Fatal Footsteps

by Brenda Donelan

  “Sure, stop back around 7:00 tonight. That way, if they’re going out on the town you can catch them before they leave again,” suggested Ben.

  “Do you have any idea what happened to their fourth roommate, Tim? He’s the guy that’s been missing since the fire.”

  Ben scratched his two-day chin stubble. “No, I don’t. I overheard the guys talking downstairs, and they think he might be in hiding.”

  “Why would Tim be hiding? And who’s he hiding from?”

  “Don’t know. I didn’t hear anything other than that. They stopped talking about it when they heard me coming downstairs. Guess you can ask them yourself when you come back.”

  Marlee reappeared at the acreage that night, and this time, she brought backup. Jasmine, dressed in a leopard mini-skirt, tall black boots, and a fluffy faux-fur jacket, had rehearsed all afternoon. The questions Marlee wanted her to ask the roommates were fresh in her mind, and she was prepared to get some answers.

  It didn’t take a genius to know that you get more accurate answers to questions when you talk to people individually rather that in a collective. In a group, there’s usually one spokesperson, and the others throw in a detail here and there. Not much nuance is gathered from a group interview. When people are separated and talked with individually, a fuller picture develops. Sometimes, the accounts between parties are so different that it’s easy to spot deception.

  The three guys stopped talking when they saw Jasmine’s long legs walking down the stairs. The basement went silent, as Jasmine, followed by Marlee, entered the open room of the basement. There would be no need for introductions or a long preamble, as none of the guys would hear a word Marlee had to say anyway.

  Marlee pulled Adam aside and led him to the far side of the basement out of earshot from the others. “Can I talk to you? It’s about Tim.”

  He looked disappointed to be pulled away from The Jasmine Show. “What’s up?” Adam asked, fidgeting with the drawstring on his sweatshirt hood.

  “What do you think happened to Tim?” Marlee asked.

  “I told you that night that I didn’t know, and I still don’t,” Adam said with an air of disdain. “Why are you still asking about this? The police are investigating it.”

  “Yeah, they are, but I can’t help but think I should do what I can. Are you doing anything to help find out what happened?” Marlee asked pointedly.

  “I’m not a cop. I’m leaving it to the professionals. If I hear anything, I’ll tell them,” Adam said.

  “Do you think Tim is in hiding?” Marlee asked, remembering her conversation with Ben earlier that day.

  “Hiding? Why would he be hiding?” Adam asked with a defensive air, still fidgeting with his sweatshirt drawstring.

  “You tell me. I hear you guys think it might be possible that he’s hiding out somewhere.”

  “Where did you hear that?” Adam demanded.

  “Never mind where I heard it. I just heard it. So why do you think he’s hiding out?”

  “I don’t think Tim started the fire. At least not intentionally. But if it was an accident or if he burned down the house when he was delirious from his fall down the stairs, maybe Tim’s afraid he’ll go to jail,” Adam said. “That’s what other people said. I don’t think Tim started the fire.”

  “Do you think Tim might be hiding out for other reasons?” Marlee inquired.

  “I don’t know what it would be,” Adam replied.

  “He seemed genuinely surprised when he overheard me tell you that Beth Van Dam was pregnant when she died. That’s when he tripped and fell down the stairs. Maybe he knows something about her death that he didn’t want to reveal. Or that he felt responsible for.” Marlee let those thoughts hang in the air and waited for Adam’s response.

  Adam did not have a reaction. “Doubtful that Tim knew anything about Beth,” he said, as he walked back toward the others. Laughter rose from the other end of the basement as Jasmine flirted with John and Blake. She was doing a great job keeping them occupied while Marlee talked to the guys one-on-one.

  Jasmine knew her biggest task was before her now. She needed to keep Adam and Blake entertained so that Adam would not bring up the questions Marlee just asked him. Jasmine had to keep Adam from tainting Blake’s response to the questions Marlee would be asking him in a few minutes.

