Convergence at Two Harbors

by Dennis Herschbach

  The waiter immediately brought their drinks, and to make things appear even more normal, they toasted the day and took a sip of the wine.

  “So,” Deidre began, “We’re doing a good job. I wish I knew a little more about what we are doing.” She paused a moment before asking the question that was troubling her the most.

  “We have been told to keep and eye on David Craine but to not let on that we are. I would like to know just how deeply he is involved in this whole mess, whatever it is. What can you tell me?”

  John Erickson took another sip of wine and stared into his glass, then swirled the wine a few times, stalling for time. “There are some things I can’t tell you yet. My higher-ups have not given me clearance to share much more than I have.” He took another sip of his wine before continuing.

  “Your job is to continue surveillance on him. Don’t let him out of the sight of your deputies, and if it appears he is in any danger, apprehend him. He is too valuable to allow anything to happen to him. We need him alive at any cost.”

  Deidre realized it wasn’t going to do much good to press the point, yet, she needed to know. “But what has he done? If it’s been so serious, why don’t you arrest him now?” she pressured, her face becoming red from frustration.

  John looked her square in her eyes and shook his head. “All I can say is keep him alive.”

  The waiter hurried to their table carrying two very warm plates with his bare hands. After placing their meals in front of them, he asked almost sincerely, “Can I get anything else for you?” Both Deidre and John shook their heads, and he left.

  Deidre cut her sandwich into smaller pieces. “Look, John. I have a personal interest in this David Craine. He’s a good man, and if he’s into something way over his head, I’d like to know. Can’t you give me something?”

  He picked at his fish dinner, took a forkful of the meal, and gestured with his thumb and forefinger that it was good. He chewed and swallowed.

  Finally he said, “I suppose I can share with you that David is in serious trouble. In a twist of events he probably could never have envisioned, your Mr. Craine has become involved in a plot with considerable consequences. You must have guessed that there’s a connection between him and the group under surveillance in Brimson. Please don’t press me about the details.”

  He picked at his fish some more, and then added, “I know the special relationship you have with him and how he is almost like a father to you, but you have to keep focused on your job and your priorities.”

  Deidre gathered the subject was closed. The two finished their meals, talking mostly chitchat, but when they had paid their tabs and placed the waiter’s tip on the table, John turned to Deidre.

  “I wish I could have said more to relieve your worry, but for some reason or other, my superiors will not allow me to say more. They might have a legitimate reason, or they might be afraid if you know too much, you’ll steal their thunder. I am sorry.”

  As they left the cafe, Deidre thought to herself that things hadn’t really changed at all.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next Monday morning, Sheriff Johnson was finishing reading the reports from the nightshift dispatcher. Just as she was thinking she could slip out for a cup of coffee and a treat, her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and saw it was Deputy VanGotten on the line. She finished putting away the file in her hand before picking up.

  “Deidre,” the deputy said, the strain in his voice immediately evident to her, “Deidre, you better get up to the Old Drummond Pit right away. We have what appears to be a homicide here.”

  Those words made Deidre sit bolt upright in her chair, and immediately David Craine’s name popped into her mind. “Do you recognize the body,” she asked a bit too hurriedly.

  “No,” Ben replied. “I haven’t moved the corpse at all, haven’t even touched it. It’s obvious that he’s been dead for a while, at least long enough for blowflies to have laid their eggs and had them hatch.”

  “I know that pit. Make sure both entrances are blocked off and that no one comes into the pit. And don’t you move around until we get there with the coroner and our equipment.” Then she added, “It should take me only about eight to ten minutes to get out there,” and she hung up.

  As she rushed past the dayshift dispatcher, Deidre barked orders at her. “Get two squads out to the Old Drummond Pit as fast as you can. Find the two closest, and tell them not to spare the horses getting there.”

  By this time she was at the top of the stairs leading down to the parking lot, and she reached the ground in four bounding steps.

