Professors keep talking about needing a degree and work experience to land your dream job. If you need education and experience to get a job, why weren’t the people in the helping professions able to help me? Those so-called professionals didn’t know shit!
Chapter 20
The green Camry wasn’t in the driveway at the Stone’s home and there was no answer when Marlee and Hector rang the doorbell. The smell of onions and peppers still wafted out the open windows. Marlee stood on her tiptoes to peer in the window at the top of the door. The once-orderly home was now in disarray. Clothes, boxes, papers, and other items were strewn about the living room.
“I think they took off!” Marlee shouted. “They told us a pack of lies and knew we’d discover the truth so they left!”
“They’ve only been gone a half hour at the most, so they can’t be too far away.”
“The question is; which direction did they go? I don’t remember seeing a green car when we turned around to come back to Mobridge. Of course, I really wasn’t looking either,” Marlee mumbled, wondering if the Stones were on their way to Elmwood to talk to Violet and Paula.
The garage was attached the house and had a side entrance, which also had a window in the door. Hector shielded his eyes from the glare of the early evening sun and peered into the garage. “The car’s here.”
They must be in the house or away from home without their car,” Marlee said. “But wait, the garage was closed when we were here, so they may have had another car inside and that’s what they’re driving now. Plus, they said something about going to a VFW fundraiser tonight.”
“Let’s swing by the VFW to see if Connie and Burt are there. If they are, then we can ask them our follow up questions. If not, then we have to figure out how to find the Stones as soon as possible.”
Hector agreed and the two jumped in his car and sped off toward the downtown area where Marlee believed the VFW building stood. Arriving less than two minutes later, they sprang from the car and raced inside the building. Just as the Stones had said, a fundraiser was in full swing. A poster at the front of the door announced that donations were being collected for two young children whose father was stationed in Afghanistan. A husky woman in her sixties sat at a table inside the door. She looked at Marlee and Hector as they raced in.
“Hi, ma’am,” Hector said, pulling out his identification. “We’re looking for Burt and Connie Stone. We talked to them earlier and they said they were coming here tonight. Have you seen them?”
“Nooooo…” The lady thought about her answer as she looked around the room. “I know they planned on attending, but I haven’t seen them yet and I’ve been here taking donations, so I’d have noticed.”
Hector thanked the woman for her time as he and Marlee jumped back in the car. After starting the vehicle, they realized that although they were in a hurry to find the Stones, they didn’t know which way to go.
“Let’s go back to their house. Maybe we can see something else if we peep in the windows,” Marlee suggested.
“I’m an officer of the law. I don’t peep in windows,” Hector said indignantly. He picked up his cell and made contact with his office, asking them to have an officer from the Mobridge Police Department meet them at the Stone residence. Since Hector was out of his jurisdiction, he needed to contact the local law enforcement and apprise them of the situation.
As Marlee and the detective circled around the small town of Mobridge, they kept a watchful eye, hoping they would spot one or both of the Stones out for a walk, entering a business, or riding in a car. They had no luck and by the time they returned to the Stone residence, an officer was exiting his patrol SUV. The tall, slim officer walked with the confidence of a man who had nearly twenty years of law enforcement experience. His thin, black hair ruffled in the breeze. As he approached them, he took off his aviator sunglasses and looped one of the bows into the pocket on his blue uniform shirt.
Introductions were made and Officer Schwartz assured Hector and Marlee that the Stones were good, upstanding citizens and had never been involved in any criminal activity. “Burt and Connie have lived here for over twelve years. Just because they didn’t tell their daughter that she was adopted doesn’t make them criminals,” he said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Marlee agreed. “But we just talked to them and when we came back to fill in some gaps from their story, they were gone and the house looks like they left in a hurry.”
