by Kira Reese
Even after the dinner, Natalie’s romantic mind swirled into the night while Officer Michael O’Neil snuggled close to her.
Chapter 10
Country Visit
When the morning of the funeral for Robert Douglas arrived, Natalie and I followed the procession from the small church to the graveyard. Several cops in uniform were on the outskirts of the crowd of mourners. More plains clothes police mingled with the group. Though the number of mourners wasn’t great, there was a big enough crowd to send the taxi driver off with respect. Dora Douglas held tears at bay during the graveside service while her daughter failed to hold back her grief. I had told Natalie to survey the mourners with discretion. We both noted facial and body expressions most of all. Other than that, there was no way to discern if the taxi driver’s companion at the drive-thru was in the crowd or not. I found myself searching for a large dark man with plenty of hair on his face and head, but no one fit that description.
When the service ended we joined the crowd of mourners who expressed their sympathy to the mother and daughter. Lila and Jim Franklin were in line ahead of us. Dora stood and hugged them both and then sat back down. We expressed our heartfelt condolences. Jenny hugged us both tightly and whispered to us to find who took her father away from them. I assured her we would get to the bottom of it all.
At the car door, Natalie said in a low voice, “Look at those two.” She gestured toward a taxi where Polly and Bill Pearson were getting inside. “I’m surprised they came for the service, aren’t you?”
I nodded my head and tried to fathom their reasons. “Maybe they felt bad they were among the last passengers in Robert’s cab,” I said.
“I’m sure you don’t believe that any more than I do,” said Natalie as she swung into the passenger side of my car.
“When you are trying to solve a case, do you ever feel there is no place to go to solve it?” she asked.
“More than you can imagine. Just when I think I’m at a permanent dead end, I think of the person who hired me to get to the bottom of things,” I said. “Their circumstances motivate me to keep going. There is always another step in a positive direction. I just have to find it by going back over everything I’ve learned up to that point. Try that when you think all is lost.”
“I’m going back to see the Pearsons,” she said. “Did you notice the closed door off their kitchen the day we were there?”
“I saw it and presumed it was a pantry or possibly stairs to the basement. Why do you think it may be important?”
“They could be hiding something down there. I mean, why do they live only in the back part of that small bungalow? The rest of the house looks totally unused.”
As I turned my signal on to make a right turn out of the cemetery, Natalie grabbed my arm.
“What?” I said. “I can’t stop now. There are cars behind us wanting to get out of the cemetery.”
“Circle around the block and come back the other way.” Natalie pointed in the direction she meant. I did as I was told.
Once in control of my car, I asked her what she had seen that was so important. “I can swear I saw Mac Johnson behind a tree several yards from where we were when you started to turn onto the street. I’m sure it was him.”
“How could you see him, if he was behind a tree?”
“His frame is becoming very familiar to me. Trees can’t hide someone that big. We’re almost back there now. Slow down so we can look for him.”
I didn’t tell her I had seen movement from that direction. As much as I wanted to pounce on her observation, I decided to allow Natalie to deduct what she could. After all, she was at a standstill except for a planned visit to the Pearsons again. Not that she had given any specific reasons except that she wanted to find out what was behind the closed kitchen door. If she wanted to go any further with that, she would need a search warrant. I knew enough to know Ben Jones wouldn’t intervene to get a warrant from a judge without probable cause to search. I would let Natalie know those details later. Right now, we had to make sure the man was Mac Johnson behind the tree in the cemetery.
I pulled over to the edge of the road by the wrought-iron fence. We were shaded by trees but had a pretty good vantage point. Natalie grabbed my arm again and pointed.
“If you don’t stop grabbing my arm, I’ll be black and blue,” I said.
“Oh, sorry, I’ll try to break that habit. As you can see, it really is Mac Johnson.”
I had never actually seen the man in person, but he fit Natalie’s description. Mac’s next act shouldn’t have surprised either of us, but it did. The taxi stopped just before the gate to go outside the graveyard. Mac Johnson hopped in when one of the Pearsons opened the door for him.
“Well, well, well,” said Natalie. “Let’s follow them and see where they go next.”
I was game and pushed softly on the accelerator and moved forward. One car was between us and the taxi. After a while, the taxi parked in front of the Pearsons’ bungalow. Polly and Bill paid the driver and walked around to their back door. Mac remained in the cab, which took off. We followed along behind it until we were in the country a few miles from the city limits. Mac got out of the cab at the grove of trees. He didn’t reach back to pay the driver, so we presumed the Pearsons had taken care of his fare.
“What is it about this grove of trees?” asked Natalie.
We watched as Mac made his way through the narrow grove and onto the field behind it. Natalie reached into my glove compartment and pulled out binoculars. “This will save us getting too close to him,” she explained.
Once Natalie told me Mac lived in the distant small house, I kept my eyes on it thinking that was the direction he was going. Instead he veered to the right. “He’s going toward Lee Chambers’s house,” said Natalie. I told her to keep focused on him, since I didn’t want to get closer yet. We had to wait to make sure we weren’t seen. “He’s sitting on the bottom step of the house as if he is waiting for something, or someone.”
