Hostage to Fortune

by J A Whiting

  Claire nodded. “I spoke with Sally recently. Why didn’t she suggest you speak with the officers who are looking into the case?”

  “Sally liked you when you spoke with her. I’m not sure if my ideas are crazy and unfounded so I wanted to go over them with you before I head to the police.”

  “Anything you tell me I’ll have to share with the detectives,” Claire cautioned.

  “I understand. That’s fine. I just don’t want to go see a detective and get laughed out of the station.”

  Claire smiled. “I don’t think they’d do that.”

  “I know, but it feels easier to talk to a woman first. Do you mind?”

  “Not at all,” Claire said. “Did you have a child who stayed with Sally Lane when you were working in the area years ago?”

  “Two kids.” Maryann smiled and squared her shoulders proudly. “Twins. They were three-years-old, just like John Wilby. They enjoyed playing with John at daycare. Sally was a wonderful provider. I felt comfortable leaving the kids in her care.”

  “Your kids must be around twenty-eight now?” Claire asked.

  “That’s right. Matt is a cardiac specialist and Marissa is a psychiatrist.” Maryann grinned. “They’re very smart people. They both wanted to work to make people’s lives better. My husband and I are very proud of them.”

  “How impressive. Do they live in California?”

  “They do. Only twenty minutes from my husband and me.” Maryann’s face clouded. “When I think about my family, it hurts me to think that Cheryl missed out on seeing her children grown up. And her kids missed out on having their mother. Cheryl was a good person. It’s been such a long time. Is there any hope the police will find out what happened to her?”

  Claire explained, “Cold cases can be difficult. It can be hard to find friends, family members, witnesses. Evidence sometimes gets lost. People have passed away. People misremember details. But the police do figure out old cases and perpetrators are brought to justice.”

  “And in this case? Is there a chance the police will get to the bottom of it?”

  “They keep sifting through evidence and interviewing people,” Claire said. “There’s always a chance.”

  A little smile tugged at the corners of Maryann’s mouth. “Fingers crossed.”

  “Did you come back just to talk to law enforcement?”

  “I did, yes. I have to give my impressions. If I didn’t come back, I’d always regret it. I know I don’t have a lot of information, but I’m here anyway, and I want to share what I think. Maybe it won’t be any help at all. I won’t know unless I talk to someone. I want your opinion. If you think it’s worth going to the police, then I will.”

  “Okay,” Claire said. “I’m happy to listen.”

  Maryann blew out a long breath. “I have two people I’m suspicious of and have been since that night twenty-five years ago. One is Cheryl’s husband, Jackson, and the other one, is a woman who worked at Journey and was involved with Jackson. Her name is Lisa Richardson.”

  “You believe Lisa was involved with Jackson?” Claire asked for clarification.

  “There’s no doubt. Lisa was crazy for the guy. It was like watching a seventh-grader handle her first crush.” Maryann’s kind eyes flashed. “Really, it was ridiculous the way she behaved. She was practically crawling over Jackson. It made a lot of people uncomfortable.”

  “What did she do?”

  “Lisa was always fawning over Jackson. Anything he wanted done, she’d do it. When he wanted praise, she gave it. Lisa was mean to other people who worked there. If anyone had a meeting with Jackson, Lisa would be annoyed about it. She could be very rude and demeaning. She struck me as a very selfish person. Sort of oblivious to other people.”

  “People thought she was having an affair with Jackson?”

  “Definitely. I saw them coming out of a storage room late one afternoon. I don’t need to be a creative genius to imagine what they were doing in there.”

  “Did Cheryl know what was going on?”

  “She knew,” Maryann said. “Cheryl was with me that day Lisa and Jackson came out of the storage room together. The hallways were positioned so you could see far down the hall. We saw those two, but they didn’t see us.”

  “How did Cheryl take it?”

  “She didn’t say much when we saw them. She made a sassy comment to me about it, but I know she was hurt and angry. I always wondered if Cheryl confronted Jackson about the affair and that’s what caused their fight that night.”

  “How do you think Jackson felt about Lisa?” Claire asked. “Do you think Jackson would have left Cheryl for Lisa?”

  “I think Jackson enjoyed the flirtation, the game of it. He loved having women after him and Lisa wasn’t the first affair he’d had. And no, I don’t think Jackson would have left his wife for someone else. Jackson knew what he had with Cheryl. I don’t think he would have been stupid enough to let her go.”

  “Was Cheryl worried about her safety?” Claire questioned.

  Maryann’s expression was serious. “She never said so to me. She did complain about Lisa though. Cheryl told me that Lisa was always trying to ingratiate herself with Cheryl, trying to be her friend. Cheryl was super busy all the time. She didn’t care for Lisa at all. She knew Lisa only wanted to be friends so she could hang around Jackson more. I heard Lisa make some mean, snarky comments about Cheryl criticizing her appearance, her weight. She’d just had a baby, but Lisa trashed her in front of a few of us. We defended Cheryl against the remarks.” Maryann leaned in. “There was something about Lisa. When Cheryl was around, I’d catch Lisa staring at her … she had hate in her eyes. It scared me. When I first heard that Cheryl had gone missing, my first thought was that Lisa did something to her.”

