The Night Killer df-8

by Beverly Connor

  She looked again at the video with Andie in it. She looked to see if anyone was watching Andie as she said good-bye to Liam. She watched her turn and run after the puppy. Diane searched the woods. The resolution wasn’t clear enough to see deep into the woods, but she thought. . if she could just catch a glimpse of someone. She took a breath, rubbed her eyes, and started all over again. She noticed that David was doing the same thing at another computer.

  Jin came back with more stuff than Diane thought he would. Her groundskeepers were pretty good about keeping the museum woods cleaned out and free of litter, but Jin managed to find quite a bit. He went into one of the workrooms with a long table and put the bags down. Diane followed him in. Jin’s short black hair was in disarray, probably from going through the woods, but the spiky, messy style looked trendy on him. Jin was usually the happiest of her crew, always a bundle of barely contained enthusiasm. But he was subdued now. They all were.

  “Hey, boss,” said Jin, “I don’t think any of this will be any good. Mostly picnic junk from museum visitors. I took pictures of the tire tracks and did the measurements of a vehicle on the dirt road. It was an SUV. I’ll look up the make and model before I start on this stuff, but. .”

  “But what?” asked Diane, though she knew what he was going to say. They usually did all this for a dead body-and they did a good job-but the detailed work normally was to catch the perps and convict them in court. That wasn’t the goal this time. This time the goal was to get Andie back.

  “Nothing, boss.” Jin grinned. “We’re getting a lot of evidence here. We’ll find Andie.”

  Jin went to the computer to fit the tires and wheelbase measurements to the vehicles in the database. It didn’t take him long. “It’s a 1997 Chevrolet Blazer, dark green metallic.”

  “You got the color from the wheelbase?” said Diane.

  Jin grinned. “There weren’t any other tracks. There was only one vehicle. You closed off the road and nobody uses it. He took it off-road to get around the barrier. I checked the trees. I knew he sideswiped at least one. I’ll have to put it in the machine to be sure, but that’s what it looks like.”

  “It sounds like the same vehicle that sideswiped me on the highway. Verify the color and the make and model. That’s critical information,” said Diane.

  “Will do, boss.”

  “That’s good, Jin. Really good,” said Diane.

  “Thanks, boss,” he said.

  Diane left and told Izzy, Frank, and Liam the suspected model and color of the vehicle. Frank didn’t seem to hear. He was still focused on the screen.

  “Izzy, see what kind of vehicles are registered to all the people who might remotely be involved. Don’t forget the guy who’s keeping Slick’s dogs. Mathews said the guy’s name is Hennessey.”

  “Oh, yeah,” said Izzy, “I forgot about the guy keeping the dogs. That’s something I will definitely look into. Ol’ Slick may be involved after all-or maybe the guy, or one of the puppies, you know?”

  “Start with Keith … What is their last name?” said Diane.

  “Parham,” said Izzy. “Maud, Earl, and Keith Parham. Keith is on work release from a drug conviction. Most of the violence in his background is barroom stuff. I called and spoke with Earl. I told him someone keyed your car and did other acts of vandalism yesterday, and you were fit to be tied. I told him I didn’t believe for a minute that they did it, but you’re kind of cranky and think it’s them, and I needed to know who they saw yesterday all day. You know, just so I could put you on another scent.”

  “Very good,” said Diane. Diane remembered she was standing by one of the museum vehicles with RiverTrail written on it. It probably looked like what it was-she was using a loaner. Good for Izzy. Make the story fit what they saw. “What did you find out?”

  “Not good, but good at the same time. Maud and Earl were everywhere yesterday. It’s one of their shopping days in Renfrew and they met a lot of people in stores. He gave me some names. They met with the Watson sisters and the Barres at the church to try to make up. No dice, apparently. And they went to the other church, the one Conrad belongs to, and spoke with the minister. They went to the sheriff’s office to ask about what happened to you. They spoke with Travis, Bob with the tore-up insides, and Jason. Travis is acting sheriff, and the other two are still deputies. Travis and the deputies said they couldn’t comment. Apparently, Maud and Earl didn’t know about Leland Conrad’s arrest and the strange not-really-a-confession statement he made. I’m going to find out what all of them drive. And finally-this is the good part-I asked about their son. He’s been living with them. I’m going to find out what he drives too. I’ll find out what all of them drive.”

