A Fair to Die For (28 page)

Henry pulled out his cell phone, punched up the photo he’d taken in the Hobbs Men’s Room, and handed it to Burke. “Do you recognize either of these men? They’re the ones who abducted my wife.” He paused, remembered he wasn’t supposed to know who the men were yet, and quickly corrected. “I mean I think they might be the ones who abducted Carrie.”

After studying the picture, the investigator handed the phone back and said, “Don’t think I recognize them, but it might help if you came to my office and looked through our photo files. How did you get this picture?”

“The men showed up in the restroom at Hobbs when I was there. Probably followed me to the park. They tried to hassle me, but I never learned exactly why, because a bunch of big kids came in the room just then, and I was able to walk away. When I showed this photo to Carrie, she said these are the men who came to our home several days earlier, looking for Edie Embler. They said they were from the FBI.”

Burke nodded. “Maybe we have photos of them. We will for sure if they’ve done time.” He turned to Olinda. “We’re ready for your report, Deputy Rosten. How did you become aware of the fires?”

Olinda scooted back on the couch and sat up straighter before she spoke. She couldn’t hide obvious exhaustion, sitting stiff-spined or not.

Henry knew the feeling. She was coming down after a high-intensity adrenaline rush.

“I had trouble getting to sleep, and finally decided to go to the kitchen and get a drink of water. I stood looking out the kitchen window and thought I saw shadows on the other side of the garage. I didn’t react, because at first I believed it must be my imagination, the wind moving underbrush or something.

“Then I saw what looked like fire at the other end of the house. I couldn’t tell what was happening, the garage hid my view, but I hurried back to our room to get shoes, a jacket, and my gun. By then I could see flames under our bedroom window, and two figures moving away outside, so I opened the window as quickly as I could and called at them to stop. They didn’t. I shot toward them, but they kept moving. I shut the window and shouted at Edie to call 911 and wake Henry. Then I went out the front door. In the faint moonlight I saw the two dark shapes again. I shot at them, and heard a sort of grunt, so maybe a bullet connected. I also heard a metallic clang. As you know, one of the intruders dropped the gasoline can.

“When I moved along the side of the garage to check if anyone had been hit and was down, gasoline was spilling out of the can, and I stepped in it. I assume the two guys were interrupted while dumping out gasoline and lost the lid to the can. We’ll probably find it near the house after daylight.

“While I was standing by the gas can I saw two people running up the lane and I ran after them, shooting twice more. Before I could get to the road I heard a car start and head south. They were past the curve by the time I got up there, so I came back to the house and walked around it, seeing that the fires they set were already out. I stood in the driveway until you and the first of the two volunteer fire departments came.”

The investigator asked, “You said you heard an exclamation immediately after you shot the second time?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, thank you for the report, deputy.”

He turned to Henry. “We’ll do a lot more looking when it’s daylight outside, and also check to see if someone might have dripped blood from a wound. In the meantime, the two deputies on guard outside will remain. I’ll take Deputy Rosten back to the sheriff’s office with me. After she completes a written report, she can go home.”

Olinda started what Henry supposed would be a protest, but one look from Burke stopped her, and he continued, “Deputy Anderson will stay here in the living room the rest of the night. We’ll make more complete plans for everyone’s safety tomorrow. I hope you, Major King, and Ms. Embler can spend the remainder of the night in peace. I also hope we’ll soon have good news about your wife.”

Henry said, “I assume you’ll be able to find out if any area hospital or clinic reports treating a gunshot wound?”

“The alert has already gone out,” Burke said.

Chapter Thirty
WHAT EDIE KNEW

After walking Burke and Olinda to the door, Henry and Edie returned to the living room. He didn’t feel ready to sleep and supposed she didn’t either. Deputy Anderson was invited to sit in the chair Burke had vacated, and for a few minutes, conversation re-hashed the events just past.

Then Edie broke into the dragging discussion and said, “Deputy Anderson, Henry and I have several family matters to discuss. My cousin Carrie has a small study and office down the hall, one of the rooms you saw when you toured the house. Since there is no need for us to burden you with discussions that would probably bore you, please excuse us. We’ll be in the office, but will check in with you before we turn in.”

