All Roads Lead To Murder

by Lynn Bohart

  An officer brought up an unmarked police car, and the four of us piled in. As we began to pull away from the curb, I asked, “By the way, how’s Rudy? I couldn’t see what happened to her after she kicked Owens off the stage.”

  David was riding shotgun and took a deep sigh. “She’s in the hospital.”

  “What?” I said, almost coming out of my seat.

  “What happened?” Blair asked, leaning forward.

  “She hurt her back and one of her knees. She’ll be okay, but they wanted to keep her in the hospital overnight.”

  “Take us to the hospital,” I demanded.

  “No, Julia. I talked to Doe as soon as you called. They gave Rudy some painkillers. She’s asleep. Doe wants you to go back to the hotel.”

  I sat back again. “Rudy is one brave woman.”

  “No kidding,” Blair agreed. “I may not be able to tease her so much anymore. By the way, what happened to Senator Owens?”

  David turned around from the front seat. “He was ushered out of the banquet room and taken to the police station, where he threatened to sue all of us the moment he learned we hadn’t told him Amy had been found two days ago.”

  I shrugged. “Well, you can hardly blame him.”

  “That’s okay,” David said with a smug smile. “The FBI is considering charges against him for obstructing justice. Turns out that Ford contacted Owens at least twice, offering to release Amy if he would just go public with the role he played in the death of one Eric Ford during college. He never told Owens who he was, but at least Owens knew why she’d been abducted and should have had a pretty good idea who took her. And yet he stayed silent, which got a couple of people killed. I don’t think he’ll be suing anyone.”

  “But what about that ransom note?” José asked.

  “It was Owens’ assistant, you know, the one he was going to fire?” he said to me. “It was her and her militia boyfriend who sent it. They’d heard about the abduction when they were camping and thought they could cash in on it.”

  “Jeez,” I exclaimed. “What a bunch of crazy people out there. And Dylan? Was he ever here in Chicago?”

  “No. Amy was pretty vulnerable. She must have seen someone that looked like him.”

  When we arrived at the hotel, David insisted on walking me to our room and said goodnight with a long, warm kiss.

  “I’ll talk to you in the morning,” he said. “Be prepared to tell us the whole story, though.”

  I smiled sweetly. “Don’t I always?”

  ÷

  The next morning, we called the hospital to check on Rudy. She would be released at noon.

  Aria and Goldie decided to catch the last few hours of the genealogy conference, so José joined Doe, Blair, and me for breakfast at our hotel. We took the time to craft a story for the police that avoided any mention of the Cadillac, car theft, or Benito’s chop shop.

  Amy and her parents met us in the lobby afterwards. Amy rushed up to me and threw her arms around my neck.

  “Thank you,” she gushed.

  I stood back, holding her at arms-length. “We were happy to do it.”

  “Well, maybe not happy,” Blair said with a brief smile.

  Amy threw her arms around Blair, too, catching her by surprise.

  Trina Dunphy stepped forward and placed her arm around her daughter’s shoulders.

  “We owe you all so much. I don’t know what we would have done if we’d lost her.”

  Amy began to tear up. “It’s okay now, Mom.”

  Grant Dunphy remained in the background. He snuck glances at Amy, a look of remorse on his face.

  “Have you seen your father?” Doe asked. “He must be thrilled you’re okay.”

  Amy’s bright expression fell. “Um…no. He had to go back to D.C. He called me, though,” she said, attempting to regain her enthusiasm.

  Her mother’s face was drawn with restrained anger. “Jim doesn’t have time for anything but politics.”

  “That’s okay, Mom,” Amy said, grabbing her mother’s hand. “I have you.”

  “And me,” Grant Dunphy said, stepping forward. He put his arm on Amy’s shoulder.

  Amy smiled and put her hand over his.

  “When are you heading home?” Doe asked, bringing everyone’s attention back.

  “This afternoon,” Trina answered. “We’re going to enjoy the rest of the summer before Amy goes off to college.”

