Hanging Falls

by Margaret Mizushima

  Mattie went around back and loaded Robo into his compartment while Bruno watched dolefully from the ground. Cole opened the door of the Explorer and handed her up into the driver’s seat. “I hope it goes well for you tomorrow when your family arrives. I’ll be thinking about you.”

  Mattie reached to place her hand on his cheek, a gesture that always made his heart expand with love. He covered her hand with his and leaned forward to give her a good-night kiss.

  They ended the kiss, and she turned the key to start her car’s engine. “See you for dinner about six,” she murmured.

  He watched her drive away, wishing she could stay the night. He worried about her when she had this much going on in her life. Would she be able to sleep, or would her insomnia kick in? Would she withdraw from him like she had in the past?

  As he walked up the sidewalk to his house, his mind filled with the ghastly images of the two most recent homicides. He wondered again if it was wise to fall in love with a cop—but then, it was too late to worry about that now. There seemed to be little he could do to control his heart’s willful choices.

  SIXTEEN

  Sunday morning

  Mattie was driving to the station when her cell phone rang. It was Mama T, and she connected the call.

  “Good morning, Mama.”

  “Will you leave for California today?”

  Mattie realized she’d neglected to tell her foster mom about her change in plans. “Oh gosh, I got busy at work and forgot to call you. I’m not going to California after all. Julia and Abuela are coming here.”

  “Oh, mi cielo! When will they get here? Where will they stay? Will I get to meet them?” Mama’s excitement escalated with each question. “You must bring them for dinner.”

  Mattie explained the details and assured her foster mother that she would indeed bring her guests by for her to meet. “You’re number one on my list for them to get to know, but it’s too much trouble for you to fix dinner for us, Mama. You have a houseful of kids to cook for.”

  “Mattie, for you, it’s no trouble. How about tomorrow for lunch? The kids are going to summer day camp this week, and they will be gone all day.”

  “Will you let me help you cook?”

  “No, no. You have enough to do. You can help me serve when you get here. And I’ll use the tamales I made for you to take to them.”

  After they discussed the menu, which included a taco bar complete with homemade tortillas and a variety of Mama T’s homemade salsas, Mattie ended the call, her mouth watering. So now she had two meals planned for her new family. She could prepare a simple lunch at her home one day, then rely on local restaurants for the rest.

  And in a pinch, there was always takeout pizza at the Pizza Palace.

  She arrived at the station, and after a team meeting to get organized for the day, Mattie and Stella drove out to the compound. They turned onto the rough lane that led to the trailer homes, and as they approached, figures outside in the yard began to take shape. People, both adults and children, were sitting in chairs lined up row upon row. There were at least forty people present, perhaps more, the large majority of them kids. Isaac King stood before the gathering, speaking from behind a podium.

  “Good Lord,” Stella muttered. “I think they’re having a church service.”

  Mattie cringed as she pulled into a spot outside the barn, parking away from the group. She hated interrupting their religious service and felt she should have anticipated this possibility. After all, it was Sunday morning.

  “Let’s sit here until they’re done,” Mattie said, as she set the parking brake and turned off the engine.

  Stella glanced at her watch. “We can sit for a while, but we don’t have all day. We need to free you up by two. And maybe we should go listen anyway.”

  A tall man Mattie recognized arose from the front row and headed their way. “That’s Solomon Vaughn.”

  She and Stella exited the vehicle to greet him. Dark circles under his eyes made him look tired.

  “We’re sorry to interrupt your worship service,” Stella said as she shook hands. “But we have news about Luke and need to speak with you and some of the others.”

  “Let’s go into the barn,” Solomon said, lifting a palm to usher them toward the doorway. “We’ll talk inside, where we’ll be less distracting to the children.”

  Once inside the barn, Mattie scanned her surroundings, noticing a black buggy whip with a long handle leaning up against one of the stalls, not too unusual in a livestock barn but still noteworthy. There were also some medications lined up on a shelf near the horse stocks. Trying not to call attention to herself, she edged over to scan the labels, but none of the containers were marked as xylazine, and they all held tablets or paste.

  Solomon watched her, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he seemed intent on hearing their news. “You have information about Luke?”

  “Yes, our victim’s fingerprints match Luke Ferguson’s,” Stella said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

  Solomon looked down at the concrete floor. “I feared that would be the case. Poor Luke.”

  Stella made a sound of agreement. “We need your help with our investigation. What can you tell us about Luke?”

  Solomon raised his gaze, his tired eyes widening. “There isn’t much I can tell you. I met him for the first time about four months ago at a congregational meeting in his hometown. At that time, we were planning our move to Timber Creek, and he expressed interest in joining us. We took him in as one of our own.”

  While he spoke, Mattie looked down at his footwear, but today he was dressed in a black suit and wore plain brown dress shoes, not at all like the boots that would have left the prints at Tracy Lee’s crime scene. She wished she could recall what kind of footwear the men had worn yesterday when dressed in their work clothes.

  “How did he fit in here?” Stella asked.

  “Just fine. We train horses, both for saddle and for pulling carriages, and Luke had a great deal of experience he brought with him. He lent a good, solid hand to the job.”

