Collin was sitting in his office playing with his pencil. The trip to the Maxwells had been short. They were not happy that he was keeping the details of what their niece was doing confidential. They were not convinced that she was really taking part in what ever Gene Search was doing voluntarily. But Collin wouldn’t tell them any more so they paid him and he left. That was in May. Now it was the beginning of June and he was in his office willing the phone to please ring with another job for him. He jumped with surprise when it did ring.
“Hey buddy,” said Donnie.
“Hey,” replied Collin.
“You haven’t read your email today, have you?”
“Nope. What’s in it?”
“I sent you the latest on the green Camaro homicide.”
“Great. You guys catch somebody?”
“Nah. Autopsy report is back. The guy had some unusual leaves in his stomach contents. Angel Trumpet.”
“Are you saying he didn’t die in the accident?”
“No. He did die in the accident but the plant probably made him unable to drive safely due to hallucinations.”
“So, did he hallucinate and run himself into the center divide or did he actually get pushed into the wall?”
“He got pushed into the wall. But maybe it wasn’t on purpose like we thought.”
“So, did he eat the plant himself or was he poisoned?”
“Hard to say.”
“You’re not looking for the owner of the BMW?”
“We’d still like to find him. He shouldn’t have left the scene.”
“What does that trumpet plant look like?”
“I included a picture in the email. Keep in touch.”
“Right.”
Collin logged onto his computer and opened Donnie’s email. It said pretty much the same thing they had discussed and there was a picture and a small write up about the Angel Trumpet. It has large yellow trumpet shaped flowers and it only grows in warm climates as far north as Florida. Collin was left wondering where Missus Holt’s lover would have found it. It was of course possible that someone was growing it indoors as a house plant - maybe even the now dead lover of Missus Holt. He guessed Donnie would have told him that though.
Collin was concerned that he wasn’t getting any work. He called the A-1 Detective Agency in Rockville. He was hoping they might have something for him. The receptionist passed him through to the extension of the coordinator who categorized and prioritized the assignments for the agency. Rachel Ward didn’t pick up her phone. He left her a short message and reminded her of his phone number. Then he called the deli and ordered lunch. Lily was pressing him to go on vacation. Because of the cases he had recently they had plenty of money for a nice vacation. Not knowing when his next case would come just made him nervous.
Abigail arrived with his lunch.
“Hi, Mister Carter.”
“Hello Abigail,” Collin paid her for the sandwich.
“How are the vacation plans going? Did your wife decide where she wants to go?”
“No. She is still trying to decide on cold or hot. She loves the beaches but June is a good time to go north, like Alaska or Canada.”
“What is your favorite?”
“I don’t mind either as long as there is something to do. I’m not much for inactivity.”
“I’d love to go away and do nothing for a while. Just don’t let it be raining or nasty weather. Remember this is hurricane season. See ya.”
“Bye. Tell your dad I said hello.”
Collin thought about what Abigail had said. He remembered Shelby Radcliff saying the girls were going to a tropical island. He had been concerned for them and their safety from the Gene Search people but not from hurricanes. Now he was wondering where they had gone and if any bad weather was headed their way. He took a big bite of the pickle that came with his lunch and turned on his computer. After inputting his request the computer displayed a world map to Collin with an arrow showing the location of the GPS transmitter Shelby had agreed to take with her in the southern Pacific Ocean. Well, that would mean the girls were safe from hurricanes. In the Pacific such storms are called cyclones!
The device was located in the Cook Islands. Collin asked the computer for weather information for the islands. The weather map of the islands showed the weather to be calm. The web site indicated that the weather was great most of the time even during cyclone season which is from December to April. It quickly passed through his mind that maybe Lily would consider this as a vacation destination. He would love the chance to check up on the girls and Gene Search. He called Lily to see how her plans were developing.
“Hi Sweetie.”
“Hi to you too. Any calls about work?”
“No. But that is a good thing. Right?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well with you wanting to go on vacation and all.”
“Oh, right.”
“How are your plans coming?”
“I’ve decided on beaches. I just want to avoid expensive tourist trap type places.”
This was too good to be true. Lily was leaving Collin an opening to suggest the Cook Islands. He had to be careful though. If she knew it had to do with work, even though nobody was paying him for checking on the girls, Lily would be angry with him.
“I have a wild idea.”
“No. I don’t like it already.”
“It was just something I saw on the Internet. I don’t even know if you could do it.”
“What do you mean? What place are we talking about?”
“Have you ever heard of the Cook Islands?”
“No. I haven’t. Where are they?”
“Out in the Pacific. They belong to New Zealand.”
“Collin you never cease to amaze me. First you don’t want to go on vacation. Now you know just where you want to go.”
“It’s just because it is an unusual place to go. We don’t have to go there. In fact there might not be much to do.”
“Beaches? Nothing to do? Sounds good to me. I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Yeah. You really think you can get it together before July when all the other nurses have scheduled vacation?”
“You know I love a challenge and I love you too, Collin.”
“Same here, Sweetie. See you for dinner.”
“Bye.”
The chances were good that Lily could get the vacation plans in place. He was now excited to go. He was already making plans in his head for how he would find Shelby and the girls. Then he realized that if everyone had moved to the Pacific the Rockville compound might be empty. This would be an opportunity to do a more thorough search of the compound. It might give him a better understanding of Gene Search’s goals if he could get inside all of the buildings. There were several hours left before he needed to be home for dinner. He locked up the office and walked to his car.
Chapter Fifteen
Gene Search: A Collin Carter Mystery Page 14