  When Deidre arrived at the pit, a place where the county had mined gravel for years, she was met at the first entry road by her deputy.

  “Good to see you in the field, Deidre,” Ben said with a smirk. “This is your first homicide, isn’t it?”

  The sheriff ignored the not so subtle barb thrown at her. The animosity from the election hadn’t completely evaporated, she thought.

  “What do you think, Ben? Did you see any tracks leading into the pit?” she asked.

  Her deputy shook his head no. “Like I said, the body’s been here at least since yesterday, and you know how hard it rained last night. I bet we got an inch. That soaker wiped out any marks in this fine sand.”

  Deidre looked down at the two bare ruts in the road. In between them, grass had grown, evidence that not many people passed this way. She saw two sets of footprints in the still moist sand of the road ruts. “What about these?” she asked, pointing at the imprints that led into the pit and then back out again.

  “Those were left by the couple who found the body this morning. They’re waiting in Joe’s squad car over at the other entrance. Their shoes match these tracks, and I don’t think we have to worry about them having anything to do with this. Anyway, they’re waiting for you so they can make a statement and then get out of here. They’re pretty shook up.”

  Deidre left Ben at the entrance and walked the thirty yards into the pit where a third deputy stood, waiting for her.

  “You’ve done a good job here Jeff. Thanks.” And then quickly she added, “Well, let’s go take a look at what we have.”

  Off to the side and under a huge white pine tree, sat a blue Toyota Corolla. Its paint was peeling in several places, one headlamp was smashed out, and the driver’s side front fender was caved in. Deidre noticed the windows were rolled down and thought that strange. The trunk lid was propped open as wide as it could be.

  Even before she moved around to the back of the vehicle, Deidre could smell the stench, but she was hardly ready for what she saw. Curled up in the trunk was the body of a man. Blood caked his matted hair, and Deidre could see that the front of his forehead was missing. Blowfly eggs had hatched, and tiny maggots wormed their way in the wound. Deidre gagged but forced the acrid tasting stuff back down.

  “Jeff, I’ve seen some gross stuff, but this is about the worst.” she said, wiping tears from her eyes. “There isn’t much doubt this is a homicide, is there? Who climbs into the trunk of his car, closes the lid, and then shoots himself? Secondly, I don’t think he put those plastic ties on his wrists afterward, do you?”

  Jeff looked at her and smiled a crooked smile at her attempt at black humor. “Why don’t you go talk to the couple who found the car so they can leave? I’ll stay here until the coroner and the others get here.”

  Deidre walked to the other entry road and met the couple who had found the mess.

  “Sheriff Johnson, these are Cal and Judy Bender,” the deputy, Joe, informed her. “I just saw the coroner pull in, along with the search and rescue squad. If it’s okay with you, I’ll go see if I can help out at the scene.”

  Cal fidgeted with his car keys, and Judy kept covering her mouth as though she wanted to prevent a scream from escaping.

  Deidre broke the uneasy silence. “Thank you for being patient. I understand you’re the people who discovered this,” and she motioned with her head in the directio
n of the pit.

  The two nodded.

  “Can you tell me how you happened upon this gravel pit? How about you, Cal?” Deidre needed to shake them out of their stupor and get them talking.

  “Well, Judy and I decided we would take a walk today, and I remember reading about this experimental forest with hiking trails. We drove out here early this morning. Our car’s parked about a half mile back from here.”

  Deidre nodded her approval, encouraging him to keep talking. Judy stood with her hand over her mouth, saying nothing.

  Cal continued. “We took the trail through that white pine stand and came out where the snowmobile trail crosses the road to the other pit. Then we started to walk back to our car on this road.”

  Deidre looked at Judy. “Is this what you remember, Judy?” she asked.

