Yellow Packard

by Ace Collins

  She gave the paper to the sheriff. “Does this number mean anything to you?”

  He glanced at it and shook his head. “It’s not a local exchange.”

  “No, it’s not,” she agreed. “For those of you who can’t see what is written here, does Jupiter 7-2673 mean anything to you?” No one answered.

  “What about the rest of you?” she asked.

  After a few moments of silence, Bill Landers spoke, “I know of a Jupiter exchange in Ohio, but it wasn’t that number.”

  “That’s the problem we have,” Meeker noted. She took the paper back and waved it in the air. “Whoever wrote this number down didn’t add what city or state it was in. Since Burgess knew whose number this was, he didn’t need to record that information. Yet we need it. Without it, we can’t arrest the person that I’m pretty sure was behind the theft of the money from the Watling estate and the kidnapping.”

  “It could have been Burgess working alone,” Johns interjected.

  Meeker crooked her right eyebrow. “Do you think he was smart enough to do all that was entailed in this deal?”

  “I don’t know,” the attorney admitted. “But to me, that is what makes the most sense.”

  “Of course that’s what you want us to believe,” the sheriff snapped. “You’re afraid they’ll link this mess to you.”

  “Jed!” Johns barked.

  “Well,” the sheriff yelled, “if I didn’t do it, then you seem to be the next logical choice! You were Abbi’s lawyer. You knew about the money. Burgess worked for you after Abbi died. Your tie to him is stronger than anyone’s! Maybe our search was just to make you look innocent and throw suspicion elsewhere. Maybe you already had the cash safely tucked away. Maybe you knew that others knew about the money and you were just covering your trail.”

  “I don’t know why I ever voted for you,” Johns shot back. “You’re an idiot!”

  Meeker smiled, waved her hand, and cut the men off. “Let’s get back on track—what about the number? Does it mean anything to anyone?”

  No one answered.

  “Rose,” Meeker gently said, moving over to where the two children were playing. The little girl looked up. “You said that there was a second man who was involved in taking you. Would you stand up and look around this room?”

  The little girl pushed up from the floor and took the agent’s hand. “You take a very close look at the men in this room. Are any of them the other man you told me about?”

  Rose slowly moved her eyes from Atkins to Johns to Landers. After she studied each of them, she shrugged, “No, the mean man’s not here.”

  The trio of men breathed collective sighs of relief.

  “Of course,” Meeker said, “there could have been a third man—the brains behind this deal. So you men don’t need to relax too much yet.”

  “That leaves me out,” Atkins barked, “because everyone here seems to think I’m stupid.”

  Meeker wryly smiled before turning back to the little girl. “What did you tell me the man looked like?”

  “He was kind of fat and frowned a lot. He had a whiny voice. He was not as old as those men.”

  “That could be a hundred people I know,” George noted.

  “Yeah,” Johns added. “That description fits several people I’ve represented. We could go to Danville and see ten people who fit that description in five minutes.”

  Meeker nodded in agreement. “And because I don’t know where the telephone that goes with this number is, the one Mitchell Burgess had in his billfold, I can’t connect a man fitting that description to this number. And besides, it might not even be a working number. I’ve called it in every Jupiter exchange in about a dozen different states and have gotten nothing. The office is still checking the states I haven’t called.”

  “So this is a colossal waste of time,” Atkins growled. “I’m going home.”

  “Not yet.” Reese held up a hand to stop the man.

  Meeker motioned for the agent to talk privately outside. They stepped out the door. It was time to up the stakes.

  Chapter 84

  For almost two minutes no one moved. Except for the two playing children, all eyes were locked on the front door. They each had to be wondering where Reese and Meeker had gone. What were they doing? What surprise did Meeker have next?

  When the door opened and the bell rang, those gathered saw a complete stranger walk through the door. The small, slight man with the crooked nose was dressed in a prison uniform. He had shackles on his feet and hands. He looked anything but happy to be a part of the proceedings.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Meeker said, “this is our special guest for the evening. His name is Jack McGrew.”

