Lin looked up to find that Sue had come downstairs already dressed for bed. She handed her the note. “This was just left on our front porch. I saw the person who left it, but only from behind as he returned to his car. I wouldn’t be able to identify anyone, but I think it was a man. Whoever it was didn’t try to come in, didn’t ring the doorbell even.”
“I think we know who it must have been,” Sue remarked as she returned the note to the table. “It had to be Kovich.”
“Do you think it was directed at Ellie? He’d have no way of knowing she was home in Charlotte with her parents.”
“No,” Sue said firmly. “I think his use of the word ‘too’ in the last sentence means this is directed toward us. Evidently he blames us for his arrest and for his trouble at the university. Maybe, he’s implying that he’s responsible for the bad things that happened to Ellie as well. I don’t know, but we have to call the sheriff and we’d better do it tonight.”
Sue went back upstairs to change from her nightclothes while Lin dialed 911 to report the incident. Two deputies arrived about twenty minutes later. One of them came inside to talk to Lin and Sue while the other tried to examine the scene outside to determine if anyone was still in the area.
Lin told the young officer who was taking down their information what she and Sue suspected. She tried to fill him in on the background information. He shook his head as he tried to write down everything she was telling him. “I know the cases you’re talking about, but I’m not really familiar with everything that’s happened,” he confessed. “I’ll take this note in to check for fingerprints, but since both of you have touched it, you’ll need to come in to have your print’s taken also. Perhaps you should also talk to Deputy Winkler as he seems to be the one handling these cases.”
About that time the young man’s partner came inside. “Man, it’s bad out there. I checked all around, and I don’t think anyone is near the house. I can see where a car was parked near the road, but it’s too wet and dark to check tire tracks or look for footprints. Someone will come back out tomorrow when it’s light, and hopefully, the weather has improved.
“We’ll need you both to come to the law enforcement center tomorrow,” the two men prepared to leave. “Meanwhile, keep your doors and windows locked and we’ll call the guys on patrol and tell them to drive by here as they’re making their rounds tonight. You might also leave the outside lights on, although in the fog they’re not much help.”
Lin and Sue agreed to do all this as they escorted the men to the door. When they’d left, Lin turned to her friend, “I’m not sure we’re ever going to have a regular week of volunteer work here. We’re going to have to take time off tomorrow also.”
“Well, the morning at least,” Sue agreed. “If we can finish up at the law enforcement center early, we can get to work by afternoon.”
“I certainly hope so,” Lin replied. “I’m ready to be done with all this for sure.”
Later, as she lay in her bed, Lin found herself reviewing all the events of tonight and the last few days. She was tired and stressed, but sleep just wouldn’t come. She kept thinking about all the unsettling events they’d been involved in since their arrival. How was it that she always seemed to be getting involved in such things? On top of that, she kept thinking about the cases Sue had told her about. It seemed to her that there was a pattern, at least in some of them. Was there a killer still on the loose out there? Could Eustace Hinson actually be responsible for this rash of killings? If so, where did Stefan Kovich fit it? Was the shooting of Pete and Ellie somehow tied to earlier events, or was it the result of a deranged man’s idea of possessive love? She didn’t have answers to these questions, but she realized someone needed to find them. Someone needed to find a way to put an end to these deaths before someone else was victimized. Now it appeared that Kovich blamed her and Sue for his misfortune. Finally, Lin slipped away into a troubled sleep, but not before remembering that Ellie had not called to inform them about the hearing. She resolved to try to reach her the next day.
Chapter 10
Fortunately, Lin and Sue were able to have their fingerprints taken relatively quickly. They’d arrived at the law enforcement offices early prepared to go to work as soon as they’d finished their business there. The fingerprint technicians saw them right away, but they weren’t able to talk to Deputy Winkler because he was out of the office. They arranged to come back that afternoon.
Lin was happy to finally arrive at the visitor center. In spite of the fact that she’d not slept particularly well, the peaceful atmosphere surrounding Linn Cove was relaxing. The mist of the night before had moved out fairly quickly. While the woods were still damp from rain, sunlight was drifting through creating a golden glow among the leaves and highlighting the pink blooms on the rhododendrons. Rachel understood about her being late; Lin had called her earlier to explain what had happened. Since the seasonal ranger was already busy with visitors by the time Lin arrived, she decided to finish up the few remaining files Ellie had been working on earlier.
Lin tried to stay focused on her work, but her thoughts kept returning to the scary incident of the previous night. She was convinced that Stefan Kovich was their visitor and he was indeed a troubled man. He seemed to be truly obsessed with Ellie; somehow, he seemed to blame her and Sue for his current troubles. It was probably true that Ellie might never have come forward with her complaints against him had she not had their support. Now he was in trouble with the law and faced the likely loss of his job at the university. In addition, being a foreign national, he could be deported because of these things. The more she thought about it, the more Lin realized that she and Sue really had good reason to be concerned about this man.
She was sinking deeper into such fearful thoughts when Rachel entered the office and, thankfully, interrupted her. “Glad to see you finally made it. That’s scary, that fellow threatening you too.”