Henry said, “Edie, maybe now isn’t . . . .”

“Who was it said, ‘If not now, when?’” She stood, “Deputy, is there anything we can get you before we leave? That couch looks comfortable for sleeping. I can bring you a pillow and blanket.”

The deputy said, “Thanks for your kindness, but I’m fine.”

Edie continued, “Okay. There’s fresh coffee in the kitchen. Mugs in the cabinet above the coffeepot. Package of cookies alongside. Make yourself at home.”

As soon as the office door was shut, Henry said, “What is it?”

Edie didn’t answer until he had settled himself in Carrie’s desk chair and she was seated in the visitor chair across the desk from him. “What?” he repeated, and realized he sounded impatient.
Well, tough. It’s two in the morning, we’ve had a gosh-awful night. I have a right to feel cross.

“My turn to talk about a bunch of hanging details,” she said. “First, the supposed missing papers. I’ve thought about them until my brain hurts, and I simply can’t identify any way they ever came into my possession—or my mother’s, for that matter. I never knew they existed until Milton mentioned them. I’m not convinced they exist today, but, if you’re right, and someone’s eagerness to find them is what got Carrie abducted and is putting the rest of us in danger, then we should work to uncover the truth and expose whatever that truth is as widely as possible.

“Seems to me the search of my things should have put an end to the problem since searchers couldn’t have found what wasn’t there, but last night’s fire ends that hope.”

“I’m following you,” Henry said, with grudging respect.

“Therefore, we need to pull out all the stops, and I think we need to bring Milton directly into this. Maybe, if he thinks more carefully, he’ll have new insight into what happened to the papers he says he actually saw all those years ago. Do you agree? Do you think you can you trust him now? Can you trust me? Henry, you’ve got to trust someone besides Carrie, yourself, and your long-time friends.”

He said nothing, and wondered if lack of sleep and tension were muddling his usual ability to reason clearly.

Edie continued. “You might not agree but, as far as I’m concerned, if there are papers, the bad guys are welcome to them and good riddance. I wish I could hand them what they want. Get them off our tails.”

“You may be right.”

“Okay, we agree. Now, here’s point two. I’m glad Olinda is out of the way. I sense that she isn’t fully trusted, even by the sheriff’s department. Some may suspect she’s involved with the bad guys. I don’t know how all that fits together, and I don’t believe she was ever a danger to us personally, but I’ve decided it is possible she set those fires herself. I can’t verify when she dressed and left our room. I was sound asleep until she shot out our window.”

“Why didn’t you speak up when Investigator Burke was here?”

“You’ll recall I never spoke up
for
her, but I didn’t feel certain enough to make any accusations against her either. Okay, I admit I’ve come to like her, and it seems to me now that those were rather puny fires.”

“Under different circumstances, they could have been disastrous.”

“Okay, okay. But with her out of the way, we’ll be freer to pursue our own interests. I assume Deputy Anderson was thoroughly vetted before being assigned here.”

He nodded. “I assume so too, but who knows what tomorrow, or today, rather, will bring.”

“Yes, exactly.

“Next I have a confession to make. I’ve grown very fond of Carrie and you, though sometimes, Henry, you do come across as kind of bossy.”

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but she held up her hand and continued. “I understand that’s probably due to your law officer training, but—whatever—I admire and respect both you and Carrie more than you’ll ever know. Not only that, I admit I’m jealous of your closeness and obvious affection for each other. I’ve had an opportunity to observe that over these past few days. It’s a rare gift, as I know from one failed marriage of my own and my observation of other marriages. And, I might add, it was so obvious that the lovers’ scene at Hobbs on Sunday was play-acting, maybe even distasteful to you. I apologize if I got into it a bit too strongly.”

She paused, looked down at the floor for a moment, then said, “It’s been a very long time since any man held me, even as an act of comfort.”

Henry nodded, wondering where this was going. “I am more aware every day of how lucky Carrie and I are. How blessed, she would say.”

“Good. And that brings me to point three. I believe Carrie is now free, though in hiding for some reason I haven’t figured out yet. I think she’s been safe since at least night before last.”

