“No you won’t,” Lin said. “I want to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Let’s go out. I’ll call Eloise and see if she and Tom would like to join us.”
“Whatever suits you,” Neal called back as he and Sparky headed out.
Later, over stacks of pancakes and waffles laced with warm maple syrup, Lin told her story to all three of them. Neal and Tom filled her in on their part in the search and how they’d finally learned where she’d been.
“I must admit, as that twenty-four hour mark approached, I was really getting scared,” Neal squeezed Lin’s thigh gratefully under the table.
They lingered over coffee, continuing to enjoy the sunshine that danced through the windows onto their table. “I really hate the idea of having to go through all this again, but I know I’ll have to talk to the Sheriff soon,” Lin sighed.
As if on cue, Neal’s cell phone rang. He saw that it was the Kill Devil Hills police department so he went outside to take the call, giving Lin a few more moments to enjoy visiting with Tom and Eloise.
Lin looked up at him as he reentered the restaurant, she knew what the call was about.
“That was Ken Parker. Sheriff Midgett called him last night and he’s picked up Mike Clark. He has him locked up for now with arraignment scheduled for tomorrow, and he needs to talk to you as soon as possible. I told him to come by the house in about half an hour,” he glanced at his watch. “Guess that means our lazy Sunday morning brunch is over.”
Neal paid the check and the four of them left the restaurant. Tom and Eloise were going to do a bit of Christmas shopping, so they headed out toward the Outlet Mall while Neal and Lin went back home. They didn’t talk much on the way. Lin had already told Neal her story, and she’d heard how he’d discovered that Mark Simon was lying—how the Sheriff had been waiting for a warrant to search the house when the call came in from the Bryans that Lin was at their home.
“I wonder if Sheriff Midgett has located Mark and Millicent yet, and what he found at their place?” Lin finally said, “I want to know if he found my ring or my purse and coat? If my purse is missing I’ll have a mess to go through with all my cards and stuff and if I’ve lost my ring…” she sounded almost tearful.
“It’s just a piece of jewelry, beautiful but replaceable,” Neal was insistent. “All that really matters is that you are safe and well. We’ll do whatever we have to about all your stuff.”
They’d barely had enough time to get home and put on a pot of fresh coffee when Sgt. Parker arrived. A short while later they were sitting at the kitchen table and Lin was telling her story again. Ken Parker listened and took notes without saying much. When the tale was finished, he wanted to go back over the part that related to Mike Clark, including a review of the earlier information they’d given him when they reported his following them.
“ So far, Clark isn’t saying anything. Says he’ll wait till he can talk to an attorney.” Parker sounded a bit frustrated. “I’ve scheduled his arraignment for tomorrow morning, though. Maybe when he realizes these will be serious charges and he could end up taking the rap for everything that happened, he’ll be willing to talk about who hired him to do all this.”
“So you do believe he was working for someone else?” Neal pressed for more information.
“Absolutely, Mike thinks he’s a tough guy, but I can see no reason why he’d attempt something like this on his own. He’s not smart enough. Frankly, at this point, I think all these deaths are tied together—Connie Frazier, Dorrie Johnson, even Liz Frazier, though that one would be hard to prove at this late date.” He turned to Lin, “You’re just lucky you weren’t number four.”
“ Earlier you said he was probably working for Billy Thornton,” Lin replied.
“I know,” Parker said, “but now I’m not so sure. Billy is still in a world of trouble. We have a roomful of witnesses who’d testify that, at least, he assaulted Connie Frazier. I think we could probably make attempted murder charges stick, maybe even murder two, but what you’ve told me today about your experiences leads me to doubt he had anything to do with Dorrie Johnson, apart from having sex with her and maybe smoking a little pot. It could be hard to prove, but I suspect Mark and Millicent Simon. At least one of them was responsible for Dorrie’s death, whether it was intentional or an accident caused by negligence.
