by Vakey, Jenn
She closed her eyes for what felt like second herself, but when she opened them again, the room was filled with darkness. The only light came from the street light outside the window where the curtains hadn’t been fully closed. She reached over quickly, but found only an empty bed beside her. With twinge of amusement mixed with disappointment, she closed her eyes again.
Chapter Twelve
“We know that he didn’t stay in a hotel while here,” she said the next morning when they walked into Detective Byman’s office. “What about a place he could have rented, like a cabin or apartment?”
“Do you really think he would have rented a place here?” Byman asked.
“We were talking about it Friday night after we left. If he wasn’t here disposing of Melissa Roberts’ body, he might have been in the area looking for a place to hide out. It’s out of the way, and it’s not like anyone would ever think to look for him here,” she replied. “He would have needed somewhere to stay at least until the news coverage died down, and after everything escalated, he would have wanted to be somewhere familiar. Since we know he was in the area before the murder, he might have returned.”
“I’ll call our real estate agent and set up an appointment with her. She’s the only one in town, so pretty much everything goes through her,” he stated as he pulled out his cell phone.
“Will she be willing to assist us?” Rilynne asked. “I know that a lot of people can be hesitant to release any information without a court order.”
Byman grinned as he pulled his phone up to his ear. “I certainly hope so,” he said with a playful tone. “She’s my girlfriend.”
As soon as Byman finished with his call, he stood up and reached for his jacket. “She can see you now,” he said. “It’s only about a block down, so you can just walk over if you’d like. I have an appointment of my own that I need to get to, but I’ll be back here within the hour if you need anything.”
He walked them out the door before heading in the opposite direction down the street. Ben took Rilynne by the arm-as usual making sure that he was positioned between her and the street-and they made their way down the block to the small building with the ‘Realty’ sign above the door. Inside, they found a petite woman with a warm smile awaiting them. Her soft brown hair was held up with what appeared to be a pencil, leaving the dimples on her cheeks clearly visible.
“Please come in,” she said as she walked over to greet them. “I’m Leann. Korey told me to be expecting you. Come have a seat.” She directed them to two large wing chairs sitting behind a dark, rectangular coffee table. The decoration within the office wasn’t what Rilynne had expected. Where the exterior had looked close to a hundred years old, the interior was warm and inviting. The elegant furniture was strategically placed around the room, with accents of vibrant colors that almost made her forget the chill that was waiting for them when they stepped back outside.
After Rilynne and Ben took their seats, she sat herself down on the small, cushioned bench opposite them. “Korey informed me that you were looking into the possibility that someone who may have rented a place out here was involved in a crime you’re investigating,” she said. “What can I do to help?”
Though Byman had stated that she would be willing to cooperate, Rilynne was taken aback by her almost eagerness to. All she could think to do was smile.
“We found evidence to suggest that the man we’re looking for was in this area nineteen months ago,” she said. “We already checked with both the hotel and the bed and breakfast, and they don’t have any record of him staying. We were wondering if he might have rented something while he was here.”
“You said nineteen months?” she asked as she walked over to the desk in the corner and began tapping away at her keyboard. “Okay, I’m showing twelve property rentals and eight purchases. Now, that does not include cabin rentals for tourists. I do have a list of the four cabins in the area that are available to be rented out, and the owner’s information is on there. I’m sure they’ll be able to provide you with any information about who rented the properties. I happen to know that they all require identification before renting, so they’ll have pictures along with the names provided. There’s also one apartment complex in the city, so you’ll probably want to give them a call as well. As for these properties, I’ll get you what I can now. The rest will take a few hours to pull together, but as I’m sure you know, I won’t be able to provide much more than names and a copy of their driver’s licenses without a court order.”
“Of course,” Rilynne replied. “Just get us what you can.”
After printing up a list of names for them, Leann went into a locked room at the back of the office.
“Does anything stand out?” Ben asked as he glanced over the list.
She ran her finger down the list, but nothing sparked anything for her. “It’s going to take her a while to get all of this together, so let’s head back to the station and see if we can get a hold of the cabin owners to get their lists,” she replied. “You start calling and see if they can either fax the information to the station or drop it off.”
By the time she told Leann where they were going, Ben had already finished his first call.
“These records will be at the station in about fifteen minutes,” he said as he dialed the second number.
After giving him an impressed grin, she pulled out her own phone and dialed the number for the apartment complex that Leann had written down for her. After several minutes on the phone, she was able to eliminate that as a possibility. The man who answered informed her that all renters over the last two years had either been teenagers moving out of their parent’s house for the first time or the occasional person going through a divorce, but all had been locals.
By the time they walked back to the station, two of the lists had already arrived and the other two were expected within the hour.
“Okay,” Rilynne said as she sat the stack down on Detective Byman’s desk. “Here are a few pictures of Mifflin, including his driver’s license and police department photos. I say we just jump in and start sifting through them.”