“Yes, it is,” Lin replied. “It’s hard to stop thinking about it. I’m sorry we got involved in all this.”
“I don’t know how you could’ve avoided that,” Rachel said. “You couldn’t very well leave Ellie injured and lying on the side of the road. She could’ve bled to death, and when she turned out to be a former student—someone whose family you knew—well, I think it was pretty natural for you to try to help.”
Lin nodded her agreement, “I just hope we can do something about this Kovich guy and his threats. The man seems seriously troubled to me. We’re talking to Deputy Winkler this afternoon, so maybe there’s something he can do to put a stop to his behavior. Right now, all I want to do is put all this behind me.”
“Well, I can’t assure you of that, but I can suggest that you get outside and walk the trail and the rest of the area around here to check on things. The paths should be drier by now and we need to make sure we’re monitoring our visitor activity.”
“And getting outside will help me forget about all this, at least for awhile,” Lin smiled as she grabbed her hat and a light jacket and prepared to spend some time outdoors.
***
By four o’clock that afternoon, Lin and Sue were sitting in Dave Winkler’s office. They’d each driven straight there from work and now they were reviewing the incident report that the officers had completed the night before.
“This seems to be accurate,” Lin remarked as she finished reading and returned the form to the desk. “I just think the officers who came last night weren’t familiar with what has gone before and how it all relates. They felt we’d best talk with you.”
“I understand, and they were right,” Winkler offered. “I agree with you that Kovich was most likely your visitor, just as he certainly was last Sunday. He may or may not be aware that Ellie has left the area, but he has decided to shift his focus to you folks. He’s thinking it’s your intervention that has deterred his threats to Ellie and led to all his current problems.”
“And he’s probably right,” Sue spoke up. “I’m not sure Ellie would
’ve taken positive steps to stop his intimidation without support. The question is, what can we do about him now?”
“Well, the first step is to compare fingerprints on that cardboard note you got. We have yours’ now, and his are on file from his earlier arrest. Unless he wrote with gloves on, we should be able to determine whether or not he actually created the note you received. If so, we can arrest him again. In any case, I want to question him further about the shooting case involving Ellie and Pete. I noticed in the note he uses “too” when saying bad things can happen to you. That certainly, doesn’t clearly link him to the assault and killing earlier, but I can use it to question him further, especially since that case is still open now. I can try to get a warrant to search his home. Ellie reported seeing weapons there.”
“I take it, then, that Eustace Hinson was not found to be responsible, even though he confessed,” Lin queried.
“That’s correct. The old man is clearly demented, and the court has ruled him incompetent; however, his inconsistencies have rendered his confession invalid. He has actually confessed to that shooting and a number of others, only to come back the next day and say he never shot anyone, so who knows…actually, I think he probably did shoot Pete and Ellie and maybe some of those other folks as well, but I can’t use his confessions. If we’re going to go in that direction, we’ll have to uncover other evidence, so the investigation continues and Kovich is now also on the suspect list in Pete and Ellie’s case.”
Lin was curious. “If I may ask, what was determined regarding Mr. Hinson? What’s going to happen to him now?”
“ It’s all public record, now,” Winkler replied, “ He was found incompetent, but with no criminal charges attached, his sons, Herman and Hiram, were named his guardians. The state is not going to assume responsibility for someone in those circumstances. It falls to his family to care for him. They have to bear the burden, not the state.” Winkler shook his head as he spoke.
“I take it they’re not happy about that,” Sue remarked.
“You’d be right. The Hinson’s live marginally at best. They can’t afford to put their father in a facility where he can be looked after. They could try to get him help through Medicaid, but that’s a lengthy process involving doctors and government bureaucracy, neither of which they’re likely to want to deal with. You have to understand some of these mountain folk. They don’t like to deal with such, and generally, are not very adept at such processes. I expect the old man will just sit at home and someone will have to take time off from scratching out a living to look after him.”
“Maybe they can find some help,” Lin suggested, “maybe through social services or something. Someone to help them with the process.”
“If they’ll ask,” Winkler said, “If they’ll ask.”
Sue brought the subject back to their situation. “When will you know about the fingerprints? When do you think you’ll be picking Kovich up again?”
“I’ll be checking with our technicians right after I finish here with you ladies. Hopefully, I’ll be able to let you know something this evening. If the prints are a match, I’ll pick Kovich up right away. The judge will likely revoke his bail if it’s established that he’s continuing his threatening behavior. All I can do is promise you I’ll be in touch as soon as I know what’s happening. Meanwhile, your place will continue to be on our patrol list.”
Lin and Sue expressed their thanks to the deputy and rose to leave. “We’ll hope to hear from you soon,” Lin said as they exited the office. Frankly, she didn’t have much faith that being on a patrol list would sufficiently protect them. She hoped Kovich would be back in jail sooner rather than later.
***
About eight o’clock that evening, the phone rang at the house. It was Ellie calling to report on the previous day’s hearing. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to call you last night. We made some stops on our way back and were late arriving at home. My Mom said it was too late to call.”
