by Kira Reese
“Don’t keep me in suspense,” said Natalie. “What did he see in the back seat that was so out of place in a luxury car?”
“Twigs, a dirty blanket, and an old sweatshirt,” I said.
Chapter 13
Faster Pace
When I arrived home from work I parked in the driveway and walked over to Scotty’s house. The weather was mild and he had his front door open. I peeked through before knocking and saw him reading a book. I tapped lightly on the door and he greeted me with a broad smile.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” I said. “I just want to reassure you that I think we have found the stalker from the other day.”
I didn’t give him a name, but he was content that I was no longer in harm’s way. I thanked him for being an alert neighbor when it came to unusual occurrences in the neighborhood.
“I try not to be a snoop, Candy. But that worried me when he drove by twice and then slowed down in front of your house. I’m glad things worked out well.”
When I came back across the lawn, Nick was pulling in. I quickly waved and moved my car to the back of the house in my usual spot. I noticed Nick had a small grocery bag in his arms. “Are you cooking up something special tonight?” I asked.
“I thought I’d better get back to my responsibilities,” he said. “I know how much you like my grilled salmon.”
That made me happy. I enjoyed the meat he grilled, but salmon was my favorite. He knew just when to take it off the fire and how to season it. I changed clothes and started a side dish of roasted vegetables. The evening air chilled some and we opted to eat inside. After dinner, Nick lit the fireplace while I finished putting dishes away
“Do you want to watch a good movie tonight?” he asked me.
He made sure the fire wasn’t a raging one like in winter. The soft glow from the embers added to snugness I looked forward to now that cold weather had returned. I looked up from where I stood with his arms around me and said, “I’d rather sit and enjoy the fire. Then I feel the need for more warmth up in our cozy bed.”
He laughed and readily agreed. He put on soft rock and settled on the couch with me in his strong arms. All was right with the world.
***
Natalie was careful not to make blundering mistakes. She was a fast learner when it came to following set policies of mine. She and I discussed the grove of trees and the mystery grave.
She lurched forward. “The only way we are going to get to the bottom of this is to talk to the Pearsons again. And we need to find out why there was debris in the back seat of Dr. Stenter’s car. They are all in this together and poor Robert became an innocent victim as a result.”
“There is something that closely connects the professor and the Pearsons, and it has nothing to do with malted barley production of the past.” I slapped my head and grinned broadly. Natalie looked questioningly at me. “Dr. Stenter’s expertise is in genetics. That explains his easy access to poison. Did you see a large sedan out on the street the day Robert Douglas came in here and dropped dead?”
Natalie looked dejected. “I didn’t look outside at all. Evelyn and I were more concerned about the man who died before our eyes.”
“Never mind,” I said. “On second thought, I doubt he followed the cab driver here. We have to know what the Pearsons and Dr. Stenter buried out in that grove of trees. I feel sure it was them. Let’s go back to Lee Chambers and see what he has to say.”
Natalie pulled back but her drive to solve the case overtook her hesitation. We told Evelyn we were off to the countryside and I drove into the silence of the rural area. Lee was not home, and I shielded my eyes to look across the fields. Dust fogged behind what I supposed was a disk.
“Let’s go to Mac Johnson’s place,” I said. I cautioned her to not get too close to him due to his strong body odor. I doubted he had splashed soap and water on himself recently.
We drove up the short rocky drive to the mower’s house. We gasped in wonder when we spotted him pumping water from a well a few yards from his house. He was filling a washtub with it and a blazing fire was nearby. He didn’t notice us until we slammed the car doors. He looked up in surprise and then stopped pumping. He wiped his hands on soiled jeans. He wore a torn undershirt. I averted my eyes and focused on our purpose for being here. I felt it was too bad we hadn’t arrived a half hour or so later. By then, perhaps, he would have washed up.
