Death's Door

by Rick Polad

  The second call was to Captain Perez to give him an update. He was interested and told me not to get Rosie into any trouble. The third was to Chief Iverson. I let both know about Carol’s clearing house assignment.

  “Nice of you to check in, Manning,” he said, sounding a bit edgy.

  “Pardon?”

  “I left a message yesterday afternoon.”

  “Where?”

  “At the hotel. Snark is looking for you. He left a message too and called me when you didn’t return the call.”

  “Ah, well, we’re not at the hotel.”

  “Avoiding the law?”

  “More like if you have a place on Moonlight Bay you might like to spend a day or two there once in a while.”

  He laughed. “Can’t argue with that.”

  “What’s Snark want?”

  “He didn’t share. But my guess would be he’s not quite satisfied about the little incident at the agency and wants to chat.”

  “Don’t see why he wouldn’t be satisfied. His breakfast buddy vouched for me.”

  “No, nothing about that was at all questionable.”

  “Have you told him more about the agency?”

  “Nope. Why would I?”

  “Figured it would make good breakfast talk.”

  “Nah, not my county… not my problem.”

  “Chicago wasn’t your county either.”

  “No, it wasn’t. But that wasn’t work. It was something that sounded like too much fun to pass up.”

  I laughed. “We’ve been busy. I have more on the agency files.”

  “Like to hear it, but call Snark first before he issues an arrest warrant.”

  “You trust him?”

  “No reason not to.”

  “Give me his number.” He did.

  “I’m guessing he’ll want to see you today. Are you planning on going back to Green Bay?”

  “Actually, we’re going back this afternoon and will be staying at the hotel tonight.”

  “Well, see if you can work him in. I’m kind of out on a limb here.”

  “Sure. Is it raining on your side of the county?”

  “Yup. Supposed to last all day.”

  “Well, stay dry. Take the day off.”

  “Right. Everything good for tomorrow?”

  “It is. Thanks for your help.”

  “My pleasure. Try to behave with Snark.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  Rosie had finished up in the kitchen and was sitting on the couch with my book. I told her about the call from Snark.

  “Not surprised,” she said. “I’d have called you before this.”

  “That’s just because you have a thing for me.”

  “Snark may have a thing for you too. But probably not the same kind of thing.”

  I laughed and sat at the kitchen counter with the phone.

  As I was dialing, she pointed at the book and said, “Some of this is disgusting. Don’t think I’d be fond of maggots crawling in my nose and feasting on my brains.”

  “If it came to that, I’m thinking you wouldn’t be in a position to care.”

  I had one more call to make before Snark. Maxine answered.

  “Hi Max… how’s things in paradise?”

  “Hi, Spencer. Just as you’d expect paradise to be. Are you doing okay? I can’t imagine. I’m so sorry.”

  “Doing as good as can be expected. Is Aunt Rose there?”

  “She’s shopping. You need anything in particular?”

  “Nope. Rosie and I are over at the cottage, but we’re also spending time in Green Bay looking into something. How’s business?”

  “It’s too good. We’re actually looking to hire another person.”

  “Not a bad problem to have. Tell Rose we’ll be by sometime over the weekend. Our love to you both.”

  “And to you, my knight in shining armor.”

  I hung up with a smile on my face and passed on the news to Rosie.

  ***

  I dialed Snark’s number. As it was ringing, I thought about bugs feasting on my brain. A woman answered, and I got Snark after waiting a few minutes.

  “Nice of you to check in, Manning. I left a message yesterday.”

  “Haven’t been at the hotel since yesterday morning. What can I do for you?”

  “Need to have a chat. All I got is what Iverson fed me, and that didn’t exactly take care of my appetite. I need you here in an hour.”

  “I’m up in Door. I can be there at three. But I’ve got a five o’clock appointment.”

  “Only if I’m done talking. Don’t be late.” He hung up.

  I sat down next to Rosie and told her about the calls.

  “Want to leave earlier?”

  “No, we’ll have enough time.”

  “Do you know where the police department is?”

  “Nope. We’ll get it from the front desk.”

  “What if he keeps you too long to make our appointment?”

  “Not going to happen.”

  “It will if he says it will.”

  “He’d have to arrest me, and I don’t see that happening after all this time and with Iverson going to bat for me.”

  “He can hold you as a witness.”

  “Not without me raising the kind of hell he probably doesn’t want.”

  “This isn’t Chicago, Spencer. The only friend you have isn’t even in the same county.”

  “I know. But justice is on my side.”

  “Don’t know if you’ve seen Miss Justice lately… she’s got that blindfold over her eyes.”

  “I do recall that. I’ll be nice, and we can always postpone Sarah if we have to.”

  ***

  Snark kept me waiting. A uniformed officer gestured at me at twenty after three, and I followed him into Snark’s office. He didn’t bother to stand.

  “You look different standing upright without a sheet on you.”

  “Yeah, I prefer this look.”

  He was short and pudgy, and his lower jaw stuck out just enough to be noticeable. A receding hairline was making good progress toward the back of his head. There was no color in his eyes… unless gray was a color. I sat without being offered a seat, and we stared at each other for a good minute. Finally, I broke the stalemate.

