She's Not There (13 page)

Detective Maggie Petersen walked into Lisa’s office early Monday morning.

“No doughnuts?”

“No time to work them off today.”

“I thought you’d like to know that Stephen Fischer will be in custody by the end of the day. We discovered some interesting things in his financials thanks to information from Helen. There’s no doubt he tampered with his wife’s accounts to make it look like she left on her own.”

“That’s wonderful news.”

“We haven’t found her daughter’s body yet. We’ve traced Fischer’s charge card purchases and found he’s staying at a motel near Madison. We suspect he’s getting ready to bolt. The motel is close to the airport.”

“You’re sure he’s still there?”

“Yes, the Dane County sheriffs are watching the place. And my impression of the man is that his ego is a lot bigger than his brain. He’ll be certain he’s crafty enough to be one step ahead of us.”

“Helen will be so relieved.”

“I’ll let you know when he’s in custody. As soon as we get the warrant, we’ll pick him up.”

“Maggie, thank you for taking care of this so quickly.”

“No thanks necessary. We’re glad to have this creep off the streets. Thanks to you, Helen’s life will be her own again.”

“What if he gets out on bail?”

“There’s always that. We’ll have to take it one step at a time.”

Lisa sat back, contemplating how to begin. “Maggie, there is something else I’d like to talk to you about. Do you have time for a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. We won’t be leaving for Madison for a while.”

They sat across from each other in Lisa’s office looking out at the nearly opaque lake, unwelcoming under a sky the color of poured concrete.

“Maggie, we haven’t been entirely open with you about why we met with Helen Mueller in the first place.”

“I didn’t think so,” the detective replied, “but I knew your concern for Helen was genuine, so I didn’t push it.”

“Is it possible to have an off-the-record conversation?”

Maggie nodded. “I don’t see why not as long as you aren’t going to confess to a crime.”

“We haven’t done anything illegal.” She told Maggie the story of their group, beginning with the statistics on missing women and her visit to the MPD. Maggie listened without question or comment.

“After what happened to TJ, we decided maybe it was time for some type of police involvement. TJ doesn’t want to tell Detective Conlin any of this until we have more than our suspicions to offer the Milwaukee Police. I would agree with her, except things are getting dicey. It’s possible the attack on TJ could have had nothing to do with all this, but I think that’s highly unlikely.”

“I’d have to agree with that, Lisa. What are you hoping to find that will convince the police to investigate?”

“We’re trying to identify women whose disappearances are unexplainable; those we’re sure didn’t leave on their own or were killed by their abusers. So far we have about eight. We hoped once we had the list completed, we’d be able to find common factors among these women that would tell us what happened to them.”

Maggie frowned. “Are you thinking one person is responsible?”

“Yes, but we haven’t ruled out more than one. And there
are
other possibilities, as James Wilson was so quick to point out.”

Maggie gazed out at the lake. “I know you’re all determined to see this through, so I’ll forgo the warning speech and any expression of my concern that two of your group could be murderers. Do you have any idea how much longer it’ll take to finish all the interviews?”

“We’re thinking another month.”

“If you aren’t ready for this to be official, what can I do for you?”

“I don’t know. Suggestions maybe . . . well, anything really. Advice.” Lisa stumbled. She should have been prepared for that question.

“I’d like to share this with David. Would that be all right?”

“Sure, if he can also be an off-the-record consultant.”

Maggie grinned. “It’s what he does best. He’s not a by-the-book kind of cop, which is why we get along so well—and
not
so well at times. I’ll talk to him and get back to you. Are you going to be around tonight?”

“Yes. Let me give you my home phone number.” She wrote it on the back of one of her business cards and handed it to Maggie.

Maggie walked out, her long braid trailing down her back. Lisa breathed a sigh of relief. She refreshed her coffee, wishing she’d made a bakery trip on her way to work. Food was so damn comforting.

Lisa was making great progress on her calls Monday evening. By eight o’clock, she had more than six interviews set up for Saturday and one for Friday evening. The sister of one of the missing women told Lisa that her sister was alive-and-well and living in Montana. Another one eliminated from the list.