  “So, Adam, I was just asking the guys if they thought this skirt was too short to wear in the winter. What do you think,” Jasmine asked, running her long slim fingers up the side of her boot and thigh. And the worry was over that either Adam or Blake would be discussing Tim for the next few minutes.

  Marlee intercepted John a few minutes later when he exited the bathroom. “John, I’m trying to find out more about Tim and what happened to him. What’s your theory?”

  “I don’t have a theory. I just know he’s gone, and none of us have heard from him since the night of the fire. I went downtown that night and was pretty sloshed when I got home. I went to bed, and the next thing I know, Blake is yelling for all of us to get out the house because there’s a fire,” John recalled.

  “So you guys think Tim might be hiding out somewhere, huh?” Marlee asked casually.

  “Well, we talked about it, but I’m not positive that’s what he’s doing. I don’t know why he would just take off unless he started the fire, but he’s not the type of guy to do that,” John reported.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Tim’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. He would never burn down the house, especially knowing that people were inside.”

  “Let’s just say for argument’s sake that it was an accident, or he started the fire as a result of his head injury. Where would he hide out?” Marlee asked.

  “He didn’t really hang out with anybody other than us guys at the house. He’s nice and friendly, but doesn’t really have any friends other than us. Not that I know of, anyway,” John reported.

  “What about high school friends or relatives? Anybody like that he might be staying with?”

  “I don’t think so. He didn’t get along that well with his family because they screwed him out of getting the family farm. And I think Blake is the only person from high school he still hung around. That’s how we got Blake as a fourth roommate. Tim vouched for him. We were a little leery of letting him room with us since he’s not in college and all, but it’s worked out fine.”

  “Do you think one of the other roommates might know where Tim is?” Marlee asked.

  “No, I don’t think any of us have any idea what’s going on,” John replied.

  “Is there anybody else who might know where Tim is?”

  John shook his head. “Nobody knows where Tim is. I think he’s alive, but I don’t know why he hasn’t contacted any of us.”

  “Who would want Tim gone or dead?”

  “Nobody!” John said, a bit more defensively than was called for.

  Marlee was out of questions, so she and John returned to the group where Jasmine was still working the crowd. “I’m thinking of getting my hair cut short,” she said as she whipped her long locks over one shoulder.

  “No,” the men chorused, still mesmerized.

  The whole questioning process was repeated with Blake when he went to get a beer. He didn’t have any additional information to reveal and portrayed himself just as puzzled as his roommates by Tim’s disappearance.

  “You used to go by ‘Elvis’ when you were younger, huh?” Marlee asked, wondering how the nickname came to be.

  Blake chuckled. “Yeah. That was a long time ago. I did an Elvis impersonation for a school talent show in fourth grade, and the name stuck. My brother, who was a junior in high school at the time, played guitar for me. Once I started high school, I started going by my real name again. It took Tim awhile to start calling me Blake instead of Elvis.”

  “You and Tim have been friends a long time. Who would Tim turn to if he was in trouble? If you guys weren’t around?” Marlee asked.

  “Maybe
his grandpa?” Blake suggested. “That’s about the only person in the family that he was on good terms with.”

  After a few questions, Marlee realized Blake was referring to Tim’s grandpa, the partially-demented man she spoke with on the phone.

  “I think he’s in an old folk’s home now,” Blake continued. “Tim goes to visit him sometimes. I went with him once.”

  “Do you think Tim’s still alive?” Marlee asked.

  “I hope so. I really hope so.”

  On the way home, Marlee and Jasmine interrupted each other as they attempted to tell their stories. “I think the guys, at least some of them, know a lot more about Tim’s disappearance than they’re saying,” Marlee reported.

  “I think Adam is cute. We exchanged phone numbers.” Jasmine became so caught up in her role of temptress that she began to fall for it herself.

  “Focus, Jazz! We’re trying to find Tim, not get you a date!” Marlee barked as she wheeled Barry’s car into the parking lot nearest their dorm.

  “I can do both.”

