Absence of Alice

by Sherry Harris

  We’d have to talk about that later. I glanced over at Harriet, who kept her eyes on the road. I wondered how much she could hear. “Okay.”

  “I’ll text you an address.”

  I hung up after we said our “I love yous and good-byes.”

  “Everything okay?” Harriet asked.

  “Yes.” My phone binged with a text from Seth with the address. He said the door would be unlocked. I turned my attention back to the neighborhood. “These houses are spaced far enough apart that the two houses might not even face each other squarely.”

  Harriet pulled up to the Daynards’ house. It did face Gabe’s house. While both houses sat on large lots, they weren’t set back far from the street. Both had massive side yards and probably huge back yards too.

  We walked to the door even though I’d told Harriet again that she didn’t have to go with me. I rang the doorbell as I studied what security cameras I could spot. The doorbell was obvious. No other cameras were. That was disappointing.

  A short man with broad shoulders and bulked-up arms opened the towering door. He looked like he spent a lot of time at the gym. The door was at least ten-feet high, which made Mr. Daynard look even shorter. From the looks of the door, if it were any bigger, he’d need a hydraulic system to open it. His bright blue eyes weren’t welcoming. I was surprised he had opened the door instead of just talking to me through the doorbell.

  “Hi,” I said. “I’m with the Masquerade Costume Shop in Chelmsford.”

  “I’m not interested.” He started to close the door.

  I wasn’t about to stick my foot in it because it looked to be three inches thick of solid wood. And I preferred not to have my foot crushed. “Wait. Mr. Daynard. It’s about a crime.”

  He hesitated, but stopped. “What crime?”

  “We recently found out a costume we’d had delivered to the Tuttles had been stolen off their porch. Gabe told us you might have security cameras that would have captured the thief ’s face.”

  Mr. Daynard’s face lit up, which surprised me. He held the door open wider. “My son went to high school with Gabe. He’s a good kid. Come in. Let’s see if we can catch the rat who did it.”

  We settled in his office. His desk was almost as wide as his front door was tall. Mr. Daynard had three large monitors and an expensive desk chair with all kinds of ergonomic features on it. Maybe he was a gamer, or maybe he worked from home. Whichever it was, I was impressed.

  He set two smaller chairs on either side of his desk chair for Harriet and me. After we were all seated, he typed in a few things, and an extensive set of camera views popped up. The photos covered every inch of outdoor space in his yard and were in full color. One camera looked out on the street, and we could see the Tuttles’ front door. I gave him the date of last Thursday and told him early evening. Mr. Daynard typed in a few more commands.

  He scrolled forward quickly, but slowed down when a car came in to view. We watched it pull up to the curb and Victoria bound up the driveway. She tucked the package to the side of the door, walked back to her car, and took off. The next three minutes of video seemed like an hour. Another car pulled up to the house. Green, slightly rusted on one of the back panels, with four doors.

  “Any chance you can see the license plate?” I asked. It probably didn’t matter because chances were high that the car was stolen. But maybe the kidnapper had screwed up this time.

  Mr. Daynard scrolled back. Stopped the video as the car approached. He zoomed in. The license plate was as clear as if I’d typed it on my phone.

  “Ha. Got him. I’ll print that out for you.” A minute later we heard the quiet whir of a printer. Mr. Daynard reached over and passed me the license plate number.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Let’s keep watching,” Mr. Daynard said.

  A figure got out of the car, in baggy jeans and a black hoodie that blocked his face. The person looked like a similar size as the person who’d stolen Gregory Kiah’s car. He trotted up to the door, grabbed the package, and headed back to the car, looking down the whole way.

  “This is disappointing,” Mr. Daynard said. “He must have done this a lot.”

  At the bottom of the drive, the man looked up for just a second, as if something had startled him.

  “There!” Mr. Daynard said. He scrolled back, stopped, and zoomed in. “We’ve got him.”

  I stared in horror, wishing I didn’t recognize him.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Would you please print that out?” I asked. “And I’ll take it to the police. Maybe they’ll recognize him.” My voice sounded so calm that I was beginning to wonder if I was having some kind of psychotic break. Inside, my body seemed to have alarms going off all over the place. Everything seemed jiggly, and my vision had dark edges around it. I fought it off.