Lin nodded in agreement. Her memory was much clearer now, but she still wasn’t sure exactly what had happened to Dorrie. The one thing she was certain about though was that her death was not an accident. “Don’t forget the bee box,” Lin reminded Parker, “that funny bruise on Dorrie’s shoulder matched it exactly. Personally, I think she was drugged, probably the same way I was, and then one of those boxes, filled with angry, confined bees was pressed against her and kept there until she was stung. We found the one we gave you in the mud where her body was left. Maybe someone took her there and then put the bees against her arm. If she were drugged she couldn’t resist. However it happened, I’m convinced it was no accident—it was just plain murder.”
Ken Parker was silent but he didn’t voice any disagreement. Just as he was getting up to leave, Neal’s cell phone rang again. This time it was Pete Midgett. Lin managed to get on her feet and walk Ken to the door where he promised he’d be back in touch soon.
When she returned to the kitchen, Neal told her the Sheriff wanted to talk to her if she felt up to it. “He says he can come here if you want.”
“No, I still want to be out and enjoying the sunshine. ” Lin said. “I need to put more medicine on my feet and hands first though. Ask him to give us another hour.” She went upstairs to take care of things while Neal made arrangements with Pete Midgett to meet at his office later.
***
It was close to four o’clock when Neal and Lin arrived at the Sheriff’s office. The clouds had all blown away, and it was hard to believe that the weather had been so ugly the previous two days. This afternoon could not have been prettier. It was chilly and still a little breezy, but the sun was shining brightly, and the water was a deep, sapphire blue as they drove across the sound into Manteo. In spite of the fact that they were heading to the Sheriff’s office, Lin was enjoying being out on this beautiful day.
Sheriff Midgett met them at the door. He was working almost alone this afternoon. Only one officer was there with him to man the phones and take reports.
“I gave everyone I could the day off,” Midgett reported. “We’ve got a skeleton crew on the roads, and I’m working this case, but most of my staff worked almost thirty-six hours straight during the storm so I sent them home to sleep.”
“You look like you’ve had a bit of rest yourself,” Neal suggested, “at least you’ve lost those shiners you had.”
“After we executed the search warrant at the Simon house, I went home. I was about to drop in my tracks. I feel much better today, ready to get down to business.”
“Have you located Mark and Millicent Simon?” Neal had to know.
“Millicent yes,” Midgett replied, “It took some doing but we finally found that she was checked into a private psychiatric facility in Raleigh Saturday morning. Of course, that’s the only information they’ll give us—patient confidentiality and all that. Mark was with her at the time, but no one seems to have heard from him since. We asked the local Manteo police to watch his house for us, and we’ve put out a bulletin with the highway patrol and the State Bureau of Investigation. They’re watching for him too but, so far, nothing.”
A shadow of fear settled on Lin. She was glad Millicent was where she could get some help, but she wouldn’t feel entirely safe until Mark Simon was located. She knew he had given her some sort of drugs in her tea, and she was convinced he was behind her kidnapping. She suspected he was guilty of other crimes as well, even though it might be difficult to prove.
It was more than an hour later when Lin and Neal were finally ready to leave Midgett’s office. It had been difficult for Lin to recount her story once more, this time in even greater de
tail, for Pete Midgett had pointed questions about both Mark and Millicent, what they had said and done. Ken Parker had been primarily interested in what she had to say about Mike Clark. Midgett explained that the law enforcement agencies in the county tried to work together on major crimes because that gave them better resources and coverage.
“Ken is taking care of Mike Clark and his part in all of this, and I’m focusing on finding Mark Simon and trying to figure out how your kidnapping and Dorrie Johnson’s death might be tied together.”
“Then, I take it you no longer think Dorrie died accidentally?” Lin had to ask.
“At least I think that ‘accident’ could’ve been prevented,” he paused thoughtfully, “perhaps I should say someone ‘caused’ it to happen. So, maybe, it really wasn’t much of an accident at all. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to build a sufficient case to convict anyone, but I’m certainly going to try.” He shifted in his seat and looked Lin straight in the eye.
