The Devil in Maryvale

by Jackie Griffey

  Cas leaned forward trying not to get too excited. "And this one I'm borrowing from Harlan detects gold!"

  "Gold? That's a new one on me. I didn't know there were any that would do that."

  "I didn't either. He says his nephew is a rock hound and interested in things like that and looking for old coins and buried treasure. I don't plan on ever being that hard up for something to do, but it's just what we need right now. The reason I wanted to talk to you is I want you to go with me to look for that bracelet. If it's there, we're going to find it this time."

  "And, if it isn't?" Rhodes almost whispered, knowing Cas didn't think Denise was killed where the deputies had found her body.

  "Then we'll at least know we were right and we need to be looking for where she was killed." He shook his head. "Don't ask me how we'll do that, I'm taking one thing at a time."

  "Okay." Rhodes got up, unfolding his long frame to leave. "If there's nothing else you need me for I'll see you here first thing in the morning."

  * * *

  Connie was frying hamburgers when Cas opened the kitchen door.

  "It's going to be burgers tonight but I'm making up for it with corn on the cob and a tossed salad with the blue cheese dressing you like."

  "Nothing wrong with burgers,." Cas kissed the back of her neck. "If they were poison, I'd have been dead long before you came along and started cooking all these other good things for me."

  He put his arms around her waist to give her a hug as he asked, "Have a good day or just busy?"

  "I worked for Lisa Randolph today and worked a little longer than I planned. I'll have about the same amount to do tomorrow, then I'll be through with them. With the statements, I mean."

  "I'm getting loud vibrations...." Cas put his forefingers to the sides of his head trying to look telepathic, "That you don't like statements?"

  "No, I don't. But neither does anyone else. It's sort of job security right now, they're so unpopular. I'm sure I'll get more of them to do. If they're as good and audible as these first ones," Connie grinned, "I've got it made."

  She laid down her spatula. "How about your day? Have you found anything new in the Davis case that might help?"

  "Nothing I can count on yet. I'll tell you about it over dinner. I've got to get these boots off and get comfortable."

  He left her looking after him, curiosity mingling with hope. The whole town was on edge with a murderer loose among them.

  * * *

  Rhodes's car was there when Cas parked his truck the next morning. He found him in his office examining the long handled metal detector Doug had leaned against the desk. He held it like a golf club, the head against the carpet.

  "Some gizmo, isn't it?"

  Cas nodded, "It looks brand new, too." Both of them looked closely at it.

  "Probably an expensive toy, too. I promised him I'd take good care of it. Ever see one of these before?"

  Rhodes studied it, running a finger around the head. "I've seen pictures. This looks like the advertisements I've seen except it has a smaller head, maybe because it detects gold? And it does look new."

  Cas gave the thing a skeptical glance as he straightened up. "This is exactly what we need—if it works."

  Rhodes raised an eyebrow at the gizmo, amused at Cas's lack of faith in it.

  "Let's give it a try. No use going any further if it won't detect gold."

  Cas took off his wedding ring and his watch. He placed them on opposite sides of the desk. The ring he covered with a file folder. He looked around the office.

  "And we can use that trash can to make sure it will detect gold, and not just any metal." He set the trash can several feet away.

  "Here's my tie clip I had in my pocket. It's supposed to be gold with an onyx set in it." Rhodes laid it a few feet the other side of the trash can.

  Cas examined the controls and held the head above the watch at different heights, then the tie clip and the trash can. He went around the desk and tried it on the wedding ring under the file folder before he was satisfied.

  "It passed! The smart little gizmo passed." Rhodes's gaunt features lit up in approval. "I guess we're in business."

  "Yeah. Funny sound." The gold causes a high pitched continuous beep. "And this little red light blinks on and off."

  Cas laughed, "Maybe for the hearing impaired sheriff? Sometimes I feel like I must have a lot of impairments."