  “Like I said, I have an appointment. If you have something to talk about…”

  “And like I said, you might make it and you might not.”

  “If you have questions, ask. Otherwise I’m leaving. I’ve had more than my share of staring contests.”

  “Think you’re pretty smart, huh?”

  “I’ve found that preferable to being dumb.”

  “Yet you come up with a story like what Iverson fed me?”

  Technically, I didn’t come up with the story, Iverson did, but I didn’t see any future in pointing that out. I knew it was a story Iverson had come up with on the fly, but I knew as well as Snark that the story had as many holes as Swiss cheese.

  “Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” said Snark. “You saw someone breaking into the back door of the From Us To You Adoption Agency, and you followed because you’re a responsible citizen wanting to stop a crime.”

  Sounded good to me. I nodded.

  “And you, who lives in Chicago, just happened to be in an alley in Green Bay at two in the morning.”

  I was hoping he wouldn’t bring up the Swiss cheese part of the story. “You find that odd?”

  He just stared at me. “Perhaps just as odd as someone who has a cottage on Moonlight Bay staying at the Hampton Inn in Green Bay.”

  I was trying, but it was hard not to see his point. I had always tried to check with my brain first before I opened my mouth, but this time my brain had nothing to add, so I kept my mouth closed.

  “Cat got your tongue, Manning?”

  I just repositioned myself in the chair and crossed my legs.

  “What were you doing there?”

  The story was dumb as hell. He knew it,
and he knew I knew it, but I needed to know more, both about Snark and the agency, before I shared my opinions. So far all I had was coincidences, and Snark wasn’t giving me any reason to be friendly.

  I tried to look like I was thinking and slowly shook my head. “You know, I’ve been trying to remember what happened. That blow on the head seems to have affected my memory. I’m very concerned.”

  “I bet you are. What do you know about the adoption agency?”

  “Beyond they probably arrange adoptions… nothing. Why? Do you suspect them of something?”

  “I suspect you of something, but I don’t know what it is.” He leaned forward and folded his hands together on top of his desk. “I’ll level with you, Manning. Something was going on. I think you were planning on breaking in, but somebody beat you to it. I’d like to know why.”

  I spread my hands apart. “I’d like to help, but I just don’t remember. I was in the hospital, you know.”

  “That’s the hand you’re playing with?”

  At the moment, it was the only hand I had, and I wasn’t too happy about it. I shrugged.

  “What do you know that I don’t?”

  “Probably lots of things, but since I don’t know what you know, that’s a pretty hard question to answer.”

  “Okay, be a smart-ass. The only reason you’re not under arrest is Iverson stuck up for you.”

  “What would you arrest me for?”

  “I’d find something.” He stared at me some more. “I did some checking up on you, Manning. You’ve made quite a name for yourself up here.” He continued when I didn’t respond. “A little matter a few years back with the mayor of Chicago’s wife shot by you up here at his summer place.”

  My brain was still recommending my mouth stay shut.

  “Seems like a lot got swept under the rug… left a lot unexplained.”

  It was a very strange and sad case, and when I’m shot at I shoot back. Everyone who mattered had been satisfied, including the mayor. And the sweeping under the rug had been done for his benefit, not mine. But that was something very few people knew about and certainly not something I was going to share with Snark. I had told Iverson the story, but Iverson evidently hadn’t felt the need to tell Snark either.

  “No answer, Manning?”

  “First, I shot in self-defense, and second, you didn’t ask a question.”

  He scrunched up his lips and tapped his fingers on his desk.

  We danced around and around for another hour before he told me to get the hell out of his office and warned me that he was looking into this. And if he found one hair out of place I’d be back in his office, perhaps in cuffs.

  I stood. Not wanting to appear uncooperative, I said, “If I remember anything I’ll let you know.”

  “I’m sure you will.”

  As I got to the door, he added, “I’m going to find out what’s going on.” I stopped walking and turned back.

  “Do I get a question?”

  He just stared at me.

  “Were there any forced entry marks on the door?”

  “The door?”

  “The door. The person I was following got in first. How did they get in? Were there any marks of forced entry?”

  He still stared.

  “I could go back and look.”

  He thought about that for a few seconds and said, “No, there weren’t.”

  I smiled and walked away.

  ***

  Rosie saw me coming and started the Mustang as I hurried down the walk.

  “Are we going to make it?” she asked.

  “It’ll be close, but we should.”

  She ran a couple of yellow lights, and we got there just in time. Traffic was light. We had just pulled into a parking spot on the street a few doors down from the agency when Sarah walked out the door and locked it behind her. She was wearing a raincoat and carrying an umbrella, but the rain had stopped. We watched as she walked up the street away from us and stopped at the corner at a bus shelter.

  “That’ll make it easier to follow her,” I said.

  “Wonder which way she’s going.”

  “It shouldn’t matter. Even if we have to turn around, we shouldn’t lose a bus.”

  The bus came at eight after and headed away from us. Rosie pulled out and followed.

