A Fair to Die For (30 page)

Henry asked, “I assume she says she refused the deal. Would a reason for suspicion be that she never told anyone about it until now?”

“Correct.”

Carrie asked, “Why would they have chosen to solicit her? What made someone think she was open to what they wanted?”

“Very good question,” the sheriff said. “We’re looking into her private life as well as her work for us.”

“Could she have set the fires here?”

“She won’t talk about that, either.”

Carrie thought a minute, then continued. “Do you think she passed on any information at all? Let’s say, information about Milton, or even Edie?”

“Of course we can’t be sure, but I doubt it. Milton has been at the office only rarely, and she probably wouldn’t have seen him. As to Edie, we didn’t know about her confidential work for the DEA before this week, so Deputy Rosten couldn’t have learned about it at our office.”

“She’s been, uh, neutralized now, though?” Carrie asked.

“Yes, no access to information, and she knows we’re watching her.”

Carrie felt the stirring of an idea. “But mightn’t she have helpful information for us? For example, she was with Deputy Rainwater at Milton’s trailer. Could she know or have guessed more about that? Oh, I wish I could talk with her.” She stopped, then plunged on. “Of course I know your capable people have done so already. But you did say there were things she wouldn’t talk about.”

“It’s always possible that an independent person, especially another woman, might stir some useful information in a heart-to-heart talk, though yes, officers have questioned her. If you’d like to try talking with her yourself, maybe we could set something up in a neutral location. There is a small amount of danger, however, because she still doesn’t know you’re alive. I don’t think we want her to know that yet, just in case she is passing on information to the group that supposedly killed you.”

“But she won’t be able to have further contact with those people, right?”

“I don’t see how she could manage contact now since she’s being monitored by us. Time will tell. But let’s assume there is still some danger.”

“What about Edie talking with her?” Henry asked. “Those two did become fairly close while they were together.”

What? Ask Edie to talk with Olinda? No! I’m good at this kind of thing. I suggested it.

“I . . . ”

Henry looked at her. “What is it?”

Teamwork. You can’t solve all the problems by yourself, Missy.

“I, uh, Edie would be good for that.”

The sheriff looked at his watch again. “We’ll think about it—see what seems best. Now I need to get to another meeting.”

“Anything to do with this?” Carrie asked, then realized the question was probably not appropriate.

“Budget,” the sheriff said, making a face.

As the door shut behind him, Carrie smiled to herself. A least neither the sheriff nor Henry had suggested she was being too nosy. Her mother probably would have.

Chapter Thirty-Two
WHO WANTS CARRIE DEAD?

Carrie was eager to hear about all that had happened besides her kidnapping, so as soon as she and Henry finished clearing away the lunch leavings, she said, “Let’s take a few minutes to just be together and talk.”

They dropped into their favorite chairs in the living room, and she sighed with pleasure. “It’s good to be home again.”

Henry nodded. “And to have the two of us alone, however brief the interlude might be. The last few days have been horrible for you, Cara, and neither of us has had any privacy to talk about it. I’ve wanted to say how sorry I am to have let this happen to you.”

“Enough! You certainly didn’t let it happen, and I know it’s been rough on you, too. That’s past now. We both came through it without any scars.”

“Well, yes, but . . .”

She interrupted him. “You’ve heard my story, and I’ve heard some of what else has been going on, but I want to know what happened at the mill after you discovered I was gone, and what went on here after that? The stuff you couldn’t talk about in company.”

He told her, beginning with when he discovered the man on the bank of the War Eagle River had no interest in fishing, and then turned to see the van driving away. “I still think allowing you to be abducted was mostly my fault. I should have been more alert.

“Quit that,” she said. “You couldn’t have foreseen what occurred. But, I wonder, do you think the two men were prepared for what happened there? Had they planned it? They couldn’t know you and I would separate, or even that we were going to the mill, though, as I said in our discussion, they had parked up the road that morning and planned to follow us when we left. But, how did they know we’d be leaving?”

Henry swallowed an oath. “Milton and Edie talked on the phone that morning. Those guys must have been able to listen in on their conversation. Edie used our phone, and I assume Milton was on his cell phone. They probably got in through that, or it’s possible they’d tapped into our land line by then.”