Lisa got up from her desk and saw Phanny looking at her with hope all over her face that there may be a walk in her near future. Lisa felt bad for the dog because lately she’d been nervous about after-dark outings and had just been letting Phanny out for a few minutes before she went to bed.

Maggie called to give her the good news that Stephen Fischer was in jail. The bad news was that he wasn’t talking and had an excellent criminal attorney representing him. Lisa didn’t really care. Although she was hoping to see him pay for what he’d done, their main goal had been keeping Helen safe.

Lisa’s doorbell rang at five after eight, and she opened the door to Maggie and her partner. She brought them into the kitchen where she had hot cocoa waiting for them.

David Lassiter looked about ten years older than Maggie, making him near forty. Lisa didn’t think she’d ever seen him before and she knew most of the Oconomowoc police by sight. He had a dark complexion, his deep-brown hair edged with a tiny bit of gray at the temples. His eyes were deep and brooding, his lips a natural deep rose that would make women envious; summarized—the man was sexy.

Maggie introduced them, and they sat down at the table as Lisa poured steaming mugs of cocoa.

Maggie stirred marshmallows into her mug. “I told David about your group and what’s been happening since you started the interviews. I’ll let him give you his impressions.” 

David was staring raptly into the cup he held in front of him. “I don’t think anyone’s made me cocoa since I was five.’

Maggie laughed. “I guess that’s one impression.”

Lisa crossed her legs under the table. David’s sensual looks made her uneasy. He smiled at her, and ridiculously, she felt her face heat up. She didn’t doubt he knew the effect he had on women.

“I’m sympathetic to your mission,” he began, looking directly into her eyes. “But I’m not comfortable with civilians playing detective games. That said, like many other people, domestic abuse was part of my life growing up. My father’s favorite pastime was hitting my mother. She died of cancer at forty-two. I’ve always believed it was because he took away her spirit to live. So, when Maggie told me your story, I had mixed feelings about it.” He paused, adding a few more marshmallows to his cocoa.

Maggie flashed him an impatient look. “David and I have decided to do whatever we can to help you. Let us know what you need, and if it’s something we are able to help you with, we will. But along with that will be a couple conditions.”

“I expected that,” Lisa said, “and I think I can speak for everyone and say that given what happened to TJ, we won’t be objecting to whatever conditions you feel are necessary.”

David said, “Good, because they’re non-negotiable. The first is that all of you remain safe. You’ve made an attempt to do that by pairing up, but that’s not good enough. You must never leave the other alone—not even for a minute.   Your friend TJ’s untimely trip to the ladies room? I don’t think we need to tell you nothing like that can happen again. You’ll all have to be extremely vigilant in protecting each other.”

Lisa hadn’t felt completely safe since the incident. “You won’t get any argument on that, Detective.”

“The other condition may sound extreme, but Maggie and I are in agreement on it. Since all of you live alone—we want you to pair up together until you reach the point of handing this over to the police.”

Lisa felt her face burning again. “You’re not serious!”

Maggie explained, “Lisa, TJ’s been attacked, you’ve unearthed a murderer, and who knows how many more you’ll force out of the woodwork. It’s likely TJ’s attack had to have something to do with your interviews. If nothing else, it was an attempt to get you to back off. It could be one man you’ve interviewed or someone else who’s involved in these disappearances. It doesn’t matter which it is; you all live alone—you’re sitting ducks.”

“I’ll have to talk to the others about it.”

“Lisa, you can’t do this fast enough as far as we’re concerned,” Maggie said. “We don’t recommend you stay with friends or relatives for the obvious reason that none of you would want anyone else jeopardized.”

Lisa busied herself by bringing out a plate of cookies.

David grabbed one. “I don’t want any of you alone during the night and no one goes out at night alone. For any reason. I know this will be a big sacrifice, but with Maggie and myself on board, you should get this done faster than you’d planned.”

“What about your concern that we were working with two men who were possibly murderes? This would force us to live with them.”

Maggie frowned. “You’ve already said you trust these men—you can’t argue it both ways, Lisa.”

Weeks of forced togetherness.
Lisa got up from the table muttering, “Living with TJ will be interesting as hell.” She turned to the stovetop to refill their mugs.

David expressed a sly smile. “Why stay with TJ? You could do the boy-girl thing again; you’re all adults.”