She handed the binoculars to me. Mac was quite a large figure. With the bushy hair covering the top of his head and the lower half of his face, I wondered if anyone knew what color his eyes were. He picked up a small stick and began to twirl it in his hand. Natalie was right about country silence. Except for the buzz of insects in the grove and fields, all was quiet. While I focused on Mac, Natalie was surveying our surroundings. I heard the distant motor before either of us saw the source.
“Move forward at a decent pace,” she ordered me. “There is a dirt road between Lee’s house and the grove. Let’s hope it leads us to a main road. I’m sure the motor is coming from Lee’s old pickup truck I saw in his yard. It’s not a tractor, for sure.” I moved as she commanded and took the turn. Natalie glanced back through the trees and saw the familiar truck turning onto Cowherd Road. By now I figured we were sufficiently out of sight. “I’m glad we are in your car and not mine. Lee and Mac both know my car by now,” said Natalie.
“Good point,” I said. A thin cloud of dust billowed behind my car. “The dust I’m leaving will tell them someone is out here. Maybe they’ll think we live on one of these farms.”
Natalie groaned. “Lee told me he owned most of the land around here. The only house I’ve ever seen other than his is Mac’s.”
“Let’s forget what they saw or didn’t see of us. I find it interesting that Lee and Mac know each other pretty well, don’t you?” I said.
“Definitely,” said my assistant. “Lee lied to me. He acted as if he barely knew the man’s name.”
“We’ve now discovered another fact. Let’s think about who the passenger in the taxi was when Robert drove through Jack in the Box.”
Natalie thought for a few minutes and I drove in silence. We luckily reached a blacktop road. I reached for my GPS to find a different way back into town. I turned left, and by the time we reached the city limits again, we had gone almost ten miles out of our way but felt it was necessary. Finally, Natalie spoke her thoughts.
“The passenger most likely was not Mac. I think the kid at the window would have known a large man like him was in the cab. Instead, he told me whoever it was could not be seen easily. He had no idea of any description of the person riding with Robert. I think we can eliminate him.”
“What about Bill Pearson? Could he have been the person?”
“Again, Bill is tall. He surely could have been seen on the other side of Robert,” said Natalie. “The only reason that wouldn’t fit is maybe he wouldn’t be noticed since he is slim, and he probably didn’t lean around Robert to allow the kid to see him.”
“He did say he was positive another person was in the car, though. When you think about it, Robert Douglas was a rather short man compared to Bill Pearson,” I said. “If it had been Bill, he probably would have sat taller than Robert. How about Lee Chambers?”
“He’s almost six feet tall or taller,” said Natalie. “He would have sat taller than Robert, as well.”
By the time we went through all our possibilities we were back at the office. Evelyn was talking with a young woman when we came in. She introduced us to Sally Evans who wanted to speak with me right away. I took her into my office and closed the door. The distraught woman appeared to be in a hurry and continually looked around, especially through my window. She was running from an abusive spouse, she explained. She escaped her house after her husband left for his shift at the factory. She had no place to go. I asked her if she had children and she said no. She was alone. Her family was miles away and she needed shelter.
“I can’t go back home again. By now he knows I’ve left and am not answering the phone. He calls me as soon as he gets to work and throughout the day every minute he gets to check up on me.”
I took her back out to Evelyn and told my secretary to make immediate arrangements for Sally to go to the shelter for abused women a few blocks from our office. Once the matter was taken care of, I left Sally in the comforting presence of Evelyn until someone from the shelter arrived to pick her up. Forty-five minutes later, Sally was in safe hands. I ground my teeth at the barbarity of some men who liked to control women.
Next I called Detective Ben Jones. He greeted me and told me he was just about to call me.
“Have you made any more headway on the murder of Robert Douglas?” he asked.
I told him everything I knew. It was time to join forces and pull our findings together. It was as if fitting pieces into a jigsaw puzzle. The last few pieces were still missing, but I felt it was only a matter of time before we found them.
“Natalie and I believe everything about Robert Douglas’s murder centers around that grove of trees out on Cowherd Road. Now you know how we connected the Pearsons, Mac Johnson and Lee Chambers as of today. We have to figure out what that grave was all about and how it is connected to the murder.”
“We’ve been out there more than once. The only thing we are sure of is that there was a human being in there and not so long ago, either,” said Ben. “We’re checking everywhere to find out if anyone is missing in the area. Nothing has come back on that.”
“Polly and Bill Pearson travel all over the world. Maybe it was someone they knew from their travels and, for some reason, had to get rid of a body. What more perfect spot than a remote grove of trees way out in the country?” I said.
Natalie appeared at my door and I motioned for her to come on in. She picked up that I was talking with Ben and gave a thumbs-up.
“Yes, I’ll keep you updated. You do the same for us,” I said. “I promised Robert’s wife and daughter we would get to the bottom of it all.”
I hung up the receiver and turned to Natalie and told her we had more than the detective did. “Our latest information was something his force can pursue. We need to look more into the travels of the Pearsons,” I said. “I think the grave that held someone’s body has something to do with someone they knew. Of course, that could be someone in India or South Africa, for that matter. They did travel all over the world.”