“Your case is another matter. You survived to tell the tale, and I’m going to make sure justice is done here.”
“What about right now?” Neal felt he had to speak up. “Mike Clark is in jail but Mark Simon is still out there somewhere. We may have an alarm system at the house, but I’m not so crazy as to believe those things can’t be disabled. What if he knows Lin’s escaped, I suspect the story was all over the news this morning, what if he tries to come after her again, maybe hires someone else…?”
“I’ve already called Ken Parker about that,” Midgett tried to sound reassuring, “and he’s agreed to put a patrol officer on duty at your place all night. That should discourage anyone from attempting to break in. The car will be clearly visible, and your outside lights should, of course, be left on.”
“One more thing, before we go,” Lin asked, “Did your search turn up any of my things, my purse, my ring—I was there to pick up the ring, you know.”
“I’m sorry, I should’ve mentioned those things up front. I was too eager to get your story, I guess,” Midgett apologized. “We didn’t find any of those things. I suspect your purse with all your ID was destroyed to get rid of any evidence you’d been in the house. The ring…I’m not sure about that, but I know we didn’t find it. He may still have that with him.”
Lin felt aggravation but not really surprise that all her ID was gone. She’d expected as much. Fortunately, she had the contact phone numbers for all her credit cards. She usually kept a copy with her when she traveled. Midgett gave her the address of the Motor Vehicle office where she could obtain a duplicate license. It was a hassle, but she should be able to take care of things tomorrow.
“Let’s stop and get something to eat before we go home,” she said to Neal as they left the office. “Those pancakes are long gone and I’m starved.”
“Me too,” he smiled, “How about Owens or Kelly’s? I think we definitely have something to celebrate.”
“Only if we go home so I can change,” Lin insisted. “I refuse to celebrate in jeans and sneakers.”
“What about your feet?” Neal asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.
“Much better now, I feel sure I can manage.” She showed him her hands where the deeper scratches had scabbed over. She was able to manipulate her fingers easily. “I don’t think I could grip a tennis racket yet, but I should be able to do most everything else now and my feet are even better. I had a lot of scratches from my walk in the woods, but none were actually very deep.”
They drove back to Kate’s house where they noticed a Kill Devil Hills police car already parked in the driveway. Neal let Sparky out for a few minutes while Lin changed into casual slacks and her blue sweater that set off her eyes. She chose a pair of soft flats that felt comfortable enough and looked in the mirror. Not bad she thought. She wanted to both look and feel like she was going to celebrate—after all, she’d come closer to losing her life than she cared to contemplate.
They enjoyed a leisurely, delicious dinner at Kelly’s. The hostess had recognized them at once. She, like most of the folks on the beach, had heard about Lin’s escape. “Everyone’s been talking about how brave you were, and how lucky,” she said, “but I bet you just want to have a quiet dinner alone.”
“You’re right,” Neal answered. She had seated them in a cozy back corner of the room where there were no other diners nearby. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded, and they enjoyed their privacy. Having told and retold her story most of the day, Lin was grateful for the normalcy of their dining alone, just an ordinary couple talking about ordinary things.
The sense of peace and calm Lin felt at dinner receded a bit as they drove back home. She prepared herself for the sight of the police car she knew would still be parked in the driveway and what that meant. They could only hope that Mark Simon would be located soon and all this would be over.
As they turned the corner onto Kate’s street, they could hear a dog barking in the distance. “I think that’s Sparky,” Neal said, “I hope he’s not barking at the police officer. We might have to bring him upstairs if he’s going to keep this up all night.”
When they reached the driveway, they saw not one but two patrol vehicles. Two officers were outside, and they appeared to be checking around the house while Sparky voiced his objections from the porch.
“What’s going on?” Lin asked as she exited the car and headed toward the porch hoping to calm the dog.
“We’re not sure,” a young officer responded. Lin recognized him as the one who’d come earlier when they’d had a prowler, but she couldn’t recall his name.
