Terry Odell - Mapleton 02 - Deadly Bones (27 page)

“When he saw the first bone, yes,” Gordon said. “But I’m wondering how important it is to know who owned the land at the time. Anyone could have buried the bones. It’s not like anyone was living there. It looked liked vacant woodland then, and it still does.”

“You think our guy was driving by with a body, saw the woods, and thought it might be a good place to get rid of the evidence?” Colfax said.

Gordon flipped the marker in his hand. “Right now that’s as good a hypothesis as any. Have we expanded our missing persons search? If some guy did drive by, he could have come from anywhere.”

“I’ll go out as far as Texas. Unless the body was in a refrigerated truck, I don’t think anyone would be driving around much longer than that, even in winter.”

Colfax’s cell trilled. He looked at the display, lifted his eyebrows. “Colfax.” The semblance of a smile spread across his face.

“Good news?” Gordon asked after Colfax hung up.

“News is as far as I’ll go. Forensics found some prints on the car that don’t belong to the doctor. They’re running them through AFIS now.”

“I take it these prints weren’t in usual places,” Gordon said.

Colfax smirked. “I love the way you’re quick on the uptake. The prints were in the steering column assembly. Only other possibility would be that the doctor took the car to the shop and the mechanic was a total incompetent.”

“No way. Lou’s top notch, and Doc wouldn’t have taken his car anywhere else.”

“Ask the doctor if he had it in for service so we can cross off that possibility.”

“Doc’s been in surgery, so I don’t think he’s going to be able to answer, but I’ll check with Lou at the garage.” Gordon knew Lou wouldn’t have sabotaged Doc’s car—or any car. To him, they were living beings, things to be worshipped. But Colfax was right. They had to cross all the Ts and dot all the Is.

“See if you can get his prints for elimination,” Colfax added.

Gordon’s internal line rang. He reached over the desk to pick it up. “Yes, Laurie?”

“Megan Wyatt wants to see you.”

Chapter 31

Gordon’s first thought shot to Rose. His next was that the white board wasn’t something Megan needed to see. He intercepted her in the hallway. Distress was etched across her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Rose and Sam’s house. There’s a fire. I was in the diner with Angie. I heard sirens, but I didn’t know.” She sniffed back tears. “And now, I can’t get back, and they’ll lose everything—”

“Calm down.” He took her hands. “Look at me. Do you know if their house is actually burning? The firefighters are going to issue evacuation notices to keep people safe. They’ll block off neighborhoods if they think there’s a threat. They want to make sure that if the fire
does
come that way, there won’t be anyone in danger, and they’ll have room to work.”

Megan wiped her eyes. “They wouldn’t let me get close. I saw all the smoke. And flames.” Her despair returned. “Can you check? I need to get Rose and Sam’s stuff. All their valuables, their important papers, their photo albums.”

“Wait here.” The last thing Gordon wanted was for Megan to hear Rose and Sam’s house had burned down from Connie’s cool, collected dispatch fashion. “Help yourself to coffee or tea.”

Megan didn’t budge. Gordon left her and sought out Connie. She sat at her usual position, and the second desk was occupied by a firefighter. Both were clicking at computer keyboards, talking into headsets and studying monitors. Gordon waited for a lull—or at least a breather—between calls. The firefighter looked his way.

“Quick question. Evacuations and engaged homes.” Gordon gave them the Kretzers’ address. “Where do they stand?”

The firefighter rolled his chair away from the desk to where a large map was taped to the wall. “What was that address?”

Gordon repeated it, and stepped toward the map. He pinpointed the Kretzers’ street, which was inside a green blob which was next to a smaller red blob, both of which were inside a larger orange blob. Gordon stabbed at the green blob. “Here.”

“That’s a mandatory evacuation zone.” The firefighter pulled a pen from behind his ear and used it as a pointer. “Orange is active fire. Red is hot spots. This black line is containment.”

Gordon saw a short black squiggle at the edge of Aspen Lake. “I’ve got a woman outside who wants to know if her home is on fire. What do I tell her?”

