"I know, dad, and I hope you learn something that will help. I saw Mrs. Davis today and I felt so sorry for her."
"What was it you wanted to tell us?" Connie turned her attention to her daughter as she rose from the table.
"Onions are out again. I have a date for Saturday with Casey Taylor."
"Casey Taylor? That's fine. I talked to him when I was questioning students. I like that boy."
"I don't know him, but if your father has met him and likes him, that's good enough for me. He's coming here to get you, isn't he?"
"Yes, we're going to a movie in the Mall and he's coming to pick me up. You can meet him then," she reassured Connie.
"He got his car fixed, if you're worried about that." She told Cas.
"Fine. No regrets about Chuck?"
"Who?" Missy put on a blank expression.
"That's my girl!" Cas spared no further regrets on a young idiot who would invite his daughter out to worship the devil and turned to Connie. "Okay, it's your turn, Connie. What's your news?"
"It will sound downright dull after all that. Miss Mayme called me about another sale, so I went and got us these steaks we're having and a nice roast for the weekend, too. It's great to be able to stay home and go shopping when I want to."
"How are they doing at the flower shop?"
"They're always busy and it looks like they're doing pretty well to me, but Miss Minnie says they're not in black figures yet. It must have taken quite a bit to get started. I asked Tim Carpenter to put in a word for them too, whenever he gets a chance. He's got some friends who are being married soon, and I think they're going to have the Andersons do their flowers for them. So evidently, they're doing just fine."
"Have you heard any more from the lawyers or other offices about typing?"
"Yes! I nearly forgot to tell you in all this excitement. Lisa Randolph called and wants me to come in for one day on Monday. She wants to talk to me about something else, too, but didn't say what. Anyway, that's where I'll be Monday."
Cas patted his lips with his napkin and grinned at her and Missy. "Looks like a good week for the Larkin clan."
* * *
On Monday, Harlan Glover called Cas about the undercover assignment his deputy had handled for him.
"You were right about the meeting. My deputy, Joe Hebert, went up there early and hid his car far enough away that he could sidle off and get away without attracting any attention if he wanted to. Parked it on the other side of the hill in some trees. They started coming right after dark, some of them had met other places and came together in vans and cars. Joe melted into the crowd without any trouble. There's not much meat in the report except to substantiate that there is an organization; Darrell Spruce is in charge of it; and they're up to no good, all right. I'll fax you Joe's report then you can call and ask any questions you might have about it."
"Our machine is free now and I'm anxious to read it. Be sure to tell him how much I appreciate this. I'll tell him too. And I do want to talk to him when he comes in. Thanks again."
"One other thing, Cas."
"What's that?"
"There are three brothers here that have been in and out of trouble most of their young lives. I have a hunch they may be responsible for the missing cattle. I don't have anything concrete to go on, but none of them work what I'd call steady, and they've managed to get a new truck somehow. It's not brand new, but a late model used one. I'm going out there and see if there's anything else that looks like they're getting unexplained money from somewhere. This picture I've got of them is not all that good, but I'm sending it. It's good enough so you can tell if you've seen any of them around your county lately."
"Okay. I'll make copies and give them to my deputies in case they've been nosing around here. It wouldn't be a long drive since they've got new wheels. Crime must still be paying better than law enforcement."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Let me know if you find out anything new. We've had a couple incidents of cattle being mutilated and there were at least two in Crawford County too. They called me about it two months ago, if I remember right. Anyway, I'll get the report and the picture of these three 'no-counts' to you now."
"Thanks I'll keep you posted."
Cas stood over the fax machine waiting for the material to come through. There were seven pages counting the picture. The picture was a bit dark but he could see the faces well enough to know he hadn't seen them around Maryvale. He sat down to read the report.
"Hebert probably went by the book, since this was his first undercover assignment," Cas glanced at the text.
There was a description of the place where the meeting was held good enough to picture the cemetery setting and the people attending the meeting. They were mostly students and a few friends who had come with them. Someone had identified the leader to Hebert as Darrell Spruce and told him he was the judge's son. There were bits of conversations and things the deputy thought might be relevant. All of it was documented in a clear, legible hand with no embellishments or opinions added in.
Cas smiled, comparing it to Joe Friday's style on Dragnet. "'Just the facts, the way he witnessed it. Gives me a feeling of the eeriness of it, there among the grave stones. And if it looked that way to him, it must have had even more of an effect on those youngsters. That's what Darrell Spruce is after, trying to impress them and make them think he's more important and powerful than he is. Powerful! Humpf," Cas grunted, slapping down that page on the desk to start on the next.
When he finished he scanned back to where he had noticed Todd Kelly and Sid Norton's names mentioned.
They had stood behind Darrell as he talked to the others. The deputy hadn't had to ask who they were either. One of the students pointed them out to him as the ones who did the punishing for the group.
"Some selling job this is. The student who told him about the 'punishing' said they were not doing anything wrong, 'but the older people wouldn't understand and the club has to be kept secret.' Yeah I'll bet."