Lisa thought he gave her a meaningful look when he made the bawdy remark, but decided it must have been her libido’s interpretation of his words. She bit back a sharp retort. “I’ll talk to them tonight. Anything else?’

David’s eyes met hers. “Our involvement is officially not happening. If anything goes wrong, we know nothing. Nothing we do for you will be traced back to us. I’m sure you understand that our jobs could be on the line.”

Lisa had expected that would be the case.

Phanny had been sitting with her head on Maggie’s knee during the entire conversation. Maggie, happy with the doggie affection, had been rubbing the dog’s silky ears and stroking her head. “Lisa, I wouldn’t leave your dog alone—just a precaution.”

“Right. I’d been thinking that, too.”

Lisa and Phanny walked the detectives to the door, her head whirling at the implications of this new wrinkle. She wasn’t looking forward to breaking the news to the others.

It was nearly eleven when Lisa’s phone rang. It had to be Eric, he was the only one she’d had to leave a message for.

“I got your message, Lisa. Is it about Maggie? Did you talk with her?”

“I arranged with Jeff and TJ that the four of us meet tomorrow to discuss it.”

“Can you give me the highlights?”

“We knew if they agreed to work with us on this, they would have conditions.”

“How bad is it?”

“It’s the safety issue.”

“The safety issue has been a big concern of mine from the get-go. We’re already pairing up; what else do they want?”

Lisa decided she might as well tell him. “They don’t like the fact that all of us live alone and think we need to do a roommate thing until we turn this over to the MPD.”

She wasn’t sure what she expected when she told him the news, but certainly not the raucous laughter she heard on the other end of the line. It was contagious. Lisa started to giggle. And burst into laughter. God, it felt good!

When they managed to contain themselves, Eric said, “It’s really not a problem. Everyone can stay here; there’s plenty of room. I’ll park my cars at work so all of you can all have a spot in the garage. How much safer could we be? I have to be out of town this weekend, so I’ll feel a lot better knowing the rest of you are together.”

It could work. Lisa didn’t relish living under the same roof as Eric, but he’d been more tolerable lately and it would be a temporary arrangement. Maybe when they told TJ and Jeff, it wouldn’t be as much of a shock, knowing they already had a solution. “That’s very generous.”

Eric went on, “It may be a good idea to have someone watching the house for a few days. What do you think?”

“Seems a little extreme, but let’s talk about it when we get together.”

“It might be better if I just do it, rather than give anyone the opportunity to nix it. At least while I’m gone. Then no one ever comes into an empty house by themselves.”

“You’re probably right. Go ahead and arrange it for the weekend. We can see where we are on the subject when you come back.”

“I’ll put it in place.”

The next morning, relieved to find out that Maggie Petersen and her partner were willing to help, everyone reluctantly agreed to the terms set out by the two detectives.

Living together quickly became a new item on TJ’s complaint list—another was Eric’s decision to hire a security guard to watch his estate the weekend he’d be gone. She claimed it undermined her skills, but Lisa wasn’t buying it.

She knew TJ’s confidence had been shaken and suspected that she was secretly glad for the additional protection. The fact that if it weren’t for TJ’s fitness and quick reflexes, she might not be alive to be stewing about it didn’t seem to occur to her.

Everyone settled in that night at Eric’s with a minimum of fuss. TJ claimed the guest room she’d stayed in over the weekend and Lisa took the maid’s suite over the attached garage, an apartment with two small bedrooms. Accessible from the loft above the kitchen, it also had its own entry from inside the garage. She found it to be a cozy chamber, decorated in a northwoods flavor with pine furniture and dark green fabric. Lisa tossed Phanny’s bed in front of the gas fireplace in the living room. Excited by the newness, the dog ran from room to room, sniffing and exploring.

The master suite on the first floor had his and hers bedrooms, one on either side of two gigantic closets and a shared bathroom the size of a small house. Eric put Jeff in what used to be his wife’s room. Jeff commented that the house looked like something that belonged in the mountains of Colorado. With log siding, stonework, green-tin roof and leaded windows, the house fit perfectly into the wooded setting surrounding it.