  After quick good-byes and thanks for the help, Harriet and I sat in her car.

  “Who is he?” she asked. “You know him, right?”

  I continued to stare down at the photo. “Mike Titone’s brother Diego. He’s been staying with Mike in the apartment next to mine.” I shook my head. “He’s one of the men who sit out in the hall guarding Mike’s door. He was watching me the whole time.” That thought scared me the most.

  “Mike’s in on this?”

  I hadn’t thought of that, but now I knew why Mike wanted to meet. Maybe he’d figured out that Diego was involved. “No. He couldn’t be. I can’t imagine any world in which he’d do that to me. But someone had to help Diego.” Who? Francesco? I didn’t want to believe that any more than I wanted to believe Mike had helped.

  “Why would Diego do this?”

  “I don’t know.” Had someone forced him to do this? I thought back over my interactions with him. There hadn’t been that many. Diego had even told me Alice’s death wasn’t my fault. And he should know, because it was his. Mike, on the other hand, had helped me out more often than I cared to admit. But last winter I’d helped him out too, which had kind of evened the score.

  “Is there any chance Diego is being used by the kidnapper too?” Harriet asked. Her voice concerned but calm.

  “I thought the same thing. But Mike and his brothers aren’t the kind of men to bend to someone else’s will. They are benders not bendees.”

  Harriet nodded. “Are we going to the police?”

  “No.”

  “Somehow I didn’t think we were. Are you sure?”

  “I need to think this through for a moment. I’m worried Mr. Daynard could be at risk. If Diego figures out that Mr. Daynard has a security system, he could try to do something about it to protect himself.”

  “Then we need to go to the police.”

  “Not yet. The kidnapper said he’d know if I got hold of the police.” I stared straight ahead, mind whirling. “I have to go back and warn Mr. Daynard.” I also had to decide if I should tell Harriet about the meeting with Seth and Mike.

  “Good idea. I’ll wait here.”

  “I think I have an idea that will keep Diego from finding out we’re on to him. I need to think this through. Please don’t call anyone.”

  Harriet nodded. “I promise. I mean it.”

  I jumped out of the car, ran up to Mr. Daynard’s house, and rang the bell again. He answered quickly.

  “I’m worried that, if the thief figures out you have a security camera, you could be at risk,” I said. “While the man in the picture is a thief, I’m also concerned he’s been involved in other crimes.” I took a deep breath. “I’m not exactly who I told you I was.”

  Mr. Daynard frowned. “What kind of crimes, Sarah?”

  “I can’t tell you. I can’t risk it.” Then it hit me. He’d called me Sarah. I hadn’t introduced myself. I took a step back. “How do you know who I am?”

  “You’ve been in the paper enough. Ellington’s local hero.”

  I had thought all that kind of thinking had died down after I’d been able to keep out of the press for the past few months.
>
  “I don’t let strangers in my house or help them. I figured if you showed up here, there was a good reason.”

  “Thank you for trusting me.”

  “Go get him. Whoever he is.”

  * * *

  Harriet drove to the Dunkin’s, pulled through the drive-thru and we both ordered coffee medium regulars or “regulahs” as the natives would say. Medium regular coffees came with three sugars and three creams. I wasn’t sure caffeine was the best idea because I was already on edge. But ordering and drinking coffee would take up some time while I waited to meet with Seth and Mike. After we got our coffees Harriet parked in the Dunkin’s lot.

  It didn’t take me long to decide to tell Harriet about the planned secret meeting with Mike and Seth. “I’ll show them the picture and let Seth figure out the next steps.” I felt so relieved. This would be over soon.

  “Why do you think Mike wants to meet?” Harriet asked.

  “I wondered the same thing. Maybe he figured it out? And he wants to let Seth and me know. And he’ll know I’ll be somewhere safe.”

  “Could be,” Harriet said. “Unless he’s involved.”