Each of them grabbed a page and they began examining each picture carefully. After a few minutes, an elderly man arrived and handed them another stack to sort through.
“Most of these renters are locals,” Byman said as he reached for another page. “I haven’t seen anyone so far that even comes close to resembling your man.”
Rilynne wasn’t doing any better. She had found one face that was close, but when she looked closer, she discovered that it was actually a woman. She was just beginning to lose hope when Leann walked in with the real estate records.
“I put the single men on top, but I included all of the names, including the single females,” she said as she sat the stack down on the desk.
Instead of walking out like Rilynne had expected, she pulled up a chair and joined them in sifting through the pictures.
Rilynne made it through the single males in a matter of minutes, and her heart sank as she started sifting through the rest.
“Well, we still have the one other property we’re waiting on,” Ben said as he picked up the last page in the stack. He quickly glanced at the picture before tossing it aside. “It was-”
He stopped abruptly when Rilynne’s eyes widened and she quickly reached for the page before he had even taken his fingers off of it.
“What is it?” he asked, leaning around her to see what he had missed. “Do you know this woman?”
She was afraid to even blink for fear that her eyes were playing tricks on her and the face would be different when her eyes opened again. “I don’t,” she stumbled over her words. “It doesn’t…” She couldn’t get her thought out, so she looked up to Ben, halfway hoping he would somehow read her mind and finish the sentence for her.
“Who is it?” he asked firmly.
She took in a deep breath and managed to let out a single word.
“Sarah.”
Cha
pter Thirteen
“Not…” he started, but seemed to be as unable to form a complete sentence as she was.
She nodded.
“What does that mean?” he asked, not taking his eyes off of her.
She shrugged and shook her head, trying to make sense of it herself.
“Would someone care to explain what just happened?” Byman spoke up, his eyes shifting curiously between Rilynne, Ben, and the photo.
Rilynne opened her mouth, but to her relief, Ben stepped in and answered for her.
“Sarah is Christopher’s sister,” he said, the look of shock not leaving his face.
“What does this mean?” Byman asked, joining them in the confusion. “Have you been searching for the wrong person, or are they in on it together?”
“No,” Rilynne finally spoke out. “There was evidence directly linking Mifflin to the murders. They must have been in on it together.”
“Why?” he asked. “Could she have really been involved in killing her own brother?”
Ben let out a sigh of understanding. “He took out a life insurance policy on himself listing her as the beneficiary,” he said. “He left her two million dollars.”
Byman let out a low whistle. “So Mifflin killed his girlfriend, and this Sarah killed her brother. Sounds like a match made in heaven.”
“I need to call Wooldridge,” she said as she pushed her chair away from the desk. “Leann, I’m going to need everything you’ve got on this woman and the house she bought.”
Byman picked up the phone. “I’ll get a warrant if you want to start gathering everything and getting it ready. I’ll give you a call as soon as I have it.”
Leann nodded and rushed out of the door. Rilynne followed her out of the building, and dropped down onto the bench just outside of the door. She attempted to dial the number three times before she finally had the composure to make the call.
“I was wondering when I would be hearing from you,” Wooldridge said when the ringing stopped.
“I’ve found something,” she said on a long sigh.
When he didn’t respond, she continued. “We had the real estate and rental records pulled from around the time Mifflin disappeared. We weren’t able to find him on any of them, but we found someone else.” She paused to take a breath before going on. “Sarah Bennett purchased a cabin here just two weeks after Christopher died.”
“You’re joking!” he all but yelling into the phone.
“I actually wish I was,” she replied, though she wasn’t sure why. The truth was, it didn’t surprise her at all. She knew that Sarah loved Christopher, but she wouldn’t put anything past her with two million dollars involved. “We know where she is, so I wanted to let you know so you can start to get everything ready on your end.”
“When will you be making your move?” he asked.
“Hopefully soon,” she replied. “The only thing we know now is she’s living in the area. That isn’t enough to convince a judge to issue an arrest warrant. We’ll need to sit on the house and see if we can get eyes on Mifflin. I’ll let you know, though.”
Rilynne sat on the bench, staring up at the soft blue sky for several minutes after hanging up the phone.
She closed her eyes and tried to focus on Sarah, but her mind was racing too fast for there to be any hope of success.
After finally forcing herself off of the bench, she slowly walked back in to the station and found the men still sitting in Byman’s office.
“The cabin was purchased under the name of Victoria Wilson,” Ben said as she stepped through the door. “I can’t get much off of the photo copy, but the ID card actually looks pretty good. It I had to bet, I would say that it’s a real driver’s license. I called a buddy of mine and gave him the information, so he’s going to find out what he can. You may be looking at a case of identity theft on top of everything else.”
“I’ve already called the judge and the warrant for the real estate documents is being sent over. We should have it within the hour. If we find anything there, we can petition the judge for an arrest warrant,” Byman explained. “I should warn you, though, he’s pretty tough. He won’t issue an arrest warrant unless there’s sufficient evidence for it, and circumstantial speculations won’t be enough.”