“Oh. Oh, yes. But if they’ve heard our phone conversations, wouldn’t they now know I’m alive and free?”

"If they intended to kidnap you, they'd have to have known our plans. But, since you showed up at Roger and Shirley's we’ve all been pretty careful about what we said on the phone, and you haven’t been on the phone at all. The sheriff warned us about the possibility of listeners.” Henry was silent for a few moments before he continued. “I’m trying to remember all I said when talking to Shirley and Roger. I don’t think I gave anything away, and I was always careful not to mention your name.”

Carrie sighed. “Bother. There’s a lot to be concerned about, isn’t there.”

“If they did get the information about our plans to eat breakfast at the mill from Edie and Milton’s conversation, then that explains how they were ready with that fake fishing gear and a plan.”

“So it’s possible the original plan was to kidnap me?”

“Logically, yes. I hate to say it, but you’d be easier than I would, and they couldn’t be sure Edie would have a key to our house. They could just ask you where those animals were hidden once they had you here. Less problem than tearing the whole place apart, assuming they could make you tell where what they thought was valuable merchandise had been hidden.”

“They did tear the guest room apart looking for those papers.”

“Yes, but it seems to me from what you said that getting ahold of the wooden animals was their first priority, and they expected you to tell them where those were hidden as soon as you got here.”

“True, and as it turned out, I wish I’d told them all that I knew about those stupid animals right away and not played dumb. Just look at what happened to your little police car.” She sighed.

“I’m sure Milton will make us another one if he doesn’t have one in his stock.”

After a short silence, she said. “Here’s my second question. Why did they think it would be safe to bring me here? Wouldn’t it be possible you’d come home, probably with Edie, maybe with others, including deputies?”

“I’m sure they guessed—correctly it turns out—that we’d be involved at War Eagle Mill for some time, and a search would center there. I admit when Edie first suggested we come home, I resisted. Coming home didn’t seem logical.”

“I think I would have reacted the same way.” She hesitated for a moment as a flashback to her time with Arnie and Second Man popped up in her memory. She quickly shoved that aside with a prayer of gratitude, and said, “Well, now that we’ve covered that, tell me more about events here.”

He did. She felt both touched and sorry over how much he had suffered from guilt and fear until he knew she was alive and safe, and how difficult keeping up the charade after that was.

“In fact, I was so bad at acting that Edie figured it out from the beginning.” He told her what Edie had said.

“Henry, that’s lovely. I’m glad to have her in our lives. Are you?”

“Yes, especially if you are. But I don’t think I’d enjoy having her live next door. She comes on a bit strong. Washington, DC is a safe distance, and we can visit back and forth. There’s a lot to see and do in the capitol.”

“Yes, indeed.”

After a pause she said. “Do you think Olinda figured it out too?”

“Maybe. Suspected, at least. She did give me a lot of funny, searching looks after I got the phone call from Shirley.”

“Oh, well. So, what do we do next?”

“Depends on what Edie and Milton see from Jo Marshall’s front porch. What happens there this afternoon may motivate future action.” He stood. “For now, we just wait for their report and, while I’m waiting, I think I’ll e-mail Chef John Bohnert to tell him how successful his recipes have been for us, and how much we’re enjoying his cookbook.”

“Thank him for me, too. And, while you write him, I’m going to start a load of laundry. How good it is to be thinking about laundry.” She laughed. “I can’t believe I said that!”

The phone rang at 3:45, just as Carrie was beginning to wonder when Edie, or Edie and Milton, would return, and how many people she and Henry needed to prepare supper for.

Edie sounded breathless. “Carrie, the most amazing thing. Guess who the woman at that place is.”

“I don’t need to guess, you’re going to tell me.”

“Liz Harley. Milton says there’s no doubt.”

“Liz Harley! But that means . . . ”

“Exactly. I bet she murdered her own husband. We’re going to call the sheriff as soon as I hang up.”

“Edie, no! Henry and I think the drug dealers have access to conversations on Milton’s cell phone, and probably yours, too. You’d better wait. I assume you’re coming back here soon? We can discuss this then.”

