“What do you mean, we?” Clay asked. “Stay out of it.”
Martha and I made eye contact. She winked first.
I smiled. “We wouldn’t think of cramping your style.”
Chapter 52
Was It Really A Clue Or Knot?
The minute Clay left us for his shower, I remembered about the photos, pulled them from my pocket, and spread them out on the table for us to see. Everyone gathered behind me for a better look. I set down seven photos.
Six photos were of woods. At first I didn’t get it, but then I started to match them up, like they were a set of before and after shots. The befores were thick-forested land. The afters were of stripped, barren patches.
“Well, what do you know!” exclaimed Betty.
“It looks as though Robinson was out bird-watching and documenting areas that were being stripped,” said Hazel.
“He knew where, but did he know who?” Crystal asked.
“Maybe he tried to extort money?” suggested Martha.
“But from who?” I asked.
I remembered the seventh photo and turned it over.
“What an odd-looking shot,” said Betty, staring at it.
“Talk about a loose, slip knot,” said Hazel, laughing.
I stared over at her not getting her meaning.
“What in blazes does that mean?” Martha asked.
Ignoring her, Hazel directed her answer to the rest of us.
“Perhaps the whole thing is loosely tied together.”
“How?” I asked, still not quite getting her point.
“Two unintended scenarios loosely interlaced together,” Hazel said. “Whoever was ripping off people’s woods caught Robinson and are now looking for those photos.”
Crystal agreed. “Robinson could have been out bird-watching with a telescopic lens and accidentally stumbled upon what was going on while snapping some photos.”
“And started documenting what was going on,” I added.
“But what was the purpose of the seventh picture? Why did he take that?” Betty asked. “I don’t get it.”
“Look!” I said, spotting the edge of the photo and seeing a crooked view of someone’s jacketed arm with a chainsaw resting by a post. It had also caught a corner of a red barn.
“Think he got a good look at who it was?” Hazel asked.
Martha smiled. “Maybe as he snuck up, he was almost caught, ran, and the camera clicked one off.”
Betty stared at it. “He must have wanted proof, but it doesn’t show any landmarks of where it was taken. This could have been the corner of any barn or property.”
“But the perpetrator didn’t know that,” said Martha.
No one could come up with a location that felt familiar. We had not been here that long, but I still felt that we weren’t picking up on something that we should have.
Just about every barn in the area was painted red or was like Sally and Tom’s, which was white. It was little to go on, but at least it was something. We finally called it a night and I pocketed the photos and walked up the stairs. Checking out so many properties was impossible, but…
Was it possible one still held a clue?
Chapter 53
Beyond Relationships & Reproach
Driving the rusty old truck was quite an experience, shimmy and all. Thank goodness it wasn’t stick shift, or I would’ve caused major damage. Then I’d have to explain to Sally and Tom why their truck was up on a lift and being worked on by their local truck dealer when they returned.
I swung into the Fielding’s drive, already expecting Millicent and Major to be a little skittish around me since our experience at Robinson’s. I didn’t think they were used to being stalked or being a target for potential unknowns in the dead of night, even if Major was comfortable with guns.
Martha and the bookworms were visiting Sarah, Clay was still checking on Jacob, the artist, and Crystal was feeding the horses and preparing for the groundskeeper, Dan, whose early return was now thrown into the mix.
I was about to rap on their back door, when it swung open. Major greeted me. “What a surprise. We’re about to have tea. Millicent,” he called out, “get another cup.”
I shook his hand and followed him into their living room. Within a minute, Millicent came in with a tea tray. As she poured, I got right to the reason for my visit.
“Do you two have any idea what might be going on in the area? I mean, regarding any lumber trucks driving by?”
Millicent paused mid-pour. “Whatever do you mean?”
Major leaned in, intrigued by my questions. “Why?”
I looked from one to the other. Could they have seen anything that might help me? Or were they so wrapped up in their own world and dismissive about what went on that appeared unusual, the exception being Robinson’s house.
Thinking back, I had learned over the last couple of years that the people you least suspected of wrong-doing were the same individuals who were capable of duplicity, lying right to your face, while feigning innocence.
Okay, so I might be referring to Clay a little more than I intended at this point because of his past offenses before we became intimately involved. And I admit, I am involved.
It’s that my mind was in a fog lately. It seemed like I was going nowhere as a sleuth or writer in this. Maybe I had to separate myself from our relationship. It couldn’t be that hard, sort of like giving up my favorite candy.
No Clay? Hmmm…
I thought about that for all of two seconds, then smiled.
He was worth the toothache. He stays.
Who was the individual working behind the scene, stealing not only Sarah’s woods, but suddenly making me begin to question everyone’s reputation that was previously assumed beyond reproach?
In my books, no one was above reproach, not even me.
Chapter 54
A Mixed Bag Of M & M’s
Could Millicent and Major be trusted? I tested the waters by telling them about Sarah asking me to look into her missing woods. That was about as far as I wanted to go. I wasn’t about to confide my suspicions about Jackson Porter, or my catching sight of Sarah at the bike rally.