Hector filled Officer Schwartz in on Roxie Harper’s murder and how that tied into the sudden disappearance of Burt and Connie Stone. “They told us they were going to a fundraiser at the VFW and when we checked, no one had seen them. That, plus the house in disarray, plus the adoption of Roxie Harper’s birth child all adds up to something.”
“Yeah, I see what you’re saying.” Schwartz ran his hand through his sparse hair as he thought. “I guess we should call in an APB.”
“Any idea where the Stones might have gone?” Marlee asked. “The only place we could think of was over to Elmwood to make sure no one told Violet she was adopted. Other than that, we’re at a loss.”
Officer Schwartz chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. “Nope. No clue where they might be, other than on their way to Elmwood.”
The officer advised that the Stones were probably driving a newer model, purple mini-van.
“No wonder we didn’t see the Stones when we came back to Mobridge.” Hector ran to his car and called in an All-Points Bulletin on Burt and Connie Stone, giving a description of them and their vehicle. Hector and Marlee decided that in lieu of any other ideas, they would head back to Elmwood. On the way back to Elmwood, Hector activated his police lights on his dash and drove in record speed. The only things slowing them down were cars, pickups, farm implements, and an occasional small town. “Jesus, everybody’s out for a Sunday drive today and it’s only Saturday,” Hector grumbled as he maneuvered around a slow moving tractor pulling a plow.
By the time they flew into Elmwood, Marlee was rattled. Hector was a horrible driver and nearly ran them off the road numerous times as he veered around other vehicles and made calls on his cell. She added his reckless driving to the negative column in her ongoing assessment of the detective. Although, she had to admit, she was never a good passenger. Marlee liked being in control and that meant being in the driver’s seat; both literally and figuratively.
Arriving back at the Stone sisters’ apartment, Marlee and Hector bolted out of the vehicle and ran to their apartment door. They knocked repeatedly, but there was no answer and no sounds coming from within the home. As they went back to their car, Hector surveyed the other cars in the parking lot and nearby streets. “Shit, I don’t see any purple vans here!”
“Let’s go back to Pizza Ranch. Maybe they went there. Violet said she had to work there later and we know Paula was working there a few hours ago,” Marlee suggested.
“Good idea.” Hector spun out of the parking lot and zoomed over to Pizza Ranch. Before stopping the vehicle, he circled the lot looking for a purple min-van. An older burgundy van with Manitoba license plates was the vehicle most closely matching the description the sheriff gave them. They went inside Pizza Ranch and looked around for the Stones, even though they knew the search would be fruitless.
Hector asked to speak with the store manager. Moments later a frazzled woman in her late twenties appeared before them. By the looks of the apron she was wearing, it appeared she did more than just supervise others at the restaurant. Bits of fried food and grease stains covered her apron, leaving a not-too-appetizing appearance.
“Yeah?” asked the manager, ready to get back to her duties since it was still the supper rush.
“We’re looking for either Violet or Paula Stone. Are they working now?” Marlee asked.
“Paula worked earlier today, but left before her shift was over. Said something about a family emergency. Then Violet called in and said she was sick. Seems a little fishy to me. They’ve been good workers, but both of the
m taking off today makes me think they wanted to party with their friends since it’s Saturday night. Both of them work tomorrow and I’ll have a talk with them. If they don’t have a good excuse for missing work then they’ll get a write-up,” the manager stated. “Is that all? I really need to get back to work. We have a couple school busses coming here shortly and those kids can eat!”
After getting the work hours for Paula and Violet the following day, Marlee and Hector left the restaurant. “We have about two hours before we need to meet Ira Green at Easy Street,” Marlee said.
Hector nodded. “Now I’m hungry for chicken. Should we go back in and eat? Then we can drive around a bit more looking for the Stones. And then we can swing over to Johnny Marble’s apartment again to see if he knows anything else. He might know where Paula and Violet went.”