“I was sitting here and everything looked fine. Then the dog started barking so I got out of the car. That’s when I saw someone running across the back yard toward the water. I chased him, but he disappeared in the marsh grass before I could get a good look. I think he had a boat hidden there somewhere, that’s how he got away. I didn’t see anything when I got to the water’s edge, but I heard a small motor out there somewhere in the dark. That’s when I called for backup. We’re checking around the house now.”
“What about the alarm?” Neal asked the officer.
“Didn’t go off, but all that means is no one tried to enter the house.”
“It’s going to take two of us to watch this place. One person can’t watch the street and the water. I might never have known someone had come in if the dog hadn’t started raising a racket.”
The young officer asked them to remain outside while he joined his partner in checking the area. By this time all the barking and activity had brought Eloise out to her porch. Lin was tired of standing, her sore feet were beginning to bother her a bit, so she decided to go next door and wait with Eloise. Neal wanted to go up and calm Sparky, but the officer wouldn’t let him enter the house until they’d finished checking the perimeter. He settled for standing near the porch where he could talk to the animal. Gradually, Sparky seemed to calm down, at least the barking stopped.
Waiting on the porch with Eloise, Lin found herself shivering in the chill of the breeze blowing from the sound, even though she wore a jacket. She’d lost her heavier, wool pea coat when she was kidnapped. That was one more thing she’d have to take care of, buying a new warm coat. Eloise offered to get her a blanket, but she decided a cup of hot coffee would work better, warming her from the inside. Her kindly neighbor had just returned with a steaming mug when the two officers could be seen heading for the driveway with some sort of object, about the size of a shoebox. Lin hurried down to find out what it was.
“We found this in the shrubs near the back side of the house, under the wooden porch, actually. It looks like some type of incendiary device. It’s not a bomb, but I think it contains some of those heat-producing chemicals.” Lin observed what appeared to be small blocks of some sort of substance sitting in the cardboard box on top of a pile of fibers that appeared to be pulled from cotton balls.
“The whole thing was sitting on a pile of dry pine straw up against a wooden post
on the back side of the porch where it was dry. The pine straw had to be brought in , nothing in the yard here would be dry enough to ignite. I’ve called someone to bring a metal box from the station to put the whole thing in. We’ll want to check it for prints.” He held his hand over the device, “you can already feel it beginning to heat up, and eventually it would have started a fire.”
Lin shivered at the thought of what could’ve happened.
As if he understood her thoughts, the officer explained. “Mostly likely with the dog and the alarm system, you’d have had early warning and wouldn’t have been trapped inside, but it could’ve done some serious damage to this place. Someone sure wanted to scare you.”
Neal nodded in understanding, “And we’re not going to sleep here tonight, nor any night until all this is over.” Lin started to protest but realized that he was determined so she said nothing.
The young officer agreed. “We’ll be here, of course, until morning, but I don’t blame you. I’d do the same.”
They agreed that Sparky would remain on the porch, after he’d had a short evening walk; Lin and Neal would return the next morning to take care of him. Lin went upstairs to pack a small overnight case for the two of them while Neal walked the dog around the block. He stopped to let Eloise know what they were doing and that the police would be watching things overnight.
The last thing he did before they drove away was to call the Sheriff’s department to leave a message for Pete Midgett.
Chapter 27
Lin awoke Monday morning to the ringing of Neal’s cell phone on the nightstand. For a brief moment she couldn’t remember where they were. Then it all came rushing back into her consciousness—their celebration of her escape turning into a threatening invasion and arson attempt on Kate’s home. As Neal reached to take the call Lin pushed up to the edge of the king sized bed. I guess we should be grateful this is winter, she thought. If we’d gone looking for a hotel room after ten o’clock in July we’d have been out of luck. As it was, the Holiday Inn at Southern Shores had plenty of vacancies. Lin felt it a bit strange that they were now staying in the same place Dorrie Johnson had stayed during her visit. In fact, the same young clerk Lin had talked to earlier had checked them in the night before.
Sandrift: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 30