He stared at her.

“Henry, you are a lousy actor. It’s possible Olinda didn’t pop to it since she doesn’t know how close you two are, but your supposed anxiety over the safety of your wife is as unconvincing as a five-year-old’s assertion he did not rob the cookie jar. If you don’t want to, you needn’t tell me how and where, but am I not right? Isn’t she now safe somewhere?”

Slowly, he nodded. “As safe as she, and probably you, can be until all this mess is straightened out, and the ones responsible are caught and put away.”

“Yes. And possibly she has knowledge, which I imagine she shared with you while you were gone from here yesterday morning, that will help us in our quest. Can’t the three of us—four if you’ll agree to bring Milton in—combine what we know? That might give us ideas about a way to solve the issue of those papers, and may even offer some insight into drug distribution methods in Northwest Arkansas.

“Remember, Milton and I still have jobs to do when it comes to uncovering drug distribution. He’s cleared the managers of the craft fairs at War Eagle, but the Harleys could easily have been distributing without their knowledge. There were those pull toys, and maybe special under-the-counter bird houses or feeders for the buyer saying the right words? And who knows about all the other fairs? Milton’s been talking with fair organizers and, so far, they proclaim shock at the possibility of this happening under their watch, and, of course, also proclaim their own personal innocence. Whether that’s entirely true or not, at least they know the DEA and all area law-enforcement agencies will be watching them.”

Henry sat in silence for a long minute, then made his decision. “All right. We’ll see how to work this out in the morning, or rather, later this morning. Thank you for your honesty, Edie.”

He stood. “Now, I’m going to bed.”

Henry, unaccustomed to sleeping late, was startled when he opened his eyes to bright daylight and a clock that said 9:30. Running a hand over his bristly face, he decided the first order was a shave, no matter what was going on in the rest of the house.

A second thought had him picking up the phone. When Shirley answered at the Booth’s he said, “Your cousin and Carrie’s cousin need to meet today. Here is okay. Lots of events to discuss. Suggest you bring Roger if he can shake loose, and it’s okay to bring your house guest.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, you’ll see.”

“Okay, if you say so. We got things to discuss too. What time? That’s supposing Roger can corral his cousin.”

“1:00 okay?”

“I’ll let you know if it’s not.”

Thirty minutes later Henry found Edie eating cereal in the kitchen. “Where’s Deputy Anderson?” he asked.

“Shift change, I guess. Someone picked her up about an hour ago, and two new deputies are now on duty outside.”

“Okay, good. I made a phone call as soon as I woke up,” he said. We’ll probably all meet here this afternoon. Can you get in touch with Milton when I know a time?”

“Yes, I can. Did you tell Carrie about the fire?”

“Oh.”

“Best to tell her or get word to her. It will be an awful shock if she comes down the lane and sees that blackened wall.”

“You’re right. When they call back about a meeting time, I’ll ask them to pass on the information. But won’t she worry and want to come here right away to see it for herself?”

“Yes, but just say things are okay now, and the small amount of damage can be easily fixed. Since two deputies are still on guard outside, I felt okay about going out to look at the burned places this morning. The logs are blackened, but not deeply charred. I called one of the log home people in the phone book just now. I didn’t know if they were the folks Carrie used, so I didn’t give a name. I learned they sand blast the burned area, usually with ground walnut hulls, or even real sand, and refinish the place. It’s fairly simple. You can tell her that.”

“Oh. Well, thanks, thanks for checking. That’s good news, Edie.”
Women are amazing creatures. Carrie would probably have wanted information right away too. Probably would have been tomorrow, or even later, before I called anyone about repairs.

Henry was frying a couple of eggs when the phone rang, and Shirley said, without prelude, “Cousin is okay with this if we can make it 12:00. He has an afternoon meeting. My houseguest and I will bring sandwiches and cookies to tide us over. Still got carrots and turnips in the garden. I’ll get us some of those, too. Fix ‘em fresh. What do they call it, crude-de-tays?”

“I don’t know,” Henry said, “I don’t speak gourmet. Does your cousin know how to get here?”