The Case of the Stolen Art Work

by Karen Stillwagon

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  MICHAEL TRIED LORELEI’S phone one more time before grabbing his jacket. He and Amy had remained at the station all day and through part of the evening, trying to figure out what was happening with the burglaries. They had the glass art they had taken from Lorelei. Plus the statements from Dee Brown and copies of the reports from the previous burglaries.

  “She still not answering?” Amy asked.

  “No.” He let out a long sigh as he hung up when he got her voicemail again. He wasn’t going to keep leaving messages. She would already see he’d called four or five times. He was heading to the door when he heard a call come in from another officer’s radio who had just come off duty.

  “We have a call for an abandoned vehicle left at the Art Museum, with a little dog left inside. It’s been there all day. Someone needs to go check out a purple Suzuki Sidekick in the back parking lot.”

  Michael stopped and turned toward Amy, “That’s Lorelei’s vehicle.”

  “What makes you say that?” she asked as she stood, putting her hands at the small of her back and stretching.

  “My gut,” he said as he headed out the door with Amy following. They took his car and made their way the three blocks to the museum. There was an officer there, looking over the car as they parked and exited Michael’s car. He could see the little dog in the car scratching wildly at the window. The officer was talking to the dog while looking at the locks.

  “Get it unlocked,” Michael said as he approached. “Hey girl, we’ll get you out of there, hang on.”

  “You know this car?” the officer asked.

  “Yes, the owner is a witness to the burglaries that have been going on in the area.”

  They worked together and got the Sidekick unlocked. Michael picked up the little dog and held her close as she struggled to get away.

  “What do you think happened?” Amy asked, stroking the dog’s fur trying to calm her down. She took the leash from the car and hooked it to the halter. She looked at the tags on collar and found an ID tag with the little dog’s name; Bindi. Amy set her on the ground. First thing Bindi did was go to the bathroom. She had been in the car for close to nine hours. When she finished, she pulled at the leash, pulling Amy toward the back door to the museum. She scratched at the door and started whining. As Amy picked her up Bindi nipped at her and started scratching at the door again.

  “Get someone over here who can open that door,” Michael said to the cop who had been first to arrive. “I want someone to check out the museum, see if the missing woman is inside.”

  “How do you know we have a missing woman?” the cop asked.

  “Just do it!” He gave the office a detailed description of Lorelei, and Amy noticed he left nothing out.

  “We need to get to Dee Brown’s house and find out what Lorelei was doing,” Michael said, turning to Amy. They went back to his car and got in, Amy held Bindi tight as she struggled to get away again. Michael pulled out and sped toward Charleston. It took them ten minutes to get to Dee’s, but in Michael’s mind it took forever.

  Dee was startled by the pounding on her door. She carefully made her way down the stairs to see who was there. She didn’t open the door but called out, “Who is it?”

  “Ms. Brown, Officers Smith and Holloway, we were here this morning.” Michael said.

  Dee opened the door and saw them standing there with a frantic little dog in Amy’s arms.

  “Bindi!” Dee reached for the little dog but she missed as Bindi jumped and took off up the stairs to the apartment. “I don’t understand, why do you have Bindi? Where’s Lorelei?”

  “That’s what we came here to find out,” Amy said as she made her way into the house, followed by Dee. Michael followed Bindi up Lorelei’s steps and tried the door. It was locked. He didn’t trust Bindi to leave her alone so he scooped her up and took her to Dee’s. Once the door was closed he let her go. The little dog took off up the stairs to the main living area and started sniffing around the room, where the three of them found her as they made their way into the living room. Dee fell into her chair, wild eyes searching for answers as she stared and Michael and Amy.

  “Do you have keys to the apartment?” Michael asked.

  “Yes, they’re hanging by the door. Can you please tell me what’s going on?” Dee hands trembled as she help a small pillow in her lap.

  “We found Lorelei’s car outside the museum. She was no where to be found.” Amy pulled out her little notebook. “Can you tell me what time she left today? And where she was going?”

  “She was upset. She didn’t like the fact that Officer Smith brought you with him this morning. She was under the impression he was coming over in an unofficial capacity. She said she was going to find out who that security guard was without your help.” A tear slid down Dee’s cheek. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. “I tried to explain to her that he was only doing his job, and that the two of you had more resources than she did and to leave it to you. She left about a half hour after you left this morning back went back to her place. Then I saw her drive away around noon.”

  Michael looked at his watch. “It’s almost 10:00, which means she could have been missing for at least eight hours.

  “Do you know where she went?” Amy asked again.

  “Just that she was going to find the guy. She didn’t share her plans with me.” Now the tears streamed down her cheeks. Amy pulled a tissue from the box on the coffee table. She handed it to Dee who wiped her wiped her eyes, dried her cheeks, and dabbed her nose.

  “We need to get into her apartment,” Michael kneeled in front of Dee and grabbed both her hands in his.

  “This is all my fault,” Dee sobbed, “If she hadn’t found, me none of this would be happening.”

  “And if she hadn’t found you, you could have died,” Michael said gently.

  “I know, but…” Dee started.