“I agree to a point, but I’m inclined to think it has something to do with a missing person right here in our city. I’m thinking more about Lee Chambers. He is connected in more ways than I once thought. Mac Johnson is simply a pawn.” I smiled at her astuteness.
Chapter 11
Clues in the Country
I thought about Natalie and my conversation earlier. Somehow, from what she told me about Lee Chambers, I didn’t feel he played a big part in the mystery of the missing body in the grove. I knew she was reluctant to see him again since she felt he was a little lecherous, to say the least. I could see how that could be. Natalie was an appealing woman to the male population. Her flawless olive skin, smooth as silk, easily drew eyes toward her. She had abilities and beauty, all in one.
I wondered if Ben Jones and his cops had interviewed Lee yet. He mentioned searching for clues in the grove but nothing was said concerning the nearby farmer. I decided to give Ben a quick call. “We haven’t done much about Lee Chambers, though I believe the sheriff has questioned him,” said the detective. “He told the sheriff he had not noticed anything unusual around his property. Outside the city limits is out of our jurisdiction, but we are working together with the county officials since the murder happened in town.”
“I’m thinking that I may go out and meet Lee Chambers face-to-face. Natalie has been there twice, and the second time he made her very uncomfortable. I’d like to meet him and see for myself what he is like.”
Ben chuckled. Then he grew serious. “You have a very good way of reading body expressions, Candy. Take a stab at him if you want. I’m curious about him, too. Mind if I tag along?”
His offer surprised me, but I was all for it. We set the time for four-thirty that afternoon. I had no idea what time a farmer’s day ended, but it looked like most of the fall harvesting had been done. At least, most of the fields I saw had only remnants of crops in them. We decided not to call Lee first to let him know we were coming. Ben stated sometimes surprise visits were the best kind. I let Natalie know what we were doing. She appeared more relaxed that Ben and I were going to take on Lee Chambers rather than her.
“Let’s go in a police car,” I said to Ben when I arrived at the precinct. “I don’t want him to get to know my own car yet.” I told Ben about how Natalie and I escaped Lee’s attention by taking back roads back to the city. “Besides, a police car is a little more intimidating, and I think a little intimidation will be good for Lee.”
The day was another glorious fall one. The air was cool and the smell of the season was there. Riding along, I had a chance to observe the expanse of the country. I saw houses and outbuildings scattered in the distance. I put the window down and turned to Ben.
“Listen, do you hear it?” I asked.
“Hear what? I don’t hear anything at all except a little wind brushing the car.”
“That’s what I mean. All you can hear out here is silence.”
I didn’t meet his eyes, but I smiled to myself. I knew he was looking at me like I was from outer space. Then he said, “I see what you mean. I wonder how these people can live and be happy in isolation.”
“We are just too used to the noise and bustle of city life,” I said. “I think I could take a vacation in silence some day.”
I pointed to the turn onto Cowherd Road but realized Ben had his signal on already. I laughed and told him I didn’t think signals were necessary out here when we were the only car on the road. He told me he guessed it was habit, and also the law. He slowed down when we got to the grove. Without a word, he stopped and we both got out and headed for the small wooded area. Mac had cleaned it up and it was mowed as well as it could be. His old tractor and the bushhog were parked at the far corner of the acreage. We walked toward the disturbed patch of earth.
“It looks like someone has made a point of trying to get it to look like the rest of the ground in here,” said Ben.
The loose dirt had been spread evenly and random small limbs and lea
ves scattered across the top of it. Something caught my eye a few feet from the site. A piece of cloth was snagged on a thin limb of a small bush a few feet from where we stood. I made my way over and carefully released it. I held it between my thumb and index finger and held it up. A torn and faded red bandana handkerchief waved slightly in the soft breeze. Ben went back to his car and retrieved a bag. I dropped the cloth into it.
“I don’t recall seeing anything like this when we were out here,” he said. He examined it closer through the clear bag. “I expect some DNA on it may prove helpful.”
After looking around a little more and finding nothing of interest, we got back into the patrol car and drove toward the Chambers’ headquarters. Approaching the house, we could see that the wide shed door was pushed open and a tall, lanky man looked up. His hair had a shock of grey in it, and he appeared to be in his fifties or so. His description fit the one Natalie had given me.
Ben and I got out and the detective flashed his badge as way of introduction. Lee didn’t seem as cocky as he had been toward Natalie. Intimidation was working. Ben stated our purpose in being here after he introduced me. Lee started to say something when he heard I was a private investigator, but Ben didn’t give him time to say much else.
“Is there someplace you want to talk with us other than here?” he asked.
Lee gestured to several rusted chairs under the elm tree. He took a bandana handkerchief from his jeans pocket and dusted the chairs off. We all sat down. Ben’s eyes roved over the premises and he acted as if we were here for a social visit. He jerked his head around and looked the farmer straight in the eyes.
“What do you know about the tree grove down there? More specifically, what do you know about the recently dug grave in the trees that is now empty and covered over?”
I noted his fingers flinched until Lee finally crisscrossed them together. His eyes darted back and forth but didn’t land on either of us. Clearly, he knew something, I thought.