  “No, Mom,” Amy said, glancing at me and then back at her mother. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to take a year off. Then I’ll apply to the U Dub.”

  She was referring to the University of Washington, bringing a broad grin to her mother’s face.

  “I’d love that,” Trina said.

  “Maybe we can get that new waterbed you wanted,” her stepdad said, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

  He was clearly making an effort to connect with his stepdaughter.

  “Really? Wow, thanks.” She gave her step-dad a hug.

  “Well, we’d better get going,” Trina said. “Thank you again.”

  We watched the three of them leave and then I said, “Well, we need to go pack.”

  “I have an errand to run,” Blair said. “I’ll catch up with you later at the police department.”

  José went back to his hotel to pack, while Doe and I returned to our rooms to pull our things together. Then we all met Blair about an hour and a half later when we met to debrief with Detective Mankiewicz and David.

  It was Detective Mankiewicz who grilled us. When we finished, we wrote down our version of events and left. David and I had already discussed staying until Monday, so he remained behind to help Detective Mankiewicz write up reports and wrap up the investigation.

  Just before noon, we stopped by Aria and Goldie’s hotel to say goodbye. They were back from the conference and were getting ready to head back to Mercer Island with all of Aria’s spy gear.

  “Aria, you were a great help,” I told her. “Thank you.”

  Her bushy eyebrows clenched in the middle, as if she were confused by my comment. “We were glad to help. If you’d like, you guys could join me on one of the spy weekends.”

  “Oh,” I said, surprised. “Well, maybe. Thanks,” I said, thinking that was the last thing I’d ever do.

  Blair gave a fake cough and said, “You guys drive carefully, now. No running motorcyclists off the road.”

  Aria gave her a dirty look, but Goldie chuckled.

  “Good one, Blair.”

  We waved goodbye to them and caught a cab to the hospital. José waited in the hallway, while we went into Rudy’s room. A nurse was just getting her out of bed when we walked in.

  “Oh, my,” I said at the sight of her.

  She was covered in bruises.

  “It looks worse than it is,” she said, groaning as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

  Doe had brought a change of clothes, so the nurse let us help Rudy get dressed. It wasn’t easy. She was stiff and winced every time she moved an arm or leg. Once we had her safely tucked into the wheelchair, Blair produced a gift.

  “This is for you,” she said, handing it to Rudy.

  Rudy gave her a suspicious look. “What is it? A bomb?”

  “Of course not,” Blair said with a furrowed brow. “Although, I might think of you now as the bomb. I think you’re my new hero. What you did was pretty awesome, Rudy.” When Rudy didn’t say anything, Blair added, “I mean it. You saved a U.S. senator. Even if we do all hate the guy.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Rudy ripped off the wrapping to reveal an old book with a leather cover and a slightly torn spine. Her small brown eyes lit up.

  “Oh, my God. Blair…thank you.” She glanced up, her eyes filled with tears.

  “What is it?” Doe said, stepping around so she could read the book title. “Oh, dear, it’s a first edition of Little Women.”

  I put my arm around Blair’s waist and leaned into her. “No, Blair, you’re the bomb.”<
br />
  ÷

  As I finish this story, I’m reminded once more of just how much my friends mean to me. I’ve always loved them for their charitable works, their intellect and curiosity, their humor and now, their bravery. Our friendship had withstood the road trip from hell. We would return home to pick up where we left off, although a little worse for wear.

  We loaded Rudy into a taxi with José and sent them to the airport where they would fly home to Mercer Island. Blair, Doe, and I shared an early dinner, and then Doe rented a car and left for Wisconsin to pick up Tinker Bell and fly home the next morning. She also carried a copy of the police report to give to Nathan Aberdeen for his insurance company.

  Blair would move to another hotel to meet Mr. Billings and attend the import car show, which began on Wednesday. I accompanied her to the lobby, where I gave her a hug.