  “No buts, and don’t think like that. Now, I need to get into Lorelei’s apartment. Do I have your permission?” he asked.

  Dee nodded.

  Michael stood.

  “I’ll stay with her,” Amy said.

  Michael ran down the stairs. He grabbed the keys hanging by the door. Bindi made it out the door before he could grab her. She ran up the stairs to the apartment again, trailing her leash behind her. Michael got to the top and tried each key until he found the right one. He opened the door and Bindi darted inside, searching the small living space, looking for her person. As she disappeared into the bedroom, Michael looked around. He went to the desk and looked at the list Lorelei had written early. She had the museum marked with a #1. He didn’t know if she had gone anywhere else first, and then was followed to the museum where she was abducted.

  “Abducted.” The word sat heavy on his lips as he looked around. Maybe she was just having dinner at one of the restaurants in the area, he thought. No, she wouldn’t leave Bindi sitting in the car like that. If Michael knew anything about Lorelei, it was she loved her little dog and would not leave her alone, locked in a vehicle all day.

  Taking Bindi with him, he went back to Dee’s to talk with his partner.

  “We need to go talk to the owner of the pawn shop,” he said as he entered the room.

  “I’ll get the address,” she said as she stood up. “It’s in one of the reports on my desk.”

  “Can we leave Bindi with you?” Michael asked Dee who was still wiping away tears.

  “Of course,” she said.

  “I would advise not letting her outside without a leash. She will take off trying to find Lorelei.”

  “The yard is secure, she can’t get out.”

  “But I don’t think you can get her to come back once she’s out. She’ll stay on the steps of the apartment. And by the way you are moving, the less steps you have to do the better.”

  “Okay,” Dee said as she absently rubbed her knees.

  “We’re going to find her, and bring her home,” Michael said gently.

/>   “She’s in this mess because of me, she wanted to help, to find this man.” Lily sat at Dee’s side, head resting on her leg. Dee rubbed the dog’s ears. Bindi was downstairs whining at the door, trying to get outside. Dee stood, went into the kitchen and put some dog food in the dishes she had set out for the dogs. She called Bindi firmly and the little dog obeyed. She sat next to the food dish, staring at Dee before looking back down at her food. She laid down and rested her head on her front legs, whimpering as she stared at the bowl of untouched food.

  “We need to go,” Amy told Michael as he pulled a card from his wallet.

  “Write your number down, and I will personally call you when we find her,” he said as he handed the card to Dee. She wrote her number down with a pen she found on the counter then handed it back. Michael stuffed the card in his back pocket. “I will be calling you.” He turned and followed Amy out of the house.

  “The pawn shop is owned by Alex Hastings and his wife Cheri. I have their home address.” She gave it to Michael as he tore out of the driveway, hitting speeds well above the 40 mph speed limit on the road.

  “Call the officers who were on the scene at the museum. Tell them what we know, and have them meet us at Hastings’s house. Tell them we may have a kidnapped woman inside and they need to keep their sirens off. I don’t want them to panic before we get there.”

  Amy placed the call, alerting the officers to the situation and how it was to be handled.

  “Should I call the detectives who are working the burglaries?” she asked as they made their way into North Bend.

  “I think it would be best,” he said as he searched the house numbers on the street Alex Hastings lived on. He saw a cruiser parked in front of a dark home, the officers were standing next to the car. He pulled up behind them and got out.

  “We believe that Alex Hastings and his wife have a partner in the robberies and that they’ve got something to do with the disappearance of the witness, Lorelei Silence,” Michael said as he got out of his vehicle

  “We’ve walked around the house, there’s no one here. The garage is empty,” one of the officers said.

  “Where would they take her?” Michael turned to his partner.

  “We need to find Alex Hastings to figure that out,” Amy asked.

  “We need to find out who the man at the casino is,” Michael said as he turned back to his car. “We need to see if we can look at the security footage from Friday night.”

  “When the detectives get here, let them know where we’ve gone,” Amy told the officers before she followed Michael to the car.

  “What are you going to tell them to get them to show us the security footage? We don’t have a warrant,” Amy said.

  “I’m going to let them know a woman’s life is at stake and we don’t have time for games. I’m not asking for personal information, just the picture of the man.” He ran his free hand through his hair as he drove the two miles to the casino. “Why didn’t she just send me that picture?”

  “It’ll be okay, we’ll find her.” Amy held on to the car door as Michael took a corner too fast. The tires screeched but kept their traction.

  Michael pulled up to the front of the casino and jumped out of the car and ran inside.

  “You can’t park here!” a young valet yelled out.

  Amy turned, pulled her badge, “Police business,” she said then followed Michael. She found him talking with a security guard.

  “We need to talk to the head of security, please,” Michael said as he showed his badge to the woman who stood in front of him.

  “You’re talking to her,” the woman said as she held out her hand, “Missy George.” Michael accepted the offered hand.

  “I’m Officer Michael Smith, and this is my partner,” he turned to Amy, “and this is Officer Amy Holloway. We are looking for a man who was here Friday night playing Black Jack. He was at that table,” Michael pointed to the table he had sat at, “between six and seven that evening.”

  “Very specific,” Missy George said.