“Hello, Mac,” I said. “Can you spare a few minutes to answer some questions?” He shuffled his feet and finally nodded. “How long have you personally known Polly and Bill Pearson?”
“I’d say ever since they inherited some land out here. Quite some time ago. Like I told you, they pay me every month to take care of the grove. I don’t always see them, but they either drop the money between my screen door and inside door, or more often they mail it to me. Either way, they pay me in cash.”
“How do they know Dr. Alfred Stenter?”
Mac jerked his head up. I struck a nerve. Then he bowed his head in a position of defeat.
“Okay. They’ve been friends from way back. The professor has a young daughter around seventeen or so. I know that because I’ve seen her riding around out here with her boyfriend. I know it’s his daughter, because one day when I was at Bill’s house she pulled into his driveway. I heard him call to her and he asked her about Alfred Stenter’s well-being. She answered and used ‘father’ in her answer.”
“Why was she at the Pearsons’?” asked Natalie.
Mac laughed. “I left through the back way when I heard her telling Bill her father didn’t like it that she was dating someone who worked at a fast food place. I heard her ask to talk with Polly.”
I asked Mac if Dr. Stenter had a wife in the home. He told me the doctor’s wife had died when his daughter and son were still in elementary school. He heard that news over the years, not directly from the professor. I asked Mac if he knew the boyfriend’s name and where he worked.
“I don’t know his name. All I know is that the boyfriend didn’t measure up to what her father expected. That didn’t matter, though,” said Mac. “They rode around out here four or five times a week. It was usually late afternoon. I figured it was when she got out of school and they met up. They had a good time out here away from everyone.” He laughed in a knowing way. I tried to avoid the sight of his yellowed teeth.
“Can you think of anything else about the relationship between the daughter and Dr. Stenter?” asked Natalie.
“That’s all I know about it. I put two and two together after I was at Bill’s house. I had to come into town to see him about getting a rod replaced on the tractor.”
Usually I shook hands with the interviewee but not this time. Once back in the car, Natalie and I spoke at the same time. “That’s something,” I said. “That could be the source of the grave,” said Natalie. We laughed at each other and I pulled away. My last glimpse of Mac was him bending over the pump.
I called Ben and told him it may be a good idea to hide Tommy Burford in a safe place. I related our conversation with Mac. I wondered if the boyfriend was Tommy. Soon after my talk with Ben, a cop car pulled up to Jack in the Box and left with Tommy. He was now in an unknown safe house. It would take a little time before Dr. Alfred Stenter was brought in for questioning. As powerful as he was, that would take tact. Ben told me he wanted more information before he brought the professor and the Pearsons in.
“What next?” asked Natalie.
“We’re heading back to the fast food restaurant. I want to ask the manager questions. I feel I’ve neglected him in some way.”
The manager appeared to be in his late twenties, possibly younger. His shock of red hair was hard to miss. Freckles dotted the bridge of his nose and he smiled when I asked to speak with him. His name tag read Mike.
“Does anyone here know a Dr. Stenter?” I asked.
“Someone actually dates the professor’s daughter,” said Mike. “Though not openly. I hear Katie’s father doesn’t know,
and that’s because the important doctor wouldn’t approve.”
“What is the employee’s name?”
“Kevin Blakemore. He no longer works here. One day he didn’t show up, and after three days passed, I wrote him off as an employee. He’s not someone I would hire back.”
It was determined that Kevin Blakemore quit his job a few days before the death of Robert Douglas. It was time to find a way to speak with Katie Stenter. I thanked Mike. Natalie and I got back into my car. It was two-thirty and we decided to park in the local high school parking lot. We had no idea what Katie Stenter looked like except from our sketchy description from Mac Johnson.
“Have you thought that she probably attends a private school and not this one at all?” asked Natalie.
The thought had crossed my mind, but I took a chance here first. “Let’s rule this one out and then we can find out which school she goes to,” I said.
