Blood Red Sundown: Evil Begins (15 page)

ANNE HEARD LON
enter
the room the previous night, but chose not to engage him. In the morning, she woke
early showered, dressed and waited for him in the lobby. Apparently feeling none
the worse as she watched him step out of the elevator she could tell he was in his
serious mode and went right into their planned routine for the day.

“Sutcliff is thirty-one miles from the hotel, so an hour
leeway should be adequate. We can eat breakfast here, read the paper and then you
can discuss your feelings derived from your file reading.”

“That’s a nice word for you, partner, derived. Yeah,
derived, I like that word, she said in a teasingly.”

Her teasing was wasted on him; he stayed focused and
in his detective mind-set.

“How did your twenty dollars go last night? Did you take
a chance or did you pocket it?”

“Let’s just say that I gambled and lost and leave it
at that.”

Lon drove and Anne read a brochure on the history of
the Sutcliff and the surrounding countryside. It listed several exciting places
to visit while in the area.

“It seems that Pyramid Lake plays a major role in Sutcliff’s
existence,” Anne said to Lon. No response from him. The population of less than
300 intrigued Anne but sounded boring to Lon. She tried to picture being retired
in a city the size of Sutcliff, Nevada.

“It seems, continuing to read to him, that in the early
nineteen hundreds, it was one of the main stop overs and trains would stop there
to fill up with water. That’s interesting, don’t you think?”

“Sure and what time is the next gunfight?”

“You are so citified, Lon you can’t appreciate any part
of cultures beyond what you know.”

Pulling up in front of a very small home with a well-manicured
lawn Anne thought it picture perfect for a single woman. “I could live here,” she
thought. She tried to picture the lady waiting inside based on her younger pictures
in the file as they approached the front door.

“Here we go and Anne, I think it would be better if you
take the lead. I can get pretty aggressive if I don’t get the right response.”

“I can relate to that. I’ve seen you at your worst.”

When the door opened, they were surprised at the appearance
of Beth Radford. She was dressed in tight jeans, cowboy boots and a low cut top
of the deepest coral that caused her face to radiate with contentment. She stepped
back from the door and welcomed them in. Stepping in front of her, Anne guessed
her to be about five foot two one hundred fifteen pounds and very attractive. She
led the way into a very pleasant sitting area with a wonderful view.

“May I get you some lemonade, or iced tea?”

“I’ll have the iced tea, please,” Anne quickly responded.

“What can I get you detective?”

“I’ll have the tea also.”

“Right so it’s tea all around.”

Watching her walk to the kitchen, Lon gave Anne a thumbs
up sign of approval which brought a smirk and a shake of her head in return. The
tea was served in some kind of clay Indian glasses. A questioning look by Lon almost
made Anne laugh.

“I love your glasses, Mrs. Radford, Anne injected.”

“Call me Beth, You make me sound ancient.”

“I understand and so from now on it’s, Beth, but I expect
the same from you in return; you can call me Anne. I don’t speak for this one next
to me, but his name is Lon.”

A smile on her face, brought out a little more of the
age that had been hidden by the last few years of found happiness.

“Now detectives, what in the world brings you all the
way to Sutcliff, Nevada? I can tell you if you’re looking for excitement you wasted
your time.”

“We’re here to talk about your ex-husband. We hoped you
would be willing to discuss your years spent married to the senator.”

“William Radford the third, what in the world can I say
that will affect anything about him in any way?”

“His new wife was murdered a few days ago and we’re investigating
every possible lead.”

“That’s terrible news. Was she killed by the same man
that has been killing women there in Santa Barbara or am I a suspect?”

“You are not a suspect, but there are similarities to
the serial killings.”

“We only get bits and pieces of the news, way out here.
I’m unsure of how I can be of assistance to you.”

“We hoped you could give us some insight into the overall
mental makeup of the senator.”

“That would take considerable time, Anne. He is a very
complex individual; a Jekyll and Hyde type would best describe him.”

Hearing that descriptive term by Beth gave Lon his, “I
knew it” moment.

“Tell me about the side that convinced you to marry him.”

“He can be very persuasive, with his charm and good looks.
Those are also the tools he used to get himself elected to the senate. He can sell
you anything and make you believe that you need it. Like most divorced couples I
didn’t really get to know William until after we were married. It was a whirlwind
affair what with him being a high profile lawyer and being with him on his run for
the senate. We were living in high cotton, as they say out here, but in Santa Barbara
it would be described as dancing with the stars and the big wigs.”

She paused and took a drink of tea before continuing.
“It was at that time that his mother became involved in our daily lives. I had always
felt there was an unusually close relationship between her and William. I felt I
was in her way. I could have been an employee the way I was treated by her. I sometimes
had doubts that she was his mother. He would not even listen when I tried to speak
of these feelings and of her hateful actions toward me.”

“I asked him on one such occasion, if he and his Mother
were having an affair. I was only joking, of course, and yet from his reaction I
renewed my doubts. Our sex life had become minuscule to almost non-existent in our
marriage. He began to sleep in a separate room. After events we attended she would
hold his arm, and I would walk along beside or behind them like a puppy dog. I became
a sort of passive participant in the marriage.”

Anne looked over at Lon and he was smirking at being
right about the man then asked his first question, “Was he ever abusive physically
toward you Beth?”

“No, but I must admit there were times when his anger
toward me became so enraged I would leave the room and stay away until he had totally
calmed down. I do believe that, at times, had I not walked away he might have struck
me.”

Anne looked at her partner expecting a response from
him, but he said nothing, remaining deep in thought.

Beth looked at him and waited for his next question which
never came so she continued. “His mother often accompanied him on his out-of-town
trips. He claimed she would give him advice. When I would call his room late at
night at the hotel, she would pick up, say hello knowing it would be me and then
pass the phone to William. You can make of that what you will, just as I did.”