  My mind was racing back through everything that had happened. “At the auction the record showed Lew Carrol put lot five in the auction. My address was on the paperwork. I was shocked at the time and mad to see my address. I never thought that the kidnapper was also living at my address. That he was thumbing his nose at me. Daring me to figure out it was him.”

  “There’s no way you could have figured it out.”

  “It was right in front of my face.” I put my head in my hands for a moment. “If I’d been smart enough, Alice Krandle would be alive.”

  “Don’t blame yourself for this. It’s all on Diego, not you.”

  Harriet could say that until she was blue in the face, but it would take some time before I would believe her.

  “I’m afraid, Harriet. What if Mike’s brother follows him?”

  “What if Mike’s in on it with him?”

  “He’s not.” I hoped I was right. “I just want to make sure the three of us are safe.”

  “Let’s call for some backup then.” Harriet paused. “I have a gun in the car.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “I don’t want to put you in danger.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “I think I’ll call Emil and Pellner. Now that we know it’s Diego, I trust Emil. Let’s drive to Pellner’s house. Even though he gave me that burner phone, I’d rather talk to him face-to-face.” I didn’t really trust phones anymore. Who knew what app was there? Who was watching?

  We left Dunkin’s, and I gave Harriet instructions on how to get to Pellner’s house. “We have plenty of time to do that and for me to get to the meeting place.” I was meeting Seth and Mike at a house near Spring Lake in Bedford.

  While we drove to Pellner’s house, I called Emil. “Are you free right now?”

  “No. But I’m cheap.” He laughed.

  “I need your help.” I filled him in on what was going on. I knew he was good with a gun because of the night in the cemetery.

  “I’ll be there,” he said. I made arrangements for him to meet Harriet.

  There was a police SUV parked in front of Pellner’s house so I assumed he was home. I hoped he wasn’t sleeping. With shift work you never knew. I knocked on the door while Harriet waited in the car. Pellner’s wife opened it.

  “Hi, Sarah.”

  “Is Scott here?” I asked.

  “Sure. Let me get him. But first, thank you for finding that beautiful cobalt vase and the vintage valentine for me.”

  “You’re welcome.” Last Valentine’s Day, Pellner had asked for help finding his wife something unique and had told me about her collection of blue glass. I’d quickly figured out he was talking about cobalt glass from the Depression era. I’d found an Art Deco cobalt vase and the valentine. I was glad they had made her happy. Pellner showed up, looking over his wife’s shoulder. “I need to ask you something.”

  His dimple deepened, a sure sign he wasn’t happy to see me. But he’d probably been a step behind me all day. “I’ll talk to Sarah on the porch, honey.” He kissed his wife’s cheek, stepped out on the porch, and closed the door behind him. He crossed his arms. “What?”

  “I need you to trust me. We used to trust each other. Just a few months ago you asked me to help with an investigation.”

  “That was a few months ago when I did trust you.”

  I nodded. “Okay then. I understand. Never mind.” I started to turn to go.

  Pellner pinched the bridge of his nose. “I must be an idiot. What’s going on?”

  I handed him the picture of Mike’s brother. “He’s the kidnapper.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Diego Titone. Mike’s brother.”

  “Why do you think he’s the kidnapper?”

  I walked Pellner through everything I knew and told him about the meeting with Seth and Mike. Pellner didn’t look happy to learn I’d tracked down Victoria, Gabe, and Gabe’s neighbor. But he also didn’t look surprised. “Emil and Harriet are going to keep an eye on the house from a safe distance just in case Diego or anyone else show up. I just wanted to tell you what was going on.”

  “I’m coming too.”

  I was relieved. We’d be safe. “Thank you.” My voice choked up. I needed to hold it together for just a little bit longer. I told Pellner where Harriet and Emil were going to meet.

  * * *

  Thirty minutes later Harriet dropped me a half block away from the house where I was supposed to meet Seth and Mike. I was ten minutes early. I hadn’t wanted to go back home for my car and risk running into Diego.

  “Good luck,” she said.

  “Thanks. I feel bad for Mike.”

  “I hope your instinct is right.”

  “It is.”

  “Okay, I’m off to meet up with Emil and Pellner.”