  “You got a lot of information,” said Diane. “Someone they came in contact with is the killer. That narrows the field, even if it still looks like a big field.”

  “I’m leaning toward the son,” Izzy said. “I didn’t want to spook them, so I didn’t ask much, but. . right now, my money’s on him.”

  “Good work,” said David. Liam nodded.

  Neva, Mike, and Korey came bustling in. Neva was grinning. She had a book in her hand. Mike and Korey were carrying two large tubs of rocks. They put them down on the round conference table with two loud thumps.

  “Got you some gold, Doc,” said Mike.

  “Look at this,” said Neva, holding the book in front of her. “Korey did a terrific job.”

  “Neva did the drawings,” said Korey.

  “I supplied the gold,” said Mike, grinning.

  Neva handed Diane the yellowed, battered diary. Diane flipped through the pages. The page she was looking for was in the middle. She recognized it only because it had a sliver of gold under a piece of yellowed tape that looked like it was about to peel off. The page itself had the drawing of a cave and the mention of several landmarks showing how to find it. There was a sketch of the cavern where the pyrite would be spread on the floor. It looked real. Diane couldn’t have identified it as fake.

  “He did what you suggested and took a blank page out of one of the other old diaries, and after I did the drawings, he re-bound the book. We used an old fountain pen and old ink, which he just happens to have around in several colors, by the way. This will pass,” said Neva.

  “It will,” said Diane. “Thanks, Korey. You’ve done a good thing. Now I’m going to ask you to leave. I’ll explain everything when it’s resolved.”

  Korey nodded. “Sure, Dr. F. Good luck.” Korey left by the museum entrance where he had entered.

  “You have well-disciplined staff,” said Liam.

  “You haven’t been with us long,” said Neva, grinning.

  “This diary looks completely authentic,” said David. “Korey could be great in the forgery business.”

  “It looks like we’re good to go,” said Liam.

  Diane had a thought that hit her like dry ice in her stomach.

  “You all right?” said David, reaching his hand out.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t think of this. He’s not going to contact me by phone, or some way we can talk. How stupid of me. It will be the same way as before. He’ll have Andie read instructions. I won’t have a chance to talk to him, to tell him I need to make sure Andie is alive.” Diane put her hands to her eyes and pressed. “Oh, shit, I’ve calculated this all wrong. Oh, damn. We need to have his name or we’re lost.” She looked at each of them as it dawned on them. Liam looked defeated. They all did.

  “You’re right. If we don’t know who it is, we have no chance,” said Liam.

  “Then we’ll find out,” said David.

  Diane heard her e-mail ding. David had filtered her e-mail so that only the messages from the killer came to this computer. There it was. Maybe it was another stall.

  Diane went to the computer and opened the e-mail. Another video. It was Andie, still bound to the chair. This time dressed in the bloodstained Vitruvian Man T-shirt. She read a statement.

  “ ‘Time’s up. See, I’m tak
ing good care of her. But I’m tired of playing with her little ol’ thing. If you want her back, do exactly what I say. If I see the police or anyone but you, Diane Fallon, I’ll kill the little bitch. You know I will.’ ”

  The words were strange coming out of Andie’s mouth. She looked defeated, like the rest of them, as she gave Diane instructions to a location deep in the woods.

  “Damn it,” said Diane. “Time’s up and we don’t know who has Andie.”

  Chapter 56

  Diane slumped into a chair and wanted to cry. I don’t have time to cry, she thought, and straightened up.

  “My only choice now is to go to the location and hope Andie will be there and I can get her out,” she said.

  “I’ll go too,” said Liam.

  “I don’t want him to see anyone with me,” said Diane.

  “He won’t see me,” said Liam.

  “It will still be daylight,” said Diane.

  “He won’t see me,” said Liam.

  Jin had apparently seen all the body language through the glass as he was sorting through the junk from the woods. He came out of the workroom and they quickly filled him in on the newest video.