We were parked near the car of a teenager who clicked to unlock her car. She had two friends with her and they were laughing and talking about a teacher. I presumed that from the conversation. I got out of the car and called to her. I asked if she knew Katie Stenter.
All three looked at each other. The owner of the car said, “There is no way Katie Stenter attends this school. She and I knew each other from gymnastics when we were kids. She goes to Prairie Lane Academy.”
Natalie set her GPS and I drove away. This was a different school, altogether. We discovered there was stringent red tape to get us through the door of the private academy. Once in the office, I asked if Katie Stenter was a student there.
The receptionist behind the desk told me she did attend school at Prairie Lane. When I asked if we could speak with her, the woman slipped her glasses down onto the bridge of her nose and looked at me as if I had asked to see the Queen of England on a whim.
“I’m afraid not,” she said. Then she turned to her computer. I thought she was dismissing me until she spoke. “May I have your name please?” I told her and she looked at me. “I’m sorry but your name is not listed as a contact for Miss Stenter. You’ll have to leave now.”
At this point there was no doubt she was dismissing me. We headed for the door just as a bell rang to dismiss classes. We watched students leave the building while we walked toward our car. A young lady in a pressed navy blue school uniform walked a few feet from us. Her pace was even with ours.
“Excuse me,” said Natalie. “Do you know Katie Stenter?”
“Sure, I know her. Why do you ask?”
“Is there a way we can reach her?” asked Natalie.
“I don’t have her cell number, and she hasn’t been in class for a few days. She may be sick or something. We’re friends, but not close ones.”
The girl’s demeanor was sincere and Natalie thanked her. When we left the parking lot I noticed a large maroon sedan a short distance away. It moved away when I stopped at the stop sign before turning onto the street. It was the next day that Evelyn came into my office to tell me there was a young lady waiting who wanted to see me. I knew it wasn’t Jenny Douglas, since all of us recognized her. I went out to greet the person. My eyes met the red-rimmed eyes of a young woman who appeared to be in her teens. I introduced myself and led Katie Stenter into my office and closed the door. Tears rushed down her face before she spoke. It was as if a dam had broken and it took several minutes for her to regain her composure. She finally spoke.
“I trusted them. I should never have trusted them. I hate my life.” I gave her time to expend her frustrations. She looked at me and said, “I loved him more than anyone in my whole life.”
Chapter 14
The Professor’s Daughter
The day Katie Stenter arrived in my office was the day things took a positive turn in the case. Once Katie gained control of her emotions, she displayed a determination unusual for a teenager. I asked her if she minded if my assistant joined us. She nodded and I introduced Natalie to Katie. I asked her to give Natalie her cell phone number in case we needed to reach her later.
“Natalie has the case of a recent murder in our files. I believe what you have to say may pertain to it.”
“If you mean the man murdered by my father with the help of Polly and Bill Pearson, I can assure you it has everything to do with it.” She reached for a pen on my desk and jotted down her cell number.
“That is quite a harsh accusation, Katie,” I said.
“That may be, but it is a true one.” She sniffed softly and continued. “I was in love with Kevin Blakemore. We met at a youth camp where he was doing maintenance for the summer and I was a counselor. We fell in love. He was so much fun, and he didn’t care that I was from a wealthy family and he was from a poor one. He was so honest. Most of my friends are artificial. Not Kevin though; he was always upfront and honest.”
We were interrupted by yelling in the front of the office. I could tell that Evelyn had little control over the situation. A large man hurled himself into my office. I stood to reprimand him for the intrusion, but before I could do that he stalked toward Katie.
“Come with me, Katie. You’re going home now.”
Katie’s frantic eyes held mine. I tried silently to reassure her. Evelyn dialed Ben as soon as the wild man entered my office and snatched his daughter away with harsh words. Within a few minutes, the detective and Officer O’Neil arrived. By that time, the Buick LaCrosse and whatever car Katie drove were gone. I told Ben about the encounter.