  “So you’re staying over to spend some time with David,” she said. “I hope that goes well. I worry about your relationship when you get involved in these murder investigations. It’s got to be tough on him.”

  “I know,” I said with a sigh. “Every day I wonder if he’ll just finally say ‘enough’ and hang it up. I guess I’ll just have to enjoy him while I can.” I squeezed her hand. “Enjoy your time with Mr. Billings, too. You’re lucky, you know. He adores you.”

  “All my husbands adore me,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.

  “Yes, they do,” I said with a chuckle. “Yes, they do.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  On Monday, David and I attended a charity game at Wrigley Field. It was an annual softball game between Chicago’s police and fire unions. Proceeds would go to the local children’s hospital.

  David was proud to show off the iconic ballpark, with its ivy-covered infield walls. And the weather cooperated with cooler temperatures and less humidity.

  “Is Detective Mankiewicz playing today?” I asked, as we settled into our seats with Cokes and hot dogs.

  “Yes. He says he never misses it. There he is,” David said. He pointed to the dark-haired officer who was just entering the field.

  We were sitting above one of the dugouts. There were perhaps six hundred people in attendance, including lots of children. Since I hadn’t seen David the night before, I hoped to gain a little more information about Dr. Ford and his motivations as the players warmed up.

  “Did you learn any more from Dr. Ford?”

  No one sat next to us, so David could speak freely.

  “He was pretty forthcoming. His wife died a couple of months ago, so he thought he had nothing to lose by finally going after Owens after all these years.”

  “He told Blair something about Owens killing his brother.”

  “His younger brother, Eric, died in a swimming accident in Florida many years ago. Owens was president of the fraternity that Eric pledged. He was the ringleader of a group of frat boys that forced a group of pledges down to the lake late one night, made them strip and then threw them in. Eric Ford was terrified of the water. He almost drowned when he was young and only survived because big brother Mark saved him.”

  “And Mark wasn’t there for him that time,” I said sadly.

  “No. And Ford has never forgiven himself. I guess Eric was a sickly kid. He got bullied a lot in school. Mark looked out for him. He was devastated when Eric died. The only reason Eric joined the fraternity was because Mark had belonged to it.

  “So he blamed himself?”

  “Yes. Hazing was common back then, but there weren’t any real consequences. Owens and a couple of other boys were kicked out of the fraternity, but not the school. His father had been a trustee, so he was pretty safe. And no one paid a price for Eric’s death.”

  I sighed and slumped back in my seat. “That’s what Dr. Ford meant when he told Blair that Owens got away with something thirty years ago, just like he gets away with everything else. Sad when you think about it.”

  David turned to me, his brown eyes narrowed. “Ford’s a criminal, Julia. He abducted a young girl and was willing to have her killed. And he was willing to assassinate a sitting U.S. senator. He deserves to go away for a very long time.”

  “I know. Guess I’ll be looking for a different dentist, though,” I said, touching my broken tooth with my tongue. “Speaking of, how in the world did a family dentist get hooked up with thugs like Roy and Monty?”

  “He hired them,” David said, taking a bite of his hot dog.

  “Like from Craigslist or something?”

  “No,” he said swallowing. “He did a lot of volunteer dentistry for the local jails.”

  My eyebrows arched. “Wow. Good source of professional help when you need it.”

  “Guess so.”

  “What did you learn about Eva and Ponytail Guy?”

  “They were brother and sister. She met Monty McLaughlin at a club, and they began dating. He recruited her to administer the drugs because she was a nurse.”

  “Wow. Brother and sister. I didn’t catch that one.”

  “Roy is Roy Powers. They were no dummies. That motorhome we found in the ravine had the old man’s license plates on it, but when they pulled it out, it was a different motorhome. Anyway, Ford initially offered them a hundred thousand each. When he couldn’t convince Owens to go public with what happened to his brother, he upped the ante to half a million each.”

  “Where’d he get that kind of money?”