  Jin took in a deep breath. “We can still do this,” he said. “We’ve been in worse spots.”

  “Have we?” said Izzy.

  “Sure. Remember when Neva was stuck between the rocks in the cave and gravity was slowly sucking her down and Mike was shot and a killer was after them and Diane? That was pretty bad,” said Jin.

  “That was before my time here,” said Izzy. “But you’re right; that sounds pretty bad.”

  “I’ll get you a satellite phone,” said David. “Get your gun and load it. Take extra ammo. I’ll help you load a backpack. Wear your caving clothes. That’s what you’re most comfortable in. You’ve got the diary and that’s what he wants. Don’t take it in with you. In fact, let Liam have it. Do your negotiating on the spot.”

  Diane nodded. Strange, she was starting to feel the fear ebbing away. Good. She hated the way fear made her feel.

  “He’s keeping Andie in a cave. I’ve figured that out from the acoustics,” said David. “If he is killed and she’s in there, we’ll find her. We know every cave in the area. This is doable.” David looked at Diane, his dark eyes boring into her as if he were trying to send her strength.

  “I agree. It’s doable,” said Diane. “Mike, Neva, Jin, go to King Cave and salt it. That may be the only place you’ll be able to catch up with him if he gets his hands on the diary.”

  Neva looked at her, wide-eyed. What Diane was saying was that she would be dead. He would have killed her. That was what Neva was thinking-the others too. She could see it in their faces. This was the backup plan in case Diane failed.

  “Damn it, if we only knew who it is,” said Diane.

  “We do,” said Frank, standing up from the computer where he had been working.

  “I thought you’d fallen asleep,” said Izzy.

  Diane’s pulse quickened. Frank had figured it out. Maybe they did have a chance.

  “You know? Who? How do you know?” said Diane.

  “Clever little Andie told me. Come over here,” Frank said.

  They all gathered around the computer that Frank had been staring at since he got there. Frank played the first video again.

  “All that hesitation and uncertainty weren’t just fear; it was our little Andie acting-trying to give us a message.” Frank smiled briefly. “Watch. Every time she looks at the camera operator she is saying a word in the message. I wrote down the words for the first two videos. She didn’t have the same mannerisms in the third video. She kept her eyes on the paper she was reading from. She had delivered her message and it was up to us to find it and come for her. These are the words: contact, Right, Don’t and too, right, Andie, Vitruvian, Is, stupid.”

  Frank showed them the list. “She gave us everything she could. Use the first three letters in ‘contact,’ and she didn’t have an ‘a’ word after the word ‘right,’ but she lucked out on ‘Vitruvian.’ Clever girl.”

  Diane looked at the words in Frank’s list.

  “Conrad, Travis,” she read. “Travis Conrad.”

  “I’ll be damned,” said Liam. “Clever girl, indeed. I told you she was smart.”

  “Now if she could have managed latitude and longitude,” said Izzy, grinning.

  “Travis,” said Diane. “Damn him. I thought he might turn out to be somebody good.”

  “Earl and Maud said Leland Conrad’s wife committed suicide and his in-laws blamed him and tried to turn Travis against him because of it,” said Frank. “It worked. I’m willing to bet Cora Nell Dickson is Travis’ grandmother, and that she infected him with the story of a gold mine that was stolen from them. She probably called him ‘Dicky’ to remind him of his connection to the Dicksons, his mother’s side of the family, to distance him from his father. Travis likely kept his visits to her a secret from his father when he got older. His father’s idea of punishment is cruelly harsh. Imagine how he punished Travis’ misdeeds. It would have been bad for a kid to be put in jail with a bunch of low-life drunks.”

  “How in the world did you find that code?” said Liam.

  “I see codes,” said Frank.

  “I thought I was good at that,” said Jin. “I didn’t see it. Man, that’s the second time you’ve out-decoded me.”

  “Okay, it’s Travis,” said Diane. “Does he have help? Could someone like Jason or Bob be in with him? What are we going to do differently? Call him and demand to change the terms of the agreement? Will he keep her alive if he thinks that’s all the leverage he has?” Diane felt deflated again. Now that she knew, she still didn’t have a good plan.