  “What about Jackson? Do you suspect him?”

  “I don’t know. I think he knew very well the value Cheryl brought to the company. I don’t think Jackson would hurt Cheryl because Jackson loved money. He’s a weird one. Everything was about glamour, money, showing off, being the best. Something is lacking in that guy’s head. I’d be surprised if Jackson hurt Cheryl, but only because her ideas brought in so much money.”

  “Is there anyone else you might suspect?” Claire asked.

  “There’s one other person I want to bring up.” Maryann took in a long breath. “His name is Jason Spencer. He went to grad school with Cheryl. Have you heard his name?”

  “I have.”

  “Jason was as obsessed with Cheryl as Lisa was with Jackson. He wanted to be with her. Cheryl and Jackson used to have cookouts at their house and they invited a bunch of people. One night, I was standing near the self-serve bar they had set up outside and I was pouring myself some wine. Jason was slumped in a chair. He’d clearly had too much to drink. I could see he was staring across the yard at Cheryl and Jackson. He muttered under his breath and called Jackson every swear word you can imagine. Then he mumbled something like … Cheryl is going to be mine one day … whether she wants to or not.” Maryann pushed her hair back from her face. “It chilled me. I was going to tell Cheryl, but then I thought I shouldn’t. Jason was drunk out of his mind, he probably didn’t even know what he was saying. But now, when I think about it … now I wish I’d told her.”

  20

  In the middle of the night when John Wilby was in his bedroom sleeping, someone broke into the house on the quiet lane of well-cared-for, upper middle-class homes. Something woke the man from his slumber, maybe a creak in the wood floor when the intruder stepped into the living room, maybe there was something in how the air shifted around when the person was moving through the house. Whatever the cause, John woke and lay perfectly still, knowing somehow, that someone uninvited was inside his Colonial home.

  His first thought was that it was his father, or maybe someone his father hired to kill him for filing suit against the man. Anger coursed through John’s veins. Some person had the nerve to break in, to invade his home. It hadn’t been enough that fate had
seen fit to steal his mother from his life …. no, now someone had come in the night either to steal material things from him, or to rob him of his own life.

  No.

  In the darkness, John moved as quietly as he could to push back the blankets and step from his warm, comfortable bed. He listened.

  Another footstep could be heard coming from the room he used as an office. Three doors down from his bedroom.

  John moved his feet slowly over the wood floor keeping his weight evenly distributed to prevent any squeaking. Into the hall. His heart pounded so fiercely that the beats could be felt in his ears.

  The slim beam of a penlight being used inside the office shimmied over the wall and slipped out to the hall.

  John stopped. He heard a window being raised, and he bolted forward and ran into the office just in time to see a dark figure slide out of the window into the yard.

  John leaned out, but could only watch as the figure ran to the woods at the rear of the property, and was gone.

  It was 3am when Ian and Claire sat with John in his living room while other officers moved about the house and yard looking for left-behind clues.

  John ran his hand through his thick hair as he recounted the incident. “I wish I didn’t disturb whoever it was. I would like to know what he was looking for.”

  “Do you keep any important legal documents in your office?” Ian asked.

  “I have a small safe where I keep paperwork like the deed to the house, my passport, some cash, some of my mother’s jewelry, my birth certificate, things like that. The intruder didn’t get into the safe.”

  Claire looked to the young man. “Do you keep anything about the civil suit against your father here in the house?”

  John looked blank for several seconds. “There are some files about the case in the office in a file cabinet, but the files weren’t touched.”

  “You may have disturbed the intruder before he could get to any information,” Ian said.

  “Why would someone want to steal that information?” John asked. “The case was settled. The appeal process has only just begun.”

  “Someone might want to know what you’ve got on Jackson,” Ian pointed out.

  “You think Jackson is behind the break-in?”

  “We need to gather details,” Ian said. “No one is a suspect right now.”

  “I think Jackson is behind it, too.” John leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “It was the first thought that ran through my head when I woke up and heard the footsteps. Jackson must think I have something incriminating on him. He wants to know what I have.”

  Ian said, “It may also have been someone who wanted to steal money or jewelry or electronics. It’s very possible that the intruder is no one you know and was hitting the neighborhood.”

  “I guess so.” John nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

  “Do you have things here that belonged to your mother?” Claire asked. “Some of her paperwork, documents, notes, a diary?”

  “I have a box of papers and other personal things of hers. I never looked at any of it though. I can’t bring myself to do it.”

  Ian sat up. “Did law enforcement go through the things after your mother went missing?”

  “I don’t know. Aunt Cara gave me the box when I turned twenty-one. You can ask her.”

  “Can I take the box with me when I leave?” Ian asked. “I’ll return it to you as soon as I can.”

  John was clearly having an internal debate with himself. “I guess you can. I’d prefer to keep it here with me, but I guess you can have it for a while.”

  “I could come back tomorrow,” Ian offered. “I could go through the box here in the house.”

  “I’d rather you did that. Thanks.” John jumped when an officer stepped into the room to have a few words with Ian. “I guess I’m running on adrenaline.”