“If it’s in the green zone, it’s not burning. We need her to stay out of there so we can keep it that way. We’ve got crews on the wildfire and crews on the residential areas. Trouble is, there are a lot of residences tucked into the woodlands, and if those woods catch, it’s going to be tough to save the structures.” He gave Gordon an even stare. “Safety is our first priority. Our guys know what they’re doing, but they’re not going to take unnecessary risks to save a building. On the other hand, unnecessary is a relative term. They regard every house as their own. It becomes personal.”

“I have no doubts. I’ll try to offer what reassurance I can.” Gordon shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for your good work.” He went to find Megan.

She was pacing the break room, alternating between running her hands through her hair and folding her arms across her chest. “What?” She rushed up to him.

“Good news. The house isn’t in a burn area. Not so good news. They’re not going to let you go in there.”

“What about you? Can’t you go in? I could give you a list.”

He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s a matter of safety. But these guys are good. They’re not going to let Rose’s house—or anyone else’s—burn down.”

Her eyes said she wanted to believe him, but they were guarded. “Did they say how long before we can go back?”

“No. Why don’t you go back to wherever you were going to stay. I promise I’ll call you when the evacuation is lifted.”

Megan clutched handfuls of hair as if it would clear space in her brain to think. She looked at him, and suddenly she was the stubborn ten-year-old he remembered from grade school. “No. I can’t be that far away. I’m sure Angie will put me up.” Her expression softened. “Sorry.”

He tried to keep the regret off his face. “Hey, I totally understand. No apology necessary. I have a feeling tonight’s going to be an all-nighter anyway.” And not the enjoyable kind.

Megan stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks. Call me as soon as you know anything. And not just about the fire.”

“We’re working on it.” Gordon escorted Megan to the front desk. As she left, he muttered, “Now if only we could get somewhere” under his breath.

He trudged back to his office, hoping Colfax had some news. Preferably good.

Colfax was standing in front of the white board, writing names near the beginning of the timeline. Gordon closed the door behind him. “What do we have?”

“We?
I
got some names of missing persons. Female, about the right age.”

Gordon watched Colfax finish writing eight names. Eight. And he hadn’t come up with any. “I bow to your expertise. Care to share your methods?”

“Staff,” Colfax said. “Detective wannabes, non-sworns, desk jockeys. Give them a challenge, and they’re like blowflies on a corpse. The thirty-years-ago part was a challenge, but they’ll flip over every pebble in a stream looking for what’s underneath.” He grinned. “Of course, offering to pick up the bar tab of anyone who provides a lead doesn’t hurt.”

“Must be nice,” Gordon said. “Tell me your department pays for the last part, and I’m putting in for a transfer.”

Colfax chuckled. “No, I haven’t figured out a way to hide that in the expense reports yet. Luckily, these guys like cheap beer.”

Gordon turned his attention to the names on the board, along with location and approximate dates they went missing. No two at exactly the same time. Two were from Texas, but from different cities. One from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, which had been outside his original search parameters. Two from Wyoming, again from different parts of the state. One from Utah, one from Nebraska. Dates ranged from 1972 to 1982. He frowned. Stepped forward. Tapped two names. A Ruth Polaski from Laramie, Wyoming and a Jane Dougherty from Cedar City, Utah. “These women disappeared a month apart. I’m not familiar with the geography. Could there be a connection?”

Colfax had his work face on again, and he beat Gordon to the computer, pulling up a map. “That’s why I love my guys. Give ‘em an excuse to play on Google, and they’re in hog heaven.”

“Did they look in NamUS?” Gordon waited, wondering if Colfax had heard of the database.

“I didn’t ask where they got their data, but I presume they’d have looked there, yes.”

So he had. Then again, given the size of his jurisdiction and the cases he dealt with, it wasn’t surprising that he’d be on top of that. Gordon had still been a street cop in 2009, and Dix had been battling his health issues. Given Mapleton’s low crime rate, Gordon understood how it might have been a low priority. “Do we know anything more about these women?”

“Give me a break, Hepler. An hour ago, we had nothing. We now have eight leads. This is where the real work begins.”

“Speaking of real work,” Gordon said. “I’ve got to check in with Solomon and see where he is on what’s a much more typical case for Mapleton.” Knowing that both computers in Dispatch were likely jammed with fire traffic, he called Solomon on his cell. “Any leads on our vandals?
Someone
wants to know.”