  “Good questions,” said Frank.

  “If Travis knows you’re onto him,” said Liam, “he might not believe you can prove it’s him-if Andie is not here to testify. He might think it’s the smart thing to kill her. . or to have her killed. He’s probably trying to look normal-going about his normal business as acting sheriff. If he has an accomplice, the accomplice will be guarding Andie.” He paused and seemed to be thinking, studying something in his mind.

  “Neva, Mike, and Jin-salt King Cave as planned-and wait in the cave for him,” Liam said. “Go well armed. David and Izzy can go to the sheriff’s office, Travis’ house, his haunts, and see if they can find him. If you do find him, bring him to the meet site he specified. Diane will continue on schedule and I’ll follow her.” He turned to Frank. “Do you do stealth?” he said.

  “I’m a quick study,” said Frank.

  “Are you the one who taught her the uppercut?” asked Liam, nodding toward Diane.

  Frank nodded. “Yes. And I can handle a gun. And I’m motivated. Andie’s a dear friend and Diane’s my heart.”

  Diane studied Frank for a moment. The corners of her lips turned up slightly.

  “Let’s do it then,” she said.

  Chapter 57

  Diane was back in the woods again. It wasn’t raining this time. And she wasn’t alone. She was being watched over. Though she couldn’t see the watchers, she knew they were there. It would be dusk soon, but there was still light filtering through the trees in crepuscular rays. It was quite beautiful.

  The woods had already dried out from the drenching rain that fell the first time she was in the woods. It wasn’t damp; nor were the leaves crisp under her feet. She walked in relative silence.

  It wasn’t far to where she was going. It was near the cave where the bodies of Larken MacAlister and Bruce Gregory were killed and dumped. Diane wondered if that was the cave he was keeping Andie in. It seemed like a risky thing to do. The GBI might return. She hoped that was the cave. She hoped Andie was near. She hoped it would be over soon and it would end well.

  The underbrush was getting thicker and taller and the way harder. She ignored the discomfort caused from being slapped by weeds and branches, and walked on.

  She had driven up alone in case she was watch
ed. Frank and Liam drove an alternate route that took them to the national park. Liam said it would be an easy trek from there. She had done a lot of thinking in the car on the drive. Mainly to keep her mind off the shards of fear that threatened to tear through her new resolve.

  Diane had figured it all out. Many of the details might be wrong, but she thought she knew what had happened and why. Not so much through the sifting and weighing of evidence, but from understanding the dynamics of greed. Diane understood greed. She’d seen a lot of it in her investigation of dictators and wannabe dictators. Greed was more complex than most people realized and kin to feelings as diverse as wanting simply to feel safe and wanting to be powerful. With Travis, Diane suspected it was a little of both of those, with some entitlement thrown in.

  What she concluded was that the whole chain of events grew out of a festering anger that began three generations ago. Travis’ great-grandfather and his grandmother, Cora Nell Dickson, believed they had been cheated out of a fortune in gold by Roy Barre’s grandfather, LeFette Barre. This was a lifelong obsession with Cora Dickson. She told her grandson Travis from the time he was a child that the gold mine Roy Barre knew about and was getting gold from rightly belonged in equal shares to Travis’ great-grandfather-and now to Travis.

  As her mind deteriorated, Cora started talking about what obsessed her-about the gold mine. Most people didn’t believe her, but Liam’s clients did. They got gold fever and they were determined to find the lost treasure mine. Travis found out what they were doing. He caught them in the very act of searching for his gold at the creek. He couldn’t have them stealing his gold, so he killed them. And he probably enjoyed it.

  Travis had waited long enough for his birthright. There was no telling who might find it if he didn’t take action. He was going to make Roy Barre tell him the location of the gold mine.

  Roy may not have known about the mine. He was so focused on the arrowheads, he hadn’t paid much attention to a childish treasure hunt and lost treasure mine. And Roy’s grandfather long ago discovered that there was no gold, only pyrite. A secret gold mine was not part of the Barre family lore.