Over takeout food served hastily on the huge, granite-topped island that separated the kitchen area from the living room, Lisa handed out schedules for the next weekend’s interviews.

“There are only about nine left after these. Those are women we couldn’t find current addresses or contacts for. I’m going to call Maggie tomorrow and give her the names. If she comes through with something on them, we can try to get everything done by next Wednesday so we can focus on the short list over the holiday weekend.”

Jeff’s gray eyes narrowed. “Once we have this ‘short list’ won’t we be handing it over to the police?”

TJ scoffed. “We’ll need more than our list to get Milwaukee’s finest off their dead butts.”

Lisa said, “I thought we planned to find some threads connecting the women before we turned over the list.”

Jeff frowned. “If we do that, we’ll be here for weeks.”

Eric stood. “Come on people, where’s your sense of adventure? We need to keep Maggie and David happy for the time being, but once we no longer need their help, anyone who’s comfortable on their own can leave.”

“Can’t be soon enough for me,” TJ muttered.

Explaining the living situation to Richard could be touchy for TJ, but other than that, Lisa had a feeling TJ was content to be right where she was.

The lights were still on in Eric’s house when Danielle drove by at a little after eleven. She knew Eric carried his cell phone with him. Panicky, she suspected he was dodging her calls. Their time together had been so special. Was there another woman?

Gripping the steering wheel with wet palms, she slowed down enough to see that the house sat too far back from the street to make out anything other than the lights.
Ridiculous, driving by his house.
She was acting like a teenager.

Obviously, he wanted to take things slower than she did. She’d foolishly thought that by keeping him at arm’s length for a while before she’d finally agreed to go out with him, he’d be positively enchanted with her after she said yes.
So much for that stupid plan.

She turned around, once more driving slowly past the grounds. From that angle she could see there were no cars in the driveway. When she saw a dark shadow moving toward the house, she stopped the car, looked again and saw nothing. It must have been her out-of-control emotions playing tricks on her. She took a deep breath and headed for home.

Fearing sleep would be elusive, Lisa put on a robe and slippers, and went back downstairs to sit by the fire for a few minutes until the sleep aid she’d swallowed took effect. As she descended, she realized Eric’s house held no aroma of his disgusting cigars—apparently he kept his habit outdoors—or had a smoking room somewhere.

Surprised to see TJ sitting on the sofa and staring into the fire, Lisa sat down next to her. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Never would have guessed things would end up this way. And we still have a long way to go.”

“It seems to me we’ve accomplished a lot.”

TJ sighed, eyes staring at the glowing embers of the fire. “You’re right. Suppose I’m not done beating up on myself.”

“That’s not like you, TJ. Will it help if I tell you that I give you permission to be officially done beating up on yourself and let it go?”

TJ laughed. “Not sure why I’m letting this drag on. But go ahead—work some shrink magic on me.”

The request for help took Lisa by surprise. “Well, absent any magic or time for therapy, I could take you through a relaxation exercise.”

“I’m ready to try anything. Gotta’ snap outta’ this.”

Lisa had TJ put her head back, put her feet up on the ottoman, then close her eyes and start to take deep measured breaths until she felt at peace and relaxed. Then she talked her softly and slowly through a visualization of TJ confident and proud again, and focused on all the wonderful things she’d accomplished.

When she finished and eased TJ back to their conversation, TJ started giggling.

“I don’t believe it. I wanted to crawl in a hole until all of this was over. I feel great. You did work magic.”

Amused, Lisa said, “Slow down. What we did was just a way to deal with stress. You’ll need to do it more than once and you can do it without me anytime you like. The trick is to relax as much as possible and stay focused.

“I’m glad we had a chance to talk. I haven’t had much time with you.”

TJ rose from the sofa. “Neither has Richard. He thinks I’m staying with my sister for a few days to help with the kids.”

“Do you do that often?”

“Yeah, sometimes when she’s having a hard time. It ain’t easy raising two kids alone. Well, you know how it is.”

“She’s lucky to have you around to help.” Lisa felt the pill kicking in. “Richard’s okay with you being gone?”

TJ stretched as far as her stitches would allow. “He’s been pulling nights to cover for a friend of his. Makes it less likely he’s wonderin’ about me.”