“Two bricks, three rocks,” Solomon said. “No prints.”

“Neighbors see or hear anything?”

“The usual reliable descriptions of cars. Best we can piece together is that it’s dark colored, dirty, and maybe a small SUV or Jeep. Or a panel van. Looks like they peeled away from one of the houses. We have tire marks that might help. Assuming we find a vehicle to match them to. I’ve got pictures, I’ll bring them in.”

Gordon laughed. “At least you can eliminate pickups. That should cut out about a third of the vehicles in Mapleton before you start.”

“There is that.” His tone sobered. “How’s the fire situation? You sure I wouldn’t be of more use there?”

“Not now. I need you to prove to our favorite someone that I’m putting our top man on what he thinks is a home invasion crime wave. Wrap it up ASAP, and then you can work the fire perimeter.”

“Do I get a cookie, too?”

“No cookies. Bring me some evidence. Preferably a suspect.” Although he knew Solomon needed no incentives, he thought of what Colfax had said. As long as he wasn’t on the radio, he added, “If you do, first beer is on me.”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Chief.”

Gordon disconnected. Something niggled at the back of his brain, but with everything else swirling around, he let it slide. If it was important, it would come back. Right now he was dealing with what looked like two attempted homicides.

He called Davey Gilman. “You heard about Doc Evans, right?”

“Did I? Man, I was the one who transported him. He’s lucky to be alive. Seatbelts and airbags. Don’t leave home without them.”

“Do you know how he’s doing?”

“I checked on my last hospital run. He’s in ICU, but he’s stable.”

Gordon debated telling Gilman about the security measures, then decided against it. Although he trusted the paramedic’s integrity, the best way to keep a secret was to keep it to yourself, and there were already enough potential leaks. “Thanks, Gilman. “

Laurie appeared in the doorway carrying a stack of envelopes. “Got your pictures, Chief.”

Chapter 32

Megan slotted the key into the ignition of her rental, sorting through the possibilities vying for attention in her brain. Priorities? Should she simply park herself at Angie’s and wait? See if she could sneak into Rose’s house, get everything she thought they’d want to save? Should she call Sam and Justin? Let them know about the evacuation order? Find out what Rose and Sam deemed priceless—and where they kept them? Would they have heard about the fire yet? She doubted they’d be watching television.

Or should she go back to the hospital and let them know in person? If everything turned out all right, and the evacuation was a precaution, as Gordon had suggested, then she’d be upsetting them unnecessarily.

She rested her hands on the steering wheel. What if it was her apartment building on fire while she was away? Would she rather know she might lose everything if there was nothing she could do about it? Or would it be better to come home and deal with the aftermath? Either way, she knew the “if only” game would go on forever. She resigned herself to making a wrong decision no matter what she chose to do.

Her earlier excitement that the bank had approved her small business loan had been short-lived, gone as soon as she’d heard about the fire. There would be time to celebrate later. When everyone was together again.

For now, she’d see how close she could get to Rose and Sam’s house, and decide what to do then. With a plan of action in place, she twisted the key and the engine growled to life. Five blocks from Rose and Sam’s house, at the only entrance to the neighborhood, traffic slowed. Megan leaned out the window to get a better view. Two yellow-and-black sawhorses blocked the road, and two police officers stood in front of them, stopping cars and turning them around. She counted six cars between hers and the barricade. She pulled to the curb, watching to see if any cars were allowed through. When all the cars had been refused entry, Megan figured there was no point in trying to talk her way past the blockade. She scratched Plan A off her list and did a three point turn. Plan B, she decided, was to call Justin.

Twenty minutes later, she sat cross-legged on Angie’s sofa, explaining the situation to Justin. “What do you think I should do?”

“You can’t get to the house?” he said.

“Nobody can get in until the evacuation’s lifted. And yes, I asked if Gordon would pull strings, but he’s playing it by the book.”

After an uncomfortable pause, Justin went on. “Much as I’d like you here, I agree you’re better off staying in Mapleton. I’ll let Rose and Sam know.”

Would she have felt better if he’d have begged her to join him at the motel? And would she have gone if he had? She switched gears. “Have you heard anything about who tried to kill Rose? And how’s Dr. Evans?”