  “Did he develop any ill feelings toward any of your group members? Or vice versa?”

  Solomon shook his head. “Nothing like that. He had a good head on his shoulders and got along well with people. We all enjoyed having him with us and thought he would stay.”

  “What changed? Why did he decide to leave?”

  When Solomon shifted from one foot to the other, Mattie thought it was his first sign of being uneasy. “That’s something I don’t know. He counseled with Isaac about his feelings, and those discussions are kept confidential.”

  “Did Luke make friends with anyone outside the group? Someone from town?” Mattie asked, needing to know who else they should be looking at.

  “Why yes, he did,” Solomon said, frowning. “He seemed friendly with the farrier that comes to our place and asked to drive the truck into Timber Creek to meet him for dinner a few times. I’m not certain it was dinner, but maybe drinks at the bar. I have sometimes wondered if that became a temptation to leave our way of living.”

  Mattie was shocked to hear that Luke and Quinn Randolph might have had a friendship. “So he was allowed to go into town on his own?”

  The lines deepened between Solomon’s brows. “Of course. We do not keep our young people prisoner in any way. They’re free to learn about the ways of the world and make informed choices about the path they want to take in life.”

  Stella cleared her throat lightly. “Mr. Vaughn, what is this religion that Luke was practicing with you?”

  Solomon’s dark eyes connected with Stella. “We are a fundamentalist group and call ourselves the Brothers of Salvation.”

  “And was Luke raised in your fundamentalist beliefs, or had he joined your group to learn more about them?”

  Mattie thought Stella had asked sensitive questions in a nonthreatening way. It would be good to be able to glean as much information as possible from Solomon in case Isaac King was unwilling to share the
reasons why Luke had decided to leave.

  “Luke had not been raised in our ways, but our path interested him, and he believed he wanted to join us.”

  “Are there any others from town that Luke befriended?” Stella asked.

  “None that I know of. He would have been free to make friendships with anyone, though.”

  Mattie was thinking of the BFF necklace. “Do you know if he had any close friendships with girls or young women?”

  Solomon straightened as if in affront. “We’re all family here. Luke was befriended by all of us.”

  “He was a young man who might have been thinking of having a girlfriend or even a wife,” Mattie said, pressing for a more specific answer. “Do you know if there was someone he considered special?”

  “No.” The word was clipped, and his eyes shifted away from hers.

  “I know of two teenage girls who live here,” Mattie said, gazing toward the congregation still seated in front of Isaac King. “Hannah and a girl who was at Ephraim Grayson’s house. Are there others?”

  Solomon shrugged. “Several others.”

  “We’d like to speak with Hannah before we leave, if that’s all right with you,” Mattie said, watching for his reaction. It might tell her something about the relationship his daughter had had with Luke. “You or your wife should be present when we do.”

  Solomon raised a hand as if to stop her. “There is no reason for you to upset Hannah. She doesn’t know yet that Luke is dead.”

  “You haven’t told her?” Mattie asked, surprised.

  “There was no reason to tell her, since we were not certain ourselves.”

  “Are you afraid she’ll take it hard?” She began to think that Hannah might be the girl they were looking for. She was fifteen, perhaps a bit old for that type of jewelry, but not if she’d led a sheltered life.

  “We decided not to tell any of the children yet. Several of them might take it hard, since Luke was very well liked by all.” Solomon shifted his gaze and stared out the door, his lips pressed together in a downward turn. “Ruth and I will have to tell Hannah now.”

  Mattie wanted to interview the teen before her parents had time to coach her. If Hannah had shared the BFF necklace with Luke, she might be able to provide more information about him than anyone. And if she wasn’t Luke’s girlfriend, she would probably be able to point out the girl who was.

  “It’s important that we speak to Hannah this morning before we leave.” Mattie glanced at Stella. “Perhaps you and your wife can break the news to her while we speak with Mr. King. Then we could talk to her afterward.”

  Solomon rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to involve Hannah in this. She’s an innocent, and she doesn’t know anything that I can’t tell you myself.”

  Mattie thought his concern wasn’t too unusual for a protective parent. But his belief that his daughter didn’t know more than he did? Well, it didn’t hold water. Hannah was closer to Luke in age, and teenagers often knew more about each other than their parents. “We still need to talk to her,” she said, adding firmness to her voice. “This is a homicide investigation, Mr. Vaughn. It’s important.”

  Solomon seemed to back down, though his face still showed his disapproval. “Of course. Ruth and I will speak to her as soon as the service is over.”

  Stella glanced at her watch. “And when might that be?”

  “Very soon now.” Solomon pressed his lips together in a thin line as singing wafted through the open doors into the barn. “This is the closing song.”

  “One more thing, Mr. Vaughn,” Stella said. “Does the word pay mean anything to you in relationship to Luke?”

  Solomon’s brow shot up. “Pay? As in pay a debt or pay back money owed?”

  “Yes, P-A-Y.”

  “Pay,” Solomon uttered, as he appeared to think. “I don’t have any idea. I doubt if Luke owed anyone money, but that might be it. He was a young man who came to us with very little. He earned a small wage here in addition to room and board, but he might have borrowed money from someone he met in town.”