  “Did any of the guys say anything about Tim while I was talking to each one individually?” Marlee asked.

  “Not really, but right after Adam came back he looked at Blake and John and shook his head like this,” Jasmine said demonstrating a sinister side to side twist.

  “What did you make of it?”

  “It was like Adam was telling them not to say anything,” Jasmine said. “But I don’t know if he meant something specific or to just generally keep their mouths shut about everything.”

  “You know, maybe getting Adam’s number wasn’t such a bad thing after all. How do you feel about worming your way into his heart and finding out all you can about Tim?” Marlee asked.

  Jasmine thought for a moment. “But what if I really like him, and then he finds out I’ve been using him to get information?”

  “You’ll have to use your acting skills you learned in Theater class last semester. Do whatever it takes to make sure he doesn’t find out,” Marlee said.

  “You don’t think Adam’s dangerous, do you?” Jasmine asked. “I want to find Tim, but I don’t want to get hurt in the process.”

  Marlee shrugged. “I hope they didn’t have anything to do with Tim’s disappearance. My guess is that they know Tim’s hiding out and are keeping his whereabouts secret. I just don’t know why they don’t want anyone to find him. Blake said Tim’s still close with his grandpa, so I think I’ll look him up tomorrow and see what he can tell me. He’s senile, so who knows how much of what the grandpa has to say will be factual.”

  “You promise there won’t be any danger in hanging out with Adam?” Jasmine asked.

  “No, I can’t promise that. For all we know, Adam and his roommates could have killed Tim and disposed of his body. But I think if you can get into their inner circle, we might learn more about Tim and what happened to him.”

  “It sounds like a terrible idea,” Jasmine said. “I’ll do it.”

  My friends were my family; the family I created. I don’t have any use for most of my biological family. Some of them are trying to kill me.

  Chapter 17

  After a sleepless night, Marlee got out of bed and sat at her desk. Thoughts raced through her head as she tried to comprehend what happened to two of her friends in the past few days. Beth was dead and Tim was missing. Were the two situations linked or had they occurred independently of each other?

  “What are you doing?” mumbled a sleepy Jasmine as she propped herself up on her elbow and peered down from the lofted bed.

  “I’m documenting everything we know about Tim’s disappearance and Beth’s death.” Marlee was hunched over her built-in desk writing in a blue notebook.

  “But the police closed Beth’s case. They ruled it an accidental death. Do you think there’s more to it than that?” Jasmine asked as she climbed down from her bunk with ease.

  “I don’t have any new information, if that’s what you mean. Since so much has happened in the past few days, I thought writing everything down about Beth and Tim would be a good idea. Maybe I’ll see something from the written words that I’m not seeing now.”

  Jasmine looked skeptical. “Like a theme might emerge?”

  Marlee stopped writing and looked at her roommate with a grin. “Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m thinking. Something might pop out when it’s in writing. We’ve talked to a lot of people, and I want to keep my memory fresh as to what each of them said.”

  Jasmine made toast for both of them while Marlee continued to write down facts and details from the interviews they conducted. Plus, she recorded everything Officer Barry Stevens told her about the case.

  “Whoa, you know what I just realized?” Marlee asked munching on her fourth piece of generously-buttered toast. Jasmine just raised her eyebrows since her face was stuffed full.

  “You’re going to be a busy girl if you’re dating both Doug from the police department and Adam from Stairway to Hell, er, what used to be Stairway to Hell.”

  “I thought of that in the night. I’m like a double agent trying to find out information from the police and from a witness at the same time. And neither one knows about the other guy.” Jasmine seemed so proud of herself that Marlee didn’t have the heart to tell her that’s not really what a double agent does.

  “You should keep notes too, just to make sure you don’t mix up what they tell you,” Marlee said. “Be sure to write it all down right away so you don’t forget anything. But don’t do it while you’re in their presence.”

  “Duh! I’m not a total door knob. Did you think I’d take out a little notebook and start writing as they were talking to me?” Jasmine was peeved, but only a little.