Ellie was shocked when Lin told her about the threat they’d received the night before. “With me gone, I thought that would end,” Ellie said. “I’m so sorry. I feel like I brought all of this stuff down on you.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Lin tried to reassure her. “You’re not responsible for a disturbed man’s behavior. Hopefully, he’ll be taken care of soon. Now tell me about the hearing. We got the results from Deputy Winkler but how did it go from your perspective? ”
“OK, I guess,” Ellie offered, “I did my best and told the truth. I’m afraid the questions I raised led to the judge not holding that old man responsible for what happened to me and to Pete. His sons were none too happy.” Ellie went on to describe an ugly scene involving the Hinson brothers who created quite a disruption in the courtroom. “The judge threatened to have them both arrested if they didn’t stop. If he hadn’t they’d probably still be arguing.”
“So, they finally calmed, down?” Lin asked.
“Yes, but when they were leaving I heard them muttering about the whole situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if they made more trouble for someone.”
And all of that could fall into our laps too, Lin thought. Maybe they won’t find out whom else they could blame for Ellie’s testimony. We have enough to contend with now without adding anything more.
As she ended her conversation with Ellie, Lin realized that Sue was talking to someone on her phone. She went into the kitchen to join her just as the conversation drew to a close.
“That was Dave Winkler,” Sue explained. “Bad news about the fingerprints. The cardboard was so wet that all the prints were smudged and nothing could be identified, not even ours. That means Kovich is still free for now. Deputy Winkler did say he was going to try to get a warrant to search his apartment and check the weapons.”
“And I had hoped we could sleep well tonight,” Lin replied. “I don’t think the Hinson brothers know about us or they might blame us for Ellie’s testimony that led to their father being placed in their guardianship. That gives us something else to worry about.”
“Let’s hope they don’t find out then,” Sue said, “Now I think we need more coffee and cookies. We deserve a chance to unwind from all this.”
The next day, a Saturday, passed calmly and pleasantly. Both Lin and Sue worked, feeling happy that they could finally settle in to their volunteer roles. As luck would have it, the uncertain weather returned on Sunday, just when they had another day off.
“I wish it was as sunny as the last few days have been. I’d been thinking about another day out on the Parkway, maybe hiking some of the shorter trails,” Lin complained as they viewed the rain from their window during breakfast.
“I’m just as glad for a rainy day,” Sue grinned, “seems to me the last time we played tourists we opened quite a can of worms.”
Lin couldn’t deny that. “I guess we can enjoy the rest of a Sunday at home then,” she responded. “I think I’ll do some laundry and try to finish my book.”
“Me, I’m going to get on the Internet and do some more research about those cases. I really want to try to find some common threads to explore further.”
Shortly after breakfast, Sue headed down to her basement office leaving Lin to her own devices. She put in a load of laundry and then took her book to the comfortable sofa in the living room, but she had a hard time getting settled into reading. She realized that she hadn’t talked to Neal in several days, but it was still too early to make a call to Arizona. I’ll definitely call later, she thought. Talking to him always improves my mood.
She’d just gotten into her book when her phone rang. It was Dave Winkler.
“What leads you to be working on a Sunday morning?” Lin asked.
“Somebody has to hold down the fort on weekends and it’s my turn,” he replied, “besides, I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. I thought you might like to know what’s happened with Kovich since we searched his home and studio.”
“Was that productive?” Lin asked.
> “It was sort of a mixed bag,” Dave Winkler responded. “We found a small arsenal of weapons, including more than one shotgun. We’re not sure how he obtained all these weapons, but we’re investigating that. If they’re illegal, that will add to his charges.”
“ Could you determine if they had been used?”
“ Not directly, but all of his guns had recently been cleaned—clean as a whistle. That doesn’t help us prove anything, but it could mean they were cleaned because they’d been recently used. We did find something else—apparently our Mr. Kovich likes to write threatening messages. We found several drafts he’d been working on in his trash. It seems, he wrote and re-wrote to get the wording he wanted. Most were directed toward Ellie and Pete but apparently they were never delivered. He was intensely jealous about their friendship. We also found a journal that chronicles much of his relationship with Ellie and his anger when she tried to break it off. Unfortunately, we found nothing that would link him to the message you ladies received. In fact, what we found would indicate that message was much too crude to be his work.”
Lin was disappointed. Apparently nothing seemed to indicate that Kovich was their visitor but the evidence did seem to point to his anger toward Pete and Ellie. “Sounds like you might be able to build a case against him where Pete and Ellie are concerned,” Lin remarked.
“Maybe,” Winkler responded. “Right now, it’s mostly circumstantial. We have no direct evidence that he actually shot the two of them, but he definitely had a lot of anger. We’re considering him a “person of interest” in the case. As a foreign national he’s considered a flight risk, but I think we’d need more evidence than we currently have to get his bail revoked. We’re going to keep looking, reexamine the scene out on the Parkway, maybe try to find folks he might’ve talked to.
“Well, thanks for letting us know, although we’d feel better if he wasn’t still on the loose,” Lin responded.
Fogbound: A Lin Hanna Mystery Page 11