  "Anyway," he studied it, "since it didn't recognize the trash can at all, it does what Harlan said it would." Cas added, embarrassed, "Guess I'm faith impaired too." He reached for his watch and his ring.

  Rhodes retrieved his tie clip. "I didn't believe it either," he admitted.

  While Cas fastened his watch and put things back, Rhodes played with the detector, examining the head.

  "We'll go in my car."

  Rhodes nodded and followed him out holding the gold detector carefully.

  * * *

  Connie was pleased to find the last two statements she had been dreading were as good as the first ones. She would be able to finish them that day. She felt better, put her dislike behind her, and concentrated on getting them done.

  Lisa came in as she took the last sheet out of her typewriter.

  "All finished? How were they? I hope they were as good all the way through as they were in the places I happened to hear when I checked them."

  "They were. I was getting them together with the tapes. Do you want me to make copies of them for you or address mailing envelopes?"

  "No, getting them typed was the main thing. Jill and I can do the rest. If you've got a minute I'll write you a check now."

  "Sure. I'd rather have it now than have it mailed to me. Who knows, I might pass a sale on the way home." Connie grinned happily, getting her typewriter ready to leave.

  "You mean you could do that? Dick claims I can't pass one under any circumstances!" Lisa laughed as she opened the check book.

  "You want this eighty dollars a day like a contract and you handle your own taxes, don't you?"

  "Yes, that's right."

  "A friend of Dick's does taxes and bookkeeping, if you ever need any help."

  "I doubt I'll ever get that prosperous, but I'll keep it in mind. Oh, and I've got my cards, too." She got out two and handed them to Lisa.

  "Good, I'll keep them here by my phone. I'll recommend you too."

  She got up as Connie took her sweater off the back of the typing chair. "Thank you for coming. I'll call you as soon as we have anything else. And Dick told me to be sure and tell you how pleased we are with your work."

  * * *

  Driving home, Connie gave mental thanks to whoever it was who invented crockpots. The vegetables and roast she put in to cook on low that morning would be ready. Nothing else to do but open some rolls. She would have sweet rolls and coffee for dessert.

  Finishing the dreaded statements had built up an appetite. Unconsciously, she drove a little faster going home.

  "It looks like I'm going to have as much work as I want. I'm enjoying this freelancing. This hundred and sixty dollars burning a hole in my pocket feels good, too."

  The sight of the high school as she passed it sobered her mood. She wondered if Cas had had any luck with the gold detector Harlan Glover loaned him. She thought of Missy's sad face when she said Denise had always worn the bracelet.

  * * *

  Arriving near the scene where Denise's body was found Cas and Rhodes parked and went immediately to the roped off area.

  Rhodes watched as Cas carefully went over the place where the body had been lying. He slowly worked out from the center, the detector close to the ground.

  When his arms tired, Rhodes took over continuing the pattern and going slowly and carefully. He overlapped the search areas a bit to make sure not one inch was missed in their search.

  Taking turns resting their arms, their eyes took no break.

  "It's such a small thing it would be easy to miss." Cas spoke without looking up, as if willing a
glint of gold to make the red light appear.

  "Right." Rhodes agreed without much enthusiasm. As Cas straightened up to rest his back, he reminded him, "We'll have to search the path while we're here. It could have dropped off on the way in here."

  "Yes, we'll cover every possible place. Not much point in this unless we cover it all."

  They finished the entire roped off area as well as a good bit of space around it. Then they went back to where the body had lain and worked their way back to where they had come in, still with not one peep from the 'educated gizmo' as Rhodes had dubbed it. Their backs hurt and they were thirsty.

  "Why don't we go around to The Roadhouse for a barbecue and a gallon or two of iced tea? Then we can come back and go up another possible path in from the road where you found the tire prints." Rhodes suggested.

  "Yeah, I had that in mind. We'll do it, and we'll also go on from where we found her to the water beyond. It's not all that far, and we don't want to overlook any possibility while we're here and have this detector to use no matter how far out it seems."