  Ian and the officer went to speak in the kitchen.

  Claire nodded and gave the man a kind smile. “It’s understandable. I heard you put up a reward for information leading to your mother’s disappearance.”

  “I did. I thought it might help give someone who knows something a push.”

  “It’s a very generous reward,” Claire said.

  “I thought fifty-thousand dollars might get some new information flowing.”

  Claire explained how the reward might also draw cheaters out of the woodwork. “Be careful if someone approaches you with information to share. Money can bring out the worst in people. Dangling some dollar bills in front of people can cause them to make up some stories. Refer any informers to the police. I was nearly fooled the other afternoon when someone came to tell me a tale.”

  “I never thought of that side of offering a reward,” John admitted. “Ian and Glenn give me weekly updates about the case. It feels like things are moving really slowly.”

  “There are a lot of people to talk to, case files to go through. It takes time,” Claire told him. “They just need a small break. One thing can lead to much bigger things. Don’t give up. Ian and Glenn are skilled detectives, and when years have passed, it’s not unusual for some people to decide to share some information they’ve held back on.”

  “You’re right. It’s just been a very long time. Practically my whole life. I’m sorry to say that I barely remember my mother. Isn’t that terrible? There are little things that float through my mind about her, but I don’t know if they’re real or are just images from my imagination. I have pictures of us together and looking at them makes me feel good. The way she smiled at me. The way she held me. The loving look in her eyes.” John stopped talking, coughed, and wiped at his eyes. “There are times when I feel so empty.”

  Claire reached over and touched the young man’s shoulder.

  “I’ve been showered with good things in my life. Aunt Cara and my uncle, a great education, good friends, a loving girlfriend, a terrific job I love to do.” John made eye contact with Claire. “But there are times, when my heart feels empty. Like something was taken from me that would have made me whole.”

  All Claire could do was to give him an encouraging nod.

  “I have to do everything I can to try and find my mother’s killer,” John said. “That’s why I brought the civil suit. That’s why I posted the reward. Years are passing. We’re running out of time. If I do everything I can, then I won’t have to live with regrets.”

  Ian came in and asked a few more questions, then he and Claire got up to go. As they were leaving the living room, John stopped them.

  “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought. I’d like to go ahead and be hypnotized. If there’s a chance I’ll remember something, then I want to do it. I’d like my girlfriend to be with me … for support.”

  Ian smiled. “I’ll arrange it with the hypnotist. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “John’s house was broken into last night.” Claire sat with Augustus Gunther drinking early morning coffee at the back of Tony’s market. The Corgis happily trotted back and forth behind Tony as he prepared the store for the day’s customers.

  Augustus’s bushy gray eyebrows rose up his forehead. “Is that so? Was the intruder caught?”

  “No, he wasn’t.”

  “It’s a coincidence, isn’t it?” Augustus asked. “The young man wins the civil suit against his father and several weeks later his home is broken into.”

  “You think it was done to intimidate John?” Claire asked.

  “Intimidation may be part of it. Perhaps, someone thinks that John has some incriminating evidence in his possession.”

  “If he did, he’d pass it on to the police.”

  “He would if he was aware of the importance of what he possesses,” Augustus pointed out.

  “Oh.” Claire’s eyes widened. “John has a box of things that belonged to his mother, but he has never looked at it.”

  “Did the woman keep a diary?”

  “I have no idea, but the police would have looked for things like that when Cheryl wen
t missing.”

  “John’s aunt, Cara, came to the house and collected the little boy and his sister on the night Cheryl Wilby disappeared, is that correct?” Augustus asked.

  Claire nodded.

  “Jackson Wilby was not at home when Cara arrived?”

  “That’s right. Jackson was out looking for his wife.”

  “So if there was a diary or a journal or some such thing, Cara could have taken it that night,” Augustus said.

  “There could be something in the box that might point to the killer.” Claire’s voice was breathless. “Ian is going to John’s house this afternoon to look through the things.”

  “Good.”

  “But if Cara found something that indicates who the killer is, she would have alerted the police a long time ago,” Claire said.

  “Maybe what’s in that box won’t reveal the killer, but it may provide some information about Cheryl’s state of mind right before she went missing, or maybe something that’s been overlooked, but would be helpful in other ways.” Augustus looked straight at Claire. “For years, Jackson Wilby has been suspected of many illegal activities, but nothing sticks to him. He might not be guilty of hurting Cheryl, but there could be information in that box that might hurt him.”

  21

  A man named Mitch Baxter got in touch with Ian asking to meet to discuss Cheryl Wilby’s case. Mitch had worked at Journey for two years including the time right before Cheryl disappeared and for a year afterward.

  On the way to meet the man, Ian told Claire what he’d found when he went to John’s to go through the box of his mother’s items.

  “I found a journal in the box of Cheryl’s things. John sat with me as I went through everything, but he didn’t want to look at any of it.”

  “I understand John’s hesitancy. It will bring up things he isn’t ready to deal with. What did you find in Cheryl’s journal?” Claire asked.

  “Cheryl seemed to use the journal as a planner, but there were some things in it about the kids and what they were doing, and a little bit about work issues and relationship problems.”