  “A huge life insurance policy on his wife.”

  “But how did they get into the building with all that security?”

  “Ford was in Chicago for almost two weeks planning this,” David said. “He got his hands on the building plans and scoped out the construction site. When McLaughlin and Powers got to town, he was ready with construction clothes, work belts, and that van with the placard on the side. The two men drove onto the site Saturday afternoon…remember it was the weekend, so no one was there…and then got access to the building through the duct work for the new HVAC system. Once they were inside the new addition, it wasn’t difficult to get into the main building. Ford also attended a small event at the hotel last week. He found a supply closet and got the door open using some of his dental tools.”

  “The man is smart. You’ll have to give him that.”

  “Yep. He planted clothes just in case the abduction didn’t work. McLaughlin got a tuxedo and a fake Republican National Committee ID tag, and Powers got a fake security uniform with a gun.”

  “I wonder why they killed the waiter, then.”

  “Maybe it was the one flaw in the plan. Powers was supposed to pass the gun to McLaughlin so he could kill Owens. I suppose he thought it wouldn’t attract as much attention if a waiter did it. On the other hand, it sounds like Powers just likes killing people.”

  “What was he in prison for?”

  David turned to me with a grim expression. “Murder.”

  “Jeez. Then I feel really lucky none of us were hurt. What happens to Owens now?”

  A couple shuffled into the seats in front of us. David leaned into me and lowered his voice.

  “If Owens went to trial for what happened in Florida, it would be for involuntary manslaughter. But the average statute of limitations for manslaughter is only two to four years.”

  “So he gets away with it?”

  He shrugged. “The law isn’t perfect.”

  I sighed. “I can understand why Dr. Ford was so frustrated.”

  “Julia, he decided to take the law into his own hands, and several people have now lost their lives, including an innocent kid who worked part-time as a waiter for the conference center.”

  I blushed with embarrassment. “I know. It just all seems so unfair.”

  He reached out and grabbed my hand. “Life isn’t fair. But that’s one of the things I like about you, Julia. You try to see all sides. I just don’t think Ford deserves it. I also don’t think Owens will get off scot-free, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  The players had taken t
he field and were getting in position to start the game.

  “Not only is the FBI considering charging him with obstruction of justice, several investigative journalists are heading to Florida to dig into every inch of his background. His life is about to become a living hell, and I doubt he has a future as a Presidential candidate. Poetic justice for a bully.”

  “I’m just glad Blair remembered there was a back door to the media center. Otherwise, Ford would have gotten away.”

  David laughed. “She is a surprise…on so many levels. But the talents you all bring to these investigations boggles the mind.” He chuckled again.

  I eyed him curiously. “Was that a compliment?”

  He smiled. “Yes. For four women of a certain age, you’re not only talented, you’re creative. I never would have thought of swinging down from the second floor to save Owens.”

  “You told me to cause a ruckus.”

  “Yes, I did. And you did so with flying colors, literally.” He laughed at his own joke.

  “So do the girls and I really need to go back to Lake Cleary or Gateway to meet with the police there?”

  “Eventually. But this investigation will go on for a long time, and you’ll have to testify at trial. By the way, do you even remember the town you left Ponytail Guy in?” He gave me a sideways glance that was a mixture of reprimand and humor.

  I grimaced. “Not really. Can’t you find that out through all of your law enforcement buddies?”

  He started to laugh. “Yes. We know where you left him, although he wasn’t found until the next morning. But you’re going to have to have a conversation with the police there, too.” He shook his head. “It seems you left a trail of murder and mayhem from Mercer Island to Wisconsin.”

  “Very funny,” I said. “By the way, thanks for bringing José. He was more help than you know.”

  “Yes, well, he has more talents than I realized.” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

  I forced myself not to ask what his comment meant. The last thing I wanted to do was to unwrap José’s many talents, including car theft. Don’t ask, don’t tell was my new mantra.

  The game announcer saved the moment.