  Houses on the street were modest Cape-styles, but the lots were fairly large. All of them on one side backed up to a creek. On the other side they backed up to more houses. A few had been torn down and replaced with ugly McMansions.

  The street was a dead end, and the house we were meeting in was the last one on the block. It was painted pale green, the curtains were drawn, and no cars were parked in the drive or carport. I spotted Seth’s car across the street, but not Mike’s car as I walked down the block. The air was brisk, I was cold, and clouds gathered in the distance. I rubbed my hands together as I hurried along. I tried to look casual, but kept glancing about on the lookout for trouble. Fortunately, there were no signs of any.

  I walked up the well-maintained brick sidewalk. And tried the door. It was unlocked, as Seth had said it would be. I stepped into the narrow hallway that was all too reminiscent of the house where I’d found Crystal Olson. Fortunately, I didn’t see any feet sticking out into the hall. A staircase was to the left. The walls were wallpapered with a blue flower and ivy pattern. The colors were faded. The floors linoleum. I closed the door.

  “Seth?” I called. “Mike?”

  “In the kitchen.” It was Mike. Whew.

  I hurried down the hall, peeking in the rooms I passed. Living room to the right. Sparsely furnished with a faded rose-colored couch and two mismatched club chairs. More wallpaper. A closed door under the steps—probably a closet to the left, across from the closet there was a green-tiled full bath to the right. An odd quirk of houses in this area was to have a full bath on a floor with no bedrooms. I turned right into the kitchen and stopped. Mike and Seth were tied to metal folding chairs. Their mouths duct-taped shut. Diego stood there with a gun in his hand.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Mike and Seth both looked at me for a moment, then glared at Diego. Mike’s eyes narrowed. Seth’s large with rage. Both jerked on their bindings, but Diego had done a good job of tying them up. They must have arrived separately because I couldn’t imagine Diego getting the jump on both of them at once.

 
; The kitchen was small. No island or fancy appliances. Nothing out on the countertops. Two doors. One must be a pantry or lead to a basement and the other to the carport. I never realized how much Mike’s brother sounded like Mike. Or maybe Diego was just adept at imitating voices. He’d sounded like Jack Nicholson on the phone calls. I kept glancing at Seth and Mike, but it was hard not to stare at the gun. Diego stood there, enjoying my reaction. Enjoying. How sick was that?

  I hadn’t imagined a scenario in which Diego would show up first. Emil, Harriet, and Pellner would have no way of knowing what kind of trouble we were in. They were supposed to watch the house just in case someone arrived. We’d all be dead before they realized something was wrong or saw Diego walk out the door. Here I was a hostage and the only one who could also be the negotiator.

  “You tied up your own brother?”

  “That was my brother until you two”—he gestured at Seth and me with the gun—“ruined him.”

  Mike made a growling noise and shook his head.

  “You two turned him into some kind of sissy who dropped everything whenever either of you called.” Diego shook his head like he regretted what he had to do.

  Okay, that question had only made him angrier. I thought back to when Awesome had been angry at one of our meetings. About Harriet’s calm, even voice that had diffused the situation. I would try to do the same thing. I summoned my inner Harriet, because my inner Sarah was terrified. “If you are mad at Mike, why put me through all of this?”

  “To watch him squirm like a worm on a hook. Hurting you hurt him more than just killing him would have.” Diego looked at Mike and shook his head.

  It was almost exactly what I had told Harriet just the other day. I just had it wrong, I thought someone was going after Stella. I never dreamed Diego would betray Mike in this way.

  “You should have seen him pacing around the apartment. ‘Something’s wrong with Sarah. I’m so worried about Sarah.’ It was nauseating.”

  “Who was Crystal Olson to you?” I asked.

  “My girlfriend until she decided to dump me.”

  I was horrified, but tried not to show it. However, the gleam of a smile on Diego’s face as he watched me said otherwise. Had he really killed her because she dumped him? The memory of Mike’s asking me to fix Diego up flashed through my head. “So you killed her?” There was no hope for the three of us if Diego would kill someone who broke up with him.