“Now on my part; I could not make a misstep or say the
wrong thing or I was in for an angry lecture of all lectures.”

Again pausing in thought her face reflected pain as she
remembered and then continued. “He became obsessively jealous of me. At his required
gatherings I was often approached by men in polite conversation and it was a “you
must reap what you sow” lecture as soon we hit the car. It would continue into the
house and go on for hours.”

CODE BLUE ROOM
34-B
came screaming over the speaker. Stephanie rushed to the room and observed the attending
nurses performing CPR.

“No pulse Doctor.”

“She checked for a heartbeat and found none. She took
the paddles in hand and ready to attach, she shouted, “Every one clear. “Now!”

“Nothing yet, Doctor.”

Again, “clear.” A definite beep on the screen and a steady
rhythm brought cheers to the room.

“Keep an eye on him, just to be sure and up his dosage
to three hundred. I’ll stop back in a half-hour or so to check on him.”

Len was coming out of a room and waved. She returned
the action with a smile and stopped at the desk.

“Are there any messages for me?”

“Well, if you call a message from Senator Radford just
a message, then you have a message. He asked that you meet him around five thirty
at the same place as the first meeting.”

“What’s going on, Doc?” Len stood a few feet away and
overheard the message being read. A pen that he was holding snapped in half catching
the attention of the two women. They looked at each other puzzled at his obvious
agitation as he walked away.

She read the patients log book and all that remained
for her was to check on Mr. Gordon, to be sure he was out of danger before leaving
for the day. Then she would be free to change in to her swim suit and get to the
beach. She could not suppress a smile. It was time for her to acknowledge the fact
that she was taken with the senator.

BETH REFILLED THEIR
glasses and sat a tray of varied crackers and cheeses on the small table.

“I have to ask, Beth, What did you mean, you had your
doubts? You actually had doubts that this lady was his mother?”

Lon looked at Anne and was about to interrupt, but she
answered before he could mouth the words.

“I only had doubts, no proof.”

Lon could not keep silent any longer. “Are we talking
incest, Beth?”

“I am suggesting that it was not a normal mother-son
relationship. She dominated his life completely and as far as incest I never caught
them; but there was evidence and signs.”

“Did you confront him about your concerns on this matter?”

“Twice I made the accusation that this was going on between
them. The first time he became angry calling it totally ridiculous. But the second
time, the mother was present and she began laughing at me. William stood up and
I thought sure he was going to strike me. He stood over my chair and asked me to
leave the house as soon as possible and he would be filing for immediate divorce.
I was relieved when he said this as I had been planning on filing myself.”

“How do you think he would have reacted had you filed
first?”

“I waited for that very reason. I feared his reaction.”

“There must be certain incidents that triggered your
suspicions of their relationship,” Anne asked.

“The senate was in session and I found myself alone and
bored. I wandered around the house and decided to be daring and go into his mother’s
room. The room had always been emphasized by William that it was off limit for me.”

“Can you imagine being barred from a room in your own
home?”

They both just stared at her not sure if they should
answer.

“I was very nervous at the possibility of being discovered.
I remember standing at the foot of the bed and staring at the oil painting of the
mother and thinking, how attractive she was as a young woman and understood why
men would naturally be attracted to her.”

“I remained in a nervous state being in the room especially
when I started going through drawers, not actually looking for anything in particular.
I guess it was no more than curiosity about her life. I found a single key in the
stand next to her bed in a hanky drawer. I searched, but couldn’t find anything
secured with a lock. I was about to search in the closet when I heard the alarm
alert on the front door. I replaced the key in the drawer and left the room quickly
hoping I would not be discovered by something I had disturbed.”

Their trance like state of interest in her story was
interrupted by a burst of “Dixie” from the pocket of Lon’s coat.

”Lon on this end, how can I help you?”

“Hey chief, It looks like we’ll be staying one more day.
It’s very important, chief. Look we’re in an interview right now with Mrs. Radford.
Yes I know; I’ll call you later with an update. Right chief, I hear you; I’ll call
you.”

“This seems like a good time to break for lunch detectives.
I have lunch with options prepared for you. We can sit outside on the back deck,
but there is one requirement. No business during lunch.”

While they sat and conversed, Beth Radford pointed out
the mountains in the distance and some of the early history surrounding the Sutcliff
area.

“I can’t help but wonder why you decided to leave the
fast pace you had been living in California to move to this small town in Nevada
of all places.

“You’ll think I’m crazy when you hear how I selected
Sutcliff; I wanted to be as far away from my life there in California and William
Radford as I could be and I had no particular place that I felt a need to be so
I picked Sutcliff by throwing a dart at the US map. I wanted to be totally free
from the two of them and Sutcliff has turned out to be the correct choice for me.”

Anne smiling said, “That
is
an amazing story.”

“I lost a lot by leaving Santa Barbara, but I have been
very happy with my decision,” she said as she walked to the kitchen.

AFTER HEARING THE
conversation
at the nurse’s station, Len left the hospital with his spirits totally drained and
asking himself, “What chance do I have against a senator? None, and even if he wasn’t
a senator what chance would you have? It’s time to get real and realize you are
not going to be a part of her life. You need to get back to your old self and let
the nice guy image die. What do you have to lose?”

“Her guard is down now, maybe she will accept you in
some other way than you preferred. Think it out very carefully and then act. Keep
your head about you at all times and just be her friend … for now. He knew that
he had broken the barrier between them and with patience could get close to her.
He also knew where to find her most evenings and that she likes wine. I will drop
by bearing a gift of a fine bottle of rosé.