  Judy nodded. Then it was as though a dam had finally burst, and Judy’s words came gushing out. “We got to this entrance to the pit, and we decided to take a detour up this entrance and out the other. It joins up with the road back to our car you know, and when we were in the pit we noticed an old junker of a car under that big white pine tree, and—”

  “I think you should try to slow down a little,” Deidre said, interrupting her. “I have to write this down, and I can’t keep up with you.” She smiled a reassuring smile at Judy.

  “Of course,” Judy stammered. “I’m sorry. It’s just that this has really hit me hard. I can’t get that awful picture out of my mind.”

  Again, Deidre nodded her understanding. “So when you saw the car, what did you do?”

  Judy began again, this time slower and more controlled. “We thought it strange that a car would be parked out here, so we walked over to it. Both of us commented on the foul smell coming from it. Cal thought maybe someone had poached a deer and stuffed its remains inside of an abandoned car.” With that Judy covered her mouth again. “You tell her, Cal. I can’t do it.”

  Cal looked at Sheriff Johnson, and his lips trembled. “I saw what looked like a bloody rag hanging from the trunk. It was balled up and thick enough that it didn’t allow the lid to latch. When I lifted the trunk lid, there he was. That’s all I know. We immediately left the pit and raced back to our car. We used our cell phone to call 911 and asked the dispatcher to send a deputy here, and we waited in our car until he arrived.” Judy looked away, her hand still covering her mouth.

  “Did you touch anything else, touch anything inside the car or walk around the car?” Deidre wanted to know.

  Cal answered again. “No. As soon as we saw the body, we left. Was that all right?” he asked as though fearful he and his wife had made a serious mistake.

  Deidre assured him they had done exactly what they should have. Then she said to the couple, “Why don’t you go home and try to settle yourselves. Do you have a clergyperson you can talk to? If you don’t, I can have someone at the Human Development Center meet with you right away, if you think you need support at this time. I know this must be terribly upsetting for you, so please take advantage of my offer if you want.”

  Cal thanked her and said they’d speak with their minister. Deidre called one of the deputies on her two-way and had him come to drive the Benders back to their car. As they prepared to get into his vehicle, Deidre had one more thing to say. “I’m going to have to ask you to not talk with anyone about this, except your pastor, until the details have been released in the news. It’s important that you agree to this. Do you understand?”

  Cal answered for both of them. “I certainly do. We’ll do anything to help you that we can.”

  They left with the deputy, and Deidre trotted back to the pit.

  By that time the coroner had made a preliminary scan of the area and was ready to roll the body over just as Deidre came upon the scene. Looking for some form of identification, he took the victim’s wallet from his pants pocket.

  “He wasn’t a robbery victim,” the coroner stated with flat affect. “There are five one-hundred dollar bills in here. And they left his driver’s license, too. Our man in the trunk is known as Herminio Valesques.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  After returning to her office, Deidre was just beginning to draw up a flow chart of what her plan of action would be when her phone rang.

  “Sheriff Johnson,” she spoke into the receiver.

  “Hi, Deidre. This is John Erickson,” the voice on the other end responded.

  Deidre’s hackles immediately went up. “Hello, John. What can I do for you this morning?” she asked, making no attempt to disguise her abruptness. Of all mornings, she didn’t need the FBI cluttering up her time with questions about what’s going on in a shack up in Brimson.

  “Deidre,” John said, using her first name as though they were close friends. “Deidre, I’ve heard that a body was found in an abandoned car up in your neck of the woods.”

  Before he could get another word out, Deidre’s voice became even more curt. “How did you get that information so fast? The body’s hardly cold, and already you’ve got your feelers into this case. We’re doing everything we can to follow your other request, and that uses up a lot of man hours. If we weren’t sitting on our behinds up in Brimson watching a bunch of wannabe Jack Pine Savages, we might have time to take care of law enforcement where it would do some good.”