I wanted to wait until I knew a little more about them. I wasn’t sure where their alliances stood and who they were friends with, or what their real agenda was. And believe me, everyone lately seemed to have an agenda.
Major looked at his wife, and then at me. “We had heard rumors, but we didn’t realize they were so widespread. We are not that close to Sarah, but you know how gossip and news manages to spread in small towns, so eventually we did hear about it. The whole thing is very unfortunate.”
“Maybe,” said Millicent, “We should bring up…” She paused appearing reluctant to say more.
“Bring up what?” I asked, noticing her tone change as her eyes quickly darted from Major to me.
Major gently took her hand, rested it in his lap, and gave it a reassuring pat. She then continued: “We’ve been uncomfortable lately with all the traffic going back and forth on our street. It used to be so quiet, but recently there seems to be a lot of activity with dust flying everywhere.”
“What kind of activity?”
“It’s been mainly large vehicles,” said Major. “And mostly at night.”
Dare I ask? “Were any of them lumber trucks?”
“No,” he said. “These were vans, tarped trucks, and several large SUV’s. We could clearly see them because there is a bright street lamp right in front of our house.”
Disappointed in hearing they weren’t lumber trucks, I was still curious as to why all the activity. But considering their proximity to Interstate 93, and this being an offshoot off the paved road that ran parallel to it, and located smack in between two of the exits of that Interstate…
…Hmmm. Now, are you thinking what I’m thinking?
Millicent set her cup down firmly. “We were going to bring the subject up next time we spoke to you, regardless. We’re not only ann
oyed, but disturbed by all this activity.”
“What my wife is trying to ask is, could you find out what is going on? We believe it may affect our investment here and the tranquility of the area that we had hoped we finally found for our retirement. We thought this parcel was a good future investment, but now we are not so sure with all the traffic and associated noise.”
“I’ll see what I can find out.”
Instead of receiving helpful answers to my questions, I had another request and problem to add to my ‘to solve’ list. How could I help them if I couldn’t figure out what’s going on under everyone else’s noses? Including mine.
Chapter 55
Homecoming & Coming Home
That night was interesting. As usual, everybody was talking at once by the time dinner was on the table. I had never seen a group so excited. No, I take that back. They were always excited when working on a case or chasing a potential lead. I was the one who was always leery.
“I’m afraid,” said Clay, “other than the one sighting of that truck driver stopping at Jacob’s, who by the way has no police record whatsoever, I’d forget Jacob. Could be that truck simply got lost. So the jury is still out on Jacob.”
My disappointment was huge. I was hoping for some type of lead. Reluctantly, I turned my attention to Martha and her buddies, Betty and Hazel.
Martha was acting cagey, a quality I had to admire. She had a way of smiling and waiting until the room was completely silent, then gave them what they came for.
“Well, the three of us worked hard convincing Sarah and that husband of hers, eagle-eye George, that we were a bunch of biddies enthralled by what they had to say.”
“I hate to give compliments to Miss Arrogant, here,” said Hazel, “but she was good.”
Betty agreed. “Martha was brilliant, but Sarah proved to be suspiciously clever at deflecting questions we asked.”
“I’m positive she was hiding something,” said Martha. “With every question that was posed, she answered with a question of her own. She sounded just like a psychiatrist!”
“It was her husband who surprised us,” said Betty.
“Why?” I asked.
“Well,” said Martha, “George just kept wandering off the reservation with off-the-wall stuff that constantly disrupted the flow of the whole conversation.”
“Yes,” said Betty. “He kept going on about seeing vans from his window, heading from down the road.”
“Each time he brought the subject up, Sarah interrupted and veered off in another direction,” added Hazel.
“I was getting dizzy trying to stay coherent,” said Betty.
“Finally,” said Hazel, “Sarah had enough of his babble.”
“What did she do?” I asked.
Hazel started laughing. “She threatened to take away his binoculars and his diary if he kept interrupting.”
My ears perked up. “…What diary?”
Martha gave a sly smile. “His bird-watching diary.”
Oh, momma! She and I were on the same page. “You mean he’s a birdwatcher, too?”
She nodded. “Old Eagle-Eye just loves cataloguing those little suckers!”
I wondered what else he catalogued.
Or didn’t, but saw, anyway.
Then we all turned to Crystal…
Chapter 56
Crystal Clear
“Turn and look out that bay window,” began Crystal, pointing in the direction of the barn. “You’ll see by that light on, Dan, Sally’s groundskeeper, is back. A little early, don’t you think? But I guess when visiting someone for any length of time, it can get testy, family or not.”
I said, “Gee, I’ve never had that problem.” I scanned their faces trying not to smile, knowing what they were thinking as my senior crew stared everywhere but at me.
Martha finally looked. “Was that a sarcastic question?”
You know, that woman always turned it back on me. I smiled. If she were any other way, I’d be disappointed.