  Rhodes nodded. "I wondered at the time we found her why he didn't go on to the water anyway. It looked to be where he was heading when he started in here. It seemed logical to put the body there if he wanted to hide it."

  "He could have been scared off by something. Or maybe there was some reason he didn't have time to go any farther. That's one of the many things we've got to find out."

  Rhodes took the detector as they started back. "Nothing about this case looks like it was planned."

  "No. Not planned. The sudden death, the panic, the obvious lack of thought and the age of the victim. It all points to a kid. One of our teenagers."

  Cas's face was a chiseled in stone sculpture of determination. "We've got to get to the bottom of this. Go as far as we can with anything we can get, but it's not a trip I want to take."

  "Here's the car. Let's pour some tea and barbecue on the problem. Can't hurt."

  Rhodes carefully laid the gizmo in the back seat as Cas got in.

  The barbecue and tea at the Roadhouse helped their outlook as much as resting their back muscles. As they both lingered over a second huge glass of iced tea, Rhodes brightened. "I've got an idea."

  "Like what? I'm open to anything you think might help."

  "Let's go out in back—across from where we were and see if we turn up anything on this side of the water."

  "He didn't get to the water," Cas reminded him. "But we're here, might as well practice with the detector. Why not?" Cas lightened up too, smiling at Rhodes. "We'll play with the educated gizmo a few minutes. Go on out and I'll get it."

  He returned and handed the detector to Rhodes. "You detect and I'll eyeball." He got into the spirit of adventure.

  Rhodes looked across the water, picturing where the murderer might have stood if he had come to the edge of the water on the other side. He held out the detector and started searching slowly and methodically, his ears alerted for a signal from the machine but not expecting one.

  Neither of them spoke, intent on what they were doing.

  Nothing turned up until Rhodes had searched almost to the water, close as he could get without getting into marshy ground. He swung the detector in a wide arc as far out as he could reach over some reeds growing down to the edge of the water.

  Cas straightened his tired back, looking away from the detector, knowing they had covered the whole area. Then, midway through the arc, the machine beeped.

  "What was that?" Cas came to Rhodes's side.

  "I don't know, but the thing sure beeped."

  Cas pictured the outline of the unknown murderer on the other side throwing the bracelet and shook his head.

  "No, it would have been a senseless thing to do for him to throw it, even if a little thing like that would go this far. No matter how scared he was he'd have to know identity would not depend on a little thing like that."

  Rhodes was swinging the detector again. He went more slowly this time and stopped where the detector beeped again.

  "There's something there in the edge of the reeds."

  Their eyes met, "And it's got to be gold."

  He handed the detector to Cas. "Here, hold this a minute."

  Rhodes was all business as he took off his boots and socks, glancing again at the edge of the water.

  "You're courting pneumonia," Cas warned. "And you could hurt your feet, cut them on something without your boots."

  "My foot'll heal up, my boots wouldn't." Rhodes set his boots neatly side by side and rolled up his pants.

  Cas leaned forward and held the detector out as Rhodes waded carefully out to where the gold item had set off the signal. When they heard it again, instead of reaching down with his hands, Rhodes felt around with his toes in the soft, deep, silky mud.

  As Cas watched, the thoughtful expression on his deputy's gaunt features was almost comically grave.

  "You must be right on it. That's where the beep was the strongest," Cas encouraged him.

  Cas pulled the detector back a little as Rhodes raised his left foot, his toes clenched on something. The detector beeped.

  "That is it! You've got it, whatever it is."

  Rhodes reached down and took the object in his hand. He waded out as Cas covered the area again to make sure.

  "Yeah, that was it."

  Rhodes went to a faucet at the back of The Roadhouse and washed the object. He handed it to Cas before turning back to wash the squishy black gumbo off his feet.

  "Well, what about this?" Cas eyed the thing.

  "I could tell it was some kind of ring when I got it in my toes." Rhodes came to look at the object.