  Chapter 15

  Rosie had to be careful at stops to make sure Sarah didn’t get off the bus. About ten minutes later, she did and transferred to another bus that headed west. The bus made for another addition to the plan that Rosie and I had discussed. If she went somewhere besides home first, Sarah would need a ride home. We could offer her dinner and a ride and have time to chat.

  Five minutes later, the bus stopped in front of Target, and Sarah got off. Rosie pulled into the parking lot and found a spot close to the doors. As Sarah went in, Rosie followed her. As I watched the customers I thought about Snark and wondered how I could find out what his first name was. I tried to come up with something worse than Snark, but I came up empty.

  Twenty minutes later, Rosie opened the passenger door.

  “You talk to her?” I asked.

  She nodded emphatically. “Yes. We’re all set. She smiled when she saw me and seems anxious to talk. She’s finishing shopping and will meet us out here.”

  “Did you ask about dinner?”

  “She liked that idea. I think she’s lonely.”

  “Good, we’ll unlonely her for the evening.”

  “Unlonely?”

  “Did you know what I meant?”

  She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  The rain started again, this time a bit harder than the steady drizzle that had been falling most of the day. I pulled in the loading area under an overhang close to the doors so Sarah wouldn’t have to use her umbrella. She came out a few minutes later.

  “Thanks for moving the car,” she said. “What a dreary day.”

  “You remember Spencer?” asked Rosie.

  “Yes, of course. Hello, Mr. Blaine.”

  “Hello, Sarah. Please call me Spencer.”

  She smiled. “Okay. This is a very cool car!”

  “Thanks. I’m pretty fond of it… almost a member of my family.” Actually, since Dad had given it to me, it was a member of my family. “Rosie says you’ll join us for dinner.”

  “Yes, that would be very nice.”

  “What would you suggest?”

  Someone behind me honked. I looked in the mirror and saw a man gesturing for me to move. I pulled up so he could get under the overhang.

  “Well, I like Perkins. They’re pretty popular up here.”

  “We’ve been to Perkins,” said Rosie. “That would be fine.”

  It was fine for Rosie… she didn’t mind dinner without beer.

  Sarah gave me directions, and we chatted about the weather and made small talk during the fifteen-minute drive.

  The restaurant wasn’t very crowded, and we were seated in a booth by a hostess who seemed glad to see us. The waiter took our drink order and left us to the menus. As I looked at the dinners, I watched Sarah looking nervously around the room. I had the feeling she was concerned about being seen with us.

  Rosie asked what we were going to have, and I made a comment about bangers and mash. Sarah gave me a puzzled look, and I told her about McGoon’s. I extended an invitation if she was ever in Chicago and asked if she had ever been there.

  She shook her head and looked down. “I’m afraid I’m a small-town girl. I don’t think I’d like Chicago… the things I hear… the murders…”

  “Green Bay is hardly a small town, Sarah.”

  “No, I guess not. But it’s not that big, and it’s even too big for me.”

  “Where did you grow up?”

  “My family has a farm in Readfield, west of Appleton. About three hundred people. I love it there.”

  “Then why are you in Green Bay?” I asked.

  “The farm isn’t doing so well. I needed to get a job. There aren�
��t any in Readfield.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Sarah.” I started on my coffee. Sarah had tea. “Do you like working at the agency?”

  She hesitated and reached for her tea. “It’s a job, and it helps out at home. They wouldn’t be able to make it without the money I send. But I really don’t like the city.”

  “No brothers?” I asked.

  “Yes, but he’s only fourteen. He does his chores, but that doesn’t pay the bills.”

  We both wished her family luck as the waiter passed out the food. We all got in a few bites before Sarah said she wanted to tell us something. It was obvious she was having trouble with it.

  “I’m not sure how to say this, so I’ll just say it and hope I’m not being… well…”

  Rosie touched Sarah’s arm. “Just go ahead, Sarah. We’re all friends here.”

  “Well, I see a lot of couples at the agency. We always require both people come in. A lot of them are… well, what I want to say is, you two are the nicest couple I’ve met. It’s obvious how much you care about each other. Mrs. Blaine… Rosie, I saw the way he looks at you. I hope I find someone who looks at me that way.”

  Rosie laughed, and I think Sarah blushed.

  “I’m sorry, Sarah. That was lovely… thanks. My laugh was because you don’t know Spencer. Two things. One, he looks at his Mustang the same way, so I don’t get too excited. And two, I’m sure you’ll find someone. You’re a lovely person. Some guy will be lucky to have you.”

  She blushed again.

  As we got back to the food, I turned the conversation back to the agency.

  “When we were at the agency you were saying you had trouble with a mother.”

  She wiped her mouth. “You have a good memory.”

  “When he wants to,” said Rosie with a smile. “We have been wondering what you were going to say.”

  She looked around the room again. “Well, we had a mother who gave up her baby but changed her mind.”

  “We asked Mrs. Peters about that. Does that happen much?”

  She shook her head. “Not much. That was the only time since I’d been there, but then I haven’t been there long, so I don’t know about before.”

  “What happened?”

  “I really don’t know much about it. Mrs. Peters doesn’t tell me about the clients. I just take care of the front desk. But Victoria has been…” She stopped and put her hand over her mouth.