  “I was there, and we are looking for the man who was sitting to my left.”

  “What’d he do? Cheat? Steal some of your chips?” Missy crossed her arms across her large frame, not moving.

  “We think he is involved in a string of burglaries, and the woman who ID’ed him has gone missing. We don’t have a name, we need to get his picture out and find out who this man is.”

  Missy George took them to the back room of the casino, where all the security camera are set up.

  “Listen up!” she called out to the people in the room, “I want to know if any of you worked the camera for Black Jack table 3 Friday night.” Missy turned to Michael and Amy, “It’ll be faster this way, instead of going through all the footage from that night.”

  “I appreciate your help,” Amy said.

  “Miss George, I have that camera,” a skinny kid with acne all over his face said. “I was working it Friday too.”

  “Is he old enough to be here?” Amy asked Missy as they made their way to the computer the kid was working on.

  “Only need to be eighteen to work here, just can’t go out on the floor and gamble.”

  The skinny kid gave up his seat to Missy George as she started going through the computer. She pulled down a menu and input the date and time they were looking for. The screen went black for a moment and then Michael appeared on the screen, and the man they were searching for was seated next to him.

  “That’s him,” Michael said as he turned to Amy.

  “That’s Daryl Miller, he’s a regular here. Comes in, spends big, wins bigger. We keep an eye on those players, the ones who bet large and win large.”

  “I don’t suppose you have an address for him,” Amy asked.

  “For that, you need a warrant, my hands are tied on that rule, I wish I could.” Missy George led back out onto the main floor of the casino.

  “Thank you for what you were able to give us, we can get that information,” Amy said as she extended her hand. Missy shook it with a firm grip.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THE ROOM WAS dark, no light came through the blindfold that covered Lorelei’s eyes. The smell of mildew was faint in the air. Her shoulders ached from having her hands tied behind her back as she sat on the hard chair. She could make out voices from the other room. She wasn’t sure but she thought she recognized the voices of both men. One from the pawn shop, the other from the museum. There was a woman’s voice that mixed in. The woman was angry, her voice rising above the two men.

  “What were you thinking?” she yelled.

  “She knows who we are, and keep your voice down,” one of the men said. Lorelei couldn’t make out which one. The voices lowered and she couldn’t make out what they said next. She pulled at the ropes that held her to the chair, twisting her hands and wrists, in the hopes of loosening the knots.

  Rubbing the blindfold with her shoulder, she tried to maneuver it off her eyes. She didn’t know where she was, where he had taken her. With one more effort, she moved the blindfold enough to see under it with her right eye. Light spilled in from under the door and she could just make out a bunch of boxes stacked around the door. Was she in the pawn shop’s back room? She didn’t know.

  Lorelei worked the blindfold with her other shoulder as pain wracked her body. Her shoulders burned from being pulled behind her back. She needed to get away, to escape before they decided what to do with her. Her thoughts went to Bindi who was locked in the Sidekick. The only thing she was grateful for was that it was overcast and Bindi would not be in a hot vehicle. Oh Bindi, I’m so sorry, Lorelei thought as her heart sank. Please let someone find you.

  Footsteps approached the door and the knob turned. Lorelei dropped her head down, her chin resting on her chest. The door opened and light filled the room. She kept her head down, trying to control her breathing, hoping they would think she was still passed out from whatever they had given her. She didn’t know how long she’d been out. She didn�
��t know if it was still Sunday.

  “She’s still out,” Daryl Miller, the man who had taken her from the museum, said. “We have another hour or so, then we have to figure out what to do with her. We can’t keep her here.”

  “What do you suggest we do?” the woman snapped back at him. “It’s your fault we’re in this mess.”

  “Baby, don’t start layin’ blame or we won’t get nothing done,” the man from the pawn shop said.

  “Daryl’s the one who brought her here!” she snapped back.

  “Dammit! No names!” Lorelei assumed it was the man from the museum as he yelled back at her.

  “You said she was still out so what does it matter?” she said.

  “Because if she hears us, she will be able to tell the cops who we are.”

  “Who said she’s going to talk to the cops?” Lorelei could hear things being tossed about in the other room. Were they in the pawn shop?

  “When she’s found, she’ll be singing like a canary,” the man from the pawn shop said.

  “If she’s found,” the woman said.

  Panic-stricken, Lorelei struggled with her bonds again once the door was closed. Were they going to kill her?

  “What do you mean if? Of course she’ll be found, but we need to be out of town before that happens.”

  “I’m not leaving any witnesses behind. We came too close to being caught in that last town. I am not going to let that happen again,” the woman said coldly.

  “We’re thieves, Cheri, we are not about to take a life,” the pawn shop owner said.

  “I thought you said names!” the woman screamed.

  Silence filled the air.

  “All we have to do is leave her someplace and let nature take over. She won’t last long,” Cheri said.

  “What’s wrong with you?” We can’t kill her,” the man who had snatched Lorelei growled.

  “We won’t, the elements will. We can dump her on one of the side roads as we leave town. Now go get the cash we have stashed. And you need to get your money, wherever you keep your share hidden,” she said, “and meet back here at midnight.”