  “I know, I know. Just thinking out loud, I guess. Let’s figure out what we know now about Beth and Tim. Just talking about each of their cases should help us process what happened.”

  Jasmine sighed. “Why are we still discussing Beth Van Dam? I don’t mean to be heartless, but she drank too much at a party, fell down, and froze to death. And she happened to be pregnant and working as a prostitute. That’s all. End of story.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. It’s time to let it go,” Marlee said, even though she was thinking just the opposite. In Jasmine’s mind, Beth’s demise was unfortunate and sad, but it had been explained, and it was time to move on. Marlee still believed there was more to Beth’s untimely death, but kept that thought to herself.

  The two worked in tandem to recall the information they received from legitimate sources as well as what might be considered hearsay. After they had everything recorded in the notebook, Marlee said, “Okay, let’s do a recap to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”

  “Tim fell down the stairs on Monday night and hit his head. He was unconscious for a minute or so but then came around. He didn’t think he had a concussion and refused to go to the hospital. Adam called his mom, who works in a doctor’s office. She said to wake Tim up every two hours, and Adam agreed to do it. It was about 11:00 pm when we left,” Jasmine reported.

  “Around 4:00 on Tuesday morning, we got a call from Officer Barry Stevens saying there was a fire at Stairway to Hell,” Marlee continued. “He and Officer Doug picked us up, and we went there and saw the house had burned. Three of the roommates were outside, but Tim was nowhere to be found.”

  “Then we talked to Adam who said he woke Tim up at 1:00 and 3:00 am, and he seemed fine both times. He said Tim wasn’t in his bedroom or anywhere upstairs or on the main floor when they ran out of the house. Adam also said he wasn’t able to get downstairs to the basement to see if Tim had wandered down there.”

  “Tim’s car was parked in the driveway, but his dog was missing. On Tuesday night, we found out Rufus had been found dead. Somebody broke his neck and left him in a ditch on the edge of town,” Jasmine said.

  “The police said they checked with the hospital and his family but no one had heard from Tim,” Marlee continued. “Barry and I talked to his sister, Pam
, who said Tim wasn’t very close to the family any more since she took over the family farm. Tim wanted the farm and held it against the family when they decided he was too young to take over and turned it over to Pam. She thought he still might hang out with Elvis from high school, who now goes by his real name; Blake Rikers. Then I went to talk with his parents, and his mother, who is having an affair, didn’t have any information about Tim’s whereabouts either. Tim’s high school friend’s father lives across the street so we walked over, and he confirmed that Tim and his son are roommates. Then Mr. Rikers told us the roommates from Stairway to Hell were all staying at Blake’s cousin’s place outside of town. I went to the cousin’s place, and he said to come back later when the guys were home from work and classes. He also said he overheard them say they thought Tim was hiding out somewhere.”

  “That’s where I come in,” Jasmine said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation of telling her part of the story. “We went to the place the roommates were staying, and I diverted their attention while you asked them questions one by one. I wore my slinky, leopard skirt and black boots with…”

  “Your wardrobe is not pertinent to the story,” Marlee interrupted. “When I talked to Adam, he said he’d heard from someone that Tim might be hiding out, but he didn’t know or wouldn’t say anything else about it. He didn’t think Tim’s fall down the stairs had anything to do with him hearing that Beth was pregnant. Adam also said Tim might have started the fire accidentally, and he’s in hiding because he’s scared of going to jail. Now, John said he was drunk when he got home that night and didn’t see Tim at all. And then I talked to Blake, and he said Tim’s grandpa was the only person in the family he had regular contact with any more. I talked to him on the phone. His name is Edgar, and he lives in an old folk’s home because he’s senile. None of the roommates gave me any other theories on what started the fire or where Tim could be.”

  Jasmine sniffed, still perturbed about what Marlee said about her wardrobe when they went to visit the displaced roommates from Stairway to Hell. “And we still don’t know what or who started the fire. Luckily, Tim’s body wasn’t found in the house, so we know he was alive when he left.”