  “Pistolwhip?” the sheriff asked.

  “Don’t call me that,” the newest guest growled. “My name’s Jack.”

  “Why is he out of jail?” the lawyer nervously demanded.

  “I had a friend”—Meeker smiled—“who made this possible.”

  “You must have friends in some pretty high places,” Landers said, awe evident in his tone.

  “If I told you how high,” Reese chuckled, “you wouldn’t believe it.”

  Shaking her head, Meeker turned to face the convict she had single-handedly captured. “I trust you understand the need to give the complete truth here tonight.”

  “As long as you don’t throw me over that yellow car,” he replied, “I’ll pretty much do anything. You are one scary broad.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment. Jack, you don’t know these people, and none of them know you. But you were good friends with a man those gathered here all had contact with at one time or another. They knew him as Mitchell Burgess, but when you met him he was a prison guard at Joliet named Burton.”

  “Yeah,” McGrew quickly admitted. “I knew him.”

  “He was your friend,” Meeker continued, “wasn’t he?”

  “Sure, he was a good friend.”

  Meeker took a step toward McGrew, cutting the distance between them to five feet. “I know the last time you saw Burton was at the farmhouse on the night you were captured. In the couple of years before that, did you see him at all?”

  “A few times. We met, had drinks. Nothing big, just two friends getting together.”

  “And did he talk about his life?”

  “Yeah,” McGrew replied. “Friends tell each other what’s going on. I told him about my deals, and he told me about his.”

  “Did you know about the kidnapping and the reasons behind it?” Meeker asked.

  “Sure, he told me. It was all about the money. They wanted to get their hands on the old woman’s loot.”

  Meeker smiled. “You said they. Did he tell you who they were or how many there were?”

  McGrew nodded. “Since he’s dead, guess it doesn’t matter if I squeal some. It was a two-way split.”

  “Who was his partner?” Meeker demanded.

  “He didn’t give me a name. Just said he was a louse he had to deal with. He also told me the guy was heartless and ordered him to kill the kid. But he couldn’t do that. He might have been a bit strange, but murdering a kid was not his game. He didn’t have the stomach for it. You have to be pretty sick to do that. So he gave the kid to some woman who had lost her own daughter.”

  “That all adds up,” Meeker replied. “Clara’s daughter had been killed. In fact, the girl had been murdered. You have any information on that?”

  The con shrugged. “I only know that she saw something she shouldn’t have when her dad was dealing with the mob. It was to teach the old man a lesson about crossing them on a deal. I heard it tore him up so bad it killed him.”

  “That gives us a bit more information about that unsolved crime. But let’s return to this one. Did Mitchell tell you anything else about the partner?”

  “No, but that’s not unusual. I never told him about the guys who worked with me, either. It’s safer that way. What I didn’t know couldn’t come back to hurt him.” He shrug
ged. “Now if you don’t need anything else out of me, I’d rather not be here.”

  “Only a couple more questions,” Meeker assured him. “Did Burton, as you knew him, or Burgess as the others called him, mention Samuel Johns?”

  “Yeah, he told me that guy skimmed money from people whose investments he held.”

  Meeker turned around and stared at the attorney. “Maybe that’s why you didn’t want to recognize the sketch. He knew too much about you.”

  “But I didn’t take Abbi’s cash,” Johns quickly replied. “Jed and I looked … we looked hard, but we never found it.”

  “But what about your dealings with Miss Watling?” Meeker asked. “I think we can prove you”—she glanced back to Jack—“what was the word you used? Oh yeah, skimmed some from her during her regular business dealings. Maybe she found out. Maybe you needed to get her out of the way.”

  “I’m not saying anything more without an attorney,” Johns replied.

  Meeker nodded and looked back at Jack. “What about Sheriff Jed Atkins? Mitchell say anything about him?”

  “Oh.” McGrew laughed. “He talked about him a lot.”

  Meeker glanced over to where the sheriff was standing. The color had completely drained from his face.

