'm not looking forward to it."

  “Have you decided what you’re going to do yet?"

  "No, I haven't. I guess I need to, sooner or later, don't I?"

  She put her hand on his and squeezed it. "Whatever you do, John Lee, I know it will be the right thing.”

  “But what’s the right thing, Maddy? I know what the legal thing to do is, but is that right?”

  “I’m sorry, John Lee, I wish I had an answer for you, but my personal feelings and love for Uncle Billy are crashing head-on into my legal obligations.”

  “Me, too.”

  He pulled into her driveway and Maddy leaned over to kiss him. Before she got out of the car, she said, “Just know that no matter what you decide, I've got your back all the way."

  ***

  Kimberly was still at the office when John Lee got there, and he asked if she could ping the phone records for Sonny Rittenhouse for the day of the accident.

  "I already did," she told him. “While I was at it, I figured I might as well look at all the players. I show that Darcy McBride was in Lake City, which backs up what you already know about her. And Sonny's milk route takes him all away to Perry and then to Athena and Salem. The pings coincide with exactly where his route is, according to his boss. Who, by the way, was really upset I would even think Sonny would do something like that."

  "Sonny’s got a lot of friends around here," John Lee said. “That doesn't surprise me."

  “Anything else you can think of that I can do to make myself useful, John Lee?"

  “Yeah, there is,” he said acting on a hunch. He gave her Alice Shaw and Roger Bentley's cell phone numbers and asked, “Can you do pings on them, too?"