“Um, okay, but let me talk with Milton. We’re still at the Marshall’s and I’m on their phone. I think it’s probably safe. Just a minute.”

When Edie came back she said, “Milton is going to drop me there, then go on to the sheriff’s office and report in person.

“Oh, wait. He’s saying something else.”

Carrie heard, “Yes, Milton. Okay, good idea,” then Edie said into the phone, “He says, since he’ll be in town, he can bring Chinese for all four of us. Is that okay?”

“That would be great, thank him.”

“We both think Shirley’s idea of a party at the Marshall’s is a good plan. We need to get ready for that. Do Shirley and Roger like Chinese food? And, who has the milking duty down there this evening?”

“Haven’t a clue. I’ll find out, and we can tell Milton whether it’s to be four or six when he drops you off.”

As she hung up and went to look for Henry, Carrie’s thoughts were whirling.
Since Liz Harley is at the place on Marshall Road, that means I was right about the location.

Could she really be responsible for the death of her own husband?

Carrie shuddered.

Liz Harley. Then she’s the one who ordered me killed.

Chapter Thirty-Three
PARTY PREP

Shirley and Roger, so far as they knew, had never eaten Chinese food.

“Well,” Carrie told Shirley, “some of it’s kind of like beef stew or chicken and vegetables in a seasoned sauce, served with rice or noodles instead of potatoes. How does that sound?

“Oh, I don’t mind trying it out, and Roger will go along. We’ll call it an adventure. As for the milking, Junior and Oscar, the new helper he hired, are on tonight. I’ll be glad to talk more about a party, and I’m sure Jo and Ben will be pleased they’re part of all this excitement.”

“Okay. And I have left-over Macaroni Beef Casserole that Henry and the girls made. We can warm that up in case Chinese isn’t to your taste.”

Carrie had stared at Edie when Milton dropped her off. Ignoring Edie’s face, which probably wouldn’t be seen in detail over the distance between the Marshall porch and the metal buildings, she could have been looking at a teen-aged boy. No make-up, jeans, a baggy sweatshirt, stocking cap pulled down over the ears, huge shoes with some kind of sports logo. Even the ubiquitous smart phone in one hand.

Later, when Milton came in with sacks of food, she gawked again, because she was looking at the boy’s laborer father, hair greying at the temples, partly covered by an oil-stained John Deere gimmee cap. This stranger had a scraggly black and grey mustache and wore a sweat shirt with sleeves cut off at the biceps, displaying arms almost solidly blue-black with tattoos. Milton had work boots on his feet with thick soles and what looked like two inch heels. He seemed at least two inches taller.

And, now that they were all seated around the dining table, Shirley and Roger were the ones gawking. They both stared at Milton and Edie, who had begun, very successfully, to eat their meals with chopsticks. Milton brought chopsticks for each of them, but, after looking at Carrie and Henry, who were using forks, Roger and Shirley left the bamboo sticks in their white paper covers and picked up forks too.

As the meal ended, Carrie decided it had been a success. Containers brought by Milton were largely empty, and no one had touched the Macaroni and Beef Casserole.

“Now,” she said, when the empty containers were rinsed and put in a trash bag, “We won’t wait any longer. Time to tell us more about what happened at the Marshall’s.”

As soon as everyone was seated on sofa and chairs, Milton said, “As Edie told Carrie, the woman we saw at the business on Marshall Road is Liz Harley. Not only that, I recognized two of the men who came in and out of the large building. I don’t know the names of either of them, but, during the last two or three years, I’ve seen both talking with John at his fair booth. I assumed they were friends who lived in this area.”

“No sign of Arnie Frost?” Carrie asked Edie.

“No, I didn’t see him.”

Henry asked, “What did the sheriff say?”

“Wanted to think, do a bit of planning and surveying of deputies in the Drug Task Force,” Milton said, “but, Shirley, he’s ready to go with your idea of a party. He’ll phone you in the morning, and either invite you to a party, which means it’s definitely on, or, if there have been complications, say the party is cancelled. After that, most all phone communication will be between the sheriff’s office and the Marshalls, since we assume their phone line is clear.