Rilynne nodded. “We need to sit on the house and see if we can connect her directly to Mifflin. There’s already an outstanding warrant for him, so if we find him at the house, we’ll be able to bring her in for questioning when the warrant is served on him.”
Byman nodded. “We can set up a surveillance schedule, and make sure that there are always two people watching the house. As soon as we have eyes on Mifflin, we’ll prepare to move in.”
“I would like to take the first watch, if that’s possible,” Rilynne said. “He’ll surely have changed his appearance, so it’ll probably be easier for me to recognize him.”
Byman hesitated, and Rilynne was sure he was going to refuse her suggestion, but after a few seconds he nodded. “You’re only to observe,” he said firmly. “If you see anything, you call us in and we handle the arrest.”
“Understood,” she replied with a quick nod.
“I assume you’ll be accompanying her?” he asked Ben.
“Like I would pass up the opportunity of a stake out,” he said with a grin.
Byman shook his head and chuckled. “Okay,” he replied as he reached for his phone. “That’ll give me enough time to get the boys updated and ready. As soon as Leann gets back with the property information, you can head out. I’m sure that I don’t have to tell you not to allow yourself to be seen.”
“It’s a cabin, isn’t it?” she asked, although she already knew the answer. “We can park up the road and work our way through the woods until we have a good view.”
As he nodded again, the look of uncertainty still on his face, Leann pushed the door open with a large box in hand.
“Is the warrant here yet?” she asked as she dropped the box down on the desk.
“It should be here any minute,” Byman replied as he peered into the box.
She nodded and pulled a pale blue tube out of the box.
“These are public record, so you can start here.” She popped it open and pulled out the papers inside, unrolling them out across the desk. “These are the property blueprints. You can see the driveway here coming off of the main road. This right here is the cabin.”
“Okay,” Rilynne said as she looked them over carefully. “We can park here and follow the stream right up to the side of the house. It’ll make it easier to navigate after dark. It’s one now, that should put us there around what, two?” Byman nodded. “How long will it take you to get your team ready?”
“I’ll have the first team in place no later than five,” he replied.
“I’m going to give my buddy running the alias your contact information so he can call you directly if anything turns up,” Ben stated as he reached for his cell phone.
“If he gets back with anything we can use, I’ll have the arrest warrant issued for Sarah Bennett. We’ll wait to execute it until we get eyes on Mifflin, though,” Byman said. “I think if we take her in too early, he might get spooked and run.”
“Agreed,” Rilynne said.
A young deputy stuck his head in the door and reached out his hand.
“I have your warrant,” he said as he held it out for Byman.
Byman took it from his hand and handed it straight to Leann. “Great,” he said. “Call everyone in. We’re having a mandatory meeting in thirty.”
The deputy nodded and disappeared through the door.
“Okay,” Leann said. “Here’s everything I have on the woman going by Victoria Wilson. Now, I looked over all of my records and I did note that a man was with her when she visited the cabin for the first time. I can’t give you a description of him, though. It was just too long ago.”
She flipped through her notes before leaning back in her seat.
“Okay, the original appoi
ntment was booked under the name Victoria Wilson. She looked at three different properties on August first, accompanied by a man. The name he gave was-” she flipped through the notes “-Mike Wilson. I remember telling her that if they were married, they would both have to be listed on all documentation. She told me that wouldn’t be necessary, because they were not married. She didn’t seem to want to elaborate, so I didn’t push it. I just assumed they were divorced.”
“Original,” Rilynne said as she shook her head angrily. “Michael is Mifflin’s middle name. Do you have anything on a Mike Wilson?” she asked Byman.
Byman stood up and walked out of the room without a word, returning five minutes later, shaking her head. “He’s never even been stopped on a traffic violation, nor has Victoria Wilson. They appear to be doing a decent job of laying low.”
“Ben, why don’t you send the rest of this information to your friend and see what he can turn up, then meet me out front,” she said before turning to Byman. “We’re going to head over to the cabin. Just let me know when your guys are on the way so we know when to be expecting them.”
Byman nodded and stood to walk her to the door. “Make sure that you aren’t spotted,” he said again. “It’ll take us at least twenty minutes to arrive if anything goes wrong.”
“I know that you aren’t comfortable with this,” she replied when they reached the front door. “It isn’t exactly standard procedure, so I just wanted to tell you how much I appreciate it.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be doing it if all of the deputies weren’t out of the station right now,” he replied frankly, stepping aside so Ben could walk past them. “I looked you up, though, and you have a remarkable record. Just don’t make me regret it.”
She couldn’t think of a response to give him, so just nodded before walking out the door. Ben was leaning against the car, with his own concerned look. Rilynne ignored it as she handed him the keys and climbed into the passenger side. After programming the location into the navigation system, she sank down low into her seat.