Marlee was completely down with Hector’s plan and made the decision to throw her low carb diet out the window…as she had been doing regularly the past few days. After being seated in a well-worn booth, they made their way to the buffet. Marlee heaped piles of potatoes and gravy on her plate and threw a giant piece of chicken atop it. She and Hector were separated during their quest for food and met up back at the booth. Glancing at Hector’s plates, she observed a green salad with a side of cottage cheese, a cup of vegetable beef soup, and two chicken legs.
“Aren’t you hungry?” Marlee asked, concerned that the case had thrown off his appetite.
“Yeah, but I can’t eat a lot of heavy food at night or else I get heartburn.” Hector looked at Marlee’s plate and grinned. “Looks like you don’t have that problem.”
“Nope. Not yet, anyway,” Marlee mumbled, shoveling the creamy potatoes and the succulent gravy into her mouth. She limited herself to one plate of food, which was not a usual occurrence at a buffet.
They left the restaurant within an hour of arriving and drove back to Paula and Violet’s apartment. Just as before, there was no answer when they knocked and no sounds came from behind the closed door. Hector had run a check on the car the two girls shared and it sat in the parking lot.
Johnny Marble answered his door after the second round of knocking. He was now wearing jeans, a light colored Oxford shirt, and black sports sandals. His face was tanned and he smelled of cologne. It appeared that the young man had been in a tanning booth since they saw him that afternoon. Now he looked as if he were ready to hit a party. Johnny motioned his guests inside and they sat down in the same places they sat earlier that day.
“Johnny, we’re looking for Paula and Violet. Paula left work early and Violet called in sick. We think they might be in some sort of trouble and we just want to talk with them. Where are they?” Hector asked, not allowing the possibility that Johnny didn’t know the whereabouts of the Stone girls.
“I don’t know for sure. Violet called me a few hours ago and said her parents were coming to get her and Paula and they had to leave right away. It was something about a family crisis they needed to take care of,” Johnny reported.
“Where is it?” Marlee was on the edge of her seat, hoping this conversation would finally lead to the whereabouts of the whole Stone family and finally clear up several unanswered questions.
“I don’t know. Violet didn’t say. She just said they had to leave right away. I don’t know if she even knew where they were going.”
“We need you to call Violet now and find out where they are. Don’t tell her we’re here,” Hector said.
Johnny nodded and reached for his cellphone and selected Violet’s name and number from the drop down menu. “Violet, it’s Johnny. Call me back as soon as you can.”
“Voicemail,” Johnny said, looking at Hector and Marlee. “You want me to try Paula too?”
The call to Paula’s cellphone yielded the same situation and Johnny left a similar message on Paula’s voicemail. At the end of his message he said, “Abracadabra.” Looking at Hector and Marlee, Johnny smiled. “It’s just a goofy saying Paula and I have. When we leave messages we end it with Abracadabra. We started doing that back in fourth grade after a magician came to our school and showed us a bunch of tricks.”
“Johnny, was there any place that the Stones liked to go? Did they take family vacations or have friends they visited?” Hector asked.
Johnny shook his head from side to side. “No, they never really went anywhere other than just a day trip to Elmwood or Bismarck to do some shopping. Otherwise, they were always at home.”
Satisfied that they had exhausted Johnny’s knowledge of the Stones’ whereabouts, Marlee and Hector left the apartment. Hector shrugged. “It’s still an hour before we meet with Ira Green, but we could go to Easy Street and wait for him. Marlee nodded. She didn’t have any better ideas on how to locate the Stones.
Easy Street was a little hideaway on the east end of Elmwood. It was a sports bar frequented mostly by farmers and blue-collar workers. Marlee was only there once before, and hadn’t recognized a single person in the establishment. She assumed Ira Green selected this bar knowing there would be little chance of running into anyone from Midwestern State University.
The gravel parking lot was filled with a variety of pickups and motorcycles, all in various stages of their life expectancy. Hector parked near a decrepit white pickup with a blue door and a tan hood. Rust had eaten away the bottom of the passenger side door. The windows were rolled down and Marlee observed the keys still in the ignition. The owner was probably hoping someone would steal it.