Cas frowned, his hands crumpling the edges of the paper. "What's this? So, they really are planning to have an orgy. An orgy! I doubt if some of them can even spell it correctly." His lip curled in disgust. "Doesn't say when, just soon."
He scanned the rest of the report again carefully, noting the names the deputy had managed to get and write down. There was a boy named Chuck and a girl named Doris.
"So, Chuck found someone to go to the meeting with him," Cas mused. He was glad Chuck would not be darkening his door again, thanks to his daughter's good sense.
"There's no mention of Denise's name except when the deputy used it as an excuse for being there. That was a smart touch, to tell someone a girl named Denise told him about the meetings. Harlan's right, this boy will be good at his job. The student who asked him who told him about the meetings told him Denise had been a member of the club, but she had gone away and didn't come anymore."
Cas sighed. "Gone away...."
Chapter 10
Gladys put her hand over the phone's mouthpiece as Cas came into the office. "It's Tinwhistle," she mouthed silently.
Cas nodded, pointing to his door.
"Mr. Tinwhistle." Cas hugged his phone against his shoulder, pulling out his chair. "What can I do for you this morning?"
"I was just calling to see if you might have learned any more about who it is that's stealing cattle around here, and my goat too, of course."
"No, sir, but we're working on it and I do appreciate your cooperation. I've been routing patrols out your way as often as I can. Haven't had any more thefts, have you, or seen any suspicious people or activity?"
"No, and I saw the patrol car the other day. Thought they might be coming by more often. If you do find the one or ones responsible I'm sure going to prosecute. You don't have to worry about that!"
"Good for you. And you be sure to let me know if you see anyone suspicious, we don't have much to go on right now."
"I'll do it, Sheriff Larkin. Thank you."
He sounded like he'd been deputized. Cas smiled to himself. The phone rang as soon as he replaced it.
"Yes? This is Sheriff Larkin speaking." He looked up at the clock. Two calls as soon as he'd got in.
"It's me," Gladys told him. "Caleb Martin is on the phone. You're getting it with both barrels, aren't you?"
"I guess I'd feel the same in their shoes. Put him on, I can take it."
Caleb Martin's voice was more pleasant than Cas was braced for and had an edge of excitement in it.
"Sheriff Larkin, I wanted to call and see if you had learned anything else about who's stealing our cattle, and tell you there was another to do of some kind up on Peaceful Ridge. Up above my west pasture there. You said something about a bunch of kids being up there before, you know. Well, looks like there may have been another one."
"Yes, Caleb. There was some trouble up there before and there has been another gathering up there. In fact, we knew about this one and had someone up there observing what went on." He paused, letting the gravity of it sink in. "That's confidential, of course, Caleb."
"Yes, yes. Of course, I understand. Had someone up there, did you?"
"There wasn't anything unusual, just a large group of young people, and they were a lot more careful this time. I don't think they wanted anyone to know they were up there. There was no damage this time, and they didn't leave a mess of trash like they did before."
"Oh." Caleb's voice dropped, the excitement fading from it. "Well, I'm glad you knew about it. " Caleb managed to sound disappointed and relieved at the same time.
"Who were they? Was it just kids?"
"That's right. It was some high school students and some more of their friends they must have brought with them. There weren't many who don't live here."
"What were they up to? My wife has been afraid they were devil worshipers or a gang of some kind you know, that's why I didn't report the missing cattle sooner. Did you get the list of dates I sent you?"
"Yes, thank you. I got it. I've been comparing the dates you sent with some of the dates of the other things that have happened around here."
"You mean those kids and their carrying on?" Caleb sounded hesitant. "I can't believe kids would do that, would steal cattle, even if they do get strange ideas sometimes. They wouldn't have any use for the cattle or know what to do with them." Caleb was doubtful of any connection there.
"I don't know, Caleb. We're looking at it from every possible angle to try and figure out what's going on and find it if there is some kind of connection. Have you seen any strangers or noticed any strange trucks or other vehicles around your place recently?"
"No, not that I've seen. But I'll keep watching and let you know if I do."
"All right, Caleb, thanks for calling."
Gladys appeared in the door as he hung up. "Muriel Davis called while you were on the phone. She wouldn't leave a number, said not to bother you. She was just calling to see if there was anything new on her daughter's case or anything she could do." She paused, "I feel so sorry for her, she's such a nice person. Trying to hold her head up when I know how awful this is for her and her sister, too."
She looked at him wistfully with a half smile. "Nobody else seems to worry about bothering us."
"I wish I could tell her something encouraging. I'm about out of people to talk to and haven't turned up anything, even from those club members."
His jaw set like a vice, eyes hardening as he spoke. "There are some students I'm going to talk to again with regard to where they were that night. Those two hoodlums that beat up Casey Taylor are at the top of that list. I talked to them about this club of Darrell's, but I haven't really leaned on them yet as far as the Davis case goes, or asked where they were when Denise was killed. They put such a high priority on secrecy they could have thought she knew something they didn't want her to tell. That Norton boy looks mean enough to have done it."