“Katie was ready to tell us everything when her father burst in. I’m sure he followed Natalie and me here,” I said. I told the detective about our visit to Katie Stenter’s school. “He may have left and then not long after noticed his daughter’s car coming this way. I’m sure he is involved in a crime, along with Polly and Bill Pearson.”
Natalie spoke up. “I know Kevin Blakemore was murdered and buried out in that grove of trees. When Robert Douglas went back out there out of curiosity the next day, Alfred Stenter was there and saw him. He knew Robert was a liability and took care of getting rid of him, too.”
She crossed her arms in satisfaction. I didn’t miss the look of admiration from Officer Michael O’Neil thrown her direction.
“Why would Alfred return to the scene?” asked Ben.
Natalie hesitated a second before she answered. “He went back to tidy up, of course.”
“There is also the question of why he appeared friendly with Robert Douglas when Lee Chambers noticed them from a distance,” I said.
“That’s easy enough,” said my assistant. “He didn’t want to appear as if he were having an argument in case Lee or Mac saw them together.”
Officer O’Neil winked at Natalie and acted as if he planned to linger a little longer in her presence.
“Are you coming along, Officer O’Neil?” asked the detective. I smiled to myself when the young officer returned to his boss. “Candy, I’m ready to arrest Dr. Alfred Stenter now but will first call for a backup to find out where Katie Stenter has gone to.”
“She will definitely need protection from her father,” I said. “I don’t doubt he knows she was spilling everything she knew to us when he interrupted.”
I looked at Natalie whose eyes were on Officer O’Neil. “Oh, of course,” she said. “I’ll try to reach her on her cell and warn her.”
After repeated attempts, there was no answer from Katie Stenter. I hoped she had evaded her father and was nowhere near him. I motioned for Natalie to accompany me. We were going back to the Pearsons, I told Evelyn. She warned us to be careful.
When we parked in front of the bungalow, Natalie made an interesting comment. “I wonder why they live in this small place in a nondescript neighborhood. Aren’t they supposed to be wealthy?”
“That may or may not be something we will ever know,” I said.
My eye caught the movement of a curtain on the far side of the house. I led the way to the back door and knocked. I heard a chair scraping on the floor and Polly Pearson unenthusiastically greet
ed me. I wondered if her stoic expression ever changed at all. On the other hand, if Katie felt she could confide in her, she must have a soft spot someplace within her.
“I’ve been expecting you,” she said. She called to her husband, who came from across the narrow hallway. He shook hands with us again and gestured for us to sit at the kitchen table with them. I noticed the floor was spotless, and for the first time I observed Polly kept her house very clean. “I am sure this is about Katie Stenter and her father.” I nodded. “Katie was in love with someone her father didn’t approve of. They bucked heads often over it. When Alfred found out Katie was secretly planning to elope with the boy, he blew his top.”
“Was he angry enough to kill him?” asked Natalie.
Polly’s expression finally changed. Exasperation and fear mixed together and spread across her countenance. Bill laid a hand on her wrist to steady her. He took up the narrative.
“Alfred was so angry that he decided to rid his daughter of Kevin Blakemore once and for all. He enlisted our help, I’m sorry to say. Alfred is a coward at heart. He had no way of taking care of a body, and he asked if we could bury the evidence of Kevin Blakemore on our property out in the country. Polly and I were horrified at the idea. That is, until Alfred threatened to take away our long-standing contract in his genetics department. My ancestors set it up long ago when malting barley was raised out there. We still had a share in things developed for all time to come. We depend on that money when it comes in quarterly. It is more than useful when we want to travel to foreign places.”
I sent a signal to Natalie, who left to go outside and dial the detective.
“Detective Ben Jones wants to speak with you,” I said. “Natalie is calling him now. I think it is safer you talk with him here at your house. He is onto Alfred and plans to arrest him this very day. By any chance, have you spoken with Katie in the last hour or so?”