  “What did he say?” Meeker asked, her eyes never leaving Atkins.

  “He said he was stupid. I remember his words exactly, ‘Dumb as a rock but honest to a fault.’ ”

  “Thank the Lord.” Atkins sighed.

  Reese opted to get in a quick jab, “Never heard a man take being called dumb so well.”

  “Might be why he didn’t recognize the sketch,” Meeker added. “Reese, you can take Mr. McGrew out to the boys for his ride back to the Big House.”

  “Can’t wait to get out of here,” the convict replied. “I hope I never meet you again. You are one scary lady.”

  Chapter 85

  Meeker waited for Reese to return before she picked up her questions. As soon as her partner had settled into his place against the wall, she waved the large envelope Janet Carson had brought with her. With absolutely no fanfare, Meeker opened it. After pulling out a single photo, she set the folder on the rolltop desk and walked over to show the black-and-white image to Rose.

  “Is this the guy?”

  “That’s him,” the girl sneered as she replied. “He’s mean!”

  Meeker put the photo back in her pocket and studied the faces around her. “The man in this photo was the man Burgess called.”

  “But you said the number didn’t work,” Carole noted.

  “As it’s written here, it doesn’t,” Meeker admitted. “But if you dial Jupiter 3-7627, it does.”

  “I may be dumb,” Atkins cut in, “but I can memorize almost anything. That’s not the number you read a while ago.”

  “You’re right,” she agreed. “The number I just called out is the number on Burgess’s piece of paper reversed. To protect the identity of his partner in this crime the number was written backwards. It was a pretty clever code, too. Everything would have worked if we hadn’t found Rose and if we hadn’t discovered that piece of a one-hundred-dollar bill in the seat springs in the Packard.”

  She moved to the counter and pointed to a phone connected to a large speaker. “We installed this special line tonight. You’ll be able to hear the call, but the party on the other end will only be able to hear the caller. Nevertheless, I would like to ask each of you to remain quiet. It is vital that this seem like a private call.”

  As she picked up the receiver and dialed, Reese moved out of the showroom and into the office.

  “Operator.” Her voice came through the speaker and filled the room.

  “This is Helen Meeker. I’m working with the FBI. About an hour ago I asked you to be ready to make a call for us.”

  “Yes ma’am. I believe you wanted Jupiter 3-7627.”

  “That is correct. And I gave you the city.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Connecting now. Speak when your party answers.”

  Meeker waved at Janet. The small woman moved quickly across to the counter and took the phone.

  “Hello.” A man’s voice on the other end of the line now had everyone’s attention.

  “It’s Janet. I called to warn you. You’re in trouble. The FBI caught Burgess. He talked, and they know you were a part of the kidnapping and taking Abbi’s money.”

  Everyone in the room watched the speaker box, waiting for his answer. It took the man on the other end almost thirty seconds to come up with a response.

  “Why are you warning me?”

  “I want the money you’ve got left. How much is it?” she demanded.

  “What good would giving cash to you do me?”

  Janet looked to Meeker. After the agent nodded, she continued with the script Meeker had prepared. “I can provide you with an alibi for the kidnapping. I can say you were with me that day.”

  “I’ve only got ten grand left. Is that worth you lying for me?”

  “I need the money,” she quickly replied. “There’s a house I want to buy. But you’ve got to tell me one more thing.”

  “What?”

  “How did you kill Aunt Abbi?” Meeker figured he would balk at answering the question, so she was not surprised when the line went silent.

  “Tell me,” Janet demanded. “I can’t begin to trust you if you don’t level with me.”

  Those in the room could hear the man taking several deep breaths before his voice came back on the line whispering his response, “I’m kind of proud of that. I think it was a stroke of genius on my part. After all, I fooled everyone. I have a friend who is a pharmacist. One night he was telling a group of us about drugs that mimic heart attacks. I took notes.”

  As the morbid explanation hung in the air, Reese stepped back into the room and waved at Meeker.