  “One more thing, Mr. Vaughn,” Stella said. “Do you know a man named Tracy Lee Brown?”

  Solomon paused as if thinking. “No. I’ve not heard that name before. Should I recognize it?”

  “Not necessarily. Mr. Brown was killed up near Hanging Falls yesterday.”

  Solomon’s eyes widened. “Could it have been by the same person?”

  “That’s a possibility. Where were you yesterday afternoon?”

  “I was right here, working with the horses.” His eyes jumped from Stella to Mattie and back. “Everyone can attest to that. Ask anyone.”

  Stella nodded. “Just needing to ask the question, Mr. Vaughn. Did anyone from your group leave for a long period of time yesterday afternoon?”

  He shook his head adamantly. “No. No one went into town for anything. We were all here.”

  Mattie watched the Brothers of Salvation through the doorway, noticing members rise from the chairs, some of them moving toward the trailer homes. She wanted to interview Quinn Randolph before Julia and Abuela hit town, and she felt pressed to move on.

  “It looks like Sunday service is over,” Mattie said, “and here comes Mr. King. After we talk to him, we’ll speak with Hannah, and then there will be others we’ll want to talk to. Should I go ask people to stay on the property?”

  “People will stay here today. We share a noonday meal together, so no one is planning to go anywhere.”

  Isaac came through the doorway, his face etched with concern and his hand outstretched toward Stella. “Good day, Detective.” After shaking hands with Stella, he offered a handshake to Mattie. “Deputy Cobb. I assume you have news about Luke.”

  “Yes, sir,” Stella said with a somber expression. “We’ve identified the person we found as Luke Ferguson. I’m sorry I don’t have better news.”

  Isaac’s expression turned grave. “I was afraid of that.”

  Solomon stretched his hand toward Isaac as if in appeal. “They want to speak with members of our flock, including some of the children. The older girls and Hannah specifically.”

  Isaac’s gaze sharpened as he looked at Stella. “And why is that?”

  Stella met his gaze with a sharp one of her own. “Our investigation has led us to believe that Luke could possibly have formed a friendship with a teenage girl. Nothing more. We need to follow up on that possibility.”

  They were banking on a young girl having shared that necklace with Luke, but in reality it could have been given to him by anyone. The lead might pan out and it might not, but they had to ask the questions, and this type of group living situation seemed to be the place to start. At least until they gained further information that would send them elsewhere.

  “And what if that goes against her parents’ wishes?” Isaac asked, evidently wanting to press the same issue Solomon had.

  Stella gave him the same answer. “This is a homicide investigation, Mr. King. We need to follow every lead we come to if we’re going to find Luke’s killer.”

  Isaac appeared to be mulling it over. Even though Mattie wanted to tell him they could get a warrant if necessary, she stayed silent. She and Stella typically avoided confrontation on that issue if at all possible, and she didn’t want to appear threatening … yet.

  “All right,” Isaac said. “If Solomon approves, you may go ahead.”

  His statement made Mattie wonder just how much control this leader had over the Brothers of Salvation. That, coupled with other, more subtle signs she’d observed.

  “I don’t think we have much choice,” Solomon said. “I’ll go discuss this with Ruth.”

  Isaac watched Solomon walk away until he left the barn and turned out of sight. “Luke’s death will hit our people very hard,” he murmured. “Although we’re not unused to persecution.”

  His words struck Mattie as significant. “Do you think Luke’s death could have anything to do with persecution, Mr. King?” she aske
d, thinking the words hate crime but not wanting to say them aloud before Isaac did.

  “It’s quite possible,” Isaac said, looking at Mattie. “Luke had been spending more and more time with folks from town. We’ve faced persecution before in other places when people who don’t understand our ways became aware of us. It’s quite likely he mingled with the wrong sort of person.”

  “Do you know of anyone specifically who could have meant Luke harm?” Stella asked.

  “Not anyone I can name,” Isaac said, “although he came home one night pretty shaken up. Evidently someone waited for him outside the bar and got in a few punches before they left him in the alley.”

  This was the first Mattie had heard of this. If it was true, she would’ve thought the night deputy, Cyrus Garcia, would have mentioned it in morning report. “When did this happen?” she asked.

  “A couple weeks before Luke decided to go back home.”

  “Were the police notified?”

  “Luke didn’t want to file a report. He picked himself up, brushed himself off, and came home. He said he would quit going out at night.”

  “Did he say who did this to him?”

  “No, he wouldn’t name names, although I had the feeling he knew the men who did it.”

  “Men? How many?”

  “He said two. He said one held him while the other delivered the blows.”

  Mattie grew irritated that this hadn’t been mentioned before. “Why are you just telling us this now? Why not yesterday when we first spoke to you?”

  Isaac raised his brows and spread his hands in front of him. “Yesterday, we weren’t positive Luke was dead. I consider everything Luke said to me confidential, and I saw no reason to tell you this before. You know it now. That should suffice.”

  Mattie wondered what else Isaac knew. “We need to know anything else that happened to Luke while he was here. What else can you tell us?”