  "It is. It's a class ring. Look at the date on it."

  "Nineteen forty-six! Been there all these years. Must be an interesting story behind this." He squinted at the date to make sure he was right.

  "We've got enough problems on our hands right now." Cas put the ring in his shirt pocket.

  "Yeah, back to the hunt. Hand me my other boot."

  Returning to the other side of the water they went over the path into the trees searching as thoroughly as they had the place where they had found the body. They found nothing. They stretched aching muscles then searched from the roped area to the edge of the water, the knowledge growing in both of them that there was nothing to find.

  "Tough," Rhodes sympathized. "If it was here, we'd have found it. I'm sure of that."

  "Yeah, don't see how we could have missed it, if it was. That's why I wanted you to come with me. I know we've covered every inch where it could have fallen off. I had to be here myself to be sure. It's not here. Anyway, I can return this gizmo to Harlan. I was nervous about borrowing it, to tell the truth. Doug went and got it, will you take it back tomorrow? Same time, same place, as they say on the radio?"

  Rhodes nodded. "I will. Sorry about the bracelet. It would have helped to know for sure where she was killed. I guess we're back to square one."

  Cas shook his head with a grim look. "We haven't left square one on this case."

  * * *

  At dinner that night, Cas didn't have much to say, other than to answer Connie's questions about finding the bracelet.

  He looked so depressed Connie didn't ask him anything else. She wished she could help him somehow. He had taken his coffee into the den when he heard Connie answer the phone.

  "That was Miss Mayme," she came to tell him. "I've got to be careful and not get too successful to enjoy being home. She said Lorenzo put his sale sign in the window just before they closed the flower shop. I'll get there early tomorrow and get us another one of those good roasts and see what else he has this time."

  "Sure," Cas grinned. "It would be a shame for mere typing to interfere with shopping and visiting." He laughed, feeling better, and picked up his paper again. Sanctuary always had a healing effect on his spirits.

  Chapter 13

  Cas mentally squared his shoulders, determined to beat the bushes until he could find som
e break. A starting point in finding out why Denise Davis was killed.

  "Everyone else on this list of her acquaintances has been checked out, some several times. I guess Darrell has simmered long enough."

  When he dialed the school Janice Cobb answered.

  "This is Cas Larkin. You told me you have the schedules of the students in their folders, can you tell me what class Darrell Spruce is in or will be in at ten o'clock?"

  "All right. It won't take long, but I can call you back if you'd rather."

  "No, that's all right. I'll wait."

  It was only a few minutes till Janice was back. "Okay, I've got it. Darrell's in Spanish class right now. At ten o'clock he goes to a study hall. He had it moved from the end of the day for some reason."

  "Good. I was about due a little luck. Will you ask him to come to the office at ten? And if he isn't too tired of my using his office would you ask John if I can impose on him again?"

  "I'm sure it's fine with him. I think he feels like it's the only way he can help. I'll tell him you'll be here. I'd better go on now so I won't miss Darrell. I'll notify his next class, too."

  "Okay. Thanks."

  Cas checked the clock as he replaced the receiver. He had been dreading talking to Darrell. This session would be at least as unpleasant and uncooperative as the one with Sid Norton was. Losing his club members wouldn't have improved his temper any either. Cas wondered briefly what they were telling him about not coming to the meetings any more. Maybe that the sheriff was leaning on them? Well, he was. And he was getting ready to lean on Darrell, too. He left, determined if not happy.

  John Squires was outside looking over the shrubs along the driveway when Cas pulled up in front of the school.

  "I'll not be long," Cas smiled. "Thanks for letting me use your office."

  "Don't mention it. Anything I can do to help you, I'll be glad to do. I'd rather be out here in the sunshine anyway. You get to feeling cooped up working in an office all day."

  He waved as he turned away, "Take your time." John Squires ambled toward the gym as if he were out for a stroll.

  Inside, Cas noticed the door to the principal's office was closed and glanced at Janice.