  “So you gave it to Burgess, and he gave it to her?” Janet asked. Helen could see from the expression on her face that she was mortified at the news he was delivering.

  “Heavens, no,” he replied. “I couldn’t trust him to mix the right dosage. I drove into town and surprised her. I gave it to her at dinner. After she took it, Burgess and I searched the house. We didn’t find the money. He figured it out it was in the car years later. That’s why we had to kidnap the girl. I figured it would be the easiest way to get the cash without directing suspicion my way. Besides, the guy who owned the car never left it anyplace where we could get to it without someone noticing.”

  “I can’t believe you did it,” Janet said, shock ringing in her voice.

  “I should have cut you in from the beginning, but I didn’t think you’d go for it. The only person who figured it all out was Johns. He put it together a few months ago. I had to give him ten grand to keep quiet.”

  All eyes went to the attorney. Before he could speak, the voice came back on the line, “I need you to hang on, someone’s at the door.”

  “I’ll go ahead and hang up,” Janet replied. “The folks at your door might take up too much time for me to wait.”

  Janet handed the phone to Meeker who put it back in its cradle. As she did, Reese strolled into the shop’s back office. Thirty seconds later, he popped out into the main room and announced, “We have him in custody.”

  “I’m sure,” Carole volunteered from behind the counter, “that the man on the line was the guy who called giving us the information on the ransom money and where the drop point was. I’m just sure of it. It was the same voice.”

  “So am I,” George added. “What’s his name? I’m guessing several in this room know.”

  Meeker looked from the Halls to Carson and then to Johns. It was the lawyer who spoke first, “Jim Watling; Abbi’s nephew.”

  “You mean,” Atkins cut in, “his greed was so great he’d kill and kidnap just to get his hands on the hundred grand?”

  Janet Carson nodded. As she did, the sheriff pointed his finger at the attorney and leveled a verbal barrage that hit the bull’s-eye, “Samue
l Johns, you’re a snake! You mean to tell me that you found out and then were bought off for a few thousand dollars? Even though this family was missing their child?”

  Meeker looked over to Johns. He shrugged. There was no covering his guilt now. “I had nothing to do with Abbi being killed or the kidnapping. You need to know that.”

  “But you didn’t let us know Rose was alive either,” Meeker said.

  The attorney took a deep breath before continuing to try to justify what he’d done. “Like I said, I didn’t have anything to do with taking Rose or murdering Abbi. I never figured out where the money was. I only put everything together after the visit with Meeker and Reese.” He glanced toward Meeker. “I was talking to him when you burst back into my office on that day. After you left and I was sure you were out of town, I drove down and confronted Jim. He offered me the ten grand as a bribe. I couldn’t do anything to bring Abbi back, and he assured me the girl was dead, so I took it. It was wrong and so was I.”

  George Hall rushed across the room. Before anyone could reach him, he delivered three sharp blows to the lawyer’s gut. Reese and Atkins pulled George back, but the man spat, “You could have gotten our daughter back to us!”

  After slowly pulling himself upright, Johns sadly shook his head. “I swear, Jim Watling told me she had been killed. He swore that Burgess had taken care of her. If I had known she was alive, I’d have turned him in. I swear.”

  “I hope,” Meeker said, “for your sake, you did think Rose was dead.”

  “Why the circus?” Atkins asked, turning to Meeker. “Why not just arrest Jim Watling and Johns and not bring us all into this? Is that information from the phone call admissible in a court?”

  “It was a legal wiretap,” Reese assured the sheriff. “We had Carole’s and Janet’s permission, as well as a court order, to listen to all of Watling’s calls.”

  “And you are not so dumb, Sheriff Atkins,” Meeker added. “We could have locked Jim Watling up for a long time without the call. We already had enough evidence with the phone number and Rose’s identifying him in the picture to prove he was at least involved in the kidnapping. But we needed to get him to admit he killed his aunt. We had no proof of that. The bonus was getting him to talk about Samuel Johns’s role in this. Thus the need for the circus. And, might I add, the show has closed for the night.”