“After all we’ve been through, Martha? Of course not!”
“Good! Then I don’t have to waste a great retort.”
“…But at times, I can relate,” I added, laughing.
Hazel harrumphed. “Can’t we all!”
I heard Crystal snort.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“As usual, you’re all getting sidetracked,” she said.
“We always seem to, don’t we? Please, go ahead.”
“Well,” she continued, “Dan didn’t seem a bit surprised when I mentioned Sarah’s missing woods and Robinson’s house visitor. I thought that peculiar, considering…”
“Considering what?” Clay asked.
“It sounded like he already knew before he got back.”
“That’s interesting.” Betty asked.
“That’s what I thought, but then figured maybe he spoke to someone in town by cell before he got back.”
“So why would that be suspicious?” I asked.
“Just a hunch,” said Crystal. “At the time, it made me wonder what he’d been checking on in the first place.”
Hazel cut in. “Do you really think he might know something about what is going on?”
“…He might,” Clay said. “That is if he was in close contact with neighbors and friends around town.”
“But then I called Sally,” added Crystal. “She said that he’s a real loner and seldom goes out or has any visitors.”
“A little odd, right?” I asked no one in particular.
“How about I check out his background?” Clay offered.
“I’ll call Sally back for his job history,” said Crystal.
“Plus,” added Martha, “the three of us can go visit Millicent and that Major. They were on their way out last time we tried to see them, saying that there was a family emergency in Boston and they’d be back in a day or two.”
Crystal turned my way. “What’s on your agenda?”
“I think I’ll go pay our friend, Jackson Porter, a visit.”
“Looking for something specific?” she asked.
“No, just looking for more information on Dan.”
“He’s too slick. I wouldn’t go if I were you,” said Clay.
“Oh, Clay. You know how I can handle slick guys.”
Chapter 57
Adjusting My Perspective
I lucked out. Jackson’s gates were already open. I preferred the element of surprise. With his pastures dotted with cattle and ringed-in fencing, Jackson Porter’s drive first dipped downward, then weaved through pines, cedars, and stone outcroppings with impressive views of the mountain ranges. It explained why his property was assessed in the high range. After clearing the evergreens, I arrived at his two-story farmhouse. I eased to a stop and got out of the truck, disappointed. The surprise was on me.
A smiling Jackson was already standing there, waiting for me. How had he seen my approach from so far away? Were there surveillance cameras at the front gate? Was there something valuable around that required a heads up? I gave myself a mental slap to stop my rambling, suspicious mind and tried to focus on what he was saying.
“…so I’m glad to see you, Sam. I was going to give you a call. Come in. Sit and make yourself comfortable.”
“Call me about what?” I asked, as I walked inside, curious about why he seemed eager to speak to me.
I entered, taking in all the furnishings. There were no frills or anything fussy about it, exactly what I expected his taste would be. All the living room furniture was leather. The rest of the furniture was wood and simple in design, but weighty with a modest carved design along the edges. In addition to it being tasteful, what surprised me was it most likely came with a hefty price tag.
The room itself was spacious and opened up to the kitchen. It appeared he’d taken down a wall to give both rooms more light to take advantage of the mountain vistas that were breathtaking in the distance. The kitchen also had an expensive table and chairs with the la
test stainless steel appliances. I tore my eyes away as I sat down.
How could he afford all this?
“I wanted to talk to you about the traffic going back and forth on this road, Sam. It’s unusual, but not enough of a problem to report to the police. I heard you were speaking to some neighbors. Has anyone else mentioned this?”
Was he fishing for what I had found out so far?
“Yes, they have. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure. Go ahead,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“Do you mind if I ask about your link with Robinson?”
He blinked twice, but then calmly asked, “…Why?”
“I was checking on him for Sally. Your name surfaced.”
“You’ve read the town hall records, haven’t you?”
Crystal had already checked for me. “Yes, I have.”
“I know I got a steal. There’s no crime in that, is there?”
“Just the deal of the century, I would think.”
“It’s not what you think. Nothing illegal was done.”
“But it sure looks suspicious. Want to enlighten me?”
“Robinson hired me to clean out his barn. I found a box with old diaries inside it. He was extremely grateful.”
I guess so. “Notice anything unusual about them?”
“They were handwritten in German and looked antique, but, surprisingly, they weren’t his main focus of interest.”
He had my complete attention. “What was?”
“Robinson claimed he had been searching for weeks and forgotten where he hid them and was relieved and excited when he noticed the pictures that were tucked inside the pages were still intact and undamaged.”
“What pictures?”
“I didn’t get a good look at all of them, just some.”
Hmmm… Where they war photos or something else?
“Considering the outcome, that was a convenient find.”
“It’s not what you think. I couldn’t help but notice some when they fell to the ground. I was picking them up just as Robinson came out to the barn to check on me.”
A Lethal Time (A Samantha Jamison Mystery Volume 4) Page 10