The detective and the professor walked into Easy Street and found a booth near the back of the establishment with full view of the door. They weren’t in an overly-conspicuous location in the bar and they could easily see who came and left. Marlee and Hector both glanced around, checking to see if Ira Green was already there or if they knew anyone. Green wasn’t in the bar yet, unless he was in the restroom. Marlee was glad to see she didn’t know anyone. Even though Elmwood had over twenty-five thousand people, it still had the small town feel. Acquaintances and curious strangers would all approach others out in public, just to be friendly.
Hector and Marlee both ordered ice tea when the waitress came by. Marlee was full from her carb blowout supper at The Pizza Ranch, so she wouldn’t be drinking any beer that night, which was probably a good thing since they needed to have a serious talk with Mean Dean Green. Hector received a phone call from another detective at his office and stepped outside to speak in private. Just then, the door swung open. Marlee’s jaw dropped and her heart sank.
Don’t let appearances fool you. Unless you like being a fool.
Chapter 21
Standing in the doorway wearing tan and green striped shorts, an aqua blue T-shirt with a bright yellow light bulb, and orange clogs was none other than Marlee’s colleague, Della Halter. She spied Marlee in the back booth and hurried over, her breasts jiggling since she was braless as usual.
“Hey, girrrrl. What the hell are you doing here?” Della chirped as she slid into the booth.
“Um, just hanging out.” Marlee was panicked. Ira Green would be there to meet them in less than an hour. She couldn’t have Della there or she would wreck everything with her tactless questions and outright accusations. Della was an intelligent woman, but not very polished in the ways of eliciting information. She normally used the confrontational bullying approach, which wouldn’t work with Ira Green, since he was loud and brash. Ira Green and Della are actually quite a bit alike, Marlee thought.
Della flagged down the waitress and ordered a beer, oblivious to the fact that she had not been invited to join Marlee. “So, you usually come here on Saturday nights?”
“No, this is only my second time here. What are you doing here?” Marlee was getting fidgety and it wasn’t because of the caffeine in the ice tea. She needed to get rid of Della and fast.
“I was supposed to play darts tonight downtown but my friend stood me up so I thought I’d come out here and check this place out,” Della said slurping her beer as soon as it was placed in front of h
er.
Hector walked back inside and came over to the booth. “Ah, I see we have company,” he said as he squeezed in beside Marlee.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were on a date,” Della said. “I’ll leave you guys alone as soon as I finish my beer. If that’s okay.” Marlee and Hector both nodded, but not enthusiastically. “I heard you two were quite an item. Isn’t it against the rules to date someone involved in a murder investigation?” Della asked Hector, staring him straight in the eye. How Della knew Marlee and Hector had been spending time together was a mystery. She seemed to know everything connected to MSU.
“If the person is a suspect then it’s frowned upon,” Hector said. “Luckily, Marlee isn’t a suspect any more. I crossed her off the list.” Marlee glared at him and elbowed him in the side.
Della brought up the topic of dogs and delivered a monologue for another half hour before she took her leave of Easy Street. “I better leave you two love-birds alone now,” she said with an exaggerated wink. They said their goodbyes and just as Della was ready to walk out the door, she yelled, “Don’t forget to use protection!”
Marlee turned red as a radish when everyone in the bar turned to look at her and Hector sitting together on the same side of the booth. Goddamned Della! I’m gonna kill her! Marlee’s face was still burning and she was afraid to look at Hector. Then she heard him laugh.
“That Della is quite the character isn’t she?”
“Character is not the word I would use,” Marlee said. “Sorry about that. She likes to be crude to throw people off balance.”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind being a bit off balance,” he said with a sly smile.
Turning the topic back to the murder investigation, Marlee asked, “Did you find out anything important from your department?”
Murder to Go Page 19