  “Now, Deidre, cool down a second and let’s talk. First of all, I don’t think there’s anything your people could have done to prevent this homicide. This case runs a lot deeper than you think. This Herminio Valesquez …”

  Before he could finish his sentence, Deidre almost screamed into the phone. “Herminio Valesquez! Herminio Valesquez! We didn’t have an ID more than an hour ago, and you already know the victim’s name. In fact, we aren’t even sure it is him. Just because he had a wallet on him with that name doesn’t mean it’s him. Most of his face was blown away, so his picture ID didn’t help much. The coroner still has a lot of work before we can come up with a positive.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, Deidre. The body is who his wallet’s credentials say he is. It’s Herminio all right. His finger prints matched those in our data base.”

  Deidre exploded again. “What’s going on here? I’m the sheriff of Lake County, and you know more about what’s happening than I do. You must have a snitch in this department to have gotten the information so fast. It’s VanGotten isn’t it. Ben has been trying to undermine this department ever since I beat him out in the election. If it wasn’t illegal, I’d have fired his butt the day after the votes were counted.”

  John Erickson didn’t seem too surprised or excited by Deidre’s outburst. “Deidre, don’t get your shorts in a bundle.”

  He knew the instant the words left his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say.

  “You listen here, John Erickson, or special agent, or first-class jerk, which ever fits. You might not respect me, but you will respect my office. Either you treat it with the respect it deserves or I’ll have you up on charges. I don’t care if they are sexual harassment, harassment, meddling or …” and Deidre couldn’t think of anything else to add to the list. All she could do was sputter.

  “Listen Deidre, I apologize for what I said. It was way out of line. I’m sorry, and you’re right. You deserve more respect than that.”

  That took the wind out of Deidre’s sails, and she was left speechless. “Well, okay, but don’t ever talk to me that way again.”

  John continued. “Deidre, Ben isn’t in cahoots with us. We’ve never talked to him, but we have been in touch with the county coroner. And don’t get all fired up about him,” he added as fast as he could. “Several months ago, he was informed by Homeland Security that all suspected homicides in the Two Harbors area must be immediately reported to us. He had no other option.”

  By this time, Deidre was ready to throw in the towel. A person could only stay as angry as she was for a short time, and then all of the steam would be gone.

  “Okay John, you win. I suppose you’re going to come in here and take
over the whole investigation, take all the credit, and then paint us as though we are a bunch of incompetent hicks.” She felt another head of steam building, and John sensed another eruption coming.

  “Deidre, we need to talk. I mean really talk this time. The agency can’t sweep in and start mopping up, at least not yet. There’s too much you don’t know. Give me a couple of hours to get some clearances, which shouldn’t be too difficult with what happened to Herminio. There’s a park in Duluth, Chester Bowl. Meet me … will you meet me there at one o’clock. I’ll bring along a couple of box lunches.”

  Again, Deidre was a few minutes late for their meeting. By the time she arrived at Chester Bowl, John had already selected a picnic table down near the creek. He had a disposable table cloth spread and on it an assortment of deli salads and a platter of deli fried chicken.

  “Hi, Deidre,” John greeted her. “As you can see, I slaved all morning cooking a special lunch for us,” and he laughed. Deidre couldn’t help but notice his curly blond hair and piercing blue eyes.

  “Please, sit down and eat,” he offered. “We can talk business afterward.”

  For the next half hour the two visited over the picnic meal. The sound of the stream trickling through time-worn rocks was soothing, but eventually Deidre’s patience ran thin.

  “John, we have to get down to business. I have a murder to investigate, and you promised to fill me in on what’s happening up in my neck of the woods. Now what’s up?” she demanded.

  John cleared his throat and looked at the table top as he fidgeted with the salad left on his plate. “I thought I could get clearance to tell you everything, but it appears that isn’t the case.” He paused once more, and Deidre got an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

  “Here’s what they said I can share. You’re to continue to shadow David Craine. You’re not to allow him to know he’s being followed. I can tell you that he’s involved in a case we’re investigating that puts his life in jeopardy, and it’s your department’s job to make sure nothing happens to him until we’re ready to move.”