Gladys nodded. "It would have to have been someone like that, someone mean. Everyone seems to have liked her and says Denise was a sweet girl. Shall I get Mrs. Davis's number for you?"
"No, it's here in the file." He reached for his phone. "I'll call her now."
Margaret Avery answered the phone.
"This is Cas Larkin, I'm returning Muriel's call."
Muriel Davis took the phone. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, I know how busy you are. I thought there might be something else I can do to help you."
"No, but I appreciate your asking. It's taking time to do all the investigating and talking to people that must be done. I wish I could tell you we're making better headway, but so far there is not one suspicious or negative thing we've run across. Denise was well liked. Do you know of anyone who might have resented her popularity or been jealous for any other reason?"
"No. There's no one I can think of. If anything," Muriel added sadly, "she and her friends got along too well. They were always thinking up things to do together. The only time I had to discipline her was the time I told you about, when she went out the window to join them at the Mall and I grounded her."
"I know how it is, I have a teenager myself. By the way, did the bracelet turn up? The gold chain?"
"No. No, it didn't," Muriel answered with a sigh. "She must have been wearing it as I thought."
"I sent deputies back to the scene to look for it, but they didn't find it. I've been meaning to ask you about it. And there is something you can do, if you will."
"Of course, what is it?"
"Give me a list of Denise's teachers. Sometimes things happen in school the child won't remember, but the teacher might. I don't believe I'd ever have the patience to teach," Cas admitted ruefully.
"I don't think I would either. Even Margaret has to rely on tranquilizers sometimes, and she has the patience of Job. Hold on a minute, will you?"
"All right." He made a mental note. "Margaret Avery relies on a tranquilizer sometimes. I wonder how many others do, and have teenagers around who can get at them?"
"Here we are. I had to find the name of the study hall teacher." She read the list slowly so Cas could write down each name.
"This will do it, thank you. Call if you remember anything or have anything you want to ask. We're in the phone book if you don't have the card with our home number on it at hand."
"I will. Thanks for returning my call."
Cas went out to the front desk. "Gladys, please type these names up and leave space in between for notes. They're Denise's teachers."
He dialed the high school's number and asked for John Squires. He was out but Janice Cobb offered her help.
"I want to make my usual visit about gym and study hall time."
"All right. Any time is fine with us."
"Thank you. Could I bring my list and talk to the ones that are available this afternoon?"
"Sure, no problem. I'll tell Mr. Squires when he gets back. Come on."
John Squires heard Cas arrive and came out of his office as the sheriff handed Janice his list.
"I was just keeping the seat warm," he smiled and gestured toward his office as he left.
"I'll get the first two," Janice said. "One of them can wait out here if you want him to."
"You're getting good at this," Cas teased her.
"Just you remember that, in case John turns hateful in his old age and decides to fire me!" She laughed as she started down the hall.
He brought them in together this time. One of them was Denise's friend, Doris. Knowing that Doris had been with Chuck at the last meeting he told her bluntly, "You were at that meeting Saturday night. The one up on Peaceful Ridge."
Doris paled. Both girls were frightened but neither would admit they were at the meeting.
The two boys he interviewed last took the attitude they didn't care if he knew they were there or not, and didn't volunteer any other information. They had risen from their seats to leave when Cas called them back. They turned bored, insolent faces to hear what he had to say.
Changing to interviewing t
wo of them at once to play them against each other as he had Todd and Sid hadn't worked.
"There's something you two should know, and I'm sure your friend, Darrell, won't tell you. If those two goons he calls his 'punishers' accidentally kill someone, or they die as a result of a beating, you will be accessories to murder and will share their punishment. The law is a lot better at punishing than they are. You'd better keep that in mind."
He turned his back on them and returned to sit down at the desk to put away his notes. When he looked up, the two boys were still standing there. They looked shaken.
"What do you mean? They're not, I mean, we don't have anything to do with that."
"The law doesn't see it that way, boys." His notes in the folder, Cas got up and came to stand close to them, speaking softly but solemnly. "The smartest thing you can do at this point is stay away from those meetings and stay away from Darrell Spruce."
"But then," one of them panicked. "Darrell may send them to punish us!"
The other boy just nodded, as if this new peril had stolen his voice.
Cas said in a kinder tone. "These meetings are not actually against the law. Or at least, what they've done so far isn't, unless you count the mess in the cemetery they made once before. But beating someone up is." He paused for emphasis. "If you are threatened, or one of them hits you, you don't have to be afraid. All you have to do is tell me, and you can bet we'll nip that in the bud. Fast!"
He opened the door as he finished speaking. They shambled out. Quiet. Thinking about what Cas had said.
Cas waved and called a thank you to Janice Cobb as he left, feeling he had accomplished something good. He had, if he read their faces right, kept some of the members away from an influence which could only get worse.
He pictured Sid and Todd. He dreaded talking to those two thugs again, and he still hadn't talked to Darrell Spruce.
Cas tucked the unpleasant thought into the unfinished business section of his brain and looked around. "Guess I might as well give Missy a ride home if I can spot her in this crowd."
The Devil in Maryvale Page 11